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minxsara · 4 years ago

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WHEN: Thursday, June 4, around 3:10pm WITH: @adriangwon & @devonbelmont WHAT: unbeknownst to them, on the day of the storm, Sara, Adrian and Devon are trapped in the library with a very troubled witch.

--- trigger warnings: assault, blood

Adrian Gwon:

The power outage at work wasn't a surprise, but it certainly was an inconvenience. With the news saying they should remain indoors, it meant staying put until the weather cleared up. In any other circumstances, being stuck in the library would've been a godsend, but not so much when all the power was out and the darkened skies left no natural light coming in through the windows. Adrian sighed, not sure what he should do. He glanced around, seeing some of the other people stuck inside with him. "Soo... what should we do now?"

Devon Belmont:

there's an overwhelming sense of boredom as devon lays there, perched on top of one of the many tall bookshelves lining the floor of the library. why couldn't she have gotten ushered into vinyl resting place when the storm rolled in? why had it been the library? she has nothing against the place, honest. but there's no light and no impulse to sit down with a copy of tax law. it feels like detention. and she'd never even been in detention. but she's pretty sure it felt a whole lot like this. with a loud and weary sigh, she made very little show of moving from her spot. "wait it out? unless someone's got a board game stashed somewhere or feels like causing a little anarchy and raiding the vending machines."

Sara Min:

When Sara decided to head to the library for the day, she was definitely not expecting the storm to hit this hard. She had, luckily, left Binnie with her in-laws yet again. But then again, what else was new, right? When the lights were off, she let out a little yelp, quickly reaching up to covering her lips to keep people from looking at her weirdly, but then again, there weren't many people there to begin with. "It's pouring out there." She looked out the big windows, although she couldn't see anything but the sound was--well--obvious. "I'd be okay with raiding the vending machines. Do you want anything, Adrian?"

Adrian Gwon:

There wasn't really anything to do in the library with the power out. At this point all he could do was make sure none of the important materials being held in the back were damaged. So the mention of anarchy left him with some cause for concern. "As long as it's only towards the vending machines..." He'd prefer not to get fired for vandalism in his workplace. "Um... some trail mix, maybe? Anything, really. Just try not to leave a big mess or else I'm going to get stuck cleaning it up later."

Witchy witch:

The shift in the weather was hitting everyone in their coven really hard, but they had been feeling it and it had been making them have visions of their past, of a time when things were nothing but violence and hatred. Of a time when they were hunted, outside of Nova Pangaea. A light groan of pain escaped their throat as a loud thunder rumbled through the roof, causing the windows to shake. "Can---" They turned to Adrian, hand covering their eyes to hide the tiredness. "You point me to the restroom? This storm is making me nervous." They, then turned to Devon. "Can I have something sweet too? My pressure might be dropping or something."

Devon Belmont:

"we're not gonna burn down the place, if that's what you're worried about." a grin flashes across her lips as she turns to look at him from atop the bookshelf. "i just figure if we're gonna be here a while, we might as well have some food to help pass the time." sitting up, devon swings her feet over the edge, eyes shifting to the other standing close to adrian. "uh, yeah. yeah we can do that." there's weariness to her posture, but she hopes it's not blindingly obvious. "you wanna go now?" she asks sara, bracing her hands against the top of the bookshelf and sliding herself from it. her feet thud against the floor, an echoing ring that reminds her how absolutely empty the building is.

Witchy witch:

Their nod feels slow and it takes more effort to just remain standing as they look over their shoulder to where Adrian pointed out the bathrooms. Another crash of thunder echoes through the library and they wring their hands together to stop the tremors from being noticeable. "Th-Thank you," they murmur. They didn't want to think what the alternative was to it not being low blood sugar levels, but nothing about this felt normal. Their sluggish nature is what keeps them from rushing to the bathroom and they have to pause every few steps to stop their breath from catching. It was more than tiredness wracking their body, but the pain ebbing over them hadn't gotten to a point where they wanted help. This was something they could handle on their own for now.

Sara Min:

"We're going to break the machine and throw chocolates at you, Adri." Sara joked. "Live off anarchy and things like that." Although a light chuckle escaped her lips, she was actually trying her best not to look as scared as she felt. The storm didn't seem like it would be going away soon, but at least, she knew that Woobin was at his grandparents' house, thus, being safe. "Yes, let's go." With a nod, she got up from her seat and met Devon by the door of the study area, so they could head to the vending machines. "Are you okay?" She asked the blonde, not knowing whether she was supernatural or not, but judging from the few supernaturals she'd been in touch throughout the week, it seemed like they were all being affected somehow. "You know--with all of this."

Witchy witch:

head pounding and stomach churning, they try and make their way to the restroom. the rattling windows and howling wind does little to satiate the growing emotions swelling inside of them. they had to get away. they had to find a safe place to hunker down. paranoia seeps in as they stagger away, finally managing to find their way inside the restroom. slipping down the tiled wall, hands shift to their ears, eyes clenched shut. yet the wind still screams and the rain still pours. nothing they do seems to make dealing with the growing itch of their power any easier.

Adrian Gwon:

The dry laugh gives away his belief that something as bad as that will actually happen. Maybe not so much on purpose, but the concern was real, and it didn't just fall onto the pair doing something by accident either. "Just don't do harm to the books please. I'd like to keep my livelihood," he called after them. As they walked away, Adrian's attention turned back to the other person that had been talking to them. They hadn't looked so well, and even now watching them go, it looked like they were struggling. Worried the storm might be a playing a part, he decided to go after them.

Witchy witch:

They could hear the storm calling out to them, giving them flashes of another life and how things were much more horrid. They wanted to scream, but couldn't. Their surroundings changed and it felt like they were back in that place of pain. Each thunder came with a flood of memories, vivid ones... to the point where they could even feel the pain inflicted on them back then. They had to get out... they needed to leave, or else--it would only get worse. Getting up from the floor with somewhat difficulty, they made their way to the sink, to splash some water on their face, but it was like they were stuck in a trance. Only when the door opened and they saw that face on the other side, was that they were able to somewhat get back to the present. "You scared me! Do you need to use it too? Goddess!" They huffed, quickly walking past Adrian as an attempt to get away from him, as well as the unwanted images that were back to haunt them.

Devon Belmont:

for the most part, devon retreats into her own mind. tries to calm the churn of her stomach and the rush of heightened blood through her veins. anxiety spikes with every passing moment and, to put it simply, she feels sick to her stomach. "hmm?" it's a reflex to the question, gaze turning briefly sideways. "oh -- yeah. yeah i'm fine." a pause (a long one). "i guess as fine as everyone can be right now." her hands itch and she shifts to stifle them, kneading her palm and wringing her fingers. it's a small, unconscious tick. "what about you?"

Witchy Witch:

Another flash of the storm, another flash of pain. Their mind was bogged of memories not of their own, their surroundings shifting into those in their head. No amount of mutterings or blinking helped clear away what they knew wasn't actually there. An exit. They needed an exit. It was the only clear thought still in their head. The empty hall they had been in suddenly formed into something else entirely in front of them. Screams of agony echoed around them and they covered their ears. Pain rippled through them and a groan of pain left their lips.

Sara Min:

Sara didn't know the petite blonde to say anything about her being really okay or not, so she just took Devon's word for it. "It's Devon, right? You work at the vinyl store. I keep meaning to stop by and add to my collection, but I haven't had much time lately. I'm Sara, by the way." It had always been easy for Sara to make friends, and she figured things wouldn't change in Astoria, so there she was, trying to be nice to everyone around her. "I'm definitely going in for a couple of Twix bars, what about you?"

Devon Belmont:

she straightens marginally when her name is said, flashing a small smile and nodding her head. "yeah. yeah that's my name." for the life of her, though, she cannot manifest the others. the awkwardness doesn't last long. "sara," the blonde replies, "i hate to say it but i wish we would've met on better circumstances." eyeing the machine for a moment, devon searched within her pockets for the potential outcome of spare change. "reese's or skittles. maybe starbursts."

Adrian Gwon:

Somehow he lost track of them and Adrian glanced around to see if he could spot them. Something seemed off, and it was more than just he storm making them uncomfortable. And if it was the Strawberry Moon affecting them, he wasn't sure if it was something they all needed to worry about. Deciding it might not be in the best interest to go looking for them without letting someone else know about his concerns, he went back to where he had been before Devon and Sara had left. He couldn't help but pace nervously and wonder if waiting instead of doing something was in everyone's best interest.

Sara Min:

"I don't think it's all that bad." Sara smiled. Devon didn't look that much younger than her, but she still looked young. It made her wonder if she was feeling overwhelmed with this storm or if she was just quiet. "I mean... yeah, it's bad, but at least we're safe in here, you know? It makes me wonder if there are people out there that can say the same." Sara chewed the inside of her cheek. Life could be very cruel sometimes. "Skittles... I can't believe the last time I ate Skittles. Glad to know we're on the same team here." She giggled, reaching the snacks machine. "I kind of feel bad for raiding it, but at the same time, it reminded me of my brother? He's far more spontaneous than me, I'll tell you that."

Once the two had gotten enough snacks for themselves and everyone else, they returned to where Adrian and the other person were, Sara being the one to give them their snack, while Devon gave Adrian's. "One order of something sweet coming right up. Snickers are good to handle low blood pressure, so, here you go."

Witchy witch:

the passage of time seems nonexistent to them. all they can hear, all they can think about is the howling of wind and the thumping of rain against the glass. they sound like pellets and the panic swells even greater --- what if the windows shatter? what if this place that's supposed to be safe no longer is? hands shifted up to cover their ears and eyes clenched shut, they stew there in the hard wooden library chair, stomach seesawing. then someone's there in front of them --- there's a voice --- but all they register is the close proximity. panic swells. anxiety spikes. they do not know (or even remember) where they found the letter opener, just that it had made them feel safer.

they jump forward now, self-preservation heightened and roaring to life. the weapon sinks into something solid, yet before they can register, a loud howl of wind raps against the glass of the library's windows. it's the precipice of chaos that sends them over the edge. with a roar of panic and terror they release an uncontrollable wave of air that surrounds them and pushes outward. it's fueled by pure fear and protection.

Adrian Gwon:

Somehow he hadn't noticed them having come back until the other two arrived with some snacks. His attention turns towards Devon, momentarily surprised to see the other back as if nothing had happened. All he could think was, Maybe I was wrong about that. It made him reconsider even mentioning anything at all.

But then something weird happens all at once that Adrian can barely comprehend. His eyes widen at seeing them lunge forward towards Sara. No amount of rushing towards the pair stops the inevitable from happening and he can only let out a shocked gasp as they're all suddenly hit by a rush of air. He falters backwards, startled by whatever it was that just occurred. He glances back at Devon as he gets back his footing. "Are you okay?" he asks before looking towards Sara. "Did they--Was that them just now?"

Sara Min:

It all happened so fast that it took an extra moment for Sara to react to what had happened. The rushed movement causing her to drop the Snickers bar in her hands as she gasped. She didn’t feel pain at first, just a burning sensation in her abdomen, which, now thinking about it, could have been the blood that started soaking her shirt. A shaky hand flew to the wound, making the petite brunette stare in disbelief at her bloody fingers. Before she was able to say anything to anyone, Adrian was rushing to her side.

“They—they stabbed me?” She looked at him, the realization that she had been stabbed, was bleeding and would not be able to leave the library to seek for help. “I—Adrian, I’m bleeding...”

Devon Belmont:

devon doesn’t see the moment when everything goes to shit, she just sees the aftermath. or, rather, feels it. the burst of wind is strong, enough to make her stagger back a few steps because — well. she’s not expecting the outburst. but ones she finds her feel and her eyes snap up, the blonde’s brain comprehends everything as quickly as it can.

a flash of lightening illuminates the library and devon sees the red color of blood on sara’s hands and on her shirt. feel the instant and sudden surge of panic. “hey!” she shouts before her mind even registers what she’s doing. “hey, over here!” she waves her hand and sprints off to the side, away from both adrian and sara. there’s an impulse to draw the others attention away, to divert and protect. her hands frantically grab at books before she starts to throw them, aiming for the others head. maybe, just maybe, she’ll get in a lucky hit.

Witchy witch:

The wave of self-preservation spoke louder. Years of fear and abuse made them act before thinking, and as soon as the letter-opened had pierced someone else’s body, they were brought back to the present. In an act of pure desperation, their powers created a wild gush of air to keep people away from the duo. Pulling away, they let the letter opened fall to the floor, the sound echoing in their brain and forcing them to run away.

The voice following them was getting close, books hitting their back, until they reached the door and, again, used their powers to push it open. With the rain and the wind, it was almost impossible to see anything three feet ahead of them, but they ran. They ran as fast as they could.

Adrian Gwon:

Adrian hadn't seen the blood until she had pointed it out. The shock of it makes it difficult for him to comprehend it. It until the blood begins to bloom on her shirt that his brain kickstarts into action. He puts an arm around Sara. "You need to sit down--or lie down," he rushes out to say. "W-We need to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding." Statistics about how much blood a person could lose before being in critical condition ran through his head; the next being that they needed medical assistance if they couldn't get the bleeding to stop.

Knowing they weren't the only people trapped in the library, he started to yell out for help. "Help! We need help! Someone's hurt!" Hopefully someone would be of better assistance than he would be.

Devon Belmont:

there’s a relief in seeing the other run. while devon hasn’t wanted to hurt them outright, they had attacked first. her brain could process the why later, and probably with an apology about a few well placed book throws. but in the next few seconds they’re gone — furthering her guess that self preservation had played a large role in the attack in the first place. powers and emotions were haywire, proof enough as the thundering of blood through her veins was enough to almost drown out the wail of wind and rain.

the call for help splits through her adrenaline like a knife and devon’s at the their side in an instant, eyes splitting between the blood spreading across sara’s shirt and around. while she’s sure there are others within the building, she’s not sure how many of them could actually help. with the realization comes an itch at the tips of her fingers. a rush of electricity through her veins. “it’s okay,” she says, looking to adrain. her voice wavers slightly, but not with fear. with adrenaline. “it’s okay,” she says again, this time to sara and as the words leave her lips she shakes out her fingers. clenches and unclenches her hands. “everything’s going to be okay.”

Sara Min:

For someone who had been—slightly neglecting her baby for the last two months or so, Sara’s first thought was dying and not being able to see him grow up, just like Moonbin. “I—I have a baby, Adrian! I can’t—I have... I have to go to a hospital!” She practically pleaded as she held onto him, slowly easing herself to the floor. Although, deep down, she knew she wouldn’t die right away, fear and adrenaline made Sara blow things out of proportion, making her get scared of her own demise... maybe having lost her husband in such a sudden way was also adding up to her nerves.

When Devon approached them, saying she’d be okay, that was probably what triggered the tears. No one said that unless things were serious, right? “Guys, I have to go...” She said in between breaths, “I have to see my baby... I—i know I haven’t been a good mom lately, but I need to see him...”

Adrian Gwon:

It was his first time seeing this much blood. His gaze flitted back and forth between Sara and her wound. Hearing her words made it all the more scary. He didn't want her to panic, but he wasn't doing that well with trying to remain calm either. You weren't supposed to make promises you couldn't keep, but what did you do when you didn't know what was going to happen? The windows rattled from the wind, a bad reminder that they couldn't safely leave. "I know. I know. But we need to stop the bleeding, Sara."

Devon showed up beside them after he had yelled for help. He doesn't understand why she thinks everything will be okay. He doesn't try to feel overwhelmed with worry when Sara started to cry about her child. "How--What are we going to do?" he asks Devon.

Devon Belmont:

in moments like these devon's thankful she's as impulsive and reckless as she is. if she weren't, her brain would be overtaking her instincts. and to think right now would be to become complacent. blood was nothing new to her --- growing up with her brothers had introduced her to it long ago. and healing, well. she'd seen her fair share of injuries. afterwards, she'll have to talk to her brother about how afraid she is of becoming numb to situations like these. who is she, really, if she can think perfectly well through chaos?

"sara, i need you to calm down, okay?" she tries to keep her voice level and calm. "adrian, just keep talking to her. see if you can keep her calm." devon rings her hands for a moment, shaking loose the invisible static and anxiety she feels prickling through her fingertips before kneeling next to the other. "breathe with me, okay? everything's going to be okay." one of her hands shifts forward, rests against the side of sara's face. fingertips at the hairline at the base of her neck, palm against her cheek, thumb resting just above her ear. the other shifts down to her bleeding side and --- devon inhales and exhales slowly, nodding her head to encourage sara to do the same. "everything's going to be okay," she says, eyes shifting close as she slips into concentration. "i promise."

Sara Min:

With everyone telling her to calm down, it almost felt like Sara couldn’t do it. Her rational side was honestly dormant, that was the only possible reason for her to be feeling this overwhelmingly emotional. “I know I told him I didn’t know how to be his mommy... but I don’t want to leave him.” She confessed to Adrian. It was true what they said—that confessing your deepest thoughts was easier to a stranger. “He already has no dad, I—I have to do better, Adri. I can’t leave him... I need to go to a hospital or something.”

Then, Devon told her to calm down again, when Sara was moving her body to try and stand up, only to be met with a sharper pain in her abdomen, which made her wince as she held tightly onto Adrian’s arm. “I don’t want to die...” The realization came to her in that moment of desperation. For the last year or so, she had been toying with the idea, but now, when actually hurt, Sara couldn’t do it. Not that she would die immediately... it would take long hours for her to actually bleed out, but, again, she wasn’t being rational.

The hand against her neck felt warm, almost as if it was meant to soothe her, which actually managed to do so. The breathing helped, too. Devon being the one to manage to calm her down and breathe along with the blonde. There was a warm, tingling sensation on her abdomen. It wasn’t unpleasant nor painful, just—different. Numbing. Was it magic?

Adrian Gwon:

Okay, okay, he could try doing that. Hopefully. He tried to think of some random fact he could share, but Sara beat him to starting a conversation. What he wasn't prepared for, aside from everything else going on, was her concerned confession. His brows furrow, expression softening at hearing it. He chanced a glance at Devon, but she was focused on something else. "It's going to be okay, Sara. You're going to be okay. We're not going to let anything happen to you and then you can go see your son," he tried to reassure. Putting his hand over hers in what he hoped was somewhat comforting, he added, "And Two-thirds of all parents feel the way you're feeling according to most statistics. But you love your son, right? And you're doing the best you can for him. I think that's the only thing parents can do..."

His gaze slid back over to Devon as she got Sara to turn attention back over to her. The other woman seemed to slip into a trance of concentration and he watched her movements over Sara. Was it magic she was performing? He didn't dare ask in that moment though. Not if it meant ruining their chances of helping Sara get through this.

Devon Belmont:

the world around her fades in a split second. the moment the connection is made, devon is tethered. she's not expecting the instant twist deep in the pit of her stomach, nor the sudden, overwhelming, exhaustion. there's a burning in her lungs, air turns to ash in her mouth. when she speaks, a low muttered incantation of latin, heat ebbs at her palms. she had stumbled into her powers as a child. unknowing. unexpected. by accident. and even now, after years of study and practice, her emotions still ruled. she'd been told that's what made her an excellent prospect. that the connection with one's self was intrinsic to the art of healing. but if that's the case, devon's not sure if she'll ever become a master of it.

she was uncontrollable. unrelenting. even now selflessness eats away at her. she will give and give and give without restraint, because that is who she was. the bond she's formed with sara exactly that --- a link. so when the blonde starts to will the other's body to heal, well, that pain and torment has to be placed somewhere else. devon welcomes it with a firm clench of her jaw and an unwavering in her incantations. by the end of it (the entire process feels longer than it usually does) devon's breathing is ragged and sweat pours down her face.

her eyes blink open and she withdraws. the tear in sara's shirt is still there, as is the blood. but the others skin is unmarred. devon sits back on her heels and drops her head. braces a hand against the floor to steady herself. her shirt is soaked. a strand of hair sticks to her face. she tastes blood in her mouth. "see?" devon says, voice grating against her throat but she offers a weak smile regardless of the clench in her gut and the spinning in her head. "told you it'd be okay."

Sara Min:

From the moment Devon started working on her, Sara couldn't feel much. The numbness on her wound also being good enough to calm her down, thus making her loosen her grip on Adrian's arm. She blinked the tears that were clouding up her eyes, breathing in and out just like she had been instructed--like she was still being instructed. There was something different about this whole thing--like... like a connection with Devon somehow. Although she couldn't see or hear anything about the other woman's life, she could definitely feel things. Emotions.

One last breath left her lips and that was it. No pain, no agony, no stress--it was almost like nothing had happened, which made Sara feel silly for being so nervous and desperate about not wanting to die. "I--" She smiled, easing herself up to a sitting position. "Thank you." Again, the tears welling up her eyes. That had been Sara's first and probably only contact with magic. It sucked that it had been in such odd terms. She noticed how Devon seemed a little out, so she reached forward, brushing the blonde's hair away from her face. "Hey, are you okay? Adrian, go get her some water." She said, before tugging Devon closer. "Do you need to lay down?"

Adrian Gwon:

The amount of relief Adrian felt as the color returned to Sara's face and she managed to sit back up was immense. He had only watched the effects take place, but there was still a sense of awe in its aftereffects. "And you're okay? Everything's okay now?" he asked, eyeing both of the women. But as his gaze landed on Devon, he noticed what Sara had.

He shuffled to his feet at the request, nodding, before heading behind one of the library counters. He quickly headed towards the staff room, hoping to find some leftover water bottles still in the fridge. Fortunately he managed to find a few and grabbed them before heading back. "Here," he said, offering one to Devon and then to Sara. He crouched back down beside them. "Are you okay? Should I try to get something else for you?"

Devon Belmont:

“everything’s okay now,” she confirms. or, rather, it would be. the toll it took to heal varied with the injury and it had been a long time since devon had healed something so sever. in a way she’d almost forgotten the sledgehammer headache and the phantom pain of sharing such a wound. but that seems to be the irony of her powers. she’d be reminded one way or another.

when adrian leaves to fetch water devon turns her head, tries to discreetly hide the blood she spits from her mouth. “I’ll be okay,” she nods, small smile creasing her lips out of reflex. “just need to sleep it off.” she takes the water offered to her, drinking half the bottle in four large gulps. the blondes jaw clenches a few moments later, hand shifting to her side. she knows there’s no physical injury, but her mind tells her that there should be. it hurts like lightening.

Sara Min:

When Adrian left, Sara moved closer to the blonde, feeling bad for having put her through something like that. Her mother instincts finally kicked in, so all she wanted to do was take care of Devon, make sure she'd get home okay after this storm had died down a little. She did not look fine... "Hey, look at me." Sara furrowed her brows, watching as Devon's hand moved to the same spot that the letter opened had been a few moments ago. Her brows shot up, quickly moving her own hand there in search for blood. "Devon, I--" No blood. Not on her shirt at least. "Was this your first time doing that?"

Sara motioned her head towards the nearest wall, looking at Adrian. "Help me with her..." She moved so she had her back resting against that wall, then patted on her thighs, inviting Devon to come closer. "Come here. We'll wait until the storm dies down a little and then we'll take you to a hospital, okay? Are you sure you just need sleep?" Again, Sara averted her attention to Adrian. "Do you have your car? And can you check if the wifi is working to see if there are news of the storm and when to expect it to end?"

Adrian Gwon:

He wanted nothing more than for the both of them to be alright. This wasn't the way he thought his day would go and this was the last time he wanted it to happen while he was working. Doing what Sara asked, Adrian helped with getting Devon situated against the wall. Trying to ease the tense situation they'd been in, he said to Devon, "Remind me to ask you to explain to me what you just did when we get out of here."

"Yeah, I do," he replied. Adrian patted his pockets until he found his phone. Unlocking it, he searched for any news reports on Astoria's storm status. Most of it were more reminders to stay inside, a few others being some incidents that had been reported since the storm's arrival. "No there isn't.. What should we do? Wait for a break and head to a hospital? Or chance it now?" He didn't want them to be in any more danger than they had already been through, but their safety was more of a concern now.

Devon Belmont:

"nah, not the first," she shakes her head. "just haven't healed something that serious in a little bit, is all. i'll be okay, though. it's fine." there's a strong urge to insist that she's okay. to graciously refuse the help and handle it herself. and she almost does. at least marginally so. devon does concede, taking a spot against the wall. there's a moment where she turns internal --- focuses on her breathing, steadies her heart, regains her composure. pain isn't anything new to her, which just means she can deal with it easier than most.

"honestly," she pips up, lifting her head. "it's not a big deal. like i said, i just need to sleep it off. there's... no point in taking me to a hospital. it'll work itself out." the storm still wailed outside, rain rapping against the glass windows of the library. "i can text my brother once the storm dies down a bit. he'll come and get me." the blonde turns to sara, "so you can go see your son."

Sara Min:

Sara nodded slowly, still trying to figure out if she should trust Devon's words or simply go with her gut, but, given the fact that the blonde probably knew what she was doing--and way better than Sara did, so she let it go. "Hey..." She turned her head to look at Devon. "Thank you." She paused, reaching for the blonde's hand and gently squeezing it. "I mean it. You saved my life. You're a hero, kid. Thank you." She swallowed hard, before looking at Adrian.

"Let's wait it out. I don't think we're safe out there... we'll just look out of each other, other? Make sure nothing happens to us."

Adrian Gwon:

He had to take Devon's word on it that she was going to be okay. Even with his underlying concerns, telling her otherwise wasn't exactly his place, nor could he say he understood her capabilities as a witch. He was just glad she had been able to save Sara from bleeding out.

It was the only solid plan they had that didn't involve putting them in further harms way. Returning the nod, he agreed. "Okay." He settled beside them against the wall, letting out a sigh as he leaned back. "Yeah, we can do that."

#interactions | threads #thread: devon belmont #thread: adrian gwon #devon1 #adrian1 #event: strawberry moon

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thadelightfulone · 5 years ago

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Can We Talk? - Pt. 2

I wanted to get something out since I had a surge of writing energy for my birthday. So, I decided to write a Part 2 to What’s A Valentine. So, if you have not read that yet, go catch up.

Summary: Dani and Erik have a Non-Valentine’s Day night out. And the aftermath of the confrontation in the lobby.

Danielle and Erik are sitting at their table at a quaint little restaurant that was not crowded due to the holiday. Plates in various stages of completion and a bottle of red wine on the table. It is quiet at the table as the soft music plays around them. Just a comfortable silence between the two, not like when they were younger and always had something to say. This was different, and neither party knew where to start.

Dani is hyper-focused on her glass, watching the wine swirl around so as not to make eye contact with the man in front of her. Her thoughts were swirling around like the wine, but they are too much and overwhelming. She does not even know if she is still in a relationship anymore. Something she was very sure of about two hours ago. And Erik. What could she say about that? Him popping up tonight of all nights and calling her out. She should have punched him. It’s not like she could drop him anymore looking like he does, she would barely move him. She shakes her head, smiling with her face down.

Erik has been watching Dani intently since she put her fork down. She was quiet the whole ride over and staring at her phone, waiting for something from Shaun. He scoffs at the thought of him. The argument he witnessed between the two of them held so much more than her utter dislike for Valentine’s day and his adoration for it. But he is clearly in no position to comment on the state of her relationship after watching her relive her heartbreak at his own hands.

He looks down at his tumbler of whiskey before looking up to see a small smile cross her face. She had a beautiful smile. And he has always had deep feelings for her; but he knew what he wanted to do with his life and because Erik did not know how things would turn out, he did not want to drag her down that road with him.

“Why did you leave?”

“I’m sorry,” Their words overlapping one another. Erik waves to her to proceed.

Dani put her wine down and looked over to him, “Why are you sorry?”

Tracing the rim of his glass, “That I did not handle things better when we were younger.” He watches her as she closes her eyes, clearing her vision of the tears that are right below the surface. “And then when I just left. I thought it would be easier if I didn’t tell you. I had no idea the effect that it would have on you, and for that, I am truly sorry, Danielle.” He reaches over to grab her hand, and she lets him. “I would never hurt you on purpose; you have to know that D.”

Sniffling, “It took me years to figure out, but I know you wouldn’t E. Hell, it’s the reason you actually send me flowers, even though they are not in the typical fashion.” They both share a short laugh as Dani looks down at her hand in his.

“When have you ever known me to do things like they are supposed to be done or whatever?” She dabs at her eyes with her napkin shaking her head, “Exactly.” Signaling for the check, he asks, “Are you ready for your ice cream and horror movies now?”

She perks up at that and gathers her clutch, “Of course, but we need to stop for the ice cream.” Erik signs the check, and they both get up to leave.

—

They walk into the grocery store with a plan. On the way over, they decided to make some sundaes. Erik is holding the basket as they make their way to the down the candy aisle. Danielle skips in front of him, snatching up bags of her fave chocolates. “Snickers, Reese’s Cups, 3 Musketeers, Hershey Kisses,”

Erik snatches the basket away, “Ewww, D. 3 Musketeers and Kisses. Girl, what happened to your taste buds?”

“Shut up, and those are the caramel kisses. You act like what doesn’t get used won’t get eaten on its own.” Pouting, she pulls the basket towards her and drops the bags in.

“You never heard of Milky Ways?”

“I like the fluffy nougat in Musketeers, why are you trying to rain on my parade? You know what, grab your own damn candy then.” She prances away. “I’m heading for toppings; you can get the ice cream.”

Before she makes it to the end of the aisle, Erik pulls her back into him. “My bad,” she crosses her arms and looks away from him. “Can you get some peanut M&Ms for me, please?” He nuzzles her neck, “Pretty please with a cherry on top.”

She slaps his arm away from her and walks back down the aisle, mumbling, “I can’t stand you.”

“You love me.” She flips him the bird as she returns with Milky Ways and Peanut M&Ms for him.

On their way to the toppings, they discuss movie choices. “So, I was thinking classic horror movies like the 1974 version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, and the 1984 version of Nightmare on Elm Street.”

“Whatever you want, I’m game.”

She shoves him. “Come on. You don’t have one pick that you want to add?”

“Dani girl, it’s your night. We are doing what you want.” He reaches over for the 3-pack of sundae topping sauces with Chocolate, Caramel, and Strawberry and throws it in the basket. She stands right in front of the aisle, blocking him. “Seriously?” He scoots her along, and she pops right back into position. Sighing, “Fine. Devil’s Rejects.” He moves her again and grabs some chopped nuts and cherries.

“As in Rob Zombie’s Devil’s Rejects?” Dani pushes her glasses up on her face staring at him like she has never met him before.

He straightens up to look at her, “Yeah. His movies are pretty good. I even enjoyed Strangeland by Dee Snider. Those rock guys are can be very creative.”

“And not just because Robert Englund was in it?”

Erik laughs, “First of all, he wasn’t starring in it like he was in 2001 Maniacs. But it is nice to see the OGs of horror flicks get lil cameos in stuff like that.”

Linking her arm with his, “Mr. Stevens, let me find out you know a lil something about non-mainstream horror.” Erik chuckles as Dani pulls him towards the ice cream freezers.

“There’s a lot you don’t know Ms. George.” He moves to stand behind her with his chin on top of her head, “Pick your poison.”

“You know what I like.” She walks over to the whipped cream and grabs two cans. “It hasn’t changed.”

Erik stands still thinking as she walks back over to him. Moving forward, “You got room for two tubs, or should I get these small boxes?”

“Both gallons will fit,” she tries to keep the smile off her face watching as her best friend grabs for the Neapolitan and Cookies & Cream tubs.

“I can’t believe you still mix this shit together.”

“Aye, I would not have learned this combo if someone didn’t take all the damn vanilla out of the Neapolitan all the time. How do you separate the three greats from each other like that?“ He hands the tubs to her, and they make their way to the register.

He shrugs, “I like vanilla.” He puts all the items up on the conveyor belt. “Anything else you want before we go?” Thinking about it, Dani suddenly takes off.

“Did you find everything ok, Sir?” The young man behind the register asks while ringing up the ice cream.

“Yeah, she just went to grab her chips. We good.” Dani pulls up with 2 bottles of red wine, some Sour Cream & Cheddar Ruffles, Jalapeño Kettle Chips and Flaming Hot Cheetos in a delicate balancing act. Erik grabs the Ruffles from her mouth and the wine, taking a look at the bottle. “Apothic Red Inferno – aged in a whiskey barrel. Is this the closest you will get to drinking whiskey?”

“Yup,” she puts the other bags down, “Hey Charlie, how are you?”

"I’m good, Ms. Danielle. Stocking up so soon, you were in here like two nights ago.” Erik laughs as her face falls. Charlie looks embarrassed, “Sorry.”

“Yes & No, I have an out-of-town guest who likes to eat and drink folks out of home.” She punches Erik hard in the shoulder, only for her hand to recoil in pain.

He leans over and whispers in her ear, “You knew better than to hit me.” She sticks her tongue out at him and reaches into her clutch to pay when Erik bumps her aside and hands his card to Charlie. He grabs her hand and rubs her knuckles while waiting for the receipt.

Dani yanks her hand away and starts to grab a few bags from the end. “Thanks, Charlie.”

Erik collects the rest of the bags and follows her outside. “Thanks.”

The ride back to Dani’s place is silent as the sounds of some Quiet Storm station play in the background. Erik peeks over at her while at a red light. She is definitely in much better spirits after what happened earlier. He is happy that he can be the one to make her smile and laugh again. He wants to be able to enjoy every moment with her and eventually make up for the asshole he was back when he was a teenager.

Erik parks his car under her building and pops the trunk. Dani grabs the flowers from the backseat and walks to the back to take a few bags. Erik grabs a small black bag along with the rest of their goodies.

“Ummm, excuse you. Who said you are spending the night?”

“You aren’t the only one who gets to be comfy while we chill.” He closes the door. “Lead the way, D.”

"Uh huh, yeah ok. Come on; this elevator bypasses the lobby.” They walk past the parking structure entrance to the elevator bank. On the elevator, she hits the button for her floor, “We never finalized our movie watch list.”

“Ladies choice.” He notices the look on her face. “Fine, you pick first and then I will go. Deal?”

The elevator bell dings at her floor and they both exit. Erik follows as she leads the way to her door at the end of the hallway. He takes the bags she had so that she can open the door. Dani turns on some lights and walks into the kitchen. Erik walks in and sets all the bags on the counter. She puts the ice cream into her freezer.

“You can have the bathroom to change. I’ll be back.”

Inside her room, Dani takes a deep breath. This night has turned out better than she could have imagined. It’s just her and her best friend who happens to also be her first love having a great evening. She knows they need to talk about what he saw happen earlier and everything but how. Being with him likes this reminds her of what they could have been, and now just like that she is confused about her feelings. Looking in the mirror after changing into some yoga pants and a crop top with her workout bra, she shakes her head at her runaway train of thoughts. “Enjoy the rest of your ‘Not a Valentine’s’ date night with Erik, Dani girl. There is no need to overthink anything right now.” She takes some deep calming breaths before walking out to the living room.

She finds Erik already changed in a pair of sweatpants and a black tank top showing off his muscular shoulders and lots of keloid scars. She remembers him telling her about his family in Wakanda and his failed attempt at a takeover before becoming a Regional Director to the Outreach Centers on the West Coast. She just never saw the scarring he did to himself, and it only adds more to this man standing in her kitchen lining up the sundae bar.

“Take a picture; it’ll last longer. But this ice cream won’t.” Erik smirks as he caught Dani staring him down.

“You lucky, I am too ready for this sundae party.” Dani walks over bumping Erik as he hands her a big bowl, sliding the ice cream over to her.

Dani’s first sundae contains a little bit of everything they bought except the Milky Ways. Erik snatched up the entire bag and kept them by his side, giving her one or two when he felt like it. They made it through the original Nightmare on Elm Street and a bottle of wine. Now, they were settling down with their second sundae or some chips and candy in Erik’s case and onto his pick, Boo.

“Why do people enjoy tempting fate by going into haunted and abandoned hospitals?” Dani asks through a mouthful of ice cream.

“Hell if I know, but you see how her man’s boy is doing the most trying to scare this chick. If anyone makes it out alive, it better be her.” Erik responds while crunching on some chips.

They both started in different positions in the living room. Erik on the floor under her coffee table while Dani was on the love seat curled into the corner. Then they both were on the floor at the coffee table before Erik stretched his shoulders and Dani moved up behind him to give him a massage as he sat between her legs. As his movie played and they finished eating, he returned the favor by sitting on the couch with her legs on his lap and mindlessly kneading them.

After a quick bathroom break, wine re-up and short clean-up of the kitchen, they are back in the living room watching Dani’s second pick of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Dani is curled into Erik’s side with her favorite fleece blanket over her. Erik has his arm wrapped around her, playing with her curls as she tries to keep her eyes open. He stretches out along the couch pulling her along with him and pulls the blanket up over the both of them. He falls asleep to the sound of her soft snores.

—

The sound of a phone buzzing along the coffee table wakes Erik up from his sleep. He looks to see Dani’s phone screen showing a picture of Shaun. Erik groans and stretches out a bit careful of Danielle who is laying in front of him. Pulling her back, he takes the moment to enjoy the feel of her in his arms and watches her as she sleeps. The buzzing of the phone starts up again and Dani squirms in his arms.

“Morning Sunshine.” He looks down on her as she blinks herself awake.

“Hey. Did we really fall asleep out here?” She quickly moves to an upright position, leaving the comfortable warmth of his arms.

“Yeah, you didn’t make it past the family meeting in Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” He sits up and grabs the blanket before it falls. “I think someone has been trying to reach you. I’ll give you some space.”

Dani looks over to her phone still ringing on the coffee table. She looks over at Erik and grabs the phone, mouthing “Thanks,” before answering. “Hey Shaun, what’s up?”

Erik takes his bag back into the bathroom, washing his face, brushing his teeth, and throwing on his hoodie. He grabs his phone and reschedules his flight back to Oakland for a week later. Erik knows he needs to have a serious sit down with Danielle before he returns home. So, this will buy him some time, and he can continue to work out of the LA office.

“Danielle, we need to talk. When can I see you next?” Shaun gets straight to the point.

“I am free for lunch tomorrow if that works for you.” Dani looks over at the blue screen of her TV and grabs the remote to turn it off.

“Yeah, I can do that. The usual spot close to your office around 12:30pm?”

“Sounds good. I will see you there.”

“Ok, see you then. Bye Dani.” Shaun hangs up as Dani looks at the phone. No ‘I love you’ or his customary nickname goodbye.

She nods her head, “I guess I will find out where we stand tomorrow.” She locks her phone and sets it down as soon as she hears the bathroom door open. Erik walks back into the living room with his keys in hand. “Leaving so soon?”

“Yeah, I should probably head out. I have a few meetings this afternoon.” Dani walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist in a big hug. He hugs her back and leans over kissing her forehead. “I had fun last night.”

Muffled into his chest, “Me, too E. It was like when we were younger.” She pulls away and looks up at him. “Will I see you before you leave?”

“Yeah, we can still do lunch or something. I will be in town for another week.” They walk to her front door, and she opens it for him.

“Ok, I will text you when I am free.” She leans against the door frame.

“See you Dani girl.” Erik walks out and looks back at her smiling.

Dani waves at him. “Bye E.”

— The Next Day —

Dani arrives at the restaurant early only to see Shaun already seated at a table. Inhaling deeply, she walks back to him.

Shaun stands up and pulls out her chair. “Hi Dani.” He gives her a quick peck on the lips.

“Hey.” Dani sits down as Shaun makes his way to his chair. The waiter comes by to take their drink order. “I’ll have an iced tea, please.

“Just water for me, thanks.” The waiter leaves, and Shaun looks at Danielle. “So, where should we start?”

“With you. How was last night?” Another server drops by with their drinks. Dani starts to stir the straw in her tea.

“It was great! Mom enjoyed her birthday party as usual and the anniversary celebration went off without a hitch. Well, except that my parents wanted to know why you weren’t there.”

“What did you tell them?”

Shaun takes a sip of his water before responding, “I told them that something came up and you decided to stay in for the night. They hope you are feeling better now.”

Dani nearly choked on her tea, “Yeah, I’m good. You can pass that on.” Shaun waves away the waiter who wanted to come back and take their orders.

“Alright, enough. Tell me how you really feel Shaun.” She takes a nice healthy gulp of her tea before putting her hands in front of her on the table.

“Fine. I am really upset that I had to find out that you do not like Valentine’s Day that way.” He looks around as his voice rose a bit. “Four years Danielle. That’s how long we have been together, and you couldn’t tell me this before?”

“I know, I just…” she sniffs. “I don’t like to talk about it or the why.”

“And that’s another thing. You never got over him.” Dani opens her mouth to speak. “No, please let me get this out before I lose my nerve.” He takes a drink of water, setting it back down, he reaches for her hands. “Danielle, I love you with everything in me. But what happened the other night, I can’t get over that. You couldn’t even look at me when you said that you were happy with me. You were a wreck recounting the story of how he broke your heart. And yet, you were standing there with his flowers in your hand. Were you pissed? Sure, but not enough to throw them at him. Yeah, you cussed and fussed a little bit but did you turn him away? No.”

Dani blinks back her tears. This is it. This is the end of her relationship. She was happy with Shaun, but lately, something felt off, and she could never put her finger on it. Then Erik popped up, and she felt like the 15-year-old laying her heart out to her best friend only for him to crack it and then leave her to heal without really talking it out. Why does Shaun have to make sense now?

“Shaun, I – “

“You don’t need to explain anything to me, Dani. As much as I want to be the man to make you happy and spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t stand by and wait for the day you realize that you never stopped loving him and leave me.” Shaun stands up and pulls Dani into a hug. Cradling her neck, he continues, “I wish you the best Danielle, in life and love. I hope you find what you deserve. I just don’t think it’s with me.“ He pulls back and kisses both of her hands before walking away.

Dani sits back down at the table. The waiter returns, and she orders a Jamison & Ginger Ale. Then leans back and reflects on what Shaun said. Her phone starts ringing as she sees Erik’s number pop up on the screen. She silences it and closes her eyes as her tears slowly fall to the table.

— 2 Days Later —

Danielle is at work trying to listen to her coworker, Rosio, tell her the latest story about her son’s new addiction. He is the sweetest thing, but Dani, just could not keep herself in the present or to act like she cares. It has been two days since Shaun broke things off with her and she has been actively dodging Erik’s calls and texts, too.

Rosio walks over to Dani, “Girl, you have been mopey lately. Drinks after work and I’m not taking no for an answer.” She picks her up, “Now, come on. We’re gonna be late for this meeting.”

It is the end of the workday, and Rosio stands by the corner of Dani’s desk. “Alright, so where are we going?”

"The Mexican spot by my place.” Dani grabs her bag, and they walk to the front closing the office.

“Sure, I’ll follow you.” Rosio heads towards her car, and they pull off.

Over tequila shots, strawberry margaritas and enchiladas, Dani spills to Rosio everything that happened over the last week.

“Dani, I can’t believe you have been holding this in for so long. V-Day was last week, and you took your normal day off afterward, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Yeah, well, my relationship did go bust that day in typical Danielle fashion.” Taking another shot, “Only I can manage to have relationships end on the ‘so-called’ day of love.”

“Oh, shut up. It wasn’t all that bad if you hung out with Erik all night.” Rosio takes a sip of her margarita, “He did kind of give you the best Valentine’s Day date ever. Dinner, ice cream and horror movies. It’s like he knows you. Oh wait, he does.”

Shoving Rosio, Dani laughs for the first time in two days. “Thank you. I really did need this tonight.”

“Good, because I hate seeing you all sad and depressed like someone killed your puppy.”

“Really, Rosio? That is such a horrible analogy.“ Dani snickers as she sips her drink.

“Well, you didn’t have to look at you the last few days, so yeah.” Grabbing a few chips, “So, have you talked to your bestie since that night?”

Dani looks down and away, “No, I keep sending him to voicemail or not reading his texts. We were supposed to get together for lunch before he leaves, but I just can’t do it.”

“And why not? That’s your friend.”

"I don’t know what to say or how to act. Shaun was right; I still do care about him a lot and probably never stopped.”

“So, you can tell him that again or forever hold your peace, but I thought you were still going to be his friend regardless.”

Slurping up the rest of her drink, Dani looks at Rosio. “I don’t know if I can anymore.”

“Then he deserves to hear you say that before you end your friendship or whatever. You owe him that much.” Rosio bats away Dani’s hand as she reaches for the check. “I invited you; this is on me.”

Danielle and Rosio part ways outside of the restaurant, “Now, do yourself a favor and call that man back. You two need to talk.”

“I am not ready to have another talk.” Rosio shakes her head as she walks off.

Dani drives back to her place and parks. She looks at the 20-some odd unread texts messages from Erik on her phone. Rosio is right. He is about to head back to Oakland soon and this needs to happen in person.

Arriving at her apartment, she completes her nighttime routine and grabs her phone to finally give him a call. As she settles onto her bed, her doorbell rings. She looks at the time, “Who would be dropping by my place after 10pm?” Walking to the front door, she takes a look at the security screen to the right. “Erik?” She opens the doors, and there he is in his work suit, no tie and a tub of Neapolitan ice cream in hand.

“Ready to talk?”

A/N: There will be a third part to end this mini series. I just tagged the people who asked about a Part 2.

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thisbibliomaniac · 6 years ago

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Would you hate me if I asked for all 200?

I could never hate you my darling !

200: My crush’s name is: ohhhh I’m not posting that here XD

199: I was born in: hell

198: I am really: average 197: My cellphone company is: stupid 196: My eye color is: brown 195: My shoe size is: inconvenient 194: My ring size is: 7 on my ring finger, 8 on my middle finger 193: My height is: 5′5″192: I am allergic to: according to my most recent rescan, egg yolks, corn starch, and ... something else 191: My 1st car was: a windstar 190: My 1st job was: ice cream shop! 189: Last book you read: Pride and Prejudice. loved it 188: My bed is: blue, green, purple, and pink 187: My pet: obi, who is so cute 186: My best friend: amazing wonderful beautiful incredible 185: My favorite shampoo is: maui vanilla 184: Xbox or ps3: nintendo 64183: Piggy banks are: for collecting cool money 182: In my pockets: scrunchie and box cutter 181: On my calendar: seeing @dangerously-human asap! 180: Marriage is: unlikely 179: Spongebob can: die 178: My mom: cool beans 177: The last three songs I bought were? these boots were made for walking, 9-5, idk probably something by kelly clarkson 176: Last YouTube video watched: steven crowder on the catholic boys. worth the watch 175: How many cousins do you have? oh gosh. so many. i was gonna add them up, but honestly? there’s at least 40, and aint nobody got time to mentally run through the whole family 174: Do you have any siblings? yes 173: Are your parents divorced? no 172: Are you taller than your mom? lol yes 171: Do you play an instrument? piano 170: What did you do yesterday? worked :/[ I Believe In ]169: Love at first sight: nope 168: Luck: i joke about it, but not really 167: Fate: no 166: Yourself: heck no 165: Aliens: nope 164: Heaven: of course 163: Hell: definitely 162: God: absolutely 161: Horoscopes: absolutely not 160: Soul mates: yes 159: Ghosts: no 158: Gay Marriage: nope 157: War: yes 156: Orbs: ? 155: Magic: cats are magic [ This or That ]154: Hugs or Kisses: hugs 153: Drunk or High: neither 152: Phone or Online: phone 151: Red heads or Black haired: ahhhh. both 150: Blondes or Brunettes: brunettes 149: Hot or cold: cold 148: Summer or winter: nether D:147: Autumn or Spring: autumn 146: Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla 145: Night or Day: night 144: Oranges or Apples: apples 143: Curly or Straight hair: curly 142: McDonalds or Burger King: ew neither 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: milk140: Mac or PC: pc always 139: Flip flops or high heals: both!!138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: ugly and sweet are not mutually exclusive 137: Coke or Pepsi: pepsi 136: Hillary or Obama: haahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha135: Burried or cremated: idk i wont be there 134: Singing or Dancing: singing 133: Coach or Chanel: walmart 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: taylor hicks!!!!! 131: Small town or Big city: in between 130: Wal-Mart or Target: both 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: adam sandler 128: Manicure or Pedicure: manicure 127: East Coast or West Coast: east coast 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: neither 125: Chocolate or Flowers: both 124: Disney or Six Flags: disney 123: Yankees or Red Sox: Indians [ Here’s What I Think About ]122: War: a necessary evil 121: George Bush: i was like 12 so 120: Gay Marriage: wicked 119: The presidential election: ridiculous 118: Abortion: murder 117: MySpace: useless 116: Reality TV: depends on the show 115: Parents: not really sure how to answer this 114: Back stabbers: dump them 113: Ebay: sneaky 112: Facebook: another necessary evil 111: Work: the most necessary of the greatest evil 110: My Neighbors: enigmas 109: Gas Prices: too high 108: Designer Clothes: why?

107: College: not for everyone 106: Sports: baseball is the best 105: My family: wild104: The future: D: [ Last time I ]103: Hugged someone: my coworker hugged me yesterday 102: Last time you ate: got shish tawook earlier 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: havent really seen anyone 100: Cried in front of someone: i dont do that 99: Went to a movie theater: couple weeks ago 98: Took a vacation: went to see stell and danger 97: Swam in a pool: a looong time ago 96: Changed a diaper: longer ago 95: Got my nails done: never have 94: Went to a wedding: probably a cousin? so also a long time ago 93: Broke a bone: never 92: Got a peircing: ears 8 years ago 91: Broke the law: i do not do that either !90: Texted: stell just now [ MISC ]89: Who makes you laugh the most: @identityconstellations88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: solitude 87: The last movie I saw: far from the madding crowd 86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: seeing danger 85: The thing im not looking forward to: work on monday 84: People call me: boring 83: The most difficult thing to do is: exist 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: never 81: My zodiac sign is: nothing 80: The first person i talked to today was: my mom 79: First time you had a crush: high school 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: i can hide from anyone ;) 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: usually do 76: Right now I am talking to: stell 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: uhhhhhhh74: I have/will get a job: hopefully never again, but thats not my luck 73: Tomorrow: bible study! 72: Today: shish tawook 71: Next Summer: who knows 70: Next Weekend: sleep 69: I have these pets: obi, walker, punky, daisy, loki, and lady 68: The worst sound in the world: nails on a chalkboard 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: no one 66: People that make you happy:my friends 65: Last time I cried: idek 64: My friends are: amazing 63: My computer is: dependable 62: My School: over and done with 61: My Car: adorable 60: I lose all respect for people who: give up their pets , especially for petty reasons 59: The movie I cried at was: oh goodness i dont know 58: Your hair color is: red 57: TV shows you watch: so many 56: Favorite web site: i dont think i like any of them 55: Your dream vacation: paris 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: 53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium 52: My room is: purple 51: My favorite celebrity is: oh goodness i have no idea . tom hiddleston probably 50: Where would you like to be: ireland 49: Do you want children: yes48: Ever been in love: no 47: Who’s your best friend: stell 46: More guy friends or girl friends: girl friends 45: One thing that makes you feel great is: being with cats 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: any of my friends 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: no 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: no 41: Have you pre-named your children: no 40: Last person I got mad at: my boss 39: I would like to move to: ireland 38: I wish I was a professional: nothing. i dont want to be a professional anything. i hate working for other people. they suck. every single one. [ My Favorites ]37: Candy: reeses pieces36: Vehicle: corrola 35: President: RAND PAUL 202034: State visited: hawaii 33: Cellphone provider: they all suck 32: Athlete: jason kipnis 31: Actor: tom hiddleston 30: Actress: sandra bullock 29: Singer: lea salonga 28: Band: needtobreathe27: Clothing store: walmart 26: Grocery store: walmart 25: TV show: the office 24: Movie: so many 23: Website: already asked 22: Animal: cats 21: Theme park: not really a theme park fan 20: Holiday: reformation day 19: Sport to watch: baseball! 18: Sport to play: bowling 17: Magazine: none 16: Book: madman 15: Day of the week: friday 14: Beach: the one in jersey stell and i went to last year 13: Concert attended: tobymac and brandon heath together 12: Thing to cook: snickerdoodles 11: Food: shish tawook 10: Restaurant: idek 9: Radio station: majic 105.7

8: Yankee candle scent: cinnamon 7: Perfume: honeysuckle 6: Flower: roses 5: Color: pink 4: Talk show host: regis philban XD 3: Comedian: probably john mulaney 2: Dog breed: pitbull 1: Did you answer all these truthfully? yiss

thanks dan

#dan-the-fungus

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origami-goblin · 7 years ago

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Starfinder Theme Focus - Ace Pilots and Bounty Hunters

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This week I’m going back to the scene of the crime to revisit the themes in Starfinder and offer some possible avenues down which you can direct your creative character-building energies. In case you’re completely in the dark on this topic, Starfinder introduces the concept of themes that you can use as a small puzzle piece in sculpting your character. In addition to providing some RP definition, each theme will give your character a boost to a specific stat and bonuses at 1st, 6th, 12th, and 18th level. As an aside, Paizo’s choice to have the theme progression remain identical throughout the possible selections helps to limit the min-maxing a bit, by ensuring that players aren’t choosing themes based on whichever ones grant them bonuses the soonest. Of course, the bonuses that each theme provides inherently enable some level of power-gaming, but that is going to be the case with nearly any pen-and-paper PRG.

Last time, as a part of my deeper dive into themes, I specifically touched on the Icon and listed several examples of character concepts that a player could use when creating a Startfinder character kissed by the Icon theme. The point of the post was to show that themes aren’t meant to limit creativity; they foster it. Just as there’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s, there are countless interpretations to each theme and the characters that can be molded into existence. Today, I’ll be firing up my brain engine to offer some different charger ideas for the Ace Pilot and Bounty Hunter themes. Buckle up, we’re making the jump!

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Ace Pilot Character Concepts

“You are most comfortable at the controls of a vehicle, whether it’s a starship racing through the inky void of space or a ground vehicle zooming between trees, around boulders, and across dusty badlands. You might be a member of an elite military force, the recipient of intense courses of training. Alternatively, you might be a total amateur with innate skills that make you a much-admired hotshot.” – Starfinder CRB

Cargo Transport Pilot – You’ve been on the open road…er…space your whole life. Maybe you enjoy the solitude that comes with transporting outrageous quantities of goods across planets or star systems. These goods could be anything – weapons, construction materials, medical devices. Or maybe it’s a grab bag and half of the excitement stems from wondering what the next shipment will contain. The many laws governing tariffs & import/export taxes come second-nature, and your expertise in maneuvering an unruly behemoth transport ship is unrivaled. I’m sure you have some fantastic stories about the characters that you’ve met at depots and docks along the way. Have you operated with a crew or are you more of a lone wolf? Are you ‘by the book’ or are you known to bend the rules when regulations aren’t being followed? And hey, I’m not going to judge if you smuggle something every now and again – that’s completely up to you.

Mining Rig Operator – A specialist when it comes to operating heavy machinery, and someone who’s not afraid to get their hands dirty. Whether it be a massive drill, asteroid borer, front-end loader, or excavator, you have the honed precision required of someone who could easily level a structure or cause a fatality with a minor slip of the controls. You might harbor a deep love of geology, wealth, or the smell of space-diesel. If you’ve seen Disney’s Atlantis, Gaetan ‘The Mole’ comes to mind here, in all his grimy glory. Has mining been in your family for generations, or were you trying to make some credits in whatever profession was available? Have you pocketed any of your unearthed materials and sold them on the sly? What sort of role would you have on a starship that isn’t a dedicated mining vessel?

Stunt Driver – Inhabitants of the Pact Worlds crave entertainment, and you know how to deliver. From hologram tapes to over-capacity arenas, the lengths you go to appease your audiences is unmatched. How do you prepare yourself mentally to be fearless? Is there any stunt that you won’t do? Huge flames, steep jumps, free-falling acrobatics – you’ve done it all! Have you become an adventurer to satisfy a new craving that’s suddenly emerged deep inside? Are you an adrenaline junky with no care for your personal safety? Or are you THAT confident in your abilities that you simply must show them off at every opportunity?

Military Training Pilot – You’ve risen through the ranks of a military sect, but you figured that you’re done with combat missions. Instead, you are now responsible for grooming the fresh batch of hot-heads in the Academy to ensure that engagements end favorably at the minimal loss of life and equipment. You could be highly decorated and revered by all, or maybe you’ve never actually seen combat but have a brilliant mind for tactics and strategy. Did you develop a sophisticated training module for recruits? Are you a master of physics and can perform complex equations regarding acceleration, drag, and gravity on the fly? Maybe you’re not pleased about being given a non-combative assignment and yearn to be back in the fight, wherever that might be.

Getaway Driver – You’ll ‘wait in the car.’ You know the best nooks and crannies to hide in after a successful operation, be it a heist or a GTA. Apart from having nerves of steel, your ability to handle any vehicle makes you highly coveted in the high-stakes game of evading the authorities. Perhaps you have a catchy pseudonym, like “Leadfoot” or “Afterburner” that adds an edge of mystery to your growing legend. Are you available for hire depending on the highest bidder, or are you loyal to a dedicated group of criminals? Or maybe you’re not a criminal at all, and you’re an undercover agent networking to root out the top dogs of the criminal world. What drives you (pun intended) and keeps your foot on the accelerator? I haven’t seen Baby Driver, but I imagine that he would make for a fun Starfinder character.

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Bounty Hunter Character Concepts

“You track people down for money. It is a dangerous profession, as most of your targets understandably don’t wish to be caught. You wouldn’t have it any other way. You might have a code of ethics, never taking jobs that, say, target children or members of your own race. You might hunt down only escaped criminals. Or you might be completely amoral, taking any job that comes along—for the right price.” – Starfinder CRB

Great Mouse Detective – Maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself on this one, but a Ysoki Detective? Come on! Okay, we can drop the ‘mouse’ portion of this to generalize it a bit, but a detective makes for a great Bounty Hunter. Searching for clues? Check. Interrogating witnesses? Check. An independent free-lancer? Check, check, check. Now all we need is a mahogany pipe that functions while wearing an airtight, pressurized helmet. Are you a Private Investigator, helping people track down lost relatives? Do you offer your services on a contract basis, assisting the local authorities when your services are required? Maybe you’re exceptional at finding clues, or adept at making accurate deductions based on the information on-hand. Or perhaps your forte involves the canvassing of a crime scene to gather the word on the street, or you could be skilled at poring over historical documents and ancestry lineages.

Gung-Ho Repo-Man – It’s time to pay the piper. Whether it be collecting vehicles or ships that have defaulted loans, or shaking down debtors who are skipping town without paying back the credits owed, there are plenty of avenues to venture down as a repo-man (or woman). Are you employed by a roving band of outlaws or by a seedy brand of space mafia? Do you find honor in returning to others what is rightfully theirs? You can be cold and calculated, or a wild child with a smoking gun. Do you believe in using violence to get the job done, by obtaining the required items by whatever means necessary? Or do you have a strict code of conduct and will only resort to fighting if it is absolutely necessary and all other accessible routes have been exhausted? Either way, you get the job done and collect that paycheck, because if someone is going to get paid, it might as well be you.

Corporate Headhunter – Everybody’s looking for that perfect candidate to fill the shoes and help their company prosper. Sure, you’re a bounty hunter, but you aren’t collecting the reward on some beat-up Toyota Star-is or trying to bring in a fugitive; you are trying to find the right people and put them in the right seats. Corporations pay you top dollar (after six months) when you track down someone with the appropriate skillset and convince them to accept a position at their firms. You have an absurd eye for noticing talent, even when it isn’t a skill that people recognize themselves as having. These aren’t rush jobs; you know that the only way to scout ability is to dig in beyond the resume and get to know the person behind the paper. Whittling down long lists of candidates to a select few and engaging them in social situations is your true calling, and you truly want them to succeed. If they’re not a fit, it’s on to the next one until you find that diamond in the rough.

Pre-Gap Antiquarian – Not much is known about the Gap (that’s why it’s called ‘the Gap’), but you recognize that there is much to be learned about the past, and that the key to unlocking the secrets of what we’ve collectively forgotten lies in the relics that remain. You seek out machinery, trinkets, baubles, clothing – any odds and ends whose origins have long since been forgotten. Perhaps you scour through old histories and manuscripts, trying to locate legendary items of extraordinary power. Do you have magic at your disposal to aid you in your search, ala a dowsing rod? Do you gravitate towards items of a certain kind, like ancient weapons? What draws you to these items in the first place? Maybe there have been stories passed down through your family and you became attached to them, bringing nostalgia into the mix. Or maybe you believe that the way technology is progressing leaves people disconnected with nature or causes us to lack the stronger bond that comes in a slower-moving culture. You probably hoard some of your treasures and keep an exceptionally special item on your person. You could be a hoarder, or run a shop that deals in the sale and acquisition of oddities and antiques.

Zealous Proselytizer – Instead of being driven by the promise of gold or riches, you seek out the good fortune that comes from your deity looking favorably upon you. Whether it be Talavet, Weydan or any deity in between, you seek out others in attempt to show them the enlightenment that comes with becoming a follower. In a way, you are a bounty hunter of souls. Maybe you preach openly in front of large crowds and then try to personally recruit the ones who come up to your afterwards who show interest and promise. Or perhaps you spend more time watching and listening, following people whose dispositions align best with your deity’s tenets. You don’t necessarily have to be pushy, but you certainly could get aggressive if you become frustrated with your efforts. What if they don’t see the world as you see it? You might not be terribly high on the totem pole, either; you could be passing out leaflets in hopes that you ascend the ranks if you make your quota. Do you have a quota? If so, is it more of a personal goal or an appointed goal? What if you’re not aligned with a deity at all, but you hop between them depending on the one that grants the most benefits? After all, nobody’s perfect.

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And there you have it! Since I’ve already done the Icon in a previous post, our next stop will be the Mercenary and Outlaw themes. I’m really looking forward to these two, as they both have a negative connotation and I want to see if we can’t shrug off those predispositions and put a positive spin on them! The main problem I have with posts like these is that I want to start putting together a bunch of characters, most of which will never see the light of day. So, please - create! I shall live through your characters!

Until next time – the stars aren’t the limit; they’re only the beginning.

#Starfinder #PCs #Character Building #Character Creation #Themes #Paizo #Pathfinder #RPGs #Tabletop #Gaming #Concepts

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momscookingthebooks · 7 years ago

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Chapter Reveal

Title: Payback

Series: Vigilante Justice #1

Author: Kristin Harte

Publication Date: January 25, 2018

#ChapterReveal #Payback #NewRelease #VigilanteJustice #KristinHarte

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36549869-payback

Synopsis:

In Justice, Colorado, the Kennards run everything, including the only big business in the area. Their sawmill employs most of the town, and the Kennard brothers live up to a long family history of keeping their neighbors and coworkers safe—until a motorcycle club comes to town and starts causing trouble. Big trouble. The kind that ends in funerals. The kind no law enforcement can help them with. He carries the burden of protecting an entire town Being the oldest Kennard brother, I’ve got a centuries-old promise to uphold—run the family business to give the townspeople jobs and the sort of security they can only find in Justice. When a motorcycle club blows that plan apart, I’ll do anything to make them aware that they picked the wrong town to target. As a former Green Beret, I know just how to sabotage an enemy. The only weakness in my armor is my obsession with a five-foot-nothing blonde who unknowingly holds my heart in her hands. My attraction to her could cost me my life, but I’d sacrifice it all to save hers. She owes a debt that could cost her life I’ve spent three years hiding out in Justice and paying off a debt to the Soul Suckers, one they’ve decided to collect whether I’m ready to pay or not. When danger lands on my doorstep, one man jumps in to help. Alder Kennard—former Special Forces soldier and current object of all my fantasies. But the Soul Suckers won’t let a debt go unpaid, and with the price on my head rising every day, it’s only a matter of time until they come back for me. Alder would put his life on the line to save mine, which is something I simply can’t afford. Everyone has a debt to pay, and the only currency I have left is my body. So when the time comes, I’ll trade my life for his.

Purchase Links:

iBooks: smarturl.it/PaybackKH

Amazon: smarturl.it/PaybackKHarte

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Chapter 1

“We’ve got a problem, boss.”

If I hadn’t already been in a foul mood, those words would have gotten me there.

“What is it now?”

“Motorcycle gang up on Widow’s Ridge.” Camden Reese—born and bred in Justice, friend of my youngest brothers, and former Marine sergeant—launched into a speech about his team running into some bikers up by the Hansen property. We’d recently signed a contract with Miss Hansen to harvest eighty acres of dead Ponderosa pine on that hill, so anything getting in our way was definitely a problem. A big one.

As Camden laid out the events of the altercation, I checked over the satellite images of the area on my desk, making notes and marking locations. A star on the house to the west where the elderly Miss Hansen still lived, another to the east on the patch of earth where a trailer sat, all alone. The only two residences up that long, rough stretch of road leading to a drop-off on the far west side.

That rocky piece of land sat just outside the city limits, so things like road maintenance were all but forgotten unless the two residents brought them to my attention. No biker would intentionally ride up such a rutted, gravel road without a reason—too hard on their bike and their face if they were trailing someone else.

“He tried to call out Finn, but I squashed that shit,” Camden said, securing every bit of my attention for the moment. Finn—my second youngest brother, one of a set of twins, and the only Kennard ever to spend time in prison. He was also a recovering addict, and I had vowed to my dad that I’d keep him in recovery and not let him backslide. That had been ten years ago, and I still worried about keeping that vow every fucking day.

“What the fuck was Finn doing on a job?” My brother didn’t work for me except for the occasional project, and I knew for a fact he hadn’t been assigned to the Hansen job.

“He’d driven with me to check in on Miss Hansen. We never made it out there, though, because we ran into the bikers on the way up. One guy said some shit about Finn’s drug days, how they missed him over at the strip club in Rock Falls.”

Jesus. “You get a name?”

“Patch on his vest said Spark.”

“Spark.” I sat back, balancing my chair on two legs. “As in plug?”

Camden blinked, a cocky smile breaking across his face. “Yeah, like plug. I didn’t see the other guy’s name.”

“So Spark knows Finn from what…ten, twelve years ago? He look familiar to you?”

Cam shook his head. “Never seen him in town.”

That caught my attention. Justice was a small town planted squarely between two slightly larger towns, all in the middle of fucking nowhere. People didn’t happen into Justice—they came here for a reason.

And if that reason was named Finn Kennard, Spark and his friend needed to be dealt with and quick. “How’d my brother handle the run-in?”

“Finn ignored the bullshit from Spark. I wasn’t as restrained.”

Not surprising. Cam always did have a bit of a temper. “If the sheriff gets called again on you—”

Camden waved me off. “I knocked his legs out from under him and put him on the ground.

Didn’t even leave a mark, I don’t think. But I made my point.”

“And what point was that?” Not that I needed to ask.

“That Kennard Mills would be harvesting the lumber on that side of the hill, and their club had better not have any business up there. They drove off after Spark picked himself up out of the dirt, the other guy saying something about bigger fish.” Camden frowned. “I recognized the other guy.”

“Local?” I couldn’t think of anyone in Justice who rode with an MC, but I might have missed someone. Three hundred plus people were a lot to keep track of.

“No. He came into the truck stop one night when Leah and I were there for dinner.” He blew out a breath and shifted his weight. An almost unconscious gesture, but one that stood out. Normally almost confident to a fault, Cam suddenly seemed nervous, which meant I wouldn’t like what he had to say.

“Yeah?” I prodded, wondering how a night out with his wife would piss me off.

“Leah noticed something was up when she went to the restroom and came to get me. The asshole had Shye cornered in a back hallway and wasn’t letting her pass.”

The snap of the pencil I’d been holding breaking in two might as well have been a gunshot. “And you let him walk away?”

“I had Leah and Shye looking on. I had to.”

Picturing perfect little Shye—at least ten years my junior and so damn sweet, every one of her smiles would give you a toothache—watching as I kicked the shit of some asshole was about as unappealing as a thought could get. I probably would’ve wanted to do the same as Camden and let the guy walk with a warning if I’d been there. I wouldn’t have, but I’d have wanted to.

Because I wanted her, and the idea of Shye being scared of me made my gut sink like a rock. I needed to stop thinking about Shye Anderson. An impossibility as of late, which directly correlated to why my mood had been so foul all day.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead and sitting deeper into my chair, bringing all four legs back to the floor. “All right. So they rode off after you knocked Spark to the ground. Any indication they’d keep hassling you or come back for Finn?”

He shrugged. “Not really, though you never know with these types of guys.”

Lawless, clan-like, arrogant. Yeah. You never knew a damn thing with them. “Did you recognize the club logo?”

“Definitely the Soul Suckers.”

Of course. I’d heard they’d added a clubhouse not too far over the county line to the west. I probably wouldn’t have thought twice if I’d seen their bikes on the highway through town or heading toward the new restaurant on Main Street. I would now, though.

“Might be time to set the club straight on what they can and can’t do as they ride through Justice. I’ll talk to Deacon, see if he knows anyone. Head back to the ridge, and get the Hansen site plot worked out so we can start cruising and marking trees. This might be our last big harvest before the rains come, and I want to take advantage of the summer weather while we have it.”

“We’ll get it done.”

“Good. And if you see Bishop on the mill floor, have him call me.”

Camden nodded, then left without another word, leaving me to stew over this new mess.

Fucking messes all over the place lately, it seemed.

I looked over my satellite images again, tracing roads and logging paths I’d known my whole life. Acres of Widow’s Ridge pine forest stared back at me, a mottled brown and green landscape. Half the trees stood dead or dying, a sign of the mountain beetle infestation that had nearly bankrupted my late father and destroyed Kennard Mills. But the bug that had nearly killed us had instead left us flush with jobs and cash. The droughts hadn’t stopped this mill, the industry collapse hadn’t either, and the fucking plague of beetles killing the forests around us had actually been a boon instead of a death knell. Everyone in Justice had enjoyed the bonuses beating our sales plans every month brought, and no fucking bikers would make us end that streak. I had a town to employ.

But Justice, Colorado was more than a town to me—it was my responsibility.

The place my ancestors had set down roots. Where they tended to each and every resident over the years, giving families time to grow good, strong roots. Kennard men had run Justice like a homestead for nearly two centuries with the mill as the central business fueling everything else, and I’d live up to the legacy set before me as the oldest living Kennard. That meant making sure people had jobs, food, shelter, and that they felt safe.

Another thing bikers wouldn’t be taking away from us, even though it seemed as if they were trying just that.

An annoying, robotic song interrupted my thoughts. The words “Bishop Kennard”—name of my closest brother who also happened to be my VP of sales and marketing—flashed on the screen of my phone as it played that stupid song again. I swiped to answer and brought the device to my ear.

“Bishop.”

“Camden said you wanted me,” he said, not bothering with a greeting.

“We’ve got trouble on Widow’s Ridge.”

“I heard. Finn all right?” Because, as the second oldest Kennard brother, our family would be the first thing on Bishop’s mind. As it should be.

“Camden thinks so. Let’s run by the bar tonight and be sure, though. And I’ll need you to check in on Miss Hansen—make sure she’s okay out there.”

“Sounds good. I’ll call as soon as we hang up. Anything else?”

“Sell some fucking lumber, Bishop.”

“On it, boss. I’ll be ready to go at six.”

I tossed the phone back onto my desk, the maps snagging my attention again.

One spot in particular, actually, and not the one belonging to Miss Hansen. I ran a finger over the east side of the hill, circling the little trailer on a barren, flat piece of rock. Just outside the city limits, it technically sat beyond my protective net, but Shye Anderson lived in that trailer. New girl in town at only three years since she moved to the area, waitress at the truck stop over in Rock Falls, and the only woman I’d ever met who could drive me mad with frustration and desire all at once.

I’d been ultra-aware of Shye since I first met her. Slightly obsessed, really. The girl captivated me; stole all my attention with her sweet little smile and never let me go. It didn’t hurt that she looked like a damn angel—long, blond hair and big, dark eyes, a tiny little body that I wanted to get my hands on more than anything else. Sweet as honey, that one, but she lived up to her name. She blushed and stuttered around me, avoided my eyes when I tried to catch her gaze. If I pushed too much, she ran, so I held back. Made myself available but waited for her to come to me.

Which is how I ended up eating at the truck stop five nights a week—all on Shye’s shifts. I’d had to up my workouts to keep from getting soft on all the grease and baked goods, but seeing that smile every night was worth it. The coffee—man, that was a harder pill to swallow. How a restaurant could have such bad coffee—especially one based out of a truck stop—was beyond me. I drank cup after cup of the foul brew so she’d come to my table more often to pour me refills. Without the coffee, I didn’t get much time with Shye, so I suffered.

And when I worked? I sent my guys in there. Shye had no family in Justice, so I made sure everyone understood they were to treat her as they would a Kennard. Making my men see her as mine kept them watchful around her. Hell, I paid Bishop to eat his lunches there so he could keep an eye on her, and everyone on my team headed that way at least once a day if I had to go out of town. They mocked me relentlessly for chasing her around like a damned puppy, but I didn’t give a shit. I needed to know she was happy and safe. That she had everything she needed…even if she wasn’t ready to willingly take things from me yet. We’d get there. Three years I’d waited for her to come around, and she would. Eventually. I just had to figure out the right plan.

As I pondered honey-blond hair, sugary smiles, and how many times I could use the excuse of working on the ridge to stop and see her at her place, my phone rang again—Camden, this time.

I swiped to answer and hit the button for speakerphone. “If you tell me we have another problem, I’m going to toss a grenade in your truck.”

“So I shouldn’t tell you we’ve got a fire on the mountain?”

Motherfucker. The trouble with harvesting the blue-stained wood left behind by the mountain beetle infestation was the trees needed to cure standing for a number of years. But dead trees meant dry trees, and with the droughts of the past few years and the mild winters we’d had, that meant trouble. Big, dry, tinder-type trouble. A single lightning bolt could ignite an inferno, while a forest fire could destroy the whole damn town.

And apparently, we had one to deal with.

“Where?” I grabbed my keys and pressed the mill-floor alarm to get the team’s attention.

“Eastern slope. Just past the Hansen property.”

My steps stumbled, then sped. “That’s by Shye’s place.”

An engine roared in the background. “I’m already on my way there. Two minutes out.”

She could be hurt in two minutes. Dead. Jesus fuck, I was too far away. “Drive faster.”

I hung up and stormed down onto the mill floor. My team stood ready, looking at me expectantly, ready to fight the fires we knew could ruin everything we’d all built here.

“Fire just east of the Hansen site. Let’s get two water trucks up the eastern side of the ridge and send one up to the west side to be safe.” I met the eyes of Gage Shepherd, former Navy SEAL like Bishop and current heavy machinery engineer of Kennard Mills. “It’s close to Shye’s place.”

Without another word, Gage began issuing orders to the team. He understood the severity of the situation from every angle—the loss of our product, the potential for destruction in the town, and the possibility that the woman I had my eye on could be in danger. He’d get shit done for me.

As Gage loaded the water trucks with oxygen tanks and medical equipment—something that made my gut churn—his dog Rex trotted after him, looking as if he was headed for a joyride instead of into a fire. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d been on site at a fire, though. Gage never went anywhere without Rex.

While Gage made sure the team knew where to go and what to do, I raced to my truck. My heart pounded as I started the engine and peeled out of my spot, heading for the ridge where smoke was beginning to turn the sky black above the tree line. Fuck, if Shye was up there, if she was hurt—

I didn’t get to finish my thought because my phone rang right as I turned onto the highway heading toward the mountain. Camden again.

“Tell me good news.”

“She’s not here,” Camden said, sounding slightly out of breath. “It’s her trailer on fire, though.”

“The water trucks are on the way.”

“Don’t think they’ll do any good for her, to be honest, but we need them for the tree line. It’s so dry up here, a single spark could set the whole mountain on fire.”

Confirming my earlier thoughts. Fuck. I yanked the wheel sideways, making a sharp turn onto the road that would take me up to Shye’s place, looking over all the dead, brown pine on the hillside as I flew over the rutted, gravelly road. “Gage had the team rolling out right behind me. I’m four minutes out, though.”

“Want me to call the fire department in Rock Falls?”

Wouldn’t do any good at that point, which was why Kennard Mills had as many water hauling trucks as we did. “No use, though you’d better call the sheriff.”

“That useless piece of shit? What for?”

Useless wasn’t the term I’d use—corrupt sounded better for the county sheriff we were forced to deal with. I didn’t have time to correct Camden, though. “He’ll throw a tantrum if he’s not informed. Knowing him, he won’t come out to investigate anyway. Just make the call.”

“Yeah, got it…hang on.” Voices yelled in the background, and the sound of Camden moving fast created static on the line.

“Cam?”

“We’ve got a problem.”

That phrase spoken about my girl’s place made me want to growl my frustration to the universe. “What fucking problem?”

“There are motorcycle tracks in the dirt around her property. Lots of them.”

Rage unlike anything I’d felt exploded in my chest. “Call the sheriff and put the word out—anyone sees a fucking Soul Sucker in Justice, I want to know about it.”

I hung up and threw my phone across the bench seat before taking the switchback turn way faster than I should have. Not that the worry burning in my gut had anything to do with me—Shye owned that ache.

Shye may not have known it, but she was mine. I’d do whatever it took to protect her.

And if this fucking motorcycle club had threatened my girl?

I’d gut them and leave their bodies for the predators.

About the Author:

Kristin Harte started off as a chemistry major in college but somehow ended up writing romances featuring ex-military heroes and the women who knock them to their knees…literally and figuratively. She likes drinking in the shade, snuggling under a warm blanket on a cold evening, and researching how to blow things up. Her children know nothing of what she writes, and her husband just hopes he’s not at their Chicago-ish home the day the government shows up to confront Kristin about her Google search history. When not writing good men doing bad things, Kristin can be found writing paranormal romance as Ellis Leigh or co-writing naughty novellas as London Hale.

Author Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristin_harte

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/authorkristinharte

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17304863.Kristin_Harte

Web: http://www.kristinharte.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristin_harte/

#chapter reveal #Payback #Vigilante Justice 1 #Kristin Harte #Hosted by Ardent Prose PR

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roseharlaws · 5 years ago

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Dearheart

Much like Helene, this friend was enchanted by books in a way that animated his every word; what resonated between Helene’s voice on the page before me and my friend’s in my memory, was the respect, need, and love for books that characterized their mutual passion.

books provide: a way of reaching out across time and space to friends and strangers, and to the absent presences that play such a large part in all our lives. I

The books arrived safely, the Stevenson is so fine it embarrasses my orange-crate bookshelves, I’m almost afraid to handle such soft vellum and heavy cream-colored pages. Being used to the dead-white paper and stiff cardboardy covers of American books, I never knew a book could be such a joy to the touch.

The day Hazlitt came he opened to “I hate to read new books,” and I hollered “Comrade!” to whoever owned it before me.

I require a book of love poems with spring coming on. No Keats or Shelley , send me poets who can make love without slobbering—Wyatt or Jonson or somebody, use your own judgment. Just a nice book preferably small enough to stick in a slacks pocket and take to Central Park.

Please write and tell me about London, I live for the day when I step off the boat-train and feel its dirty sidewalks under my feet. I want to walk up Berkeley Square and down Wimpole Street and stand in St. Paul’s where John Donne preached and sit on the step Elizabeth sat on when she refused to enter the Tower, and like that. A newspaper man I know, who was stationed in London during the war, says tourists go to England with preconceived notions, so they always find exactly what they go looking for. I told him I’d go looking for the England of English literature, and he said: “Then it’s there.”

The Newman arrived almost a week ago and I’m just beginning to recover. I keep it on the table with me all day, every now and then I stop typing and reach over and touch it. Not because it’s a first edition; I just never saw a book so beautiful. I feel vaguely guilty about owning it. All that gleaming leather and gold stamping and beautiful type belongs in the pine-panelled library of an English country home; it wants to be read by the fire in a gentleman’s leather easy chair—not on a secondhand studio couch in a one-room hovel in a broken-down brownstone front.

Thank you for the beautiful book. I’ve never owned a book before with pages edged all round in gold. Would you believe it arrived on my birthday? I wish you hadn’t been so over-courteous about putting the inscription on a card instead of on the flyleaf. It’s the bookseller coming out in you all, you were afraid you’d decrease its value. You would have increased it for the present owner. (And possibly for the future owner. I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages some one long gone has called my attention to.)

Thank you again for the beautiful book, I shall try very hard not to get gin and ashes all over it, it’s really much too fine for the likes of me.

Write me about London—the tube, the Inns of Court, Mayfair, the corner where the Globe Theatre stood, anything, I’m not fussy. Write me about Knightsbridge, it sounds green and gracious in Eric Coates’ London.

P. S. Your mother is setting out bravely this morning to look at an apartment for you on 8th Avenue in the 50’s because you told her to look in the theatre district. Maxine you know perfectly well your mother is not equipped to look at ANYTHING on 8th Avenue.

You may add Walton’s Lives to the list of books you aren’t sending me. It’s against my principles to buy a book I haven’t read, it’s like buying a dress you haven’t tried on, but you can’t even get Walton’s Lives in a library over here.

You can look at it. They have it down at the 42nd street branch. But not to take home! the lady said to me, shocked. eat it here, just sit right down in room 315 and read the whole book without a cup of coffee, a cigarette or air.

Doesn’t matter, Q quoted enough of it so I know I’ll like it. anything he liked i’ll like except if it’s fiction. i never can get interested in things that didn’t happen to people who never lived.

Boy, I’d like to have run barefoot through THEIR library before they sold it.

Fascinating book to read, did you know John Donne eloped with the boss’s highborn daughter and landed in the Tower for it and starved and starved and THEN got religion. my word.

You want to be the murderer or the corpse?

You’ll be fascinated to learn (from me that hates novels) that I finally got round to Jane Austen and went out of my mind over Pride & Prejudice which I can’t bring myself to take back to the library till you find me a copy of my own.

I houseclean my books every spring and throw out those I’m never going to read again like I throw out clothes I’m never going to wear again. It shocks everybody. My friends are peculiar about books. They read all the best sellers, they get through them as fast as possible, I think they skip a lot. And they NEVER read anything a second time so they don’t remember a word of it a year later. But they are profoundly shocked to see me drop a book in the wastebasket or give it away. The way they look at it, you buy a book, you read it, you put it on the shelf, you never open it again for the rest of your life but YOU DON’T THROW IT OUT! NOT IF IT HAS A HARD COVER ON IT! Why not? I personally can’t think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even a mediocre book.

The Book-Lovers’ Anthology stepped out of its wrappings, all gold-embossed leather and gold-tipped pages, easily the most beautiful book I own including the Newman first edition. It looks too new and pristine ever to have been read by anyone else, but it has been: it keeps falling open at the most delightful places as the ghost of its former owner points me to things I’ve never read before. Like Tristram Shandy’s description of his father’s remarkable library which “contained every book and treatise which had ever been wrote upon the subject of great noses.” (Frank! Go find me Tristram Shandy! )

THOU VARLET? Don’t remember which restoration playwright called everybody a Varlet, I always wanted to use it in a sentence.

I shall be obliged if you will send Nora and the girls to church every Sunday for the next month to pray for the continued health and strength of the messrs. gilliam, reese, snider, campanella, robinson, hodges, furillo, podres, newcombe and labine, collectively known as The Brooklyn Dodgers. If they lose this World Series I shall Do Myself In and then where will you be?

Have you got De Tocqueville’s Journey to America? Somebody borrowed mine and never gave it back. Why is it that people who wouldn’t dream of stealing anything else think it’s perfectly all right to steal books?

I write you from under the bed where that catullus drove me. i mean it PASSETH understanding.

Up till now, the only Richard Burton I ever heard of is a handsome young actor I’ve seen in a couple of British movies and I wish I’d kept it that way. This one got knighted for turning Catullus—caTULLus—into Victorian hearts-and-flowers.

And poor little Mr. smithers must have been afraid his mother was going to read it, he like to KILL himself cleaning it all up.

I go through life watching the english language being raped before my face. like miniver cheevy, I was born too late. and like miniver cheevy I cough and call it fate and go on drinking.

I am starting with a script about New York under seven years of British Occupation and i MARVEL at how i rise above it to address you in friendly and forgiving fashion, your behavior over here from 1776 to 1783 was simply FILTHY.

When, as a little boy, William Blake saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree amid a summer field, he was soundly trounced by his mother.

I will read the three standard passages from Sermon XV aloud,” you have to read Donne aloud, it’s like a Bach fugue.

i am going to bed. i will have hideous nightmares involving huge monsters in academic robes carrying long bloody butcher knives labelled Excerpt, Selection, Passage and Abridged.

Thought of you last night, my editor from Harper’s was here for dinner, we were going over this story-of-my-life and we came to the story of how I dramatized Landor’s “Aesop and Rhodope” for the “Hallmark Hall of Fame.” Did I ever tell you that one? Sarah Churchill starred as Landor’s dewy-eyed Rhodope. The show was aired on a Sunday afternoon. Two hours before it went on the air, I opened the New York Times Sunday book review section and there on page 3 was a review of a book called A House Is Not a Home by Polly Adler, all about whorehouses, and under the title was the photo of a sculptured head of a Greek girl with a caption reading: “Rhodope, the most famous prostitute in Greece.” Landor had neglected to mention this. Any scholar would have known Landor’s Rhodope was the Rhodopis who took Sappho’s brother for every dime he had but I’m not a scholar, I memorized Greek endings one stoic winter but they didn’t stay with me.

Wasn’t anything else that intrigued me much, it’s just stories, I don’t like stories. Now if Geoffrey had kept a diary and told me what it was like to be a little clerk in the palace of richard III—THAT I’d learn Olde English for. I just threw out a book somebody gave me, it was some slob’s version of what it was like to live in the time of Oliver Cromwell—only the slob didn’t live in the time of Oliver Cromwell so how the hell does he know what it was like? Anybody wants to know what it was like to live in the time of Oliver Cromwell can flop on the sofa with Milton on his pro side and Walton on his con, and they’ll not only tell him what it was like, they’ll take him there.

“The reader will not credit that such things could be,” Walton says somewhere or other, “but I was there and I saw it.”

that’s for me, I’m a great lover of I-was-there books.

We had a very pleasant summer with more than the usual number of tourists, including hordes of young people making the pilgrimage to Carnaby Street. We watch it all from a safe distance, though I must say I rather like the Beatles. If the fans just wouldn’t scream so.

I introduced a young friend of mine to Pride & Prejudice one rainy Sunday and she has gone out of her mind for Jane Austen.

I hope you and Brian have a ball in London. He said to me on the phone: “Would you go with us if you had the fare?” and I nearly wept.

But I don’t know, maybe it’s just as well I never got there. I dreamed about it for so many years. I used to go to English movies just to look at the streets. I remember years ago a guy I knew told me that people going to England find exactly what they go looking for. I said I’d go looking for the England of English literature, and he nodded and said: “It’s there.”

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. Looking around the rug one thing’s for sure: it’s here.

We all lead busy lives—perhaps it’s better so.

If you happen to pass by 84, Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me. I owe it so much.

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thenatureofpages · 5 years ago

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5 Reasons You Should Consider Participating in NaNoWriMo

Leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp, and pumpkin spice lattes are available to the masses. Do you know what that means?

NaNoWriMo season is almost upon us!

That’s right – the nonprofit writer’s program National Novel Writing Month, commonly known as NaNoWriMo – is getting closer!

“Wait,” you might be saying, “What exactly does this mean?”

WELL! Allow me to tell you!

National Novel Writing Month is a writing challenge in November with a simple goal: write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days.

NaNo is also far more than that – it’s a community, it’s a way of life, it’s – okay, I’m probably getting ahead of myself. I’m just really passionate about the program – in fact, I even wrote my college admissions essay on the life-changing power of NaNoWriMo!

1. Having a Deadline is Incredibly Motivating!

I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but if you are, then you struggle with procrastination. A lot. If procrastination were a major, I’d have a Ph.D. in the study. Yet every year when NaNoWriMo season rolls around, I find myself eager to write and hit my daily word count goal. I’ll wake up early, go to bed late, and even get my regular work done faster to have more time to write. The NaNoWriMo website also provides you with badges as you hit specific landmarks – your first 25k, writing for 10 days in a row, etc. – which I love to try and collect throughout the month.

2. A Sense of Community!

This is one of my absolute favorite parts on NaNoWriMo – the community! Currently, the site boasts over 370,000 participants between the Young Writer’s Program and the main NaNoWriMo program! Every November, Twitter, Bookstagram, and BookTube is flooded with posts and #WIP updates for WriMos to encourage, inspire, and support one another! The NaNoWriMo website also hosts forums for writers to flock together and form a community. I found some of my best friends through their website and am still heavily involved in local events too!

That’s right – not only is there an online community, but there are also offline ones as well! Most cities host NaNoWriMo events put together by your local Municipal Liaisons – MLs for short. Depending on your location, libraries, coffee shops, and bookstores have been known to hold NaNoWriMo meetings for writers to gather and participate in word wars and chat about your book. It’s a blast!

3. No Time for Doubt!

The basis of NaNoWriMo is writing 50k in 30 days – this means you’re writing 1,667 words every day. If you’re a fast writer, this might be easier for you, but it’s definitely not for me! This will be my fifth year participating in the annual event, yet the word count still catches me every time! When you’re writing so many words per day, you don’t have time to stop and edit what you’ve written! There’s no time for writer’s block! If you want to make it to the finish line and claim sweet, sweet victory, you have to trudge through it one foot – or word – in front of the other. Eventually, the writer’s block or problem-scene will end, and it’ll become smoother sailing once more.

For those of us who struggle with self-doubt or perfectionism, this is also super helpful. I tend to go back and fret over my writing style, “is this too trope-y?”, and all the lovely fears caused by our inner editors. During NaNoWriMo, I have an excuse to say, “Nope! I’ll deal with that in December! For now, just write!”

4. Author Pep Talks!

Look, if you haven’t read the NaNoWriMo author pep talks, you’re sorely missing out. My personal favorite is Lemony Snicket’s, written entirely in satire. I crack up and get inspired every time I read it! If irony isn’t really your cup of tea, they have tons of other pep talks cataloged in their archives, and new ones are sent out during NaNo season!

Here are several of my favorite pep talks given in the past few years:

Brandon Sanderson, Erin Morgenstern, Gail Carson Levine, Holly Black, James Patterson, Jenny Han, John Green, Kate DiCamillo, Maggie Stiefvater, Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, Meg Cabot, Neil Gaiman, Rainbow Rowell, Scott Westerfeld, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, and Lindsey Grant.

5. YOU WRITE A FREAKING NOVEL!!

There is absolutely no better feeling in the world than this:

You’ve been writing nonstop for the last 29 days. The end of your novel is in sight – you’ve been through ups and downs with your characters, you’ve cried with them (or because they refuse to stick to your outline), you’ve plowed through writer’s blocks, and you stuck with it for an entire month.

And here it is.

Stare at those words for a moment.

The End.

You’ve written a novel. A NOVEL! It might be terrible – goodness knows some of my NaNoWriMo drafts are so awful that I have to laugh at myself – but you’ve done it. You wrote a novel. You’re a novelist. A writer. An author – published or not, it doesn’t matter. You’re an author to a first draft.

“But Ally…”

“But Ally…I just don’t have the time to write a novel.”

This is by far the most common reason I hear from people for not participating in NaNoWriMo – and who can blame them? Life gets in the way!

I totally understand – but it’s only for thirty days! After the month you can go back to the sanity of having free time – but for NaNo, we buckle down, we prioritize, and we drink our caffeine by the gallon.

The best advice I ever heard for this problem comes from Chris Baty, the founder and former executive director of the program. He’s written three books about NaNoWriMo and started off the whole event in 1999.

Write in the small moments.

Can you wake up twenty minutes earlier? Go to bed ten minutes later? Write during your lunch break? Jot down snippets on the ride home from work? It’s incredible how many small moments you can find when you prioritize your writing and how much they add up!

“But Ally…doesn’t quality matter more than quantity?”

This is definitely the second most common reason I’ve heard for being nervous about participating in NaNo. The naysayers insist that writing so many words in a month creates a chaotic mess of words with no real quality in writing (no, honestly, I’ve heard someone say this).

Yes, I’ll admit – my drafts are a chaotic mess of words. They’re messy, wonderful, sometimes rambly first drafts that absolutely suck – isn’t that beautiful? First drafts are allowed to be terrible. Usually, they aren’t all too bad – there’s enough to go off of for a second draft. Then maybe a third. Then a fourth, and soon enough, you’re well on your way to getting ready to query for an agent.

Don’t believe me? Check out some of these novels that started off as NaNoWriMo projects:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Wool by Hugh Howey (soon to be a movie!)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (already a movie starring Robert Patterson and Reese Witherspoon!)

The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill

Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress by Marissa Meyer (all three NaNoWriMo projects went on to become best-selling books!)

That’s a pretty dang successful list right there. I think it speaks for itself – NaNoWriMo clearly doesn’t skimp on quality for quantity.

I hope this blog post has been enough to convince you to start thinking about joining NaNoWriMo! I’ll let you in on a closing secret:

Even if you don’t make it to 50k, you still have more words than you started with!

If you only manage to write 200 words during the month of November – guess what? THat’s still 200 more words than you had before NaNoWriMo! At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how fast you write or what your word count goals are – it’s that you’re writing. And having fun. And probably losing some of your sanity but that’s beside the point.

I really, really love NaNoWriMo and hope I’ll see you on the website! If you decide to join, feel free to add me as a writing buddy to get started! I’m kineticbugsy on NaNoWriMo’s website and @natureofpages on Twitter, where I screech about word wars and character aesthetics throughout the month.

Go forth and write!

Are you thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo? Are you a veteran NaNo back for another season or a newbie? Tell me about your upcoming project or feel free to drop any questions about the annual event in the comments!

TNOP out!

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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imagine-loki · 8 years ago

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House of Cards in the Wind

TITLE: House of Cards in the Wind CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Two AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you were a powerful villain who was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and put in Cryogenic storage because there was no other way to deal with you. After doing some research, Loki learned about you and became obsessed. So much, that he looked for you and woke you up, knowing that you’d seek revenge and he would be more than willing to help. RATING: Teen and Up

NOTES/WARNINGS: This story is the result of an imagine I saw on another blog theartofimagining13. The credit for the imagine goes to the author on that page.

Warning death of minor characters and violence in this fic

To Loki’s great joy, she was everything he had read of and more, born in a war-torn region, she lost her father and brother young to fighting and her mother to the stress of it all. Angry and never willing to accept her lot, Rebecca fought authority and ran from every care facility and home she was kept in, what made it all the more amusing was the angrier she became, the more her gifts developed. In the end, she was able to evade capture, fleeing to America and starting a life there, until S.H.I.E.L.D. found her that was. She had just wanted a normal life, job, home and perhaps someone to care for, but Nick Fury caught her scent and had agents hound her. She stated their deaths had been in her self-defence, but she was overpowered and caught, before being sentenced to a fate worse than death, eternal darkness in ice. Loki swore that together, he would aid her to elude capture once more, and once their revenge was completed, he would bring her far away from Midgard, as he called it, and to a place where she would be able to have such dreams of a life free and her own.

Though she had been frozen through Loki’s time on Midgard before, she trusted him some little bit, after all, he had proven his magic to her, freed her from her prison, and promised her her revenge. She had read of him as a child, reading the Midgardian take on the God’s that the Norse used to worship, so she knew of his reputation as a liar, but she was given his consent to check him for falsities, something that then told her it was true, he wanted her for her abilities, yes, in that respect, he was using her, but in a symbiotic manner, her abilities and his combined to further their cause, and she immediately agreed.

“They have had to move again,” She stated as she walked into the room, knowing full well Loki was aware she was there. “It would appear that the wonderful Avenger’s are imploding.” “Too many egos,” Loki stated as he continued to look out the window he was standing at.

“I blame the number of men.” She commented as she grabbed something to eat and sat on a safe nearby. “They are leaning toward going to Atlantic city next.” “Then I think it wise to keep an eye on them.” He turned and walked across the room.

“Do you think me so dumb as to leave them without a set of eyes and ears?” “No, but you do recall, they are looking for you.” “Let them look, they only lucked out last time because I was too young and foolish to see the whole picture.” “May I remind you that as far as your mind is concerned, that only happened a couple of months ago,” Loki pointed out.

“I may have been frozen, but I was still capable of thought.” Loki turned and looked at her. “Day after day, I didn’t know for how long, but I thought of where I went wrong, and I studied it all, I know where I faltered, and I will never make that mistake again.” “I was not aware you were awake.” “Can you call it awake, I was frozen, all I kept thinking about is how much I wanted to make them suffer. They attacked me, it is not my fault they died, yet I got blamed. Fury said if I had not the ability to do what I do… as though it is my fault I am different.” She hissed. “It is not easy knowing everything I know, I thought I was mad for years.” “Keep your patience.” Loki soothed. “If you get mad, you will trip up, if you trip up, we both may be on ice.” “Do you ever worry, about that brother of yours?” “That fool is too busy thinking with something other than his head.” Loki dismissed. “And how much of my mind did you scour?” “All of it.” “In that time?” “I am good at what I do.” Loki could not hide how impressed he was. “Why do you think I was hunted? It wasn’t because I can convince people the scrap of paper in my hand is a hundred dollar bill, or because I can make them think I have presented them a passport, it is because I am able to see what is in their heads, manipulate the strongest people in this world and no one can tell if I am doing it or not, but also they are terrified that I will find out their secrets. Have you any idea how many people commit infidelity in this city, sadly I can.” “I fear monogamy is too difficult a concept for too many to grasp.” Loki scoffed.

“Well, when I scan for our safety, I am forced to hear them all.”

“It is worth it.” “I know, doesn’t make it any less unpleasant, though.” “I do not envy that side of your gifts.” “So, the mind stone?” “It is an Infinity stone, and you are its human embodiment.” “Which did you prefer?” “Well, the stone seldom ate their own weight in confectionary.” Loki pointed to the trash can.

“I haven’t technically eaten in years.”

“Well, make sure you are not overburdened so you can run if needed.” “No getting fat, gotcha.” she walked to the window. “So, Atlanta?” “Atlanta.” Loki nodded. “When do we leave?” “Sundown.” She nodded. “Is there an issue with that?” “No, so long as you remember our bargain.” “You say that as though I am like to forget.” Loki eyed her. “Did you ever trust someone?” “I grew up in a place where cars could explode if you passed them, where the authorities shot people for being born to a different political thinking to them, to where anyone was a spy, no, I never trusted anyone.” “Do you trust me?” “You are the God of Lies, I would want to be an idiot to even consider it.” She scoffed.

“Do you search my head?” “Only on occasion, I want to make sure your scheming is not to harm me.” “Has it ever been?” “No.” she looked at him. “And that is what concerns you?” “Is this really you just wanting someone of like mind and ability to assist you to defeat your foes?” “That is exactly what this is.” “Why me? Surely there were others in that facility that would be better suited to your needs.” “I did not need barbarian murderers and petty thieves, I required someone with intellect, the ability to think on their feet, and not try and take over this situation.” “A minion?” She looked at him annoyedly.

“No, an equal, someone who would listen to my advice and add their own, who together we could wait and bide our time without fighting so to achieve our goal.” “We are not exactly amiable.” “I am not looking for a potential spouse in you Becky,” he scoffed, using the nickname she stated she used to be called by her family before their passing. “I am looking for a business partner, so to speak, and on that front, we are highly compatible. We do not argue the plan or dispute one another in a power struggle, that is why I am sure that when this is done, I will be back on Asgard and you will be in your own choice of realm, our thirst for vengeance sated.”

“They are moving again.” “Where to?” “Here.” She informed him, paying close attention to the minds she was invading.

“What?” Loki stared at her.

“You’ve been located.” “Me?” “Yes, they are on their way here,” She rose and walked over to the very few items they were after collecting for their plan. “We have five minutes.” “Well then, let us ready ourselves.” The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents climbed the stairwells of the to-be-demolished office building quickly and silently. When they got to the appropriate level, they waited for their commanding officer's command, on getting it, they burst into the office area and began to open fire, but were quickly given the order to cease and search around.

Rebecca took a moment to look at the leader behind the magic shield Loki had protected the with before getting to work. The leader brought his hand to his mic, “Sir, there is nothing here, there doesn’t seem to be a sign that there ever was.”

“We had a visual Reese,” came a bark down the earpiece.

“Well, as I just said you, daft idiot, I am here and there is no sign of any form of life being here at all.” Loki turned slightly and looked at Rebecca, who was grinning slightly as she heard Nick Fury reel abuse at the commander for his insubordination. The team began to walk back towards the door, one member walking close to Loki as they did. Loki studied how he clearly did not see the God, nor did he seem to sense him before the pair were alone again.

“They’re gone, but they are going to do random checks again in an hour.” “That is quite the gift you have.” Loki commended. “It comes in handy.” She shrugged, going over to the window. “I suggest moving to another location. They spotted you somehow.”

“Yes, that was somewhat inconvenient, very well, to the next location.” Loki looked at everything that Rebecca had readied to leave. “How?” “How what?” “How do you make them not see?” “They see what I want them to see, which was nothing.” “And the control?” “Do and say what I want them to do and say.” She dismissed boredly. “They have not realised I am in cahoots with you, but they know I am missing.” “I can only picture their surprise when they realise it.” Loki grinned as Rebecca walked over to him and the pair and their belongings disappeared.

#loki #other #submission #Submitted fic #Chapter Two #Wolfpawn #house of cards in the wind #Villain #S.H.I.E.L.D.#cryogenic storage #research #obsessed #Revenge

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sinkingcanoe · 8 years ago

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A Scene From The Past (where we look back and laugh)

Summary: Pidge wasn’t allowed to go shopping by herself for two reasons: number one, she’d live off sandwiches and microwave corn dogs if left to her own devices, and number two, she couldn’t reach the bottom of the cart to unload without climbing into it. She had no problem with this, but for some reason the store employees did.

As such, it was mostly Shiro shopping while Pidge ‘supervised’, at least at the beginning. The problems started in the cereal aisle.

Warnings: None

Pairings: Gen, Shiro & Pidge/Katie Holt

Characters: All paladins (briefly), Shiro, Pidge

Complete, chapter 1/1, wordcount: 1464

Series: The Frat House AU no one wanted

On AO3

“I need someone to go shopping with me,” Pidge said blandly.

Predictably, no one answered. Shiro probably would have normally, out of a sense of duty; at the moment, though, Shiro was making blam blam noises at the first person shooter game every time he killed an alien.

Never one for patience, Pidge crept silently up behind the couch, easily hidden under the sound of the explosions. She paused for a moment, observing the scores and player positions. Then, she mercilessly reached out and tugged the white chunk of Shiro’s hair.

Shiro jerked, prosthetic hand clenching on his remote with a worrying crunch. Keith looked over, startled, and lost track of the game.

And, just as Pidge predicted, Lance took both of them out immediately.

As soon as their attention was drawn back to the tv, Keith and Shiro realized her trick.

Hunk screeched, ducking his player under a building overhang before he could be killed as well. “Lance, we said no sniping! Sniper no sniping, sniper no sniping!”

“This isn’t Dora, dumbass, that won’t save you!”

“Pidge!” Keith hissed, to all appearances mortally offended, “how could you? I was going to win this time!”

“Shut up, Mullet, you were not!” Lance retorted, raiding Keith and Shiro’s characters for dropped items.

Shiro simply looked down at his mangled controller in frustration, half-heartedly trying fit the broken casing back together.

“Dude,” Hunk said, peering briefly across Keith at Shiro, “you really did a number on that thing, geeze.” At Shiro’s apologetic eyebrow scrunch he shook his head, backpeddling, “Not that Pidge and I can’t fix it, no biggie!”

That brought the focus back around to Pidge, standing there watching the chaos like a smug cat knocking knick-knacks off the shelves. “ So, who wants to go shopping with me?”

“Ooh,” Lance said, pausing the game and perking up. “Me, definitely me! Can we hit Sephora?”

“Grocery shopping, Lance. For food.”

“Oh. Yeeeeeah, I’m out then.”

Hunk squinted at Pidge, confused. “I went grocery shopping, like, two days ago?”

“Yeah, but some people ate all the sandwich supplies. And we’re out of soda again.”

“Who ate all the ham already?” Keith demanded.

Lance raised a hand, shameless. “Me. It was delicious.”

“Of course,” Keith muttered, crossing his arms.

“Focus, guys,” Shiro cut in. “Regardless of who ate it, clearly we need more.”

“Agreed,” Hunk said easily. “But I already did my duty this week, so I’m out.”

“Fair enough,” Pidge said. “So. Are you three drawing straws or playing rock paper scissors?”

As usual, it was rock paper scissors. As usual, Shiro lost.

The man had a killer poker face, but whether he used his left hand or his right, his reaction time on hand-shapes was too shoddy--which meant he always used paper, which everyone knew .

Keith and Lance both threw down scissors and high-fived.

“Have fun, space dad,” Hunk called out, grinning.

Shiro rolled his eyes, grabbing his vest from the overflowing coat rack--the closet would flood feather boas if he opened it for his jacket--and searching for his wallet. “Lance?”

Blindly, Lance tossed over Shiro’s wallet, back to playing against Hunk. Pidge grabbed it mid-air before Shiro could, unfolding his string of cat pictures.

“Uh, Pidge? I need that to drive.”

Pidge waved a hand, studying one she hadn’t seen before. “You’re fine as long as it’s in the car with you, man.”

“I…” Shiro shrugged, helpless. “C’mon, then.”

***

Pidge wasn’t allowed to go shopping by herself for two reasons: number one, she’d live off sandwiches and microwave corn dogs if left to her own devices, and number two, she couldn’t reach the bottom of the cart to unload without climbing into it. She had no problem with this, but for some reason the store employees did.

As such, it was mostly Shiro shopping while Pidge ‘supervised’, at least at the beginning. The problems started in the cereal aisle.

“Okay, Mini Wheats or Fruit Loops?”

Pidge looked at Shiro, appalled. “Um, neither? Reese’s Puffs, man.”

“Wait, you seriously eat those?”

“Yes. They’re great,” she insisted. As Shiro stared in concerned disgust Pidge grabbed a gigantic family-size box.

“No, no way. If we’re getting something weird, we’re at least getting Cookie Crisp,” Shiro argued.

Pidge hovered hers over the cart, unswayed.

He pulled the cart out from under the cereal, backing away. “Nuh uh.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not paying for that stuff!” Shiro denied, dodging her again. “We’re getting Cookie Crisp, case closed.”

Pidge feinted to the left and managed to slam-dunk her choice into the basket with a needlessly dramatic jump.

Shiro had no clue why he didn’t just remove the cereal, or even add his own to get both.

It would’ve saved them a lot of trouble down the line.

***

By unspoken agreement, the rules were thus: whoever got their version (flavor or brand) of something in the cart first won.

Shiro would argue that items shouldn’t be removed once they were put in; Shiro would only argue this because, unable to compete with Shiro’s height for certain items, Pidge resorted to sneaking his stuff out behind his back.

Pidge would argue that this tactic--”Cheating, Pidge, it’s called cheating!”--was a perfectly reasonable attempt to level the playing field because certain giants had unfair genetic advantages.

The store employees would argue that cart racing through the aisles and climbing the shelves were both against store policy.

***

After all the racing and the back-tracking and the sabotage, Pidge and Shiro ended up at check out two hours later with an overflowing cart of stuff they really didn’t need.

Pidge stared at the rising price as items were scanned, wincing. “Keith is gonna kill us.”

“Forget Keith, Allura is gonna kill us.”

“Nah,” Pidge dismissed, “Allura likes most of this crap. Keith is the one with the carefully balanced budget we just screwed over.”

“Oh. True. Fuck.” Shiro scrubbed his hands over his face, carefully avoiding his eyeliner but messing up his left eyebrow.

“Did space dad just curse?” Pidge gasped, using every ounce of drama in her body.

Shiro gave her a look. “Pidge. I’ve known you since I was thirteen. I’ve cursed in front of you before.”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” she sniffed, pushing her glasses up. “You have to set a good example for the children.”

“You’re nineteen,” Shiro deadpanned.

“Exactly, Shiro, exactly.”

“I give up.”

"Uh,” the poor overwhelmed cashier broke in, actually raising their hand, “is someone gonna pay for all of this?”

“Yeah, sure,” Pidge said, handing over Shiro’s credit card.

“Where did you--! Shit. You never gave it back.”

“Nope.” Pidge popped the P, hopping up on the cart as she gave it a push toward the exit.

“Pidge! Pidge? Come back!” Shiro collected his card and the receipt, deliberately avoiding the total.

“Excuse me, who knocked over the shelves in aisle seventeen?” crackled through the speakers, and Shiro blanched.

“Pidge, wait up!”

***

“Y’know, this is a really good get-away car.”

Shiro hung on to the oh-shit bar for dear life as Pidge cut another corner.

“It’s an SUV, Pidge, and we’re not on the run from the law so please slow down!”

“Oh come on, you drive like this all the time.”

“I’ve been driving longer than you have! I can drive like seven different things, including fighter planes! You can hardly reach the ped-- PIDGE!”

Pidge groaned in exasperation, cutting off another car and avoiding an accident by inches. “Okay, most of the time you drive the world’s smallest moped, shhhh. This car deserves better than to be driven like a grandma’s behind the wheel.”

“I do not drive like a grandma,” Shiro protested. “You just said I drive too fast!”

“Not the point,” Pidge sputtered.

“You mean you had a point?”

“Rude.”

“It’s not rude if it’s true, isn’t that your motto?”

“I only like it when it’s not turned against me. And to think I trusted you, space dad.”

“I, for one, will never trust you again. Don’t think I didn’t see you putting my stuff back on the shelves, Katie.”

“All’s fair in love and war, Shiro,” she said cheerfully.

“I’ve seen both and this is neither.”

“True. Y’know what it was? Fun.”

Pidge pulled up in front of the Castle, parking the SUV flawlessly in complete opposite of the whole drive back.

Shiro blinked over from the passenger seat, still holding on. “Fun?”

“Fun,” she confirmed, grinning.

After a moment Shiro cracked, laughing breathlessly. “I guess it was, yeah.”

They climbed out of the car and stared at the large trunk, full to the brim of unnecessary stuff. “Wanna make the guys take this stuff in?”

“Sure,” Shiro agreed easily, “but you get to give Keith the receipt.”

“Fuck,” Pidge breathed.

“Language, Pidgeon.”

“Oh shove it, space dad.”

#Katie Holt #Pidge Gunderson #Shiro voltron #Takashi Shirogane #pidge and shiro #voltron fanfiction #college AU #my writing #Frat House AU #oneshot #crossposted to ao3 #gen #no warnings apply #Cute and fluffy #ensemble cast #voltron legendary defender #VLD #voltron

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joshuazev · 7 years ago

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On boy meets girl: version 2

We are in Trader Joes, the one on 72nd in the Upper West Side of New York City. Madness in people form. Trader Joes on 72nd is like traffic in Seattle, anymore. Packed at all times of the day. Don’t get me wrong there are the early commuters, just like in Seattle, the ones that beat the traffic, the ones that are on the road before the road is ready. In Trader Joes case the rumor goes that there are certain shoppers that start waiting in line before it opens. Getting the Organic lettuce in the vegetable section when it’s fully stocked is like getting to work on time. There have been occasions where it’s been pretty empty, but its only until a littler later in the shopping process that you figure out why. They don’t have anything! You go to the navel oranges and only the lopsided smushed ones are left. You go to the cheap eggs and you find out that there aren’t any eggs, period. It’s a struggle. The shopper is left scrambling. However, like most things in New York, if you go often enough and find your routine and rhythm it can get pretty fun because—while it might seem like an individual escapade, it’s actually a community endeavor. Not to mention the fact that I’ve never ever encountered an asshole employee at Trader Joes. I don’t know what there lives are like, but they all seem to be so close with one another, always seem to be enjoying themselves. Maybe it’s the pace of the work and they don’t have the time to get lazy or maybe it’s because most of them are actors and are putting up a collective front that’s really good. Either way, Trader Joes has it all and if you decide to keep your head up and your earphones in your pocket you can actually strike up some good conversations with people. The employees help you with everything and even the other shoppers. We’ve all asked someone to kick our carts forward when we gotta go out of our way to get something. The rare few do so reluctantly, but the majority are happy to assist.

INT. - TRADER JOES - NIGHT

The boy is on his mid week journey to purchase some groceries for the week at his favorite Trader Joes, but the somewhat unwelcome sight of a line forming out of the door in order to get in temporarily halts his high hopes. Reluctant to wait in the line, he sulks for a moment and gets in. It isn’t the worst he’s ever seen and he’s actually comforted by the fast moving line. About a minute later he is within the automatic doors and is greeted by one of his favorite people, the daily guard and the nightly employee that blocks the escalator when the crowds are too great.

Boy: How you guys doing, tonight?

Cop: Good, thank you.

Night Employee: Another day, another dollar, my man!

Boy: I hear that. I hear that.

The boy follows the line that is now slow moving along the stairs and sees the incredible Wednesday night crowd, filtering through the red peppers and eggplants and the others that are huddled around the cheese section. He’ll start where he normally starts—in the back—and then work is way to the front. He didn’t know what to do the first couple of times he had come there, but realized moments in that there was a way that people shopped. A more efficient, time effective manner of getting your things and moving in line all at the same time. He decided he’d start on the bottom floor where the frozen foods resided, along with the breads, the oils, butters, vinegars, and other sauce items he had grew fond of. The first thing he plopped in his cart was the multigrain bread, high in fiber, great for PB&J sandwiches, avocado toast, and other snacks that needed a nice, healthy base. Where to next, he wondered. Ah, that’s right. Over to the oils to get some olive oil, some balsamic vinegar for his salads, and a little further down a new kind of marinara sauce for his pastas and spaghettis. In the next isle over he found his beans, his rice, and some canned tuna fish for his lazy days, which ended up being more often than not, recently. Ah, he had to go back because he forgot to get the spaghetti for the spaghetti he was going to make. Gotta be able to put the red sauce on something. In the corner was the peanut butter he enjoyed and right below was the raspberry jam that he hadn’t touched as much because peanut butter and honey had taken over. It was always good to have it though, just in case. Hmm…what next what next. Normally he would have gotten cereal, but he had stopped drinking milk for years and only just stopped eating yogurt. Both upset his stomach. He missed drinking milk and he missed yogurt too, but the only sacrifices he was willing to make for an upset stomach was pizza and the occasional ice cream. Those were undeniables. The frozen food section was next and he picked up an assortment of Potstickers, Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Vegetable Biryani, and Channa Masala. Yes, he was lazy more than fifty percent of the time.

Boy: Excuse me?

Employee 2: Yes, how can I help you?

Boy: Do you know where I can find those chocolate almond thingies?

Employee 2: The dark chocolate ones?

Boy: Yes!

Employee 2: They should be over here.

The boy follows the girl over to the chocolate goodies.

Employee 2: Right…here. Hmm…it looks like we might be out.

Boy: Noooooooo…

Employee 2: I know how you feel.

Boy: Those are my babies.

Employee 2: You eat your babies?

Boy: Only once a day.

Employee 2: You ever tried the peanut butter cups?

Boy: Nope, are they good?

Employee 2: They are the babies that I eat every day.

Boy: Oh damn. OK. Are they like Reeses peanut butter cups?

Employee 2: No, they’re better.

Boy: Well, let’s do it. I’m ready to try something new.

Employee 2: You’ve never had a peanut butter cup?

Boy: Not from here.

Employee 2: What about the Scandinavian Swimmers?

Boy: Huh?

Employee 2: You got to try these, too.

Boy: These look like multi-colored Swedish Fish.

Employee 2: You ever had Swedish Fish?

Boy: Not these kind.

Employee 2: What about—

Boy: That’s good for right now. I got to see if you even have good taste first. Can’t be buying everything in the section, eat it at home, and then find out we might be disagreeable.

Employee 2: You gonna let me know?

Boy: Maybe.

Employee 2: Don’t worry. Those don’t fail.

Boy: We shall see. Thank you.

Employee 2: No problem.

The boy heads up the escalator to the fresh produce section and sees that the level has become even more of a shitshow. He slides his cart into a nook that doesn’t quite block people too badly. The apples are first, the oranges are next, and then a quick snatch of a few avocados, to which he plops all of them in the cart. The boy wheels to the back to pick up his cheap two cartons of eggs and starts the process of grabbing the stuff he needs and moving along in the line. It’s snaking around rather nicely, today. The lettuce he longs for is luckily in stock, as well as the spinach that he adds to the salad. He’s just about to reach for the last thing of carrots, but a girl ahead of him also grabs for it.

Boy: Go ahead.

Girl: You sure?

Boy: Yeah, I can see fine. It’s really OK.

Girl: OK, but you’re not gonna be behind me all mad on our way to the register are you?

Boy: I think I should be fine by the time we reach the chicken.

Girl: OK. You sure?

Boy: I’m so over it. Just don’t take my persian cucumbers and we’ll be good.

Girl: Yikes. I might need those more than the carrots.

Boy: Nope, nope. I already claimed them.

Girl: Shit. I should have known you were one of those cucumber guys.

Customer 1: Umm, the line is moving.

Girl: Sorry, I’m moving, I’m moving.

The boy passes the packaged fruits and gets his blueberries and strawberries. Where he would be without Driscolls… He also sees some raspberries, but the girl once again goes in for the last package. The guy takes his hand back and watches while she unflinchingly carries on her attempt.

Girl: Gotta have my raspberries.

The boy continues to mean mug as she places them delicately in her cart and continues on. He is steaming just a little bit inside. They are just passing by the bananas. He decides not to ask for the person behind him to push his cart, but make a mad dash to grab a six pack of bananas and he rushes back to the dismay of the woman that had urged him to move ahead moments before.

Boy: Sorry.

The samples are pumpkin bagels with pumpkin flavored cream cheese. There’s one last one. He doesn’t think twice and snatches the sample before the girl can.

Boy: Gotta have my pumpkin bagel.

The girl isn’t too pleased as she can see there is no give with this boy. He’s a stubborn one. The line continues and the boy grabs his smoked trout, then his packaged chicken, all the while keeping his eye on the girl in front of him to make sure she isn’t trying to steal his items. The next section he gets his Smoked Andouillie sausage, a must for breakfasts and pastas and then gets his grilled chicken slices for the next couple days of salads. So far so good. Only a couple things left for him to get.

Boy: Miss would you mind pushing my cart while I go grab a couple things.

Customer 2: No.

He gets his red peppers, no problem. He gets his onion, no problem. He sees the persian cucumber box. He sees the girl seeing the persian cucumber box. They power walk mix with a mad dash over to the box and they see that there is one left. They both reach their hands in there and cause a commotion. Tugging back and forth, back and forth until it slips into the air. Their eyes follow it. They watch as it flies and flies until it lands safely into the cart of the woman right behind them in line.

Customer 2: You know, I was looking for these cucumbers.

The boy and girl stare at each other and walk back to their carts, steaming and dejected. They make it to the front of the line and are directed to their numbered registers. The girl is given 23 and the guy is given 24. They deliberately don’t make eye contact and get to their cashiers.

Employee 2: How’s it going, sir? Did you find everything ok, today?

The boy looks next to him at the girl and then back at the cashier without saying anything.

Employee 2: Yeah, I know what you mean, I know what you mean. Rush hours are always a little hectic. Will that be paper or plastic?

The girl next to him motions to her own cashier and asks for plastic.

Boy: Paper. Please.

It goes like so for the rest of the interaction and as a last ditch effort to inject some happiness into the boy’s life the cashier says…

Employee 2: Don’t worry, man. You’ll be alright. Have a good night.

The boy takes his cart to the elevator area, takes his bag out, and then carries them up the escalator. At the top, the elevator door opens and the girl comes out.

Boy: Will you just leave me alone? Please!

Girl: I have nothing to say to you.

Boy: Well good because neither do I. Hope you enjoy your carrots.

Girl: Hope you enjoyed that bagel.

Boy: Hope you enjoy those raspberries.

Girl: Hope you enjoy those cucumber-less salads.

Boy: You too.

The boy and the girl leave without another word, hoping to never see the other ever again.

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yogaadvise · 7 years ago

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3 Black Friday Activities a Lot More Satisfying Than Shopping

On Black Friday, some 87 million Americans leave the Thanksgiving table early to get ready for a banquet of consumerism that usually consists of hours of awaiting a mere 10 mins of shopping to acquire regarding $135 well worth of purchases. This year a courageous brand-new campaign from the nation's largest specialty exterior retailer, REI, asks us to reassess the method we spend the day after Thanksgiving. They are encouraging its 5.5 million participants, 12,000 employees, as well as any individual else who wants to, to invest the day outdoors as opposed to rushing the aisles.

Making it easier for individuals to play hooky, REI introduced that it will shut all of its 143 retail areas on Black Friday (November 27) to urge people to #OptOutside and also reconnect with nature, family, and also friends over the vacation weekend.

' For 76 years, our co-op has actually been dedicated to one trait as well as one point just: a life outdoors. Our team believe that being outdoors makes our lives better. And also Black Friday is the excellent time to advise ourselves of this necessary truth. We're a various type of company-and while the remainder of the world is battling it out in the aisles, we'll be spending our day a little differently. We're preferring to choose outside, and want you ahead with us,' Jerry Stritzke, president as well as Chief Executive Officer of REI, created in a letter to members and also staff members as well as published it on the homepage of REI's micro-site, OptOutside.rei.com.

' For 76 years, our co-op has actually been committed to something and also one point just: a life outdoors. Our team believe that being outdoors makes our lives much better.'

What REI has performed with this campaign is unimaginable in the retail globe. Nothing else brand name has actually ever told a consumer, 'Put your cash away as well as come back one more day-after you've had some excellent old fashion enjoyable!' We applaud this initiative, as it advertises healthy living and also encourages everybody to reflect on exactly what's most crucial to them over the vacations. We are making it a goal to be appropriate out there with them, doing any one (or even more) of these mindful tasks. Will certainly you join us?

1. Kick up some dirt on a brand-new route.

Take your escape road and also sign up with the 7.5 million joggers that hit the road in 2014. As you explore brand-new area near you, take a hint from Elinor Fish, a Colorado-based conscious running train who leads a collection of women-only health resorts, consisting of the upcoming Costa Brava Running + Health Resort in Catalonia, Spain this April:

' Running mindfully transforms the experience of running from an exercise to a chance to listen to your internal state. Leave your smart phone in your home as well as rather than competing time, speed, or range, make this run all concerning being present in the procedure of running. Use today's run as a chance to see exactly how you're feeling literally and mentally.

Is your gait tight or fluid? Are your shoulders tight or loose? Are you feet striking the ground with pressure, or touchdown lightly? Is your breathing simple or labored? Are you indifferent and sluggish or discharged up and thankful to be outside? These experiences reflect your inner stress state as well as give you the space to refine the ideas, worries or fears that may be considering on you.

Take this time to merely be with your body as well as breath in this gorgeous place as well as discover exactly how your mind and body change from the beginning throughout of your run. These changes are not just thought of, rather, mirror a really actual change happening at a cellular degree. Your blood comes to be much more oxygenated, blood circulation stimulated and hormones rebalanced. Because of this, you feel a lot more refreshed, a lot more positive, happier, as well as clearer mentally. Not every run needs to have to do with developing physical fitness. It's OK to run long times to just remove your mind and also recover your power.'

2. Head for the hills-or simply up the road.

Cheryl Strayed's book-turn-film Wild starring Reese Witherspoon inspired a lots of people, specifically ladies, to trek a lot more. You do not require to trek for 1,100 miles like Strayed did in 1995 to reap the incentives. Handling any kind of well-marked path near you (including national forests which turn 100 in August) one section at a time as component of a day-hike, weekend break trip, or longer could really feel simply electrifying and gratifying. To take the intimidation aspect down a notch, heed this guidance from National Park Foundation and REI Ambassador Andia Winslow (envisioned over as well as below), that is likewise an expert golf player and also elderly train at the Mile High Run Club, a NYC-based shop fitness studio committed to running.

' Hiking does not require to be a gear-extravagant event. Recently I treked in Colorado's Mesa Verde National park and after that simply yesterday I strolled from Brooklyn to the Bronx-that was a walk, as well! A hike is whenever you choose a much time walk to believe, explore, exercise, or get from factor A to point B. Below's how to make it a lot more conscious: Pocket your smart tool, really feel exactly how the terrain modifications underneath your feet, note the characters (that strange-looking tree, those children attracting chaw rainbows on the walkway, and so on) you run into along the road, pay attention to nature's rhythm all over you, and walk in the wrong direction, get lost and find yourself in the long run.'

3. Do what makes you feel happiest as well as most loosened up.

Sure, running, treking, or biking sound fantastic, however it's essential to do exactly what really makes you feel good. For some that might imply registering for a favorite physical fitness course or moving by a yoga exercise workshop. For health coach, book author, as well as iHeart radio host Melanie Young, the latter is currently a component of her holiday plan.

' I'll be seeing my yoga studio for some silent 'me time' after organizing 15 individuals for Thursday dinner,' states Youthful, that will certainly be leading a Fearless & Fabulous Retreat this February in Costa Baja Hotel, Mexico. 'Make 'me time' as crucial as 'we time' for the whole weekend,' she adds. 'You may be organizing visitors or you may be a seeing guest in someone's home. It's important to strike an equilibrium in between opting into be with the gang and also pulling out for some quiet time on your own. Whatever you do, the trick is to totally concentrate on exactly what you are doing and appreciate it.'

#prenatal yoga #yoga #yoga alliance #yoga music #yoga studio

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