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fortuositywritings · 4 years ago

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I Said No (Wanda x R): Pt 4

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3

Summary: You try to be friends with Wanda. Frankly, you could try a little harder. (Ice cream date, but it’s not really a date, but like it is but it’s not)

PS: There are like three swear words, mentions of exercise, and you eat a lot of pancakes but that’s cause you’re hungry. It’s not a problem. Also, if you are actually athletic, are fit, or like to exercise, you aren’t and you don’t. Not in this house.

You wake up the next morning with a sore neck. As you sit up, you see Nat standing beside the couch looking at you over her coffee cup scaring the life out of you.

“So, how’d you sleep?” she asks.

“Like a princess,” you sarcastically reply. Stretching, you hear your body popping in all different places. Maybe you will take Pietro up on his offer.

“I know what will help. Some exercise. Get ready. We’re going on a hike.”

You finally take in Nat’s appearance and see her sporting the attire for a hike.

You groan. “You say hike, but I know you really mean running at an incline.”

“Come on. Don’t be a baby. Exercise is good for you. When’s the last time you got any?”

You want to make a joke because of how she worded it, but your mischievous smile gives you away.

“Exercise, Y/N. When’s the last time you got any exercise,” she clarifies.

“The last time you asked me that.”

“A year ago?”

“And my body is still sore. Ask me again in a few months,” you go to lie down again but she throws a couch cushion at your head. “Okay, okay. Jeez, woman. I’m up.”

When you return from your hike, you are heaving. You don’t ever really think about how unfit you are, which makes sense when you don’t spare 5 minutes to do any kind of exercise, but a hike with Nat will surely remind you. You are sweating buckets and just want to pass out when you enter the house. Everyone is awake presumably having breakfast. You can smell the pancakes from the living room. Your stomach growls. You want to eat but even chewing sounds like too exhausting at the moment. You just want to knock out. You head over to your sleeping quarters for the week, but before you collapse on the couch, your cousin says, “I don’t want any sweat on my couch, Y/N.”

“Ugh,” you complain but comply and go to take a shower. There is no warm water. You assume all the guests had probably had their turn while you were out. You don’t mind it too much. The cold water wakes you up and you feel refreshed. Soon you are sitting with everyone else making plans for the day, but unlike everyone else at the table you are scarfing down pancake after pancake, hardly chewing between each swallow. The conversation dies down as everyone starts to look your way. You’d be embarrassed at your table manners but honestly you’re too famished to care.

“Woah, slow your roll there, Y/N. Where was this energy on our hike?” You hear Nat’s voice come up behind you. You don’t bother looking at her, showing her the middle finger behind your back so the kids won’t see. She chuckles as she sits on the empty seat beside you.

“You might be faster than me,” Pietro comments.

“You know it’s not gentleman-like commenting on the way a woman eats,” you answer, mouth full and all.

“It’s also not lady-like to speak with your mouth full of food,” Laura reprimands you.

“Cooper doesn’t care. Right, Cooper?” you turn to the kid in question still chewing on your food.

He answers you with a mouth full of food as well, “Right!”

Your cousin sighs as you reach over to give Cooper a fist bump. Wanda laughs at the interaction from beside Cooper. You give her a quick wink before settling back in your seat. She just rolls her eyes.

They all go back to their conversation and you go back to eating your delicious pancakes in peace. Once you are satisfied, you sink back in your chair letting out a happy sigh.

“Are you sure you don’t want another one? You hardly ate anything, Y/N,” Nat sarcastically says.

You roll your eyes in good nature. “Honestly, I do want another one but my stomach might explode. I’m going to be dreaming of these pancakes tonight. I’d wed whoever made these bad boys but sorry, cousin,” you turn to Laura, “you’ve got a husband and kids, and I just can’t tear a family apart.”

“Also, she’s your cousin,” Nat emphasizes.

“Obviously that was implied, Natasha,” you say her full name obnoxiously.

“I’d love to take all the credit, but Wanda actually made breakfast. So if you’re marrying anyone for the pancakes, it’s Wanda,” Laura says.

“You hear that, Wanda? I’m going to make an honest woman out of you.” You wiggled your eyebrows her way.

“If anything, it’s the other way around, Y/N,” your cousin teases.

“Don’t egg Y/N on, Laura,” Clint quips.

“But then who is going to make me pancakes like these, Barton?” You pout.

“I can,” Pietro pipes up. “I’ll even bring them to you for breakfast in bed.” He winks as Nat and Clint wrinkle their noses in distaste and Wanda stifles a laugh.

“What?” Pietro asks his sister.

“Pietro, you can’t boil an egg.”

“Yes, I can. I can make many things. I even helped you with this breakfast,” Pietro insists.

Everyone watches the siblings squabble in amusement, especially when Wanda turns to you to stage whisper, “He burnt two pancakes.”

“I did not!”

“Ask Peter. He had one,” Wanda says in turn. Peter shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“It was a little crunchy,” Peter says after much hesitation. Sam pats his shoulder, shaking his head. “Poor kid. No one should have to eat crunchy pancakes.”

After breakfast the kids decide they want to play basketball with the hoop Clint had placed over the barn doors. You break into teams of 3. It’s you, Lila, and Peter versus Sam, Cooper, and Pietro. Nat and Wanda sit on the sidelines watching and cheering. Your team is not doing so great. If it wasn’t for Peter pulling the team, you would cry in embarrassment. The guys on the opposing team start to get cocky. Sam rubbing the score in your team’s face, Cooper repeating whatever Sam says, and Pietro begins making flirty remarks about teaching you one on one and so on. You want to ignore his remarks but you kind of also want to wipe the smirk off his face. You do just that a few minutes later when you finally make a shot after Peter screens him allowing you to shoot. You look to see if Wanda saw but frown when you notice she’s not there anymore. You play for a few more minutes but you are quickly getting tired.

Laura comes up beside Nat and yells over to you, “Y/N, I need you to run to the store for me.”

“Oh, thank god.” You sigh in relief as you go over to your cousin and take the list she holds out to you. “Nat, sub me in?”

“Gladly.” She walks confidently over to take your place. You hear Sam and Pietro whine behind you when they realize Nat is playing in your place.

You chuckle as you read the list. “Are we having hamburgers tonight?”

“Gosh, you really were not paying attention while eating those pancakes. Clint wants to grill tonight.”

“Can you blame me? I’m getting that pancake recipe,” you say with complete determination. “Speaking of, have you seen Wanda?”

“Y/N.” Your cousin gives you a look.

“What?” You say innocently, knowing exactly what that look means.

“Clint told me about that little talk he and Nat had with you.”

“So, what now? I can’t be her friend?” you scoff.

“Friend. Mhmm, sure,” she laughs in disbelief and shakes her head. Why does no one in this damn house believe you?

“Mhmm,” you repeat as you are walking back to the house.

“Check the guest room,” Laura says last minute. Well, at least your cousin’s got your back. You give her a thumbs up in thanks.

Sure enough, Wanda is in the guest bedroom. She’s sitting in bed with a book in her hand. You softly knock on the door. She looks up, notices it’s you, frowns, and goes back to reading. You tilt your head wondering what has her in a mood. Is she back to thinking about her ex? Maybe you can help distract her as a good friend would do.

You walk over to the bed before deciding to sit in front of her cross-legged, elbows on knees, chin on the palm of one hand. “Whatcha got there?”

“A book. Ever heard of one?” she replies without bothering to look up.

Sheesh. “Oh, my god. Is it real? Can I, like, touch it? I’ve always heard about books but I’ve never seen one in person,” you say sarcastically, hoping to get some positive reaction from her. You see a slight upturn on the corner of her lips before it disappears. Though it was miniscule, it was a step forward no less. You sit there for a minute staring at her and thinking of how to proceed. You don’t want to worsen her mood with one of your dumb jokes.

Wanda can feel your eyes searching for some kind of sign from her. She gives up trying to read her book, having been repeating the same paragraph over and over again. She puts the book down and huffs. “Can I help you?”

“Actually, you can,” you say. “I’m going into town to get some stuff for the hamburgers and I was wondering if you wanted to come?”

Maybe you are simply confusing Wanda’s boredom for an unpleasant attitude.

“Didn’t you ask Piet? There’s no way he refused going with you.”

Or not.

Her sardonic tone is not lost on you. So, it’s about the brother and not the ex. You want to scream. This is why you have the twin rule. Though you want to bang your head on a wall for not listening to your own rules, you keep your composure as you stand to leave the room. Before you go, you tell Wanda, “I haven’t asked Pietro. I thought of you first, but if you’re not feeling it, I’m sure he would say yes like you say.”

You turn and head out to the hallway dejectedly, but you perk up when you hear Wanda stop you. “Wait! Let me put on my shoes.”

You wait for her in the hallway, smiling to yourself in part because you would not have to spend hours with Pietro’s constant advances but mostly because you got to spend time with Wanda without supervision. You are a grown ass adult, eh, not really, but legally you were an adult. You don’t need to be supervised. It’s not like you needed someone to watch you else you throw yourself at Wanda. Sure, you like to tease here and there but it’s not bothersome. Is it? Oh, god, were you annoying Wanda?

Those thoughts are quickly dispelled when Wanda meets you with a smile. “Ready.”

No, Wanda wouldn’t have agreed to go with you if you were really a bother. You’re sure of it.

It’s a 20 minute ride into town. With Wanda’s mood having done a full 180, you find yourself enjoying your time with her as she recounts a slight hiccup on Steve’s behalf on a mission. Soon enough you are driving up the main street looking for a parking spot. Luckily you find a spot not too far from the store. You head inside and grab a cart. You and Wanda wander around the aisles looking for what you need. Wanda takes over cart duty when you keep bumping into things because you’re distracted with either looking over the list or looking over at her. You say a quick hello to a few people you recognize.

“Well aren’t you popular,” Wanda comments as you both turn into the frozen food aisle to look for hamburger patties.

“Yeah, that’s not always a good thing,” you say when you spot a woman you know in the same aisle. You move to walk real close behind Wanda, trying to hide your face.

“What are you doing?” Wanda asks when she feels your forehead resting between her shoulder blades.

“Shhh, just keep walking,” you command without any explanation. Your really sad attempt at hiding was all for naught when you hear your name.

“Y/N? Is that you?”

You take a deep breath, plaster a fake smile, and leave Wanda’s space. “Hi, Mrs. Townsend. How’s it going?”

“I thought that was you. You can’t hide from me, you know. Not that you were ever any good at it,” she says knowingly. You cringe at the memory of her finding you in her daughter’s closet. This woman disliked you from start to finish, which made sense given that her daughter had broken up with her boyfriend for you only for you to break things off a few weeks later.

“Yeah, I know,” you smile sheepishly. She looks over your shoulder at Wanda. She looks curious but not in the best way. “And who is this?”

Wanda introduces herself with a polite smile. “Hello, I’m Wanda. Pleasure to meet you.”

“You look familiar. Have we met before?” Mrs. Townsend asks.

“No, I guess I just have that face,” Wanda responds with no hesitation having practiced that line so many times on missions. Mrs. Townsend’s stare weighs heavy and Wanda begins to feel uncomfortable.

“A very pretty one at that. Y/N sure knows how to pick them. Is that an accent I hear? Where are you from, dear?” Mrs. Townsend asks, with faux intrigue. Now you’re uncomfortable too.

You know you shouldn’t speak for Wanda but you don’t want to subject her to be in this woman’s presence any longer. “Actually, she’s just a friend visiting from New York. She and a few others are staying with Laura. And actually, she’s expecting us to return soon. So, have a good day, Mrs. Townsend. Come on, Wanda. Let’s go.”

You lead Wanda away by pulling the cart behind you. When you’re nearly clear of the aisle, Wanda stops and reminds you that you never got the patties. You tell her to go ahead and get in line to pay while you go back for the patties, them being the last thing to get from the list. Mrs. Townsend is still in the aisle now talking on the phone very displeased. “Yes, she was right here and with another girl-” she cuts herself off when you’re in her vision reaching to get what you need.

You give her a sarcastic smile. As you pass by her for the last time, you smirk and lean in to say, “Tell Abby I say hi.” Then you wink, leaving Mrs. Townsend very angry, and head over to the checkout area where Wanda is waiting. Wanda doesn’t say anything other than “Well, she was lovely” to which you laughed. Apart from that, she stays quiet at the checkout and as you put the items in the car. Before she has a chance to open the door to get in the passenger seat, you stand in front of the door blocking the handle.

“Hey,” you begin, but Wanda is looking at her shoes, her hands fiddling with the rings on her fingers. You take her hand to shake her arm in an attempt to get her to look up. “Look at me.”

You wish you hadn’t asked that of her because when she does look at you, it tears you apart. If you did not think your presence was needed more here, you could storm right back into that store and give Mrs. Townsend a piece of your mind.

“Mrs. Townsend is an asshole. You should never take what an asshole says to heart cause it’s all shit,” you say in all seriousness. Wanda giggles and raises her free hand to rub her face. You pull it away from her face. Holding both her hands you continue, “She’s just a grumpy lady holding a grudge over something I did like two years ago. It’s nothing to do with you and all to do with me. So don’t listen to anything she says, okay?”

It takes a moment but she finally nods. “There we are.” You pull her into a hug, one she accepts easily, hoping to give further comfort. You can’t help but think how nice it is to hold her, moreso, when she hugs you tighter.

“So, she was lying when she said I was pretty?” Wanda tries to joke, adopting your method of lightening the mood.

“Oh, absolutely,” you answer. She quickly pulls back from your hold but you don’t let her go too far, holding onto her elbows. “Cause you are breathtakingly gorgeous,” you finish.

She smiles and a blush takes over her face. You decide to add, “In fact, I can’t even breathe right now standing so close to your beauty.” You dramatically gasp for air making Wanda laugh and smack you.

“Ow, if this is how you Avenger women treat your adoring fans, I’d hate to see how you take down the bad guys.”

“Oh, so you’re a fan?” Wanda asks adorning a sly smile.

“Mhmm, since day one.”

“Is that so? Because from what I remember you called me Crimson Witch just yesterday,” she teases you.

“And I stand by what I said,” you respond. You cut her off when she opens her mouth to argue. “But if I have offended you, let me make it up to you.”

She narrows her eyes, looking at you skeptically as if you were up to no good making you want to laugh. “How?” She asks warily.

You lean into her space once more to say, “I know a place.” You wink and without allowing her to respond, you take her hand dragging her along behind you. “Come on.”

Your destination is just two blocks away. Wanda speeds up to walk beside you but she never lets your hand go. Not that you mind it in the least. You stop her when you arrive and reluctantly let her hand go to make a grandiose gesture with your arms. “Ta-Da!”

“An ice-cream shop?” she asks you, clearly unimpressed.

“Not just any ice-cream shop. The Ice Cream Shop!” You can’t help but say enthusiastically. Wanda on the other hand does not look enthused. You can’t believe she’s not excited for ice cream. “Oh, come on, Wanda. Don’t tell me you don’t like ice cream. The only excuse I’ll take is that you’re lactose intolerant or vegan. Just don’t tell me you prefer frozen yogurt. Oh, god. You do, don’t you?” You gasp dramatically, your hand clutching your chest.

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes in a light hearted manner at your antics. “You’ve made your point. Just open the door.”

“Bossy,” you laugh, but do as she wishes though you make a show out of opening the door. You bow and motion for her to enter as you hold the door open. “After you, m’lady.”

She sighs. Passing through the door, she mumbles, “I could be in bed reading right now.”

“Ah, but then you would’ve missed the opportunity to hang out with someone as cool as me,” you say as you and Wanda go to stand behind the group of teenage girls ordering their ice cream.

“Oh, are they meeting us after? Do you think they’ll buy me frozen yogurt?” she retorts, amusement shining through her eyes. You generally find quick witted remarks annoying. Mostly because you’ve always been surrounded by smart-alecks all your life. Your cousin is one. Then she married one who had one as a best friend. Somehow, you find the same quality in Wanda kind of attractive. Oh god. This can’t be happening.

“Quit being so grumpy. You’re gonna thank me when you try it. It’s only the best there is.”

“You should listen to her, but hey, I may be a little biased,” the woman working at the counter backs you up. The teenage girls are long gone.

“Thank you, Tanya,” you reply, stepping forward to the middle aged woman you know to be the owner of the shop. She was actually the one to give you your first job at this very same ice cream shop. Maybe you were also a little biased.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be in town so early, Y/N.”

“Well, I just missed you so much, I couldn’t wait to get here,” you explain.

“Uh, huh. I’m sure that’s it.” Her voice is full of disbelief. You laugh.

“Actually, I got here yesterday. I wanted to come earlier to help out Laura now that she’s phwwt,” you whistle and make a belly bump gesture like it’s a scandalous secret.

“She’s married and this is baby number three, Y/N. You can say pregnant,” your old boss laughs.

“But that’s no fun,” you pout.

“And who is this little thing?” She turns to Wanda, who timidly smiles still two steps behind you.

“Come on, I don’t bite, hun.” Tanya gives her a sincere smile, one much different from Mrs. Townsend’s. Wanda slowly approaches after you wave her over encouragingly. When she is close enough, you hold her forearm to introduce her to Tanya, trying to ease her nerves. It seems to work. You feel her relax and lean into your side as she says, “Hi, I’m Wanda.”

“Pleasure to meet you dear. I’m Tanya. See, no need to be shy.”

“She’s not usually like this as far as I can tell. She’s actually quite chatty. Sometimes I don’t know how to get her to stop talking,” you joke. Wanda scoffs and bumps your hip with hers.

“Whenever Y/N begins to annoy you, just put on some earphones and hide them with your hair. It works wonders. She can talk to herself for hours,” your old boss advises Wanda.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“Hey!” You interject. “Tanya, where is your loyalty? So quick to team up against me.”

Wanda giggles beside you. You turn your head to playfully glare at her, missing the way Tanya smiles at the interaction in front of her.

“So how’d you two meet? I don’t think I’ve seen you in town before, Wanda.”

“She’s a friend and um, coworker of Clint and Natasha. She’s here for the week.” You hope Tanya didn’t catch your little hiccup there. However, you miss the implication of her question. Tanya tries to remember who Nat is.

“Natasha. Is she the intimidating red head always wearing tight jeans?” You and Wanda laugh. You affirm with a finger to your nose. “Didn’t you date her sister?”

You let go of Wanda’s arm to throw your head into your hands. “Ugh, how could you possibly know that?”

“Small town. Word gets around fast. People are probably already talking about you two, especially when you’ve got someone as beautiful as Wanda with you.”

Wanda blushes at the insinuation. “There’s nothing to talk about,” you tell Tanya.

Tanya raises an eyebrow, “You mean, you’re not dating?”

“Please, Wanda here is way out of my league. I mean, funny, polite, pleasant, and gorgeous. Maybe even a little pretentious. I caught her reading a book… for fun. Who does that? Ow!” Wanda smacks your arm and Tanya laughs. “Did I mention violent?”

The bell above the entrance door chimes informing you three that other customers are coming in. “Okay, so what can I get you?” Tanya asks, moving this along.

“I’d like two scoops of rainbow sherbert on a cone, please.”

“And for you, hun?” Tanya asks Wanda after handing you your cone.

“Um, may I have two scoops of strawberry, please?”

“Of course, you’d get red,” you taunt.

“Here you are.” Tanya hands Wanda her cone. You take out a ten dollar bill from your pocket to pay but Tanya won’t have it. “My treat, ladies.”

“But this is sort of an apology cone I promised Wanda,” you try again.

“Y/N! Apologizing with a three dollar ice cream cone is not a real apology. You can do better.”

“It’s like you read my mind, Tanya,” Wanda says. You want to laugh at the irony.

“It wasn’t for anything serious,” you try to argue.

“Whatever it was, you can treat her to something nicer,” Tanya reprimands you.

“Well, what am I supposed to do?”

“The fair is in town. Take her to that. Now shoo, I’ve got customers waiting. Nice meeting you, Wanda,” she says.

“You too. Thanks.”

You exit first, holding the door open for Wanda without thinking about it. She smiles and loops her arm through yours as you both head back to the car at a leisurely pace. You look to see if Wanda likes her ice cream. There is no doubt about it as she begins to hum in happiness. You want to say something like “ I told you so” but she warns you before you have the chance to open your mouth. “Don’t.”

You smirk and turn to your ice cream. You try to savour it, but you demolish that ice cream. You pout when you see it all gone. Wanda still has half of hers.

“Quit being so grumpy,” she says, throwing your words from earlier back at your face. “Here, you can have some of mine.”

She lifts her cone to your mouth. You happily go to take a bite when Wanda shoves the rest of her cone in your face. It wasn’t much but you can smell the damn strawberry ice cream as it drips from your nose. You’re too shocked to move for a minute. She laughs as you try to process what just happened. You hear the shutter noise of a camera. You see Wanda holding her phone up. That snaps you out of your daze. Wanda takes off running the second she sees the look that settles on your face. She doesn’t have to be a telepath to know what that look means. You chase after her.

She gets to the car before you but can’t open the door. She turns around, hands out in front of her body which is shaking from nervous laughter. “Wait, Y/N. I’m sor-”

You pull her into a hug and shove your ice cream riddled nose to her neck smearing the strawberry flavored dessert on her. “Stop, okay. I’m sorry. Stop, that tickles!” She bursts out laughing. You take pity and let her go, but your feet stay planted where they are. You both quickly sober up when you see how close you are. You feel the tension from yesterday return. You know what you want to do but you know you shouldn’t. Wanda is not making it easy looking at you the same way. Before either of you make a decision, your phone rings ruining whatever that was. You awkwardly clear your throat and back away. You give Wanda a smile before reaching for your phone. You answer it without looking at the name of whoever is calling. It’s Laura asking if you are on your way. You tell her you’ll be there soon.

You unlock the car and open the passenger door for Wanda. She gives you a quiet thanks. The drive to the house is awkward to say the least, a total contrast to the ride into town. The music in the background does nothing to alleviate your discomfort. In fact, you think it might have made it worse.

You let out a little sigh of relief once the barn enters your line of sight. Wanda on the other hand can’t take it anymore. She turns off the radio and turns to you expectantly. You take a deep breath knowing what was coming. Having a feeling this conversation could get loud, you slow down the car to a stop before you could pull up to the barn. You’d rather not let anyone overhear knowing how nosy they all are.

“What was that back there?”

“You started it, shoving the ice cream in my face.” You play naive.

“Don’t do that.”

You don’t know why you thought you could get away with lying to her when you know she can literally read minds.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to. I did. I do.”

“Well, I do too,” Wanda says.

“You do?” you ask. You don’t know why you sound so shocked. You had a gut feeling already, but it surprises you hearing her say it aloud anyway.

“You know I do. So what’s the problem?”

The problem is you can’t. The problem is you promised Nat, Clint, and yourself you wouldn’t. The problem is what Nat said at dinner struck a chord with you. Sure she could have been a little nicer about it and maybe not say it in front of everybody, but she was right nonetheless. The problem is your habit of touch and go, the one you never wanted to admit you had, only hurts people. You are the problem and you‘ve decided to fix it, starting with Wanda. You won’t allow yourself the chance to break Wanda’s heart. You don’t think she deserves that.

“You don’t get to decide what I deserve. Neither does Nat. Neither does Clint. I get to make that decision for myself. If I put it all on the line and end up heartbroken, then that’s on me. I make that choice.”

You nod, “You’re right. That is your choice and I can respect that. But it’s also my choice to decide I can’t be the one to break your heart. Can you respect that?”

A heavy silence settles in the car, but you have said all you needed to say so you wait for Wanda to respond. When she realizes your mind is set, she nods. After another minute of silence, she asks, “What now, then?”

“Cliché, but friends?” you suggest. When Wanda scoffs in disbelief, you have to ask, “What?”

“You and me?” Wanda asks as if for clarification.

“Well, I don’t see anyone else in the car. Yes, Wanda. You and me.”

“Have you ever been just friends with anyone before?” Wanda asks, placing no kind of faith in your ability to maintain platonic relationships.

“Are you asking if I can keep it in my pants? Not to bruise your ego, but I can be in a room with you without wanting to jump your bones, Maximoff. I have plenty of strictly platonic friends. Like... Nat.”

She laughs at the choice you made for an example. “That’s only because Natasha doesn’t want to sleep with you.”

“So, what you’re saying is this friendship won’t work because you can’t keep it in your pants?” you counter and watch with amusement Wanda’s face flush and her try to defend herself.

“N-no,” she stutters weakly.

“Great,” you say cheerily. “It’s settled then. We can be friends.”

“There are rules though,” Wanda warns you as you start driving toward the house again.

“Already? Had I known this friendship came with terms and conditions, I might have never suggested it. Fine, lay them on me.”

“No more flirting with my brother.”

“I have never flirted with your-” you start to deny, but when she gives you a knowing look you quickly agree. “Okay, but if he’s putting in all the work, who am I to keep him from living out his dreams?” You jest. She punches your arm.

“Alright, new rule! No more hitting me.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

You were beginning to see the rules to this friendship were not going to be in your favor.

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So, I lied when I said this was going to be most likely 5 chapters. It turns out I really like dialogue. I'm hoping max is 8 chapters.

Your assignment in preparation for the next chapter: pick a nice outfit cause you're going to the county fair.

Extra Credit: Name the county. (I'm prob going to pick one from the comments)

taglist: @madamevirgo @marvels-writings @gayarchnemessis @myperfectlovepoem @purplemeetsblue @magicallymaximoff @b0mbdotc0m @helloalycia @ironscarletwidowsoilder

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x you

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thesunshinebunny · 4 years ago

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When the world falls apart, the only thing we can hold onto is ourselves (Part VI)

Series Master list

pairing: canon Eren Jaeger x reader

content: Angst, unstable relationship, breakup, smut/nswf+18, major character death, violence, blood (obviously), war (pretty obvious)

summary: War and hate. It’s what defined the world at this exact moment. You failed your comrades, and by failing them, you failed yourself. Your relationship is hanging by a thread and your enemies will not only be found on the other side of the sea, but also in the mind of the person you love the most. How will you take the reins in the face of so much destruction?

Chapter summary: After weeks of tension and mutual pining, Eren and reader finally succumb to their most carnal and animalistic desires.

Word Count: 7.9k

His cold hands were still resting on my skin. The body heat of each of us was reversing until we became the temperature of the other. In what had been burning for a moment, now my cheeks felt cold, icy, the skin on my chest and hips began to feel discomfort and the wind that was blowing did nothing but make me shiver. Instead, Eren's hands became warm, pleasant to the touch, but uncomfortable and unsure at the same time towards my sanity. The fingers of his left hand were moving over my hip in an attempt to massage a bruise that had just risen above the bone, a bruise that I had just noticed when his hand moved slightly up my shirt to lay flat on my skin and flesh. His right hand, still positioned on my cheek, ran the few tears that continued to fall, just as the trail of the already dry traces that this salty stream had left behind disappeared.

The situation wasn’t comforting at all. The burning sensation and fever that had reigned over my body moments before, had dissipated like a bucket of cold water on a small fire. Now I was cold, stiff, shivering and with memories of previous years haunting my mind, memories that once were to be saved to treasure when we were all old and at peace, but now it seemed that they only brought sadness and misfortune.

My eyes were fixed, unseeing, on Eren's bare chest. His skin showed no signs of hits or bruises like mine, damn it, the only thing that could be distinguished was his beefy abs, worked for years, stained with dirt and a few tiny blades of grass stuck to them. I watched as his chest swelled with each inhalation he took, his breathing calmed, no traces of the hectic fight or the makeout session. My hands, already tired from continuing to maintain pressure, now I limited myself to moving my fingers from the inside and out of my palm, occasionally brushing Eren's pelvis with my nails. I stretched them out, letting my fingertips rest on his hip, the small leaves adhering to his skin tickled my fingers and with slight movements I took them out one by one and left them on the grass around us... Some of them stuck to my fingers because of the humidity and the mud accumulated on the rib.

I cleaned them with my palms, but noticing that they didn’t come off easily, I simply ran my hands through my pants, staining them even more with dirt, some leaves fell to the floor due to friction in front of the fabric, others were beautifully placed on the thighs, in U-shapes or even folded into a perfect spiral. Some even broke in two and left little green spots on top of the brown ones. Eren withdrew his hand from my cheek when felt my fingers and nails stop passing through his pelvis and began to play with the small leaves. His hand removed mine from my thighs and ran every trace of wet leaves to the floor in one simple, clean motion. Now that hand was the one that rested on the flesh of my left thigh, moving up and down, occasionally grasping the soft parts and squeezing them from time to time.

I placed my hands over my thighs again, this time over the connection between my legs and my hips, preventing some unseemly movement of Eren's hand from reaching that area without my consent. I fixed my eyes on these and just at that moment I could notice how pale they were, the bruises were still visible and the blood had completely dried, the knuckles were red and little skin began to come out as bruises began to form on top all the long fingers. My left wrist had received the same treatment, a huge bruise covered a large part of the ligament and the bone of the arm, it was even slightly displaced, probably dislocated, but I didn’t feel any pain, not even when moving it, even if it was a few centimeters. As for my right hand, I had only received a few blows on the knuckles, the occasional broken fingernail, but without showing the lower flesh.

My palms, well, I don't know if I could call them palms anymore. I turned both hands to check them and the sight didn’t make me feel better, it only made me relapse into the realization of how mistreated my body was; both were full of dirt, green spots, the product of the viscous liquid that the broken leaves left, and dried blood, apart from the large superficial cut on the right palm. They looked like shit, I have to admit. I let out a long sigh at such a miserable image. My eyes burned, but I couldn't give myself the freedom to close them because I knew that if I did, more tears would shoot out.

"Hey" Eren's hand that was for minutes massaging my hip was placed under my chin and raised my head once more, without heaviness or restrictions on my part.

My view was blocked by his long fingers, which like his torso, didn’t show any sign of injury or bruises, except for a few small traces of dried blood, my blood. I couldn’t see with complete clarity if his fingertips were equally stained, I tried to turn the head to where he was caressing me a few moments ago to find some indication of blood or injury, but Eren prevented me by bringing my face back to his, lifting it more and bringing it closer to his eyes. They were the same as I had seen them a few minutes ago, greyish turquoise and glowly. God, that glow, that damn glow. Within all possible situations, in any place, they had to return to shine here and now. It wasn’t fair.

It wasn't fair at all.

I directed my hands to his face, placing each one on his cheeks and cradling him between them. I couldn't tell if the action caught him off guard, what I can say is that I could feel, for a thousandth of a second, his eyes widen at the touch. Color that had been lost for months had returned for a moment, as a small blush on his cheeks. For a moment, I swear for a moment, the Eren I knew was back. My eyes inspected his, trying to find that color that I had spotted, trying to find a sign of the Eren that I had loved so much, a sign that he was still there, hidden, curled up like an infant before the oh so many shadows surrounded him.

"You have beautiful eyes" It was a cruel reality but true in the same way.

His eyes were always one of his most impressive features I had ever noticed from a person. Huge, with a lot of accumulated life, a strong and bright color, unable to take my eyes off them. Those same eyes that brought security were the ones that made me doubt my actions and generated deep sadness in me; Those eyes that once made me tremble with exaltation now made me cry.

It was the same eyes that I had lost myself in on a hot sunny day at the cabin along with Levi and our little squad. That spring day, pollen in the air, the cabin full of dust and cobwebs, the boys doing their homework, while Eren and I were cleaning up. Each one cleaning in our small space, without speaking to us unless necessary, such as asking for help to move a piece of furniture if one couldn’t, or ask for the cleaning tool the other had to clean a small cobweb under a window frame. The dirty and torn glasses, in need of a delicate hand that could remove all traces of the excessive abuse during the years that this small home was disabled. I decided to clean all glasses on the lower level, leaving Eren to clean the door on both the outside and inside.

As I was cleaning the window closest to the front door, I noticed how the frames were starting to crack, a few splinters coming to the surface and being capable of injuring anyone who was not careful enough. I ran the rag through a fairly open crack, trying to remove as many splinters as possible, even dislodging the broken piece out of the frame entirely. Little by little the wood was detaching, some pieces stuck to the skin of my fingers, others fell right on my feet, and when I was finally able to completely detach the broken piece, I left it on the table in full view of all of them, so that when someone re-entered the cabin, I could warn them of the care with the respective window.

I decided to investigate more parts of the frame to see if I found more loose pieces when out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure move outside the window. During my little out of all reality I had completely forgotten that Eren was cleaning right on the other side of the wall. I could see him perfectly from where I was standing. His arms, while long compared to mine, didn’t reach up to the wood of the door, having to stand on tiptoe and stretch a little to reach the dust that had accumulated in that area. His hair gathered in a cloth, preventing dirt from falling on it, made a funny image at the same time... almost cute. His young face, now half covered with the cloth, was getting younger and the way in which he stretched, reminded me of the image of a little boy in the middle of the bazaar of my town trying to reach a basket of cookies without the mother found out.

But it was neither his figure nor the way his hair was flattened and took that shape little by little, but the way in which the sunset sun reflected exactly on his eyes, turning them a lush green, much lighter and more colorful. Although his eyes were directed towards the door, I could see them without complications; I could see his eyelashes rise up and the smallest of the ends bent and tangled between them, I could see the small shiny points turn a warm color while the clean wood of the door was reflected in the iris.

At some point, I opened the window outward, allowing me to stretch my body and settle on the lower wood, resting my abdomen and elbows, holding my head in my hands as I watched the incredible scene in front of me. The sun's rays hit Eren's body, giving him an orange ring of light over his entire figure, the cloth about to come loose and fall from his head because of how badly tied it was and his hands were dirty while also being delicate when holding the rag between his fingers, perhaps an act Levi had taught him while he was alone in his squad.

The rag slipped from his hand and the moment he reached down to grab it, his face turned straight to mine, allowing me to see his eyes much more conspicuously. The play of light and shadow, the way that nature itself reflected in them was the greatest work of art that I had ever seen, perhaps it was due to the fact that I hadn’t seen many people with green eyes, much less with that tonality. of green that Eren had inherited. What beautiful eyes. I thought I had said it to myself, but apparently I had unconsciously let it out in a slight sigh, as Eren raised his head in less than a second, straight at me. His eyes were wide and his face reflected surprise.

Those eyes in which I had been spellbound for long minutes were staring at me, penetrating strongly on mine, as if looking for a sign that his owner had clearly heard what the wind had brought to his ears.

"What? Did you get lost in my incredible eyes? " his humorous words and his wicked smile were what brought me back to reality. They were like an open hand spanking across the face.

My face was decomposed for a moment, eyes open and my mouth ajar, even my hands stopped supporting my head causing me to almost fall to the ground. I tried to compose myself as best I could, fixing my shirt, eliminating the wrinkles that had formed from being with my torso on the uncomfortable wood, and pulling some hair that had fallen over my eyes to one side.

"Yeah, you wish" I threw my body back and stretched out my arm to close the window, but not before giving him a half smile and admiring his eyes for the last time before going back to work.

Now I was in front of those eyes once more, with that memory stabbing a knife in the middle of my heart and mind, but with my body being drawn to them like that hot spring day.

I brought my face close to his, one hand running through his hair while the other roamed his chapped, swollen lips. The moment felt soft, calm, even though the weight on our shoulders was harder and more invasive. His hand on my chin was now caressing my neck lightly, as if he were passing a feather over my jugular, the hand that had been caressing my leg, now had placed on my lower back, stretching the fingers and feeling the greater amount of skin under his as much as possible. We both leaned forward and when our lips met again, time seemed to melt.

This time, there was no fight between our lips, there was no resistance, we just dedicated ourselves to melting into each other along with time. Everything felt delicate, Eren's touch on my back, my fingers on his scalp, his hand on my neck pulling me closer to him. Chest to chest, an almost impossible union for less garments that both of us had on, but still it was enough to feel the beating of the other's heart. No heartbeat was neither too fast nor too slow, they were just in perfect harmony, it was… perfect.

I could feel his lashes brush against mine with every turn of the head I took to sink the kiss, his locks tickling my cheeks, and his tongue, intrusive as it was, was welcome. My senses intensified, causing me to wrap myself in a sea of sensations and little by little the current took me to the deepest waters, feeling how the weight of my body was getting smaller and smaller, as if my body itself made smaller.

I felt vulnerable and it was the same Eren who brought these senses to the surface, the same one who could put them in a bottle, throw them into the sea and lose them in the waves, at the same time that he could bring them back with the simple movement of his hand.

We parted ways to reconnect once more, this time harder and needy. His hands were placed on either side of my waist, pulling me closer to him with more force, connecting our torsos even more and bumping our hips. I groaned when I felt his crotch against mine, I was perfectly positioned on him and every feverish kiss, every movement, made me grind on him. His tongue ran through my mouth as if it were the last time he would do it, it felt abrupt, as if a prayer was taking place, wishing that we would never disconnect from each other. He ran through every part of me, colliding with mine even my teeth, he was desperate and it showed. His teeth took my lower lip between them, biting and tugging slightly, giving me the perfect opportunity to elicit a guttural moan as I felt his cock already erect against my entrance.

He took my mouth back into his, sliding his hands down to the soft flesh of my ass, each hand over the round cheeks, and squeezed, marking his fingers hard over them. He took the opportunity to guide me on his cock back and forth, movements slow but accurate and hard, each grind felt like fire on my center, traveling up my back towards the brain. I was beginning to feel light in the head, my coherence was clouded and the only thing I could think was more, more, more.

At this point I just grunting at every grind he made me do, lifting me slightly to come down again and position myself even closer to his crotch. I bit his upper lip in an attempt to stifle a moan as I felt a wet spot begin to form in the middle of my pants and his dick leaning right in that same spot.

"Don't keep the moans to yourself" he lifted his lips from mine and moved down from my cheek to my neck.

I kept grinding on him involuntarily, no longer with his help, but still feeling his colossal hands squeeze my ass and hold me steady in my movements. He didn't want me to stop and honestly, I didn’t to stop either. The pressure I felt on his dick was too much, even his lips would detach from my skin from time to time, releasing small but notorious grunts, given the pleasure that this simple but filthy action generated to us.

"Fuck, Eren" I moaned as I hit his pelvis once more, this time harder than before. I felt him chuckling as I noticed how my moans began to come out of my vocal chords, with no intention of stopping. The friction felt delicious, we were both getting off with each other without even being in the main event.

My fingers tangled in his hair, drawing his face impossibly closer to my neck. I felt his lips leave a thin wet line on the hollow of my clavicle and sting lightly with his teeth. His hands couldn't stay still, the more friction we generated, the more I grinded on him, the more they moved through my body; they passed over my thighs, my back, the sides of my stomach to my chest.

I expanded my chest on the touch of him, preparing myself for what was to come, letting out a groan as I felt his fingers reach the limits of my nipples. They were a little cold and generated a perfect contrast with the heat that began to emanate from within, starting to make my nipples erect under his fingertips. Took one between his two fingers and the heat that was gradually forming in the tip of my stomach was getting bigger. The need for him not only generated great pleasure on my fibers, but also impatience, Eren was characterized by being a damn teaser when it came to sex.

His fingers eased my poor, swollen nipple and pulled my shirt off my shoulders, leaving only my leather suit like Eren, both now in direct contact with our body heat. The shirt fell to the ground at the same time that his lips were detached from my neck, he dedicated himself to arranging the shirt on the grass while still having me straddling him. The same happened with his jacket and shirt, which had been much closer to us than I had imagined. The three garments made a poor case of cover on the grass, but that was enough for Eren to roll me onto his back and settle on top of me.

Lips against lips, hands running over each other's body, savoring on our fingertips the heat of the skin, each muscle and bone marked, the hair of both getting tangled up in the environment, spread over the fabric in my case or Eren's falling towards my face if not spread over my fingers.

Eren settled to the side, leaving a small space between us, and let his hand run over my stomach, slowly, delicately, roaming around my entire torso until it reached my hips. His hand stopped to explore, feeling the bones outlining the body and the beginnings of the legs. His touch was so soft that he even tickled me. His fingers reached a sensitive area, drawing little giggles against my lips, but Eren's intentions weren’t to make me laugh and they were more than clear. Noticing my giggles climbing, he took the opportunity to reach under my pants, even under my underwear. Now the giggles were transformed into moans and sighs when I felt his finger brush my most needy area.

He was starting to burn, little beads of sweat were forming on the back of my neck and forehead, and he wasn't being fair at all. His finger was just brushing, again, and again, and again through my center, giving me the necessary pleasure to moan in his mouth, but never enough. It wasn't enough and Eren knew it, he was torturing me in the most delicious and infuriating way he knew. I guided my hand to his, undoing the buttons on the stained pants, now having more space and comfort, and placed it over his, applying just enough pressure for him to realize how needy I was.

And it worked. Eren heeded my silent prayer and inserted a finger, coming into contact with my wet walls. I moaned as I felt his finger slide slowly inside, his simple finger never fails to make me see stars and this case was no different. It's pumping slowly, too slowly, too much. This was no time for delicacies. The tip brushed the right places, driving the heat in my stomach to expand more, more and more.

"Eren" I growled hoping that my pathetic voice carried enough prayer to give me what I needed.

Eren inserted another finger, twisting it and applying more pressure to my sore spot. I felt like my body was becoming lighter as the pleasure was taking possession. Each twist, each impulse, each pressure was like an electric shock on my spine that ran through the veins and spread throughout the body, until there was no space left untouched. My back arched as I felt both fingers brush against my sweet spot, making Eren giggle over my ear.

"How do my fingers feel inside?" he whispered dangerously into my ear, biting the lobe and generating a new electrical reaction over me.

It was impossible for me to speak, the only thing that came out of my mouth were moans after moans. My free hand went to Eren's neck, I pulled him as close as I could to my face. My gaze was cloudy and narrowed, it was difficult to maintain control. His eyes were not on mine, rather they were on my crotch, seeing how his fingers disappeared without difficulty inside me and came out again and again, wetting them in the process. I tried to draw him to my lips to avoid giving an answer to his question, which had entered one ear and left the other. His fingers wreaked havoc inside me and every time I tried to open my mouth to answer, a new moan came out, making me impossible every second. I was sure that if this continued, I would end up forgetting the question.

"Say it or I'll stop and I'll leave you naked for others to find you" his voice had deepened, and being so close to my ear it only generated more vibrations under my spine.

My head was spinning, trying to formulate an answer before stammering it. It was difficult considering that his fingers had picked up the pace, moving in and out of my hole with a steady rhythm and able to propel my body along with them, and his breath over my ear and neck.

"It - ah - it feels good" it really felt good, I hadn't felt this good in months.

My answer made him smile, apart from twisting his fingers once more before applying pressure to my weak point. I couldn't tell if what came out of my mouth was a moan or a scream, or perhaps a guttural groan, but what I was sure was the fact I was close, too close, to cum. I felt like that heat at the tip of my stomach expanded more, almost without having more space in my body to expand. I was close, my legs twisting on the clothing, spreading it and disarming the covering, and just as I was about to feel the long-awaited launch, it stopped. The damned bastard had stopped.

My eyes went wide at the desperation in my body to break free. Internally I was screaming, I was angry but the trembling of my legs and my arms didn't let me do much. He wanted to curse him, ask him a thousand and a few things, demand an explanation of why in his right mind, if he still had one, it occurred him to stop. Before I could utter a word, Eren straightened up and placed his hands on my hips, exactly above the limits of my pants, squeezing them firmly but gently. I looked at him expecting him to do something, but when he didn't move after a few seconds, I looked up at his. He was looking directly at me, and he was the one waiting for a signal to continue.

I swallowed hard, placed my hands over his and guided them down, raising my butt just enough that we could remove the annoying garment. In our rush and clouded heads, we didn't realize that the shoes were still on, the pants got stuck, and we only realized our mistake when we couldn't get it down after multiple fussing. We turn our gazes to the pants, then to us. We started laughing, it was like reliving our first time, clumsy, inexperienced, but at the same time funny and careful.

Eren shed my shoes, trying to caress my legs every time the worn leather slipped off me. From so much being using them for two days in a row, using them not only for walking and treating patients, but also for running where they shouldn't be used, the leather had stuck to my legs, marking them and leaving blisters and bruises from the knees to the toes. Eren ran his hands over each one, being extra careful when he came across a blister or where the flesh was hot red. He stroked each mark that had formed on the skin, running down to his ankles, lifted my right leg over his shoulder, and began to kiss those same marks around my foot. The kisses were soft, as if it were the skin of a newborn baby, his strong but secure hand held the inside of my leg and massaged the area, which I had not realized how tense and beaten it was until I stared at the scene Eren was putting on.

Between that tour inspecting the discomfort in my leg, my eyes were at the mercy of Eren's, feverish and dark. My gaze, my half-parted lips and my ragged breathing was what Eren needed to place my other leg on his other shoulder and massage both equally, giving the same treatment that he gave to the right leg to the left. Now with half my body suspended in the air, I couldn't help but think about the notorious wet spot that surely had left seconds behind thanks to the excitement. I could feel it stick right in the middle of my crotch.

Without taking his eyes off mine, his fingers slowly descended to the strap of my underwear and slowly slid it over my legs until they reached my ankles. I pulled my legs away from his shoulders and pulled them together so he could peel off the fine fabric and discard it somewhere on the grass. My heart was beating uncontrollably in my chest, like I was about to shoot out. After Eren got rid of that miserable garment, I reconnected his lips to mine, stretching and spreading my legs so I could position myself between them. The kiss was short but effective, pulling me out of any thoughts that might have appeared without permission.

I felt Eren's hand on my leg, cupping below the knee and going palm down toward my ankle. His lips were now kissing my sternum, pressing gently on my rib cage. He looked at me, trying to find ... any reaction? Doubt? But there were none. I let my head fall back, letting my hand run through his hair as he roamed my chest and stretched my legs even more with his hands. Every now and then he bit my light skin with his teeth, generating gasps and grunts from me; Reactions that went straight to his cock, still covered and leaning against my core.

I raised my hips to connect with his dick, receiving a gasp from him as a groan escaped me as I felt him hard and throbbing against me. I hadn’t realized that Eren was just as excited as me, his kisses made thinking much more complicated, each pressure from his mouth made the knot in my lower stomach become more present. He went down, leaving a path of kisses for each part of my skin, until he reached my crotch and reached back to see how his work was reflecting in me.

He brought his face in front of where I needed it most and without being able to say anything to him, not even asking what I wanted, he leaned forward; I could feel how his eyes were fixed on me, his gaze penetrating and even if I wasn’t looking at him, I knew that he was observing every reaction, involuntary or not, on my face and on my body. He was so close that I could feel his breath on me, I waited patiently to feel his mouth on that area, but my mouth opened wide when I noticed that his tongue had gone directly to my thigh, giving it a long and wide lick against my fold.

He knew what he was doing, he knew it very well, and he knew he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted. Between licks, he gave himself the opportunity to bite the inside of my thigh, making me moan and, according to what he had told me once, were sweet and addictive.

"Eren-" my voice was half out when I felt his tongue pass my core.

He gave a long lick, not once but twice. My hand settled on the back of his head, trying to draw him closer to me. My fingers applied too much force just as my legs involuntarily closed over his head, crushing it against my thighs. He felt warm and soft, softer than his fingers, but at the same time it wasn't enough. It was not a virtue of me to be patient and knowing him, I knew that he would torture me and tease me until I was left as a wet and needy bundle, begging for a release. I was writhing and shaking, my thighs crushing his head more and more with each passage of his tongue as the arousal spread over my stomach.

He raised his hand to my chest, pinning me to the floor as he left cat licks on my crotch, the other instead going to his underwear, running it down far enough to remove his dick. In my damn delusion, he was preparing me to feel his fingers enter my wet hole again, but Eren had other plans. He grabbed the back of my thighs and wrapped them around his waist, positioning himself in between and letting his cock rest between my stomach. He moved his hips forward, giving him all the pleasure against my skin. I looked at him, my lips apart, releasing long sighs, waiting for him to move a little more or turn his attention back to me, avoiding giving his sweet toss a second time.

He guided the tip of his cock towards my entrance, trying to insert it without a little preparation before. Okay, I was wet, but the situation was getting unfair at any moment. Not only unfair, but also too fast and violent. He lunged in, making me scream at such intrusion, instead he groaning as he slid his cock through my walls.

"Fuck" he growled as he placed himself completely inside me.

After weeks, months, without any interaction, or anything like it, the feeling was overwhelming. My muscles flexed at his grip, fluttering around his throbbing, venous cock, his raspy, low voice continuing to send tingles around my spine. I didn't have time to fully adjust to him, moving quickly on top of me, thrusting in and out at a fast pace, hitting the areas most in need within me. It was pleasant, but it hurt, and discomfort outweighed pleasure.

"Wait, just-wait a minute" I tried to sound straight but his shoves clouded my mind, at the same time that they tensed my body, immobilizing me.

I brought a hand to his chest, trying to stop him, but I only made his thrusts go deeper, more intense from him.

"I said wait a fucking minute!"

I reached forward, now both of us face to face, without any bond between our bodies. My hands formed into fists and went straight to his shoulders, pushing him backwards, staying within the limits of our clothes. Without waiting a second, I straddled him, taking his cock right under my entrance. I felt it throbbing, spasming, the heat that emanated from my crotch was enough for him to growl through his teeth. I guided my hand to where our hips met, lifting a little to reach his cock without complications. I could feel every one of his prominent veins on the palm of my hand, it was radiating heat and starting to leak pre-cum from the tip. I ran my thumb through his veins, going from the base to the tip torturously slow. Pumping his cock firmly, examining his reactions; I felt like my ego was inflated when I saw him with his lips parted, moaning on my hand, it was like having him at my complete mercy. To be honest, seeing him in that state, needy, slowly breaking apart beneath me, was the boost I needed to completely destroy him, as he had broken me. I felt powerful and all I needed was to get his dirty cock in my hand and give him a hand job to have him like a wet stray dog.

But ... as I said before, patience was not my virtue, so just as quickly I had started pumping him, I quickly carried him towards my core, sliding his cock back inside, moaning down my throat as I did so. The way his body trembled at the feel of my walls contracting was delicious.

"Fuck you're so tight," he moaned with his jaw open.

Now it was me who created the rhythm, each thrust I took increased the speed slightly. I stood on his shoulders, moving my palms between his collarbone and his neck, I didn't know what to do with them and I couldn't keep them still. The excitement was building very well and my body was responding on its own. Eren placed one hand on my hip, helping me maintain my thrusts, while the other positioned himself in the crook of my neck, bringing my forehead against his.

"You like this, uh? Do you like to be fuckingthe damn traitor of the country?"

I did nothing but moan at such a vulgar comment, but worst of all, they had reached my crotch; my walls had twisted when I heard him so close to me. My voice had caught in my throat, suffocating me, nothing else came out of my mouth but combinations between moans and grunts. Eren seemed to like it as he began to move more vigorously, he sheathed himself completely inside me, opening his mouth to moan under his breath as he bottoms out.

"You feel so good baby, so so good, my good little baby"

I was tighter than other times, maybe the situation, maybe the position, but fuck the reason, it felt so, so good. I buried my face in the hollow of his shoulder to keep my moans from coming out more prominent, the way his cock settled inside me and brushed every wall virtuously made my body shudder and my eyes go blank. A thrust that touched my sore spot and pulled me closer to Eren at the way he thrust, made me bite his shoulder, hard and deep.

Eren let out a groan as he felt his skin break open and begin to bleed, I could feel the taste of iron on my mouth. It hadn't been my intention to hurt him, but I couldn't control my strength or the way my hips circled as the thrusts picked up speed.

He reached out his hand to grab my hair and bend my neck back, exposing my face to him.

"Shit, that's it baby, mount that cock, I know you like it" the way our hips moved up and down and back and forth in a fiery way until they reached the flush of butt made me shudder. The way he was buried in me seemed like he was trying to reach even deeper, trying to reach my stomach; and it was right there where I felt it most. "I know you love it, you always loved it"

Every movement of him in and out was majestic, it was the best I had felt in months, even better than our previous times. His movements grew steadier, faster, and harder. I felt my body tense up completely, I arched my back against him and kept moving my hips faster, having more friction to work with as I felt the orgasm reach me.

“Are you gonna cum? I can feel your walls tightening"

I nodded my head repeatedly, unable to formulate a word. Eren captured my mouth with his, moving us both at a speed I would never have imagined, our skin colliding over and over and over. The only thing around us was the rapid slapping of skin against skin, the dirty sound of my hole taking him so well, squeezing him more and more.

A strong thrust was what I needed to collapse. I screamed, not caring if anyone was near to listen. Eren's name slipped from my lips repeatedly, as if I was saying a prayer and he alone was my salvation. My back arched again, my hands went to his hair, tousling it and letting brown strands fall over his forehead. My body felt light, much lighter, as if the stress had been released along with the orgasm. I creamed on Eren's cock and his thighs, our legs were wet and my spasms moved any liquid in different directions over our bodies.

In my bliss I hadn’t realized that Eren had never stopped moving, the difference was he’s now going in and out more slowly, much more slowly than we had started.

While we were going slow, I was completely sensitive, and the more thrusts Eren made, the overstimulation took my body by leaps and bounds. No longer moans came from my mouth, but small and soft whines every time he buried himself inside me.

"I love you" his voice came out as a sigh, even lower than that, but loud enough for me to hear.

He froze me a second time, it was already becoming a bad habit on his part. His words were like a dagger to the heart, one that stabbed me over and over and over again. I felt my chest begin to ache, but our movements never stopped. Eren kept pounding against me, like he wanted to accompany his movements with his "sweet" words. My nails dug into his shoulders, trying to dissipate the emotional pain from my chest to the physical pain above him.

"Shut up" I tried to speak still with my head turning thousands of times, avoiding letting out a moan.

His cock kept pounding in just the right places, the rhythm our bodies kept was too sweet, my still erect nipples brushing against his chest, generating more friction than he wanted. His lips still on my neck, each thrust was an open kiss on the jugular.

"I love you" again. There were those filthy words again, words that I needed to have been told months ago, even weeks just as we were returning from Marley. I didn't need them when we were in the middle of a heated sex session in the middle of the woods.

"Stop lying" I bit my lower lip as I felt my walls begin to contract.

We weren't moving at the speed I wanted and that was making me hysterical. I tried to move at my own pace, to move my hips over his pelvis and have the friction that I badly needed to cum, but Eren stopped me. He had a strong grip on my hip and no matter how many inches I moved, he would bring me back to the original position, torturing me with his slow step. His lips moved up to my cheek, giving me a small kiss before moving again and pushing me against him, both of them being chest to chest.

Another kiss, and another, and another. Each one to the rhythm of our tapping.

"I'm not lying" Eren moaned into my ear, reaching for my hair and pulling it back. His mouth now close to mine, a few millimeters closer, reaching out to kiss me.

"SHUT UP! ... please ... shut up" I pulled him away from me, throwing him to the floor, now I was on top of him.

His face twisted as he hit the ground and he closed his eyes due to the pain on his back. My hands were on either side of his head, giving me more room to settle in and examine his face perfectly. A small layer of sweat had formed on his forehead and the root of his scalp, little hickeys he had left behind, which were already fading, and his hair was already completely matted; What was once a bun, now it barely held a few strands, leaving the vast majority of the hair down and spilling over the clothes.

His eyes widened again when I placed my hands on his cheeks. His gaze was the same as always, perhaps he was showing a little sadness, or perhaps fatigue.

Please, just ... don’t

"…okay"

I began to move my hips again in a slow, gentle circular motion, trying to rebuild the mood. We maintained eye contact, neither of us wanted to stop looking at the other, even though our eyes narrowed for the little pleasure. My mouth parted as I started to increase my speed, but still going slowly, without having any hint of speed or exasperation in my movements. It was sensual, tender… desperate. His cock went in and out without difficulty, feeling it on every wall, noticing how it began to twist and get bigger as my walls tightened.

My hands didn't hold me for long, ending up collapsing on his chest. Eren never took his hands off my hips, now they helped me keep up, occasionally massaging the softness of my butt cheeks. I moaned as I felt the tip of his cock reach my deepest spot repeatedly.

One of his hands went straight to the back of my neck and squeezed, drawing me to him and capturing my mouth. His thrusts were increasing in speed and hardness, the rhythm already lost and our kisses sloppies and disheveled.

“Fuck-I’ m…”I spoke between kisses, unable to articulate words between his thrusts and his lips didn’t detach from mine. I wasn't going to last long, I knew it. Eren groaned at hearing my shaky voice and his breathing became faster.

"I know, cum again baby, cum on this cock" our hips moved in unison at a rhythm impossible to explain, if there was a rhythm to begin with. We were going fast, but at the same time slow, we tried to impact our weak spots with each other. We avoided separating, even grew closer, as if we were about to merge. Eren was holding me against his chest as close as possible.

The knot in my stomach, that familiar feeling, accumulated and began to expand in a gigantic way, my eyes narrowed but able to see the height of Eren in his eyes, as well as mine reflected in them. "Please, cum with me"

It was all I needed. My walls contracted and fluids began to flow out of my core, soaking us both and leaving a mess not only on our bodies, but also on our clothes. I moan his name in that moment of ecstasy, wasted, tired and satisfied. Eren, still at his prayer, followed me shortly after, shooting in and his heat filling me completely. His body tensed for a few moments beneath me, his hands circling my back and head as he continued to spread his cum inside me.

I felt him shooting each load, filling me up really well. I kept contracting, still gasping for air and shaking, but neither of us had any intention of separating, much less Eren of coming out. After weeks of languishing a bit of peace, as much as the situation wasn’t the right one, we had both found it. I rested my cheek on his chest, listening to his racing heart and allowing his fingers to wrap around my hair.

We were calm, only our breaths were heard around and our hearts trying to return to their normal rhythm. I relaxed when I felt his hands caress me in the same way that he had caressed me in our previous times, it was that kind of caress that allowed you to stay all the time in the world in the arms of your loved one. They were those caresses that I had longed to receive, the same ones that I was afraid of being used against me and confusing me more than I already was.

Eren gave me a light kiss on the temple, massaging my lower back and still keeping me close to him. I let him cradle me to his chest for a while longer, realizing that the moment we changed, we would be back on our own sides, ready to continue fighting for what we believed was fair.

This time, only this time, I would let myself be carried away, even to the point of being unconscious in his arms and succumbing to a much needed sleep.

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Tag List: @aestosia @amberciel @sof-yeager @iwony @curseofymir @etherealkatrina @mariaerdgzn @paypay0315 @despst @kisekinokishi @crazymar15 @gis21345 @urinejaeger @zhilon @dianacavendishh @lucielbinon-binary @cryingforwill @ryan249057 @stardustmonkey @asahinsunakinnie @obeymekookie @iwishyoucouldbekissed @wonkyunsstuff @jeanbabygirl @fairlynies @witchymermaid12 @aniah2 @thestrugglesofateenagedirtbag @skysdonut @crazymar15 @healpeony @odelia @shamelesschristian

#eren jaeger #eren jaeger x reader #eren yeager #Eren yeager x reader #eren jaeger smut #eren yeager smut #snk #aot #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #when the world falls apart #eren smut #eren angst #eren x reader #when the world falls apart updates #when the world falls apart update

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kookicrumbs · 3 years ago

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╰ pink love

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader genre: fluff word count: 2985 warnings; like one super minor curse word (hell)! just some cutesy stuff for ya today! summary: jungwon and y/n go on a build-a-bear date! a/n: i really wanted to do something sweet beacuse i love fluff a whole lot, so please enjoy c:

“Are we there yet?” I pout, tugging on Jungwon’s sweater. I attempt to sway him with my best puppy eyes, but he continues walking, pulling me along with him.

“This honestly reminds me of a movie,” He laughs out, “Since when did asking a million times get us there faster?”

I’m not actually that annoyed, but it’s fun to tease him. “What if this is all a movie? Ya think we can break the fourth wall?”

“I don’t know, I’d consider us powerful enough to. If this is a movie, I’m obviously the main character. Since you’re my girlfriend, you can be my sidekick!”

“Ohh, ha, ha, ha. If I’m the sidekick, pigs can fly.”

He puts on a shocked expression, pointing up into the air. “Did I just hear an oink all the way up there?”

“Shut up!” We giggle, shoving each other with our shoulders. Our footsteps match each other as we pad through the open-air mall. Warm sunlight drifts down, encasing us in a soft bubble of relaxation.

“Hey look, I think that’s it!” Jungwon tightens his grip on my hand and we take off towards the familiar shop. As we run, the eyes of other passerbys follow us, but I don’t take the time to feel embarrassed; life’s too short for that.

My legs are shorter than his, so I nearly trip several times. The universe is totally watching out for me today though, because we manage to arrive at the store’s entrance without suffering from a single scratch or bruise.

The Build-A-Bear logo passes overhead as we make our way inside. We are still glued together, buzzing from the excitement of our date. We’re going to make bears for each other! With any other guy I might have found it cheesy, but when Jungwon suggested we do it, my heart fluttered in a strange way.

“Hello! Welcome to Build-A-Bear Workshop! My name is Kiana,” A sunny looking lady welcomes us with a large smile on her face. The cute bobble headband perched on her hair seems to wave at us as well. “Will you two be needing any help today?”

Jungwon throws one arm over my shoulder and presses me tight to his side. His dimples peek out playfully as he responds. “I think we’re okay right now, we’re gonna make some bears for each other. This is my girlfriend!” He looks so proud as our eyes meet, and my stomach twists. Even though we’ve been dating for one and a half years now, whenever he looks at me like that, it feels like the day I first met him.

We’d been at the movie theatre, not together, but coincidentally there on the same day. Jungwon was sitting in the seat in front of me with a couple of his friends, while I was there with my own. His buddies were being idiots and throwing popcorn and other snacks at each other, when a whole bucket came flying at me. Being my easily scared self, I screamed and jumped backwards, simultaneously kicking my legs out and up. It took a few seconds to realize that my feet hadn’t collided with Jungwon’s seat, but instead his head.

I’d been absolutely mortified, and my friends’ muffled laughter didn’t help with that. I’d expected a huge tantrum from him, considering his friends seemed the type to start a huge fight over it, but his reaction was the complete opposite. In fact, he was apologetic and blamed it all on the buffoon who launched the snack at me.

I immediately caught feelings when he laughed and complimented my kick; apparently he knew taekwondo, and he thought I’d be good at it. He got that from a poorly done, unaimed kick to his own skull. To this day, I think I knocked something out of place there, but what can ya do.

Regardless, we ended up exchanging numbers, which is something that confused the hell out my friends and I. A month later, we started going out. I’ve dated some questionable people, so getting the chance to be with someone like Jungwon is a dream come true for me. Another plus, I finally get to check “Build A Bear date” off of my date idea list!

“You guys look adorable together!” Kiana gushed. My cheeks heat up, but not in an awkward way. “We have all our plushes over there. You can take a look and pick one, and then we’ll get that all filled up for you.”

“Thank you!” Jungwon and I say at the same time before strutting towards the plushies.

“We should split up so our bears, or whatever we pick for each other, stays a surprise! Okay?” I’m already looking at each option, and I begin to wonder how I’m ever going to pick just one.

“Since it looks like the queen has already laid claim to this particular piece of territory, I’ll go browse the accessories so I can get your plush decked out in a gorgeous outfit.” He winks and makes his way to the rows of plushie-sized clothing.

The variety of options is amazing. There’s the classic bears, but there’s also other cute things, like lobsters, giraffes, and seals. I’m a sucker for the classics, so I want to pick out a bear for Jungwon.

Two specific bears are in a fight for my love. One is a simple vanilla color with rainbow sprinkle accents, and the other is a pink bear with heart shaped ruffles. Oh god, do I just… buy both? No, that’s be stupid. Eeny meeny miney moe, a classic just like the bear.

I’m not disappointed when my finger lands on the pink bear, meaning I made the right choice and won’t have to switch to the vanilla bear out of a previously hidden lust for it. Awesome.

I peek my head around the aisle and still see Jungwon sorting through racks of outfits. In the time I’d spent picking a plush for him, he grabbed a basket and began filling it with stuff I couldn’t make out. Comfortable with the fact that he isn’t looking, I sneak over to the filling station, the pink bear clutched tightly in my hands.

“Hi! I’d love to get this guy filled, please!” The man working at this station has a name tag that reads, “Jordan”, and he looks equally nice as Kiana.

“Good choice,” He leads me to a filling spot. “Are they for you or for someone else?”

My chuckle causes the worker to smile. I reply while he gathers a few items. “My boyfriend and I came here for a cute date, so it’s for him! This one is super cute so I had to get it for him.”

“Aww, I’ll have to write that down. I'm sure my partner would find it a great idea too!” Jordan sweeps his arm across in a grand gesture, showcasing the variety of hearts and other button-looking objects that sit before him.

“Would you be interested in adding a sound to your bear? You can pick from any of these or you can record your own.”

I pick quickly, sure of what I want to do. “Mm, I’d like to do a recording, if possible. Make it extra special, right?”

“Of course, let me grab that for you and you can record your message!” He gets the heart and let’s me know what to do. Once again making sure Jungwon is not nearby, I record my message and hand it back to Jordan. He puts it in the bear, a small smile playing on his lips. Did he hear me?

“Alright, perfect. Any scents or are you ready to stuff?”

I choose a sweet raspberry scent and get the bear stuffed. It’s fun to push the pedal and see the stuffed animal become plumper, until I finally fill them all the way up. Hugging it feels like hugging a cloud.

I thank Jordan and hide the bear behind my back as I go to the dressing area. Jungwon seems to have moved on, as I spot him at the plushie picking station. I wonder what he’ll get me. Knowing him, it’s going to be adorable.

His eyes meet mine and I suppress a squeal, making sure the bear is out of sight. My strange salute makes him smile and he turns back to picking a plush for me, but not before making sure I won’t look while he gets one.

“So, what would you wear…” I whisper to the pink bear. He seems fashionable and needs something that fits his personality.

Each outfit makes me want to curl up and scream. They’re all so cute and tiny, and I can’t help but want to grab a whole bunch. I create outfits in my head, imagining each on the plushie. Letting the bear try them on seems like a step too far. Instead, I pick up a white button down shirt, pressed pants, little shoes, and a pair of heart shaped sunglasses from my pile and get to dressing.

Putting everything on the pink bear proves to be a struggle. “Come on… tuck in your tummy!” The bear’s legs don’t want to squeeze into the pants I picked. Looks like Build-A-Bear needs more size options. After a somewhat graphic commotion involving lots of pulling, pushing, and whispered yelling, he is finally clothed.

“Jungwon better like what I picked because I don’t think that’s ever coming off.” I brush off my shirt and hope that no one was watching my heated argument with an inanimate object.

I swiftly finish up the washing part of the process, which consisted of pressured air being blown at my plush. I enjoyed seeing the bear’s fur waving around luxuriously. It really fit his vibe. I end up having to consult an employee about what to do next since my amnesiac brain likes to forget simple things: it’s naming time.

After I scan the pink bear’s tag, a naming screen is brought up. I’m given suggestions like Mr. Cuddles, Tiny, and Snuggles, but I choose to make his own name. What do I name you?

Maybe Love? Too plain. Bear? Way too basic. Pink? Pinky? I clearly don’t get around to naming things very often. If it hadn’t been for my siblings, I would have named our dog Cat.

I rack my brain for anything. At this point, the next thing that pops into my head is gonna be his name. No turning back. And my brain provides. Sir Loves-a-lot is inexplicably forged in the depths of my mind, and it shall be the name of this honorable bear.

I imagine a knighting ceremony for Sir Loves-a-lot and enter his name into the computer. It goes through and I get a printed certificate with his name on it. I’m extremely excited to give him to Jungwon and see his reaction.

Jungwon seems to be finishing up at the washing station, so I pay and wait near the entrance of Build-A-Bear. I swing around my finished bear, which is tucked neatly into a bag so Jungwon can’t see it yet. Our date is soon to reach its peak: when we get to see our finished products.

“Hey! Look what I have!” Jungwon skips over to me in a playful manner. His joy envelops me as he gets nearer. His eyes are alight with what looks to be the same thing I’m currently feeling. Is it love?

I show off my bag, my competitive side instantly coming out. “I’ve got yours right here too! If you want to see it… you’ll have to catch me!”

Adrenaline shoots through me as I take off running, Jungwon quickly shifting into a quick runner. My laughs impair my speed as I hiccup and yell, Jungwon’s voice matching my own. We both giggle like idiots while our shoes run thin on the hard ground and our bags crinkle with the whip of the wind.

“Got you!” Jungwon takes care not to throw me onto the ground, instead grabbing my shirt and pulling me to his chest. He lets out an umph as I knock into him full force, still reeling from the sudden shift in direction.

“Jungwon!” A shriek of laughter explodes out of me as we tumble to the concrete with a soft thump. No one is around as we breath off our fit of giggles, still in a heap.

“Looks like my bear made it.” He lifts up his unscatched bag. “Can I say the same of yours?”

A strike of fear hits me, but quickly dissolves when I see my bag looks fine. “I am pleased to report that Combat Bear Number 2 has survived.”

“Combat Bear Number 2? Don’t tell me that’s his name. What a mouthful!” He puts a hand to his chest and sighs dramatically.

“Don’t be stupid, I named him Sir— wait! Don’t try and cheat!” I softly whack him on the shoulder, earning a look of faux-sadness.

“Ouch. But you named him Sir… something. What a noble name! Of course, nothing but the best can come from you.” He holds out the Build-A-Bear bag. “But I’m actually dying to exchange these, so swap?”

“If that isn’t the most relatable thing ever.” I hand him my bag and he gives me his. “You can open mine first!”

“Ooh, don’t mind if I do.” He eagerly opens the bag and pulls out the tissue-paper wrapped bear. The material easily comes off and he holds it up. His eyes seem to glow with delight.

“Oh my gosh.” Jungwon swipes at Sir Loves-a-lot’s fur, fascinated by the heart-shaped ruffles. “He’s so cute! His clothes are... so tight,” His face betrays his confusion, and I snicker as he speaks, “but he looks hella fashionable! I really hope mine will live up to these standards.” He seems to get nervous so I hold his hands to try and calm him down.

“What do you think I named him?”

His mouth shapes into an “O” and he pulls out the certificate. His previously timid face transforms immediately as he reads it.

“Sir Loves-a-lot? Why?! So cheesy but so good!” He crumples onto himself, his head coming to a rest between his knees. I’m overjoyed by his reaction and I press forward to hug his side.

“I love him so much. I’ll cherish him forever.” He looks at me pointedly, almost like he’s trying to tell me something. He switches course though, gesturing to the bag that lies at my feet. “Now open yours!”

I cross my legs to get more comfortable, and I open the bag, wondering what he made for me. My heart dances when I see what he chose. It’s a blue bear with stars in her fur and white wings protruding from her back. I didn’t even see it when I was picking my bear for him.

“Woah…” I hold her up, noticing a soft scent coming from her fur. When I lift the bear up to my nose, I can detect citrus. “Jungwon, you made her smell like lemons! I love lemon… and—and look how pretty! All the stars, and the color… she’s perfect.”

I look at the certificate, all bright and new, and see her name: Mrs. Lovey. Mrs., not Ms.

Jungwon looks at me innocently. “What do you think, am I making my point clear? The future is never far away and I—”

I can’t help but turn away as I feel a prickle in my eyes. Never will I ever cry on a date.

“Awww! Don’t cry, you’ll make me cry!” Jungwon leaps towards me, catching me off-guard. I end up falling backwards with a yelp, but he throws his hand under my head and catches me before I can slam into the concrete.

We stare at each other for what seems like hours but is in actuality only seconds. The silence is loud, but Jungwon slices right through it when he whispers to me, “Is this a kdrama?”

“And… off!” I sit up, hugging my bear closer to me. I’m overwhelmed by Jungwon’s confession. He wants us to really stay together. As in, I’d be his “one”.

“Is—is that what you want too? It’s okay if not, I’ll understand if you wouldn’t be ready, even in the months it would take to get there, unless sooner is better, and I—” He rambles, more emotional than I am, before I put a finger to his lips.

“Yeah, it’s what I want too. I think we should go with your plan, um, wait a little longer since we’re so young and I don’t want to scare my parents.” That earns a laugh out of us both. “But the answer to “would I want it?” is definitely yes!”

Jungwon hugs me tightly, squealing in my ear. I squeal right back, suddenly lighter than ever.

“Dude, I want to say something. Yep, here I go. I— I love you!” Jungwon yells out to me, loud enough to wake up everyone half-way across the world. My heart expands when he says it. I want to scream it back and kiss him under the blue sky, but he continues speaking.

“Okay, look, even though I would have totally respected you for saying you wouldn’t want what I want, I’m feeling so relieved right now. Like whooh! I could jump off a plane! Ride the biggest wave! Sir Loves-a-lot here would come with me, wouldn’t you?” He high fives his bear.

I’m confused when his eyebrow raises. “Did you put a sound in him? Why didn’t you tell me?” Truthfully, I’d forgotten too. However, I smirk as I remember what I recorded.

“Press it.” I urge him to push on the bear’s paw, and he does, putting it near his ear so he can hear it better. The clear sound of my voice comes through, bringing waves of pink, soft love to both Jungwon and I.

“I really, really love you.”

#jungwon #yang jungwon #enhypen #enhypen fic #jungwon fluff #jungwon fic #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fluff #jungwon scenarios #fluff fic #kpop fic #kpop imagines #kpop fluff #enhypen writers

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pbandjesse · 2 years ago

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My whole body and legs are aching so bad. I know I don't walk as much as I used to but man. It's ridiculous how much all the walking today took me out.

It was a very good day though!! It was full and fun and just so good. I slept alright. And woke up in a good mood. James made the bed and watered the plants while I got dressed and very soon we were leaving for work together.

It was fun being back at the museum for real. Like yes I've been around but I haven't given a tour in months. And today was good. I only gave a partial tour but it was still a lot of fun.

We stopped and picked up breakfast and I didn't check and was very disappointed when I went to eat my sandwich later and it was just meat in an English muffin. Like I ate the muffin stuff but I was bummed.

But everything else was good. I would give my partial tour, to a very nice woman who just started working at the Walters. And she was great. Lots of questions and while I wasn't able to give a perfect answer every time, but she was fun to talk too.

It wasn't a busy day and no one else would ask for a tour. I would wander around and take to people. And turn on machines. I also just went around and found all the light bulbs that needed to be changed and found some issues (like two buckets of water just sitting in the blacksmith area, probably used for quenching but Bob isn't going to be here for 8 weeks so this just seemed like a bad idea) and that felt productive.

I was also proud of myself for finished my book today! The one I was reading the other week and it had like a very sad but hopeful ending. Like yes people die, things change, but the world keeps going and there is still good in it. And that was nice. I for sure would have made some changes about certain things but overall I really liked it. I am looking forward to starting the next book on my list though. Something less romantic.

I would give James a little break and they went to get us lunch since my sandwich didn't work out. I chatted with Jessica about the upcoming school year. I'm excited to be back.

We did have one guest today who James did not want to connect with people they kept referring to Baltimore as a 'dead city ' and that upset that. But a couple came in and James was able to have a whole conversation in Spanish with them and that brightened them up.

We finished up the day and headed out. Jessica and Beth were leaving just as we were and they hoped we would have fun at the state fair. And while I was a little worried about being hot, I was really excited to go.

We drove home and cleaned up. I found our metro cards for the train and finally activated my new credit card. That I've had for 6 months. I have tap now! Neat!

And then we were off. We got confused and missed the first train. But the other came really quick. And we rode it until the last stop at the fairgrounds.

We got there just as it opened at 5. I had been worried about coming on Thursday but for real this was the best time to go?? No lines!! At all! We could walk around and see everything and no one was crowding around. It was awesome. Like yes I was a little to hot but I had the best time.

Highlights: I got to pet piglets! The mommy pig was also sweet and let me pet her snoot. We got to see some piggy races. We ate good food. James got a corn dog and fried tomatoes, I got a grilled cheese that had local made ingredients. We shared a root bear. I loved seeing the flowers and the hand made items. And I spoke to a woman who was sitting there tatting and she said they are going to add loom knitting into the fair next year and I could submit my temperature blanket. And she also encouraged me to keep practicing tatting. I may submit a whole bunch of stuff, or spend next year making stuff for the next year's fair just to have a goal. I also noticed there were teddy bears but they all had the same tight together eye look and I was like. Why do they all look like this? Maybe I'll enter a bear as well. I'm excited by this new prospect.

I really loved getting to go in the parakeet cage and having all the birds flying around me. And James found a whole display about the negro baseball leagues in Baltimore. While they were reading that I went and looked at the balloon display and talk the the Catholics because they were giving away prayer cards. So I told them about my dad and asked for something that would help bring my parents comfort in a hard time. And she suggested the untier of knots, which is Mary and I always liked Mary even if I don't have the like MOM connection some people seem too. And really dad can use any help he can get at this point.

We would wander around and laugh at stuff and see animals and it was great. But I was starting to lose steam because my feet hurt real bad and I had been in the sun to long. So James took me home.

We got the train almost right away. The walk home from the stop was tough but we made it without me falling apart. And I would take a shower and that helped me a lot. I didn't feel as much like I was going to fall down. James rubbed my legs and got the knit out of my calf. And I hope putting my legs up help them feel better for tomorrow.

I had a leftover piece of pizza and James got down some of our Halloween decorations. And now I have a pumpkin build a bear. And I am very much ready to go to sleep.

Tomorrow I have jury duty. I'm excited. I hope it's an interesting day. And I hope you all have a good night. Take care of yourself. Sleep good!!

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deancas-fanfiction · 4 years ago

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Hardest Part is Letting Go

Part 3/7

Pairing: Dean Winchester/Castiel

Fic Summary: Upon his diagnosis of a terminal illness, Dean vows to spend the rest of his short life with Cas by his side, completing his bucket list while learning what it really means to live and love.

Chapter Summary: Dean and Cas cross another item off Dean's bucket list by embarking on a road trip for Sam's law school graduation.

Part 1 Part 2

available on ao3

“Can you believe it? Sam Winchester: attorney at law.” Dean mused.

“Or Sam Winchester, Esquire.” Cas offered.

Dean snorted and shook his head, throwing another flannel in his suitcase. “He’s a big fancy lawyer now. My baby brother is all grown up.”

“Well, he is twenty-seven. I imagine he’s been ‘all grown up’ for some time now,” Cas joked.

“Yeah, I suppose when he married Jess that ship kind of sailed, huh?”

“I suppose.” Cas agreed with a faint smile. He zipped his suitcase and sat on their bed, watching Dean throw another wrinkled shirt in his bag. “Are you really not going to fold that?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Cas. It’s a t-shirt. I think it will be fine.”

“What about your nice shirt for his graduation?” He eyed Dean and took in the way he avoided meeting his eyes. “Please tell me you’re packing a nice shirt for his graduation.”

“It’s a graduation ceremony, Cas! I don’t need a suit. Remember his college graduation? Most people were dressed casually.”

“And remember when Jess booked us all a reservation at that French restaurant afterward? The host made you go home and change because you didn’t meet the dress code. Besides, I’m willing to bet Jess will make another fancy reservation for celebrations after the ceremony.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll bring a nice button-down. But I’m not wearing a suit,” He warned.

Cas held his hands up in mock surrender. “I would never dream of making you wear one.”

Dean threw the nearest button-down on the top of his suitcase and began zipping it up. He only paused when he heard Cas wince.

“It’s going to wrinkle, Dean!”

Dean stepped back and scratched his jaw, letting out a sigh. “Okay, new plan: I’ll leave the room and make us some dinner. This allows you to completely repack my suitcase the way you like, and I won’t even complain about it.”

Cas grinned, happy with the outcome. “Deal!”

Dean kissed the top of his head and left the room, mumbling something about how a few wrinkles wouldn’t hurt anyone, which Cas pointedly chose to ignore. He then dumped out the contents of Dean’s suitcase and methodically began folding and repacking the luggage.

As predicted, autumn was fleeting and quickly turned into a cold and brutal winter. It was only early December, but the wind was biting and the snow ruthless. When Dean and Cas learned that Sam was graduating from law school a semester early, they were ecstatic. Mostly because Sam was the male equivalent of Elle Woods by graduating from law school top of his class, but also because they get to trade the incessant cold of Kansas for the sunny warmth of California.

The timing of his graduation was perfect, actually. Dean’s symptoms remained stagnant for the last two months and were completely manageable with the help of his medications. If Sam hadn’t taken those extra summer classes the last two years, he would actually be graduating in May and Cas wasn’t so sure if Dean could make that cross-country trek six months from now. But he pushed that thought from his mind and returned to the task at hand.

They originally planned on flying to California for the graduation, but then Cas had a stroke of genius. Remembering item six on Dean’s list, he suggested turning it into a road trip. For as long as Cas has known him, Dean dreamed of road tripping along the historic Route 66, which begins in Chicago and ends in Los Angeles; and suddenly all of the pieces fit into place. They would join Route 66 in Oklahoma, just four hours away from Lawrence. Then they’d follow the route all the way to L.A., arriving just in time for Sam’s graduation from UCLA. After he proposed the idea, Dean was completely on board and already mapping out the best stops for pie and burgers along the way.

Cas finished with Dean’s suitcase and quickly returned his attention back to his own bag. He double-checked he had everything packed, including a small wooden box hidden at the bottom with a certain piece of jewelry inside. Satisfied with the completion of his mental checklist, Cas zipped the bags and followed the scent of dinner to the kitchen.

-----

“Dean.” Cas groaned, his voice rough and gravelly from sleep. “Must we leave at such an obscene hour?”

Dean chuckled and shut his car door. “According to the schedule that you made, we need to drive about twelve hours today to make it on time. I’m just following your orders, babe.”

“The sun isn’t even up yet,” Cas whined, slumping in the seat.

“Here, this will help.” Dean handed him a large thermos with coffee and started the engine. The engine purred beneath him and Dean couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh. It always felt so good to get behind the wheel of his baby. He put the car into gear and pulled out of their driveway, heading towards the open road.

He glanced over at Cas as he took a large gulp of coffee. His hair was sticking out in all directions, making it clear Cas didn’t even attempt to smooth it down today. He smiled at the grumpy expression on Cas’s face and turned his attention back to the road, drumming his fingers on the wheel.

The first hour of the drive was quiet. They headed south to hop onto Route 66 in Oklahoma. While they weren’t making the official Route 66 trek by beginning in Chicago, Dean was completely fine with that. He’d spent most of his life in the Midwest, he didn’t need to backtrack just to see the flat landscape he was already familiar with. The radio was playing softly as Dean and Cas both took the time to wake up for the day. As Cas pointed out, it was still dark so there were few cars on the road. It was actually a rather peaceful start to the day.

As soft colors began to replace the dark sky, Cas’s mood began to turn around as the caffeine entered his system. He hummed along with the radio and watched the snow-covered trees quickly pass by. The pastel pinks and oranges from the rising sun reflected off the white snow, creating a warm glow. At that thought, he turned and leaned his back against the passenger door so he was facing Dean.

“You know, at first I was disappointed with the timing of the road trip. I didn’t think the drive would be very picturesque in December. I always thought fall or summer would be the opportune time to go.” He paused, looking back out the window. “But this is actually really nice. Everything is so still and quiet.”

“Well, by the time we get farther west it will feel like summer anyway. So, we’ll get a little bit of both.”

“That’s true,” Cas mused. “We should have done a road trip like this a long time ago.”

“We were always too busy with life. You had summers off, but that’s when the shop got the busiest for me. We just never made the time to slow down and experience things like this.” Dean observed. “Not that being so busy was a bad thing. We both loved our jobs, but we always said, ‘there will be a better time’ or ‘maybe next year.’ But now…well we don’t really have that privilege, do we?”

“I suppose not,” Cas sighed sadly.

“On a positive note, I’m glad that now we’re making the time for things like this.”

“Me, too.” He murmured, attempting a smile.

“Hey,” Dean said softly. “Stop that.”

“Sorry, I don’t like thinking about how we can no longer make long-term plans.”

“Then don’t think about it.”

“You know it’s not that easy.”

“Yeah, yeah I get it. But right now, I’m here, okay?” Dean tore a hand away from the steering wheel and intertwined it with Cas’s. “Focus on that. When your mind starts wandering to those thoughts, shut it down and focus on the now. Because these moments right here, these are the ones I want you to look back on and I only want you to remember how happy we are. I don’t want this last year tainted with sadness. Can you do that for me?”

Cas nodded and squeezed Dean’s hand. The gesture said more than he could vocalize at the moment. Cas had never cared for anyone as much he does for Dean. He always thought that finding Dean and experiencing that all-consuming, world-shattering love with him was like some kind of reward for surviving the first shitty eighteen years of his life. But now that Cas knows their time together is limited, he can’t help but feel like the punchline to some kind of cosmic joke.

He shook his head and slowly exhaled, turning his attention on Dean’s advice to focus on the positives. Dean is next to him right now and that’s all that matters. He has his left hand draped on the steering wheel with his right intertwined with Cas’s; and despite the heavy conversation, he still has a genuine smile on his face. It’s the kind of smile that lights up his whole face, giving him a youthful glow regardless of the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Cas returned his smile with a genuine one this time.

“We’re doing this all wrong, you know.” Cas states, changing the subject.

“Doing what wrong?” Dan asks quizzically.

“Your bucket list item. It said, ‘road trip with a kickass playlist.’ We’re currently road-tripping listening to a subpar radio station. Not really the same thing.”

“No,” He agreed. “I suppose it isn’t the same thing. Grab a tape out of the glove box, will ya?”

“I know you have very strict rules which state that the driver picks the music, but you’ll have to make an exception for this one instance.” Cas held up a cassette tape he dug out of his own jacket pocket which read ‘Dean’s Top 13 Zepp Traxx.’

Dean grinned. “That is always an exception. Pop it in.”

He inserted the tape into the player and turned the volume up a little higher. The opening notes to Immigrant Song played out and Cas settled into his seat, letting the music wash over him.

“Remember when I gave this to you?” Dean baited.

“We were fighting,” Cas laughed.

“Over something stupid.”

“Big surprise there.”

“God, I don’t even remember what the fight was about anymore.”

“I do. You –” Cas caught himself off. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”

“Good save, Cas.”

Cas smirked. “You hadn’t talked to me all day. I was reading in the living room and you stomped in, dropped it on my lap and just walked away.”

“This was early in our relationship. I was bad at communicating! This was the best way I could tell you I was an idiot and that I was sorry.”

“Well, it obviously worked. I went for a drive and listened to it. I forgave you by the time this first song was over.”

“It’s only a two-minute song, Cas.”

“Exactly my point. I never have much resolve when it comes to staying mad at you, do I?”

“I suppose not,” Dean acknowledged. “Besides, that was a pretty romantic move on my part.”

“Yes, it was. If I hadn’t already been so in love with you at that point, I’m sure the mixtape would have sealed that deal.”

“So, what you’re saying is I should have made you a mixtape right after I met you?”

“I’m pretty sure from the moment I met you, I knew you were someone special, Dean.”

Dean flushed at that statement and he felt the tips of his ears turn pink. At this point in their relationship, he’d grown accustomed to how forward Cas can be, but it still has quite an impact on him. “Yeah, I thought the same about you,” He murmured.

Cas beamed at him, showing the whites of his teeth and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on his cheek. At that exact moment, the song ended and switched into Good Times Bad Times. Dean cranked it up and sang loudly along with Cas.

I know what it means to be alone

I sure do wish I was at home

I don't care what the neighbors say

I'm gonna love you each and every day

You can feel the beat within my heart

Realize, sweet babe, we ain't ever gonna part

Yeah, this moment here is the exact reason he put this item on his bucket list.

In no time, they were cruising on Route 66 heading west towards New Mexico, their destination for the night. When they stopped to grab gas and snacks a few miles back, Cas grabbed a handful of Route 66 brochures and had been thoughtfully studying them ever since.

“Anything good?” Dean asked, rather amused at his boyfriend’s total infatuation with the tourist gimmick.

“Did you know that Route 66 was commissioned in 1926 but wasn’t fully paved until 1938? Then in 1985, it was decertified a U.S. highway. Originally it was 2,448 miles in 1926 but now it totals 2,278 miles from beginning to end.”

Dean hummed in response, not daring to interrupt Cas. He learned it’s best to let Cas get it out of his system.

“You know, there’s a place called ‘Cadillac Ranch’ in Texas. We could stop there! We’re pretty close.” He chirped, bringing Dean’s attention back to the conversation.

“A Cadillac ranch?” Dean grimaced. “What is that?”

“It’s a public art sculpture of ten Cadillac’s buried nose-first in the ground.” Cas paused for a moment. “Actually, that doesn’t sound very appealing at all.”

Dean chuckled. “Thank God. I was wondering how I was going to talk you out of it.”

“Are there any stops along the way you want to make?”

“Cas, I’m in this for the driving and for the company. I don’t need to stop at niche tourist stops unless it’s something you really want to do.”

“I just want to make sure you get the full road trip experience!”

“To me, the full road trip experience is exactly what we got going: good music, good conversation, and my car. I don’t need anything else; I promise.”

“If you say so,” Cas’s lips turned up at the corner, in a smile that Dean recognized as pure contentment.

The rest of their drive sped by as they joked, sang along to the music, and reminisced as songs played that reminded them of different points in their lives. Soon enough, they were pulling into Santa Rosa, New Mexico where they decided to call it for a night. They found a mediocre chain hotel with vacancy and pulled off the road. At that point they had been in the car for a little over twelve hours and were in desperate need of some space to stretch out. Driving long distances used to be much easier. Now Dean’s joints popped as he stepped out of the Impala and his legs felt uncomfortably stiff.

Dean checked them in as Cas went to grab dinner. The original plan was to grab food and drinks to celebrate a successful first day, but Dean could feel the exhaustion weighing him down. So, Cas volunteered to pick up takeout instead. After throwing his and Cas’s bags down on the floor, Dean collapsed on the bed. Instantly he longed for his memory foam as the springs of the cheap mattress poked against his back. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure it would be a big enough problem to keep him awake as he was so damn tired.

As he was beginning to nod off, he heard the door to the room click open and was met with the intoxicating smell of greasy takeout.

“Honey, I’m home!” Cas greeted cheerfully. “And I brought pie.”

Dean shot up from his spot on the bed and kissed Cas in thanks. “God, I love you.”

“Are you talking to me or the food?”

“Why not both?” He asked, his mouth already full of fries.

“Touché.” Cas laughed and began digging in as well. He joined Dean on the bed, with their knees touching as he flipped on the television and found a movie for them to watch. They ate in a peaceful quiet, both engrossed in the movie.

Once the food was gone and the slices of pie were eaten, they both began tiredly stripping down to their boxers.

Dean watched with a different form of hunger in his eyes as Cas undressed.

“I can feel you watching me.” He chided, bending over to put his discarded clothes back in his bag.

“Of course, I am. I have a sexy boyfriend who is undressing right in front of me,” He murmured, wrapping his arms around Cas. Cas leaned back into the touch, letting out a soft sigh. Dean began peppering kisses along Cas’s jaw, pausing only to suck on the sensitive spot below his ear. Cas let out a quiet whimper at that and closed his eyes. Dean continued kissing down his neck to his shoulders when he paused to fight a yawn breaking to the surface.

Cas laughed and the tension immediately lifted. “C’mon, let’s go to bed.”

“I don’t wanna,” Dean grumbled. Yet he allowed himself to be pulled to bed anyway.

“You can have your way with me tomorrow, I promise. But for now, sleep.”

Dean hummed and pulled Cas’s arm around his waist, so they were spooning. All previous annoyances about the crappy mattress were pushed from his head and quickly replaced with thoughts of Cas as he felt a soft kiss press to the back of his neck. With that, he allowed himself to lose consciousness and fall into a deep, happy sleep.

Author’s Note: Surprise, I decided to post the chapter two days early! Originally I planned on the whole road trip and Sam's graduation taking place in one chapter but it's turning out to be much longer than I anticipated. So I'll be breaking it up over the next chapter or two.

I also decided to change Sam's law school from Stanford to UCLA for the purpose of the road trip because Stanford would have been another 5 hours from L.A. and this just made it less complicated. Next chapter you can expect some smut, more road-tripping shenanigans and Sam! Please let me know what you think so far!

#destiel #deancas #destiel fanfiction #Destiel fanfic #destiel fluff #dean and cas #fanfiction #dean winchester #castiel #angst #deans top 13 zepp traxx #read on ao3 #supernatural fanfiction

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wedreamedlove · 5 years ago

Text

[FIC] No Other But You

Rating: T Characters: Bai Qi/Reader Word Count: 7051

A/N: Figured I should check off writing ABO on my bucket list, and I’m trying out a new 2nd POV writing style. I have fics planned in this ‘verse for the other three men too, but they should be able to stand alone. Also, I’m using the Chinese names because my understanding of the characters comes from the CN version.

Tags: ABO. Alpha!Bai Qi. Omega!Reader. Fluff. Cuddling.

Summary: Bai Qi gets hurt and goes into a feral state and you’re the only one who can bring him back.

No new messages.

This is the 18th time you’ve checked your phone in the past 30 minutes and you can’t help but furrow your eyebrows when you look at the time displayed on your phone screen. It shows 7:29 PM.

Plans had been made for you and Bai Qi to have dinner together tonight. You wanted to thank him for all the help he’s given you personally and professionally and so, after you wore him down by repeatedly insisting on thanking him, he said he wanted to eat a meal you cooked. However, the day before the dinner date, he was called into work; he promised he would make it back in time but…

You look at the cooling dishes on the table and sigh. You’re more worried over whatever held him back than him standing you up though. Did something happen during his work? Is he hurt? The lack of any contact only increases your concerns and so you pick up your phone again to check for replies, despite it having been silent this entire time.

But suddenly, as if answering your wishes, your phone begins to ring. You nearly drop it, startled at the noise, and then scramble to answer it when you see Bai Qi’s name flash on the screen.

You call out his name and ask him where he is and if he’s alright.

However, what reaches your ears is not the warm voice of Bai Qi but the dispassionate one of an unfamiliar man. “Hello? What’s your relationship to the owner of this phone?”

You warily ask him who he is and how he has Bai Qi’s phone.

“I’m one of his colleagues. You can call me B-2. Now, let me ask again, what’s your relationship to B-7?”

The question gives you pause. You’re not sure what response he’s looking for, but you answer that you’re Bai Qi’s friend and that you two attended the same high school together. Inwardly, you decide that this “B-2” didn’t need to know it was just for an year or so in high school and that, at the time, you only knew Bai Qi from the rumors surrounding him.

There’s silence on the other end for a short while before B-2 talks, “There’s an emergency with B-7 and I think we can use your help.”

Your blood runs cold at his words and you barely manage to ask him, through numb lips, what exactly happened to Bai Qi, where he is, and if you can see him.

“It’s better if I explain in person on the way there. Where can I pick you up?”

You give B-2 your address and, after hanging up the call, run to your closet to pick out more suitable clothes for going outside. Being an Omega means that, without the presence of an Alpha or Beta, you need to cover up your neck and wrists as much as possible. For Omegas, their scent is only supposed to be released in a home or privately to people close to them, and spreading an Omega scent outside in public was a huge faux pas.

Incidentally, it’s the opposite for Alphas and they’re supposed to share their scent and use it to mark, guard, or warn people. For them it’s an important communication tool used to mitigate conflicts, especially considering how most Alphas are short-tempered. Betas have the ability to manipulate their scent in either direction, just not as strong as an Alpha or an Omega; they also happen to be the most common in the world.

It’s only after you finish dressing yourself that you realize, belatedly, that it probably wasn’t the wisest of ideas to give a stranger your address and agree to be taken to an unknown place. But, on the other hand, he does have Bai Qi’s phone and Bai Qi doesn’t seem the type to be careless with his belongings, to say nothing about something that concerns you.

Before you can second guess your decision your phone rings again.

“This is B-2. I’m downstairs.”

From these words, you have the suspicion that B-2 is an Alpha just because they’re particularly sensitive about intruding on what they see as another person’s territory and den.

Your suspicion is realized the moment you step outside. There is a man standing in front of a black car with tinted windows; he has an easy smile on his face and a relaxed posture, but it doesn’t hide the presence and scent of an Alpha that comes from him, no matter how restrained he’s keeping it. But at least his restraint makes his scent take on a refreshingly light note and it doesn’t come off as cloying or oppressive.

He stands at attention the moment he catches sight and scent of you and, for a second, you think you see his eyes narrow. But that expression passes too quickly to be sure and all you can see is his disarming smile. He holds out a hand and shows you the strip of cloth there.

“Sorry, but I’m going to have to blindfold you so you don’t see the roads we take.”

Ordinarily, you would be balking here but considering you’re already at this stage and you’re still extremely worried about Bai Qi you nod, albeit somewhat hesitant. B-2 is as gentle as he can be though, making sure not to touch you unnecessarily and, before long, the cloth is wrapped around your head and covering your eyes. He helps you into the car and orders the driver to return to the “base” before you feel the car move.

---------------

During the drive to wherever your destination is the situation is explained to you.

“I’m afraid the details are classified, but all you need to know is that a mission went topsy-turvy and B-7 took a bullet covering for someone and it was serious enough to trigger a feral state.”

Before you can open your mouth, B-2 heads off your words and continues.

“It’s procedure for some of us Alphas to keep an item that can be used to bring us back to a rational mind; however, when we opened B-7’s locker there was only one of his jackets with a faded scent. Tsk, he should know clothing isn’t allowed to be used since it’s too hard to keep fresh,” B-2 grumbles that out before he resumes his explanation, “Anyway, it wasn’t enough to calm him, so we had no choice but to sedate and restrain him to treat him. Obviously his instincts went even more haywire after that and things were looking grim until we broke into his personal phone and, well, here we are.”

Despite B-2 not revealing any classified details, it still feels like he dumped a load of information on you. You manage to latch onto the key points though: one, Bai Qi was hurt. Two, he was hurt enough for his Alpha instincts to trigger a feral state. If Alphas stay too long in this wild state, they won’t be able to regain their human minds again. Three, you were contacted because of Bai Qi’s phone in the hopes that you can bring him back.

But, wait, that in and of itself makes you puzzled. So, you ask B-2 why it was you they contacted.

B-2 sends you a considering look, “You were the only person listed in his phone.”

Oh. You aren’t sure how to respond to that. Happy? Sad? Touched?

You’re silent for the rest of the ride as you digest the information you were given, your hands clasped tightly in your lap. B-2 also doesn’t try to talk to you, but you feel his occasional glances as if he’s assessing you but also trying not to make you feel pressured by the stare of an Alpha. You appreciate his consideration for both matters.

Eventually, the car stops and B-2 removes your blindfold. For a second, you think there’s a problem with your eyes because there is nothing but white space around the car until you notice the circular metal door in front of you at the end of the room. When you look back over your shoulder you can see there’s a similar metallic door behind you and the car and probably where you guys entered from in the first place.

“Follow me, please,” B-2 says as he gets out of the car.

You do so and B-2 waves the driver away before he walks up to the door. The moment he stands in front of it a blue light shoots out, making you jump, and scans him from head to toe.

A robotic voice announces, “Identification: B-2 confirmed. Status: no abnormalities. Entry allowed.”

The door slides up into the ceiling with a hiss and you barely remember to follow B-2 when he walks through without hesitation. Questions are at the tip of your tongue, but at the same time you feel like you shouldn’t ask anything. It’s clear that this isn’t a normal building - and definitely not the police station - so you’re sure that B-2 is part of the same special forces that Bai Qi is in. You keep your silence.

B-2 doesn’t say anything either and goes on to take you through countless hallways and doors, enough to the point where you’re helplessly lost within minutes. However, you notice that you haven’t seen another person in this building, apart from B-2 and the driver back in the car, up to now and so you ask him about that.

“Oh, I had the people in our path cleared out. You don’t need to bump into any of our other Alphas.”

You’re surprised but grateful again at B-2’s consideration of your Omega status. In addition, most Alphas can’t help themselves from sending lingering looks at an unbonded Omega, but B-2 hasn’t done anything more than give you passing glances. He doesn’t smell bonded himself, but he still keeps a polite and proper distance from you and refrains from flaunting his scent.

Although, you do wonder when he had time to give orders to clear everyone out. If he did anything, you certainly didn’t notice it. You also wonder what sort of status he has to do all this. You must have had a puzzled look on your face because when B-2 looks over at you, maybe to make sure you’re still following, he adds onto his previous words.

“I got permission from the head honcho. Besides, everyone knows an Alpha on the verge of going feral is an urgent matter.”

You tell him you understand, but also turn tense at the reminder of why you’re here in the first place. Not that it’s ever been far from your mind though.

At last, B-2 leads you to what looks like just another door in just another long hallway, except when you both enter you immediately see the person you’ve been wanting to see for the entire day.

Bai Qi.

He’s behind a floor to ceiling glass window, which appears to be a one-way mirror because when you run up to it and place your hands on it, calling out his name automatically, there is no response from him.

Through the mirror, you can see that he’s strapped down to a bed by metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, and glaring at the corner of a room, lips curled back in what would no doubt be a vicious snarl if sound could pass through these walls.

This sight squeezes your heart and you round on B-2, a snarl of your own building in your throat.

“Calm down, miss.” B-2 raises his hands in an appeasing gesture, eyebrows shooting up at your ferocity. “Like I said, we had no choice but to restrain him to treat him.”

Now that he mentions it, you can see the thick swathe of bandages wrapped around Bai Qi’s bare chest. There’s a red stain that’s seeped through already and you think you can see it spreading whenever he strains against his restraints. You turn to B-2 again and ask to be let in to see Bai Qi.

B-2 frowns though and crosses his arms. “To be honest, I’m worried. I was under the assumption that you were his Omega but,” B-2 sniffs the air here, “you’re unbonded. It’d be dangerous—”

You interrupt him and insist on your request. A hesitant look flashes through B-2’s eyes and you spring onto that, pointing out how he’s brought you here already, so clearly his superiors have made their decision about the benefits outweighing the risks. Bai Qi’s value to them is worth more than the safety of an unbonded Omega. B-2 really is a nice person, you think, to the point where you almost doubt he is an Alpha; this is more like Beta or Omega behavior, with how considerate he’s being to someone unrelated to him.

For a few suspenseful seconds, B-2 doesn’t say anything before he slumps his shoulders, giving an explosive sigh. “Alright, alright. I suppose we’re already at this point, although I was hoping you would have reservations after seeing him.”

He leads you to a corner of the room, beside the one-way window, where there is a discreet door and enters a code. Before the door opens though, he looks at you one more time, as if confirming that you’re really going to go through with this and, upon seeing your determination, he opens the door.

The instant it slides open Bai Qi whips his head over in this direction. There’s a high-pitched whistling noise, but it’s only after a serrated gust of wind slashes between you and B-2 that you realize what the sound was foretelling. You flinch. B-2 already leapt out of the way the moment he heard the sound, but a cut appears on his face seconds later and you smell the iron tang of fresh blood.

“How’s he using his Evol in that state!?” B-2 exclaims.

He turns to you and it’s clear that he intends to call this whole thing off and bring you back to the safety of the observation room. So, instead, you take a step to the side and into the room to avoid his hand.

“What’re you doing?! That he can use his Evol changes everything. It’s too dangerous!” B-2 furrows his brows, but he quickly withdraws his hand when a hissing, vicious blade of wind splits the air between you two again.

You shake your head and reassure B-2 that it’s not dangerous for you. And it isn’t just a baseless belief in Bai Qi not hurting you that makes you say this either. It was just demonstrated. When the first gust of wind came, even though it was sharp enough to cause B-2 to bleed from a glancing brush, it had been a blunt current that swept past you. Like the flat of a blade, it both protected you and warned off others.

B-2 gives you a shrewd look, but he also doesn’t take another step towards you. He’s also noticed that there hasn’t been more attacks after he stepped away from you and stopped moving towards you. There’s just a loud reverberating growl that you can almost see shaking the air. Not to mention, Bai Qi’s eyes have been fixed on B-2. He hasn’t once looked at you.

This could mean that either, in his feral state, Bai Qi has marked you to be without threat and so someone who can be ignored, or his instincts have marked you as one of his and so he needs to direct his attention to the outsider.

Finally, B-2 gives you a curt nod. “If it ends up looking bad, I’ll come in and get you.”

Having said that, B-2 moves back into the observation room. Meanwhile, you continue deeper into the room, the sound of your footsteps drowned out by the constant rumbling growl coming from Bai Qi’s chest. His growls only soften after the door behind you closes and becomes quieter and quieter the closer you get to his bedside.

The entire time, his amber eyes are pinned onto you, unblinking.

By the time you come up beside him, his growls have tapered off into silence.

You call his name.

Bai Qi gives no reaction other than inhaling deeply, and then he pulls against his restraints, straining towards you.

The red bleeding through his bandages is even more vivid up close and you can’t stop yourself from reaching out and touching his face, trying to soothe him and stop him from aggravating his injury. He turns his face into your hand automatically, breathing in and making soft chuffing noises.

Now that you’re beside him you can see that the number of scars on his body have increased again. There’s one on his shoulder. There’s another pink, healing cut peeking out from beneath the bandages and which cuts down to his hip. Then there’s two that crisscross on his right forearm. A sour feeling settles in your heart and you feel a sting behind your eyes and in the back of your nose.

Maybe your distress leaked out, because Bai Qi rubs his cheek as much as he can against your hand and starts up a near inaudible rumble that’s meant to soothe. And every time he exhales you can feel a soft breeze brush through your hair.

A thought occurs to you and you turn to the side of the room where you recall the one-way mirror to be, ignoring the camera in the corner of the room, and ask if Bai Qi’s restraints can be removed.

There’s no verbal response, but you hear a click before the cuffs around Bai Qi’s wrists and ankles unlatch.

In the next second, you’re thrown onto the bed. There’s no time to react before a weight settles on you, legs bracketing yours and a chest that brushes against you. Then a cool nose presses against the crook of your neck through the fabric of your shirt.

Loud breathing echoes in your ears.

Despite the abrupt and rough movement though, the hands around you are gentle and cradle you. In fact, your head doesn’t even touch the bed’s pillow because Bai Qi has a hand cupped around the back of your head.

Still, you can’t help but tense instinctively at how a feral Alpha’s teeth are right beside your throat. You clutch at Bai Qi’s shoulders. Should you push him away or not? The reason why it’s dangerous for an Omega to be around a feral Alpha, especially if they aren’t bonded with each other, is because a feral Alpha is driven only by their most base instincts and hyper-aroused. Put in layman’s terms, a feral Alpha has their fight-or-flight response triggered, but set permanently on fight. So, feral Alphas either direct that outward on their surroundings indiscriminately or they hone in on an Omega and vent their tension. Violently.

However, you asked for the restraints to be released precisely because Bai Qi hasn’t shown any violence towards you at all.

Bai Qi must have felt your nervousness because he starts up his soothing rumble again, deeper this time, and you realize that you haven’t felt the press of teeth against your throat at all. He’s only nuzzling your neck and breathing deeply, causing his chest to rise and fall on you.

You tentatively slide your hands from his shoulders down his back, feeling the shift of his muscles as he kneads the sheets beneath you, a shudder running through him at your touch. The tension in Bai Qi leeches out slowly as you stroke your hands up and down his back. You also make sure to press your wrists against him to spread your scent as much as you can since it seems to be working to calm him.

But then Bai Qi slides his other hand up, the one not behind your head, to pull your shirt collar down to get at your neck more.

You freeze. He does as well.

You swallow and the movement of that makes your exposed throat brush against his lips, kicking up your heart rate. But just as your shoulders rise - an automatic reaction of wanting to pull them in, curl up, and tuck your chin down to protect yourself - Bai Qi releases your shirt collar to rub gentle circles above your breastbone with a thumb.

He maintains his reassuring purr, not doing anything else, and so you find yourself relaxing again. Bai Qi also slumps down further, as if mirroring you, and places more of his weight on you. His legs are pressed right beside yours and his hips against yours. Fortunately, he isn’t crushing you underneath his chest since, as he slides his nose to the hollow of your throat, he has to curve his back to be in this position.

His hair tickles beneath your chin. The brown strands are softer than they looked.

Every time you breathe you can smell the scent of warm soap, a muffled odor of blood, and something that was just Bai Qi. Like gingko leaves soaking in sunlight on a clear day, but with the nip of an autumn breeze calling in the coming winter.

You return to stroking his back again, loosening the hold on your own scent, because this is familiar. If you close your eyes, block off the sight of this unfeeling room, the camera in the corner, the bandages that pressed against your chest, and how Bai Qi hasn’t said a single word since you entered this room, you can trick yourself into thinking this was just another day where you had a long day at work and Bai Qi was comforting you.

Eventually - you aren’t sure of how much time passes - you hear a voice.

“It’s you.”

There’s a low, grating growl to Bai Qi’s words that hints at how close his feral state is still lurking underneath the surface. But he’s talking now. He’s talking and that means the fear of him having lost his mind forever is gone.

You tighten your arms around Bai Qi to hug him, calling out his name in a choked sob.

Bai Qi tenses with surprise before he reciprocates by hauling you into a crushing hug.

Surrounded by his warmth, you feel the last of your fears get swept away, like dark clouds pushed aside to reveal a clear sky. However, you also suddenly remember where you are and why you’re here, making you draw back in a hurry. Bai Qi is hurt and you were pressing on his wound like that!

Bai Qi moves without hesitation when he feels you push at him, sitting back on his knees.

You ask him worriedly if his injury hurts.

He looks confused for a moment, but then follows your eyes down to the red-stained bandages around his chest.

“No,” he says and shakes his head.

Now that you can look at his face you realize that the grittiness in his voice isn’t just because of his feral state being close to the surface, but also because of the fact that he’s clenched his jaw hard enough that you can see the tense muscle.

You reach out without a thought and place your hand against his face. Bai Qi doesn’t react at all, only watching you with quiet brown eyes. In fact, he even tilts his head into your touch and, when your hand shifts at that movement, he reflexively reaches up to grab your hand and keep it pressed to him, as if afraid your hand would drop away.

You rub at his jaw and encourage him to relax, worried about how he might be pushing himself to hide his pain from you.

Bai Qi laughs at your words and the hot breath of his exhalation skims across your palm and sends a ticklish sensation straight into your heart. “No, I really don’t feel anything. I’m used to injuries like these in my work.”

Before you can get even more upset at that, he continues on.

“I was clenching my jaw because I didn’t want to bite you.” Without control. Without your consent. Those words don’t need to be said for you to understand what he meant.

Right after he says that though, Bai Qi can’t seem to resist turning his head to press his mouth to your wrist. He breathes in deep and parts his lips.

However, you can see the warm light in his eyes and so you aren’t nervous at all despite the press of a sharp canine against the pulse of your wrist. The warmth in his eyes deepen and you feel him smile against your skin when he sees how relaxed you are. But you jump when you suddenly feel the wet and searing touch of a tongue against your pulse.

Then the door opens.

In the next second, you’re crushed up against Bai Qi’s chest as he covers you below him and turns his head, a furious snarl ripping out from him. You also smell his scent flaring out, turning sharp and threatening like a biting storm, and burying your scent underneath his.

You peek out from underneath one of his arms to see B-2 standing at the doorway.

“Yo, welcome back to humanity.” B-2 has a smile on his face.

Bai Qi doesn’t reply and he doesn’t budge from his position above you. You’re actually glad for Bai Qi’s quick reaction though because you realize, after a glance down at yourself, just how askew your clothes are. Especially since Bai Qi pulled your collar down. You itch to adjust your clothes, but you also don’t want to draw attention to yourself by moving since the two Alphas are staring each other down.

B-2’s smile becomes strained. His instincts must be clamoring at him to stand his ground against the aggression in Bai Qi’s scent; however, he manages to tell Bai Qi calmly, “Orders are for you to head to the med bay at twenty-three hundred hours. Then you’re to report to the boss at zero, one-hundred hours. Also, I’m supposed to pass on the message that you’re not allowed to let this happen again. Get a new item.”

Bai Qi dips his head in acknowledgment, but his lips are still curled in a silent snarl. B-2 wisely leaves without saying anything more, probably so he doesn’t prolong his stay in the presence of an Alpha who just came out of a feral state.

But it’s also after B-2 leaves that you realize what he might have seen, since he was in the other room and he came this quickly after Bai Qi returned to normal. You squirm underneath Bai Qi and start to fix your clothes, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Qi looks down worriedly.

You explain the reasons for your embarrassment.

Bai Qi frowns and then promises you, “I’ll make sure he forgets whatever it is he thinks he saw. Besides, I was covering you, so most of the view from the camera and window should have been blocked.”

That gives you some relief, although it would be best if the camera footage could be erased.

But then Bai Qi’s expression becomes grave and his frown deepens, “Why are you even here though? You could have gotten hurt.” It was like B-2’s appearance made Bai Qi realize the actual situation.

It takes a second for you to react to him scolding you. In response, you scowl at him and point out how serious the situation was. He was in a feral state and nothing could calm him down! You cut Bai Qi off when he opens his mouth and tell him firmly that you trust him. Didn’t he once say he was the least likeliest to hurt you?

Bai Qi stares at you, stunned, and then he pulls you into a tight hug again, rubbing his lower jaw against the crown of your head. “Silly, least likeliest doesn’t mean there’s no chance at all. Accidents can happen. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I hurt you.”

There’s a mix of pleasure and helplessness in his voice, as if your words touched him but he’s still deathly worried about you. You also can’t help but notice how you’re pressed right up against his throat. It’s a vulnerable position for an Alpha to take, even Omegas have teeth after all. But this just shows how much trust he has in you to be so at ease with placing his own throat within your reach.

A tender feeling, close to sweetness, fills your chest and you relax into his hold.

Only for you to remember his injury again. You try to sit back and, after encountering the resistance of his arms, you push at his chest a little.

“Is this position uncomfortable?”

But Bai Qi seems to misunderstand your actions and, instead, turns onto his back so that you’re on top. But he keeps an arm settled around your waist to hold you against his chest.

You do your best to avoid his injury, but no matter how much you wriggle you’re still above him. Finally, you place a hand on his chest as far as you can get from the bandages, ignoring the taut muscles underneath your palm, and raise your upper body as much as you can to look sternly down at him. You remind Bai Qi about his injury again and B-2’s words about him being ordered to get a check up.

“It doesn’t hurt.” Bai Qi tries to reassure you.

You level a glare at him and express your displeasure at his carelessness with his health.

His expression softens and turns apologetic. “Sorry, you’re right. It hurts a little and I’ll be more careful.” He raises a hand and places his thumb against your forehead, rubbing at it gently like he’s trying to smooth away the lines there. “I’ll be more careful and I’ll drop by the infirmary later. So please don’t frown, I like your smiles better.”

Your determination to stare him down until he gives in starts to waver.

“I just… want to stay like this a while longer. Can’t we?”

Bai Qi looks up at you through his bangs bashfully and you find yourself giving in at the hopeful light in his eyes. You settle down gingerly on his chest, grumbling under your breath about how his puppy eyes are deadly and that it wasn’t playing fair at all. There’s a faint vibration beneath you and you can feel more than hear the laugh he’s suppressing. You growl at him and, even though there was no heat in the sound, you soon feel him comb his fingers softly through your hair, as if to make amends for his laughter.

Time passes like this and your thoughts meander through your mind slowly as the warmth that seeps into you from Bai Qi makes you drowsy. But your thoughts end up turning towards what B-2 said about Alphas in the special forces needing an item that can calm them down. You bring this up with Bai Qi and ask him if there aren’t any Omegas in the special forces that can soothe Alphas.

“Mm?” Bai Qi sounds languid and you see him shake his head a little, as if waking himself up. “No, there’s Betas and Omegas here that can calm unbonded Alphas down.”

You tilt your head in confusion and ask him why he has an item then.

You had thought there weren’t any Betas and Omegas in the special forces, which is why the Alphas needed scent-infused items and why you were brought here to Bai Qi. But if the special forces had Betas and Omegas (which makes sense, now that you think about it, since Betas are the most common and too many Alphas in one place is a disaster in the making), isn’t it just bonded Alphas that need a scent-infused item from their mate to calm them down? But you know Bai Qi isn’t bonded so…

Bai Qi tenses beneath you and reluctantly replies, “The other Betas’ and Omegas’ scents don’t work on me.”

You ask him why, frowning in thought. Is it a special condition of his?

Bai Qi looks increasingly uncomfortable and averts his eyes, but he still answers you, voice soft, “Because my instincts only acknowledge one person.”

It takes a few seconds for you to understand the meaning of his words, and when you do it feels like you’re struck by lightning.

It’s a rule of thumb that the difference between bonded Alphas and unbonded Alphas is in how bonded Alphas have instincts that revolve around and acknowledge only their mate. For an unbonded Alpha to have those same instincts… does this not mean they’re feeling all the instincts of a bonded Alpha but unreciprocated?

Then Bai Qi—

You almost don’t know how to ask this, and there’s a thread of self-doubt entangled around you, but all the signs point to this conclusion. And so, you gather up your courage, and ask Bai Qi if his instincts only acknowledge you.

Bai Qi doesn’t answer, but his arm tightens around you and he breathes in deep.

You remember how B-2 mentioned that Bai Qi’s item was a jacket with a faded scent. You ask Bai Qi why he’s never asked you for a scent-infused item, because he hasn’t and you can easily imagine that the jacket in his locker is just one of the ones that he drapes over you whenever he walks you home. Putting aside whatever your current relationship is now, you wouldn’t have hesitated to give him something, especially with how dangerous his work is without anything that can bring him out of a feral state.

“……” Bai Qi turns his head away, remaining silent to your questions.

However, his silence is an answer in and of itself.

Upset slips into your voice as you ask him if he didn’t want you to know any of this. Does he wish his instincts didn’t acknowledge you? You start to remember the rare cases you’ve heard about Alphas denying their instincts for various reasons.

“No!” He whips his head back to you, “Never.”

You ask him why he’s never talked about any of this to you then.

Bai Qi’s eyes dart across your face, searching for something. You don’t know if he found what he was looking for, but he opens his mouth to tell you, “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, or put pressure on you.” He presses his lips tightly together. “I didn’t want to break what we already had.”

You can understand that. It was what held you back too, after all. Alphas usually don’t hesitate to make their intentions known about courting, so the fact that Bai Qi hadn’t made a single move made you nervous. Yeah, he likes you. But does he like like you? You weren’t sure if he was just around you to enjoy the familial warmth that he lost all too early. What if you pushed for more and drove him away?

But now…

You point out that you know now though.

“But now you know,” he confirms.

You can still feel the tension that lines his body beneath yours, and his gaze is a physical weight that sweeps across your face, trying to guess your thoughts. But it’s like a curtain has been lifted with the confirmation of his feelings and, looking into his eyes, you can see the reservation and longing in them.

You smile and point out that you’re still here.

“But… you’re still here.” A similar smile spreads across his face and it transforms his normally aloof and fierce air into a softer boyish one.

You look down as your own smile widens, believing that you’re probably smiling like an idiot now. But there’s a sugar-coated bubbling feeling in your body, like you’re holding something sweet in your mouth, and it brings a flush to your cheeks. Looking down, however, just plants your face right into Bai Qi’s chest and every breath fills your lungs with his scent.

This reminds you about something and you raise your head again. Bai Qi is still staring at you, as if he hasn’t moved his gaze anywhere else this entire time, and while the smile on his lips is smaller now his eyes are a gentle brown, like he’s looking at the most precious thing in the world to him.

Your cheeks heat up at the intensity of his stare, but you forge on to ask if he wants to scent mark each other.

It’s an act that can be done between family members to reaffirm the strength of their bonds or… between lovers to confirm exclusivity and as the first step to bonding.

Amazement dawns on Bai Qi. “Really? You’re sure?”

You can’t help but laugh at the stunned tone in his voice. After you reassure him that you’re sure, he hauls you up his body and brushes his nose against yours before tilting his head and offering you the line of his throat without hesitation.

As you pick a spot to put your mark, saliva pools in your mouth but it’s unlike the normal kind. The saliva you’re about to use is released by a special gland in the mouth and it’s a thicker and more viscous liquid that will bind against someone’s skin and release your scent for weeks. Scent marks only need to be refreshed every month or so.

You decide on the crook of his neck, in the dip above his clavicle, and lean down to swipe your tongue there.

The instant your tongue touches him, an explosive hiss escapes through his clenched teeth. You immediately try to raise your head, alarmed, but he presses a hand to the back of your head and keeps you against his throat. His hand is gentle, always gentle, but you feel the hand at your waist grip your clothes in a tight fist.

You’re about to ask if he’s okay, but he beats you to speaking first.

“Keep going.” His voice is husky.

Reassured, you continue to lap at the area, spreading your scent and letting the saliva soak into his skin. There’s a sense of pleasure in the act of marking Bai Qi but you also can’t suppress the mischievous urge that makes you swipe your tongue up higher along a vein in his neck. He jolts and trembles underneath you, and heat pools in your stomach when you hear him groan.

“You…”

Bai Qi growls and the hand in your hair clenches slightly, but then he relaxes his grip immediately, as if afraid to hurt you.

When he feels you shake with laughter though, he realizes that you’re done and sits up. The arm around your waist secures you before you can tip backwards at the change in position, and now that you’re facing each other properly again you can see his exasperated affection. You smile innocently at him.

But the smile slides off your face when you see him touch the place you laved with your scent and inhale deeply. There’s a simmering heat in his eyes when he looks at you, and then he’s gathering your hair in a bundle and clearing it away from your shoulder, exposing your neck.

“May I?”

Even at this point he’s still asking for confirmation and you reassure him that he can, of course.

You tilt your head to bare your throat more to him and you hear the stutter in his breathing before he leans in and places his own scent mark on you.

And then you realize why he had such a big reaction when you licked him. Because the moment you feel his tongue glide across your neck it’s as if someone dropped you into a hot bath. Your toes curl with pleasure at the flood of warmth through your nerves and you instinctively grab onto his shoulders, needing something solid to ground you as you become boneless. Bai Qi steadies you easily in his arms, and you feel the play of his muscles beneath your hands when he adjusts his hold on you.

He bathes your neck with his tongue a couple more times before you feel him pinch your skin between his teeth. He doesn’t bite down, but instead he sucks hard and you yelp, arching your back at the prick of pain and the tingle that zigzags up your spine. Bai Qi chuckles low in the back of his throat and you realize, through a hazy mind, that he’s teasing you like you teased him.

You growl and try to dig your fingers into him in retaliation, but considering how he’s made of all muscle it feels more like you’re trying to dig your nails into a rock. Bai Qi pats your back with a hand and, releasing your neck, licks it in apology before drawing back. You reach up to rub at your neck reflexively and you find yourself pouting and flushing when your fingers brush against the damp and sore area. It’s going to become a hickey.

The color of his eyes deepen as he stares at the spot he marked. “Mine.”

You tell him, still sulking at the sore hickey, that he’s yours too.

Bai Qi agrees immediately, his voice a solemn promise. “I’ll always give you my best side. But every side of me, no matter when, belongs to you.”

He brings up a hand to cup your cheek and his thumb strokes along your cheekbone, light as a feather. Is he the one leaning in? Or are you the one leaning in? Bai Qi tilts his head a little, closing the distance even more, and his breath skims across your lips. His eyes, filled with tenderness, flick to yours for one more confirmation before he kisses you.

Those lips are warm and he tastes like home.

#love and producer #bai qi #gavin #mlqc gavin #mlqc fanfic

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niqhtlord01 · 5 years ago

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(artist is Blinck / JJcanvas) Humans are Weird: Size doesn’t scare us The titans have walked across the surface of Malacor IV for as long as the Asandri could remember. They had towered over even the largest of structures the Asandri had created and their shadows spanned the length of entire continents. The Asandri had spent ages fighting each other across their planet but they lacked any weaponry capable of fighting the giants as they appeared. The titans roamed across the surface unhindered, trampling all that stood in their path until the great works of the Asandri were all but ruin. Eventually and settlements of the Asandri people became little more than empty husks, remnants of a forgotten time. The people of the world scattered to the winds and have ever since moved in large caravans ever mobile so to remain out of reach of the monstrous titans, and that is how they remained for nearly one thousand years. That is, until the sky people came... .. ---------------------- “Mother bird this is dropship four-niner, we are about to touch down.” Lizzy flipped several switches on her command console and the atmosphere shutters began rolling back revealing planet. A vast green plain stretched as far as the eye could see. “Henderson give me the readouts.” “Seismic scanners showing the the ground to be stable,” her second in command called out, “gas levels are reading the atmo is breathable, and I’m not reading any dangerous weather formations within 300 miles of us. Landing is go.” “Roger Henderson.” Lizzy switched channels to the military contingent in the hold. “Major Cobal, you ground pounders ready to feel terra firma again?” “I’ve been itching for so long now I felt like my legs were growing roots on your damn deck plates.” Major Cobal responded. “I’d check a doctor for that itching when you get back. Ten minutes for popping locks.” “Diplomatic corp you ready to do some yammering?” “Only if you promise to not fire a rocket without warning again.” “You’re never going to let that go are you?” Protocol dictated that every first landing on a newly discovered world have a diplomatic detachment attached to them in the event sentient life is found and is friendly; and if they’re not, well, that’s what the ground pounders are for. Armed with the latest weaponry, even the small company onboard had enough firepower to fight off an army. Worse comes to worse the drop ship was armed with a single Dark Matter Warhead that could erase a mountain from roots to peak in the blink of an eye. “Captain we’re getting returns on lifeforms.” Henderson called out. “Any visuals?” Henderson flicked through several screens. “We have visuals on camera feed nine.” Lizzy brought up feed nine and saw a small gathering of humanoid beings watching the drop ship descend from a nearby hill. “Good catch Henderson. Keep scans active in case there are more.” Lizzy switched comms to the diplomats and ground pounders. “Alright passengers looks like the hosts have come out to greet us.” As soon as the drop ship finally touched down both teams poured out. The GP’s formed a perimeter around the ship while the diplomats began making their way to the humanoid figures. Lizzy was about to go grab a cup of coffee when Henderson shouted “CONTACT! CONTACT! CONTACT!” The bridge crew began rushing back to their stations. “25 miles to the west! Something massive just popped up on scanners and is heading this way!” “How massive as massive?” Lizzy asked already bringing up the camera feeds. “Oh.” Was all she could say upon seeing the a literal mountain on legs stampeding towards them. “I see several more of those humanoid beings like the ones on the hill just in front of the creature.” Lizzy zoomed in to see several dozen of the aliens near the feet of the massive creature running for their lives. She watched as several of them made a wrong turn and ended up squashed by a massive foot. “Major Cobal the new contact is not friendly, repeat the new contact is openly hostile.” “Understood. Your orders ma’am?” “We’ve got several transport vehicles in the hold. I want you to unpack everything that’s in them and then take them out and rescue those aliens just in front of the monster. After you’re all out of the hold I’ll take off and provide a distraction and give you some time.” “Yes ma’am! I’ve always wanted to fight a Kaiju, thanks for helping me scratch that off my bucket list.” Cobal responded as several of the ground pounders retreated into the hold and began driving out the transports. “Get me some sweet ass pictures while you’re out there and we’ll call it even.” “Master of arms,” Lizzy called out”I want you to arm all forward guns and get the warhead ready.” The master of arms turned to her as if to protest. “Stow it, I’m making a battlefield call and authorizing the use. I’ll take full responsibility when we get back in orbit, just say that I knocked you out or something if it’ll ease you conscious.” He turned away laughing at that prospect as he was easily two feet taller than her. “Weapons are already primed, warhead will take 5 minutes.” He called as he ran back to the warhead launcher. As the last of the transports sped off towards the monster Lizzy reignited the engines and pulled the drop ship back into the air. The old bird wasn’t as nimble as a fighter but right now she didn’t need the speed as much as the on-board weaponry. She turned to face the oncoming monster. She was certainly impressed by the sheer massiveness of the thing, like it was something you’d only believe existed in movies. “Captain Lizzy, what are you doing?!” One of the diplomats was on the comm. “Massive contact was spotted heading towards us. Contact is not friendly and has begun attacking indigenous lifeforms, moving in for rescue and then will neutralize the contact.” She could hear the diplomat swear under his breath. “Please do not neutralize the target. We have no idea the what symbolism that creature may have for this culture. It could be their god for all we know!” Lizzy entered firing range for the prow mounted gatling guns. “Well I just saw their “god” stomp several of them into a fine paste, so with all respect it’s time to send this god back to hell.” Pulling on the trigger a stream of armor piercing rounds stream from the gatling guns into the face of the monster. It let out a roar of pain that sent tremors through the entire ship and ceased it’s forward chase. The transports finally reached the humanoid figures and began loading them on-board. Safe to say that despite not understanding each others language it was universal when someone was trying to help. Lizzy banked to the left trying to steer the creature away from the transports below. It continued roaring as the rounds began carving red craters in the skin. “Warhead primed ma’am. Waiting your orders.” The master of arms called out through the comms. “COBAL!” Lizzy cried out, “You better be clear by now!” Nothing but static filled her ear for several seconds. “We’re clear! Repeat, we are clear!” She pulled back on her controls hard causing the drop ship to shudder as it began to steadily retreat backwards at an increasing pace. “Everyone, cover your ears and shut your eye, for this is wear a mountain dies!” Her hand slammed on the fire control sending the dark matter warhead screaming towards the monster. Within a few seconds it impacted with it causing a massive sphere of pure darkness to expand outward in every direction, swallowing the monster and the ground around it entirely. The sphere made no sound, no loud explosion, not even the tiniest creak in the wind as it expanded. It held it’s near perfect shape for several seconds before instantly retracting inward and then disappearing. It was like the world’s plug had been removed and was dragging everything nearby in in an attempt to fill itself back up. The drop ship rocked itself for several moments before steadying out. “Ground pounder,” Lizzy called out after she confirmed her crew was alright, “if any of you are dead I swear to god I’m going to defile your bodies so much your gods won’t even want them anymore.” “No casualties ma’am.” Cobal responded. “I also now understand why you are still sing-” Lizzy killed the line and switched over to the diplomats. “You paper pushers alright?” Another long pause in the comms gave her unease. “We’re fine.” Finally came the reply. “But we have a new situation down here with the aliens.” Puzzled, Lizzy wondered if they really did think of those monsters as their gods and if she had just triggered some sort of religious war. “Anything you need assistance with?” Another long pause. “Well, after you killed that creature the aliens dropped to their knees and haven’t lifted them up yet. I think they think we’re gods.” “Sweet!” Coal chimed in. “I’m adding that to my resume.” ----------------------- The sky people came on ships of polished metal and rode the winds as if they were the seas themselves. Our ancestors once spoke of these craft as “void boats”, but many thought them only fairy tails. While a group had been out foraging for food, they stumbled upon this void boat descending from the heavens. They watched as its might maw opened and several smaller creatures much like ourselves exited the boat. Some stood in a circle around their boat carrying what appeared to be weapons, while others wore long robes of colors and walked towards us with arms outstretched. We were preparing to greet them when we felt the ground tremble beneath us and we gazed westward. A titan had risen from the ground and began stomping it’s way towards us. Some of our caravan had been foraging close to where it rose and were now fleeing for their lives. A sense of dread and despair filled our hearts as we looked on accepting our inability to help those we loved when suddenly a stream of metal beasts roared out from the void boat. They were charging straight towards the titan as if to combat it head on. Then with a roar of the mighty winds themselves the void boat rose from the ground and turned to face the titan itself, as if to challenge the mighty creature. With a crack as loud as thunder the void boat fired what looked like shards of light directly into the titans face. Many of our people had never heard a titan cry out in pain, but at the sound of it’s anguish our hearts skipped a beat. The titans that had plagued our people for countless lifetimes now knew what it was like to feel fear and pain themselves. As the space boat continued attacking the beast some of us noticed that the metal beasts that had left before were now returning our way with most haste. What brought us even greater joy was seeing many of our loved ones riding on the backs of them. We were about to call out to them when we saw the void boat start retreating away from the titan. We wondered if the titan was too powerful for the void boat when suddenly a streak of clouds shot out from it and impacted with the titan. A cloud darker than the blackest night engulfed the entire titan before it could even let out one more roar of pain at its own demise. The cloud expanded for several seconds before rapidly collapsing in on itself revealing nothing but an empty crater where the titan had once stood. Many of us stood speechless for several seconds, rubbing our eyes over and over, convinced that this was some trick being played on us. As time passed and nothing changed it became clear to us all. We dropped to our knees and offered our deepest gratitude to the sky people. Though they were no larger than us they had stood their ground in the face of titans and not only saved our people but slew them where they stood. With the help of these new people we can not only drive the titans back but we could regain the lost glory of our ancestors. To this day, that fateful day is celebrated across the entire planet. The sky people who stay are embarrassed by it and try to shrug it off, but to our people it holds a special place. The day when we met our new friends from beyond the stars, and the day that Titans fell.

#humans are space oddities #humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #scifi #story

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swaps55 · 5 years ago

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@joufancyhuh tagged me to share my 5 most bizarre/interesting animal encounters.

Given I’ve spent so many years around horses, I could write books just about those experiences. But I curated a few, even some that don’t involve horses! This was fun and I wrote way too much.

Tagging @citadelsushi, @shadesofmauve, @dearophelia and boy I wish @w0rdinista was still around because I know she’s got good ones. Have good stories to share? Please join in and tag me!

1. The Klutzy Friesian

When I was in college, I had the coolest summer job. I worked in the Breeds Barn at the Kentucky Horse Park, dressing up in costumes to ride and show off how diverse and amazing horses can be (historical accuracy very doubtful, but we made it look REALLY cool). This included a desert princess costume for the Arabian. A Spanish Conquistador for the Andalusian. I wore Peruvian attire and held a glass of water while scooting around on a Peruvian Paso. I don’t know what the costume for the Missouri Fox trotter really was, but it looked cool and that horse was a blast. But the most awesome thing I got to do was dress up as Joan of Arc and ride a Friesian. His name was Tom. In addition to being drop dead gorgeous, Tom was also a Good Boy. Eager to please, perfect manners and an all-around doll.

Each of the horses used in the “Parade of Breeds” show we put on twice a day has a script. You come in as the announcer plays your music and starts your narration, and you perform for the crowd. Now, Tom’s script was a little different from the others, in that instead of trotting or puttering into the ring, you dashed up the chute at a dead gallop and charged into the ring. While wearing a cape and a chain mail hat. The goal was to be epic. Which isn’t hard with Tom. I mean, look at him.

Except, Tom was a laid back dude who had done the same routine for years, and wasn’t always super into charging into the ring. He needed some extra time to warm up and get PSYCHED for his big entrance, which usually involved galumphing around over a grassy area outside the chute, behind the bleachers where the audience sat.

Well, one day in particular, the skies were clearing up after a good rain. Ground was wet but serviceable, show would go on! I was tasked to be Joan that day, so I donned my chain mail (not pictured) and flowy cape, saddled up my trusted steed and off we went to warm up. We were the last horse on the show list that day, so we were alone as I was getting him riled up, waiting for the horse ahead of me to finish.

But it had been raining, right? And the grass is wet. Poor ol’ Tom hit a wet patch, lost his footing and went nose-first to the ground.

Tom is a big dude. So when he hit the deck, that meant about 1300lbs of horse tumbling in a glorious black somersault, with a flash of red in there somewhere that was me in my cape and chain mail.

Keep in mind there is no one back there to notice. Except the people in the bleachers watching the show. Who stop watching the show and start taking pictures of us in a heap.

Tom gets to his feet, stands with his head hanging like, “Sorry boss. I done goofed.”

I frantically grab him, run hands over his knees and legs to make sure he hasn’t hurt himself, straighten up my chain mail, then swing up – somehow, even then I didn’t do well climbing up on a horse from the ground unassisted – and ask him to move to see if he’s lame. With tourists still taking pictures.

My script is starting, by the way, and they’re expecting me in the ring RIGHT NOW. At a dead run.

We take a few steps. Nothing ouchy. Ok. Let’s GO. Tom and I hit a dead run and fly into the ring, no one the wiser except for the people who had their cameras ready. Nothing hurt but our egos.

Tom was the best.

2. Revenge of the Breeds

The same summer I had my adventure with Tom, we also got a lot of rain. A lot of rain in that part of the world meant lots of white clover grew in the fields. All of the Breeds Barn residents got turned out around 4 in the afternoon and didn’t come back in until 7am, so they grazed on that stuff all night. What’s the big deal with white clover? Well, it makes horses very…slobbery. Ok, no big deal though, right? So you had a bunch of slobber faces to saddle up half the summer. Gross, but not that interesting.

Well, would be, except that these horses knew their routine really well, and all of them shared a mutual “doneness” when it came to constantly being gawked at, poked at, petted, etc. But because they were all Good Ponies (except the Gypsy Vanner, who was a dick, and the Arabian, who was shit-for-brains), they had to find petty ways to occasionally vent their frustrations.

Enter the white clover.

Every show we did that summer while the clover was in season, each horse we took into the ring would very patiently collect an entire jaw full of slobber. We’re talking green, slimy, gross buckets of slobber here. After each show, we would walk our charges over to the rail so visitors could come up and pet them, ask questions, and otherwise just get close to a horse. It was the best part of the show for me, because many of these people had never touched a horse before, and I got to share with them something I dearly loved.

Each one of these fuckers would choose that magical moment to open their mouths and let it rain green goo.

I did SO much explaining that summer about how it was because of the clover. They don’t mean it. They really like you! They’re showing you they like you.

It was on purpose. Each and every time.

I loved those horses so much. Even the shit-for-brains Arabian, which is a whole other story. I miss that job.

3. The Free Bird.

My old house in Kentucky had a fireplace that I never used, because it involved a chimney stove insert that was not up to code and too heavy to bother moving. At some point the chimney flue must have come loose or whatever it is chimney flues do, because birds would occasionally find their way into my chimney, and if they were REALLY determined, into my house. On the most memorable occasion, my 2 worthless cats were the only ones home. My dog was also home, however she was young and crated at the time and does not factor into this story (though she definitely does in the OTHER memorable bird occasion.)

This house also had a spiral staircase, which is super cool to look at, but really not very functional save for one thing: it was the perfect place to feed my cats and ensure the dog didn’t get into their food. Each cat had her own step. Every day when I got home from work, the two cats would already be sitting on their step, in front of their bowls, demanding dinner.

On the day of the bird incident, I come home as usual. Find everyone in their usual spots. Except this time there is an interloper.

The goddamned bird that snuck into my house through the chimney is standing on the step ABOVE Cat #2. Both cats look at me. Yowl. Look at their bowls. The bird – who is essentially offering itself up as dinner mere inches away from Cat #2’s head – continues to do bird things and poop on my spiral staircase. The worthless cats did not so much as acknowledge the bird exists.

I had to corral and chase the damn bird out of the house myself, which involved a feather duster and accidentally getting it stuck in a closet, without any help from nature’s bird killers still mad that they haven’t gotten dinner yet.

One of these cats is still around and being a worthless grouchy cuddle slut to this VERY DAY.

4. The Shithead Squirrel.

Same house. Same cats. Only add another cat. And the dog now has free house privileges during the day.

I had a cedar house. I loved that house. You know what else loves cedar houses? Squirrels. This one fucking squirrel in particular. Do not talk to me about squirrels. I hate squirrels. I loathe squirrels. All because of this motherfucker.

I had a basement garage, which means one side of the one story house was as tall as a 2 story. Naturally, this was the side of the house this asshole squirrel decided looked homey. I had noticed small holes chewed into the siding before, but it was in an unreachable spot that was kinda dangerous even with a ladder, and I didn’t have the money to hire someone to really fix it.

Until THIS ASSHOLE. This squirrel chewed its way into the siding of my house. Yanked out the insulation and tossed it on the ground to make it nice and homey. Peering around the corner from my deck I could WATCH him sunning his stupid face though the hole, enjoying the world from MY HOUSE without paying any fucking rent.

Well, the wall was also the wall of my living room. All the animals in the house could hear the squirrel in the wall. Imagine three cats and a dog all huddled next to the TV, staring at the wall.

That little fucker better not chew through the drywall, I thought.

The little fucker chewed through the drywall.

I came home from work to find all four animals huddled around an ACTUAL HOLE IN THE WALL, where this squirrel undoubtedly stuck his head through, saw four sets of teeth and made the first and only good choice in his miserable life. I had chicken wire and a block of wood screwed to the inside of my wall until I could get a contractor out to replace a bunch of the siding and insulation. It was the biggest check I’d ever written in my life and I hope he was STILL IN THERE when they sealed it up.

5. The Killer Chicken

YEARS ago, when I first got my mare, the barn I kept her at had all kinds of non-horsey animals running around. Goats, peacocks, peahens, dogs, cats…and chickens. There was one chicken in particular was a stealth master and a real hate on for humans. You did not go into the second barn alone. That was his domain. And if you did? Take a fucking broom. Otherwise, as you would walk down the aisle, beyond the echo of your boots you’d hear a skittering. Stop. Turn. Just a chicken. Minding its own damn business. Fine, right?

Turn around, keep walking. More skittering. Until it got close. Then there would be mad skittering, as this killer chicken would close on its prey and send you running for your damned life out of the barn, out into the open, away from its domain and its hate and its wrath.

When two people were present you’d never notice it was there. But when you were alone. You were prey.

#mememe #meme replies #animal stories #adventures with swaps

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hunnywrites · 5 years ago

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We Fell In Love In October: Part Two

Summary: Billy and Teddi celebrate Halloween in 1986.

A/N: One chapter left! I’m officially dedicating this series to the guy in front of me in line at Horror Nights the other night that had a mullet, was chewing on a toothpick and telling his girlfriend how weird she was for being so scared to go into the haunted houses. Being stuck behind those two through the Us house was something special. He scared her more than any of the actors. So this is for you, real life Billy Hargrove. Even if you were wearing crocs.

It was late when Billy and Teddi left the movies the next night. They’d had a bit of a lazy day so far. They woke up around noon and made pancakes for breakfast (technically Billy did. He actually knew how to cook while Teddi was still learning not to burn everything). Teddi talked him into driving back into town for more hot apple cider and getting some candy for trick or treaters from Melvald’s before the movie It was still a weird feeling to step into the little convenience store and not see Joyce Byers. Teddi tried not to think about it.

It had been an entire year now since the Byers’ and El had moved out of Hawkins. While most things had gone back to normal (or as normal as things could be in Hawkins), thinking about all of the people who weren’t around anymore made Teddi’s heart ache. She missed El, Will and Joyce. Even Johnathan.

Now Billy had his arm thrown around Teddi’s shoulders as they made their way through the main lobby. The teens working there were closing the snack bar down for the night. “I think that’s probably the worst movie you’ve ever made me watch, Larsson. And you’ve shown me some shit storms.” Billy tossed his now empty bucket of popcorn away before opening the door for Teddi.

It had been a really bad movie. So bad Teddi was a little surprised it had even made it to theaters and not gone straight to video. “...At least you got to see the girls topless a few times.” she offered with a small, sheepish smile as the pair made their way to the Camaro. Teddi pulled Billy’s denim jacket tighter around herself to try and keep warm.

Billy shot her a look. “Those definitely didn’t look like any sorority chicks I’ve ever seen.” he muttered, sliding into the driver’s seat.

Teddi rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Leave it to Billy to complain about seeing naked chicks. “The sorority chicks you’ve seen are porn stars playing dress up in Hustler.” she argued. He didn’t say anything.

“...Whatever. I’m picking the movie next time.” he muttered. That meant they’d be seeing some mindless action movies with lots of explosions. Teddi held in a groan at the idea. The last one hadn’t been so bad, but that was only because Kurt Russell had been in it.

TeddI threw her legs over Billy’s lap and let out a loud sigh. “If you insist...wait a second, where are we going?” she asked. Billy was driving in the opposite direction of their little house. Everything in town was closed for the night. And Billy hadn’t mentioned anything about having any other plans after the movies.

Billy’s hand was resting on Teddi’s leg, his thumb absently rubbing at her ankle. “I just wanted to check something out.” he said cooly. There was a mischievous smirk twitching at his lips that made Teddi’s stomach do a flip. Nothing good ever happened when he got that look. But Teddi would play along for now. At least until she saw how stupid whatever he had planned was.

Eventually Teddi started to realize that they were headed back to their old neighborhood. Billy turned onto Cherry Road, and Teddi’s face screwed up into a confused frown. She pulled her legs from Billy’s lap, leaning forward as if somehow that would help her figure out what he had planned. He drove past the house he’d lived in with Neil and Susan. Neil’s car was in the driveway and the lights inside were off. Teddi couldn’t stop squirming in her seat. Billy didn’t even glance in the house’s direction as he passed.

Teddi let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in when the house was no longer in sight. “What’s wrong?” Billy asked. Teddi could hear hear teasing grin. “Don’t wanna visit the in laws?”

She let out a laugh. “Oh fuck off. That’s not funny,” she playfully shoved him. Billy laughed. “And they’re not my in laws.” she said, holding up her hand and moving her bare ring finger. At some point they’d jokingly started referring to Neil and Susan as Teddi’s in laws. Mostly because Neil hated Teddi and Billy seemed to find it funny.

Billy reached over and took her hand in his. He playfully bit the knuckle of her ring finger before pressing a kiss to it. They didn’t ever talk about getting married. It was too soon for either of them. While they didn’t see themselves ending up with anyone else, Billy would only be twenty next month and Teddi was still a teenager. They had all the time in the world for things like that.

“Will you please tell me where we’re going?” Teddi asked, beginning to get restless.

“Will you please be patient?” he teased. Teddi let out a loud huff and crossed her arms, sinking down in her seat. There was no breaking Billy when he had a surprise planned. In all reality she hadn’t had to wait that long. Another ten minutes and Billy pulled up into the driveway of a house that looked like it hadn’t been touched in decades. He didn’t give any clue as to why they were there. He only looked over at Teddi, that mischievous smirk back, and shut the Camaro off.

“Uh...you do know we have our own house to fool around in, right?” she asked, attempting to joke to cover up how confused she was.

Billy rolled his eyes. “That’s not what this is. Although if you wanna I’m not gonna complain,” he smirked. “I heard about this place from the guys at work. They said this family lived here, back in the 50’s. All of this weird shit started happening after they moved in, I guess. But one night, the oldest brother wakes up, picks up a gun and takes his whole family out. He says the devil made him do it. It’s supposed to be haunted now.” he explained, his voice low.

Teddi looked at Billy and the up to the large, two story house before them. “Wow...that’s scary,” she said blankly. Billy frowned. “That’s also totally just the Amityville Horror.”

“Wait, what? The hell is that?” he asked with an annoyed expression.

“It’s a total classic! Have you never seen it?” she didn’t know why she asked. Of course he hadn’t. “It’s based off a true story. The house was like two towns over from where I grew up, but I was always too scared to go see it.” she said with a small laugh.

“...Shit,” Billy muttered. “I was kinda hoping it was true,” Teddi raised an eyebrow. Billy rolled his eyes. “Not that they died, but that it was haunted.”

“Are you forgetting what happened the last time you went into an abandoned building?” another question she didn’t need to ask. Neither of them would ever forget what happened to Billy in that steel mill.

Billy gripped the steering wheel and let out an annoyed scoff. “C’mon, Ted. I’ve done all of your Halloween shit. Let’s just check it out. What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Teddi could think of an endless list of horrible things that might happen. But he was right. He’d been a good sport. And it wasn’t like the place was actually haunted. She could give it a go.

“Fine, let’s go ghost hunting, Venkman.” she teased as she slid out of the Camaro.

“Who the hell is Venkman?”

“It’s from Ghostbusters, you nerd.”

“Oh I’m the nerd?” Billy asked with a laugh. The pair walked cautiously through the overgrown front lawn and up to the front door. The red paint was cracked and peeling. The tiny windows were so grimy they couldn’t peek through them to see inside. Billy was a little reluctant to touch the rusted over knob. He turned it slowly. It was locked. “Shit. Looks like we’re finding another way in then.” he took a step back from the porch and surveyed the outside of the house for a moment.

Teddi shifted uncomfortably on the porch. The wood was starting to rot. Each plank of wood creaked loudly with every step to the point where Teddi was a little worried she might fall through. “You mean breaking and entering?” she asked.

“It’s abandoned. Me and my friends used to hang out in abandoned spots all the time back in California.” Billy waved her worries away and headed around to the side of the house. Teddi followed behind him.

“...Didn’t you guys get arrested like four times for trespassing?”

Billy ignored the question. He shoved one of the windows open, turning back to Teddi with a proud look as he wiped his hands on the back of his pants. “See? It’s unlocked. So technically we’re just entering.” he offered.

“I don’t know why I keep letting you talk me into this kinda shit. It’s probably not even haunted.” Teddi muttered. Billy leaned down, linking his fingers together to give her a boost inside. They’d done this so many times over the years it was almost like a muscle memory.

Billy smirked. “Come on, Weird Girl. I’ve talked you into stuff that’s way more fun than this.” Teddi let out a squeak as his hand met her ass harshly as she crawled through the window. She could feel her cheeks burning.

“You could have killed me,” she said dramatically after she landed inside with a thud. “I could’ve broken my neck or something.” the rest of her teasing lecture was cut off as she turned to take the house in. She regretted coming in. It was still fully furnished. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs, so much to the point where Teddi had a hard time imagining what anything had looked like when the house had people living in it. It was like whoever had lived there had just run off. Bolted in the middle of the night and never returned. She felt a little chill up her spine.

She jumped a little when Billy pulled himself inside, his boots landing loudly on the wooden floors. “What’s the matter, Ted?” he asked with a smile. “Scared?” he reached around her, fingers tickling her side.

Teddi slapped his hand away. “No. You just startled me is all…” it wasn’t really much of a shock to Billy that Teddi believed in ghosts or that she was easily spooked by them.

Billy grinned over at his girlfriend, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling him to her. “Come on, Ted. You said it yourself that it’s probably not haunted.” he buried his face in her neck, his breath tickling Teddi’s neck.

“That was before I got the total Neibolt street vibes from this place. I can’t believe we haven’t gotten eaten by a killer clown yet,” she muttered. Billy let out a chuckle, pulling away from her and linking their fingers together as he pulled her towards the stairs. “Did someone actually die here?” she asked, unable to keep herself from constantly looking over both shoulders.

He only shrugged. “How should I know? I bought that Amityville shit. Kinda creepy that everything’s still here though, huh?” that was an understatement. Teddi was scared that they’d stumble across some gruesome, decades old crime scene that hadn’t been cleaned up. Her other hand reached up to grab Billy’s arm as they ascended the stairs.

There were some framed family photos on the walls upstairs. There were a few knick knacks, photos and a vase that was full of decaying flowers that filled Teddi’s nose with a sweet but sort of musty smell as they passed by. There were cigarette butts and beer cans littering the hallway. They looked relatively new, she realized with a wave of dread. Was someone inside with them right now? Watching them walk the halls?

“If someone ends up murdering us I’m going to fucking kill you.” Teddi muttered. Billy only laughed. She wasn’t kidding.

He pulled away from her and headed into one of the rooms. “Look, babe. It’s not that bad. No blood splatters, no headless bodies, just...a lot of fucking dust.” Teddi hated how amusing he found all of this. She felt like she was in a crypt. But Teddi followed after him anyways. It was better to be with Billy and his fucked up sense of humor than out in the hall alone.

“If I say I have asthma, can we go home?” she asked, wriggling her nose at all of the dust and god only knew what else was floating around.

“Oh, you have asthma now?” he asked with a grin.

“..Ye- did you hear that?” there was definitely something downstairs. There was a loud thump, like something had fallen over. And Billy had heard it too. His head snapped back towards the doorway and his expression had gone all serious. It did absolutely nothing to calm her nerves.

Billy stepped out in front of Teddi, holding his arm out to shield as if he was expecting something to charge at the both of them. “...I’m gonna go check it out. You stay here.” it wasn’t a suggestion. And Teddi didn’t really want to argue, but she also didn’t want to let him go downstairs where some headless ghost was going to kill him.

So she counted to sixty in her head before she followed after him. The house had gone completely silent. She couldn’t hear the heavy footsteps of Billy’s boots on the rotting floorboards. Only her own. Teddi swallowed thickly as she slowly moved through the house looking for her boyfriend. “...Billy?” she called cautiously before stepping into the kitchen. No answer.

The window above the sink was broken. Maybe that had been the noise she had heard? Maybe some kids were breaking in, hoping to see ghosts like Billy? But she was alone. No sign of Billy or any teens. She immediately started to fear for the worst. “Billy this isn’t funny, okay? If you’re hiding can you just come out? Take me home? ..I’ll do one of your gross sex things!” still no answer. Teddi let out a huff.

Teddi walked out of the kitchen and into what she assumed must have been a sitting room. There was a fireplace big enough for her to stand in, and an old, dusty piano sitting in front of it. Teddi nervously fiddled with two of the piano’s keys, the sharp, out of tune notes sending a chill up her spine.

There was another thud. And a sound like something was being dragged. Teddi gulped. She shifted from foot to foot. This was definitely a predicament. If she went looking for whatever was making the sound she’d be killed like all of those idiot girls in horror movies. You never went after strange noises and you never asked who was there. But that dragging sound...what if something had gotten Billy?

Teddi’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders straight and her head held high. Fuck horror movie rules, she decided. She headed back to the living room where she and Billy had broken in earlier. She was sure that’s where she’d heard the thud coming from. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement behind the couch. Something else moved quickly past the doorway. Already she was outnumbered.

“Bil-” whatever was behind the couch had sprung up, yelling loudly at Teddi. She screamed, instinctively throwing a punch out in front of her.

“Christ, Teddi!” it was Steve Harrington. He was wearing some stupid skeleton mask. Steve groaned loudly, slowly peeling the mask off and grabbing his nose. It was bleeding.

“Steve? What the hell are you doing here?” she spat. Suddenly there was laughter behind her. Teddi whipped around, glaring at Billy and Robin who were both laughing so hard it looked like they could barely keep themselves upright.

Steve plopped down onto the couch and tilted his head back to try and stop the bleeding. “You said we were gonna scare her,” he whined. “You didn’t say anything about my nose being broken!”

Robin rolled her eyes, making her way over to her best friend and slapping his hands away from his face. She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s not broken, drama queen. She just got you good. Nice shot, Teddi. I’m glad I didn’t lose rock, paper, scissors.” she clapped Teddi on the shoulder before sitting next to Steve.

“Is someone gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?” Teddi asked, glaring over at Billy. He was still laughing a little bit.

“Don’t look at me,” Steve said, his voice thick as he pinched his nose shut. “This was all his idea.” he jabbed his thumb in Billy’s direction. She didn’t really need Steve to tell her that. Of course it had been Billy’s idea.

Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Ted. It’s just a little Halloween fun.” he said with a smirk. If looks could kill, Billy would have been dead.

“I think you’re sleeping on the couch tonight, Goldielocks.” Robin said with a snort.

Teddi shrugged Billy’s arm off. “Was any of this true? The whole house being haunted thing? Grisly murders? Ghost hunting?”

Steve had finally managed to get his nose to stop bleeding. “What? No. The family that lived here stopped paying their taxes and ditched the place. Kids come here to smoke weed and hook up. I’ve been coming here for like...ever and I’ve never seen a ghost.”

“If he had he was probably too stoned to realize.” Robin said as the two broke out into quiet giggles.

Teddi turned to look at Billy and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “So you lied, drove me all the way out here, and had Steve scare me? For a joke?”

Billy shifted uncomfortably. “...I mean, when you put it like that I sound like a dick.”

“You are.” Steve and Robin both said.

“Oh, you have no idea what’s coming for you, Hargrove,” Teddi said, jabbing him in the chest. “I’m gonna get you back. And you’re not gonna know when. It can be tomorrow or five years from now-”

“Come on, Teddi, it was a joke.” Billy urged.

Robin groaned. “Let it go already. You totally deserve whatever’s coming. Can we go now?”

“Yeah. Billy promised us beer and horror movies, remember? You were all come on, dude, it’ll be fun! We’ll scare her and then we can hang out!” Steve said, mocking Billy’s voice.

Billy held up his hands. “Yeah, yeah. I remember. Just get outta here, alright? We’ll meet you there,” the message was heard loud and clear. Robin and Steve shared a look, pushing themselves up off of the couch and passing by Teddi and Billy. Robin patted Teddi on the shoulder as she went. “Teddi…” Billy started once they were alone.

Teddi fixed a stern look his way. “I was worried. I was down here thinking of all of the horrible things that might have happened to you. I thought something had like eaten you or something!”

Billy approached her slowly, gently taking her wrists into his hands and pulling her to him. She didn’t fight it, but she didn’t lean into him like he had been hoping. “It was a joke,” he repeated. “C’mon Doll, don’t be pissed at me.” Billy only broke out Doll when he was really in trouble (which Teddi had to admit really wasn’t very often).

Teddi wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him. “It’s fine. I was just pulling your leg.”

Billy let out a sigh of relief. “So are we even?”

“Are you kidding? Fuck no,” Billy groaned. “You know, I don’t know what I’m more offended by. You planning all of this, or the fact that you didn’t ask me to scare Steve instead.”

Billy scratched the back of his neck. “...I guess I thought you’d think it was funny.” he admitted.

“I mean...it was, I guess. But if you do it again I’m dumping your ass.”

He let out a small chuckle and nodded. “Deal...and we can still scare the shit out of Harrington tonight if you want. He’s on our turf.”

Teddi let out a snort. “I’ll think about it. Let’s go, West Side Story. I wanna get out of this dump.” she took Billy by the hand and pulled him towards the front door.

“Hey, wait. Were you serious about the sex stuff earlier?”

“In your dreams, Hargrove.”

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x oc

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dailyaudiobible · 5 years ago

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02/16/2020 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 1:1-3:17, Mark 1:29-2:12, Psalms 35:17-28, Proverbs 9:13-18

Today is the 16th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it's great to be here with you today. So weird coming to you from Rome. We spent yesterday working through jetlag but also working to capture film and photographs of some of the places here that intersect with the New Testament and will be continuing that journey through today and then moving to Israel tomorrow where we will get ready to begin the annual Daily Audio Bible pilgrimage but we talk about all that later. Let's move into the Scriptures for today. And guess what? We finished the book of Exodus yesterday, even as we were beginning the gospel of Mark. So, we have fresh books in front of us.

Introduction to the book of Leviticus:

So, Leviticus is the third book of the Torah, of the Pentateuch, the third book of the Old Testament and it was written to the children of Israel. And…I mean…we’re in the middle of the desert at this point in the story and God is establishing the terms of the covenant between himself and the nation of Israel that is being formed and it’s about a year since they’ve been out of Egypt, and the law is being given. And…and as…as we pay attention to this…and this is one of those areas where it’s like, this is a law book we’re about to read. So, we can zone out pretty easily because who goes to the library to get a law book to read unless you’re an attorney or something? But if we’ll pay attention to what's going on here, we’ll…we’ll see the plot behind the story, right? We talked about that the other day. We’ll see that everything that is being instituted is for a reason about these people's identity - who they are and who God is. And, so, we’ll see that this…this theme that God wants fellowship, but that fellowship can only happen through holiness is a huge thing. He’s…He says in this book, “I am holy therefore, you will be holy. So, if…I mean…if we just read Leviticus, just listen to the words not really, you know, paying attention to…other than what's going on then we’ll see a lot of blood in this book because there’s a lot of sacrifices in it. And if we look at the Old Testament, which is…which is ancient through the perspective of the culture that we live in right now, then yeah, it will seem barbaric and antiquated and the irrelevant and all of the things that people have said over the years but it's not. Like, we might…we might wonder like “why…why would they just start sacrificing animals? Why would God want animal sacrifices and for them to be burned up on an altar?” So, it’s like six weeks ago now that we began our journey and we were in the garden of Eden and we saw Adam and Eve and their rebellion. We talked about this. That separated them from God. And, so, when God came look for them in the cool of the evening they were hiding, and they eventually tell God that they were afraid because they were naked. And what God does is telling here - He covers them with the skins of animals. So, it was God who set this precedent of atonement and covering. It cost something to cover the man and the woman, it cost the life of an animal. So, like now in this church era that we live in we’re in a culture that…that's after Jesus came with the final sacrifice. And, so, all of that sacrificial stuff is antiquated to us and far outdated to us, but it wasn't then. And let's not forget what that final sacrifice, the one Jesus made looked like because it put on display all the barbarity of mankind. But God is baking into this culture, that sin comes at a great cost. So, you might've made it this far in the Bible before. You might have made it to Leviticus before and then started like, “I have…I don't how to relate to this.” Embrace it. What you're watching is the establishment of a culture by a sovereign God, a culture that is intended to show a fallen man the great price of its rebellion, and the great price of this separation, but to also reveal the most high God in His holiness and to understand that this people is invited into that holiness. And the whole thing is happening in the harshness of the desert wastelands where there’s nowhere for them to run. Like they're not going to go to the grocery store and pick up some corn. Like, there in the desert. There’s no place for them to resupply. And that's where we find ourselves as we begin the book of Leviticus chapter 1 through 3 today. And it's a brand-new week so we’ll read from the New International Version this week.

Prayer:

Thank You, Father for Your word. Oh Lord we love You and we thank You for bringing us into this new week and as discombobulated as travel, especially as international travel can be, we are so grateful for the opportunity to be on this pilgrimage and, indeed, we thank You for all that we are being able to see and experience. We thank You for context. We thank You for illuminating the story that is in the Bible so that we can more clearly sense You’re leading on the narrow path that leads to life, because it's a counterintuitive path and so often we find ourselves off of it, so we thank You for all of the ways in a year that You come for us through Your word and through each other and through the experiences that we share. And, so we invite You fully into every aspect of all that will be happening in the coming days. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, stay tuned and stay connected,

For the next couple of weeks what's gonna be going on around here is…is travel, the annual pilgrimage that we take as a community to the land of the Bible. So, we…we stopped over for two days here in Rome to capture some things. So, man, we got to visit some…some parts of the Vatican yesterday. I've never been so it's like, yeah, pretty overwhelming…pretty…pretty overwhelming. But on a more sobering note we were also able to…to visit a prison where Paul had been kept and also the…the place of his…his execution and his…his burial. He’s…he’s…like he's buried here as is the apostle Peter. So, I’ve posted some things on the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page, some pictures and stuff of what we’re seeing, what's going on. And I’ve mentioned that a couple times. This is a good time to follow the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page or on Instagram, Daily Audio Bible on Instagram Facebook.com/dailyaudiobible on Facebook . That’ll keep you connected to the…to the…the pilgrimage that we’re on because we’re kind of posting photographs, little videos, and stuff like that at as they happen at different places. So, it's kind of updated throughout the day and you can kinda check back and see what’s going on. We’ll be seeing some of ancient…of the ancient ruins of Rome and I'm very much looking forward to that today. There are just a lot of Roman ruins in the land of Israel and the biblical lands because at one point it was a part of the Roman Empire. It was a part of the Roman Empire during Jesus life and ministry. It was the Romans who executed Jesus. So, I have been familiar with the architecture and the aqueducts and just some of the magnificent places there but just sort of connect those dots to Rome itself and just sort of see some of the ancients archaeology that remains is…is gonna be great, so we’ll be posting some pictures of that today and then trying…trying to turn the corner on the jetlag as we prepare to fly over to Tel Aviv tomorrow. So, thank you for your continued prayers.

And I remind you that it is our intention to come back again next year and we pray every year. I don't know…I don't know how many years out, but we are planning to come back in 2021 and that pilgrimage is available for registration now as I have mentioned before. You can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section, just look for Israel 2021 and you’ll be able to get all of the details they're. Looking forward to that. And as I have mentioned usually by the time this pilgrimage is over that 2021 will be mostly full, if not all the way full. So, if it's been on your bucket list then…then check it out. Hope to…hope to see you sometime. It is a life changing experience. It's weird because I've been many times but it's a life-changing experience every…every time for me. So, check it out,

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. And I thank you, I thank you profoundly for your partnership. If we didn't do this together we wouldn't be doing this at all and I'm grateful that we are. So, there's a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that is your preference, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request a comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or you can just hit that Hotline button, the little red button at the top of the app and start sharing from there.

And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi family this is his little Cherry in Canada and Brian has been reading to us from the Old Testament about the priests and their garments and all of the rituals and rigor murals that they have to go through simply to enter God’s presence and not die. And it’s not that God is waiting to zap them, it’s just that when you are dealing with a gazillion volts of electricity there are certain precautions that you have to make or you will die and God knows that. But I’ve just been so struck by how the blood of Jesus accomplished what generations of Levitical priesthood could not and now it is so effortless for us to enter God’s presence. I simply open my eyes in the morning and step into the arms who has waited for me all night. I can simply, without washing my face, without putting on certain clothing, without even praying, I can simply step into His arms and saying. [singing] in Your flowering arms in Your flowering arms there is nothing I must do but trust in You and rest. In Your flowering arms in Your flowering arms there is nothing I must bring. I sit and sing and rest. In Your flowering arms in Your flowering arms there is nothing I must be but your little Cherry I rest in Your flowering arms [sing ends].

Hi DAB family this is Nadine formally of New Hampshire now a resident of Maine. I learned that on February 3rd my father…my husband filed for divorce so pretty much just a waiting game until I get the paperwork. I just ask that you lift me up and get…pray for strength for myself and for him as well. I don’t know where I’m headed now. I’m sad and I’m broken but I can’t change things. So, just give it to God and go with the flow and just pray that my journey ahead is more than I dreamed of. Thank you.

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Paula calling from the small island in the sea on the East Coast of Canada. I just want to say I can’t believe how God has changed my life to this broadcast. I was scrambling up an embankment with satan hanging on my heels reaching up to God. My life was in a mire and God scooped me up and without all the forcefulness of father holding onto his most prized possession he said mine to Satan and lifted me up and He has blessed me immensely through this podcast. I am amazed at what God has put before me. It is my life better? No. And understatement? No. But oh how much easier it is to handle each and every day as I join you and I hear your prayers. I pray for each and every one of you as you pray. I pray for the boys as their mom Diane spends her last days and how they need to be embraced and for the Toni’s and Bob the Budgie. And it’s just amazing how it’s simple little tweets in the background can make everything so happy. And I just feel like…like I’ve come home and you guys have pulled out the chair and patted it and said, come, come sit at the supper table. Come dine with us as we eat and of our in God’s word. And I just want to say thank you thank you so much for being yourself. I see myself in so many of you, some places I am now and some places I’ve been and I’ve been…I’m going…I’m not going to go into that. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all you’ve done. Thank you for just being there. God bless you and I will be calling back. Thank you so much.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Denise from a lot of different places but I’m in Charlotte North Carolina this minute and I just wanted to reach out to Christie from Florida/Ohio who called in and her prayer or update was played at the hour and 30 minute mark of the community prayer on February 9th and she let us all know that she was the anonymous caller from 1/6 who called in right after finding out that her sister had committed suicide. And Christie I’m so glad to know who you are. I’m so sorry for your sister and I’m sorry to find out that you’ve just lost a grandfather. I, on Mondays, have started praying for the grieving and one of the line items I have is 1/6 anonymous who lost her sister to suicide and I’m just so blessed to know that who your name is and who am praying for. Also, I’m happy to hear that you are going home to Ohio. I know that something that you have wanted and I know it’s not under the circumstances that you would’ve wished but God makes a way and if I had my Bible open I would read to you from Deuteronomy 1 but I’m not near my Bible this minute but it talks about how, you know, Moses comes down from the mountain and tells the Israelites you have gathered at this mountain too long it is time to go and he lists all these geographical places he says it’s time to go to the home of your ancestors. And any time anyone tells me they’re going home, going back to the place where there from I’m always reminded of that part in Deuteronomy and I am just happy that this is a fruition of something that you have wanted and I bless the way and I asked Father to give Christie from now all the way Ohio just for provision for the job that she’s looking for that she can be near her parents to minister them and have…be able to use her skills. And Father I just ask that you give peace to their hearts as they all come together as a family and that you watch over them in your mighty mighty name. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning DABbers this is Nancy in Oregon I just want to say I’ve been to the Bible the whole entire Bible. Today is my anniversary. It was a year…a little over a year ago that I was listening to the archive. So, today is a full day or a full year that I listened to the Bible. I’ve never done that before and am just pretty excited. But on January 31 I have gone through from Genesis to Exodus with you guys. I appreciate all your songs, your poems, your support, your encouragement, your prayers, your support. Just keep praying that I can do this. Some days I go through this the serenity prayer – God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change __ I can’t go any further. So, just pray that I get through that, that I can just get and accept things that I cannot change and the courage to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference. I’m hanging in there. I’m going to CR and it’s the faith-based kind of like __ with families and__ other things that I’m __ for. Thank you for your support, your encouragement. I love you guys and I’m sharing this program with others so that it they can enjoy it too and go to the Bible. God’s glory. It’s all about Jesus. Jesus and nothing but Jesus. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible my name is Lisa I’m calling from Central Florida it’s Monday, February 10th. The reason for my call is I would like to ask for prayers for my husband Michael. He was diagnosed with ocular melanoma 18 years ago. He’s had some issues, health issues that we’re addressing the different diagnostic testing - CT scan, upper G.I., and that type of thing. I’m very worried about him. He doesn’t take care of himself and he hasn’t health wise for someone who had cancer. And I just wish that he would, you know, realize that my son and I really want him to be around and to start taking care of himself when he should. I just ask for prayers for him for these testings that are coming up and I just pray that everything’s okay and that he realizes that we do love him and want him to be around and just to start taking care of himself. I appreciate all prayers. Thank you very much. I recently started listening January 1st. My son Dylan actually introduced me to the Daily Audio Bible, and it’s been a blessing ever since. I made a New Year’s resolution that I was gonna start listening and I have listened every day since January 1st and I listen to all the prayers and I pray for all of you. It’s just amazing to me all that Brian has done, and I appreciate it and I thank you and I love you all. Bye-bye.

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the-officially-kat · 6 years ago

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Mamma Mia, Here I Go Again

Title: Mamma Mia, Here I Go Again

Pairing: Plance (Pidge x Lance) (Sorta?)

Description: What none of them could have predicted was Allura miraculously coming back from the dead and Lance not leaving her side, resulting in a very bummed Pidge. And now, Pidge, all dressed up along with Rizavi and Ina, was glumly staring at her drink in a karaoke bar.

Notes: I was desperate for some fluff after all the angst that’s been swimming in my head and heart for the last week so this is just a dumb song fic (also this takes place roughly four years after the one year later epilogue)

[AO3 LINK]

The whole evening had been pre-planned for a month now. Rizavi had dragged Ina and Pidge in for a movie night one day and they discovered an oldie called ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’, and ever since they watched it and sang along to the music, Rizavi had suggest that the three of them all go out and sing karaoke, outfits and all.

Finding the outfits was actually fairly easy, it was the dance moves that proved to be difficult. Even with practicing everyday it still took them, especially Pidge, nearly the whole month to learn all the steps and get in sync. And finally, just last week they picked out the perfect spot to go, not too far away but far away enough that if they ended up looking like drunk idiots no one would recognize them.

However, what none of them could have predicted was Allura miraculously coming back from the dead and Lance not leaving her side, resulting in a very bummed Pidge. Of course, first and foremost, Pidge was over the moon that Allura was alive. But seeing Lance with Allura again was like having a cold bucket of water dumped on her in the middle of winter that then having hundreds of icy knives stab her heart.

And now, Pidge, all dressed up along with Rizavi and Ina, was glumly staring at her drink in the karaoke bar and listening to Rizavi list off songs they could sing from the song menu.

“They have Waterloo!”.

“Nope.” Pidge said.

Rizavi look at the list again. “Oh! They’ve got Fernando!”.

“Absolutely not.” Pidge said.

“We don’t know the dance moves for that one.” Ina added.

“I’ve been through the entire list.”.

Pidge took a sip of her drink. “There’s gotta be something really bitter on there. Or at least something that’s not a love song.”.

Rizavi stared more intently at the list in silence for a good minute before smiling and shoving the menu in Pidge’s face and pointing at one of the songs. “This one.”.

Pidge read the song. “No.”.

“But it’s perfect! Minus the a line or two it’s so accurate!”.

“And it’s the dance we practiced the most.” Ina said, looking at the song.

“Even more perfect.”.

Pidge leaned her head back and groaned, then coming back up and downing the rest of her drink in one go. “We sing this and then we go.”.

Rizavi just smiled and handed her one of the microphones they picked up from the bartender. Pidge got up from her seat and walked over to the stage, which wasn’t far since they’d managed to get a table right in the front. She walked up the steps, put a coin in the jukebox and turned the mic on.

“I was cheated by you, and I think you know when,

So I made up my mind, it must come to an end,”.

Pidge sighed, trying to rid her mind of recent happenings and letting the music, and muscle memory, guide her.

“Look at me now, will I ever learn?

I don’t know how, but I suddenly lose control,”.

She spun around, facing the audience with an oncoming smile, “There’s a fire within my soul…”.

The beat from the music picked up and Rizavi whooped, “Yeah, Pidge!”. The two pilots then jumped up and joined her on the stage and in the song.

“Just one look, and I can hear a bell ring,

One more look, and I forget everything,

Whoa, whoa,

Mamma Mia, here I go again,

My, my, how can I resist ‘ya?

Mamma Mia, does it show again,

My, my, just how much I missed ‘ya?”.

“Yes, I’ve been broken hearted,

Blue since the day we parted,” Pidge belted.

“Why, why, did I ever let you go?

Mamma Mia, now I really know,

My, my, I should not have let you go!”.

“Come on!” Rizavi said, leaping off the stage and lazily sitting down at their table while Ina stood by the table next to theirs.

Pidge got off the stage and layed down on their table, continuing the song, “I was angry and sad, about the things that you do.”.

She gave Rizavi a big kiss on the cheek before running over to Ina, standing up on a chair, and pretending to slap her across the face, “I can’t count all the times, that I cried over you.”.

Pidge then did a lap around the bar, “And when you go, when you slam the door, I think you know, that you won’t be away too long.”.

“You know that I’m not that strong,” She sang as she met Rizavi and Ina back up on the stage.

“Just one look, and I can hear a bell ring,

One more look, and I forget everything,

Whoa, whoa.”.

The girls continued through the routine, stomping their feet, shaking their hips, and waving their arms all in unison as the formally silent crowd cheered for them. Truly to Pidge it was like they were in the movie and a happy ending was just around the corner.

“Mamma Mia, here I go again,

My, my, how can I resist ‘ya?

Mamma Mia, does it show again,

My, my, just how much I missed ‘ya?”.

The girls left the stage to finish the dance.

“Yes, I’ve been broken hearted,

Blue since the day we parted,”

They bounced through the crowd, their steps in time with the people clapping, and got up onto the bar.

“Why, why, did I ever let you go?

Mamma Mia, now I really know,

My, my, I should not have let you go--!”.

Pidge barely finished the last line when Ina accidentally shoved her off the counter. But instead of harshly introducing her butt with the hardwood floor, she was caught by two strong arms. And by a cruel, or wonderful, twist of fate, those two strong arms happened to belong to the very guy she had been singing about. “Lance?!”.

“Hi there.” Lance said, flashing her his classic smile that always made her knees weak.

“What-What are you doing here?” Pidge asked, still a little out of breath from the dancing and singing.

“Matt said he was going to drive you three back at midnight but Iverson dropped some last minute work on his desk so he asked me to drive you guys.”.

“Oh.” Pidge said simply.

“Are you good? Can I put you down now, or…?”.

Pidge prayed that the lighting in the bar was poor enough to mask her raging blush as she realized that Lance was still holding her in the bridal position. “Y-Yes! Yes you can!”.

Ina and Rizavi reached the two of them just as Lance put her down and Pidge did her best to ignore Razavi's wide grin and coughed. “Are you guys ready to go? Lance is gonna drive us back.”.

“We’re ready. The bartender made our drinks free since we were actually entertaining, and we got your coat.” Rizavi said, handing it to her.

“He also said to come back anytime to light up the place.” Ina added.

“I bet you could light up the Garrison with your performance.” Lance said.

Pidge nearly choked. “Excuse me?”.

“Did you watch us?” Ina asked.

“Just a bit, I got here when you started the last chorus.”.

It was official. Pidge wanted to die. Before Lance could get a good look at her cherry red face, Pidge rushed to the exit. “Welp! We better get back to the Garrison!”.

For the entire ride she refused to look anywhere in Lance’s direction. She stayed quiet and stared out the window while Rizavi and Ina asked him how the performance was and he replied in compliments. Pidge had managed to calm down by time they got back but couldn’t help being the first to exit the car when Lance parked it. The group entered the building and were starting to walk down the hallways towards the living quarters when Rizavi took a sharp turn in a different direction, taking Ina with her.

“You two go on ahead, I just need to check something real quick and Ina’s gonna help me!”.

Glaring at her with as much betrayal as she could muster, Pidge asked, “What do you need to check?”.

“The, uh,” Rizavi then coughed and grumbled some gibberish. “That thing! Okay, bye!”. The two pilots raced away.

Well. Not only was Pidge going to die, but she was going to take Rizavi with her.

Lance’s voice snapped her out of her murderous plans, “You mind if I walk you back to your room?”.

“Uh, nope. Let’s go.”.

And so the two of them walked down the familiar path in a silence that was surprisingly comforting. It reminded Pidge of the times Lance would hang around her and Hunk when they were working on a piece of tech or machinery. His presence alone, quiet or not, was soothing like a rainy afternoon or a warm fire on a winter night. The thought cracked the first smile on her face since she finished singing.

Finally they reached her door and Pidge mumbled a goodnight and she was about to go in when Lance spoke up again, “Hey, Pidge?”.

She looked up at him. “Yeah?”.

“You were really great up there when you were singing, and you looked great too.”.

There was that smile again. And his perfect blue eyes. It took all of Pidge’s self control to not visibly swoon and melt into a puddle. “Thanks, Lance.” She smiled softly.

“Goodnight.” He said.

“Goodnight.”.

She watched him as he walked away and she slowly slunk into her room, letting her back hit the door after it closed behind her. Pidge was still smiling when she sang to herself,

“Mamma Mia, here I go again...”.

#plance #pidgance #pance #flirtyrobot #plance fanfic #voltron s8 spoilers #voltron season 8 spoilers #kat's fanfics

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hellobengski · 6 years ago

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THAILAND: POST COLLEGE ADVENTURE 2017

The last time I felt clouds in my presence was in the year 2012, month of December, in which the airplane landed to Hong Kong. The dilemma of life and death in an open space was merely forgotten, where everything you could see was tranquility. I never wanted to stop looking at cottony clouds. They made me feel safe. It was 5 years later when I felt it again. I remember how it feels to fly without wings, appreciating the beauty of nature beyond what I imagine.

Thailand was the next stop on my travel bucket list all over Southeast Asia. It was a place that had similar atmosphere with my very own country. EDSA was the first thing that came into my mind when I walked outside the airport. I heard various honking of buses and cars, but in a more disciplined way, I guess. But more than that, I had a view of a new horizon of tradition and culture.

My mom, sister, and aunt had to travel 2 hours away from the airport so we could check in to the hotel where my sister booked through the online. I was assuming somehow it could be near a quiet place, or maybe a road of consecutive coffee shops, but I failed. It was entirely different than what I anticipated. Khao San Road was a place where small bars and party houses were all located. Abstract shirts, different items with elephant designs were displayed along the narrow road of which tourists could experience a good bargain with merchants. I have seen discrete races all over the world who stayed for quite some time in their respective hotels. I could turn my head 360 and whichever direction I bumped into, I could always see unfamiliar but lovely faces.

We met Ms. Nancy, our tour guide for the 1st day. She had a medium short hair, showed a very long glittery eyelashes in her face, and a pale pink lipstick on her mouth. She had a pleasing personality, I could say, or maybe she needed to be because it was part of her job. She was shorter than me, maybe an inch, and was in her typical shirt and pants with Chuck Taylor shoes to stay comfy.

I only had 2 hours to prepare and fix my baggage before I travel with Ms. Nancy. I swiped the card through the doorknob, allowing me to embrace a very relaxing and convenient 1 single room with 2 large soft beds and pillows. I put my sister’s make-up kit in front of the mirror with a hairdryer beside it. My personal hygiene necessities were located just outside our bedroom, in the midpoint of two comfort rooms, so it would be easier to grab just in case we’re in a hurry to take a bath. My aunt placed some leftover biscuits all the way from Philippines next to the huge flat screen TV. My mom being my mom, tried to clean some of her stuff, but there was no enough time left. Angela, my sister, did some of her retouch on her face to make her feel fresh even when she already felt exhausted. We left the room and ate one of the most popular Thai food called, “Pad-Thai” along the road.

The value of respect of Thai people for their King was the very first thing I ever noticed. As I was riding in an outsized van, I spotted some black and white colored curtains hanged outside the gigantic temples of the individual kings who passed away, and for the royals who are still living. Ms. Nancy shared some of her ideas about Thai’s history, telling us that these long curtains represent grief and condolences for the King who died due to his old age. And this will last for a year, until they go back to the feeling of relief.

I went inside historical temples of different images of Buddha, taking pictures for a remembrance to my relatives when I get back home. I tried eating coconut ice cream for P50 baht, which savored my starving throat into something refreshing. Tuk Tuk, a classic Thai vehicle, impressed me with its three wheels, although Ms. Nancy recommended us not to ride on it. Even if I wanted to stay longer in a certain place, we only had limited time to grasp some of the stories that were in there.

Alarm clocks in our own phone woke up us too early. I didn’t have enough sleep. Maybe because of too much excitement, or maybe because of the extreme coldness inside our room. I woke up at 4 in the morning holding my phone, checking some news and updates in the Philippines. It was a never-ending extra judicial killings on my newsfeed, letting me feel the frustration and agitation for my government’s administration. And few days from now, ironically, I would be home in a place where I wouldn’t feel safe. I didn’t want to think about overthinking, so I tried to wake up my mom. I went directly to the bathroom, thinking about the plans and places Ms. Nancy listed for us the day before she left us in the hotel. Everyone else seemed to be freaking out when I finished taking a bath, considering the only time we had to eat for a buffet breakfast. I chose to wear an orange shirt and shorts with floral design, supposing it would match the places we would be visiting.

Just by the time the restaurant open its door, I hurriedly walked into the different kinds of food. I was truly overwhelmed seeing complete set of breakfast that made my stomach perfectly full. Sausages on my left, croissants and toasted bread on my right, a problem of choosing between fried rice or pasta, and slices of watermelons and pineapples were put into my plate. I wasn’t even contented at all, I made my own coffee to match my croissants, even bother to get cucumber juice just in case coffee wouldn’t give me satisfaction. The question of time never crossed my mind when all these food were prepared in front of me. Although it was a must to rush, a Thai man, who works with Ms. Nancy in the same travel agency, fetched us. It was a group tour, consisted of two couples, one from America, and the other from Malaysia.

The tour started by introducing Mr. Thai’s name. I forgot, though. He considered making jokes out of telling stories, associated with historical Thai’s exotic food too. He is a 55-year old man, who has 3 kids. All I could remember was every time he gets to see me smiling, the memory of his daughter blissfully retains in his mind. He shared about how he got involved into a travel agency, which I think a lot of Thai people are working at. He was not as chatty as Ms. Nancy, nevertheless, he was entertaining. He showed us the famous Floating Market in Thailand, where tourists needed to ride on a boat to purchase some stuff. I have seen amazing paintings in all sizes, carved vases, coconut ice cream with nuts for its toppings, “lansones” which was sold by an 85-year old woman, weaved hats, and a lot more. The biggest Eureka moment was, all I thought Thailand has only one floating market. By the time we had to leave the place, Mr. I forgot-the-name actually revealed that in every town, has its own one. Well, not a thing was bought during the boating experience, all I know was my heart was fulfilled seeing people enjoying moments that could only last once in a life time.

The magical performance in theater happened at night after the tour in Floating Market. We entered a huge closed room with people wanting to witness such beauty in arts and entertainment. Siam Niramit, is a state-of-the art theater yielding one of the largest stage productions in the world. It’s a captivating adventure through Thailand’s history and culture in high-flying fashion, with live elephants, acrobatics, pyrotechnics and stunts – all performed by a troupe made up of thousands of performers adorned in great costumes. I would never forget my mom’s unexplainable reaction and experience throughout the entire show. She wanted to cry out of joy most of the time. It’s as if she didn’t want to go home in the hotel. I never saw rejection from her face, telling me that next time she comes back, it would be with my dad. We captured moments with several actors and actresses after, leaving us a souvenir with elephants, making this as her favorite art of the travel.

Off my bucket list was also riding an elephant. One of the many animals I have always wanted to experience, carabao was supposed to be the first. I think elephants were made to listen closely to everything, to everyone. They were made to be friends with people most especially when you treat them with care and respect. They love watermelons and coconuts. They like being splashed with water after taking us into a routine. They were also trained to take pictures with various poses of their trunks, and that’s how they get to be attractive for locals and foreigners.

The famous Thai massage will never be forgotten. So my brother’s friend who happens to work in Bangkok accompanied us after a very long day in market. This has got to be the most effective massage in my whole life. At first I thought it was brutal, since it was my first time the legit Thai massage. I was taking it easy for the first few minutes but later on, it kinda felt horrible. In a matter of seconds, the compress became weapon and I was literally cringing under the pressure. I actually found myself concentrating on regulating my breathing. The way they provide Thai massages are with entire body. They leverage their own body weight with certain movements in order to provide enough pressure to the body. I did fall asleep several times but still ended with a very soothing cup of tea.

Of course, our vacation wouldn’t be complete without the “party.” Prior to shopping in Chatuchak Market, my sister and I had been planning to socialize with people. We were really after drinks and fries, although it wasn’t our first time doing this, we wanted to make sure to at least meet good-looking guys from Europe. Our mom was subtle with her words but still she allowed us to explore. By the time we went down from our room, that’s when the party started. I thought we were courageous enough to do things beyond our control, but surprisingly, we were like high school students who just stayed in a corner of the street to observe how a street party works. There were people who literally danced as if it was their last day on earth, girls and guys French kissing each other while tossing their drinks, Asians and Americans twerking as if they’re showing off to every person they’d bump into. There was also robbery that happened in 7 Eleven Convenience store, unknowingly grabbing sodas and fresh milk from the fridge, to ease their drunkenness. After all, I saw emptiness. I felt emptiness. The superficiality of society where people wants to fit in to get accepted because after all, no one wants rejection. The façade of being proud “in” but in reality, they’re slowly dying. And for me, street party seemed to be an outlet of frustration, sadness, anxiety, and depression. People always long for something in the end. But life should be more than a night of drinks and smoke. It should be more than meeting temporary people.

Four days and three nights was a short term goal achieved in knowing and living the life in Thailand. More insights were added to my unending learnings in life. It was more than the feeling of being grateful of what the life has more to offer for people like us who seek for journey mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Life is really full of surprises and adventures and I couldn’t wait for my next destination. Until next time, Thailand!

#thailand #bucketlist #vacation #vacationtrip #asia #asianculture #thaifood #floatingmarket #party #travel #travelexperience #travelblog #travelstory

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thecoroutfitters · 6 years ago

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Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

First let’s give a nod at the growing zones that are just entering or hitting the main strides of their production seasons. Best of luck to you!

For many of us in the northern hemisphere, growing season is winding down. We may be extending our production with row covers, greenhouses, indoor veggies and greens, and sprouts, or we may be hanging up our gloves for a complete break.

Winter or summer, anytime we’re going to let our gardens or some portion of them go dormant, some simple preparations can help lower our workloads and increase their productivity for the next season.

Test Now

While things can change due to soil activity and temperature, even if you’re already getting frosts or snows, go ahead and test your soil pH and nutrients. You can do basic tests at home for very little cost. Most extension services also offer testing, including a battery for micro-nutrients using plant matter, so call around to see if that’s an option.

Most amendments, especially on the pH and major deficiency fronts, do best if they have some time to groove before planting. If you’re making significant changes, it’s usually recommended to do so incrementally verses dumping tons in one go. The faster we know about a trend, the faster we can address it and get back to max productivity.

*Don’t ignore this one if you have pots and planters – they’re as vulnerable as raised beds and can benefit just like beds and row-crop plots.

Spread & Start Compost

Fertilizing early also applies to compost, finished or partially finished, or raw.

Trench, hole and tube composting in-situ allows microbes to work over raw materials through the verges of our seasons. Spreading finished or partially finished compost on the surface also allows nutrients to permeate downward and for microbes and beneficial insects to work it into the surface.

We can also go ahead and till or fork finished or partially finished compost into the surface of soils for the same effects. Soil will be better conditioned at the start of planting.

Composting materials – to include the “safe” manures – can also help us if we use greenhouses, cold frames, or plastic row covers. Composting requires some warmth, but it also generates heat of its own. By doing pits or trenches to fill with compost, we can actually extend the growing season for some of our tenders and our cold-hardy crops.

The compost that develops over autumn and winter will be ready to help feed areas of the garden that need a spring boost. In cool areas where it won’t completely finish, it’ll still be speeding up the process for us.

Greenhouses

Wash off any dust or pollen that’s built up on the roof or sides through the season to maximize the sunlight plants will be getting. A pressurized hose nozzle or power washer can also remove the leaves that will or are already falling.

Don’t neglect the interior. Greenhouse glass or plastic can end up coated by “hard water” and “soap scum” mineral deposits as condensation and irrigation spray evaporates, reducing the amount of light that gets through.

Outdoor cold frames and row cover plastic can be more difficult, but can also benefit from spraying or brushing off pollen and dirt, mild solutions to remove evaporation buildup, and some visual inspections for wear, holes, and rips.

This is also an excellent time to check for holes in screens and drafts in window joints and at the door(s). Adding reflectors and heat sinks like black hoses, buckets, and bottles filled with water can further extend seasons.

Clean-up season can also be a good time to run disinfectant protocols and check preps for winter-spring greenhouse pests.

Gardens Like Cozying Up Under Blankets, Too

One of the biggest, easiest boosts comes from leaving as little bare, flattened earth as possible over our dormant season. Cover crops and a specific way of tilling for sloped areas gets covered in a bit, but one of the most effective ways to bed down gardens is to tuck them in with a nice blanket.

Tarps prevent soil erosion and compaction from rains and any snowmelt. Especially for raised beds and planters or containers, diverting rains and snowmelt also means less nutrient wash-out.

“Tarps” in this case means anything that spreads flat– cardboard, plastic, wood paneling, strips of metal roofing, salvaged kiddie pools. Some types of carpets, curtains, and blankets can also be effective.

Container gardeners have it really easy, and can just slide trash bags over their pots and planters.

Tarping also prevent weeds from being blown or carried in, and most types listed above will block sunlight, starving weeds below.

In many cases, they’ll also create warmer soil conditions. That will keep our soil life active later and earlier in the season. (That’s both pro-con if pests start digging through them hunting our bugs.)

Mulching delivers many of the same benefits. Mulch comes in a wide variety of types and styles – whole leaves we rake from our trees, chipped leaves, leaf mold and compost we developed over the growing season, pine or grass straw, wood chips. Mulches can also be mow-down, crimp, or cold-kill cover crops.

Depending on our climate and whether we have “woody/hard” mulches (wood chips, whole leaves) or “soft/green” mulches (lawn trimmings, leaf mold, buckwheat and mustard covers), our mulches may break down sufficiently over the season to be tilled in or planted through come spring. Others may need to rake them off, furrow through them to expose soil for a planting pass, or use no-till methods, especially for the woodier types.

Some of the warnings about mulching are justified. In some cases, the “threat” is actually something I’m aiming for or consider a bonus – like pine and oak mulches increasing acidity in beds.

If you’ve had a booming acorn year (walnuts or pecans, too), you might want to do some winnowing so fewer end up planted in your nice, fertile garden soil to become a pest.

We definitely want to be very cautious if we’re chipping privet for mulches. Privet should be outlawed, and can survive some incredible horrors, then become a real pest. Discard any berries and sift through for small branches that escaped the chippers to avoid problems.

Also skip mulches made from trees that share diseases with our crops and ergot-infected grasses.

If we have major flea beetle or slug problems, some mulch types will exacerbate them and we may want to apply other measures to protect soils over the dormant season.

Cover Crops

It’s not as easy to bed down a whole field, especially late in the season. If there’s time in your growing zone yet, you may be able to get a cover crop in, or autumn-sow a cover that will come up in spring for some protection.

Buckwheat sprouts and grows fast, and can provide some die-down soil cover. Radishes and mustards are also quick and both have some additional benefits, especially if you’ve had pest problems earlier in the year, but consider your upcoming crop rotations with them.

Cover crops also apply to smaller beds, and there may still be time in some zones for things like autumn-sown, spring-harvest grains.

Tilled Plots

If you’re past the point of planting with a field or plot maintained with till cropping, there are still a couple of things that will help.

One, leave standing stubble unless it’s going to be a pest/disease host.

If it’s already bare, turned in, or has only sporadic plant matter, go ahead and get another till in. Double-cut across the face of contours to form exaggerated furrows (ridge-and-furrow irrigation style).

Versus a plot that’s already packed down flat and bare, both stubble and the undulating surface will slow and catch more of winter’s rains and any snowmelt, increasing infiltration and reducing erosion and nutrient runoff.

Exaggerated furrowing also means less spring flood inundation, creating warmer and less compacted soils that can be worked earlier in the year.

If the plot is small enough, go ahead and identify where you’ll be actively planting and where you’ll be driving or walking. Covering just your growing space may be possible, protecting that soil and decreasing the weed load. Any of the covers from tucking in smaller beds apply – weighted tarps and cardboard, compost, straw and leaf mulches.

Bedding Down Gardens

A few simple steps can have huge impacts on our gardens when they’re not in production, whether we’re going dormant for busy or arid or sweltering seasons, in part or in full, or for winter. Especially in areas where we get as many rain and thaw days as we have frigid days and persistent snow cover, protecting beds, planters, and row plots from weeds and runoff can help enormously when we’re ready to break ground again.

Working ahead to improve yields next year doesn’t have to be expensive. We can source coffee for fertilizer, all kinds of tarp replacements, and pine straw and leaves without spending a dime. In other cases, we can boost our productivity with $5-$25 testing.

Most bed-down practices also apply if we’re planning to expand our gardening next year, especially when it comes to soil testing, soil structure amendments, and lowering the weed loads we’re going to face. “An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure” is pretty much universally true. It applies exponentially when it comes to our dormant and future garden spaces.

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travellianna · 6 years ago

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Antarctica aboard the Ocean Adventurer... and yes there were a lot of penguins!

We made this unforgettable adventure by booking with Expedition Trips who then organised everything with Quark Expeditions. They were all amazing from start to end of the journey, and we would highly recommend them! People of all ages were on the trip, with the eldest woman at 97 years so it’s never too late.

My number one tip is to pack layers and pack less than you think you wil need because the weight limit on the slightly old and wobbly looking jet plane is 15kg per person! The coldest it got was -3C and maybe a little lower with the wind chill. Waterproof clothing is a must, not because of rain but because of the spray while on the zodiacs. It’s a good idea to take along some books as there is quite a bit of waiting time. If you get seasick, then motion sickness pills are also a good idea. Remember you are very far from any medical care so bring essential medicines.

You should try your best to go into the trip with the mindset that you will have to adapt to the weather conditions and Mother Nature is unpredictable. There is not point in getting mad or impatient (though some people spent a lot of energy complaining), because the company and crew are doing their best to get you safely on your way to an unforgettable voyage. The anticipation is great for whether your plane can take off... but when you are on the way it is an exhilarating feeling!

An alternate to the fly and cruise is cruising from Ushuaia, Argentina but be warned that the waters between there and Antarctica are very rough and it takes a lot longer to reach Antarctica.

The beautiful scenery was striking with blue-white icebergs and glaciers in all directions, pristine snowy mountains, penguins, seals, whales and an absence of most vegetation. We saw only one other boat with two people on it, and a few people at each research station, otherwise it was just our cruise ship of 130 passengers plus crew. There is peace and quiet, and being on deck early in the morning felt like an isolated encounter with grand nature all around.

The trip diary:

Our offical arrival day was 15th December though we were there a day early and I’d come straight from Torres del Paine.

15th December - Another day to explore Punta Arenas, the departure city for our Antarctic adventure with Quark Expeditions. We had to get our bags weighed by Quark adventures and pick up our heavy arctic parkas and waterproof boots. The parkas were bright yellow and very warm, and ours to keep! Our main activity of the day was a tour of the Austral Brewery, which was interesting, especially trying 7 different beers at the end. The La Patagonia brewery was started by a German man Jose Fischer and when he died it was passed to his son. His son committed suicide so then the family gave up the business and it was renamed Austral. All of the beers were quite good and I especially liked the Imperial lager and the Calafate ale, which was fruity.

We caught a Taxi to the hotel and arrived just in time for the 18h briefing meeting. We were briefed on the procedures like entering and exiting the zodiac rafts, timing and weather, and the Antarctic treaty and regulations. There were 4 cm of snow on the runway at King George island and the weather for the morning didn’t look favourable so our flight would be delayed. We were to check back after dinner for the timing update. We checked the update after dinner and it said we would have breakfast as normal, lunch at 11h30 check out at noon, depart at 12h30 and attempt to fly at 15h. The excitement and anticipation could be felt in the room and it was hard to sleep.

16th December - Woke up at 8h and got ready but we had some time until the update meeting at 10h, and only about half of the people turned up since they had already announced we would not leave before 15h. The staff announced that we would not be able to fly at 15h. A group that had been waiting for two days due to bad weather already had priority and one flight was in the air with a second planned for mid-afternoon. Normally there would be two planes but two of the three planes owned by the charter company clipped wings in the hangar and were damaged. One had damage to the wing and another to the structure so they were trying to repair the wing damage. Bad luck! A waiting game untl the next update scheduled for 15h.

While we were stuck waiting, Quark arranged meals and if people would be stuck overnight then they arrange accommodation. It must be a nightmare to handle the ever-changing logistics! Many people were complaining but...no one can predict the weather and it’s unfortunate that the planes clipped each other but it was out of our control.

We rested in the lobby since we no longer had rooms, and at 15h we went up to see the update. Good news is we were cleared for takeoff and group one would meet in the lobby at 17h45 for 18h30 departure to the airport. Our flight would depart at 21h and land on King George island at 23h. The second group would depart at 3h and land at 5h tomorrow morning so they will get to have a beautiful view but after a tough long wait into the night.

Excited to get to Antarctica even if it’s 12 hours later than planned! We were in the lobby and boarded coaches at 18h30 to the airport. A separate truck carried our luggage and we checked that in at Punta Arenas airport. We were on an Antarctic Air charter flight and departed around 21h15 so 15 minutes later than planned. We got a cold dinner of sandwiches, yoghurt, fruit cocktail and an alfajore (addictive biscuits/cookies filled with dulce de leche/caramel). The flight went quickly and everyone queued up to use the loo since they announced that there would be no loos until we reached the ship. We then had to get into waterproof pants and boots. It was difficult especially for the older people to have to bend in the small spaces. We landed by 23h30 and then walked 1.4km to the zodiac launch station. When we got out of the plane it reminded me of Iceland with rocks and snow. Beautiful! We couldn’t take photos because the landing strip is on a Chilean air base. We took a zodiac to the ship Ocean adventurer. We did a water entrance so the boots were useful. It was very calm water and no wind so the zodiac ride was peaceful. The oldest passenger on the boat was 97 years old and this was her bucket list trip- good inspiration to keep on living! We got into the boat via steep stairs and then checked in to our cabin 227 with two narrow twin beds, a starboard window, big double closet and a bathroom. Not so bad for an adventure cruise!

17th December - The second group arrived around 6h and the expedition lead Alison (Ali) announced that breakfast would be from 6h30 until 8h30 and then a mandatory meeting at 10h. We went back to sleep until 7h20. It felt a bit like camp with loudspeaker announcements. But it was much better than camp because looking out of the porthole at any time of the day promised stunning icy scenery in the 23 hours of daylight. We had a briefing and safety meeting at 10h and the expedition team introduced themselves. The ship Dr said the three most common problems are flu, bruises and seasickness. We are far away from any medical care so health insurance can be very expensive especially for the elderly....

We went back to our cabin and prepared for the abandon ship drill, a requirement. That went pretty quickly, though a few people went to the wrong place. The view of Greenwich island, part of the south Shetland islands, was beautiful. We passed a giant glacier and some penguins jumping out of the water on the side of the boat. The jumping is called porpoising - imagine mini dolphins jumping out of the water. Penguins are much more graceful and speedy in the water than on land. Amazing!

We went out on a cruise in the zodiac to see a giant iceberg and there were some penguins sitting on it and jumping off, gentoo and chinstrap penguins. The scenery was stunning with rocks, glaciers and the sea. Then we landed on the rocky beach of Point Fort and walked around to see penguins. One friendly chinstrap penguin, who the guide said they’ve named Charlie, came over to check us out. Many penguins were sitting on their nests as it was just a little early for the main hatching time. Ali the expedition leader introduced some of the staff specialists who gave short lectures on topics like whales and glaciers. Then she explained the upcoming weather conditions and plans for the next day. The plans are always changing depending on the weather and the ice, which can make some passages unpassable. The plan was to go through the Lemaire channel and get to Petermann island then visit Jougla and Goudier islands. We had dinner right after the presentations. I had antipasti salad, red snapper and ginger crème brûlée plus a scoop of coffee ice cream. The food is really delicious on board and we had not at all expected the gourmet dining and excellent service, so it felt like a real luxury.

18 December- We woke up at 6h30 and dressed warmly to go outside and look at the views of the Lemaire channel. It was a stunning clear day and we could see beautiful snow covered mountains and lots of ice. There were penguins swimming and jumping out of the water. We saw a fat weddell seal sunning itself on an iceberg. The captain broke through some ice and we made it partially through the channel but then the ice was too dense so we turned around and went back. Instead we went to Hidden bay for some zodiac cruising.Our driver Jens went very fast so it was fun but very cold! We heard the cracking of moving icebergs but didn’t see any calves. We got back to the ship and had a rest in the cabin until 15h. Sophie from the British antarctic heritage trust at Fort Lockroy came on board to give a short talk. There are 4 women in the team that stay here for 4 months from Nov til March. They run the British post office and museum there, and maintain the site. They have no running water so usually take showers and get fresh food from the passing ships. Tough life! We took the zodiac to Goudier island and visited Fort Lockroy museum and post office. The museum is a restored British research hut from the 1950s and still has canned food from back then including beans and Branston pickle! Our postcards were sent from the post office and it cost $1 to send one anywhere in the world. I walked to see more penguins but the snow was very deep so it was difficult. The lady there told us to try to fill in any deep holes because penguins can fall in to these post holes, get stuck and die. They make a lot of funny sounds, and they steal pebbles from each other’s nests. Very amusing to watch their natural behaviour. People on the cruise were very helpful in general and assisted the more elderly passengers since the zodiacs landed on rock, ice, or sand without any docks. We took a zodiac to the next island Jougla. It was a tough landing with a big step and slippery ice and rocks, then deep snow. It was quite a feeling of awe to make the first footprints in the fresh snow. I walked to see some old whale bones and penguins and cormorants on the rocks. The penguins use their little highways to go between rocks and to the water.

When we got back to the ship, it was time for the pre dinner cocktail with the captain. We got to see him and the main crew. They do an incredible job to take us to these remote places and navigate the ice. For dinner, I had seafood cioppino, prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and baked potato, and a beautiful French opera cake. Two of the expedition team sat with us. Jason from Arizona is a crevasse and ice expert. His job would be to scout the path for tomorrow’s walk to a viewpoint at Neko harbour. Acacia is the photographer and made the photo journal for the trip. She’s from Alaska, works the Arctic season too and spends free time often in Scandinavia. She must like the cold weather!

19 December- We woke up at 6h50 to get ready for breakfast at 7h30. The ship had already anchored in the bay for the landings on the Antarctic continent at Neko Harbour in Andword bay. Until then we had made landings in Antarctica but on various islands. The continent was the big bucket list goal for many of the people on the ship.

There was a rotation of group orders, although many people cheated and jumped on the first boat. My British training makes me follow the queue system out of a sense of duty! This time, we were luckily in the first group of zodiacs to the Neko Harbour Landing. We had to exit the zodiacs quickly because the glaciers can calve (break off into icebergs) and cause sudden waves. The scenery around was beautiful with mountains, glaciers, snow and icebergs. The snow was falling slowly. We took a photo with the Antarctic continental flag since it was our first time on the continent and not an Antarctic island. I took the steep path up the hill to the viewpoint and it was tough but worth it. The glaciers have lots of crevasses and a bright blue colour due to the light reflection. They’re also very active and pieces crack off/calve quite often. I was hot and sweaty by the top of the hill and took off my jacked to just (literally) chill out and enjoy the view until it was time to go down. The snow was deep and slushy. We took a zodiac cruise with Tom, the marine biologist. His specialty is whales and he spotted a minke whale and we saw it briefly breach then it went under never to be seen again. We then went to see a close-up of a Weddell seal and a penguin sitting together on an iceberg. Leopard seals are a penguin predator but Weddell seals are friends. It was fun riding and crunching over small icebergs in the zodiac. We went back to the ship and warmed up with some tea. Then it was time for lunch and the polar plunge. I watched a few people jump in but I decided that was one once in a lifetime opportunity that I could miss out on.

We passed via the Arera channel. We cruised with Cam in a zodiac for an hour and saw a seal, lots of gentoo penguins and a sailboat with an Austrian couple who came out to say hello. We chatted with them and they’d been sailing continuously for 8 years mainly with each other for company. They had just reached the Antarctic via the Drake passage a week ago. Impressive!

We saw a lot of huge glaciers and they were very blue and beautiful, and shaped by the movement of the water. Then it was our turn to visit Cuverville island. We landed and hopped from the water up onto the snow. I went up a small hill and the view of the penguins and icebergs was stunning! I could also see the sailboat. Then I walked the other way to see more penguin colonies. They’re so noisy and smelly, but also very cute! They have well established penguin highways from the water to their nests and some of them climb up a big hill. They have their nests high on the hills because that’s where the snow clears first. Sometimes the penguins decided to use our walkways and even laid on their bellies for awhile, so we had to wait until they moved since they always have the right of way. The day went by so quickly! Tom gave a short talk on seals then Acacia gave a short talk on photography. A passenger named Casey, who has been on the show Bachelorette, gave a talk about his project which was to travel to all 7 continents using commercial airlines in a world record time. He has a website 7 in 72 and has set the Guiness book of world records. He also applied for a drone permit and took some amazing drone footage especially the bird’s eye views of the areas. Ali gave us an update on the weather and plan for tomorrow which included Deception Bay, an active volcano, and a Polish research station on an island which has Adelie penguins.

We went straight outside for an outdoor BBQ dinner. It was cold but the scenery was stunning around us and the sun came out just then. There was so much food and mulled wine. I had a burger, salad, seafood skewer, rice, beans, corn on the cob, curry vegetables, chocolate brownie and bread and butter pudding. Each day is so full of amazement that it is tiring in a good way.

20 December- We woke up at 5h and it was tough to get up but we got dressed and went outside in the rain to see the narrow entrance (bellows) of Deception Island. It is an active volcano and we sailed into it to land at Whalers’ bay. We got out on the zodiacs around 7h30 and walked around the old whaling station. There are a lot of old decrepit buildings including a World War 2 hangar. The wind picked up quickly and the rain was icy. I was on one of the last two zodiacs and they packed it with 15 people (normally we had 10) to hurry back to the boat. The wind was blowing at 70 knots! We missed the landing ramp the first time and had to go back a second time. I was soaked and had to hang everything up. The boat was rocking a lot as we sped along to Arctowski station on king george island to see the Adelie penguins. Then at 11h we went to listen to Paola’s talk about penguins and other animals too. Antarctic toothfish are also known as Chilean sea bass. They are part of the food chain and are eaten by seals and fished (overfished) for humans.

Sometimes the penguins present gifts of stones and food to their partners. They also steal stones from each other’s nests. If a penguin partner doesn’t return with food then the other parent will have to abandon the egg to eat. Survival strategies in the harshest of climates. Intriguing facts!

We went back to the room briefly then went to the lounge to hear the disembarkation process. The airline uses the IFIS website for the weather and SCRM is the Chilean Air base on King George island. We planned to leave in the morning on the plane that brings the next passengers but it depends on cloud cover and the weather.

We landed at the black sand beach and disembarked at Arctowski Polish research station. We could see an Adelie penguin colony on the rocks and with the zoom and binoculars we could see a few penguin chicks. So cute, grey and fluffy! We also saw a lot of penguins on the beach and in the water. There were chinstrap and gentoo penguins around so all three species we had seen during this trip. We saw some whale bones which look very artistic with some of the only green algae visible in the mostly barren rocky areas.

We went back to the ship and the seas were very rough and rocking the boat a lot. It was difficult for people to walk. It was our last dinner on board and we had delicious food and excellent service as we had at every meal. The head of the service crew introduced everyone as they marched in to Despacito. Wow can’t believe it’s already the end of the Antarctic holiday adventure!

21 December- The alarm went off at 5h30 and it was very early! We got dressed and finished packing our checked in luggage. We had to put it outside by 6h. I picked up the China Great Wall station mobile signal briefly and a text came through but no WiFi until Punta Arenas. It was nice to be disconnected for a week. We had to get our carryons and move out of the cabins so we sat up in the main lounge with everyone else. At around 10h the first flight got called to board the zodiacs and go to shore. Then around 10h30 we got called to board the zodiacs and head to shore. Last zodiac ride was fun with Jens driving. We had to wait outside in the cold and wind for nearly 2 hours until we could board the plane and get in the air. As soon as the seatbelt sign went off everyone got up to use the toilets. Neither of the two toilets was flushing so that was kind of gross. The plane in general was a bit dirty cuz they do such quick turn around. We were just hoping that they actually checked maintenance enough.... The flight was only two hours so pretty quick. We got to Dreams Hotel in Punta Arenas and checked in then relaxed in the room until dinnertime with a nice seafood soup at Los Ganaderos.

22 December- We had a day in Punta Arenas as a buffer in case the flight back from Antarctica was delayed. We did some souvenir shopping and then I walked to see the cemetery and pick up some empanadas from Roca Mar for a midnight snack. We ate lunch at Le mercadito in the municipal market again.

23 December - We checked out around midnight and the Taxi came at 00h30 to drop us at Punta Arenas airport. When we went to drop luggage the lady asked if we wanted to take an earlier flight to Santiago at 1h26 so we said sure. We waited for awhile there then had another flight Lima and then finally on the way back to Los Angeles.

#antarctica #penguin #trip diary #glacier #iceberg #snow #nature

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