#NANO NEEDLING

[black-salt-cage]

ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊˚

[skin-care-news]

Beauty Brands USA: Revolutionizing Skincare with Sokörpe’s Compact Intelligent Skincare & Body Care Machine

The beauty and wellness industry is constantly evolving, with new technologies and products emerging to meet the ever-growing demand for advanced skincare and body care solutions. Among the frontrunners in this industry, Beauty Brands USA stands out as a leader in providing innovative, high-quality equipment to aesthetic professionals. As the exclusive distributor of Sokörpe’s Compact Intelligent Skincare & Body Care Machine in the United States, Beauty Brands USA offers a transformative tool that promises to elevate the standards of skincare and body care services. In this comprehensive article, we explore the features, benefits, and impact of this revolutionary machine, along with insights into why Beauty Brands USA is the preferred partner for skincare professionals.

Key Features and Technologies

Seven Treatment Heads: Each head is engineered to perform specific functions, enabling a personalized treatment experience for clients. Whether it’s anti-aging, acne treatment, or body contouring, the machine’s versatility is a major asset.

61 Treatment Programs: The extensive selection of programs allows practitioners to offer everything from basic facials to advanced treatments like Nano-Needle Mesotherapy and Endermomassage, ensuring comprehensive care for clients.

Nano-Needle Mesotherapy: This advanced technology delivers active ingredients deep into the skin, promoting collagen production and skin rejuvenation. It’s an effective treatment for reducing wrinkles, fine lines, and skin sagging.

Endermomassage: Available in both small and large sizes, these tools effectively treat cellulite, stimulate collagen production, and enhance skin firmness. Given the lucrative cellulite reduction market, which is expected to grow significantly, this feature offers substantial revenue potential.

Oxybrasion: This gentle yet effective exfoliation method uses oxygen to remove dead skin cells and improve circulation, leaving the skin refreshed and radiant.

Full Spectrum LED Therapy: The machine includes the full range of LED lights, each offering specific benefits:

Red Light: Stimulates collagen production and reduces inflammation.

Blue Light: Targets acne-causing bacteria and reduces oil production.

Green Light: Evens out skin tone and reduces pigmentation.

Yellow Light: Improves circulation and reduces redness.

Purple, Orange, and White Lights: Each providing unique therapeutic benefits, from healing to skin revitalization.

The Beauty Brands USA Advantage

Exclusive Distribution and Quality Assurance

Beauty Brands USA prides itself on being the exclusive distributor of Sokörpe’s machine in the United States. This exclusivity ensures that practitioners are receiving a genuine, high-quality product, backed by the company’s rigorous quality control standards.

Comprehensive Support and Training

To maximize the benefits of Sokörpe’s machine, Beauty Brands USA provides extensive training and support. This includes initial setup guidance, detailed instructions on utilizing the machine’s various features, and ongoing support to help practitioners refine their techniques.

Marketing and Business Development Support

Understanding that successful implementation goes beyond just having the right equipment, Beauty Brands USA offers marketing and business development support. This includes providing promotional materials, training on effective marketing strategies, and tips for attracting new clients.

Financial Viability and Market Impact

Cost-Effective Investment

Sokörpe’s machine is competitively priced at $5,795.00 plus tax, making it an affordable option compared to other high-end devices. For instance, comparable machines for Endermomassage and Hydrafacial treatments can cost between $30,000 and $50,000, making Sokörpe’s machine a cost-effective investment for aesthetic professionals.

Revenue Generation Potential

The machine’s versatility allows practitioners to offer a wide range of treatments, each with significant earning potential. For example, Nano-Needle Mesotherapy sessions can cost between $250 and $600 each, with clients typically requiring multiple sessions. This can quickly lead to substantial revenue growth, with some practitioners reporting monthly earnings of up to $50,000.

Clinical Efficacy and Safety

Proven Results

Clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the technologies used in Sokörpe’s machine. For instance, LED therapy has been shown to reduce acne, stimulate collagen production, and improve skin elasticity. Similarly, Nano-Needle Mesotherapy and Endermomassage have proven effective in skin rejuvenation and cellulite reduction.

Safety Profile

Safety is a paramount concern in aesthetic treatments. Sokörpe’s machine is designed with safety in mind, featuring settings and protocols that ensure safe operation. This makes it suitable for a wide range of clients, including those with sensitive skin.

Real-World Success Stories

Case Studies and Testimonials

Numerous skincare professionals across the United States have integrated Sokörpe’s machine into their practices, experiencing significant business growth and client satisfaction. Testimonials often highlight the machine’s versatility, ease of use, and the impressive results it delivers.

Market Expansion and Client Retention

With the ability to offer innovative treatments that are not widely available, practitioners can attract new clients and retain existing ones. The machine’s comprehensive treatment options also enable practitioners to provide personalized care, further enhancing client loyalty.

The Science Behind the Treatments

LED Therapy

LED therapy involves the use of different wavelengths of light to penetrate the skin at varying depths. This triggers biological processes that rejuvenate and repair the skin. Each wavelength, represented by a different color, offers specific benefits:

Red Light (630-700 nm): Promotes collagen production and accelerates healing.

Blue Light (405-420 nm): Kills acne-causing bacteria.

Green Light (515-525 nm): Reduces pigmentation and evens skin tone.

Yellow Light (570-590 nm): Improves circulation and reduces redness.

Purple, Orange, and White Lights: Offer additional benefits like healing and revitalization.

Nano-Needle Mesotherapy

This treatment involves the use of nano-sized needles to deliver active ingredients directly into the dermis. It is effective in stimulating collagen and elastin production, which helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles and improve skin texture.

Endermomassage and Oxybrasion

Endermomassage uses mechanical stimulation to reduce cellulite and improve skin firmness. Oxybrasion, on the other hand, is a non-invasive exfoliation method that uses oxygen to cleanse and rejuvenate the skin.

Sokörpe’s Compact Intelligent Skincare & Body Care Machine, distributed exclusively by Beauty Brands USA, is a revolutionary device that offers unparalleled versatility and effectiveness. With its seven customizable treatment heads and 61 unique programs, it provides a comprehensive solution for skincare and body care needs. Beauty Brands USA’s commitment to quality, innovation, and support ensures that practitioners can maximize the potential of this incredible machine, transforming their businesses and providing exceptional results for their clients.

If you’re a skincare professional looking to elevate your practice, Sokörpe’s Compact Intelligent Skincare & Body Care Machine is the investment you need. With its affordability, extensive support, and proven results, it’s the key to unlocking new levels of success and client satisfaction. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to offer the latest and most effective treatments—partner with Beauty Brands USA and make Sokörpe’s machine a part of your practice today.

[dartumbles]

A-Z Challenge, E and Finishing Friday

A-Z Challenge Eventually, all these will be finished. But here is evidence of work completed. These somehow drifted to my husband’s side of our mutual recliner table. I had just joined the toe with the foot part. I’ve added on the all the way to the arch ribbing. Ending a heel problem. See the little tubes! They are fine elastic thread I’m experimenting with to strengthen the heel, rather than…

[bisexuallittlefreaks]

Playing with Canva, because if I do it now I won't do it when I should be writing during November

[viennakarma]

Drunk calls

Fernando Alonso x Reader

Summary: You're drunk on your night out and accidentally call your boss, Fernando.

Word count: 1.5k

Tags: Female reader, drunk reader, fluff, Nando comforting reader, boss x employee relationship, not beta read

Relationships: Fernando Alonso x Reader

Notes: Anon requested drunk reader and sober nano, so i just ran with it and wrote a little something while on hangover from the new year party. (Also that ONE pic George Russell posted of him and Nando!!!!)

Hope you enjoy it, Anon!

Find me on Twitter!

As you left the toilet, you felt your legs wobbly as you supported yourself on the wall. You had been clubbing with your friends for a couple of hours now, but a few minutes ago you couldn’t find them, and you looked all around.

Pulling your phone from your purse, you called your bestie to try and find out where she was. As soon as she picked up, you started talking.

“Hi, Hanna! Where are-” You hiccuped, “where are you? I think I’m too drunk now, I can’t find you or the girls, and my head is pounding already, and I can’t walk straight.”

“Y/N?” A male voice asked.

“Who the fuck are you?” You frowned.

“It’s Fernando, you just called me,” he said and you turned your phone seeing that you had actually called him instead of your friend.

“Oh, shit! I’m so sorry, boss!” You said and immediately hung up.

Fuck, you drunk called your boss on your day off. That was most certainly grounds for a reprimand. You had been working as his assistant for almost a year now, and had only been super professional and dedicated to doing your work. You and Fernando had been friendly and settled into a great work dynamic. So accidentally calling him like this would probably cause problems for you.

You didn’t even have time or energy to blame yourself too long as your phone buzzed with an incoming call from Fernando. You immediately hit decline. But barely a second later he called you again. Shit, he probably would tear you a new one. You hit decline again. You started sweating, god, you needed to go home, you needed to eat and you needed to plan a big apology for the next time you see your boss again.

Then two texts appeared coming from Fernando.

“Where are you?” “Pick up the call”

And then he called you again, and you picked it up this time preparing for him to go off on you.

“Where are you?” He breathed loudly.

“I’m at a club with my friends,” you stuttered a little bit, both because of the alcohol and because you were worried he might fire you on the spot.

“You said you lost them. Have you found your friends?”

“No, not really. But it’s okay, I’m gonna go home already!” You hoped you were sounding a little bit more confident.

“How?”

“What?”

“How are you going to go home?” He asked, voice serious.

“I’m gonna call a cab or something. Don’t worry!” Please, sound sober, please sound sober.

“Send me the address, I’m gonna pick you up.”

“No, no! It’s your day off too, you don’t have to worry I’ll be fine! Really, I promise I’m going straight home right-”

“I wasn’t asking. Send the address.” He cut you off and hung up.

Cursing and sweating, you sent him your location, walking slowly to the exit, still trying to locate your friends. As you made it outside, you leaned against the wall, feeling a little better with the fresh gust of wind outside the packed club. You flexed your knees because your heels were feeling like a fucking thousand needles punching the sole of your feet. You should listen to your younger sister and start wearing sneakers to the club.

After a few minutes, you saw a scandalous rich man’s car pulling up and you knew it’s Fernando. He stopped by the sidewalk and came walking to you. He was wearing slacks and a white button up, simple but classy. You had seen in his schedule before that he was going to go out with friends for dinner. So that’s probably where he came from.

He didn’t look too pissed at you but he didn’t look happy either, his face was rather neutral.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as he stopped in front of you. He was holding a water bottle, which he promptly opened and gave to you.

“I have been better, not gonna lie,” you said, and proceeded to drink almost the whole bottle of water.

“Why are you flexing your knees?” He asked.

“Because the heels are killing me.”

Silently, Fernando knelt in front of you and unbuckled the straps of your heels around your ankles.

“Off, now” he said, patting your calves, then offering you a hand so you could step out of the shoes.

“Jesus, thank you,” you mumbled, relieved to be barefoot finally, “I’m sorry, you didn’t have to pick me up.”

“I’m here already, quit whining,” he dismissed you, holding your forearm, “can you walk to the car?”

“Just give me a hand,” you asked, still a little unbalanced. You jolted a little when you felt Fernando’s hands on your thighs but he didn't touch you, he just pulled the hem of your dress down, since it was dangerously close to showing too much and maybe accidentally flashing everyone.

Fernando circled an arm around your waist, pulling you flush to his side, keeping you standing all the way to his car, holding your heels with the other hand. You looked to the side of his face, and you were suddenly hit with the realization that Fernando is really, really attractive. 

“Damn, you’re handsome!”

It honestly slipped past your lips and you felt your cheeks warm up, embarrassed for saying that out loud, but Fernando only laughed a little, and kept walking you to his car, only stopping to open the door and put you in the passenger seat.

As you took the seat, he stared at your face, trying to catch any signs of something in your face. You blinked, staring into his beautiful greeny brown eyes, and he just huffed, pulling the seat belt and locking it around you.

When he finally started driving, the silence deafening, you looked at his side profile.

“Are you upset? I’m sorry! I promise I’ll behave.”

“I’m not upset. Though I will be a little annoyed if you throw up in my Aston Martin,” he said with a small smile.

“No throwing up happening anytime soon!” You raised your hand, held it in a cross and kissed it, “I’m actually really hungry”

Fernando clicked his tongue and reached for the backseat with one hand, pulling a Burger King brown bag. You smelled the food and you smiled.

“Oh my god! You’re a savior!” You opened the bag, which had your favorite burger and big sized fries, “this is my favorite!”

You ate quietly for a couple of minutes then a thought hit you.

“How do you know I like eating Burger King after getting drunk?” You said, and Fernando looked at you, opened the glove box and handed you a tissue.

“I know you well,” was all he said. He ended up driving you to his place, and you decided to question it.

“Why did you drive me here?” You walked in, sitting on the couch.

“What do you mean?” He looked confused.

“Ugh, never mind!” You stood up but the quick movement made you stumble and Fernando quickly held you in place.

“Careful!” He put both hands on your waist, in a way that felt very intimate.

You turned to face him, and he smiled softly, his hand now on your lower back. Then, you touched his eyebrow with the tip of your finger.

“I like your eyebrows.”

“Gracias.”

“And your beard too,” you cupped his face, feeling the roughness of his beard against your palm.

“Vamos, you need a shower,” he carefully walked you up the stairs and then inside the bedroom, straight to the bathroom.

Fernando turned you around and pulled down the zipper on your back. You gasped, holding the dress in place and turning to face him.

“You can’t undress me!”

He turned around, laughing.

“Ok, get in the shower and I’ll get you some clothes, eh?”

You showered, and when you left, a towel around your body, Fernando had left a small pile of clothes inside. There was a big t-shirt and sports shorts that you dressed. He also left you a toothbrush, which seemed very thoughtful of him.

When you walked back to the room, Fernando had changed into comfy clothes, and he was waiting for you sitting on the bed.

“Are you sobering up?” He asked.

And you just nodded, sleepy, crawling into his lap and snuggling into his chest, pressing your nose to his neck.

“Yup.”

“Then you remember who I am?” 

“You’re Fernando!” He laughed a little, kissing the top of your head.

“No, amor,” he leaned back, cradling your face with one hand, and pulling your right hand with the other, “I’m your fiancé.”

Wide eyed, you stared at the big diamond ring in your finger. Then, you finally remembered, your fiancé, your beloved Nano. Who had been your boss sometime two years ago, and you resigned when you realized you had feelings for him. In the end, he had gone after you because he harbored the same feelings for you.

You ended up laughing out loud, so hard that there were tears in your eyes.

“God, I’m never drinking again!”

“It’s cute that you forgot like this,” he laughed too.

You held his face, kissing him softly. His hand ran up your back, under your shirt. You wanted more, trying to deepen the kiss, but he just held you back.

“Sleep now, eh? Tomorrow I will wake you up with besos.”

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Grey 65

First / Previous / Next

The cessation of the intense pain and sensation from the Nanite battle was like a clanging silence when Fen woke up on the ground. She sat up and looked around at the ancient K'laxi forest she's seen so many times before.

"Ma!" Fen stood up and started running. The direction didn't seem to matter in this kind of place before, so she didn't pay attention to where she was running. It was the running that was important. "Ma! Where are you?" Fen hears a noise and turns automatically to track it, and she runs headlong into a branch on a low tree.

Flat on her back, she stares up at the canopy. Funny, it doesn't really hurt here. She felt her head hit the branch, and she was knocked onto the ground, but it doesn't hurt. A familiar K'laxi looks down at her worried. "Fen? What's wrong?"

She sits up quickly. "Ma! I'm in trouble. Han'iel has started a coup and his lab developed their own Nanites and they are attacking the Nanites I have and, and, and he said he doesn't know you." Tears flow down Fen's cheeks as the words rush out of her.

"Han'iel? I never met Han'iel. I never met anyone on your lab team. I wa-"

Fen came back in a room, hugged by Gord. Along with that, the pain rushed back. The searing, white hot pain caused her to whimper quietly. A woman - that's Chloe, Fen thought - sat in a command chair and regarded them. "Welcome back. I see you are none the worse for wear." Through the pain, Fen noticed she was speaking through the ships comm. Why?

"Chloe, something's wrong with Fen, I'm taking her to Med." Gord scooped her up and carried her down the hall, still wearing his large black pack on his back. "Talk to me Fen, what did they do to you?"

"Han'iel made his own... Nanites... they're fighting mine." Talking was hard. It hurt so much. "He said he released thousands of beacons."

"That he did Fen, we saw them leave. Whatever he wanted to say has been said to every nook and cranny of known space. Do you know what he was doing?"

"He said my reign was over, that the... empire only controlled Sol again." She winced. "He also said that he had the Sefs, the Gren, and others on his side. He made it sound like all the K'laxi are with him."

"Now that I doubt. The K'laxi were never a monolithic bloc. The Sefigans and Gren aren't either. There is infighting and factions same as anywhere. I bet his support isn't as large as he is making it sound." The door to Medical slid open as Gord rushed in. He gently placed Fen onto a table and automated arms slid down from the ceiling and started to run their scans over her. Gord read the readouts and frowned. "Body temperature high, but you don't have other signs of a fever, no infection, no inflammation. It must be the nanomachines fighting."

"Gord, I'm scared." Fen gasped. "Everything I know about the Nanites says that if they die, I die." She stared up at the ceiling. "I thought that I'd be happy when I was finally dying." She flicked her eyes to Gord. "I'd get to be with Ma again. But no, I want to live Gord. Can you help me?" Fen started shaking. "Please Gord, help."

"I'm trying kiddo, I'm trying." Gord snapped a mono over one of his eyes, and took over control of a few of the arms over the med table. Immedieatly they started moving more surely, with less hesitation. "It's been a while since I've done nano scale surgery, but let's hope it's like riding a bike. Chloe!"

"Yes Gord?" Chloe's voice over the intercom was calm, almost detached. Fen actually marveled that she felt better that Chloe wasn't panicking.

"Interface here, and let me some of your processing. I'm trying to find out how a war is going while it's being fought, in Fen, at nearly a quantum level. It's tricky."

"Yes Gord, millisec." Gord continued to manipulate the arms as another set dropped down. Chloe probably. One of them had a needle on the end, and it slid into Fen's neck. "Sorry Fen, you won't be awake for this one." Gord said, as she lost consciousness.

Fen was in her kitchen. Her old one, back on the station in the refugee block. There was a pot of tea on the table and three mugs. Sitting at the table was Ma-ren, looking like she did when she was alive; blue coveralls, her hair brushed but otherwise unadorned, her silver earrings shaking slightly as she moved her head. "Hey Fen, come have some tea" she said, smiling warmly; as she smiled her ears flicked and the earrings jangled just a bit. "It's some Chamomile from Earth, Da'reni managed to find some."

Fen sank into the chair opposite her wife and took a sip. It was hot, but not scalding, sweet, but not overpowering, floral without tasting vegetative. It was perfect. "This might be a dream, or hallucination, or whatever-" she said, sighing, "but that is a good cup of tea."

"We're glad you like it, Fen." said a third voice. Walking out of the shadows was a... being. They were bipedal, with two arms and two legs, but their bodies were covered in a coarse fur, more like a sheep than the soft, pettable fur of the K'axi. Around their shoulder area, the fur was long and braided with beads and jems, covering their shoulder like a shawl. Their heads were wide and soft, with large wet eyes, and a small nose. They sat in the chair on the end of the table and took the third cup of tea. They breathed in the steam, sighing contentedly. "You know, I think this is the first time in a million solar cycles at least since we've had something to drink. It's quite... nostalgic."

Fen watched them drink, thinking furiously. "You're... what the Nanites looked like before..."

"Before we submitted to assimilation, yes." They moved their shoulders in a sort of half shrug that Fen immediately knew was their version of a nod.

"I'm asleep then, dreaming." Fen took another sip of her tea.

"More like unconscious. Chloe gave you quite a strong dose of sedative. Right now she and Gord are working to save your life while I battle Han'iel's own Nanites." They made a sour face. "The war isn't going as well as I had hopped."

"Why is Ma here?" Fen gestured to Ma-ren who waggled her ears.

"For comfort, mostly. She is... a memory." They put the tea down. "Names are important. You can call me Vel."

"Is it your name?"

"It was a name. Remember, we have been one for longer than you've had metal. Longer than you've had language." Vel rumbled a chuckle. "It's as good a name as any. We like it."

"Okay Vel, why am I here? You clearly want to talk to me, even though we can do it at anytime."

That same half shrug. "We have the time. Gord and Chloe will be working on you a while yet." Their fur rippled twice. "You might even survive. As much as we talk, you wouldn't have been the first to survive our removal, though you will be the first to survive our removal this quickly. Usually the process takes years." They took another sip of tea. "Fen, what happens to humans when they go through a wormhole link?"

Fen blinked. This was unexpected. "For the majority of us, nothing. For about 1 in 100, it feels like we die. We visit-" she waved her hands "-somewhere else, and sometimes we talk with people who may or may not be our ancestors. Nobody is really sure, and we don't really have any way of proving it. Some people think it's a hallucination."

"Humans are still religious, are they not? We know the K'laxi are."

"Some are, yes," Fen said, carefully.

"So finding out that something happens after you die, must have caused a stir."

"I don't really know Vel, I grew up outside of humanity, remember?" Fen's lips were pressed tightly together and she took another sip of tea to avoid speaking.

"Yes yes. I was trying a roundabout way to get to my point, but I see that you're not interested in a philosophical discussion. Fen, who do you see when you link? We know something happens to you, but we are not privy to what. As far as we are able to discern, there is no time difference from entering the wormhole to exiting."

So they never did figure out what was going on. Fen's shoulders relaxed as she released the tension she didn't realize she was holding. Han'iel has begun his coup and her body is fighting for its life as the Nanites fight, no sense in lying now. "I would see Ma-ren. When I realized that you didn't 'come with me' when I linked, I told her and she said she'd work on a plan to free me. I didn't know the plan so you wouldn't know it. She... did something to my memories. Locked them away until a key phrase was spoken."

"Well that proves that it's not a hallucination then, doesn't it? Something happens to you when you die."

"Ugh, you haven't met everyone. I'm sure there are a ton of humans who would say that's no proof at all. That we can trick ourselves quite well." Fen leaned back in her chair. As she did, it became her couch from the apartment. Vel was sitting across from her in Ma's favorite chair. Ma herself was gone. Fen had a twinge of regret at that. It just reinforced she was just a memory. It was odd how... easy it was to talk to Vel. When they were the Nanites in her head they were much more demanding, more authoritative. Here, Vel was just another person, albeit a representation of a long dead group of people whose decedents live as a collective of nanotechnology... things. Whatever. It was easier to talk to Vel, and that worried Fen. "Vel, I worry that you're going to try and talk me into being Empress again. I'm not going to do that. I never wanted to do that, and I won't do it again."

"Fen, I don't think you realize how good you were at being Empress. It's not an easy job. You were able to juggle your own wants with the needs of the Empire with our desire to increase the Gate system. You installed more Gates than all of the previous human Empresses." Vel's voice had odd harmonics; it was like they were speaking partially by vibrating something on their body. Still, even though the interesting way of speaking, they sounded impressed.

"You only want me to be Empress so you have someone to build Gates so you can hunt for energy, for food. That's why you wanted to come to the white hole so badly."

"Yes, that is true."

"So? You're here. I brought you." She gestured with her mug out of the window of her living room. "Go, do your thing to the white hole. Disconnect yourselves from us, leave."

"They don't want to leave Fen, you know that." Ma-ren walked into the living room and sat next to Fen. She tried to snuggle up, but Fen's shoulder and arm shot back as if she was shot. "You're not Ma."

"No, she was recent in your memories, easier to assume her shape. We're the others..."

"Han'iel's Nanites." Fen stared hard at Ma. It was a very good projection, but it was made on her memories, so Fen assumed it was as good as she remembered her. "It's getting crowded in here. What do you want?"

Ma shrugged. "The same thing as you, we assume. We want the other Nanites ejected from the galaxy, and left to do things our own way."

"With you in charge instead of them."

"Not... exactly." Not-Ma sat up. "It's more complicated than that Fen, you know this. You can't undo what's been done, and you can't unlearn what's been learned, but you can do better next time. Han'iel thinks that's what we'll be. an iteration."

Fen narrowed her eyes. "Han'iel sounds like he wants a turn ruling the galaxy last time we spoke."

Not-Ma waved her hand dismissively. "What he wants and what he'll get can be different things. We're new, but we're smart. We had to be in order to survive. We don't think Han'iel will be ruler of anything in a short amount of time. His support is much more tenuous than he makes it sound."

"How can you know that? You were activated in front of me."

Not-Ma laughed. It was odd. It sounded like a mix of human and K'laxi laughter. "You think that was the first time we were activated? Han'iel just has a flair for the dramatic. We've been online and active for more than a year. We've had time to learn about the galaxy." Not-Ma stood and patted Fen's shoulder. "Don't worry. These folks-" she gestured towards Vel "-aren't long for this galaxy. We're the new game in town."

"Don't be so sure. The battle is not the war. We've been at this much longer than you." Vel said, frowning.

"You're so sure? Come on then, let's see who wins!" Not-Ma walked up to Vel, and placed her small hands on either side of their head, and before anyone could react, snapped their neck.

[yesterdays-xkcd]

Real programmers set the universal constants at the start such that the universe evolves to contain the disk with the data they want.

Real Programmers [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

[Cueball sits at a computer, programming. Emacs Guy stands behind him and looks over his shoulder.] Emacs Guy: nano? Real Programmers use emacs.

[Megan appears behind him.] Megan: Hey. Real Programmers use vim.

[Ed Guy appears behind her.] Ed Guy: Well, Real Programmers use ed.

[Cat Guy appears behind him.] Cat Guy: No, Real Programmers use cat.

[Hairbun appears behind him.]

Hairbun: Real Programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand.

[Butterfly Guy enters, facing them all.] Butterfly Guy: Excuse me, but Real Programmers use butterflies.

[Butterfly Guy holding out a butterfly in front of his computer. The butterfly flaps its wings.] Butterfly Guy (narration): They open their hands and let the delicate wings flap once.

[Butterfly Guy again, with arrows pointing up or down.] [The upper atmosphere, with large clouds above the earth and arrows pointing up and down.] Butterfly Guy (narration): The disturbances ripple outward, changing the flow of the eddy currents in the upper atmosphere. Butterfly Guy (narration): These cause momentary pockets of higher-pressure air to form -

[The atmosphere again, four parallel lines coming from above before beginning to merge.] [The lines merging on a driver platter.] Butterfly Guy (narration): Which act as lenses that deflect incoming cosmic rays, focusing them to strike the drive platter and flip the desired bit.

[Everybody else stands facing Butterfly Guy, who slaps his forehead.] Emacs Guy: Nice. 'Course, there's an emacs command to do that. Cat Guy: Oh yeah! Good ol' C-x M-c M-butterfly... Butterfly Guy: Dammit, Emacs.

[morgue-xiiv]

Hey guess who spun opposing 3-ply sock yarn from a World of Wool custom blend of superwashed Merino, BFL and bio-nylon, in grey (the bfl was white cos they only do superwash bfl in white), and spun it PERFECTLY (singles on the EEW nano, plied on a majacraft little gem, wet set, ~65m per sock) and it's perfect perfect, and then knitted socks from it? (hiya hiya 23cm sock circular needles, 3.25- 3.5mm)

[hyvnam]

HEARTLESS — CH2

Miguel O'hara x Reader

I think I'll be posting more on Wattpad instead of Tumblr since using this platform is kinda complicated for me,,, just search up Heartless by hash1ori on Wattpad ^^

Gwen and Hobie were taking Miles around Babylon Towers for a tour and arrived at the Dormitories. You came out of your room, overhearing their chatter and laughter filling the empty hallway.

“Another spider variant?” Miles tilted his head,, then noticed you had no watch,

“Nah mate she isn't a spider person,,,” Hobie waved at you, you smiled back at him.

“Miles this is Dr. L/n, she's from this Earth and the one who handles the infirmary.”

“Dr. L/n, I'm sure you know Miles.”

You offered your hand after Gwen's small introduction and he returned the gesture by shaking it,,

“I heard a lot about you from Peter, Miles.”

“You know Peter??” you nod, “We're good friends.”

The three invited you to walk with them and you happily agreed. You were planning to go to the lab but it doesn't hurt to get some time to take a little detour.

Miles kept asking questions, he was so curious about this whole secret union.

“So you've been here for a long time?”

“I went to school with Miguel, I've been here since the beginning of this guild.”

“What...?? So he isn't that old?”

You laughed,, “Surprisingly, we're the same age." then shrugged jokingly.

“Did Miguel ever have a like relationship,” you paused, not expecting that kind of question.

“Who would ever date Miguel?” Gwen scoffed then crossed her arms, the others started to think about it and subtly agreed.

Miles and Gwen reminded you of each other,, once upon a time. It made you smile, Hobie beside you, noticing your gaze softened so much.

On the top floor, Miguel and Peter were talking.

"I've hurt her so much before, I've been a jerk but I have been trying to make it up for the mistakes I did when we were young.”

He usually ranted his problems to Peter, who listened carefully. Usually the topic of their conversations was you, maybe that's why you've been feeling the sniffles lately.

“When I had Gabriella,, I didn't think anything mattered anymore and I pushed her away. It was all a mistake,, and I don't know how to fix this.”

Miguel sighed deeply, pushing his brown locks back with his hands. He sat on his office chair, his foot tapping on the floor. Then when the weight of the multiverse was placed on him, you just stood there. Watching it all play out.

“Maybe cause you've been a workaholic, plus cheater your whole life that you don't really deserve her...” Peter sighed, then realizes what he said and started to panic as Miguel covered his face in defeats.

“What am I ever going to do?”

“It worked out for me and MJ,” he rests his hand on Miguel's shoulder, giving a reassuring smile, “Im sure it'll work out for you too.”

—

Infirmary, Babylon Towers.

Your POV

Maybe I would have some spiders come and go after a little bruise or light concussion and get a well deserved rest after the grand chase, or at least that's what I thought,, but before my break, Miguel came into the infirmary.

He said he needed some Rapture. But usually,, he was the one who injected it himself.

Even if something off was going on, I told him to sit and started to prepare. The nano tech on his suit disappeared and made space enough for the needle to enter. I put on my gloves and started to infuse the serum. He winced when I took it out and his eyes started to tighten. I started to check him, to see if anything was wrong.

So nothing was up with him him physically, just mentally cause I noticed

that he looked like he wanted to say something,,

It became more obvious that he did since felt his eyes on me while cleaning and sanitizing, at this point it felt like it was burning my back.

“Do you want a lollipop or what?” we both laughed,, I crossed my arms and turned to face him, “What's wrong, Miggy? You're being strange today.”

“You noticed?”

He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me close,

“Oh please,,, I've known you for most of my life.”

I tried to stay as good friends with him, and we did do some stuff that was kind of a stress relief. It benefited us. Maybe that's why we were friends with benefits.

“Do you ever just wonder if we weren't here?”

I raised an eyebrow at his question,, “If you didn't create this,,?” I raised my arms to try and describe the whole big thing that's going on,, he laughed. God his laugh was so hot.

“Like, if I never tried to quit Alchemax and we stayed together.”

My lips pressed together, my face became filled with false confusion. I knew what he was trying to say,, but so suddenly?

I gulped and push him away, making there be distance between us. I hugged myself, feeling overwhelmed.

“No matter how much you reject me, I always find myself seeking you.”

Miguel stood up, explaining how much he yearned for me like it was some thesis defense,,

“I need you like how I need air to breath,,,”

He cupped my face,, I shook my head, the hope in his eyes started to drain.

“You didn't think that when you cheated on me,,” I looked up at him and said sadly, brushing him away.

He stood there, like a hopeless child that got lost. My face became serious. What did he want? Encouragement like some dog one last time? If I give him the same attention I did when I came back then I'd be wrapped around his hold once again,, and I promised myself to never do that.

But why do I feel little hope that he could do something (babe), say something (babe), risk it all and not lose me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, haunted by those “What ifs”. Like what if we worked out?

Miguel left after I scanned his body. Everything was stable and he left. Our conversation was short lived after the awkward confession he made, he was so corny.

I looked around the infirmary,, it was quiet, no one was there, and I decided to go to the canteen. Thinking that we were lucky that it wasn't a busy day. Unbeknownst to us,, someone was resting on one of the beds, covered by the curtains.

Tbc.

[sjsmith56]

December - A Private Man, Chapter 23

Summary: After their return to Brooklyn, amidst the Christmas preparations, Bucky and Tracey look for a house to buy.

Length: 5.6 K

Characters: Bucky, Tracey, Shuri, Rebecca, Janice

Warnings: None, this is a fluffy chapter.

Author notes: After all the drama of the previous few chapters, this one lets everyone catch their breath. Divider by vecteezy.com.

<<Chapter 22

Their final day in Wakanda was spent in Shuri's lab.  The new arm was ready, and she wanted to put it through its paces to make sure the connection was good, and all of its functions were optimal.  It looked like the old arm, but Bucky felt a difference right away. 

"I can feel a breeze over it," he said, turning towards an open doorway in her lab.  "It's almost like it's making the hairs on my arm move, except I don't have any."

"Good, we increased the sensitivity but just the sensation," she said.  "There are no pain receptors there unless you really damage the arm, which is unlikely, but if you do you will feel enough discomfort to know it requires attention.  Now, I want you to put your hand on Mrs. Barnes chest."

He grinned and put it on her breast, which made Shuri smile.  "Can you feel your wife's heartbeat?" she asked.

"I can already hear it," he said, then he concentrated, and his face lit up.  "Yeah, I can feel it.  What next?"

"Dexterity and pressure," said the young scientist as she laid out a range of different objects ranging from a sewing needle to an egg.  "Pick them up and place them into a container."

The task was easily done, and Shuri was happy with the readouts she was getting on her computer screen.  Directing Bucky to follow her they went towards a wall that seemed to shift in appearance.

"This wall is made up of nano bots programmed to work as a single entity.  Instead of testing your strength on living flesh or actual surfaces I can program the nano bots to replicate the strength, function and look of any surface.  It will measure the extent of your strength when you punch and can also hold your hand in place while you pull on it as it calculates how much force you need to withdraw it."

She set the surface for the first test so that it looked like concrete and told Bucky to punch through as hard as he could.  It reacted just like a concrete wall as pieces went flying then they were drawn back into the wall as Bucky withdrew his hand.  After testing it on several different textures, including glass, metal, and flesh, Shuri was happy with the results and reset the wall back to its original appearance.

The final tests were on lifting and pulling strength using the prosthetic arm alone and in concert with his flesh arm.  His lifting capabilities using the prosthetic arm was nearly two tons of deadweight while his pulling capability with it was double that.  Using both arms added about 500 pounds more to lifting and 1000 to pulling.  As Bucky recovered from the effort, he drank from a water container.

"The circuitry in this arm is more advanced than your previous one," said Shuri.  "We have added more features to protect the circuitry from electrical interference.  It can withstand a charge of several million volts and dissipate it so it does not endanger your life.  You might still feel a little jolt, but it shouldn't be enough to affect your performance."  Bucky raised his eyebrows.  "We understand you were briefly knocked out by an electrical discharge when you and Captain America recovered the shield from the pretender.  Your grip strength has also increased in the event you have to remove a lock in an emergency."

Bucky smirked lightly.  How Shuri found out about these things continually amazed him.  Before he could ask, she released one final bit of information.

"I will let you and Mrs. Barnes discover how it fits into your private life," she said, with a twinkle in her eye.  "Some things are better left to be experienced together.  Now, on to what we learned about the pregnancy."

They returned to the main lab and Shuri had them both sit down. 

"First of all, congratulations," she said.  "I should have said that when you first confirmed with the pregnancy test.  After all the concerns we had about the effect of everything that HYDRA put into your system, Sergeant, I am pleased to tell you that the embryo appears to be developing normally but it is definitely giving off hormones that are affecting Mrs. Barnes.  You've already noticed the most significant side effects, the increase in appetite and in the healing factor of your body.  The increase in appetite can be attributed to an increase in your metabolism as it reacts to the growth of the baby.  It may also result in increased nausea as your HCG hormone production increases while the pregnancy progresses, but every pregnancy is different."

"Are the HCG levels normal?" asked Tracey, as she grasped Bucky's hand.  "I mean, I am 31 which isn't a geriatric pregnancy, but I still have concerns about birth defects."

Shuri smiled a warm smile.  "They are a little high but there are no other indicators of any birth defects, and our doctors feel it is due to the special nature of your child, or more precisely of its father being a super soldier.  There is an obstetrician in New York that we have confidence in to monitor your pregnancy and work with us to interpret the blood work and growth of your child.  She has agreed to work with our doctors here.  This is the first pregnancy where the father has acquired enhancements from the serum.  It's new territory for all of us."

Bucky sat with a soft smile as he listened to the two women discuss the pregnancy in medical terms.  He was so proud of Tracey for having her MSc in Nursing.  Even though he dated a lot of different women when he was younger, he was never intimidated by a woman who was smarter than him.  If anything, it made him feel good that they didn't look down on him for his lack of formal education.  That was just circumstances, as the Depression put a damper on his plans for higher education then World War II shut the door completely.  Now, at this part of his life, he felt that what he had with Tracey was perfect, his unconditional love and support for her was everything to him.  He must have had a silly grin on his face as Tracey squeezed his hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked.  "Shuri wanted to know if you had any more questions or concerns?"

"Sorry," he smiled.  "I was kind of lost in my thoughts while you two talked shop.  I'm good.  I just want to get back home to our normal life, I guess."

Shuri stood up.  "Then I guess we are done.  You may return at any time although I would do it later in the day just so your day back in New York isn't a long one.  As the pregnancy progresses Mrs. Barnes, you know that you will likely start feeling more fatigued.  Proper diet and rest is essential at this stage of the pregnancy."  She picked up her cell phone and texted something to Tracey.  "Here is the contact information for the obstetrician.  She is expecting to hear from you soon to set up your first appointment."

Tracey looked at the name.  "Oh, I've heard of her," she said.  "I've done some well-baby appointments with some of her patients, and they are all very pleased with her.  From what they told me she made the birth experience very memorable."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Shuri.  "I'll let you go as I have some other work to do here."  She smiled at the couple as they held hands while they left then she opened an image on her kimoyo bead bracelet.  "Mrs. Proctor, sorry, Rebecca, I am free to see you now and discuss the treatment you had.  I am at your convenience."

"I'll be right there," replied Rebecca.

Her image disappeared and Shuri opened Rebecca's file on her computer.  Quickly, she read over the results of the tests they did then the treatment they gave her.  Although the initial request had surprised her, she was sure the older woman would be pleased by the results the latest test revealed.  Rebecca was a remarkable woman and so fond of her brother and sister-in-law that helping her in this had been the least they could do.  The sound of the elevator door opening alerted her to the arrival of Rebecca and Janice, who had become close to her as well, supporting her since their arrival.

"I think by the look on your face that you have good news for me," said Rebecca, sitting herself on one of the chairs, while Tracey's mother sat next to her.

"I do," replied Shuri.  "The procedure cleared all the blockages in the blood vessels of your heart.  The tumour we found in your breast was benign and the virtual surgery we did has removed it completely.  With the anti-aging serum we treated with you with I can safely say you will have at least ten more years of good health, possibly a few more.  Even without the treatment your genetics indicated the presence of the longevity gene, but you should be able to be quite active for most of that time."

"Thank you," said Rebecca.  "I just wanted as much time with Bucky, and now Tracey and their child, as I could get.  I never had children of my own and even though Bucky is my brother I find myself feeling very maternal about him."

"That's understandable," said Shuri, warmly.  "I think being with you helped him very much.  From what he has shared with me you were close when you were younger and looking after you has been meaningful to him.  It gave him purpose when he felt lost.  Certainly, your relationship reminds me of my own relationship with my brother."

"You must miss him very much," said Rebecca, placing her hand on Shuri's.

"I do but now that I know about his son, I know a piece of him will always live," she answered, then turned to Janice.  "Mrs. Harris, are you sure there is nothing we can do for you?"

"No, I'm good," said Janice.  "Leaving my husband has given me back years that I thought I lost, and the friendship I've formed with Rebecca has helped me deal with the emotional issues.  Bucky is a wonderful man and I trust him to look after my daughter and grandchild."

"Plus, she has a boyfriend waiting for her back home," teased Rebecca, to Janice's blushes.  "We all know he will be at the door with flowers when your divorce is final."

"Anyone I know?" asked Shuri, with a twinkle in her eye, as she had noticed Colonel Rhodes attentiveness to Janice at the wedding.

"I'm not saying anything," smiled Janice.  "Except I feel good about life."

With the visit over the three women stood up, and Rebecca looked up at the tall slender Shuri.  Taking her by the hand she offered her a hug, accepted by the younger woman.  For a moment Shuri thought she would cry as a memory of her mother hugging her came to her. 

"You are an incredible person," said Rebecca.  "I owe you so much for the help you gave to Bucky.  It helped bring him home to me.  If ever you need an old lady's advice you know I'm there for you.  Even the Black Panther needs a hug now and then."

"I'll remember that Rebecca," smiled Shuri, releasing her from their embrace.   

With a wave the two older women returned to the elevator, stepping inside.  Rebecca asked her kimoyo bead bracelet where Bucky was, receiving directions to his location in a garden area.  They found him and Tracey sitting in the shade of a large tree, a pond in front of them.  Standing up to give them his seat Bucky sat cross legged on the ground in front of the three women.  For a moment he chuckled, and Rebecca nudged his leg with her toe.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked, pleasantly.

"Wife, mother-in-law, and sister," he said.  "My family."  He blushed.  "I'm weird.  I just love and care about all three of you.  Which means that I think we should talk about the future."

Janice and Rebecca looked at each other wondering if he knew about the latter's treatment.  They hadn't even said anything to Tracey. 

"In what way?" asked Rebecca steadily.

"Well, there's four of us in a two-bedroom house, Janice is sleeping in an unfinished basement," he began.  "There's a baby on the way and although I had considered finishing the basement it would mean disruption, construction noise, and all that.  Now that I have my settlement, maybe we should look for a larger place."

"Do you want to sell the house?" asked his sister.  "We just got all the accommodations installed for my age and disability.  I like my house.  It's home.  I don't really want to move."

Bucky looked slightly exasperated.  "But there's not enough room to accommodate the baby, not even if we renovate."

"I know," said Rebecca, smiling.  "Which is why I think you and Tracey should move out and buy your own house."  Bucky's face dropped when she said that, and she put her hand out to him.  "Hear me out.  I love you, Bucky, you too, Tracey.  You're my family but you're a husband now and will be a father sooner than you think.  You deserve to have your own place, to start your own life as a couple, including the privacy to be as loud as you want during sex."

She had a twinkle in her eye when she said the last part but she was serious and the squeeze of her hand on his told Bucky that this is what she wanted. 

"Who will look after you?" he asked.  "You'll still have the aides coming in during the day but who will stay overnight with you?"

"My new housemate," she said, looking at Janice who nodded her agreement.  "We've become very good friends since she moved in."

"I'm going back to work when we return," said Janice.  "With the divorce almost final I'll get half the proceeds of the house when it's sold.  I'm not getting alimony as I want nothing that ties me to Marty.  Rebecca and I have similar tastes in a lot of things, and we enjoy each other's company.  I think me staying with her will be the best for all of us.  It's not like you're moving to another town as there are quite a few properties close by.  You can fix it up the way you want for your family."

Bucky stared at the two older women, still dealing with the concept of moving out then he looked at Tracey, at her soft gaze on him and knew she had already accepted it.  He ran his hand through his hair and down his neck then nodded.

"Okay, I'll buy a new house for me and Tracey, and you two will stay in old house, but I reserve the right to continue to fix things up."

"Absolutely," smiled Rebecca.  "Watching you work in the house has been a highlight of my life.  It reminds me of Dad, repairing or replacing things in the brownstone."

For a moment Bucky wanted to tell her about his vision of that ordinary day in 1938 when she woke him up by jumping on him but he didn't, preferring to keep it for a day when she needed cheering up.  Instead, he listened as the three women in his life began to make plans for the future, their future. 

Brooklyn

It had been hectic for all of them on their return to Brooklyn.  There were reporters everywhere in the neighbourhood within a day of their arrival.  The crowds respected the yard, not entering it until Bucky and Tracey agreed to speak with everyone from the front step.  Most of the questions had been easy ones, about the resurgence of the Avengers as a global rapid response team or wanting his thoughts on the incarceration of Ross and Fontaine in the Raft, along with their mercenaries. 

"Have you met with John Walker yet?" asked one reporter, speaking loud enough for all other questions to stop. 

"Not yet," replied Bucky.  "But I will.  He was turned against his will and knowing what that does to a man I think I can help him get through it, but I still have to deal with my own anger at him for putting my wife in jeopardy.  I do respect that he immediately offered to testify against the others.  That will help him deal with his own guilt in the matter."

"Knowing that you vowed never to kill again, how are you dealing with the fact that you did kill hundreds when you activated that bomb?" asked another man.

Bucky swallowed, not through anger or irritation, but because even though Tracey helped him come to terms with it he still thought about it.

"At that moment, I only knew that if that dark sorcerer turned me, then everything I had ever done to make amends to the world for the Winter Soldier would mean nothing.  If I allowed him to turn me and the others then Wakanda was in jeopardy and any country that had something Thaddeus Ross thought was important to his so-called "American interests" would be at risk.  Immediate action was needed and that meant taking us all out.  It was the only move I had, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

"Mrs. Barnes, how do you feel about all of this?"

Tracey looked up at her husband first.  "Bucky had the foresight to anticipate what Ross and Fontaine were planning," she said.  "They were going to use me to force him back into a life he rejected.  They attacked us on our honeymoon, when we were defenceless.  After making sure I was safe he allowed himself to be captured knowing what he might have to do to stop them.  Sacrificing himself and a few hundred mercenaries to save a country, and ultimately the world from the actions of a pair of power-hungry criminals, was desperate but heroic.  I would have been broken by his death, but I accept that he did what he had to.  Now I get him back and we can live the life we want."

"Any plans for a family?"

"No comment," smiled Bucky.  "Are we good?  I really want to get the Christmas lights up without interruption.  You're welcome to stay and help."

There was laughter and the couple returned into the house, where Tracey hugged and kissed him.  The one reporter, who had covered him from the beginning, actually did offer to stay and help.  Once they were finished putting up the Christmas lights, he was invited in for coffee, with everything spoken around him considered off the record.  He did learn about the newcomer's centre and on contacting them to learn more was invited to cover their Christmas party, which was to be attended not just by many immigrants and former refugees, but also by some invited guests, including several Avengers.

The day before the Christmas party Bucky and Tracey took the car to a Christmas tree lot and bought a real tree.  As they were tying it to the roof of Tracey's small car, they both chuckled at how the tree seemed to dwarf the compact vehicle.

"I think we should get a bigger car," said Tracey.  "Something big enough to hold a baby seat, and to accommodate your size.  I notice you don't complain about being crammed into the back seat of this thing, but I think an SUV would be a better option."

"As you get bigger it would probably be more comfortable, too," he smiled, patting her tummy.  At that moment little snowflakes began falling, landing on the faux fur of her winter coat and her visible hair.  He looked softly at her.  "You're getting more beautiful; you know that right?"

"So my husband tells me," she replied as he pulled her close to kiss her.  "Are we going house hunting this afternoon?  There are a couple of open houses nearby."

He nodded.  "If we're getting a new vehicle maybe we should be looking for one with a garage as well.  Not that there are many places in Brooklyn with garages, but it would be nice."

After standing the tree up in the living room so that it could thaw out and open up they had lunch with Rebecca and Janice then went out looking at houses.  Their realtor, Sherry, had already sent them several open houses in the area, plus a few just a bit further out.  The first three were alright but neither of them felt a connection.  There was a house that excited them for a moment, one built in 1910, with original stained glass windows.  But it had been used as a B & B, needed major upgrades that could potentially double what they had to pay for it, which was already considerable now that Brooklyn was seen as a desirable part of New York to live in.  They sat in the car and Tracey looked at the last listing.

"West Midwood," she said.  "It doesn't have a garage but there is the potential to tear down the garden shed and put one up if we get the zoning permission.  Built in 1910 but it has been updated and it's only ever been used as a single-family home.  It's the last one.  We might as well go look."

"Alright," said Bucky, as he was driving.  "Let's see if this one is the one."

Twenty minutes later they were driving through a beautiful neighbourhood, full of mature trees and homes built in the early 20th century.  Most of them had been updated or kept in good condition.  Then they saw it, a pale yellow three story house with a front verandah that wrapped around the side of the house.  They looked guardedly at each other, both of them taken with the appearance of the house.  Bucky parked down the street a little bit and came around to open Tracey's door.  They stood there for a moment looking at the other houses then held hands as they walked up the wide steps of the house.  A signboard beside the double front doors said to walk right in so they did, removing their boots inside the vestibule before opening the next single door into a good-sized living room. 

"Hi," said a friendly female voice, as a middle aged woman came from the dining room.  "I'm Nancy.  You're here to see the house.  This is a real gem.  The owners have lived here for nearly 20 years and updated much of the interior over that time."  She hesitated for a moment as she recognized Bucky.  "Wow, you're Bucky Barnes.  It's a pleasure to meet you, and this must be your wife."

"This is Tracey," he said, taking in the living room with big windows, fireplace and built-in bookcase.  "This is really nice.  We'd have to paint it in the colours we prefer but it feels really open and homey at the same time."

"It is a lovely family home," said Nancy.  "I take it you're planning to start a family?  Three bedrooms are fully finished with three more up in the attic that require a bit more work.  Good for something to keep you busy on the weekends.  Why don't you just go ahead and wander through the house.  I'll be down here if you have questions."

"Thank you, we will," said Tracey, taking Bucky's hand and heading towards the staircase.

She pointed to a set of three stained glass windows on the first landing of the staircase, getting a smile from Bucky in return.  The second floor had a large landing with beautiful hardwood floors with parquet details.

"Should we go up to the attic and work our way down?" he asked.

Nodding they went up the narrower but fully finished staircase to the attic level where three good sized bedrooms were.  They were mostly finished, needing some paint, new flooring, and perhaps new lighting.  There was no bathroom on that level although Bucky was certain there was room to put one, if they made one of the bigger bedrooms smaller.

"It all depends on the framing," he said.  "Deciding where to fit the plumbing in would need a professional.  These could be guest rooms up here.  Sam would never have to sleep on the couch again."

They both chuckled and went down to the second floor, opening the first door to a bathroom with a large bathtub, shower, and bright blue and green tiles. 

"Not sure I want those tiles but this is a good sized bathroom," said Tracey.  "It's bright."

There were two good sized bedrooms, each of them more than big enough to be a nursery.  The final room on the landing was the master bedroom and Tracey's eyes lit up when she stepped inside. 

"Look at the space in here," she said.  "That's a king sized bed.  Three large windows."  She kept walking in and turned a corner, seeing a mirrored door, opening it to a large walk-in closet.  Coming out she turned right and opened another narrower door to another full bathroom with a shower.

"This could use some updating although it fits with the character of the home, just not sure of the colours," she said.  She turned to Bucky, her face glowing.  "I like this place."

"So do I," he said.  "It looks like a nice neighbourhood.  It's not far from Brooklyn College.  I could take some courses there at night school."

"Really?" She smiled at him.  "Like in what?"

"I don't know."  He looked embarrassed.  "Something to fall back on so I don't have to work a manual labour job for the rest of my life."

"Bucky, you're an honest man, making a decent living," she said, touching his face.  "Whatever you want to do I'll support you in it.  I'm so proud of you, the man you are right now.  It's why I married you." 

She kissed him softly, then more passionately as his arms wrapped around her.  For several minutes after, she rested her head against his chest, feeling secure in his arms.  Another couple entered the room, excusing themselves for the interruption.  With a quick smile Bucky and Tracey went down to the main floor and looked at the kitchen and dining room, mostly pleased with what had been done there.  They looked out through the kitchen windows into the back yard noticing the large back deck, which also held an air conditioning unit, and saw where the garden shed was.  They wondered if there was enough room to put a double garage back there, but a single one was doable.  Finally, they went down to the unfinished basement, seeing there was a newer natural gas furnace and large hot water tank.  There was a mass of pipes on one wall that puzzled Bucky.

"That's for solar panels," said Tracey, checking the listing on her phone.  "They have them on the roof.  Helps cut the electrical costs.  You could have a man cave down here."  He smirked at her.  "No, really.  Make yourself a place for you to hang out in whenever we get on each other's nerves."

"That's not happening," he said.  "But I like the idea of a little workshop where I can putter around, build you things, fix things up.  I like to keep busy."  Bucky took a deep breath.  "What do you think?"

"I feel good about this place, more than any other place we've seen," she replied.  She looked at a few other things on the listing.  "It's a good neighbourhood.  There's an elementary school nearby.  It's higher ground so during hurricane season we won't be at risk for flooding.  Should we make an offer?"

"Okay," he smiled softly at her.  "I really like it, too.  Right away, I could picture us here, with the kids in their bedrooms, or playing in the back yard.  Both of us making dinner in the kitchen.  I even know where I want to put the Christmas tree when we have our first Christmas here."

"Kind of wishing we kept some of that furniture we sold at the yard sale," laughed Tracey, "but that's not really an issue, is it?"

"No issue at all," answered Bucky.  "We'll fix it the way we want it, furnish it to our taste, and raise our family here."

Before they started kissing over the decision the other couple came down the basement stairs and both couples laughed. 

"You're Bucky Barnes, aren't you?" asked the other man, offering his hand.  "Bruce Osmond, this is my wife Claire."

"This is my wife Tracey," said Bucky, shaking Bruce's hand.  "What do you think of the house?"

"It's really nice but probably above our price range," said Claire.  "It's a good neighbourhood.  I grew up near here.  You grew up in Brooklyn as well, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but closer to the docks and back in the Depression," replied Bucky.  "It was a bit bleaker then.  We're expecting our first so figured we would get a head start on looking for a house.  This one ticks a lot of boxes."

"Yeah, when we saw you hugging upstairs we kind of figured you had already decided," said Bruce.  "Well, good luck.  I hope your offer is accepted.  I think you'll really like this neighbourhood and the people will like having someone like you as a neighbour.  It was awfully nice meeting you."

They shook hands again and Tracey showed them a couple of the lower priced places nearby that their realtor had sent her.  Claire asked her to send the details to her phone and they exchanged numbers.  The other couple went upstairs while Bucky and Tracey discussed how much to offer.  When they finally agreed with each other they went up and approached the realtor.

"Well, what did you think?" she asked. 

"I think we want to make an offer," said Bucky.  "There are some things we want to change or add but overall we're really pleased with the house.  Of course, we'll want an inspection as a condition." Nancy, the realtor nodded.  "It's a cash offer, as no qualifying for a mortgage is needed by us, and we're flexible on the closing date as long as it happens by the end of March at the latest."

Nancy's eyes glimmered for a moment.  Then she swallowed and went to her portfolio case, taking out an offer sheet.  Bucky gave her the name of their realtor who had sent them there, the amount they wanted to offer, and Nancy wrote it in, then they signed and shook hands.  When they got back into the car they decided not to say anything to Rebecca or Janice, wanting to hear if their offer had been accepted first.  As they pulled up to Rebecca's house Tracey's phone rang.  The homeowners had countered so Tracey asked for some time to discuss it. 

"Well?" asked Bucky.

"A hundred grand more," she replied.  "What do you think?"

"I think we just bought a house."  He smiled.  "Call her back and let her know then let's get some champagne."

"Non-alcoholic for me," she replied, with a smile.

At dinner they didn't say anything.  After dinner Bucky and Rebecca began decorating the Christmas tree while Tracey and Janice began making gingerbread men.  After cooling them down they would all ice them, even Bucky, then package them up for the Christmas party at the visitor's centre the following day.  It didn't take long before all that was left to decorate the tree was to place the star.  Bucky brought the step ladder up from the basement and stepped on holding the star.  Tracey received a phone call and went into the bathroom, coming out a minute later with a smile for Bucky.

"Turn it a little left," said Rebecca, as Bucky placed it on the top of the tree.  "That's good."

He came down and looked up at the star, positioned just perfectly on the tree in the corner of the living room.  In the kitchen, Janice and Tracey were pulling the last of the gingerbread men out of the oven.  Bucky went out to the car, taking a couple of bottles out of the trunk.  While Rebecca and Janice were in the living room Bucky opened the champagne, pouring out a glass each for him, Rebecca and Janice, then opened the non-alcoholic version for Tracey.  He put the glasses on a tray and carried it out to the living room. 

"We have an announcement to make," he said to his sister and mother-in-law.  "This afternoon we found a house.  It's a little further from here than we planned, being in West Midwood, but still close enough that it will only take minutes to drive here.  We made an offer, they countered, and Tracey just had the call that it's all settled.  We bought a house!"

Both older women gave out a cry of gladness and stood up to hug the couple.  Bucky handed out the champagne and they drank to a new home.  Relocating to the dining room table, Tracey brought the icing bags out and between sips of champagne they decorated the gingerbread men, laughing and having a wonderful time.  As Rebecca and Janice became tipsy some of their icing work wasn't perfect but they still had fun.

Chapter 24>>

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[dartumbles]

A to Z Challenge, R, Finished Friday

A to Z Challenge Another pair of Fleegle heeled Toe-Up-Two-At-A-Time Caron Peacock jumbo yarn. These are a little too big for me, so a friend will get them. I need to get them in the mail quickly before summer takes over. Reviewing this pattern again was fun. I like getting to know a pattern to reinforce my memory, so I don’t need to look at YouTube or patterns. I rate this pattern and this…

[materialsscienceandengineering]

The transition to renewable energy requires efficient methods for storing large amounts of electricity. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a new method that could extend the lifespan of aqueous zinc-ion batteries by several orders of magnitude. Instead of lasting just a few thousand cycles, they could now endure several hundred thousand charge and discharge cycles. The key to this innovation is a special protective layer for the zinc anodes of the batteries. This layer addresses previous issues such as the growth of needle-like zinc structures -- known as zinc dendrites -- as well as unwanted chemical side reactions that trigger hydrogen formation and corrosion. The research team, led by Prof. Roland A. Fischer, Chair of Inorganic and Metal-Organic Chemistry at the TUM School of Natural Sciences, uses a unique material for this purpose: a porous organic polymer called TpBD-2F. This material forms a stable, ultra-thin, and highly ordered film on the zinc anode, allowing zinc ions to flow efficiently through nano-channels while keeping water away from the anode.

Read more.

[simply-windy]

ok.... as warned..

change stimboard?? maybe with some... kinda gorey lookin stims & stuff?? maybe some needles & stuff (sorry... trigger warning... we're fascinated by gore, body horror, etc)

also!! so you dont have to find images we got some change art here :)))

-hexx & nano 🌀

X x X - X x X - X x X CHANGE stimboard :]

[strip4kaneshiro]

Ana testing out nano boost with reaper for the first time

This is based on the time I first nano’d a Reaper and almost felt my soul leave my body upon hearing the voice line.

*In the medical quarters with Gabriel*

Ana: *filling the needle and other medical shenanigans*

Ana: *Injects him* There, how do you feel now Gabriel?

Reaper: *Simply fades away into his wraith form and laughs manically*

- Chaos ensues-

Ana: …. *sigh*

[possiblylisle]

On the Pond's Surface: Part Two

Something had changed. The feeling was different now. All the dull aching and itching that remained from the reverse had moved. They had pushed themselves out of his nerves or organs, or wherever they’d been hiding, and now they were collecting, concentrating in his skin and in the throbbing space around his optic nerves.

                He could only see it when it slithered its way through his arms or his legs, and it was unsettling to look at. A white light that squirmed and writhed, moving beneath his skin like worms or living strands of hair. The way it moved, looked and felt was too similar for it to be a coincidence. The doctors and the researchers that tended to him feared it. They didn’t know what it was. Some thought it must’ve been a parasite from the reverse. Others thought it was some sort of nano-machine colony. One outlier believed it was just a trick of the light in the room. Only he knew what it was. It was too alike to what he saw for him to be wrong. Some part of the reverse was living under his skin, and he didn’t know how to tell them.

                The doctors tried the simplest, most non-invasive treatments they could – not that they were limiting themselves on purpose but because Grant refused to let them do anything more. If they did something too extreme, it might cause problems, he reasoned. He didn’t know how the reverse was inside him, but he definitely did not want it to escape into the regular side of reality.

                The first thing they did was give him pills.

                “They’re normally used for treating parasites,” they’d told him. When a week had passed and the reverse still moved under his skin, they gave up on the parasite theory.

                Syringes were next. They jabbed him in all the places where the reverse was most concentrated and every time, the only thing that was drawn up into their needles was blood. No glowing white, no writhing, just simple crimson. They tested his blood, of course, but found nothing. There was no tiny colony of parasites or nano-machines.

                The second change happened in the second week of tests. The constant throbbing behind his eyes seeped forward and into the gelatinous spheres of his eyes proper. The throbbing soon died out, but he could still feel something living in its place.

                “That’s certainly new.” The doctor who’d come to check on him in the morning was the first to notice. According to their account and a subsequent look in the mirror, his eyes were changing color, constantly. The pigment of his irises continued to shift and change, moving like the ink on a wet Rorschach slide.

                “Has your vision changed at all? Is it blurry? Clearer?” They’d brought in an optometrist from one of the other ships in the flotilla because, for some reason, the Effervescence did not have one despite holding a population comparable to a Martian city.

                “My vision still feels the same. Sometimes one of those lights swims across my pupil though.” Grant rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t entirely lying. His vision was still the same as before, but his eyes felt wrong, like they didn’t sit in their sockets like they should.

                “Oh? Can you tell me what it’s like when one does move across the pupil?” The optometrist’s notepad was not as extensively used as the other researchers, but Grant felt like that would change if something else about his eyes changed too.

                “I see it kind of writhe into view and when it does, it makes things hard to see. They’re really bright and it doesn’t go away when I close my eyes.”

                The optometrist clucked his tongue and wrote something down. “Are we sure this thing isn’t a parasite? If it does come from the reverse, then it won’t be affected by our medications.”

                The other researchers who had been observing from the edges of the room looked up from their notes and glanced at each other.

                You’re kidding me? They didn’t think of that? Grant sighed and rubbed his eyes again.

“You might also want to run a more extensive scan on him. See if you can identify what this not-parasite is actually made of.” The optometrist was looking back at the other researchers, scowling at them for not thinking straight.

                “Can we be done for today? I’m tired.” Grant stood before any of them could answer him. He knew that permission wasn’t needed to leave, and he also didn’t expect to receive it. If they had their way, they’d set up a rotating staff to test him every hour of the day and that sounded terrible.

He wasn’t dying and he wasn’t at risk of infecting any other spacers, but they still kept him away from people and in his own private little hospital in the far corners of Effervescence. It was more like the neighborhood’s local clinic instead of an actual hospital, but they still called it one for a reason he didn’t understand.

                The staff of the hospital was minimal before word got out that he had survived reverse exposure, then the crowds of doctors had come flooding in. Some were older, and actually trying to help while hiding their curiosity, others were fresh out of med school, and it was blatantly obvious they only wanted to use him as the basis for a paper that would launch their career.

                He hated all of them, though, even if they hadn’t done anything wrong. Hate was a feeling he was becoming too familiar with lately, and he hated that he hated. He hated the people around him. The doctors showed no sympathy for what he had experienced. They didn’t even stop to realize that he was a person who’d lost everyone he’d ever known. They just saw him as some wild curiosity, like a too tall man at an ancient earth circus.

                Most of all he hated himself. He hated being alive. He hated the horrid gnawing inside of himself that kept whispering the truth of the future to him. Everyone was gone. Kimi was gone. He would have to live the rest of his life without ever seeing her again. He would have to live decades without ever hearing her voice or feeling her warmth. He hated it. He hated the universe for making him different. He hated it for letting him live.

“It’s the only possible explanation we can think of. Nothing about you is normal in this situation. You shouldn’t even exist right now, but you do. That and the flow of the anti-matter in your body is consistent with all the old reports we have from the Federation and the Shaza.”

                A dreamer. He was a dreamer. A leak in reality. An incorrect human being born of reality’s pond. He was a dreamer.

                She was right. Of course she was right. They’re real, and I’ve been one this whole time. Grant felt like he should be shaking or crying, having some sort of visible breakdown at hearing that he was living proof of the universe’s weirdness.

                I can’t believe this. This doesn’t feel real. He wasn’t supposed to be alive. Why didn’t the universe let him die? Why did it have to be him? Why? He wasn’t living proof of some great cosmic mystery! No! He was living proof that the universe hated him. It wanted him to suffer. It wanted him to be alone. That’s how it always was. It wanted him to hurt. It wanted him to bleed. It wanted his tears to quench its thirst.

                All I want is to die.

Tag List:

@capnmachete @leahnardo-da-veggie @tamiveldura @lorifragolina @liminalgoddessworld

@humbleartspawn @orion-lacroix @insecure-pilot

[casuallyimagining]

When September Ends // epilogue.

Min Yoongi x female reader

Summary: Six years after leaving your home planet, you’re forced to confront your past… and the one you left behind.  Word Count: 2,032 Genre: Star Wars au, friends to enemies to lovers, angst Warnings: minor character death, survivor's guilt, yoongi has anger issues, mentions of the death of an entire planet, anxiety, alcohol, reader character suffers from the burden of high expectations, mentions of torture (nothing  explicit), mentions of needles, hospitalization, brief descriptions of scarring, brief descriptions of panic, hospitalization, an assassination attempt, a gun fight, murder

Notes: Thanks to @daechwitatamic and @the-boy-meets-evil for listening to me complain about this fic, helping me plan, and beta-ing for me; to @oddinary4bts for the late-game encouragement and edits.

Playlist: All of the poetry in this fic has been pulled from various songs and poems. You can find all the songs (and some others) in the playlist that I made for this fic on Spotify.

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Daybreak is barely visible above the towering skyscrapers. You can barely make out the golden haze of the rising sun through the buildings, but it’s there, greeting you as you stand and wait for the morning transport. You sway a little on your feet, still a little drowsy without finishing your caf. You grip the metal cup in your hand tighter and take a sip, just as your other hand is squeezed. You lean into him–gently, he kisses the side of your head, just below your temple–and together, you listen to the sounds of the city-planet waking up.

The thrum of morning traffic surrounds you, the engines of the speeders and transports that zip between the buildings a cacophony of high-pitched whines and low-toned hums. Your building is nowhere near the starports, there are no mechanical roars, no ear-splitting throbbing that is so typical of interplanetary, long-range ships. No, the largest craft in this sector of the planet are the public transports and the boxy cargo barges that float between shops and warehouses like bumbling pollinator nano-droids.

There’s a daycare in your building, somewhere on the floors that stretch above you, and you can hear the sounds of children, grumpy to be awake so early in the morning, sad that their parents have once again left them with their caretakers. You feel for them. You, also, would rather be home in bed right now.

Your transport arrives unceremoniously–no rush of wind, no honk of a horn, just a relatively quiet downshift of the motor and the hiss of doors opening. You step into the transport, your right hand trailing behind you, fingers laced loosely in the grasp of the man that follows. 

It’s warmer in here than it was on the platform, the planet’s cold season just beginning to dig its claws in. And as you settle into a seat, you burrow your way into the man’s side to bask in his warmth, too. Yoongi chuckles softly and adjusts how he’s sitting so that you’re comfortable, and shifts his own caf to his other hand so that he can pull his datapad out of his bag.

His hand rests on your thigh, the caf he clutches is warm against your leg. He scrolls through the day’s news on his datapad, dark hair falling into his eyes as he reads. Normally, you’d read over his shoulder, humming when you were done and ready to move on to the next article. But today, you lean against him and look out the window.

You never thought you’d get used to living on Coruscant. Not least because the planet is just one large city, its surface covered from ground to what feels like the edge of space in endlessly tall buildings. But no, there’s something so different in the energies of the planets at the center of the galaxy. A kind of buzzing, restless energy that used to keep you up at night. Fest, though busy in its own right, was sleepy in comparison. And while you rarely got rest with the rebellion, your time there felt more like clawing your way back from the brink–desperate and hungry for something better. 

Here, though, life is easy. You enjoy it. Maybe that’s what you’d been reacting to, all those years ago.

When Commander Vela had approached you with the prospect of heading up the Imperial records dump and moving to Coruscant, you’d fought him. You wanted to be in the field. You wanted to finish what you’d started–you wanted to squash the remains of the Empire. The Emperor was dead, but his followers were still out there. Eventually, he’d worn you down. 

Or, more accurately–and more predictably–Yoongi had worn you down.

A safe place to land after a decade of interplanetary espionage was hard to pass up. A cushy job running a massive data library on a warm planet with any amenity you could dream of? You’d be an idiot to say no, he’d said. And how could you argue with that? Especially since he’d offered to come with you.

The transport slows outside of another building, and more people shuffle on. An older woman slides into the seat facing yours. Her dark skin is weathered and aged, but the most prominent lines on her face are on either side of her lips–such deep laugh lines have to indicate a long, happy life, right? She smiles at you warmly, her eyes drifting from you, to Yoongi, to where his hand rests on your thigh. Briefly, you wonder what she’s thinking, but you’re interrupted by Yoongi’s pinky rubbing against your knee. 

“Gonna be another late night,” he mumbles, angling his datapad slightly so that you can see the message he’s reading. You don’t even have to get too far into the missive before you come to what he’s referring to. “Twenty standard years of data,” Yoongi reads, and already, he sounds exhausted. 

He’s right, though. That data is getting transferred straight to you and your team. You sip your caf and sigh out, “Gonna need you to make me another one of these in like an hour.”

He laughs, dark eyes disappearing into happy crescents behind his glasses. “I can do that.” He leans in, lips brushing your hair quickly.

The old woman smiles, but you barely notice, your mind too preoccupied with the sudden influx of work now on your plate.

The hand on your shoulder scares you. You place your hand on your chest in a helpless attempt to calm your pounding heart. There’s a soft ‘sorry’, and a gentle kiss placed to the top of your head as Yoongi massages your shoulders.

“Take a break,” he mumbles, nose pressing into your hair. “Come eat.”

It’s cute. He’s learned not to tell you to walk away, to hang it up for the night. He’s grown since the Academy, where he would tell you to end your studies for the night. Now, he’s transitioned into convincing you to take breaks and eat meals. You suspect partially because it’s easier–a way to save both of your sanities.

You sigh, push yourself away from your desk, rub your eyes. You’ve been staring at your monitor and your datapad for what feels like hours. It probably actually has been hours, because you can’t see sunlight through the slatted windows in your office. Yoongi’s fingers press into a knot in your shoulder and you groan, head lolling forward a little.

“Come on,” he coos, pulling you to your feet. You groan from the effort, muscles stiff and aching now that you’re actually using them. He tugs you forward and you let yourself fall into his arms. He hums, arms tightening around you. “How far’d you make it?”

“Not far enough.” Your voice is muffled as you bury your face into his shoulder.

His hands skim up and down your back–his touch is feather-light, yet it leaves fire in its wake. It’s been four years, and still, a simple, gentle touch from him leaves your skin tingling and your heart fluttering. Perhaps you haven’t grown so much since your teenage years, after all.

“You’ve done well.”

Slowly, he walks you out of your office, arms still around you as he guides you into the library’s employee galley. It must be late. There’s no way he’d act like this if any of the rest of your team was still there.

“I sent everyone home,” he says as he pulls out a chair for you, answering a question you hadn’t even asked. “They were done, for the most part. I finished up for them and figured we could do the rest together.”

Your team is not large–just five people not including you or Yoongi–and you oversee and organize naval data taken from the Empire’s records. You have analysts, encryption experts, historians, sociologists. And what you don’t know, you all learn together. You love your team, but sometimes, when you get slammed like this and the sheer volume of incoming data overwhelms you, you forget about them. They’re self-sufficient, and you work like a well-oiled machine, and it’s easy to get absorbed into your own little bubble of analysis and reports.

And in those moments, among almost any other moment in your day, you’re grateful that Yoongi is there to take care of what you can’t.

You shoot him a look that you hope conveys everything you’re feeling. Bless you. You’re amazing. Thank you for picking up my slack when I can’t. All of it. More. He simply kisses the top of your head and hands you a container of warm food. It smells delicious, and immediately, you know it’s take-away from your favorite place in the north sector. You sigh.

“I don’t deserve you.”

He hums. “Not true.”

There are moments like these where you feel a little twinge of guilt, the ghosts of your past still there, haunting you from the corners of your memories. You haven’t forgotten the fact that you’d left, nor the tenseness of your first weeks reunited. But you’ve come so far since then. It’s hard to believe that five years ago, you’d been so venomous and cold to each other. Looking at him now, at the doofy, gooey, honey-warm look he’s giving you, it’s almost hard to believe the journey you’ve been on together.

When you’re done eating, you sit together on the library floor, surrounded by the stacks of digitized records and books. They cast a cool, blue glow over the room, and you open the shades on the window so you can look out across the city-planet. Aside from your offices, the library is one large room, with stacks and terminals to navigate the information contained within. It’s on the 115th floor of the building, housed among other New Republic offices and resources, so the view out the windows–though you rarely see it–is something to marvel at.

Below you lights twinkle and shine like stars. It’s strange. You can’t see the stars above. Between Fest and the stations and ships of the rebellion, you’d gotten so used to seeing the stars. But you don’t mind them being gone. Coruscant is a marvel, especially at night, and there’s a certain beauty in watching the lights of the speeders and delivery trucks that run ‘round the clock as they buzz and weave around and through the buildings. It’s raining, and the falling drops only serve to make the lights glisten more.

You’re tucked into Yoongi’s side once again, legs resting over his own. He has one arm around your shoulders, holding you close to him. His thumb traces small patterns into the meat of your arm. His other arm–his left arm–rests across your legs. He hasn’t said anything, but you’re sure it’s bothering him. Physically, he’s completely healed from your final run-in with Grafner, save for a small scar, an angry silver against his otherwise lightly golden skin, and the ache that comes when there’s a change in weather.

He’s staring out the window, watching the rain roll down the windows. You watch him, admire the softness in the curves of his face, his button nose, the fluffiness of his hair. 

“Hey Yoon?” you breathe, finally breaking the silence of the moment. He hums, and it takes a brief second for him to pull his eyes away from the window to meet your own. Butterflies erupt, and your insides do an excited little flip-flop with the eye contact. “I love you.”

It’s not the first time you’ve said it–at this point, you’ve lost count–but the grin that spreads its way across his lips is just as shy and incredulous as it was back then. You can see the flush creep across his skin, a ruddy red-pink that blossoms up his neck and up to his ears. Usually, you might tease him about it, but today, you stay silent, instead reaching up to tuck an errant strand of dark hair behind his ear.

“I love you,” he repeats, leaning in to kiss your nose, then your forehead. He lingers there for a moment and he sighs, content. He pulls away slightly, lips finally meeting your own once, twice, three times. His eyes sparkle when they meet yours.

“What do we need to finish to go home?”

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so uh... that was the end. what do we think? I wanted to make sure we ended on a high note. I think mc and Yoongi deserve it after everything. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and the entire fic! do we want more? I could see me coming back to this universe for some drabbles in the future. they're so much fun to write.