#TALLY DEALER

[emeraldsoftwares]

Best 10 features of Tally Prime

What is Tally Prime? Tally Prime is an advanced version of Tally ERP 9. While maintaining the simplicity of the Tally ERP 9 software, it offers a flood of new capabilities to help you optimize numerous processes, resulting in a more fluid workflow and better productivity. It offers entire business solutions to small, medium, and large organizations in order to meet their ever-increasing company…

[frozenchikenporkbeef]

We have persistently offered premium quality frozen meat products "Frozen Chicken , Frozen Pork and Frozen Beef" We are putting forth an entire scope of Frozen Food items. We are tallied among the main exporters, shippers and dealers of Frozen Meat Products, for example, Halal Frozen Chicken, Chicken Eggs, Frozen Beef, Frozen Pork and that’s just the beginning. We export our items to the USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa , Asia and different nations for its freshness, predominant quality, important nourishment and in addition driving edge innovation. Our offered items are synonymous to unmatched quality and also norms. We are a wholesale food distributing company with a large history of selling fresh and frozen food like frozen chicken, beef, and pork. Since 1994 , We have been a wholesale distributing company of some of the biggest brands of Brazilian goods such fresh and frozen poultry food of brand producers, We focused mainly in Frozen Meats - Beef, Pork, Poultry Products. We have representative offices in Belarus, China and Argentina and we are dealing with over 30 countries worldwide. The company has more than 33 years of working experience within the meat sector. We hold strong relations with Baltic producers. The industry has but one goal, to provide healthy chicken and promote health and happiness around the world. Well not all the chicken that is produced goes out. Brazil's chicken production in 2016 reached an astounding 13.4 million of which 66% stayed home. It was necessary because Brazil is one of the top chicken consumers in the world. The per capita consumption of Brazil is 41.8 Kg which needs to be met.

[spokenfromtheheartandsoul]

funniest part of ray trying to tally up of sand's 20 side hustles and make sense of it is that while part of it is just him being genuinely intrigued by sand, it also seemed like there was the rich boy part of of him that's genuinely baffled by the concept. ray's like, "so you're a singer AND a drug dealer AND a moonshiner and you're STILL poor? jeez, how bad is the economy right now? i wouldn't know"

[togenabi]

apothecary diaries

vinsmoke sanji (opla) x fem!reader

♡—you need peppermint for a salve you're making, but sanji bought all of it, and that's seriously not fair.

word count♡— 3.7k

genre♡— fluff

content notes♡— opla sanji, afab!reader runs an apothecary and likes to make things, inaccurate chemistry for the sake of the story, mentions of flames in bottles, please do not do that, no use of y/n, not fully proofread

also on♡— ao3

author's note♡— I love sanji sm he makes me cry. might be first in a series, but we'll see. please enjoy. xoxo, belle.

The third time a pirate entered your shop, you genuinely considered closing up early today.

You level him with a stare despite the man being twice your size. You cut him off before he can get a word out.

“No, I don't have anything that works against people made of rubber.” Crossing your arms over your chest, you gesture to the rest of your wares. “Now, are you going to get anything else? Or should you be on your way?”

He leaves, disgruntled, but without a fight.

A huff escapes your lips. The nerve of these people.

Ever since that outrageous bounty for that new pirate came along, suddenly every pirate and pirate hunter in the East Blue was gearing up to chase after him. All the poisons that were gathering dust in your storage were cleared out within days of those posters showing up.

It was good berry at first, but they got more aggressive, and started demanding more of everything. More doses than you were comfortable handing out. More dangerous poisons that could kill everyone in the room if the seal loosens by even a crack.

You took up this apothecary business because you wanted to help people. It wasn't exactly your dream to become a poison dealer.

The shop bell rings again. Thankfully, this time it's one of your elderly neighbors and not a pirate seeking poison.

The old lady smiles at you, the sides of her eyes crinkling. “You seem to be quite busy these days, dear.”

“If only they were paying customers like you, Ma'am.” You pick up a box of loose tea from the shelf, already knowing her usual order.

She gasps in concern. “Oh my, did they steal from you?”

“Only my time.” You grimace slightly, remembering how many pirates barged in last week.

“Would you like some honey with this? We have fresh jars from today's shipment.” You offer as you tally her order.

The lady hums in agreement. “Yes, I think some honey would be lovely.”

During slow days like these, you like to tinker with new recipes to sell. On a desk at the very back of the shop, obscured by thick curtains, is your beloved workstation.

You review your notes from the previous day. You'll need to get some peppermint for the healing salve you're developing. Taking a small jar of the experimental paste, you test a small amount on your hand.

Indeed, it needs more peppermint. Maybe you should use extract instead of crushed leaves next time, so that the texture is smoother.

The problem arises when your go-to herb supplier says he's run out of peppermint.

“Please tell me you're kidding.” You groan, looking down at your sadly empty whicker basket.

“M’sorry, lass.” The vendor shrugs, not looking very sorry at all. “You just missed the guy who bought everything. I promise I'll get you your peppermint next week, though.”

Resigned, you sigh, reading through the rest of your shopping list. The salve, at least, can wait a week as it's still a work in progress. The rest of your list, however, are crucial ingredients for your usual bestsellers.

“Fancy looking lad. He asked about spices. Told him to go to the shops down by the river.”

Your stomach drops. Everything else you need are sold by those shops.

Mentally cursing that vendor, you run as fast as your feet can take you. You're not letting some tourist get the better of you when it comes to ingredients.

You reach the river in record time. You'd feel proud if you didn't feel winded. Even so, you scan the road for anyone matching the tourist's description.

There doesn't seem to be anyone remotely fancy around. Triumphant, you go on with your shopping.

You begin to feel better as you cross more things off your list. You've almost forgotten about the peppermint incident, if only you didn't suddenly smell so much of it pass by.

A tall blond man walks by, clearly doing a lot of shopping based on the boxes of supplies he's carrying. The scent of peppermint hits you again. In a paper bag, at the very top of the boxes, you spot bunches of those leaves you've been so desperate for.

You can only clench your jaw in frustration and frown at the back of his head. He purchases a large amount of meat and fish in the next stall, and you gather that he must be some sort of chef. No normal person buys so much meat that the shopkeep offers to deliver everything. But that's what happens to this fancy looking lad. He must not be normal then.

“Yes, my ship's in the docks. You can't miss it, thank you so much for your help.” He smiles. His blue eyes wander the stall, then travel to the next stall over, where you are.

There's a moment of surprise when he finds you already looking at him, but his expression changes instantly into a suave one. It almost makes you want to back away, but you stand your ground when he approaches.

“Aren’t you stunning? I was feeling tired, but your pretty face woke me right up.”

You turn away, pointedly ignoring him. He can't flirt with you while smelling like peppermint. It's just not fair.

“Sorry for the hold up, lass. What's it you need?” The shopkeep you were waiting for shows up just in time. You continue to not pay the blond beside you any attention.

“Cinnamon and salt, please.” You respond. “Pink, if you have any.”

“I'll have the same, good sir.” Fancy pants says. “Though, my salt doesn't need to be pink.”

As the shopkeep rummages through his supplies, the blond continues to speak to you. Why does he keep speaking to you?

“Pink salt is lovely to look at, same as you,” He begins, “But other than the color, there really isn't a difference to normal salt, isn't there?”

He shrugs, his broad shoulder shifting his suit jacket slightly. “You're paying extra for the same result. It's all the same when you cook it.”

“I'm not using it for cooking.” Is your only response.

The shopkeep returns before the stranger can reply. “Here's the salt for you's.” He hands you a bag of pink rock salt, and the stranger a bag of regular salt.

The dread from the peppermint vendor returns when you realize the shopkeep is holding only one bag of cinnamon. He pats it and says, “I could split it so you both get half.”

“I was here first.” You insist desperately. “Sell it to me.”

“...My hands are tied here, lad.” The shopkeep sells you the cinnamon, and it's quickly tucked into your basket when you get your hands on it. The stranger doesn't barter for it. Good.

And with that, you cross out cinnamon and salt from your shopping list. You were able to get everything except the peppermint, which stays neat and legible at the very top of the list.

You crumple the paper and toss it into a nearby bin before making your way back to your shop.

“Are you on your way to get some peppermint?” How did the stranger catch up with you so quickly?

“No.” No matter how much you wish you were.

You try to walk faster, but his pace is steady even with a large box under one arm and several others tied up with twine held in his other hand.

“But it was on your list.” He seems to be very interested in your dealings. Is he always this dedicated when he flirts?

You cross the bridge that arches over the river together. The townsfolk who recognize you and not the man next to you begin to whisper amongst themselves.

It takes everything in you to resist rolling your eyes. After a week of pirates, you suspect your shop will be full of gossiping neighbors soon.

“A certain someone bought all the best peppermint today.” Of course the scent of it wafts over you again as you say so.

“Ah.” Understanding dawns on his face. “I see, I'm sorry if that inconvenienced you.”

It was your turn to shrug. You were about to say that it was okay, but then remember that you wouldn't be able to complete your salve until next week.

You pout before you can help it. “Did you really have to buy all of it?”

He breathes out a laugh. “I normally wouldn't, but my friends tend to have endless appetites. It always pays to have plenty of supplies.”

Even in the middle of the bustling street, a certain group of strangers stand out. They're gathered outside the tavern. You don't know any of them, but you recognize one of them as that infamous new pirate with the exorbitant bounty on his head.

“Speaking of my friends...” The blond trails off, nodding towards that particular group.

You just about stop in your tracks. He's with them? He's a pirate?

Okay. A rich, flirtatious tourist you could deal with. A random pirate crew? You would probably still be fine.

But the crew with the highest bounty in all the East Blue? That's just asking for trouble to happen.

While the stranger is distracted by his friends, you slip into an inconspicuous alleyway. You'd have to go a little further around to reach your shop, but that's alright as long as you avoid those Straw Hat pirates.

Luck seems to not be on your side, though. Because fancy pants shows up to your shop later that evening.

He grins. “You didn't tell me crossing that bridge together meant something. I would have talked about something more romantic than peppermint if I knew.”

Of course, word travels fast in a small town. You should have known someone would tell him. And that he would be able to find you easily if he wanted.

“How does the legend go, again?” He asks teasingly. “If two people cross the bridge together on the day they meet... Theirs souls are bound.”

“It's a myth.” You dismiss his charming grin and try to ignore him.

He leans his elbows on the counter that separates you. He's hunched down, but still towers over you somehow.

“It's romantic. And I'm glad it happened to us.” He smiles. “May I at least know the name of the person my soul is now bound to? Mine's Sanji.”

“Well, Sanji. Are you going to buy something?” You ask and avoid giving him your name.

Sanji, surprisingly, nods. He grabs two cans of your special handmade tea and a large jar of honey.

“I'll buy these,” He places the items on the counter. “And give you this.” He holds out several sprigs of peppermint. You blink at him in surprise.

“...Thank you.” You gingerly take it, and carefully set it to the side.

You're silent while you ring up his order. It's when you're taking out a paper bag for him that you finally cave and reveal your name.

The smile that blooms on Sanji's face isn't how you expected it would be. You expected him to look arrogant, to look proud that he was able to sway you like he did other women before.

But he looks at you sweetly, dimples showing and eyes sparkling. You wordlessly hand over the paper bag.

“A pleasure, darling.”

You would have thought that would be the last time you saw Sanji. But, be it luckily or unfortunately, he finds you the next day with the rest of the Straw Hats tagging along.

Only this time, they seem to be on the run.

You hold open the door for the Straw Hats and, one after another, they flood into your shop. Sanji smiles and says something about your hair, but you can't process the words with his friends scattering to hide.

“Sanji, what the fuck?”

“I know, I know, love. I'm sorry we had to reunite like this. We just need to lay low for a bit.” He reassures you, caressing your shoulders as he does.

“I'll make it up to you! I'll cook you a romantic, candlelit dinner.”

You frown at him, unimpressed.

Sanji kisses his teeth and sighs. “I'll give you the rest of the peppermint.”

You perk up instantly. “Deal. You can all hide in my workstation.”

“Hi, I'm Luffy!” Their captain greets you jovially. “That's Zoro,” Luffy points to the swordsman. “Nami,” The woman. “And Usopp.” The one hiding under your counter.

“Of course, you know Sanji already, being soulmates and all.”

You trip on nothing, and Sanji grabs your hand to steady you. You glare. He just smiles.

“Your shop is really cool!” Luffy exclaims, looking at all the trinkets on the shelf.

“Thanks.” You say dryly, pushing the curtain partition aside. You lead them to the back of the shop.

“Make yourselves at home.” You wave a hand towards the couch and some chairs around your desk. They should be fine here as long as they don't need to stay the night.

Through the gaps in the window blinds, flashlights and shadows stream into the room. There seems to be an active search party out for these guys. You suddenly can't believe you agreed to this for peppermint.

Zoro, whose three earrings glint in the light, shifts to scratch at his chest. You spot bandages from the gap in his shirt.

You grab the small jar of salve from your desk and toss it to him. He catches it, but looks from the jar to you and back, confused.

“It's a healing salve I made. It should help soothe your skin.” You explain.

The swordsman still looks unsure, but opens the jar anyway. Zoro sniffs its contents, and tries putting a small amount on his chest.

You beam at him, unable to help feeling proud at how his shoulders visibly relax after using it.

“Thanks.” Zoro says simply.

“No problem.” You nod back, still smiling.

Luffy looks at the jar as if it's a miraculous cure-for-all. “That's amazing.”

“It smells really good, too.” Usopp says, sniffing at the air around Zoro.

“Do you sell that here?” Nami asks.

“I will, once I make more.” You answer. You never realized how uplifting it was to share your work with new people.

Subconsciously, you turn to Sanji. But, why is he frowning? You follow your gaze to find he's looking at the jar in Zoro's hand.

Before you can ask him if anything is wrong, Luffy bursts out excitedly, "You're a doctor! You should join our crew!"

You wince. “No, I'm a chemist.”

“Cool!” Luffy's enthusiasm does not wane. “So you can heal, right?”

You're about to correct him before they assume things out of your pay grade when Usopp claps his hands in realization.

“She's even better than a doctor!” Usopp insists. “She makes the medicine that the doctors give out!”

Just as you were about to interfere with how much they were overestimating your skills, the shop bell rings. You turn to the clock. Shit, you should have locked up twenty minutes ago.

You meet everyone's eyes and they all nod, understanding that they need to be quiet. You switch off the lights in the back room for good measure.

The customer is a pirate you've never seen before. He looks angry, glaring at every possible hiding spot in your shop. Particularly the room you just came from.

You're careful to completely shut the curtain behind you.

“How can I help you, sir?” You put on your best customer service smile. “I was just about to close the shop, but if it's urgent, I'll help you find what you need.”

The pirate grunts. He's not buying what you're selling at all.

“Perhaps some calming tea? You look like a refined gentleman who would enjoy this.” You hold up a can of tea as if that will help you seem less suspicious.

“What's behind the curtain?” He points behind you accusingly.

“My work area, where I make all the fine products you see before you.”

Stomping forward, he seems to have had enough of your stalling. Fine.

Just as he's about to bash his fist down onto your counter, you grab a suspicious looking dark jar. You hold it up threateningly.

“The hell is that?!” The pirate snarls.

“Haven't you heard? I'm the go-to poison dealer in all the East Blue.” You bluff. “A whiff of this, and you'll sink like a rock, my friend.”

He freezes, but glares at you more fiercely. You pretend to twist the lid.

“Y-you'll kill yourself too, then!” He barks back. “Let's see your bullshit poison then.”

“Oh, but that's what makes me so brilliant.” You grin, laying the act on thick. “I'm immune to all the poisons I make.”

Your hand settles ominously on the lid. “Shall we test who survives?”

The pirate scrambles to leave. He's out before you can blink. Without missing a beat, you lock the front door and draw all window blinds down.

You rest your back against the door. Letting out a loud exhale, you almost let yourself slide down to the floor. How long do you have to deal with pirates like that?

Thoughts of yesterday with Sanji at the market fill your thoughts. If only all days could be like that, where the worst of your problems had been a peppermint shortage.

“You guys can come out, now.” You call out to the Straw Hats.

“Uh... Is that really poison?” Usopp asks, staying very far away from the jar.

You laugh, though it comes out airy due to your tiredness. “No, those are just some herbs I left to ferment.”

“How brilliant of you, love.” Sanji is beside you in a few strides. Him and those long legs.

“Was he the one you guys were hiding from?” You ask. The crew members shake their heads.

“No, actually.” Nami says. “We were hiding from a bunch of—”

Your shop explodes.

Sanji is quick to pull you into his arms and shield you from the debris with his own body. For a minute that feels like eternity, you can't hear anything. Your ears are ringing, and dust clouds over all your years of hard work. You sob into Sanji's arms.

“No!” You cry out.

Marines step into the shop, wood planks cracking and glass panels shattering under their feet. There are so many of them. You don't understand. Even if you hid the Straw Hats here, they shouldn't be allowed to destroy private property, right? Right?

“We got a report of illegal poisons in the area.” The leading officer states, his face stoic. “Just our luck that we run into pirates as well.”

You look to the Straw Hats, all of them are positioned to fight, save for Sanji. He's still cradling you protectively.

Taking a shaky deep breath, you lift your hand to rest it on Sanji's arm. He instantly looks down at you, silently asking if you're alright.

You're not yet, and if you're being honest, you'd rather stay in his arms until everything is over. But you nod anyway. Sanji gently lets you go and gets ready to face your new enemies.

“Get them all.”

Chaos breaks, and you run to duck behind a shelf that toppled over. The Straw Hats put up a good fight, but there are just too many Marines. Your eyes find round bottles of herbs scattered around you, and you come up with an idea.

“Guys!” You yell. “Buy me some time!”

“Anything for you, darling.” Sanji winks at you before sending a Marine flying. You gape at his audacity. The rest of them don't even react, but you notice they rotate slightly, surrounding you to keep you from being interrupted.

Grabbing as many of the bottles as you can, you stuff them with shards of wood and more dried leaves. You take rocks from the debris and strike them together.

With a few sparks, the herbs and leaves catch fire. You act fast, throwing the bottles at the Marines.

The bottles shatter, bursting into flames once they hit their mark. The Marines panic and become disoriented, giving the Straw Hats an advantage despite being outnumbered.

Eventually, the Marines run and scatter, leaving only the few bravest of them to fight. The Straw Hats make quick work of them.

When the battle is over, you watch the dust settle over the ruins of your apothecary. It's going to take years to earn enough berry to restore how everything once was. You can't help but feel heartbroken.

Sanji sits down in the rubble next to you, wrapping you in another embrace. You let yourself fall into him.

“We'll help you get everything back. I promise.” He swears, voice slightly muffled into your hair.

“Or, you could come with us! Join our crew!” Nami hits Luffy on the shoulder.

“What? It's true!” Luffy insists. “We need someone like her!”

You pull back from Sanji's embrace to look at him. He doesn't say anything, but something tells you he wishes for you to come with them. The others look at you expectantly as well.

No one speaks to persuade you further. But when you compare this rag-tag team to your ruined apothecary, your answer suddenly feels very clear. If you're to slave away to earn the berry for rebuilding your home, why not spend that time with them?

The back of the shop is less affected, even if the sight is still dreadfully sad. Your notes are thankfully intact, and you're able to find a bag and shove some extra clothes into it. It saddens you that you're so quick to pack up your life, but you'll come back. Someday.

When you return to the others, they're all smiling. Sanji more so, but you should have expected that.

He holds out his hand, and you reach out to take it.

“I change my mind,” You jest. “I'll take that romantic candlelit dinner now.”

Sanji laughs loudly while he guides you to walk over the rubble safely. You catch some of the others laughing too, but they walk a ways ahead you and Sanji.

“Like I said,” He says with his signature grin, “Anything for you, my dear.”

Your mind must be playing tricks on you, because he still smells like peppermint. Now, that's really not fair.

© togenabi 2023 | see here to be added to my taglist ♡

[bensboards]

hai hai haiii!! :3

i love you zubin stimboard!!! i was wondering if you could maybe make another tally hall stimboard?? preferably bora, ross, or joe, but i dont mind!! do whichever is easier for you, kinda like dealers choice!!

thank youuuu :D

Bora Karaca Themed Stimboard 💥ˎˊ˗ with bora, explosions, and orange colored gifs

💥|🧡|💥 🧡|💥|🧡 💥|🧡|💥 ★: divider helloo !! im glad you liked it :3 i just went with the first one you listed but i ended up not really knowing what to add so i hope this turned out alright !! ^^'

[fanaticsnail]

kissing booth completely broke me, every day I think in one new character to request, and then I remember I already requested and it's only one character per person 😭😭😭 literally the cruelest person on this site

Let me give you a tally to see what's in store so far for kisses 😘

Sanji

Shanks

Rosinante / Corazon

Jinbe

Kid

Killer

Crocodile

Mihawk

Cavendish

Bogard

Bartolomeo

Dragon

Katakuri

Koby

Dealers Choice

Marco

Usopp

Izou

Penguin

Kalifa

Ace

Caesar

Doflamingo

X Drake

Perona

Rob Lucci

King

Nami

Sabo

Page One

Helmeppo

Brook

I will get through all these. This is what's on the list to come, so so many kisses. I can't wait to get through them all! Only one kiss per person so everyone gets a chance for some kisses! I'm genuinely surprised by the amount of kisses for minor characters, and I love that for them. Thank you do much, and enjoy the kissing booth!

[deluxewhump]

Ethan Byrne

Synopsis/setup: Just after his high school graduation, Cameron gets jumped and robbed while attempting to sell a fair amount of drugs for a local dealer. He now is without the product or any money to cover the losses. Having already been beaten up and threatened that worse is coming by one of the drug dealer’s goons, Cam contacts his estranged half brothers Ethan Byrne and Edmund “Lou” Lewis to see if he can go visit them and hide out while he figures out what to do. He has no idea what Ethan is.

CW: Cam has recently turned 19 in this. abusive, incestuous overtones, mocking talk of incest, Ethan Byrne is vile, human furniture, homophobic language, misogynistic language, slurs (including the f word), black eye and bruised ribs, bystander does not intervene, abuse, creepy intimate whump, noncon vibes (but no noncon), crying

—

Edmund “Lou” Lewis had always been concerned with the way people saw him. It was important to him. He was always watching himself in the eyes of others, to the detriment of seeing anything but his own reflection. It was a weakness.

His half- brother Ethan had no such weakness. Unlike Lou, Ethan didn't give a single thought to what anyone else thought of him. Lou envied it sometimes. Ethan was a demon in highschool, getting into fights with anyone and everyone, with guys from the next town over and getting one of his teeth knocked out so they had to screw in a fake one. He set fire to the guy’s car the following week with a Molotov cocktail. He went to juvie once, but that was it. Nothing ever stuck to Ethan. At twenty-four, he had a clean record.

Ethan and Lou had a different mothers, and they were raised in different homes. Ethan was only a few months younger than Lou. Their father wasn’t exactly a faithful man, and only by virtue of small town gossip did they know they shared one. Lou’s mother had not given her son his father’s surname, but Ethan’s had.

When Ethan was twelve, he’d crashed his four wheeler into a tree. Everyone said he was different after that. Like he’d bumped his head hard enough to undergo some structural personality change. Lou didn’t think so. Ethan just came into his own around then, but it was always coming. When they were fourteen, Ethan carved ten inch-long tally marks into another boy’s arm because he wouldn’t pay up on the ten bucks he owed him. Everyone on their schoolbus called him Tally after that. When he’d been suspended for it, the principal kept asking for the knife. It had been done with a broken ruler.

When their dad left town, he never came back. Lou and Ethan knew they had a third half-brother, a kid five or six years younger than them who lived a couple hours down the interstate with their father. They’d never met him, never spoken to him. When he called and said he was in trouble, Lou hung up on him. The kid made the mistake of calling Ethan next. Ethan gave him his address, and he got on the next bus north.

Lanky and full of nervous energy, Cameron spent the first two days trying to impress them without letting on that he was trying to impress them. It was only a little pathetic, and mostly just sad. He had no idea Ethan was sizing him up, a skill he’d always had an uncanny knack for. Lou watched it like a familiar TV rerun. He knew Ethan’s every move. He considered warning Cameron, but decided to wait. Ethan might hold back for their own flesh and blood. He might be tamer, less wolfish. Who knew. It was uncharted territory. But that very night, the third night since Cameron’s arrival, there was a clear tension stirring between them.

Lou watched from the living room sofa with a mixture of apathy and resignation as Ethan prepared to do what he did best— probe the weak spots he’d mapped and observed.

“What’s so special about you, do you think?” Ethan asked when the conversation turned to their shared father. “Why did he stay for you?”

Cameron grew visibly uncomfortable. He shrugged under Ethan’s steady gaze. “You’re not missing much.”

“That so? Is he a dick?”

“Lately,” Cameron muttered. His black eye had gone down since he first showed up, not so much swollen now as just discolored. He’d been jumped by some drug dealer’s lackey, beaten up in his own living room. His lashes brushed his cheeks as he dropped his eyes.

Ethan lifted his chin to force him to look at him. “He hasn’t so much as called me or Lou since we were five.”

“I’m sorry,” Cameron said, clearly unsettled by the sudden physical contact. He looked down his nose at Ethan’s hand on his chin and pulled away slowly.

Ethan laughed under his breath. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Does daddy know you’re the local dealer’s bitch now?”

“I’m not,” Cameron said, anger flashing in his eyes. “I’m not anybody’s bitch.”

“I think if those guys that are after you caught up to you, they wouldn’t kill you at all. I think they’d see an opportunity. Pass you around like a truck stop whore.” He raised his eyebrows as if he’d had an epiphany. “Like your mother! You must look like her, because we don’t look a thing alike. She give you these green eyes? These freckles?”

Ethan cupped Cameron’s face, running his thumb over his cheek just under his bruised eye. Cameron tried to draw his head back but Ethan followed him, cupping his cheek with force. “I think they know you’re a little whore. I think they can smell it on you. I can.”

“Fuck off,” Cameron said with considerable venom, but Lou could hear the tremor in his voice. That was blood in the water to a thing like Ethan. Ethan’s violence was different than Lou’s own latent tendencies. It was calculated like a laser beam, where Lou’s had always been scattershot. Ethan was tireless. Ruthless.

He lowered his voice so that Lou almost missed his next words to Cameron. “So. Does daddy know you’re a faggot?”

Cameron looked over at Lou, his eyes questioning, desperate. What is this? they said. Get him off me.

“Must run in the family, Tally,” Lou called. Ethan ignored him in favor of his new victim.

“Why did you really leave? Did our daddy yell at you? He hit you, Cam? You can tell me.”

“No.”

“You wish he would just love you again, don't you? Like he did when you were little. Why’d he stop, you think?”

“Stop it,” Cameron said. Lou could hear tight, angry tears in his throat. But there was fear, just beneath it. He finally sensed the danger all at once, like being in the middle of a frozen lake when you hear the crack.

“Did you offer to take mommy’s place when she left?” Ethan pushed. “He turn you down?”

“You’re fucking sick,” Cameron hissed. “There’s something wrong with you.” He attempted to shove Ethan away. Undeterred, Ethan grabbed his face, hard. Cameron grunted and tried to pull away, only succeeding in pressing himself against the wall behind him. His cheeks and mouth were squished in Ethan’s hand in an undignified, fishlike way.

“You’re right,” Ethan said. “I’m sorry. That’s too fucked, even for a budding little freak like you. You’d take it from me, though, I can tell. We’re only half, right? You don't even know me. Maybe we’re not even related. Maybe daddy lied, or someone’s mother did. It’s all kind of messy, isn’t it. Who’s to say?”

Cameron tried to push past him, but Ethan used his grip on his face to slam him back into the wall. “Sh-sh-sh. No. Relax. It’s just us.” With his other hand, he ran a finger along the waistband of Cameron’s pants, lifting his shirt so Lou could see his skinny waist trembling beneath it.

“Ethan,” said Lou. “I will come over there and break your fucking hand if you put it in his pants.”

“Chill out, Lou,” Ethan said. He traced an exploratory fingertip along Cameron’s lower belly so he twitched away. “I wouldn’t dream of it. He might, though. C'mere, Cameron.”

The fear and hatred in Cameron’s eyes was further pronounced by the tears still standing in them. He’d been so adoring of Ethan the past three days, too. Especially Ethan. Ethan wasn’t the one who’d hung up on him.

“It’s okay. Come on.”

Ethan started backing up. “Cmon,” he called, as if to a particularly dumb puppy. Reluctantly, Cameron took a step to follow him.

“Good. Keep coming.”

Ethan took another step back, hands at his sides, palms-up. Cameron took another shuffling step closer, looking like he half expected Ethan to switch tactics and hit him at any moment. Ethan backed up until he reached the sofa and sat down next to Lou. He pointed at his feet. “Right here.”

Cameron stood in front of him. This close, Lou could see that his whole body was trembling visibly.

“On your hands and knees.”

Cameron’s eyes snapped to Ethan’s.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. Hands and knees.”

Lou watched as Cameron obeyed, going to his knees first and then putting his hands out as if blind until he was on all fours. Ethan put his booted feet onto his back. “Good. Just like that.” He turned on the television, settling into the sofa with Cameron as his footrest.

After a moment, he lifted his right boot and nudged it into Cameron’s bruised ribs. He yelped and flinched, but hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Taking it. Lou wasn’t surprised. He’d watched Ethan in action his entire life. Still, it had been rather fast with Cameron. He almost felt bad for him. He was only nineteen, and clearly Ethan had zeroed in on something.

“Stay still,” Ethan cooed, grinding the toe of his boot in cruel little circles on Cameron’s ribs. “That’s it. I know you want to please, deep down, Cameron. That’s why you told us about those good grades you got in AP math. No one patted you on the head for that, did they? Well, I will. I’m gonna show you how to give in to it. What’re long lost big brothers for, huh puppy dog?”

Cameron sobbed through gritted teeth, his arms shaking with the effort of keeping still with the grinding boot in his damaged ribs.

“Shh.” Ethan removed his boot and set it back on the tabletop of Cameron’s back. “You’re okay.”

[headspace-hotel]

I've developed a method of generating names using InferKit and it's to click "random generator" on fantasynamegenerators website, select one name from the generator given, repeatedly click "random" until you have a list of names from a random assortment of generators, then give the list to InferKit. this foolproof method creates the utmost randomized fantasy names

Selected results:

Jorath Flechte

Hendzel Marca

Bivvar, the Axeman of Love

Marban Xax

Edin Baxard

Osombrating One [lowkey love this]

Tinted Nichemaker

Quaggy Jim

Solondral

Lytrion Nagual

Korben Roan

Smutius

Jhoss Thong

Fleckit Azal

Falepuffin

Dook'o

Pique Camomile

Galuzir of the Third Burial

Ivril Tuul

Chaffeet

Marvus Crilshar

Sporkbender

The Hague Noob [fave]

Eadne Applefritz

Sminty Auzaro

Thrixe Masquerain

Alun 'Tendril of the Callous' Eliasson

Flickers

Telic Feccle

Longtone Bee-Root

Tethe'lan

Hardtack Ari

Deste Daizee [absolutely using this at some point]

Malee Mehli

Martmuff

Paragon of Sin

Porze Quenlan

Captain Crunch, Heartless Lord

Curtainschuft

Joma Twisp

Farassim Farsniks [flawless consonance going on here]

Tally Ho Big Shadow

Peregild

Knut Oxensturr

Decibel Drears

Medley

Black Market Narcotic Dealer [a little on the nose don't you think?]

Whimsmith

Qubag the Loose Brocade

Horsecutter

Tina the Macaroni Master

Willam Boxx

Maelstrom Twistedfeather

Balageer Snif

Elega-Gallbladder

Klaugetunes

Lucius Ah, I Shall Scream!!

Divine Spine

Latchlin Snowfox

Gemmick

Machelle Toi

Eroril Léki

Daehlaakth Parro

D'Reekle

Armored Rider Tyrannosaur

Jackalforn

Uurd-Gildo

Azurag Perfidious

Huzzix

Seffran Ten Armour

Edsel D'Prey

Bowstraker Slothripper

Adam Jerkini

Monocorn

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Congrats of finishing vampjean!! I love them all so much how to pick how to pick…today I’ll say Mer AU or dealers choice because I love seeing and reading all of them!

-💖💖

WIP Wednesday (6/12) | Mer Roadtrip AU (Part 28)

Okay. Micah Jones is dead. Drowned, maybe. Or eaten by a shark. Nathaniel snorts, then sighs again. After a moment of staring out at the horizon, he stacks his arms onto his knees and drops his head there, facing the wall of the cove. It’s surprisingly smooth-looking, like black glass. Except for a set of deep scratches etched into the stone. 

He reaches his hand out and rubs the pad of his thumb over them curiously. Where did those come from? He studies them for a moment. They’re definitely intentional. And not made by an animal. They’re too precise, too clean for that. After counting them he finds there are thirty total, in six sets of five. 

Nathaniel blinks.

Wait. Are these… tally marks? But who would be making them? What could they be keeping track of? As he contemplates these questions, Nathaniel hears the water moving. He braces himself for a nearly-dead, waterlogged human to pop up gasping for breath, but he gets the surprise of his life instead. Because, rather than a human, a merman with long golden hair emerges with a bloodied fish in his mouth. 

Nathaniel can do nothing but stare. He’s never seen another mer before, besides his mother. He watches the boy slide onto the sand, silent and slack-jawed. But this incredible moment is quickly broken, because the mer’s ear fins twitch. His head turns slowly, eyes widening when he catches sight of Nathaniel gaping at him.

[rederiswrites]

FUcking CHriSt okay so the boy didn't spot Kratos and Mimir in their paddock (mainly because the weeds in the garden are taller than the sheep) and asked if we'd put them in with the ewes. Which we had not, but I mentioned that we would come November or so, for the long-awaited breeding. So he started trying to tally up in his head how many more sheep we would then have to haul water to, this being his chore fairly often. Nine ewes, maybe nine lambs? So I pointed out that it wasn't that simple--sometimes a ewe has twins, sometimes a lamb dies, and for that matter, Kratos is entirely untested as a sire. He might just not get many of them pregnant, for all we know.

"Oh, that's true," says the boy. "He might be a bad nut-dealer."

NUT DEALER.

Nᵤt Dₑaˡeᵣ

[makeadealwithdean]

makeadealwithdean's friday fic rec list - harringrove edition

here's a list of the fics i've read lately and highly recommend! these fics are not mine and belong only to the writers, so writers, as always, if you don't want to be mentioned on here, message me, and i'll take you off no questions asked! also, this list is special because i'll be focusing on just harringrove, and since several of these are camboy!au's, these fics are smut and 18+ ONLY, so minors dni!! (gif is mine)

camboy!au's:

"never gets old" - @brawlite & @toastranger

Rating: E || Words: 78k

Falling in love with a cam boy named KingSteve isn't the smartest thing Billy Hargrove has ever done, nor is it the most healthy -- but the good choice is rarely ever the fun choice, and Billy is all about living life fast and loose.

"Love Is A Sickness (And Lust Is Absolute Madness)"

Rating: E || Words: 25k

Steve snaps a pic with his hand around his dick, angling the camera so that the stream is visible in the back. He can’t help but stroke a few times before sending it, wishing he had the balls to just put his webcam to good use so SuckMeDead could see him in all of his wet, messy, horny glory. Realistically though, he knows that full-on cybersex isn’t something he’s ready for, not until— Not until he’s made sure this camboy isn’t Billy Hargrove.

"Ride The Lightning" - socknonny

Rating: E || Words: 12k

Steve has an epic plan to Get Back At Daddy after his parents don't embrace his new-found bisexuality. An epic, epic plan, inspired by his favorite camboy. There's no way this can go wrong.

"Not Your Prince (But I'm Your Pretty Boy)" - ImNeitherNor

Rating: E || Words: 10k

“Not desperate,” Steve told himself, staring at the page while heat crawled up his chest and neck. “So not desperate.” Which was a lie because he was getting a membership just to comment and view more videos of the guy with the pierced dick. He licked his lips and tapped his thumbs on the space bar, deleted it, and almost hit his forehead against his desk. It was a username. Why did it matter so fucking much? Christ.

others:

"Sideways" - robthegoodfellow

Rating: E || Words: 46k

On Friday, Billy terrorized his stepsister, harassed his crush, and got blitzed with the school drug dealer. And then it all went sideways.

"definitely better than being dead" - @dragonflylady77

Rating: T || Words: 3.5k

When Billy comes to, everything hurts. He keeps his eyes closed, even though the space around him feels dark, and slowly takes a tally of where it hurts: hands, sides, chest, back, feet too... He listens to the noises in the room and the regular beeping of a machine close by tells him he’s in a hospital.

"Cross Road Blues" - @weird-an

Rating: E || Words: 6.6k

Billy sells his soul to Steve Harrington at the crossroads.

"His baby" - @lovebillyhargrove

Rating: E || Words: 32k

After Billy's death his car comes alive and decides to take revenge on certain residents of Hawkins. (My note: BILLY'S CAMARO FIC, MY BELOVED)

"come back down to my knees, gotta get back (gotta get free)" - @hartigays

Rating: E || Words: 5.5k

Billy is like, really gross. Steve likes that. He really likes that. And honestly, what could it hurt to indulge a little? (This is flayed!Billy, btw)

"The Art of the Dick Pic" - @lazybakerart

Rating: E || Words: 4.8k

Steve gets shipped off to a military academy, yet his biggest problem is his lighting.

"silvertongue" - @the-copperkid

Rating: E || Words: 9.2k

It's a hot summer night, and Billy and Steve find themselves stranded in the middle of a flash flood when Steve starts getting Upside Down-related anxiety. There's, unfortunately, only one thing that's certain to take his mind off of it — but Billy assures him that it wouldn't be so strange if they did it together. Just as long as they don't touch.

"Bed-sharing, almost-caring" - Thei

Rating: Not Rated || Words: 11.8k

It's late, dark and snowing, and Steve would rather do anything else than drive around looking for Billy Hargrove. But Max asked, and he can't say no to those kids. Not after everything. He finds Billy at the quarry. Billy is not okay.

"Cherry" - @lazybakerart

Rating: E || Words: 58k

They’ve got ten minutes before Steve’s break is up and he has to go back to wishing for death with a smile.

"King of Diamonds" - @shieldofiron

Rating: E || Words: 4.7k

“What’s the matter, Hargrove?” Steve Harrington flings his bags onto the bed with a fucked up little grin, “Scared of the big bad bed?” Billy just glowers at him, for the five hundredth time that day. He should have known when coach said they were bunking alphabetically and some of the rooms would only have one bed, that luck would not be on his side. Billy shuffles on his feet, squaring his shoulders, “Get out of my way.” Harrington cocks his head to the side, “Is that how you speak to your King?” “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Way.” “Or what?” Harrington's smiling in that vicious way, lip curling. (Or literally any part of this series, cause holy shit, King Steve)

"Rules for Survival" - @jad3w1ngs

Rating: E || Words: 5.5k

His first breath of free air had got caught in his throat however, because God may have allowed him to leave his old hell, but that was only so that he could be plunged into a new one. Sure, maybe he was being overdramatic, but the universe must have it out for him. Why else would he be roomed with possibly the prettiest, most infuriatingly sweet man ever? One who spoke about boobs and chicks and everything else enough to hammer home how out of bounds he was? One that he’d have to continue to pretend around. Billy’s other survival mechanisms had kicked in almost instantly. Unfortunately, the survival mechanism for dealing with his crush on his stupidly handsome roommate was apparently to be a massive asshole. Every innocent comment, every kind remark or offer of friendship was rebuffed with a snappy or bitchy quip, ones that had him groaning internally each time they left his lips. Not that it seemed to deter Steve, if anything his eyes lit up whenever Billy threw an insult his way, which was odd because he wouldn’t have pegged Steve as a masochist.

"Locker Room Antics" - @mid-nightmare13

Rating: E || Words: 5k

Just as he was about to take another swing for Hargrove's face, Steve found his wrist caught in a large hand, his back against the metal lockers, and his lips pressed against another pair. He grunted, protesting for maybe ten seconds before he was grabbing Billy's hair with his free hand, and kissed him back. Kissing Billy was nothing like kissing a girl. It was a dangerous combination of teeth and tongue locked in a battle for dominance. And he hated himself for backing down. "I want to fuck you," Billy said against his lips before beginning to suck and bite down his jaw. Steve let out an involuntary moan, suddenly finding his jeans far too tight...

"Wild on You" - @oopsiedaisiesbaby

Rating: E || Words: 2.6k (series wc: 80k)

Billy startled when rather than fall to his own back, beside him, Steve tightened his grip in Billy’s hair and moved halfway on top of him as he reconnected their lips. (this whole series actually is amazing, 10/10 recommend)

"if you don't like the company, let's just do it you and me" - hoppnhorn, @the-copperkid

Rating: E || Words: 9k

“Stevie, Stevie, Stevie,” Billy tuts, and it’s nearly sickening, too fucking good, the way he looks like he can think of nothing better than digging his teeth into Steve Harrington. “Look at you. What’re we gonna do with you, huh? Tell me what you want, pretty boy.” * Steve is really fed up with walking in on Billy having sex in his bed, until Billy’s opening up the invitation to him, too — because like, if you can’t beat 'em, join ‘em, right? But see, three's a crowd. And Steve doesn't like to share.

"break up with your girlfriend ('cause i'm bored)" - @the-copperkid

Rating: E || Words: 15k

@umissedconnections: Bambi eyes. m4m. i was rippin cigs in the sae p-lot. u made urself puke 2 make room 4 more beer. incredible? ur my hero PLS say ur into guys * Steve finds he has a secret admirer who's continuously hitting on him via his university's Missed Connections Twitter account. // Tommy and Billy are the worst roommates ever.

last time's list || my fic rec masterpost || my masterlist

[emeraldsoftwares]

Tally UAE - The All New Tally Prime for United Arab Emirates

Tally.ERP 9 is designed keeping in mind the day of a business owner. It simplifies business processes such that managing them is easy and effective. Designed with the principles of simplicity, flexibility, and reliability, Tally Software seamlessly adapts to your business environment and scales itself as your business grows. The strong capabilities of the product are further enhanced through…

[freeuselandonorris]

trick or treat! 👻🎃🍬🍭🍫 with all the jendo, carlando, landoscar, norapinto build up going on with each race weekend, quite excited for lando's birthday coming up to get [redracted] 👀 lol dealer's choice!

happy halloween!! 🎃

oooh this is the PERFECT opportunity for me to bring back my headcanon for free use lando part 2, which has been floating around my mind basically since i adopted this username.

it would be landoscar central pairing still, with oscar organising an orgy (wow alliteration) where lando is tied to the bed and people can just come in and do what they want to him. this would’ve been a fantasy of lando’s for a long time so of course oscar organised it as birthday treat because he’s nice like that 😇 in my head they use jenson’s house to host it because a) right continent and b) i feel like his house is fancier than oscar’s flat lmao.

really into the idea of oscar like. chaperoning?? in a sexy way?? like sitting at the top of the bed stroking lando’s hair in between sessions and telling him how well he’s taking it, adding another line to the load count tally on his leg in sharpie.

[spacetimesally]

A leisurely visit to Sky Station Stamos gets Sally high up in the Venusian cloud cover and on the radar of a certain glitter dealer out for revenge in, "The Return of Mr. Tally Man"

Welcome to Sky Station Stamos...

you know Mr. Tally Man a bamf 'cause he's got that collar-less duster and matching jumpsuit on top of that oh-so-stylish turtleneck/hoodie/helmet combo

[forestshadow-wolf]

Hi! I’m an Aussie with Ozzie head canons for roach!

The Australian sun is something else if you ever visit you need actual Australian sun screen not stuff made overseas it will not work and you will BURN! I believe Roach would have a side hustle selling the good Aussie sunscreen.

We have big bush cockroach’s roach would definitely have a terrarium full of them in his room

Roach was in a car when Ghost drove and yelled out Bloody Oath unironically when they nearly crashed and the 141 will not let him live it down ( based on an irl experience)

If soap celebrated when the queen died Roach was right there with him (they make fun of the actual Brit’s on the taskforce)

If an American calls Roach British the nearest 141 member has to hold Roach back while he swears them out.

When drunk people don’t understand what he’s saying.

If anyone has any questions about Australia I have more info!

This isn't how this works, im aware, but the mental image of roach going "psst psst you want some of the good stuff" and opening up an oversized jacket like he's a drug dealer to some poor random soldier IT HAS ME ON MY KNEES LMFAO

Ok yeah there's no way roach doesn't have giant bush cockroaches as pets. I think if Roach is meant to be Australian he's gotta like all da critters

No fuckin' clue what "bloody oath" is but if it's something cheesy as hell, then yeah! Zero doubt in my mind!

No fr soap and roach were celebrating ALL NIGHT when the queen died

There's actually a whiteboard with a tally of how many fights roach has been in for being called British per month.... so far the record is 38 💀

[amoebaforce]

Cat/Mouse

Part 3 of 4 (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 4)

After a string of bold thefts rocks the Edenite art scene, veteran hunter Nadine picks up the bounty of a lifetime. Fifty thousand credits, just to capture the elusive thief and bring her in alive. It should be an easy job... but one look at her mark tells Nadine she might have bitten off more than she can chew. On a space station full of secret dealings, dirty money, and luxurious lies, it seems even the simplest contracts are prone to complication. tags: minor violence, mentions of death

Stepping past the security guards that flanked the auction house doors, a frowning Nadine tugged on her shirt collar for what felt like the hundredth time. Despite the beads of sweat pooling uncomfortably at the base of her spine, heat was not the issue. It wasn’t even her clothes, really. Sure, the sharply pressed, snugly cut silk-blend suit was a far cry from her normal leather jacket and jeans. But it fit well, boasted enough pockets to hide all her necessities, and, according to Xerxes, cost enough to assimilate her with all the rich people milling about. 

No, tonight Nadine had nothing to blame but her nerves. After a week of planning, colluding, and gearing, the wait was finally over. It was time to perform. Nadine steeled herself, trying not to think of all the ways that her and Xerxes’ plot could go awry. Reminding herself of all the contingencies, back-up plans, and emergency exit protocols. Her frown deepened. 

Then, as if on cue, the tiny communicator nestled in Nadine’s ear crackled to life. 

“Don’t look so constipated,” Xerxes scolded, voice tinny and thin through the line. “You’re supposed to be a dapper art collector, not a scowling brute.”

Nadine fought the urge to roll her eyes. Her boss broke through the auction house’s firewalls almost an hour ago, commandeering the cameras so he could be her eyes for the evening — and already he was abusing the privilege. A snarky reply sizzled on Nadine’s tongue, but she knew it was worse than pointless. The earpiece only worked one way. That was certainly by design; Xerxes simply loved a captive audience.

A quick upward glance showed Nadine his vantage points. One tiny surveillance camera over the door she’d entered, and a pair of larger models at the top of the lobby’s central staircase, angled for a sweeping view of the red-carpeted floor and white marble columns. With that set-up, Xerxes could scan the faces of every single guest the moment they arrived.

And boy, were the guests arriving. There must have been a hundred people in the lobby alone, hailing from a half-dozen different planets. All were dressed to the nines, covered in silks and velvets and furs, dripping finery from every place it could drip. In the last five steps, Nadine had passed a cluster of laughing Federation delegates, three different CEOs, and a pair of Edenite celebrities — not to mention the myriad socialites, collectors, and art dealers hanging around, too. And any one of them might be in cahoots with the thieves.

The bounty hunter wove her way through the crowds, dodging hors d’oeuvres-toting waiters in black tuxedos, until she reached the foot of the staircase.

“Go up, then hang a left,” Xerxes instructed. “Take the third door on the right.”

Nadine took her time climbing the steps. Rushing would only draw attention to herself, and besides, a little piece of her wanted to savor the moment. Despite all the films and stories insisting otherwise, her line of work was rarely glamorous. Most of Nadine’s time was spent reading files, researching marks, renewing certifications — and waiting. So much waiting. Waiting for things to happen, people to arrive, crimes to be committed, businesses to close or open…

Nadine couldn’t possibly tally the hours.

So when presented with a moment like this, Nadine always languished in them. She let her eyes sweep over every head, admiring each decadent outfit and glittering accessory. Snippets of conversations lapped over her like waves:

“–had quite an impressive return, sir.”

“My assistant will send a note to your assistant, ambassador–”

“–and you simply must holiday on Caxal! The beaches are lovely this season.”

“Three million starting bid? That’s all?”

Nadine paused on the landing, a familiar ache gathering in the pit of her stomach. Her knuckles turned white around the railing. 

For one fleeting season of Nadine’s life, she had labored under the delusion that she could fit in with people like this. That she might wear their opulent dresses and speak their money-rich jargon, comparing achievements and accolades in their lavish places. That she could have a beautiful, fabulous life, just like them. But that season ended a long time ago, and Nadine had a job to do.

With the fluid grace of a jaguar, a passing waiter slid to a stop behind her.

“Crudité, ma’am?” he offered, extending his tray.

The bounty hunter shook her head. She could hardly even look at him.

“No, thank you,” Nadine replied softly.

The waiter nodded and breezed away. With a stuttering sigh, Nadine jammed her hands in her pockets and carried on toward her destination. Third door on the right. When she got there, she found a partition that was double her height, three times her width, and meticulously carved from one solid length of wood. Exquisite. Expensive. The door was open, swung wide on its brass hinges to invite prospective buyers inside. Nadine’s earpiece crackled again.

“Damn,” Xerxes muttered. “Looks like the early birds are here for their worms.”

Nadine frowned, spotting the same problem as she strode into the auction hall. Though there were still twenty minutes until the first item hit the podium, a handful of bidders had already taken their seats. Mostly older folk, she noticed, or otherwise serious-looking characters whose fidgeting was wearing anticipatory grooves into their paddle handles. The atmosphere in here was tenser than the air of carefree schmoozing permeating the lobby. These people were here to win — and really, Nadine couldn’t blame them. After seeing some of the pieces up for auction tonight, she wished she had a few million credits to throw around, too.

“You’ll have to distract these snobs if you want to get into the passageway,” Xerxes said, as if Nadine hadn’t figured that out herself.

But how? Any help Xerxes could provide would definitely draw too much attention. Anything too drastic risked spooking the target back into the shadows, but something too ordinary wouldn’t give Nadine enough time to enter the back hallways.

Be logical, Nadine, the bounty hunter chided herself. Stack the deck in your favor.

She rubbed her fingers together, callouses scraping against the soft lining of her pockets, and set off sauntering up the middle aisle. Her unscuffed rubber soles snapped brightly on the marble flooring, dragging a few sets of eyes up from their auction catalogs as she passed. Only one pair lingered. They belonged to another Terran female, tall and lithe, with an ice-blonde bob that shimmered along her jaw as Nadine caught her attention.

Her vibrant green irises traced Nadine from head to toe, burning hot with intrigue, but the shiver her gaze incited was decidedly cold. Normally, Nadine would unequivocally appreciate the interest of a beautiful female, but right now, being ogled was entirely against her needs. The hunter paused at the front row, pretending to survey the empty seats as she racked her brain for ideas.

But before any ideas revealed themselves, the luxurious female was rising from her seat, expression growing more and more hawkish by the microsecond. Nadine swore under her breath. How the hell was she supposed to access a hidden door under these conditions? Her admirer slinked into the aisle, hips swaying through her column gown. Nadine’s eyes darted about the room. She was swiftly running out of ways to avoid a conversation — until, by the grace of some unknowable entity, a tiny black shape came skittering in through the door.

It was… a Terran dog. A poodle. Someone’s treasured pet, miniscule in size, fur shaved into patterns and bedecked with pink bows, and it was barking like a rabid beast. The creature sprinted down the aisle, dragging along a sparkly leash with no owner attached. Every head in the room snapped toward the racket — including the beautiful female’s. 

She and several others let out cries of surprise. From the hallway echoed a shrill scream. The dog barrelled blissfully on, right down the center of the aisle, like the galaxy’s most annoying heat-seeking missile.  

Nadine’s admirer was the first to move. She made to dodge; so did the poodle. And to Nadine’s benefit, and no one else’s, the two opponents dodged in the same direction.

The collision was exquisite. The dog wove half-way through the female’s ankles, knocking her slim frame immediately off balance. As she careened toward the floor, her stiletto heel came crashing down upon the poor little poodle’s perfectly manicured paw. The creature screeched. The female let out a foul expletive, and with a sickening thud, each of their bodies hit the hard marble ground.

The room exploded into noise. Every onlooker moved at once; chair legs squeaked as people rushed to help the poor unfortunate female, or the poor unfortunate dog. Nadine clapped her hand over her mouth, a laugh trapped in her trachea. When she forcibly tore her eyes from the chaos, her legs were already carrying her backward. The end of a laugh sparked through her earpiece.

“Holy shit,” Xerxes howled. “You’re the luckiest bastard in the quadrant.”

Nadine couldn’t help but agree. 

With no time to spare, she booked it to the left-hand side of the podium, where a rich tapestry covered the length of the wall. The hunter ducked behind the fabric sheath and found precisely what she needed: a thick metal door. A numbered keypad was perched above its handle.

“Two-seven-three-six-nine-four-one-nine,” Xerxes recited.

The numbers flashed green as the combination was accepted. A knot unwound itself in Nadine’s gut, and she pushed her way through with a sigh of relief. The door closed behind her, silencing all the chaos.

“There are fewer cameras down here,” her boss said. “Only at the main junctions. I’ll watch your back as best I can, but keep a low profile. Head to the right, then go down the first set of stairs.”

Nadine took a breath and obeyed. Every second she wasted was a second Ulu’zah gained. She had to get to the basement, to the vault, where all of tonight’s pieces were waiting. They’d been in there for four weeks straight — save for a few days ago, when they enjoyed an eighteen-hour stint of final appraisals and buyer previews. A luxurious span of time. Any two-bit thief might think to swap the fake in then, rather than opt for tonight’s shorter, riskier window.

But Ulu’zah was no two-bit thief. She knew better than to strike when her target was expecting to be robbed. Yes, the piece she wanted had been out in the open on preview night, but there were twice as many security personnel and staffers to dodge. If Ulu’zah posed as a buyer, she’d be expected to ask questions and shmooze the brokers, which might give someone a reason to remember her face. Plus, the auction house never moved things back to the vault until every guest was gone, so slipping away from such a controlled crowd would be nigh impossible. 

Yes, pulling the job tonight was the right move. And it made Nadine’s job easier, too. She’d have to thank the thief later.

Distant footsteps and muffled laughter sent Nadine diving for the nearest doorway. As she tucked herself out of sight, Xerxes spoke softly in her ear.

“Two security guards,” he reported. “They’re crossing at the next junction up. Be still until they pass.”

Obediently, Nadine waited for the sounds to fade before slipping back out. She kept her head clear the rest of the way, listening for any more patrols, but she didn’t hear so much as a peep before she reached the basement.

“Just as we suspected,” Xerxes chimed as she neared the goal. “Both vault cameras just had their feeds spoofed. The virus has been deployed.”

Nadine blew a slow, silent breath from her nose, reaching out for the handle. The plan ran through her head all over again. When she stepped through this door, Xerxes would lock it behind her. Deactivating the hyper-targeted virus would give away his presence in the system, so he wouldn’t see anything from here on out. No matter what happened in the vault, Nadine would have to handle it on her own.

Just like old times, she thought.

The door swung open at the push of a finger, gliding silently on its hinges. She made to take a step, but a memory danced through her head: a dark alley; a spray of lilac and gold. Nadine stooped down and untied her shoes. Tucking the polished leather derbies under her arm, she slinked through the doorway in her socks, slow and quiet.

The vault beyond was cavernous. Fifty feet wide with a forty-foot ceiling, and occupied almost completely by the biggest safe she’d ever seen. Nadine had studied the manufacturer’s blueprints — chromium alloy walls over eighteen inches thick, two computerized combination locks, a spinning door so large it took two people to turn the handle, linings that protected against fire and water and bullets — and still the real thing was larger than she expected. It could’ve been a bomb shelter, if it weren’t stuffed full of priceless art. 

But Nadine wasn’t really looking at the safe. All she could see was the tiny female standing beside it, her purple face peeking out of a blue coverall as she tinkered with a strange cube-shaped machine. The device had a set of buttons and switches on one side, while branching cyan grooves covered the other five. Nadine felt her heart seize in her chest, then kick back up into a thunderous rhythm.

There she is, her mind screamed. Just a few strides away. You could grab her, you could stop this. Right here, right now.

But she wouldn’t. Not yet.

The door sealed itself with a gentle click. As if shaken from a trance, Ulu’zah started and  whirled her head toward the noise. As her eyes met Nadine’s, the thief’s face flushed violet. The tendrils framing her cheeks shivered.

“You,” she hissed.

Ulu’zah sidled backward a half-step, but there was no fear in her voice. Only urgency, and a strange hint of anxiety that Nadine knew was meant for another. The thief’s gaze flickered between the box in her hands and the hunter blocking her exit.

“Me,” Nadine agreed. She could practically see the questions and insults running through the Diralith’s mind. The hunter lifted her open palms. “Before you start punchin’ — just hear me out, would ya?”

Ulu’zah stole a glance at the locked door, then scowled at Nadine as if to say, What choice do I have? She checked her watch.

“I need to be out of here in three hundred seconds.”

“Hey, don’t let me stop you.”

A baneful pause. Ulu’zah let out a sigh and turned back to her machine. “Fine. Talk.”

Nadine’s heart skipped a handful of beats. If she kept up this lucky streak, she might just buy a lottery ticket on the way back to her hotel. She skirted a little nearer to Ulu’zah, careful not to come on too strong.

“You don’t have to do this, Ulu’zah,” Nadine started. The Diralith rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on — we’ve been over this.”

“There are other ways to settle a debt.”

“You don’t think I tried a few before I settled on stealing?” she countered. 

But Nadine expected that. “Actually, I know you did.”

Ulu’zah glared over her shoulder.

“Like I said before, Terran,” she spat, “you might’ve read some stupid file, but you don’t know shit about me.”

With that, Ulu’zah pressed a button on her little machine and slapped it to the side of the safe. It stuck there as if magnetized, grooves glowing with bright blue light. Nadine watched in subtle shock as the cube split into quadrants with an electric zap. As the corners expanded away from one another, the section of wall it encompassed began to fizz and distort, and Nadine realized precisely what this was.

A portable space-time distorter. Manufactured by the W’althiri and illegal to possess on every Federation planet, it worked like hypertuned teleporters, converting a carefully calibrated amount of matter into base atoms and beaming them elsewhere to carve passage through walls of nearly any thickness. Distorters were unobtrusive enough to bypass most security alarms and triggers, making them the favored toy of traffickers and private armies galaxy-wide. This was the first one Nadine had ever seen in person.

When the quadrants reached their maximum spread, the energy stretched between them sparked and sizzled, and suddenly Nadine was staring at a yawning gap in the metal. She whistled to herself.

“Yer boss really brought out the big guns, huh?”

“Shut up,” Ulu’zah replied, and walked right through the wall.

Nadine sighed. “Okay, ouch. I’m here to help, y’know.”

“Oh? And how do you plan to do that?”

Nadine sucked her teeth and hurried after the thief, but Ulu’zah was taking her time — hard out be damned. Nadine didn’t blame her. There was a whole museum’s worth of art in here: paintings, statues, textiles, mosaics, jewelry, manuscripts, triptychs… But tonight, they were only here to see one little piece.

“Well, there’s an easy way and a hard way,” Nadine finally answered. “Easy way goes like this: you surrender to the Feds, accept a plea deal in exchange for intel on your posse, they arrest his ass, and I come visit you in prison for the next five to ten.”

Ulu’zah barked out a laugh as she made her way deeper. “You’re making a lot of assumptions there, hunter. The Feds won’t let me off that easy — and they definitely won’t catch Rock.”

“Right. Rock. I did some diggin’ on him, and wouldn’t you know it, the Fed’s have got a case against him goin’ back years. And not just for theft, Ulu. For fraud, embezzling, kidnapping, trafficking, assault, murder. Did he ever tell ya that, Ulu? That he shot a man on Eden II?”

The thief bristled and stopped, and for a moment Nadine thought her words might have gotten through. But then, she glanced at the dais beside them, and that thought was forgotten. 

Sitting below a cloche of glass was Ulu’zah’s prize: a cracked clay pitcher with an angular spout, decorated with faded white fish swimming atop a sea of amber and taupe stripes. The females blew out identical breaths, their annoyances fading to background noise.

“There it is,” Ulu’zah whispered.

“It’s beautiful,” Nadine said. “The auctioneers claim it’s Mycenaean, but you and I know it’s really Early Minoan, eh?”

The Diralith shot her a baffled look, then started rooting around inside her waist-pack. “I know that, sure — but how do you?”

She produced a little parcel and unwrapped the paper to reveal another pitcher, identical in every way to the first. A little twang of wonder struck Nadine in the gut; Ulu’zah’s work was impressive through a screen, but in person it was downright astounding. Every detail was exactingly crafted, down to the chip in the rim and the wear patterns in the varnish. It wasn’t just a fake. It was a masterpiece. 

Ulu’zah reached for the cloche, but Nadine’s fingers were already on the handle, lifting the glass dome from its resting place. The hunter smiled. 

“You ain’t the only gal who’s been to art school.”

If Ulu’zah had balked any harder, she might’ve dropped her fake. “What?”

“Yup. Matter of fact, me and you got the same alma mater. Well, technically I never graduated, but you know what I mean.”

The Diralith swapped the pitchers with gentle fingers, shaking her head in disbelief, then wrapped the real one up and tucked it in her bag.

“You’re telling me you went to ECAD?” she jabbed.

Nadine was almost offended as she lowered the cloche. 

“What, you think I came out the womb with my bounty license? I’ve been doin’ this a long time, darlin’, but not that long.”

The females turned on their heels and rushed back to the distorted wall. Nadine’s earpiece squeaked into her skull.

“Running out of time,” Xerxes hissed. Nadine rolled her eyes and ignored him. As if she wasn’t checking Ulu’zah’s watch over her shoulder.

Ninety-eight seconds left.

“So,” Nadine tried again, “any thoughts on the easy way?”

Ulu’zah shot her a look. “Yeah, here’s a thought — you can either piss off and let me finish my job, or you can cuff me and leave me here for the guards.”

The hunter sighed.

“I was hopin’ you’d make a different choice.”

They stepped back out of the safe, and Ulu’zah deactivated the distorter. With a quiet whirr, its corners retracted and the wall was teleported back into place, seamless as the hunk of clay she’d placed inside.

“Well, Nadine,” the thief snipped, rolling the device in her open palm, “hoping only gets you so far.”

“You’re right, Ulu. That’s why us gals gotta have plans. Like this one.”

And in a flash, Nadine snatched the distorter from Ulu’zah’s hand and smashed it right onto the cold metal floor. The thief let out a strangled wail, lunging to stop her, but Nadine was already crunching the thing under her boot, strewing chunks of circuitry across the room. Ulu’zah’s eyes glazed with panic.

“No!” she cried. “Why the hell– You have no idea what you just did to me!”

Nadine dodged a wild slap, then caught Ulu’zah by the forearm and held her still. “I think I got a pretty good idea.”

Behind her, a sudden rush of energy proved her theory correct. Nadine turned, and there, standing amid the still-fading light particles of an unregistered teleporter, was none other than Web. Ulu’zah’s sleazeball Terran middle manager. He smiled under his sunglasses. 

“Ah, look who we have here,” he hummed, decidedly less frantic than his subordinate. He even had his hands in his pockets. 

How convenient. 

“Hey, Web,” Nadine said coolly. “How’s your thumb?”

He grinned and parted his lips around some snappy reply, but alas, Nadine didn’t let him finish. Once more her body acted mindlessly, sliding into martial form as she closed the distance between them. Web scrambled to defend himself, to pull his arms from the confines of his jacket — but Nadine had been thinking of this moment for seven long, long days, and no rushed defense could spare him her ire. She twisted, coiled, released.

And his jaw crunched spectacularly against her knuckles. Web spun on his heels and slumped heavily onto the floor, clutching his bleeding mouth. Ulu’zah gasped behind her hands. Nadine shook out her wrist and gritted her teeth at the way it smarted.

“Great skies,” Ulu’zah murmured.

“Right then,” Nadine said. “Time to do things the hard way.”