#Mayor instructions

[4rtheyenews]

रायपुर: महापौर ने जोन 4 एवं 6 के पार्षदों के सुझावों पर वार्डों में पेयजल, सड़क बत्ती व्यवस्था दुरुस्त करने, शत - प्रतिशत राजस्व वसूली करने के दिये निर्देश

एमआरकॉलोनी, टिकरापारा, महामाया मन्दिर वार्ड में पेयजल समस्या दूर करने के भी निर्दश आज नगर पालिक निगम रायपुर के महापौर श्री एजाज ढेबर ने नगर पालिक निगम जोन 4 और जोन 6 कार्यालय पहुंचकर सभापति एवं जोन 4 पदेन अध्यक्ष श्री प्रमोद दुबे, जोन 6 जोन अध्यक्ष प्रतिनिधि श्री देवेन्द्र यादव, एमआईसी सदस्य श्री समीर अख्तर, श्री आकाश तिवारी, पार्षद श्रीमती सरिता वर्मा, श्रीमती सरिता आकाश दुबे, श्रीमती नीलम…

[richardlearnsgames]

WHAT'S NEW Carcassonne Expansion 5: Abbey and Mayor, plus PLAYTHROUGH an...

This Carcassonne expansion is posted a little later because someone pointed out a move in the rules explanation that wouldn't have been able to happen in a real game, so I redid that section and reposted it.

[aminul-24]

Reblog if you’ve spent at least one night reading fanfics until daybreak.

[itgetsbetterproject]

Some proof that there ARE elected officials out there, like Vice Mayor Sean Cummings in Oklahoma, who are standing up for LGBTQ+ youth like Nex Benedict and calling out the fact that our words and rhetoric DO matter.

[Context: In this video, Sean Cummings is seen speaking to Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters referring to the death of student Nex Benedict].

[erwinsvow]

was watching the latest hunger games and i don’t know if you’ve seen it but there’s a scene with snow and lucy gray that is so reader and rafe core. like the scene where he kills the mayor’s daughter and lucy gray is in hysterics and he just grabs her, warns her to pull herself together and go back outside and pretend like he’s not just killed someone and i’m like this is so rafe and his casual dominance with reader. 😍😍

babe STOP you are SOOO onto something here.. + that scene in the movie had me FERAL!!!!! picturing season two after limbrey kills that guy (im so sorry i cannot recall any names.. was too busy staring at rafe's arms)

"oh my god!" you squeal, eyes wide like coins, tears filling up and almost spilling over in a matter of seconds. "oh my god, oh my god-"

rafe fucked up. he shouldn't have gotten you anywhere near this situation, it's his own fault. your insistence on not being too far from him and his own ego that found pleasure in that fact had won him over. rafe liked that you liked him, that you needed him around.

but right now he can tell what you're thinking—probably something along the lines of the fact that he was insane, that his dead body had appeared and he was going to take care of it because he wasn't reacting at all like you were, how any normal person would.

limbrey was staring at you, and a sudden fear ran through his mind that she might try and hurt you too.

"go inside-" he barks at the older lady, who doesn't move, gun in her hand. "go inside! m'gonna have to take care of this, leave-" she stalks off, while you watch with your big wet eyes, shoulders shaking, voice run dry from your screaming.

your reaction is normal, expected. he can't find it himself to even be remotely angry. he leaves the dead body where it is, hands finding your shoulders and dragging you away, like that might help you.

"hey, listen to me. listen to me." he says sternly, and you listen obediently, if not due to fear. "don't scream. don't worry. m'gonna take care of this-this mess, okay? we're gonna be fine."

"r-rafe, she k-killed someone. we, we have to call the police-"

"we're not calling anyone. m'gonna handle it. he was a bad guy, okay, no one's gonna miss him."

"a-and that makes it okay? rafe, you-"

"hey," he barks and you freeze up, listening. "listen, kid, have i ever gotten you hurt? haven't i kept you safe? hm?" he wants an answer, so you nod, still shell shocked. "s'gonna be fine. keep it together. i can't have you like this. we're gonna be fine."

"o-okay." you look down at your white shirt, observing tiny little dots of blood. "what, what do i-"

"go inside. throw this shirt in the fireplace. and then go upstairs to my room and take a shower. okay? i gotta take care of this first. then i'll come join you, got it? alright?"

"okay," you repeat, nodding, frozen. you look up at your boyfriend one last time, trusting him like you always do, even when a little part of you is screaming to run and take off in the other direction. "what're you gonna d-do, with him, uh-"

"i don't know, kid. i need to get you away from it first. just go upstairs, please-" your shoulders relax as soon as the sentence leaves his lips. your mind goes fuzzy, like it always does around rafe, but hearing that even in this insane, unfathomable situation, that his first priority is you, makes your head spin.

you lean in, pressing a kiss to rafe's lips, not pulling away until a minute has passed, your shaking hands tight on his arms.

like always, you follow the instructions he's given you, walking away and heading inside, shedding your clothes and burning them, cleaning yourself in the scalding water until you can smell nothing but the vanilla of your soap and the pine of rafe's shampoo. once out, you put on one of his shirts and some of his long white socks, everything feeling cold still.

you wait patiently on his bed, not able to focus on anything on your phone. when rafe walks in, you don't move, letting him come sit beside you.

"what did you-" you start, before being interrupted.

"don't ask, kid." rafe doesn't sound mad, rather protective. "if i tell you, you're in this shit now. can't have that."

you wrap your arms around his neck, crawling into rafe's lap and into a tight hug. his hands tense around your waist, and you close your eyes, inhaling the scent of his skin. he doesn't smell like blood, at the very least, so you think he hasn't done anything crazy yet.

or crazier, you correct yourself.

"the swamp. in the woods. there's gators, and foxes, and who knows what else." it comes out as a whisper, like you're scared that the walls might overhear. "if you bring him there, no one will find him. if no one finds him you can't get in trouble."

rafe pulls out of the hug to look at you, all shaky limbs and wet eyes. he presses a kiss to your forehead.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

November 9, the fateful day of the Germans in history

Nov 9, 1313: Battle of Gammelsdorf - Louis IV defeats his cousin Frederick the Fair marking the beginning of a series of disputes over supremacy between the House of Wittelsbach and the House of Habsburg in the Holy Roman Empire

Nov 9, 1848: Execution of Robert Blum (a german politician) - this event is said to mark the beginning of the end of the March Revolution in 1848/49, the first attempt of establishing a democracy in Germany

Nov 9, 1914: Sinking of the SMS Emden, the most successful German ship in world war I in the indo-pacific, its name is still used as a word in Tamil and Sinhala for a cheeky troublemaker

Nov 9, 1918: German Revolution of 1918/19 in Berlin. Chancellor Max von Baden unilaterally announces the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and entrusts Friedrich Ebert with the official duties. At around 2 p.m., the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the "German Republic" from the Reichstag building. Two hours later, the Spartacist Karl Liebknecht proclaims the "German Soviet Republic" from the Berlin City Palace.

Nov. 9, 1923: The Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch (Munich Beer Hall Putsch) is bloodily suppressed by the Bavarian State Police in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich after the Bavarian Prime Minister Gustav Ritter von Kahr announces on the radio that he has withdrawn his support for the putsch and that the NSDAP is being dissolved.

Nov 9, 1925: Hitler imposes the formation of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Nov 9, 1936: National Socialists remove the memorial of composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in front of the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig.

Nov 9, 1938: November Pogrom / Pogrom Night ("Night of Broken Glass") organized by the Nazi state against the Jewish population of Germany.

Nov 9, 1939: The abduction of two british officiers from the Secret Intelligence Service by the SS in Venlo, Netherlands, renders the British spy network in continental Europe useless and provides Hitler with the pretext to invade the Netherlands in 1940.

Nov 9, 1948: Berlin Blockade Speech - West Berlin mayor Ernst Reuter delivers a speech with the famous words "Peoples of the world, look at this city and recognize that you cannot, that you must not abandon this city".

Nov 9, 1955: Federal Constitutional Court decision: all Austrians who have acquired german citizenship through annexation in 1938, automatically lost it after Austria became sovereign again.

Nov 9, 1967: Students protest against former Nazi professors still teaching at German universities, showing the banner ”Unter den Talaren – Muff von 1000 Jahren” ("Under the gowns – mustiness of 1000 years", referring to the self-designation of Nazi Germany as the 'Empire of 1000 Years') and it becomes one of the main symbols of the Movement of 1968 (the German Student  Movement).

Nov 9, 1969: Anti-Semitic bomb attack - the radical left-winged pro-palestinian organization “Tupamaros West-Berlin” hides a bomb in the jewish community house in Berlin. It never exploded though.

Nov 9, 1974: death of Holger Meins - the member of the left-radical terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) financed in part by the GDR that eventually killed 30 people, dies after 58 days of hunger strike, triggering a second wave of terrorism.

Nov 9, 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall - After months of unrest, demonstrations and tens of thousands escaping to West Germany, poorly briefed spokesman of the newly formed GDR government Günter Schabowski announces that private trips to non-socialist foreign countries are allowed from now on. Tens of thousands of East Berliners flock to the border crossings and overwhelm the border guards who had not received any instructions yet because the hastily implemented new travel regulations were supposed to be effective only the following day and involved the application for exit visas at a police office. Subsequently, crossing the border between both German states became possible vitrually everywhere.

[aminul-24]

´Tis the season(ing)!!

[ghuleh-draws]

A Mary Goore commission for the very lovely and talented @da-rulah!! This particular Mary stars in “The Mayor’s Daughter.” It is such a delicious read—do yourself a favor and check it out. Excerpt under the cut. ♡

“Wanna try something new. Get over here, doll,” he instructed, beckoning you over. You rose from your seat, closing the distance between you both. He leaned back onto the sink, folding his arms over his chest as you got a little closer than necessary, stood between his feet and leaning your hands on the edges of the sink. Mere inches separated you, and you waited for him to continue.

“That’s a pretty shade of lipstick you got on tonight,” he flirted, pulling your bottom lip down with his thumb and inspecting the red residue that lingered on it when he pulled back.

“You should recognise it, not the first time I’ve worn it for you.” If he remembered right, he’d know you wore it the first time he’d snuck in through your bedroom window; the same pretty shade of blood red. “You asked me back then if I thought it would look good on you, and then you kissed me.”

“I did, didn’t I?” he mused, feigning thoughtfulness. “And it did look good on me...” You giggled at that, and it damn near sent Mary to his knees right there and then. He would never get fucking tired of that giggle. “Have you got it on you?” he asked, before he could get too distracted by that pretty little sound.

“Of course,” you said, patting the little purse hanging from your shoulder and down by your hip.

“Good, you might need a touch up when I’m done with you,” he smirked. “Think you can make some pretty little lipstick marks for me?” You nodded, moving in to kiss him immediately but he stopped you, his finger on your lip. You pouted, sagging your shoulders.

He pulled his finger from your lips and pointed it to his cheek bone, where the black met the white of his thin and chalky paints. You took the initiative, and stood up on your toes to reach, planting a very deliberate kiss to the area. When you pulled back, you marvelled at your work; the prettiest lip stain sat where you’d pressed your lips against him. Mary turned his head to look sideways into the mirror behind him, smirking at the transfer.

“Perfect, need more though,” he said, turning back to you and pointing now at his jawline on the other side of his face. You obliged eagerly, lingering just a little longer this time and pressing your body against his where he leaned on the sink. You could feel his body tense under you, like he was trying to act cool and aloof but fighting an urge rising inside him...

“Can I choose a spot?” you teased by his ear, letting your breasts press into his chest just a little...

“Choose wisely, doll...” he warned, with no real warning behind it whatsoever. But you already had a spot in mind...

Read the rest here! Don’t forget to leave comments and kudos! ♡

[moonlynn]

Welcome to Diphylleia, your new populated neighborhood!

Diphylleia is a neighborhood formed by two large islands connected by a bridge. One island is more residential, which the majority of the population lives and has a few community lots. The other island is where only the richest families lives and has most of the community lots. Both have beach lots.

✿ Neighborhood Info:

This neighborhood requires all EPs & SPs or Ultimate Collection. It also does not needs a camera mod, you can see all lots in the vanilla game. All lots are compressed with Mootilda's LotCompressor.

This neighborhood comes in three versions: a Normal one, a No CC one and an Empty one. The Normal version needs custom content, and is avaiable in ModTheSims. Both Normal and No CC uses the NID "LEIA", the Empty version uses the NID "LEI4", so you can have a populated version and a no populated at the same time!

✿ Installation guide:

Once you download the version you wish of the neighborhood, you will extract the .zip file and put the LEIA folder (or LEI4 folder) into "Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Neighborhoods". There is an English and Brazilian Portuguese instructions file in the .zip.

✿ Main Story:

The Aurora family, founders of the neighborhood, live on the richest island. (...) The election day is set and Charlotte, Aurora's oldest daughter, got elected as mayor! In the celebration party, someone unexpected came… It was Elisa, Charlotte's evil sister, who decided to return home just to ruin her sister government. During the party, Elisa met Nicolas, the son of Christtoper Walls, the richest men in Diphylleia. She had an affair with Christtopher but since he is far away from Diphylleia, she feels somehow attracted to Nicolas… After all, he looks a lot like his father… Well, Elisa just does not know that Christtopher never left. (...) Can Zuri Okanlawon, a sucessful journalist, catch this love triangle and ruin Charlotte's image - as Elisa wishes?

✿ Sims pictures:

✿ You can download and see more information of Diphylleia HERE!

[zoe-oneesama]

Okay I know this isn't going to happen, but what's stopping Tikki from outing Chloe as the miraculous thief to Plagg and Pollen? Yeah she can't say her holder's name, but why not "the mayor's daughter" to get around that, since Chloe wasn't supposed to have the Ladybug miraculous? Love your work~ ❤️

Hi, thank you! Plagg and Pollen both know that Scarlet Lady is Chloe.

Plagg since "Rogercop":

And Pollen since "Riposte":

Kwamis don't operate on normal logic. There's literally spells in place to prevent directly giving away someone's identity.

Tikki is duty bound and has it deeply instilled that ratting out your holder is a big no-no (though she's mentally at the point where if there were an alternate in the wings, she would nudge things in that direction.)

Plagg is an agent of chaos and willing to let things land where they may. If it ever went to far, he'd put a bit of effort into hinting at Scarlet Lady's identity, but that's "too far" by the Kwami of Destruction's standards.

Pollen has been given strict instruction from Tikki that telling on Scarlet Lady is a no-no and Against the Rules. And Pollen is a follower, loyal to a fault. Maybe if Marinette asked her directly, Pollen would make concessions for her...but Marinette doesn't know Pollen knows, so she doesn't know to even ask.

[holylulusworld]

BFG (10)

Summary: He’s new to town and just your type…

Pairing: Reacher x Plussized!Reader

Warnings/Tags: pregnancy, fluff, love confessions

Catch up here: BFG (9)

BFG masterlist

Legend: Y/M/N = Your mother's name Y/F/N = Your father's name

Frances left after she was sure Reacher came back to stay, and that he wouldn't leave again. You watched them say goodbye. Reacher nodded at Neagley and silently thanked her while she awkwardly looked at him.

You got that both, Neagley and Reacher are not fans of showing emotions or hugs. Still, you knew the moment you saw them interact for the first time that they shared a special kind of friendship.

“Have a safe trip home,” you didn’t shake her hand or hug her. Not because you didn’t want to, though. You figured that Neagley doesn’t like physical contact, and respected her personal space. “If you ever come back, you have a place to stay and free cereals.”

She smiled and nodded. “You better keep Mayor Reacher in line. He can be hard to handle but is a protective giant. He’ll be good to you and the baby.” She leaned closer and whispered in your ear. “If he gets antsy, give me a call. I’ll set him straight.”

You giggled and wished her well. Holding back the urge to hug her, you watched Neagley enter her car and drive away. “What did she say?” Reacher asked. “Y/N?”

“Oh, she wanted me to take good care of you, and your stomach,” you chuckled and patted his belly. “How can you stay so fit, and eat that much at the same time?”

“I’m a big guy,” he said and looked down at his body. “Ma always said I grew big and strong for a reason.” He lifted his big hands to look at them. “Maybe she was right.”

“I know she was right,” you said and took his hands to place them on your belly. “You grew big and strong enough to hold your baby one day.”

Reacher smiled at your words. He nodded, eyes glued to his hands on your belly. You didn’t show yet, but he already imagined you swollen with his child. The baby wasn’t planned, but he wouldn’t want to change a thing.

“So, did you think about names already?” Reacher looked up from the assembly instructions of the new cradle you bought. “Reacher?”

“Uh—no,” he said, surprised that you wanted him to think of a name. Reacher didn’t expect to have a say in this. “Do you already know what we’re having?”

“Not yet,” you said and stepped closer to Reacher. The giant sat on the ground; long legs stretched out to read the assembly instructions. “It’s too soon.”

You looked around the room you wanted to turn into a nursery. Reacher already cleaned out the former guestroom and painted the walls in neutral colors.

Reacher followed your eyes, grinning as you admired the teddy bear he painted on the wall. You had no clue he could draw. “I’m finished with the wardrobe and the diaper-changing table. I am trying to build the cradle now. It seems a few screws are missing.”

“How about a break? You worked all morning,” you softly said, and ran your hand over his shoulders. “I made lunch. Sally Ann and the new girl take care of the diner today. I have the day off and we could talk about baby names.”

“My ma’s name was Josephine,” he said, eyes saddening. “Maybe Joseph for a boy. My brother would be over the moon, or not. He wasn’t very emotional.”

You smiled and sat down next to him to pat his thigh. “I like both. Josephine Y/M/N for a girl, and Joseph Y/F/N for a boy. We can decide after finding out about the gender in a few weeks.”

“That’s good,” Reacher shoved the food you made into his mouth, groaning as he couldn’t get enough. “You’re a great cook too.”

“You hit the jackpot.” You winked at Reacher before putting more mashed potatoes and another steak on his plate. “Eat up, I got dessert too.”

Reacher licked his lips, already imagining something sweeter than dessert. He’d wait until he finished the nursery, of course. “What will we get for dessert?”

“I tried a new variation of my peach pie. You can have whipped cream too.” He kept on praising your food. You sighed all the while watching him eat. “If you don't want to eat peach pie again, I can make a cherry pie or apple pie.”

“I love your peach pie,” he murmured while eating more mashed potatoes. “And your pie tastes great too.”

“You’re naughty,” you giggled and threw your napkin at him. Reacher easily caught the napkin and wiped his mouth clean. “I like it.”

He laughed, deep and rich as you dreamily looked at the giant of a man. Who would’ve thought he’d stay and raise a child with you when he walked into your diner for the first time?

Tags in reblog.

[sanguineterrain]

For the drabbles!!

Can you walk? I need you to walk for me! With Dick, if that sounds interesting to you!!

Loved the Drabble you posted, you’re a talented writer!

thanks very much nonnie 🥺❤️ wanted to switch it up and whump dickie boy >:)

"can you walk? i need you to walk." - dick grayson x gn!reader. tw: injured dick, bullet wound, reader tasers a bad guy. dick's not dead i prommy!! Loosely based on the Nightwing 2021 comics.

prompt lists are here! i reblog all fics to @sanguinelibrary

****

You wake up to the beeping of the distress signal. Instantly, you're awake, fumbling for the comm bud to put in your ear.

"—in, do you copy? Nightwing needs help, he's—"

"Where is he, Babs?" you ask, flinging the sheet off of your legs and jumping into your suit.

"Blüdhaven City Hall."

"What the hell? Alone?"

Barbara sighs. "Yes. I didn't know until the mayor texted."

Anger flares. You tamp it down because Barbara hasn't done anything wrong, and it's not fair to snap at her for Dick's stupid choices.

Besides, the anger is only to mask the chilling fear that bubbles up.

You stick to the rooftops like Dick himself had taught you when you were first getting the hang of the vigilante thing. You're more like Barbara in that you prefer to stay on the sidelines and help.

But if Dick is in trouble, you're there.

Your heart pounds; you can barely hear the instructions Barbara's giving you as you approach City Hall.

"Is he conscious?" you ask, interrupting her.

She doesn't answer at first.

"Oracle," you press, gritting your teeth as you descend down the roof access stairs. "Is he awake?"

"I don't know. I lost his comm link."

The fear sharpens. Your heart beats so fast, you're afraid you might collapse.

"He's alive, though. His suit vitals are still elevated."

You run faster, flying down the stairwell. It takes some searching to find Dick since his mask camera is also destroyed, according to Barbara. But you manage to track him down relatively fast.

Dick is bound to a chair, puddles of blood at his feet. You rush over and pull at the knots without thinking, growing frustrated when they don't turn loose.

"Blade on your left side."

You startle hard at Dick's voice. He lifts his head slowly and you stifle a gasp at his face. One of the lenses of his mask is cracked. His cheek is bloody and nearly black with bruises. His suit is torn and dirty.

They'd left him for dead.

"I found him, Babs."

You hear her sigh of relief. She starts to organize your exit route. You're only half listening as you slice through the ropes with the blade you forgot you had in your left pocket.

Dick's arms hang at his sides even after you free them. They'd done a number on him.

He watches you as you free his legs next.

"Suit looks good on you," he says, head lolling. "Peak design, if y'ask me."

"You're so stupid," you say, bowing your head so he can't see the tears that sting your eyes. "This was an idiotic thing you did, Dick."

"Alias names only in the field," he reminds you.

You yank the rope harder than you mean to and free his legs.

Dick has to use his whole body to push himself off of the chair. Even so, he stumbles, and you rush to catch him. Your heart jumps to your throat. Of course he'd hide how bad his injuries are.

"Oracle, call Batman."

"No," Dick grits, shaking his head. "Don't call him."

"You can barely move. I can't carry you myself."

You wish you could. As furious as you are, you'd carry him home.

"Am I calling him?" Barbara asks in your ear.

A door slams somewhere upstairs. Cold sweat erupts all over your body. Dick looks at you, and you know he heard it too.

"Guys, am I calling Batman or not?"

"No, we can do it," you say against your better judgment. "Can you move?"

Dick nods rapidly, though you don't totally believe him. You sling an arm under his arm, then wrap your other arm around his waist. He puts nearly all of his weight on you, though you can tell he's using what little strength he has left to try and shift his weight.

The two of you go like that, Dick half limping. You try not to think about how his blood stains your suit.

You move slowly, which unfortunately means that the goon upstairs catches up to you. He pulls out a gun, and Dick shoves you aside before you can advance. He pays the price for it when the goon shoots his leg.

Dick screams.

Quick as Flash, you grab an escrima stick and charge the taser to two thousand volts. Then you ram it into the goon's gut.

He drops like a sack of potatoes. You don't check if he's breathing.

"We don't kill," Dick says as you return the stick to his back holster.

You harshly cut the goon's shirt with your blade and tourniquet Dick's bullet wound. He hisses in pain.

"I didn't kill him," you snap.

"You could've. What the hell was that?"

"That was me stopping him before he blew your brains out!" you shout. "That was me making sure the commissioner doesn't have to fish your body out of the river!"

Dick's head thumps against the wall. His suit is slick with blood. "That wouldn't have happened."

"You could've died tonight, Dick! Why can't you get that through your head?"

His eyes close for too long on the next blink. You kneel in front of him immediately, shaking his shoulder. He grunts.

"Dick, no. Wake up. Don't do this, you gotta stay awake for me."

"'M awake," he says groggily. "I'm..."

"Oracle," you say, panicked. "Vitals."

"His heart rate is sluggish; he's lost a lot of blood. You have to—"

"Dick," you say, shaking his shoulder again. "Dickie, you gotta get up. Can you walk? I need you to walk for me."

"'Kay," he whispers, barely lifting his arm.

"Okay, I've got you. Ready? One, two—"

You lift him and stagger under his full weight.

"Sorry," he murmurs, and you feel sick.

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled, I'm sorry. Stay awake, okay?"

He hums. You manage to establish a decent gait between the two of you. Dick stumbles along, trying his best to walk independently.

You're almost out of City Hall when Dick collapses. This time, he doesn't get up.

"No, no. Wake up, Dick, wake up. Come on, come on!"

You shake him as hard as you'll let yourself. Dick doesn't stir.

"There's so much blood," you say, your hands sticky with it. "B-Babs..."

"I'm sending help right now. B's on his way, okay?" She sounds just as wrecked as you feel. "Just hold on."

You cradle Dick's head and suck in gasping breaths, keeping pressure on his thigh.

That's how Batman finds you, shaking and hunched over his son.

[petalruesimblr]

Hello and welcome back to my blog! This is another part-time career or internship for teens, which will offer a promotion into the Political career as they transition to young adulthood. This internship is inspired by a real program, specifically the NY Office of the Mayor Internship Program and as the The Sims 3 features a "Leader of the Free World" as the final level of the Political career, I named this internship the Office of the Leader Internship.

For those seeking a full-time career, I am currently working on a second one that will be released soon, so stay tuned!🌺

In the meantime, if you are interested in this one, click on ‘Keep Reading’ below for more information and pictures of the Office of the Leader Internship career.

Office of the Leader Internship

Sim File Share

Do you have a passion for bureaucracy, a knack for turning chaos into order and an unyielding enthusiasm for office coffee? We’re seeking bright, ambitious teens to join the Office of the Leader Internship Program! Dive into the heart of local government, where every day brings fresh adventures in learning bureaucracy. You’ll work alongside the best, gain invaluable experience and maybe even catch the eye of some influential Sims. With fixed hours, free office supplies and the occasional donut day, you’ll enjoy a unique mix of fun and professional growth. Apply now and step into the action!

Career Type: Part-Time Available for: Teens Available Languages: English Levels: 3 Rabbit Hole: City Hall Work Days: M, W, Th Work Hours: 4PM - 7PM Does it have Carpool? Yes Does it have Uniforms? Yes (refer to picture above) File Type: Package Min. Required Game Version: 1.42 Packs Needed: The Sims 3 📣All descriptions for the levels, tones and metrics as well as skills required, salary, uniforms and other details are provided on the pictures above.

NRAAS Careers Mod

I initially considered including logic as one of the metrics but decided to remove it. The Political career in the game relies solely on charisma as its primary skill and mostly depends on funding for promotions. It didn’t make sense to include logic, as it isn’t used in the long run for this career path. The work days for this internship are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays. If you have the Seasons expansion pack then it will only be two days due to Thursday is considered as a holiday and Drama Club meetings are on Tuesday and Friday if you have the Generations expansion pack (which is useful if you want your teens to increase their charisma faster). 📣 Upon reaching level three in their internship, teens will be eligible for promotion to the Political career upon applying once they become young adults. Instructions are provided in the picture above; right-click on it and select ’Open image in new tab’ for a clearer view. As stated above, you will need NRAAS Careers Mod for this career to show up in the game and as long as you have the latest version of it, it should work for higher patches. You can also read my #psa regarding these careers, click here. I’m not fluent in any other languages to translate so if anyone is interested in translating this career, please don’t hesitate to send me a message here, comment on this post or let me know in my Ask/Contact form (if you don't have a Tumblr account) and will let you know the details. I have tested this career in my game, so far it is working and all scripts are showing up. All feedback is very welcome to help me learn and improve my skills so please let me know if you experience any problems on your end and I’ll do my best to sort it as soon as possible.

MissyHissy step-by-step tutorial Twallan for the Career Mod S3pe

[raineandsky]

#127

The lock on the door is an easy pick, and with one final touch the door clicks open and allows the villain inside.

Now, the villain is usually well above petty crime. He’s done his fair share of thieving. He’s pick-pocketed, he’s robbed, and yeah, sure, he’s broken into places here and there. But his life is actually fun now, thanks to a villainous promotion and some less of the dirty work, and so stealing ended up rather low on his list of fun weekend activities.

It’s not a weekend, though, and it sure as hell isn’t fun either. This is business, and goddamn if the villain isn’t a professional.

He glances at the screen of the phone in his hand, checking and rechecking the picture he took of the supervillain’s instructions. If only the supervillain wasn’t trained to be a doctor, his handwriting might be somewhat legible. He is though, unfortunately, and the villain is wishing he’d just typed up the words when he had the time before.

I’ve had a ‘tip’ on [Hero]’s address. The villain can just about make the words out. It’s like a word puzzle, which he is notoriously bad at already. I have reason to believe she’s got some important documents in there. Infiltrate, find her stash of secrets, and bring it in.

Easy enough. The fun part of stealing was usually finding the most expensive object, though, and the villain has an inkling that some paperwork won’t exactly make him a millionaire. He tucks the phone into his pocket, taking a moment to adjust his eyes to the darkness before shutting the door behind him and exploring.

He finds a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, the fridge, ooh she has good taste. The villain plucks a punnet of grapes from the fridge and tosses one into his mouth. The supervillain has him on late nights—he doesn’t have time for dinner at the moment. The hero will have to survive without her grapes.

The office feels like stumbling across a mine of incredibly boring, inexpensive gold. The villain takes to rooting through the piles of papers mounting on the desk. All plain, civilian problems—bills, taxes, a newsletter from the mayor. Nothing exactly incriminating.

“What are you doing in my house?”

Who the hell is awake at three in the morning? The villain wasn’t that loud coming in. He turns dramatically, expecting to make his first introduction to the hero, but he isn’t faced with the hero. He isn’t faced with a hero at all.

An old lady is standing in the doorway, her glasses perched wonkily on her nose and a baseball bat in her hands. The bat is kind of menacing, at first, but then she has to awkwardly adjust her glasses and the illusion is gone.

The villain’s mind is short-circuiting. That’s not a goddamn hero. What the hell has the superhero gotten him into? What the hell is he meant to do with a bat-wielding civilian?

“You’re deaf as well as unlawful,” she adds drily.

“No, no.” The villain's cool demeanour is slipping too fast. “No, I can hear just fine, thank you.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“What question?”

The bat taps pointedly against the woman’s palm. She’d probably injure herself trying to swing it at him. That thought alone is vaguely comforting. Only vaguely, though—she’s still wielding a baseball bat.

“What are you doing in my house?”

“I am here,” the villain starts slowly, “to rob you blind.”

He doesn’t know what else to say. He didn’t expect to run into anyone, much less a civilian, much much less a little old lady. He’s running on a bank of prewritten sentences he used in his thieving days, and for some reason the least helpful one is the one that wants to be said.

The woman’s face scrunches up in an emotion the villain can’t read. At first he thinks it might be distress, or perhaps fear, but then she raises the bat and he realises that, oh, no, that’s actually unbridled rage.

She brings it down in an arc and the villain just about dodges to the side. She doesn’t seem to mind the fact the bat absolutely annihilates her desk in his stead. Jesus Christ, is that thing made of steel?

He may be a villain, and villainy may require a certain amount of balls, but this is where he draws the line. The old lady swings again, crashing into the glass cabinet a hair’s width away from the villain’s face, and he decides that no, he’s not dealing with this shit tonight.

He scrambles for the window, throwing himself out onto the fire escape stairs with his new nemesis in tow. She makes one last swipe at him as he takes the stairs down two at a time.

“I’ll bash your head in next time!” she shrieks after him.

It’s only when the villain is safely on the other side of the building that he slows down. He pulls his phone out, sucking in a deep breath, and unlocks it to look at the superhero’s note again. Really scrutinises it. Then it clicks. He sees the problem.

That’s not a 6. It’s an 8. He was on the wrong goddamn floor.

He stares blankly at the screen for a moment. He’s too old to be putting up with this shit.

He shoves his phone back in his pocket, heaves a age-old sigh, and lets himself back into the building for round two.

[slaymitchabernathy]

The Nanny

Soarynn's heart is pounding.

She wonders if it's possible to die from stress. She might die anyway from the looks of it.

She keeps a tight hold of Ceraphina's hand as they're led down the hallway and she's kicking herself for being so stupid, so naive to believe these men in the first place. She should've noticed their accents, the missing tooth, the...the blood on their boots. Soarynn swallows, have they killed people already? Did they kill the two Peacekeepers standing guard outside of their suites? Were they the ones knocking on her doors?

Soarynn wonders what will happen next, wonders where Coriolanus and Eudora are. She wonders if the Mayor knows what's happening, how many people have been planning this, and if she and the children will make it out alive.

She knows one thing for certain: she would rather die than let these evil men hurt the children.

"Soarynn, I want Daddy," Celeste pouts from behind her. Soarynn pushes down any nerves that might be obvious and attempts to give Celeste a reassuring smile from over her shoulder, "We'll see him soon darling."

"Stop talking," one of the men snaps, shooting her a dirty look. Soarynn scowls but keeps her mouth shut. These men clearly weren't above putting a gun to Caspian's head so she knows they'll have no problem leaving her dead body in the hall for someone to find.

"Momma," Caspian mumbles resting his head on her shoulder. Soarynn can only give him a comforting kiss on the head while they keep walking, towards two doors from the looks of it. Soarynn wonders if anyone outside the Resort knows what's going on. Have the proper authorities been alerted? Is Coriolanus wondering where they are? Is she going to die?

They come to a stop in front of the doors and the man waves his gun at Soarynn and the children, "Backs against the wall," he orders. Soarynn holds her head up high while pressing her back against the wall, instructing the girls to do the same. The other man, the other Rebel, cracks the two doors open, having some sort of conversation with someone on the other side. Soarynn can smell the ocean wafting in, those doors lead outside.

He pushes the doors open to reveal a rugged-looking man, dressed in boots, a heavy coat, and an eye patch. He literally looks like a pirate so it's no surprise that he's in on this attack. Soarynn notices the gun holstered in his belt, it seems everyone in Four owns a firearm today. He slowly walks down the line of hostages, sizing each of them up.

"Never thought we'd get all three," he muses, stopping when he reaches Soarynn and Caspian. He reaches out to grab her chin and Soarynn jerks away from his hold, "But you are a lucky catch," he says with a chuckle, "didn't think he'd bring his whore with him as well." Soarynn glares daggers at the man who has no problem insulting her or her character, "I am not a whore and if I were you, I'd let us go before the authorities arrive and stop this attack."

All three men break into laughter as if she just told the funniest joke they've ever heard, causing her stomach to twist into knots, "No wonder he keeps you around, I wonder what you feel like from behind, or better yet, tied up with nowhere to go."

Soarynn could cry right now. Will this be how she goes? Defiled in front of the children and then shot?

"You'll never get the chance to find out," she fires back, "whatever you want, he won't give you."

The one-eyed man sneers and shakes his head, waving his finger in the air, "Oh, he'll give us what we want, as long as we have his children, we've got him in the palm of our hand. It's time Coriolanus Snow learns a lesson from profiting off of other people's pain."

Soarynn isn't given time to respond when the doors fly open, revealing even more men, all armed to the teeth. "We've gotta go Captain," one of them says, glancing over his shoulder, "it's getting messy out there." Soarynn's eyes widen when she hears the sound of gunshots in the distance. She hopes no one is seriously hurt or even worse...dead.

The Captian grunts and grabs her by the arm and drags her towards the doors, "Let's go, pretty girl." Soarynn whimpers when his grip tightens and she desperately looks back at the girls who are being pushed by the other two men, "Please don't hurt them," she begs, trying to break free, "please, they'll listen, they'll listen I promise. We'll do exactly as you say."

They're walking in the sand now, and the wind is starting to pick up, thunderclouds rolling in from the distance. Soarynn can hear more shouting and gunfire but her focus is solely on the girls who are wide-eyed with fear, holding each other's hands as they walk along the beach with their captors.

"Shut your mouth," the Captain orders, yanking her towards him. Soarynn yelps, nearly tripping in her heels with the sand making it more difficult to walk. She spots a boat floating near the shore, they must've come all the way from the village to get here.

They can not get into that boat.

Soarynn digs her feet into the sand, kicking the Captain's leg for good measure. He looks back at her, his eyes filled with anger and hatred and he uses his other hand to grab his gun, slapping her across the face with the weapon in an instant. Soarynn cries out in pain, momentarily blinded by it as she falls back onto the sand, Caspian almost tumbling from her hold.

"Soarynn!" Ceraphina cries, running over to her, "Soarynn are you okay?"

Tears burn in Soarynn's eyes, both from the pain and the fear. Celeste runs over to her as well, bending down to wipe some sand off of her dress, "Do you need a bandaid?"

Soarynn sniffles, she has to keep it together.

"What she needs to do is keep her fucking mouth shut unless she needs another reminder," the Captain says, his gun trained on Soarynn. She takes in a shaky breath, the wind causing her hair to whip across her face, "You're going to die for that," she tells him.

He laughs, kicking sand in her face for good measure, "I don't plan on dying tonight, not until I get what I want."

One of the men who was pretending to be a Peacekeeper perks up at those words, casting a glare in the Captain's direction, "You mean what we want," he corrects, gesturing at Soarynn and the children with his own gun, "we aren't risking our lives for you."

The Captain rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, what we want, that's what I meant. Don't get so paranoid Marvin, just get them up and take them to the boat yeah?"

Marvin frowns but nods, bending down to grab Soarynn's arm and lift her up. She groans from the pain but allows him to lift her from the sand, trying to wipe off the sand but it's no use at this point. She must look like a mess. "Start walking to the boat," Marvin orders, pressing his gun into her back. Soarynn gasps at the feeling but does as she's told, nodding at the girls to do the same. "I don't want to get my shoes wet," Ceraphina mumbles, trudging along the now-wet sand.

Marvin scoffs and gives her a push, causing Ceraphina to glare up at him, her gaze sharp like her father's, "Don't push me." Soarynn doesn't know if she should be amazed or terrified by Ceraphina's confidence in this life-or-death scenario. But Marvin doesn't seem deterred by the five-year-old's attitude.

The water begins to lap at their feet and Soarynn has a harder time walking correctly with her heels constantly sinking in the wet sand. Marvin pushes the gun against her even harder, "Walk better or take the fucking shoes off." Soarynn almost rolls her eyes but stops herself, now is not the time to have an attitude. With a heavy heart, she steps out of her heels and onto the sand barefoot.

The boat isn't that far from the shore but the waves are choppy and she doesn't even know if there's a current, "You want us to swim there?" She asks, giving him an incredulous look. Marvin scoffs, rolling his own eyes, "Yeah, I didn't think women in the Capitol were dumb and spoiled."

Soarynn chooses to ignore his jabs and gestures towards the girls who are always halfway in the water by now, "I have to help them, they could drown or get swept away."

"They'll be fine."

"If they drown then all of this will have been for nothing," she pushes, turning around to face him. Marvin has a somewhat nice-looking face, he might even be considered handsome if it weren't for his habit of kidnapping people. She can see him weighing out his options for a moment and then he sighs, tucking away his gun, "I'll carry them, but if you try to run, I'm shooting you then the kid," he points at Caspian and Soarynn presses her lips into a thin line, she wasn't planning on trying to escape but she certainly isn't now.

"Fine," she decides. She looks down at the girls who look terrified as the waves crash against them, "I need you girls to behave okay? We're going to get on that boat," she points at the boat rocking against the waves. Celeste looks over at the boat and then back up at Soarynn, "I want Daddy."

I do too, Soarynn thinks to herself.

"We'll see him soon," Soarynn promises, hoping she can keep her word, "let's go on the boat first okay?" Neither of the girls looks too convinced but they slowly nod and Soarynn watches Marvin grab Ceraphina first, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She frowns at his method of handling the children but he waves her off, "Start swimming," he says, pushing her towards the boat.

He picks up Celeste next and she lets out a sound of surprise when she's also tossed over his shoulder, her shoes nearly kicking him in the face. Soarynn says a quick prayer to her father to keep the girls safe before she turns back towards the boat and begins wading towards it. "Cold," Caspian says, the water getting closer to both of their necks. Soarynn's teeth are chattering and her footing on the ocean floor is slowly disappearing, "It's...it's okay Caspian," she manages to get out, "we're almost there."

Once the floor is gone, she's swimming, or well, trying her best to swim. Soarynn's main focus is keeping Caspian's head above water and he's doing a good job at it himself, using his hands to push himself up. It's hard swimming with one hand and a child in the other but she's getting closer to the small boat. She finally notices the two men sitting in the boat and one of them throws a rope in her direction. She doesn't hesitate to grab it, letting them pull her in.

The other man grabs Caspian and Soarynn's heart drops for a second but the man holding the rope grabs her next, hoisting her into the boat as if she weighs nothing. He sets her down on a small bench next to Caspian who's shivering, his cheeks red and his nose runny, "Cold," he says again, his voice trembling this time.

Soarynn pulls him into her lap, wrapping her arms around him in hopes of giving him some warmth and comfort, "I know my darling, I know." She gazes back out at the water where Marvin is now being pulled in by the rope, both girls shrieking from how cold the water is. She anxiously watches the men grab both girls from Marvin's shoulders, tossing them onto the boat as well. They both scramble off the floor and rush to Soarynn, grabbing onto her the moment she's in reach.

"I'm scared," Celeste whispers, pulling herself onto the bench, "where's Daddy?" Soarynn looks out at the Resort but sees no one but the Rebels on the beach. "I don't know," she whispers back, "but we have to do as they say."

꧁ ꧂

Soarynn didn't know it was possible to feel so cold.

But with the rain, ocean water, and wind, she's convinced that they all might just die from hypothermia.

"Stay close to me," she murmurs, pulling both girls closer to her as the boat rocks even harder due to the large waves. She has no idea where they're going but none of these men have said anything to her and they don't look like they plan on it.

Soarynn had contemplated jumping ship, but that would be pointless. And a death wish.

She knows the girls can swim but not under these conditions. Besides, she doesn't know these waters and what lurks within them. She watches two men pull back the oars, pushing them towards what must be the wall that keeps people from escaping District Four. She'd heard of it before in school, how Peacekeepers patrolled the top of the wall, prepared to shoot anyone who tried to escape. There are grates at the bottom of the wall, allowing the marine life to swim in and out of the cove as they please but it must be so deep.

"Are...are we gonna die?" Ceraphina whispers, nuzzling her head against Soarynn's shoulder. Soarynn sniffles, her head is throbbing and her entire body is shaking from both the cold and the fear, "I don't know," she admits quietly, "but I'll do anything to protect you, as long as we listen we should be alright darling."

Ceraphina peers up at her and her face reflects worry and fear, "Soarynn, you're bleeding."

Soarynn lifts her hand to her face, to her nose more specifically where there is in fact blood dropping down from it. She wonders if the Captain broke it. She can still feel it which is a good sign. "I'm okay," she lies, giving Ceraphina a tight-lipped smile, "just a scratch." Ceraphina doesn't look like she believes her but they're interrupted by Marvin who stands up, the rockiness of the boat not even phasing him, "On your feet," he says.

Soarynn and the children stay firmly planted on the bench and he scoffs, "On your feet," he repeats, "we're leaving you here," he points at what looks like a buoy bobbing in the water, large enough for maybe one person. "We're not going anywhere," Soarynn replies with a shake of her head, doing her best to remain brave despite the circumstances.

The rest of the men laugh, making Soarynn feel more meek and smaller than before, "Just you pretty girl," he explains, grabbing her shoulder and yanking her off the bench, "not that you don't look like a good time, but we've already got what we need."

Her eyes widen when she realizes what he means, "No," she cries, "no I won't leave them!”

She looks back at the children, all watching with wide blue eyes full of fear while they cling to each other, "It's not your choice to make," he sneers, pushing her toward the edge of the boat, "now get off now before I throw your dead body into the water."

Soarynn digs her bare feet into the wooden floor of the boat, refusing to move any further, "I go nowhere without them," she tells him, throwing all of her weight against him for good measure. Soarynn must be stronger than she feels because Marvin's body disappears from behind her and she turns around just in time to watch him stumble into the edge of the boat, his arms flailing as he falls into the water.

The Captain stands up, wielding his gun and pointing it at Soarynn, "That's enough you little bitch. I was trying to be nice and let you off easy but now, I think I'll just have to shoot you before I take the kids."

Soarynn glares daggers at the man who's taken her captive, her rage seething through her fearful facade, "You will do nothing of the sort, if you kill me," she points at the cowering Snow children, "then they won't listen to a thing you say." Celeste and Ceraphina perk up at her statement and nod, giving him defiant looks, "Mhm, we'll scream and fight," Celeste tells him.

Soarynn raises an eyebrow at the Captain, "See? I'm the only one who can calm them down. You kill me, you won't be able to complete any of your objectives and this will all have been for nothing."

"Stop talking to her and fucking shoot her!" Marvin yells from the water, paddling towards the boat with an annoyed look on his face. If looks could kill, Soarynn would be dead by now. But she's not, and that's for one reason or another.

The Captain slowly lowers his gun, scoffing at Marvin's orders that clearly aren't respected in this hierarchy. The other two men haven't said a word this entire time. Maybe they're just being paid to row the boat and nothing more.

"If they act out, we might have to correct them," he tells her, some taunting in his tone and it makes her blood boil. Soarynn takes a step towards him, bloody nose and hypothermia be damned.

"No one touches my children," she says, raising a finger, "especially men who have no problem hurting women."

It's a standoff and she won't be the one who loses.

He finally smirks, looking her up and down before nodding, "Fine, but it'll be your head if not theirs."

Soarynn's bottom lip trembles but no tears escape her eyes, she's better than that. "I agree to your terms."

Soarynn turns back to the children, all three of them look absolutely terrified and it breaks her heart that there's nothing she can do to make this better. At least they won't be separated.

But what had Coriolanus said the first time they met?

"Nothing else matters but them. They're all I have now that Livia is gone. I can't have any more children. They're my future. My legacy. Should it come down to it, your life will come before theirs."

Soarynn hadn't ever thought that there might actually be a moment where it would come down to her life or the children's but she knows in her heart that she'd gladly give her life to save theirs. Coriolanus has lost so much already, she can't imagine him finding out about the death of his children as well.

Soarynn sits back down on the bench, her hands are shaking from the cold but she knows it also has to do with her fear, her nerves from standing up to these evil men. "It's okay," she whispers to the children, pulling Caspian back into her lap and kissing the top of his head, "it's okay, we're still together, we're okay."

The girls press themselves against her, desperate for comfort and she gladly gives it to them.

Her stormy blue eyes scan the ocean, looking for someone who might come and rescue them but she sees nothing but rain and thunder in the distance.

Coriolanus, where are you? She wonders, the wind blowing more hair in her face. She hopes he's alright wherever he is, if he's not dead already.

Would they assassinate the President?

They'd certainly kill a nanny.

That's all you are, she reminds herself. tears pooling in her eyes, just the nanny.

꧁ ꧂

They sit in the boat for what must be at least another hour if Soarynn's gauge of time is correct.

Finally, a strip of land comes into view and Soarynn feels some sort of relief even though all she sees are more Rebels from the looks of it, wielding lanterns and probably weapons with her luck.

Soarynn is just ready to get off the fucking boat.

She didn't know what it felt like to be seasick but she was starting to feel nauseous and so was Caspian from the looks of it, his porcelain face turning green the poor thing. Soarynn wishes she could magically pull out some medication but the best she can do is whisper words of encouragement.

The Captain stands up when the shore comes into view, waving a hand at the people watching them from the beach, "Looks like they're all here," he says to his men, a grin on his face, "now's not the time to get sloppy." His men grumble and Soarynn notices the dirty look that Marvin throws his way. Marvin is shivering himself, so now they're all in the same boat, literally.

"Are we gonna have to swim again?" Celeste whispers to her, tugging on Soarynn's dress that's now torn and dirtied. Soarynn brushes some wet curls from her face, staring into those sweet blue eyes that are usually filled with joy and kindness, "We might," she whispers back, "but we'll be okay."

Celeste merely nods in response before closing her eyes again and resting her head on Soarynn's shoulder. Soarynn does her best to ignore the pain that flares from the simple action, her arm hurts from where she's constantly been grabbed and yanked. She doesn't think her nose is bleeding anymore.

She looks down at Ceraphina whose eyes are also closed. It's late at night at this point, nearing midnight based off of the faint glow of the moon. Soarynn stares at the Captain from behind and wonders how long he's been planning this. He looks mighty pleased with himself, one foot leaning against the front of the boat, acting like the king of the world.

The boat is getting closer to the shore, maybe thirty yards at this point. They're probably going to have to swim again which worries Soarynn, the children can't handle being submerged in cold water again.

Before she can ask about how they're going to go about getting to shore, a gun goes off and Soarynn lets out s scream when the Captain falls back towards her, blood spurting from his arm from where he was shot.

His men go frantic, grabbing their own guns and pointing them in every direction.

Soarynn grabs both girls, holding them tight while Caspian clings to her dress, burying his face in her neck, "Don't move," she whispers, scanning the beach for where the gunshot might have come from.

"I can't do this anymore," one of the men whispers, his eyes wide and manic, "we're all gonna die, we have to go now!"

Marvin shakes his head and slips off of the bench he's been sitting on, sliding next to the Captain who's letting out pitiful groans, "Don't try to swim for it, you'll just get shot and drown."

Soarynn wonders if she and the children should take cover as well or if they should stay put. She looks back over at the beach where people are running around, frantically trying to get away. More gunshots ring through the air and she gasps when more Rebels drop dead on the sand, collapsing like ragdolls.

"Keep your eyes closed," she says to the girls, not wanting them to witness any more traumatic events tonight.

The manic man lets out a frustrated groan, his head whipping back and forth from the beach back to the boat where the Captain seems to be bleeding out from what Soarynn can see. And no one seems eager to come to his aid.

"Fuck this," he says, standing up, "I'm getting the hell out of here."

His accomplices try to deter him from jumping ship but he's made up his mind. They all watch him stand on the edge of the boat, bending his knees to jump and then they all watch a bullet pierce his skull, sending blood and who knows what else into the air. Soarynn screams again when some of the blood lands on her and the children, some of it even landing in her mouth.

All hell breaks loose then.

Rampant gunfire breaks out on the beach and she opens her eyes in time to see several Peacekeeper trucks driving over the dunes, firing at anyone in sight. Peacekeepers swarm the area, guns at the ready.

The calvary has arrived.

This isn't a fight the Rebels will win and both Marvin and the other man seem to realize this. Marvin quickly slips his legs over the side of the boat, slipping into the water without being shot which is a victory within itself. The other man isn't so lucky when he tries to stand up and is immediately shot several times in the chest, his limp body falling backward into the water.

Soarynn squeezes her eyes shut, wanting to block out this night for the rest of her life but then she hears something, hears someone.

"SOARYNN!"

Soarynn looks over her shoulder at the beach and she lets out a cry of relief when she sees Coriolanus on the beach, accompanied by Peacekeepers, Eudora, and another man who must be the Mayor.

"It's your father," she says, a frail laugh leaving her lips, "girls look it's your father."

The girls both open their eyes and turn to see their father on the beach, letting out excited gasps, "Daddy! Daddy came to rescue us!"

He came for them.

Soarynn's relief turns into something more primal, something more maternal, "We have to swim to the beach, we're not that far." She knows they could wait but the Captain is still alive, wounded but alive. Ceraphina frowns, looking down at the water, "But it's cold."

Soarynn nods, carefully standing up so as to not rock the boat, "I know but we have to get to safety. We can do it, I promise."

Celeste also stands up, determination in her eyes, "It's just like the bathtub," she says to her sister, offering her hand. Ceraphina furrows her brows, she looks so much like Coriolanus right now it's uncanny how alike they look when deciding on something. Surviving, it seems, is the decision she comes down to and she takes her little sister's hand.

"Okay," she agrees, "let's go."

Soarynn wraps her arms around Caspian tightly, murmuring a few more words of prayer before stepping onto the bench, one step away from plunging into the water. She thinks she can hear Eudora shouting for her to sit back down but she's so past caring right now.

"Here we go," she says and she jumps.

A wave of shock mixed with pain shoots through her body when her feet hit the sandy bottom. Soarynn pushes herself back up to the surface, gasping for air when she breaches the water. She can hear Caspian coughing which means he also didn't drown and die.

Soarynn opens her eyes and looks around to find that it's actually quite shallow. The water is up to her chest and while it is freezing, the current isn't too bad. "It's safe," she says to the girls who are watching him with hesitation, "and quite shallow. Come on, I'll catch you."

Ceraphina nods and steps onto the bench, helping Celeste climb up as well. "One, two, three!" The girls jump into the water and Soarynn wades towards them the moment they come up for air, grabbing both of them and pulling them into her. The girl's heads are bobbing above the water but they aren't drowning which is the most important part.

"Hold onto me and I'll pull us to shore," Soarynn instructs them, helping and making sure they have a good grip on something before she begins wading to the beach. She watches more trucks drive onto the beach, people are beginning to be arrested if they haven't been killed already.

Soarynn can feel her body slowing down. The cold is seeping into her bones, her nose hurts, her arm hurts. Wouldn't it be pitiful for her to drown in five feet of water?

But when she gazes towards Coriolanus again, she knows she needn't worry about a thing due to the fact that he's halfway in the water, wading towards them. Soarynn never thought in a million years that she'd see the President of Panem soaked in the ocean, but she knew he'd do anything for his children, even if it meant jumping into freezing waters.

The girls cry out when they see him, letting go of Soarynn the second he's within reaching distance to paddle towards him.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Coriolanus scoops them out of the water as if they weigh nothing, holding them so tight while murmuring words of devotion and comfort. Soarynn feels herself tearing up at the sight, for a moment, she didn't know if they'd make it, if the children would ever see their father again.

A second later she hears the sound of a motorized boat and looks to her left where three Peacekeepers are driving towards them, hopefully with blankets. "We made it," she whispers to herself, watching their boat stop next to the wooden one where the Captain is still lying there, injured and abandoned. One of the Peacekeepers jumps into the boat, pulling the Captain onto his feet despite his pained protests.

Soarynn mindlessly peppers Caspian's head with kisses, feeling his little body cling to hers for warmth. She might as well keep heading towards shore, even if she can't feel her toes, or her feet, or her legs. Is she sinking?

Soarynn whimpers as her legs slowly begin to give out from under her, both her and Caspian gasping when their faces hit the cold water. They're only drowning for a second before a hand pulls them both up. It's one of the Peacekeepers from the boat and he looks very concerned for her wellbeing. "Are you alright miss?"

After the day she's had, Soarynn doesn't have it in her to lie.

"No," she answers truthfully, letting the man gently pull her up and into the boat, a world of a difference compared to how she was handled by the Rebels. She looks back into the water where Coriolanus is already wading back to shore, wasting no time to get his girls to safety. A blanket is draped over her shoulder a second later and Soarynn lets out a content sigh, making sure that Caspian is well covered. "Blanket," he says, a small smile on his sweet little face. Soarynn nods, kissing his forehead, "That's right sweet boy. We got a blanket and we got rescued."

Soarynn knows that sooner or later she'll be able to have a proper breakdown due to what's occurred tonight, but until then, she'll continue putting on a brave face.

She looks back at the boat she was held captive on, watching the Captain take quite a beating from the Peacekeeper who pulled him up. Good, she thinks to herself, he deserves it.

Their boat finally brushes up against the beach and Eudora is running up to her and Caspian with tears in her eyes, "Oh thank goodness! We were so worried!" Soarynn gives her a tired smile, she has no idea what happened to Eudora and Coriolanus during all of this commotion, but Eudora seems unscathed from what she can see.

"We're okay," Soarynn tells her, feeling unsteady on her feet when she slowly stands up. One of the Peacekeepers steadies her, "Let me take him," he offers. Soarynn appreciates the kind gesture, but she holds onto Caspian even tighter, "I'm fine," she insists, ignoring the concerned looks she gets from both Eudora and the Peacekeeper.

She shakily steps out of the boat, her feet feel numb when they touch the sandy shores but she feels better than she did in the ocean. Soarynn scans the beach, watching as people are detained and thrown into the backs of Peacekeeper trucks. "I...what happened?" She finally asks Eudora who rests a hand on her shoulder, "We were at dinner," Eudora starts but her voice dies off as she stares out into the ocean.

Soarynn turns and both women watch Coriolanus trudge onto the beach, both girls still in his hold. "Oh the poor things," Eudora whispers, "we were so, so worried about all of you when we checked the suite." Soarynn swallows and she can taste bits of salt, "It all happened so fast."

Two more men approach the Snow family, dressed in white uniforms with medic symbols on the backs of their jackets. They'll definitely need medical attention after the day they've had. Coriolanus carefully hands over the girls, his hands lingering on their backs before they're taken over to a small medic truck. Soarynn feels so grateful to have survived that, to be able to deliver all of his children to him.

One of the medics tends to both girls, giving them blankets while the other approaches her with a kind smile on his face. Soarynn steps back when he holds out his hands, "We've got him," he assures her, reaching for Caspian. Soarynn shakes her head, resting her hand on the back of Caspian's head to cradle him closer, "No, I..."

Another hand comes to rest on her other shoulder and this time, it's Coriolanus. He looks exhausted, his piercing blue eyes don't hold the usual authority she's used to. Instead, they hold worry, fear, and anxiety. "It's okay," he tells her, his voice so gentle, "let them take him. It's okay Soarynn."

She doesn't quite believe him, not after what's happened. How can she trust any of these people in Four?

Caspian lifts his head after hearing his father's voice, his eyes wide with excitement and he reaches out for him. Coriolanus sighs and grabs his small hand and gives it a squeeze, "You're alright Cas, he's alright." Soarynn still doesn't believe him but Coriolanus takes matters into his own hands and quite literally pries his son from Soarynn's iron grip, handing him over to the medic who offers her a reassuring smile.

Soarynn's hands feel so empty now that Caspian is gone. He peeks his head over the medic's shoulder, giving her a small wave despite everything they've endured tonight. Soarynn sniffles, wiping any trace of tears.

Eudora rubs soothing circles on the back of her shoulder, "It's alright dear, you're perfectly safe now." She doesn't feel safe, doesn't feel like everything is alright.

Her bottom lip trembles but she remains silent, the blanket on her shoulders falls onto the sand, revealing the torn state of her dress. She can feel Coriolanus tighten his grip on her shoulder, taking in the current state of her body. Soarynn stares at the sand, suddenly ashamed of the state she's in.

"Soarynn," he starts but she shakes her head, trying to hold it all in, "It's fine," she gets out, her voice breaking, "I'm fine, I...I shouldn't ha-"

Soarynn never gets to finish her sentence. Coriolanus pulls her into his embrace and she instantly melts into it, melts into the protective hold he puts over her. Soarynn hasn't felt a touch like this since her father, felt so safe and protected within seconds. She chokes out a sob, all the emotions hitting her all at once.

He rests a hand on the back of her head while she grabs onto his shirt, probably staining it with her tears and blood. He smells like roses.

"Thank you," he says quietly, his voice muffled, "thank you for bringing them back to me."

Soarynn doesn't feel as though she needs to be thanked for doing her job, so she simply nods, unable to form a coherent sentence. She can hear some sort of struggle ensuing on the beach, the sound of a man arguing with another man, one of their voices sounding terribly familiar.

The Captain.

They must have brought him to shore to properly detain him. "Keep moving," someone tells him. "Fuck you," he spits out. Soarynn takes a small peek at him, stunned at how battered and bruised he is in addition to the gunshot wound. He catches her looking and sneers in her direction, his lips curling up into a cruel smirk, "Looks like the President got his whore back safe and sound. Only wish I could've taken her for a spin."

It all happens so quickly then.

Coriolanus pushing Soarynn towards. Eudora. Coriolanus grabbing the Captain by the collar of his shirt and slamming him into he ground. Coriolanus punching the Captain in the face over and over again.

Soarynn watches more blood pool from his face, dripping onto the sand while he lays their limp, coughing up more blood. Soarynn feels nauseous. She leans over to throw up but nothing comes out, only a few drops of blood from her nose which Eudora notices immediately. "Soarynn, you're bleeding!" Soarynn stands back up, stumbling on the sand, "I'm...I'm fine," she mumbles, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, "just, just tired."

Everything starts to grow black. Everything is so fuzzy.

The last thing she sees before falling into the sand is Coriolanus Snow knocking the Captain unconscious.

꧁ ꧂

When Soarynn wakes up, she's on a train.

At least, she thinks she's on a train.

She blinks up at the ceiling, her head is groggy and throbbing. She wants to sit up but she doesn't know if that would be wise. She looks over to her right at the bedside table where there's a glass of water and two orange pills on a small plate. She doesn't hesitate to grab the water, drinking half the glass before she takes the pills and swallows them down with the remaining water.

Hopefully, those were meant for her.

Soarynn listens to her surroundings for a moment. She can hear a few muffled voices from outside of the hallway. One of distinct enough to place it as Coriolanus, and the other is high-pitched enough to belong to Eudora. Did they already leave Four?

Soarynn then hears the patter of small footsteps running down the hall.

The children.

That's all Soarynn needs to motivate her to sit up. She groans once she's fully seated, resting against her headboard but her mind feels more clear now. Soarynn brings her hand up to her face and feels some bandages around her nose. Maybe it is broken. She then reaches for her shoulder and finds more bandaging has been wrapped around her upper arm as well.

She's dressed in a long-sleeved button-up shirt and flowy pants, both feel like pajamas. Soarynn probably shouldn't stand up, but she doesn't care, not after what she's been through. She swings her feet off the edge of the bed, firmly planting them on the floor. "Here we go," she whispers to herself, slowly pushing up from the bed. The train barely jostles while riding along the tracks but the slightest movement makes her feel unsteady.

Soarynn places a hand on the wall in front of her, leaning against it for support. She looks to her right into the bathroom and her eyes widen when she sees her reflection.

Her nose is bandaged and her left eye is slightly bruised. But other than that, there's no physical proof that she was kidnapped with the children. And that frightens her.

Was that even real if she has no scars to prove it?

Soarynn shakes those thoughts from her head and turns towards the bedroom door, brushing against the wall as she walks to it. It slides open and she pokes her head out, looking down both ends of the hallway. She sees no one but hears giggles coming from down the hall. Soarynn carefully steps out into the hall, wrapping her arms around herself as she walks down the hall to the children's room.

They've all gathered in Ceraphina's room it seems, the same room where she and Coriolanus put the girls to bed...one day ago? Or has it been two? She slept one night at the resort before everything fell apart. It feels like they got on this train years ago, not days ago.

Soarynn looks into the bedroom and finds all three children piled onto the bed while their father reads them a bedtime story. They all seem fine, dressed in warm pajamas with dry hair and faces. Soarynn took on the brunt of the physical assault so the children are unscathed on the surface.

She can't say the same on the inside.

The girls are enamored by whatever book Coriolanus is reading to them, both of them leaning against his chest while Caspain sits next to Ceraphina, his head resting against her shoulder. It's Caspian who notices Soarynn lingering in the doorway first, his bright blue eyes finding her within seconds, "Soar!"

Soarynn smiles and the girls both look up from the story, gasping when they see her walking about. "Soarynn, you're awake!" Celeste crawls over her father's lap and carefully slips off the edge of the bed, she runs to Soarynn and throws her arms around her legs, "Soarynn we missed you! We got to go back to the Resort and then we got on the train and now we're going home!"

Soarynn raises her eyebrows, did she really sleep through all of that?

She gives Celeste another smile although this one is less genuine than the first, "Oh my goodness, that sounds like quite a busy series of events. You must be very tired." Celeste shrugs and looks back at Coriolanus whose eyes are set on Soarynn, "I'm not that tired," she says, a small smile creeping onto her face, "but maybe you could sing us a lullaby to help us go to sleep."

Coriolanus goes to get off of the bed, already beginning to protest, "I don't think Soarynn is up for sin-"

"It's fine," Soarynn cuts him off, her voice soft and fragile, "I don't mind. Truly."

Coriolanus sits back down, a conflicted look on his face but Soarynn really doesn't mind singing to the children. It'll help her take her mind off of things.

"Get under the covers," she says softly. Celeste scurries back to the bed where Ceraphina pulls her back up, both of them groaning at the effort it takes.

"You're too heavy," Ceraphian whines. Celeste shoots her a look, "Maybe you're not strong enough."

Soarynn shakes her head and walks into the room, "Be nice to each other girls." If they're already back to arguing then that means that they're not that shaken up from everything. Which is a good thing she hopes.

Caspian crawls towards Soarynn, a smile on his face, "Lenny comes," he says, looking back over at his shoulder where Lenny is sitting against the headboard. Soarynn nods, bending down to pick him up, "Lenny did come back with us darling, you're right."

Caspian places a hand on her bandaged nose, gently so as not to hurt her, "Hurt," he mumbles, a concerned look on his small face. Soarynn shakes her head, "I'm alright darling," she insists, placing a kiss on his own little nose, making him giggle, "I'm perfectly fine now that I've seen you and Lenny."

"And us," Ceraphina calls from under the covers.

Soarynn chuckles, walking along the edge of the bed until she reaches the top, "Yes, and you two as well," she agrees.

She gently places Caspian down on the bed, he usually sleeps in his crib but she can't blame him if he wants to be near his sisters after what happened.

Coriolanus rises from his spot on the bed, watching over his three children who look so precious tucked under the covers. All spitting images of him.

Soarynn clears her throat, she's never sung her lullaby to anyone but the children but he doesn't seem keen on leaving anytime soon. Soarynn takes a deep breath and begins to sing.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow, A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your eyes, and when they open, the sun will rise. Here it's safe, here it's warm, here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you."

Their little eyes slowly grow heavy until all three children are asleep. Soarynn reaches down to turn off the lamp on the bedside table and Coriolanus does the same on the other side of the bed. Neither of them makes any moves to leave, both of them watching the children that they'd gladly take a bullet for.

Soarynn eventually convinces herself that no evil men will sneak onto the train to take the children away and she quietly pads out of the room, Coriolanus right on her heels. She doesn't even say anything to him and doesn't protest when he grabs her wrist and gently leads her down the hall, all the way to the last bedroom. His bedroom.

Soarynn merely glances around the room that's slightly larger than hers before focusing on the man who brought her on this trip.

He looks so concerned, so worried.

So caring.

A world of a difference compared to how he used to look at her when she first started working for him.

"I'm so sorry," he finally says, his voice breaking at the end and it nearly breaks her as well, "I...I never imagined that this would happen to us. It shouldn't have happened to us," he corrects himself, "but it did and I'm so sorry that you were caught in the crossfire."

Soarynn purses her lips, studying him for a moment. He looks like a wreck to put things lightly. His curls are all tussled, there are bags under her eyes and his shirt is unbuttoned a little bit, showing off some of his upper chest. He looks like a man whose job is to run the country and then his children were kidnapped on a business trip so now he's trying to put all the pieces back together.

"The crossfire," Soarynn repeats, her voice soft yet hollow, "the crossfire of what? I...I thought we were safe at the Resort. I thought everything was fine in Four."

Coriolanus scowls, and his hand curls into a fist, "We were until we weren't," he says coldly, "Rebels caught wind of when we'd be visiting and they started to plan an attack, to plan how they'd break into the Resort and take my children hostage in exchange for me to stop the Hunger Games."

Soarynn's throat goes dry. She doesn't really pay attention to the Hunger Games, not when it's all about children being forced to kill one another in the name of pageantry and honor. But she can tell that this is personal for Coriolanus, in ways she doesn't wish to examine.

Not now at least. Not when he's still her boss.

"They didn't think I'd be there," she murmurs, remembering how those men called her a lucky catch. Coriolanus nods, his jaw slightly clenched but he's uncurled his fist which is a good sign, "They didn't know you existed," he states plainly.

Soarynn's eyes slightly widen at his words. They didn't know she existed?

"People in the Districts are given very little information compared to those who live in the Capitol," he explains, "mostly for safety reasons such as traveling with me. They didn't know about Eudora either until she was hurling her binder at them at dinner." Soarynn feels her lips pull up in a small smile, Eudora Trinket is a force to be reckoned with.

"They didn't know about you because I felt that it would be safer if you remained anonymous. You caught them off guard, and you...you saved my children," he whispers the last part. "You saved my children and I am eternally grateful for that Soarynn, I wish I could put it into words how grateful I am for that."

Soarynn nods, her eyes trained on the floor, "That's my job isn't it?"

Coriolanus reaches out with his other hand, gently cupping her face and lifting it so that she's looking him in the eye, "I'd say you went above and beyond for what the parameters of your job are," he says, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. His eyes travel down to her nose and he frowns, "How did this happen?"

Soarynn reaches up and feels the bandages covering her nose, it's not broken she's decided, but probably swollen. "He um...he hit me across the face with a gun," she says, her voice so far away, "I said we wouldn't get on the boat and he slapped me with his gun."

One hundred emotions flash through his eyes within a second, most of them being filled with anger and rage before he relaxes and all she can see is kindness and concern. "He'll die for that," he tells her calmly, "anyone who was in on the attack will be executed for treason."

Soarynn wishes that she could beg Coriolanus to spare those men but she can't, not after what they did, what they tried to do.

"Good," she decides, "they were quite brutish in their language."

He tightens his grip on her face, inspecting her for any further damage, "Did they...did they touch you in any way?"

That simple question leads Soarynn to realize that this attack could've had an ever worse ending than it already does. "No," she shakes her head, "they called me your whore, but other than that no, there was no sexual assault." He lets out a breath of relief, she’s sure he wouldn’t want to have to deal with one of his employees being assaulted on top of all of this.

They’ve already experienced enough with Festus.

She waits for him to remove his hand, to say goodnight and tell her how they’ll arrive at the Capitol tomorrow morning but he doesn’t and his hand stays on her face, his large fingers feel so warm against her skin.

“You know,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing back and forth against her cheek and Soarynn can feel her heart starting to beat a little faster but she doesn’t know why, “I used to only care for my children once Livia died, but after tonight, I found myself caring about someone else.”

Soarynn’s throat dries at the possibilities of what that could mean. “It’s good to care about those who you employ,” she states, but Coriolanus shakes his head, “You’re not just another employee Soarynn. You’re not just the nanny, you’re irreplaceable to us, to me.”

To him.

Soarynn feels frozen, she feels frozen as his other hand comes up to hold her face, she feels frozen when he leans down and his lips brush up against her own lips.

But she doesn’t feel frozen when she returns the kiss.

It’s the opposite of what she expected from Coriolanus who’s known for being stern and cynical. It’s gentle and so very patient as if he’s afraid that she might shatter into a million pieces. It feels so good, so right. Her own hands come to rest on his covered biceps and she wonders what it would be like if he took off his shirt, if she took off her own clothes and they spent the night tangled in his sheets.

We can’t, she reminds herself, we can’t.

She pulls away from the kiss, her lips parted and her voice is slightly breathless as she looks back up at up, “We can’t. We…we shouldn’t. The children are right down the hall and you’re my boss whether you like it or not. I wouldn’t want to put anything in jeopardy for the sake of intimate companionship.”

Coriolanus furrows his eyebrows, his hands remain holding her face but she doesn’t mind. She should but she doesn’t.

“You know you’re more than that right?” He ask, pressing his thumbs into her skin, “You’re more than the act itself and you’re more than just a warm body to me, I didn’t ever feel this way around Livia and yet you drive me mad Soarynn, absolutely mad.”

She drives him mad.

Soarynn licks her lips, remembering how his own tasted a few moments ago, “We still should stop. Tonight has been quite traumatic for all of us and I think we’d do well to get some much-needed rest before we return home.”

She hates how crestfallen his face looks but Soarynn knows this is for the best. If they continue to act on their primal urges, someone will get hurt, and it’ll be her.

Even though Coriolanus is a very handsome man, a very handsome man with adorable children that he loves very much…and such strong biceps. And he’s a very good kisser, and he makes her feel safe, and…she’s finding it very hard to find reasons not to end up in bed with him.

But he’s her boss!

The children come first, even before her own wants and needs…and desires.

Soarynn feels herself burning with shame but Coriolanus doesn’t seem to be embarrassed whatsoever. “Tonight has been quite traumatic,” he agrees, his face softens, “and I’d never forgive myself if you felt forced to comply with me and my own wishes.” Soarynn wants to tell him about the dreams she’s been having about him but maybe she should just keep those to herself.

She forces a small smile onto her face although it doesn’t quite reach her eyes, “Alright then. Thank you for checking on me once again. Your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.”

He nods but he still looks hesitant to let her go. How will they go back to normal after everything that's transpired today? The kidnapping and then the kiss. Soarynn wonders if she even wants to go back to normal, back to a world where she and Coriolanus only exchange a few words when necessary, a world where he might one day show up with another woman on his arm, dismissing her as only the nanny.

"Stay with me," he says, "I'd feel much better if you stayed the night in this room with me," he quickly adds, his cheeks turn pink and Soarynn feels her lips curl up into a genuine smile this time. It's cute how a simple request can leave him so flustered.

She rests her own hand on his smooth-shaven cheek, Coriolanus truly is a most handsome creature, even when he's exhausted and clearly not thinking straight. "I'll stay until you fall asleep," she offers. Soarynn is all too familiar with sitting on the edge of the children's beds whenever they wake her up after a nightmare. Soarynn doesn't mind, she'll lull them back to sleep and then stay for a while in case they wake up again.

She never thought she'd be doing the same for Coriolanus Snow.

He looks as if he wants more, as if he wants her to stay the entire night but they can't risk that, can't risk the train attendants catching wind of this.

The President and his nanny, what a story for the tabloids.

No, Soarynn decides, it's best if this is a one-time thing.

"Alright," he finally agrees, grabbing her wrist and pressing a soft kiss to the palm of her hand. Soarynn feels butterflies in her stomach but she ignores them and lets Coriolanus lead her over to his bed. This bedroom is bigger than hers but he's a large man who needs quite a bit of room.

Coriolanus slides into his bed first and Soarynn follows behind him, feeling a bit excited and a bit nervous. She's never been in a bed with a man, let alone the President of Panem.

"Do you want me to read you a story?" She teases, grinning when he scoffs and rolls his eyes, "No," he replies, his fingers slowly unbuttoning his shirt, "I do not require the ten bedtime stories that my girls do."

Soarynn furrows her brows, "It's more like five," she counters.

Coriolanus gives her a look and shakes his head, "You forget that my children tell me everything, which includes how many stories they swindle you into reading them every night."

Well, he's got her there.

"It's hard to say no to them," she admits, knowing that Coriolanus will relate to that sentiment. He grunts in agreement, finally slipping out of his button-up and baring his upper torso to her. Soarynn looks down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers, "Should I turn off the lamp?'

"I suppose."

She needn't be told twice.

Soarynn reaches over to the lamp sitting on the bedside table and turns it off, waiting for Coriolanus to do the same on his side. "You're sure you don't want to stay for the entire night?" He presses, resting a hand on her shoulder, "I wake up before my household every morning, no one would know."

As lovely as that sounds, Soarynn would prefer to sleep in her own bed tonight. Not that sleeping in the same bed as Coriolanus doesn't sound enticing because it does, but after the way she was treated today, being around men makes her a bit...weary.

"I know," she replies, "but I'm still firm in my decision."

Coriolanus being the good man he is, doesn't push her any further and simply settles against the headboard after pulling up the covers. "Did they try to break into your suite first?"

Soarynn swallows, remembering the persistent knocks outside her doors, and how she almost opened them. "They did," she answers, brushing her hair behind her ears, "although I think they must've thought that the children had their own separate suite. They didn't know their bedroom was within your own suite. When did you learn of the attack?"

It's hard to see his expression in the dark room, but as they sit next to one another, shoulder to shoulder, she can see his face harden at the thought of the Rebels attacking them.

"We were all waiting for you at dinner," he says, "the Mayor, a few diplomats as well. But you weren't coming and I was beginning to think something might've happened with one of the children. A cut finger, an upset stomach, anything really. We had Peacekeepers guarding the doors to the dining room, real Peacekeepers," he continues, "but the doors had been locked from the outside. They tried to break down the doors but it was no use. We were trapped and without a clue as to where you and the children were."

Soarynn can't imagine how worried he must've been, not knowing what was going on outside, what had become of his children. But she got them out, got them back to him.

"Well, it's over now," she says softly, closing her eyes, "I do worry about the children though, how this will affect them." She feels Coriolanus take her hand into his, feels his long fingers lace between her own slender ones. She keeps her eyes shut because if she opens them, she might not leave this room.

"They seem fine now, but only time will tell," he muses, "but my children tend to forget things after a few weeks. With the holidays coming up, they'll have plenty to look forward to."

Soarynn can't say that she's surprised that he still plans to go back as if everything is normal. They'll celebrate the holidays and throw a party at the end of the year. He'll take family portraits and conduct interviews. District Four was only a momentary lapse in his schedule.

Then is that all she is right now? A lapse in his schedule?

Soarynn pulls her hand out of his grip when her own thumb rubs against his injured knuckles, opening her eyes and clearing her throat, "You should get some rest," she suggests, ignoring how fast her heart is beating and how Coriolanus beat the Captain until he fell unconscious for her, "we should arrive at the Capitol by morning."

Soarynn knows that he's looking at her with those piercing blue eyes but she refuses to look anywhere in his direction right now. This is so wrong, she thinks to herself, I'm in bed with my employer right now, in bed with the President of Panem. No wonder people think I'm his whore.

"Yes, we should. Well, goodnight then. Thank you for staying."

Soarynn nods even though he can't see her, "Of course. Sleep well."

She listens to him rustle with his pillow and lay down, listens to his breaths grow deeper and slower, more heavy. Soarynn looks down at Coriolanus Snow who's already sound asleep. She'd do well to get some rest as well. She wonders if he slept in the same bed as Livia or if they slept in separate rooms. She knows that they didn't share any true love but sleeping in the same bed is something you can do with anyone.

Even your boss.

Soarynn gives his sleeping form one last glance before she carefully slips out of the bed and pads out into the hallway. She looks back over her shoulder just once where a streak of light from the hallway is illuminating his face. He looks so handsome, so handsome and so much younger when he's asleep as if he doesn't have the world on his shoulders.

Soarynn makes sure the door closes behind her before she walks down the hallway to her own room, only stopping to look in on the children who are all sound asleep in bed.

Soarynn flops onto her own bed with a groan. She'll probably be given a full medical and psychological evaluation once they get back to truly assess any damage. She brings her hand up and gently touches her nose, it doesn't hurt, it didn't hurt when it brushed up against his nose when they kissed.

Oh, when they kissed.

"What're you doing Soarynn?" She whispers, staring up at the ceiling, "Get a grip, get your head straight. One traumatic event doesn't mean you get to kiss your boss."

It was nice though, kissing Coriolanus after dreaming about it. She never knew he felt the same way but the more she thinks about it, the more she wonders if he does feel the same way.

Was she just a quick way to blow off steam?

Is she really just the President's whore?

Soarynn crawls under the covers, turning off the bedside lamp encasing her in darkness and she gladly welcomes it.

"You're the nanny Soarynn," she reminds herself, "nothing more nothing less."

Even though she wonders what it might be like to be seen as more.

| Part 7. |

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[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Today, Israel is voting in its local elections (for mayors and city councils). ALMOST all of Israel. The original date was at the end of October 2023, for obvious reasons, the elections were postponed. There were also a lot of mayor nominees, who were summoned for reserves service due to the war, and one of the reasons why the elections were postponed more than once, was to give as many of them as possible a chance to finish their service, and participate in their own election campaign. But even so, there are still hundreds of thousands of people from evacuated communities (displaced people, internal refugees, however you wanna call them), and therefore not everyone will be voting today. For the evacuated cities and towns, the elections were postponed until November. Looking at things, it's not sure they'll be back in their homes by then either, so IDK what their elections will look like. And then of course there are the hostages. Save for two, 4 years old Ariel Bibas and his 1 years old baby brother Kfir, they all had the right to vote, and none will get to. We remember them and hurt over their absence and everything being continuously being stolen from them on this day, too. On a side note, the national supervisor of these local electional is Rayan Ghanem. And if you know Jewish last names, you know Ghanem is not one of them. I'm trying to remember a time in apartheid South Africa when a non-white was a national supervisor of elections.

Despite still pointing out that the International Court of Justice has no right to judge the case brought to it by South Africa (becaue of SA's false claims to bring this case to court), Israel has filed a report in accordance with one of the ICJ's provisional measures, showing that its actions are in compliance with all of them (like providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and doing all it can to protect civilians).

Meanwhile, at Harvard, just 6 weeks after she was appointed to lead the task force meant to combat Jew hatred, the university's antisemitism tsar has quit her position, with reports saying that she's frustrated over her inability to implement practical measures.

Remember when I wrote about Idan Amedi, the Israeli singer and actor that most people outside our country know from his role on Fauda? He gave a really moving speech when he was released from the hospital. I've wanted to share it for a while, but couldn't find it translated well. I found this bit:

But it really doesn't cover how moving the whole speech is (it's 9 minutes long). Among other things, he also thanked medical teams, assured Israelis we have the best ones, and apologized to his soldiers who died in the same incident in which he was injured. He also mentioned that he was unrecognizable when he was rushed into the hospital, and that doctors only identified him by the note that was attacked to his hand. It turns out, he really wanted people to see what he was talking about, and to understand that by the time he gave this public speech, he was already looking much better than on the day of he was wounded. So here is the image he shared himself on his IG (just scroll quickly past it, if you feel like it is too much for you, which is an understandbale reaction):

This is 68 years old David Edri.

On October 7, he was held hostage with his wife by Hamas for hours. At a certain point, he even covered his wife Rachel with his own body, in order to protect her from the terrorists' shots. They both survived. Yesterday, we got the news that he has passed away. His family said the trauma and stress from the massacre, and the news of its scale, had aggravated his medical problems for the last couple of months, until he could no longer go on.

This is 23 years old Raz Mizrachi.

In May 2021, she was injured in a vehicular terrorist attack in Jerusalem, but survived. On Oct 7, she was attending the Nova music festival. Her last phone call was to the police, to help instruct them on where she and dozens of others were hiding from Hamas terrorists, inside a public bomb shelter. Raz was murdered shortly after that. When her mom got a copy of the call's recording, she said it was a great source of comfort to the family, to know that Raz was a fighter till the last moment.

May their memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)