#also it's not directly said in the post but I feel like this is a dig at 'vegan' replacements

[izzih22]

Heyy, would you write a fic based on this interview that paige and Azzi did:

"Wow, I didn't think about that," Fudd said Friday.

"I had not thought about that part because I'm just super-excited to play in the tournament. I know Paige has been on me because I've been, a couple of times, relying on her. If my shot is not falling I can take a step back and Paige will take care of it. She's been on me to not let that happen. She's like, 'These are our last few games together regardless of what happens. There won't be more. I want to see you play well.' She's been challenging me to step up and be more aggressive with her."

"I don't ever want her to defer," Bueckers said. "I want her to think, 'I've got this.' We want her to be her best, aggressive self. Don't defer, don't necessarily look to pass, look to score and do it every time she touches the ball. That opens everything else up for our team."

Don’t Defer

Note: hope y’all like it!!

They were the last ones on the court.

The rest of the team had cleared out an hour ago, the lights in the practice facility dimmed except for the ones directly over the main court. The echo of bouncing balls and squeaking shoes had long faded, replaced by quiet.

Azzi sat on the hardwood, legs splayed out in front of her, gently rolling her ankle with one hand and staring at the opposite basket. Paige stood a few feet away, dribbling lazily between her legs, glancing at her every so often.

Neither of them said anything at first.

Azzi could feel it. The weight of it. The end creeping closer. Whether it was a week away or three, they both knew — this was it. The last tournament run. The last bus rides. The last post-practice meals. The last of this version of them.

The air between them had been different all week. Charged. Not bad. Just… more.

“I was watching film,” Paige said, still dribbling.

Azzi blinked, then turned her head slightly. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Azzi didn’t ask what film. She already knew.

Paige hesitated. “You passed up four shots in the first half against Marquette.”

Azzi sighed and leaned her head back onto the floor. “Here we go.”

“No, really.” Paige stopped dribbling and walked toward her, the ball thudding against her hip. “Four clean looks. You made the right pass, technically. But we didn’t need the right pass. We needed you.”

Azzi closed her eyes. “My shot wasn’t falling.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

“Exactly.” Paige dropped the ball and it rolled away. She crouched down beside her, hands on her knees, staring down at her girlfriend. “You’re in your head before the ball even hits your fingers. And you know it.”

Azzi didn’t move, but her throat tightened. She hated how well Paige could read her. Sometimes she wished she couldn’t.

“I just don’t want to let anyone down,” Azzi said quietly.

Paige sank the rest of the way down, sitting cross-legged next to her. Her voice softened. “You think passing up open shots is how you protect people? Because it’s not.”

Azzi let the silence stretch again, but Paige didn’t fill it. She just waited.

Finally, Azzi turned her head toward her. “What if I miss?”

“Then you miss.” Paige shrugged. “You miss, and we get back on defense. But if you don’t even try? That’s worse.”

The lights buzzed faintly above them.

“I’m not trying to shrink,” Azzi whispered. “It just happens.”

“I know,” Paige said. And then, after a beat, “But I also know you. You want this. You’ve been working for this your whole life. So stop playing scared.”

Azzi’s eyes burned. Not because Paige was being harsh, but because she wasn’t. She was being honest. Raw, real, and deeply present in a way she only ever was with her.

Paige reached out and tugged gently at the sleeve of Azzi’s shooting shirt. “Hey.”

Azzi looked at her.

“These are our last few games,” Paige said, voice low. “No matter what happens. I don’t want to look back and think we didn’t give everything. That you didn’t.”

Azzi swallowed hard. “I just… it’s easier when I know you’re there to take over.”

“That’s not the point,” Paige said, touching her hand now. “We’re at our best when you take over. When you stop deferring and just… go.”

There was something else behind her voice, something Azzi couldn’t name right away — not frustration or urgency, but something heavier. Sadder.

She sat up slowly. “You’re scared too.”

Paige blinked.

Azzi searched her face. “You don’t want to say it, but I know you. You’re scared this is the end.”

Paige’s jaw flexed. “It is.”

Azzi shook her head. “Not for us.”

“Not for us,” Paige echoed. She took a breath. “But yeah. For this.”

The gym. The uniforms. The late-night ice baths and the early-morning walkthroughs. The feeling of walking onto the court next to the person who knew your game better than anyone else in the world.

“Promise me something,” Paige said quietly.

Azzi nodded.

“Play free tomorrow. I mean it. Don’t look for me, don’t defer, don’t hesitate. Just go. Go like it’s the last game of your life.”

Azzi’s throat tightened again. “Okay.”

“I want to see you do it. Really do it. I don’t care if you miss. I just want to see you trust yourself.”

Azzi looked down at their joined hands, then back up at Paige. “Only if you promise me something too.”

“Anything.”

“Don’t carry it all by yourself.”

Paige blinked.

“You’ve been doing that all year,” Azzi said. “Every game, every moment. You take it all on, like it’s your job to fix everything. But you don’t have to do it alone. Not with me here.”

Something in Paige’s expression cracked — not in a weak way, but in a vulnerable one. Like she’d been holding her breath for weeks, and finally someone noticed.

“Okay,” she said, her voice soft and uneven. “Deal.”

They stayed there for a while, the court quiet around them, the air warm with everything unsaid. It didn’t need to be said.

⸻

The next night, Azzi dropped 27 points.

She pulled up without hesitation, attacked without apology, and never once looked toward Paige for permission.

And Paige? She watched with pride, her chest aching in the best kind of way — the kind of ache you get when someone you love finally realizes how powerful they are.

Late in the third quarter, Azzi hit a step-back three that sent the bench into chaos. As the timeout buzzer rang, she jogged back toward the sideline, chest heaving.

Paige met her at half court, slapped her hand, and grinned.

“There she is.”

Azzi’s eyes sparkled as she grinned back. “Told you I got this.”

“You always did,” Paige said. “You just had to believe it.”

[captainbobbynash118]

*Oliver deletes and/or archives majority of his posts. His post was also a heartfelt goodbye to Bobby (And I am sure, that between the lines of that post, that post was also aimed directly at Peter himself)

**Again, Oliver was also doing an interview with Ryan, where he talked about his feelings when he learned that Peter was leaving the show and the show was killing off Bobby. He at least had some comments about it, and specified how his and Peter's relationship mimic that of Buck and Bobby in real life - Whereas, Ryan has had some halfassed stories on his IG where he shared a fan edit, no post, no real comment on the matter whatsoever. (Can we stop making Oliver the bad guy in every scenario? Like seriously.) *** We also need to stop speculating if they have had any BTS wrap parties for Peter or not, we don't need to know everything that they do behind the scenes or at their parties. We should be thankful for the BTS photos and vidoes that we get and not DEMAND we get more. **** If you want to come at me with some Ryan comments or defenses, spare me. I'm not responding to you or your whining. I said what I said, you can look these things up yourself.

I actually can't get past the lack of respect shown to Peter Krause throughout this mess.

This isn't just a character who was in the show for a couple of episodes. No, this was the male lead, who has led the show proudly for eight seasons and is the literal heart of it - and who DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE.

But yet the show decided to do the following:

His death is so poorly written and rushed, that no-one is actually convinced that he's gone because of the multiple plot holes

The funeral was a mere footnote in an episode, where the main plot was a storyline that took the mick out of the fans, and the funeral scenes itself were less than five minutes long in total

Not to mention said funeral was leaked ahead of time with little to no effort it seems to stop this from happening

Created a very similar storyline in "Hotshots" and used this as a way to mock the fans

Only let Peter do the one exit interview and even that was just a two-minute pre-recorded interview

The Bobby Nash tribute video gets deleted off all of the show's social media

Oliver Stark also deletes his tribute to Peter Krause from IG

Peter Krause is referred to merely as "collateral damage" by Tim Minear

There's apparently been no wrap party for Peter, to say goodbye or pay tribute to him and his work on the show

Not to mention (again), no tribute to him on the show's social media

Pretty much have written him completely out of the show in terms of selling the Bathena house and burying him away from LA

No montage in the show to pay tribute to Bobby - even Michael Grant got a better send off and his actor was actively suing the show at the time of his departure

Allowed two cast members to leak a script onto their socials which teased Bobby returning, and for the actual scene to follow this script until literally the last bit, so no-one actually knows if this was fake or real [this is a belated edit]

Two days before the season finale, they use a poster with both Angela and Peter on it at Disney Upfront, therefore getting everyone's hopes up again that he's still on the show (& reminding everyone that he is literally one of the draws of this show lol) [another belated edit, thanks to @otherworldlydragon for pointing this out!]

It's all done so badly, that you can't help but think that maybe something has gone on behind the scenes - but Pete seems universally loved by his fellow cast-mates and the crew, and most of them have been just as distraught as the fans with him leaving (Kenny and Angela in particular).

Maybe it's just inexperience; you can tell that this show has never killed off a main character before with how much they've fumbled this.

The way Peter/Bobby has been treated is nothing short of insulting, disrespectful and baffling; he deserved better than this.

Peter - I’m so sorry this has happened and whilst I’m gutted to see you no longer as Cap, I can’t wait to see you truly thrive under a new project, with writers who will truly respect you.

[boundwithpurple]

i have said this before but for me i only care about fantasy with royal families because it takes the constituent issues of like intimate relationships as dictated and defined by inescapable power and makes it far easier for me to bear, and also i feel gets at something emotionally about experiences of mine that strict sociological mimesis can’t. i might be a downwardly economically mobile denizen of the american middle classes like, let’s be real, most of the very good leftists in the notes on this post, but having a dad of a certain type is like a guy with sovereign power of life and death over you and it feels good to have how big that feels sort of acknowledged, structurally, via that patriarchal domination being translated directly into world altering geopolitical consequences. obviously in real life it all has political content too, but it’s the directness of it, the scale, that provides an emotional release valve. it’s the only kind of media that has ever really spoken to me in this exact way sorry if i get commie points taken off

[ingravinoveritas]

Speaking as a trans uk person who grew up under section 28 and is just a few years younger than David, that reaction on the Assembly last night is the most ‘I think in another time, I wouldn’t have been entirely cis’ response I’ve ever seen. I’ve got a couple of friends of similar age and similar ‘I’m cis because I wasn’t able to be anything else’ mindset and just… I hope he’s happy, and I hope his loved ones give him the support around this whatever he decides and feels.

Oh, Anon. I'm sorry, I am so behind in answering Anons and trying to catch up now. But I saw this message when you sent it in and first of all, big hugs to you (if you are okay with that).

Secondly, though, I can't thank you enough for writing in and sharing this, as being a contemporary of David's and trans, your perspective is absolutely invaluable and carries so much weight. I am a non-trans, non-UK person, but I had a similar reaction to what David said on The Assembly, and from the DMs I've gotten and conversations that have happened since it aired, it seems others have, too.

I have more thoughts on this related to what was said on the episode of David's podcast that Georgia hosted, so I am going to try and save a lot of those thoughts for another post in response to the numerous Anons I have gotten about that. But for me, what stands out are two particular things.

One is that this is now the second time that David has specifically mentioned his experiences with Section 28 and homophobia growing up while also getting choked up/emotional about it. In this instance, he was specifically asked what made him start supporting the trans community...and this is what he said. He did not at all mention his nonbinary child--which of course doesn't mean that Wilf isn't part of the reason--but what David goes to directly in his answer is homophobia and Section 28.

What makes this so significant is that he spoke of it not as someone who saw it from the outside, but who had experienced it from within--something I also noticed in his podcast interview with Russell T. Davies, where RTD talks about discovering he was gay and the process of navigating his sexuality and David essentially "fills in the blanks" as RTD is talking, as if he'd gone through it himself.

Seeing David get so emotional--where it wells up in you and fills your chest and something in the core of you tightens automatically no matter how hard you try to stop it--is something I felt like I recognized. Something that comes from a place of trauma, where you don't just remember a certain event or incident, but relive everything you felt when it was happening. And it breaks my heart to think that he has been through things like that and may still be dealing with them now.

I think your comment about "in another time" echoes into this, because that's been another recurring theme in these conversations. It's this idea that David seems to have that his children and the younger generation on the whole can be whoever they want to be...but he can't. As if somehow it's too late for him to change, to be who he wants to be.

In David's recent appearance on Lorraine, she gushed over how much she loves David and Michael together and how people think they are married, and ends by saying, "In another world." That she (and so many others) can plainly see what's between them and that in another world, Michael and David would be together.

We all only get this one life. This one shot at being here, at being alive long enough to find what makes us happy and hold on like hell to it.

...So why not in this time? Why not in this world?

You're never too old to figure out who you are, or to embrace it. To realize that safety is not the same thing as happiness. To let go of being afraid, to finally come out of survival mode and have the chance to just live in the world.

Shouldn't David get to have that same chance?

A few weeks ago, I noticed some fans on Twitter/X talking about TERF/GCs "accusing" David of being trans. These fans immediately leapt to David's defense: "What? People actually think David is trans?" and "No way! David is NOT trans." And while well-meaning, these responses pained me because of the underlying implication that being trans is something that needs to be "defended against" in the first place.

Because it’s not.

Because it shouldn't be.

Because the correct and only answer to "Why do people think David is trans?" is, "If David is trans (or nonbinary, or genderfluid), why would it matter?"

So thank you again for this, Anon. I hope people will really take in the words you've said and understand why you are saying them. And I hope, as you do, that David is truly, genuinely happy with whatever he feels and decides, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

[arceespinkgun]

I know I already talked about it and all the reasons are probably obvious, but I still feel like I have more to say about why how Astrotrain was handled in the Skybound comics irritated me so much... somehow I still feel annoyed thinking about it and maybe if I type it out that feeling will fade XD

I remember in earlier posts I'd made, I kept saying how happy I was to see DWJ giving so much attention and depth to characters who may have actually had good spotlight episodes in the G1 cartoon, but who aren't often discussed and could have had so much more pathos in their stories. Beachcomber is a great example, as are Elita-1 and Cliffjumper. Astrotrain was the instance of this on the Decepticon side, but was also special IMO because those others still had strong influence from G1. Everything we see of Elita-1's characterization, for example, could be extrapolated from her appearances in the cartoon... I mean, I basically characterized her identically to how DWJ ended up writing her in a fic way before this series started XD But as I said in one earlier post:

... Everything about Astrotrain here baffles me. He was locked-up in the Nemesis, wants to kill Megatron who killed his “love,” has no desire to hurt the lifeforms on Earth… and yet still considers the Decepticon movement for the “greater good…?” Plus, all the twists on other characters seem heavily based in G1 or their bios and stuff, but I can’t think of anything in which he had any of these traits???

And because certain overlooked characters were getting this exploration, I think I was willing to ignore things like Ravage being treated like a prop or other characters who often get overlooked, like Trailbreaker, getting nothing so far. But given what happened to Astrotrain, I suddenly am much more critical and it's killed my interest!

Astrotrain's motivation apparently involving another character also brought up many questions. It would be one thing if Megatron had slighted/hurt him directly, but it makes Astrotrain's sense that the Decepticon ideology in general is still correct despite all his misgivings and desire for revenge against Megatron incredibly interesting. I thought Astrotrain was by far the most three-dimensional of all the Decepticons in the comic, and anticipated he'd have an arc and that by learning more about why he still believed in the Decepticon dogma, we'd come to learn about the Decepticon faction in general!

However, none of this ended up being the case. We don't really learn anything. We don't know why Megatron killed his love, Astrotrain never changed or grew as a character, and with Megatron's execution of him and what DWJ says about Astrotrain in the letters page, it sounds like none of this was even on the writer's mind at all. In fact, Astrotrain appears to have existed mainly to further characterize Megatron's brutality and Starscream's enslavement... that's what the death does. It wasn't even about him as a character.

And you know, I'm fully aware that this is the point. In Skybound, there just isn't any room for complexity among the Decepticons. You have to escape, like Thundercracker, or be devoted like Soundwave. But I want to draw a comparison to another sympathetic Decepticon character from something else. In the show Cyberverse, the character Slipstream craved respect. That, as well as feeling torn between the clashing agendas of her superiors and her own ideals, were major struggles for her. In the end, she did end up gaining the respect she desired... but it wasn't from some Decepticon. It was from the Autobot hero, Windblade, but it took Slipstream's willingness to grow and change for that to happen. Slipstream's development was very important to this show thematically, since it would explore the idea of peace coming between the factions, and Windblade's character arc and motivation ended up being heavily shaped by Slipstream.

Why do I mention all this? Because I think this shows how this idea can be handled so much better. If Astrotrain had grown in any way whatsoever I wouldn't be so angry about his execution. But to me, it reads like everything interesting about him are things we the readers learned, but that were already true for him. He also interacted with other characters, but he didn't leave much or any impression on any of them at all, did he? I guess I just wish I could have known more about Astrotrain's "weakness."

[frobby]

Yukio doesn't realize rin was lonely because he was key contributor to said loneliness

[jabberwockymoreau]

Starting Wheel of Time after also having recently watched all of Rings of Power gave me so much whiplash like what do you mean it's possible to have thoughtful plots, compelling characters, pacing that actually lets the story breathe and develop, worldbuilding that's not stupid, actual diversity...what do you mean it's possible for Amazon to make actually good fantasy television...I'm crying. Don't tell me these things.

[ganondoodle]

Those latest Beast!Ganon concepts are really, REALLY Cool! One of my favorite aspects is that they diverge a bit more from the usual "big boar monster" design tropes that we see in canon and incorporate other elements. The wide, flat tail that almost looks amphibic or aquatic is a personal fave, together with the feet being rather wide, and the whole profile being long and low (relatively^^) to the ground makes almost look like some aquatic monster or dragon that rises out of some cursed swamp or something.

Great vibes all around, kudos!

(kept this ask around bc i wanted to add some more concepts for the fight but then id have nothing truly new to put into the big ganondorf post so uuh this is an answer in text now)

Thank you! admittedly, other than taking calamity ganons .. or just its cloud like form really, as inspiration (somewhat beast ganon from twilight princess too, which is my favorite of his canon forms), i think alot of its design is really just ... a "me" thing, i love auqatic animals and the shapes are typical for my monster designs xD (i did want it to be both familiar and different though)

while i cant possibly make an entire attack pattern for him my idea does involve motions like 'swimming' through the ground (turning the ground into malice and swimming through it? straight up burrowing but hes so strong solid stone and earth is like water to him? move this phase to a sandy area so its also a mimic of moldoras? (closest to the forgotten plateau, which is where the end fight is, would be the taobab grassland, which isnt fully sand but more similar, might do soemthign else with that place though, maybe a big horse research site))

(i also dont want all his magical moves, both in beast form and all his other ones, to depend on malice, malice is what fuels his life now, the rage and unbreakable spirit to live, to resist, to not succumb to the schemes of the queen of hyrule of his time, to not fall against this one last descendant of her, he is much more than just hatred but it is what keeps him alive even when he should not be- so as he is skilled in wielding magic, perhaps skills that have since gotten rare (like your friends being the few ones to learn some) he will AT LEAST make use of lightning, if not perhaps even more, perhaps even mirroring what your friends can do directly, just like he will mimic links shiekah tech arm once he 'reforms' his missing arm via malice/taking it from the beast form- ......... and here i go rambling about stuff that will go into the big post ...)

[akitofr]

When did I ever call bro a bad friend I'm tweaking

I'm not leaking my conversations with him because there's just no need and he ignores me anyway

I know this is about me because of patterns in his behavior and stuff id rather not talk about in detail publicly

"Why did you feel the need to post this?" it's simple! If he's gonna talk shit about me on his platforms Im allowed to do the same (should this even count as talking shit because it isn't really my intention lmao)

Thank you to Sarah(@megumis1glazer) for listening to my annoyances abt what's happening and for yk updating me when ever he's posting on Twitter just so I know if its anything that should concern me, and thank you for just being a great friend!!(you make me feel tung tung sahur/inside joke tag idk)

[rmbunnie]

Immensely goofy how Tim Drake was explicitly intended to be/written with the purpose of being a much more likable and palatable Robin than Jason and then right out the gate in A Lonely Place of Dying we get the twofer of him going "WHOA really you mean it was the totally respectable guy openly trying to buy out the circus and praying on its downfall who was sabotaging it, NOT the employee spiraling over the prospect of losing his job who Dick explicitly told me it wasn't? Anyone would've guessed it was that clown chump, you're an awesome detective Dick!" and the infamous (to me) "If one cop gets taken out it doesn't matter because the police system is so expansive and unstoppable that it's become a faceless symbol more than a group of individuals, and that's what justice is. We need to be like THEM as heroes :D" Like I think overall he's decent enough but did they even try with that introduction? In what way was this the best shot at likable?

[magistralucis]

@absolut--kurant!

[tboyquackity]

CEE SCHLATT. don't speak to me 🤚

[natbplease]

all of the blaseball players polls are making me want to start a pies one……… 👀

[dyelwi]

Saw a post that was like “Apollo has it sooo much worse than Athena” and like yeah to an extent. Like if you look at the individual story beats then yeah Apollo goes through more. But it feels so weird to me to insist he has it easier and Athena has like no problems anymore when she still has severe trauma and is disabled and like. Idk I don’t think op meant to imply Athena had everything super easy forever but it felt like that to me. Which felt weird. Bc she very clearly doesn’t, we see in aa6 even how she’s still struggling a lot even when on a relatively less important case. And idk it just reminded me of how the fandom at large expects Athena to do things even Phoenix and apollo can’t or can barely do when she’s clearly very effected by her trauma and mental health issues/ disability. Idk, like I said I don’t think op meant it this way but that is just. Very much how it felt esp w how ppl talk about Athena generally.

[nyt1ba]

     Adam is heavy,   and by heavy I mean he weighs like a boulder,   being a giant monster squeezed into a human form,   his real size,   larger muscle mass,   armored body and the biggest one of his wings being three times his size                    it doesn't show of course,   as he learned to conceal the effects of his mutation with much practice,   it's a drastic disproportion he took too long to learn to adjust to,   often breaking things with what he would assume was a gentle grasp on more than one occasion,   he managed with time and seems to move lightly,   fakes losing his balance if pushed hard enough,   but if he were to relax his muscles,    [   if he weren't so stiff all the dang time   ],   it would be a challenge to make him budge.   When fighting as the Elder he uses that weight to his advantage,   but can move with remarkable lightness and fluidity with the use of his wings.

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

Little drabble for today, since technically today(or perhaps yesterday?) Was the day I had my little...moment of. Wow it would be so funny if I got engaged with Finn and of course it happens to be cliche a few days before Valentine's Day. Anniversary. I know I don't really post my writing a lot and keep it more private but that's mostly just cause it's harder for me to write things that aren't very emotionally incorporated, if that makes any sense? With drawing I can do a little cute doodle, draw some hearts around it, and that's it, a nice simple little thingy. But with my writing it is normally a lot more extensive, even if whatever I'm writing is just fluffy stuff. And. Not to mention. A lot of people normally brush over drawings after like five reasonable seconds, but with writing it isn't entirely something that can be consumed so quickly. But! I yap a lot on here anyway.

I don't thinkkkkkk this needs any content warnings? I tried to not go into detail about the actual extent of the woes I experienced and just said enough to get it out of my system, but everything else is true and accurate😉 it gets super sappy fluffy at the end because it is me we are talking about here, so of course it does. I did a shorter Speedrun version of my proofreading, so hopefully it has a nice flow to it!

--------

"Yes, but I want to actually do SOMETHING for today, I mean, something nice at least. It is a special day, we should do something.. special for it!" Kane reasoned, still in bed and curled up to a pillow. He cautiously rolled over onto his back, and his expression twitched like he had winced. He kept the pillow in his arms and loosely hugged it against himself.

"Kane, I'm pretty sure I just watched you die, I'm not going to let you expend what little energy you have left that needs to go to resting." Finn sighed, upset, sitting carefully at the edge of the bed. He certainly wasn't upset at Kane, more so the situation; and perhaps what little he could do- or have done- to remedy it, to no fault of his own, of course. Or anyone's, really.

Considering that Kane wasn't always that keen on bigger events anyway, his prying for one was a bit ironic. But just because he didn't like going out to restaurants or typical romantic events that involved eating out in public or resulted in lots of noises going on like at restaurants, it didn't mean that Finn didn't like those things. And, perhaps, Kane felt a little guilty inside, because he had been out of commission for most of the day, so anything that they could've done couldn't happen.

"It's not like I didn't know this might happen." Finn said gently, turning a little so he could look at Kane when he said it.

Kane sighed a little, almost in a pouting manner, and glanced at Finn to meet his gaze for a moment, "I mean, I know that we both knew it was going to happen, cause the prediction and all- and I could feel it- but..."

"But I'm feeling better now and-"

"Rest." Finn interrupted firmly.

Kane groaned in response, why must he need rest and recovery. Why must he be aware of how truthfully exhausted and sore he felt. "Okay, well I wasn't dying, I was just-"

"You were withering in pain, and trying to tug out your own hair so you could feel something else, you-"

"Okay, okay, but worse case scenario you could've just- I mean we live in England, all the houses and buildings are brick- you could've just bonked me out on the head and then drivin me off to the ER or like, urgent care or something."

Ah, and Kane was met with the look of a man who sometimes forgot what country people grow up to be. A look laced with concern because it was his partner he was looking at, but there was still a slight hint of "Fuck? No!" Whether Kane's country roots lying in America added to this was a different story.

"Er- euhm- Whatever the uh. Thing is called the-..." Kane looks around the room as he racks his brain for it, "The NHS! Yes! Whatever those.. they have like those walk-in urgent rooms, right? Like buildings?"

Finn looked like he wanted to respond with several things like "The NHS wait time isn't worth it" and "The day I put you out of your misery like some animal even if it is to temporarily knock you unconscious is the day I [redacted]" but with as ruffled and exhausted as Kane still appeared, he wasn't going to have the man waste his breath on discussing the complexities of the NHS and every other healthcare system, or whatever else was going through his mind. Instead, he ever so gently nudged Kane over closer to the middle of the bed so he could lay down next to him. He understood that going from forever sleeping on a bed that was hardly bigger than him to the luxuries of a bed that was probably a bit bigger than your dining table was something for Kane to adjust to, but it still drove him mad that Kane, for some reason, slept right at the edge of the bed. Even if he has yet to actually fall off of it.

And Kane couldn't help but crack out a grin over it, he spent a lot of time in bed so there was hardly a moment where Finn wasn't wordlessly gently shuffling him closer to the center of the bed.

"But we aught to do at least something, right? Today isn't just any other day today- not to me at least- I want to at least mark it like that by doing something special. Even if it is something small."

As Finn stretched out and laid down net to Kane, he let out a long exhale, "And you call me foolish?" Finn mused, and with as much little movement as possible he rolled over so he could face Kane and gingerly wrap an arm around the other man, tucking it under the pillow that Kane was still holding closely to himself. He was sure Kane was still feeling sore, so he treated every movement and touch he did like he was trying to do a waltz in a minefield.

Kane cocked an eyebrow, "I do call you foolish. Not that I'm any less foolish- if not more." "You certainly are," Finn's voice turned to a mumble as he tried to nuzzle himself infinitely and impossibly closer to Kane.

"And would you like to elaborate on that?" Kane asked, with a faint grin. He was feeling far more amused that he was able to express himself at the moment.

"The whole point of the day is just to spend it however we'd like, and I don't care how we spend it, I just want to spend it with you."

This was one of the moments were Kane was glad that Finn had his face buried up against him, because even if Finn could feel Kane hold his breath, it at least still spared Kane a little dignity because Finn would miss seeing his eyebrows furrow and the corners of his mouth twist and maybe his eyes watered up just a little as well. "Yeah, but you spent the day like a medieval doctor watching a patient and not being able to do anything about it but sedate them."

Finn frowned a little, but he would've frowned regardless of what day it happened on because it was still something that happened in the first place.

Kane let go of the pillow with one of his arms, and then decided to forfeit the pillow entirely altogether and shift his position so he was laying more towards Finn now. He didn't really have much left to say.

"I just want to enjoy the day with you, Kane." Finn murmured, the weight of affection in his voice was undoubtable.

Kane was quiet for a moment, his eyebrows were still furrowed, "I just want you to know that you are special," he responded, and if his sentence had been any longer his voice might've croaked.

Finn smiled, and tried to be as gentle as he could as he softly tugged Kane ever so slightly more closer to him, "I know that you think I'm special." Again, Kane took a moment before he responded. His mind was having trouble arguing with someone who seemed to radiate their love out of their body.

"You do?" Kane asked. Of course he would want Finn to feel special.

"This is where I get to use one of your own sayings against you," Finn said, starting to grin, "You always say that actions speak louder than words, don't you?"

As much as Kane loved that saying and thought it to be true, it bugged him a little that it sounded like something you would find spelled out as the lesson in the back of a book or TV show for children. Which perhaps was exactly where he had gotten it from.

"I do say that. And at least in my experience I've found it to be relatively true, give or take some case scenario exceptions; as with anything there's exceptions."

"Well I think it is plenty special that I get to do this with you," Finn gave Kane the lightest squeeze possible in his arms, "And you tell me in plenty of different ways all of the time how you feel about me." Kane knew that he did that, but part of him almost wanted to respond with "I do?" because it wasn't the usual for someone to be able to understand the funny language that he seemed to speak.

Kane looked at the ceiling for a little while, soaking in the words and the moment. Finn seemed quite content and peaceful with things right now- which is what Kane wanted. Truthfully, in an ideal scenario Kane would've spent the day treating Finn like he was some royalty- not that he didn't have tomorrow to do that, anyway.

"I like you, Finn," Kane said.

"I like you too, Kane." Just for a few moments Finn had closed his eyes. Then again, no one ever goes to close their eyes for just a few moments and it turns out that way.

No, maybe today wasn't and couldn't be spent as a day for a big grand gesture and display of love and affection, perhaps that was something that was going to be saved for another time, but there was still just as much love to be felt in getting consumed by the peaceful tranquility that came with not having anything but a nice warm and safe home, and being willingly boxed up in a room with someone literally, and figuratively, wrapped up around you.