#I remember a few being conditional and one was the blaze one

[impossible-rat-babies]

me gnawing on pollux like

[artssslut2]

Unexpected: Part Nine

Stanford!Art Donaldson x Pregnant!Reader

You and Art had been home for a few days on leave. You were so happy to be home but you were so uncomfortable. Not only were you uncomfortable but you were annoyed and irritated all the time. It was extremely hot outside, you mainly sat in the air conditioning all day. Due to being heavily pregnant in the blazing heat, everything art did annoyed you. Even if he breathed too loud you felt like you could snap. Art realized this and decided to just work on the nursery and let you relax. But you felt bad, you hadn’t even kissed in three days, everytime he talked you groaned out loud.

You decided to get yourself off the couch and find art to apologize. You walked, well waddled to the nursery and found him putting sheets on the crib mattress. You smiled watching him, you remembered how much you loved him.

“Hey.” You said startaling him a little.

“Hey” he smiled turning around “is everything okay?” He asked surprised to see you off the couch.

“Yeah, I just…” you felt a wave of emotion rush through you, you started sobbing out of the blue “I’m so sorry for how I’ve been acting Art.” You cried hysterically. Art came to your side, he looked confused. “I’ve been such a bitch to you and you’ve done nothing but be amazing and supportive. I don’t deserve you. Now you probably want to leave me” Art was quick to interrupt you

“Y/N I’m not going to leave you.” He said giving a little laugh. “And you have not been a bitch. You’re nine months pregnant. You’re aloud to be a little irritated, I-i wish I could do more for you. You deserve everything.” He said gently wiping tears from your cheeks. You looked up at him with teary eyes,

“I love you.” You said pushing your face into his hand giving it a quick kiss, then you pulled him in for a kiss. It was so reliving to feel his lips again.

“Art.” You said looking at him with a stern look, you felt the boner that was almost fully hard in his gym shorts. You felt better but not enough for that.

“Just ignore it” he said pushing your head on his chest, and you both laughed. You waited a minute in the embrace, then you felt a pain shoot through your back.

“Ow” you gasped closing your eyes

“What is it baby? Is that a contraction?” He asked slightly panicking. But it wasn’t, over the past day or two the baby dropped and it caused your back pain to be worse.

“No, no it’s just my back, it’s worse now that the baby dropped.” You said stretching your back a little.

“The baby dropped so… she’ll be here soon then?” He said with a giddy smile that was adorable,

“Yeah she will. But we knew that” you chuckled

“I know but it’s real now” he laughed. You stroked his hair, your face lightly grimacing still from pain. Art noticed then pulled away and started walking out of the nursery,

“Stay here I’ll be right back” he called out to you.

Art came back with one of your bikinis, he had no shirt or shoes on.

“Cmon we’re gonna swim.” He said handing you the suit

“Art-“ you couldn’t even get your complaints out

“No we’re doing this. The water will make your feel weightless it will take the pressure off of your back… and we can spend time together, it’s not going to be just us for much longer.” He said giving puppy dog eyes while lacing his finger with yours. You gave in of course and got changed.

As the sun started to set you and art walked hand in hand into the ocean. Once you were in a little past your waist Art pulled you into his arms and spun you around. He was right it made your whole body feel so much better. He was always right. You kissed your boyfriend again passionately, he pulled away and looked at you. Your legs still wrapped around his waist, your bulging stomach against his toned abs

“You know your it for me right? Really it.” He told you “Y/n im so in love with you I’ve never felt so at home with anyone in my life. I wanna be with your forever, and get married and have a more kids and buy a perfect house. I want to give you everything, forever.” You pressed your forehead to his softly. “So… this isn’t a proposal it’s just me letting you know that this is forever.” He smiling at you, you were tearing up at his words

“That works for me.” You smiled as a stray tear fell from your eye. He kissed you. Suddenly he ruined the moment by picking you up and dunking you under water.

“Art!” You yelled wiping your face off, you wanted to be mad but you couldn’t help let out a childish laugh. Your remembered when you and art would swim and play together as kids, how the times had changed.

“You like the water Sunny?” Art asked wrapping his arms around you from behind, she kicked against his hand.

You and art spent a long time in the water, splashing each other, swimming, kissing. It was nice to reconnect with him again before the baby came.

After the beach you came back to the house, it was dark out now. You guys decided to order take out and have a lazy night. You had a lot to do still but this was more important. Once you and Art had showered together you crawled into bed and ate Chinese food and watched a movie. Art spent most of the movie explaining what was happening to your stomach which you found adorable. For the first time in a while you slept pretty well.

[something-tofightfor]

Birthday Kiss #5: Ezra

Pairing: Ezra x Female Reader

Word Count: 888

Rating: M.

Summary: A Kiss in the Dark

Author’s note: 9 Pedro Characters. 9 Birthday Smooches. These are very lightly edited because they're supposed to be quick. Wanted to give all of you a gift to celebrate my birthday - Here comes Ezra.

I think there will be a few people that are very happy to see this one.

There were still nights when you woke up, gasping for breath, and expected to hear nothing next to you.

In the moments where you were still coming to, heartbeat racing in your ears, you were reminded of the time he’d been gone - and how much those rotations had hurt. You remembered every night that your eyes had opened and you’d reached for him, only to remember that he wasn’t there, and that your hand would only find smooth, cold sheets, the silence feeling as suffocating as the suit he wore likely was. 

But that night, you weren’t greeted with silence or empty space. You still woke with a start, but almost immediately after opening your eyes, you heard him, the sound of Ezra’s deep, even breaths almost as soothing to you as his words were. And the warmth of him beside you was even more comforting, the scent of his freshly washed hair filling your nose with each breath you took to steady yourself. 

It didn’t take you long to calm down entirely, your eyes adjusting to the almost perfect darkness of your room. When you moved closer, you were careful because you didn’t want to startle him. That was important, because Ezra’s lengthy recovery process and reintegration into everyday life wasn’t as simple as either of you had hoped it would be and you didn't want to reverse any of the progress he'd already made.

But he didn’t move, even when you pressed your lips to the back of his shoulder, his skin warm to the touch. And his breathing didn’t change when you took a deep breath and turned your head toward the pillow, pressing your cheek against it while your forehead made contact with the space between his shoulder blades. 

Ezra did react, though, when you didn’t move to touch him further, the man sighing and inching backwards, closing the space between you. “I’m awake, and I know very well that it is you here with me.” His voice was thick with sleep, but at the sound of it you felt yourself shiver, your right arm immediately rising so that you could wind it around his body. 

You were careful of the still-tender wound on his stomach, but didn’t shy away from trailing your fingertips over it, choosing to do exactly what Ezra had told you that he preferred you do and face his new condition head on. He already felt sorry enough for himself, he’d said, his eyes blazing with anger and shame, and he didn’t need you to pity him, too. 

You showed him that you didn’t as often as you could, your hands and mouth on him, your gaze never dropping, even when he was being difficult, your spoken promises aligning with your behavior. It was slow and it was hard, but as the cycles passed and both of you began to understand that Ezra was home, and that you were too happy about that to care about the parts of him that hadn’t made it back, it became easier. 

“Go back to sleep, Ezra. I just …” You swiped your thumb across his skin in a slow arc, smiling at the sound of your name as it reached your ears, his voice a little stronger than it had been only moments earlier. “I woke up, and I had to make sure that …” 

“What time is it?” He turned slowly, rolling onto his back and then turning his head toward you, clearing his throat. “How long have you -”

“Only a few minutes. And I don’t know. It’s got to be almost morning, but …”

“If it’s morning,” he began, carefully shifting his weight. “Then it means that today is my favorite day.” You sucked in a breath, unable to form words before Ezra continued. “Another rotation. Another trip around the suns. The anniversary of your creation, something that Kevva herself could not have -” 

You felt the tears leaking down your cheeks as he spoke, your hand reaching out again and sliding slowly up and down his side as you inched even closer, though you were mindful of what remained of his arm on the bed between you. “I’m so glad you’re home, Ezra.” 

You choked the words out, the tears coming harder. Somehow, he found you in the dark, his lips kissing the tear tracks on your cheeks before they retreated and then landed against yours briefly.

You tasted salt when you licked them, but didn’t get a chance to speak before you felt his hand on your cheek, the man’s palm warm and welcome, though his fingertips were rough as they circled over the space in front of your ear. “There aren’t adequate words to describe how glad I am to be home with you, Starlight. And that is on a regular day. Today?” He leaned in again, kissing you softly. “Today I have even fewer.” 

You gasped, fighting back another sob. 

That time, you didn’t hesitate to tighten your grip on him, your lips already parted when they met his. He kissed you hard, his fingers sliding over to curl around the back of your head. And when he deepened the kiss, tongue pushing past your lips to meet yours, it was him that reacted first, the man’s sigh turning into a groan. 

“Then show me, Ezra.” Kissing your way over his cheek and then taking his earlobe between your teeth, you tugged on it. “Don’t tell me, show me.” 

— 

[lieutenantfloyd]

When Duty Calls Part 2 | Cyclone x Reader

Word count: 1.6k

Summary: You arrive at The Hard Deck, a place that was once like a second home to you.

Warnings: mentions of anxiety, and Hangman being... Hangman.

Authors note: Life with a neurodivergent brain means I haven't updated this series since September but I managed to write this chapter in less than a day. Writers block be damned lol.

Read on AO3

It only took you twenty minutes to arrive at The Hard Deck, but another twenty minutes elapsed before you were able to convince yourself to open the car door.

You savor one last minute of air conditioning before willing yourself out of the car. Each crunch of sand under your shoes feels almost deafening but you push yourself forward, instead letting your eyes examine the scene in front of you. It’s early evening and a decent size crowd is occupying the parking lot while a slow moving but steady stream of people flow through the front door.

You join the back of the pack and slip your phone out from your back pocket. As luck would have it, your phone—unused since before you’d gotten in the shower—opens directly onto the text-that-shall-not-be-named. The panic inducing text bubbles have vanished and your initial message remains the last one sent between you both. Half of you is flooded with relief by the lack of response while the other half is more bothered by it than you’d ever care to admit.

You peer around the man in front of you, hoping to find a spot to slip through, but to no avail. From where you’re standing, you’re granted a perfectly framed view of The Hard Deck’s sun washed coastal siding against the blazing blue sky. It is a view that fills you with both comfort and nostalgia.

The nights you’d spent at this bar were among the few memories you let yourself get lost in. Quarters in the jukebox, the feeling of salt and sun making itself home on your skin, Clinking bottles and cans together after a job well done, the biting taste of whiskey on your tongue while venting frustrations. All things that drove you away, yet they kept you going when you needed it most.

Your spiraling thoughts barely register when you remember the phone still in your hands. You hurriedly lock the screen and slide the device back into your pocket. You far from expect anyone peering over your shoulder to piece together exactly who had left you on read, but your instincts tell you that you can’t be too careful. You’ve seen first hand how people here ensure that even the most baseless rumors spread quicker than wildfire. The last thing you need is to be pulled into an office and reprimanded before this mission even begins.

You were now second place from the entrance, so you capture the remaining moments and stomp out the last bit of anxiety left in your gut.

You cross the threshold in one quick step, your eyes already scanning the room and taking note of how many of the faces in this bar were completely unfamiliar. Whoever had sent the summoning text you’d received roughly two hours earlier chose to leave out who or what you should be looking for, so you instinctively set off towards the bar. ~ There wasn’t an empty barstool in sight, so you stay on your feet and shoulder your way through the rowdy servicemen until you can lean your elbows against bar top. Your chosen attire of light wash jeans and a brown tank top is nothing special, but your actions have earned more than a few glances, and you felt myself wanting to shrink under their eyes. You push your insecurities aside just in time to spot the woman you’re looking for.

“Penny!” you call out, raising your arm above your head in a lazy wave. She pivots instantly at the sound of her name and freezes briefly as her eyes land on you. A wave of memories—both wanted and not—wash over you in the time it takes her to abandon the towel and glass she’d been drying and pace over to you.

In a past life, you’d spent the majority of your free time helping out behind the bar or escorting Amelia and her friends around town. Penny was like a sister to you then, and both her and Amelia had been two of the hardest people to leave behind.

“Now that’s a face I didn’t expected to see at my bar again.” Penny says bluntly, but you can see the tell tale signs of a smile threatening to shine through.

“It’s good to see you too, pen.” You say with an easy smile.

“I assume you got called back too?” she asks. You give her a curt nod in response.

“Well then it seems like your friends got the party started without you.” She says while signaling towards the pool table on the far side of the bar.

“Friends is a strong word.” You say dryly.

“Well, in that case,“ She starts, only to pause and crouch down behind the bar. “Go easy on them.”

She finishes her sentence with a soft laugh and slides a can across the bar towards you. You wipe the ice and condensation off the rim and crack open the soda. The action is so familiar you don’t even give the can’s label a glance. You make sure to take a long, dramatic swig in the process.

“Thanks.” You say, tilting the can towards her while simultaneously breezing past her comment.

“I mean what I said. I obviously don’t know what’s ahead, but I get the sense that they don’t either. Hold your cards close to your chest around them.” She warns.

“Yes ma’am.” You affirm.

The area around you has cleared a bit which gives you some much appreciated breathing room. Over Penny’s shoulder you watch yet another man approach the bar, only this time it’s a face you’re anything but excited to recognize.

Of course Hangman would be back too.

You fight back the urge to grimace as he calls out to Penny, who quickly acknowledges him before turning back to you.

“Do you still have my number?” She asks.

“Always.” You answer, which earns me a soft smile from Penny.

“Good. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“That we do.” you agree, trying your best to mask any lingering unease about what the following weeks had in store.

You take your time circling the bar, and keep your eyes on Hangman as Penny serves him another beer. You have half a mind to ask him if he has any idea why we were all called back, but the thought dies the minute he makes an painful show of checking you out.

"Hangman." You say with the fakest smile you can manage.

“Just when I’d thought you were gone for good…” he says while dragging his gaze slowly up your body until he reaches your eyes.

“I knew you’d be bored without me.”

Jake laughs while you take a sip of soda and swallow down the anger building inside you.

“Aw, how considerate.”

“We can’t all be complete assholes, so…” You respond pointedly.

Hangman gears up in rebuttal just as Penny calls out your name and waves you back over. He turns to make his leave—and you’re almost shocked he’s accepting defeat—but the shock instantly becomes irritation when you both back away while throwing each other equally unkind hand gestures.

Turning towards Penny, you let her take your free hand in hers and give it a sisterly squeeze. An uncomfortable silence lies between you, and you can practically see the wheels of contemplation turning in her head.

“Have you… talked to him?” She queries in a low voice.

You don’t know what your face betrays, but hers instantly fills with a look of regret. You change your grip on the soda can, the chilled aluminum suddenly searing against your fingertips. You open your mouth to answer but can’t find the right words. Thankfully, she seems to take the silence as a hint.

“Well, I hope to see you both around more often.” She says quietly. Her words are simple and pleasant, but you can’t help but feel the urge to read deeper into them.

“Yeah, me too.” You breathe.

She squeezes your hand once more, and you all but cringe as the vulnerability in your words and voice rings loudly in your ears. After the unfortunate events of the last ten minutes, you’re quick to follow Hangman’s path towards the pool table. ~ You can feel eyes on you as you drop into one of the surrounding barstools, but make no effort of acknowledging them. The game plan you’d written earlier in the day flashes through your mind, and you know you don’t want to draw any more attention to yourself than necessary. You chose to sit and observe for a while before briefly catching up with old friends from your first time at Top Gun over a few rounds of pool. Soon after, you use the uncomfortably tense exchange between Hangman and Rooster as cover and slink onto the stool next to Phoenix’s new backseater.

You quickly learn that as quiet as he may be, the WSO—who’s stationed out in Lemoore and has the name and callsign Bob, according to your former wingman Natasha—Is more than happy to engage in a bit of gossip. Something which you’re happy to do as you watch the last several aviators file through the door.

It is only when you rise from your seat to refill Bob’s bucket of peanuts that you notice the awkward hush falling over the group. It wasn’t hard to decide that if the already heavy dose of tension was anything to go by, this mission—and the complete lack of details as to why any of you had been called back here in the first place—has everyone feeling shook up.

Bucket in hand, you skim the outskirts of the group. And quickly share a collective double take with Harvard, Yale, Omaha, and Fritz. You know the same question weighing heavy on your mind is doing the same to theirs. Yet before you can ask, the sound of Phoenix’s voice commands everyone’s attention and breathes life into one of the many questions you are all dying to ask.

“Everyone here is the best there is. So who the hell are they going to get to teach us?”

Taglist: @katesmadness @natasharomanoffisbaebby @nobody7102 @idiomaticpunk @thebeckyjolene @paintballkid711 @barbiewritesstuff @bbooks-and-teas @starshipfantasy @saramaple @marchingicenotes7 @bayisdying @princessofglitterland @katesmadness @shakira-sasha @xoxabs88xox @nyx2021 @qardasngan @fanboyluvr @bellamy1998 @alexxavicry @madamemelancholysstuff @autumnleaves1991-reads @dozcan123 @noxytopy @accio-boys @the-winter-marvel33 @justameresimp @abaker74 @starlightmoon2020 @comfortzonequeen, @flrboyd @heyitskay-21 @kmc1989 @kkrenae

[marksbear]

Yooo mark. It was pretty fun. I was in cabo for a week so I was just relaxing. And in general my body was just messed up could be allergies but just kept sneezing so could be that. And I found it. Just doesn't pop up when I scroll through your account but just the little recommendations when you finish a fic all the way on the bottom. Kinda weird. But I have a idea for another sub prince steven. So I remember at the bottom of the 2nd fic reader says fucking on the throne. You get where am coming from right. So I was thinking that they take the thrones to go get cleaned and fixed up. And reader and steven are exploring the castle together and they find it in a empty room all fixed up. So reader sits down and starts pretending to act like he is king already. And Steven is standing in front of him saying all the things will happen once they become officially king and king. But then reader gets a idea and start commending steven to take off his clothes slowly and start dancing in front of him. Then once he did that reader says to suck him off so steven can ride him on the throne. And while steven is sucking him off leads to him humping readers foot and then rides reader and reader says how he can't believe how his fiancé is acting and how slutty he is acting for his lover. -50%🐻‍❄️

SUB PRINCE STEVEN GRANT X DOM PRINCE READER

"Oh lords above..." One of the maids breathes out as she looks at the condition of the old thrones.

Groups of maids and guards were inside an old throne room looking at the two thrones that needs to be cleaned and fixed for the upcoming crowning of prince L/n.

"These are the thrones your father requested my lord." A guard says turning around looking at the prince not even questioning why the moon prince was so close to him.

The prince of the sun nodded his head before saying "Yes indeed. Sadly though I wished to have a new one a fresh start."

"My prince, you of all people should know that your father wants to keep every royal piece alongside its memories. And it gives you luck and courage from all the kings who sat on that very throne." The guard says turning back around to the throne taking his attention off the prince.

The son prince turns his head to his secret lover Steven rolling his eyes at the lecture as the moon prince giggles.

"I guess you're right. What about my mothers old throne? Will it grant my future king good luck?" Y/n asks nudging his arm against Steven's.

"That throne will grace him with all the knowledge, consideration and loyalty. The former queens and kings shall be looking down upon you both guiding. The same guard answers causing a smile smile to crawl onto Steven's lips.

The prince of the son leans into his lover kissing him deeply as soon as eyes are off of them. Steven jerks back from surprise but nonetheless a smile still on his face.

The kiss caught Steven so off guard, but he shared the kiss back on the corner of Y/n's lips.

"We shall work on this all day your highness, so it would be about done in noon or so." A different guard says as him and a few other's pick up the throne.

"Very well then. Me and my fiancé shall be leaving you all be." Y/n says taking Steven's arm leaving the room as the servants in the room bow their heads bye.

TIMESKIP

"How can you live with everything being so hot and bright?" Steven questions as him and Y/n walk around the kingdom hand in hand.

Y/n giggles at the question and looks to the side looking Steven in the eye.

"Well, just like animals the royal bloodline and its people adapt to the blazing heat. As well as the bright colors our eyes adapt to that as well." Y/n answers before adding.

"But I wish in the future since both our kingdoms would be at peace and rule a conjoined kingdom together us and our people would enjoy warm and cool weather." Y/n smiles as he moves his hands on Steven's waist pulling him in.

"You always like to think about us in the future..." Steven says as he looks up into Y/n's warm eyes. Y/n closes the distance between them kissing Steven passionately. Steven quickly melts into the kiss wrapping his arms around Y/n's shoulders.

The two princes stay like that for a while in each other's arms swapping kisses back and forth until they need to breathe. Y/n pulls away from the kiss, but he rests his forehead against Steven's.

Sharing one more quick kiss the two princes pull away from each other standing in front of the other with so much need.

"Lets keep moving before we end up fucking in this hallway." Y/n breathes out as Steven lets out a giggle nodding his head in agreement. Steven hooks his arm with Y/n as they continue exploring together.

TIMESKIP

"Is there a room you haven't been in already?" Steven asks teasingly as Y/n opens a new door.

"Ahh- This one." Y/n walks inside pulling Steven inside with him. Steven closes the door behind both of them before looking around the rooms.

"How come the throne is in here?" Steven questions looking at the fixed up king throne.

"My father likes to surprise me. Even though he fails miserably every time. So he changes the location of the thrones to surprise me." Y/n answers already used by his father antics.

Y/n walks up the throne sitting down on it spreading his legs like all the kings have done. "Your king before you had summoned you I order you to come closer." Y/n says as Steven quickly follows his wish.

"Don't you know how to greet your king?" Y/n questions.

Steven bows his head as he moves his arms to his back. Y/n smiles before raising his hand up signaling Steven to ease.

"What business do you have to tell me?" "That we'll win wars side by side once we both become king and king. That both our people would be throwing festivals for weeks in honor of us." Steven says with a smile.

"That we can do anything without people stopping us. And even if they dare to say something I know my king would have their head for it in a heartbeat" Steven adds watching Y/n bite back a smile.

"We'll be the strongest and smartest nations in the land. And that we will be having the best heir of all time." Steven adds.

With that Steven bows his head signalling to Y/n that hes done.

"Strip for your king." Y/n commands. Steven looks into Y/n's dominant eyes, so he knew that Y/n was serious. Steven worked his hands to his vest taking it off drooping it onto the floor, before his hands went up to his shirt uniting the laces to it before slowly moving his hands down to the hem of the shirt pulling it up from his body.

Steven sways his body around dancing suggestively as he takes off his shirt. Once the shirt is gone he moves his hands down to the band of his pants unbuttoning them and taking them off slowly.

As Steven took off his pants the boner inside his underwear stuck out. Steven could feel Y/n's hard eyes staring at his clothed cock as he finished taking off his pants. Steven swayed his hips around showing off what he had.

Moving his hands to the band of his underwear he slowly pulls them down letting his hard cock fly free.

Stepping out of his underwear Steven stands in front of Y/n fully naked.

"Suck me off." Y/n says his next order. Without hesitation Steven kneels down in between Y/n's legs hands already working on his pants unbuckling them and pulling them down.

Steven pulls Y/n's pants and underwear down only to the point that Y/n's full cock is out. Steven looks up at Y/n for permission.

"Have at." Those simple words Y/n spoke made Steven's body burst with energy and pleasure. Steven pressed a soft kiss to the tip of Y/n's cock before leaving trails of kisses down on it.

After Steven decides that it was enough kisses Steven went back up to the tip of Y/n's cock giving the tip a long lick. Swirling his tongue around Y/n's cock before taking the tip inside his mouth sucking onto it.

Moving his head up and down on Y/n's tip he looks up into Y/n's eyes.

Bobbing his head down he takes more length into his mouth. Y/n moved one of his hands off the arm rest moving it on top of Steven's head caressing his hair. Pushing down on Steven's head Steven deep throats Y/n's cock choking and gagging onto it. Steven looks up into Y/n with tears falling from his eyes.

Without even knowing Steven's body takes control as he humps his cock onto Y/n's foot. Y/n pulls Steven head off his cock letting him catch his breath.

A trail of spit followed Steven's lips to Y/n's spit covered cock. Steven began to rut his hips into Y/n's foot faster.

Taking his cock back inside his mouth Steven bobs his head up and down on his length choking on Y/n's cock. Steven moaned around Y/n's cock as he moved his hands to Y/n's leg holding onto it tightly.

Steven could feel Y/n's cock twitch inside him, so he began to lick around Y/n's cock. The grip on Steven's hair grew tighter as Y/n felt his orgasm nearing.

Soon Y/n started to thrust into Steven's mouth as he held Steven down on his cock. Steven's law hanged open as Y/n fucked his mouth.

Moans started to fall from Y/n's lips as he feels the knot in his stomach tighten.

"I'm close! Fuck!~ I'm about to cum." Y/n warns as he moved Steven's head up and down on his cock.

The hold on Steven's hair loosened as Y/n came deep inside Steven's cock. Steven began to choke and gag, but still tried to swallow as much as he could. Steven's own cock ached and twitched as he held back his orgasm.

Y/n pulled Steven's head off his cock as his mouth hung open. As Y/n calmed down from his orgasm he tapped his knee signalling Steven to climb up on him. Steven quickly climbs on Y/n's lap. Y/n used fingers to spread open Steven's hole. Y/n used his other hand to take his cock aiming his cock to Steven's entrance.

Y/n slowly pushed the tip inside before pulling both his hands away laying them back down on the arm rest. Steven held onto both sides of Y/n's shoulders as he moved into Y/n's lap straddling him.

Steven rolled his hips back and forth on the tip of Y/n's cock as he lets out moans.

Sinking down Y/n's cock Steven held onto his breath as he threw his head back from the length inside him. Once Steven was on the base of Y/n's cock he sat there grinding his hips back and forth.

"Can I please kiss you my king?~" Steven questions with a moan escaping his lips.

Y/n nods his head yes before Steven kisses him messily. Steven's hands ran up from Y/n's shoulders holding onto Y/n's cheeks as they makeout. Steven began to litter kisses everywhere on Y/n's face before moving his tongue exploring Y/n's mouth with Y/n's own tongue doing the same. Y/n opened his mouth to speak, but from Steven's eagerness Steven's tongue stayed inside Y/n's exploring every inch.

Steven finally pulls away from the makeout session they just had looking at the mess he made.

"Next time you deiced to kiss me like that make sure your wearing lipstick.~" Y/n teases with a smirk. Steven nods his head yes even though his thoughts is clouded by lust and pleasure.

Steven began to raise up his hips before dropping them back down riding Y/n's cock slowly. Picking up speed Steven bounced up and down on Y/n's cock as he moved his hands back to his shoulders.

"I can't believe it~ My fiancé is acting like this. " Y/n teases as Steven rides his cock.

Steven pulls his hips almost all the way out only the tip staying inside him before slamming back down on Y/n's cock repeatedly over and over again. Y/n began to thrust up into Steven meeting him halfway every time he thrust.

Steven's mouth hung open as loud moans and cries escapes his mouth.

Steven tried to speak, but every time he tried his words didn't form only becoming moans and whimpers.

"Poor boy~ Your king's cock made you so stupid that you can't even think straight." Y/n degrades from Steven failed tries to speak.

Steven started to ride Y/n faster holding onto Y/n's shoulders clawing on the fabric and ripping through some pieces. Y/n deiced to help Steven by moving his hands on Steven's hips pulling him up and down on his cock.

"No one would believe me if I tell them that the youngest moon prince is a slut for his fiancé. How much of a slut he is following every order that his lover gives them." Y/n says as he abuses his hole with his cock.

"Don't you have an event that you and your family are attending today? The common folk would create rumors and question why the prince is walking with a limp." Y/n teases imagining what would happen.

With everything Y/n was saying Steven wanted to cum so bad. But he wanted to hear Y/n to tell him to. No he wanted Y/n to command him.

"I order you to cum with me. We are gonna cum together." Y/n tells him as he fucked Steven deeper with his cock abusing his prostate.

Steven nodded his head yes as he moaned out loudly. With a few more thrust Y/n came inside Steven painting his walls white. Steven lets out loud moans and whimpers as he cums hard right after he feels Y/n's cum inside him.

Steven bounces on Y/n's cock harder as he rides out his orgasm as he dirties Y/n's clothes with cum. From the intense orgasm Steven body collapses down on Y/n holding him with his legs and arms shaking.

Y/n buries his cum deep inside Steven as he calms down from his orgasm.

"Good job slut... You did so well for me. Thank you for waiting for my orders." Y/n praises as he presses soft kisses on Steven's cheeks.

Y/n pulls his cock out and lays Steven down on the throne replacing where he was just sitting. Y/n stands in front of Steven looking at the cum leaking out of his hole and leaking onto the throne.

Y/n takes off his jacket and shirt before using his jacket to clean Steven off as well as the throne. Y/n pulled his own shirt on Steven making it look big on him.

"My shirt's a bit oversized on you, but it's alright." Y/n says before taking his jacket and Steven's other clothes off the floor.

"I doubt you want to put your pants and underwear back on. It will be uncomfortable to wear especially after what just happened. Thankfully my shirt covers all your private parts." Y/n says before hooking Steven's arm over his shoulder raising him up from his feet.

"Wha- what about you? You're shirtless." Steven says staring shamelessly at Y/n's chest.

"No one would bat an eye. Remember your question from earlier? It's always hot so no one would look at me wondering why i'm shirtless. Plus I can simply have their heads for looking at me the wrong way." Y/n answers before holding Steven by the hip leaving the room.

Luckily the hallway was empty.

"We are going to my chambers. So the only people who would see us are my personal knights and maids." Y/n says before walking holding Steven tight.

And Y/n was right it was only knights and maids that were out. None paid close attention only some gazes.

Once the two reached Y/n's room Y/n opened the door walking inside with Steven not even caring that his personal maid was inside the room cleaning.

"Blue bell? Would you please get the carriage ready for me and my fiancé. He has an event to attend in the cloud kingdom that I wish to accompany him in." Y/n asks his favorite maid.

She nods her head yes and rolls her eyes before leaving.

Once she left Y/n laid Steven down on the bed. "I hope you don't think I was done. As soon we step inside that carriage i'm fucking you again." Y/n says before stepping away looking inside his extra closet clothes fulled with Steven's.

"Can't wait to see how long you will be quiet in that carriage." y/n teases.

THE END

[leftnotright]

A TEXTBOOK EDUCATION

"This will be a skill-building experience. You've had it too easy. You've had your Family name to back you, and your Right Hand at your every call. It's time you learn to carry yourself, to build from the ground up." Dino Cavallone, the Cavallone Don, fresh out of high school.

Reborn, the deadliest hitman of the modern era, has a special kind of torture up his sleeve for his dear struggling student. Dino will have to see how well he handles alienation, isolation, and worst of all, class participation. “Now, go on, my useless student Dino. Let’s continue your education.” (Or: Reborn sends Dino to Australia. It goes better than he could have ever hoped.)

Parings: N/A Characters: Dino (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Vic Hunt (OC - Original Character), Reborn (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Romario (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)Cavallone Famiglia, Enzo (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Original Characters Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, University, Pre-Canon, Financial Issues, Fluff And Angst

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

CHAPTER 4: AND THEY COME UNSTUCK

The TV - ‘’tele’ as they called it - was playing the morning news on channel 7. Dino had been listening to it since he had rolled out of bed, too sweaty and stressed to get any decent sleep. Fittingly, the news show was called ‘Sunrise’ and Dino had been watching since then, listening to the news and how they spoke about everything. 

There is a fire - ‘bushfire’ - in Penrith, firefighters were trying to keep it under control. Up in New Castle, there was a surfing event. Parliament was discussing the pensioner retirement age. Fundraisers were being held at multiple Bunnings for the NSW Regional Firefighting Service after a particularly bad fire season.

“I think I might pop down for a sausage sizzle,” the blond woman chimed in after the segment, “Been a while since I’ve had one’a those.”

“One’a those,” Dino echoed absently as he moved his pen along a line of text.

Calendar reminder: EDST1001 LECTURE 11:30AM

Dino paused his ledgers and looked at his phone as it beeped on the table. He had spent the whole morning pouring over the few documents he had left from the Cavallone offices, trying to quell that anxiety that bubbled in his stomach and made sleep hard. He only had a few documents left, most of them were copies of the original documents back at the Cavallone. Receipts, mostly, and barters for the last bits of furniture and assets the Cavallone could afford to sell off. 

Everything, spare what was bolted down or irreplaceable, had been sold already. It had left the halls of his home barren. Gone were the antique paintings, gilded statues and handwoven carpets. And gone was much of the Cavallone’s prestige with it. 

A Family selling off their history. 

He sighed and rubbed his nape, free of sweat for the first time since he had landed in this ‘sunburnt land’. That air conditioning truly was his saviour.

Calendar reminder: Meet Vic U-Bar Courtyard 3PM

Dino blinked. Then he gave a sharp heave of panic as he remembered that, yes, he had indeed promised to meet up with Vic today.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, he was just meeting a friend it was going to be okay he didn’t need to panic like this it was just his only peer friend in years and he wasn’t going to screw this up he promised-

Enzo snapped at Dino’s toe and make him jump out of his minor mental breakdown. 

“Ow!” Dino yelped and yanked his foot away from the turtle. “I’ll go to the grocer’s today, so stop!”

Enzo wheezed at him accusingly before slowly turning and began the long plod to his newly found sunbathing patch. 

Dino frowned at Enzo’s back while cradling his toe until his phone buzzed again, warning him he only had an hour until his lecture. He grappled with his drawers and pulled on his most civilian of clothes, feeling blessedly comfortable in a white shirt and cargo shorts.

One thing Dino loved about university was the lack of uniforms. He didn’t think he’d survive this heat with the blazer, vest and tie he wore in high school. He had barely survived yesterday in that suit-

Dino clapped his hands loudly as if to scare off that memory and the incredulous looks of his classmates. He hadn’t had time to change for his Econ class either, but without a tutorial, he had managed to hide in the back rows of his lecture’s amphitheatre without drawing too much attention.

But he had learnt his lesson: No mafia suits in civilian classes.

Dino rubbed his stomach absently as he made his way back to the living room. He hadn’t been eating well since coming to Australia. Hell, the largest meal he had so far was that KFC with Vic and, as she said, it had enough salt to season the sea. He really needed to go to a grocer.

He hated to admit it, but he was procrastinating going to that ‘Woolies’ Vic had mentioned before. He didn’t feel confident in his English enough to go alone, and Dino had - well, he had never bought something in person before. Everything was done by middlemen, through order or pre-emptively in bulk. He’d never bought a carrot before! Could you buy a single carrot? Or did they only come in 20-kilogram packages? Dino didn’t know what he’d do with 20 kilograms of carrots!

Dino filled up a cup with water and took a long drink to calm his nerves before he thought himself into yet another panic attack on this fine, totally normal morning. He took his pills and proceeded to drink another glass of water to fill his stomach until lunch. 

Dino checked the clock on the wall and quickly shoved the last of his schoolwork into his briefcase. He needed a more civilian bag damn it, he stood out too much with this thing since it was from his high school days.

White tee-shirt, cargo shorts, joggers and a briefcase. What a sight Dino must be.

Before Dino walked out the door, his anxiety beckoned him to apply another layer of antiperspirant deodorant. Sweating so much yesterday had kind of traumatised him. He needed to figure out how to clean his suit.

Enzo wheezed when Dino picked him up off the floor but slid into the cargo short’s thigh pocket without fuss. For good measure, Dino tossed a few of his pellets in too before pressing the velcro shut. 

The trees of Wally’s Walk did little to block the swelter of midday Summer, and Dino pulled at his collar to air out his shirt. He checked his phone again to find his classroom, Building 27, the Lotus Theatre. 

“Fancy,” Dino muttered to himself and moved towards the cul-de-sac end of the Walk. 

There was a crowd of students loitering outside building 27, and Dino was quick to join them, standing off to the side to allow the traffic to flow between. He let his eyes scan the crowd, feeling much more at ease with how he blended in. No one was staring this time. Excellent. 

Dino pulled his briefcase closer and pulled out his phone, content to just scroll on the news apps for the next fifteen minutes or so. He was halfway through an article about something called the Powerhouse Museum of Science being moved to a Parramatta location when he felt eyes on him.

Carefully, Dino flicked his eyes to the side, using his peripherals to see who was watching him so intently. If they were a hitman, they were doing one hell of a bad job. What kind of assassin allowed their presence to be so obvious- Oh .

He lifted his head and waved, smiling with a sheepish relief. Vic stood at the edge of the crowd, and came over when she was acknowledged.

Reborn must really have done a number on him. 

“Oh hello,” Vic hummed as she came to a stop next to him, and Dino didn’t miss the quick once-over she gave him with her eyes. “I see we’re going casual this time.”

“Please don’t talk about yesterday,” Dino withered and Vic let out a laugh.

“Kay, got it,” she assured and shifted her weight again. “So we’ve got the same class again today, huh? EDST101?”

“Yeah, I’m happy we are together again,” Dino smiled, putting his phone away to pay full attention to Vic. “What time is your tutorial? Are we together as well?”

“I’m in the 2 o’clock group.”

“Ah, we are not. I am the 1 o’clock group.”

“Fuck,” Vic sighed forlornly and crossed her arms.

Dino tilted his head when he noticed she was wearing another faded band tee, adorning the same logo and name as the last one with a different design. Maybe it was her favourite band? It was a talking point!

“What, uh, song, is that?” Dino asked, pointing to Vic’s shirt.

“Song? Oh,” Vic looked down at her shirt and opened her arms to show the logo splashed across her chest, Smoking Cucumbers. “It’s my cousin’s heavy metal anarchist band. Don’t really know how the anarchist plays into it, but he insists it does. Gives me a shirt for New Years nearly every year.”

“That’s nice of him,” Dino uttered, “Are they good?”

Vic made a noise and rocked her head from side to side, looking off into the distance as she visibly thought about it. 

“Varying quality,” she decided to say.

“I see,” Dino chuckled, then he shifted his weight and reached for the next topic. “Do you have a large family?”

Family, that was a familiar topic. Dino could talk about Family easy! 

“Nah, not really, I’ve only got a brother. But the cousins add up, you know?” She shrugged, “I’ve got like, uh, six cousins from my dad’s side. The youngest is nearly seven months old, I’m going to meet him during semester break.”

Dino smiled as Vic fished around to show a picture from her phone. A child, cute as a button, was cradled in the centre of a mass of pillows, arms and legs askew like it had fallen asleep mid-crawl attempt.

“Ant’s so adorable. He looks like a fucking blobfish,” she cooed and Dino couldn’t help the snort of startled laughter. “What about you? What’s your family like?”

“My Family is large. The house is always busy,” Dino started, recalling all the faces he was so used to waking up to every morning. Oh, he missed those faces. “I have no siblings, but many uncles and brothers.”

Vic blinked at that and Dino smiled sheepishly, wondering if he had misspoken somewhere. She didn’t interrupt, however, so Dino continued. Talking about his Family was cathartic, and made the overbearing sun, innumerable people and unfamiliar terrain, all seem less horrible for a moment.

“Romario looks after me well. I am sure he is the reason I survived so long.” Not that Reborn didn’t try to stop that, with all those bombs and bullets. “My father introduced him to me when I was young, we have been together since.”

He remembered that day, so many years ago. He had clutched the ends of his coat and fought to stand still, surrounded by five of his father’s Guardians as they stood at attendance for the Don’s return. His father arrived with a teen trailing behind him, scuffed up and covered in grass seeds and dust like he had crawled out from the barley fields that surrounded the Cavallone estate. 

“Brutus means well, but he is, uh, a bad influence,” Dino chuckled, recalling how Brutus had ridden a mattress down the spiral staircase and broke through the railing. “He has been with us for a few years now. Growing tall. Too tall.”

That last comment was said with its fair share of bitterness. Brutus liked to use Dino as an armrest in casual settings these days. No respect!

Vic smiled as he grumbled at the memory, another one of her snorted laughs bursting forward.  

“Are you the youngest, or..?”

Dino frowned more, “Brutus is the youngest. Everyone is upset.”

Vic wheezed a laugh and pocketed her phone before rocking back on her heels and asked, “Anyone else of note?”

“Too many,” Dino hummed softly, “I hope to see them soon.” Then he winced and let out a weak laugh, “Ah, but I am sure they will make me pay back all my missed turns in stable work.”

Vic blinked and then squinted a bit, like she was trying to piece together what he had said. Dino watched her for a moment before it dawned on him: Vic didn’t know about the Cavallone Family’s main stock.

“My family breed horses. I will be missing my turns to help in the horse stables. We rotate.”

Vic’s face twitched, then she snorted out, “So, you’re like an equestrian?”

“Uh, I was part of my high school’s equestrian club, yes?” 

The girl sighed through her nose and reached up to massage her forehead as she muttered out, “My God, he’s a horse girl too.”

“Horse girl?” Dino echoed.

“Have you ever watched something called The Saddle Club?”

Dino shook his head and Vic made a dismissing wave of her hand, before turning her head as the crowd began to move, a slow and steady flow of students pouring into the amphitheatre. 

“Time to move,” she uttered and the two of them wriggled their way through the mass of sweaty students. 

Dino winced as a girl's tote bag poked into his arm, and then nearly fumbled his walk as the first step of an incline surprised him. He wheezed and gave a sheepish smile as someone in the crowd gave him a withering glance.

Vic chose somewhere to sit and Dino trailed after her, eager to get out of the river of slow-moving bodies that shuffled along unsurely. They pulled their chair seats down and spent a good few seconds fighting with their flip-up desks before settling down.

“Wow, yours is a bit fucked,” Vic commented as she looked to the hazardous angle Dino’s laptop was teetering on, no doubt only held there by the non-slip pads. 

“It’s…a bit weak. But it will hold,” Dino agreed feebly, trying to realign his desk.

“Nah, nah, mate, not with your luck. Move before that thing snaps.”

Dino fiddled with his desk for a moment longer before making the short shuffle to Vic’s other side. It felt disconcerting, to be stuck in the aisle now. Vic was blocking an easy exit, whether she intended to or not. Dino could feel that anxiety all the way in the bottom of his feet.

Someone behind Dino coughed loudly, before they gathered their stuff and moved a few seats away, still clearing their throat. Dino noticed Vic watch them out of the corner of her eye, a vague grimace on her face.

“But hey,” she uttered suddenly before Dino could ask what the issue was, turning back to idly click around on her laptop to get an empty Word document up for notes. “This way, you’re less likely to get called on for audience participation!”

Dino blinked, then he gave a relieved smile and rested back into his seat. 

“Yeah, that’s…That’s a good point.”

“Yeah, but fuck we’ve still gotta talk during the tutorials. We’ve gotta talk at least once per session to get that twenty percent.”

Dino dropped his head back with a groan. 

Before either of them could say much more, however, the large screens at the front of the amphitheatre lit up with the introduction slide of a powerpoint and a woman took centre stage. The lecture rolled on with the same amount of ease as the others, just another orientation lesson to get the students used to their first week in university and what would be expected of them in the coming weeks. Dino was starting to get more confident with his English comprehension, since a lot of the classes were repeating similar content and using the same phrases.

They were maybe half an hour in, Dino centring all his focus on breaking down the word ‘pedagogy’ when he heard, in the softest and most bamboozled voice possible: “Dino, is that a fucking turtle in your pocket?” 

Dino’s head snapped around and then looked down to see Enzo’s little head peering out from under the flap of his pant pocket, beady eyes peering back at Vic. Dino wheezed and shoved the flap down, trying to cover up Enzo from prying eyes. 

“Uuh,” Dino uh-ed.

“Dino, why is there a turtle in your pocket?” Vic asked again.

Dino fumbled for an answer, before he just shrugged and said, “Well, I, I couldn’t leave him at home alone.”

“But to a lecture?”

“Hey, could you two stop? It’s really distracting.” A young man sitting ahead of them grumbled and Vic quickly tossed out an apology.

Enzo let out a wheeze and wriggled his way to freedom again, head poking out into the fresh air of the air-conditioned amphitheatre. Dino rushed to hide Enzo again, but Vic quickly bent at the waist and cooed in delight.

“No wait, lemme see the baby,” she whispered and pushed the flap away to get a good look at the small tortoise that squinted back at her. “Oh, hello little man!”

Dino watched as Vic reached out and gently pet Enzo’s head with her pointer, grinning like some kind of loon as she did. He thinned his lips in a moment of thought, before Dino reached into his other pocket and produced a small handful of pellets.

“Do you,” he began slowly, unsure but hopeful. “Do you want to feed Enzo, Vic?”

Vic looked up at Dino and utterly beamed. 

Dino kept that in mind: Vic likes feeding Enzo. Good, good, he had a way to socialise now. Enzo truly was the best wingman. 

Dino smiled down at Enzo who was quietly crunching on his pellets. The little turtle squinted up at him. 

  ☁ ☁ ☁

Vic Hunt Class done

Vic Hunt Do you still have Enzo?

Dino Cav Yes

Vic Hunt On my way!!

Dino snorted into his hand and sent a quick laughing emoticon in response. He had already chosen a table for them to sit at for their meeting, a shaded table outside one of the courtyard’s student cafes, off to the side and more isolated than the others. It was most likely for studying, Dino liked the privacy. 

Enzo sat snugly in his pocket happily fed after all those snacks from Vic during their lecture. Dino smiled to himself and patted his pocket, feeling that hard shell. The most secure weight.

“Show me the baby,” Vic demanded as she rounded the corner and dropped herself in the chair across from Dino. 

Not even a hello? Dino couldn’t blame her though, no one could resist Enzo. Spoilt rotten that little turtle was. 

Dino huffed and glanced around, before sliding Enzo out of his pocket and onto the table between them. He stretched his arm out on the exposed side of the table, covering Enzo up just in case.

Immediately, Vic dropped down to Enzo’s height and started cooing, murmuring unintelligible little noises at the turtle. She grinned and giggled as she watched Enzo plod about the table, quietly exploring the area with his usual squint of suspicion. 

“Look at his little feets!” Vic nearly gasped and Dino couldn’t help the snort of laughter. “Oh shut it, Dino. All that talk of horses, why didn’t you mention the turtle in your pocket! ”

“I don’t know… Enzo didn’t come to mind?” Dino offered unsurely. He hadn’t meant to not mention Enzo, it was just that Enzo was such a constant for Dino that he honestly didn’t realise that someone wouldn’t know about Enzo at this point. 

“How did you even get the allowance to bring him?”

…Allowance? Dino blinked. He didn’t know anything about an allowance.

The silence stretched on until finally, Vic looked up, a smile creeping onto her face. 

“Dino, did you smuggle your turtle into the village?” She asked.

Dino thinned his lips before he slowly murmured, “No one told me I couldn’t .” Vic grinned then, something vicious and joyful with so many teeth. “That is to say,” Dino continued, trying to explain himself for breaching university rules. “I need Enzo. I go nowhere without him. I need him.”

Vic let out a soft hum of acknowledgement, before giving a shrug and leant back in her chair. 

“Hey, no skin off my back. It’s not like lil’ Enzo here’s gonna damage the room for the next student. Not like some dog or cat.”

Dino relaxed a bit when she said that, a tension in his shoulders seeping out. Dino admitted it, he hadn’t met many civilians in his time. Most of his social circle consisted of Mafia and their middlemen, the people he knew were utterly steeped in the criminal underworld. 

Maybe it was his naivete getting the better of him, an opinion from childhood he had never had the chance to rectify -- Dino thought of civilians as a rather pure existence. Morally right, law-abiding citizens of the world to counterbalance the presence of the Mafia. 

Dino had broken university policy. A horrified little part of him was sure that Vic would be appalled by his blatant disregard for the established order-

Dino let a long breath out through his nose, slow and steady. It was fine, though. Vic didn’t care. The rules weren’t so cut and dry in the civilian world. Within limitations, of course. 

Vic shifted in her seat, and pulled her computer up onto the table just aside of Enzo. She booped him on the nose for good measure, unaware of the stress Dino had gone through. 

“Anyway, I did a bit of work last night and I think I know what I’m going to be talking about.” She said, and opened a tab to start scribing ideas. “But I kinda wanna talk about your activity. The resources one.”

Dino tried his best to join the discussion as the two began to finally dig into their assessment. Vic scrolled through her document and showed Dino what she had scraped together the night before, which was honestly an obscene amount.

“Uniforms?” Dino asked, seeing how the word was bolded as a heading.

“Yeah, in Australia uniforms are mandatory for Primary and High schools,” Vic explained, “It’s to more of less, stop students from seeing the difference in status. Like if one kid came in fucking Gucci, and another comes in second-hand Kmart. Uniforms stop that shit.”

Dino hummed and thought back to his school, they had worn uniforms too. And they were right, you couldn’t really tell who was from a better Family -- if you were using clothes as a tell. Posture, presence and poise. Those all could tell just how large a gap there was between Families. And the Dons who led them.

Vic continued to scroll to her next point, and Dino scooped Enzo into his hands, thumbing at the edge of his shell to try and soothe himself. 

“I’ve also got ‘homework assistance’ and tutoring.”

Dino’s eyes snapped up from Enzo at the word. ‘Tutor’. God, that sent chills to his very core. 

“People with money can afford to send their kids to better schools, and can afford to support their kids with, ya know, tutoring. Basically, the better off the parents, the better off the kids.”

Dino thinned his lips. It was true, Dino had no doubt that the smaller Families wouldn’t have been even able to dream of having the Reborn as a live-in tutor. He didn’t even want to think about how much of the Cavallone funds must have gone into the little devil-man’s pockets just so he could torture Dino day in and day out for the past year. 

“We got this yesterday,” Dino muttered quietly, almost unwittingly.

Dino could see why Vic wanted to be a teacher, she obviously felt strongly about the imbalances in the education system. Direct action, it seemed very up her alley.

Vic blinked, and then she shrank back in her chair a bit. She gave a huffed little smile and shrugged, sheepishly and kind of drowsy.

“But yeah, that’s just my idea for my part,” she said idly, “And I think it’ll segway nicely into your activity. So, uh, how’re you going with your intro?”

Dino winced, “I have not, ah, started it yet.” Gosh, Vic had already produced all of this and Dino hadn’t even looked over the assessment properly yet. Dino traced the pattern in Enzo’s shell. “English, is, uh, not my strong skill.” 

Vic made a short noise of understanding on the back of her throat, before she gave her own work a look-ver as if to see it in a new light.

“I will have to begin in Italian, and move to English,” Dino said slowly, and Vic waved her hand at him.

“Hey, whatever floats your boat and gets the job done. Do what makes you comfy,” she shifted on her seat and tugged on the end of her shorts before uttering off-handedly, “And, ya know, if you need help, I can lend a hand with those dickish words like ‘pedagogy’ and shit.”

 Vic pointedly looked away from Dino as she said this, eyes fixed on her document that she scrolled through to give her hands something to do. 

Dino blinked, then quickly said, “I don’t want to be a bother!”

“Nah, no, it’s ‘right,” Vic insisted lazily, and took a drink from her thermos. 

Dino could hear ice rattling around inside. God, that was a good idea.

Vic and Dino leant across the table to look at Vic’s computer screen, organising a file for the project. Vic pulled up a powerpoint and wrote ‘SOCIAL CLASS IN EDUCATION by Dino, Jessica and Vic’.  

“Great, that’s enough work. I think we’re due a break,” Vic said and closed her computer.

Dino decided not to point out the fact that they had only been ‘working’ for a total of maybe 10 minutes, and that the most progress had been naming and sharing the group slideshow. 

“Okay,” Vic said suddenly, breaking Dino out of his thoughts as she stood up. “I’mma go get some lunch. You coming?”

Dino grabbed Enzo up off the table and stuffed him into his pocket. Vic stared with wide eyes before she glanced between the pocket and Dino’s face and asked, “Is he, uh, always in there?”

“Usually, I keep Enzo in a breast pocket,” he answered, before patting his chest and added, “Over the heart.”

Enzo’s shell was practically indestructible. Nothing short of Reborn’s Chaos Shots could pierce it. 

“Aw, that’s fuckin’ sweet,” Vic chortled.

By the time Dino and Vic sat down again, they were balancing their chosen meals in their hands. Dino carefully slid his salad and chips plate onto the table, and watched Vic quickly slurp some of the excess butter chicken gravy from the edge of her plate before doing the same. Vic wasted no time in drumming the tabletop with her hands until Dino ‘produced the goods’.

Enzo immediately stole a whole leaf of lettuce from Dino’s salad.  

“ Smettila, Enzo! ” Dino scolded but didn’t try to take the leaf away from the happily munching turtle. 

Vic smiled at the little turtle before using the handle end of her fork to tap on the side of the bottle of water Dino had bought. It was wet with perspiration and creating a puddle on the table with every jolting tap; just as shiny as Dino was.

“Drink, mate, you’re sweating buckets,” Vic urged with a frown. 

She was right. Dino wiped his chin with his arm and grimaced as sweat just smeared on both sides. Dino was as shiny as a newly minted coin, and the back of his shirt clung to his spine, two shades darker than the rest of it. He made an expression of great sensory discomfort as he sat forward to try and peel it off. Australian heat was very different to the Sicilian summers Dino was used to.

“Yes,” Dino murmured and took a sip from his bottle. By the time he put it back down, more than half was gone. 

“You gotta be sun-safe, or I’ll slip-slop-slap a bitch,” Vic warned. Dino stared at Vic for a long moment, before the girl reeled back a bit and asked, “Wait, you know about the slip-slop-slap sun thing yeah? Or is- wait, fuck of course that’s an Aussie thing.” 

Dino smiled as the girl rubbed her face in a mixture of frazzle and embarrassment. 

“I, uh, will be ‘sun-safe’,” he said, “I do not want to be ‘slip-slop-slapped’.”

Vic blinked, and then she grinned with teeth. 

“Okay, but what’s up with the horses?” Vic asked and then spooned a generous helping of rice into her mouth. 

Dino paused halfway through another guzzle of water.

“The horses?”

“Yeah, like, you breed ‘em, right? What for though?” 

Dino quickly swallowed the water that had dammed up in his mouth. He settled back in his chair and smiled a bit, idly spinning his bottle on the table with his fingers.

“Uh, we- we breed them for… Well, every job. Labour, farm, carriage, show. We used to make war horses.”

Vic made a sharp whistle of surprise and leant her cheek against her hand, elbow on the table. Dino stared at it, her elbow on the table, for a moment, before he pulled his eyes up. 

“Warhorses? So, this is like a tradition thing. Family business?” 

‘Family business’. Dino withheld a snort, he smiled weakly and said, “Yes, for at least ten generations.” 

“ Whew, that’s some old blood,” Vic wheezed.

Dino smiled and remembered the history walks down the legacy hall. Walls adorned with past Dons, and those faded faces of the nameless patriarchs who tilled the fields and corralled wild horses long before the time of the Cavallone Famiglia Mafia. 

“We are proud of our horses,” Dino said, an undeniable truth. But it was an undeniable truth also that- “Horses, however, are not very- very, useful. Today.”

Vic winced, “Ah, yeah. With cars and all.” She took a slow bite of her curry and tilted her head. “So with all those horses, surely your family, like, races them? Got any cool ones…” Her voice trailed off as Dino’s face pinched.

Dino ran his thumb along the edge of Enzo’s shell, the little turtle squinted up at him. 

“We are banned. No Cavallone horse may race in Italy.”

Vic thinned her lips and scraped her wooden, disposable spoon along her plate, drawing a random shape with the orange, butter chicken gravy.

“Can I�� Can I ask why? Or would you rather just, ya know,” she made a waving motion with her hands. “Not talk about that.”

Dino let out a frail burst of a laugh that was equal parts bitter and vindictive.

“We kept winning.”

Vic paused, and looked at Dino. Looked at the way Dino’s smile had gritted teeth in the corners.

Vic gave a bark of laughter. 

“So instead of beating you fairly, they booted you?” She asked and leaned forward. 

Dino took in a sharp breath. Despite her tone, her smile wasn’t playful. It had an edge to it. Annoyed. Frustrated. Angry. Vic was angry. For some reason. 

But, Dino quickly scanned her over, not at him. Always good, always good!

“Cavallone horses are hard to beat. Very,” Dino explained and Vic scoffed hard enough that Dino thought she hurt her throat.

“Look, unless you’re doping your horses, I don’t see why you should be kicked.”

Dino shrugged, “Our horses are special.”

“I’m not fucking surprised! You’ve been working on them for over ten fucking generations!” 

Vic pinched the bridge of her nose, before Dino watched as Vic clenched her teeth, her biceps, her forearms, her fists, then all the way back up again. Then, like she was suddenly exhausted, Vic slumped back into her chair, shoulders sagging under her loose shirt. She let out a long, slow sigh through her nose. She smiled and started cooing at Enzo.

Dino stared, baffled. What the hell had happened there? Had she gotten so upset that she had to actively calm herself down?

Dino shifted in his seat. He looked down at his salad -- slowly being stolen one leaf at a time by Enzo -- and bit down on the need to smile. 

Vic was upset for him. He didn’t expect that to feel so… Nice. Validating.

“So you can’t race in Italy,” Vic hummed, tone low and almost dragging itself out of her mouth. “Why not race in a -- fuck I don’t know horses,” she tilted her head back and waved her spoon around, “Melbourne Cup is a horse race. Why not race here? Or does the ban keep you?”

Dino reached for his fork and ate a mouthful. He realised what he was doing only halfway through: buying time. 

Did the ban keep the Cavallone from racing outside of Italy? He didn’t know. 

The ban had been his grandfather’s greatest shame. The Eighth Don of the Cavallone hadn’t been able to fight off those little Dons who had climbed on top of each other to seem taller and tip the scales. The beginning of the end for the Cavallone, really.

After that, the Eighth had fallen to illness and Dino’s father had taken the reigns as the sole heir. Everyone knew how that ended.

Dino nudged an olive and watched it roll across his plate. Enzo stole another leaf with a satisfied ‘crunch’ .

Dino had never seen a Cavallone race on a track before. 

Could he? Did he dare? Enter his Cavallone horses into civilian races? How close could he get to the civilians when the Mafia were so careful to keep that strict divide? 

Hell, even their resorts were Mafia and Mafia-adjacent exclusive! It took a whole boat or plane to get to the separate island . 

Dino swallowed the leaf, long gone mushy in his mouth. 

But if it worked? If he dared to start racing their Cavallone-style bred horses -- if it worked? 

Break the tradition, break the rules, break the bonds of debt that tie down the Cavallone. 

“Good idea?” Vic asked, a lazy smile on her face. “You look excited. Practically chomping at the bit.”  

Dino looked up, he hadn’t realised he was grinning.

‘Never race a Cavallone.’ Time to bring that old saying back.

[usafphantom2]

USAAF disaster over Friedrichshafen

18th March 1944: A dramatic account of being under attack 20,000 feet over Germany as the 392nd Bomb Group loses half its planes

A heavily damaged 392nd plane stays in formation later in the war. Consolidated B-24's of the 392nd Bomb Group over Salsbergen, Germany. 16 February 1945.

O March 1944 the USAAF were out again for another daylight raid on Germany. Every effort was being made to knock out as much of Germany's aircraft industry as possible in the run up to D-Day.

'Big Week' - when the 8th Air Force had put on maximum effort - had come and gone. The USAAF 392nd Bomber Group had won a Unit Citation then. For most of the crews it made little difference, they had more missions to complete before their tour of duty was over.

This time they flew out passing the snows of the Alps in bright sunshine and then swung round to begin their bomb run from a position over Lake Constance, which was a deep blue marker 20,000 feet below them.

The target was the Friedrichshafen and they fully expected to be able to bomb the Manzell Air Armaments factory accurately in these conditions. Then, as they approached the target, the 392nd Bomb Group was hit by some very accurate flak, which damaged several planes and disrupted their bombing. More trouble was to come as they turned for home.

Vernon Baumgart1, now a retired colonel, remembers:

I remember that we had hardly taken stock of our situation when the waist gunner called: Fighters at 3 o'clock!" There they were, a whole "gaggle" of them; ten to twelve in close formation, paralleling our course about a half mile on our right -and climbing. I got on the radio and began calling for friendly fighters.

Just like the "book" said, they climbed up to a one o'clock high position into the sun about two miles out, made a wing-over turn in unison and dived at us with guns blazing. It was a fearful sight but was over in a few seconds as they dived through our formation. Of course, all of our nose and top turrets responded with long bursts from their twin 50-caliber guns.

@WW2today via X

[resolutepath]

CONTINUED. // @dynmghts

Welcome home Ei, he says and Eijirou manages a tentative smile, ignoring how his arms ache from not being able to hold Katsuki, how he longs to do something anything if only it would not result in ensuring his condition worsened. He knows that Katsuki makes a show of disliking his greetings, but if he ever truly disliked them, they'd have stopped in an instant. Now, forcibly stopped, they make the space between them feel like a yawning chasm that he cannot cross, no matter how much he wishes otherwise.

Nodding, he moves tentatively to sit, glad not to have to make the tea. The boiling water splashing, touching a tea cup when pouring, the kettle against skin, he can already think of multiple ways things could escalate, just form the slightest of touches, and then he'd be back out the door for another knocking out just so he can sleep. It's not worth it. His fingers jitter at his sides as the silence fills the room, not quite tapping at his leg, but shifting with a nervous energy all the same.

"Yeah... I... sorry..." A mere verbal apology isn't going to make up for two weeks of going dark, no matter what Mina had said, and he knows had things been the opposite way round, he'd have been going out of his mind. "I... You remember after the war?" It's a strange segway, but the easiest way to explain. They'd all been knocked around back then, but that was the first bought of this sensitivity, one caused through overuse during an elongated period of time. "Even before after Shie Hassaikai?" Two very small blips, the only signs that this had been coming, when the sensitivity had been masked under other circumstances. He's angry no one could connect the dots then, but that anger's little more than a simmer sitting in his chest, with nothing stoking it. No one saw this coming, not the medicals, not him.

"Turns out it was just the beginning." His voice breaks as he says it and he swallows around the words trying to keep his voice level in case he does something stupid like throws himself at Katsuki to bury in him, regardless of the pain it'll bring. A part of him thinks the agony will be worth the arms around him as his foundations crumble, but he knows better. He forces himself to find an even enough tone and turns to look at Katsuki, anguish clouding his gaze.

"I'm not going to get better Kats. In fact, it's going to get worse." And there it is, the ugly truth of it out in the open, and he tips his head down to the floor to take a few breaths, to keep himself level. His heart is in agony, but he owes Katsuki an explanation so he needs to hold it together, just a little longer. Just for enough time to explain. "I'm not that good with the jargon, you know that, but they said its because my quirk has my skin ripping itself apart for unbreakable and healing back together. In the end its too much for my body. I've got the report... figured you'd make more sense of it than me."

There's one thing he still can't say, still struggling to admit aloud. It's an elephant in the room making his chest heavy and his hands curl. He has always been so sure on the path forward, able to guide others with a grasp of the hand or some positive words, but here now he's so lost. His gaze meets Katsuki's again and that loss permeates his entire being, eyes glistening with unshed tears. He knows the recommendations, what they think he should do, but the very thought of airing that makes his heart pound. So instead, he looks to Katsuki, his blazing torch, the boy he reached out to so long ago , the man he's come to love and adore, and instead makes a reckless grab for the lifeline this time with a single question:

"What am I going to do?"

[astrabear]

my labor, and my leisure too (pt. 3)

The final installment! Even longer than the second one! At some point I'll clean it all up and chuck it on Ao3. (Where, FYI, it will be tagged as "creator chose not to use archive warnings".)

part 1 here part 2 here

*******

It was one of the toughest weeks she could remember, partly because they all seemed to be working at cross purposes. Some of them were trying to refine the current plan while others were trying to find any reason to abandon it. No one wanted to admit that a decision had been made, while at the same time wanting to spend as much time with Nicky and Joe as they could. Joe and Nicky, in turn, seemed torn between wanting time alone together and wanting to maintain their usual routine. It was, unsurprisingly, impossible to say goodbye while also acting as though everything was normal.

Nile woke up each morning feeling nauseated and numb. It all felt unreal, like there was a glitchy forcefield between her and her surroundings. No one slept or ate enough. They needed to be in top condition; there were too many ways this could go wrong, and she couldn’t bear the thought of… of whatever happened, being for nothing. She tried to set a good example, and she could see that Nicky and Joe were trying too, but there was a limit to how much any of them could choke down their food or hide their exhaustion.

Gert cornered her after a few days of this. “I thought we were going to keep talking,” they said angrily. “I thought it wasn’t settled yet. Everyone is sure acting like it’s been settled.”

Nile was too tired and heartsick to be diplomatic. “Sure, we can talk. What do you have to say that hasn’t already been said? Have you managed to find some ingenious plan that we previously overlooked? Or maybe you’ve got something that will convince the two of them that their lives are worth more than however many thousands of people will be helped by this?” What the hell, Freeman, they’re not even sixty years old yet, what are you doing? Pull yourself together.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “That came out worse than I meant it to. But it’s true – we’ve got to give them a reason.”

“How’s this for a reason? We get to make choices too. It isn’t just up to them. We can choose not to go along. We can scrap the mission ourselves.”

It was a thought Nile’d had herself more than once, so she knew how to respond. “Okay. Do you think their lives are worth more than all those thousands of people?” She wanted to say yes. Yes, they are worth all that and more. Yes, I would gladly trade thousands of strangers whose faces I’ll never see for my two oldest friends. Gert’s eyes blazed, and she knew they wanted to say it too.

Neither of them did. The fire in Gert’s eyes died out, and they looked away.

“I get it,” Nile said as comfortingly as she could, “I really do. I was about your age when Andromache died.”

“But that was years. Decades. Right? You didn’t just…” they waved their hand vaguely. Send her off to die.

“Decades, yeah. Decades of worrying about her, wondering each time if that job would be the last. Practicing more field medicine than I ever expected to learn. Watching over her in hospital rooms. She wasn’t interested in retirement either.”

“So was it…worse like that? Compared to now, I mean. Or better?”

There wasn’t a lot that Nile remembered from back then. Impressions, feelings. A few still images, a handful of memories seared into her brain with holovid clarity. Smiles and laughter and tears and blood.

She sighed. “I don’t think it works like that.”

“No,” said Gert. “I guess it doesn’t.”

...

By the time of their scheduled update meeting at the end of the week, they were all running on empty. All of them but Jerrah had gathered in the briefing room, and Nile couldn’t bring herself to either page him over the comms system or start the meeting without him. The other four shuffled awkwardly, waiting for someone to do or say something. Nile just stared at her hands. She felt heavy, as though someone had cranked up the artificial gravity too high. Even raising her eyes to look around the room was too much.

At last, Lijie cleared her throat and said, “We’ve been going through the notes and things. Gert and I. And we uh… we haven’t found – “

Jerrah stumbled into the room, out of breath. “Hey, sorry I’m late. But I have an idea.”

...

They missed their window, but the asteroid’s path gave them another one a few months later. Nicky and Joe fretted at the delay, but to Nile it looked like they were sleeping and eating better. It was a relief to see that they were not so set on martyrdom that they’d object to slowing down a mission that had already stretched out so long.

Jerrah kept them all too busy to brood anyway. By the time the next window approached, Joe and Nicky had armor that provided more protection, with less weight and stiffness, than Nile had ever programmed into her simulations. She couldn’t get him to admit it, but she was pretty sure that he had invented an entirely new material to do it. It could, possibly, help them survive the explosion.

Especially in combination with the miniature gravity modulators he embedded in their boots. They weren’t very strong, and they’d run out of power quickly. But a few minutes of lower gravity to help them run faster might get them far enough from the blast to make a difference. A few minutes of higher gravity after the blast might keep them on or near the ground until the atmospheric dome reformed and the artificial gravity came back on. The auto-pressurization function already in their helmets might keep them alive during that time too.

Maybe. Possibly.

Nile got Jerrah alone once - after Nicky twisted his ankle training with the boots and spent the rest of the day complaining about how long the muscle knitter took to work - to ask if all this new equipment lowered the risk enough that someone who was still healing could set up the explosives after all.

He looked at her solemnly and asked, “How low would the risk have to be, for you to send one of us in to do it?” She thought about spinning off into space, never slowing, never found. Quỳnh had said she’d felt her lungs fill with water with each revival, so did that mean coming back to life with one breath of air already inside? Would your lungs explode immediately each time, once the helmet system gave out? Or would you have a whole 15 seconds to contemplate your situation before the hypoxia knocked you out? She knew the odds of passing near enough to something large enough to have gravity were so low as to be basically zero, but if you did…? What if you got burned up by a star, or incinerated falling through a planet’s atmosphere? What if you regenerated on a planet that couldn’t support life? What if…?

Jerrah must have seen all that in her face. He nodded his understanding. “Not that low. Not nearly that low. This isn’t a guarantee of anything. Or even much of a probability, if I’m honest. It’s just a…”

“A hope?”

“Or a wish. I’m sorry.”

She squeezed his arm reassuringly. “Don’t be sorry. It’s more than we had before.”

She turned to walk away, but he called her back. “Nile. Don’t tell them.”

“I won’t. I’m pretty sure they already know.”

...

The security system didn’t extend to the edge of the atmospheric dome; it didn’t need to. The sensor buoys would detect anything approaching the asteroid anyway. Except, as the team had worked out, when the alignment of the buoys was just right relative to the other asteroids in the belt, a small enough object (such as their shuttle) transmitting the right kind of energy pulse (they’d retrofitted an emergency beacon months ago) could follow a very narrow and intricate course (painstakingly programmed by Nicky and Lijie) and land in one particular spot, just a few degrees of the dome’s circumference. And it would not be detected.

The shuttle flight was less excruciating than Nile had expected. There wasn’t as much banter as usual, but there was some. What there was not, was the suffocating dread of that first week. They’d had a nice dinner the night before that was very pointedly not a goodbye party or an anticipatory wake, although there had been a lot more hugging and hand-holding and significant looks than their dinners generally included. Everyone looked tired (but not exhausted) and determined. And if, whenever they weren’t too busy, Nicky and Joe held hands so tightly their knuckles turned white… well, Nile would deny disproportionately assigning them tasks that didn’t require both hands.

The only small hiccup came when they landed and everyone scrambled into their gear. Joe and Nicky hung back a little, moving slowly. Oh, she thought, gloves and helmets. Of course. She herded the others out of the shuttle to give them some privacy. From the corner of her eye she saw them lean their foreheads together, and she hurriedly shut the hatch behind her. She didn’t need to see how they spent the last moments in which they could touch each other.

Once they were in formation with the others, they were as focused and ready as they'd ever been. Joe and Nicky, side by side, she thought, with all their friends around them. How they've always been, how they want it to always be. She took point and settled herself firmly in her body, in the present moment. For more than two millennia, if there was a job in front of Nile Freeman, Nile Freeman did that job.

She allowed herself one last moment to think, you never know, if immortality is real then anything is possible. Sometimes the universe is kind. But if there has to be an ending, I guess this one's not so bad.

Then Jerrah’s tablet beeped, signaling that the security system had gone offline. She unholstered her sidearm and started walking, knowing they'd all follow. "All right, people. Let's do some good."

[mtap-comics]

Welcome back to my Bad Things Happen Bingo!

Fandom: My time at Portia

Pairing: Arlo x Female Builder

Summary: Elenya had a really bad week. She was completely exhausted and she just wanted a hug from her favourite person, even if she had to stumble up the hill to the Civil Corps Headquarters to get it.

Word count: 5382

Prompt: Stumbling and Staggering

Author’s note: Can please someone stop my brain? I wanted this to be a cute little story to help me get out of my writers block, maybe 2000 to 3000 words, and now we've got this.

This one is more comfort than hurt, so be prepared to call your dentist when you are done with reading!

Oh, and I read through this like, two times, so if you find any mistakes or something doesn't add up, let me know!

Have fun reading!

Warnings: Mentions Blood, Established Relationship, Elenya is tired, Arlo is a sweetheart

Read on AO3: Link

Safe in his arms

Elenya was tired. Not just tired as in "one night of bad sleep", but tired as in "five hours of sleep in the last five days". Her head was throbbing with a mild migraine and her hands were shaking so badly that she had to decide to end her work day early. 

Everything she had tried to build went wrong and when she almost torched her hand trying to weld two steel plates together, she had to admit defeat.

There usually wasn't much that could keep her from working, but even she knew she couldn't work safely in this condition.

The fact that Portia had just been hit by a heat wave didn't help either. The sun was beating down on the residents incessantly, and while that normally didn’t bother her a lot - after all, it was terribly hot in Barnarock all year round - the constant sweating and heat exhausted her even more. Not to mention the headache the bright light was giving her.

God, she really wanted to go back to bed.

But rather than do that, she stumbled up the path to Civil Corps headquarters, her whole being focused on a single goal.

Arlo.

She felt anxious and miserable and just wanted a hug from her boyfriend. As soon as his strong arms wrapped around her body, she always felt better immediately, and that was exactly what she needed right now. Besides, she hoped that maybe she could sleep with him tonight.

After all, the reason she had hardly slept the last few nights was because of terrible nightmares. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was haunted by dark shadows, the sense of danger, and the inexplicable feeling that something bad was about to happen. She couldn't remember the exact dreams after waking up, only the feelings and each time she couldn't go back to sleep.

She had tried to distract herself with work, tried to drive away the anxiety with it, but every night the dreams only got worse.

But maybe she could finally get a good night's sleep when she was in Arlo's arms. Even just being near him made her feel instantly safe, let alone when he held her tightly in his strong arms. 

However, if that didn't help either, then she would probably have to turn to Dr. Xu. Her body was so exhausted by now that she was freezing even in the blazing late afternoon sun, her black shorts and red t-shirt not enough to keep her warm. 

Which really shouldn't even be possible. Because she could feel the sun on her skin, could feel the heat of it, but it didn’t seem to reach her body. Goosebumps crept up her arms.

She really needed some sleep.

~~~~~~

Elenya was glad that most people were hiding from the heat in their houses, leaving no one to notice her stumbling up the hill like a zombie.

Her leg and arms felt like lead, her feet barely lifting off the ground, and her eyes closed from time to time without her noticing. The walk up to Civil Corps headquarters never felt so hard.

She was just at the height of the large tree short of her goal when suddenly a violent dizziness overcame her and she stumbled to the side. She tried to catch herself on the trunk of the tree, but missed. Instead, her left hand scraped the rough bark and she slammed her shoulder hard against the tree.

Ouch...

Disoriented, she clung to the tree for a moment, the pain in her hand and shoulder a good focus point in the process. She preferred to focus on that rather than the world, which continued to spin around her.

Damn, her body was definitely starting to reach its limits. But she only had a few more steps to go, then she could hopefully finally relax in Arlo's arms.

Elenya didn't know how long she stood there like that, but after a while the dizziness finally subsided and she dared to let go of the tree.

Okay, she can do this. Just one step at a time, that's all.

She stumbled on toward her goal. Her coordination was off and her eyes were threatening to close permanently.

God, she was so tired.

After stumbling against the statue of the flying pigs as well, hitting her right hip quite painfully in the process, she finally stood in front of the large orange doors that would finally lead her to Arlo.

Please let him be there.

Of course, the possibility that he wasn't even at headquarters didn't occur to her until she had struggled up the hill, but it was too late now anyway. If he wasn't there, she would just curl up on the nearest soft surface and cry. 

She had no strength left for more.

But luck was on her side, at least in this matter. Cautiously, she opened the door and didn't have to search long before her blurred gaze fell on the familiar shock of red hair. Arlo was sitting at his desk next to the assignment board, his head bent over a document which he was studying intently. He was so engrossed in it that he didn't notice Elenya until her - this time - left hip collided painfully with the corner of the desk as a new wave of dizziness overtook her.

Startled, his head snapped up.

"Elenya! What are you doing here?" Confused and delighted at the same time, his eyes met hers. He slid his chair slightly away from the table, probably to stand up, but Elenya quickly took the chance to step in front of him.

Exhausted, her legs finally gave way under her and she fell onto his lap, her legs straddling his hips.

"Woah, hey, what's wrong?" Alarmed, Arlo's arms wrapped around her shoulders and waist, pulling her tightly against his chest.

Instantly she was flooded with his warmth and she buried her head in his neck, her aching head welcoming the darkness there. Arlo's soothing scent rose to her nose and she finally lost the battle against the tears she had been holding back for days.

They flowed ceaselessly from her eyes and soaked through Arlo's T-shirt.

"Sweetheart?" Concern poured from his every pore, and he tried to push her away from him a little so he could look at her. Quickly, she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and buried her face even more into his neck, hiding from the world.

Please, don't let go!

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened?" He wanted to know from her gently but worriedly, but the only thing that left her lips was a sob.

She had reached her limit. 

5 days without proper sleep and terrible nightmares, she just couldn't hold it in anymore. And Arlo's strong arms finally gave her the chance to let go.

Her crying got worse and the arms around her waist and shoulders tightened.

"Hey, shh, it's alright. I'm here. You're alright. Everything's going to be okay. I'm here." Gently, Arlo's soothing mantra swept over her, enveloped her, bathed her in the feeling of safety, and slowly her tears dried up.

Having cried out all the pent-up emotions and fear, she slumped even more in Arlo's arms, her exhaustion even greater than before and a steady ache throbbing in her head.

"Everything's going to be alright, sweetheart." A soft kiss was pressed to the mop of her hair and with a sigh she tried to snuggle even closer to Arlo. Would have loved to melt into him and never come back.

He let her rest for a while like this, before he spoke up again.

"Can you please look at me, sweetie?" Arlo's right hand, which had been wrapped around her shoulders until just now, softly came to rest on the part of her cheek that was visible and tried to gently lift her head.

Reluctantly, she complied with his request.

"Hey, there you are." A soft, loving smile played around his lips, but concern quickly took over his gaze the longer he studied her face.

She didn't even want to know what she looked like right now. She'd already been startled this morning when she'd looked in the mirror. Her face had been completely pale, her eyes irritated and red and with deep shadows underneath. How she looked now after crying, she could only imagine.

Gently, Arlo's rough thumb stroked her wet cheek and she leaned into the touch, seeking even more comfort.

"What happened, darling? You don't look well at all. Are you sick?" Concerned, he studied her face, his thumb still gently caressing her cheek.

For a while she just stared back, examining the familiar features of his face, noticing the almost equally dark shadows under his eyes, the slight stubble on his cheeks, the stress crease between his eyes, and guilt spread through her.

Suddenly she remembered why she hadn’t sought him out earlier. Why she had pushed her body to the brink of exhaustion before seeking help from him.

Earlier in the week, after she had the first nightmare, she had asked him if maybe they could do something together. Just relax for a day, maybe go on a picnic or something. Stress might have been the trigger for her bad dreams and a day with Arlo would be the perfect cure for that, but he had just snapped at her that he didn't have time for that now.

Startled and hurt, she had backed away from him then, but those feelings quickly faded as he immediately apologised to her and she noticed the deeply stressed look on his face.

There were several problems he had to take care of at once, and that while Remy was out of action for several days because of his knee. He hadn't told her exactly what it was about and her offer to help had been turned down as well, so she had decided to leave him alone for a few days and, when he finally had some rest, force him to take a day off and do nothing.

And now she had probably interrupted him in the middle of something important.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was all hoarse from crying, and she had to clear her throat before she could continue speaking. "I didn't mean..." she hiccupped, "I didn't mean to disturb you..."

"Hey, none of that." Gently, he now lifted his second hand to her cheek as well, cupping her face and pressed his forehead softly against hers, keeping her gaze captive. "You could never bother me. You can always come to me, especially when you're not feeling well. Please tell me what's wrong. It hurts me to see you like this." His voice and touch were so tender that new tears came to her eyes.

How had she ever deserved someone like him?

"I'm sorry anyway. It's just... I haven't been able to sleep for five days. Every time I fall asleep, I wake up from a nightmare shortly after and can't go back to sleep after that. I'm just... I'm just so tired." Frustrated, new tears ran down her cheeks, but Arlo immediately wiped them away, leaning his head back as he did so.

"Oh, my poor sweetie. Why didn't you come to me sooner?" The crease between his eyes deepened with concern and uneasily Elenya averted her gaze.

"Well... You've been so busy and stressed this week, I didn't want to take up your limited time too..." She cringed at how small and uncertain her voice sounded. That was just the best way to make Arlo feel guilty, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

And sure enough, when she turned her gaze back to his, she could see his eyes twist with guilt.

"Oh..." His hands, still gently cupping her face, were about to lower, but Elenya quickly grabbed his wrists and stopped him. She needed the comfort of that gentle touch, and at the same time she also wanted to show him that she didn't blame him for anything. He immediately understood what she wanted and got back to cradle her face oh so gently.

"I'm so so so sorry love, for snapping at you like that a few days ago. I never meant for you to feel like you couldn't come to me. I'll always be here for you if you need me, okay? Please don't ever forget that. No matter how busy I am, if you need my help, I'll find a way." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "I love you and I always want you to be okay."

His look was serious but full of love and Elenya felt her cheeks blush.

No matter how many times he said those three words to her, they always made her heart race and fill her with happiness.

"I love you too. And you have nothing to apologise for. I saw how stressed you were and I really just didn't want to bother you. But today..." She wanted to say more, but Arlo's eyes, which had been wandering over her face, suddenly widened with shock as they landed on her left hand, still clutching his wrist.

"Elenya! You're bleeding! What happened?" His hands moved away from her face and carefully he pried hers from his wrist.

Confused, she looked down at her hand, which was now held palm up in Arlo's hand.

Oh, she had forgotten about that already. The tree bark had scraped her hand, after all, and the movement must have reopened the barely closed wounds. Now that her attention was drawn back to it, she also felt the burning again.

"Oh, I got dizzy on the way here, and I stumbled against the tree outside. The bark must have scraped my hand in the process." 

"Oh dear, why didn't you say so in the first place? We really need to clean the wounds before they get infected. As bad as this is bleeding, they must be pretty deep. Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?" Concerned, Arlo's gaze darted back and forth between her hand and her eyes.

But at the mention of blood, something entirely different came to her mind.

"Oh no, I hope I didn't bleed all over your shirt!"

She wanted to lean to the side to get a look at his shoulder, but her overtired body didn't play along and a new wave of dizziness overcame her. She tipped to the side more than she wanted to and would have fallen off his lap had Arlo not immediately pulled her back to his chest.

"Hey, careful. Don't hurt yourself more, please." His arms were wrapped tightly around her back again and she let her head fall back against his shoulder, careful not to bring her bloody hand near him this time.

The dizziness wouldn't subside, however, and with a whimper she slumped completely in his lap. The little bit of energy she could muster for their conversation quickly dissipated and what remained was her bone-deep exhaustion.

The arms around her back tightened even more and she could downright feel Arlo's concern.

"I've got you, I'm here. Let me just tend to your hand and then you can lie down, okay?" Worry resonated deep in his voice and she felt bad for causing him more stress, but she only had the strength left to nod in response to his question.

Her head throbbed violently at the motion.

"Okay. Do you think you can stand up? I'd love to carry you, but I'm afraid I can't stand up like this."

"Oh, of course." Her legs felt like jelly, and she wasn't sure they would even carry her anymore, but she couldn't very well stay seated either.

Arlo must have heard her uncertainty in her voice.

"I'll help you, don't worry. Go as slow as you need." His hands moved from her back down to her hips and held her tight. On shaky knees, she managed to get up from his lap with his help and before she knew what was happening, she found herself in his strong arms, one underneath her knees and one behind her back.

He carried her the few steps over to one of the yellow armchairs and set her down carefully in it.

"I'll be right back, okay? I'll just get the first aid kit." Arlo waited until she nodded in understanding and then disappeared into the bathroom.

Looking after him with half-open eyes, she wrapped her arms around herself. Now that she was no longer surrounded by his warmth and security, she started to freeze again and the feeling of anxiety returned.

Fortunately, it really didn't take him long and after only a minute he was kneeling in front of her, the first aid kit lying open beside him.

"Okay, sweetie, can you give me your hand?" Invitingly, he held out his right hand, and she tried to comply with his request, but her hand was shaking so much that she could barely hold it out to him. Quickly, Arlo reached for her hand and gently pulled it toward him, his large hand gently cupping the back of her hand. Even that little bit of skin contact made her feel better.

"Okay, I'll just clean the wounds and then we'll put a clean bandage around your hand. I'm afraid that's going to hurt, but I'm going to go as fast as I can, promise. I don't want them to get infected." Sympathetically, his blue eyes looked up at her and her overtired brain wondered why he was making such a fuss over a scraped hand.

Was he still feeling guilty about not having time for her the last few days?

Whatever it was, she wasn't about to complain. Sure, the cleansing burned terribly in the open wounds, but she hardly noticed. His warm hands were so gentle and careful as he tended to her hand that she hardly perceived anything else. His concerned gaze was fully focused on her, making her feel loved and safe.

Feelings she needed so badly right now to banish the nightmares from her mind.

"There, all done." He lifted her hand up to his lips and pressed a feather-light kiss to her freshly bandaged palm. The warm feeling inside her grew stronger.

"And to get back to my question from earlier, are you hurt anywhere else?" Concerned, his eyes darted over her body, probably searching for other injuries.

She shook her head. "Just a few bruises, I think..." A big yawn escaped her, her eyes drooping and Arlo's eyes softened.

"That's good. Would you like to lie down in my bed for a while now? You need sleep very badly." Arlo straightened back up to his full height and with wide, hopeful eyes she looked up at him.

"Are you coming, too?" 

She didn't need to hear his answer. The look of regret that immediately settled on his face at her question told her what she needed to know.

She slumped in disappointment and felt awful about it at the same time. The dark shadows under his eyes and the tired features told her that he hadn't had an easy week either, and she didn't want him to feel bad about her too, but she knew if she lay down alone now, the nightmares would come right back and she couldn't handle that anymore. She would rather stay awake and accept the consequences.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I really need to go through these documents before I can lie down with you. That will take maybe another half hour, an hour at the most. Do you think you can manage that long on your own?" Remorse filled his voice, but she had to shake her head at his question.

The concern in his gaze deepened and for a moment he stared at her thoughtfully until something seemed to occur to him.

"Oh, wait a minute, I have an idea." He quickly cleaned up the first aid kit, took it back to the bathroom, and then went back to his desk where she couldn't see what he was doing. She heard papers rustling and the scrape of the chair on the floor and then he was standing in front of her again.

With eyes shining warmly, he bent down to her and told her to put her arms around his neck. Confused, she complied and with a startled cry she suddenly found herself in the air, her legs instinctively wrapping around his hips. Like a monkey, she clung to him, her face buried in his neck as his hands held her hips securely.

What was he planning to do?

"Hold on tight." With those words, Arlo started walking, his steps gentle and seemingly undisturbed by her weight. She knew he was walking toward the desk, even if she couldn't see it, and sure enough, a moment later she found herself in the same position as before. Sitting on his lap, her legs to his left and right.

But this time the chair was much closer to the desk - she could feel the edge in her back when she leaned back - and Arlo could still reach his documents now.

"Oh." Surprised, she looked up at him. 

Did that mean she could stay with him without disturbing him?

"So, now I can work and hold you close at the same time. How does that sound?" He lovingly brushed a strand of hair out of her face that had come loose from her ponytail, a gentle smile on his lips, and gratefully she engaged him in a deep kiss.

He returned the kiss without hesitation. His right hand came to rest against her cheek and his left arm, wrapped around her waist, pulled her even closer to him. For a moment, she enjoyed his soft, warm lips on hers before pulling back slightly.

"Thank you, Arlo." Sincere and full of love, she looked deep into his eyes and his gaze softened.

"No need to thank me, sweetheart. Like I said, I'll always find a way to help you. Now you get some rest and I'll go over the rest of these reports, okay?" He pressed another quick, gentle kiss to her lips and then reached for the top paper on his desk. 

Elenya watched him for a moment, admiring the way his beautiful blue eyes flitted intently over the lines, but it wasn't long before her own eyes closed on their own and so she complied with his words.

She placed her head back on his shoulder, her face buried deep in his neck, and gave in to her exhaustion. The arm around her waist tightened a bit more and wrapped in his warmth, scent and security and accompanied by soft paper rustling, she dozed off.

~~~~~~

Elenya awoke some short time later to a rough thumb gently caressing her cheek and an equally soft, rumbling voice whose vibrations she could feel in her chest.

Where was she?

With difficulty she roused from her exhausted sleep, completely disoriented, but at least without panic. The familiar smell around her and the strong chest beneath her told her she was safe. 

What had happened?

A soft groan escaped her. Her body felt like it was filled with lead instead of blood, her eyes itched uncomfortably, her head throbbed in pain and she would have liked to fall back to sleep. But there was still the voice that spoke softly into her ear and the thumb that caressed her cheek.

She woke up a little more and finally she could understand the words.

"Hey sweetie, sorry to wake you up, but I'm done and we can finally go to bed. But for that you would have to stand up again for a moment so that I can stand up as well. Can you do that for me?"

Stand up?

Her eyes opened with difficulty and with great effort, she managed to lift her head, which until now, she realised, had been leaning against Arlo's shoulder. Warm blue eyes and an apologetic smile greeted her, and for a few seconds she just stared at Arlo. 

Her brain struggled to process the words she had just heard, but Arlo didn't rush her and waited patiently for her to be awake enough to carry out his request.

And finally the words made sense and she remembered that she was sitting on his lap, preventing him from getting up.

God, she was way too tired.

But now that she knew what he wanted from her, she nodded and tried to lift herself off his lap. It just wasn't as easy this time, since the desk was right behind her, but as soon as some of her weight was off his legs, Arlo slid back with the chair and she was able to step away from him completely.

Unfortunately, her legs just didn't want to carry her and as soon as Arlo's hands, which had been supporting her hips, let go of her, she stumbled uncontrollably to the side and could only barely hold onto the desk to keep from falling over. Fortunately, she didn't have to hold on for long, though, because shortly after, Arlo was at her side and lifted her back into his arms, bridal style.

"It’s okay, I got you." Startled and worried, his eyes looked down at her and gratefully she let her head fall against his shoulder. 

No matter how many times she fell, Arlo was always there to catch her. And she meant that literally. Even before they had gotten together last winter, she had often found herself in his strong arms when her clumsiness caused her to trip over her own feet or she ran into him, completely distracted by her work.

She was so incredibly lucky to have someone like him by her side.

Pressed tightly against his chest, Arlo carried her over to his room. As soon as they stepped through the door, they were greeted by what was normally pleasantly cool air, but right now was far too cold for her. A shiver ran through her body and goosebumps spread on her arms and seeking warmth, she curled even more against Arlo.

Who, of course, noticed this immediately and a worried frown appeared between his eyes.

"Are you cold?"

She nodded, ashamed. It was terribly hot outside and everyone probably wished they had a room like Arlo's that was built against a ruin so it was always nice and cool in the summer, and here she was, wishing she had something warmer to wear.

"Then it's time we got you to bed. I'll just see if I have something more comfortable for you to wear, okay?" Gently, he set her down on his bed and then, to her bewilderment, disappeared from the room again. 

The soft mattress and cosy blanket invited her to just lie down, but she resisted the urge. She only had to hold out for a few more minutes, then she could lie down.

She could do that.

Arlo came back quickly, with a glass of water in one hand and a bundle of clothes in the other.

"Here, you should really drink something. I don't want you to get dehydrated too." With these words he handed her the glass and with trembling hands she reached for it. She had to hold it with both hands to keep from dropping it, her left hand stinging lightly at the movement and then gratefully drained the glass completely. She hadn't even noticed how dry her throat was.

"Very nice." Arlo took the glass from her again, set it down on the shelf above his bed and then held out the first piece of clothing to her. "Here, Sam always has some spare clothes here, I'm sure she won't mind if you borrow one of her shorts for a night. And then I brought you this one too." He held the second item of clothing out to her and her eyes lit up.

He had brought her his grey sweater!

She loved that one. It was all soft and warm and always smelled wonderful after him, as he loved wearing it as much as she did.

"Thought you'd be happy about that." He chuckled fondly and handed her the comfortable clothes and set about putting on something else as well.

Unfortunately, her heavy arms wouldn't cooperate and she couldn't even manage to take off her current t-shirt. She grumbled in frustration and looked over at Arlo for help. 

"Arlo?" God, her voice was hoarse.

"Yes, darling?" He was just pulling his own shirt over his head and she got the pleasure of watching his back, muscles working as he searched in his closet for a new shirt. She couldn't help but stare.

This was definitely a sight she would never get sick of.

"Sweetheart?" Questioningly, Arlo turned to her after she failed to answer, and sheepishly, she looked to the side.

"I... I need help."

God, she felt so helpless. She couldn't even change herself anymore.

Arlo's gaze softened.

"Of course." Without putting on a new shirt, he came back over to her and bent down to grab the hem of her t-shirt. Effortlessly, he pulled it over her head and then gently helped her free her arms from it. As soon as her upper body was free, goosebumps covered her and she shivered slightly.

Arlo quickly rubbed his wonderfully warm hands over her upper arms to chase away the goosebumps, looking at her questioningly.

"The bra too?"

She nodded. She hated sleeping in a bra.

"Okay." Arlo bent his knees a little more so he was more at her level, then reached behind her back to work on the clasp of her bra.

With that, his now bare chest was right in front of her face, and she felt the warmth radiating from him, drawing her in. She would have liked to touch him, to trace the long scar that ran from his left shoulder down to his chest, ending just above his heart, as she had done so many times before, but as it was, she couldn't even lift her arms to change. So she was content to lean forward a bit and press her cheek against his warm skin.

A happy sigh escaped her. The skin to skin contact felt wonderful and she could hear the calm, strong heartbeat of him. A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest, filling her with warmth, and he let her stay there for a moment, even though her bra had long since come undone.

"Feels good?" A fond laugh resonated in his voice and she hummed contentedly.

The heartbeat beneath her ear soothed her and her eyes fell closed. She could have fallen asleep sitting right here, but a large hand came to cup her cheek and pull her away from the strong, warm chest.

She whined in protest.

Another warm laugh rang out.

"I'm sorry, darling, we can go right back to cuddling as soon as we get you changed. Come on, we're almost done." Arlo managed to dress her in his sweater and change her pants, but how, she couldn't say.

Her body was getting heavier and her uncoordinated movements were probably more of a hindrance than a help, but then he was finally satisfied and tucked her under the covers. She heard the rustle of clothes, the light was turned off, and then Arlo finally slipped into bed beside her.

Strong arms pulled her on top of him and surprised she realised that he hadn't put on a new shirt and she was now lying on his bare chest, her ear pressed back against the same place it had been a moment ago. Her body relaxed completely and with the last of her strength she turned her head to press a soft kiss to his scar.

"Sleep well, my sweet little builder. I'll watch over you." A long, firm kiss on her mop of hair was the last thing she felt before she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep, Arlo's arms wrapped protectively around her.

And when the shadows tried to haunt her again, there were strong arms and a gentle voice that drove them away and what remained was the feeling of warmth and safety.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts on Joel's Decision

Okay... so the last episode of TLOU was... a lot. And obviously, one of the biggest questions to come out of it is did Joel do the right thing?

Now there's always gonna be people that don't agree and that's understandable but I'm just gonna drop where my brain is at with this show atm because oh boy is everything complicated.

Did Joel do the right thing?

To be blunt? No. But it all gets a lot more messy than this.

I think the best place to start is whether or not Joel prevented the end of the apocalypse and honestly speaking, I don't think so. Now I don't study medicine so I'm not going to claim that I'm an expert on making vaccinations, but the limited microbiology, bacteriology and virology that I've studied gives me I small idea on whether or not the Fireflies' plan was ever actually viable. And I don't think it was.

As of 2023, while there are a few in development, we do not have a single vaccination that can be used to treat fungal infections. Now seeing as we haven't been able to make one up until now, the chance of producing one during an apocalypse where technology hasn't been updated since 2003? Yeah... probably not going to happen. And even if they did have the facilities, I'm still not sure if it would even work. I don't have enough of an understanding of medicine to know if giving people specific signalling chemicals would work, but I'm a little iffy on the idea. The way that vaccinations work is by introducing the body to a pathogen (something that causes disease) in a form or dose that will not do a lot of damage, but will allow the body to learn how to fight it. But that's not the plan here. They aren't planning on creating a cure that will allow the body to fight off Cordyceps, they plan to make something that will trick the fungus into thinking that that person is already infected.

And I'm not entirely sure that that's possible.

But like I said, I'm not an expert on medicine so for the benefit of the doubt, let's say that they actually do make a cure. Hooray! This means that they can save the world right? ...right?

Errr... no. Even if the Fireflies did manage to make a cure, A) how are they planning to make enough of this cure to treat this many people? and B) how do they expect to transport this cure?

We have to remember that this is a global apocalypse. They would have to get this cure to everywhere on the planet where there are people who are at risk of being infected. Bearing I mind, medicines (especially vaccinations) have to be stored in specific conditions. Seeing as they are currently struggling to find food, I don't know how they plan to get enough equipment together to ship this cure off the right places and for it to still be in a good enough condition to be usable by the time it gets there. And then the cure has to be administered to enough people for it to prevent the outbreak from happening again. For this to happen, you need to reach herd immunity, which, depending on the thing being treated, requires between around 70-90% of the population being vaccinated.

I get that they wanted to find an end to the apocalypse, but I don't think that the Fireflies would have been able to produce a cure, make enough of it to vaccinate 70-90% of the population and then distribute it worldwide.

But even then, I still don't think that all of that justifies Joel's actions. Joel didn't go to find Ellie, guns blazing, because he had thought through the logistics of the Fireflies' plan. Someone was threatening to take his daughter away from him again and he snapped. Even if he didn't prevent the end of the apocalypse, he still killed a lot of people to protect one girl.

And the argument can't even be made that he did it for her. Sure, there would be a part of him that is rescuing her so that she doesn't have to go through those experiments and tests, but ultimately, he did it for himself. He tells Ellie earlier on in the episode that they don't need to to go through with it but she chooses to carry on. She doesn't want everything she did to be for nothing.

She made the choice to go through with the plan and Joel disobeyed her.

At the end of the day, what Joel did was selfish. Even if the plan to make a cure hadn't worked, he still went against the wishes of the person he was protecting and he did it for himself. And what's even worse, he lied to Ellie about what he had done because he knew that she wouldn't have agreed with him.

So no, I don't think Joel made the right choice.

But I don't hate him. There's a part of me that gets it. It's really hard to apply moral justification when we don't live in the world that these people do and every character in this show, including Joel is living with extreme trauma. We know how much the death of Sarah can trigger him, so it isn't surprising that this situation caused him to snap. It's understandable.

But I don't think that that makes him right.

[presleyhearted]

Yours Truly - Prologue

・❥・Pairing: Elvis Presley x original female character

・❥・Genre: slow burn, mystery, angst, fluff.

・❥・Word Count: 619

・❥・Summary: In which a 21-year-old girl suddenly finds herself having consecutive dreams of a particular rock ‘n’ roll star whom she has never met and who died 45 years ago.

・❥・ Ratings & Warnings: SFW. No warnings really. A very short prologue.

・❥・ Notes: None.

@literally-just-elvis-fics

chapter index| chapter 1

-

All my life, I have put one foot forward after the next. I aways looked down to make sure that I don't misstep. I don't trip. I don't fall. Of course, I am not oblivious to the tendency of life to diverge us from the easy path of living. Boulders of struggles can be thrown at us at any given moment. We just have to hope that our minds, our souls and our hearts are strong enough to battle it. 

Even if that means coming out at the other end with a few scratches and bruises. 

But for the details in life that we can control, we can either ignore them and nod to the phrase of 'whatever happens, happens' or we can construct the steps to build a somewhat form of certainty. Of safety. My parents were keen to share their wisdom of playing it safe in life. Thus, I grew up having a firm grasp of realistic expectations - and to never, ever dwell on a far-fetched idea. Those would only promise a high probability of bad endings, and a silver of hope that can be crushed within seconds. 

If there is one thing that you must understand about me, it is this - reasoning and risks do not simultaneously exist within my veins. In fact, you can completely forget about risks - it does not occupy my mind at all. Remember that. 

My friends have attempted to sway this mindset of mine, their friendly nature of worrying that I may 'regret' it later on in life. There is nothing wrong with planning out stages in my life, it saves me from distress, worry and uncertainty. So, as much as I love their efforts to shift my mindset to be more 'at ease.' None of them have been successful. 

In fact, no one has been.

No one but him. 

There was something I failed to mention, and I suppose is not greatly mentioned by many; Curiosity can coincide itself with the thread of logic and the flames of spontaneity. When one is curious, they will run their fingers through the puzzles pieces. They will rise from their seat and quietly walk towards it, that tight grip of desperation clouding their brain and their racing heart. 

Until they look around and realise - they are in a completely different place. 

We humans are not abundantly knowledgeable on all things, that's why as time pulls us along - we pick up slices of knowledge. If I am aware of something, then I'm able to construct a sound judgement and ensure that I'll not walk through an uncertain tunnel. But on instances that I don't know something - I am guarded up - it delays my process of constructing my next step. 

It comes frighteningly close to a realm of uncertainty, of the unknown, of stumbling upon someone like him.

But unlike most things I've encountered in life so far, he was an antithesis of risks and reasoning. Not one was stronger than the other, both ran fiercely and rapidly through his entire being. 

If this was the case, why did I not seek the exit and just vanish?

Like I said before; when curiosity seeks you out, you will walk and you will never truly realise where you are until you look around and it seems - you are in the unknown. I cannot retrace my steps when I do not know where those steps are in the first place. 

His dichotomous nature was that curiosity. 

But as the human condition persists - curiosity is not a one-sided pull in some circumstances. 

Curiosity can be a reciprocation blazed between two beings.

So for once, my mind was quiet but my heart was alive.

chapter 1

[i-love-an-alcoholic]

Story of M: How things went to hell, Part 2

CONTENT WARNING: Drug addiction

Antabus was a miracle drug for me in many ways, but it has one major flaw: it only prevents alcohol use. I had conditioned myself to the general feeling of being on something, be it alcohol, weed or other substances and my brain was not ready to give up that. While I had succesfully given up alcohol, I quickly replaced it with excessive weed smoking. After about six months I stopped taking Antabus and began drinking again, although not as much as before.

Remember the troubled guy I was in a "relationship" with? From now on I'll refer to him as Shitty Boyfriend. Our relationship was transactional: I gave him money (he didn't work) and he gave me drugs. At some point I felt like I needed to help him gain some control of his chaotic life, so I gave him money for a psychiatrist. He saw one, and got a prescription for an anti-anxiety medicine (a benzodiazepine) which he quickly became addicted to. The meds did nothing to improve his life: he just took a pill to temporarily feel better about things so he didn't need to actually change anything, and whenever the effects wore off he'd pop another one. He gave pills to me whenever I asked and I would take them with or without alcohol (this is a dangerous combination, don't do it) and I regularly gave him more money so he could get his prescription renewed. Edit: I should add that he saw the doctor at a private practice and therefore had to pay out of pocket.

Our friend group at the time was very drug-seeking, so there were a lot of various substances to try. I tried everything except strong opioids (I'm scared of them). Every time I visited Shitty Boyfriend we would gather and spend an evening playing video games, board games and doing drugs. I'm not going to lie: I sometimes miss those times.

I still went to work every day like a normal person, but as soon as I got off and closed my apartment door behind me I'd pop some pills or blaze it. As I've said before, I justified this by the stressful nature of my job. Eventually the facade began cracking and I got in trouble at work for my erratic behaviour. A lot of things happened and as a result I was transferred to a different deparment, which turned out to be insular and toxic. I was already in a bad mental state, the working environment worsened things and I began using amphetamines to cope.

For the next few months I lost all my savings, so I began taking payday loans to pay for my addiction. I even lied to my parents to get money from them. My life revolved around speed: it was all I could think about. After nine months I weighed around 48kg (106lbs), my mental health and finances were in shambles and I was seriously considering IV use (never did though, thank deity). Then I woke up.

I clearly remember that day. I had gotten my pay on friday and after paying rent, utilities and some of the the payday loans I had about 100€ left until next payday. I gave the money to Shitty Boyfriend who was visiting, and he went to buy us drugs for the weekend. By sunday evening all of it was gone and Shitty Boyfriend had left. I was sitting in my kitchen with no money and no drugs. It was almost like an out of body experience: I suddenly saw myself from outside and realized what I was doing was wrong. My lifestyle was unsustainable. My behavior was unhinged and I had gotten in trouble at work again because of it. I basically had two choices: either to quit or to become a full-time drug addict. I would lose my job. I would lose everything that really mattered to me. I would lose my life.

On that day, at the age of 30, I quit drugs.

[dekanos]

this shit has taken everyone i've ever loved. @ruinedmyself — sent from this prompt (x) still accepting!

the anger has been building in him for months. no matter how many times he's tried to express to sam that nothing good will happen if he tries to break the conditions of the deal, the kid keeps trying his damned hardest to find a loophole. it had to come to a boiling point eventually, and dean's limit is reached when he walks in on sam buried in various textbooks regarding demonic pacts. where he'd gotten those from, dean can only guess — if it means having to share a few select and harsh words with bobby, then so be it — but it had been enough for him to start an argument.

‘ you think i don't know that, sam!? you think i'm not right there with you!? ’ because that's the kicker here, isn't it? that they've both loved, albeit in different ways, and lost. sam's just lucky he hadn't been hold enough to remember the fire, to know the feeling of sudden and unbearable grief. being fours years old and having to go from waking up that morning with forehead kisses gifted over breakfast to knowing that you'll never feel the comforting touch of a mother's hand again is something that changes you so viscerally. and he hadn't even had time to process his grief, because it had been all guns blazing, leaving the only home he'd ever known to go out on the road and hunt down a fucking demon, of all things. the same demon who years later, in a manner that can only be described as cosmic fucking irony, would cruelly snatch his brother from him when gaining access to him had been the very reason that their mother had been killed in the first place.

in some fucked up way, dean thinks, this deal makes them even. if sam can understand even a singular iota of the grief that dean had felt holding his brother's lifeless body in his arms, then this would have been worth it. because he can't possibly know what it's like to feel responsible for the loss of the one person on earth that you've dedicated your entire reason for existing to keeping safe and protected. the sense of failure that had wholly engulfed him, that he would've had to carry with him for the rest of his life if he hadn't done something, anything, to rectify what he considers his greatest mistake, would have ruined him. ‘ i'm not gonna apologise for doin' what i had to so i could keep you safe, sam. i'm just not. and you can hate me all you want, but i'd rather live my life knowin' you were out there somewhere hatin' me, than knowin' you weren't out there at all. ’

[ramblingsfromthemiddleofnowhere]

Really feeling today's edition of Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson.

March 25, 2023

On March 25, 1911, Frances Perkins was visiting with a friend who lived near Washington Square in New York City when they heard fire engines and screams. They rushed out to the street to see what the trouble was. A fire had broken out in a garment factory on the upper floors of a building on Washington Square, and the blaze ripped through the lint in the air. The only way out was down the elevator, which had been abandoned at the base of its shaft, or through an exit to the roof. But the factory owner had locked the roof exit that day because, he later testified, he was worried some of his workers might steal some of the blouses they were making. 

“The people had just begun to jump when we got there,” Perkins later recalled. “They had been holding until that time, standing in the windowsills, being crowded by others behind them, the fire pressing closer and closer, the smoke closer and closer. Finally the men were trying to get out this thing that the firemen carry with them, a net to catch people if they do jump, the[y] were trying to get that out and they couldn’t wait any longer. They began to jump. The…weight of the bodies was so great, at the speed at which they were traveling that they broke through the net. Every one of them was killed, everybody who jumped was killed. It was a horrifying spectacle.” 

By the time the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was out, 147 young people were dead, either from their fall from the factory windows or from smoke inhalation. 

Perkins had few illusions about industrial America: she had worked in a settlement house in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood in Chicago and was the head of the New York office of the National Consumers League, urging consumers to use their buying power to demand better conditions and wages for workers. But even she was shocked by the scene she witnessed on March 25.

By the next day, New Yorkers were gathering to talk about what had happened on their watch. “I can't begin to tell you how disturbed the people were everywhere,” Perkins said. “It was as though we had all done something wrong. It shouldn't have been. We were sorry…. We didn't want it that way. We hadn’t intended to have 147 girls and boys killed in a factory. It was a terrible thing for the people of the City of New York and the State of New York to face.”

The Democratic majority leader in the New York legislature, Al Smith—who would a few years later go on to four terms as New York governor and become the Democratic presidential nominee in 1928—went to visit the families of the dead to express his sympathy and his grief. “It was a human, decent, natural thing to do,” Perkins said, “and it was a sight he never forgot. It burned it into his mind. He also got to the morgue, I remember, at just the time when the survivors were being allowed to sort out the dead and see who was theirs and who could be recognized. He went along with a number of others to the morgue to support and help, you know, the old father or the sorrowing sister, do her terrible picking out.”

“This was the kind of shock that we all had,” Perkins remembered. 

The next Sunday, concerned New Yorkers met at the Metropolitan Opera House with the conviction that “something must be done. We've got to turn this into some kind of victory, some kind of constructive action….” One man contributed $25,000 to fund citizens’ action to “make sure that this kind of thing can never happen again.” 

The gathering appointed a committee, which asked the legislature to create a bipartisan commission to figure out how to improve fire safety in factories. For four years, Frances Perkins was their chief investigator. 

She later explained that although their mission was to stop factory fires, “we went on and kept expanding the function of the commission 'till it came to be the report on sanitary conditions and to provide for their removal and to report all kinds of unsafe conditions and then to report all kinds of human conditions that were unfavorable to the employees, including long hours, including low wages, including the labor of children, including the overwork of women, including homework put out by the factories to be taken home by the women. It included almost everything you could think of that had been in agitation for years. We were authorized to investigate and report and recommend action on all these subjects.”

And they did. Al Smith was the speaker of the house when they published their report, and soon would become governor. Much of what the commission recommended became law. 

Perkins later mused that perhaps the new legislation to protect workers had in some way paid the debt society owed to the young people who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. “The extent to which this legislation in New York marked a change in American political attitudes and policies toward social responsibility can scarcely be overrated,” she said. “It was, I am convinced, a turning point.”

But she was not done. In 1919, over the fervent objections of men, Governor Smith appointed Perkins to the New York State Industrial Commission to help weed out the corruption that was weakening the new laws. She continued to be one of his closest advisers on labor issues. In 1929, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt replaced Smith as New York governor, he appointed Perkins to oversee the state’s labor department as the Depression worsened. When President Herbert Hoover claimed that unemployment was ending, Perkins made national news when she repeatedly called him out with figures proving the opposite and said his “misleading statements” were “cruel and irresponsible.” She began to work with leaders from other states to figure out how to protect workers and promote employment by working together.

In 1933, after the people had rejected Hoover’s plan to let the Depression burn itself out, President-elect Roosevelt asked Perkins to serve as Secretary of Labor in his administration. She accepted only on the condition that he back her goals: unemployment insurance, health insurance, old-age insurance, a 40-hour work week, a minimum wage, and abolition of child labor. She later recalled: “I remember he looked so startled, and he said, ‘Well, do you think it can be done?’” 

She promised to find out.

Once in office, Perkins was a driving force behind the administration’s massive investment in public works projects to get people back to work. She urged the government to spend $3.3 billion on schools, roads, housing, and post offices. Those projects employed more than a million people in 1934. 

In 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act, providing ordinary Americans with unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. 

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a minimum wage and maximum hours. It banned child labor.

Frances Perkins, and all those who worked with her, transformed the horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire into the heart of our nation’s basic social safety net. 

“There is always a large horizon…. There is much to be done,” Perkins said. “It is up to you to contribute some small part to a program of human betterment for all time.”

[bogleech]

Hello! I have a question that I think you might be able to answer after reading your blazed deep sea fish post. A lot of pictures I've seen of angler fish, whipnose seadevils,etc depict the fish as being pitch black, but the photos I've seen of living specimens are only sometimes black and often more... "realistic" in color distribution/mottling even if they are black. Is that pitch black then a preservation method? A guess on decomposed specimens? Or are they that color but only sometimes?

This actually doesn't have just a single answer! Some animals just look much blacker depending on the lighting. For a non deep-sea example, people tend to picture medicinal leeches as being black, and they look back under many lighting conditions, but they're really green, with complex markings!

These images are of the same species, I do believe:

This can also be what's going on with a lot of deep sea fish, but with still others, it's just that most photographs are of long dead specimens that have gone a bit paler:

But there's one more variable, too, and it's the weirdest one of all:

There are several related deep sea fish referred to as "slickheads" for the oily, slimy skin that covers them, which is also very very sticky and peels off very easily. I actually can't find any mention of this now, but when I followed some deep sea blogs many years ago, a few researchers complained about how slickhead are so common, entire specimen hauls would be completely coated in slickhead skin. Some of them looked like they were practically dipped in tar, while others just had patches of it. Many of those photographs wound up circulating as the only examples of those animals at all, for a while!

I can't really remember which fish photos are naturally inky black and which ones are just covered in slickhead goo, but sometimes it was enough to look as black and shiny as this one does all over. Another thing I've never heard since, was that some slickhead species were seen actually eating their own skin in the wild, so at least one researcher posited that the skin traps food like flypaper! Then they just slurp it off and grow it back! Maybe this was debunked and that's why I haven't found mention of it again.