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kiss-me-muchoo · 10 months ago

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𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬 || 𝐄𝐧𝐳𝐨 𝐕𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐜 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲_ you are the girl who does the makeup effects for the society of the snow and you fall for el pendejo de Enzo (no te creas, papi tkm💋). But you start avoiding him because it’s not correct to fall in love with someone like him.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬_ AGE GAP (I’m turning 20 in March, let me live my fantasy), angst, fluff, Spanglish fic (I’m Mexican American, I know what I’m writing), reader is in denial and speaks Spanish, idk misunderstandings?, happy ending (irl Enzo nunca nos va a pelar)😭

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞_ I hate Spanglish but how can I keep both mi gente latino and my RAHHH🦅🇺🇸 people happy? With a Spanglish fic. I let go all my frustrations y lo ardida que estoy con cierto uruguayo.

♪ ♫ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝟒 𝐄𝐧𝐳𝐨 𝐕𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐜 ✰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱

@kissmemucho on X // @_hannia.k on instagram

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One day, you started hating going to work. It was half work, half practice for college. Still, you started hating it. From moving some months to Spain to work on the makeup team for a movie, to spending hours with each actor to do their makeup.

That wasn’t the issue though. It was just that… uh… gosh.

You had developed a crush for that man called Enzo. It was so cringe to admit. And it tore apart you because he was significantly older than you. He would never turn to look down at you. That was the most honest thing about the whole thing. Only that you were even depriving yourself from being his friend.

But god, his pretty nose and deep eyes. His soft hair and perfect smile. The way he was so kind to everyone and to you. Soon you learned he was single too. It was so damn much that it made you so mad. He was perfect. Gorgeous in every sense.

And that’s exactly why you now hate going to work.

Sometimes the aura around the team seemed to be heavy due to the context of the movie. You had seen how every actor started to lose weight and prepare for the role. Which was a little tough. Anyways, everyone in the cast believed you were a burst of sunshine at least. Who seemed to make the hours spent seated on a chair with makeup and prosthetics being placed a little more fair.

“¡HEY!…GUAPA, VENÍ PARA ACÁ!” You heard as soon as you entered the workplace. Once you spotted the little circle of boys, you rolled your eyes and giggled.

“¿Y ahora qué se te ofrece Juani?”

“Que confirmes si vienes a cenar con todos” you looked at the others. Matías and the others were exchanging looks, with none other than Enzo. You don’t even look at the man, you can only focus on the boy with annoying blue eyes.

“Cómo jodes, chico. Ya veré si voy o no, tengo mucho que hacer” that was true, you had a lot to do. But mostly, it was because you believed you had nothing amazing to share with them.

“Podemos esperarte.” Enzo said, which immediately made your stomach flutter and your chest to get congested. He was wearing some t-shirt and those damn Adidas joggers he liked to repeat on a daily basis.

The fact that he suggested waiting for you to go out and have dinner should’ve made you blush, but it only made you nervous, increasing your eagerness to run away from the little circle of men.

“No pasa nada, váyanse ustedes. Que se la pasen bien…” and poor Enzo, he watched how you disappeared through the hallways with your big bag full of makeup and brushes.

“Ya va a caer…”

“Pero ni me gusta” everyone giggled. Enzo knew you were younger, of age, but younger. He also knew you were from a little too far away from Uruguay, that you were bilingual, that you were passionate about writing and other arts, that your eyes were lighter than expected in the sun, that your hands were very soft and that you were so extroverted with everyone except with him.

“Sos idiota, si no te gustara no te hubieras quedado como mogólico viéndola irse”

“Pero es una niña…” he tried to reason.

“La veinteañera universitaria que trabaja aquí en producción y anda sola por la vida” everyone laughed again. You were certainly an adult. Yeah you still acquired toys, listened to silly music and watched Barbie or Bratz movies. But you were legally an adult.

Which led Enzo wondering if he could ever have a chance with you. You had seen a lot of people, with how many times you had travelled to Los Angeles, the heart of Hollywood and everything, sometimes he doubted you could be interested in him.

But no… he definitely hadn’t caught an eye on you.

…

It was a Friday. A week from the day you rejected dinner with your workmates. Nothing serious happened after that. Juani made fun and exposed you with random tweets like a bully. He was laughing his ass off of you, so shameless and stupid. However, you on the other hand… were dying out of embarrassment. Especially after seeing how many people started following him. Then gifting him with an army of girls starving for shitpost around the internet.

“Si no estuvieras por grabar una escena tan desgarradora, te ahorcaba en este preciso momento, Juani '' you wanted to kill him. He had posted online two videos of you dancing like the proudest stripper, a picture of you rolling your eyes that looked extremely silly and dorky. Two audios of you cursing in Spanish and saying how much you hated capitalism. And he even made his own stickers of you to pass around the group chat of the cast.

“Eso te pasa por ¡RIDÍCULA!” The tone he used, extremely mocking you was enough to make you laugh along with him and caught the attention of everyone surrounding you two.

“Pues nunca te conseguiré el follow de los ex-One Direction” he stopped laughing, knowing you had made him remember his humbling twitter posts.

“¡Qué boluda… y pesada!”

“Okay, pinche ardido” one of the design team members from the movie appeared and handed you a little paper. It was the list of your schedule. Juani snatched it and opened it before you could even blink.

“UYYY… te toca todo el día con Enzo” he started teasing you like a child. You rolled your eyes in annoyance.

“Pero la boluda y pesada soy yo”

“Pues si” you finally read the paper and yes… 3 hours with Enzo.

“Well… it could be worse” you admitted sighing, accepting that you would spend three hours swallowing your pride and pierced feelings.

“Dejáte querer…” you frowned confused at the boy beside you.

“What?” You asked laughing, but he only shrugged.

“Nothing, dear” once again, you rolled your eyes.

“De verdad eres medio insoportable” he batted his ears, acting innocent. Deep down, both of you were actually friends.

“Te quiero” he responded, making you laugh once again.

“Si, yo también. Mi pendejito favorito”

“No, ese debe ser Enzo” this time, you blushed.

“Como chingas con meterlo en nuestras conversaciones. ¿Te gusta o qué?” He laughed, helping you out with your heavy bag full of brushes and capes and everything.

“No. ¿Y a vos? ¿Gustas de Enzo?” You remained quiet, pretending you hadn’t heard him.

You opened the door of the little room, surprised to see Enzo already there. So you grabbed the bag from Juani and started closing the door.

“Adios, naco perdedor” and just like that, you closed the door on his face.

You sighed, closing your eyes, before staring at the plain door for some seconds.

“Hola…” you heard his deep and sweet voice. It was just… that you had to be a big girl and leave aside your foolishness for that grown ass man. He was just a crush… a simple mortal at the end.

“Hi…” you replied awkwardly. You had seen the following section of his instagram, the most pretty girls, very different from you. Which made you feel… like it was auto-sabotage. But before you could start feeling depressed again. You decided to keep working, the only reason why you were in that room in the first place.

He would think you kinda disliked him. Every time you entered to work on his makeup, he would be smiling and trying to talk to you. And while you were polite and smiley too, you remained very quiet, always avoiding his cute eyes.

“¿Cómo estás?” He would ask, looking at you through the mirror in the room.

“Pues muy bien, gracias.” You would reply, turning to open the boxes with prosthetics and other special effects makeup. And he sighed, already feeling a little disappointed.

“¿Me permites tus manos?” You ask him. He shows you the palm of his hands with another smile, which you reply quickly. Your heart started pounding as soon as he walked into the room.

“Perdón si estoy fría.” You admit with a blush, knowing the tips of your fingers were freezing.

“No pasa nada, linda” he had to be joking. He couldn’t call you “linda” just like that? However, you do your best to ignore it.

So you start making little lines of the paint samples you had taken. Until you noticed which one was identical to his skin.

“Okay, I got it.” You speak to yourself, out loud though. Sometimes Enzo questioned if you weren’t fluid in Spanish, but he had heard you talk and talk with other people in Spanish. Your accent was so clean, so different to the rest of the crew.

“¿Te molesta si pongo música?” You ask him, grabbing your phone.

“No, para nada.”

“Nomás no me vayas a juzgar” you giggle without looking at him, scrolling through your playlist.

It was the first time you attempted to joke with him. And he wouldn’t risk the opportunity.

“Jamás podría…” you only thank him before starting to play some music.

He was used to your touch now. You had small and soft hands compared to him. Every time you had to pick the right tone that matched his skin, brush his hair and work inches away from his face. It was insufferable for you. And to him… it only built more intrigue.

He listens to how you barely mumble some songs.

“¿Quién es ella?” He asks at the song.

“Nelly Furtado” you reply, concentrating on his hands, starting to draw the fake wounds. Promiscuous was a great song to feel empowered while trying to beat the feelings for the man who was extremely close to you.

Some minutes passed and then Madonna came with Dress You Up and Enzo barely got it right. You sing very low and he tries to hear you with precision.

“¿Y esta?” You ask him when gorgeous started.

and God, that damn song was like a curse and blessing at that very moment.

You're so cool, it makes me hate you so much

(I hate you so much)

You've ruined my life, by not being mine

You're so gorgeous

I can’t say anything to your face

'Cause look at your face

And I'm so furious

At you for making me feel this way

That was you. That was how much you hated your feelings for him. Because he would never be yours.

And somehow, Enzo got the message. He wasn’t sure but he felt how you changed the way of singing and avoided his eyes.

“¿Y esa quién es?” He asked once again.

“Esa es Taylor Swift”

“No la conozco” you giggle, ignoring the song a little bit.

“¡Enzo, por Dios!. ¿En qué mundo vives?” You found it very hard to believe he didn’t know half of your musical taste.

“Pues en Uruguay…” for the first time, he makes you laugh and talks to you so fucking much that you have to stop spreading the fake dirt on his face.

You're gorgeous

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad

There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have

You are so gorgeous, it makes me so mad

You’re so gorgeous

“¿Por qué nunca sales con nosotros?” He asks suddenly, and it takes you aback. That you end up looking straight at his face.

“Tú tampoco sales, prefieres quedarte en el cerro” he laughs, feeling a little too comfortable under your touch on his cheeks and chin.

“He salido dos veces con ellos. ¿Y vos? Cero…”

“Estoy ocupada.” You simply reply.

“No es cierto. Por ahí me dijeron que te la pasas viendo películas y escribiendo fanfiction” you blush, but you keep working.

Actually, last Saturday was the first weekend you cried because of him. You couldn’t even stay at a local bar. You left your friends there to go home. New addition to your routine.

“Maybe… ¿pero a ti qué si no voy?” You ask giggling, hoping he would drop the issue. You pause the music and slip your phone inside your bag before returning to him. Scared of his possible answer.

“Pues… porque te quiero ver” your hands start shaking.

“¿A mí?”

“Si. A ti, linda” he senses how taken aback you are. And he realized, that he had adapted some of your slang words from all the time he spent with you.

“¿Por qué yo, Enzo?” He smiles, and you want to kill him. He made the gesture like you had been so oblivious for ages.

“Porque…” slowly, he grabbed your wrist, preventing you from keeping working on his face. He touches you with such gentleness that it makes you finally start shaking.

The way he looks at you. It must’ve been a dream, two pairs of eyes deeply connected. He was silently revealing he liked you. Once you get it, you shake your head, his eyes giving you some confirmation.

“No..” You brush away from him.

“Si… tal vez suene raro o no me creas… pero, vos me gustas. Por eso quiero verte y busco tus bonitos ojos cada vez que trabajas conmigo…” you sigh, dropping the brush and paint a little too violent.

“¿Y por qué yo entre tantas diosas que están a tus pies?” You are fighting against the tears already forming on your eyes. He remains quiet, and to you… that’s an answer.

He doesn’t like the way you are being too negative. But you don’t like having that conversation at all. You are shocked, and you don’t feel in love at that moment. You feel panic and stress.

“Fui al bar el sábado pasado y te vi con la chica rubia. Si te gusta alguien no dejas a la chica rubia hacer ni un movimiento. No te encuentras en redes a las chicas a las que les das reacciones” maybe you had no right to be so angered. But it had been two months, and everything had worsened. At that point, your eyes were already red and crystallized.

“Nada de eso significó algo”

“Si fue algo. Fue tu cuarteada en lo que buscabas la manera de acercarte a mí. Por si no te resultaba la cosa conmigo…” again, he remains quiet.

“This is bullshit. Mira Enzo, he estado aquí desde hace dos meses y nunca te acercaste. No te salió el amor por mí hoy” you spit with anger, grabbing your paint and makeup, hurrying to get out of there.

“Me has gustado desde la primera semana cuando te conocí. Pero tú no me quieres, y por eso te evado. Aparte del dilema de nuestra age gap, que podría ser un problema” you explain putting your coat on and grabbing the bag.

“Y eres una persona hermosa, Enzo. Sé que eres el amigo y novio perfecto. Pero mi intuición me dice que me vas a lastimar” he steps between you and the door. The proximity worsens everything, he wants to end it all for once with a kiss to make you feel the way he does.

It was already difficult for him. He had felt slightly depressed while filming, he felt weird, in company but alone at the same time. And he believed you were the right burst of sunshine to lighten his weird mood swings.

But you believed he was lying. He honestly felt hurt that you were mistaking him for some womaniser and asshole.

“No te vayas, por favor” he pleaded, shocked to see your teary eyes. So he started questioning what you said about being hurt.

“Ya acabamos, no te preocupes.” You manage to slip beside him, opening the door and leaving him alone.

The dramatic moment culminated in Enzo feeling more depressed and giving a sadder performance for the movie. For you, it gave you a reason to cry in the shower and stare at the balcony of your place for hours, contemplating the sky and feeling so damn weird.

…

You have flashbacks of seeing him laughing and letting the blonde girl at the bar whisper in his ear. His honest smile and how he admitted he liked you a day ago.

You wished for weeks, now months that he confessed his feelings for you. But the moment he does, it feels wrong. Like it wasn’t meant to happen. Because he’s older, he’s got more experience, he had a very extended long-term girlfriend once, he is too much unlike you.

Maybe it wasn’t meant to happen and this is how it was supposed to end.

With you bursting out in tears and anger. Him believing you were crazy, but you had a point.

He never made a move. Just trying to talk, but he never invited you to do anything with him, or just to stay with him during the free days. It seemed unreal that suddenly he liked you.

And maybe you’re just scared of falling in love, because he could unintentionally but potentially break your heart.

Nonetheless, on the second day you want to distract yourself, it’s Saturday again and you go out alone to jog, then to buy some new clothes and you are about to prepare your dinner when the pain in the ass of Juani asks you to go out for some tapas.

You agree because you really need to distract yourself from thinking about the whole cringy issue with Enzo.

Probably everyone in the production already knew. But you would shut your mouth just to let the rumours die.

You start your walk towards the restaurant when he sends you the location. It’s a few blocks away, and you frown when you see what type of restaurant it is.

“amiguito, pero creí que querías tapas. Este es un restaurante vegano” you send him a voice message. And he replies immediately.

“Ay pues para ser fitness un día nada más, chica. ¿Ya vas para allá?” You roll your eyes, not that you didn’t like vegan food but you wanted tapas.

“Si, morro meco. Ya estoy a un par de cuadras” you send back, putting on your EarPods and route.

You realise how much you like wearing sneakers, long dresses and coats with matching purses. Perfect for the weather and your silly thoughts of walking on the streets along some cool music playing in the background.

Until you arrive at the restaurant and you don’t spot Juani. But maybe he was on his way. So you order first, grilled tofu with vegetables and tangy sauce.

It’s a cute place, and by the time you find a table, it’s already dark. The restaurant has candles everywhere and quality music playing.

When you start closing your purse, you look up and you freeze. Because you see Enzo entering the place, with a tiny bouquet of flowers on his right hand and a water bottle on the other.

He was wearing jeans, a random buttoned shirt and dark sunglasses.

Oh, fuck him. Of course he knew he looked gorgeous.

Quickly you change from your seat, giving your back to him, hopefully becoming invisible.

Your fingers rush to find the contact of Juani and send him a violent voice message.

“Oye, ¿por qué carajo no has llegado? ¿Y por qué Enzo Vogrincic está viendo el menú ahora mismo?” You send and he starts writing.

“Es que él es vegano…” he writes in text, which boils your blood.

“¿Y eso a mí qué chingados me importa, Juani? Ven ya y sácame a escondidas o te juro que me voy a colgar del primer poste de luz que vea” you silently scream, lowering your voice.

“No puedo” that’s it, you’re going to die in a vegan restaurant while Enzo Vogrincic orders food.

You are about to stand up when he literally appears on your table.

Qué hijo de puta, y todavía te sonríe y todo.

“¿Y el Juani ya viene o no?” You ask, trying to sound confident.

“De hecho no va a venir” right, pinche Juani idiota, qué gran amigo y todo.

“That’s it. I’m leaving!” You mumble sighing, standing up from the table, when Enzo grabs your forearm and makes you sit again.

“No, vos te quedas. Mira, te traje estas” he hands you the flowers, yellow tulips.

“Yo nunca le he dicho a Juani… ni a Matías cuáles son mis flores favoritas” you frown confused, grabbing them.

They’re beautiful.

“Tuve que buscar por mi cuenta” he admits, and you frown deeper. Until you open your eyes in shock.

“¿Me zorreraste mi Instagram?” Enzo starts laughing, and you blush. He takes a seat and drops the receipt of his order on the table. You read it, chickpea pasta with arrabiata sauce and zucchini.

You read his order just to avoid looking at his eyes.

“Dejáme explicar todo…” slowly, you look at him. You are still on time to ask for the food to be to go, you can leave and just let this strange issue wash away.

But a waitress appears with your tofu and the pasta. You awkwardly smile and say thank you as well as Enzo.

“Pues ya que…” he smiles, thinking your eyeliner was so perfect. Your dress was cute and the coat made you look elegant and fine.

“Vos sabes quién te engañó. Le pedí que te hiciera venir a un lugar para encontrarme” your roll your eyes. Unbelievable how childish was the whole situation.

“Yo quería tapas”

“Dale, ahorita te llevo por tapas” Enzo says with a giggle. You simply mock him with a gesture and proceed to eat.

“Lamento no haberte dado señales desde el inicio. Creí que con hacerle plática cuando me maquillabas era suficiente.” He confesses.

“Con todos sos un amor. Y conmigo… siempre seria y pues… llegué a pesar que no te agradaba” you shrug, eyebrows rising and avoiding his eyes once again.

“Todo lo contrario…” you admit.

“Ya veo. Entonces hace unas semanas, los chicos empezaron a sacar el tema. Que debía invitarte a salir o hacerte venir con nosotros a comer para ahí verte”

“Y ayer me atreví. Pero temo que tu reacción no fue la que buscaba” he says with many pauses, not wanting to disturb you.

“Tú declaración tampoco fue lo que esperaba.” He nods, calming you.

“Ya lo sé, hubiera sido mejor esperar a estar en un lugar… como este”

“Quizá” you reason with him.

“Incluso desde antes de admitir que vos me gustas, no me he visto con nadie. Así que solo sos tú… nadie más” you nod, looking back at the tulips.

“Están preciosas, gracias” you say lifting the boquete. Enzo smiles. So you know it’s time, you sigh.

“Yo también lo siento por juzgarte sin saber. No tenía derecho de ponerme celosa, ni nada. Es solo que me da miedo dejar que esto, fluya…” you say, not wanting to repeat once again that your intuition said he would break your heart.

“No te voy a lastimar, nunca. Dejáme quererte, linda. Por favor….” he pleads, accepting he was nervous and desperate. He really longed for someone in the upside down moments of his days.

“Yo solo quiero sentir lealtad, confianza, pasión y seguridad. ¿Me puedes dar eso?”

“Te voy a dar todo, pero más lo que vos quieras. Y si lealtad, confianza, pasión y seguridad es lo que querés…. Así será, linda” you smile, finding his hand on top of the table, intertwining your fingers with him.

“Entonces todo bien, lindo” he smiles more, ending in a sweet laugh.

He helps you pick the rest of the food, both of you also order ice cream cones. Him with chocolate and you with pistachios. And soon both of you are walking together in the streets. Spring is near and it’s your favourite season. You feel happy feeling his warm touch outside of the job. And now being inches away from him feels like a new home.

“¿Si vamos a ir por las tapas?” He starts laughing again, and when he leans, you can feel what’s coming.

“Te voy a besar…” he warns before grabbing your cheeks and smashing his lips with yours.

“Te quiero” he spills, and you only smile on his lips, deepening the kiss. Feeling the silly butterflies in your stomach and intense tears of happiness. You almost drop your cone due to that.

“Yo también te quiero” you reply, swiftly bumping your forehead with him. He then takes your hand and suddenly you don’t feel wrong about it.

Now it feels perfect. Like destiny changed and finally it was meant to be.

____________________

update junio 2024: JAJSJDJJDDJ QUÉ MAMADAS ESCRIBÍA EN ENERO. LOL, QUÉ MAL, ENZO AÚN TE QUIERO MUCHÍSIMOOOO🩷

#enzo vogrincic #la sociedad de la nieve #the society of the snow #perdón chingado #si no etiqueto la movie como hago que esto lo vean duh #enzo vogrincic x reader

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jpitha · 2 months ago

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Allergies

This is a rewrite of one of my oldest shorts. As a writer - especially one who posts online - never worry about redoing some old work and posting the new one. Artists often will show their old work against their new right? No reason writers can't do the same either. Be proud of all your work, but feel free to show your improvement too!

The small station was in a popular shipping lane, so it had high amounts of traffic. Even though the humans had brought their wormhole generator drives, many people were still used to using the Gate system. Retrofitting every starship would be too costly, take too much time, and (some worried) would shift the power balance towards the humans too much. One didn't have to be human to be set in one's ways.

Because of the high amounts of traffic, most of the people on the station worked in the service industry. Providing meals, entertainment, refreshments, repairs and other such things, the population was quite diverse. In their off hours, they mingled and socialized.

Generi stood there awkwardly, still wearing the uniform of the trinket shop he worked in, his tail drooped and his ears low, trying to make sense of it. “Explain allergies to me one more time?”

Meg sniffed and wiped her eyes, but she smiled softly. She was sitting at a table in the resident's lounge. At her feet was a bouquet of flowers “Our bodies have this compound, called histamine. It's released in response to an attack - an internal attack - on our bodies. It's meant to help our bodies expel an invader. You know about itching? I've seen K'laxi do it. It's one of the regulators of our itching response. Mind, you, Histamine does way more than that, but we're talking about allergies right now."

"Wait, what do you mean by attack?" One of his ears perked up. This went from embarrassing to interesting very quckly.

"I know you have bacteria Generi, I also know your bodies digest food for energy. What happens when you get an infection?" Meg said, raising an eyebrow. Her sniffles and tears had subsided now that the bouquet was away from her face.

"Oh, I've never heard it called an 'attack.' Uh, our body temperature lowers, and we go into a kind of torpor. We lay down somewhere safe and stay still. Since the bacteria only can thrive in a narrow range of temperatures our bodies cool until our immune systems can take care of it." Generi puts his paw on the chair opposite Meg and looks at her, questioningly. She nods and he takes a seat.

"Really? Cools? But wouldn't that have put your ancestors at risk for predation- wait you didn't have predators, you were apex in your niche, weren't you?"

"I'm... not really sure. I'm not an anthropologist."

"Me neither, but I think I remember reading something like that. Our bodies are different. They raise their temperature to fight infections. It's more dangerous than your torpor because we can... well, die from it." Meg shrugs. "It doesn't happen too much anymore, but it used to be more of a thing."

"That sounds like a human, yes. In a race between killing your infection and killing yourself." Generi's tail flicks - a grin.

"We're getting off topic." Meg gestures towards the flowers, "in the case of an allergic reaction, our bodies call for histamine to be released when a harmless-" She glanced over and saw Generi's face "Fine, harmless - for us - substance enters our body, but we treat it like an invader."

"And this happens to everyone?" Generi was amazed at this impromptu biology lesson. It certainly seemed like humans were nearly constantly at war with something. Their own bodies, themselves, their neighbors, no wonder they were so good at it.

"No, not everyone, but a lot of people. It's fairly common. Anyway, in some people the body overreacts to the substance and produces histamine which causes the allergic reaction. Sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes and body, congestion, things like that."

Generi flicked his ears and nodded, combing the two species gestures for assent. "Okay, I understand now. So the flowers...."

"Yes, I'm allergic to Roses." Meg blew her nose.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Generi was despondent. "I read about giving humans flowers as a sign of affection and I...I wanted..."

"Oh, I understand the intent Generi, I'm touched, really!" Meg reached over and patted his paw. She noticed his fur rise just a little bit. "I'm just allergic to Roses. Next time, try a different flower." She stood. "Wherever did you get them?"

"One of the humans over in Little Earth is growing them. He has a whole garden." He voice was filled with wonder.

"I had no idea. I can't believe the station authorities allowed it, some human plants are downright... prolific." Meg stared at Generi for a second. "How about you take me down to see them? I'll take an allergy pill first, and we can look at them together before it's shut down and it has to all go into the incinerator."

"You mean, like a date?" Generi's ears stood straight up, and his fur rippled once.

Meg started to laugh but held it back so as to not hurt his feelings. "Sure, just like a date. It'll be fun."

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are fun #sci fi writing #writing #jpitha #humans and aliens #humans are space capybaras

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shadowdaddies · 9 months ago

Note

So being sick with covid and being on my period at the same time is not fun so I was wondering if you haven't already done it a sick reader head cannon? With whatever Sarah J. Mass male you want or all of them whatever you want.

ah I'm so sorry you're sick love! covid definitely seems to be making the rounds right now, stay safe and I hope you feel better soon💜

SJM Males When You're Sick Headcanons

ACOTAR

Azriel

⁃ Azriel knows you’re sick before you do

⁃ His shadows wake him up in the night when they hear your sniffled breathing, notice your fever

⁃ He’s up and getting you water and a cool rag, making some tea with medicine from Madja as soon as you are up

⁃ If he has to go anywhere, he leaves his shadows with you to keep him updated on how you’re doing or if you need anything

⁃ He gets you your favorite flowers and a book, which he reads to you as you take a warm bath, the water helping with any congestion

⁃ Picks out your favorite clothes for you to sleep in, keeping an eye on you while being careful not to pester you too much

Rhys

⁃ Rhys secretly loves the excuse to take care of you

⁃ You usually tease him for using magic to do the smallest things, so he takes every opportunity to make anything you could need appear in an instant. You want warm soup? Right there. Another blanket? Five blankets of various fabrics appear without hardly a thought.

⁃ You are not leaving the bed. Rhys pushes any meetings or responsibilities he has to stay with you, taking the opportunity as the perfect excuse to spend quality time with you, absolutely spoiling you in every way

Cassian

⁃ Cassian gets anxious, immediately going to Madja for any possible medicine you could need

⁃ He would ask for step by step instructions on how to best care for you while you’re sick, and stick to that routine

⁃ He makes sure to make you food with lots of nutrients to boost your immune system

⁃ Azriel and Feyre both tell him to calm down and that you just need to rest, so Cassian carries you everywhere. He is undressing you, lifting you into the bathtub, washing your hair…

⁃ And then he discovers how much he likes carrying you everywhere, cradling you to his chest bridal style. It becomes a tough habit for him to break once you’re feeling better

Lucien

⁃ listens to you and what you need

⁃ He’ll do lots of small things, like bringing you a sweet treat or small gift to cheer you up

⁃ Knowing you feel terrible, he consistently tells you how beautiful you look and how lucky he is to be your mate, despite your laughter and protests

⁃ Plans a special night for the two of you once you’re better doing something he knows you love

Eris

⁃ this sweet baby is on high alert the moment he notices something is wrong

⁃ Once you’ve assured him that no one hurt you, you just aren’t feeling well, he checks you over thoroughly

⁃ He will make sure that you are tended to for everything you could need, assigning various people to give you medicine, cook you whatever meals you like, etc

⁃ But he’ll complain that they’re not doing a sufficient job and take over, halting his duties to take care of you

Throne of Glass

Rowan

⁃ Teases you for getting sick, saying you’re being irresponsible and not taking care of yourself

⁃ But he’ll insist on caring for you, making no sure you get plenty of rest and that no one bothers you with responsibilities

⁃ He’s the perfect one to hold you when you’re sick, his warm body soothing against yours as he wills a gentle, cool wind against your face

Crescent City

Hunt

⁃ he’d hear your small cough when he came in the house and immediately crumble

⁃ He’d rush over to you, asking what hurts and if he can get you anything to drink or eat, ordering your favorite food to be delivered

⁃ He’d pick you up in his lap, bundling you in blankets as he held you close until you fall asleep

⁃ He’d let you watch whatever show you wanted, even if the sunball game was on (but once you’re asleep, sunball is back on the TV)

⁃ Forehead kisses. Constantly. Carrying you into the shower, softly washing your body while he kisses all over your head and shoulders, wherever he can show physical affection

Ruhn

⁃ This cute dumbass would tease you at first, probably ask if you’re hungover

⁃ Once he realizes you’re sick, he’d go all out. Messaging Flynn and Dec to gather food and medicine for you while he sets you up in your shared room with blankets, pillows, TV, etc

⁃ He lays in bed with you, absentmindedly playing with your hair, watching tv, just to be there if you need anything and so you don’t feel alone

⁃ He’s definitely searching on his phone “will I catch my girlfriend’s sickness if I go down on her?”

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dearpyramus · 3 months ago

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congrats on 100+ !!! i would love to see "can you please come get me?" + "delicately putting your hand on their back" with lip <33 maybe college!lip, and the reader is at a party and feels unsafe?

tags/warnings: overstimulation (not the sexy kind), reader is implied to be neurodivergent, soft!lip, college!lip and reader, pining

a/n: sorry I got a bit carried away LMAO. tysm for ur request I enjoyed writing this a lot.

(fic btc)

Your friends had invited you to some frat party and you made the mistake of agreeing to go.

The music wasn’t your vibe, the beer was sub-par, and your friends ended up ditching you. At one point you went to go to the bathroom to find that they basically left without you.

Some fucking friends, you thought. You can’t say you were surprised, though. In all honesty, you only went because you had nothing else to do. Anything to procrastinate on your schoolwork during a Friday night, you thought.

Suddenly, the music started getting louder, as if someone was fiddling with the volume. The crowd of people seemed to get more congested by the minute; strangers shoving past you in a drunken haze. You felt like too much was happening at once. You need to fuck out of there.

You didn’t even have that much to drink but suddenly the room felt like it was spinning. Too many people. Too much noise. Too many flashes of lights. Your sense felt like they were in overdrive.

You skin practically burned as bodies pressed against you. You frantically begin searching for your friends. Your calls to them proved fickle as it was drowned out by the music and clamoring of people.

You knew it was coming again right when you felt your breath catch in your throat. You need to get the fuck out.

You pushed your way through the crowd, each contact with a stranger burning through your skin. You hated how easily overwhelmed you got in situations like this. More importantly you hated your friends for ditching you.

You all but flopped down on the steps outside, trying to calm yourself. You knew you wanted to go home, but didn’t bring a car. Uber was too expensive at this hour, not to mention.

An idea popped in your head. If it were any other day and you weren’t tipsy and overstimulated, you would think of it as crazy. He was studying for an important exam, you knew that.

The urge got the best of you, however, and you were quickly fumbling through your phone. You paused at his contact: Lip Gallagher. The guy you were hooking up with.

Did this seem clingy? Probably. Was he busy? Yeah. But something deep down inside you. You didn’t know why. You didn’t think you wanted to know why. What you had with Lip was casual, nothing more. You didn’t dare to open those can of worms.

The abrupt cut off of the dial tone causes your stomach to clench. You couldn’t back out now.

You sighed, realizing you were probably making a big deal out of nothing. Regardless, you needed an out.

“Yo?”

You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. You hated how much you needed to heat his voice. God, you felt pathetic. You swallowed your pride and willed yourself to choke out a few words, trying to bury the sensory overload that lingered.

“Lip?”

You mentally kicked yourself for that question. Obviously it was Lip. Before he had a chance to reply, you introjected with a shaky voice.

“C-can you p-please come get m-me?”

You cringe at how your voice trembles. Your right hand begins to fidget at the fabric of your shirt.

“Hey, woah. Is everything okay?”

You want to cry at how soft his voice is, something you’ve rarely heard but want to keep hearing. It feels like a warm blanket being wrapped around your body.

“My friends—“, you begin to pinch the bridge of your nose and try to calm down.

“They ditched me, I think. I just want to get out of here”

You feel you sound like a whiny kid. You go to choke out frantic apologizes before Lip shushes you softly, reassuring you that it was okay and he didn’t mind. He didn’t miss the worry and care in his voice, and told yourself not to think about it too deeply.

“I’ll be there shortly, just hang in there, okay?”

He stays on the phone with you, the comfortable silence helping you relax. You stay slouched on the stairs, the sounds of the party a background haze.

You hang up when he arrives, the headlights of his car piercing your eyes. He’s sporting a button up over a long sleeve shirt, the sleeves bunch up by his elbows. You had to jerk away your eyes at the sight of his forearms.

You looked down, fidgeting with your hands. He kneels down infant of you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulders. It feels warm.

“Is everything okay? Did anything else happen?”

You shake your head.

“No, just overwhelmed. Sorry”

You know you should probably offer more of an explanation, but you’re just so exhausted. Lip seems to understand, though, which makes you want to melt even more. God, why was he like this?

“Don’t apologize. ‘M sorry your buds are dicks”

You shake your head, not wanting to fret about that right now. He then stretches out a hand or you to take, helping you up. You try not to think about how protective his larger and calloused hand feels against yours.

He pulls away and you already miss the contact. You mentally curse yourself at how clingy you were being. Casual. It’s nothing more.

Your thoughts were interrupted when the hand that previously grasped yours moved to the small of your back. It was firm but gentle, guiding you to the car.

You kept trying to ignore how much your heart fluttered at that interaction. Lip Gallagher was going to be the death of you.

#hope this was okay #shameless #lip gallagher #phillip gallagher #lip gallagher x y/n #lip gallagher x you #lip gallagher x reader #cass writes #lip oneshot #cass 100 celebration

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yuurei20 · 5 months ago

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Hello YuuRei! My apologies if this sounds a little silly, but I couldn’t help but notice that Trey’s voice sounds a little bit different in both Ruggie’s Platinum Jacket card story and his TsumTsum voice lines. (To me, it almost sounds like his voice actor is congested, either from a cold or seasonal allergies.) I honestly do not understand Japanese myself, so I am curious if you know if any JP Players have noticed too and/or are talking about it? Thank you so much!

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you very much for this question!

Trey's voice sounding different for Tsumsted and Ruggie's Platinum Jacket card were indeed noticed by the JP-server! And people have had a lot to say ♣️

Much like you say, some people are also guessing that maybe he had a cold at the time, with some going so far as to ask if the seiyuu has been changed (it is still Suzuki Ryouta!) and others commenting that they noticed some strange sound quality issues in Tapis Rouge, as well!

I am not sure about Tapis Rouge or Ruggie's Platinum Jacket, but there was actually an update message sent out (at 1am!) explaining that a character's voice was not playing at the same quality as it had been recorded and it was to be addressed.

This was followed later by an update that explained that it had been corrected, and they are looking into the quality of other characters' voices, as well!

This was followed again just yesterday by another update:

Ace, Jamil and Trey (Tsumsted) all had their voices corrected, and the game says that this was in no way the fault of the voice actors but was an issue on the development end, even including an apology to the voice cast for the mistake.

An equipment complication? Data issue? Sound team drama? Technical problem? We may never know, but the game seems quite open about acknowledging and correcting these curiosities as they arise ^^

#twstask #twisted wonderland

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goodlucksnez · 7 months ago

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❗ PLEASE NO REBLOGGING TO NON-KINK BLOGS ❗

A/ngel d/ust x husk & an/gel has comes back off set with terrible hay fever after working with flowers, and hu/sk is being nice

no one gets to talk bad about my angel dust voice okay, accent are hard and i am still working on it- I made this quick after work while people were cutting the lawn so sorry if the audio isn't the best

anyway enjoy you filthy sinners

cw: sneezing, (duh) some sniffles, cursing, 2 noseblows some sniffles, and playful nicknames, mentions of s/ex worker

❗ PLEASE NO REBLOGGING TO NON-KINK BLOGS ❗

transcript:

What the hell happened to you? You look like shit.

I will. Thanks, whiskas. Trust me, you don't want to know.

Ohh I most certainly do. What overlord did you fuck this time?

Hey, I will suck all of them. Besides, it ain't your fucking business. That's me and my work. Pour me a drink hard.

I'm not pouring you anything, especially when you're dripping snot all over my counter like that.

You.Suck at it.

Come on. 6 arms. Tell me.

Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. Val's got this new idea for all the Spring Breakers who fucked a bit too much down here? Well, the Last of Us. A lot. This is a great marketing scheme to make this whole set of tapes about fucking spring. Normally, I ain't complaining. I mean. Look. The hole, the hole I beat, but this time it's a little different.

Judging from your appearance, I can say so. What did he do this time?

Yeah, yeah. He bought every fucking flower to just assault the fucking crew with everything.and towed

Wait, wait. You're telling me that some fucking flowers did this to you? You fucking weak ass bitch Wait. What spiders like live in flora and fauna.

Well, it ain't exactly my sceane. Yeah, I mean, sure have been. Don't get down dirty, but that's what fucking planet.thinks it will strum up bussness. The only thing that's strumming up is my allergies

Breathe.I got you, baby cakes. Just sneeze. You wont feel better till you do.

Impressive. You've got anymore in there?

No. If you tell anyone about.

You ain't gonna do nothing, kid. You're gonna go March upstairs and rest. I'll have smiles. Bring you some antihistamines. You gotta get this **** off of you.

Oh, and what he's suggesting? eh whiskers. You want to see me all nude?

What I want to see is your snot filled face.I'll join you upstairs in a minute. Why don't you go do yourself a favor and start taking a shower?

Oh kitty got claws meow

If you make another fucking cat pun, I will shove this bottle so far.

Oh, don't threaten me with a good time. God I am gonna murder hin (val)

OK, arachnophobia. You get out of here. Go clean up, OK? Ill have a little talk little moth friend.

No, no, no, no. Ain't no way you're going near Val.

Says anything about me? I was an overlord once I got deals. I still know how to play my cards right.

Now you're gonna ask. Shit I'm way too congested just even think about it. OK, im out of here. Bring the fuckin bottle.

poor kids gonna kill himself one of these days. Up to me to clean up the fucking mess.

#sneeze #snez #audio #sneezy #snezaudio #sneezeaudio #wav #sneeze kink #h/azbinwav #h/azbin hotel #h/azbin h/otel #ha/zbin hotel wav #ha//zbin hotel #sneeze wav #h/usk #an/gel d/ust

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thegingerwrites · 5 months ago

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Obikin sickfic musings

So I’ve been sick for almost the past week, pretty much unable to look at a screen or do much more than rot in my bedroom for most of it. But! I have been thinking sick fic thoughts. Especially after reading Lemon's Obi-Wan sickfic a few weeks back. What is Anakin like when he’s sick? (And how does Obi-Wan take care of him)

The Jedi don’t get sick very often and when they do, they can often be sent to the Halls of Healing or the medbay of their star destroyers to get any illness treated quickly. But sometimes that isn’t possible, common colds are too various and changeable to treat directly so it’s easier a lot of the time for them to pass on their own.

Anakin gets one while out in the field and doesn’t really notice at first. A bit of congestion, fatigue, dizziness, isn’t really enough to stop him from doing what needs to be done. Honestly, most of that is expected after pushing himself so hard for so long.

When Anakin is sick, he pushes himself too hard. He is out on a campaign, stationed on planet, and in the midst of leading the ground troops through an assault. Midway through, he stops giving orders, fully immersed in his own head and doing what needs to be done. He has a few close calls, his reflexes are slower than they should be, but they live to fight another day. Ahsoka and Rex give him a few sideways looks as they return to the ship.

Even when the battle is over, he doesn’t retire to his quarters. He stays up, heading to the hangar to catch up on some repairs he has been thinking about for weeks. He waves off attempts to get him to slow down and rest, needing to keep going until he collapses.

Ahsoka loses patience with him almost immediately and hands the situation over to Rex until he convinces her to call in reinforcements. General Kenobi is in the system, wrapping up an engagement on a neighboring planet. If anyone can tell Anakin to sit down and rest, it’s him. Thankfully, he is only an hour away.

“Anakin.”

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re sick.”

“I’m fine. Did Ahsoka call you?”

“She did but I’m told the decision was seconded by Rex, your officers, and Chief Medic Kix.”

“…Traitors.”

“There are two ways this could go. You can admit that you are not feeling well and head back to your quarters to sleep of the rest of this cold with your dignity still intact.”

“Or?”

“Or I give it about ten minutes before you collapse and I have to carry you back to your quarters.”

“Fine.”

Anakin wasn’t exactly allowed to be sick when he was little. His mother took care of him as best she could, but Watto forced him to work regardless of how Anakin felt. His early years at the Temple were marked by a few bouts of illness, as his body adapted to its strange new home. He is better about recognizing illness and accepting help now but some habits are hard to break.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

“My mission went exceedingly well, thanks for asking. Completed it with just enough time to wrestle unruly former padawans into bed.”

“I mean, if you want to—”

“You can barely stand, Anakin. Hold still.”

“I’m still capable of taking my own armor off.”

“Then why is it still on?”

“…I think it’s half the reason I’m still standing.”

“Come now. Clothes off.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

“Anakin.”

When Anakin is feeling truly miserable, every kindness shown to him is treated like a gift from the Force itself.

“You don’t have to be here, you know.”

“I know.”

“I’m here now, in bed, resting. I promise I’m not dumb enough to run off the second you leave.”

“I know that too.”

Anakin breathes a heavy sigh that catches around the congestion in his chest. He clears his throat and nuzzles into Obi-Wan’s side.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever for?”

“For everything,” Anakin slurs. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, darling.”

Anakin smiles at the sound of the endearment he only ever hears when he is very sick. Obi-Wan offers it up carelessly to other people but it only ever gets administered to Anakin when he is at his lowest, perhaps when Obi-Wan thinks that Anakin won’t notice or remember, or when he believes Anakin most needs to hear it. Anakin remembers every single “darling” and “dearest” and “love”. Something about them does make him feel just a little bit better.

“Are you going to make your tea?”

“You hate my tea.”

“Yes, but I like that you make it.”

“…Alright.”

Anakin doesn't like the taste of Obi-Wan's tea but he does like the way that the ceramic mug feels in his hands and the smell of the steam that wafts from it and the way it fights the chill from his low-grade fever. This time, when he holds it in his hands and shivers, it almost feels like a good thing.

Obi-Wan stays with Anakin as he falls asleep, sitting up behind him on the narrow bed in Anakin’s quarters, keeping him elevated to help with his congestion. He runs his fingers through Anakin’s hair as Anakin’s mouth falls slack and he begins to doze as well.

“Aren’t you worried about getting sick too?”

“A Jedi doesn’t get sick.”

“What do you call this then?”

“A minor setback. You’ll be on your feet again in no time. Now, rest.”

When Anakin can’t sleep and makes some truly pitiful noises, Obi-Wan agrees to read to him. Anakin buries his face in Obi-Wan’s robes as he lets the words wash over him. It doesn’t matter what Obi-Wan is reading to him, the fact that he is here, that he cares, is more than enough. Obi-Wan presses a kiss to Anakin’s forehead just before he falls asleep again to check on his temperature.

Obi-Wan is only able to spend a few hours with him before being called back to the front. He manages to escape before Anakin’s cold takes a turn for the gross, all of the coughing and hacking that means that whatever is in his system is finally starting to break up a bit. The few hours together don’t feel like much, don’t feel like enough, but he is able to help Anakin to take care of himself and offer a bit of comfort in a time so often devoid of it.

“Master, is that Master Kenobi’s robe?”

“Yeah, he left it for me.”

“Isn’t it just a standard issue robe? You have like three of them.”

“It’s soft.”

#obikin #aniobi #obi wan/anakin #anakin/obi wan #obi wan x anakin #ficlet

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shawtythatluvsurgut · 1 month ago

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hey guys. i got back from seeing my dad (i was gone all of september doing that) and realized that im $150 short on rent for this month. i lost around 50 subs from that one month i took away and i totally understand and am not mad at anyone for unsubbing, but it’s put me in a pickle for paying my rent in november. by a pickle, i mean that im $150 short. it’s embarrassing to admit this, but i miscalculated when i bought my tickets to stay longer and thought id have enough for my upcoming rent. technically i should have had enough, but losing that many subs really put a dent in my finances. i’m kinda stressing right now so if anyone can send anything id appreciate the help so so much. i will also send personalized content as a thank you. you can also help by subscribing to my OF (im back to posting somewhat regularly) so that we both benefit.

i’m sorry that the disneyland plan didn’t work out. i was looking forward to eating good, way too expensive food, but my dad’s health took a turn. that’s why i made the last minute decision to cancel disney and extend my trip in north cal. i couldn’t get a refund because disney is full of cash cows, so im kinda screwed right now. i’m glad i recalculated before the first of november hit because i can at least try to see if anyone can help.

also, i have video ideas coming to my OF. right now i want to keep my weight somewhat consistent or maybe gain slowly because i, too, have been having some minor health issues (not due to gaining, but gaining isn’t helping right now). I AM NOT LOSING WEIGHT OR PLANNING TO. I am just going to go easy on how fast i gain. i have a stuffing video planned for this month, along with my usual pictures semi-daily.

i just needed to be upfront and let everyone know what is going on with me. my dad is dying, i’m in school and i hate it, school has been taking up a LOT of my free time, i didn’t calculate my money correctly, and i got my meds switched. i feel like a zombie lately. and i may have lost a friendship/relationship that was very dear to my heart in the midst of this stress.

if i had other options, i would choose those first. but, unfortunately, i don’t. i don’t mean to sound like a bum asking y’all to help me financially or sub to my OF or whatever, but im kinda freaking out a little. so if anyone can help, even just an OF subscription, i would GREATLY appreciate it. even if it’s just for this month.

i feel so pathetic right now begging for help online, but hopefully my upfront honesty will relate to someone. sometimes saving is hard and i’m a blonde so ya know i can’t do math and idk im embarrassed. if anyone wants to buy a custom please message me on here or on OF if you’re subscribed. i’ll be putting in the work to try to bring y’all back and keep y’all satisfied. that’s a big priority for me and im sorry again to anyone who subbed to watch me eat at disneyland. i didn’t want to cancel that, but my dad was officially diagnosed with congestive heart failure on the day before i was supposed to fly down to LA and i couldn’t leave him. he’s put in the work to earn his spot back in my life and i couldn’t leave him the day he got that news. i love him and my mom despite any hardships and the last thing i could do was ditch him. i hope me being real helps you guys understand why i didn’t deliver on the disneyland content.

i understand if you are upset and you have every right to be! but i figured maybe being honest about what im going through could maybe help some of y’all build back trust with me. i feel very awkward and uncomfortable sharing such intimate information, but i think it’s what’s fair to all of you. thank you to all who have stuck around <3 and thank you to any/all who subscribe and/or send me money to help me out.

sending so much love to you all, as this has been a hard year for more people than just myself. the world needs a bit of honesty and transparency, and you all deserve that, so that’s what i’m going to give. <3

- Nico

#onlyfats #please help me

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cattimeswithjellie · 5 months ago

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Stream Recap, PearlescentMoon, 6/11/24

((I started recapping this one before I knew it was going to be a six hour redstone marathon stream. It has taken literally all day, so I will probably think twice before doing one like this again. My knowledge of redstone is too limited to understand everything that was happening, so there are chunks of the middle of the stream where the recap is basically "redstone continues." Impulse and Skizz playtest Pearl's game near the end of the stream and it is very fun!))

3:50 Pearl opens her stream and greets the chat in audio-only mode. She tells chat she just woke up after being up all night and sleeping late. She got plenty of sleep, just at a weird time. She apologizes for postponing the stream yesterday and said she was making the video a priority for someone who was holding their own video waiting for hers. (It was Tango.) Today’s stream will have spoilers. She wants to do a couple things on the minigame today but she can’t make too much progress on the interior because she has to film an intro first. Chat is complimentary about the new video and Pearl says she is probably going to keep the new editing tweaks for redstone-type videos. She’s also going to keep the Editor Pearl overlay. She admits that the snow transition was a happy accident.

7:20 Someone told Pearl that the new video is engaging, which is what she is trying to do with her videos. Feedback sticks in Pearl’s brain, and some people have said on Twitter where they don’t know she is seeing it that while she is a nice person, her videos are not engaging. She is trying to make that better. Chat asks if Pearl feels okay, she tells them she usually wakes up a little congested but is fine. She talks more about finer points of the new video. She knows she can’t please everyone, but feedback that she could be more engaging in her videos is legitimate critique and she wants to keep improving.

10:10 Pearl and Chat talk about what it means for a video to be engaging. They talk about the different ways streams and YouTube videos and podcasts are engaging, and Pearl mentions how she deliberately changes up camera angles when there is a lot of talking in an episode. A chatter admits that the most recent video was not their favorite because redstone goes over their head. Pearl agrees that her audience is not a redstone audience and assures Chat she will not be getting too overly intense on redstone in her videos.

14:20 Pearl switches video on. She is logged into the server and standing at the start button for her Wordle game. She tells Chat that the Wordle invention VOD is up on her second channel for people who want an eight-hour stream of Pearl doing redstone. Something she didn’t show in the video is her adding the diamond barrel. Every Wordle attempt costs one diamond. She didn’t put that part in the video because she had 40 minutes each with Bdubs and Tango and had to do some severe editing. Hermits who fail the Wordle can try again by paying another diamond, Hermits who succeed should not play again til reset. She has plans to make a leaderboard so people can track their streaks.

18:00 Pearl wants to know if an item that bubbles to the top of a bubblevator will stay or despawn. Chat is not sure, but enough people think it will stay that Pearl takes their word for it. She wants to make a randomizer for the game supplies so players don’t have to randomize them at the end of their games. She says they can test the bubblevator despawn issue and test it, but if it works, bubblevating the supplies and then dropping them into a hopper is a great randomizing solution. She digs into the wall to create a test bubblevator. Chat offers suggestions for refining the resetting system. Pearl considers options for triggering the bubblevator, using freecam to examine the redstone she already has in place. She wants to be absolutely sure that the “success” items don’t come out together and first.

23:40 Twitch is having some minor resolution problems, but the stream is generally all right. Pearl goes and gets some water. She fills the bubblevator and throws a bunch of building blocks into it, then writes some signs to explain how the system will work. She discusses the finer points of reset with chat. A chatter suggests killing the player to reset the game, which makes Pearl laugh. A chatter can’t wait for Scar to break the game. Pearl says the only way to break the game should be going into the walls and actually fiddling with the redstone. She demonstrates some ways that players cannot break the game.

28:50 Pearl describes a timing problem where the game kept trying to play the fail sound while she was filming, but she added a pulse extender to fix it. It makes her very happy that she knows enough redstone now to be able to fix things when they don’t work right. She learned so much during her eight hour stream, but now she needs to keep doing redstone so she doesn’t forget it. She also needs to memorize item sorters.

30:30 Pearl checks the bubblevator. It does not work, the building blocks have despawned. She is disappointed, but has a minecart method she wants to try next. Minecarts are good because they take items super-quick, which will help solve the problem of dropping loose items onto a hopper and walking away, leaving them to despawn. Pearl goes out to collect some logs. A chatter suggests that an item does not despawn if a dolphin is playing with it. Pearl thinks that’s a funny idea, if impractical. Chat says that a multiple minecart system is what Tango used for the Decked Out shuffler. Pearl thinks about this, as well as thepossibility of a dispenser-based randomizing system.

35:00 Pearl realizes she is talking redstone like a redstoner and wonders what the heck has happened to her since last week. Chat embraces her new redstonification. She gathers up supplies for more testing. There’s a little bit of room in the existing redstone, but it’s going to be tight. Before Pearl starts redstoning, she thanks chat for donos and subs.

41:20 Pearl is happy to live in a place that doesn’t require driving or walking everywhere. Driving in a city is so much worse than public transit, but she also doesn’t have to walk a long way. Where Pearl lives, some things are walkable and she can drive to other places, and that is perfect. Chat agrees about avoiding city driving. She tells a story about getting stuck in LA traffic, which is even worse than Melbourne. She wishes she could enjoy the observatory she visited out there more, but it was right after TwitchCon and she was feeling horrible. A chatter asks if she’s been to Singapore, but she has not. She continues talking about public transportation and tells a story about a train that never showed up and required an expensive Uber ride to not miss D&D.

49:00 Pearl continues catching up on subs and donos. She considers whether there is something she can be doing while she’s talking, but there’s not much that doesn’t require brain effort. She is jumpscared again by having subs over 50 months, which seems like such a long time.

52:00 Pearl talks with Chat about Pokemon as she heads down into the redstone. She is very against the idea of brown Cyndaquil. Chat agrees about recent downgrades in Pokemon. Pearl says Platinum is the last game she loved. She begins installing the randomizer system. She needs to be careful because if the water-stream goes out of control, it can mess up a lot of redstone. Chat contributes ideas and critique about redstone as she builds.

57:50 Pearl successfully places her system without drowning the redstone. It doesn’t look quite as nice on the display side, but she is all right with it. She adds a timer to finish it up, and makes sure both hoppers are lockable. Space in the redstone area is getting tight. Chat suggests removing one hopper entirely, which helps. Pearl figures out what needs to be done in what order for it all to work properly. She warns chat that this will be Pearlstone, and that means it will not be pretty.

1:07:00 Pearl finishes connecting up the randomizer to the system, then has sudden concerns as to whether it will actually randomize the items as they come in. As the system is set up now, the dispenser dispenses before it is full, which means it will not have time to randomize. Pearl and chat devise a system to fix this and increase the randomzation. A chatter points out a problem in the line with a pulse extender and Pearl fixes it, while quizzing chat til she understands what the problem was.

1:12:00 Pearl begins working on the hopper clock on the opposite side of the new randomizer. There is not very much space available. She goes back and redoes some of the redstone she just made to add more room. She pops out to collect some scaffolding and thanks chat for subs and donos.

1:17:00 Pearl returns to working on the redstone. She falls off the scaffolding a few times and sarcastically declares how much she loves it. She runs out of smooth stone and grabs more. Chat suggests learning to color-code redstone, Pearl says maybe next time. She and chat have a conversation about the function of a reversed signal and a pulse extender. She explains to Chat the initial problem with reset that needed the pulse extender solution.

1:23:00 Pearl prepares to test the redstone. She set a new word yesterday but Tango was too busy flinging Skizzleman into the Void to actually play it. She tells Chat to close their eyes if they don’t want to know the answer for this week, then decides to leave camera mode and hide it so Chat can’t spoil it to anyone. One she has arranged the supplies appropriately for the correct answer, she brings Chat back and presses the solve button. The win celebration happens like it’s supposed to. She tests the fail. The fail happens like it should as well. Pearl is pleased. She hides the game again to unload the letters, but some become lost in the system. They are stuck in the dropper because she pressed the reset, but everything is okay. Chat sees some of the letters. Pearl decides to change the word and asks chat to guess. They guess it correctly.

1:29 Pearl shows off some of her prize bundles and says she is going to change some of them to be more themed. Chat suggests changing the theme every month or week. She does not want to retexture the dyes into letters, it’s no longer on theme with the shop. She also likes that it’s a little more vanilla. She tests the reset again and realizes she needs to adjust the water stream. She tests it again and this time everything comes back in a random order.

1:34:30 Pearl sees a flaw in the system. She thinks there might need to be a delay on item release or the correct letters might always come back first, ruining the randomizing. Further testing is needed. She collects her redstone supplies back up while talking with Chat about the possibility of flower crowns for rare prizes. Pearl needs to buy more fireworks, but not just yet. She starts doing the redstone to add the delay.

1:43:00 Chat is attempting to help with the redstone, with varying amounts of forcefulness. Pearl reminds Chat that there are lots of different ways to do redstone and people advocating too many methods or being too pushy about their preferred way can make it uncomfortable to do redstone on camera. The redstone is expanding rapidly.

1:49:50 Pearl tests the randomizer. The signal strength is difficult to calibrate, it is either too weak to activate the randomizer or too strong and sets it off early. Pearl begins calibrating the system to get the correct signal strength for the result she needs. She releases a bit of water but fortunately it only kills one bit of redstone. An Australian streamer raids in and compliments Pearl on the new video. She chats with them a bit about ancient city raiding in a hardcore world being nerve-wracking.

1:54:15 Pearl tests the redstone again. The delay is too short. Pearl explains the problem to chat, chat suggests “more comparators.” There is not much room to add more redstone at all. Pearl contemplates moving other redstone to make more room. She digs into the wall instead. She decides to do another proper test with the actual letters. Chat tells her that her redstone is reversed. She changes it, apologizing that she is not as cool as Tango and is doing Noobstone.

2:02:00 Time for the test. Pearl throws letters in in alphabetical order to see if they get scrambled nicely. It did not work because things came back into the chest too quickly to get randomized. Pearl has a big thonky-thonk about what to do next. Another streamer raids in. Pearl starts troubleshooting again.

2:09:00 Another test, it’s looking better, it will randomize til the letter G instead of C. She needs a long enough delay to send the whole alphabet through the system. Chat suggests an Etho clock, she says she is not very familiar with it, but will lean on chat if they help her build one. She replaces a patch of Pearlstone with a hopper clock, following instructions from Chat. Chat tells her she needs at least 17.6 seconds.

2:18:00 A chatter asks if Pearl is calling the game Wordle. Pearl says no, it’s Wordle-inspired, but she won’t call it that. She shows off the signs she put up at the entrance and says she took suggestions from the chat: the game is called “Dye-duction.” You use dye to deduce what the word is. “Pearldle” was a close runner up but is hard to say and a little cheesy. She returns to the redstoning.

2:25:00 Another test. The randomizing is working, but it’s still too short. Things are still getting stuck in the system. She decides to try extending the clock and also needs to fix the locking conditions on one hopper. She tests it again. It does not work. She studies chat, hoping for answers. Chat has suggestions.

2:30:00 More troubleshooting. Pearl accuses chat of misleading her when she was in fact right all along. Most of chat just seems a little confused, but of the chatters trying to help, the votes are split between “correct” and “wrong.” Pearl says this is why people don’t do redstone on stream.

2:36:40 Pearl spots a creeper down in the guts of the redstone and is Not Happy about it. She asks it to please not blow up her redstone. She gets her bow and takes care of the creeper with no damage done. Pearl asks why it always has to be a creeper and never a zombie or skeleton. Redstoning continues

2:41:00 Pearl takes a moment to process, thanks subs and donos. She is an hour behind on her donator thank-yous and has no idea how she is 2:42 into the stream. False raids into the stream. Pearl continues to disbelieve that she has spent this much time on a randomizer. She’s fine. She’s fine. Attendance is down for the stream, but chat is fine too. Pearl chats with False’s raiders. Chat asks if Pearl needs a snack or a drink, but she is fine. She has a drink. False and her chat have been doing base design. Pearl likes how everyone has been building bases in stages this season, it’s neat! Redstone continues.

2:53:00 Pearl loses some of the letter dyes from the system when they shoot out of the water stream. She finds all of them except light gray, and enables freecam to look for it. As she swoops around, she briefly dips out of the room and into x-ray view. There is a chasm below, which contains a number of mobs, and something that looks like a green room or tunnel with a white stripe along it. Pearl finds her lost dye and pops back into her body, mentioning she saw something down there she hadn’t meant to look at and is just going to ignore. She rearranges her letters in the box and does another test. The piston is very very loud and the signal is too strong. All the items get stuck at the top of the water stream. Pearl tries to put the items away but activates the circuit again, so the items spit back out again. Test failed.

2:57:00 Pearl disables the circuit and collects up her letters again. She decides to try again with a different repeater delay and yells at the hopper clock until it behaves itself. She reloads the letters for another test. Things are much less obviously broken on this test, but the hopper that should release stays locked for longer than is ideal. At the end of the test, though, the letters are randomized and in the chest. Victory!

3:03 Pearl resets for another test, this time to make sure that the first-in-first-out problem doesn’t cause any hints. She points out that she has added something to the system that can break. She runs the test again. The chest does not randomize very well this time, despite everything going through the system. Another test has the same result. Pearl figures out what is going wrong and discusses possible solutions with chat.

3:16:00 Redstone work resumes. Pearl has a solution in mind, and she hopes to do it without flooding the room. Pearl and chat briefly forget how many letters are in the alphabet. A chatter gives her an idea that will allow her to switch the game to allow for the entire alphabet later if she wants it. She likes that idea and decides to implement it.

3:24:00 Another test. It looks good in the water stream and stops when it needs to. Pearl is excited. The chest is nicely randomized. The hopper clock is not finished yet, and she has not solved the first-in-first out issue with the correct answer letters, but it’s progress! She goes to adjust the hopper clock and runs the test again. Again random, and with better timing, but the letter K is stuck in a dropper. She tests again. Letter C gets stuck in the same place. She adjusts the timer a little bit and wonders how this became a redstone stream. Everything works!

3:32:00 Pearl prepares for a full playtest. She walks chat through the gameplay and decides doing a reset on the reset barrel is not worth it. She does a playtest and pretends she doesn’t remember the word. The moment the letters are out of the chest, it begins cycling. She discusses possible fixes with chat. Chat suggests a “do not touch” potato that stays in the chest, but Pearl is certain that it will be touched consistently by Hermits because Hermits don’t read things.

3:38:30 Pearl admits that a “do not take this block” block is the easiest solution, but she’s trying to minimize points of possible breakage. The biggest consequence of moving the block would be a loud noise, so the problem is fairly small. Pearl comes up with a solution involving sticky pistons that might be effective and might be silly. Chat thinks if it works, it’s not silly. She tries out the solution.

3:45:00 Time to test the fix. Pearl simulates a reset and giggles “It’s working” as the items begin to circulate. She asks if she actually fixes it, with a solution she came up with herself and didn’t get from chat. She is very proud. Chat is very proud of her. She reorders the letters for a full randomization test. The test runs successfully, though with a couple patches of ordered letters. Time for a playtest.

3:50 Pearl reorganizes her inventory and sets up for a playtest. She adds the correct letters. The win condition runs successfully, but she forgets to put away the winning letters before reset. She tries it again. It works successfully, there is no sign of what the original word was. Pearl is pleased. She gets a nosebleed, but not a bad one. She stuffs a bit of paper up her nose to stop it. Chat tells her she needs Etho’s Kleenex box, but she points out that every tissue removed from that box is one less layer of sound dampening.

3:56:30 With four minutes left of stream time, Pearl says they couldn’t possibly have cut that finer. She decides to do a quick fail test. She puts in “PATHS,” then changes it to “PEARL” because it has some needed letters. The fail test works. Pearl doesn’t like that she can’t do a true playtest because she always knows the word. She thinks about asking Impulse to playtest for her. She puts in “SHELF”, another good test. She plays “FIELDS” and gets the win condition. She resets again and decides to ask Impulse to play. The correct letters are in the first five slots. Pearl needs to put a timer on the letter release. She decides that she has nothing big to do tomorrow, so she’s going to go overtime on the stream.

4:04:30. Back to the redstone. Pearl does another win test and looks at the way the chests empty. The letters randomize on this go-through. She wonders if she was just unlucky. She tries the test again and asks if Impulse is streaming. Chat says no, Impulse is sick. This test has three correct letters at the top and two at the bottom. Pearl is mostly satisfied.

4:14:20 Pearl invites Impulse to play a game. Impulse says “Depends” Pearl asks if he wants to play or not. Impulse asks if it will kill him. Pearl assures him it will not. He agrees to play. She invites him to the flower shop. She resets the game, cleans the playing room, and goes to find Impulse. He’s a hard guy to find.

4:18:00 Pearl finds impulse at the flower truck. He sounds pretty rough, but says he’s okay. She asks if he’s ready to play Wordle. He says he likes Wordle, and that he is proud of her for doing redstone. She leads him to the new shop and shows him around, then welcomes him to Dye-Duction. She tells him she’s just going to watch him play and see what happens. He doesn’t have to pay today.

4:20:15 Impulse reads some of the instructions aloud. Pearl reminds him to guess words and not just letter combinations. Impulse admits he didn’t read enough of the book to know where things are. He goes back and reads the book. He plays through the game with some small guidance from Pearl on the technical aspects of the game. He plays “SPACE,”

4:26:40 Impulse tries to think of a second word. His dogs start barking at the landscaper and he leaves for a moment. He comes back and says it’s hard when the dyes are not in order. He plays “BEING” and still has no letters in the right spot.

4:31:00 Impulse tries to think of another word. Pearl assures him there’s no pressure, she’s had people watch her do redstone for the past four hours and she knows from pressure. She tells him it’s really quite simple. He says it’s _not._ She asks what Impulse says when he’s doing redstone, like how Tango and Mumbo have catchphrases. He admits he hasn’t got a line, but Chat is bopping.

4:34:15 Impulse is struggling. Pearl is amused. Impulse plays “THEIR” and has one letter in the right spot. Still no more letters. Impulse is getting squeaky with Wordle-related distress. Pearl realizes that having each letter only once makes Wordle considerably harder and that random letter combos might be okay to counteract that. She mutes herself in-game so she can laugh at Impulse.

4:40:40 Impulse wants a sign he can write on. He tries it out, then realizes he can’t see his inventory when the sign is up. A sign would at least let him save guesses. Pearl and chat discuss custom textures to make the dyes look more lettery.

4:43:00 Impulse plays “FIELD” and gets the win event. He is happy and gets the prize. He reads the book and puts the supplies back in the box. He presses reset and tells Pearl the game is impressive and enjoyable. He isn’t used to playing Wordle under pressure and is sweating about it, but in general it was fun and he’s going to cut the footage to make it look like he guessed very quickly.

4:47:00 Pearl says she isn’t going to do signs but people can use whispers or an actual piece of paper to make notes. Impulse gives back the bundle because his game was comped, but Pearl says she’s going to reset the game and open it today or tomorrow so he can play. She says she’s going to rig up a hint barrel for people who get really stuck. She asks if he wants to see behind the curtain.

4:48:20 Pearl gives Impulse the redstone tour. He jokes about how she needs documentation for all this. She tells him she used his sorters for the game. He said he saw her screenshot while he was on his cruise and was proud to see his sorters. She thanks him for helping her test. Chat suggests naming the shop Dye On The Inside. Pearl and Impulse talk about how lack of repeated letters and only five guesses can make things harder. Impulse thinks no repeated letters is not bad, just hard to learn to think about.

4:51:00 Pearl explains that she’s trying to eliminate user error from the system. Impulse agrees it needs to be spam-proofed for Grian. Pearl needs to add a few more rules to the book before the game opens. Impulse says the game is cool and leaves. Pearl is pleased with the test run and knows she needs to install a locker room and hint barrel. Chat remembers that Impulse didn’t take his stuff. Pearl sends him a message.

4:54:10 Impulse sneaks in and grabs his stuff. Pearl explains her next video will be less about the game and more about stocking the actual shop. Before she ends, Pearl wants to do a few last things, but chat wants Skizz to test the game. Pearl sends him a message, asking “Would you like to play a game?” Skizz is always up to play a game. Impulse says he heard that in the Saw voice. Pearl says that was the correct way to hear that. She discusses the possibilty of making the game a death trap. It would be pretty difficult. She sets up a new recording for Skizz’s visit.

4:57:00 Pearl and Chat decide that easier than a death trap would be a chest where if the contestant loses, they need to pay another diamond to get their stuff back. Easier, but diabolical. The reward would have to be very good to justify that. She examines her bundles again and decides which ones to switch out. Chat suggests adding coupons to the bundles, Pearl likes that idea. Skizz doesn’t know where the shop is, so Pearl gives him directions.

4:59:00 Skizz and a creeper arrive at the flower shop at the same time. Pearl warns Skizz off while she deals with the “green cucumber.” She is very impressed with Skizz’s green shutter shades from Mission Possible. Skizz asks if he’ll be playing Wordle. She says yes and asks how good he is at it. He says he doesn’t like to brag, but… She leads him downstairs, introduces him to Dyeductions, and has him read the book.

5:00:30 Skizz looks at the book and is dismayed by nine pages. He reads the book aloud. He loves the “no letters twice” thing. Pearl adds a few editorial comments for things she’s going to change or that he doesn’t get. He accidentally picks up the book, sets it down, and loses track of it. This is because he is losing his connection, because he instantly falls offline.

5:03:00 Pearl hopes that Skizz didn’t fake losing connection so he doesn’t have to play Wordle. She talks to chat about color choices and waits for him to come back, which he does. He says everything crashed. He finishes reading the book and drops his inventory into the barrel. Pearl critiques his crowded inventory. Skizz gathers his supplies and readies for his first guess. He can’t remember what starter word he wants to use. After a moment of thought, he plays “HORSE,” because eliminating an H eliminates all H blends. He gets one letter, not in the right place.

5:08:30 Skizz clears the board and sets up for his next guess. Pearl creates a sign to remind players of which letters are not included in the game. Skizz is nervous! Pearl tells him not to be stressed. She creates a sign to remind players that letters do not appear twice. Skizz plays “CLEAN,” a word that pleases Cleaning Lady Pearl. He gets a letting in the right place and a letter in the wrong place. He clears the board again. He is so impressed by Pearl’s redstone prowess. Pearl tells him she had so much fun making the game.

5:14:00 Skizz tries to figure out his next guess. Pearl is impressed by his deduction attempts. Skizz says not having letters on the textures makes it hard, but Pearl tells him she is still not sure what to do about this. She mentions that all the vowels are flowers. Skizz says I before E except after C and promises he is actually good at this. He says he’s going to edit this to be much faster. He continues muttering to himself and looking at letters while Pearl thinks about Mission Possible.

5:17:20 Skizz decides on a word. It is “FIELD.” He bops all the letters into place. Chat is so excited. He gets the win condition and is very pleased. Impulse, who was stream sniping, yells “woo!” in chat. Skizz explains that when he and Impulse play Wordle, they share their results. A word guessed in two tries is a twofer, a word guessed in three is a woo. Pearl tells Skizz he did it in faster than Impulse with one less try. He demurs, saying he may have done one less try, but he doubts he did it faster. ((He did it much faster, in about half the time it took Impulse.)) He asks to take a peep at the redstone using freecam. He asks Pearl how she is both an amazing builder and an amazing redstoner and accuses her of hogging all the cool. Pearl says she’s not really a redstoner, but Skizz scoffs at that. He tells her not only did he have fun with the game, he was very impressed.

5:20:10 Skizz puts away the supplies and resets the game. He looks at his bundle, the orange and red dyes. She tells him he can keep it and tells him about her plan for new bundle rewards. Hoffen is doing the bundle texture. Skizz tells her he has an enormous amount of pink dye if she needs it. Pearl gets most of her dyes from Keralis, but she won’t say no to dyes. She tells him the shop will be open in a week or two, but the game is opening very soon, with one word per week. Chat is still busy loving on Pearl after Skizz’s compliments.

5:23:00 Skizz thinks Pearl could charge more than a diamond for the play or the hint, because the bundles are so nice. He promises to play again as soon as the word resets, then leaves. Pearl heads downstairs and realizes she forgot to ensnare Skizz in her Mission Possible task. She says she thought about doing it before he finished the Wordle, but he was very dialed in. She still has plenty of time. She has not told Chat what the task is. She wants to come up with a better sto- a better thing anyway. Chat asks if it’s in her video and she remembers yes, she did put it in the video. She’s still not going to give it away in case of lurking Hermits, but she’s going to get something better put together before she completes the mission.

5:26:00 Pearl says the worst problem so far is hermits not noticing the droppers. She thinks about ways to fix it. Chat suggests adding a sign with the date that the game was last updated. Pearl agrees, and talks again about the leaderboard and locker room. Otherwise, the game is done!

5:28:00 Pearl says it’s time to end the stream. She asks what it is about redstone that makes these 5+ hour streams. She must be having fun if she lets it run so long! She could actually keep streaming, but she has stuff to do in the gaming district. This week is birthday week, so she has family stuff to do, plus she uploaded late and has less time to make her next video. She wants to get back to her Friday release schedule. She needs to figure out what will be in her next video before she makes it, too. Her birthday and Kahn’s birthday are both this week, but she will not take a week off. Taking a week off is so bad for the YouTube algorithm. Right now she is very happy with everything she’s doing on the server and has been having a lot of fun. She tells chat she’s streaming again tomorrow

5:31:50 Pearl realizes she has not read out her notifications for three hours. She is embarrassed and blames redstone streaming. She wails a bit, then starts thanking her subs and donos. Pearl and the chat have a mutual-appreciation party for a little while. Pearl thinks Chat is wonderful, and that things are better now than in older streams, with less backseating and more support. She liked streaming back then but even more now. There are fewer trolls (she thinks this may be because she gave up facecam) and more peaceful building. She likes how Chat offers good suggestions in kind ways. Chat is loving this and feeding compliments right back to Pearl. Pearl says she feels good after every stream these days. Some people in the community give fair critique but in painful ways that makes people feel bad instead of making them better, and that has happened with other creators she knows recently, but her chat is excellent. Pearl also says she understands a fraction of what Tango felt when he finished Decked Out.

5:44:40 Ollie Orionsound appears in chat and asks about the game, so Pearl gives him the very short tour of how the redstone works for the game itself. Ollie thinks it is “so cool.” After the tour, Pearl says she needs to end stream now. No Hermits are streaming Minecraft so she raids into Jono, who is mixing the Poe Poe song, and ends her stream.

#hermitcraft #pearlescentmoon #impulsesv #skizzleman #wordle in minecraft #pearl's redstone skills are growing at a terrifying rate

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perfectpaperbluebirds · 2 months ago

Text

Only Wanna Be With You

At last my long-promised (emphasis on long) Priest/Flora fic is finished. I wanted to write a deep-dive on what their hidden relationship would look like if he got sick while preaching, and I think I accomplished that pretty well.

There are lots of religious elements in this story. Worship services, prayer, mentions of the saints, etc. There is a lot of "priest doing priest things" here, and I won't be offended if that doesn't suit many of you. But it's what my brain wanted to write, and I think it's important to the themes of these characters.

That being said, I might start writing things further down their timeline, so if anyone has any other ideas for these two (non-church encounters? free time? smut? sick Flora?), my ask box is open! Thanks for reading :)

Coming down with a cold is never convenient, especially for someone who makes their living by speaking. However, when Father Luc began to feel the telltale signs of burgeoning sickness the Wednesday before Palm Sunday, it was more than an inconvenience. In truth, it felt akin to a death sentence.

Holy Week is the gauntlet every liturgical minister must run each church year. Palm Sunday was only the start. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday would follow close behind, meaning Luc had to oversee and preach a total of six special, important services within four days. All of this of course was on top of the hundred other things a minister is expected to do each week. Even thinking about it was exhausting, and now he would be sick on top of it all.

He had been so careful, too, or he had tried to be. He took extra care to stay healthy in the weeks leading up to Holy Week so he would be equal to the huge task before him. He talked to so many people and shook so many hands every week, though. There was no way to say for sure when or where he picked up a bug. All he knew was that after the final Lenten service that Wednesday his throat felt tickly and scratchy, which he initially chalked up to dryness from preaching. However, by the time he went to bed that night he was chilled and sporting a headache, and he feared he was in for the worst.

The cold had officially set in by Saturday night, and it was a doozy. His head and ears were packed tight and aching, his sinuses felt like they'd been filled with concrete, and his throat was raw from postnasal drip and the resulting persistent, irritating cough. Every few hours the nasal congestion transitioned from running out of his nose to swelling up in his sinuses, then transitioned back again (and he wasn't sure which was worse) but either way, this cold was noticeable and persistent. There was nothing to be done for it, however, and there was no hope of taking a sick day. Every priest in the country was just as busy as he with the upcoming week of services. Brutal head cold or no, he would be preaching Holy Week.

Palm Sunday morning arrived right on schedule, and if anything his cold was worse, not better. Yet when the bells began to toll for the opening of the service, Father Luc was standing before the congregation just as he had every Palm Sunday since he was ordained. He may have been loaded with decongestant and DayQuil, but he was present, and that was a win as far as he was concerned.

He hadn't spoken to Flora since he'd come down sick. They didn't chat much as a rule in their day-to-day lives. It was safer and easier that way, with fewer messages to hide and fewer opportunities for others to ask awkward questions. Luc and Flora’s lives were already too intertwined in this small town, and the more they could avoid scrutiny, the better. Whenever he was sick, though, he wanted to be with her more than ever, and he knew she felt the same way. Still, he couldn't afford to be sneaking around with how much he already had on his plate this week. And what if he got her sick? No, it was better to stay safe. Until service time, Flora would have no idea he was under the weather.

For that reason, he couldn't help but watch her out of the corner of his eye when he opened the service that Palm Sunday. She was easy to spot, sitting with her parents in their normal row. It would be obvious to her from his voice that he was sickly. How could it not be, between the dulled consonants and hoarse voice? And sure enough, before the end of his first sentence her head had snapped to attention and her eyes were boring into him. He flushed under her scrutiny. He longed to meet her gaze, but had to refrain, not knowing what his face might betray.

Somehow he made it through the service without incident, though he wasn't certain how, between his fixation on her and the demanding cold symptoms. Soon enough he was making his way to the back of the church to greet the people. Naturally, Flora and her parents were almost the first to reach him. His lover rushed to shake his hand, throwing nonchalance to the wind. At last he was forced to look at her, and the air rushed from his lungs in a moment of rapture and yearning, leaving him speechless. She was more focused, though, and her gaze probed his.

“Are you feeling alright, Father? Your voice sounded a bit different today,” she said levelly, revealing nothing.

“I've picked up a spring cold, I think. Nothing too serious,” he replied, hoping he seemed equally calm.

“Oh dear. I do hope you feel better soon! We can't have you sick for Easter,” Flora’s mother tutted.

“I'm sure I'll be fine in no time. But I appreciate your concern.”

Flora hesitated another moment; she was holding up the line now. Finally she squeezed his hand tightly. “Be well, Father.”

“Thank you, Flora,” he managed, flushing again.

There was a text from her waiting on his secret phone when he arrived home after Sunday luncheon. “Why didn't u tell me u were 🤢?”

“There was nothing u could do,” he replied. “Just a cold. Has to run its course.”

“I could’ve kept u company tho.”

“I was busy every night this week. There wasn't a good time.”

“I'm guessing ur busy the next few days too?”

“Holy Week. Busy doesn't even begin to describe.”

“😞 Miss u. Meet up a week from tomorrow? Hotel on me.”

“👍 Wouldn't miss it for the world.”

“❤️ it's a date. Try not to be too sexy until I'm with u, ok?”

He was grinning like an idiot as he replied: “I'll do my best ❤️”

With a sigh he locked the phone back up in his cabinet. This cold had come a week too early. There was nothing he wanted more on earth than to be lying in Flora’s lap as she stroked his hair, but he'd have to wait eight more long, exhausting days. Time couldn't pass quickly enough.

~~~

He fully expected the cold to clear up by Holy Thursday for sure, but to his horror, it was holding on as fiercely as ever when that day dawned. The week of constant low-level headache, sneezing, sniffling, and coughing had sapped his energy stores, and he was going into his longest four days of the year running on fumes and feeling like garbage. There was prayer on his lips the whole day through to any saint who might be listening for strength, endurance, and perhaps a miraculous healing.

Thursday's work day and evening worship service passed in a haze. He must have said the right things at the right times, but he felt disconnected from what was going on due to the sensation of his head being stuffed to bursting with cotton. He wasn't even excited to see Flora for once. There were still several days to go before they could spend some interrupted time together, and seeing her at a distance made the wait feel that much longer. He kept his eyes away from her all through the service to minimize his yearning. As he spoke the closing words at the end of the hour and made his way to the back of the sanctuary, he prepared himself to simply smile and nod at her like any other parishioner and avoid revealing how pathetic he felt. When she was several people back from him in the exit queue, though, he unintentionally caught a glimpse of her. Her eyes were full of tender love and concern, and his heart fluttered. He hadn't realized how desperately he needed to know she cared. She reached him a short time later, ducking in front of her parents to clasp his hand in hers, subtly scrutinizing him.

“You look tired, Father. And it sounds like your cold is still bad. How are you feeling?”

The care was obvious in her voice and his heart fluttered again, but he almost chuckled at her frankness. She was close to going past the line of what they had agreed was safe to say in public to one another. Still, he couldn't bring himself to mind.

“I AM tired, and my cold isn't any better. But I'm doing as well as can be expected.”

Flora’s forehead was furrowed with worry as her mother chimed in: “Oh dear, what an awful time for you to be sick. I'll pray even harder that you recover quickly.”

“I certainly appreciate any prayers on my behalf, and thank you for them gladly.”

“Do let me know if there's anything I can do for you. I'll bring ‘round some soup tomorrow if you're still not feeling like yourself.”

Like mother, like daughter. Luc almost laughed at the irony, and he could see Flora holding back a smile too. “I'll be sure to reach out if there's anything you can do. Thank you so much.”

“Take care, Father,” Flora said, with one last meaningful look. He'd been chilled for a week now, but that long gaze warmed him for the rest of the night with a heat no sickness could touch.

~~~

Luc was not well come Friday morning. The congestion was lodged and unmoving in his nose and the back of his throat, making his whole face feel swollen and raw. The aches and headache had increased significantly. His cough had gotten worse, and now any time he inhaled too deeply or quickly he would spiral into a coughing attack. In short, he was in rough shape and all he wanted to do was wrap himself in an extra blanket, take a heavy dose of NyQuil and sleep the day away. Instead he got up, aching, shaking, and miserable as he was, and began to shower and dress like always. The goal for the day would simply be to survive. He couldn't manage any more than that.

Just as he was about to leave his house, he heard the secret phone vibrating in his file cabinet. He unlocked it to find a text from Flora:

“Any better today?”

“No. Worse :( “

“Hang in there. I'll see you later and I'll make sure I get a chance to hug you somehow ❤️”

Luc couldn't think of a response that wasn't outright pathetic so he left it at that, locking the phone back up before getting the last of his things together and dragging himself out the door.

He arrived at his office close to his usual time, and was glad to have accomplished at least that. Resisting the urge to immediately lay his head on the desk and fall asleep, he instead pulled out his notes for the day's service and tried to get himself in the proper mindset. He would lead worship services at 1 pm and 7 pm, but other than that, today he simply had to be present for any questions the staff members or parishioners might have, and do his duty as the church figurehead on this most sacred of days. There were a dozen other things he needed to work on in preparation for the upcoming weeks, but working ahead wasn't part of survival mode. The only thing he cared about today and tomorrow was trying to rest as much as possible so he was able to stand upright and speak come Sunday. Everything else would have to sort itself out.

His eyes were on the order of service and homily notes in front of him, but his mind was unfocused and he was comprehending maybe one word in ten. An unknown amount of time later, his secretary Rhonda‘s knock at the door startled him out of his stupor.

“Come in,” he called, trying to make his voice sound normal.

The matronly woman pushed the door open with her hip. In her hands was a to-go bag from Starbucks and a drink. She wore an amused expression as she placed the items in front of him.

“You should've told us you were DoorDashing Starbucks. Jan and I would've gotten something too.”

Luc had not ordered DoorDash, but he had a good guess who had. He flushed and stammered for a moment, trying to cover his surprise.

“Oh it was… a spur of the moment thing. I didn't even think to tell you. I just… really needed coffee, I guess.”

Rhonda raised an eyebrow, still smiling. “Well you certainly look and sound like you need it, so I won't hold it against you. But that means you're treating next time.”

“Sure, sure. Thanks, Rhonda.”

She gave him a last, searching look before making her exit, and Luc had a flash of anxiety. Rhonda was sharp, which made her very good at her job. He couldn’t help but wonder how much she knew about Flora and himself, or at least guessed.

He forced his thoughts away from such worries and turned his attention to the meal delivery. It was his exact Starbucks order, Irish Cream cold brew and egg bites, and he knew of only one other person who would know that. This wasn't the first time they had sent one another anonymous deliveries, though they couldn't do it often to avoid suspicion, but today he wanted to weep with gratitude. Those first few swallows of coffee might as well have been the nectar of life, because he immediately felt more awake and alive, and the egg bites were exactly the sort of simple food his body was craving. Dear Flora… she always seemed to know exactly what he needed whether she was present or not. He wondered if this was what she meant by giving him a hug today.

The sustenance (and the love behind it) gave him the boost he needed to push through until the afternoon service, and he actually managed to get a few easy things done that morning to boot. He ducked into the sacristy extra early, though, to avoid having to talk to anyone unnecessarily and hopefully save his voice.

When the time came for him to emerge for the service, he couldn't help but scan the crowd for his girl. She wasn't present, but her parents were. She was working, then. At first he was disappointed, but that meant he would see her in the evening service instead. Leaning on that hope, he launched into his greeting, trying to display energy that he didn't feel, and hating the hoarse, congested sound of his voice and everything it revealed.

The service was far from smooth, but he made it through. It hurt, though. His head hurt and his throat hurt and his joints hurt and his nose hurt. He was shaking by the end, but at least he didn't have to greet the people after this solemn, mournful service. He could slip quietly into the sacristy and remain hidden until everyone had departed. He heaved a quiet sigh of relief as the sacristy door closed behind him. Four more services to go.

There was a single chair in this tiny room, and not a very comfortable one, but his body was screaming for a break, so without even taking off his robe he let himself fall into it, tipping his head back against the wall.

He startled awake almost two hours later, completely disoriented. He staggered out of the chair, groaning as he freed himself from the sweaty, wrinkled robe. Less than ideal didn't begin to describe the situation, and the worst part was, he felt worse after the nap than he had before. He let himself out of the room and hurried through the dark, silent hallways of the church. He saw no sign that there was anyone else in the building. He had informed the staff that they could take the afternoon off, so this wasn't surprising, but he hoped they hadn't needed him for anything before they left.

He went straight to his desk once he was back in his office and dug out his phone. Sure enough, there were several confused texts asking where he'd gone, as well as a handful of new sticky notes from Rhonda on his computer. He quickly responded to the texts and made sure none of the notes were urgent, then collapsed into his desk chair, holding his head in his hands. He felt wretched in every possible way. Sick during Holy Week… this was his personal hell. This was punishment for what he was doing with Flora, he was certain of it, and, worse, he knew he deserved it.

Thinking of Flora made his heart flutter in yearning, though, damnation notwithstanding. He needed her cool hands on his face and her soft lips in his hair, and her arms around him. There was nothing else on earth that would make him feel better at this point.

After a while he lifted his head, and his eyes fell on the low bookcase across from his desk. Sitting on top of it was a travel mug and a canvas bag that didn't belong to him, and he went over to investigate. In the mug was hot green tea sweetened with honey. In the bag was an insulated container full of beef chili. What little he could smell of it made his mouth water. On top of the container was a note:

“Get well soon, from the De Luca family.”

Luc was grinning like a fool as he sat down at his desk with his afternoon meal.

“Flora De Luca, you are a lifesaver,” he whispered. While Flora’s mother Barb may have been responsible for the chili, he had a hunch her daughter had suggested the tea. He wasn't sure which part of this second "hug" he appreciated more, but either way he felt notably better after eating once again. He sipped at the tea for the next several hours, right up until he was dressing for the evening service, trying to help his abused throat in any way possible.

With a feverish sense of Deja Vu, Father Luc was once again standing in front of the church at 7 pm that evening. His legs were already trembling beneath him and wished he was in bed, or really anywhere but here. He was sure he looked and sounded as sickly as he felt, but he was beyond caring. As the bells ceased pealing, he found Flora’s eyes in the crowd and clung to her gaze like a drowning man, drinking her in. Refreshed, he took a careful breath, being sure not to cough, and opened the service.

He looked at Flora far too often during that service, but it was the only thing that kept him going, like sips of water in a trek through the desert. He wasn't sure what kept making him think of water metaphors, except that his throat felt like it was on fire before he was halfway through, and his voice grew more hoarse every minute. Also he was craving a shower after being covered in sickly sweat all day.

After another agonizing hour the service came to a close, and he could once again quietly escape to the sacristy. He was careful not to sit this time lest he sleep the night here, but snuck back to his desk by cutting around the outside of the building. He kept the shades drawn and the lights off in his office until the sounds of people departing had totally faded, than waited a further fifteen minutes to be safe before creeping out to the sanctuary of his truck and the road home.

Of course there was a car parked beside his truck in the otherwise empty parking lot, and he almost turned around and went back inside, but then he recognized the vehicle. He quickened his pace until his open arms met Flora’s in a desperate embrace.

“I thought you fell asleep or something,” she whispered in his ear as her fingers curled into the hair at the back of his head.

“Nearly. I'm beyond exhausted,” he croaked, letting his head fall onto her shoulder and nuzzling into her neck.

“You poor, sick baby. I can't believe you're still preaching like this. You're burning up.” She let the back of her hand rest against his forehead to further confirm, tutting in concern.

“I don't have a choice. I literally cannot imagine what would happen if I canceled church during Holy Week. I'd probably be burned at the stake and sent straight to hell.”

“They'd have to go through me first,” she said fiercely, giving him a possessive squeeze. “Oh, Luc. What am I going to do with you?” she sighed. “Only you would get this sick during your busiest week of the year.”

“Only me,” he agreed with a wheezy sigh of his own. He could feel himself starting to doze off on her shoulder, so he reluctantly stood straighter and pulled away from her, even as his legs shook. “But I've gotta get home. I'm honestly about to collapse right here.”

“Then you definitely shouldn't be driving. I can–”

“It's too risky, love. I can make it three miles to my place. I'll be alright.”

Her face was crumpled in frustration, but she nodded, staring at the ground. “I hate this so much– all the hiding, everything being ‘too risky’. The only thing I want is to be with you, and you want that too. I shouldn't have to stay away. It's not right.”

“Nothing is right about this,” he whispered. “But it's all we have right now. I wish I could give you better. I'd give you the world if I could. But all I've got to give is me, holding your hand in the dark.”

“You're enough, and always will be. But I reserve the right to be upset that my guy is sick and I'm not allowed to take care of him.”

“Granted,” he chuckled, which turned into a cough. “As long as I can reserve that right too, considering I'm the sick guy in question.”

“I'll allow it,”she murmured, pulling him in for another long hug. After several moments, she sighed again. “But you'd better get going before I change my mind and kidnap you after all.”

“Don't tempt me with a good time,” he groaned, pulling away from her warmth reluctantly. “I'm going, but I'll have our phone nearby tonight and all day tomorrow, so call and text whenever you can.”

“Will do. I'll see you Sunday okay? You better be feeling better by then. You're seriously worrying me….” she added. He imagined it was because he was visibly swaying where he stood. He had to brace himself against his truck to keep from buckling, but he hoped she didn't catch that part.

“I just… need to rest,” he managed. “I have all day tomorrow to recover. I'll be okay… I think. Love you like crazy. I'll talk to you soon, okay?”

He blew her a kiss, then pulled himself into his truck, barely making it. He tried to catch his breath as he started the engine, waiting for the dizzy spinning in his head to stop. Three more miles, he chanted to himself as he put it in drive. Three more miles until he could collapse.

Collapse he did, nearly as soon as he was in the door of his house. He didn't even bother to change or take a much-needed shower, just stripped down to his undergarments and staggered into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. His final, conscious thought was gratitude to Flora for convincing him to install a doggy door for Charlotte the golden retriever so she could let herself out whenever she needed to.

~~~

Luc slept for a long time, but he was haunted by fever dreams all night. He couldn't remember the details other than a sense of rising panic for his loved ones that would bring him just to the edge of waking before shifting and changing again. He was also very hot, to the point that his dream-self was sure he was boiling alive because hell was coming to swallow him up for his sins.

He woke up gasping around noon on Holy Saturday. He was shaking with chills yet simultaneously drenched in sweat, and for several moments he could only lay in bed and try to breathe. Charlotte was pressed against his side, and focusing on her solid presence helped to ground him. Eventually his breathing and heart rate stabilized, but this only served to show him how truly awful he felt. He couldn't even pinpoint what was worst–the respiratory symptoms, the sore throat, the fever chills, the body aches, the malaise–all were equally unbearable. He needed to take some medicine immediately, and probably drink and eat too, so he dragged himself out of bed though his deepest instincts screamed against this.

He pulled on a sweatshirt and sweatpants, then his robe and slippers when he couldn't stop shuddering, before making his staggering way to the bathroom. He had a well-supplied medicine cabinet, so he took a concoction of things that he prayed would do some good before continuing on to the kitchen. It was then that he remembered his promise to Flora and groaned when he had to double back to retrieve his secret phone. Sure enough, she had texted him several times and called him twice. He quickly pushed the button to dial her. She picked up on the second ring.

“Luc, finally! Where were you?”

“Sorry, love. Just woke up,” he croaked, digging in the fridge for milk to make instant oatmeal.

“I was honestly about to come check to make sure you were alive. I’ve never seen you sleep so long.”

“Not sure I AM alive. I feel awful.”

“Worse than that chest cold when we first got together?”

“... Yeah. Worse than that,” he mumbled, leaning heavily on the counter as he stirred his cereal. He needed her, and he needed her now. He didn't know how he would survive the day otherwise. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her to come take care of him like she had been begging to do, consequences be damned, but then he registered the background noises of her "Getting Ready" playlist, her quick footsteps, zippers being pulled, and a water bottle being filled. He recognized the cadence, and his heart sank.

“You're breaking my heart, Luc,” she was saying with a groan. “I can hear how much you're hurting from your voice. And of course I got called into work. But you need me. I can still cancel. I'll call them back, tell them I'm sick–”

“No, don't lie for my sake,” he cut in quickly. “They need you, too. Go save lives. I'll be okay.” The words sounded like a lie even to him but he forced them out even as a miserable tear or two rolled down his cheeks and his legs began to tremble.

“If you're sure… If you want me to come get you, though, you have to promise to tell me. I have no problem leaving. I'll just tell them I got food poisoning. I can be with you in minutes.”

Luc couldn't help but smile as he dragged a kitchen stool over to the counter and sank into it to wait for his breakfast to cook. “Okay, hon.”

“And I'll call you on every break to check on you.”

“Maybe text instead of call,” he croaked. “Trying to save my voice for tomorrow.” Every word currently felt like a dagger in his throat. He tried not to imagine having to preach in his current state.

“Oh gosh, of course. Okay, well then I'll let you go. I'll be praying for you. Be good and take it easy and get lots of rest. I love you.”

“Not sure I can do much else. Love you too. Do good.”

“Bye, babe.”

“Bye.”

Luc let his head fall into his arms on the counter until the shrill beeping of the microwave roused him. He couldn't ever remember feeling so poorly. It was going to be a long day.

~~~

One way to make a day feel shorter is to sleep through most of it, as everyone knows, and Luc embraced this solution willingly. After eating and showering and changing his sheets, he went back to bed and hardly moved for the rest of the day. It wasn't a light sleep, either–he was out cold for long stretches of time. He felt bad for Charlotte, knowing he'd hardly paid any attention to her all week, but she was faithful as ever, keeping him warm by staying cuddled up against him. When he did wake, usually to take more medicine, he made sure to send a few texts to Flora. Looking at the screen for long made his headache worse, though, so he kept his replies simple. He knew he was probably letting her down, too, but there wasn't much to be done about it, and he felt too horrendous to care much.

He woke close to midnight. After getting water and meds yet again he returned to bed but found for the first time all day that he couldn't get back to sleep. He felt overly rested, in fact, and dread started to creep over him at this realization. He would need to be up in less than five hours for the sunrise service. Right now he should absolutely be sleeping, disgusting sickness notwithstanding, and instead he was wide awake and still feeling awful. Panic started to build in his chest.

Thankfully Flora’s shift ended at midnight, so he quickly fired off a text to her:

“Please pray for me. Slept all day and now I can't sleep when it matters most. Very worried about tomorrow. I don't know how I'll manage preaching. My voice is basically gone.”

He had been sparingly using his voice, just talking to the dog every once in a while, and he had heard it declining all day until it was barely a hoarse whisper.

Flora replied quickly: “Absolutely praying. I'm believing everything will work out. Just do what you can and leave the rest in His hands.”

She also sent instructions for a throat soothing rinse, which he made and used right away. He wanted to keep texting her, but he knew she would get ready for bed and crash as soon as she got home, and he didn't want to keep her from sleeping even if he was wide awake. Mentally he wanted to watch TV or read but physically he knew this wasn't wise, so he lay in bed and tried to will himself to sleep.

Time passed slowly, but he refused to look at the clock. There came a time, though, when he couldn't stand to lay in bed for a minute longer. After pacing a few aimless laps around the house, he found himself in the bedroom again. Instead of laying down, though, he knelt at the side of the bed, pressed his face to the sheets, and began to pour out his heart in prayer. He sensed the listening ears of the saints and was comforted immediately. He expressed his worries and fears and asked for any and all help they would be willing to give. As he closed his prayer a sense of deep peace settled over him, and he noticed the illness symptoms seemed a bit better. He was also sleepy again, so he crawled back into bed, closed his eyes, and was out like a light in moments.

~~~

When his alarm went off a few hours later, he was more painfully aware than he had ever been before of how early it was. He dragged himself out of bed as the weight of his illness crashed over him yet again. However, he felt fairly steady on his feet, and his head and lungs seemed okay. Charlotte jumped down behind him, wagging her tail in greeting.

Luc swallowed, noting the mild pain in his throat. “Good morning, Charlie.”

To his surprise his voice was… okay. He still sounded sick and congested, but the strained whisper from the night before was replaced by something resembling his usual tone. He wanted to weep with relief. He could stand and he could speak. He could preach the Easter services.

In a strange twist of fate, though he would never forget the circumstances of this particular Easter, he couldn't remember much of the detail of what transpired that day. He knew from the beginning that he was still running a decent fever, though he didn't bother to check how high it was, and he attributed his lack of awareness and memory to this. His body was almost moving of its own volition, taking him where he needed to go and doing what he needed to do with little external input needed. The one conscious decision he remembered making was to tell Rhonda that he would be taking a sick day tomorrow and to please clear his schedule. Other than that, he simply let the day unspool before him. He preached three services, presided over two Easter breakfasts, spoke to dozens of people, sniffled or coughed or wiped his nose hundreds of times, and somehow, though he would never know quite how, survived the whole ordeal. By 1 pm the church had emptied, his duties were complete, and there was nothing left for him to do except pack up and leave, which is exactly what he did.

He had been invited to several Easter gatherings this year (including the De Luca’s), but between yesterday and today he had politely declined them all, stating his poor health as the reason, and of course everyone understood and wished him well. He was free to retreat to his quiet home, take a long shower, make a huge mug of hot tea, and not move or speak for the rest of the day if he chose. When he sank into his couch after the aforementioned shower and tea, the relief of this washed over him like a tsunami. He let his head fall back and closed his eyes, allowing himself to simply breathe.

It didn't take long before loneliness and self-pity set in, however. He was still sick and miserable and all he wanted–all he'd wanted for days on end–was for someone (well, one person in particular) to hold him and kiss him and take care of him. It seemed cruelly unfair that this wouldn't be possible for another twenty-four hours, and that he would only get maybe twelve hours of coddling out of the deal. He needed more than one night with Flora. Deserved it, in fact, after the horrible week he'd had. With this in mind he began to concoct a desperate plan, praying it would work.

~~~

That Easter Sunday evening found Luc sitting in front of a rest area Starbucks, nursing a coffee and watching the door. He had been dropped off here by a confused Uber driver thirty minutes ago, and he'd been waiting ever since. Flora’s last update put her arriving any minute now, and he would have been bouncing up and down with anticipation if every joint didn't ache.

Luc tried to distract himself with his phone, but he felt very exposed here, like every eye in the nearly-empty rest area was on him, a clearly unwell traveler sitting by himself. He was shivering worse than ever between the fever chills and the anxiety, and this made the aching, whole-body soreness nearly unbearable. Every moment he waited for her was agonizing on many levels, so when beautiful Flora breezed through the doorway, he leapt to his feet, almost sending his chair clattering, and ran to meet her, weak with relief.

“My Flora, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!” he murmured in her ear as she pulled him into an embrace.

“You just saw me this morning,” she giggled, burying her face in his chest. He was glad he'd decided to wear a spritz of cologne at the last minute.

“Yes, but under very different circumstances. I couldn't even touch you then,” he whispered into her hair.

“True enough.” She pulled back slightly to scrutinize him in her usual way. After a moment she stretched up to press a hand to his sweaty forehead, frowning at the obvious heat she felt. The frown only deepened when her hands brushed over the huge lymph nodes in his neck. “Come on, sick guy, let's get going. Meeting here was a brilliant idea, but I'm not wasting another second of our day together in this creepy place. I've always hated rest areas.”

She took him by the hand and tugged him out the door to her car. After making sure he and his luggage were secured, she climbed into the driver's seat and pulled out onto the freeway, heading toward the next major city, about an hour away.

“So how are you feeling, love?” Flora asked once they were underway. “You look awful, no offense.”

“I feel pretty awful,” he agreed in a hoarse whisper, already fighting sleep. “But I'm already a bit better now that I'm with you.”

She gave him a concerned, sidelong look. “Is that really all that's left of your voice? You sounded fine this morning.”

He nodded. “I prayed hard last night that I would be able to preach today, and my prayers were answered. But I took a nap while I was waiting for you to be ready and this is how it was when I woke up. I think my body has reached its limit.”

“Then shush, you don't have to talk anymore. I can't even imagine how sore your throat is. Just rest and let me take care of everything from here, especially you. For the next thirty-six hours, you're mine and mine alone.”

“Just what the doctor ordered,” Luc mumbled with a smile, already drifting toward sleep.

#sickfic #everyone is hotter with a fever #priest 'verse #cw priest #Luc and Flora

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littlemoonastrology · 11 months ago

Text

All About : Juno ⚵

According to Roman Mythology,

Juno was the wife to Jupiter (also known as Hera and Zeus in Greek Mythology) - but the marriage wasn't too happy. Juno actually developed quite a reputation for being jealous and vengeful (and I don't blame her!) as Jupiter was unfaithful all throughout their marriage. There are many stories of Juno getting revenge on Jupiter's mistresses (poets such as Ovid and Homer express this) and whilst she was quite hot-tempered - the way she got revenge was always sneaky.

However, that's not just what she is known for!

Juno is the most powerful Goddess in Roman Mythology, ruling: marriage, childbirth and fertility. She was also known as the Protector of Women and Children. Her personal qualities too - very compassionate, nurturing, strong-willed and was depicted as very beautiful in artworks.

So, how is Juno relevant in Astrology?

The Juno Asteroid (3) explores: what we need to be fulfilled in relationships, how we react in unhealthy relationships, how we and our partner nurture a relationship and to another extent she protects our emotional space, feminine energies (such as expression of love) and children.

Juno helps us feel empowered and helps us with our personal growth when we are fulfilled in a relationship - but when this is an unhealthy relationship (or just general unfulfillment or some kind of threat) she will send signals through: gut feelings, bodily changes (with women this may be through your menstrual cycle) and you will generally just feel drained, stressed out or resentful (maybe even angry or vengeful).

Example:

Someone with their Juno in Taurus may need: stability, someone to depend on, reliability and someone who is either quite mentally/emotionally/physically strong (with a soft sensual side). They need to feel supported no matter what they do which will help them feel a deeper sense of belonging - feeling like they can continue moving up the ranks to reach their goals. Taurus Juno wants to be able to build something that lasts with someone and enjoy the luxuries that come with it (and with that comes a need for similar values and long-term goals!).

Taurus Juno puts a lot of effort in the relationship (as does their partner) but still both enjoy relaxing and enjoying the fun things in life to increase their bond. There may be similar tastes in food, music, movies etc (or mutual enjoyment). They may not be the kind of person to go out clubbing every night with their partner or going to a new amusement park (unless both are feeling comfortable and stable), but may instead stay inside watching Netflix (or go get some nice food!).

This placement also has a relatively calm temperament too (and appreciates those who aren't too aggressive, being uncomfortable around people with anxious attachments who tend to have a lot of emotional outbursts), feeling grounded in the relationship and may not have a lot of anxiety at all. The relationship feels comfortable (which is what Taurus Juno deeply needs!) and may find they can express whatever they want with this person without fear.

When Taurus Juno feels threatened, is in an unhealthy relationship or just isn't fulfilled, a lack of communication takes place (bodily and vocally) which creates a rift. They may not even want to communicate at all, shutting themselves off completely (perhaps there may be a lot of changes to their tone of voice too). Maybe to some extent they will become congested too or develop a runny nose - their neck or ears might ache (or some kind of lockjaw) or it just feels like there is too much (or too little) sensory information going on. This may come off as like a "test" to see if Taurus Juno can be comfortable, so then it is up to their partner to help ease the stress (or sadly in some cases abuse/neglect it).

Pushiness and control is a no-go!

Taurus Juno may also blow up at little things (even though it's not little at all!) and become quite angry and resentful towards their partner - closing off any kind of appreciation or affection. Maybe even a habit of becoming quite avoidant and avoiding situations which aren't pleasurable to them!

Check out my Masterlist! Paid and Free Readings Available.

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chestcongestion · 6 months ago

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HUSK SNZCANONS I AM ON MY KNEES BEGGING

I am finally back from work/ getting my oil changed and here to deliver snzcanons for my favorite pretty kitty <333

Loud ass dad sneezer, sneezes with his entire head, if he was a weaker person he'd sneeze with so much force he'd knock himself over.

Very heavy on the "R"s, they're almost rolling sneezes.

Lots of "HRR'SssCHUHH!" "HRr'SsHOO!" and the occasional "HHNP'TSSHHUH!"

Usually sneezes in multiple singles spaced apart, doubles or more usually indicates that he isn't feeling well (allergies or illness...or both if he's so unlucky)

Allergic to cinnamon, roses, and the ingredients in a lot of mass-marketed forms of glitter (something he had to learn the hard way when he and An/gel were intimate while Ange was still decked out in full glam from work)

Covers pretty religiously, albeit with some sketchy technique. Tends to use the back of his wrist a lot which manages to cover sweet F.A. 80% of the time.

Is a very wet sneezer, every single one produces enough for a biohazard Jackson Pollock painting.

Can stifle, but it's both very uncomfortable and very obvious when he's doing it because he has to use his fingers and pinch them over his nostrils, and his fur stands on end with every sneeze.

Prone to his sinuses getting very congested, garbled consonants and a nerfed sense of smell, holding a cloth up to his nose to try and keep it from leaking. It almost always spreads to his ears, too.

Whenever his nose is itchy his precious little jellybean twitches and wiggles like a rabbit's nose, even as the skin around it turns pink from all of the pinching, wiping, and blowing.

Has no problem telling people when he isn't feeling well, but hates being fussed over so he usually downplays it.

Best cold remedy that isn't OTC meds: chewing on a piece of goldenrod and getting absolutely sloshed on tea with honey, lemon, ginger, and enough whiskey that it could be used as molotov fuel.

Very drowsy when he's sick, will fall asleep basically anywhere and has to be jostled pretty intensely to be woken up. Favorite place to fall asleep when he isn't feeling well is tucked between An/gel's legs.

Immune system is very good! But when sicknesses do hit, they hit hard in retaliation.

About 2/3 of the time he gets a cold he ends up with a lingering cough that annoys the shit out of him, but upon experimenting with treatments and different positions, they aren't nearly as insufferable as they used to be- coughing on your stomach while your boyfriend pats your back is apparently the prime spot for old grouchy catboys...who knew?!

Finds sneezing fascinating...unsure if it's in a kink way or not, but when the place is empty and he's bored, sometimes he induces either with a cinnamon stick or one of his feathers.

If you scratch a particular spot behind his left ear, he sneezes.

#ha/zb/in ho/tel #snz #snz kink #gingey.ask #long post

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cuddlepilefics · 7 months ago

Text

Reassurance

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Chan

Caregiver: Changbin

prompt @whumpril

No one’s POV.:

Chan was glad that they didn’t have any real schedule today, only having some songwriting with the rest of the members. It was somewhat special to have the entire group hang out at the 3racha dorm to write music together because it was so much more complex the more people were involved but at the same time, the songs were more meaningful if more members contributed their ideas. Doing it at one of their dorms was also a pleasant change as compared to the studio because they didn’t feel as pressured and Chan was glad to not have to go out at all. The thing was that the leader had come down with a bit of a cold over the previous night and woke up with an annoying buzz in his sinuses, making it hard for him to focus. He didn’t plan on telling the members about not feeling well, mainly because he didn’t feel like it was bad enough to be mentioned but also because he was the leader and eldest. He was always fine.

It wasn’t like Chan could hide his symptoms forever though. Sure, the headache and fatigue were easy to play off but his nose really made him struggle. It always felt like it was running but when he tried to blow it, it was blocked and gosh, did it itch! With Chan constantly scrubbing at his nose, it had turned an irritated shade of pink not long after he had gotten up. Hyunjin had pointed out the slight rasp to the leader’s voice but it was still early, so the dancer was easily convinced that it was just his hyung’s morning voice. Getting everyone settled in the living room was a little chaotic, so no one noticed Chan heading to the bathroom to blow his nose but they did hear the forceful sneeze he triggered. For some reason, blowing his nose had only left it more sensitive.

On his way back to the living room, Chan grabbed himself a glass of cold water because his throat was slowly starting to ache, the harsh sneeze no doubt having strained it. Plopping down on the couch, the Aussie felt like all his strength had left him and he leant into Seungmin’s side, trying to get comfortable despite the deep ache all over his body. Thinking Chan just wanted to tease him again, the vocalist shrugged him off and reminded: “Hyung, just because we’re at your dorm doesn’t mean that we don’t have to work, so let’s please just do something useful.”

The rejection hurt though Chan understood his dongsaeng’s reasoning and also knew that if he admitted to not feeling his best, they’d probably be a lot more understanding, but he didn’t want his cold to interfere with their work. Well, he didn’t intent for it to interfere with their work but there was only so much control that he had over it. Not wanting to annoy the members with his sniffles, Chan tried to avoid it at all costs and instead sat with the cuff of his sleeve permanently pressed against his nose, the fabric slowly growing damp while his skin started to chap. He couldn’t fight off the urge to sneeze though.

Though Chan usually had the habit of blessing himself after every sneeze, his sneezes soon came too frequently to bother. Besides, he was already causing so much disruption and didn’t want to cause any more by commenting on it every time. Maybe he should just tell the members that he was sick. His eyes were already watering badly from the congestion and the sinus headache and fatigue made it close to impossible for him to focus on his task anyway. Chan didn’t really have much time to ponder it though, his breath already hitching again. Ducking his face into the crook of his arm, the leader caught two loud sneezes and despite his best efforts at muffling them, they still startled Jisung enough to make him drop his pen. “Next time a warning would be nice”, the rapper muttered as he shakily picked up his pen. Rolling his eyes, Seungmin teased: “I’ll probably suffer from hearing loss due to a burst ear drum by tonight if you keep going at this rate.”

Knowing that their comments were just friendly banter, Chan tried to not let it get to him but for some reason it still left him feeling self-conscious. He had tried stifling his sneezes before and knew from experience that he wouldn’t be very successful and only get a worse sinus headache in turn, so it wasn’t really worth it. Feeling his nose tingle again, Chan’s heart started to race and he hurriedly scrubbed the back of his hand against his nose to ease the sensation. It didn’t do much except for making his skin burn but he really didn’t want to sneeze again. Sadly, there wasn’t much the Aussie could do about it and he soon lost the fight. The sneeze ended up wetter than expected and had Chan scramble to grab a tissue, making Jeongin chuckle: “I guess I’ll bring an umbrella next time I come over.”

By now, Chan expected that he was probably running a fever too. The members’ teasing wouldn’t usually affect his emotions like this, so there had to be more at play here because right now, he felt ready to cry. Sure, he was well aware that his sneezes were quite loud but he didn’t choose for them to be this way. To make matters worse, Chan’s nose was still itching and he could feel the need to sneeze rise again. Harshly rubbing his nose into the cuff of his sleeve, he tried to fight it off but his breath already hitched desperately. Chan caught a throat-scraping sneeze in his fist and gave a scratchy cough afterwards, eyes watering as they locked with Changbin’s. Something about the hoarse sound told the rapper that there was more going on than his hyung’s nose being sensitive, so he offered for all of them to take a short break.

While Chan made a beeline for the bathroom to properly blow his nose, knock back some medicine and to also get away from the members’ prying eyes, Changbin headed to the kitchen and brewed a cup of tea. The rapper also stirred in a generous spoonful of hones to hopefully soothe Chan’s throat because those last few sneezes had sounded rough. Everyone was still doing their own thing when Changbin approached the leader, steaming cup in hand. “Hey”, the rapper smiled softly, “I made you some tea. If I asked you how you’re feeling, would I get an honest answer?” Gratefully wrapping his hands around the warm cup, Chan sniffled: “Thank you. Tired, frustrated and humiliated, I guess.” – “Now, why’s that?”, Changbin frowned as he led the older to his room, so they’d have more privacy to talk.

Almost tearing up, Chan took a seat on the edge of his bed and muttered: “I-I, I don’ wanna sneeze so much. I don’ wanna sneeze so loud. It’s – It’s annoying and gross and –“ – “And it hurts, doesn’t it?”, Changbin hummed, rubbing the other’s back when he received a pathetic nod, “It’s not annoying or gross or anything like that. It’s natural. You’re sick, I bet you’re running a fever with how warm you feel through your clothes.” Chan hummed in confirmation, admitting: “Just took something for it. Mind’s foggy an’ my emotions are all over the places.” – “Is the teasing getting to you? I noticed you were really quiet… except for all the sneezing”, the rapper asked, gently brushing Chan’s bangs out of his face to get a proper look at his glossy eyes and bright pink nose. The older shrugged and mumbled: “I know they mean no harm….” – “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect you”, Changbin pointed out, “You don’t need to be self-conscious, hyung. You’re sick and sick people sneeze. That’s okay.”

Changbin decided that there was no use in Chan trying to write anything while his mind was so hazy that he couldn’t focus. Repeatedly running his fingers through the Aussie’s hair, he hummed: “How about I go talk to the others? We can postpone our session to either tomorrow or maybe in a couple of hours when your fever went down a bit?” – “But we already started and everyone’s here”, Chan sniffled, twisting to his side with a forceful sneeze. The younger handed him a tissue and promised: “They’ll find something else to do, hyung. There’s no way they will get bored. Maybe some will continue noting down their song ideas for a little longer, maybe they’ll enjoy a few fun hours of free time. Nobody will be upset at you though, don’t worry. You should only focus on resting. If you want, I’ll stay with you for cuddles. We could watch a movie or something, at least till you fall asleep.” – “I keep sneezing all the time though”, Chan frowned, giving a thick sniffle as if to prove a point. “You really think I would’ve offered if that was a problem?”, Changbin sighed exasperatedly, “You’re human, that’s only natural and it’s okay.”

After telling the group about Chan’s condition, Changbin joined the leader in his room, carrying a box of tissues and a bag of cough drops. “Is there a specific movie you want to watch or should we just cuddle?”, the rapper hummed as he placed the items on the nightstand. Scooting to the other side of the bed to make room for his dongsaeng, Chan mumbled: “You can pick a movie, so you don’t get bored. I’m perfectly content with just cuddles. Might fall asleep soon anyway.” – “That’s okay”, Changbin smiled, slipping under the blanket next to Chan, “I’d be so happy if you managed to get some sleep. You’re exhausted, aren’t ?” With a hoarse hum of confirmation, the leader nuzzled his face into Changbin’s chest, relaxing when the other draped an arm around his shoulders.

Though Changbin repeatedly reassured Chan that he wasn’t bothered by his sneezing at all, the Aussie still tried his hardest to hold back. That was close to impossible, his nose so unbearably itchy. Scrubbing at his nose with the cuff of his sleeve, Chan attempted to soothe the itch but only managed to earn himself a scolding from Changbin for messing with the already raw skin before sneezing anyway. “Why do you insist on hurting yourself?”, the rapper sighed. He had eventually turned on the TV to watch a random drama, mainly to give Chan the impression that he wasn’t paying attention to him and his struggle, so he’d hopefully stop being so insecure about it.

The truth was that Changbin only paid attention to Chan, completely drowning out the TV, so he of course picked up on every little sniffle and frustrated whine as the older struggled to breathe through the tingle in his sinuses. Occasionally, his breath would start to hitch but when he lifted his hand to rub at his nose, Changbin caught it and linked their fingers. The leader whined hoarsely, nuzzling his face into Changbin’s shirt to quell the itch but it didn’t help. With his hand trapped, Chan aimed two rough sounding sneezes down at the blanket, giving a stuffy cough afterwards. Lightly patting the Aussie’s curls as a blessing, Changbin handed him a cough drop. Though Chan usually didn’t like his hair being messed with for the fear it’d fall out faster, Changbin’s touch was so light and gentle, it made him drowsy in no time and he was soon too out of it to try and fight the urge to sneeze.

When the rapper was confident that Chan wasn’t going to rub his skin raw anymore, he let go of his to at least allow the older to cover. Knowing too much attention would fluster the leader, Changbin refrained from blessing him but acknowledged each sneeze with some form of affection, either running his nails against his scalp or holding him a bit tighter for a moment. Just showing that he was there and that he cared without calling the older out. It was just the reassurance, Chan needed.

#fanfic #fluff #comfort #fanfiction #sickfic #sick #stray kids #skz #snz #whumpril2024 #whumprilalt5 #reassurance #changchan #2chan

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