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winterscaptain · 4 years ago

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dead man’s hand.

Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader

a/n: our 52 pickup ajf episode! i dunno about yall, but i was so excited to get my hands on viper in this universe. he’s ridiculous, and i think he deserves to be absolutely put to shame by aaron “BDE” hotchner.

a joyful future fic, but requires little context.

words: 5k warnings: canon-typical misogyny, language, improper comm conduct, emily prentiss: lesbian icon™

summary: your first case back to full duties after your injury at the septarian ranch just had to take you undercover, didn’t it?

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | requests closed!

You’re happy to be back in your usual plane seat, just to the left of Aaron, with your notes in your lap. With your arm in the sling, you were relegated to the table, in Derek’s usual spot beside Rossi, to discourage you from slouching. It was Hotch who suggested it, of course, but that didn’t help your pride.

Though your sling is gone and you’re back where you belong, your shoulder still twinges a little from time to time.

As it happens, a twinge hits you right as Rossi asks, “How does our unsub go from loser of the year to Don Juan?”

While Spencer answers him, Hotch glances over at you. You wave him off. I’m fine, Hotch.

He sighs and you both tune back in to Spencer. “...Don Juan was an ironic reversal of sex roles and when -” Spencer looks at Hotch, finding something in his face that usually made you laugh, but stops Spencer in his tracks. “Th-That’s about it.”

You suppress your smile as Hotch refocuses the group. “Something must have happened between the last prostitute and Vanessa Holden, making him change his victimology.”

“Could the unsub have known Vanessa?” Jordan’s question almost surprises you. She’s still settling in, but you’re learning she doesn’t hesitate to freely share her opinion.

Hotch hesitates, as if waiting for someone else to answer. You oblige him, leaning around Dave a bit to see her better. “It’s unlikely.”

Derek picks up your thought. “Yeah, sexual sadists attack anonymously”

“They have to sever a personal connection and see their victims as objects to perpetrate this level of torture.” Spencer softens your quick rebukes with a little closed-mouth smile.

You spare a glance for Hotch and he raises his eyebrows for a split second before they drop back down. Your elbow makes contact with his arm, and you press into him for a second. Be nice.

He huffs a light breath through his nose as Prentiss and Rossi bounce off each other. I am being nice.

Then, as though your silent sidebar never existed, he jumps back in. “The victimology is so different, we’ll treat them as separate unsubs and see what overlaps.” He makes assignments, finally rounding out by assigning Derek, you, Jordan, and himself to the victim’s family.

+++

Todd’s initiative continues to take you by surprise long after you land. She takes command of the situation at the precinct, and there are a couple of times where you can feel Hotch shift his weight.

He’s uncomfortable.

When Jordan leaves the room, you turn to the side and he leans in. “If you’re going to pull her, do it quietly. Something tells me she’s adverse to public criticism.”

He nods, just a little, and you return to your former posture.

The house is where things get really sticky.

“Mrs. Holden,” she says, “we can’t begin to fathom the loss you’ve suffered.”

You nudge Hotch with your shoulder (ouch) and he uncrosses his arms. Loosen up for a minute, would you?

“No, that’s right. You can’t.” Mrs. Holden’s tone is sharp, and you can’t help but feel for her - the stuff Garcia sent over was awful. A daughter, dead, and forums full of people saying you had it coming. Ugh.

“But, um…” Jordan steps up, and you narrow your eyes a little.

What is she doing?

“I lost my older sister in a car crash.” You can feel Derek’s brow furrow as he checks in with Hotch. Aaron has yet to move and, as usual, his face gives nothing away to anyone except you. Something’s wrong. “And it was really hard on our family because she was the responsible one. She was the one that my mother always counted on to watch over us.”

Your eyes flicker to Hotch’s profile, and you find his mouth a touch tighter, his eyes infinitesimally narrower.

Uh oh.

We know that look.

Again, what is she doing?

“And when she died, my mother wouldn’t let the police in. If she didn’t let them in, then my sister wasn’t really dead.” Jordan leans in closer, as if her next words are a secret. “This man is a monster,” Aaron straightens with an inhale, and you feel yourself wind tighter and tighter as he does. You have no idea what you’re upset about yet, but you’re sure it's something. “...and we can catch him, but we need your daughter’s help.”

The mother turns on Derek in an outburst of pre-emptive anger. He very kindly de-escalates the situation, ever the voice of reason and empathy. Hotch takes another breath as Mrs. Holden turns to invite you further into the house. Jordan checks in with Derek before following her, almost smug.

Aaron’s brows are drawn when you look at him again. Derek asks the question you’ve been waiting for. “Did you know that about Jordan?”

“No,” he says. “And neither did she. According to her file, she’s an only child.” Hotch walks away immediately, letting his implicit accusation hang in the air between you.

You share a look with Derek.

+++

“The information about Vanessa Holden being the responsible sister, where did you get that?”

You try to stay a little ahead of them, but Derek has no qualms about openly eavesdropping, turning over his shoulder.

Her tone is matter-of-fact. “Some of it was online, and some of it was just an educated guess based on birth order.”

Still facing forward, you squeeze your eyes shut for a moment, as if bracing yourself for impact.

“A guess.” Hotch’s question is flat and hardly a question at all. You almost cringe. Derek hops up beside you, much less interested in snooping now.

Shit. You’re in it now, kid.

‘Kid.’ Gimme a break she’s like...two years younger than you.

Yeah, but on this team, it’s dog years. The divorce alone had to be at least a decade.

“And in the process, you lied.”

There it is.

“That mother was shut down. I needed to salvage some rapport.” The note of defensiveness in Jordan’s tone pulls a sigh from you, and you can almost anticipate Hotch’s response. If pressed, you could recite it verbatim.

“I don’t know how you did things in counter-terrorism, but we don’t make it a habit to lie to get the job done.” They stop walking, but you don’t, pulling Derek by the sleeve of his Henley before he can hesitate.

“Let’s wait by the car,” you tell him. He gives you an expression that only says yikes. You reply with one of your own.

As you approach the back door, you hear, “I got you in the door, didn’t I?” from Jordan.

Oh babe. Put the shovel down. This hole you’re digging for yourself is becoming unmanageable, and we’re all going to have to deal with his grumpy ass for the rest of the afternoon if you don’t quit.

Derek leans against the door of the car, and you follow his lead, leaning against the back bumper.

“Not only do you represent the FBI, you represent this team - ”

Ah, so it's the “representing the team with integrity” speech today.

“ - to the press, the police, and to the families who are struggling with some of the hardest times of their lives. If you get caught in a lie, the trust we depend on to help solve these crimes disappears.” You inhale, sharp. It’s been a minute since you’ve heard that tone. “Do I make myself clear?”

Yikes.

Jordan, looking significantly chastised, answers, “It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t.”

Alright, that one pulls a smile from you and you do your best to bite back your laugh. Derek’s in the same boat. You both hope to recover by the time they get back to the car. A fit of giggles will do you absolutely no good at this point.

“When we get back, I want you to prepare a press release about the unsub. Do not release it.” His phone rings, and he reaches for it, adding “From now on, everything goes through me.”

He passes you without meeting your eye, talking to Rossi over the phone. Jordan approaches you, and asks, “So how bad did I just screw up?”

You take a breath before answering. “Well, Derek would tell you on a normal scale of one to ten, probably about a six.”

“I have a feeling that’s not the scale we’re using.”

You shake your head and open the door. “On Hotch’s, that was about an eleven.”

The three of you slide into the car. You take the seat behind Derek, sparing Aaron from having Jordan in his peripheral vision while he’s trying to focus on not crashing the car.

+++

“Hotch,” Emily says, getting your attention and Aaron’s. You both turn. “Of the self-described pickup artist classes in the area, there’s only one guy who encourages his students to dress like, uh..” she searches for a word for a second, “space cowboys.”

A laugh escapes you, but you recover quickly. You glance at Hotch, an apology in your eyes.

Emily’s tone matches your mirth. “Are you ready to meet Viper?”

+++

The four of you lurk at the back of the room, listening to Viper’s sermon while trying not to laugh out loud again.

“...and women, while they won’t admit it, want to be hunted. They need it.”

You look up at Hotch. You’ve got to be kidding me.

He doesn’t look at you, but the twitch of his mouth gives him away.

You turn your attention back to Viper, who’s assertions are so far gone from reality you can’t even believe people paid for this. He goes on and on about the ideal mate, what women want, etc. etc. etc.

This guy has never gotten laid in his life.

Hotch nudges you with his shoulder as if he can hear you thinking, and you drop your eyebrows, setting your mouth in a tight line that could give him a run for his money.

Emily’s losing it beside you, too. She and Derek have shared more than a few glances, and there’s no hiding the incredulous look on her face.

“If you are smarter and more interesting, you will be a better predator -”

You keep your face from screwing up in a wince, but only just. Poor choice of words, there.

“- because this is the jungle, my friends, and your prey wants to be caught.”

Derek doesn’t shift his gaze as he asks, quietly, “Would you listen to that language?”

You lean around Emily, whispering, “He’s training serial killers.”

“Great,” Emily says. “We’re dealing with a rampant narcissist and misogynist who's turned himself into a snake oil salesman.”

Yeah, that about sums it up.

You both look at Hotch, who’s still watching carefully. “Just one more thing he has in common with our unsub.”

At the end of the lecture you all stay where you are: four dark and intimidating figures irresistible to someone with an ego as big as Viper’s.

When he inevitably advances on you, Aaron introduces the team present and explains the situation in an even, measured tone. He doesn’t have to change a single thing about his presentation for the Viper to size him up and compensate accordingly. He doesn’t even acknowledge you or Emily in his futile effort to make Aaron feel small, counting on his own peacocking to do the job.

That was your first mistake.

“So you think this - what did you call him - unsub took my class?”

With one hand in his pocket and another on his belt, Aaron replies. “He copied your ‘the camera adds ten pounds’ routine verbatim.”

Viper has the audacity to look pleased. “Yeah. That’s a good gag.”

“If you could just give us your attendance lists, it might help us find him,” Emily says.

You nod. “Any information you can provide would be helpful.”

“No.”

Your eyebrows shoot to your hairline, and Emily beats you to a response, her tone appalled. “No?”

He’s decidedly smug now. You’ve never seen a face so well-suited for a punch. “My clients expect a certain amount of confidentiality. I won’t compromise that.”

“We can come back with a warrant.” Aaron’s quick, flat rebuttal almost makes you smile. Viper ignores him, shifting his slimy attention to you.

You watch Viper take you in from head to toe, resisting the urge to squirm under his gaze. With a deep breath, you straighten your shoulders and ever so slightly put more weight on your right foot, keying you in to Aaron. When Viper meets your gaze again, he looks more than a little annoyed.

“Be my guest, but keep in mind, the money I make doesn’t just pay for my fabulous lifestyle,” he turns to Emily again, “it also keeps very expensive lawyers on retainer.”

You redirect, hoping to catch him off guard. “What club did you go to last night?”

It doesn’t work. He eyes you up and down again. It’s disgusting.

“It’s a legitimate question,” Derek says. “You seem to know a lot about our investigation.”

He turns on Derek, and you settle in for the show. “Two things to learn about me. First, I outwit alpha males like you for fun and sometimes profit.” You snort, but he doesn’t spare a glance at you. “How often do you have to rely on your badge to score, baldy?”

Aaron huffs a laugh, and it’s so quiet you’re almost sure you made it up.

“Second,” he continues, turning to Emily again. “Last night, I was at Club Aqua and I have a stack of tax-deductible drink receipts to back up my story.”

She shrugs, unimpressed.

Emily Prentiss, you are my hero.

You really tune in when his gaze finds Aaron, still standing a good two or three inches taller than Viper in far more expensive shoes. “Now, you might not want to believe that my style works.” You can tell Aaron’s trying to keep from smiling, his head tilted down at a condescending angle. “And here, in this harsh light, you have the advantage.”

He has the advantage in every light.

Shut up.

It’s true, isn't it?

Viper steps up to you, uncomfortably close, and you do what you can to keep the grimace off your face. “But meet me on my turf…” He laughs a little and turns to Emily. It’s revolting. “The things I could make you do.”

The things Aaron could do on any turf, any time, any light -

Quit! Focus!

Aaron steps between you and Viper. You gladly take advantage of the distance, moving just off Aaron’s shoulder. “If you have any questions, give us a call.”

Viper’s eyes don’t move from Emily as he takes Aaron’s card. She sizes him up for a moment before turning around, still completely unimpressed.

Down the hallway, she keeps pace with Hotch. “Please tell me we’re not giving up on that guy.”

“We’re just getting started.”

You can tell he’s irritated and tense, but there’s an air of smug amusement that colors his countenance. The lawyer has tricks up his sleeve, it seems.

When you leave the building, you turn on Derek.

“What the fuck was that?”

To everyone’s surprise, Aaron, putting his sunglasses on, answers. “Compensation.”

You try not to dwell on that implication for too long, barking a laugh with Emily.

+++

“Hey, Hotch.” You turn around, exposing your half-unzipped dress and bare upper back. “Can you zip me up?” He crosses the room and zips your dress, doing his best to avoid savoring the warmth of your skin under his fingers as he links the hook-and-eye closed. “Thanks.” You turn and he’s a little closer than you expected, looking at you with a peculiar, unreadable expression in his eyes.

There’s silence for a moment and neither one of you moves. No matter how often it occurred, close proximity to Aaron always did weird things to your heart rate. You take a deep breath to steady yourself and return to the locker for a set of loud silver bracelets.

“You’d tell me if you were uncomfortable with this, right?”

You clasp two of the bracelets around your wrist and turn back toward him. A little laugh leaves you. “I’m fine, Hotch.” You wordlessly hold your last two bracelets out, unable to secure them with your non-dominant hand. With a fond sigh, he crosses over to you and takes your wrist.

“Emily told me you’d both be alright and she’s handled people like this before, but this guy…” He trails off with a bit of sigh.

“I’ve handled worse than him. Guys like Viper were a dime a dozen in college,” You shrug, watching him deftly handle the tiny clasps in his large hands. “Plus, you’ll be in my ear the whole time.” He reaches past you for your necklace and you turn around so he can put it on. He smells incredible and you can't help but close your eyes for a moment.

“I have a good feeling we’ll be able to get somewhere tonight.”

You turn around again, smiling up at him. “I agree.” Thinking for just a second, you add, “Hotch, did you consider putting Jordan on this?”

“I did,” he says, his fingers reaching for the bridge of his nose. “Emily suggested it as well. I’m just not confident in her ability to complete surveillance in such a high-risk environment.”

“Because of her mistake today?” You pass him and close the door to the room, ensuring the exclusion of prying eyes and ears.

He removes his hand from his face and looks at you, playing at exhaustion. Of course.

You let all your breath out through your nose and you carry on as if you were explaining to a child. “She can’t recover if you don’t give her an opportunity.” You lighten up, adding, “Do you remember how many times I screwed up my first couple of months?” A wry smile crosses your face.

He huffs and crosses his arms. “That’s different.”

“Why? Because I was a NAT?”

“No, you -” He takes a second to collect his thoughts, his brow furrowed. He gestures with a sharp, open hand as he speaks. “You made mistakes, but you never misrepresented yourself. I’m concerned about her conduct in the field.”

“Send her out with us tonight.” Your appeal is casual, easy. “Emily and I will keep an eye on her and make sure she keeps her nose clean.” All things considered, Jordan isn’t much of an issue. She’s just green and (you’re sure) accustomed to a decidedly less-upright unit chief.

“Are you comfortable with that?”

“Of course. Give her a chance, Hotch. We’ll be fine.”

He nods, ready to leave the room, but then looks down at your wrist with a small, almost amused, frown. “Is that…?”

“The Dead Man’s Hand? Yeah.” You turn your wrist, revealing a pair of eights and aces - both clubs and spades, with the queen of hearts between them - inlaid in the silver. “I figured it was appropriate, if not entirely tasteless.”

“Clever.”

+++

You can tell Jordan’s forgotten about the comm in her ear when she leans over and whispers, “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” You keep your eyes on the crowd, lips barely moving as you keep a demure smile on your face. A guy without a chance in hell catches your eye and you break him with just a quick softening of your eyes and a wider smile. Luckily, he’s so flustered he doesn’t think to approach you.

She takes a fake sip of her drink. “You and Hotch get along really well, and I haven’t managed to get on his good side once since I’ve been here. How do you do it?”

“I have no idea.” There’s a small crackle in your ear, and you know Aaron tuned into your private channel to hear you better and talk to you alone. For his benefit, you add, “I’m not sure he has a good side, if that helps.”

You hear a scoff and have to hide your laugh in your drink.

Jordan shakes her head. “You’re kidding, right?”

“What?”

“He definitely has a good side -”

“Thank you,” Hotch says into your ear. You cough to hide another laugh.

“- and you’re on it.”

You open your mouth to reply, but catch the eye of someone who looks unfortunately familiar. “You’ve got to be joking.”

Hotch’s chuckle in your ear warms you, and you hear a crackle as he switches back to the team channel. “20 on Viper,” he says. “Keep an eye out for our unsub.”

Emily wilts beside you, and you can’t help but laugh. You pull Jordan a little off to the side so you’re able to hear Viper, but he doesn’t feel closed in. “You always want to give guys like this an out - if they’re backed into a corner and feel trapped, they close off and get defensive.”

A crackle in your ear. “Is that so?”

Jordan nods and you can’t reply to Hotch with any degree of subtlety, so you settle for rolling your eyes.

“Well.” You hear Viper from over your shoulder. Jordan cringes, and your brow pulls in a question. “Lucky me.”

She answers, narrating through a squint. “He just put his finger in his mouth and pulled it out a little too slow.”

“Ugh.” You take a fake sip of your drink. “I hate this guy.”

“I thought you said you could handle him?” Aaron’s voice in your ear almost makes you jump, and you almost turn around to smack him before realizing he’s not even there.

Bastard.

Emily sends some sort of wisecrack flying over Viper’s head. She’s so charming, you can’t blame him for immediately falling head-over-dick for her.

“...So, affection, sex, emotional committment, it’s all just for fun?”

Against your will, your thoughts wander. You’re still listening, tuned in to his linguistic profile - the pattern, the rhetoric, the cadence, sure - but your heart pulls when you hear Emily list those three things. A sigh leaves you and of course you’re thinking of Aaron.

You’re such a child. Don’t be an idiot.

“You okay?”

Of course he’s asking.

You turn away from Jordan, looking out on the rest of the club so you can answer. “I’m fine.”

“Need a break?”

You are feeling a little boxed-in, and as long as he’s offering… “Yeah, actually. That would be great. I just need some air.” You turn back to Jordan. “I’ll be right back - stay with Emily.”

“But wait,” she says, holding your arm with gentle fingers, “we shouldn’t split up.”

“I just need a minute outside, Jordan, I’ll be alright.” You smile at her, small and warm, and escape her grasp. Slipping out one of the side doors, you prop it with a doorstop and lean against the wall. Your eyes fall closed, and you take a minute to breathe in the cold air.

You hear your name in your ear, and you yank your earwig out. It's still close enough for you to hear the team if anyone needed you, but Aaron’s voice in your ear at this very moment isn’t helping with the whole “take a minute” thing.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.”

I thought I took that damn thing out - oh.

Aaron rounds the corner and leans on the wall beside you. “You okay?”

You nod. “Fine. My shoulder’s just bugging me a little.”

“Any more lies you want to share before I call you on them?”

“No.” In fairness, your shoulder was bothering you, but it wasn’t the thing bothering you. That thing, in fact, was standing beside you with his kevlar on, waiting patiently for you to continue. “I’m just out of shape, is all.” You tilt your head a little. “And my shoulder really does hurt.”

He guides you off the wall so you’re standing in front of him, your back to him. “What have you been doing in PT?”

“Muscle work, mostly. Keeping things loose so it heals without limiting my mobility.” You roll your shoulder, ignoring the flood of pain that zings down your fingertips.

Warm hands find their way to your shoulder over the fabric of your dress. You picked something long-sleeved and high-necked, figuring the angry scarring from your still-healing gunshot wound would adversely affect your objective. You take deep breaths as he works at the muscle, releasing the little knots that built up through the day. He finds a bit of scar tissue, and a little yelp leaves you before you can stop it.

His hands soften, but don’t stop. “Hang in there. Just a little more and it’ll take some pressure off the nerve.” He trades his thumbs for the tips of his fingers, walking over the knots with a methodical practicality that pulls at your chest.

You nod, knowing he’s right. Lo and behold, a few seconds later, the knot releases, sending a flood of warmth, followed by pins and needles down your arm. You flex and contract your hand in and out of a fist a couple of times, hoping to rid yourself of the sensation.

“It’ll stop in a second.” He rubs his hands together, warming them up with the friction before passing over the back of your shoulder with a firm, steady pressure, all the way down your arm to your fingers. The heat of his hands really does help - your nerves calm almost immediately, and you can feel your pinkie for the first time in days.

A little laugh leaves you. “I dunno why I keep going to PT when you’re right here.” You turn and offer him a soft smile. “Thank you.”

“Feeling better?”

No.

“Much.”

He offers you a small smile in return. “Good.”

+++

You’re changing back into your work clothes with Emily and Jordan, pleased to find them full of laughter.

“When you asked him if he practices his routine on a sex doll, I almost lost it.” Jordan looks over her shoulder at Emily as she clips her holster back onto her belt.

“I did lose it, are you kidding?” You laugh. “I can’t believe I missed it!”

Emily shakes her head, smiling. “You know, as much as I hate what that guy stands for, I still read ‘five ways to get noticed’ in Cosmo magazine.”

“Because it makes sense.” You look at Jordan, waiting for an explanation. She redeemed herself tonight, and you’re actually looking forward to hearing what she has to say. Though she doesn’t explain what she means, she does thank you both for vouching for her.

“Absolutely.” Emily looks past Jordan, at you, and you nod in agreement.

“Of course.”

A knock sounds, and Aaron’s voice shoots around the corner. “I need you all out here, the unsub’s kidnapped another victim.”

Shit.

+++

You’re on Aaron’s six, waiting for the go. He calls the first team into position and holds up his hand. When he drops it, you fall into step, just off his right shoulder. Derek breaches first, tackling the unsub to the floor.

Aaron kicks down the front door, and you breach from the other side of the house. There’s shouting everywhere, but Aaron’s presence centers you, giving you a mission and a focus.

Keep him safe.

He releases you with a wave, and you drop down next to Spencer on the floor. You cut the tape holding Austin’s hands together. She falls into Spencer, still terrified and sobbing. He looks at you and you nod, spotting her as he helps her to her feet.

Tracking back to Aaron, you shadow Rossi as they finish clearing the rest of the house. You hover by the final door as Dave and Aaron reassure the unsub’s mother that she’ll be taken care of as they clear the room for hidden threats.

In fact, there’s nothing except a sick woman and the machine keeping her alive.

“It’s a dialysis pump...It was issued ten months ago.” Dave looks back at you, and your lips press into a thin line.

You look at Aaron. “Our secondary trigger.”

+++

Jordan climbs the stairs to Aaron’s office, and you attempt to hide your interest as she knocks on the door and steps in. Of course, you can’t hear them, but you watch him call her back after she hands in her report.

You recognize the look on his face - it's an expression you’re rewarded with when you’ve done something right. In fairness, it doesn't look much different from the one you get when you’ve done something wrong, but you’ve learned to pick up on the subtle differences.

Jordan leaves his office with a little smile. When she passes you, you offer her a, “Well done,” as you stand and climb the stairs yourself.

With a knock on Aaron’s door, he beckons you in without looking. You stand a respectable distance away from his desk, waiting for him to finish whatever he’s working on. He knows it’s you, and has no issue keeping you waiting.

The composition of his desk has changed in the months since the divorce. Haley no longer smiles at him from the frame by his pen cup. That frame sits on the low shelf by his law volumes, the white veil over Haley’s face unable to mask her joy even from across the room.

There are more pictures of Jack than before, both old and new.

Eventually, he looks up, and you hand him your report. A smile plays at your lips, and another dances around the corner of his eyes.

“That was kind of you, Hotch.”

He shrugs. “You vouched for her work.”

“Is that all it takes to win your approval, these days? My good word?” Your voice is laden with fond amusement. He rises to it, and if you didn’t know better you’d think he wasn’t smiling. When he answers, his tone is light, almost playful.

“Yes.”

+++

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microcos-pod · 4 years ago

Text

Micro-Cosmos S1E2: Turn and Draw Transcript

(A strange beast torments the crew.

Transcript begins below break.)

[THEME MUSIC FADES IN]

ANNOUNCER Futuristic Trail Mix Productions presents Micro-Cosmos: A Science Fiction Podcast. [THEME MUSIC FADES OUT]

[sfx: footsteps, button press]

ATHENA Transmitting on April 8th, 2094, from approximate position on Ophiuchus-22, North 51 degrees West 111 degrees, this is Officer Athena Romero: combination communications-security specialist and resident chronicler with Omnitarian Establishment Crew #0137-F. This is day 12 of our terraforming mission, and our 8th day of hauling ship to the rendevous point. I'm happy to report that the last 24 hours have been pleasantly uneventful, given our... typical circumstances and somewhat whimsical encounters. Dr. Couvillion has continued expanding upon his... catalog, if you will, of flora and fauna he's found on the planet's surface. According to Cal at 0600 this morning, he has gotten it up to 34 items. Impressive. He is, though, still waiting for authorization to send what he collected last week in for analysis, so... I think he would be... Rather appreciative if you could get back to him on that. Please. Hmm what else... oh! Petty Officer Abbott has been busy trying to add... I think they called them 'firewalls'? To Cal's programming, to try to prevent any more... technical accidents, when Cal inevitably gets bored. They are so far unsuccessful, but... I have faith. They were able to successfully repair their ocular functions on Monday after Cal unintentionally disabled them, so... I don't know, we'll see. Commander de la Cruz has been making sure that morale is high, given the long trek. The temperatures on Ophiuchus aren't too terribly hot, only reaching a high of a scalding 25 degrees Celsius yesterday, so being sweaty and miserable hasn't been a tremendous source of torment during our hike... but being painfully bored certainly has, though. She gave Felix a... deck of cards last night. I'm not where she got it, or why she has it, or why she gave it to him,jokinglybut I am quite disappointed she has never invited me to a game of Cribbage. Uh... Aside from that, she has also been doing a wonderful job of navigating us towards our rendezvous point. Either that or we are.. almost definitely screwed, soo... Here's to hoping. I have been spending a large amount of my time in the woods alongside Dr. Couvillion. Not only to serve as protection from... you know, the possibility of predatory creatures, but also to observe for myself! The wildlife here is... gorgeous. Similar to much of what you'd find on Earth but... I don't know, I can't put my finger on it. The more flower reminiscent plants have a much stronger smell than those on Earth, though. Not bad, by any means, but... strong. Like perfume. It's all very coordinated and... matchy? The fragrances all complement each other. And very well, at that. I feel like it could make the perfect bouquet. Like it was made to make the perfect bouquet, in a metaphorical sense. They're... perfect. I like it. The plant life, I mean. I can... pretty confidently assume that Felix does, as well. I think we all do, if in... very different ways. I think Miles has less of an admirable view of plant life and more of a... sort of... I don't know. I was going to say 'respect,' but that doesn't... Sound entirely right, either. They... acknowledge its importance but... that's about the extent of their reverence. Regardless, I think everyone else is at dinner right now, so I'll... wrap this up and get the two of us back to camp. We're almost halfway through our hike to the rendezvous point right now, and should thus be arriving in... approximately 2-3 weeks. As stated previously, morale is... about as high as it can be while we make our boring... boring way. Outside of all of that, I currently have nothing left to report. So... For now, Romero out. [sfx: button press, footsteps] ATHENA (CONT’D) Are we ready to go, Felix?

FELIX Should be, assuming you are done with your log?

ATHENA Yeah, just finished up. Find anything else?

FELIX Well- [sfx: comms turning on] ALEX (O.S.) You two on your way back yet?

ATHENA Yes, sir... Why, is something wrong?

ALEX (O.S.) No, just a... small situation back at camp. Not an emergency but we could certainly use you guys here with us.

ATHENA 10-4. We'll pick up the pace. ALEX (O.S.) Copy. Thanks.The comms clicks off.

ATHENA Any idea what that was about?

FELIX No. Only one way to find out though, yes?

ATHENA Yeah...Head right on, then?

FELIX Right on. *** ALEX So you're sure you didn't hear anything?

MILES Yes. I was- I was just getting my food. I came out of the tent to sit at the camp. Is that so-

CAL You hesitated.

MILES Oh, shut it, you insufferable little- [sfx: footsteps] ALEX Alright, you two. I wasn't accusing anyone, Miles. I just wanted to know if there was anything you heard or saw that could help us figure out what did do it. I'm not going to put you through trial over a-

FELIX Why is the bag outside of the tent?

ATHENA Why is the bag... slashed open- what happened?

ALEX That's what we're trying to figure out. Glad you two could join us, though. If there's some wild, carnivorous beast out there hunting us down, we're probably better as a unit than alone, right? Right, Felix, there's not a wild, carnivorous beast out there hunting us down?

FELIX Well... [The rest of the crew groans.] CAL On April 7th at 2200 hours, Dr. Couvillion left the following report in his Wildlife Catalog:"Footprint. Reptilian in nature. Tridactyl. Approximately 20 centimeters in length. Located in the southwest forest. Likely predatory." [They groan again.] FELIX I said 'likely!' Not to mention that it was merely a footprint and I have no other correlating information. Some... twigs could have left that.

MILES Some artistic ass twigs-

ALEX Miles.

MILES Commander, you heard what Cal said!

ALEX I did. And it all sounded theoretical to me. Everyone just needs to calm down, it'll be fine. Felix, do you think that there's... a probability that that footprint and the... tear in the bag could be related? Was it pointed towards the camp or anything?

FELIX I wasn't... necessarily looking, at that moment. If we want more information on the classification and nature of this creature, we'll have to go back into the forest and conduct some actual research. MILES No way. ATHENA Let's do it.

MILES Athena!

ATHENA Miles, look at this.

[sfx: the bag rustling as Athena opens it]

ATHENA (CONT’D) First Aid equipment. Bandages, hydrocortisone ointment, antiseptics. If this thing is a legitimate threat, then we need to do something about it, seeing as we've already contaminated and/or shredded the majority of our medical supplies. One of us trips and accidentally gashes our knee open, we're screwed. God forbid someone gets slashed by whatever was sharp enough to trash a polyurethane nylon bag and layers of tough equipment. I... I really don't think this should be up for debate.

ALEX She has a point. If we sit around and wait for whatever it was to come back, it might end up jeopardizing the security of our other equipment. Equipment that we really can't afford to lose. Communication devices, the tent...

FELIX Rations.

ALEX Exactly. Not particularly a risk I'm willing to take when we're lightyears away from base.

[Miles sighs.]

ALEXl You'll be fine, Miles. We've been in the woods dozens of times, now, and we're all still here. Limbs and all.

MILES I know, but... I mean, we've got how much more time before we run out of starlight? An hour? Thirty minutes?

ALEX You've got some nice glasses there, Abbott, don't they do anything? Transitionals, perhaps? New scotopic models?

Flashlight, dude. Felix and Athena go out after dark all the time.

CAL "Nothing routs us but the villainy of our fears," Officer Abbott.

ATHENA Was that Shakespeare-

MILES Cal-

FELIX Miles are you... afraid of the dark?

[Miles groans.]

ALEX Right, then. Into the woods to Grandmother's house we go. Everyone grab a bag and make sure your flashlights are still secured to your belt. We'll head out in 10, get a quick dinner if you need to.

CREW (varying) Yes, sir.

ALEX Oh, and Athena?

ATHENA Yes, sir?

ALEX Nice thinking. ***

ALEX What were those coordinates again, Cal?

CAL North 51 degrees West 111 degrees.

ATHENA North 51 West 111? That's not far from where we were earlier this afternoon. I wasn't... looking out for anything, but I... don't particularly remember seeing anything indicating that there's a... You know, large, reptilian predator out there. You're sure those are it?

CAL That is the approximate center of what we generally refer to as the "southwest forest." So, yes. I'm quite sure, Athena.

MILES "The southwest forest" is a pretty friggin' vague location, Cal. There's no way you could find a... I don't know, more precise target or something?

CAL Of course, Officer Abbott! Give me a moment as I integrate myself into Dr. Couvillion's hippocampus and see the exact location of the footprint measured at a mind-boggling 20 centimeters in length somewhere in an undefined, unexplored, unmeasured forest of foreign flora- and, more importantly, fauna- to get you a "more precise target" since you can't bother walking the extra 0.8 kilo-

MILES Cal, you need to drop this attitude with me! I'm trying to get things done and you're acting like it's some otherworldly request! Just do your job, is it that-

ALEX Hush, you two.

What is taking Felix so long?

MILES Probably making himself a gourmet meal with the trail mix...

[sfx: footsteps, a bag jangling]

FELIX Sorry for the delay, I had to- What's with the staring?

ALEX That's a... lot of equipment you've got there, Felix.

FELIX Well, I figured we would require a particular level of, how do you say... expertise? And as our one and only Chief Science Officer and the only biologist I know of for a couple of lightyears, I figured I would bring some of my equipment. Maybe make it a bit of a learning experience for the less knowledgeable.

Such as Miles.

MILES Now, look here-

ALEX Play nice. That's all actually useful though, right? It's not just going to slow us down?

FELIX No, of course not. It's a collection of hunting and trapping supplies and portable evaluation equipment. If things go as we're expecting, it should all come to use.

ALEX Good, good.

[Alex claps.]

ALEX (CONT’D) Alright. Athena and Miles, you two stay close and keep tabs on each other. Felix and I will take the lead. If you see anything out of place, anything at all, let us know immediately. We should reach the approximated position in... mm, Cal, what do you think?

CAL At your average speed of 13.87 kilometers per hour, I think shooting for 15-20 minutes is your likeliest estimation, Commander.

ALEX Call it 17, then. We've got twenty-ish minutes of starlight left, so make sure your flashlights are secured and you've got your eyes peeled. Not entirely sure what we're looking for, so be ready for just about anything.

Cool... Onward, then. [sfx: footsteps]

***

[sfx: footsteps, birds chirping, forest ambiance]

MILES Hey, Athena?

ATHENA Yes, Miles?

MILES You're the, like... bodyguard, right?

ATHENA [laughs] Security specialist, bodyguard, however you'd like to put it. Yes, I am. Why?

MILES So you...You have a knife or something, right?

ATHENA Yes... It's not exactly going to gut a modern dinosaur, but I have a pocketknife. So does Felix, I think.

[Miles mumbles an affirmation.]

May I ask why you're asking me this?

MILES Oh. No reason.

ATHENA You're sure? No reason at all?

MILES Yes. Well, no. I mean. Well... you know.

ATHENA I... don't. You know you can talk to me, Miles, right? I know I'm not the, uh... social butterfly, that Dr. Couvillion and Commander de la Cruz are, but I'm still your crew member and I'm not going to... bite, or whatever. [chuckles.] I've been told I'm actually quite pleasant to talk to, on occasion.Miles awkwardly chuckles back in response. Before they have time to say anything, though,

ATHENA I'm sorry if you thought I was trying to make you look like an idiot earlier, I swear, I wasn't. I just... that was a lot of medical supplies, and we've still got a ways before we reach the rendezvous point, so I was... worried, at the implications of possibly losing anything more. I didn't mean to seem... aggressive, or anything, and I am genuinely very sorry if I came across that way.

MILES Oh, no, yeah, no, you're fine. I didn't think much of it. I was being... Stupid, so... No, I get it.

I was asking because of the, uh... "modern dinosaur," by the way. It's getting dark out, so I was just thinking about it.

ATHENA I'm honoured that you think I could take on a potentially 5 meter, thick-skinned dinosaur on my own, Officer Abbott.

MILES Yeah, yeah...Miles stops walking for a moment, as Athena continues to walk.

[sfx: jangling of Miles searching their belt, a slight droning glitch]

MILES (CONT’D) Hey, wait up a minute!

ATHENA What was that?

[sfx: repeated clicking]

MILES My flashlight's not turning on!

ATHENA Stay there, give me a second!

Commander, could you two turn back for a moment?

ALEX (O.S.) Yes, turning around now. Everything alright?

ATHENA Yeah, we're fine, just...

[sfx: jangling, clicking from Athena]

ATHENA Torches aren't turning on. Low visuals. Soon none, most likely.

ALEX (O.S.) Fantastic. We'll be there in a minute or two. See you then. Or... not, apparently. de la Cruz out.

[Athena sighs.]

[sfx: jangling, clicking]

ATHENA Miles-

MILES Sorry.

[sfx: forest ambiance] [sfx: a sudden scuttling]

MILES Athena, what the hell was that?

ATHENA I don't know. Stay quiet, I'll go check it out.

[sfx: footsteps]

MILES What? Athena, don't be an idiot, get back here, what are you-

Athena? Are you- [sfx: comms click on] ALEX (O.S.) Hey, our-

[Miles screams.]

ALEX (O.S., CONT’D) -flashlights aren't working either. Not sure what's going on. We should be approaching in a second, though, so just keep an ear out. Copy?

ATHENA(O.S.) Miles? Miles, are you okay?

MILES Uh- yeah, I'm okay, I'm fine, ah

[sfx: button press on comms]

MILES (CONT’D) Copy! Copy. We, uh... we heard something and, unless Felix has taken a liking to scuttling around on forest floors like a squirrel, I think it might be our predator. Athena went to go look, not sure why in Hell she would, but she's... away. A couple meters, at least.

ATHENA (O.S.) I'm fine, don't worry about me. You two should get here as quickly as possible, though, I can hardly see the back of my hand right now, let alone a potentially deadly predator. I think we'll take any help we can get.

ALEX (O.S.) Copy. Okay, how about this. Give us 15 more seconds to cover some distance, and then we'll start a count off. Make sure everyone is accounted for and get some approximated positions. Me, Felix, Miles, Athena, Cal. Out loud, no comms. Make sense?

MILES Yes, sir.

Well, actually, uh...Cal has been. Shy. For the past few minutes. So unless they've had a major change of heart, I'm not sure how willing they would be to-

ALEX (O.S.) Okay, Miles. Noted. Are we good, Cal? Athena?

ATHENA (O.S.) 10-4.

ALEX (O.S.) Got it, Felix?

FELIX (O.S.) Got it. Uh... what was that about Cal?

ALEX (O.S.) They're... fine. I don't think they plan on running away anytime soon. We can check on them once we get things sorted out. Not the first time they've been... antisocial with us.

Okay, everyone turn your comms off. Listen for our voices. De la Cruz out.

[sfx: comms all click off, forest ambiance]

ALEX ONE!

FELIX TWO!

MILES Three!

ATHENA Four!

ALEX One!

FELIX Two!

MILES Three!

ATHENA Four! ALEX One!

FELIX Two!

MILES Three!

ATHENA Four!

ALEX One!

FELIX Two!

MILES Three!

ATHENA Four!

UNKNOW DISTORTED VOICE FIVE.

[The group SCREAMS, chaos ensues.]

[sfx: various shuffling, running, collisions]

[Athena and Alex exclaim.]

ALEX Are you okay?

ATHENA I think- are you?

ALEX Hell if I know!

FELIX Miles?!

[Miles shrieks.]

FELIX Miles, it's me, calm down!

MILES Sorry, I didn't-

ALEX Everyone, calm-

[CAL laughs. And keeps laughing.]

CAL Oh, you should've seen the looks on your faces! I mean, I couldn't exactly see, but imagining was just as fun! That was great, that was great...

MILES What?

CAL What? It was just a prank, Miles. If this was you, you'd tell me to 'lighten up.’

MILES I think you have a really twisted view on what I think is funny, Cal.

ALEX Cal, this... this is beyond unacceptable. What the hell were you th-

[sfx: a monstrous roar]

[The crew screams, Cal’s boot-down jingle plays]

ALEX Run. RUN, GO!

[sfx: running footsteps]

ATHENA Here, look! Behind here!

MILES So does anybody... want to explain to me... what the hell just happened?

MILES Anyone at all? FELIX Did any of you... actually see the specimen?

MILES Thank you, for not answering my question at all.

FELIX No, Miles, I'm serious. Did any of you catch a glimpse of it? Size estimations, speed, anything?

ALEX I don't think so, Felix. Why? Did you catch something we didn't?

FELIX Not exactly...

[sfx: jingling, shuffling of Felix’s equipment]

FELIX Despite the, ah... acoustics and tone of the beast in question, I don't actually think it... well, hm...

ALEX Felix? What are you getting at?

FELIX I have a theory that this beast may not be quite as beastious as aforementioned, sir. The scale is... not quite adding up to me.

MILES ... what.

FELIX I'll be right back, sir.

[sfx: footsteps of Felix sprinting off]

ALEX Felix- Oh, for the love of-

[sfx: footsteps of Alex sprinting off]

ATHENA Alex!

[sfx: footsteps of Athena sprinting off]

MILES Athena!

[sfx: footsteps of Miles sprinting off]

*** ATHENA Transmitting on April 8th, 2094, from our current base. We have now reached 2100 hours and I...frustratedWhat a day it has been, Headquarters. Following my previous log, sent out approximately 2 hours ago, Dr. Couvillion and I returned to base to find our primary first aid bag slashed open. Contaminated, trashed, and, mostly, useless.

From that point on, it was somehow deduced that a.... reptilian predator was out to sabotage us. Nothing has since pointed against such a deduction, however... the creature is still nowhere to be found. We had a close encounter, though, following an... incredibly tasteless joke from Cal. They later expressed to me that they did it as an act of retaliation. They said it had something to do with their... dismissal. Being used as an asset and nothing more. Not getting to fully interact with the crew like the rest of do, barely being able to get a word in, period. I get that. I don't think what they did was appropriate at all, that's not what I'm saying, but... That feeling. That disconnect. I get it. Regardless, we proceeded to get chased behind a tree. Doctor-

[sfx: footsteps MILES You're telling me. You had. A net. This entire time?

FELIX I told you I had trapping equipment, Miles. I just never got the chance to set anything useful up since somebody here couldn't deal with a broken torch...

MILES Yours was broken too?

FELIX Ah, yes, but I didn't make Athena call up Commander de la Cruz, did I?

[Miles and Felix argue in the background.]

ATHENA Uh, sorry... Doctor Couvillion then set back out, which led to... a bit more chaos. Just what we needed. We then reported back to base, and he was... incredibly insistent about heading back out. So... he and Miles pushed back into the trees. After we all rested for a few minutes. I held back to watch over base, and Commander de la Cruz followed them close behind, with Cal, to make sure they didn't kill each other. Sounds like he had a net. I don't see anything of importance though, so... I'll update later. [sfx: comms click]

ATHENA Anything?

MILES No, just a bunch of stupid twigs.

ATHENA Great.

FELIX It could've at least been a learning experience if someone had put in the smallest twinge of effort. But alas... Miles is doomed to brainlessness.

ALEX GUYS! Guys, you might want to check this out!

MILES She was in the forest?

ATHENA Yes, now go, go go go...There is a shuffling as they all run back to Alex.

FELIX What did you- [gasps].

AWWWWW. Oh my god, that is the most adorable thing I have ever seen...

ALEX Isn't it?

[sfx: the creature murmurs]

MILES That is the most hideous thing I've ever laid eyes on.

CAL Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Miles.

ATHENA Felix, do you know what that is?

FELIX No. However, its build is very similar to that of a cougar cub, and its reptilian frill, tridactyl state, and scaley nature....

Well, for starters, it's clearly only a baby. Aside from those claws, it couldn't hurt a fly.

[sfx: a single step forward]

[The crew whispers at him.] [sfx: the creature squeaks]

FELIX Isn't that right, little guy? You wouldn't hurt a tiny, little fly, would you? No you wouldn't, no you would not... How does Mercutio sound for a name? Little Mercutio-

[sfx: the creature hisses and sprays]

[Felix screams, the crew exclaims.]

ALEX FELIX! Are you okay?

CAL Doctor Couvillion?!

MILES FELIX!!

ATHENA Are you alright??

FELIX Yes, I'm- I'm fine... Just stings... Bad Mercutio! Bad!

[sfx: the creature hisses and scurries off]

ALEX Dammit.

CAL Don't worry, Commander. The probability of one of Doctor Couvillion's traps catching the creature is incredibly-

[sfx: a trap springs, the creature yelps]

CAL (CONT’D) Likely!

ALEX Joyous day...

Right, Felix, let's get your face checked out. Athena, go see what the situation is at the trap. Cal, maybe back some of the newfound data to the catalog with Miles?

CAL Yes, sir.

Alex undoes their projector from her wrist and hands them to Miles.ALEXGet along with each other. We'll all bed down in 30. CREW (varying) Yes, sir.

*** [sfx: a campfire crackling]

CAL Processing 80% complete. Processing 85% complete. Processing 90% complete. Integrating into mainframe and long term memory drive. Processing 95% complete. Saving to Doctor Felix Augustine Couvillion-

MILES Augustine?

CAL -personal data file. Processing 100% complete. Data saved.There is a quick chime.

CAL Yes. Augustine, Officer Abbott. As an asset of the Omni-Corporation, I have access to each crew member's personal file, seeing as that's useful and convenient. Is this shocking to you?

MILES No, that's not what I meant, you know that's not what I am, I just thought-

CAL Because I can go through all of it right now, if you'd like! Since it seems so interesting! Let's start with the star of the show, yes? Petty Officer Miles Jackson Abbott.

MILES Cal-

CAL Date of birth: June 30th, 2071. Ooh, interesting! Education: Skipped years 7 to 9 in secondary school. Attended the University of Teegarden- very impressive school, Miles- from 2086 to 2088, before facing e-

MILES ENOUGH, Cal.

CAL I'm sorry that that wasn't convenient for you, Officer. There must be something wrong with my programming. I shouldn't be able to be so challenging, so... impractical. I was only trying to help you. Perhaps it's something that the decommissioning floor will have to look into when we arrive back on Earth. I will try to be a better contrivance in the future. Goodnight, Officer Abbott. [Cal’s boot-down jingle plays.] *** [THEME MUSIC FADES IN] ANNOUNCER Micro-Cosmos: A New Science Fiction Podcast.

This episode, Turn and Draw, was written by Jesse Smith, edited by Luka Miller, and directed by Jesse Smith, Zyrel Thompson, and Lauren Tucker. It starred Jesse Smith as the voice of Athena Romero, Jackson Rossman as the voice of Miles Abbott, Luka Miller as the voice of Alex de la Cruz, Kaleb Piper as the voice of Felix Couvillion, and Pippa van Beek-Paterson as the voice of Cal. Original music by Julia Barnes, and sound editing by Tobias Friedman and Isabel Sepúlveda. Be sure to stay tuned to our feed for upcoming episodes from the new backpacking intergalactic adventure from Futuristic Trail Mix Productions. To follow the show and find transcripts, you can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram as @MicroCosPod. Questions, comments, and concerns can be emailed to us via [email protected]. Find more information on the show on our website, microcospod.space. Thank you for listening. [THEME MUSIC FADES OUT] ***

#Microcosmos #micro-cosmos #micrcosmos #microcospod #microcos pod #science fiction #newpodcast #new podcast #podcast recommendations #fiction podcast #sciencefictionpodcast #audio drama

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nightowlgunner · 4 years ago

Text

Her

It was like June 2020 when I started playing with Kristine. That was also the time na she got laid off so we got the chance na magkalaro sa game full time. It was also the time na, I slowly opened up to her. Because I have strong walls eh, I do not let people come in my life easily. Since Kristine looks sincere and a listener to me, I gave her the way to get in. I talk about my rants about how my day goes and my relationship status with Joan. There is something about her that makes me want to know her more. There are many things na napagkakasunduan namin that leads to laughing and feeling na magaan lang kausap. I also liked that she is interested in the Game that I am playing, We shared things from the moment she started playing pc games back then, her ex gf's, her dramas in life, her fam, her girlfriend but not too much of it. She shares her problem too, the same goes with me.

Back then, I got curious about Kristine because of the stories that I have heard from Joan about her and her ex-gf and the toxicity of her relationship with Rose.

I admit she got my sympathy. Reminded me of my past relationship and how she handled it. Later on, whenever Kristine goes back here in Manila for a vacation, she always invites us. So I have no choice but to go with Joan though I am way too shy na makihalubilo sa mga tao.

By the first time that I met Kristine she was with her ex-gf Siena. There was nothing special or any thing that I felt. I was just nervous meeting her. Idk. Because I feel like she is intimidating. It was just a stage of knowing her, but she was nice naman. That time I remember Joan blocked her on my fb friend's list because of some reasons that i am not sure of, like Jealousy. Joan is always jealous which make me feel like hindi ako katiwa tiwalang tao. Lol. Grabe lang. And since then, Kristine unblocked me.

Way back 2018, I casually message her, like saying Hi, Hello, a little update of my day, and a little sharing of how me and Joan is doing.

I remember that it was also the time that she is trying to open up about her problems with Siena and so i made a GC where me, Joan and tine are messaging so she will not think too much back in Dubai.

I think she was on the verge of breaking up with Siena?

I have work back then so our exchange of messages was not that constant.

Joan used to rant at Kristine about me and how our life have been, which I do not like. Kasi nahihiya ako na kailangan pa ilabas ang mga bagay bagay na hindi naman dapat. There are times I feel uncomfortable kapag sinasabihan din ako ni Tine about our probs. But i just shrugged it off na lang.

It was also the time that I am focus to Joan too.

'Til Pandemic came. I am so happy may kalaro na ako sa game and that is her. Most of the time we play during afternoons, we also got the chance to try voice call each other on Messenger.

Then there goes the story, we talk a lot, shared a lot and our game time is way fun because she is a good team mate.

She was a good listener. And she understands me. Not all the time she is in favor of me, there are times she helps me understand things.

But most of the time, She makes me feel valid.

August came and Joan celebrated her birthday.

September and I celebrated mine, and I received a gift from her, it was a cake. She told me in Whatsapp that it was for me only. She just made it look like it was also for Joan since she never gave her any present last month.

October came, and I decided to make a surprise for her birthday, I'm talking about Kristine here. And so I did. We call her through VC in Messenger and I greeted her in my Facebook Gaming page, and made an appreciation post for her in my IG, which she really liked.

November came and I broke my thoughts to her. It was my nephew's birthday, Ethan.

I told her through Whatsapp that I liked her. That I liked her back then because of some reasons like, She went through hell in her relationships yet she stood up, etc. and my curiosity ate me.

I told her I might not feel uncomfortable talking to her because she already knew my secret that I like her. Then Kristine said, Bakit naman?

I asked her am I not likeable? She answered me, it's not that I am not likeable, she also said that she knew that I am a good person, and she reminded me that it was wrong. I told her I have no intentions of ruining her and Kamille. I just wanted her to know that I liked her, period.

Then we played a game, shared some secrets and stuff, because I started to trust her na.

Then as days goes by, we play constant and we talk mostly.

She even shared to me the time she went to sleep over with workmates because Kamille and her had an argument. We had our first Video Call in Messenger the next day before she go to work. Send me photos that I asked her too cause I am not seeing her lately.

We still talk even at her work hours, I listen to her work rants and stuff.

Then came an issue of this gaming headset that she wants to give me without malice as claimed by Kristine. Joan did not like the gesture. So, we talked secretly and talk about it. We agreed not to pursue the headset anymore.

December came and yah, we still play. I found out she resigned at her work.

I had an issue with a basher of my page, so I have to deactivate my gaming page and make an investigation who the hell is she.

So my attention draws closer to the game itself and also Kristine. and stop streaming for a while, She decided to install the Global server instead of using Garena for months because she is running out of VPN's to use for free anymore.

I felt like we have this kind of understanding where she gets me. And she agreed. But sometimes she sends me mixed signals.

I came to a point where I became confused.

I felt the need to share this because I am having these "time bomb" like feelings that if I cannot find a way to consult it to other person i am gonna explode and became clingy at her.

So I brought my classmate back in High School named Annarie, who prefers to call herself Pacsy. We play in Garena sometimes and we chat in Messenger too. I shared her my thoughts about Kristine. And I decide to her to be like the observant of the girl I liked if she feels the same way to me.

There are times that I felt jealous whenever there is a guy flirting with her on the game and sometimes she makes me feel that she is jealous too when I do the same.

And then came February, we had an argument.

My thoughts went confused, concern at Pacsy, and at the same time jealous.

Felt bad because we made a promise to each other to be open and not keep secrets. But things fail.

I broke down and cried.

Then came Joan who confronted Kristine, and Pacsy without me knowing it because I was asleep when Joan hacked my phone. I lost all of my phone datas and apps.

And I did not like it. Joan should have talked the proper way but instead choose to hysterical all the time.

She discovered that, there is something between me and Kristine based on our exchange of chats in Messenger.

Since I'm woman enough to admit my fault, I did.

I admit that I fell to Kristine.

Joan blocked her in my Messenger first.

And next is IG.

CODM became an exception.

It was a week of pain and confusion and discoveries.

I have discovered that She admits that she felt the same way for me.

That she doesn't want to lose me too.

That I am important to her, that she thinks of me by the time we lost our communication for like a week and more.

She was the one who initiated a contact.

I knew in my heart she wants it.

Let me just have a detailed flashback:

FEB 17: That night, we played, me, Pacsy and her. Dhanush invited me. I said sorry to them. And Kristine drop this line that it will be the last time she will talk to US. So I distant myself.

FEB 18: It was like 5pm, I called Pacs and I apologized to her of what happened and I cried because of what I feel in my situation. I told her, it was so hard to tell Joan that I fell in-love with her friend.

I asked Pacs not to update Kristine about me anymore because I wanna distant too.

FEB 18: 10:30 PM Pacsy texted me that Ktine asked her a favor to tell me that Joan is attacking her on messenger. I just said, it was noted.

FEB 19: Vertigo attacked me.

FEB 26: I received an XP rewards from Kristine. Just to be clear, giving away XP rewards is customized, you are the one who will choose who to give it to. And with that gesture, I knew in my heart she wants to talk and play with me. The past days Dhanush has been chatting me whenever he is playing with her. I told Dhanush I cant because she does not want to talk to me anymore and I wanna keep my distance too.

FEB 27-28

I played in CODM that night and I message her in the app, and invited her to play. Just a duo. At first she said, "Hi joan." then I told her, "Hindi nuh, hahaha." Then we play both off mic. And I notice she is messaging me while playing and says she misses me. "imy" I asked her "Kumusta" etc. At first I did not want to answer back I miss her too, because I am doubtful that it might be Kamille who's playing, but again, I knew it was her. So I told her, I miss this duo. Then she replied ":(".

Its like we had 2 games only, I said goodbye yet she tried to invite me again for another round for a squad with Dhanush but I have to leave the app and so I did.

FEB 29

We talked in CODM Global server app. We did not play instead we just talked. She told me she created an account in deviantart.com which is a website for artists, I actually have account there for art purposes. However she cant find my account there so I suggest how about Twitter. She opened up to me that day, as I remember, she apologized to me of the things she have done like how she cracked my secret to Joan etc. She said she does not normally say sorry to anyone yet she is doing it for me that day. I asked her if, "hindi ba kapani paniwala kapag ako ang nagsabi na mahal kita?"

She answered, she feels things the same way. She understands that my IG stories was for her mostly, and I claimed it. She told me she was scared to lose communication with me, that sometimes she feels like she's using another person just to get connected at me. And I get what she is saying. She said that she felt something for me.

I am sorry but the words we shared felt like... there is something.

Days have gone by, We played again. However I am hiding it.

I made a letter for her by using a website app. I told her everything there.

We also both made a Twitter account. Obviously, we missed each other.

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gumnut-logic · 5 years ago

Text

We’ll Be Home For Christmas 3.1

Title: We’ll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 1 Prologue | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3

Author: Gumnut

23 - 27 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can’t fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3823

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven’t seen it yet.

Author’s note: For @scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Please note that I am not a scientist, only an artist with mad librarian skillz. I may have stretched a few facts in places here, for which I apologise, though I did research a hell of a lot to get this written (at one point I was only writing one or two lines before I had to research another fact…it was a very long process). I hope you enjoy it anyway. :D

Many thanks to @vegetacide and @scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to @onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew

When Virgil woke late the next morning, the yacht was already in motion. He sighed as he crawled out of bed, body groaning the entire way.

Stumbling into the living area, he didn’t even have to look for the coffee. John simply met him halfway and handed him a mug.

He inhaled it. The hot beverage ran down his throat and within minutes his brain was beginning to boot.

A hand landed on John’s shoulder in honest gratitude. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Okay, so that grin was a little smug, but the coffee was worth it. That and it was a novelty to have John for breakfast at any time. He squeezed his brother’s shoulder, blaming not enough caffeine for the sudden soppy.

His brother frowned at him. “How are you feeling?”

Okay, that fixed the soppy. He rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.”

The frown turned into a smirk. “Sure. Would you like some eggs? I hid the last of the bacon from Alan, so there is some if you like.”

The soppy returned. You’d think he was on drugs or something. Must be the sea air. “Thanks, John.”

His brother peered at him a little more before ushering him to sit down and busying himself in the kitchenette. It wasn’t long before the tantalising smell of bacon sizzling wafted through the living area.

“Hey! I thought we were out of bacon!” Alan was not impressed as he strode in, game console in hand. “You lied to me!”

John snorted as he placed the plate full of bacon and eggs in front of Virgil along with a glass of orange juice. “So, you would have eaten Virgil’s share?” The arched eyebrow was challenging.

“Nooo.”

“Sure, Alan.” John turned around and walked back into the kitchen obviously not believing his brother.

Alan sat down across from Virgil. “I wouldn’t, honest, Virg.”

Perhaps his littlest brother’s brain was not connected to his hand because Virgil had to slap it away from his plate almost immediately. “Sure, Alan.”

The bacon was good and the eggs just right. Mouth full, “John, this is divine.”

The snort from the kitchenette was loud, but the only comment he received in reply.

Virgil slapped Alan’s hand away again and glared at him. “So, who’s winning the game.”

Alan was immediately distracted. “I was, but then John pulled a stunt with a rogue asteroid, which I’m not entirely sure was legal...” His voice rose specifically in the direction of the kitchenette.

“Game allowed it.”

“Yeah, well, I PM’d the developers and they knew nothing about it!”

“Gregory never remembers what he programs. The guy does it in his sleep half the time.”

“Hah! Grez is totally cool. He said you’re a stick in the mud.”

John wandered back into the room wiping his hands on a tea towel. “Gregory is also a card-carrying member of the Flat Earth society.”

A snort from Alan. “So?”

“The man has been to space, Al. He designs video games, set in space. Explain the logic behind that?”

“Denial? Imagination? A little too much college night life?”

John threw the towel back into the kitchen. “All of the above. So, yeah, game allows it, it’s legal.”

“Well, I’m gonna whip your ass in the void between galaxies. Gonna stoke my ship with engines only you can dream of.”

Taking a seat at the end of the table, John did not appear concerned in the slightest. “Hey, Virgil, would you like to assist me in developing a fictional intergalactic drive.”

An arched eyebrow as he munched on bacon and glanced between the two of them. “Hmmm, sure.”

“Hey! No fair. No engineering brothers allowed. If you get Virgil, I get Brains.”

John grinned. “Go for it. International Rescue could do with one of those.”

Virgil snorted. He loved Brains like a brother, but the man did not know the difference between reality and fiction. Postulate an idea such as this, give him a few hours and he’d have a working theory. Let him go, and he’d build it. The game would be forgotten the moment Alan mentioned the concept.

“You suck.”

“Just using the tools at hand, Alan.”

Virgil blinked. “You just called me a tool.”

John shrugged and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a string of profanity from their captain up on the bridge. The boat suddenly accelerated, swerving to port, and Virgil had to grab the remains of his breakfast as it tried to slide off the table.

A frowning Scott strode through the room. A worried glance at Virgil and John, he took the most direct route towards the bridge and disappeared. Alan dropped his console onto the lounge and darted after him.

At higher speeds, the boat began to bounce off the wave peaks. Virgil decided that staying put was probably in his best interests and apparently John agreed as he reached out and gently grabbed Virgil’s arm.

“I’m okay.”

“Just making sure.”

He didn’t bother responding to that.

Wherever the boat was going, apparently it got there quickly because it wasn’t at full acceleration for long and it slowed quickly to a stop, her hull wallowing in the water at the sudden lack of forward momentum.

As Virgil pushed himself to his feet, he glared at the hand wrapped around his bicep. John didn’t let go.

“If you fall on your face on my watch, Scott will kill me.”

“I’m fine.”

His brother still didn’t let go. This was ridiculous.

But apparently smother was in the Tracy genetic code, because John held onto him the entire way up to the bridge. Only to find it locked down and empty.

All three brothers were out on the bow of the boat.

He could hear Gordon swearing from here. What the hell had his brother all riled up?

It took his slow way onto the bow - those steps still hurt, damn it - for him to find out.

“It’s caught in her mouth. Goddamnit!”

“Hey, hey, Gordon. We can help her. Tell us what we need to do.” Scott’s voice was tense. Virgil read it clearly as pissed, but needing to calm a brother and fix a problem before blowing a circuit.

What the hell had happened?

“Gordon?”

His fish brother shot distraught eyes in his direction. “We’ve got a humpback calf caught in a gill net. A fucking illegal gill net. Here. I’m gonna string the bastards up and Mel is gonna skin them alive!”

Gordon stormed past Virgil and John, heading towards the back of the boat, thumbing his comms. “Mel, you got your ears on?”

Virgil turned to look out across the surface of the ocean and sure enough a single dark buoy appeared just off to port about fifty metres away. To his horror there was a weak whale spout just as his eyes focussed on the spot.

Scott strode past and gently clasped his shoulder, his eyes bleak before following Gordon aft. Alan hurried after him.

A glance at John found his brother’s professional facade well in place. Gordon could be heard yelling over his comms from the other end of the boat.

The whale breached again.

Shit.

-o-o-o-

Scott followed his little brother as he stormed down the length of his yacht.

“Mel, what the hell do you mean this isn’t the first time.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Gordon, I’m as angry as you, but these assholes know what they are doing. I’ve had the coast guard out here sixteen times in the last year and they haven’t managed to catch one of them. We’ve lost turtles, sunfish, rays and earlier in the season a humpback died of its injuries. We can’t locate the nets. They don’t appear on our scanners.”

“Well, they appear on mine and I’m not putting up with this crap.”

“Any help is appreciated, Gordon. If I knew you’d be able to detect them, I would have called you in earlier. If you can give us the locations, it would be much appreciated.”

“I’ll get John on it immediately. In the meantime, we have an injured calf and a distressed mother to attend to.”

“Do you want me down there?”

His brother paused a moment and dragged in a calming breath. “I’ll do an assessment. If I need help, I’ll call Kayo to come get you.”

“Keep me in the loop, Thunderfish. Play it safe. Mamma Humpback is going to be anxious.” A pause. “Sorry your vacation has been interrupted.”

“Screw my vacation. We’re gonna get these bastards.” Scott didn’t think he had ever seen his brother so angry. It was understandable. “Speak to you soon. A Little Lightning out.”

Gordon immediately turned to Scott. “We have a situation.”

Scott let his head drop just a little in acknowledgment. “Yes, we do. This is yours, Thunderbird Four. Tell me what you need.”

-o-o-o-

With the power of TB5 they discovered an intricate network of netting just to the west of the Kermadecs, trailing intermittently down their full length. To regular sensors they were invisible, but to IR sensors they were a flicker. A flicker John was able to focus on and bring up a clear picture.

Gordon, now dressed in his IR uniform, swore a bluestreak at how many nets were actually out there. John put him through to WASP Command and Gordon gave a very colourful report to the regional commander, who just happened to be a former squad mate of his. Her response was more formal, but no less colourful.

With tight expressions, Gordon, Scott and Alan climbed into the inflatable dingy and rowed their way out to the beleaguered cetacean. Gordon used the effort to push his anger into the oars. He couldn’t afford to have his thoughts clouded by the bastards who had done this.

Sensors told him the calf had a net caught in its mouth and wrapped around its right pectoral fin. The fine mesh hung down its left side, dangling into the depths where it had caught on a snag. The chances of it catching right there were ridiculously small, the waters so deep between the islands. But the net was hundreds of metres long, weighted, and, even tangled, it reached down far enough to snag itself on a submerged pile of rock.

Hell, he was going to need Four to get down that deep to get the net out of the water.

If the calf had been snagged while diving, she wouldn’t have been able to surface to breathe and would have drowned.

Bastards!

Scott darted a glance at Gordon. The aquanaut held his gaze. His eldest brother was dressed in an IR wetsuit. It was startling to see him out of his familiar uniform. Gone was his flight baldric and in its place, yellow slashed across his blue, visibility more the priority underwater. The only concessions to his commander rank were his shoulder patches and twin silver-grey bands on that yellow baldric. Alan was dressed similarly, but where Scott sported silver, Alan sported red. Neither had their helmets on.

Gordon had only mentioned the suits to Scott when preparing for this venture because he had hoped to enjoy some recreational diving. Their suits were far above average equipment, so why not use the best to have a little fun?

Scott had rolled his eyes, but five wetsuits had been thrown into their luggage. They had supposed to be used for sharing his world with his brothers.

Gordon swore under his breath again and tugged at the oars angrily.

“We’ll fix this.” Scott’s voice was calm, ever the commander when on duty. And on duty they were.

When he got his hands on those assholes...

“A Little Lightning to Inflatable. Mother Humpback is on the move towards you.” John had been tracking her frantic circles around her calf.

Gordon dropped the oars and grabbed his scanner. Sure enough, the worried behemoth was angling in towards them. She posed a serious threat despite their benign intentions.

“Roger that, A Little Lightning.”

The inflatable stilled in the water, three pairs of eyes stared out across the surface.

“Be quiet. Here she comes.”

Not twenty metres away, the mother surfaced, her spout spraying them all with angry water. Her huge mass coasted just under the surface and beelined to her daughter.

Gordon’s heart lurched at the distressed groans she made as she nuzzled her trapped calf.

“I’m going in.” He shoved his helmet on.

Scott caught his arm. “Are you sure that is wise?”

He caught his brother’s worried eyes. “You are just going to have to trust me. I know what I am doing.”

A bitten lip, but Scott nodded once and let him go.

Gordon slipped quietly over the edge of the inflatable and into the water.

-o-o-o-

Virgil stood on the bridge of A Little Lightning and swallowed hard. It was frustrating to be caught unable to do anything, but in this kind of situation, it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling.

Usually, though, he was hovering in Two far above the surface.

John stood beside him, a mission hologram projecting from his tablet, his hands playing the portable controls as smoothly as Virgil played his piano. Eos spoke up quietly, relaying reports from WASP as the organisation swooped in on the illegal fishing organisation somewhere off to the west. His brothers’ vitals danced in one corner, the readout from the sensors and the now deployed sensor buoy hung beside them.

Virgil could only watch.

“Gordon, approach with extreme care. The mother is emitting infrasound, beyond our hearing. She is very distressed.” John’s voice was sharp, but calm as the sensors traced the sound pattern in the air before him.

Whispered. “FAB, John. I can feel it. She may be calling for help. Silence on comms.”

And Virgil realised he could feel it, too. A rumble in his bones, a wail so deep it could only be felt, not heard.

He closed his eyes.

He felt her shift octaves, the sound pulsing, her thrum desperate. It vibrated at the edge of his sensory perception, slipping in and out, barely felt in his body tissues, his fingertips, the sensitive incisions in his gut.

“Virgil? You okay?”

John’s soft voice startled him, throwing him out of focus. “What?”

He received a copper frown for his efforts. “You’re pale.”

“I’m fine.”

Green eyes narrowed, but his brother didn’t comment further. He returned to his holograms, bringing up a satellite lifesign read of the area.

“We’re receiving a reply.” John frowned. “Another. Several. Locating sources. Eos, give me a narrow frequency band and pinpoint.” The AI didn’t answer but several dots appeared on the satellite view. John waved a hand and zoomed in on a cluster in the Southern Ocean. The view focussed and cleared and Virgil was again amazed at Brains’ skill as the surface of the ocean appeared and a pod of whales was defined. They were all travelling in a south-easterly direction.

Over two thousand kilometres from the mother and calf. John zoomed out again and scanned for a closer answer. He found one but it was still fifteen hundred kilometres distant. Far too far away to return to help the distraught mother.

But then another signal came in, this one only three hundred kilometres away to the south-east. John narrowed in on the location, only to find another mother and calf.

“Is that the mother and calf we encountered two days ago?” The subjects of his painting.

“More than likely. Gordon did say it was very late in the season. The humpback whales migrate from tropical waters north-west to south-east across the Kermadec Ridge on their way to feeding grounds near Antarctica during spring. That places the nets in the optimal position to do the most damage.”

Virgil stared at the kilometres of lines denoting the position of so many illegal fishing nets.”

“Do you think WASP will be able to stop this?” His voice came out parched and cold, an echo of the anger building inside.

“They will do their best. Gordon won’t rest, you know that. I’ve also asked Penny to investigate. This impinges on Tracy Industries’ ecological interests so I have contacted the board.” His lips thinned. “We will find those responsible.”

The lines taunted him. How many? How many lives had been taken moments before sanctuary?

“Virgil?”

The mother shifted octaves again and he found himself closing his eyes.

A hand landed on his arm. Soft. “Virgil?”

He startled. John’s turquoise eyes were frowning at him again.

“She’s terrified.”

“Gordon will free her calf.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

Her thrum was in his bones, vibrating his very soul.

And then the calf cried out.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had always felt small beside his brothers, but floating next to a leviathan of the open ocean there was no comparison.

The mother humpback was nuzzling her calf, a mixture of chirps and groans vibrated through the water accompanied by the modulating infrasound, screaming fear across the Pacific.

Knowledge of cetaceans scrolled through Gordon’s mind, but instinct was yelling at him.

Never get between a mother and her baby.

But the baby was in pain and her mother was unable to help her.

He could.

He edged closer, ever quiet, calm.

Mamma shifted in his direction, her great head swinging around and tossing him about in the resultant wake. Gordon caught himself and took the opportunity to slip in even closer.

C’mon, beautiful, I don’t mean you any harm. I’m here to help.

He reached out and touched the calf’s flank.

The calf shifted away, crying out and her mother propelled herself forward towards Gordon.

He darted backwards, holding up a hand. “Hey, hey, I’m here to help.” She couldn’t understand the words, but perhaps the intent?

A groan wrapped around him, followed by a click.

“Gordon!” Scott’s voice echoed about his helmet.

And into the water around him.

Shit.

He scrambled backwards as Mamma reacted. Surging forward she nudged him hard enough to force him to the surface. “Woah!” He got a brief glimpse of Scott gesticulating at him from the inflatable, obviously agitated and then everything was bubbles.

He lost orientation for a moment and just settled for swimming away from the chaos.

“Goddamnit, Gordon, answer me!”

“Shut up, Scott. I’ve got this! Silence on comms!”

He dove.

Deep.

He relied on his suit to keep his body pressure static as he propelled himself fifty metres straight down.

Sunlight flickered turquoise and disappeared into the depths.

Mamma didn’t follow.

Gordon hovered there a moment, looking up at the silhouettes of the two whales and the dingy far above. Mamma returned to nuzzling her calf, her pectoral fins churning the water into bubbles with the smallest movements.

Okay, Gords, you’ve got this. Gentle, calm and persistent.

He began his ascent.

-o-o-o-

Virgil tensed as his brother was thrown from the water only to disappear and dive down deep.

Gordon’s snarl across comms at Scott was acid.

The mother’s call shifted an octave to the point Virgil could almost hear the clear C, F, and G notes hanging in the air.

Three hundred kilometres away, the second mother and calf answered and turned around.

Virgil stared at the dots on John’s map as they slowly began moving towards them. It would take them a good chunk of the day and night to reach the distressed calf, but the other mother was answering the call.

John’s monitor sketched out the answer, far below human hearing and far too distant to be felt.

A complicated, pulsating aria of sound.

It wove around the mother’s distress call, each note dancing with its partner, an answer in form as well as content.

Staring at the readout, he found himself humming the notes, switching cadence, following the thread.

The rumble in his throat spoke counterpoint to the song in his bones. It completed. It felt...reassuring.

“Virgil?”

“What?!” He blinked. Shocked at his own outburst as John took a step back, Virgil drew in a shaky breath. “Sorry.”

John’s voice was quiet. “What is it?”

Virgil stared at his brother, then back at the sensor buoy’s holographic display showing Gordon swimming up the water column. “Can we transmit sound into the water?”

It was John’s turn to blink. “Of course.”

“At infrasound levels?”

John pulled up the buoy’s specs and Virgil knew the answer before his brother could vocalise it.

“Wait there.”

He had an idea.

-o-o-o-

The sight of the abrasions on the side of the calf’s mouth physically hurt Gordon. He swam up slowly beside the calf on the other side from its mother. He kept quiet but made sure the calf knew he was there.

It edged closer to its mother.

“Hey, beautiful. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She whined, her sonics vibrating through him.

Mamma growled in the way only a mamma whale could and, blowing spray up into the air, drew in breath and dove.

She slipped below her daughter and targeted Gordon.

Oh shit.

He flung himself to the left and down. He could manoeuvre easily around her, but...

...her tail swung and he was caught in a rush of wake, bubbles and the need to avoid the whacking she was trying to give him.

“Okay, I get the message. But Mom, you’re going to have to back off or your baby is going to die.” The calf could last only so long before exhaustion and predators put an end to her struggles.

Mamma swam around in a tight circle and for a moment one of her great eyes caught his, her intelligence and fear glaring at him through the turquoise light.

His external mic picked up a single note.

What?

The note shifted and became more of a wail, cut off and was silent.

Mamma whale was still staring at him.

Another note. Again it was modulated, but this time his brother’s voice accompanied it, Virgil’s raw baritone holding the note for a few seconds before shifting down his range to another note. His keyboard, for there was no doubt that Virgil had his keyboard with him, emitted a series of low moans.

Gordon shivered.

His brother was playing infrasonic, he could feel it, no doubt using the transmitter on the buoy.

Mamma was still staring at him.

He could give his brother all the points for effort, but there had yet to be a case where humans could communicate with whales. Many had tried. Most were ignored. The most success had been achieved with touch, which is what Gordon was attempting to do.

If he could get close enough without having his head handed to him.

Virgil shifted from single notes to a more complex weaving of sounds, combining his voice with the keyboard in a way he had never quite heard from his brother.

Mamma blinked.

Clicked three times.

And let off a wail of sound that tore at his heart.

Virgil answered.

-o-o-o-

End Day Three, Part One

Day Three, Part Two

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Alan Tracy

30 notes · View notes

valkyrieofthehighfae · 4 years ago

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Chapter 2

Warnings: Drug use, potential alcohol abuse, mentions of an underage relationship (which I personally do NOT condone) and some brief smut. 18+ only y’all! Word Count: 3.3k Join my taglist here Tagging: @mcu-padawan Chapter 1

I was sitting at the bar of some fancy restaurant that my brother arranged for us to meet at, studying my nails and sipping on a martini, bored as could be of waiting for him to arrive. We had run into each other while I was shopping with Grave for a new outfit to wear at The Crypt, both of us taken by surprise by the encounter; it had been years since I’d last seen him. And of course he was running late. Surprise, surprise.

“I’m surprised your… boyfriend isn’t here with you,” Ivar took a seat next to me, flagging the bartender down to order a drink. “How have you really been, Astrid? Are you doing okay?”

“Oh, I’m perfect, Ivar. I’ve got a great job, a wonderful boyfriend, freedom,” I put emphasis on the word ‘freedom’, giving him a look. “I’m even looking into becoming a medic. As great as dancing is, I want to get out there and actually do something helpful.”

“Oh? A medic? You know that I can help you achieve that goal. Will you let me help you?” He smiled at the thought, his eyes crinkling up at the corners and I couldn’t help but smile back. I had missed him as much as I hated to admit it, not that I’d ever say it to him out loud.

“Depends, are you going to hold it over my head if I say yes and try to use it to manipulate me?” I tilted my head curiously, taking a decent sized gulp of my martini.

“What? No, of course not. I really, genuinely want to help you, Astrid. My only request is that you stay with me and stay away from that cantina rat and no more dancing.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue with him. I really wanted this chance to do something good, something other than being just a pretty face to look at, a nice body to admire. I’d always had a knack for helping people, picked up on it really quickly watching my mom patch people up who got hurt. “Fine, fine. I’ll have to go back for my stuff, though.” I set my empty glass down on the bar, frowning again. “So you’re really willing to help me? Even though our last conversation literally consisted of me telling you I hated you before running off like a brat?”

“You’re my sister. I love you more than anything. I don’t think you understand how relieved I am to see that you’re alive and okay, if not still a brat. I’m always going to help you when I can.” He squeezed my hand gently, comfortingly, and I had to take a moment to keep from crying. “I do have a couple of questions though, if you’ll humor me. First things first, how old is that cantina rat you call a boyfriend? He’s so pasty, I can’t tell.”

“Okay, rude. He’s twenty -”

Ivar glared in indignation. “He may only be three years older than you, but a twenty year old being interested in a seventeen year old is not normal in the slightest. What’s wrong with him that women his age won’t date him?”

“What’s the big deal? He treats me like a princess.” I scoffed at his outburst, embarrassed when other people started looking our way with interest. “Besides, he loves me and really cares about me.”

“By the gods, Astrid. He’s a predator. Look, that’s… we’ll… that’s a conversation for another time, I just can’t even start on how wrong any of that is right now. Are you using any drugs?” He ran a hand through his hair, stressed to the max.

“No! Come on, I may be a dancer in a low rent cantina, but that doesn’t mean I’m using. I’m smarter than that.” I lied through my teeth with another roll of my eyes. “I’m so glad to know you think that highly of me.”

“Are you going to have an attitude the whole time? Is this really going to be a thing?” He was already exasperated with me and it hadn’t even been an hour yet. Living together again was going to be hell, for him or for me, it was yet to be determined. “If this is going to be a thing, how do I make it not… be a thing? Do I just… appease you with sweets or something?” He was teasing me now, trying to find humor in the situation.

“Shopping. Lots of shopping. You still have your cushy job, right? Shouldn’t be an issue for you.” I shot back with a laugh while gathering my things. “I need to go pack my things up and talk to my boss about what’s happening.”

“Wonderful. If you don’t show up in an hour, I’m calling in the Coruscant guard to come and get you out of there.” He warned me with a sigh, growing serious again. I just waved him off, sashaying off towards the exit, contacting Grave on my comm.

“Are you still nearby babe? Great, let’s head back to the Crypt.” I ended the call, smiling sweetly at some clone troopers who walked by, batting my eyelashes flirtatiously at them.

“Flirting with the troops, Baby Doll?” Grave came waltzing up out of nowhere, draping an arm around my waist.

“Who me? Why I would never. I’ve only got eyes for you love,” I leaned into him, smiling. “There is something we need to talk about though. You know how I’ve been talking about becoming a medic?”

“Yes, I recall.” Grave glanced down at me with raised brows.

“Ivar said he’d help me get into the academy,” I hesitated a moment, biting down on my lower lip. “But that would mean I have to move back in with him, quit dancing, and… I wouldn’t be able to see you anymore.”

“So do it.”

I stopped, shocked into silence with his carefree reaction. I would have thought he would have been a little more upset but it didn’t seem like it bothered him at all. “You’re not upset?”

“Why would I be? Your brother can’t keep me away from you, Baby Doll. Besides, you’d make a sexy medic.” Grave smirked, leaning down to catch my lips in a tender kiss. “We follow through with what big brother says, lay low for a while, you focus on your studies, and when he relaxes, you come back to me and the Crypt at night.”

~*~*~

[4 years later]

The bass from the music thrummed through my back and deep into my chest, the wall I was pressed up against cool against my flushed skin. Hands tangled themselves in my hair while black painted lips crashed against mine in a slow, hungry kiss that threatened to turn me to ashes from the heated desperation of the man who kept me pressed to the wall.

“Grave,” I managed to gasp out, struggling to catch my breath between hot and heavy kissing. “Can we move to the bed? Please?” The windup key that was part of my costume had been digging into my skin through my corset, the sensation quickly becoming uncomfortable. Grave smirked against my mouth before easily picking me up and carrying me to our bed to set me down so he could remove the silly costume I wore to dance in.

“Sorry Baby Doll, I just couldn’t wait any longer. You’re leaving me tomorrow to go be a medic and I just want you all to myself.” He breathed against my neck as he slowly unlaced my corset, placing soft kisses along my neck and shoulders. A soft moan escaped my lips as his hands gently slid the confining top off of me, fingers skimming feather soft over my skin. “Those clones don’t know how lucky they’ll be to bask in your presence my sweet Doll.” Those black lips twisted into a sneer as he pushed me back into the bed, kneeling between my legs, the Zydrate gun gripped in his hand. I ran my tongue over my lips, watching as he pressed the gun to my inner thigh and depressed some of the electric blue liquid into my thigh, the instant feeling over numbness causing me to drop back onto the bed with a contented sigh. With a soft laugh, Grave tossed the gun aside before sliding my skirt off and dropping it to the ground while I lay quietly on the messy sheets, eyes closed while losing myself in my high.

~*~*~

[2 years later]

“Valkyrie, hey, we got two new guys coming in for some boosters. You good to handle them?” Kix asked while tossing me a couple of datapads.

“Yeah, I got ‘em. See you after my shift is up?” I caught the datapads with slightly trembling hands, wincing a little at just how shitty I felt. Kix nodded in confirmation and gave a slight wave before taking off with a quick goodbye just as Rex came walking in with who I assumed were the newbies behind him.

“Fives, Echo, this is our other combat medic, Valkyrie. She’ll get you taken care of.” Rex gave me a nod and a faint smile before taking off after Kix, calling for the other medic to wait a moment.

“Welcome to the 501st, guys. Alright, lemme just get a look at your charts real quick and you two can pop a squat over on those two beds.” I motioned to the two beds closest to where I was working, powering on one of the datapads Kix tossed at me. This one contained Fives’ file, giving me all the info I needed to know about the soldier, including which boosters he needed. “You’re up first, Fives.” I popped up to my feet, grabbed the correct boosters, and walked over to him. He already had the sleeve of his blacks rolled up, ready for me to clean the injection site, smirking a little as he looked over the tattoo on my neck.

“What’s the tattoo say?” He jerked his chin towards it and I grinned a little while wiping the numbing wipe over his bicep gently.

“Says “Loki”. He’s an old god of mischief,” I quickly injected him, moving through each booster with a practiced ease. “Guess I forgot to cover it up this morning while getting ready for the day.” I gathered the used needles and tossed them in the appropriate disposal bin and tossed my gloves to get fresh ones so I could do Echo next.

“Got any other tattoos, Doc?” Fives was watching my every move curiously as I wrapped up getting Echo taken care of, tossing the gloves into the trash before holding my hands up to show off the tattoos I had there.

“Tons of them. Pays to have a best friend who’s a tattoo artist. My right hand reads “Odin grant me wisdom” and has runes of wisdom and medical healing on the knuckles. Left hand says “A healer’s hands are often the most bloody” with healing and protection runes on the knuckles,” I rolled up the sleeves of my blacks that I wore under my scrubs to show off the Norse compass on my right inner forearm and the 501st tattoo I’d gotten done as a tribute to my guys. “And these are just a few. Now if you’re done interrogating me about my ink, get a move on. I’ve got work to do.” I shooed the pair away with a grin that immediately fell the moment they left. With a groan, I dropped back into my seat, wincing at the throbbing I felt in my brain. The withdrawal was hitting hard again and I was out of my Zydrate stash Grave had been kind enough to send along this time. I always felt like death after the high went away; I’d had to increase my dosage yet again and it was getting a little harder to maintain it. I’d gotten so used to using it for the past six years, that going without was almost enough to make me feel like I wanted to die.

Fuck. I need to let Grave know that I need more when I see him in a few days. Thank the gods we’re getting a decent leave block this time. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to try and steady myself. It was a wonder my hands didn’t tremble when I was administering their boosters, especially with how hard they shook now. Just thinking about getting my fix had me practically moaning, I couldn’t wait to see Grave and get what I needed from him.

“You absolute kriffin’ idiot!”

My eyes popped open when I heard that familiar voice yelling down the corridor. Moving quicker than I had all day, I was up and out the door of the med bay just in time to see Fey Royi, the best mechanic here on the Resolute, and one of the other mechanics getting into a fist fight right there in the corridor.

“Ya damn near killed my ass! Did ya ma drop ya or somethin’ when ya were a baby? Or are ya just stupid?” Fey growled viciously, a tool gripped tightly in one of her hands as she tore this guy a new one. Her words got under his skin and he swung at her, swearing up and down as he tried to grab the pissed off Codru-Ji woman.

“Shit!” I hissed, immediately wading into the fight along with a couple of the clones, wanting to get this taken care of before it got worse. Time seemed to slow down as a durasteel wrench came flying at my face, smashing right into my nose before I could even react. “Motherfucker!” I bellowed as my head snapped back, blood going all over the front of me.

“Oh kriff. Valkyrie!” Fey was horrified to see the results of her fight. “Way to go, dipshit! First ya almost kill me and now ya’ve broken Doc’s nose! Ya fired!” She was shaking with rage as she scruffed the appalled man and dragged him off to presumably either beat his ass or give him to the Admiral. Arms went around my shoulder as someone led me back to the med bay, swearing under their breath while getting me sat down so I could staunch the bleeding.

“Are you alright, Valkyrie? That sounded pretty bad.” Fives stepped into my line of sight, frowning. I held up a finger, signaling for him to give me a moment while I reset my nose with a snarled swear. There was no way this was going to look good by the time we got back to Coruscant, I was going to have to skip dancing this time. And if I skipped dancing, that meant no Zydrate.

“Oh I’m fucking perfect! I’ve always wanted to have my nose broken by a mechanic in some stupid fight!” I hissed before gagging at the taste of blood. “Fuck!” I kicked a tray, sending it flying across the med bay in my anger. Fives gaped at me in shock, eyes wide and immediately I felt like shit for losing my cool the way I did.

“I’m sorry. I promise I’m usually way more laid back than this. I just don’t take kindly to getting my face bashed in with a wrench.” Casting an apologetic half smile his way, I trudged over to the tray, picking it up to put it back where it belonged.

“Ah… Valkyrie? Um… are ya okay?” Fey was hovering by the entrance to the med bay, hesitating to come anywhere near me.

“My face hurts, but beyond my nose being the only thing that got busted, I’m okay. What in the absolute fuck was that all about? Fighting in the corridors? Really?” I snapped at the Codru-Ji, motioning for her to come in so I could look at her lower left arm that she’d been cradling close to her body.

“That punk Coltyr didn’t place a jack correctly and the machinery I’d been workin’ on fell and nearly crushed me. The di’kut was drunk on the job again, because of course he was. Anyway, I-I’m really sorry ya got caught in the middle of that.” She was embarrassed, having a hard time looking me in the eyes. I didn’t say much, more focused on her arm, gently prodding it and moving it to test for brakes, biting my lip when she cried out.

“Let’s get an x-ray of this. There’s a really good chance it’s broken and I want to set it before it gets worse.” I helped her up, whistling for one of the medical droids to come give me a hand. Fives was still hanging around, trying to stay out of the way, his eyes tracking us as I got Fey set up with the medical droid. Once I was sure they were okay, I walked over to him, resting a hand on his bicep gently, motioning for him to walk with me. “I’m seriously sorry you had to witness my temper get the better of me in there. Drinks are on me when we get to Coruscant, it’s my way of apologizing.”

“You don’t have to do that -” He began to protest, when I raised a hand to cut him off.

“It’s not a big deal, really. It’s just a couple of drinks. We’ll meet at the 79’s okay?” I offered a quick smile, excusing myself when the medical droid called for me. Looking at the x-ray, I winced a little when it confirmed that her arm was definitely broken, and I gathered up everything I needed to get to work setting it and patching her up.

“Ah shit. Well, at least I have three other arms to use,” Fey joked but the look on her face screamed panic. “Uh… ya gonna numb me up, right Doc?” Her skin had taken on a slightly green coloring as she spoke, eyeing all of my tools on the tray with distaste.

“Yes, Fey. After we’re done here, I’m going to keep you for some observation just to be sure the pain meds don’t mess with you too badly and because I don’t want you back in the hangar yet. In fact, you need to take at least six weeks. Maybe even the full eight depending on how well you’re healing. I’ll check it again in six weeks and make a judgement call from there, but for now, you need to stay out of the hangar.”

“Six weeks?! What the hell am I supposed to do for six weeks?” Fey’s eyes got huge, horror all over her face at the thought of not being able to work for that long. She lived for her work as a mechanic, she even slept in the hangar so she could work on sleepless nights, so this had to be killing her to know she’d be out of commission for so long.

“Sorry Fey, but I need you to cooperate on this. Your arm needs time to heal. Get caught up on paperwork or you mentioned wanting to work on making some new and improved droid poppers, now you’ll have some time to sit down and design those.” I leaned back in my chair, admiring the perfect job I did binding her arm up in a cast. The idea of working on her side project seemed to cheer her up a bit, a slight smile appearing on her face.

“That’s true, I guess I have time for that now. I’m gonna take a nap though, those painkillers are no joke.” She curled up on the bed she’d been sitting on, almost immediately passing out. Smiling softly, I laid a blanket over her, and started cleaning up, wanting to make sure everything was good to go for the crew coming in to take over for the next shift so I could grab something to eat and a shower.

#Kat writes #drug use tw #smut #18+ please #slightly unsavory relationship tw #Fives x OC #Fives x Valkyrie #eventual friends to lovers

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fallingin-like · 5 years ago

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november 23

the real folk blues by @annawrites [requested by @allforthebee]

see which other fics i’m reviewing this month! / my review request post!

this absolutely amazing and captivating fic that has the foxes as space bounty hunters and neil who is, as usual, and exceptionally skilled runaway. set away some time to read this fic as soon as possible, because once you start, you won’t be able to put it down until you finish.

this is such an entertaining, fun fic and you did an amazing job at balancing the softer moments with intense, action-packed scenes. at all times i was fully immersed in the story, you handled everything so well. i’m always a fan of your writing, so it’s not a surprised that i had a wonderful experience rereading this.

bits that stood out to me:

”counting stars has become a habit, something to subdue the memories” ah this is really cute and i can totally imagine canon andrew, lying on the roof of some building counting stars instead of trying to sleep

”renee cracks a chicken bone smile in the corner of her mouth” i have never heard this phrase before but i love it!

”there’s a collective intake of breath - andrew, who remembers every single bounty ever placed, can’t remember it ever being this big” for some reason, i love when this kind of thing happens. it feels so cool, knowing someone wants that character that bad and gets me excited for what kind of skills the hunted person has, to be able to evade the people looking for them (reminds me of john wick lol)

”nathaniel wesninski alias neil josten is a hacker, con artist, engineer and pilot” BLESS HIM FOR BEING SO CAPABLE AND SKILLED

matt’s infamous bell peppers and beef with no beef!!! that’s funny and i think about it surprisingly often

”renee pulls up a few more photographs of neil wesninski on the hologram screen. she deals them out like cards until they fan out in a neat timeline of faded hoodies and various iterations of the same polished smile, a mouth sharpened to cutting perfection… the eyes, in contrast, look consistently hunted” holograms and just this space tech is SO cool. i love seeing how the foxes view neil before they meet him. it’s interesting how many sightings they have of him, but also how blank he seems, when we all know that there’s so much personality under that surface

”the ISSP are a bunch of corrupt, incompetent idiots” LOL

”’tone down the optimism, day,’ andrew drawls. ‘we might start overestimating our chances’” agh i love your characterization of all of these characters and this is a great example of why! and i like that you used drawls, it feels very andrew-like

”andrew waggles his fingers lazily in the air” yeah this is andrew

woah i have never seen the art for this fic (i guess because i have the fic downloaded and i just read that version instead of going on ao3, the pictures must not have downloaded) but it’s great!

gasp, i love the idea of the foxes Dressed Up

ALLISON BEING BANNED FROM PLAYING!! “her former alias - lady luck, also known as poker alice” oh this is great. for some reason, them having reputations like this really excites me

”it’s in my blind spot” ANDREW this is so funny

ahhhh i can’t believE you added the “better luck next time” line in!!

okay so the whole action part of this scene is so intense, love andrew throwing the poker chip as a diversion, and neil pretending to give up for a moment before ACTIVATING HIS ARMED SHIP AND SHOOTING EVERYONE. ugh, hearing about neil being so good at what he does (steering, hacking, while taking off his jacket) makes me love this scene so much

”vowels rolling like a pair of dice” this is so good on its own, but paired with the casino scene that precedes it? stunning

”kevin values his ship, and his life, in that order.” i can imagine. i wonder, is there competitive racing in this au? i can imagine kevin being obsessed with that

thank goodness riko is dead, one less thing (on a list of many things) to worry about. whoop and i see that easthaven has passed, good.

KEVIN DAY WITH A METAL ARM AND A TRANSMITTER PLATE THAT COVERS HIS TATTOO YEAH

oh dang limb regrowth tech in this au? wild

”’minyard and the monster, how lovely to see you again.’ neil greets him through the once more hijacked comm. they’ve been playing this game for weeks now, racing each other across the milky way like starved lovers. even allison is starting to run out of lewd jokes” i find it so interesting hearing about this relationship that’s being built between them even though they basically never meet in person, the joking from neil’s side

these hints of andrew’s eye mods are really great, i definitely didn’t notice them as much as i should have when i first read this fic, but every time after that, i appreciate little details like these more and more

RENEE WITH A KATANA YES PLEASE

”andrew shakes off the last dregs of sunday sleepiness that cling to his lips like the skin on warm milk. neil wesninski might have become a game by now, but the malcolms still mean business” ohhh boy, even knowing what comes next i get nervous hearing this. i love the contrast between the softness of what sundays mean with the conflict to come, especially when you jump right into the action

”renee pants, her voice cool and slippery like broken tiles amid the crackle of static” oh i love this description

LOL i can’t believe that andrew got matt’s dessert rations and gets to invite neil to be a part of their crew

”missions are slow and neil’s face keeps showing up on big shot, though not for lack of people trying to hunt him down.” i don’t know why but i really like this!! you go, neil!

oh oh thank you so much for the way that you describe neil alone on his ship, his hoodies, gloves, “one sad-looking sock”, “the one sock he’s wearing has holes”, talking to himself, “yet he’s still inexplicably trying to shield his robots from andrew’s gun” so cute!

”eyes like the gleaming insides of a wire in the dark” this!!!!

the! cats! neil made his robots cats!!

NEIL HACKING INTO THEIR COMMS I LOVE HIM

”neil is like a live fish under his hands, constantly wriggling and sliding out of his grip, fingers twitching back toward his abandoned project like flies caught in a spiderweb” ahh squirmy neil is super cute, “neil shivers under the touch like he’s not used to being touched at all” this doesn’t surprise me. even if i didn’t have an idea of what his childhood might have been like (with mary and nathan, i imagine there was not very much affection), he’s probably been alone for so long, when would the last time someone would have touched him? i don’t think i would be able to handle it

ahh barefoot neil is always cute

SCARS no matter how many fics i read, i always love moments when neil’s scars are revealed

NEIL RUNNING LAPS IN HIS TINY SHORTS AROUND AND AROUND AHH

”neil slinks into the room late, looking tousled and a little sticky around the edges like he’s just woken up from a nap. he freezes when he sees andrew, stuck standing right in the middle of the projection, and only moves when dan throws a cushion at him” your writing actually paints scenes in my head which for me, a person really bad at visualizing things, is really impressive. it makes the experiences of reading exponentially more interesting, and doesn’t happen that often.

renee as praying mantis!! what a perfect nickname. is she religious in this au as well? i can’t remember if any religions even exist in this au (whoops i know nothing about cowboy bebop)

”she looks stiff and faded like old newspaper in the light of the kitchen lamps” what a gem of a sentence

me: sees the nickname gorilla and gets excited because i know some action is going to go down

”the three of them would just about reach his head if renee sat on andrew’s shoulders and lifted neil up” THIS IS AMAZING. i mean, andrew and neil are tiny but they are not that tiny

”andrew begins tonelessly, tracing patterns into neil’s skin” if we ignore the fact that andrew is telling a terrible terrible story, this is so soft

”his breathing is viscous now, like syrup in his lungs. his left eye aches and the corner of his mouth twitches painfully into the ghost of a manic grin. he bites his tongue and it tastes like the word please” i am speechless but i really wanted to acknowledge this sentences lakjsdf

NEIL WINNING THE BET ABOUT BEING ABLE TO STEAL THINGS FROM THE VENDOR AND ROBBING THE MAN JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING. uGH you do such a good job of integrating humour like this into your story and having it fit the tone and pacing of the fic effortlessly.

excuse me how is it possible that you followed such a lighthearted scene with something so devastating as andrew explaining his past to allison and neil and have it still flow??? “because… i did not mean for you to get hurt” ANDREW YOU’RE SO GOOD

”he’s smoking outside and watching the dusk unfurl like an exotic flower when there’s a crash inside the store” this description is so gorgeous

what in the world, andrew i don’t even know how to describe you. he really just helps catch the robbers with his headphones on while choosing things to buy, killing a dude, then checking out, no big deal???? i understand neil’s attraction to him a little bit more now…

andrew and renee sharing clothes is now canon, please and thank you

oh no, lola is Bad News, especially when it comes to threatening neil’s family

NEIL PACKING ANDREW’S LEATHER JACKET AHH

”the bebop crew are basically overgrown children and react very well to the little sugary rewards for good behaviour” yeah this is very true haha

”’your blatant flirting woke me up,’ matt grins weakly. ‘can i have a lollipop too, neil?” i remember this whole scene so well, the second the infirmary was mentioned i knew it was lollipop time. matt, is basically how i feel right now HAH

woah wymack taking care of bonsai trees? i didn’t know i needed that in my life so badly. just like neil and the twins, so tiny :’)

uhm so, the tape that nicky sent to andrew? it’s actually making me cry (which is super rare for fics) “i hope you know that i love you”, “things aren’t so easy at the moment, and maybe they still aren’t easy for you watching this ten years from now, but i’ll always be there for you, and for aaron, too. i hope that one day we can be a family. happy birthday, my little piyoko, don’t eat all the cake by yourself!” i love this so much, and it makes me so sad and happy. this nicky is so good, and as much as i think andrew needed to see this, i think that i needed to read this more. thank you

nicky calling the twins his little piyokos, his lucky birds ;-;

the reunion scenes are so good, i really don’t think i can write anything that sufficiently describes how i feel. the way that nicky acts, the new relatives, older aaron, it all feels so right, so real.

andrea minyard deserves her own bullet point

neil just goes and makes all the police ships crash by controlling them remotely just for andrew to be hit by a moon rock?!?!?

”something irritatingly warm rises and swells inside andrew like yeast dough and he plunges his fists into it and kneads it into submission, twists it until all that remains is sticky, frothy anger” and “andrew sits down on a crate and prods at the yeasty mass still fermenting in his insides. the sudden bloating of anger has subsided to the usual starchy nothingness, but there’s a sugary residue of unease that he doesn’t want to examine any further right now” as much as i adore your jokes and beautiful descriptions of scenes, sentences like these ones that blow me away completely are why you’re one of my favourite fanfic authors. these are the kinds of sentences that i carry with me even after i am finished reading

”i can’t decide if you two are more like toddlers or like an old married couple… either way, it’s really bizarre to see andrew having feelings other than hate and destruction” LOL

thea is the coolest person ever

”kevin makes a noise like a dying dog” me too, kevin

NONONONONO ICHIROU AND JEAN AND EASTHAVEN

thank goodness neil is here

apparently i am very fond of the words “juice pack” and think it is cute. why? i also do not know

huh, riko naming his identity kevin king?? feels… not good

oh boy, lola is back

ANDREW CAN PICK OPEN HIS HANDCUFFS THANK YOU FOR THIS

is it bad if i am happy that all these people are dying (proust, lola, etc.)

NEIL AMPUTATES NATHAN’S HAND WITH A CLEAVER WHILE HE’S HOLDING A CLEAVER AND THEN KILLS HIM LDKSJFLK

oh dang, it’s stuart (i trust him)

andrew’s eye! thank goodness, because although it kind of sucks, it also Really Does Not Suck

”it’s stiff and awkward and neil quickly wriggles out of it. kevin must be really shaken up, because he tries andrew next. andrew waits passively until he’s close and then steps to the side at the last moment, smothering his amusement in a cough when kevin walks straight into the wall with open arms. serves him right for thinking even for a second that andrew would let him” LOL i love you, anna, so so much

money!! woohoooooo (or should i say woolonghooo okay sorry that’s like the world’s worst pun)

BELL PEPPERS AND BEEF WITH ACTUAL BEEF AND NO PEPPERS YES! what a great way to bring things full circle, even though it’s small

sweet dumplings filled with fruit? i am intrigued

THE SHIRT

i can’t not acknowledge the bit with the key, neil is too clever for his own good

we finally get to see bee! ugh i love the relationship between bee and andrew

”they may be marks of destruction, but they are still andrew’s; still proof of his existence” yeah (like a good yeah)

interesting about andrew’s memory not being as good without his left eye. does he have eidetic memory in this au? maybe it’s better if he doesn’t

i remember the first time i read this fic, in startling detail. this fic was so good then, and it has been just as good, if not better, every time i have reread it

it’s kind of embarrassing, but one of the things that i remember distinctly (among a lot of other things) is the noodles! reading this fic never fails to make me want to eat instant noodles

so one thing about me is that i am actually really bad at visualizing things. when i read stories, i can never imagine what a character looks like, i just see the feature that is being highlighted at the moment, and the second that sentence ends, that image is gone. like i just have a magnifying glass to someone’s face but i can’t piece together the parts. it makes it so that i often struggle with the visualization of stories. but something about your writing makes it easy for me to pictures scenes happening. everything is so vivid, and real (hence, the instant noodle cravings lol) and i love that so much. it’s so special.

the flow of this fic is amazing, the characterization is incredibly authentic and really helps with carrying the plot. you integrated lighthearted scenes with pure angst and awful things (easthaven) and i’m honestly curious as to the cowboy bebop episodes you took inspiration from. this fic was so well written, you are so skilled at introducing characters, locations, plot points, although i’m not familiar with this universe i wasn’t confused at any point. you explained everything without me noticing. this was just a breathtaking fic. thank you so much for writing this!!

#the real folk blues #aftg fic review #raelle writes

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andrustara · 3 years ago

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Premier League Fixtures | Sky Sports

Epl schedule tomorrow - EPL Fixtures This Weekend |

If you have the Premier League then your app should be pristine video quality. They have eye money and the resources. NBC Sports gets a little lazy with the video quality because they know that no other tv network in the United States has any plans to buy the rights to click at this page the PL anytime in the near future. Can somebody please teach the idiots at NBC about what full match stats are. This happens quite often.

She never persists and changes the subject or cuts to a commercial epl schedule tomorrow. How lucky are you guys!!! Due to the virus, soccer watchers are at the mercy of network TV. Fun at first but boring.

A second sighting could be most instructive. Also, when the League starts epl schedule tomorrow, why not run the words the fans sing across the bottom of the screen. Is that a good idea. Rex Hearn, 89, Manchester City supporter since 7. Surely after all these years some enterprising fan has collected them in book form to which epl schedule tomorrow may refer. We understand! Rex Hearn. Love that we have epl schedule tomorrow start of a fixture list.

Just wondering about your source? Hi Ian, epl schedule tomorrow clubs and NBC Sports as well as other media outlets wait until tomorros is officially announced before publishing the schedules. Thanks again. It says that it is on Telemundo in the official Premier League app and I am just wanting to make sure that it is true. Sometimes the official Premier League app has informative post wrong listings. Yes, the Peacock games on Sunday will be on Gold as shedule.

Brighton-Newcastle will be on Peacock and Gold also. Replays for tojorrow matches will be available after 9 pm ET. I tried the Gold this year, but never had enough discipline to not look up the scores until 9 pm. I will not sign up for package next season. In total, Peacock Premium will present more than 1, hours of Premier League live match schedul epl schedule tomorrow programming — the most robust offering epl schedule tomorrow available in the U.

Included are full-event replays for all matches on-demand after 9 p. Here in the U. IT makes it very easy to track your wagers, post the odds, track different sportsbooks to select the best odds. Do you know if there is anything like that published in the U. I would love to subscribe to it as it would make wagering on the games less time consuming and more enjoyable.

I would imagine if there is they also might publish for the German, and other Premier level leagues. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Sky Sports picks the games for their television broadcasts, which sometimes require approval from police scheduoe games that are derbies or matches that are considered to be more dangerous requiring additional police protection for fans. The process takes time. I blame all three of them because they have cheated a huge number of Premier soccer fans from a great deal of pleasure.

A pox on all three of these selfish organizations! They took it away, now you have to pay to get it? I think you call epl schedule tomorrow extortion!? At least this Saturday and Sunday I actually will get 3 each day; unless that changes between now epl schedule tomorrow then!!! Can epl schedule tomorrow find a phone number to call Peacock for live help? I mentioned before to very wary of giving them sdhedule credit card information.

EPL Fixtures This Weekend

Rip off artists. So apparently, if epl schedule tomorrow want to watch the reigning EPL champs, you need Peacock at the moment. Maybe in November I can watch Liverpool. Epl schedule tomorrow noticed that!!! A real shame. Like I tell everyone, it was fun while it lasted! Looks like Christopher Harris was right. NBC is screwing over its cable subs a bit more this year. Chris: thanks for the link.

I caution people again to be wary of this vendor. Do you want the shock epl schedule tomorrow being wrongly charged? The hassle of dealing with an organization that hides its phone number?

Whose chat line appears inoperative? Other contact info made difficult to obtain? Even the investigator writing up the case noted difficulty reaching them. Do you have the time and disposition to deal with such problems for such a poor service? Will report outcome. Obviously it looks e;l an error occurred with otmorrow experience. Many companies make it difficult epl schedule tomorrow find their phone number.

I already pay for Peacock Premium but, unlike every other non-HBO service, it is difficult to watch Peacock outside of the home. My friend has an old Roku and a Amazon fire stick, so the app is unavailable. And she is a Comcast customer. But if you are paying for it then it should be available wherever you want to watch it.

But NBC is making it very difficult for me to share my love tomorroww the game with others. A quick update on my Peacock tribulation. Good news. Thanks to Chris H.

The sign up process was clunky, user unfriendly, and I had no confirmation that it epl schedule tomorrow thru. So I tried again but this time more cautiously opting for visit monthly, as my confidence in Peacock ebbed.

Premier League TV schedule and streaming links

Bingo… access to the Prem! I received the monthly charge, but later also got charged for the whole year for the failed sign up. My error was that, in my initial frustration to get activated, I must schesule entered my email incorrectly. So they were also charging me for that service, feeding to nobody or someone lucky! It was epl schedule tomorrow result of a harried fan being careless out of frustration, but why not install a system that would require email validation?

Looks like Peacock Premium subscribers have been screwed over?? How greedy is that? Just using it to force in new Peacock viewers!! I hope they lose the next Premier League contract. I only say this because there are many epl schedule tomorrow cutters that hope this same thing happens — but only so they can actually watch a top level match like this one via schedle stream only service like Peacock. Not as long as providers know that their traditional cable networks still draw a significant revenue stream, yet also can do so via their separate stream-only service.

EPL is most watched euro soccer league in the US and any provider will do what they can to maximize their revenue possibilities. If you epl schedule tomorrow a later model of the Roku devices with their latest software you can screen mirror to epl schedule tomorrow Roku. You then control the start and end of the game from your iPad but the video and sound comes from your TV.

I Have just bought a gen6 IPad and maybe this will do better. tomrorow pay for Peacock Premium on my old pad, how do I get to install epl schedule tomorrow on my new one without having to pay twice? Rebecca You should definitely be able to see an option to just login to Peacock app with your current profile do not sign up again epl schedule tomorrow the new iPad so helpful site to not be epl schedule tomorrow. Rebecca since Peacock allows multiple streams at the epl schedule tomorrow time your old iPad installation will not epl schedule tomorrow you from installing the app epl schedule tomorrow the Apple App store and than being charged again.

Just install the app and provide login credentials like email address and password. As far as your freezing problem is concerned it could be that your WiFi connection to the iPad is not very good. Make sure that your WiFi connection is excellent 5 bars. Other users did complain that Peacock does buffer the stream too many times to their liking.

So distinguish between buffering and freezing, epl schedule tomorrow will show a twirling circle. I always have to make sure not to connect to my Scyedule 5GHz epl schedule tomorrow as somehow that one is not as good as my 2. If I pay for the product I should be able to access the epl schedule tomorrow whenever I want to, how I want to and at a time that best suits me.

LTx In other topics here it was hotly debated what you mentioned. Several factors contributed to the lack of features in the Peacock App. There was no clear strategy how to present to the tomodrow the games as is evident by the dividing the matches between NBC, NBCSN and Peacock and than again a change in strategy by dropping games from the On-Demand Peacock streaming.

It all reeks a bit of an amateurish approach. Liverpool v. Now I am paying for less??? Makes you dizzy trying to figure it out each week. There is an error on the scheduling. On Sunday the 7th you show Wolverhampton v. Leeds and on Monday the 8th you show Leeds v. Crystal Epl schedule tomorrow. As s Leicester City fan I was miffed there was no game scheduled so went to their site and see they are epl schedule tomorrow to play Sunday v.

Otherwise keep up the good work! Man City game on Peacock will have spanish comm by the Telemundo crew epl schedule tomorrow for the first time. Life, for me, is more complicated with Peacock streaming more of the big games. Do the brave thing everyone and cancel Peacock! Then they will blog epl schedule tomorrow implement a scheeule model.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Competition: Schedulr League. Saturday, April 10 am EDT. Free Trial. Browse Offers. Rex Hearn January 21, Vasil February 22, Dave L May 13, Jack July 2, Payasos February 23, Chris March 23, Rex Hearn August 7, I love your humor,! Rex Hearn 88, City fan since 7!! Sam May 29, Bruce Duffy February 17, I totally agree with Rex. FIX IT!!!! Echedule Eaker March 8, Tom March 15, Christopher Harris March 15, Mike August 12, Is there epl schedule tomorrow venue that allows for subscription?

Thank You. Mike Borelli. Christopher Harris August 13, Doc March 25, Azer March 26, JP March 26, Doc March 28, Burnley 0 0 West Ham United. Chelsea 0 0 Fulham. Crystal Palace 0 0 Manchester City. Everton 0 0 Aston Villa.

Manchester United 0 0 Liverpool. Newcastle United 0 0 Arsenal. Southampton 0 0 Epl schedule tomorrow City. Tottenham Hotspur 0 0 Sheffield United. West Bromwich Albion 0 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers. Arsenal 0 0 West Bromwich Albion. Aston Villa 0 0 Manchester United. Fulham 0 0 Burnley. Leeds United 0 0 Tottenham Hotspur. Leicester City 0 0 Newcastle United. Liverpool 0 0 Southampton. Manchester City 0 0 Chelsea.

Sheffield United 0 0 Crystal Palace. West Ham United 0 0 Everton. Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 0 Brighton and Hove Albion. Burnley 0 0 Leeds United. Everton 0 0 Sheffield United. Crystal Palace 0 0 Aston Villa. Manchester United 0 0 Tomorrod City. West Bromwich Albion 0 0 Liverpool. Chelsea 0 0 Arsenal. Newcastle United 0 0 Manchester City. Southampton 0 0 Fulham. Tottenham Hotspur 0 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Brighton and Hove Albion 0 0 Manchester City. Burnley 0 0 Liverpool. Epk 0 0 Leicester City. Crystal Palace 0 0 Arsenal. Everton 0 0 Wolverhampton Liverpool full match highlights этом. Manchester United 0 0 Fulham. Newcastle United 0 0 Sheffield United. Southampton 0 0 Leeds United. Tottenham Hotspur 0 0 Aston Villa.

0 notes

caseycardwell · 3 years ago

Text

Coming out at work

Our stories of what makes a great workplace for LGBTQIA+ people

With thanks to:

Chloe | Social Media Manager | She/her

Stuart | Senior Clinical Support Worker | He/him

Eliza | Freelance Content Creator | They/them

Linnea | Art Director and Visual Designer | She/her

At SH:24, we are all about sexual health. Sexual health isn’t just about getting tested for STIs or using contraception, it’s also about feeling happy and comfortable with your sexuality so that sex is always a healthy, safe and joyful experience. We have lots of fantastic LGBTQIA+ colleagues, and we want to make sure that they are supported at work.

To celebrate Pride 2021 (and to get some useful tips on how to improve), we asked some of our LGBTQIA+ colleagues about their experiences in the workplace.

How can workplaces better support and attract LGBTQIA+ employees?

“Be open and actively work to help the community and make it very clear that you support them.” Eliza, Freelance Content Creator

“Don’t just support your staff during Pride month! Support them 365 days a year,” said Stuart, our Senior Clinical Support worker. This was echoed by Eliza, a freelance Content Creator, who added, “Just changing a logo to rainbow during June isn’t enough. Companies should be actively looking to hire us.”

Stuart felt that workplaces have come a long way, with some larger companies having LGBTQ+ networks to offer support, raise awareness and communicate that intolerant behaviour is not acceptable. “But we still have a long way to go, for example, in supporting staff who are Trans and encouraging the use of pronouns.” He felt that training and better awareness of LGBTQ+ issues can help to make better working environments.

Linnea, our Art Director and Visual Designer, made the point that understanding LGBTQ+ issues and needs should be the responsibility of the employer, not the employees. “As a queer person it’s easy to become the only one repeatedly pointing out the presence of cis- and heteronormativity. It becomes a heavy burden to always be the one challenging things. It can make you feel invisible. What sets a workplace apart is if they can listen and take on suggestions about how to make it more inclusive, then build on that themselves, rather than relying on queer employees to point it out every time.”

Chloe, our Social Media manager, agreed. “It’s great when companies actively acknowledge LGBTQIA+ issues and are openly putting actions in place to check complicity or unconscious bias.”

At SH:24, we’ve started to encourage colleagues to add their pronouns to their comms profiles. “Joining teams who automatically put pronouns in their bio is a great way for me to feel seen,” said Eliza. “It’s not common practice yet but I think we’re getting there.”

Can you tell us about coming out at work?

“I felt like I had to make a decision about my sexuality to stop people prodding around my personal life, before I even understood it myself!” Chloe, Social Media Manager

“I very quietly put my pronouns in my social media bio and email sign off,” said Eliza. “People slowly started to notice that I’m using they/them. Once I felt more comfortable I came out ‘officially’ online and in the workplace. I was met with great support. A few people didn’t understand it but they were open to learning.”

As a Freelancer, Eliza moves between workplaces, which presents its own challenges. “I don’t always feel comfortable coming out with new clients,” they said, “but overall I feel very supported.”

Stuart said he’d never had a big coming out at any workplace. “It’s partly because I’ve worked in places where I felt safe or was aware of other LGBTQ+ employees and could see how they interacted with other staff.” He usually just drops it into a conversation: “I talk about my husband and what we did over the weekend.”

Chloe shared a different perspective. Before joining SH:24, she’d worked as an artist in the music industry. “I was very young when I started. I hadn’t had the experience or time to understand my own sexuality, but people were making assumptions and constantly questioning who I was attracted to and making jokes about it and my appearance.”

Her management didn’t give her much protection, and Chloe felt they actually played on her sexuality to add some ‘mystique’ to her image. “I didn’t realise at the time, but this robbed me of the opportunity to really understand who I was. I felt like I had to make a decision about my sexuality to stop people prodding around my personal life, before I even understood it myself!”

How important is it for you to be able to be open about your sexuality in the workplace?

“Feeling like the exception to the rule can be uncomfortable, especially if you are recently coming to terms with your identity.” Chloe, Social Media Manager

Sexuality is often presented as something secondary, that’s part of your ‘personal life’ but not part of the workplace. But our business is sexual health, so we’re well aware of the importance of sexuality in all aspects of a person’s life.The workplace is where a lot of people spend most of their time. So we want to know, how important is it for our colleagues to be able to be open about their sexuality at work?

Stuart hit the nail on the head. “It’s part of who I am and not something I should have to hide. Being happy in the workplace allows me to be more productive.”

Eliza agreed. “It’s important for me to be myself in the workplace. You spend a lot of time with your colleagues and it’s important to feel safe and to feel and be yourself.”

Chloe talked about active inclusivity. “It’s important to not have your sexuality/gender ‘othered’ in the workplace. Workplaces shouldn’t assume ‘cishet’ identities as the default. You shouldn’t feel like you’re deviating from the status quo.”

“Working for companies where other queer people are visible is really imporant,” she went on. “It’s not always possible, but being in a team with other LGBTQIA+ people makes it a lot easier to feel comfortable about being open about your sexuality. It can make it a more joyful, celebratory experience!”

What do you wish you had known before coming out?

“Coming out is an ongoing process. Each time you start a new job, meet new people.” Stuart, Senior Clinical Support Worker

Eliza was surprised at the ‘outpouring of love’ they received after coming out. “I wish I’d known how scary it can be to come out. I also wish I’d know that more people would support me than I thought.”

Coming out isn’t usually a one-off event. You might come out in different ways to different people all the time, especially in the workplace. “It gets easier over time, as you become more comfortable in yourself,” said Stuart.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Eliza often has to ‘come out’ to voice their pronouns. “As a non-binary person who presents very femme,” said Eliza, “I still struggle to correct people when they accidentally use the wrong pronoun.”

“It’s ok for your understanding of your sexuality to change all the time!” Chloe, Social Media Manager

Chloe reminds us that coming out should be totally up to you. “What do I wish I’d known before coming out?” she said. “That you don’t have to. For me, ‘coming out’ felt quite intimidating, like I had to know absolutely everything about my sexuality before I did it. I realise now that’s not true! In the end, I just started exploring my bisexuality, being more open about my experiences, and let others catch up!”

What advice would you give someone wanting to be out (in the workplace)?

“If your identity makes someone uncomfortable, you are not the problem.” Chloe, Social Media Manager

“It’s your decision to come out at work if you choose,” said Stuart. “Some people come out with a bang, others don’t. Only you know what is the best way to be you. Each place I’ve worked, I usually come out to the people I’ll be working closely with to start with, then let it happen naturally from there.”

Eliza had similar advice. “Take your time, only come out when you feel ready and safe to do so,” they said. “Most people will love and support you. If they don’t, it’s their loss.”

Linnea said she’d had positive experiences coming out in the workplace. “Most people have been really friendly and open about me having a girlfriend. My negative experiences have been structural (like lesbian erasure) and unconscious biases, where some people have made assumptions about me or my relationship purely because it’s same sex.”

Her advice is to go for it. “Try not to take ignorance personally. People might not know anything about it. I like to assume that people mean well (unless they prove otherwise) and I remind myself that we live in a homophobic society, where everyone learns those narratives and internalises them to some degree. Some people will have had the opportunity to have those views challenged, and some not. Sometimes ignorance is just that: learned behaviour that hasn’t been questioned. There will always be some people who don’t want to or think they don’t need to challenge those internalised narratives, but I like to think they’re in the minority.”

Can you share an experience when you felt your sexuality was recognised in a positive way?

“When I moved to Margate!” said Chloe, enthusiastically. “It was the first time in my LIFE that people didn’t assume my sexuality, despite me moving with a male partner.” Chloe felt able to be herself right from the start. “I feel part of the queer community there, regardless of my heterosexual-presenting relationship. It’s helped me to work through internalised biophobia - it’s tough to feel like you’re not making the whole thing up when people don’t see you. I feel much MUCH more confident coming out to new people with pride, rather than anxiety that I’ll have to defend myself.”

Linnea had a recent experience with some kids on the street. “These cool kids asked me to take their photo. They chatted to me about queer stuff and I was like, ‘Wow! Maybe they saw me and realised I was gay too!’ That’s never really happened to me before! I was happy to be read that way which I’m always nervous about not being.”

Thanks to Linnea, Chloe, Stuart and Eliza for sharing their experiences. We hope this will be an ongoing conversation. If you’d like to tell us about your experience of coming out at work, find us on Instagram @sh24_nhs. We’d love to hear from you.

published first on https://spanishflyhealth.blogspot.com/

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stone-man-warrior · 4 years ago

Text

January 23, 2021: 11:34 am:

====================================================

https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1352761662068166658

We interrupt this Corona Virus Important Announcement for these words from our sponsors:

https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1353030814397829120

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2XO39vz01M

youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=891zKx2Ffvg

youtube

============================================

One more time:

“Patrick Vallance = Hamburger Patty Drapery Cover, Top Rail Overcast Configuration.

We have to go back in time, in Twitter news, take the Way-Back Machine to a time when the words: “Less than ten“ were a standard statement from news media when reports from a “Schul Schut” list of the number of dead was the result of some tragic event.

What used to be the standard “Less than ten” is now the rules are up to “13 to 14 people are going to die every day”.

Mr. SAG Universal Patty of Tommy Burgers on Victory Blvd in San Feranando Valley Vallance, is calling for some: “Sodomy”, “Coke… no! Pepsi… no! Coke!” to happen. The Christian SDA pronounce the word “sodomy” as “soda me”. Is important to know that, is standard, means there is a “Save the Princess” and the one who says “soda-me” is the “Princess”, and is also one of the assassins of a larger group that shows up as a result of “soda me” when spoken by someone playing role of victim.

In English: He needs a distraction, something that will use up a lot of global security and rescue resources, to draw attention into the direction of a controlled environment that happens to also be a fake “Schul Schut” garden variety of tragic events played out by nbc/Universal Studios/Comcast terror actors and engineers of all kinds (Disney Imagineers, because of it’s Britain, and they like castles over there) in effort to stall some sudden interest in the activities of “powerful people” in high places in UK, EU, USA, SA, Canada, nz, Down Under in the Outback, Africa, Amazon, Tesla, the Vatican, and Jim Dunlop humble maker of guitar picks and Cry Baby Wah, and other places, such as Boeing, nasa, and Lockheed Martin.

Patty Vallance seems to be ordering a “Schul Schut” to me.” ~StoneMan 1-22-2021.

=======================================

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_BHHY5A8M

youtube

Customer see’s Cal Worthington and his dog Spot on TV, incredible bargains of new, used cars at Long Beach. Customer buys one of the new ones instead of the one that one seen on TV, that one is not available anymore. Customer registers the new car.

Spot eats customer.

Cal Worthington makes a new commercial with some new used new fresh inventory.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1353027314750263298

“Long Beach” shows up at the 1:48 minute mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_zhBLF1Fu0

youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfXhf0kfG4E

youtube

At the 0:12 mark, some comfort is requested by the Queen.

Rampart Division is there, “Johnny on the Spot” at the 0:13 mark.

Very powerful, and comfortable.

Like the Ottoman Empire was.

It’s about the Children.

At the 0:38 mark, after Rampart is comfortable there propping up the feet of the Throne, then, the big request, babies, lots of babies.... all shapes and sizes... the Queen requires babies, US Citizen babies.

On Saturday night’s, they are on blue plate special at the Church Yard Sale picnic.

=====

Disclaimer:

Real Police = Officers

Fake Screen Actor Guild Police = Ham = Pigs

Royal Canadian Mounted Police disguised as State Police = RCMP = Pig Farmers = Bring Home the Bacon = Keeps the Pigs in Blanket all nice and cozy so they don‘t get cought kidnapping and raping the babies of the Cal Worthington customer who just registered their new car at the California DMV and was eaten by his dog, Spot.

now, it’s just a state mandated euthanasia administration where citizens are ordered to line up to be put to sleep at the COVID 19 Test Center near you.

==================================================

6:03 pm:

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353126296692387842

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353122031580147714

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353117009983250434

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353112504835203076

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353103380353323008

This series of Tweets seems to add up to other than what the packaging is saying.

I am seeing the one on top about the mine as the main subject, while the others are there to help terror soldiers read the information in the one about the mine.

All speculation:

The tweet is saying something about the Lithia Motors new car dealerships, seems to be a nation wide subject, as Lithia is very large car dealership.

Key phrasing is in “Fast Tracked”.

The phrasing, when combined with the past two days of very tiny hints about that tweet contained in many other news stories is about “billiards” to say a message in a story about mines.

The phrase “I am feeling a little behind the eight ball” is part of the basis of how the message is presented.

So, to be behind the 8-Ball, is to be shadowed, or, protected, or, otherwise are not in range of a incoming cue ball.

I think the inclusion of Nevada is only there to get the reader to see that there is a game in the message.

“Energy” is power. “Mining” is not clear, could be children, could be a possessive statement, I am seeing the possessive statement use.

“Final Approval” is not a good thing for the subject of the tweet, witch seems to be the Lithia Motors Car Dealerships nation wide. They are all hard core terror cells.

The way it all reads, is what was once in possession of “Democrat” terror control, was taken by Donald Trump terror branding cells.

“Lithia is Under New Management”

(Trump/Benedict Vatican/Boris Johnson Brexit, branding)

... seems to be the headline in an English translation to the Tweet about the Nevada mine.

All speculation, but it seems as though Trump managed to steal away a number of terror holdings from the Democrat leaders.

I could also say what I usually say, that it was in possession of “Britain/Bergoglio/Canadian“ terror cells, and that would also be accurate enough.

Democrat political party controls much of the Britain/Bergoglio terror cells, Canadians, of course, would be the actual people at the Lithia car dealerships who do the murders and trafficking that is done by Lithia Motors, the Democrats run the place from a Command Center position, for marching orders to Rank & File Canadian terror soldiers at terror cells such as Lithia Motors. Looks like Donald Trump stole the car.... dealership.

The tweet says the “Fast Track” happened before Joe took office, so, my read is that Joe cannot “pocket” the proceeds made from the terror trafficking, and the proceeds could include kidnapped children.

The Democrat political party are all Screen Actor Guild members who also run the SAGClubMed terror cells, hundreds of very large medical industry companies and underground operations, and hundreds of thousands of smaller medical associated terror cells. The “AARP Family of Brands” is another way of saying Democrat Political Party, so, when the Democrats do terror comm, they sometimes use drug analogies for updates and marching order shell jargon. That is where the “Fast Track” turns into an “8-Ball” to say the comm about billiards with drugs.

See? simple.

My read about the major difference between Republican and Democrats is that there is no difference between the two, with a few exceptions. They are all SAG members, and are all part of the terror leadership, The difference seems to be that the farther over on the Democrat side you look, the more likely you are to find drug addicts in Government, while the farther you look on the Republican side, the more likely you are to find a lot of Bibles.

Donald Trump is neither Democrat or Republican.

He is “Afterswords”. A completely different animal in the house.

He is SAG, same as the Dems and GOP, but is not one of them.

==========================

7:20 pm:

In other news:

Today and yesterday at Pope Francis Pontifex Twitter account, I read the most offensive Tweets I have seen yet.

The “Text” of the information is very difficult to decode, and explain.

There are signs from MOOG Music in email promotion today the suggest the MOOG synthesizer makers are preparing to target a selection of visual graphic artists for take out. Once the people send in the requested information for a contest they say they are promoting, the Google terror cells will be tracking the people, learning all about them, and then will show up at their homes for COVID 19 murder operations.

I am not going to decode any of it. These Pope Tweets are far too depressing, and hurt to know that there is no one watching the baby, while the Pope is eating them.

The Pontifex account on Twitter has more than 18 million followers, each one is a terror soldier. The way Google/Twitter terror works, is that when a new follower shows up at Pontifex, those people are scrutinized, followed around, spied on and the local church where those people live will be sending assassins eventually. There may be some COVID choice to make, or not, but eventually the new Pontifex follower will become a Christian terror pirate one way, or another way. Either those people already are Christian pirates, or will choose to get and use the required Smart Phone for tracking and spying on others as a murder cell member, or, if they refuse, they will be killed and replaced with a recruit from a nearby place, in USA that would be a recruit from Canada, who takes possession of the victims ID, home, car, Twitter account, voting status, and that persons whole life is consumed and portrayed by the terror pirate recruits.

So, all 18.8 million of them are terror pirates. There is no other way for them to be. The Vatican does not allow any other way to be, and the Screen Actor Guild enforces the rules made by the Vatican, and so does the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are disguised as State Police in USA. The RCMP are employed by the State Government, paid from Department of Transportation payroll the same as any real police are paid. They are real in every way other than being loyal to USA or Freedom, they are loyal to the British Throne only, ad so are the SAG actors they work alongside with for commanding the Christian terror pirate army of more than 18.8 million pirates who all use Twitter to get their marching orders.

=============

MOOG Music:

“Moo”

It’s what the cow says on a “See n Say” toy where pull the string after putting the little pointer thing on the farm animal you want to hear.

Cattle G = Steer Gnosis = Heard the Cattle, make lies = Slaughter House 5 Liars = a gruesome movie from the 1970′s, and lie to cover it up.

(the “5″ are from the Thunderbird’s TV puppet show for kids from the 1960′s. The Tracy Family Kids, all are representations of Christian terror family cell members in the neighborhood where you live, everywhere that people live.)

Moog Music. Humble makers of electronic musical instruments. A employee owned company for more than fifty years.

MOOG Music is part of the Democrat specific terror branding. They are stepping up the pace with the Joe Biden Brigade in the fake White House Government.

Please note, that the MOOG Music (house painting) Contest was announced before Joe was inaugurated, then was advanced today.

I suspect the winning selection will contain a lot of Red.

“We are painting the town Red” is a old democrat terror motto from way back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8_f0HdlMQ

(insert Eddy Grant: “Electric Avenue” video here)

(Tumblr is hijacked, I cannot post the video)

=================================

11:36 pm:

I have to stop doing the Local Update, at least for awhile.

The Local Update is working against what I started doing it for, as a record of neighborhood terror conditions for comparative purposes as compilation over time, and to help preserve my own memory of events, people. vehicles, ways terror bastards do what they do.

The Local Update has taken a wrong turn, into the realm of the “Vigilante Community Watch” arena. That is not what is going on.

So far, it’s super apparent that the Joe Biden Democrats are taking the helm of the Christian Pirate Ship. There is a huge difference in the terror branding that is happening now compared to about two months ago. This week has proven that Joe Biden is driving the pirate boat, and is all over the place, cannot steer the thing.

If you have ever received a notice from a government federal agency where along with the notice there are four pages of information that explanes that the same information is available by request in 52 different languages, and there a few statements that are written in each of the 52 languages, all listed on four pages of the federal notice, that only takes a half page to say, then, that is the people who are fucking with me this past week. It’s not that there are other languages being spoken, it’s an identifiable terror branding component that I am seeing displayed in many ways so far this last few days, a signature style of terror ways that I can see, recognize from the past, and can identify as that of Democrat terror styling.

Too many small details to say here.

It’s obvious that my cries for help to stop the mass murder have been turned against me, and now I am being portrayed as a rogue neighborhood watch person, rather that a captive victim who needs to get some help for myself and other captive victims who are in far worse shape than I am.

So, I need to discontinue the Local Update of conditions on a walk to the mailbox. I can only go outside for a short time otherwise the terror bastards follow me everywhere, try to run me over, shoot at me, poison me with different kinds of airborne gasses, mostly is nitrous oxide, and the terror bastards watch and listen to my front door so that they know when I open the front door to step outside, and then they show up every where I need to be, no matter where I go, or for how long I am there, there will be some terror bastards there to interfere, distract, then attack.

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therewasabrowncrow · 4 years ago

Photo

New Year Update! Lockdown #2:

Last July we moved to a new place in Leith-- this is literally the second place we saw, the first we couldn’t visit- it had a virtual tour option only. We stood outside that building and speculated about our lives inside, our future room facing a freshly excavated burial site nearby where the tram line would go, and thus, we bounced.

This second place faced the tram line too- the main road and shops (now almost all shut) but we were at least indoors looking out.

This north facing room is my home studio for now. I have imagined this to be a working studio for at least two people so consider this an open invite

I am very happy with it, I came here in January with a motherboard, power supply, a fan and a flatbed scanner --Don’t buy an expensive laptop they said, assemble a desktop--it’s so much fun, they said-- I don’t regret the decision to not get a laptop now

Since the entire room was built during lockdown a lot of it depended on delivery and it took more or less 6 months. I still need to add an overhead rig to attach a camera so I can make more Earthsea fan art! Unfortunately my cheapo tripod broke and my Earthsea feed is stalled. Now that we enter proper lock down 2 I’ll wait and see until March what happens.

I was not able to pay towards any rent this year and my partner had to manage from his first full time job at the university but I was able to save and pay towards internet and utilities for all of next year (still not enough to half the rent yet) I also have enough to pay off a debt finally.

I got my first paid project before I moved here, from a classmate-- a short animation! I remember sitting in Calcutta with no equipment trying to figure how to put it together but I had a self initiated project from summer 2019 that I pitched to them and it worked! I could buy enough time for me to travel end of the year to the UK. My partner had already managed to find a place for us to house sit while the owners were away on sabbatical.

Luckily one of the owners of the house is a professional sculptor so I had access to art materials but I already had a portable mono print kit with me and I was able to put together at least two frames per scene in loop. By now I had the CPU case and Monitor in place (thanks to the owners who let me use it).

The film was done! It also made it to a few selections this year, thanks Helmie!

During this time I was working with Nia Thandapani on a STEM facilitator manual for Quest Alliance. She was making a workbook designed for girl students that look into representation, goals, dreams, and coding basics. She approached me after seeing the icon work for A Cloud Called Bhura and another illustrator on this project.

Pages from the book:

During this time Amphan was raging in Bengal and Assam. The little veranda garden I made for ma before I left was washed away.

Now it was summer. I had the opportunity to work with Numbi Arts on a more or less retainer until end of the year. I knew about Numbi before I left UK three years ago when I volunteered to document some of their live events. The Numbi projects were a blessing

This year Numbi were working to build a Somali Museum and they were able to successfully raise the funds. I am excited to see how it shapes up. I made visual comms (posters, insta ads etc) for their events-- mainly for Your Mother tongue is Gold. Thanks to Numbi I got referred to another community project which will start shortly.

I had a few projects with Storyweaver. One was in the works since 2019.

Written by Yamini Vijayan Your Body is Yours has been a really interesting project -- in the middle I was fully giving up because I didn’t think I had enough maturity and knowledge to visually interpret consent and boundaries. But reading up and questioning oneself during lockdown helped. I am actually looking forward to seeing more books on consent and personal boundaries by others. When I made my zine about periods I was told that there were more than enough projects on periods. I see literature and art about periods that I failed to address in the zine-- so it’s never enough!

The other was also based on body and anatomy art directed by Snigdha Rao who is my NID animation classmate. I really enjoyed our brainstorming and I am quite happy with the way we interpreted the texts

Towards the end of the year I got to work on a very simple book about anatomy again..this time a chilli plant written by Radha Rangarajan

I had a few quick editorial projects with Current Conservation:

The first one of the year was made with Clip Studio. As you can see I used every brush in the arsenal to show off -- this was me saying fuck you to Photoshop forever so I spent a lot of energy to perfect this. Rookie mistake.

Later in the year, I use another technique where I locate a theme in the text and try and find organic materials that best compliment it. I then scan or mono print the objects/material and use them as a digital collage. This direction works very well when timelines are tight and usually foreground the main theme of the story quite well.

I have been building a library of these textures and scans. They are free to download and remix from my Gumroad account.

I used this technique for Moo Dunnit by C.G. Salamander

The story is a case of missing vegetables so the mono print of corn, peas, strawberries, dhaniya, as base of the illustrations really helped.

By this time I was going in and out of it with the pandemic and the Lockdown both here and in India. So there were lots of apology emails to the editor and finally I just sat down and finished in one go. I don’t think I have been able to relocate myself fully from the anti CAA-NRC protests in Calcutta. Some scenes will remain.

I worked on two documentaries. One was Crutch and the other was Moving Upstream: Ganga.

Crutch had been in process for the last seventeen years! I met the directors Chandler and Sachi when I was in CA back in 2017-- the time I dropped next door to borrow a lighter from Chandler :P and told him that I do animations that “explain complex stuff” which fit the bill on what they were looking for: Someone to animate the insides of a pelvic joint.

I had a small tester project with them before I got signed up on this project. We had a sit down with the team and I had the chance to meet the artist Bill Shannon on whom the film is based. I will share more scenes from the film shortly. A large chunk of my studio costs came from this project, so yay

The other documentary was with Veditum about their river walk. This film also took some time to happen and I was approached when the team were already finishing up with their edit. I met Siddharth when I was in Calcutta-- we had been in touch via Insta for years. It is always exciting to meet your social friends IRL and I was thrilled to be part of this project. They were very clear about the direction so it was easy to put my bits into the film--Mostly animated overlays. I will share the trailer shortly!

We contributed my bit from the project to Association SNAP for Ramzan Ration Kits and the WB Emergency Relief Fund.

End of Autumn I got approached for a few projects-- one was for Story Museum with my classmate again. They were making small online storytelling sessions on popular fairy tales. I made a few illustrations for them that my classmate animated. It wasn’t extensive animation work, as the budget was quite small but I had a lot of fun exploring different styles for each fairy tale

The first one dropped on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXTL6tkQRzk&feature=youtu.be

She also gave birth towards the end of the project--this meant that our project needed to be planned thoroughly ahead of the deadline.. and we did it!

The other project running parallel right now is due to end in February. This is another collaborative project with Falana Films based in Bangalore. We have a bunch of deliverables -- a series of films on STEM awareness for girls and I am doing the animation direction.

It took a while for me to come up with a specific look but by the time the script was written, it helped massively with the visual direction. Initially I found it quite hard to build a visual language that would explain STEM thinking without us explicitly pointing an arrow at things. So we decided to focus on the assembling and dissembling of objects, compositions etc. I am quite happy with the direction now:

I appreciate the commitment Quest took to be inclusive and get as many different participants on board, thanks to Falana

---

I wanted to make animations for a while and this year I had quite a few. I hope to make games next year. I made a bunch of fan art and WIPs and protest art and sketch notes this year, a lot of it made through bouts of different kinds of mental states.

I also joined local mutual aid and volunteer networks even though our socialisation was all online.

Ohhh did I mention the experience of applying for a visa in Brexit UK with an ongoing pandemic!

I wanted to make a living wreath for a family member and many who couldn’t make it during this pandemic -- out of all the projects, this took the longest and went through many iterations. This was in December and by now I felt tired and worn out.

#2020

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fayewonglibrary · 4 years ago

Text

Paris Match (2004)

Interview with French magazine

Faye Wong emphasized: "I am a very ordinary person, when there is no publicity work, my life is no different from ordinary people.”

Interview by ARNAUD BIZOT in Beijing

Without a doubt, she is a superstar pop singer and actress in the Asian entertainment industry. She is very popular in China, Japan and Singapore.

Faye Wong brought a staff of ten this time: managers, publicists, makeup artists, assistants and assistants' assistants. We had a total of one hour and fifteen minutes for an interview and photos. Faye Wong walked in briskly when she arrived. She had just finished an interview with China Television. After accepting our interview, she will also be interviewed by fellow Japanese reporters.

During the photo shoot, Faye Wong sat on a couch. We proposed to have her hold a pillow, but she thought it would not look good. After posing, she slowly smiled.

PHOTOGRAPHED AT BEIJING ST. REGIS HOTEL

Faye Wong is subtle, refined, and somewhat eccentric. She is like an "Asian Bjork". Faye Wong had a variety of looks, always fashionable and avant-garde, causing many fans to imitate her.

INTERVIEW

Reporter: I am a reporter for "Paris Match" magazine. How are you doing lately?

Faye Wong: Hello, I'm Faye Wong. Comme ci, comme ça. (Weibo Translator's Note: Here Faye Wong speaks French)

Reporter: Did something happen recently?

Faye Wong: I don't want to do publicity.

Reporter: Do you prefer photo shoots or interviews?

Faye Wong: I don't like either.

Reporter: Then do you want to leave?

Faye Wong: I'm just kidding.

Reporter: How long have you been doing publicity work for "2046"?

Faye Wong: I have been doing it for a week, nonstop.

Reporter: Have you watched the movie yet?

Faye Wong: I watched it yesterday, but Wong Kar Wai's movies need to be watched many times. It is not completely understandable when watching it only once.

Reporter: What is your role like?

Faye Wong: I played two roles. One is an android on a train in the future and the other is a Chinese woman in the 1960s. This is a restrained film, but my character enjoys this kind of melancholy.

Reporter: How about in your real life?

Faye Wong: Sometimes this is the case.

Reporter: What do you mean?

Faye Wong: When I am in a better mood, I like to be alone.

Reporter: What is life like as a star in China?

Faye Wong: I am a very ordinary person. When there is no publicity work, my life is no different from ordinary people. I am not an extrovert, I am more introverted. My circle of friends is small.

Reporter: Walking down the street, won't you be recognized?

Faye Wong: Walking down the street, I won't disguise myself. I don't like to pretend to be unrecognizable, nor do I like people to recognize me.

Reporter: That’s not an easy task.

Faye Wong: I am often left alone.

Reporter: Will you read what others write about you?

Faye Wong: Yes, such as the magazines here.

Reporter: You will look through these magazines?

Faye Wong: I have been in the business for a long time and the media's evaluation of me has gone through several different stages. I was criticized before which made me very unhappy. Now I don’t pay much attention, I will keep a distance from these things. I will separate my public image and personal image. I will also suppress my anger. The media have been chasing me and asking about my personal life very directly, sometimes even rudely. It reminds me of a Chinese idiom: "knife sees blood". [speak sharply]

Reporter: How do you respond to them?

Faye Wong: If I want to answer, I'll answer. I also want the "knife to see blood."

Reporter: You also wrote a lot of songs yourself, when do you usually write?

Faye Wong: When I have doubts. When I feel depressed and desolate, I want to express myself in words.

Reporter: In life, do you often have doubts?

Faye Wong: I was particularly afraid of death when I was in junior high school. I was particularly depressed. I was scared every night when I was in bed. My parents didn't agree with me singing, singing at that time was an unfavorable profession. But when I was young, I felt that this was destiny.

Reporter: However, your mother is a professional singer.

Faye Wong: At that time, a singer had no sense of existence, no reputation, and no money. My mother used to be a singer in the system. She belonged to the cultural troupe, they would perform for National Day and Congress. I inherited her talent "gene" .

Reporter: Did you need to work hard for your career? Or was your natural and excellent voice what helped you obtain your current achievements?

Faye Wong: My voice is my gift, I didn’t put much effort into it.

Reporter: Did your vocal teacher give any incentives to you during the process of your determination to be a singer?

Faye Wong: I decided to be a singer myself. I discovered my talent for singing, not the teacher. In the early days of my career, I was often forced to sing this or that; but now it’s up to me. Although my mother has passed away, she knew from the beginning that I would succeed. She was very happy, although she did not use rewards or praise to express it. But when my mother did not criticize me, I knew the situation was good.

Reporter: What is the meaning of your two names? (Weibo Translator's Note: the reporter asked about 'deux prenoms')

Faye Wong: "Wang" means "king", and “Fei” means "fly". (Weibo Translator's Note: Faye may have chosen to express relatively simple homonyms here.) (FWF Note: I believe she was just being willfully obtuse.)

Reporter: You used to use stage names, why use stage names? (Weibo Translator's Note: Reporter did not give up yet.)

Faye Wong: I only used one name, "Faye Wong".

Reporter: Maybe I didn't read the article [bio] about you carefully enough.

Faye Wong: When I was fifteen, I changed back to my father’s surname .

Reporter: Why?

Faye Wong: I'm not very clear.

Reporter: What does your father do?

Faye Wong: My father was a coal engineer. He is an outgoing, optimistic and compassionate person. He rarely intervenes in my work, but I often seek his advice.

Reporter: What about your brother?

Faye Wong: He is in business.

Reporter: What do you mean?

Faye Wong: I don’t know much about it.

Reporter: What do you think of French culture?

Faye Wong: France, for me, is Paris. Paris is my favorite city and I go there often. I really like Paris' architecture. Paris is a relaxing city, where everyone can have time to do their own thing. I like to walk around and drink coffee with no purpose. I like the feeling of not knowing what to do.

Reporter: Do you enjoy that no one can recognize you?

Faye Wong: There are many Chinese in Paris too.

Reporter: Have you ever thought about holding a concert in France?

Faye Wong: I have little interest in the French market for the time being.

Reporter: Ah, sorry to hear that. Have you ever thought about making a movie in Paris or something?

Faye Wong: I don't want to do this either. For me, I want to go to Paris as a tourist so that I will feel relaxed.

Reporter: Will you settle down in Paris?

Faye Wong: No, I live in Beijing.

Reporter: What about Shanghai? Do you like Shanghai?

Faye Wong: I don't like it very much. I think Shanghai is a somewhat stifling city. I like slow-paced cities, so I have time to do my own thing.

The time passed quickly and her manager indicated that our interview was over. Japanese journalists were already waiting. Faye Wong got up and her team followed her footsteps. I almost didn't notice Faye Wong saying goodbye. Her eyes were already looking away. The heavenly queen departed.

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

SOURCE: 王菲研究所 WEIBO // TRANSLATED BY: FAYE WONG FUZAO

#2004

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docsamurai · 8 years ago

Text

Humans are weird: The Forgotten World

*Quick note before I start: This is the 2nd installment in a series I’ve called the Lost Colonies which is largely about human society adapting to the strange environments of other worlds. You can read the other installments here: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing this series, but with my new work schedule I had to bring it to a close. If you’ve enjoyed this story follow me on here for my other writings. Thanks again to everyone who has reblogged, liked, replied, DMed, or otherwise shown their appreciation for this series. It means a lot to me that people enjoyed it and the love you’ve all shown me has really helped keep me going for these last few months.*

Jeanne had been sitting for nearly half an hour in stony silence glaring at the Turic across from her. She had been in interrogation rooms before, never one this nice though. Her eyes kept taking in the room any time he looked away as she scanned for anything she could use as a weapon. She had never had to fight a Turic, or any alien really, but it paid to be prepared.

“Are you sure I can’t get you anything? Food? Water? Our scans indicate that you are lacking in several nutrients required by humans for optimal health.”

The door opened and a human woman she didn’t recognize came in. Of course they would use a human to be the “bad cop”. Well this slag wouldn’t get anything out of her.

“Thank’s for keeping her company Kit’cha, took forever to get here.” The woman smiled at the Turic and they did some kind of secret handshake before the Turic left the room. The woman turned to Jeanne and smiled again before sitting down. “Sorry to keep you waiting Miss...” she glanced at the file on the desk “Jeanne. Do you have a last name or something you prefer to be called?”

Jeanne met the questions with more silence.

“I understand that re-acclimating to interstellar society can be rough, but that’s why I’m here. My name is Kiara Williams and I am the special liaison between the galactic council and what’s being called ‘The Lost Colonies’. I just want to assure you that we’re all here to help and you don’t have to be scared of any of the alien races you’ll see aboard this station, they’re all friendly, especially the Turics like Kit’cha.”

Jeanne settled back into her surprisingly comfortable chair with her arms folded and glared at Kiara. It had taken her years to perfect this look and it felt like a waste to use it on someone as soft as her, but she knew better than to give any information to a cop, or worse, a shrink. Kiara, for her part, just smiled again and made a note in the file.

“I get it, I do. Finding out that there are other alien races out there and that you’re part of a larger galactic community can be a little jarring. When my colony was found it took years for some of my closest family to warm up to those outside our species, but now that we’ve opened up to the galactic community we’ve managed to make huge strides in settling worlds that were previously thought to be inhospitable and exploring some of the unknown reaches. We don’t know much yet about your colony, but I’m sure we can learn a lot from each other.”

Jeanne ground her teeth together as she mulled over what Kiara had said. There was a long moment of silence before Jeanne finally spoke.

“I already know about the aliens, and about other humans, never saw them of course. You keep saying lost colony and shit. Are you telling me you don’t know why we were on that planet?”

Kiara shook her head and spun the file around so Jeanne could read it. “From what I was told on my way here, there was an underground human colony detected on a planet orbiting a red dwarf star. Apparently the communication array was destroyed several hundred Sols ago and the surface was inhospitable to human life due to the high levels of radiation from the nearby star. We only detected it due to the unique formations on the surface that corresponded to human architecture. We assumed that it was a self sustaining scientific outpost that had managed to get stranded. As usual the rest of the search team was surprised anyone could live there until they realized that it was humans. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have records of your colony though.”

Jeanne narrowed her eyes but uncrossed her arms as she looked over the file. Either this Kiara was one helluva bullshit artist or they genuinely didn’t know what PX-9 was.

“We were never a research colony or any of that shit. PX-9 is blacksite prison run by EarthGov. My father says that the warden robots destroyed the comms array and the transport during a riot a few generations back. We’ve been stuck on that prison ever since. A few riots later and we managed to take out the warden robots too. That was a long time ago. Doesn’t matter though. We found the databases and prison logs. According to EarthGov law, anyone born in that prison is automatically guilty of their parent’s crimes so I’m stuck there. You seem like a nice person. You should probably take me back before they find a reason to lock you up too, if they haven’t already.”

Kiara’s jaw dropped as she tried to gather her thoughts. “I’m so sorry Jeanne, both your people and to you personally. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be born into that, but I want you to know that you don’t have to go back if you don’t want. No one will make you. EarthGov hasn’t existed for over 200 Sols.”

From the outside Jeanne appeared as composed as she had all day. Someone who knew her well enough would have recognized the twitch in her lip and would have known to take a few steps back. On the inside her heart was pounding and her mind was racing. What did she mean EarthGov didn’t exist? Jeanne had spent a long time learning to read people, it was an important skill to have when you needed to know who you could trust in a fight. Kiara didn’t seem to be lying about any of this. Could she trust Kiara? IF she could trust Kiara, what would happen to the people on PX-9 once whatever government was in place found out about it? “Suppose I believe you. What now? What happens to me and my family?”

Kiara smiled again, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “When EarthGov fell we lost a lot of records of colonies, research outposts and apparently prisons as well. Most of them still had communications, but some either lost them or purposefully never set them up to avoid the government so we keep finding pockets of humanity in the most surprising places. I was on one of those planets 20 sols ago and ever since I’ve been one of the specialists they call in to help people find their way in the galactic community. I don’t know yet where we can send you if you don’t want to stay on PX-9 though there are plenty of beautiful worlds I’ve found that could use the ‘human touch’ if you and your family are willing. First though, we would like to know more about you and your society.”

“Leaving would be... good. I want that in writing.”

Kiara nodded “Will do. I’ll send a message to my contacts on the galactic council and get set up with some priority transport ships to get as many people offworld as want to leave. We’ll find a planet that will work for you and your people. Several if necessary. Also I can personally guarantee you that no one will be held accountable for the actions of their ancestors, that’s just not the way we do things anymore.”

“What- What if” Jeanne’s voice broke for a moment as some darker thoughts came rushing in. “What if we did some things that might be against the law of your galactic council. I’m not saying I did, just that suppose someone like me had to do something, something they’re not proud of, in order to get by. What then?”

Kiara thought for a moment before finally speaking. “We haven’t run into this situation before. PX-9 is the first, and hopefully only, prison colony we’ve found so far. I would hope though that we can use this to set a positive precedent and grant some kind of clemency for people unjustly imprisoned by a defunct government. I’ll have to get clearance but as long as someone that ‘had to do certain things in order to get by’ is able to abide by the laws of the Galactic Republic then I think we should be able to work something out.”

The only thing holding Jeanne together at this point was a lifetime of conditioning to suppress her emotions.

“I still have a few cycles before we’re back in comms range of the council so we’ve got some time. I understand you’ve got a lot to process so if you don’t want to talk that’s fine but at some point before you leave I’d like to know more about you and your society. It will help us find out how to best help you find your place in the galaxy.”

Jeanne’s mouth twitched up, starting to form a smile. She stood up from the table and took Kiara’s hand. “Get it for me in writing shrink. Then we’ll talk.”

#space australia #space orcs #HUMANS ARE WEIRD #The Lost Colonies

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ladyspaceradio · 7 years ago

Text

Ink Chapter 3

Ao3 Link

Chapter 3: Giraffe

The angara found their other halves through dreams.

It was a connection that linked them from birth.

Evfra had heard the tales all his life of the joy and intimacy such a connection brought each pair. But he had never experienced it himself.

Oh it wasn’t obvious that there was anything different about Evfra as a babe. His mothers had simply thought him just another fussy infant that disliked sleep. It had been quite some time before he had been old enough to understand that there was something seriously lacking in him.

Evfra de Tershaav did not dream.

His mothers had been adamant that there had to be some mistake. True, there was the rare tragic tale of lovers never meeting, dying before the mating bond was complete, but nowhere on the Angaran worlds existed any mention of someone simply… alone.

At first his family had decided that his mate simply had not been born yet as not every pairing was close in age, some were as far as seven or even nine years apart. Everyone but Evfra ignored that even in those cases the older angara in question had always dreamt of something, blurred shapes and fog instead of the empty black void that awaited him each night.

The blood blue angaran boy only grew more sullen with every dreamless year, but still he waited. For the one who would love only him, Evfra de Tershaav swore he would wait as long as it took.

By his twenty fifth year, his patience had worn thin in the face of his family’s well meaning but ceaseless pity. His heartache gained a desperate, almost savage edge as he faced the possibility of dreamless nights unending.

Why Why WHY?!

What had he done to be so undeserving? For what possible skkutting reason could the Stars have for denying him the other half of his soul?!

It was a few more years before Evfra found his answer at the hands of the Kett.

Screaming. Gunfire. Splashes of blue, so much blue staining the floors and walls. Smoke. Pain. Then silence.

Evfra awoke in the ruins of his family home with the dead eyes of his youngest niece staring at him.

Sweet Avinii had been excitedly telling him about her dreams just a few hours before.

Her small body was twisted into an unnatural shape and it broke him.

Without a word his hands gently gathered her into his arms and with great care he tucked her into bed with her favorite stuffed toy.

Armed with his true mother’s assault rifle and firaan, Evfra left to find the rest of his family.

But they were long gone.

After his family was taken on Voeld, Evfra felt he finally had the answer for being born an unpaired Angara. He was to be an uncompromising blade striking at the heart of the enemy.

He would fill the void in his soul with the bodies of a thousand dead Kett.

The Resistance had always been there after the kett came, but only as unorganized pockets of scattered fighters. Through the sheer force of his rage Evfra rallied his people, pulled them together across the stars and transformed them into a force that held the Kett back.

And at the time it had worked, till the kett realized what was happening. First is was Eos, lost to the ketts attrition warfare. Elaaden was next, though pockets of Resistance forces stayed hidden with civilians. Kadara was on the cusp of being another loss.

They were fighting a losing battle once more.

Until one day it changed again.

Strangers came, much like the kett. Out of the stars they appeared, scouring various worlds. The kett lost their footholds in some worlds as they fought against the new aliens. This in turned forced them to focus their attention on others. Angara kidnappings increased, and so did the pressure to simply survive.

The resistance was on the verge of failing. He was on the verge of failing.

Reports poured in every day. News on ketts movements. The horrors of what they have done. Attacking supply lines, ambushes on scouts, so many MIA reports. They were targeting comms trying to leave the resistance blind. The worst yet were the reports of civilians. Stories so similar to his own. Families ripped apart.

Evfra had been reading over such a report when it happened. As if someone had stabbed him with a dull firaan, pain erupted in his chest, his lungs spasmed as if to draw in air but there was none available. Stumbling he latched onto the table in front of him, dropping the datapad. His hand pressed to where his heart lay as it ‘thump-thumped painfully beneath the skin and muscles. Tears blurred his vision as the recurring thought of ‘I can’t die here!’ echoed in a voice that was not his own.

As the seconds ticked by the agony reached a peak before it abruptly stopped.

“EVFRA!” Someone was yelling repeatedly. “BY THE STARS! GET OLVEK!!”

He opened his mouth to snap at them that he didn’t need the skkutting doctor. But the fighters were already scrambling, yelling for Olvek who was just a level below.

By the time the old angara made it up the steps, Evfra is back to growling orders at his bewildered men. Getting them settled and focused back on the information pouring in.

It took a full five minutes for Olvek to pull the General away from the resistance feeds and start checking him for signs of sickness. Routine scans are done, medical checks are clear, leaving the medic puzzled over these signs. He glances at the charts, double checking that it states no mate recorded.

Having enough of being treated like an invalid the Resistance leader stands again. “It’s just exhaustion.” He proclaims as there is no other clear cause being presented.

“Evfra,” Olvek frowned. “This isn’t mere exhaustion.” He hesitated which made Evfra’s frown deepen “I-I’ve seen this before, many times when a...when an angara loses their culum mea.”

“Preposterous.” Evfra snarled, his lip curling in aggravation. “I’ve never had a mate.”

Olvek eyes him, as if this was something Evfra would skkutting lie about. The resistance leader glared at him, daring the doctor push him on this. Olvek instead shifted uncomfortably. “I’ll prescribe something to help you sleep, and I recommend you to get more sun Evfra.”

Grunting the resistance leader turns his back, returning to his safe haven.

The phantom pain doesn’t leave him for sometime, like small fingers wrapped around his heart, he can feel a searing squeeze now and then. Sending shocks of pain rocketing down his spine. Lingering behind the pain though was that little feminine voice who had been crying out that she couldn’t die here. He ponders the peculiarity of all that has happened for a few more days before another kett ambush sweeps the incident away.

It’s children this time, taken from the clutches of their mothers.

Evfra is snarling at the news, barking out orders to skkutting prepare for a counter attack. He will not let the younglings be taken as long as he’s still breathing when it hits.

His arm burned, a delicate flame brushing gently across his arm. As if someone is stroking the bioelectricity down his arm in a lover's caress. Sensual, slow, and seductive.

Hissing with confusion, Evfra throws down the datapad he was holding, scaring the recruit who had been reporting in as he peeled back his sleeve and froze.

Gentle curving traces a picture were being born upon his arm. Stroke by lazy stroke the swirling colors of a sunset bled onto his arm.

“What the skkut is this!” Evfra roared wiping his fingers across the image, smearing the details that were painted upon his skin.

His outrage had gained the attention of all the fighters, those who were curious enough cast peeks at his arm, while others were too fearful to leave their station.

“Perhaps sir,” A pilot who had been reporting in hedged back. There was a tremor in his voice as he spoke to Evfra. “Olvek could look at it and-.”

Evfra chuffed cutting off the angara. “Finish your report with Raviin.” His second in command turned at the sound of her name.

The pilot nodded before scurrying over to her.

Giving his arm a long look, he nodded to Raviin as he stepped out. The light blue angara returned the gesture before frowning at the pilot explaining what was happening.

Olvek is sitting, scrolling through his list. Inventory needed counting, and if there was surplus then it needed to be shipped to those in need. He’s squinting at the screen, crunching numbers when his vision suddenly shifts to something colorful. It takes the old, tired angara a moment to process that there is an arm now in his field of vision.

Following the arm to it’s owner, Olvek came face to face with the scowling leader of the resistance.

“Are you an artist now Evfra?” Olvek inquired in good nature. It was something the blue angara took in stride, sometimes Olvek almost got a smile out of the wary angara. Today would not be one of those days.

“I’m not finding your attempts at humor funny Olvek.” Evfra hissed. “What is this?” he demanded, pointing down at the mark in disgust.

“A picture.” Olvek ventures.

“How did it get there?” Evfra presses, his arm is practically touching the medics nose at this point.

Olvek gives the general a look before examining the smear picture. Lips tipping down in a frown he studies it for a moment. “How exactly did you get it?”

“That is what I am asking you.” Evfra chuffs. “It just appeared.”

“Just….appeared.” Olvek regards the arm one more time before crossing his arms. “Tell me everything.”

Evfra wasted no time explaining how he had this odd feeling burn across his arm, and when he went to check, pulling his shirt back he found this. Wet on his arm like it had just been painted.

Olvek was quiet for a long moment before sighing, which usually meant he was about to say something the pissed Evfra off more. “I only have a theory…..Have you been,”

He hesitates again. “dreaming?”

Like poking a festering wound, the pain flared. The jagged edges of a fractured soul lay bare and empty. It was a shameful mark he would always have.

“No.” He snaps. “I have never had a mate.”

“Evfra.” Olvek stands placing a hand upon his forearm above the marking. “I think this is a soul mark. The new aliens might be-.”

“No.” He couldn’t possibly have a mate with those heathens. The ones who sold their own for money and slaughtered each other at the slightest provocation. No he couldn’t have a mate like that.

There isn’t much else exchanged between the two angara. Olvek attempts again to broach the subject but Evfra shuts it down, with only a sad look he sends the General back to his troops to fight another day.

It was no secret to anyone who serves beneath the detached angara what happened to him. However not all know that the scarred male had never dreamt a day in his life. There was only one other case Olvek knew of, yet he held onto hope that these newcomers would bring about a peaceful future.

Grabbing a rag he wiped the image away. Scrubbing the colors off into the basin, watching them swirl away till only his skin is left. It wasn’t possible that his mate was an alien.

Wasn’t it?

That night he dreamt in color. Of a planet he had never seen. On a hill that overlooked the sunset that had been painted upon his arm. The land was a dusty brown while the sky was a brilliant blue. He could feel the wind kicking up dust around his feet while the murmuring sound of life drifted from below.

Souls dream.

Heart in his throat Evfra twisted around. His eyes scanning and searching. For a frantic moment he couldn’t find her. Only the dusty planes of this flat starved world. But he could feel her. Feel the flutterings of her heart, her twisting emotions and confusion. He can feel the thrum of their connection. How it's growing stronger the longer they stay in this connected dream.

She is alive and his.

Around and around he turned till his eyes landed on her, a mere spec standing in white armor, to far to see clearly, but close enough to know she looked….wrong.

She can’t be...

As if the connection sensed his forming rejection, the world at his feet begin to quake. Colors splintered, turning back into a dulling gray color, sucking away all warmth leaving only a starch coldness.

She did then turn, face plate glinting in the sun before everything began to crumble, she started to fade from view, taking the sky and land with her till Evfra was left to suffocate in familiar darkness again.

NO!

Jerking awake, he gasps. Muscles twitching as electric volts shimmer beneath the surface agitated. His fist slams into the wall beside his cot, leaving a dent.

He just ruined their connection.

For the rest of the night he sits in the silence of his rooms. He feels torn in two, yet whole at the same time. Absently his hand rubbed across his chest, above the rapid beats of his heart. Around and around his mind turns.

He wasn’t unworthy.

She was real.

She was his.

Her origin didn’t matter.

After 40 years of waiting, Evfra had a mate and once he found her… he was never letting go.

Before the first rays of the sun could greet the dawn, Evfra had slipped from his bed and walked the silent streets of Aya. Vendors had yet to set up stalls as most would still be dreaming with their loved ones. Some of the veterans of the Resistance called greetings as they went to work, switching out with the other fighters who had been monitoring feeds and reports during the night.

With the morning dusk peaking over the horizon, Evfra made his way to the repository. There was something he needed. Avela was certainly surprised to see the resistance leader, and even more surprised to hear his request.

As silently as he came, he was gone before anyone could really realize that the leader of the Resistance was passing by with a harsh scowl twisting his mouth.

Once in the safety of his base of operations, Evfra pulled out the small thin device to study it. Wondering if he was making a fool of himself.

The small black artisans brush weighted heavily in the palm of his hand. Twisting it to have the tip pointing up. Evfra studied the ink stained felt nib. Red, like the Harval skyline of a waning sun.

Avela had handed it to him with small inquisitive stares. She had been curious, probed him with timid questions, all he refused to yield an answer to. Now he stood in the headquarters, the few fighters present paid him no heed as the passed in and out of the room, carrying request and sending out orders.

Uncertainty stilled his hand. What was he suppose to do? Would this even work?

Grunting he lay the tip against his skin, and drew a hesitant line. The small red mark stood out against his deep blue skin. Beneath the drying ink he could feel the faintest of tingles dancing across his nerves, just as he felt when the sunset appeared.

Would this bring back the link he’d shattered?

“Evfra,” A voice called from the doorway.

Evfra De Tershaav, Resistance leader, a man always on the alert, flinched at the sudden intrusion. The pen he held dropped to the ground and rolled beneath the table.

“What are you doing?” Jaal stood in the doorway looking perplexed at the General’s behavior. It would seem he had returned from the reconnaissance mission.

Jaal Ama Darav was a good fighter, but far too skkutting nosy for his own good.

“Nothing.” Evfra growled kicking the brush away like it had burned him.

Jaal regarded him with a curious look before moving into the room with purpose. He was ambitious, reckless at moments but a good shot and a better soldier. Most of Evfra’s time was spent on Aya which meant he had to send others to gather information and carry out orders. Jaal was one of the few scouts he sent out and knew he would be returning. He was an Ama Darav after all.

The pen was soon forgotten as Jaal began his reports of Eos and Voeld. Though Evfra’s eyes drifted continuously down to look at his arm, wondering what came next.

Hours he waited. Watching something, but his arm remain persistently blank. Disappointed and no amount of frustrated, Evfra threw the pen away. Tossing it with an angry snarl out the open window.

He came to regret this decision moments later when the first of the lines began appearing. Pen gone, he could only stare in both amazement and frustration at the blocky lines. At night he’d trace the nonsense scribbles and wonder what she looked like. How’d she feel in his arms. It was the only thing that soothed the aching need that the tattered bond had left.

For days there was an endless stream of markings on his arm. Blocky black lines that made no sense to him.

But they were more welcome than the dreams that came at night. Each evening, Evfra made little to no progress building back the link he lost. Constantly she was in the distance, across a cavern of stars staring silently at him. No matter how many steps he progressed forward she always seemed too far to reach, or if he pushed too hard the dream would crumble apart.

She slipped through his fingers again and again.

Most nights he awoke snarling in frustration.

The only hope he had was the small thrumming of the what was left of the connection. He could feel her beating heart, even in the day. The feeling was tucked inside his chest, right next to his own heart. When the Resistance had a particularly bad encounter with the kett, he relied on those small fluttering beats to reassure himself that he was fighting for more. More than just the future of his people, he was fighting for her.

But it was those times during the night, when small pieces of fractured emotions would reach him before the connection failed. These little swirling emotions stabbed at his gut with worry. His mate was a small bundle of fear and confusion, tinged with joy and wavering confidence.

It was at this moment Evfra wished for the Moshae's calm presence the most. He missed her counsel, and needed the advice.

The day the Tempest showed, he probably should have known. That the woman with the all too soft smile, flaming hair, and green eyes was more to him than just the savior of his people

It had been another day at the Resistance, where a collective breath was being held as they were monitoring kett ships that had drifted far too close to Aya. The battle cruiser that had been coasting along the scourge, seemingly with no definite course when the reports of an unknown ship entering Aya’s atmosphere began piling in.

Evfra had been in a meeting. The kett had been up to something since the strangers had come from dark space. There had been high levels of activity at Ja Nihk and a seemingly unrelated report from Harval of angara scientist who went missing. Evfra had been tasking Jaal with finding more out about the two when the report came to him.

Preparing for the worst, Evfra waited for the the reports to come in, that they were under siege, when his pilots reported in. The alien ship was defenseless and on fire. An unusual predicament that left Evfra hesitating. Before, when his skin was silent and his dreams were empty, it would have been a quick decision to bring the ship down. They could not afford to lose Aya. Now he was almost torn about taking down an alien ship.

That choice was taken from his hands when Paaran Shie’s voice entered the comms telling them to let the aliens land. His pilots hesitated, they didn’t answer to the governor despite what she thought, when he sent an all-clear for the order.

Snarling, he organized snipers and troops to flood the streets and keep the civilians of aya safe. If this was an assault he was needed here, to coordinate counter attacks. Evfra would not leave his people blind. So he sent Jaal and listened to the sniper comms as the Pathfinder was escorted to his base.

“Sector three reporting….It’s legs are odd.”

“Her, and keep the chatter to a minimum” Raviin snapped as she directed the sniper squad. “Sector two clear she’s heading your way Valik.”

“I see her.”

There was a silence between each report, Evfra could feel the light fluttering of the connection beating rapidly. As he waited his hand pressed to the base of his diaphragm, was his worry bleeding into hers or was she in trouble? The worry about her well being that implanted itself in the back of his mind like a sickness silenced the moment the headquarters doors opened revealing Jaal and the small alien beside him.

The human Pathfinder appeared like the flaming sun of Voeld. Her eyes were a shade of green he had never seen before and tuff as red as the flames flickering in the lonely nights of Harval.

Evfra found himself staring at this creature, trying to piece together the chaos of her body.

Her legs were wrong, bending only once, her voice was wrong, speaking in a slow drawl like his growling and chuffing didn’t affect her. Her face was wrong. Eyes too wide and expressive, spilling out all her secrets, while her lip had the corners upturned at all moments, even when he was towering over her, snarling at her to back off.

“Can’t,” She said with a dainty uplifting of her shoulders.

Skkutt she’s small.

“I have people I need to protect.”

He noticed then the slight sag in her otherwise confident posture, the dark lines beneath her eyes, something burdened this woman. A brief flash of sympathy had him telling her he was sorry, for her people, but that didn’t change anything. She just smiled before saying.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” She tilted her head to the side her wide green eyes sparkling with a secret she wasn’t telling.

Evfra sneered. “That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Her smile widened then, rows of white teeth revealed.

“You say the nicest things.”

She confused him. Confounded him to the very core. He tried intimidation, she looked amused, he tried reason, she bewildered him with nonsense. He had only force which left a sour taste in his mouth when he looked at her tiny body.

I could snap her in half with one hand.

“Pathfinder-”

“Ryder.” She sniffed, smiling again. “Only elite douchebags have to call me Pathfinder,”

He narrowed his eyes. “Ryder. Why are you here?”

“Oh, well I met this-what did Jaal call him…” She tapped her pursed lips. “Archon, escaping him busted up my ship so we were forced to land. But we were already on our way here, see you got this vault I need to look at-.”

“No.” He cut her off before she could finish the statement. Her face twisted into a frown for the first time before the smile return.

“What if I ask really nice.” Lids lowered as she stared at him with half hidden eyes while her voice had taken a lower, huskier tone.

“No.”

Huffing, she crossed her arms while her pink lips puckered out in a pout he only seen pups do when being denied. “You didn’t like sharing toys when you were younger did you?”

He had no dignified answer for that so he stared at her, hoping that maybe she was smart enough to take the hint.

She was not.

“Look Big Blue, you seemed like a nice...guy,” Someone snorted behind her. “But I’m going to insist that you let me see your vault."

“No.”

She sighed rubbing her face with those little fingers. She had too many segmented joints. “Is that the only word you have in your vocabulary?”

His lip twitched then in amusement before settling back into a frown. Because resistance leaders did find small mouthy invading aliens amusing.

“Evfra,” Jaal stepped forward, tired from watching from the sidelines. “The Moshae could help.” The little Pathfinder behind him started nodding her head excitedly as she crosses her arms.

“The Moshae is lost to us.” He hisses.

The nodding stops abruptly.

“If what she says is true,” Jaal hesitates before moving forward to clasp Evfra’s shoulders. “We have a chance to rescue the Moshae, should we not take it?”

“Let me help.” The human edges in. That constant smile is fainter now as she speaks. “Let me prove to you we aren’t... that I’m not like the kett.” It’s her eyes so wide and honest that it has him hesitating.

“Do what you want.” He relents as Jaal persistently pokes at his shoulders. Little nudges the angara does when he wants to do something but needs Evfra’s approval.

If he gets himself killed it’s not my fault.

But his eyes continuously track back to the flaming strands curling around a small round face. Her green eyes gleam in the sunlight as she speaks to him. The tips of her pink lips are curling again.

“Next time you see me,” She pointed a finger at Evfra, almost challenging, “I’m going to have your Moshae.”

He hated her.

Something about her gnawed at him, made his skin prickle strangely. But those are worries he tucks away as the Resistance’s rising demands take his attention away from the woman sauntering out his door.

The days to follow are filled with reports. A series of events that Evfra never thought would come at the hands of an alien. Every report flooding in from Voeld was of one woman, and how she was single handedly wiping the ice planet clean of the kett’s grasp.

‘Ja Nihk shields are down, Pathfinder spotted on her way.’

‘Another ambush, Pathfinder showed up got the team out.’

‘Need dispatch of rescued angara. Pathfinder says more are on the way.’

As the Pathfinder repeatedly proved herself to be invaluable, Evfra found himself in awe. She was a force to be reckoned with, even with her small stature. But while the Resistance was seeing better days, Evfra was still fretting over the silence of his skin. Days had gone by and there had been no whispering lines of black drawn there. He had attempted to get another brush from Avela who had turned stubborn on the point. Especially when he informed her that the last pen had been ‘lost.’

“That is part of our history!” Avela gasped. “Our great artists used them to depict the murals of history.”

Evfra merely shrugged, he had no interest in history. He was here to protect the future of their people, not the past. When he demanded another one, the curator clammed up with surprising anger.

“I am not a vendor Evfra.” She tilted her chin, looking perturbed by the prospect of yet another lost artifact.

No amount of growling would prove to budge the stubborn woman who stood firm in her decision, until he found the ‘lost’ brush he would not be getting another one. Even snooping proved futile as she had taken what was left of the little writing tools and secreted them away.

As helpless in the waking hours as he is asleep, Evfra can do nothing but glower at his unchanging skin. Till one morning, while he lay sprawled across the cot staring unseeingly at the ceiling he feels the slow delicate strokes of another mark appearing on his skin. He shudders at the sensation and tries not to moan.

Upon its completion, the image that now graces his arm is of some strange four legged creature. Yellow with an elongated neck and spindly legs. It looks ridiculous against the blue of his skin.

Evfra leaves it.

Notes: Welcome back Lovelies to Tuesday’s update! Thanks for all the love you send our way! See you next Tuesday!

Now a note from the Co-creator @lunamkardas:

*Grabs Microphone From LadySpaceRadio* ARE YOU FUCKERS READY TO ROCK?! WELL GET ON THE GODDAMN FEELS TRAIN BECAUSE WE ABOUT TO FUCK SHIT UP! YOU SEE THAT HOT BLUE FUCKER?!

WE'RE GOING TO WRECK HIS ASS!! SO STRAP IN MOTHERFUCKERS CAUSE IT'S ABOUT TO GET BUMPY!!!!!!

#evfra de tershaav #evfra x ryder #Mass Effect #ME:A #Soulmate #Soulmate au #Soulmate marks #eventual smut

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