#Low Turn-on Voltage

[jsph2lisle]

https://www.futureelectronics.com/p/semiconductors--discretes--diodes--switching/bav99lt1g-onsemi-5672605

Diodes, Switching Diodes, BAV99LT1G, onsemi

BAV99 Series 70 V 715 mA Surface Mount High Speed Switching Diode - SOT-23

[berry-hwa]

*drops art and disappears into the abyss*

[try2caob]

https://www.futureelectronics.com/p/electromechanical--relays--signal-relays/1462041-8-te-connectivity-2184129

High-current relays, turn signal relay replacement, Coil Voltage, Non latching

Telecom Relay SPST-NO (1 Form A) Surface Mount

[amplifythenoise]

Never Turn Your Back on a Friend: 50 Years Later

Picture it, Sicily… Kidding.  Also if you don’t get the above reference, get thee to a television quick. Cardiff, 1973, heavy metal band, Budgie released their 3rd album, Never Turn your Back on a Friend. Recorded at Rockfield Studios, the album solidified the band’s position as a dominant force within the early seventies hard rock/metal movement and their influence has been cited by the likes…

[nasa]

Athletes Go for the Gold with NASA Spinoffs

NASA technology tends to find its way into the sporting world more often than you’d expect. Fitness is important to the space program because astronauts must undergo the extreme g-forces of getting into space and endure the long-term effects of weightlessness on the human body. The agency’s engineering expertise also means that items like shoes and swimsuits can be improved with NASA know-how.

As the 2024 Olympics are in full swing in Paris, here are some of the many NASA-derived technologies that have helped competitive athletes train for the games and made sure they’re properly equipped to win.

The LZR Racer reduces skin friction drag by covering more skin than traditional swimsuits. Multiple pieces of the water-resistant and extremely lightweight LZR Pulse fabric connect at ultrasonically welded seams and incorporate extremely low-profile zippers to keep viscous drag to a minimum.

Swimsuits That Don’t Drag

When the swimsuit manufacturer Speedo wanted its LZR Racer suit to have as little drag as possible, the company turned to the experts at Langley Research Center to test its materials and design. The end result was that the new suit reduced drag by 24 percent compared to the prior generation of Speedo racing suit and broke 13 world records in 2008. While the original LZR Racer is no longer used in competition due to the advantage it gave wearers, its legacy lives on in derivatives still produced to this day.

Trilion Quality Systems worked with NASA’s Glenn Research Center to adapt existing stereo photogrammetry software to work with high-speed cameras. Now the company sells the package widely, and it is used to analyze stress and strain in everything from knee implants to running shoes and more.

High-Speed Cameras for High-Speed Shoes

After space shuttle Columbia, investigators needed to see how materials reacted during recreation tests with high-speed cameras, which involved working with industry to create a system that could analyze footage filmed at 30,000 frames per second. Engineers at Adidas used this system to analyze the behavior of Olympic marathoners' feet as they hit the ground and adjusted the design of the company’s high-performance footwear based on these observations.

Martial artist Barry French holds an Impax Body Shield while former European middle-weight kickboxing champion Daryl Tyler delivers an explosive jump side kick; the force of the impact is registered precisely and shown on the display panel of the electronic box French is wearing on his belt.

One-Thousandth-of-an-Inch Punch

In the 1980s, Olympic martial artists needed a way to measure the impact of their strikes to improve training for competition. Impulse Technology reached out to Glenn Research Center to create the Impax sensor, an ultra-thin film sensor which creates a small amount of voltage when struck. The more force applied, the more voltage it generates, enabling a computerized display to show how powerful a punch or kick was.

Astronaut Sunita Williams poses while using the Interim Resistive Exercise Device on the ISS. The cylinders at the base of each side house the SpiraFlex FlexPacks that inventor Paul Francis honed under NASA contracts. They would go on to power the Bowflex Revolution and other commercial exercise equipment.

Weight Training Without the Weight

Astronauts spending long periods of time in space needed a way to maintain muscle mass without the effect of gravity, but lifting free weights doesn’t work when you’re practically weightless. An exercise machine that uses elastic resistance to provide the same benefits as weightlifting went to the space station in the year 2000. That resistance technology was commercialized into the Bowflex Revolution home exercise equipment shortly afterwards.

Want to learn more about technologies made for space and used on Earth? Check out NASA Spinoff to find products and services that wouldn’t exist without space exploration.   

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[dollwrites]

𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 ∣ smut ( minors dni ), fem!reader, noncon and then dubcon, suggested age gap ( reader is early 20s, yujiro is late 30s ), light degradation, impact play, clit torture, reader cries, name calling ( whore ), face slapping, all characters featured are aged 18+

𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 ∣ please reblog && leave feedback. not proofread so there’s probably mistakes. thanks for reading < 3

𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 ∣ day eight [ yujiro hanma + impact ]

it takes two fingers to make you cry.

two of Yujiro’s massive, powerful digits to make you tremble and beg for mercy.

“Shameful,” he mutters, an air of disdain to his rumbly baritone. as if he’s disappointed in how quickly you turn to blubbering. “I’ve hardly touched you.” but the wicked grin he wore told the truth— that he knew how much pressure he’d applied with those two fingers, and he expected nothing less than to make you sob. “And I can’t tell from those whiny noises if you’re really needy or fucking pathetic.”

you were both.

the length of his fingers rub between your sticky folds, their thickness forcing your netherlips to slot around them, and you squirm and pant, but it’s when he taps against your swollen clit that you really lose it. unlike any other man, when the rough pads make contact with your button, you don’t feel the sting on the exposed and vulnerable exterior nerves as if you’ve been spanked, but the raw power he could channel through his fingers. it surges through your core, seeping deep into you, reaching spongy, hidden clusters of sensitivity that should be impossible. as if he’d aimed right for them, he focuses each assault. your clit throbs, but it’s the iceberg’s submerged nerves that take the brunt of the impact.

“Y—Yujiro!” you cry out, as you twitch and writhe beneath him.

you didn’t know how this was possible.

how he could do this.

it shouldn’t have been possible.

and yet, when he did it again, battering your body’s defenses with a drumming of his two fingers against your clit, and you feel as though he’s struck you with a high voltage cattle prod, your back arches, desperate to push him off. your heels push against the mattress, eager to try and scramble away from the sensation.

“That—!” that hurts like hell. it’s too much. what are you doing? these all came to mind, but you couldn’t voice a single one. his fingertips drum against you, a barrage of rapid fire, superhuman pressure targeting your most sensitive depths, and you threw your head back, tears pricking against the corners of your eyes. it hurt, but there was more to it than just pain. as if he’d stuck the world’s most powerful vibrator directly against your hyper-sensitive interior nerves, a rush of flustered euphoria rushes to your stomach, knotting it up. “S-s—top—“

you weren’t sure if you really wanted him to, though. your body screamed and writhed, convulsing as he attacks your sex, but at the same time, your toes curl tight, and your breath turns into furious, warm puffs. your hips winding like a snake, trying to hump up against his large, rough hand.

“I-I’m— gonna—!”

“Cum from the abuse?” Yujiro’s voice is low, his mouth twisted in a hungry smile that could be misread as a grin. “Your little legs are starting to tremble; you’re sobbing but you can’t stop riding my hand, begging for me to keep hurting you. Do you know what that makes you?”

you look away, smearing your tear-stained cheek into the pillow as you pant and mumble, hoping for a mercy that you knew he’d never give you. “Yujiro… p-please…”

“Go ahead and say it.” tap. tap. tap. you gurgle and grunt, hips bucking as you smother your own whimpers. “What does that make you?”

you knew what he wanted to hear. the word he’s drilled into your head since day one. the word that he’s called you over and over. but you couldn’t say it. not without a little more persuasion, which he was more than willing to give you.

your face is tiny and delicate as he snatches it up by your chin, dragging it back and pushing the back of your head into the pillow. “Look at me,” his massive chest rises and falls, he snorts every, heavy breath through flared nostrils. you flinch, bathed in the heat of his ragged breathing, smushed into the mattress, forced on your back. you hear the smack of his palm making contact with your supple cheek before you feel the certain pain to follow, and it rocks your face to the side. in the moment that follows, fire floods your face and you see stars, and blink rapidly to maintain your eyesight. “One more time. Look here.” he says, his mighty thumb pressing against your chin as he pulls your face back into place. you’re staring at him in shock, his second mind numbing slap coming down hard on the same spot. to him, it was the mildest swat, but to you? your head was swimming, as if he’d slapped your brains loose, and you’re vaguely aware of the thickness of two, massive digits between your thighs pushing into your clenching hole.

“F—fuck—!”

“You’re covered in my marks, the shape of my hand will be a bruise on your face for a week, maybe longer.” he seems to chuckle at that, angling your face back to him. you worry he might hit you again. you prepare for impact, but it doesn’t come. he just holds your face there. you’ve no choice but to comply, peeking up at him with sparkling eyes and parted lips. “But you’re still fucking wet. Your cunt is still squeezing my fingers, and you’re still going to cum. What does that make you.”

“A…. Whore….” your voice is soft, and you choke on the word, almost not wanting to say it, but when you do, a wide, demonic grin stretches across his face, turning his muscles into elastic.

“Not good enough. Whose?”

“Y—Your… whore.”

[lonewolfwriting89]

ON MY KNEES

Mafia!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: NSFW. Smut. Oral.

————

His broad shoulders were pinning you to the wall, your bodies pressed up so close that you might have been one body mass. You felt Bucky take your arms and place them around his neck before taking the kiss deeper as his tongue slid in, caressing yours.

The sensations were too wonderful to resist. You knew you were going to lose it, lose all control. And the funny thing was, you wanted to lose it, wanted to forget all that you’d seen and been through in one night.

So you kissed him back, pressing your lips firmly against his, revelling in the low growl that emanated from the base of his throat. Your hands were no longer pliant but around his neck now, clutching, tugging, pulling at his dark hair, wanting him to do more than just kiss you.

Bucky’s hands ran up the length of your sides, caressing the newly exposed skin with his calloused fingertips and knuckles. Goosebumps broke out on the surface of your skin as his teases sent spirals of desire coursing through your body. You arched your back, bringing your firm breasts into contact with the clothed heat of his chest and he groaned, the need to feel your naked body against his reducing his strong body to tremors.

The shirt that you wore became a distant memory as he tore it off you, letting it slip to the carpeted ground around you both. His hands then moved to knead the sides of your breasts, deliberately avoiding the curve and peak of them. You whimpered, a silent plea for him to touch you, tease you, ruin you.

But he took his time as he led you into another kiss, this one more delicious than the first as he plundered your mouth. You gripped his upper arm, your nails leaving crescent indentations on his rough skin, almost desperate now for his touch.

Bucky’s fingers teased the underside of your breasts and you writhed, the need to feel his flesh overwhelming you. Your fingers tore at his expensive dark shirt and he threw it to the floor in one quick jerk.

Oh God, you thought. He was so beautiful; all dark beauty rolled into a toned solid mass. And he wanted to ravish you. It seemed to slip your mind that he was the head of the mafia. Or maybe, it didn't really matter.

His hands strayed over the waistband of your panties and you moaned, wanting the little triangle of material out of the way. You put your hands over his, helping him with the task of discarding your underwear. As you stepped out of them, he went to his knees, still holding you up by the hips. You felt your core soak, seeing this devilishly powerful man on his knees… for you.

The first touch of his tongue against the wetness of your pussy made you clutch desperately at his shoulders. He was teasing you with tentative licks over your core, lingering around the area where you needed him most.

You tilted your head back onto the wall as you felt his tongue position itself to lap at you in long, deliberate strokes around your drenched slit. Your clit was so swollen that you could feel the throb of it sending bolts of electrifying pleasure throughout your body. You thrust your hips into his sinful mouth and he took you fully, devouring you.

“Oh fuck”, you breathed as you felt an orgasm nearing. His tongue was travelling in broad strokes along the length of your pussy. Up and down it went until in one brief change in rhythm, it went plunging in, into the depth of your sweetness.

“Oh god!”, you screamed as you felt something tighten inside you. All the undiluted pleasure seemed to centre at your core deliciously before expanding and rupturing at a voltage that was too much for your body to handle.

You sobbed Bucky’s name, a high keening sound that tore from your throat as you held onto him as he took you flying, beyond yourself, beyond stars. Your screams slowly turned into mewls as the remaining shudders racked your body-- a body that was now too weak to stay aloft. A body that now belonged to him.

————

[zxvmp]

DTF? (Denki x Fem!Reader)

summary: it’s the weekend, so you and your classmates decide to celebrate your off days partying. where would be a better place to party than the club? What you didn’t think would happen was hooking up with Kaminari.

tags: alcohol, underage drinking, smut, improper quirk usage, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it guys), vaginal sex, roughness, skin marking

a/n: not proof read, so sorry for any errors 😩

You scrambled through your dresser drawers looking for an outfit. If you were going out with your classmates, you wanted to look extra good. There weren’t many opportunities for you to dress up and look good, so you wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

It was Mina’s idea to sneak out when Aizawa fell asleep. The club was your idea. It took a bunch of convincing Yaoyarozu to create fake ID’s for everyone. Not to mention getting Ida to not snitch. He agreed to be on watch out for you all in case Aizawa got up.

The plan was perfect.

You pulled out a short, skimpy bright red dress that looked like a stripper would wear. It shocked you that you even owned such a thing. You thought it was a bit too much, but you really didn’t have anything else. Plus, you were sure the other girls would wear similar things.

Once the hallways started to silence, you took the time to get ready and patiently wait for a text message. You wore your hair down with a slight curls at the ends. Your makeup was subtle, just mascara, blush, and lipgloss.

As your phone buzzed on your nightstand, you applied your finishing touches and checked your phone.

Mina 🩷

alr guyss

we’re in the clear! 😍

meet up in the front quickly!! (1:02 a.m.)

Kirishima 🪨

awesome 😎

i’m so pumped

Mineta 😐

me too 🤤

*Jirou, You, Yaoyarozu, Uraraka, & others disliked Minetas message*

You slid on white high-top converse and quietly opened your door. Since you didn’t own any heels, your converse were just going to have to do. Plus, you didn’t want to deal with sore ankles the next day.

The walk down to the front doors was difficult. Mostly because everyone was containing their laughter from trying to be quiet. It didn’t help that Denki accidentally tripped down the stairs, causing a loud bang to roar throughout the staircase.

Once you all made it to the front, Denki used small voltages to disable to cameras set up. After all of the cameras were disabled, you booked it towards the front gates where multiple taxis were parked. You made a mental note to thank Yaoyarozu for paying for them.

You ended up jn a taxi with Denki, Mina, and Kirishima. The four of you were known as the planners for party situations. It was a tight squeeze in the backseat, but you all managed. You were in between Mina and Denki.

To help pass time, you played mini games on your phone. As you played your games, you noticed you forgot to charge your phone. You let out a sad sigh and disregarded the low battery notification.

Denki heard your sigh and turned his head to notice your low battery. “I got you.” He pointed a finger at your phone and used his quirk to charge your phone.

You gave him a smile, “Thanks.”

He nodded and turned his head to continue talking to Kirishima. However, your eyes were left lingering on him. He wore a black dressed shirt that was slightly unbuttoned with a gold chain. For pants, he wore black baggy jeans. An all-black combo. His cologne entered your nostrils which made you start to realize how attractive Denki actually was. You knew he was hot, but tonight he looked better than usual.

Seeing him now really set something off in you.

“Whatcha lookin at?” Mina whispered, nudging you playfully.

You bit back a smile and nudged her back, “Stop.”

Mina giggled, “C’mon just say it’s already! You think he’s hot.”

Just before you could raise your hand to silence her, Kirishima caught your attention.

“Yo, we’re here!” Kirishima excitedly hopped out the car. Denki gave you a quick glance before hopping out shortly after.

You looked back at Mina and she raised and dropped her eyebrows playfully, making you roll your eyes.

As you scooted towards the door of the car, Denki stood outside with his hand out. You paused before taking his hand.

“What’s up with all these kind gestures? You’re usually always finding a way to annoy me.”

Denki laughed, “Who says i’m still not finding ways?”

You let out a small yelp and jolted at the sudden feeling of a shock. “Ow!”

While Denki was in a laughing state, you took your chance to activate your quirk. You raised your hand and summoned a water hand to follow your action. A loud slapping sound echoed throughout the crowd, causing some people to turn back and look at the two of you.

“OW! Mine did NOT hurt that much.” Denki rubbed his cheek and wiped a tear that formed in his eye.

You snickered, “C’mon, half of them already made it in.”

~

Loud music played throughout the club. You were already five shots in of the 10 minutes of being there.

“Damn (Y/N), you do this often?” Kirishima watched as you downed a shot, amazed at how you were in the lead.

You, Denki, Mina, Kirishima, Bakugo, and Yaoyarozu were all in a drinking competition. At first, it started off with the whole class. But after three shots, multiple people tapped out.

“Nope, maybe you guys are just lightweight.” You wink, finishing another shot. In truth, you really didn’t know how you were managing multiple shots.

Bakugo snatched the shot you were reaching for before you could grab it, “Shut you damn weirdo, I won’t allow you to beat me.”

You giggled, “Alright tough guy, I was about to tap out anyways.”

And thank god you did. While you watched the others compete to drink, it all hit you. You were cheering on Denki as it happened. In one blink, your vision became slower and you could feel your body become fuzzy.

“Damn, you guys look fucked up.” Mina laughed, nudging Kirishima to look.

“How many did you guys take?!” Kirishima burst out laughing.

You looked over at Denki and noticed his eyes were half-lidded and a drunk smirk was plastered on his lips. The two of you help eye contact before he broke it.

“Wayyy more than you.”

You giggled, “Yeah!”

“Whatever, i’m gonna go find someone to dance with.” Mina got up and disappeared into the large crowd of people.

You decided dancing was a good idea and began dragging Denki into the crowd without a thought. Flashing lights were displayed everywhere and you could feel strangers brush up against you every other second.

“Awe you wanna dance with me?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “I’m bored.”

At first, it started with the two of you singing your heart out to a justin beiber song. Mina probably managed to sneak in a song request because you knew it was her favorite song. Then, as the music began to drift off to other songs, you found yourself dancing against Denki.

His hands were rested on your hips while your back was against his stomach. You felt so free and loose drunk. It was amazing. Not to mention the rush of excitement you felt whenever you’d occasionally grind your ass against Denkis crotch. You could tell he enjoyed it from the way his grip on your hips would change.

You felt goosebumps form on your neck when you felt Denki kneel down to your level to rest his head on your shoulder. You turned your head slightly and caught his eyes.

In that moment, it was like everything around you was a blur. It was only you and Denki. His eyes traveled from your eyes to your lips. You felt the urge to kiss him. He must’ve felt the same thing, because he beat you to it.

His lips were on yours in an instant. You gasped into the kiss when you felt his hands slowly move around your body. The kiss escalated quickly. You turned around to wrap your arms around his neck for a better angle.

After a while, you both pulled away to catch your breath. You stared up into his yellow eyes admiring his handsome face. Behind his half-lidded eyes, you could tell his gaze was filled with lust. You couldn’t lie and say you weren’t aroused either.

A smirk formed on your lips, “Down to fuck?”

~

It was a risky gamble. As everyone began to head back to their dorm rooms, you managed to sneak into Denki’s unnoticed.

The second the two of you reached his room, your hands were all over each other. A trail of clothes and shoes were led up to his bed. Soft moans escaped your mouth as his mouth attacked your skin. One of his hands were placed beside your head while the other was slowly making its way down your thighs.

You gripped his forearm when you felt his middle finger run down your slit. His smirk deepens and you could he was enjoying every moment of this. He loved the way your facial expressions changed with each touch. It’s like he knew your weaknesses.

“Had a feeling you liked me.” He inserted his ring and middle finger, making you whine, “Tell me i’m wrong.”

“What…?” You breathe out. Your mind was focused on the way his fingers were plunging in and out of you. The alcohol in your system made you sensitive to any and every touch.

“C’mon, you don’t think I tease you all the time just for fun? I do it because I know you like it.” His pace increased, “I mean, when I didn’t hear you deny Mina, it all started to piece together.”

You were at a loss for words. You’d have to kill Mina later for her loud mouth.

“If you knew, why are you trying to get it out of me n-now?” You words were mushing together from the sensations you were feeling. Denkis fingers were curling up into you at a perfect angle.

He giggled, “I dunno, just wanted to hear it from you.”

Before you could say anything else, you were cut off by the waves of electricity coursing throughout your body. Denki placed his thumb on your clit and used his quirk to stimulate you more. You never thought such a feeling could make you feel so good.

A loud moan echoed in his room and you felt a knot form in your stomach. Through your blurred vision, you could see that Denki was in awe.

“Fuck..”

His lips crashed onto yours and you could feel another shock jolt your body. With a final thrust of his fingers, you came undone. Your release coated his fingers and you were almost embarrassed at the sight.

“Think you can take some more, pretty girl?” Denki brought his fingers up to his mouth to lick them clean.

Watching him do so sparked something in your body you never thought would. You nodded your head to his question as you calmed down from your high.

Denki had a pretty good size for a dick, much bigger than you imagined. Watching him slide in was definitely the highlight of your night. Both of you groaned in unison once he was fully in. You felt so full.

You threw your head back and closed your eyes once he began to thrust. He started of slow so the two of you could adjust to the euphoric feeling.

“Fuck—Denki, keep going.” You muttered in between quick breaths. He felt so good inside of you. It was a perfect fit.

He let in a sharp inhale when you clenched around him, “Whatever you say, angel.”

His nicknames made your heart swoon. Once his pace picked up, you clutched the bedsheets beneath you. The grip his hands had on your hips was brutal and sure to leave markings in the morning, but you didn’t care. Not when you felt like that.

Your breaths started to become erratic, and you could tell from the way his thrust started to become sloppy, he was close.

“Denki-”

He groaned, “Yes?”

“After this, what are we?”

He smiled and planted a kiss on your forehead, “Whatever you want us to be.”

You smiled and hooked your arms around his neck to bring him into a kiss. Denki brought a hand up to your cheek and traced circles with his thumb. You turned into mush under his touch. He was truly your weakness, and you were totally okay with that.

“Tell me if it’s too much, mkay?”

You nodded and unhooked your arms from his neck. His hands returned to your hips and you felt his pace pick up again. However, his thumb began to circle your clit with his quirk playing a role, sending you over the edge. You were a moaning mess.

The voltage of electricity had you seeing stars and feeling things you didn’t think you could ever achieve. No man has ever made you feel that way.

Nothing but moans and broken cries came out your mouth. Denki was enjoying every second of it. Hell, if he could hear you and watch you crumble like this everyday he’d do it in a heartbeat.

Without warning, your body began to spasm and an intense orgasm took over your body. Denki continued to thrust into you, chasing his own high.

“Ah—Denki!”

“I know babe, just give me a couple more seconds.”

Your mind went blank and your ears began to ring. After a couple minutes, you began to snap back to reality. Your eyes traveled down to see Denki cleaning your stomach with a T-shirt. You mentally thanked him for not finishing inside of you.

You snickered.

“What? It’s all I had.”

“Thank you, now let’s sleep. I’m exhausted.”

He tossed the dirty T-shirt to the side and crawled up next to you. You pulled a blanket over your bodies and slowly drifted off to sleep. You had a lot to discuss in the morning.

[mehiwilldoitlater]

Previously... "How you wished your phone hadn't died few days ago"

Me: Gentlemen,Ladies and Enby's. I have an solution >:)

OKAY OKAY SO,The party fights Yellow Loong and after defeat,they get their thunder staff,yeah? Reader thinks it's so cool and then it clicks to them to CHARGE their phone by the use of the staff!!! Which does work HAHA instantly goes %100 in span of 5 seconds lmao

And reader shows the destined one some photos (like their family,friends of school/college,time they went to zoo and hold finger monkey,yes. It's a thing,look at it up hehe)

At last,reader takes selfie with The destined one and Zhu Baige cuz they don't want to forget them c:

Also drink water,gotta stay hydrated! 💜🫵🏻

"This will never work."

"And if it works, you'll be so sorry you had doubted me, old man!"

Bajie, sighing, Just pointed out the destined one, who was holding that small black tablet in his right hand with the nail of his pinky in the small hole at the base of the same object.

"Kid, stop indulge her! Be the rational one here!"

"What can I say?" He said, shrugging his shoulders, "I'm quite curious too about this phone thing."

"Oooh, yes, of course! Cuuurious, he said. Well, if it's turned out to burn at a crisp, do not come cry to me, young lady!"

You just laugh it out; even if it were true, you knew that the old pig was a soft heart for you and would surely comfort you.

"Ok so," you started to explain for the last time, "go really low on the voltage, enough to the cilinder with the green liquid to appear. Once Is full and made a sound, stop!"

"It seems simple; sure, is it going to work?"

"Well, maybe? ... Anyway, it doesn't matter! Just go!"

So, what were you up to this time?

A few days after your arrival, your phone, as you suspected would have happened, had died since the lack of electricity.

Between a deadly danger and another being eaten attempt, your mind completely forgotten about the device's lost usage until, after the fight against Yellowbrow, the idea of using that newfound power struck you.

You weren't sure that it could work; you were prepared to lose forever your phone, to be fair, but a small try never hurt anyone, right?

And fortune favorite, the bold!

After the small sound front the phone, you started to jump in happiness, finally with the last connection of your original world in your hands.

"AH! YES! IT WORK IT WORK! AHAH!"

The other two laughed a little, noticing how your fingers were able to move in the device with knowledge and security.

"All right, all right," said Bajie, sitting next to you when you decided to calm down. "Now, what does this little thing do?"

"Okay! Basically, we use It tò call people, message them...communication in general!"

"Oh so..." Yuán Fèn seemed startled when, after touching one of the apps on the screen, the color changed "is like... a bird or... and Messanger?"

"Well yes? Everything happens in seconds instead of hours or days! Unfortunately, without connection, it's useless for that part."

"Ah! So I was right! "

"Buuuut It can do something more intriguing for you!"

Once you shot the camera, your two friends, after a brief moment of surprise from their own faces showing up inside that small box, seemed more interested than before.

"Is that a mirror?"

"Nope! It's a camera! We use it to make photos!"

"What's a pho-u-toh?"

"Photo! Or photograph!" You laugh after Bajie misspells "it's like a panting, but far more precise. Using light, you can press the image on paper. Now, a phone camera doesn't exactly work like that, but you get the idea."

You stod up and put the device in front of the pigface.

"Now smile! I'll show you!"

After you took the picture, with the image of a still confused Bajie on it, you showed it to him. After a moment of silence, he started to laugh about it.

"You are surely full of surprises!"

///

"HEY! Is that a baby?!"

"Baby, aren't you that small, you dork!"

"Yes, they are! They smal like your brain!"

Once again, you have to save yourself and your phone from another monkey's fist fight between the children. Now that you had shown them your small magic box, like they like to call it, they were always eager to make one with you or ask you to make one for them, only to laugh about their own faces or what was happening. You even make a few videos of them, which just make them go more crazy than before. 

But then they discovered your other photos.

They seemed to enjoy, especially the ones that you had taken the day you had decided to help your auntie in her school trip at the Zoo. They loved the ones that you had taken at the monkey enclosure; they loved to see that you were familiar with their kind even before the change of world!

Well, they weren't the only ones that enjoyed the device. Once, you decided to show it to the youngest of the spider sisters, showing her the video that you took of her while dancing, and she laughed all the time, enjoying it to see her own performance.

You even took the chance to use it to make ohotos of every place that you and the Destined one were able to visit. Yellow ridge, the snowy fields, the mountains...every place was a new set for one of your photos, and every time he was inside too.

He had never shown quite the interest like everyone, but he seemed still happy to know that you wanted to cherish the memories that you had there with him. But what he really loved were your own memories, the photos of your past, and your family. He loved sharing them with you, knowing you deeper.

"This is your..."

"Cousin. My cousin."

"Oh yes, yes...and this is your cat, right?"

"Sorta, it shows up now and then. I like to leave it some food for it, so it doesn't starve."

"Ah, got it..." then another photo, that you tried to pass fastly, had passed under his eyes of you near someone.

"And that one? The one with the guy?"

"Ah, it was nothing." Your tone seemed almost off, like to avoid the discussion.

"Nothing?" He raised his eyebrows. "I saw you smiling! How was it nothing?"

And soon, you get back on the photo and delete it.

"As I said, nothing."

It seemed that he still needed to know you better.

@sun-jglim @crimsonflameproxy @everlastingmoonlightsworld @biankanoir

@miraclecherryblossomsblog @certifiedsimpinggalore @sleepingdramaqueen @cromboloni @masksandfeathers

@cinnamonroll-anon @justrandomlypassing @cute-angi @luckyangelballoon @dressycobra7

@naarra @virtualexpertanchor @phoenixeclipse-lmkau @szynkaaa @kirax-the-lazy-girl

@sleepydang @weaverworks @kishimiest @marcu-bug @thepoweroffiction

@riolu4 @angryvampire @s0rr3l @rootin-tootin-morgan @lightlumi

@cleverfeststarlight

[taleeater]

Lab Rat Part 1

TMNT 2003 x Reader

Opening setting inspired by the blood draining scene in the 2014 TMNT bayverse movie.

Reader has she/her pronouns.

The turtles are captured and taken to a secret laboratory to be tested on. But they are surprised by what- or who they find there. With seemingly no hope for rescue, they are forced to rely on the strength and bravery of their frail and timid new friend.

Warnings: violence, torture, abuse, mention of experimentation, blood, injury, electrocution, whump

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

A pulsing headache, bright lights searing through his eyelids, muffled voices, and the subtle scent of ethanol. This is the uncomfortable sensation that greeted Leo as he drifted into consciousness. He blinked his eyes open to a squint, his blurry and slightly concussed vision trying to adjust to the room. In front of him, he saw a few figures moving around the wide open room of a low lit laboratory. Though it was hard to really make out the shapes past the bright spotlight shining in his eyes. He groaned and tried to move, finding his limbs restrained, arms stretched out on either side of him. Upon further inspection, he noticed a long thin plastic tube attached to his inner arm that snaked around the metal restraint on his wrist and fed down and out of sight. Squeezing his hand he tested the confines of the wrist strap.

“It’s a venipuncture IV… they’re draining our blood.”

Leo’s head snapped up to his right at the sound of his brother’s voice. His vision swayed at the fast movement and steading to find his purple clad brother restrained beside him.

“Donnie…? Where’s Raph and-“

“Hey!!! Leo’s up! How’s that concussion bro?” Mikey’s joking tone sounded further away.

Leo leaned forward as best he could and looked down past Donnie, seeing Raph and then Mikey strung up in a similar fashion as he was. Raph was still out cold with blood dripping from a wound on his temple.

Donnie followed his eyes and interrupted his thoughts.

“Raph got hit a bit harder than you did, he might still be out for a while.” He said with a sympathetic tone. “Do you remember what happened?” Donnie asked, in typical fashion checking for any brain damage.

Leo blinked for a moment, allowing for his mind to focus. “We were on patrol…”

The memory flashed before his eyes. It seemed routine, stopping a weapons deal from going down under a bridge by the Hudson. But when they had swooped down to start knocking out thugs, they had suddenly all been shocked with high voltage electricity. They were too stunned to find the source, the thugs stepping in quickly to knock them all unconscious before they could recover. The next thing he knew, he was here.

A low groan sounded from between Don and Mikey.

“Raph!” They all exclaimed, trying their best to turn their attention to their brother.

“Turn the lights off, will ya? My heads killing me…” He mumbled groggily.

Suddenly, a single loud clap sounded across the room, drawing their attention.

“Ah! I see you’ve all awoken. Well, mostly…” The dark figure snickered. His shoes clicked on the tiled floor as he walked closer and slowly emerged from the shadows.

A gangly pale man, slightly less than average height, thinning hair, and a white lab coat approached the podium. He stopped just shy of the base of the short staircase leading up to where the turtles were being held on display.

“I am Dr. Cobble. I am sure you are familiar with my close associate, Mr. Bishop?”

Leo, Mikey and Donnie all groaned.

“Him again? Doesn’t he ever give up?” Mikey bemoaned dramatically.

The doctor cleared his throat. “Yes, well, he was kind enough to supply us with this wonderful titanium steel adjustable medical grade holding platform. See how nicely they’re working? We can plug you full of needles and you can’t move an inch.” His giddy rambling shifted into an evil sneer that had Leo glaring daggers at him.

“In exchange, I am to provide Bishop with plenty of samples… of you four mutants. After all his trouble, I’m surprised by how easy it was to capture you!” He openly laughed at them as the brothers glared at him with trepidation.

“Now-“ Not allowing anyone time to respond, the doctor loudly clapped his hands again. This time the rattling of a dingy supply cart squeaked as it pulled up next to Dr. Cobble, pushed by another person in a lab coat. “Today, we are starting out with plenty of blood samples while you four get settled. In the meantime, I’ll have my assistant here patch up any open wounds. Wouldn’t want any festering to poison our precious samples after all!” He said in a sing-song voice and strolled away to another part of the room.

“….I really don’t like him.” Mikey groaned.

“Don’t worry Mikey, we’ll find a way out of here soon!” Donnie comforted him. Raph was still worryingly quiet from his head injury.

Leo had his eyes trained on the lab assistant gathering up a tray of what appeared to be bandages and antiseptic and carried it up the stairs, approaching Leo first.

Leo bared his teeth at him and glared with sharp eyes, a warning not to try anything funny.

The intern just looked at him with tired eyes and huffed, clearly unbothered as he instead passed Leo by and walked down to start with Mikey instead.

“Woah, hey- careful with that! Ow!” Mikey loudly protested. Leo and Donnie worriedly leaned forward as best they could to watch the assistant clumsily and not-so-gently rub an ointment from his coat pocket thoroughly into the large bump on Mikey’s head and slap a large square bandage over it. Luckily their brother’s injury was not severe enough to break the skin.

Mikey whined irritably as the bored lab assistant moved on to the seemingly unconscious Raph. He gathered some antiseptic on a piece of gauze and reached his hand up to wipe away the blood trailing down Raphael’s face. When suddenly, quick as lightening, Raph’s eyes flashed open and he lunged forward as far as he could, snarling and snapping at the assistant causing him to startle and stumble backwards out of range. He dropped his tray with a loud clatter and lost his balance, tumbling off the edge of the podium with a loud gasp. He hit the tiled floor with a thud followed by a long groan. Several of the other scientists in the room rushed to his side to check if he was okay.

Raph chuckled darkly. Despite the bleeding head wound he still had some bite left in him.

Leo looked over and gave his hot headed brother an amused smirk. Mikey was chuckling and Donnie sighed in relief, deflating a bit in his restraints.

“What happened??”

Dr. Cobble strut back to the front of the room, looking frustrated. Two other scientists rushed up to him and spoke to him quickly, while the group gathered at the base of the podium dispersed when two scientists carried away the injured assistant off to another room.

“I leave you idiots alone for TWO MINUTES and you’re losing control of the test subjects. It seems like you all need a little reminder as to what to do when that happens.” Dr. Cobble stepped forward and pulled what appeared to be a remote out from his pocket. He turned a dial and flipped a switch, and in seconds Leo and his brothers were alight as electricity surged through their bodies from the restraints on their wrists.

Dr. Cobble laughed shortly as he watched them struggle, before eventually flipping off the switch.

The turtles were left panting as they tried to catch their breath.

“See? Easy as pie. Any time they act up, just use a remote! That’s what we had them updated for, to include the new additions!“ He shoved the remote back into his pocket and regarded his team. “Now, who would like to volunteer to finish cleaning up these *animals*?”

No one spoke up or stepped forward. There was a hush over the room as the few left standing around shifted uncomfortably. Clearly less than enthusiastic about approaching the red one again.

“Really? No one?!” The doctor's expression pulled into a sneer as he clearly became angry.

After a brief pause, a small reached up from the back of the room.

Someone had volunteered.

Dr. Cobble's expression morphed into one of twisted amusement as he straightened.

“Ah… my dear (y/n)… Have you decided to make yourself useful today?”

There was another pause and the small frame concealed in shadows shifted uncomfortably. They weren’t wearing a lab coat, Leo observed.

The doctor appeared to grow agitated at the lack of response and curled his hand into a fist.

“Come. Here.” He jabbed at the space in front of him as he ordered.

There was a quiet gasp from the small form, followed by the padding of bare feet across the tile as they approached the doctor.

The room was still. Leo’s breath caught in his throat as the form of a frail young woman in a white papery hospital gown and a ratty gray cardigan, crossed into the light and stopped timidly in front of Dr. Cobble, her eyes downcast. She appeared to be close to Leo and his brothers in age.

“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” The doctor cooed in mock comfort. But it didn’t last long. He frowned at her with cold eyes and thrust a finger in the direction of the abandoned supply cart.

“Take some bandages and disinfectant up to the mutants and treat their head wounds. And be quick about it.” He followed with another loud clap that made her jolt, before she quickly nodded in confirmation and scurried over to grab what she needed from the cart. The rest of the laboratory personnel easily returned to their duties, no longer paying attention.

Leo looked over at Donnie and caught his brother watching the small figure with the same puzzled stare as he was. The purple turtle caught his eyes and they shared a questioning look before turning their attention back to the girl. She piled up a tray with gauze, bandages, and another bottle of antiseptic, before carefully ascending the stairs towards them.

She locked eyes with Leo first, and tried to offer him a small shy smile as she stopped in front of him. Her hair appeared to be unkept and overgrown, and noticed a strange metal collar fixed around her neck that caught the light as she moved. The skin peeking out underneath looked red and chapped.

“Hi…! Um… I’m (y/n)… what’s your name?” She quietly asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She wasted no time crouching down to place the tray at his feet, carefully extracting some disinfectant onto a piece of gauze as she glanced up at him intermittently to show she was listening expectantly.

“Uh…” He glanced around first to check that Dr. Cobble had left. “Leo… my name is Leo.” He offered, feeling his brow ridges crease in confusion.

The girl straightened up and faced him again, poised with the gauze in hand.

“Leo!” Her expression seemed to brighten marginally. “Can I touch you with this? I need to disinfect your cut before I put a bandage over it. I-If that’s okay.”

Leo was honestly a little taken aback by the request. “S-sure, do what you need to.”

He watched her nod at his consent before slowly reaching up in his line of sight, so he could watch what she was doing, and gently dabbing the damp gauze at the tender spot on his head. He flinched and hissed a little at the sting, making the girl pull her hand away and locking eyes with him.

“I’m sorry, I know it hurts a little. Can I keep going? I promise I’ll be careful.” Her eyes carefully searched his, her brows knit with concern and a hint of uncertainty.

Leo hesitated at such careful treatment. It almost felt like a trick. What did she have to gain from this? Who was she?

With no other current options, he sighed and pulled a half-smile. “Go ahead.”

She searched his eyes for a moment longer before returning to her task. Diligently swiping away the dried blood on his temple before stooping down and returning with a thick bandage.

“I’ll just apply this bandage and… there! We’re done. Thank you Leo.” She flashed him a small grin before pulling the tray over to work on his brother.

Leo blinked as he processed the interaction, lightly baffled. Then Donnie’s stuttering caught his attention.

“Y-y-y-yes! That would be fine, Miss (y/n). Please proceed.” He looked anxious as he watched her bend down to handle the supplies. She must be giving him the same treatment.

“Luckily, it looks like you aren’t bleeding anywhere… so I’ll just need to apply a little bit of this salve before covering your bruise with a bandage.” She held up the tin and let Donnie thoroughly look over the packaging, patiently making sure to flip it over so he could read through the ingredients and instructions. Once he seemed satisfied that the salve would be safe to use on his skin, Donnie gave (y/n) a grateful nod of approval. She then opened it in front of him and swiped out a little glob of the ointment, lifting her hand up slightly to his face after Donnie leaned down to try and smell it.

“It might hurt a little when I apply it… is that okay?”

Donnie met her eye contact and shyly smiled. “Yes, go ahead.”

And in the same manner she did with Leo, she gently dabbed on the ointment, doing her best not to prod at the swelling lump. Donnie made no noise of complaint. Then she reached down and retrieved a bandage.

“Okay, last step. Almost finished...” She looked very focused as she flattened the bandage into the right spot on his head. “All done! Thank you Donnie.” She pulled her hands away and looked at him kindly, before collecting her tray and moving over towards Raph.

This left Donnie with a similar look of bewilderment that Leo had from the exchange. He seemed a little lost in thought as his gaze drifted over to meet Leo’s, to which Leo raised an eyebrow at him, quietly asking the same question he was thinking.

“Oh no. Get that shit away from me.” Their attention was drawn over to Raph’s venom.

“I-I’m sorry! I won’t do anything you don’t want me to! I- my name is (y/n)…”

“And why should I care? I don’t want no scientist’s lackey touchin me. Now get lost.” Raph bit out angrily before settling again, his head hanging forward a bit limply as he relaxed. The girl looked downcast and seemed a bit lost, but fixed her hands together in front of her and made no move to touch her supplies or Raph.

“Don’t mind him, he’s always grouchy. Nice to meet you (y/n)! I’m Mikey.” The final brother piped up and pulled her attention. She looked over at him surprised, but quickly changed into a light smile.

“Nice to meet you too, Mikey. Is your head okay?” She asked him a little less quietly, seemingly emboldened by his outgoingness.

“Oh this? Yeah, this is nothin! You should see the other guy-“ Mikey spoke as animatedly as he could while fixed in place, his head moving around while he spoke. She giggled a little bit.

“Say, you don’t look like a scientist. Do you work here or somethin?” Leo and Donnie immediately perked up at the question, Mikey hitting the nail on the head.

“Ah- I-!” She stammered, looking nervous.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING???” A booming voice burst through the room.

All the boy’s eyes shot up to the sound of Dr. Cobble angrily striding back over to the podium. (Y/n)’s whole body was wracked with a violent tremble as she suddenly shrunk in on herself. Leo and Donnie couldn’t see her expression from their angle, but from Mikey’s eyes flashing between her and the angry doctor, his expression faded from deeply concerned to mad. Raph lifted his head up to regard the doctor with glaring annoyance.

“You should have long been finished tending to these freaks. And now I’ve caught you conversing with them?? I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!! Now…” The mad doctor’s eyes drifted over to Raph, and with wide eyes looked him over. “Oh…! Oh ho ho…!! And it appears you still haven’t finished your job!!”

He took a step closer to the stairs, his head tilted in question and his wild eyes bore into (y/n)‘s trembling form. The girl hiccuped and shuddered as she tried her hardest to muffle her erratic breathing. She did not dare move.

Dr. Cobble reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out the remote again, not breaking his stare. (Y/n) flinched with her whole body at the appearance of the remote, but remained quiet. The boys all narrowed their eyes at the doctor in challenge, ready to feel the jolt hit.

The doctor’s face stretched into a grin, and with the remote’s setting turned up high, he flicked a switch.

But it wasn’t the same switch.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

To all of the turtle’s shock, the electricity didn’t hit them. (Y/n) shrieked at the top of her lungs as her whole body tensed from the powerful volt that erupted from the collar around her neck. The poor girl dropped to her knees and hugged herself tightly as she spasmed, unable to escape the waves and waves of painful electricity that wracked her body.

“Hey… HEY!!! STOP THAT!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!!” To everyone’s surprise, it was Raph who started yelling.

“QUIT IT, SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG!!” Mikey joined in, furious.

Dr. Cobble only laughed as he watched the show. After what felt like far too long, he toned down the dial and shut her switch off. (Y/n) fell limp into a slouch on the floor. The smell of burnt flesh and iron reaching their noses. Their only sign she was still conscious was her shuddering breaths.

“Was it not you who volunteered for this job? You disappoint me, (y/n)! I let you roam around the lab today! Gave you a responsibility! And you not only neglect your duty, but I catch you speaking behind my back!”

The doctor paced back and forth at the bases of the stairs like a predator, easily ignoring the murderous glowers from the turtles as he kept his attention trained on the young girl.

“I’ll give you another chance to prove yourself…” Dr. Cobble’s voice softens in mock empathy. “Finish up your job, quickly and silently, and your testing today will be minimal. Am I understood?” His tone was cold and final. (Y/n) nodded quietly from her spot on the floor.

“Good. Now hop to it.” And with another loud clap, (y/n) startled into action.

She grabbed the gauze and spilled some disinfectant onto it, and leapt to her feet. Dr. Cobble stayed put, his eyes boring into her back as he watched her do her job. But still she paused. She sniffed wetly, biting her lips into a line as she hesitated in front of Raph. Her hand poised and trembling in front of his face but not moving to clean his wound.

“…hey. Hey hey hey, it’s okay. You can do it, okay?? I give you my permission, or- whatever. Just do it!” Raph scrambled to encourage her, realizing that what she was waiting for was his consent. He looked her up and down with palpable concern, actually seeing her now.

She reached up, and still with trembling hands, cleaned the gash oh so gently until it was cleared of blood. Then quickly retrieved the bandage and carefully smoothed it over the tender bruised spot on his head.

When she was finished, she picked up the tray, and almost stumbling from her shaking, rushed down the stairs past the overbearing watch of the doctor. She placed the tray on the cart, and joined by two men that appeared to be armed guards, was quickly escorted out of the wide echoing laboratory down a hallway that led out of sight.

The brothers were stunned in silence as they watched her go, flinching slightly as the sound of a heavy metal door slamming shut broke the spell.

“Well! I think we all learned a very valuable lesson today.” Dr. Cobble started cheerily, seemingly relaxed from his crazed state. He turned to the four turtles, regarding them strung up and half bled dry on their steel crosses, and sneering smugly.

“Do not disappoint me.”

To be continued.

[kremlin]

doing high voltage electrical work while blisteringly high on amphetamines after 3 days turns out to be exceedingly safe, due to the critically low electrolytes levels in your body making it quite non conductive, any accidents results in merely a burn rather than a fatal heart-crossing arrhythmia

[joeyalohadream]

ohhh winter or storm would be So cute

Prompt: [Winter] our muses cuddle while watching a snow storm.

Here's a little post-war, established relationship snowstorm snuggle for our boys.

Static crackles out of the Jewel Wakemaster radio sat atop the mantle no matter how delicately John turns the dial between his fingers. He can practically feel the tickle of the fluctuating voltages against the side of his hand where it presses against the waffle patterned speaker as he tries to find a signal. There’s a big band jazz show that’s supposed to be broadcast tonight and he’s been looking forward to coaxing Gale away from his book and into his arms to dance around their living room to it all day.

But all he can find is static in place of the usual steady stream of music the reliable device has supplied him since Gale gifted him the small radio on his birthday a few months ago. He groans in frustration as he watches the needle land in the right place once again, only for the fuzzy noise to increase.

“No luck tonight?”

John looks up as Gale appears in the doorway, wiping his dishpan hands dry on a kitchen towel.

“Must be the weather,” John guesses, turning his focus back to the radio dial, not willing to give up just yet. He’s had visions of Gale swaying in his arms all day and he’s not about to call it quits on making that dream a reality.

“Mhm.”

Gale’s low rumble of agreement draws his focus and he looks up again to find that he has made his way into the room and stands now in front of their bay window, staring out over their yard. The sun is starting to dip low, but there’s enough light for John to make out the heavy snow that’s turning the world white. It blankets the ground already even though it started falling only as Gale pulled the chicken out of the oven an hour ago.

He turns back to the radio as a trumpet, backed by a drum beat filters through the static for a moment, but it’s gone again even though his fingers hold the dial steady.

“Fuckin’ static,” he curses, frowning at the failing contraption.

He works in vain for a few more minutes, going so far as to flip the power off and on a few times to no avail.

“Guess we won’t be gettin’ that show after all,” he finally admits to himself and to Gale as he lets the dial rest in the right position one last time. He straightens his back and steps away, letting the static fizzle out and into the room. It syncs up with the crackling from the fireplace and creates a surprisingly pleasant background noise. As he steps away, he feels the loss of warmth that had been painting his shins and thighs while he worked.

Turning to face the window, he feels his mouth pull down as he takes in Gale’s stiff posture where he still stands looking out at the storm brewing.

“Buck?”

Silence greets him as he closes the distance between them, coming to stop at Gale’s side. The other man doesn’t seem to register his arrival and John feels the ever-present sensation of worry wrapping around his heart and starting to squeeze as he takes him in.

“Gale,” he says, voice almost as low as the static humming out of the radio across the room. He moves slowly, raises a hand until his palm is hovering over the back of Gale’s neck. Making contact, he feels a small flinch and hears a sharp intake of breath as the man next to him seems to come back to himself.

Blue eyes find his own as John squeezes his neck.

“You with me?”

“Yeah.” John feels the column of Gale’s throat work beneath his thumb as he swallows thickly. “I’m with you.”

“Where’d you go?”

Gale ducks his head and then crosses his arms over his chest, rocks a bit on his heels and then meets John’s gaze again with a sad smile pulling at his lips.

“Poland,” he says, one shoulder lifting and falling again.

John feels a shiver go through the smaller man and he feels his heart reach out for him. He looks briefly to the snow outside the window, hears the static of the radio and remembers twenty men standing around, waiting for a radio broadcast to cast a glimmer of hope into a hopeless situation while a storm raged outside. Wonders why it didn’t transport him back to that awful place as well.

“C’mere, you,” he says at the same time he increases the pressure of the hand still laying against the back of Gale’s neck. He guides him closer and smiles when he’s met with no resistance. Gale melts himself against John’s chest, face tucked in against his throat, and winds both arms around his waist. John lets his hand slide up and bury itself in soft, golden strands, way past regulation length now. His other arm winds around Gale’s back and pulls him in as close as he can get him. “Be here with me, sweetheart. Right here, in our living room. We’re home.”

Even as he says the words, they feel inadequate. They feel like a half-truth. Because his ‘home’ is the man in his arms. His home has always been Gale, so he’d been home in Texas and in Florida and in England and in Poland. He’d had his home in the hot desert heat after they lost Curt and a hundred other men. He’d had his home when he’d stumbled through the gates of a Stalag with one foot in the grave. He’d had his home when his heart and his mind warred with each other and he’d had to fight every day not to stick the other foot six feet under.

He still feels a blossoming guilt when he thinks of how close he’d come to abandoning his home. It constricts his lungs and fogs his thoughts and makes him want to run away. But the knowledge that he’s Gale’s home, the unbelievable, yet undeniable truth that this man in his arms can’t do this without him brings him back with a clarity that’s purer than flying on a cloudless day through endless blue skies.

He feels Gale nod against his neck and he ducks his head until he’s nosing at the hair falling over Gale’s temple. Strong arms squeeze him tight and then loosen their grip enough for Gale to arch his back and meet his gaze.

“I’m okay,” Gale tells him with his trademark little smile. A barely there twitch of his lips. “Just got lost in the moment.”

John feels his cheeks stretch as soft lips press to one and he can’t help but nudge his face, noses brushing until he can finally kiss Gale’s smile. A soft sigh, content and warm, escapes from between Gale lips and ghosts against his own and John smiles into the kiss, hand tightening in the long hair beneath his palm.

They sway. No big band, no drums or pounding jazz. They sway to the static, to the fizzle, crackle, pop of the fire that warms their living room. John can feel a matching warmth in his chest as Gale lazily moves his soft lips to the hinge of his jaw and down his throat before letting his cheek rest against John’s collarbone.

“Nothing like Poland,” Gale’s low voice mumbles into his neck.

John tightens his arms and moves his feet, dancing them closer to the sofa that rests along the wall.

“Never again,” John tells him. He’ll never let him be cold like that again. Hungry like that again. Dirty or worried or scared like that again.

He feels the soft brush of a cushion against the back of his leg as he plants his feet. He lets his hand run down Gale’s arm until he can grasp his hand and then he pushes him away until his arms extended straight out. A laugh barks out of him at the unamused look Gale sends his way right before he makes him twirl, but he’s fighting a smile when he spins back around to face him and John can’t help but pull him back in to press his own grin to Gale’s growing one.

“Thanks for the dance, baby,” John murmurs against his lips, nose pressed flush below the apple of his cheek. Blue eyes, shining with happiness, meet his as they pull away and John finds it easier than anything to push away the lingering thoughts of another snowy evening with a radio that won't work.

He drops himself down onto the couch, presses his back to the armrest and uses the hand still grasping Gale’s fingers to pull him down with him. He plants one foot on the ground, the other against the cushion and opens his legs to create a space that Gale fits into like it was made for him. A moment later, with Gale’s back pressed to his chest, legs sprawled out and his head falling back to rest on John’s shoulder, he can’t help but be sure that it was made for Gale. That he was made for Gale, and Gale for him. He lets his arms wrap around his slender frame, something settling in him when he feels the toned definition of the muscle Gale’s been able to build in the last few months under his palms.

A comfortable silence settles between for a while as they sit and watch the snow fall. The room is warm and Gale is steady weight against him, growing heavier the more he relaxes. John’s eyes hood as he finds himself almost blissfully content in this moment.

“I never liked the snow,” Gale shares, breaking John from the sleepy stupor he’d fallen into.

“No?” He turns his head and nuzzles against the hair that’s tickling his chin. “Even before?”

Gale hums quietly, understanding what before John is referring to without any need to elaborate. Their lives have become a steady stream of before moments.

Before they met.

Before they become officers.

Before John shipped out.

Before they kissed.

Before the fucked.

Before they made love.

Before Gale went down and John followed him.

Before the Stalag.

Before Gale went over that wall and John couldn’t follow him.

Before John hung that flag.

It’s the after that they’re both trying to focus on experiencing now. And the good days are racking up and starting to outweigh the bad ones.

“We didn’t have a fireplace,” Gale continues and John feels the last cloud of the sleepy haze that had been swirling behind his eyes drift away at the realization that Gale is sharing something from the before that John wasn’t a part of. That John doesn’t know as much about as he’d like to. “Had this old, rusty wood burning stove to heat the house. Only we never really had any wood for it.”

John stays quiet, focuses on the vibration of Gale’s low timbe he can feel rumbling against his chest as he speaks.

“When it’d snow like this, swear it was colder than the bunkhouse.” He pushes back further against John’s chest and John tightens his arms around him. “My old man never bothered cutting wood. It was always the last thing on his mind, after me I guess.”

There’s a painful pull behind his ribs at the soft-spoken words, at the reminder that Gale hadn’t been taken care of, hadn’t been safe, even before he’d signed up to die for his country. He lets one of hands drift up and rest atop Gale’s head, lets his fingers scratch and soothe over his scalp.

“I’d put on every shirt I owned and I’d go out, try to cut some. But I was too weak to lift the axe. Always on the scrawny side if you can believe it,” he chuckles and John smiles into his hair.

“You? A skinny little thing?” John puts his best incredulous voice to use and pinches Gale’s side. “I can’t even imagine.”

Gale flinches away from the jab with a huff and turns his body to the side, shoulder now pressed into John’s chest. He knocks his forehead against jaw with a low, “quiet, you,” and John pulls his head back down under his chin, chuckling at him.

“I used to walk to the park at the end of our road and pick up sticks,” he continues once he’s settled back in and comfortable. There’s a wistful tone to his voice, but it’s not a happy story. “They were too wet, too small to really give off any heat. Hardly could get ‘em to light half the time. But it felt good to try.”

And John’s thoughts spring back to two days ago, when he’d heard the weather report on base about the cold front coming in. About the snow storm. He’d come home that night and spent an hour cutting wood while Gale made dinner. He knew Gale would be home alone during most of the bad weather while John was at work and he’d wanted Gale to be able to keep the fire going without venturing out into the cold. He’d needed too. Gale doesn’t handle the cold as well he does, worse really, than anyone he’s ever met.

Gale had popped out onto the porch that night with a cup of coffee for him and a smile on his face that had remained in place all through dinner and into the evening.

He’d taken John apart slowly that night, with his hands, his fingers, his tongue. He’d made love to him in their bed and he’d held him close after. Cleaned him up and tucked him in and kissed him so sweetly that John had felt his eyes sting from the force of the affection he’d felt.

At the time, he’d thought Gale had been worked up watching him chop wood. Watching him use his wide shoulders and his rough hands to work up a sweat. That it had led to a mind-blowing evening of pleasure.

But now he thinks maybe the light in Gale’s eyes had been gratitude. Had been happiness and wonder that someone was finally taking care of him in a way no one else ever had. He thinks maybe he’d been taken care of in return that night.

You remind me of my dad, John.

Well, eat your heart out Cleven Sr., he thinks viciously. He’s John’s now and John makes him warm. Makes him safe. Makes him feel loved.

“You gonna call me a sap if I tell you that I’ll never let you be cold again?”

“Mhm,” Gale confirms, “But I’d believe you.”

The faith Gale has in him, the unshakeable trust he’s always had when it comes to John never fails to make his chest fill with pride.

“It’s true,” he says. “From here on out, snow’s just going to be something pretty for us to look at. Something for us to throw at each other before we warm up by the fire.”

“You wanna have a snowball fight, John?”

He can hear the smile in Gale’s voice and a matching one stretches his own face.

“Sure, sweetheart,” he presses his lips to the top of Gale’s head and breathes the words into his hair. “Get you all rosy cheeked and breathless and then take you inside, lay you out in front of the fire and have my way with you. Warm you back up from the inside out.” He traces his fingers, touch light, over Gale’s side, his hip, down his thigh as he speaks.

Gale squirms against him and tilts his back enough to look up at him. Shows off the impressive flush John’s words brought to his cheeks.

“You like the sound of that, baby?”

Soft lips press against his, the kiss languid, slow and enough to light a fire low in John’s belly. Gale’s tongue traces the seem of his lips and he opens for him, shivers at the wet glide across his own tongue.

A hand slides into his hair, strong fingers pulling at the curls at the back of his head and he moans at the feeling as Gale turns over completely to press against him in a long line.

“Let’s make a new memory,” Gale breathes out against John’s lips. “Make me fall in love with the snow, John.”

John’s hands slide down until they’re wrapped around Gale’s slim waist and he pulls him forward, breath hitching as their hips align. A quiet moan leaves the younger man and his eyes fall shut as John grinds up against him.

“Okay, baby. I gotcha.”  

[gh0stsp1d3r]

ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇

Part 2 chapter 7- failed heists

Previous chapter

Series masterlist

Not a lot of rafe in here, I’m trying to get more of him in the next chapter I swear ): 😭

“Well, news flash, we’re not getting out of here unnoticed with a giant cross.” Kiara told you all, everyone turning to her.

“We don’t have to. We can nab it somewhere further in the country. Just gotta figure out how to stop the train.” Pope spoke.

“Leave that to me.” You told them, an idea popping up.

“How you gonna do that?”

“You remember Uncle Tom, right, JJ?”

“Yeah… what about him?”

“When you were like a baby, I remember when he was drunk, he would throw an old chain across the tracks, literally just for fun. The chain stops the train traffic, in coastal Caronlina.”

“A chain?” Kiara asked, not too sure how this whole thing would work.

“Shes actually right. Theres a low- voltage current that runs across all rail tracks. Throw a chain on it, you close that circuit. It would read as another train, crossing lights come down. Science is actually pretty sound.” Pope explained to them.

“See? I can be smart too.” You said with a proud smile.

“Well, we don’t have a chain.”

“No, but I bet toppers dad has jumper cables in the truck.” Sarah suggested. “Would that work?”

“Yeah.”

“Yo, what’s going on? Are we doing this or what?” Topper shouted, everyone turning to him.

“All right, you all wait here. Me and Pope will go look for it and send a signal once we find it.” Cleo spoke.

“Do we actually have a plan right now?”

“Think we do.” JJ said, all of you beginning to walk down.

“That’s impressive.”

“Let’s not jinx it while we’re ahead.”

“Nobody ever listens to me.” Cleo said.

——-

"What's taking so long?" Sarah asked, Pope and Cleo were down searching while the rest of you sat.

“I mean there is like a thousand damn cars out there. Patience, young padawan,” you said, patting her shoulder. No one got the reference except for you and JJ.

“726,” Cleo read off the car.

“Hold on.” Pope said, shining his flashlight onto the car. “750X, baby. This is our car!” Pope began to climb on it, glancing back at Cleo. “Run and tell the other pogues.”

“Careful up there.”

Pope climbed, shining his flashlight as the signal.

“That’s it, we’re green.”

All of you quickly got up, but noticed something.

“What’s that?”

“You hear that?”

The brakes hissed, and the cars started moving. “Trains moving, trains moving.” JJ said, everyone running over there now.

“Oh, hey Sarah.” Topper remarked.

“Do you have any jumper cables?” She asked.

“Here I am involved in illegal activities.”

“Not that illegal.” She shrugged.

“I’m not even close to being okay with thi-“

You came up from behind, putting your arm on his neck and pinning him to his car.

“Shut the fuck up, dude.”

“I mean- j-jumper cables what are we doing with those?” He asked.

“If you don’t wanna go, fine. We’ll take the truck.” You said.

“T-the truck?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I just wanna make sure everyone here is okay with ending up in federal prison.”

“I think we’ve all ran away from the cops before, think we’ll be fine.”

“And if it gets to that, yeah, I’ll do it for Pope.” JJ chimed in.

You hopped on the back of JJs bike, rest of them in the truck.

Pope and Cleo held onto the cars.

“Hey!” Pope shouted over the moving cars.

“What?!”

“Just so you know, I’m not normally this crazy. It’s just getting this cross back, it means a lot to me. I have to do this! It’s worth it.”

“It better be after all this shit, man!”

You ran with the cable, JJ tripping and falling before getting back up.

“You good?” You asked him, beginning to tie it to something.

“Yeah. Oh shit, you can hear it coming.” He said.

“Let’s fry this sucker, right?”

“Okay, now, all you have to do.. is change the current,” you grabbed the other end, putting it onto the tracks.

“Anddd.. red.” You spoke, both of you getting away from the tracks now.

The lights flickered, but didn’t turn red.

“Okay, that’s what he would do. That’s literally what he would do- so then it’d change red..”

“What if you.. blockaded the track? That’s what you could, maybe put like a tree-“ he said, but you realized what you did.

“Fuck, I’m stupid.” You mumbled, grabbing the cable and clipping it onto the other side. “The train hits both sides of the track.” You told him, shaking your head at yourself as you both now watched the light.

Soon, the light turned red.

“Fuck yeah!” You exclaimed.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” He gave you a high five with a grin on his face.

“Science for the win, right?” You said with a laugh, JJ laughing as well. You both watched the tracks.

“It’s gonna work. It’s gonna work.” JJ mumbled to himself.

“The trains stopping. It’s stopping, they did it!”Pope told Cleo.

“She’s slowing down.”

“We got brakes, dude.”

Pope and Cleo hopped off the car, walking back towards the side of the car.

“Can you pick a lock?” He asked her.

“Sure.” She said, getting to work.

“Shit, JJ,” you mumbled, pulling him to the side when you saw a car come into view. You saw a figure running over to you both.

“Shit.” He whispered.

“No, no, no. That’s not part of the goddamn plan.” You mumbled to him, both of you watching as they came out the vehicle.

—-

Cleo and Pope were caught when a bright flashlight shone at them.

“Hey! Hey! Stay right there.” He said, walking up to them.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Sir, I’m so sorry. It is not what it looks like. I know it looked like were criminals, but that’s not our intention. I promise, sir.” They both held their hands up.

——-

Pope, Cleo, Kie and Sarah were now in the car, and they finally found the cross.

“Cameron development, this is it!” He shouted.

“We’re gonna put this in your truck bed.”

“No, no, it’s gonna scratch the paint.” Topper spoke.

“You’ll be able to get a thousand paint jobs after we do this.”

“This thing right here?” He pointed to the giant box.

“Just help us spot it.”

They all got their hands on it, guiding it down onto the floor.

The train horn blared again, all of them panicking now, attempting to get it off faster.

“The trains starting.” You told JJ.

“We gotta go get them.” He said. “There goes the plan, we gotta help them.” He spoke, standing up now. Both of you all ran over, something dropping out of JJs pocket.

“You dropped it.” You spoke, picking up the wallet with ‘MC’ on it. Kiara’s dad’s initials.

You were glad he was taking your teachings about not letting anyone talk about him like that to heart. You handed it to him, he pocketed it.

You got on the back of his bike, he went to go start it, but the car drove past.

“That’s Top. And that’s the cross.” You spoke, JJ started the engine and quickly followed them on the road.

“Shit.” You muttered, seeing and hearing the cops behind the both of you.

“The hell is this kid doing?”

JJ went over next to them, switching lanes.

“What are you doing?” Topper shouted.

“Top, keep going straight!”

“Y’all be careful, all right?” Topper shouted.

“Get ready to jump.” JJ spoke to you, you quickly protesting.

“What?!”

“What?” Pope exclaimed.

“Have you lost your mind, JJ? I’m not fucking leaving you!”

Despite him telling you to, you did not. Although he could’ve seen that coming.

“I told you to fucking hop off!” He shouted, the car now in front of you both as he stopped the bike.

“I’m not leaving you JJ, you’ve really lost your mind if you think I am!”

He turned his bike around, picking up a rock, and sighing as he handed it to you.

“Let’s dance.” He mumbled, starting the engine again.

He drove towards the car, you getting ready to throw it. You threw it at the car, pumping your fist in the air, proud of yourself as the window shattered. The car turned around, and JJ continued to run away.

“They did it! They’re chasing them.”

“Stop the truck!” They all shouted at Topper.

“I’m not stopping the truck.” He protested.

“We gotta get them, please.” Sarah begged.

“All right. All right, damn it. All right, all right.” He groaned, stopping the truck.

“Turn around!”

“I’m not going… I’m not going to jail.” He mumbled.

“Topper, look at me.”

“They’re gonna arrest them both, we can’t leave them behind.”

“Damnit. Damn. Rafe’s gonna fucking kill me if I leave her behind.” He mumbled, mostly to himself.

He turned the truck around, and JJ kept running. He did a sharp turn, tricking them, making them slow down before he picked it back up.

“Turn left!” They all shouted, and he began to disagree before finally listening.

“They’re getting closer!” You shouted to him.

“I know that!”

There was another car coming by, directly in front for the both of you, making the cops swerve.

“JJ!” You shouted with a shrill voice, as the both of you fell off the overpass, his bike breaking and the both of you falling to the ground and off the overpass.

Your eyes were screwed shut, JJ groaning and turning his head to you. He was right next to you, putting his hand on your shoulder and jolting you.

“Y/n. Y/n, wake the fuck up.” He spoke, more worried about you than himself.

“Shit, you okay?” He asked when your eyes finally snapped open.

“Never been better, right?” You asked with a quiet laugh, making him have a small grin.

“JJ? Y/n?!” They all shouted, none of you getting up until Kie started sobbing.

You groaned as you hopped up to your feet.

“I wish I could say I did that on purpose. Butttt…”

“That was the gnarliest powerslide I think anyone’s ever done.” You told him, holding your side.

“I know, right?”

“You’re alive!” Pope went to hug JJ, and then Sarah hugged the both of you.

“I really thought you did it this time, Jayj.”

“The pleasantries are nice, but we should really get out.” You told them all, nodding your head.

Kiara came up to him, all of you heading to the truck.

“Don’t… don’t ever do that again.”

They both stared at each other for a moment before interrupted.

“Hey! Hey, kids! Don’t move!”

They both ran towards the car, both hopping in.

—-

“You guys are an absolute nightmare, don’t argue about everything?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Maybe put it a little bit, you’re going 65!”

“All right, all right, screw it!”

“There you go, that’s what I’m talking about! Need for fuckin’ speed!”

Your sentence was interrupted when the car jumped, all of you caught off guard as the cords fell off the truck.

“Stop! Stop, we lost the cross.”

Everyone got out, and the top was off the crate. The cross wasn’t there.

“Shit…”

“It’s fake… it’s all a freaking fake.”

“Of course we did, of course we stole a fake.” JJ muttered. The sirens wailed behind.

“Y’all hear that? Okay, I can’t be here. My grandfathers a judge-“

“Fuckin’ shut up, Top! Nobody cares!” You shouted at him. “They’re not gonna think some dude in flip-flops is a part of a robbery.”

“Oh, yeah, with the crate sitting right next to my truck.” He argued with you.

“Pope, we gotta go.” Kie said.

“Y’all coming?” Topper said.

“Pope, we gotta go. We gonna find it. We gonna find it later.” Cleo said, helping him stand up and go to the car.

———

“This shit is straight out of the Popes vault, bro. You don’t think we can get more for it as it is? I mean, this straight out of church, bro.” Barry said, turning to Rafe.

“This is how we turn the cross into untraceable money.”

“Untraceable money.”

“You know, I heard some crazy shit that happened last night.”

“Is that right?”

“You know that fake cross we put in there?”

“Yeah.”

“It was stolen.”

“Does sound like them pogues, don’t it!”

“Oh, no doubt. Also heard something about a boy and a girl on the back of a motorcycle, hoping off a damn overpass.” He scoffed, covering up the rest of the cross.

“Sounds like your girl and her brother.” Barry spoke, shaking his head with a laugh.

“That’s what I thought. I mean- I’d pay half the value of this just to see the look on their faces when they opened the box.”

“I’ll bet you would.”

——-

Tag list

@cassie0sstuff @rafesgiirl @fals3-g0d @tiaamberxx @callsignwidow @saintnourah

[glorious-spoon]

your way or nothing at all [9-1-1 | Eddie Diaz | 1/1]

1500 words character study | mild angst | weddings | background buck/tommy, eddie/marisol | pre-relationship buddie | not quite a feelings realization for eddie but he's getting there

-

In the quieting dark, Eddie lingers by the tables, the empty chairs pushed together in a cluster for a conversation long since abandoned. It's late enough that people are starting to filter out into the night, and pretty much everybody left is crowded at the open bar or swaying on the dance floor. At the high table, Maddie has Buck's suit jacket draped over her shoulders and her cheek tipped against Chim's shoulder, and he's looking down at her with a dopily besotted expression that Eddie can clock even from here.

It makes him feel like—something, some kind of nostalgia for the wedding he never got to have with Shannon. That whole day felt like being hustled through a play that he never learned his lines to. Shannon was three months pregnant and deep in the throes of vicious morning sickness that was not improved by the catering or the stress of the day, so he spent their wedding night holding back her hair in the honeymoon suite his parents paid for and trying desperately to feel like he had a single fucking clue what he was doing. Trying to feel like a man and a husband and a father-to-be and mostly feeling like a complete fraud.

They deserved better. Both of them. Now, in this moment, after this day, it soothes more than it stings to watch Maddie and Chim hold onto each other so easily.

The song changes, and he watches a swirl of motion on the bar side of the dance floor, the particular energy that's easily identifiable as Buck even before he emerges from the crowd. Normally, maybe Eddie would gravitate in, but Buck's got a hand linked together with Tommy's, and they're laughing, and so he stays where he is. Just watches.

It's sweet, a little fumbling as Buck very obviously tries to figure out the logistics of slow-dancing with another guy. Tommy says something in a low voice and settles a palm on his hip, and Buck ducks his head, laughing, and leans into him.

It's sweet. It is. Eddie's throat fucking aches.

He doesn't know why, not really. Maybe it's the smile on Buck's face, wide and giddy and almost embarrassingly bright. He never smiled at Natalia like that, or Taylor. Maybe Ali, but the truth is that back then Eddie wasn't looking for it. Back then, he was so caught up in everything with Shannon, and he and Buck were barely more than friendly coworkers, as strange as that idea seems now.

He probably smiled at Abby like that. Eddie wasn't around for that relationship, only the aftermath, but he can imagine it. You don't hurt that badly when someone leaves you unless you really fucking loved them.

"You would not believe the line for the bathroom," Marisol says from behind him, and Eddie jolts like he just grabbed a high-voltage wire. He tries to spin it into something graceful as he turns to face her, but he's pretty sure it doesn't work, and also pretty sure that he shouldn't be feeling quite so jumpscared at the sight of his girlfriend. His heart is pounding. He rubs his knuckles against his sternum, and Marisol asks, "You okay?"

"Yeah," he says. "Sorry. You startled me."

"No, it's fine." She smiles at him, and it's pretty. She looks pretty, in a blue dress that looks black in this light, little metallic threads picked through and glittering. It hugs the curves of her body in a way that Eddie feels obligated to notice, and so he does, and when he looks her in the eye again she's smiling wider, and that's pretty too and Eddie—

Eddie still feels like a fucking fraud.

"I got you a beer," Marisol says. She's got a glass of wine in her other hand. White wine, lipstick marks on the rim.

Eddie smiles back and takes the bottle she hands him. "Thanks."

"I wasn't sure what you'd want." She grins at him, flirty. "You'll have to tell me if I made a bad guess."

He sips the beer. It's a lager, hoppy and astringent in a way that leaves a bitter aftertaste on his tongue. He takes another drink and smiles around the grimace his mouth wants to make. "It's perfect. Thank you."

The pleased relief in her smile doesn't make the lie feel any better. He takes another sip and sets the bottle down, and Marisol settles her hip against his chair, close enough that he can feel the warmth of her body. Close enough that he could wrap an arm around her thighs and pull her into his lap, if he wanted to do that. He shifts forward instead, leaning his elbows against the table, and she lets out a quiet sound and sets her glass down to sit in the chair next to him. The music switches over from Christina Perri to what Eddie is pretty sure is Savage Garden, and on the dance floor Tommy says something that makes Buck laugh and pull him closer.

"They're cute together," Marisol observes. "Buck and, um… Tommy?"

Eddie's fingers twitch on his beer bottle. "Yeah."

"I didn't know that he was, you know…" she trails off. Eddie looks over at her, and she adds, "Not that there's anything wrong with it! I just, I thought he had a girlfriend."

"They broke up. He dates guys too," Eddie says, more emphatically than is really necessary. Like this is a truth that he's always known instead of something Buck told him two weeks ago in the loft, quiet and careful like he was afraid of how Eddie would react. Like he was afraid of Eddie.

It was a date, we were on a date.

So it's new for Buck, too. Not just him. But still.

It feels like something he should have known.

"Okay," Marisol says. The corners of her mouth tighten, and she takes a pointed sip of her wine. "I didn't know that, is all."

I didn't know either, Eddie imagines saying, but the words strangle themselves in his throat just the same as, Actually, I don't like lagers, and, I don't really want company tonight, did. He wonders how the hell Buck does it—just opens his mouth and lets the truth spill out. Eddie can only manage that when it's for other people. Never for himself.

"Sorry," he says out loud. "It's been… a day."

Marisol's face softens a little, and he feels like shit about that, too. It has been a day, is the thing. He woke up in a bathtub, more hungover than he's been in at least a decade, and after that was a wild goose-chase through the desert to retrieve Chim in time for the wedding, and all that is plenty of reason for him to be off his game now. It's just that somehow it also feels like a fucking lie.

On the dance floor, Buck has his cheek pressed to Tommy's. He says something, and Tommy's shoulders shake with laughter, and then they both turn, moving easily together into a kiss. It's quick and tender, and Eddie abruptly feels like the worst kind of voyeur for watching it happen. He turns his head away and finds Marisol looking at him.

The music changes again. TLC, he's pretty sure, because Chim is deep down a very basic Gen X music kind of guy. Or maybe it was Maddie's pick, who knows. Anyway. It's a little more upbeat, but still slow enough to dance to.

"You, uh." He clears his throat, and finds a smile that feels almost right. "Come on, you wanna dance before they close it all down? They're playing our song."

"This is our song?" Marisol asks, but she's laughing. "I don't even think I was born yet when it came out."

Eddie shrugs and holds out a hand. "It could be our song. Maybe for tonight it's just a good song to dance to."

That must have been the right thing to say. She smiles, sets her wine down, and slips her hand into his, letting him tug her to her feet. They wind their way through the chairs to the dance floor, and under the string lights she settles easily into his arms. 

I know you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all, rasps the singer in a sweetly smoky voice, as Eddie closes his eyes, and sways, and breathes, but I think you're moving too fast.

I think you're moving too fast.

He breathes in, and out, and opens his eyes. Marisol smiles up at him, and he smiles back, then cuts his eyes away. There are still a handful of people left on the dance floor with them: Athena and Bobby, swaying together like they're in their own little world, a couple of Buckley cousins with their dates. Buck and Tommy are gone, though, and Eddie almost cranes his head through the crowd to see where they got to before he catches himself.

"To tell you the truth," Marisol says. "I really don't think this is our song."

"Alright, well, we can find another one," Eddie says, and she laughs and sways into him, and he holds onto her, and when he closes his eyes, it's fine; it all feels fine.

[moonlight-tmd]

Sorry for spamming you but au where minibots are treated like hell hounds from helluva boss servants at best and pets at worst. Many of them see the military as their only chance at a stable life though more often then not they end up treated more like police dogs than actual elite guard soldiers. Wasp is a "purebred" raised by a wealthy family where as bee is a street mutt.

That's very interesting...

See, I've seen many takes on minis being treated as "lower beings" on Cybertron. I would guess in this AU they are not taken as seriously as normal full-sized bots/cons, therefore the laws for them are kinda harsh- some of them end up as pets for some high-placed individuals, others become slaves. Scout frame minibots are often used in military as track houds or even kept as guard hounds in places with low security (just pack that smol boi with high voltage stingers and let them roam the outside).

Bee was a scout frame, so it was high chance he'd get into the military. Although he was less than welcome when Sentinel laid optics on him- Bee knew the look, one that many gave him on the streets; he was contemplating whether or not to keep Bee as his personal pet. Bee made sure to make him not think about it a second time in his training.

Many cadets and students treated him poorly- whether it was taking his belongings like he didn't own them or not letting him refuel properly at the cafeteria. He was one of few minibots there but there was one mini that stood out significantly.

Wasp. He wasn't taller than Bee but he certainly made up what his frame didn't give him with violence. He was feisty and even forced few of the students to be his "servants". He wasn't shy with bragging about his "family" and how powerful and wealthy they are- they practically bought him the training and Wasp barely did anything other than boss others around to do the job for him- a spoiled mech like Bee ever seen one.

Bee wasn't so lucky, as he grew up in carequarters before running away due to neglection thanks to his frame type. He wandered the cities and picked up some side jobs here and there- more often than not he worked with thieves or other minor criminals for some credits.

Still, even tho he managed to do fine on physical tests and courses, the other classes that required knowledge had turned out to be tougher than expected. He also found it unfair how Sentinel graded him lower than the rest even though he got all the courses right- Bee took it as "revenge" for not letting him touch him when he arrived.

From all the bots that mistreated minis, one stood out- the giant green mech who was known as Bulkhead and took the rumour of being the only one nice to everyone in the camp, including minis. Bee was lucky enough to meet him and even become friends with him, from then on Bee has some sort of protection around Bulkhead. Then Bulk introduced Bee to Longarm, Bee could almost feel like a normal mech around them, it was the first time someone has ever considered what he said important.

Of course, Wasp's spoiled rotten spark shined brightly with his character- he not only considered himself more important than the normal mechs but he also looked down on fellow minis just like one. Bee turned out to be one of the more attractive/cute ones therefore he got a lot of stares... Wasp wasn't happy that this "dirty street hound" took his attention and purposely targeted him in his bullying.

No one liked him and officers didn't even bat an optic at the stuff he pulled on other students, all courtesy of his family's money. Longarm had enough of this and already existing rumours had been edited to point at Wasp. As soon as it got out and placed evidence of it was found, not even his family with connections could help him- in fact Bee heard he got disowned as soon as he landed in stockades. Ouch... but Wasp deserved it.

He couldn't savor this little victory for long before Sentinel decided to invite himself into his assigned room to try and "claim" Bee for himself as a pet... the other officers didn't even let him speak and he was charged with attacking an overseer for "no reason" and kicked out. Luckily Bulkhead was kind enough to help him hide around camp until he graduated and got them both into a repair crew.

It wasn't what Bee had expected but at least he wasn't on the streets anymore. When he first saw the other bots he would be working with, he knew he'd have to prepare himself to be treated like lesser being again and knowing the captain was a former Prime he steeled himself for the worst... but to his surprise Optimus never made any move to claim him as a pet nor personal servant. Even if he was a "tracking hound" in the team, neither of the mechs treated him as such. In fact, Optimus specifically told him he didn't see Bee as a lower mech one time when he ended up injured and Ratchet took a long while to reach the both of them. So that was nice to know.

Then they met Prowl, another minibot (cuz i headcanon him as such, c'mon he's a motorbike) who's paintjob spoke for himself- another one from a wealthy family. Bee expected him to be as spoiled as Wasp, and he kinda met his expectation when he started complaing about his ship being destroyed and the crew taking so long to get back to Cybertron. Prowl was as pretty as he was deadly, it proved to be so when they ended up on a planet with not so friendly life forms roaming about. Bee hated to admit he was quite impressed with this.

I'm not quite sure what to write past that so i'll cut to the events on earth-

Decepticons, although more violent and law-neglecting, were open about differences and mechs and femmes of all shapes and sizes were treated according to how useful they were. Many minibots in their ranks took care of files or stationary tasks while warframes and bigger folks took the front in fights. If anyone took Bee seriously in fighting, it was the 'cons. Bee was lucky to have a guard hound job before so he learned few tricks to use on bigger bots.

Although it went to slag once Elite Guard found them. Sentinel once again laid eyes on him and Bee tried his best to stay away from him... Most of his time he stuck with Jazz out of all Elite Guard, who supposedly came from the same house as Prowl. He was a nice fella and also didn't view minibots as lesser than him. The Jettwins were on the thin line between fun and annoying- they loved to spend time with Bee and pull pranks with him but they also seemed to view him as more of a play pet than a mech.

Even tho Bee made it clear he wants nothing to do with Sentinel, the mech was persistent and often went out of his way to harass him. He even went as far as offering to pay Optimus to let him have the mini. Optimus, of course was disgusted at Sentinel's lack of morals and scolded him. One thing Bumblebee was grateful for once he heard the rumours of what happened. He couldn't imagine the dread of being someone else's possesion and being forced to do all sorts of things against his will or consent... the mere thought made him shudder.

He was lucky to be on Earth now.

[chadillacboseman]

Pairing: Phillip Graves x GN!Reader (no actual pairing between them tho) Word Count: Idk man. Like 1.5k. Warnings: Graves being pathetic, masturbation, pillow humping, reader is in a relationship with Alejandro. Summary: The MW2 timeline is fluid, and brother, I'm hooked up to an IV. Graves is in Las Almas with 141 and Los Vaqueros, sharing space with them as the hunt for Hassan continues. There's only one thing he wants while he's there. You.

--

Phillip Graves isn't used to not getting what he wants.

Contractor money can buy almost anything, can sway almost anyone. Being denied isn't really in the handbook.

The first time Graves laid eyes on you, he knew he had to have you. You were bent low over a map, contemplating alongside Rudy and Alejandro.

You took his fucking breath away.

Graves and his Shadows have been with the 141 and Los Vaqueros for weeks now, searching for Hassan and the missiles with no progress. No end in sight.

He's done his yelling at Shepherd, spent countless hours on the phone begging for a way out of the contract or a base of his own in Las Almas.

"What is the problem, Graves?" Shepherd is frustrated, taking his call in between meetings and debriefs, "Can I not count on you to get this done?"

"Sir-" Graves is flustered, pacing the hallway outside the base's shop, "Their base isn't equipped-"

"Get the job done, Graves, and don't call me until you do!"

The line goes dead.

"Shepherd giving you a hard time?" you're leaning against the wall, your head cocked to the side as you observe him.

"You could say that," Graves shoves the phone back in his pocket and avoids your gaze.

Alejandro stuck Graves with you when he first arrived, tasking you with giving him a tour of the base and getting him familiar with the operations. You were radiant, effortlessly funny and undaunted by his power or his position.

The obsession is insidious, starting slowly, with Graves missing the sound of your voice or the way you smelled when you weren't around. He finds himself making excuses to be close to you, to take details that have the two of you alone.

He tries to hide it, tries so desperately to make sure no one notices the way he trails after you and stares at you with wide, pleading eyes whenever you speak.

Graves wants to have you so badly it hurts.

But he can't.

You're Alejandro's, and he makes that abundantly clear at every turn. He always keeps a protective hand on you, steals small kisses from you when he thinks no one is looking.

Oh, how Graves despises the Vaquero. He wants to see him bleed. To see him crumpled in a heap on the floor of some jail cell he'll never escape.

For now, he settles for watching from the shadows, pining like some lovesick schoolboy as he watches Alejandro enjoy what should be his.

He imagines what you must feel like, what you must taste like; he thinks of how soft your hair would be, splayed out over his pillow, his name tumbling from your lips like a prayer.

The need burns hot in Graves' chest, pooling and dark, so strong that it scares him. He's never wanted anything so badly in his life, never felt the hopeless, burning and inescapable jealousy he feels now.

He finds himself avoiding you. Avoiding your sun-bright eyes and infectious laugh. When you approach him, he turns heel and flees like a coward.

You notice. Of course you do. You're so fucking smart. Too smart for Alejandro, that brainless lout.

Graves takes to hiding in a server room at the base, some hole in the wall full of wires and blinking lights. It's loud, hot, and stifling, but it's mercifully free of you.

Until it isn't.

"Phillip, what the hell is going on with you?"

Your voice jolts him from his work, and he nearly sends his laptop clattering to the floor.

Phillip. No one ever calls him that- just you. It sends a burning, sizzling, hot lead of high voltage straight through his chest that makes his ears flush red.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Graves nearly has to spit it through his clenched teeth. He's a shitty liar, he knows it and you know it too. It's the reason he never joins in on poker nights with the 141.

"You're avoiding me," there's resentment and accusation in your voice, but there's something else too, something that makes his heart drop. Sadness.

Graves has been avoiding you. Even being in your presence makes him feel like he's losing control. Seeing Alejandro steal little touches, hearing the way you laugh when he whispers something in Spanish. It drives him mad.

"I have work to do, princess," he tries to soften the edge in his voice, but it doesn't work- the cutesy nickname instead feels like an insult lobbed at you.

You open and close your mouth a few times, processing what he's just said to you. You look hurt and he's spiraling. He wants to jump to his feet and cup your chin, to tell you to run away with him. Run back to the States and leave this shithole behind.

"Fuck you, Graves," you turn on your heel and disappear from the doorway. The use of his last name stings- it takes everything in his power to not race after you, to apologize and beg for your forgiveness.

It's your turn to avoid him now. Graves expects relief, but he doesn't get it. You're so deeply embedded in his brain that he can't seem to shake himself out of his obsession.

He wants to apologize- no, he needs to apologize to you. You're hard to find, though. Making yourself scarce in areas you know he'd be in. Maybe you won't forgive him. Maybe you'll tell him to fuck off and that will be enough to snap him out of it.

Graves finally finds you in the shop. It's late, later than you have any business being there. Alejandro went off-base hours ago.

"Hey-" his voice sounds small and threatens to crack, dropping like a dead weight in the tense air.

You don't look up from what you're working on, merely offering him an almost imperceptible nod to acknowledge his presence.

"What do you want, Graves?"

To apologize. To tell you the truth. To pin you to the wall and-

"If you haven't got anything to say to me, then please leave me alone," you sound annoyed, but there's something else to it. You don't want him to leave, but he doesn't know that.

"Look, I'm..." he trails off, the words aren't coming out. It's like they're stuck just behind his tongue. Suddenly, he's fifteen again, stuttering in front of the third new classmates he's had that year.

"I'm sorry," the apology finally falls out of his mouth, almost as one word in his hurry to say it, "For the other day."

You finally look up at him, and he feels his heart leap into his throat. In the dim light of the shop, your features are even more striking. Your eyes glimmer under the yellow incandescent bulbs, and there's a smudge of grease on your cheek.

God, how he wants to reach out and swipe his thumb across your skin.

"Phillip," there it is again. It makes his heart hammer against his rib cage, "What's going on with you?"

He could tell you the truth. Maybe a slap across the face would change his opinion of you-

"Phil?" you reach out and tap gently on his vest, rapping your fingertips against the flag badge that adorns it, "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Just say it. Say it! SAY IT!

Your phone rings and Graves jumps, his confession coming to a stop just behind his teeth. He glimpses the contact name on the screen and feels his nerves be replaced with a wave of jealousy.

Alejandro.

Your conversation with him is a blur, Graves catches words here and there, "soon" "in the shop" "I'd love that".

"Phil, we'll continue this conversation tomorrow, okay?" you cock your head and try to read his expression to no avail.

"Sure," he swallows, hard, and watches as you walk away.

--

While the others are crammed together at the base, Graves is in private lodging, paid for on Shadow Company's dime. He tosses his bags to the floor and sheds his tactical vest, letting it drop haphazardly in a heap by the door.

The shower is calling his name, but he doesn't have the energy to do it, instead dropping onto the bed and cradling his head in his hands. There's no telling how long this assignment is going to last, how long he'll have to contend with his feelings and try not to make a fool of himself.

Graves thinks of your face, of the way you had looked up at him in the shop. You'd look so good with your lips wrapped around his cock, staring up at him with those beautiful fucking eyes of yours.

He groans, feeling the familiar tightness at his zipper, almost painful until he frees himself with a hiss.

"Fuck-" Graves grazes his fingertips over his length, pausing at the tip to swipe the pad of his thumb over the beads of precum collecting there.

He moans your name, hips bucking into the friction of his own hand, his mind conjuring up all the ways he would fuck you; all the ways he would make you his.

His hand isn't enough.

Graves rolls onto his stomach, the waistline of his jeans just low enough to expose him entirely. He grasps desperately, hands fumbling until he finds a pillow and jams it roughly between himself and the bed.

"Fuck, baby, that's it," it's not you, it's not the same, but the sensation is enough for now.

Graves grinds himself so lewdly he should be embarrassed, humping his pillow like a horny teenager, thinking of you. He moans loudly, the sound echoing in the empty room, as he ruts into the fabric like an animal.

He thinks of you. Of your scent, your smile, the way you say his name. He'd give anything to hear you cry it out while pinned beneath him, to have you come undone entirely because of him.

Graves braces his hand on the mattress, panting as he fucks into the fabric, his hips rolling in rhythmic thrusts as he chases his peak.

"So good," he's babbling now, his mind racing to envision you taking his cock, tight and fucking perfect, "m'gonna- gonna cum-"

Graves tumbles over the edge, crying out your name as he spills hot spurts of cum onto the pillow; his hips stutter out one final thrust until he's spent, panting into the mattress in the pressing quiet of his hotel room.

Graves rolls over, laying an arm over his chest as he tries to catch his breath. He stares at the ceiling, trying to imagine what it must be like to have you in an intimate moment like this, to have you soaked in sweat and curled into his embrace.

He tries to make peace with never knowing.