#SAP Food and Beverage

[thedeepssystem]

SAP FIORI & UI5

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[cogniscient-business-solutions]

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[cogniscientsap]

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[byzerodigital]

Unrefined Cane Sugar is made from dried whole sugar juice, ground to create a very fine, granular sugar that can be substituted in a 1:1 ratio for refined sugars.

Because it has not been cooked at high heat and the molasses has not been separated from the sugar, it has nutritional value—unlike refined sugars, which have none.

[heartstringsbloom]

It’s midnight. The V8 Cafe is closed to everyone except Radiator Springs’ own. Flo sits in a booth near the back, out of her work apron and chatting with Ramone over tea. Lightning leans against her, head on her shoulder, wearing Doc’s old Fabulous Hudson Hornet jacket. It’s definitely a couple sizes too big, but he’s warm and Flo is running gentle fingers through his hair and he’s trying very hard not to fall asleep because it’s movie night and he’s sleeping over at Flo and Ramone’s.

They decide on Beauty and The Beast and Ramone has to run by Doc’s for Lightning’s inhaler but Doc says it’s at the Cozy Cone. By the time he gets back to the cafe Sally’s already dropped it off, bundled in her fluffy blue slippers and McQueen’s dinosaur robe that she refuses to give back. He tells her good luck prying her sleeping mask from his sticky little fingers. She gets on one knee and plants a kiss on said fingers, McQueen swoons, calls her a gorgeous sap, and Flo and Ramone share a knowing look but even they can’t tell if the two are best friends or more

They invite her to movie night but she declines because she has a case to look over, but thanks them anyway, smiling at Flo and Ramone and sticking her tongue out at McQueen who blows a kiss

Later that night Lightning is rambling about how Harv has him booked for, like, three interviews back to back and all with different people, and Flo shakes her head sympathetically as she combs his hair, wondering when he last combed it out because he’s got knots like she’s never seen before. She has to pull one apart with her nails and he winces, she apologizes, but he keeps talking and she can’t help but smile in amusement

They leave together the next morning for work, Ramone’s already at his shop, and they settle into their routine at the cafe. They work together as if they have their whole lives, cracking jokes across the diner and trading off plates for this table or that. There’s an order for pancakes and they notice at the same time that they’re out of eggs, so McQueen is like “oh I’ll get Harv to send some stuff over” and Flo just raises an eyebrow and says they’re going grocery shopping

The next day she lets McQueen wander around while she fills the cart and he comes back with arms full of candy, soda bottles, cookies, and any other sweet he can get his hands on

She’s trying not to laugh and lets him get *one* thing, wonders when she started being the one to give him permission for anything, and he pouts but tosses the cookies in the cart and puts everything else back as if he doesn’t have his own bank account

The kid has one heck of a sweet tooth, always with a lollipop in his mouth or a sweet beverage at the cafe. He also doesn’t eat enough veggies because Doc has to sneak them into his food, Flo learns

Sally managed to get him to drink kale smoothies, convinced him kale was a fruit, and McQueen slurps them up even if they are a little bitter

Strangely he’ll tear up a salad, as long as it’s drenched in salad dressing and cheese, so Flo makes sure to add them to his meals at the V8

The three work together as the Make Sure McQueen Eats His Veggies Club

[badbatchposts]

Quiet Corners of the Galaxy, Ch. 22

Fic Teaser: While on a routine mission for Cid, the Bad Batch encounter a woman fleeing from the Empire. Crosshair suspects her seemingly free-spirited, nomadic existence is actually a cover for something else, but struggles to keep his attraction toward her in check as their personalities and ideals clash.

Relevant tags/content warnings: Crosshair/Original Female Character, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Periodic Smut, Canon-Typical Violence, Alcohol Use, 18+/Explicit

Read the full fic so far on AO3

Read previous chapters on Tumblr: Ch. 1 l Ch. 2 l Ch. 3 l Ch. 4 l Ch. 5 l Ch. 6 l Ch. 7 l Ch. 8 l Ch. 9 l Ch. 10 l Ch. 11 l Ch. 12 l Ch. 13 l Ch. 14 l Ch. 15 l Ch. 16 l Ch. 17 l Ch. 18 l Ch. 19 l Ch. 20 l Ch. 21

Chapter 22 summary: Things finally boil over between Dara and Crosshair at the beginning of a joint mission for Rex.

Special content warnings for this chapter: unprotected PIV sex; fingering; oral sex (m and f giving and receiving); dom/sub undertones; dirty talk; hate sex

They landed the Marauder at the edge of a forest as the suns were beginning to set, the royal blues of the foliage deepening to purples and then blacks as the shadows lengthened. The nights were long and cool on Xagalus, and they set to work making camp immediately.

After much discussion between Dara and Rex, they had identified a joint mission where both groups had a vested interest, and it was decided that Dara would join the Batch in undertaking it. Tomorrow they would divide into teams before first light to scout out the area and begin their search.

It was obvious that Omega was happy to be back amongst her family, and the men were equally happy to have her with them again. She ran and skipped from brother to brother, chatting constantly as each engaged her in their activities: gathering wood, making a fire, unpacking supplies, reviewing mission intel, preparing food. They were finishing dinner, all gathered around the fire, when her incessant curiosity finally drew her to Dara, who was sitting a little apart from the squad.

Dara’s interactions with the others, while cordial, had remained somewhat tense in the days since her deception had come to light. At times they all settled back into a steady rhythm, one which—if not exactly easy—was at least familiar, resembling the one they had established in earlier weeks. In other moments—particularly when Crosshair was around—the resentment and distrust felt more palpable, and were almost impossible to ignore.

Omega’s charms, however, were hard to resist, and the young girl felt certain that this solitary woman was just a friend she had yet to make.

“What are you doing?” she asked enthusiastically. Dara had already completed the painstaking ritual of preparing her tea and was carving something with one of her knives, shaving away thin, delicate strips of wood as a shape began to form beneath her dexterous fingers.

“Making something.” She passed her tea to Omega, who sipped at the straw, wriggling her little nose in distaste at the bitter beverage before peering more closely at the object in Dara’s hand.

“It looks… familiar,” Omega replied. Dara passed the tea along to Hunter, who shared it in turn among the group, an activity they had all—with the exception of Crosshair—now joined in many times.

“You may have seen something like it before,” Dara narrated as she continued carving. “I was living on Dantooine a while back, working on a sap farm. When I wasn’t working, I spent a lot of time walking, looking at the Bilba trees. One night, both the moons were out. I heard a noise in the trees around the next bend in the path. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a long…low…howl.”

Dara paused for dramatic effect; Omega’s eyes were sparkling in the firelight, enraptured.

The woman continued, “Before I could do anything, out jumped a large, terrifying creature, covered in fur, with horns, and big sharp teeth. I could hear more of the beasts stalking me through the shadows, the light of the moons reflecting only their eyes. But then I heard little excited yipping sounds, and out came…a group of tiny puppies.”

Omega was grinning happily, and Dara gave her a small smile back.

“It was a Kath Hound pack with a litter,” she continued. “When the pups reach a certain age, the mothers all go back out to hunt. The males stay behind and protect the young together. They can be fierce as anything; there’s not a lot of Kath Hounds around anymore, so every one is precious. I wanted more than anything to go check out the curious things, but I also knew better than to disrupt a family protecting their kids. So I high-tailed it out of there. And luckily, they let me.”

Satisfied with her carving, Dara leaned back and brought it into the light, revealing a horned Kath Hound with a puppy pressed tightly against its side. She handed it to Omega.

“For you. I’m sorry I kept your brothers away from you for so long. I didn’t know.”

Judging by Omega’s delight at the trinket, all was forgiven, at least on the child’s part. The girl excitedly leapt up to show her new possession to Wrecker. After a moment of hesitation, Hunter nodded toward Dara approvingly.

Of course, not every member of the squad was so easy to win over. Omega had barely left her side when Dara heard a hiss from Crosshair, who until that moment appeared to have been completely ignoring her.

“You’re sure you didn’t go ahead and spy on them for a while, maybe report back the location of the den to a few poachers?”

“I’m sure if you had been there, you would have just killed them yourself.” Dara stood and stalked off into the shadows of the trees.

Echo sighed. He thought this had gone on long enough. “Crosshair. I know you two have never exactly gotten along, but everything’s out in the open now. Dara’s on our side. We need to learn to work together here. None of us stand a chance against the Empire if everyone who could fight back is too busy fighting among ourselves.”

Crosshair was still seething. “Tell her that.” He shouldered his weapon, yanked on his helmet, and left as well, his dark armor disappearing in the gloom.

Omega looked troubled. “Should we go after them?” she wondered.

Hunter furrowed his brow. “Just…leave them be, and let them try to work it out.”

Crosshair picked his way among the trees easily, his enhanced eyesight helping him avoid branches and roots as he searched for Dara. He had spent the last few days on base avoiding her, barely throwing a glance her way.

It had not helped him put aside the memories of their last one-on-one encounter: the snarl on her face as she held the knife to his throat. The derision in her gaze when she looked at him. The pain in her voice. Her body pressed against his.

The time away from her had revealed one thing: he still wanted her desperately. He wanted to possess every bit of her, to have her drop to her knees in front of him, to hold her down as he entered her. He wanted to fuck the despair out of her voice and pity out of her eyes and replace them with something else. He wanted to grasp her by the throat and hear her beg for him before making her whine with pleasure.

There was a part of him that also wanted to shoot her.

When he finally caught sight of her, Dara’s profile was outlined against a pleasing blue glow. She was gazing across a bioluminescent river, which Tech had pointed out as they were landing. She leaned against a tree, worrying a flat stone in one hand. He stopped to watch her, a silent shadow, as she skipped it into the water.

Dara tossed three more stones before she finally spoke.

“You can come out. I know you’re there.”

Crosshair sidled up to her, removing his helmet. “How’d you know?”

She didn’t look at him. “I can always tell when you’re watching me.”

His eyes narrowed in the dim blue glow. “Since when?”

She shrugged. “I had a feeling, since the beginning. But I didn’t realize I should look up until I saw you climbing trees on Caameris.”

“Well can you blame us, for not trusting you?” Crosshair deflected testily. He shouldn’t have been so surprised, but he was furious nonetheless, thinking of how, yet again, she had been a step ahead of him—letting him see her like that, but still always, always in control.

Dara finally turned to face him, eyes glinting. “I never said I did,” she snapped.

Then again—Crosshair had had her on the verge of losing control before. He could do it again. He already had her halfway there.

He scoffed. “Of course not. You’d never blame the poor, stupid clone troopers who took you in. You wanted to trust us. It just didn’t stop you from reporting our every move back to Saw, did it?”

“What do you want me to do, Crosshair?” Dara spat back. “At what point was I supposed to tell you? That’s the job. If I went around confessing to every person who was friendly to me that I was a rebel spy I would be dead!”

The sniper advanced on her, sneering. “Tell me this,” he drawled. “Would you have told Hunter or Howzer, once you’d managed to sleep with them? Or were you only doing that for more information?”

Their faces were only centimeters apart, Dara glaring defiantly up at him. “Let’s get one thing straight,” she hissed, jabbing him roughly in his chestplate. “That’s not in my job description. When a mission requires sex for intel, I pay a professional. But if you hadn’t ruined it, I would’ve given both of them the ride of their fucking lives, and it would’ve been because I kriffing wanted to!”

“You…” Crosshair tried to spit words out—a retort, an insult—but he couldn’t. His voice was strangled by equal parts ferocity and need. Dropping his helmet, he reached out with both hands, cupping Dara’s face and pressing his mouth against hers roughly. Her lips moved just as forcefully back as he parted them with his tongue and pushed her up against the tree, reveling in how his armor trapped her under him even as he was overcome by the desperate urge to feel her body against his own.

Her fingers, as if responding to his very thoughts, began shedding his shoulder pads, vambraces, and chest plate, and he growled into her mouth with pleasure before trailing his lips and teeth along her jaw, her neck, her ears, moving his hands possessively to grasp at every one of her curves in turn.

It was only once she’d managed to bare Crosshair’s torso completely, sliding off the upper half of his blacks, that she started to bite back.

He tried but failed to prevent the sharp inhale of breath as he felt Dara’s teeth sink into his shoulder. The sound inspired her to continue, her mouth roughly testing whatever skin she could access, though her progress was interrupted as he shimmied her shirt over her head. In the pale blue glow of the river, he saw her tattoo clearly for the first time: four moons, evenly spaced along her rib cage just below her breast band, surrounded by a smattering of stars.

His slender fingers made their way down to her ass, lifting her up with both hands while pinning her even more tightly against the tree so that she had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist for stability. She responded by raking her fingernails down his back; he let out a long hiss as he fought to keep hold of his self-control, then thrust against her, his codpiece making contact through her pants with the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center.

A needy moan escaped Dara’s throat against her will even as she tried to choke it back. Crosshair was already hard, but the sound made his cock press even more painfully against his armor. He wanted to fuck her senseless.

It was a challenge to keep his fingers steady as he removed her binder, freeing her breasts; he worried that his trembling would reveal his desperation. He kissed his way aggressively down her chest, shifting to cup one of her breasts in his hand while he tongued the nipple of the other, alternating lips and teeth. He heard another moan and nearly cursed when he realized it was his own. Her softness beneath him, the subject of his nightly imaginings since the day they’d met, was shredding at his self-control.

This encounter, like all those that had been steadily leading up to it, was a battleground for them both. Over the previous weeks they had been circling, sizing one another up, testing each other’s defenses. Unable to deny any longer the desire that kept driving them together, each of them was now stubbornly determined to gain control over the situation, to be the one that reduced the other to a whining, dribbling mess. Dara knew that he wanted her frantically, and that if she could only hold on a little longer, keep her own desperation in check, then victory would be hers.

She wanted to make him beg.

So Dara took advantage of the moan to go on the offensive, kissing and sucking along his neck up to his ear as she held his face tightly to her chest, scratching her fingertips along his scalp. Then she allowed her hands to drift south again along the firm muscles of his sides, stroking some of his many scars, before teasing her fingers along the v-shaped crease that led toward his groin.

“Do you want me, Crosshair?” she purred into his ear.

Crosshair forced himself to suppress whatever noise was trying to make its way out of his throat at her enticing tone, deftly unwrapping her legs from around his waist, resettling her on solid ground, and turning her to face away from him. He needed to regain some composure. He did want her, there was no denying that; but she was not in charge here.

He clutched her tightly from behind, one hand wrapping around her throat with a controlled, gentle pressure while the other slipped past the waistband of her pants.

“Burk’yc… Cyar’ika…” Crosshair’s voice was a deadly whisper. Dara suppressed a shiver as he began to stroke gently along the sides of her soaking cunt, his long fingers igniting a persistent warmth deep within her. “You’re dripping with need. This has gone on long enough. Tell me you’ll be mine, and I’ll reward you so well. Be good for me.”

“That’s not happening.” She reached behind her and began fumbling with his cod piece, making clear exactly what it was she was refusing: she wanted his cock, but she would not be good.

Crosshair raised her arms and gathered both of her wrists up in one hand, holding them tightly against the tree while he went back to his ministrations with the other, patiently stroking up and down along her wet folds, studiously avoiding the one spot she desperately wanted him to touch. He was certain he could outlast her.

“Yes,” he purred. “Submit to me. You want so badly to let go. Just let me take care of you.”

Dara, panting, only shifted her hips back and forth in response, rubbing her ass against his armor and bucking to move his hand closer to her clit, which was crying out badly for attention. Crosshair felt his eyes roll back in his head for a moment at this expression of her desire, grateful she was facing away so that she missed what it was doing to him.

“Be a good girl, and you’ll get everything you want,” he insisted, his breath against her ear. He traced his tongue along her piercings, tasting metal.

“Fuck you,” Dara panted out. His body pressed against hers, the menacing edge to his voice, the strength of the hand that held her wrists immobilized—it was making every fiber in her body burn with need. It was only her stubborn, defiant nature that kept her from whimpering and dropping to her knees to give him whatever he demanded. She had accepted, finally, that she wanted him, as loathe she was to admit it—but she would not let him win this.

Crosshair tutted, then used a knee to part Dara’s legs wider before deftly sliding one long finger all the way inside her. She cried out with pleasure, unable to contain herself, as he curled the finger, finding his target with all of his usual precision.

“So needy, mesh’la. You don’t understand what I can give you, how good I can make you feel. You just have to let me.”

He smiled wickedly against her neck as he heard her moan, then inserted a second finger. Dara was suddenly no longer thinking of winning, no longer thinking of anything besides the feel of Crosshair’s fingers inside her as he sent wave after wave of pleasure coursing through her veins, her muscles tightening around his digits. His thumb made its way to her clit, tracing deliberate circles that filled her with heat, rising higher and higher until she was sure she would—

“Tell me you’re mine, cyare.” Crosshair slowed his movements, keeping her right on the edge of her orgasm, waiting to hear the words.

He had gotten close, but he had underestimated her. Dara snarled and shoved a shoulder back into his chest, catching him off-guard enough to wriggle out of his grasp and push him to the ground. She was straddling his legs before he could even react, tonguing and biting along the lithe muscles of his abdomen as she detached his codpiece and the armor along his thighs. Too consumed with want and turned on by her feral enthusiasm to resist, he allowed her to progress until she had stripped his lower half bare, her eyes greedily taking in the slight curve of his erection before her mouth began teasing along his legs and pelvis.

Crosshair didn’t think he’d ever been this hard in his life. She made eye contact with him before licking a long, deliberate, delectable stripe along the underside of his cock, and he couldn’t suppress a groan as she worked her tongue over the head before taking his length without hesitation into her warm mouth. He knew exactly what she was doing as he felt himself make contact with the back of her throat, but for the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care that she was taking control, too overcome by the delicious sensation. How many nights in recent weeks had he lain awake, thinking of her tongue on him, her dark eyes shining up from between his legs just like this? He had lost count.

One of her hands ran her fingernails up and down his thigh, the other stroking his shaft in time as her head bobbed up and down steadily, drawing him deeper and deeper into her throat. She let out a small moan, the sound vibrating against his length, and he knew she was doing it on purpose to drive him crazy, as if the sight of his cock finally between her lips wasn’t enough. It took every ounce of his self-control, cultivated through a lifetime of soldierly discipline, to thread his fingers through her hair and tug her off.

Crosshair flipped them over, his strength and skill giving him the advantage as he pinned Dara down beneath him. He kissed her deeply, invading her mouth with his tongue, his fingers still tangled in her hair, before pulling the rest of her clothing off, exposing her beautiful cunt to the cool night air. He had to suppress a groan at the sight. With delight and a carefully bit-off moan, he nuzzled the dark hair coating her mound, realizing it must have been black everywhere before it turned silver—something he had found himself wondering often, late at night, alone in his bunk. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and wasted no time in spreading her legs, pressing his tongue flat against her clit and overwhelming her almost immediately as he began lapping and suckling at her with dedication.

She was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted, a tangy sweetness he couldn’t get enough of. He could die happy down here, between her legs.

She wriggled, trying to reduce the all-consuming sensation, but he reached one hand out to her belly to hold her in place. He could feel the puckered skin of one of her scars under his fingertips and let his other hand wander to pinch at her nipple. His tongue teased dedicated circles around her clit, and she was whimpering now—the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

“Crosshair,” Dara managed to whine, her voice breathy.

Kriff. Finally, his name on her lips. It was all he could do to prevent himself from taking her right then.

“Yes, mesh’la?” he asked patiently, between careful, ruinous licks.

“It’s too much. I can’t.” Her eyes were screwed up tightly, one hand clawing at his short gray locks and the other scrabbling at the dirt.

The sniper smiled darkly, certain of his imminent victory over her self-control, nose still buried in her pussy. He nudged it patiently against her clit, eliciting a full-body shudder.

“Of course you can, burk’yc. Tell me you’re mine. Beg me for it and I’ll let you cum.”

“Fuck me,” she demanded.

Crosshair slowed down. Dara’s whimpers lessened as he eased off of her sopping wet cunt, slid his way up to her face, and pressed his lips against hers. She could taste the pleasant tang of her arousal in his mouth, feel his hard cock pressing against her thigh, and it made her moan again.

“That’s not what I asked for,” Crosshair growled.

Snarling, Dara kissed him back hard, biting his lower lip until they both tasted blood. The pain pushed Crosshair over the edge, his patience suddenly vanishing. He simply couldn’t hold himself back any longer, finally thrusting his cock inside of her roughly, forgetting all of his plans to win her submission as he was overcome by wrath and need. She cried out in pleasure, equally overwhelmed as he filled her completely, finally feeling him everywhere after so many nights trying to banish the thought from her imagination.

Their pace was impatient, urgent, as they fucked messily into one another, their hips meeting almost violently at the apex of each thrust. No longer concerned with making the other beg or moan, knowing that there was no victory to be had for either of them now, Crosshair and Dara raced their way to the edge, cries and pants and growls and grunts echoing through the forest and across the nearby river. Just as Dara could feel her climax slam into her like a rogue wave and spread in concentric rings of intensity outward from her belly to her fingertips, Crosshair let out one final strangled groan at the sensation of her contracting around him. Pure pleasure overtook him as he felt his hot cum fill her, and his thrusts petered slowly to a stop.

All was still. They panted and slowly released one another, Dara’s nails etching crescent-shaped marks in Crosshair’s back, his fingers leaving behind bruises on her hip and shoulder. He rested his head against her breast for a moment, whispering a string of curses too quietly for her to hear. She rubbed one hand along his back, the other absentmindedly stroking the smattering of short gray hair atop his head.

The unexpected moment of tenderness was brief before Dara nudged at him. Crosshair pulled out, rolled over, and watched her thoughtfully, searching his scattered armor for a toothpick to press between his lips as she got up and waded waist deep into the nearby river. He could trace the outline of every one of her curves against the blue phosphorescence, could see her nipples harden further and skin raise goosebumps at the cool temperature. She rinsed everywhere, washing away dirt, sweat, saliva, the smell of him, before floating lazily on her back for a moment.

He felt like he could watch her all night. He hadn’t gotten exactly what he’d wanted, but what he had gotten had been quite good: the sex, yes, but more than that, the fury. The need. The breaking down of her self-possession. Now, she even looked almost peaceful, like a solid fuck had done her some good.

Dara exited the water, lounging on a large, flat stone by the riverbed and letting herself drip dry. The air was cool; she was shivering a little as she closed her eyes.

She’d left her poncho behind, and Crosshair didn’t have anything to warm her with. They’d have to go back to the fire.

“Burk’yc, it’s too cold to stay out here,” he told her. “Get dressed.”

“No.”

It was a measured statement; Dara’s anger had dissipated, but she was making clear that whatever had just passed between them hadn’t fundamentally changed anything, hadn’t bridged the distance that set them apart in any way.

She infuriated him. She’d decided to keep being a stubborn brat, even after all that.

The sniper started dressing, snapping the pieces of his armor back into place and retrieving his rifle. She didn’t move, eyes still closed, breathing slowly and regularly.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. “You can’t fall asleep out here.”

Dara turned toward him. He could see the mockery in her eyes by the glow of the river. “Oh, were you expecting to cuddle afterward?”

Crosshair considered, for a moment, throwing her over his shoulder just like that, carrying her back to camp, nude and covered in his marks, tying her up in the cargo hold and having his way with her for the rest of the night, until she forgot every word in every language she knew other than his name.

“Fine. Have it your way,” he spat out instead. He spun on his heels and marched off, leaving her behind.

The others were still lounging by the dying embers of the fire when he came stalking back. Wordless, he entered the Marauder; they could see him pacing back and forth past the hatch in a silent fury as he shed his gear before he finally threw himself down on his bunk, out of sight.

Omega was worried. She had noticed his split lip and the scratches and bruises along his neck.

“Was he…bleeding? Were they fighting?” The men murmured noncommittally, avoiding looking at her.

A few minutes later, Dara came huffing back as well, walking gingerly. She entered the Marauder and made her way to her hammock in the cargo hold, closing the door after her.

“She was hurt too. I think they did fight,” Omega insisted.

Wrecker looked mischievous. “Who do you think won?” He chuckled a little, nudging Tech.

“I don’t think either of them did.” Tech looked at the other men knowingly, while Hunter snickered. Echo avoided catching anyone’s eye, looking mortified.

“What do you mean?” Omega asked. She wasn’t going to let it go.

“Uh…I don’t think they were exactly fighting,” Wrecker hinted.

Omega remained adamant. “Well, then what were they doing?”

“Well, I think it’s time to turn in,” Echo said, a little too loudly.

“Me too!” Wrecker leapt up, and the pair extricated themselves as quickly as possible. Omega turned to Hunter expectantly.

“I’ll…tell you when you’re older,” he answered, shifting uncomfortably.

Omega rolled her eyes and looked at Tech instead. He seemed thoughtful, beginning with an educational tone, “Well, sometimes when two adult humans—or another combination of sentients, depending on the species—experience strong feelings of attraction—”

“Tech!” Hunter interrupted.

The bespectacled clone was unperturbed. “I assure you, I will provide an entirely scientific explanation,” he reassured his brother.

Hunter sighed. “Better you than me.” He left Tech and Omega to it, words like “pheromones,” “hormones,” and “intercourse” drifting behind him as he climbed up the ramp to the Marauder.

He hoped that Tech made sure to tell her it wasn’t always that violent.

The air onboard the ship was almost oppressively tense for Hunter’s enhanced senses. He sniffed; the smell of sex still radiated off of Crosshair, less so off of Dara. He could even detect the sour scent of their foul moods—not the most typical of post-coital emotions, but those two weren’t exactly the most typical of people, so he wasn’t exactly surprised. Dara’s breathing and heartbeat were becoming gentle and regular, but he could tell that Crosshair was still wide awake, gnawing on a toothpick while laying back, hands behind his head.

Hunter approached him and crossed his arms, looking down at him from the edge of his bunk. “Is this going to be a problem?”

Crosshair wasn’t in the mood for a lecture. “Piss off.”

The Sergeant, used to his attitude, was undeterred. “Listen. We’re all relying on each other, and we can’t afford to be so distracted that we put the mission in jeopardy. Whatever this is, just keep your feelings in check.”

“This isn’t about feelings,” Crosshair scoffed.

Hunter, rolling his eyes, knew better than to push him. “Fine. Then just try thinking with your head instead of your dick for a while. If you can’t manage that, then stay away from her.” With that, he left Crosshair to stew.

It was a long time before the sniper drifted off to sleep. When it finally came for him, he was thinking of Dara’s soft whimpers and the warmth of her thighs against his ears.

Next chapter

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Author's note: Okay I posted the chapter early because I was so excited for SMUT!!! Remember, kids, don't model your sex life after fiction. This is not a particularly healthy dynamic, get consent, use protection, etc., etc. Let me know what you think in the reblogs, please!

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Burnin’ Up - Firefighter!Chris AU (Part 11: How You Get The Girl)

Summary: Chris pulls out all the stops to try and win you back

Word Count: 7.9k

Warnings: Angst! Language! FLUFF!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics​​

Meet the Characters!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

Chapter 11: How You Get The Girl

The one part of Rom Coms that Chris always took issue with was the scene where the protagonist has gone through a breakup and is sat moping in their apartment with a pint of ice cream, and an alcoholic beverage of their choice while listening to sad and depressing breakup songs. He just didn’t think it was that believable, people had jobs and other responsibilities they needed to focus on. People may want to just mope around but life just didn’t work that way.

He could add that to the growing list of things he was wrong about.

Because after running into you at the store that was the exact mood he fell into. If he was still working he would probably be fine but he wasn’t, he was still suspended so his days were spent sitting on the couch watching movies that didn’t make him feel good about himself and eating whatever junk food was closest to him. At least he was off the painkillers meaning he could actually drink again now.

So here he was sitting like a sap on the couch, beer bottle in one hand, a bag of chips not too far out of his reach as he slumped back against the back cushion. Letting out a long sigh he grabbed the TV remote, he started scrolling through all the movies before deciding on his all-time favourite ‘Legend of the fall’, the movie has barely played the title card and Chris had to turn it off, remembering the last time that he watched this movie.

“fuck” he growled out throwing his head back, screwing his eyes shut in frustration and anguish.

No matter what he did there was always some reminder of you. When he watched Zootopia with the kids and could only think of that photo of you and Benny, whenever a cop appeared on whatever show he’d stuck on. Whenever his mind would wander and he’d start picking at the label of his beer and remembering you would do the exact same thing.

“Well that answers the question I was asking myself” he heard someone mutter behind him.

Looking over his shoulder he spotted Scott standing just behind the couch, his nose scrunched up as he frowned down at his older brother.

“When did you get here?” Chris huffed.

“just a second ago, Ma asked me to check in on you since you’ve been acting strange again,” Scott says walking around the back of the couch to stand in front of Chris.

“I’m fine” Chris states keeping his head low.

“yeah, I call bullshit so we’re gonna go….” Scott says a smirk playing on his lips as he glanced over to Dodger who was instantly interested.

“don’t” Chris warned sending a look up at his brother hoping to scare him off.

“for a walk!” Scott announced clapping his hands together making Dodger leap up like a shot.

“I hate you” Chris grumbled glaring up at his brother as Dodger pranced between the two of them.

“no you don’t, c’mon it’ll be good! You can work off all those chips” Scott says grabbing the bag of chips in question, and munching on a couple.

“fine but just a quick one, I’m still sore if I do too much” Chris sighs pushing himself up from the couch knowing there was no way Scott was going to let it slide.

He grabbed a hoodie that had been dumped on the side and slid on his trainers before grabbing his Nasa cap, securing it low on his head. He turned back to Scott who had already put Dodger on his leash.

“What?” Chris muttered when he saw the smirk on Scott’s face.

“oh nothing, you just have the angsty teen look down to a tee” Scott smirks giving him a sarcastic thumbs up.

“you’re an ass” Chris huffs as he opens up the front door and steps outside not bothering to look behind him to see if Scott was following.

The three of them made their way into the wooded area nearby, both the Evans brothers walking in silence as Dodger ran through the trees. The tension was palpable and Chris knew it was only a matter of time before Scott started asking questions and prodding Chris for answers. So he decided to delay it as long as possible.

“how’s Steve?” Chris asked looking down at his feet, focussing on putting one foot in front of the other.

“he’s good, we went bowling the other day which was fun, we’re thinking of trying to find a team to join, or set up our own” Scott tells him shrugging his shoulders.

“That sounds nice” Chris hums “did he say anything about how it’s been at the station?”

“same old same old, nothing dramatic has happened since well… since you,” Scott says shrugging his shoulders “they miss you though and I know they can’t wait until you’re back”

A small smile tugged at Chris’ lips hearing that there was always a little voice in his head that told him otherwise, that his crew would barely notice his absence, maybe even welcome it “me neither, I hate being stuck in the house”

“a good thing I got you out and about then hey?” Scott smirked nudging Chris with his elbow.

“yeah, I guess” Chris sighs shrugging his shoulders as he stuffs his hands in his hoodie pocket.

“plus you’ll be back in no time, it’s been what 4 weeks already?” Scott points out.

“closer to 5 now” Chris mutters.

“Exactly, and you’ll be back at work saving lives, fighting fires in no time,” Scott tells him putting a hand on Chris’ shoulder.

Chris just hums in agreement keeping his gaze on the floor in front of his feet. He could feel Scott watching him but thankfully silence fell between the two of them once more. Chris hoped that it meant Scott wouldn’t pry anymore.

“oh guess what I saw Y/N the other day,” Scott says making Chris internally groan, so close.

“Really?” Chris hummed trying to act casual and not like he was clambering for any information he could get.

“yeah, she was in this super intense pursuit! It was like something out of a cop film, jumping over stuff, dodging in and out of pedestrians! She tackled this massive dude, the both of them tussling on the floor, hands and feet everywhere! She finally subdued him though but god it looked rough!” Scott exclaims blowing a large huff of air as he shook his head.

“shit is she okay? Did she get hurt?” Chris demanded unable to stop his concern for you from showing.

“yeah I made it all up I just wanted to see whether you were still moping over her” Scott smirks victoriously.

Chris’ jaw ticked as he clenched his fist trying to stop himself from doing something rash like slamming Scott into the nearest tree in response to the near heart attack he almost gave him. He barely controlled his anger as he pointed at his little brother “don’t you dare joke about that sort of thing!” Chris growled.

Scott held up his hands “okay, okay I’m sorry, it was a low blow but it was the only way I could get you to open up”

“there’s nothing to open up about!” Chris exclaimed throwing his arms out “I blew every chance I had and I’m not going to get another! Ever!”

Scott sighs his shoulders slumping as he looked back over at Chris “that can’t be true”

“it is” Chris shakes his head, “she told me so herself”

Scott sighs pursing his lips in thought “are you sure, tell me everything that she said, word for word” he presses, Chris, sighs dropping his head and shaking it about to protest “Chris please, you might have missed something”

Chris sighs reluctantly agreeing, he runs through the last time he saw you, what had happened, and what had been said. Scott listened intensely, never once interrupting as he took in every piece of information Chris provided him.

“and then she said she couldn’t let it happen again so I should just leave her alone and forget about her” Chris finished with a shaky breath.

“whoa” Scott mutters biting at his lower lip.

“yeah so it’s a lost cause, I just need to do as she says and try and forget” Chris sighs rubbing his forehead tiredly.

“I dunno… I think you still might have a chance” Scott says shrugging his shoulders.

Chris scoffs shaking his head “you did just hear exactly what I said right?” he asks in disbelief.

“yeah and she said she could never hate you, she still has a lot of love for you” Scott points out.

“she doesn’t trust me though” Chris sighs shaking his head.

“yeah well, you just have to try and explain it all, show her why she can trust you despite all of this” Scott reasons.

“I don’t think that’ll fix it” Chris mutters kicking a small pebble.

Scott sighs “you know that family meeting ma called a few days back? the one where she told us all about her and dad?”

Chris nods remembering the meeting well. The day after Chris had gone over to apologise she called all the Evans siblings in for a family meeting to completely clear the air about what had really happened in the divorce. It wasn’t an easy meeting to say the least, a lot of feelings were aired, and many emotions were processed.

“well do you know where I went after that meeting?” Scott asks arching a brow in question, Chris shook his head in response “I went straight to Steve’s” Scott says making Chris’ eyebrows raise in surprise “I told him everything and he said he understood it, that he’d seen there were walls inside me because of it and he said he wanted to help me break them down together”

Chris was stunned into silence, blinking a couple of times as he processed what Scott had told him “and I bet Y/N has seen the same walls in you but you need to let her in if you want to break them down” Scott sighs shaking his head gently.

Chris nods swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat “but how? How do I even get the chance to tell her? she won’t listen to me” he says quietly, his voice thick with emotion.

“I think it’s time you stopped burying the hopeless romantic in you,” Scott says with a knowing look “let him take charge on this one, and hey if you’re stuck there’s a million different songs and movies out there with romantic gestures, just take a leaf out of that book”

Chris looks back at Scott unconvinced “do you really think that will work?” he asks uncertain.

“you’ll look like a madman but at least you’ll have her attention long enough to say your piece, and it’ll be on your terms unlike in the grocery store when it was sprung on you,” Scott says squeezing Chris’ shoulder.

Chris nods feeling somewhat optimistic for the first time in days. He knew it was still a slim chance but it was a chance and that was all he needed and as long as he had that chance he would fight every day to win you back.

“Thanks Scott,” Chris says with a small smile.

“It's nothing just make sure I’m your best man” Scott smirks winking over at him.

Chris laughs, properly laughs for the first time in what feels like weeks “you’re my best man no matter what”

You let out a long tired sigh closing your front door behind you, slumping against it as you pinched the bridge of your nose. Today had been a long day, you had been looking for evidence all day trying to find a way to catch this drug ring leader but it had been dead end after dead end.

Pushing yourself up from the door you trudged over to your bedroom, quickly shrugging off your jacket and dumping it on your bed. stepping inside your bathroom you turned on the shower, and stripping down you stepped into the shower letting the hot water run down your body.

Closing your eyes you counted to ten, you knew this case wasn’t going to be easy. You were trying to tackle a large-scale drug ring, this could be a case you would work on for years, only ever arresting the small-time drug dealers who would refuse to spill any intel.

You decided to spend longer than you normally would in the shower. You needed a pick me up so self-care was the way forward, it was almost embarrassing to say you had let a few things slip in the last few weeks since the whole Chris thing.

By the time you stepped out of the shower, the sun had set and rain was pattering against the windows. Even though you were scared of storms there was always something cosy about rain, you enjoyed wrapping yourself up in a blanket, a hot cup of cocoa and a book in hand.

So you did just that, you got on your comfiest clothes grabbed your favourite blanket, made yourself a steaming cup of cocoa and settled down on the couch with a book.

You had only gotten a couple of chapters in when you hear something against your window. You flinched at the noise, freezing for a moment to assess what you’d just heard. You gulped slightly, and the worry that a storm was rolling in washed over you. the last storm you dealt with was the one at Chris’ house and while that started off terrible it was the first time you managed to get through the night not completely frozen in fear, you’d felt safe.

You waited a couple of moments to see if something happened but it didn’t, there wasn’t a flash of lightning or clap or thunder. You were about to snuggle back down into the couch when you heard the noise again, this time it was much clearer and you could hear a definitive ping.

Frowning in confusion you slowly push yourself up from your couch, you crept towards your window hearing a couple more pings as you got closer. It was only when you reached the window that you saw it was tiny little rocks being thrown at your window. Blinking a couple of times in surprise you looked down at the street groaning when you saw who it was.

“oh for fuck sake” you grumble pushing the window open “what the hell are you doing!?” you shout down at him.

Chris was standing there staring back up at you as if he was shocked you had even responded, a smile tugging at his lips “I’m trying to win you back, like in the movies!” Chris shouted back holding his arms out.

“what the hell?” you exclaim looking down at him with a bewildered expression.

“This is how it goes right, you know me standing here like a ghost shaking from the rain” Chris calls up doing a fake shiver “you’ll call me insane and open up the door,” he says pointing up to you.

“you are fucking insane Chris!” you shout pinching the bridge of your nose unable to believe this was actually happening.

“I know but I thought the ink on the cue cards would run and it wouldn’t be good to use a stereo in the rain, so standing here proclaiming my feelings in the rain is my only option” Chris shouts back up with a small chuckle.

You roll your eyes at him “I know exactly how you feel Chris and I don’t want to hear anymore!” you shout down at him.

Chris was about to shout something back but was interrupted when your neighbour opened his window and shouted “what’s going on out here?” the old man questions as he pokes his head out.

“nothing Mr Jenkins I’ve got it handled,” you tell him forcing a smile, nobody irritated you more than your elderly neighbour.

“Are you sure dear I can call the police?” he offers pushing up his large bifocals.

You gritted your teeth in annoyance, you had told him multiple times that you were a police officer yet he never seemed to pay attention. Always more than willing to call the cops no matter how small the situation or the fact that you, a police officer lived in the building.

You were about to shout a snarky response back to him but Chris beat you to it “hey! You do realise she is a cop” Chris shouts glaring up at your neighbour.

Mr Jenkin's eyes widen in surprise glancing over at you before looking back at Chris “are you sure?” he questions making you growl in frustration.

“Are you fucking kidding me!” Chris fires back, fury clear in his eyes as he glared at the old man “she’s the fucking best in the business! She is not just any cop she is a sergeant and she’s the best kind of cop because she cares! It isn’t about stats or arrest numbers with her she actually wants to help people!” he bellows.

Your jaw drops in surprise, you hadn’t expected him to defend you like that and even though you were still very hurt and angry with him you couldn’t help but feel your heart swell. Jake had never done anything like that, if anything he’d played along with Mr Jenkins.

“oh I’m sorry dear you should have told me,” Mr Jenkins says looking over at you “I’ll leave you to it, just holler if you need me to call for back up”

You force a smile nodding quickly as he went back inside and shut his window. Closing your eyes you took a deep breath to centre yourself before looking back down at Chris. You were about to thank him but you couldn’t open that door, you couldn’t let him in you had to shut him out.

“Y/N-“ he started but you interrupted him.

“Chris can you just leave me alone please!” You shout down to him, moving to shut the window

“I lied!” Chris shouted

“I know Chris you told me already!” You scoff shaking your head at him.

“No in the hospital, I lied when I said I didn’t love you, because fuck… I love you Y/N so fucking much it terrified me” Chris says shaking his head.

“I- I don’t believe you” you stutter in shock.

“It's true, and I said it because I was scared, scared that I’d hurt you, that I’d break your heart” Chris explains “my parents were my definition of love for practically all my life! So when they got divorced my faith in love was broken because all I’ve ever heard is how I'm just like my dad, I tried to not believe it but with every failed relationship it just me more and more hopeless because if he broke my ma’s heart I was destined to do the same!” Chris exclaims gesturing wildly with his hands, pausing for a moment as he took a steadying breath “but I’m not my dad, I’m my own person and I know I’ve hurt you so many times already but I’m begging you please to give me another chance because I’ve never felt this way about anyone else and honestly… you’re it for me and I know I’m gonna find it terrifying, scared that one day my job could take me away from you and the pain that could cause but that fear is the exact reason why I know I should do this… because it just shows how much I care and love you”

Your mouth opened and shut repeatedly as you tried to process everything that he said “Chris i-“ you start unable to find anything else to say.

“Y/N please just let me up and I’ll answer any questions you might have, let me show you that you can trust me” Chris begged holding his hands together in a pleading motion.

You slowly nodded your head “oh-okay let- let me just buzz you in” you stutter going to step back from the window.

“wait no! it's okay I can climb up” he shouted quickly moving over to the fire escape.

“Chris no it's okay I can just buzz you-“ you start but it was no use, Chris had already jumped up to reach the ladder with a small grimace and started climbing.

Soon enough Chris was climbing into your apartment through your window, quickly shaking the rain from his hair before shutting the window. The two of you stood a couple of feet apart in silence just staring at each other, neither really knowing what to say.

“hi,” Chris muttered.

“hi” you whispered back, your voice cracking.

Silence fell in the room once more and you knew Chris was just waiting for you to say something but you didn’t know what to say. He had just proclaimed his love for you, told you that you were it for him, and you needed a bit of time to process it all.

“Y/N um-“ Chris starts wrapping his arms around himself hiding a small shiver.

“you’re cold” you interrupt “you’re gonna catch a chill, wait here while I get you a change of clothes or something,” you say completely flustered “do you want a hot drink?”

“Y/N,” Chris says gently.

“A shower? I can put your clothes in the dryer?” you continue to ramble turning to move.

“Y/N” Chris says with a gentle chuckle reaching out to take your hand stopping you from your flustering.

You bit your lip slowly turning around to face him, as soon as your eyes met his and tears welled up in your eyes. Chris’ face fell when he saw your tears.

“shit I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry, please don’t cry” he muttered shaking his head.

Your hand shook as you quickly wiped away your tears “no- no its okay-“

“no it's not, fuck I keep making it worse and I’m sorry, I just love you so much and I want to make this right but if you need more time,” Chris says quickly dropping your hand and taking a step back.

“no- please don’t- I-“ you stutter before taking a deep breath “I love you too Chris” you whispered.

Chris’ jaw dropped and tears welled up in his eyes “you do?” he mutters in disbelief.

You nod your head sniffling back the tears “I never stopped, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop” you admit.

Chris lets out a watery chuckle, taking a couple of steps closer, and closing the distance. His hand slowly and shakily moves to cup your cheek, his thumb gently brushing over your skin “can I kiss you?” he whispers.

You chuckled nodding your head “please do”

Chris smiled down at you, he slowly leans down to press a gentle kiss to your lips. The kiss started off slow and hesitant, the both of you just waiting for the other to pull back but that never happened. Meaning the kiss only deepened, all the pent-up feelings spilling out making up for lost time.

“I missed you so so much, and I promise I’m all in,” Chris says once you finally broke for air.

“I missed you too” you whisper your hands resting on his chest “and are you okay? It sounds like you’ve been through a lot”

Chris lets out a small chuckle “I had a lot of growing and relearning to do, and admittedly there’s still a lot to do but I would do it a hundred times over if it meant I got to have you” he says brushing some hair out of your face, his fingers gently trailing over your skin.

You smile up at him “so are we doing this? Us?” you ask him.

“I’m in if you’re in” Chris promises.

“I’m in, but you have to promise me that you’ll be completely honest with me, we need to be able to communicate, no outbursts because it’s been all bottled up,” you tell him, pointing up at him.

“deal I will try to be as open and honest as I can” Chris promises putting a hand on his heart “and look about your father” he starts but you stop him by putting your finger to his lips.

“I don’t want to talk about him,” you say shaking your head.

Chris sighs gently, his hands running up and down your arms “I know, and I promise I won’t bring him up if you don’t want to but we kinda need to address the fact that out of everyone I’m the guy he’d hate the most dating you” he points out.

You sigh nodding your head, he was right after all “you’re right, but I don’t want that to stop us, I’ll work it out and in the meantime, we’ll just keep it on the down low, keep it professional at work and only tell the people we trust” you suggest.

A smirk grows on Chris’ face as he wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you closer into his embrace “keeping you all to myself I like that”

You chuckle pushing back “you’re making me all soggy” you complain “let me go get you a change of clothes before you get ill”

“fine but as soon as I’m changed I’m never letting you go ever again” Chris smiles leaning down to kiss you.  

“I wouldn’t mind that one bit” you grin stepping out of his embrace.

It didn’t take long to find some spare clothes for Chris to wear, you hadn’t realised you were starting to build a small collection already, it hadn’t even occurred to you that the hoodie you were currently wearing also belonged to him.

“here you go, and um stay as long as you like, I know you probably need to get back for Dodger,” you say as you pass him the pile of clothes.

“my ma is looking after him,” Chris tells you as he takes the clothes, quickly pulling off his sodden clothes and slipping on the dry ones.

You arch a brow in surprise “were you really that confident?” you ask him.

“no” Chris chuckles shaking his head “well actually I guess it was more 50/50, I knew that I’d either end up here or go back to my ma’s to drown my sorrows,” he says with a lopsided smile.

You laugh shaking your head at him “well you are more than welcome to stay the night, I have tomorrow off so there won’t be a rush to leave in the morning and I promise I won’t make you sleep on the couch this time” a small smirk playing at your lip.

A grin grows on Chris’ face “now that sounds like my idea of perfect, but… I have to be completely honest with you as much as I’d love to show you exactly how much I missed you, I want to do this right… I want to take you out first, on a proper date”

“you do realise none of what we’ve done is conventional so far” you remind him taking a step closer, and resting your hands on his chest.

“I know” he chuckles “but I wanna start it off right this time and well… my chest is still kinda sore so I wouldn’t be at my best and you deserve nothing less”

Your face falls slightly with realisation your hands quickly moving off his chest “oh shit I completely forgot, how could I forget? Do you need anything painkillers? How are you? and the burns?” you say beginning to fret over him.

Chris chuckles gently, grabbing your wrists to stop you “I’m fine, burns are healed and the ribs nearly are too, I just can’t do anything strenuous” he says his thumbs brushing over your skin to calm you.

“oh.. okay good, but you tell me as soon as you need anything okay?” you tell him, giving him a stern look to show you were serious.

Chris smiles down at you “all I need is you” he whispers as he cups your cheek and brings your lips up to his.

Ta-thump, Ta-thump, Ta-thump.

You slowly woke to the sound of a steady and reassuring heartbeat, a blanket of warmth enveloping you making it near impossible to wake up. Slowly but surely you managed to open your eyes, tilting your head up and smiling when you laid eyes on Chris.

You had your head resting on his chest, nuzzled right underneath his chin, both his arms wrapped tightly around you as if he was scared you’d disappear in the night. You wouldn’t though, despite everything there was nowhere else you’d rather be right now.

This wasn’t the first time you’d woken up in Chris’ arms but this was the first time you could really appreciate it. you didn’t have to sneak out to get to work or act all flustered because you were ‘just friends’, this was really happening, you and him. It was exciting and terrifying, but so much still needed to be discussed to give this the best shot possible.

“I can hear you thinking” Chris murmured pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

You let out a small snort of laughter lifting your head from his chest so you could look at him, smiling when you saw the sleepy smile on his face “oh yeah what did it sound like?”

“you know that noise that an old laptop makes when it sounds like it’s about to take off?” Chris hums a small smirk playing on his lips.

You gasp slapping his shoulder as you sat up “how rude!”

Chris lets out a loud laugh wrapping his arms around you tightly, and pulling you back down into his embrace “I’m joking, did you sleep well last night? The storm didn’t disturb or spook you too much did it?” he asks his fingers gently running through tendrils of your hair.

You frown pushing yourself up again to look down at him “storm? What storm?”

Chris blinks a couple of times, confusion clear on his face before slowly a smile replaces it “you slept through it” he mutters before shaking his head slightly “I wasn’t sure because you flinched a couple of times, I’m so proud of you” he smiles brushing some hair out of your face.

“but- but I didn’t do anything” you stutter shaking your head.

“you got through it, and maybe knowing that will help with the next one”  he smiles, his hands moving to rest on top of yours, fingers weaving between yours.

“whoa” you mutter under your breath, never in your entire life had you been able to sleep through a storm, even at your best you’d still wake up and remain wide awake until the final crack of lightning.

“so what do you want to do today? My ma said she’d look after dodger for as long as needed so I’m free all day?” Chris says as you shifted back down to lie down with him.

“I don’t know, I haven’t had a proper lazy day in a while, but you’re probably sick of doing nothing” you hum glancing up at him.

“a little, but doing nothing with you sounds perfect” he smiles kissing the top of your head “so why don’t you go grab a shower and I’ll put the coffee on?”

You smile nodding your head and quickly pecking his lips before climbing out of bed, and making your way over to your bathroom you paused at the door glancing over your shoulder at him. You smiled to yourself as you took in the sight of him laying in your bed, smiling back at you.

“enjoying the view?” he asks with a smirk, you fail to hold back a smile nodding your head in response “good because me too”

Once you were showered you made your way out of your bedroom and towards the kitchen, following the scent of coffee and breakfast. Rounding the corner to your kitchen you spotted Chris standing at the hob, tea towel draped over his shoulder as he scrambled some eggs.

“ah just in time, I made my famous scrambled pesto eggs” Chris grins as he begins to plate up your breakfast.

“you cooked?” you ask in surprise as you sat down.

“of course, I made you your coffee too” Chris smiles passing you a steaming cup of coffee, kissing the top of your head.

You smile gratefully as you take a sip of your coffee, your smile growing when you realise it had been made in the exact way you like it “thank you so much Chris you really didn’t have to”

Chris shrugs as he sits down opposite you “I know but I wanted to” he smiles sipping on his own cup of coffee.

“well thank you anyway, it looks delicious” you smile.

A comfortable silence falls in the room as the two of you eat breakfast together, sipping on coffee and just enjoying each other’s company. A couple of times you wanted to bring up all the thoughts you’d been thinking since you woke up, but you just didn’t know how and you didn’t want to burst this perfect bubble you found yourself in.

“I was thinking we should probably talk a few things through, make sure we’re on the same page,” Chris says setting his cup of coffee down.

You breathe out a deep sigh of relief “yes, I was thinking the exact same thing, I want this to work and I don’t want to wait for an issue to crop up” you say.

“Exactly so let's air any concerns we have now and come up with solutions” Chris nods.

“okay well we already kinda covered communication last night, no bottling things up we need to be honest and open about how we’re feeling, so I guess we should talk about our jobs,” you say shrugging your shoulders slightly.

“yeah I mean we both know how unpredictable our schedules can be, plans might change last minute, and we could go days without having a full day off together” Chris points out gesturing with his hand.

“I would suggest a date night but that hasn’t really worked for me in the past, something can always crop up” you sigh shrugging your shoulders.

Chris hum pursing his lips in thought, glancing off to the side “how about a shared calendar? My sister has one for her husband and the kids, helps them keep on track of where everyone is and they can plan stuff, we can try and find at least one evening a week that we do something and easily move it around our work schedules” he suggests looking back over at you.

“what if we have to stay late or something though? Like you get called out in the last half hour of your shift” you point out.

“we’ll text, send a code or something so the other person knows what’s happening” Chris suggests making you chuckle.

“like our own dispatcher code?” you smirk.

“exactly like that, we could have some fun with it… call in a code 69” he smirks.

You gasp laughing at him and shaking your head “Christopher!” you couldn’t deny the sudden warmth you felt in your body, making you shift in your seat.

“don’t act like you don’t love it” Chris winks.

“okay fine” you concede smiling over at him “a code it is” you agree before reaching out across the table to take his hand “we should probably also talk about the dangers associated with our jobs”

Chris swallows quietly nodding his head “yeah we should” he breathes out.

“it’s going to be impossible for us not to worry about each other, I won’t lie and say watching you go into that building and getting hurt wasn’t the scariest moment of my life,” you tell him.

Chris nods looking back at you full of remorse, his hand shifting underneath yours so he could hold onto you, squeezing your hand gently.

“but we have to trust that we’ll be okay, promise that we won’t take stupid risks,” you say with a pointed look, the corners of Chris’ mouth twitching upwards for a split second.

“I promise, no more running into buildings without the proper equipment” Chris swears putting his free hand on his heart.

“and we can make a code for it too, so whenever there’s a high-risk call out we text the other saying that we’re safe” you suggest.

Chris nods “that sounds like a really good plan, and I am so sorry again about that,” he says squeezing your hand.

“I know it's fine, I understand and I forgave you, I know why you made your decision to go in and honestly I probably would have done the same” you sigh.

Chris smiles lifting your hand up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to your knuckles “god I love you” he sighs.

“I love you too” you smile.

“Another thing I want to clear the air on and I promise I won’t bring it up again” Chris starts shifting slightly in his seat.

“my father?” you guess with a heavy sigh.

Chris nods with an apologetic look in his eyes “I just-“ he sighs looking down for a moment “I’m sorry for what I said about him, we clearly see the situation differently and I just want to let you know that I support whatever you want to do”

You take a deep but shaky breath nodding your head “thank you…” you sigh, nibbling at your lower lip “I know he wasn’t the best parent… and he is an ass sometimes… but he’s the only family I have left and I think he still did the best job he could raising me, he isn’t a monster” you say shaking your head.

“okay” Chris sighs nodding his head “you know the situation best so I’ll take your word on it”

“thank you, Chris, that really means a lot,” you say squeezing his hand.

He gives you a reassuring smile “it's nothing now c’mere” he says tugging your hand and pulling you out of your seat and towards him, he then tugs you down onto his lap, burying his head in the crook of your neck and kissing your neck.

“We have one last thing we need to discuss” you whisper as you snuggle down into his lap.

“what’s that?” he murmurs against your skin.

“Can I call you my boyfriend?” you ask a grin tugging at your lips as you turned to face him.

Chris smiles back up at you, his hand moving to cup your cheek “only if I get to call you my girlfriend” he whispers against your lips before capturing them with his own.

You smile into the kiss nodding your head in answer, your heart swelling with so much emotion you think it could burst. You had never been happier in your life and you couldn’t wait to see what was to come.

You couldn’t recall having a day as good as the day you had today. Because it was perfect, everything just fell into place perfectly, like how it was almost meant to be. You and Chris had spent the entire day in domestic bliss, you watched TV cuddled up together, and read books with your feet in his lap. You cooked lunch and dinner together and cleaned up afterwards together.

And it all felt so natural. Like you had been doing this for years already.

It was so perfect that you tried to convince Chris to stay another night. But he just gently shook his head kissing your forehead, telling you softly that he should go pick up Dodger and he wanted you to get some rest before work the next day. Only giving you a small smirk when you told him you slept better with him there.

“I’ll see you soon, sleep well sweetheart” Chris smiles pulling you closer “go catch some criminals for me” he mumbles against your lips.

You chuckle gently nodding your head as you kiss him once more “I promise, see you soon I love you” you smile.

Chris beams down at you pressing yet another chaste kiss to your lips “I love you too”

You watch as he steps back, opens the door and steps outside closing the door behind him. Almost immediately you walked over to your window, pulling back the curtains so you could watch him step out onto the street. You watched as he walked to his car across the street, pausing when he spotted you at the window. A smile grew on his face as he blew you a kiss before climbing into his car.

You watched him pull away out of view before closing the curtains and stepping back into your apartment. You had barely taken a few steps towards the couch when you heard your phone ringing. Reaching for it you hoped it was Chris but let out a small sigh of disappointment when you saw it was Ben.

“hey Benny, you alright?” you ask as you picked up.

“hey I’m nearby your neighbourhood and I think I left something at your apartment is it alright if I come round and grab it?” Ben asks.

“oh uh yeah sure, what is it and I’ll start looking,” you say glancing around your apartment trying to spot if there was anything out of place.

“Nah it's fine, I’m practically outside so I can look when I get there,” Ben tells you making your brows furrow in confusion.

“oh okay alright, I’ll um see you in a minute then,” you say before the call disconnects.

You had barely had time to put your phone back in your pocket when you heard your intercom buzzing, surely Ben couldn’t have gotten here so soon.

“Hello?” you ask when you pick up the receiver.

“hey it's me” Benny calls back making your eyebrows raise in surprise.

“oh wow, you weren’t joking when you said you were practically outside” you mutter.

You hear Ben chuckle back to you “yeah now hurry up it's cold out here” he laughs.

You quickly buzz him in and unlock your door so he could just walk straight in. your mind then started to race, if he was that close by could he have seen Chris leaving a few minutes ago? You trusted Ben, of course, you did, and you would tell him about you and Chris but you were still getting your own head around the past 24 hours.

“heya, did you have a good day off?” Ben asks as he opens the door and steps into your apartment.

“Hm? Oh yeah didn’t really get up to much, just lazed around mostly” you say scratching the back of your neck “so um what is it we’re looking for?”

“oh yeah, it's uh-“ Ben asks before frowning, sniffing a couple of times “what’s that smell?”

You furrow your brows in confusion “what smell?” you ask, not smelling anything unusual at all.

“It's this kind of musky, ashy smell? Did you burn something?” Ben asks walking towards your kitchen and peering inside.

“no I mean I had a candle going earlier but it was a lavender one” you explain pointing to the candle in question on the coffee table.

“no it's definitely not that,” Ben says turning back to face you, sniffing deeply a couple more times “its smells like fire…. Or should I say firefighter?” a shit-eating grin growing on his face.

You narrow your eyes at him “you little shit” you grumble crossing your arms over your chest.

“Hey, I’m happy for you, that little moment by the window where he blew you a kiss was cute” Ben laughs holding his hands up in surrender.

Your jaw drops “you were spying on us!” you gasp in shock.

“no, well yes… technically it was a stakeout” Ben points out.

“Benny!” You complain.

“I’m sorry, but I was worried okay? Your texts sounded odd so I decided to swing around to make sure you were okay, and then I spotted him here closing your curtains” Ben explains as he walks back towards you “and the last I heard you wanted to rip his throat out so I stuck around in case it went south, and I’m guessing by the look on your face it went a different kind of south” he smirks.

“benny, oh my god no!” you say hear flushing your cheeks “we didn’t, I mean we wanted but he’s still sore from his accident so we-“ you realised you were rambling and snapped your mouth shut.

Ben gave you another shit-eating smile as he moved to sit down on the couch “alright then, tell me everything, are you guys together?”

You let out a long sigh as you sat down next to him, a smile creeping on your face at the thought of Chris “yeah we are, we’re taking it slow and not really telling anyone except his family and our friends” you explain “I was going to tell you tomorrow at some point”

“so what changed?” Ben asks tilting his head slightly in question.

“he told me he lied in the hospital because he was scared and wanted to protect me from himself because he loved me,” you tell him letting out a small sigh.

Ben nods his head “questionable methods, but I understand, it’s a fear we all have working in this line of business” ben sighs “so how do you feel about it all?”

You purse your lips taking a moment to gather your thoughts and work out exactly what it was you were feeling “Happy… warm… scared” you sigh looking back over at Ben.

“what scares you?” Ben asks gently.

“how much I love him already… I’ve never felt like this with anyone before and it's scary and exciting and seems too good to be true, it’s like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop” you admit fiddling with your fingers in your lap “and that when it does it will hurt so much I don’t think I’ll survive it”

Ben nods reaching out to take your hand and squeezing it “that fear is there to tell you how real it is and what it means to you, so grab it by the balls and don’t let go” he says making your snort with laughter “and honestly I don’t think Chris is stupid enough to fuck it up again which means he’ll be there fighting with you if and when the shoe drops”

You give Ben a small smile “thank you, Benny”

Ben smiles back at you wrapping his arms around you to pull you into a tight hug “it's nothing, you know I’d do anything for you and I have to say” he says pulling away enough to look you in the eyes “I’ve never seen you so happy, you’re practically glowing”

A wide smile grew on your face as nodded because you couldn’t deny it, you had never felt so happy. It felt like your heart was bursting and it was only the first day. So like Ben said you were gonna grip it by the balls and never ever let go.  

Sharing is caring so please reblog if you enjoyed this and maybe even leave a comment to make my day!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

I don’t have a tag list but follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary​ and turn on post notifications to stay up to date!

[monstersandmaw]

Alcoholic beverages brewed by different races.

Elven wine is light and airy, brewed from sap and nectar and honey and berries and other fine forest ingredients, soft and subtle to the taste, they're not heavy drinkers but see it as elegant and high-class and fancy.

Dwarven wine is brewed from underground roots and tubers. Deep and rich, like more potent root beer. They prefer bolder flavors and occasionally bring in herbs and spices from above ground to experiment with different mixes.

Goblin wine is definitely an acquired taste for non-goblins. Their cuisine prominently features fermented food and so does their brewery. To the unfamiliar it might taste spoiled or rotten, but to goblin standards it's the finest stuff. Sours and bitters are the strongest hints in their brews, not exactly something most humans would find appealing.

Orc wine is extremely powerful and potent. They even have to come with warning labels to be marketed to other races. To orcs, even fine dining is seen as a glorious challenge, and some even put burning hot spices mixed with their drinks as a further test of will and strength.

Centaurs, fauns and satyrs, being part ruminant, typically stick to the usual grain-based beers. But like how many grazing animals have highly efficient livers that can process alcohol quickly, they can casually down large quantities of the stuff without getting intoxicated or having any ill effects.

Merfolk don't exactly drink, so the next best thing are very mildly toxic seafood to have a similar effect, something along the lines of dolphins tripping on pufferfish. They strictly control the use of these, however, as a misuse can be dangerous, and have a code against making landfolk try it as they don't have natural resistances like the merfolk do.

Oof I love all of this! I didn't know that about grazing animals having efficient livers... interesting fact. Now I'm picturing minos, centaurs, satyrs, and fauns etc. being real heavyweights.

(I would posit though that elven alcohol can also be breathtakingly strong (think fruity schnapps) too).

[the-white-void]

Just Vampire Tsaritsa

While you were skipping over the snow surrounding the forest you find a woman sitting alone on a log staring endlessly at the falling snow, you approached her nervously and asked: “Uhm, excuse me what are you doing here in the middle of the woods?” She tilted her head towards you revealing a veil covering her face “I’m sorry to have bothered you” she stood up to leave but you tried to tell her that she wasn’t bothering you, only concerned about why she was out in the cold.

You invited her inside your cabin to rest as long as she needed. It was night time so you started preparing for dinner, you ask your guest what she wanted but she declined “there’s no need, I’m not hungry at the moment” which worried you since she hadn’t eaten anything since she arrived so you just made her something to drink “thank you but I really don’t need this” her response bummed you out and it shows

The woman sighed from guilt looking at you having sad puppy eyes and accepted your drink, your face lit up in joy as her enjoying your drink then you catch a small glimpse of her face but you didn’t want to pry any deeper than that “Wait a sec I’ll get your room ready” You arranged her a room to rest and you went to your room for some sleep.

She ran outside to a nearby tree and vomited every last drop she drank from your sweet beverage specially made for her but yet she couldn’t enjoy it, her heart beating faster than how she used to, she hadn’t felt like this in centuries could this be the love she thought but when looking at the vomit on the snow her hands clawed through the bark seeping it’s way to its sap until a small white fox caught her attention becoming her next prey.

You woke up the next day being greeted by her with a cup of water in hand “Hmm? What are doing?” you asked in curiosity of her holding water in her hand as she gestured it to you “thank you” you said as you sat up from the bed, you went to prepare breakfast and asked the woman what she wanted but once again she declined and it worried you is it because she thinks my food sucks or I’m just a bad cook you thought, the knife in you hand started shaking while cutting from that thought.

The woman stepped into the kitchen where you were and saw you on the verge of tears then went to comfort you “is it because you don’t like my food” you said in a cracking voice “huh?” “You’re not eating because my food sucks right?” you said with tears falling down your face “no no no, it’s not your food why I’m not eating” after some time she finally convinced you that your food didn’t suck.

Later that day you were chatting with the woman and asked “hey can I ask for your name?” “Why don’t you call me… Tsarina” she said in a chipper tone “That’s a really cool name, well mine’s y/n” you giggled, and you bother to exchange words for the rest of the day until night came.

Sleep paralysis hit you that night, you tried to sleep it off praying to the Tsaritsa no monster would come to grab your soul but she didn’t seem to hear you praying as a dark silhouette opened your door slowly approaching you.

“maybe just one small taste,” she thought staring at the figure on the bed, those thoughts took over and buried her teeth in their neck sucking the red blood that is released from your skin. Sweet, pure, untainted, and everything she thought of you was being tasted from your delicately sweetened ichor but she pulled away, it was too addicting so she shouldn’t take another sip.

You felt everything and saw her veil as the black muck covering it dissipated as she whispered to your ear “your prayers are heard and I’m right here”

[thedeepssystem]

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[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls: 2/18 ("Back in The Saddle") Part 4 (the DALA has sunk to frightening new lows)

Lorelai has arrived home after a hard day of hardly working to find Dean Forrester in front of her house, washing Rory's car. I look forward to a completely appropriate response! Lorelai hesitated to let Jess perform agreed-upon-in-advance home labor for her (slopping her gutters). Imagine if it was Jess and not Dean who showed up at her home one day totally unannounced and started like, raking her leaves, and he said he was just waiting for Rory to get home and then tried to explain to Lorelai how during Autumn, leaves fall to the ground and they need to be collected. He would meet the business end of that rake.

Totally normal stuff. No one ever warns you that Gilmore Girls is actually a bloodless horror movie.

SHE IS FUCKING SMILING AT HIM. DO YOU SEE THIS?! DO YOU?

Dean: Ya know, sometimes things get on your car. Like dirt or sap, which can get into the paint, and then it's really hard to get off. Even water spots. After it rains, they can be a real problem. Stop it Dean, you know you make Lorelai SO horny when you talk like that. I didn't hear anyone ask you to recite an entry from Butthead Wikipedia.

REWIND THE TAPE, FREDERICK! Let's kick it back to Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, Back In the Saddle, Part 3:

For anyone having trouble keeping up with the class, what just happened here was that with no recall of precisely what she would say, yesterday I jokingly predicted that Lorelai would offer Dean milk and cookies when she found him outside her house stalking Rory instead of turning him into future dog food for Paul Anka, like she would if Jess pulled the same stunt. I got the specific beverage wrong (milk vs soda) but she gently offered him a beverage and a flirty smile and that's what counts. I know her behavior is so fucking predictable at this point, but I feel like I should get some sort of prize for that one. When Dean refuses the refreshing beverage, Lorelai uses her womanly ways to entice Dean into the house anyway. To have a nice little chat in the kitchen. Huh, what is that weird sense of dejavu I'm feeling? Two places where nothing good ever happens: Lorelai Gilmore's kitchen table, and her couch (especialy at night), which is where Lorelai tends to give Rory the worstest of the worst advice/ pep talks.

Hold your horses, Lor. There will be time for playing with his squirty thing later. The front yard is not the place for it. What are you, a fucking animal? He refuses to stop washing the car, which is weird, because he's not one to turn down Lorelai's seduction attempts.

What is even happening? I went into BITS thinking this episode was 100% Certified Dean Free Filler. I miss the Lunchbox Gang.

Take it away, Lorelai!

Dean really said "I'm sorry if my showing up unannounced to your home and washing your daughter's car was a bit of a bother. If that doesn't work for you, I can just stalk her from the porch instead." and this bish really just responded with "That's a sweet offer honeybuns, but she's got schoolwork to do." "Dean, my daughter's not home, why don't you put down your big squirty hose and come into the kitchen for a drink." "Sure things Ms. Gilmore." Where have I seen this porno before? More likely a fic by a highly disturbed individual which should have 18 million trigger warnings. I will not DARE check if someone has written Dean and Lorelai smut. Looking ahead, this kitchen table talk is going to go on a LONG time. I don't have to be Miss Cleo to predict that she's going to give Dean a gentle talk that does not properly address his stalking whatsoever.

God damn Lorelai, just commit a light felony and fuck him already. Get it out of your system so we can move on. At this point I don't even think she'd care if she went to jail and Rory went into a nice foster home or had to go live with Crustypher if it meant she got some sweet DeanMeat. I am in hell and I am sorry for the DeanMeat comment. While Lorelai is in jail, maybe Babette and Morey could adopt Rory. Doesn't that sound nice Rory? A nice childless couple. And kittens! Yeah, it sure does.

A quick Google search confirms the following information about body language: "When women tuck their hair behind their ear, it can be an expression of flirting, openness and interest." Dean looks so uncomfortable, like he wants to crawl out of his own skin (wah wah wah) but I'm not sure if he's more weirded out by Lorelai's overt sexual advances or by the feeling of the vortex that starts swirling when you have two people this fucking crazy sharing the same room, no less sitting so close to each other as Lorelai plays footsie with him under the table. The ol ShitTornado, as I call it.

Dean's excuse for his absolutely appalling behavior is more or less as follows: "I didn't know Rory wasn't home, Lorelai. It's like, she's some independent person with a mind of her own who doesn't feel obligated to tell me where she is at all times so I can stalk her correctly. If she would only give me a printed itinerary of where she is at every minute of every day, I swear I wouldn't have come over. What can I do, lover?"

The most terrifying 8 words that could ever come out of Lorelai Gilmore's mouth.

There is only so much I can take in a day so you'll have to wait for part 5 to hear her "Advice". Ciao,

[transfloridaresources]

[Photo ID: Vintage illustration showing a busy street in autumn with people and carriages moving around as well as ghosts and bats among them. Text reads 'Studios @ 5663 LGBTQ Social. MAKE A SPOOKY THRIFT STORE PAINTING. All materials included, BYOB. Sponsored by Diversity Arts, donations welcome. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED, EMAIL JOHN: jgascot@gascot.com. Friday the 13th of October, 7:30-9:30pm. 5663 Park Blvd, Pinellas Park.' /End ID]

Friday, Oct. 13, 2023 Pinellas Park, FL

It's Halloween season (aka "Gay Christmas) so LET'S GET SPOOKY! Join us for a night of creativity with community and friends. LGBTQ Arts & Crafts Nite @ 5663 is a new second-Friday event for creating art and new friendships within our community. This month we will create a Spooky Thrift Store Painting. Artists John Gascot & Gianna Pergamo will raid local thrift stores to provide each guest with their very own painting to alter and turn into a unique spooky masterpiece! You are also welcome to bring your own from home. Sap Der authentic Lao street food truck will be on site! FREE/Donations to support Diversity Arts 501c3 LGBTQ Youth programming are welcome. ALLIES ALWAYS WELCOME! Materials, guidance and snacks provided. Bring your beverage of choice! Ages:18+ Spaces are limited. REGISTRATION REQUIRED Email: jgascot@gascot.com Allies welcome. Presented by Diversity Arts 501c3, My Trans Network and Studios @ 5663. Source

[robthewriter]

Cruising Caspian’s Seas (not a spelling mistake)

So, I have been following an entertaining thread in one of my Goodreads groups. Someone asked, “Just for fun, if you could visit one setting of a Sci-Fi or Fantasy book for a day, which would you choose and why?”

There were some great suggestions, like the Shire, Wall, to visit the fair every nine years, Rivendell, Arrakis, San Francisco in the Star Trek universe and a lot more, that if I’m honest, I didn’t get and had to Google.

This reminded me of the FAQs I answered when I first set up my Goodreads author page…

Q: If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

A: Robin Tompkins That’s a tricky question. Most of the fictional places I engage with, tend to be great to read about but probably not the best places to actually visit. It’s a bit obvious of me but I would perhaps say Narnia? Not White Witch era Narnia though. Perhaps they are running Dawn Treader cruises now? Nice, comfy, all-inclusive ones, with a good buffet and a nice bar? I’d probably do that.

Which got me thinking about what that cruise would be like exactly…

Join us on our latest island-hopping cruise,

In the Footsteps of the Dawn Treader

Cruising on either MS Cair Paravel or MS Queen Lucy, identical sister ships recently refurbished to the highest standards. Facilities include: two pools, sauna, spa, gym and fitness centre. Five restaurants, eight bars, movie theatre, planetarium and enclosed observation deck.

Itinerary:

Depart Cair Paravel docks on an early morning sailing into the Great Eastern Ocean.

The Lone Islands

Plenty of time to visit the bustling local markets and get a bite to eat at one of the many fine restaurants, or, if you prefer, the street food scene here is a lively one.

Optional Tour

Guided excursion to the Ducal Palace (former Governor’s residence) and a chance to hear about the darker side of the island’s history, with a visit to the Museum of Slavery. Entrance to both included.

Dragon Island

A small but lovely island with an interesting past. Simply relax on the beach or at one of the many cool beach bars. Local speciality is a cocktail made with fermented palm sap called a “Hot Dragon,” (two shots) or a “Warm Dragon,” (one shot).

Optional Tour

Locally guided tour to the Dragon’s Cave. Marvel at the life size animatronic dragon and see the actual dragon bones in the small museum. The museum shop is a great place to pick up souvenirs, they have dragon themed gifts to suit all budgets, from key rings and fridge magnets to gigantic and wonderfully cuddly plushies!

Deathwater Island

An unremarkable looking little island with quite the secret. Purchase one of the sweet little key ring sized teddy bears from the gift shop at the docks and follow our experienced guide up to “The Pool.” Please, Please, stay behind the line and listen to your guide at all times, it’s for your own safety. Watch, as the local custodian takes your teddies for a dip in the pool and returns them to you, now made from solid gold!

Duffer’s Island

The friendly locals will make you very welcome. There is plenty to see and do here and the restaurants are superb. However, you might want to be aware of this comment that we snipped from “Trip Advisor.”

“The Dufflepuds could not have been more welcoming. Lovely restaurant, decorated in the island style with curios everywhere and a great ambience. The food is to die for but don’t make my mistake, you have to remember the local’s mode of locomotion here people… Don’t order the soup, don’t order the soup or any, and I mean any, hot beverage… oh yes, and no red wine either, don’t go there, trust me.”

Optional Tour

Guided visit to the Magician’s Palace and two hour “introduction to simple spell casting” lesson with a registered second year apprentice magician.

The Dark Island

Unfortunately, due to new international maritime guidelines and certain well publicised incidents that you may be aware of, we no longer take parties ashore here. It is still a spectacular and mysterious site as we sail by though.

The Island of the Star

There is a wealth of information available at the visitor centre here and in the “Sleeping Lords” Museum. Star spotters though need to be cautious, as Ramandu and his lovely daughter understandably, do not like people turning up unannounced at their gates. There are however, a number of lovely items that they have been gracious enough to trap a little starlight in, available in the gift shop. These range from earrings and necklaces, through to tiny bottles of starlight and snow globes. Proceeds from the sale of these items benefit local charities.

Merpeople Fiesta

At the edge of the “Sweet Seas” we anchor up. Your ship will hold a spectacular gala party with fireworks and dancing. It’s Merpeople themed, and costumes are available in our onboard shop. For that authentic touch, why not barter with the actual Merpeople who will swim out to the ship in the afternoon? They love to trade for their hand made trinkets, sustainably made from coral and shells.

Only the Brave

If you are brave enough, the ship’s launch can take a small party out onto the Lily Sea to get a better look at the Reepicheep memorial and the Great Wave. The really intrepid can take out a two-man kayak with one of our expert guides and get even closer. Please note that the line of lion headed buoys marks the international Aslan Line and your guide cannot take you beyond that point in line with maritime law. Please be aware that places are limited on this excursion, it’s first come first served, so register early.

A Fond Farewell?

For those on the Short Package, we sadly must say farewell. You will portal back via picture/wardrobe to your original joining point. *

The party is not over yet for those clients who opted for the Full Package. Your ship will now return to Narnia Cair Paravel Docks via a limited stop reverse of the outward route. There will be more days at sea but that is all the more time to enjoy the wonderful facilities and “me time” available on your lavishly appointed cruise ship.

Here be Sea Serpents

You may have noticed on your maps an area near Deathwater Island marked “Here be Sea Serpents.” The reverse route will take in this enigmatic ocean area and if you are lucky and we usually are (management cannot guarantee sightings) you will be able to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat. For your own safety, we recommend viewing from the enclosed observation deck, where our resident serpent expert will be on hand to answer all of your questions.

Cair Paravel and Sadly we Must Say Goodbye

Upon docking at our final destination, we include a tour of the castle and a farewell luncheon in the main hall. After which we say goodbye as you portal home via picture/wardrobe to your original joining point, * your mind brimming with happy memories. See you next year?

*Please note some clients may need to change at the “Wood Between the Worlds” interchange before travelling on to your original joining point. Royal Narnia Lines representatives will be on hand to safely guide you through the process.

______________________________________________________________

What do you think? Who wants to come with me?

PS: For any Narnia super fans who have stumbled upon this, it is not meant to knock or mock the series in any way, I love the work of C S Lewis too, it’s all just in fun OK?

[itoss]

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SAP Business One for Manufacturers – SAP B1 ERP increases visibility and gives solutions in every aspect of your manufacturing operations and resolves your most frustrating production challenges. SAP B1 provider of one-stop management solutions for all manufacturing verticals, including the Apparel Manufacturing Industry, ensures daily operations effectively. 

ERP for Manufacturing Industry supports standard assembly processes, disassembly, as well as special, production orders. SAP Manufacturing can easily centralize all records, analyze opportunity pipelines that can be entered into production orders, identify production slot availability, warehouse location, and issue methods are automatically recorded.

Recipe Management: SAP Business One allows businesses to create and manage recipes for their food and beverage products. This can include tracking ingredients, quantities, and costs, and managing allergen and nutritional information.

Quality Control: SAP Business One can help businesses track quality control measures for their products, including testing and inspections. It can also help manage compliance with regulatory standards and certifications. Inventory Management: SAP Business One allows businesses to manage their inventory levels, including tracking stock levels, setting up reorder points, and generating inventory reports.

Sales Management: SAP Business One enables businesses to track sales data, including the total sales revenue, sales by product, and sales by customer. It can also manage promotions, discounts, and pricing for different products. Purchasing Management: SAP Business One can help businesses manage their purchasing processes, including supplier management, purchase orders, and tracking deliveries.

Financial Management: SAP Business One includes financial management features such as accounting, budgeting, and cash flow management. This can help businesses manage their finances more efficiently and effectively. Reporting and Analytics: SAP Business One can generate reports on sales, inventory, and financial data, allowing businesses to analyze their performance and make informed decisions.

Overall, SAP Business One can provide food and beverage businesses with a comprehensive solution for managing their operations, from recipe management to inventory control, to financial management and reporting.

TOSS Solutions is the top SAP partner in India with SAP B1 market presence having been awarded as the SAP Business One #1 partner. ITOSS Solutions has over a decade-long successful history of rendering services from implementation, customization, support, managed services, cloud hosting, HANA, and migration services.

ITOSS Solutions has been recognized by SAP as the best SAP Business One Partner for the North & East India regions. ITOSS Solutions is a Top ERP Software Vendor based in Delhi NCR rendering its services across the country.