#apartment air duct cleaning

[carpetcleaningecopower]

Addressing Air Duct Cleaning Challenges in Apartments

The air duct systems in apartment buildings have their own set of challenges. Unlike single-family homes, apartments share ventilation pathways, connecting multiple units and, in turn, multiple sources of airborne particles. With higher occupant density, maintaining clean and efficient airflow becomes critical for the well-being of everyone in the building. This requires a more strategic approach to ensure the air remains fresh and healthy.

Targeting Pollutants in Shared Ductwork

Apartment ducts often serve as hidden highways for a variety of pollutants. Dust, pet hair, mold spores, and even microscopic bacteria can build up over time. These contaminants don’t just stay put—they travel, flowing from one unit to another. For residents prone to allergies or respiratory conditions, this can be a constant source of discomfort. Identifying these harmful particles is the first step in crafting cleaning solutions that are both effective and targeted.

Advanced Tools for Complex Systems

Apartment ventilation systems are anything but straightforward. They weave through multiple floors, with tight corners and limited access points, making traditional cleaning methods fall short. That’s where advanced tools like rotary brushes and industrial-grade vacuums come in. These specialized devices are designed to navigate the twists and turns of apartment ductwork, ensuring every inch is cleared of debris and pollutants. It’s a meticulous process but one that guarantees cleaner, healthier air for everyone.

Maintaining Air Quality Through Routine Care

Routine care is the backbone of any successful air duct maintenance plan. Regular check-ups help catch problems early, whether it’s a blockage restricting airflow or a dust buildup threatening system efficiency. Scheduled cleanings not only keep the air fresh but also extend the life of the building’s HVAC systems. The result? Lower energy bills and a noticeable improvement in air quality that residents can feel with every breath.

The Role of Property Managers in Air Duct Care

Behind every well-maintained apartment complex is a proactive property management team. They’re the ones who bridge the gap between residents and service providers, ensuring cleaning schedules are coordinated with minimal disruption. When tenants understand the health benefits of a clean ventilation system, they’re more likely to cooperate. This teamwork makes the process seamless and enhances the overall living experience, proving that clean air is a shared responsibility worth prioritizing.

By tailoring solutions to the unique demands of apartment living, it’s possible to create a cleaner, safer environment where residents can truly thrive.

[n0ts0surel0ck]

Some autistic Sherlock headcanons!!

Based on my own autism

Sherlock hates getting his hair cut. He can’t wear ear defenders and he despises the small talk and how loud the clippers and blow dryers are. So, he generally wears his hair long and/or cuts it himself. Mariana eventually starts cutting it for him, since it equally bothers him when his hair touches his ears or neck. She’s just… not very good at it.

John finds a salon for Sherlock that does sensory appointments. It’s a silent appointment, so he doesn’t have to talk, and John gets him some earplugs to help with the noise. They’re not as good as his ear defenders but they do for the short time it takes to get his hair done. He mostly gets a dry scissor cut so he doesn’t have to be wet and so the clippers don’t touch him. He doesn’t like the vibration. He finds that he actually enjoys the sensation of a blow dryer when the sound isn’t overwhelming him. The heat and the air pressure are soothing.

Sherlock is very particular about fabrics. He despises polyester and other scratchy, synthetic fabrics. Everything he wears has to be 100% cotton. If he got his way, he’d wear an old pair of holey, decade old pajama pants and a jumper everywhere, but he doesn’t. He understands that he has to be presentable. He likes linen, the material doesn’t touch him as much, doesn’t stick to sweat, and allows for plenty of airflow. During spring and summer, and often stretching into fall and winter, he wears a pair of grey linen trousers. When it finally gets too cold, he switches to a pair of cotton ones that have an elastic waist band. He hates when there’s a lot of pressure below his diaphragm, so he keeps it loose. Shirts are mostly tees in the summer, a bit too big so they don’t touch him much. In the winter, he wears big sweatshirts, a half-peacoat, and a green scarf.

He’s been buying men’s high-top converse since he was in middle school and refuses to wear any other shoe. They’re comfortable, allow him to move without being heard, and don’t add to his height. He hates breaking in new ones, and so holds on to the ones he’s wearing for dear life. John has seen him wrap duct tape all the way around his shoe to keep the sole from falling out before.

His bedroom is kept perfectly organized by absolutely agonizing effort. He is particular about that space, since it’s where he rests. He doesn’t work in there. His chemistry equipment is in the living room and he never goes into the room on cases unless John forces him to change clothes. His room is a sensory heaven that he works tirelessly to keep so. Cleaning is difficult for him, but he resets the space every time he leaves it, even when he’s in a rush.

The rest of the apartment is a bust. His executive dysfunction takes over as soon as he crosses the threshold into the hallway. He leaves toothpaste uncapped, cups and plates everywhere, clothes wherever they fall. It drives John insane and he tries to clean up after himself, but it feels like an insurmountable task.

His hyper fixations overtake conversation constantly. Sometimes he and John will engage in conversation that is just… incomprehensible to those around them. John’s talking about the weather and Sherlock’s talking about Pendolino trains. Neither is acknowledging the other’s topic of conversation, but they’re responding to each other in turn and seemingly having a lovely time.

He likes to stim “with” John when something exciting happens. He grabs both of John’s hands so they’re facing each other and has John pull him back and forth quickly. He likes it when John and Mariana mimic a stim back to him, especially vocal ones. When the three of them are in the office together, it’s just an echo chamber of mouth pops and buzzes.

Sherlock respects the fuck out of routine. His in unconventional, but he follows it almost religiously. This means he respects other’s routines just as aggressively. He never moves John’s items, and if he borrows anything, he puts it back exactly where it was, position and all. He noticed John folding laundry in a certain way and now, if he steals one of John’s shirts and washes it after, he folds it in that certain way.

[butchbroken]

(this is a fantasy. content warnings: c0rrective r@pe, mis0gyny, b0ndage, g@gs)

Imagine you're searching for a place and you end up having to move into an apartment with two male roommates. You're really uncomfortable with the idea of living with men at all, much less only men, but it's the only place in a good location that's within your budget.

You figure it'll be okay, you're butch after all. It's not like you have to worry about them being into you. They're friendly, and super helpful moving you in. You almost feel bad for being wary.

You wake up in the middle of the first night in your new home to the feeling of someone sitting on you, pressing you facedown into the sheets and busily tying your forearms together with duct tape. You try to scream, but a big hand is clapped tight over your mouth.

Your mind goes wild with panic. Intruders must have broken into the apartment. You thrash and squeal into the hand gag...and hear a familiar laugh. "Aw poor little whore," one of your roommates mocks you. The other one slaps your ass. You moan in horror, struggling as hard as you can, but you're easily held down by their hands.

"It's time to really shut you up cunt," the man hand gagging you pulls a cleaning sponge out of his pocket. He moves his hand from your mouth to grab you by the hair and attempt to stuff the sponge in your mouth. You were going to yell, but you know if you open your mouth you're going to choke on a sponge. You clamp your lips shut, shaking your head. He pinches your nose until you gasp for air, trying to scream.

"HEL-MMPFH! Gmmnfhh!" you gag on the sponge, feeling your throat struggle to adjust and breathe. You try to spit it out even as it expands in your mouth. He pushes it in with his fingers, chuckling at your struggles. He seals the sponge in your mouth with a whole roll of duct tape, your eyes getting wider and wider as the whole lower half of your face becomes a mask of silver. "Oughh..." you grunt pathetically, thoroughly silenced.

The man who was taping your arms together tosses an empty roll of duct tape on the mattress and moves down your body to start taping your calves to your thighs. You groan into your gag as he spreads open your legs and forces you into a helpless position. He tosses two more empty rolls onto the bed.

They flip your body over together, both sets of hands pinching and groping and slapping as you squeal like a bitch. They squeeze your tits through your tshirt so hard you yelp, and then they tear your tshirt off. They keep saying things to you that make you whine, make it hard to think. They talk about your tits, your ass, your pussy, your big gagged mouth. They talk about what you were made for.

They pick you up and turn your head towards the foot of the mattress, dropping you facedown and laughing at the squeal you let out as your restrained body bounces. You whimper as you see a camera pointing at the bed, and a computer showing a livestream feed ready to begin.

Your new roommates ever so helpfully explain to you that there are hundreds of people waiting for them to start the stream so they can watch a dyke's virginity get taken. This is the big launch event of your new streaming career. Tonight's expected numbers alone will easily cover not only your portion of the rent, but theirs too. This was their plan all along. This is why you became their roommate. They chose you for this.

One of them goes behind the camera, while the other one undoes his belt. They're both going to fuck you of course, but one has to go first. Your mind feels hazy and far away as you watch the recording light on the camera blink on.

The man who's going to take your virginity gets between your legs and rubs you through your panties. Your embarrassment makes you flush pink. It's wet. You know it's wet. You've been feeling how wet you've been getting ever since you woke up with two men holding you down and shutting you up.

His pants are unzipped now and he's rubbing his hard cock against your pussy teasingly. You let out a pleading feminine whimper and he groans. "Beg for it cunt," he growls. You do. You moan like a good girl.

You really squeal like a whore when he pulls your panties aside and stuffs his cock to the root in one stroke.

You gaze glassy-eyed into the lens of the camera, seeing the comments rolling in on the computer screen. You know that from now on you'll never be anything but this. You'll never go anywhere again, you'll stay tied up and locked in this room. You'll never speak again, your mouth will always be stuffed with a gag or a cock. You'll be an object, making money for the men who own you.

He grabs you by the hair. You whimper, and move your hips back against his cock.

[writefinch]

Cheerleader Ransom, Pt.4 (CN: noncon, bondage, anal, enemas, rimming)

'Look at that, ain't it peachy?'

The camera went in and out of focus, whip-marred buttocks pried apart by hairy sausage-link fingers, skin so pale it cast a halo of glare where her flesh ended and the rough digits began. Her asshole was in the center of the shot, pink and puckered and slick with lube; beneath it her pussy had been crudely sealed over with duct tape. As the shot zoomed out, the marks and bruises of the previous days' trials appeared on her skin; any hope that this might be anyone other than Robert's own daughter on the screen disappeared.

The cameraman panned up and the leader of the kidnappers stepped into frame. 'Well, Robert, I was gonna say that if you'd paid up yesterday you'd have saved at least one of your little girl's virgin holes, but honestly, with the way it's been winking up at us I don't think we'd have been able to restrain ourselves either way.'

A breathy, pained noise came from below. Hannah was lying on her belly, both arms tied behind her back, strapped together at the wrists and at the elbow., Her right leg was bent backwards so far that her heel was over the small of her back, held in place by a length of rope that had been tied around her ankle at one end and to the back of her leather collar at the other. The rope forced her to arch her back severely to keep her collar from choking her, an asymmetry which looked distinctly uncomfortable.

'Don't worry about us getting our dicks dirty in her ass, we hung her up by her ankles this morning and gave her a couple of half-gallon enemas. She whined about the cramping but by the end she was clean enough to drink out of. In fact, after a little talk with Sparky, she even volunteered to prove it! She threw it straight back up afterwards but I gotta tell you it was pretty hot, don't worry we've got it all on video, we'll send you a special features cut in a couple of days.'

He knelt down next to Hannah, his cock glistening with grease and looking harder than flesh had any right to look. Robert would have thought it too big to possibly fit inside his daughter had he not seen ample proof otherwise over the past several days. She squirmed as the man straddled her leg, and froze when the head pressed against her hole. The kidnapper sucked air through his teeth. 'It always hurts them more when they tense up and try to fight it,' he said, 'but it makes them so much tighter!'

He dropped his weight, her ring yielded to the pressure and the head slipped inside. She howled and she thrashed and the thrashing pulled her collar tight enough to choke her and by the time she knew which way was up the man had wedged half of his eight-inch cock up her asshole. The previous rapes had a frenetic velocity to them, the men had barely wetted their dicks in her cunt and mouth before humping away at top speed, but her tightness and the awkwardness of the position meant that this violation was horribly slow in comparison. There would not be the easy relief of a sudden climax this time, it would be hundreds of jerky, halting thrusts before the man reached the drilling pace that would get him off. The other men seemed to have a sense of this; it wasn't until the chief kidnapper had worked up a good pace and a good sweat that one of the others stuffed his half-erect cock between Hannah's trembling lips.

The mic picked up at once too much sound and too little of it, the gluck-gluck-gluck of facefucking syncopated with the rhythmic slapping of hips against her butt flattening out every other muttered taunt from the kidnapper. '--fucking whore--doesn't--a shit about you--ruin you--if you don't--really fucking hurt you--'

The man raised his voice and hand and the cameraman walked round to capture the rape from behind and up-close so that the crack of her ass took up the middle third of the frame. The mic picked up the gutteral noise of a man spitting on a woman's face as the pace of the fucking went frenetic, a second later the kidnapper pulled his cock out in a fluid movement, her asshole gaping open raw and pink and wide as a silver dollar, quivering and twitching for a second before the cock shot out a rope of sperm directly into the hole, and another and another until he squeezed out the last drops onto her almost-closed anus. He had barely stepped aside when the next man stepped into place and sunk his cock into the girl, and as the camera panned up it revealed another three men in front of her cramming their cocks into her mouth in turn. The men up front grabbed the rope between her ankle and collar and pulled it forward, forcing her head forward onto their dicks to relieve the torturous strain on her leg and hips. They did not pace themselves, one man climaxing in her mouth only to be replaced by another moments later, and the man raping her asshole pulled out to cum over her face as she hacked up sperm onto the mattress below.

She passed out after being sodomized another two times, the men up front begrudingly giving her a break as they held ammonia salts under her nostrils. Her spastic jerks helped the men using her ass get off faster, but they kept having to slap her cheeks to make her open her mouth long enough to orally rape her. The facefucks became more cautious as she passed out a second and a third time, unable to take in enough oxygen between the strangling from the collar and the choking from the cocks, and once ten men had fucked her asshole the strain of the collar alone was too much for her to bear even without a dick in her mouth. The kidnappers relented, removing the rope between her ankle and neck and rolling her onto her back.

Before Hannah could take more than a handful of shaky breaths, the female kidnapper, Sparky, stood over her. She brandished a cattle prod, hiked down her cargo pants at the back just far enough to expose her buttocks, and sat on the girl's face. Hannah whined as a sweaty asshole pressed itself against her lips. Hannah howled as the cattle prod flash-fried her nipple. The woman bore her weight down, Hannah hyperventilated. Sparky held up the prod and let it crackle in the air; Hannah stuck her tongue out and licked. More men raped her through her crash-course in rimming as Sparky instructed her through clipped words and high voltage the finer points of licking, smooching, sucking and tongue-fucking her hole, and every time a man finished Sparky would dismount so that Hannah could show her gratitude by lapping the sweat from each man's ass in turn.

Half the men had fucked her already and wanted sucking hard before raping her again, so she was dragged upright into a better position to blow each of them, forced on top of a man to ride him cowgirl-style while the men used her blonde hair as a crude facefuck-handle. They played thumping, bassy music and told her to fuck to the beat, two men standing behind her to whip her back with leather belts when she failed to slam her ass down on the man's hips to the rhythm. Hannah's whole back was a mess of pink stripes going on red before she collapsed, legs jelly, too weak to beg.

The camera zoomed in on Hannah's face, pressed into the groin of one of the men, his balls on her chin and her forehead molded into his beer gut. After a few deep, grinding thrusts the man pulled his dick out of her throat, covered in a thick layer of bubbly white slobber and throat-slop that formed a drooping bridge between his glans and her lips. His cock twitched, nailing the her on the nose with a jet of cum as she whimpered and snuffled.

'Nice shot,' the head kidnapper said. 'Alright boys, enough with this softcore Skinemax shit. Robert, it's time to make a woman out of your little girl.'

The camera was placed on the floor, facing up at the metal struts of the warehouse ceiling. From off-screen there was laughter and a yelp of pain. A moment later, Hannah was carried into frame by a particularly muscular and well-endowed kidnapper. He had her folded in half in a modified Full-Nelson hold, his elbows hooked under her knees and his fingers interlaced behind her neck, holding her up with her back to his belly. Sparky's gloved hands came into the shot, coating the man's prodigious tool with lube before stuffing the head into Hannah's asshole.

Before Hannah could do anything more than flail her ankles and gurgle in discomfort a second, equally-massive man approached from the front. He took his cock and pressed it against her hole, forcing it in alongside the other man's member. Her attempt to scream sounded more like a whooping cough, all the necessary air forced out by the mass of the two brutish men either side of her. From below, all that could be seen were her twitching legs and the two shafts going deeper inside her. Her struggles intensified, the tendons in her hamstrings flexing briefly as she tried hopelessly to free herself, and then she went limp. The men sawed in and out, one thrusting deep as the other pulled back in turn. Her protests had been reduced to soft little grunts, barely audible over the rhythmic slapping of flesh.

There was some muttering back and forth, followed by the quiet of intense concentration. Both men pulled out to the halfway mark before thrusting in simultaneously, squeezing Hannah between them as they pulled her as far down onto their cocks as she could go. She made a noise like a death rattle. They held her in place for a few seconds before both pulling out completely, Sparky's hand shot out holding a plastic ruler, measuring Hannah's gaping asshole from rim to rim.

'One-and-a-half, nearly two inches. Damn it Robert, I thought cheerleaders were supposed to be flexible? Did you bribe the coach to get her on the team? Is that where our money went?' Their leader sighed. 'I guess we're cleaning up your messes again. Come on boys, let's show this bitch some deep stretches.'

They dropped Hannah onto the mattress. Two different men began double-raping her, face-to-face with the man underneath her while the other rutted into her like a dog. After a few minutes of pounding they swapped out for another pair, but not before measuring her gape. Twenty-five men raped her this way, with one particularly wiry trio negotiating all three of their dicks into her hole at once. The biggest duo stretched her gape to three-and-a-quarter inches; they were awarded with back-slaps and tallboys. They dragged her to her knees and held up her arm like a winner on the podium, and poured the dregs of beer over her head.

As they forced her to suck their cocks clean, the leader stepped in front of the camera and blocked the view. He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. 'That's all three holes, Robert,' he said, over the sounds of gagging. 'You're as good at protecting your daughter's virtues as you are at protecting our investments. Look pal, I'll do my best but you're really on a time crunch now, okay? I'll have to think of some inventive ways to keep her entertaining my boys or they'll get bored, and if they get bored…' He paused just long enough for the microphone to pick up the sound of Hannah vomiting cum through her nose, and shook his head. 'Get us our money, Robert. Girls don't last long when they're boring.'

He stepped out of frame. The camera caught the image of Sparky, her fist wrist-deep in Hannah's asshole, and cut to black.

[jungwonie-bae]

Need a new roommate? ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Heeseung x fem!reader reader is called she

genre- fluff, strangers to lovers

word count- 5.3k 【5,382 words】

warnings- a little suggestive, throwing up, drunk heeseung, swear words, grammar errors, not really proof read

summary— you’re really broke and is in need of a new roommate. But then a unexpected stunning face shows up at your door, because he had seen your fliers.-☆

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

you’re broke. And you can’t even pay your own rent for your own apartment anymore. Damn, you need a roommate to split the price.

well, you have a little money to print some fliers. Good start. You’re stressed. What if nobody is interested in living with you? You might as well live back in your parents home. That’s another option.

you stretch, then rub the tiredness out of your eyes. Your work place does not pay high enough though you work your ass off 13 hours a day. Should you quit? Nah, no one, and no place else would’ve hired you anyway.

you yawn while putting on your shoes and your coat. You grab your keys, your bag, then lock the door behind you. The chilly crisp air meets your face and you slightly smile. Perfect weather. Now you go get printing.

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

You grab some duct tape you found in a random drawer, and rush out with your newly printed papers that all say “ looking for a new roommate. Call XXX-XXX-XXXX (your number) for the address.”

You rip the duct tape between your teeth to cut it as you stick the papers on street lamps and poles. You try to make them as noticeable as possible, so you can get a new roommate quickly. You are not really trusting yourself with this, since you kicked your last roommate out because they brought too many of their guests over to fuck. Damn your ears.

you guess you would give it another try, but this time you really needed it.

-

4 days later, you get a call late at night.

“hello?” You ask.

“hi, is this the right number for a roommate? I saw the fliers.” A slightly deep voice says. You were surprised to say the least, since your last roommate was a woman. Would it be weird living with the opposite gender?

snapping out of your thoughts, you answer, “yes this is the right number. I’m y/n by the way. Thanks for calling. I would like to know about your sanity first?”

“Oh my room is pretty clean in my parents home. I was taught to always clean after myself. And I’m pretty obedient. So that makes things easier. I can also cook if you want. Don’t worry, I won’t burn your apartment down. I promise.” He yawned.

you nodded your head at his answer. He’s clean, obedient, and he can cook? Wow, you sure are lucky.

“sure. I’ll text you the address after the call. Thank you for calling once again.” You politely say. You sigh. A message pops up on your screen from an unknown number, and you open it curiously. Oh, it’s the guy from before.

(unknown number)- call me heeseung

(unknown number)- also can I move in next week?

you- oh of course! Let me tidy up the house a bit then. Uhh I’ll check my schedule when I’m free and we can talk.

you then opened his contact and changed his name to “new roomie heeseung.” You think nothing of it. You never even thought of his looks, or friendliness. Only his cleanliness.

new roomie heeseung- okay thank you so much 😄

you leave him on read, and put your phone down. Okay, time to get cleaning.

.༶•┈┈୨♡���┈┈•༶.

3 days passed, and it’s the end of the week. Heeseung comes tomorrow. You’re nervous. Very nervous.

you’re very proud of yourself when you look around your apartment. It was sparking clean, almost blinding you. You smile to yourself, and go clean the bed sheets and comforter of the guest room for heeseung.

your phone buzzes from your back jeans pocket while your holding the bunch of the guest room’s sheets. The comforter is drying outside, and you’ve already dusted every centimeter of that room. (yours too.)

you’ve cleaned up your room and bought a few decors for the kitchen too. You want to make a good impression on your new roommate. What if he would move out because of you?

Nah you’re too nice for that. You’ve got looks too. You’ve caught the eyes of people several times in college and high school, and your face hasn’t changed much.

You didn’t sleep that much that night. Work was really stressful the day you cleaned. Cleaning can take your mind off of things sometimes. Today was finally your day off, to meet heeseung. You two were still talking over text daily, but made it a surprise to show each other your faces. He was surprisingly fun to talk to too.

The following morning you were still wide awake, with somehow no eye bags at all, and swept the whole apartment. You vacuumed as a double check too. you check your phone.

new roomie heeseung- I’m almost there!

you: don’t worry, take your time

You sat of your couch waiting and waiting patiently. The clock strikes 2:30 pm. A few minutes later, knocking is heard.

You stand up immeadiately and checking yourself. You run to the bathroom, check your makeup, (You wore light makeup) and fix your outfit a bit. You rush to the front door and open it.

Woah. a tall handsome man stands in front of you. He’s absolutely stunning. Time seems to slow down once you opened the door. Best decision you’ve ever made. Damn you better close that mouth of yours before you start drooling and embarrass yourself.

“it’s heeseung,” he smiles confidently at you, while holding all his luggage. Damn he is so handsome. It makes you want to see him smile forever. Fuck, your delusional ass needs to be stopped before your mind drifts somewhere else.

“hi,” you bow, “I’m y/n the owner of the apartment. Come inside and put your luggage in.” You motion him toward the living room.

“the guest room- no your room, is on the left side of the hallway and next the the bathroom.” You inform, and point towards where you were saying. He listens carefully. When you look over at him, he’s already looking at you. He smiles, and takes off his shoes.

“you can go ahead and unpack. Make yourself at home. Do you want a drink?” You ask.

“water is fine with me,” he shrugs. As he walks away you smile to yourself. How did I get so lucky? You think. You snap out of your thoughts, and go to the kitchen to get him some water.

as you reach for a clean cup, heeseung comes out. He watches you intently, not making a sound. He smirks to himself.

“damn why is it so high,” you grumble. You then feel someone’s presence behind you, and a hand reaches for the exact cup. “need help?” The male says behind you. You’re flustered. “You know, I could’ve done it myself.”

“seems like you needed help though,” he smirks. “I’ll get the water by myself by the way.”

you nod you head, pointing to the water boiler where the water had been boiled a few hours prior to his arrival. You walk to your room embarrassed.

tsk, this is so cliche. You thought. No way your going to get close with that guy. He’s a bit flirty, from what you’ve noticed. Maybe he’s had multiple girls drool over him before, including you.

you don’t know anything about the guy in your house, he could be a murderer. You sit on your bed and wonder, going into your own world. Soon, you fall asleep, with your door slightly opened. Also with someone watching you fondly from the creak in the door.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

heeseung was still living in his parents house after college. He had a job, a well paying one, but he didn’t seem to like the idea of living on his own. Not that he wasn’t mature enough, he just didn’t want to.

His mom scolded him that he was old enough to move himself out, and started comparing him to his cousins, once again. This happens every time. He groans to himself.

“OKAY! I GET IT! I’LL TRY TO FIND A NEW PLACE BY NEXT WEEK. HAPPY?” Heeseung shouts from his room. He can already see his mom smiling in his head. A silence passes, and heeseung flops onto his bed. He knows that it will be hard to find a new place to call home.

-

as heeseung walks out from the cafe to take a stroll, he spots something. More like a flying paper. It lands on the ground right in front of him, like it was destiny.

“looking for a new roommate.” He reads aloud. He smiles to himself in victory. Just what he needed. He picks up the paper to dial the number printed. I hope nobody else has taken this opportunity, he thinks to himself. He calls your number, and you pick up a few seconds later. You agreed almost immediately, and the address was thankfully not far from his parents home.

he couldn’t stop smiling on his way back home to tell his mother.

— a few days later—

His mom is excited. She helps him pack everything, and clean up his room. After that is all finished, he tells you he will be coming soon with all packed luggage.

“my baby is all grown up now,” his mom smiles. She pinches his cheeks lovingly, while heeseung is trying to swat away her hands.

“thank you, but I’ll be going now,” heeseung grumbles. “Love you mom” he kisses her cheeks goodbye. His dad hugs her.

“be safe son! You’re an adult now!” His dad shouts behind him.

heeseung smiles as he gets into his truck. “Goodbye! I’ll make sure to visit from time to time!” He drove off, humming a happy tune.

when he had arrived, he parked his truck outside. He looks at his watch, 2:34, not too late. He grabs his heavy luggage and repeats the address number in his head multiple times. Once he reaches your floor, he’s huffing and puffing. He’s nervous, since the two of you decided to keep your faces a surprise. He nervously rings your doorbell, and when you open the door- he’s completely out of breath this time.

you’re absolutely adorable in his eyes. When you smile up at him, it makes him almost immediately smile back. He decides to put a confident smile on and introduces himself.

“ it’s heeseung.” He says. You introduce yourself very politely, and motion him towards his own room- not before inviting him in with a drink. He smiles. Finally. He takes off his shoes, and carries his luggage to the room you had pointed to.

He heard clanking of glasses in the kitchen, and curiosity filled him. He goes to where the sound came from, and sees you trying to reach for a cup. Cute, he mumbles under his breath.

he doesn’t know where this boldness comes from but then- he automatically helps you, making you flustered. He sees the light blush on your cheeks. He’s used to doing things on his own, which was what his parents taught him to do. He fills his cup, and sips the liquid inside.

he watches as you rush to your room, and he smirks a bit to himself.

a few minutes later, as he’s walking back to his room, he sees that your door is opened a little bit. He was going to ask about the wifi, but found that you were sound asleep. How much cuter could you get? He smiles fondly to himself admiring your silent sleeping figure.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

when you wake up, you are parched. So of course, you go into the kitchen to fill your cute duck mug. As soon as you walk out of your room, you see heeseung only in a towel, leaning against his bedroom door frame. His hair is slightly damp, and messy falling in front of his eyes. How the hell can a man be so sexy?

You freeze. Heeseung doesn’t notice you, gladly, because his phone is distracting him. He sure took the message, “make yourself at home.” You blink a few times before walking the other direction to the kitchen. You check the time first- 6:00 pm?!?

You sure slept for a long time. You don’t realize that you’ve been staring at your phone screen that has turned off already, because you had spaced out.

Now heeseung finally notices you and smiles. He sees that you’ve spaced out and your duck mug and phone are in both your hands. He gushed to himself at how cute you look. He puts a hoodie on and sweats before approaching you. He walks over to you and asks, “how was your sleep y/n?”

you jump a little, snapping out of your thoughts. You turn around, and smile back at him.

“it was alright, but that was much needed rest. Work has been tiring lately, that’s all.” You say casually, though he didn’t ask. He stares at you while you talk. He listens carefully to everything you say.

The conversation flows smoothly, and goes on and on. The two of you are the about the same age, him being a few months older. What a coincidence. You both learn about each other and your habits. You tell him about how you two will split the bills, and he agreed knowing it would be fair enough. Giggles and laughs fill the air. Maybe you do want to get close with him.

you both order takeout for dinner, and become more comfortable with each other as time passes by.

A few hours later, [10:34 pm] you both say goodnight to each other. You wave, and go to your respective rooms. You flip down on your bed and crawl into your comforter.

You sigh. Why can’t you sleep? Were you in..love? No stupid! It was because you took a nap in the afternoon! You thoughts cloud away as you finally drift off.

meanwhile, in the other room across from you, heeseung can’t sleep because of the opposite reason.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

the next morning, you wake up tired, but determined. You get ready, but today you put on a little extra makeup. You want to work harder and overtime today so you can get extra pay. You put on a cute outfit, a shirt with a collar, and add a cute clip in your hair.

You had forgotten about heeseung, so when you went to the kitchen, you were surprised. “Good morning,” Heeseung says. His morning voice is a bit deeper.

“morning.” You respond. You walk quickly past him, to get your mug to get water.

“where are you going?” A voice says behind you.

“to work. Don’t you have a job to go to too?”

“yeah, but it’s later in the afternoon.”

You nod. an awkward silence fils the air as you make your toast and run to the front door, to put your shoes on. As you grab your keys, a voice stops you. “wait,” Heeseung says. “When do you come home from work?”

“9 pm today. I’m working overtime. Usually I come home at 7 pm. why do you ask?”

“uh so we can get to know each other more? Also, I’ll be coming home before you.” He rubs the back of his head. You wonder if there was another reason behind that. You smile.

You check your watch. “okay, I’ll tell you my schedule once I get home. I’ll be going now!” You grab your keys and head out.

he picks his hand up to wave, but the door shut closed before him. “bye.. have a nice day at work…” his lips form a thin line, and he turns around to get ready to go to his own work place.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Your coworker, and best friend, Chaeyoung grumbles. You were so caught up into your own world, that you forgot about the people around you. Oops.

you smile at her excitedly and spill everything. How your roommate was so hot, and how he was really sweet about everything. His reactions are on timing, and his laugh is angelic. You could go on and on about him, but just then your boss walks in front of you two.

“get back to work!” He barks. “yes sir.” You mumble, head hanging low.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶. when you come home from work, the apartment is silent. You put down your things, and run to your room. You flip down on your bed exhausted, but your stomach growls so loud that the earth also rumbles.

you groan, not wanting to get up. You see a figure by your bedroom frame. “Are you okay?” Heeseung asks. He walks over to you.

do I look okay? “Yeah I’m fine,” you mumble. “Just a little hungry.”

“I’ll make something for you, don’t worry.” He says.

“wait.” You grab his wrist to stop him. That catches his attention immediately. “You don’t have to.”

“but I insist.”

you sigh, letting go of him. “okay then.”

—

as you play on your phone, heeseung calls you out. You crawl out of your bed, and walk to the kitchen. A bowl of fried rice sits on the table with chopsticks and a spoon at the side. Heeseung’s smile is contagious. “This is for me?” You ask, pointing your index finger to your chest.

“go ahead and dig in.” He gestures towards the bowl. “Thank you for the meal.” You say genuinely. When the rice hits your taste buds, your eyes widen. You look over at heeseung, who was already looking at you for your reaction, and you put up a thumbs up. You giggle to yourself. He cooked this for me! Does that mean he cares for me? You think. You see heeseung smile at the side of your eye, probably proud of himself. “Do you want some?” You ask. He’s taken aback. Then hesitates. He slowly nods. “Sure.”

you grab your spoon and get a spoon full. You try to give the spoon to him, but the moment you turn, he opens his mouth. He wants to you to feed him. He looks at you expectantly with his cute blinking bambi eyes and his mouth open, waiting to be fed. The proximity catches you off guard and you blush. You put the spoon into his mouth, and he chews.

“oh wow. I’m a good cook.” He compliments to himself. He smirks up at you, know the effect he has. He walks away like nothing happened after that.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

he’s giving you mixed signals. It’s been a few months of living with him, and you’ve fallen deep. One day, he’s being affectionate, and the other day he’s neutral. You’ve gotten comfortable with each other, making jokes about anything, and doing Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who does the dishes.

but today, he went out to to go to hang out with his friends. Today for you, was just another tiring day of work. You take a very refreshing shower, and do a face mask. It was a day to yourself. You wear your cute shiro pajamas, and matching fuzzy socks.

you grab a few chip bags and drinks, and get cozied up in your cocoon of blankets. You grab your laptop, and watch your Netflix show. You feel so relaxed. A few hours and a few episodes later, you feel tired. Why hasn’t heeseung came home yet? You yawn.

just then, your phone rings. You pick up immediately, seeing the caller is was your roommate.

“hello? Is this heeseung’s roommate?” A male voice asks.

“Yeah. What’s going on? Also who are you?” You ask.

“I’m Jake, heeseung’s best friend. Heeseung is reallly drunk right now, and I need you to take him home.”

really? You taking heeseung home? But your so comfortable right now! You groan in frustration.

“okay just send me the location and I’ll be there.” You say and then hang up. You get out of your comfy bed, and get changed into a hoodie. You don’t want to change your pants, so you leave it be.

you check your phone and see that heeseung is at a bar. You pick up your keys and drive to the location. Once you arrive, you text that you’re here. You lean back on your car so that they could see you. Jake said he would check heeseung’s phone for him. A few minutes later, you see a blonde carrying a drunk heeseung on his back. You giggle at the sight.

Jake comes up to you, (because you told him that you were the one leaning on a car wearing a black hoodie) and tells you to open the car door.

He drops heeseung onto the passenger seat, and says goodnight to you. You wave back and turn your head to see a very drunk heeseung. He can barely open his eyes.

“hee, how much did you even drink?”

he holds up his hand to say he drank a “little bit”. (Like 🤏) you giggle at the sight, thinking he was lying. “Let’s go home.” You sigh.

you close the door, and put his seat belt on for him. You do the same for yourself, and then step in the pedal.

once you park into the parking lot, you unbuckle and go out to take heeseung out of your car. When you try to pull him out of the car, he whines. “I don’t want to get out,” and “I’m too tired to move.”

you groan in annoyance. You then pick him up, his arm around your shoulders, and your arm around his waist. You had to carry him all the way up to the 5th floor… and he was kind of heavy. I’ll get through it.. you think.

—

“I think I’m gonna puke.” He groans. “ my arm is also numbing.”

“We’re almost there, just- hold on a bit longer.” You say. You pant, and stop for a while. Just one more stair case. Why did the elevator have to be broken at this time?!?

heeseung gags, and immediately covers his mouth. You walk slowly up, so he doesn’t throw up easier.

once you make it, you let heeseung sit on the ground, so you can unlock the door. You drag him inside, and take him to the bathroom. “There, you can throw up now.” You pat his back, and stand up to get him a glass of water.

after heeseung is done, he wipes his mouth with the tissue you gave him, and you hand him his water.

“Feeling better?” You ask. He nodded, and gulp down the whole cup. “Let’s go get you some rest.” You stand up, and pull him with you. You go walk to his room, and lay him down. He lays there and talks quietly with you.

“hey I gotta tell you something.” Your ears perk up at that. You notice that he isn’t at all tired anymore. “Hmm?” You answer. You’re sitting on a chair you dragged from his desk to next to his bed.

“wait- nevermind.” He mumbles. Your a bit disappointed, and was kind of hoping he was going to say some good news.

“okay then I’ll go get you some more water, and I’ll go to sleep.” You sigh, yawning and stretching. When you stand up, a hand grabs your wrist. Heeseung is avoiding eye contact with you, but you think he’s still drunk. “Can you maybe sleep with me?” He mumbles, barely a whisper. You almost didn’t catch that. Your eyes widen, and you stutter, “ uh- I- uhm-” “it’s okay you don’t have to.” He let’s go of your wrist.

you sleeping with him? You’d take the opportunity if you could. So you hesitantly walk over to the other side of the bed, and tuck yourself in. There’s a awkward tension into the air, but heeseung speaks up first. “Would it be weird if we could cuddle?” You shake your head. The sheets shuffle, and a hand goes over your waist. Your not facing him, thankfully, or else he would’ve seen your tomato face. His other hand taps your back to lift a little, so he could hug you from behind.

you get the message almost immediately, and lift up a little. His arm slips through and he shifts so close to you that your back touches his chest. No words are exchanged between you two. His hand rubs circles on your stomach, and unconsciously slips under your shirt not in a sexual way. His head is tucked into your neck, your hair ticking his face. You knew he wouldn’t remember any of this. You sigh, hand going over his own.

you fall asleep, with thoughts clouding your mind. Little do you know, he was actually sober. He didn’t lie about drinking a little bit. He smiles to himself, and falls asleep a few minutes after you.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

You wake up before him. When you try to get out of bed to make his hangover soup, his arms around you hold you tighter. He pulls you flush against his chest. His head is a mess, and his eyes are a bit puffy. How can he be so adorable?? You gush at him, and pry his arms away. He doesn’t move. You groan to yourself. Not going to lie, you actually love this position. You could get used to this. But, you two were only roommates. Just roommate things, right?

“Heeseungggg” you whine, trying to get out of his grip, though you don’t want to. “I’m going to be late for work.” He opens one eye and smiles. Your now facing him, trying to wake him up. He closes his eyes again, teasing you.

“I don’t care. Stay with me.” He mumbles. You groan and slap his face lightly and playfully. “ow.” He hold your hand on his face, making your hand cradle his face. You blush at the contact.

“I have to get up and make you your hangover soup.” You mumble.

“I don’t have a headache because I woke up next to you.” He winks. You glare at him playfully. You finally get up, and heeseung lets you, to go get ready. You stretch, and walk out of his room. “She’s so cute,” he mumbles. He hides his face into his pillow.

you get ready, and then go to the kitchen to make hangover soup and your breakfast. A few minutes later you see a sleepy heeseung walk out of his room. As if he was still drunk, he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist. His head tucks into your neck, chin resting on your shoulder, so he was basically back hugging you. “I’m tired.” He mumbles. You don’t respond, because your words are caught in your throat. You hum back instead, and keep mixing the soup to distract yourself. Just on time, your toast pops out. You walk over to spread your spread of choice on the toast, while heeseung’s hand is still on your waist.

“go ahead and scoop the soup into a bowl. It’s ready. I’ll be going now- and be careful. The soup is still hot.” You turn off the fire and smile at him. “ bye! I’ll text you when I’m coming back home.”

heeseung waves, “bye.” He winks at you. You blush as you head out. He smirks to himself, and turns around to grab a bowl.

For you, your heart is thumping so loud. Waking up next to heeseung, and back hugging you while making breakfast? He is driving you crazy.

.༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶.

At around the time your about to leave work, heeseung texts you.

heedeungie- meet me at the park after your work is done

you- okay

you- I think I might have leave early anyway today

you then put down your phone, and tell your coworkers that you’re leaving early for the day. You go into your car, and drive to the location heeseung sent you.

once you arrive, you text heeseung that your already there. He calls you, so of course you pick up. He tells you to meet at the Apple tree.

you walk over there, and see heeseung sitting down on a picnic mat. He had a buttoned up collar, the first three unbuttoned, and a pair of dark slightly baggy jeans. You smile when he make eye contact with you, and he calls you over.

“what are we here for?” You ask.

“We’re star gazing.” He states. He looks over at you to see you smiling at him. He smiles back. “I’ve never been star gazing with someone before.” You mumble.

he looks over at you once again. “Really? And I’m the first one?” His smile is so big.

“yeah.”

“Wow.” He looks at into the sky. “Let’s play some games till the stars appear yeah?” You nod.

the night goes by fast, and laughter fills the air. “Oh look. There are stars now!” Heeseung exclaims happily. You look up, a see the beauty in the sky. You smile to yourself. you’re looking at the sky, while heeseung is looking at you. “So pretty.” He mumbles. He looks back up before he gets caught staring.

“Oh and before I forget, I need to tell you something.” Heeseung says. You look over at him, giving him your undivided attention. He takes a deep breath.

“uhm so- uh- ever since I saw you when I moved in, you were so pretty. No- you are so pretty. Oh- straight to the point.” He looks you in the eyes. “Y/n, I like you so much that my heart hurts knowing I can’t have you. I might get kicked out because of this right? If you don’t like me back can we stay friends...” your eyes soften at him. Tears start welling up somehow. You don’t know why you start crying- maybe you were just really happy.

“Nono no no, no- y/n why are you crying?” He cups your face before he pulls you into his chest and let you cry. After you calm down a bit, you look up at him. You laugh at yourself for your stupid actions. He’s confused why you had a sudden mood change, but let’s you do so.

“Lee Heeseung.” He looks down at you in his arms. “You do not understand how much I liked you when I first opened my front door. And no, you will not be kicked out. I don’t know what your saying, but you can have me. I’ve been all yours from the start. I want to be more that just roommates and friends. I like you so much heeseung,” You cry a bit more before looking up at him for an answer, but he’s just staring at you. “What?” You laugh.

you did not expect what happened next. He crashes his lips onto yours. You kiss back almost immediately, and that soon turn to a little make out session. You pull away first, catching your breath. He pulls you back into another kiss, one that’s more passionate. The night ends off with little giggles, and stealing kisses from one another.

—

once the two of you had gotten home, heeseung sat on the couch waiting for you to finish showering. He had already finished way before you did. When you came out, he rushed over to you and hugged your warm body. “I missed you.” He mumbled.

“hee, it’s only been like-40 minutes.” You state.

“I know, but I still missed you.” He whined. You smile at him. “let’s go to sleep yeah?” You pat his face gently and affectionately. He grabs your hand to make it stay on his face and nods while closing his eyes. “m tired anyway.” He mumbles.

you laugh at his cute gestures and then you walk into the kitchen. Our grab his cup and yours, and fill them both with water. “Drink some water first.” He waddles over to you in his matching blue Shin Chan pajamas and obediently drank from his plain black mug.

after that, you both brush your teeth together, and go into his room. It feels as if you’ve always been doing this, though it was the first night dating. You crawl into the sheets, and he immediately pulls you into his embrace. You snuggle into him, and fall asleep very quickly. He kisses your forehead. “Good night, y/n.”

—

a/n- sorry, I got a bit carried away… sorry my grammar is ass, and I didn’t care to check over it.. I love heeseung guys

[wren-writes-stuff]

(Whispers) Hey. Guess what.

(Slides you a piece of folded up notebook paper)

(You unfold it)

It says:

Of Lattes and Labrats- Chapter 14- Again For The First Time

(Wattpad link)

(Ao3 Link) (pending)

(Masterlist and warnings)

Sometimes, when your anxiety was too much- when the constant voice in your head and the incessant buzzing beneath your skin like frenzied ants became unbearable- you would close your eyes. You'd press your fingers against your eyes a little too hard, in the space where your tear ducts almost met your nose, and you'd watch the strange shapes and colors behind your eyelids. They moved and shifted about in a frenzy, never staying still. One would think this would only add to your overstimulated senses, but that didn't seem to be the case. They were like otherworldly beings; lifeforms entirely separate from you. They were a nice distraction, something outside of yourself to focus on.

This was largely the inspiration for most of your work. Realism was certainly a skill worth bragging about; but was uninteresting to you, and you had no desire to pursue it. You liked the abstract. You liked to get lost in the incoherent nonsense of random shapes and colors. It was soothing.

I digress.

Presently, you were curled up on the fire escape, pressing your fingertips into your eyelids hard enough to make them ache just a bit; watching the strange patters conjured by your brain. "Phosphenes," they were called. You'd read it in a book somewhere, a long time ago; when you still had time and energy enough to read.

Jayce had stepped out of your apartment to pack an overnight bag and grab some lunch for the two of you. You'd opted to stay behind. You couldn't stomach leaving the house just yet. Instead, you climbed out of the window to sit on the fire escape to get some fresh air and sunlight. It helped, a bit.

The warmth on your skin brought a bit of feeling back to your fingers and toes, and the clean sea-salt air that always permeated the city certainly smelled better than your musty old apartment. You'd realized lately that you'd been taking it for granted.

The air in the fissures where you grew up was thick, and dense. It seemed to leave a strange haze over everything; almost imperceptible to those who were used to it.  Honestly, you hadn't realized it was there until it wasn't, during your first visit topside. But it was there, if you stared hard enough. Iridescent, yet dull. Muted. Shifting like dust in a sunbeam, never fully still; but always very, very slow. There wasn't much airflow down there; not like the sea's winds always being carried across topside. You were glad to be rid of it, but the phosphenes were similar. They reminded you of home.

You inhaled, deeply, counting the seconds, and told yourself to be grateful you weren't choking on your own lungs right now. You turned your hands over, feeling the sunlight on your palms, and told yourself to be grateful for warmth. Grateful for light that scarcely made it past the tall, crowded buildings that made up your birth place, or the dull air of the trenches.

You weren't okay. Your face was still raw from so much crying, your nose stuffy with snot. You felt weak from days of eating nothing but toast and crackers when your stomach could handle even that much. Your lips were chapped and your skin was dry; you'd cried out every last drop of what little water you'd bothered to drink. But most of all, you were exhausted. All you wanted was to take a nap; and maybe a smaller, more bitter part of you hoped you wouldn't wake back up. but you shook your head to dispel the thought, continuing your meditation.

Breathe in. Sea salt. Something yeasty, like bread. Coffee.

Breathe out. Count the seconds. Listen- wind chimes. People chatting below. Birdsong.

Breathe in-

"Hey, you."

Jayce's voice startled you from your thoughts and your eyes flew open at the sound. You heaved a shaky breath before you turned to look at him, trying not to break down yet again.

"Hey, yourself," you chirped with false cheer. You squinted, the bright sunlight suddenly blinding you. It was difficult to see him as he stood in the dark shade of your apartment- you were only able to make out the subtle outline of his silhouette.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," he began, "you looked so peaceful out here. I almost thought about leaving you be...but I brought the sandwiches you asked for, and I thought you might be too hungry to wait."

You smiled in his general direction and scooted closer to the railing, patting the spot next to you. He must have understood what you were asking, because he stepped over the windowsill and plopped down next to you without another word.

You were glad to be able to see him now. His tan skin looked like it belonged to the sun, and his amber eyes seemed just as bright. You tried not to stare for too long, choosing instead to take the paper bag he offered you.

It smelled divine, but despite your empty stomach, you hesitated; you weren't sure if you'd be able to keep it down. You specifically requested the same sandwich he'd gotten you on your first date, and the delicious buttery bread you remembered fondly suddenly felt greasy and heavy in your hands. Jayce, however, wasted no time chowing down on his own lunch. You were envious of him for many reasons; but the biggest was that he never seemed afraid of anything. He never seemed to question himself, always sure of his next move. You couldn't say the same about yourself.

You set your sandwich aside for the moment, and brought your knees up to your chin, wrapping your arms around yourself. If Jayce noticed your lack of appetite, he didn't say anything about it; for which you were grateful. You worried at your lip, and picked at the peeling paint on the iron grating beneath you. The silence between you wasn't uncomfortable, but you felt like you should try to make conversation anyhow. You were tired of silence.

"So," you began, "What do you want to do today? For our..." you gestured vaguely. "...date," you finished. Jayce chewed thoughtfully, not giving you an answer yet. Frankly you weren't sure there was anything to do around your apartment.

"Well," he said at last, "It's not particularly romantic, but I did bring a deck of cards from my apartment. We could play a few games if you're up for it. Or, we could just...talk." He shrugged, grinning. “I do enjoy the sound of your voice.”

You quirked your lips upward, feeling fuzzy at his flirting. It was nice to have him here, with nothing between you two. Nobody around to have to look good for. Truthfully, you’d already grown quite comfortable with him; the girlish crush you had previously didn’t go away, per se, but you felt less of a need to impress him. Especially after your outburst at the party. He’d seen your messy apartment. he’d seen you break down and cry. He’d seen you pale and clammy when you’d passed out. Even when he caught you asleep at your easel in your paint-splattered pajamas, hair a mess, he didn’t shy away. It was a miracle he was still attracted to you, you thought.

Still, you struggled to find things to talk about. Your brain felt utterly fried. You were certain that if you popped open your skull, you’d find it shrunken and blackened. Finally, after several moments, you settled on a topic.

“What exactly are these Hexgates you’ve been working on?” Heimerdinger mentioned them during his speech; if they were important enough to detract from his special day, they must have been a pretty big deal.

Jayce’s eyes glimmered, and you braced yourself for a long winded ramble (not that you minded; he was cute when he was excited.)

“We believe they’re the key to the city’s continued progress,” he began. “The council asked me to prove to them that Hextech is both useful, and profitable. This is my solution. Trade routes to other parts of the continent re improving all the time, but painfully slowly.” He waved his sandwich around, gesturing his hands wildly as he spoke.

“The Hexgates are exactly what they sound like: Hextech gateways. They’ll allow for merchants to travel anywhere in the world in an instant. Coming back to Piltover will stay the same; until we can prove that the gates work the way they’re intended without any….repercussions…we couldn’t possibly convince other governments to allow us to build gateways in their territories. But Piltover’s gate would cut shipping time in half.”

“So what you’re saying is…you’ve invented teleportation?” You stared in disbelief. These things were a big deal. You’d only read about this sort of thing in science fiction books.

“Well, we didn’t invent it,” he corrected, “there have been records of mages who were able to cast such spells long before we came along. But using Hextech, we were able to create an artificial way of doing it.���

“Wow,” you breathed. “That’s…wow.” You really were at a loss for words. “That’s incredible, Jayce.”

He nodded, puffing out his chest with pride. “Thank you,” he replied, “This is my life’s work. Well…Hextech is. The Hexgates are only the first step in bringing it to true fruition. It’s not my first choice of project, I’ll admit. But I have to prove to the council that it’s safe and worth pursuing before they’ll let me touch anything else.”

You finally took a bite of your sandwich, feeling some of your appetite come back. You chewed thoughtfully for a moment, trying to think of ways to keep the conversation going.

“So…how long is it gonna take to build this thing? I mean…it must be a pretty complicated machine, right?” You wished you knew more about science so you could ask a question that didn’t sound so basic. He must think you’re pretty stupid, you thought.

He pursed his lips and shrugged, looking away from you. “Years. If Heimerdinger had his way, decades. We still have more testing to do. Now that they’ve been approved, we sort of have to rush now. The gates are massive- they’ll tower over the city like a beacon. And I’m not being poetic, here. There’s a massive amount of energy that will be channeled to be able teleport such large airships, and if there’s not ample room, it…well, it could be bad.” He picked at his fingers, looking slightly frustrated now.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” he sighed. “The sooner we get construction finished, the sooner we can start on other, more important projects. But we’re only being given so much time and resources to get it done. We’ll be in a constant state of crunch time until we’re done. This is basically my last day off for a good long while,” he laughed ruefully. “I love what I do. Really. Science is my first love- I’d live in the lab, if I could. But I learned the hard way that a good work/life balance is important.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate,” you chuckled. You hesitated, then reached for his hand. He looked surprised, but he didn’t pull away. “Thank you for taking the time to come see me. It seems like you’re under a lot of pressure, so…It means a lot to me that you’re here now.”

He quirked his lips upward and squeezed your hand, scooting a little closer to you. “I’m glad to be here,” he admitted. “It’s a nice break. And truthfully, I’m a lot less stressed now that things are a little smoother between us. I was worried about you.” He averted your gaze, looking up at the clouds instead.

Silence fell over the two of you again, and this time you chose not to break it. He was worried about you. That was a nice thought. You didn’t really think you were worth worrying about; or that someone as important as him would even really have time to worry about you. It felt good to be cared for, though. He was probably the first person in a long time, besides Poe, to make you this happy.

You closed the small gap between the two of you, and rested your head against his shoulder the way you had earlier that morning. You found that no longer did you have to tell yourself to be grateful for what you had now; you just were. In one hand, you took his own from behind, pressing your palm against his knuckles. With the other, you grazed the callouses on his palm with the pad of your thumb. They were thick and rough, but also warm. You found the repetition of your movements comforting. You were glad to find he didn’t stop you.

Silently, you wondered if you made a mistake earlier. It really did feel wrong to put a label on your relationship so soon. It didn’t feel right for him to already be using pet names, or constantly spoiling you with presents. But you felt such a strong pull towards him; he had a magnetizing effect on you that was hard to resist. You liked being near him. His warmth, his physical strength, his scent. Everything made you want him to belong to you. You felt like this is where you were meant to be: holding his hand, grabbing on like he was the gravity keeping you tethered to the earth. Maybe in some ways he was. You felt more yourself when you were with him than you ever did on your own.

You sat up suddenly, a new thought occurring to you. “Let’s go get gelato,” you chirped. “I changed my mind about staying home. The weather is too good to spend it inside my apartment all day.” You didn’t wait for a response, only using his shoulder to steady yourself as you stood up. You heard him chuckle quietly from behind you as you clambered back in through the window.

You were telling the truth. The weather was gorgeous, and you were sick of being indoors. And for one fleeting moment, you thought you might be okay if you left the house; you didn’t want to dwell on it, to wait for your anxiety to come back and make you change your mind again. You rushed into your bedroom, not bothering to close the door behind you as you undressed. Jayce entered behind you just as you flung open your closet doors, and he faltered when he saw you in just your underwear. He coughed, face turning beet red.

“Um, did you want me to wait in the living room, or-“

You scoffed, smirking at him. “Jayce Talis, I didn’t take you for such a prude,” you teased. “You’ve already seen me naked before, haven’t you?” You tore through your closet, looking for something to wear. You weren’t thinking too hard about it; just something comfortable, and cute enough to not feel like a total slob.

“I just wasn’t sure…I mean, after what we talked about, I thought maybe you wouldn’t want me to…um…”

You peered around the edge of the closet door, looking him up and down. He was staring at the ceiling like he wanted to evaporate, and you felt a small twinge of guilt.

“It’s okay to look,” you said gently. He finally brought his eyes down to you, slowly. They were as wide as dinner plates, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. You smiled at him to try to ease the tension, and you watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. You stepped around the door, over a pile of junk on the floor, and reached up to peck him on the cheek. He didn’t move, confusion written on his face. ‘It’s okay,” you repeated in a whisper.

You felt his eyes lingering on you as you went back to your task, digging through shirts and dresses alike. Finally, you settled on a plain button up shirt and corduroy pants, and your favorite pair of boots. Simple, but elegant enough, you decided. You threw everything on as fast as you could, still trying to race against your own mind, and turned back to him. “Ready?” You asked. He nodded, and you followed him out to the living room. You looked around one last time to be sure you weren’t forgetting anything, snatching your wallet and keys from the coffee table, and stepped out of the front door. You felt his eyes on you still, as you fumbled with your keys.

You looked at him, and found him chewing on his lip, eyes glazed over. “What?” You questioned. He blinked, seeming to come back to his senses.

“Nothing. Sorry. I was just thinking.” He smiled, but you got the sense it wasn’t genuine. You finally got the door locked and slipped your keys into your pocket, nudging his shoulder.

“About what?” You slipped your hand into his once again, grinning playfully up at him. You started down the tiny cramped stairway, still waiting for an answer. He didn’t give you one until you were outside, standing on cobblestone.

“I’m just a little confused, I guess,” he admitted. “You said you wanted to start over, but you’re acting as if nothing’s changed.” He let go of your hand, and turned to look at you straight-on. “I don’t want to mess things up again. It’s fine, if you want me to just…follow your lead, I guess. I did say we could go at your pace. But this doesn’t exactly feel like ‘starting over’,” he finished. You fiddled with a button on your shirt, thinking.

“I’m sorry,” you replied, “I think I’m just conflicted. I…I meant what I said, about the pet names, and buying me stuff. Maybe it’s just that that’s the only part I want to avoid. But, I know that we’re not…together. So, if it’s easier on you, I can stop being physical. We can just act like friends.”

His gaze softened, and you thought you saw a hint of sadness there. “Is that what you want?” He asked. Your shoulders sagged, feeling guilty and confused.

“I…I don’t know what I want. Honestly. Ugh. I don’t mean to be difficult,” you rambled, “You…I really like you. A lot. And, I really do think I want to be with you, but…I don’t know how to do this.” You looked at the ground like a petulant child, feeling your chin beginning to wobble. Damnit. Maybe leaving the house was a mistake after all.

“I’ve only been in one other relationship,” you admitted. “It didn’t end well. I don’t know what I’m doing. I know even less about dating someone with such a high status. I know that I like you, and I definitely want to be more than just friends.” You wiped at the edge of your eyes with your fingertips, struggling to keep the tears from falling. Gods, this is so embarrassing. Why do you cry so much?

“It’s been such a short time, though. I mean do people usually move this quickly?” You looked back up at him, trying to gauge is reaction.

“Why are you so concerned about what other people do?” He asked gently.

You shrugged vaguely, not giving a real answer.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said. “But really, it doesn’t matter what other people do or think. We can just do what feels right for us. And if acting like a couple in public doesn’t feel right, then we don’t have to do that. If holding my hand does feel right, then you can.” He squeezed your upper arm, smiling softly at you; but you weren’t satisfied with that.

“I feel selfish,” you sigh. “I’ve been making everything about me and what I want. What do you want, Jayce?” He looked slightly taken aback, and let go of your arm.

“I want you,” he said simply. “I thought that was obvious. If I had it my way, I’d be treating you to the finest restaurants Piltover has to offer, and spoiling you rotten,” he chuckled. “We’d be so touchy-feely in public it would be gross. I’d have you in my bed every night, if you’d have me too,” he laughed. “I don’t know what I’m doing either. I just know that I want you.”

You furrowed your brows. “But…You’re so much more experienced than me. Right? I thought you said-“

“More experienced in the bedroom isn’t the same as more experienced with dating,” he interjected. “I’m a slut, not a heartbreaker” he joked. You laughed, surprising yourself, but he continued. “We go at your pace, because you want to go slower. What I want shouldn’t come before what you need. I’ll follow your lead. What you say, goes. Okay?”

You nodded, swallowing the lump in your throat. “Okay.” He grabbed your hand again, eyebrows raised in question- and you answered by lacing your fingers through his once again. He turned, starting down the sidewalk- but you tugged on his hand to make him stop. “Hey,” you said, “thank you. For being patient with me. And for being so kind.” He squeezed your hand, eyes crinkling around the corners in a genuine smile.

“You’re worth the wait.”

[callmespikey]

IT'S NOT ME ED

IT'S NOT ME ED is a Ed, Edd n Eddy fanmade heist webcomic. In it, The Eds in disguised as thieves, there plan is to break in the Candy Store at night in order to shoplifting as many as jawbreakers as they can. But of course they will meet a bigger threat how will try to stop them.

Created by CallMeSpikey and it was published on Tumblr on 21.10.23 ext.

Plot:

We observe three shadowy figures against the backdrop of a luminous full moon. The Eds approach the Candy Store at midnight, and while Eddy notices a back alley behind brick walls, they spot a surveillance camera. To avoid detection, they shoot a spitball through bubble gum at the camera without attracting any attention to themselves. Meanwhile, Eddy directs Ed to fling the bag onto the roof. Without hesitation, Ed tosses it into the sky only for it to land directly on top of Eddy's head. Although impressed with himself, Ed receives an irritated look from Eddy who shifts focus and proceeds to explain his plan on how to break into the store and how he anticipates it will work out for them.

Ed seems to be on board with Eddy's plan for excitement, while Edd expresses concern about breaking and entering at midnight and committing a criminal act. However, Eddy interrupts Double D to convince him that this is not the same old scam as before and to stay calm. Ed joins in by taunting Edd for being the teacher's pet and suggesting that rules are only for nerds. This upsets Double D, who chastises Ed and Eddy for calling him a geek but ultimately agrees to go along with the plan.

The Eds get to work by climbing onto the rooftop and unpacking supplies such as an antenna, controller, butter toast, and Kevin's TV (which they most likely stole beforehand). Meanwhile, Double D prepares his new invention - the Lock & Roll 3000 - which includes spider-drones designed to transmit signals to Kevin's TV in order to record specific locations. Ed comments on how it reminds him of a video game he has played before.

Eddy couldn't care less about Double D's invention; instead he orders him to place one of the drones inside the vents, press the power button, activate it and start going through them. 

Initially, the drone appears to fulfill its purpose of scanning the area and ensuring safety for entering or exiting through vents. The Eds observe the transmission on TV while Edd is responsible for controlling the bot. As the drone navigates deeper into the vents, Eddy points to an air duct on the left, prompting it to zoom closer and directly view inside a sweet shop where jawbreakers are displayed. Further investigation leads to an eager rodent appearing out of nowhere and interrupting the drone's work. Double D attempts to scare it off by spraying with clean soap perfume, resulting in apparent victory when the rodent runs away and leaves them alone. The drone goes back to business as usual.

Unfortunately, matters worsen when more of these rodents appear seeking revenge against the drone teaming up by biting off cables as if they were legs that could fall apart at any moment. Regrettably, this leads to complete destruction of both cable connections and renders TV views useless as white noise dominates screens everywhere leaving no other options but going inside Candy Store in person according to Edd who tells his friends Eddy and Ed about their predicament.

The only means of accessing the interior is through the roof, descending down a vent. Edd imposes strict rules against entering due to an abundance of dirt, dust, bacteria and other allergens. Despite this, Eddy urges his friends to venture inside the vent with greater force until they all become overwhelmed. The trio are propelled at lightning speed through a labyrinthine network of passages, hurtling ever faster until an interminable hour has passed. Undeterred by the twisting maze-like passages, they persevere and eventually burst out into an open crawl space vent - careening in a dizzying ride that launches them completely outside of the ventilation system. After taking a brief interval to regain their composure, they inexplicably find themselves standing before an unfamiliar office room.

In a fit of fury, Eddy seethes with indignation as he realizes that they have mistakenly entered the wrong room. Edd promptly retrieves the planning map and scrutinizes their current location, informing his companions that gaining access to the sugar confections is impossible due to all doors being locked at night without an employee key. While Eddy appears on the verge of scrapping their entire plan, panic sets in for Edd who fears repercussions from his own parents for engaging in criminal activity - branding himself as a contemptuous burglar and bringing shame upon society under the guise of justice. 

As Eddy and Edd engaged in a heated argument, Ed espied an open door on their right. Intrigued by what he saw, he made his way towards it with the others in tow. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that it was a CCTV control and monitoring room replete with antiquated computers, outdated hardware, a well-worn telephone for convenience, remnants of sandwiches past, ten cups of coffee and eight TV monitors showing mostly B-movie monster flicks and black-and-white noir crime dramas. However, as they were about to delve further into their investigation, they suddenly became aware that they were not alone after all. A security guard sat in the chair before them watching something on television while munching on snacks simultaneously. As this happened, his personality quickly revealed its true colors as he began to unleash spiteful curses and insults at the TV screen before him.

Double D cautions the group about underestimating the appearance of the formidable guard. Upon spotting the keys on a desk, Eddy recognizes an opportunity but lacks knowledge on how to retrieve them. Ed's mind suddenly conjures up an idea inspired by a movie he has watched countless times called "The Revenge of Dr. Maize." Despite its absurdity, Eddy allows Ed to proceed with his plan as it is their only option. Ed distracts the security personnel by pouring a noxious mixture consisting of gravy and ancient cheese from his closet along with other unsavory contents straight into his coffee cup while placing a filthy cocktail umbrella atop it for good measure. After two minutes, the guard lifts up his cup and consumes all its contents which causes him to spiral into insanity and fall asleep due to hallucinations induced by what he drank. Surprised that their plan worked flawlessly, Eddy commends Lumpy's creative imagination but swiftly forgets about it as they focus on obtaining their target jawbreakers stored behind a locked door. The trio successfully retrieves as many jawbreakers as possible until they hear strange sounds emanating from within one of the vents where they discover that a previously damaged drone has inexplicably reactivated itself before careening out through another vent and landing squarely onto the panic alarm button causing it to wail incessantly in warning.

Naturally, the security guard awakens in a state of confusion as he is unsure of what has transpired. However, he does not dwell on it as he hears the alarm and rushes to the sweet shop. Upon arrival, he witnesses three amateurish youngsters attempting to pilfer the entire store. The guard's demeanor changes drastically as he unleashes his true nature and enters into an enraged mode, relentlessly pursuing The Eds. They proceed to wreak havoc on the shop as if playing a game of cat and mouse. Eventually, all three culprits flee from the scene through the exit door.

A tranquil morning is abruptly interrupted as The Eds gleefully exit the Candy Store with their hands full of jawbreakers, reveling in their victorious success. However, their elation is short-lived as Peach Creek's police officers arrive and apprehend them. To make matters worse, a fuming guard approaches from behind, causing The Eds to scream in terror at the impending punishment that awaits them.

As the next day goes by in Peach Creek Jr. High at The Football Field The Eds unsuccessfully didn't steal the jawbreakers as plan should be, they now have to do push-up all day while Frank is there as a gym teacher watching them very closely to make sure as the punishment is fulfilling for committed crime of burglary. Meanwhile, Kevin and Rolf arrive and proceed to deride them with disdainful laughter, as if their predicament could not conceivably deteriorate any worser.

Trivia:

Eddy’s thief outfit is the same one from Christmas special episode Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Jingle Jingle Jangle.

Throughout the comic, there is several references to real life film, theater, and TV shows are made:

Guard’s design and personality is inspired by the character Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from War drama film``Full Metal Jacket`` played by actor Lee Ermey when comes to his harsh, foul-mouthed and ruthless as an drill instructor.

When the guard is watching on the camera monitors, he says ``You ding-dong!`` This is a reference to the Tokusatsu film ``The Last Dinosaur``(1977) and the quote by the actor Richard Boone.

When Ed is distracts Guard on duty by pouring gravy, a very stinky old cheese being in Ed's closet for many years and taks of his shoe to his coffee. This is a reference to a scene in British comedy film ``Mr Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie`` (1997.)

The Webcomic Title IT'S NOT ME ED is a reference to the song ``It’s Not Me by Arthur Benson.``

There is a moral lesson in this webcomic. Do shoplift, but not like this." Under capitalism, much which is illegal is nevertheless ethical.

The Mechanical Crank is used as a tool to get up at roof top of the Candy Store, before it was use in 8th episode of Season 1 ``Virt-Ed-Go`` when The Eds build their own clubhouse.

In the left on top of camera monitor screen-on CCTV, is a cameo of Fish Bowl 2 which first appearance in 2nd episode of Season 1 ``Nagged to Ed.``

Please note that this project is a work in progress, as I am still learning my skills in various aspects of the craft such as drawing, writing, storyboarding, background and character design, dialogue composition and coloration. What you are currently reading is merely an idea that exists within the confines of my imagination. I am also going to rewrite the webcomic in order to improve upon any grammatical errors.

[iwahajii]

That Certain Shade of Green

You, Iwaizumi and Oikawa's cat. How chaotic and romantic will that be?

You see, I'm not the type of person who likes confrontations or arguments. In fact, I do my best to avoid such situations unless necessary. Why? Because they're exhausting. I must also admit that I'm not a saint. I can run out of patience, scream in frustration, and do many others that meant visibly expressing my emotions. I cry, as in my tear ducts producing tears by processing my bodily fluids into salty, fat tears. Just that I don't cry too often, and if I do, I make sure it's worth it by waiting until I reach the last strand of my sanity before crying, or on special occasions, from grave frustration. Contrary to popular belief, I do have emotions. I'm human, not a robot or an android, much to my friends' amusement and frustration.

I also believe that I'm rational. I think things through, over and over in my head, before doing whatever it is. I do my best not to act on impulse, and I do my best to remain respectful regardless of whoever I was dealing with.

It must be a wonder why I'm saying all this... Let's just say it all boils down to me reaching my maximum boiling point and doing something unexpected it started derailing my life until all hell broke loose.

Because there's a reason why I'm currently banging on the door of my neighbor at 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning, holding a cat between my arms, with mascara and tears streaming down my face.

There's a reason why I'm still wearing yesterday's clothes, why my legs ache from standing for hours, why my head is pounding from overuse and lack of sleep.

There's a thousand more reasons I could name why I'm doing something borderline crazy, like slam my fist on someone's door in the middle of the night, but at the moment, I didn't care whether I'd get the cops called on me.

Screw this cat. Screw this neighbor. Screw this fucking life because I am so fucking done.

I must have looked fresh from the deepest pits of hell because when the door swung open, the man on the other side jumped away, eyes wide in surprise.

Opening my mouth to speak, I find the string of disrespectful words clawing at my throat two seconds ago vanishing to thin air, leaving me opening and closing my mouth like a fish out of water. Even my tears stopped the second I caught sight of the person on the other side, as though my brain stopped everything that's not involved with sight.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment, with the two of us locked in a stare-down, though technically, I wasn't... really looking at his eyes...

But honestly, who could blame me?

When I decided to storm up to my neighbor after seeing the crime scene in my apartment, I never really expected to find a half-naked greek god glaring down at me for interrupting his sleep. I mean, If I did, I wouldn't really do it with mascara-stained face or with clothes still from yesterday's. I could've cleaned up a little, at the very least.

Or whatever.

I balled my hands into fists to stop my train of thoughts.

Embarassed, warmth slowly crept up my cheeks as I sneaked a glance at the washboard abs seemingly gleaming even under the poor lighting from the nearest post.

"Shut up," I growled under my breath, but Mr. Greek God seemed to have heard, and he blinked himself awake, frowning at me.

"Excuse me?" he asked, confusion etched on his face as he continued to frown. When his eyes drifted down my arms, recognition seemed to finally dawn on him. "Why do you have Mr. Cuddles?" he asked, voice deep and gruff.

The snort came swift. Mr. Cuddles? Seriously?

"Oh, him?" you quipped, flashing the greek god a bright smile before giving the cat a back rub, "Mr. Cuddles, huh? Well, Mr.-" you paused, leaning to your right to glance at the nameplate, "-Iwaizumi, I would like to inform you that Mr. Cuddles has broken into my home and destroyed my apartment."

It took him ten seconds to react to my words. Ten seconds. I counted it in my head.

He froze, hand still holding the knob, before he visibly sagged and brought his hands up to wipe down his face. He groaned into his hands, the sound so deep the vibrations reverberated.

My eyes inavertedly shifted to his arms, strong and thick and sinewy as he raises one to run down his hair in visible frustration. The force of his glare was so potent that when he turned to look at me, my body flinched on impulse.

He'll kill me for waking him up was the first thought that ran through my head.

He frowned, silently watching me squirm under his heavy glare. Suddenly, he sighed, running a hand through his hair again. "Sorry," he grumbled. "It's not you I'm pissed at."

Is that why his hair's so spiky? It's short, too, so maybe it's the reason why it's sticking up. Too much running through it.

"Oh," I replied, surprised by his admission. "That's... good, I guess."

It took a good full minute of silence before any of us spoke, somehow focused on staring at anything besides the other.

"I'm just gonna go-"

"Wait here a sec-"

I stopped, motioning for him to go ahead.

"Go on," he replies, nodding his head at me.

"I-I'm just-" I began, cheeks reddening from embarassment when I stuttered. Good grief, why the hell am I stuttering? This was embarassing enough. Clearing my throat, I tried again.

"I'm gonna go. It's late," I tell him, jabbing a thumb towards my unit. As though he needed the information when he had been sleeping peacefully before you decided to disturb him, the cheeky devil in me snickered. Bowing slightly, I continued, "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Without looking back up at him, I pivoted on my heels to go back to my apartment, but was pulled to a stop. Frozen in place, I turned to the hand on my arm, following it through a toned arm and up to a handsome face.

I knew he looked good, based from what I could make out from the dim lighting the nearby post provided, but out here, with more light illuminating his features, it truly made me wish the concrete would somehow open up and swallow me whole from sheer mortification.

Here I was, grimy, stressed and exhausted, with mascara and tears staining my face, while this man looks like he walked straight out of an Abercrombie billboard. He had dark locks of hair, spiky and cropped, a prominent nose that's a little crooked, probably broken once or twice, a strong jaw, and his eyes- they were green, but not much, more like a mix of brown and green- and they were beautiful. He is beautiful.

I could feel my breath get caught in my chest, at the same time my heart began thudding loudly. It physically hurt to look at this beautiful person, even in the poor light of a street lamp. I must've stared a little too long because he was frowning again, eyebrows scrunching together. "Y-yes?" I squeaked.

"The cat," he said, looking at my arms still crossed on my chest.

"The cat?" I repeated, following his gaze. I was met with a pair of blue eyes gleaming in the dark. I jumped, effectively pulling my arm out of his grasp. "Right! The cat!" I exclaimed, my nerves making me laugh.

"Sorry about that," I tell him as I shifted my hold on the cat, ready to pass it to his waiting arms.

All of a sudden, the cat hissed, quickly followed by a shout of pain as the cat jumped out of reach and ran straight back to my apartment. Before I could fully process what happened, Mr. Iwaizumi was hot on his tail, bolting down the hall towards my apartment.

"Wait!" I called after him, catching up as quickly as I could while he stood frozen by my doorstep.

Stopping at his side, I watched as his eyes slowly took in the state of my apartment, his expression getting dimmer and dimmer the longer he looked around.

To simply call it a mess was an understatement. From the scattered shoes, scratched sofa and pillows, ripped curtains, broken stems and shattered pots, you'd think this was a crime scene, with paw prints on soil as evidence.

You!" he barked, jolting me out of my reverie from the mess I call my apartment. I followed his line of sight, stopping at the slimy little bastard who caused this disaster.

We all froze, me, him and the cat, locked in a staredown before the cheeky demon, seemingly smirking at us from his high throne, thrust a paw at the sole survivor of his havoc, my domino cactus perched on my countertop, pushing it on its side. As the pot rolled side to side, Mr. Cuddles skipped away from view, leaving me and Mr. Iwaizumi holding our breath as the pot continued its motion.

"No!" I screamed when the pot started to teeter over the edge, slapping my hands over my eyes to save me from the heart-wrenching sight.

The sound of ceramic breaking didn't reach my ears. Instead, a loud groan echoed through the apartment, followed by a string of curses that filled the deafening silence of the night. It took me seconds before gaining the courage to sneak a peek. What I saw made my breath and my heart to stutter, feeling electrified by some current that made me feel all jittery inside.

Mr. Iwaizumi was lying down on the messy floor, hand outstretched and holding the plant safely in his hand.

Wait, the plant?

I watched as he used his free hand to push himself to a sitting position, groaning with the effort. Once seated, he took the pot with his other hand, hissing in pain as his palm is freed from the sharp thorns of the cactus.

"Shit," he cursed out loud, groaning as he flexed his right hand, assessing the damage the plant has done.

"Shit," I echoed.

-

I am back from the dungeons of life with this ancient draft I have on my notes. I know I still have works in progress but this one wanted to come out sooner than later. Thanks for stopping by!

[sauce-machine]

Perfect

My first Pizza Tower fic, and first fic in ten years. (Angst, Yelling, Mentions of abuse.)

“Are you-a serious?! Again?!” Peppino shouts so loudly one would think the walls of the pizzeria were shaking. It was loud enough for the rats in the back alley to scurry away, for Gustavo and Brick to fully turn their attention to the kitchen, and for his clone to slither backwards into a corner in fear.

Since the tower fell almost three months ago, the beings that inhabited that tower went to live in other places. Some integrated into the wild, others had families to fall back on. But not all of them.

Peppino’s clone would skulk around outside of the restaurant during hours, sometimes trying to get in, other times digging for food in the trash. At the mere suggestion that they take in the clone, Peppino would sputter and throw a fit. He wanted NOTHING to do with that clone.

That’s what he would say, until Gustavo finally wore him down.

The clone would only help with odd jobs in the back for some food, nothing more. It would stay in the back where customers wouldn’t be able to see it.

For the most part, his clone was pretty good at being told what to do. Sweep the floors, take out the trash, clean the bathrooms, fold the pizza boxes. It made things easier around the kitchen.

But every so often, his clone would get too ambitious. Accidentally knocking over orders, spilling sauce, minor mistakes in the eyes of the everyday working man.

But Peppino was a workaholic, with a temper that could explode at any given moment. And when his clone happened to drop an order flat on the floor, these were one of those moments.

“Fucking hell! The moment I turn my back to you, you mess-a everything up! What the hell are we going to do with you?!” Peppino shouts at it. His face is red and sweaty, not too far from his usual state.

Gustavo comes running in. “What happened?! Is everyone-a okay?” Gustavo asks. He immediately sees the pie face down on the floor. “I see, I see. Peppino, just-a give me the order and I’ll remake it-a.” Gustavo said softly. His eyes wander over to the clone cowering in the corner. It was almost a pile of mush at this point.

Peppino glares at Gustavo. “Gus! It shouldn’t even-a had the pie in its hands! If this thing would just listen to me--” Peppino argues.

“I think you’re being-a too hard on him. Look, Peppino..” Gustavo says as he softly gestures to the clone in the corner.

The mushy pile that is Fake Peppino gurgles a few things. “...Yrros..Yrros.. ...yrros m'I…” It says.

Peppino shakes his head. “No, enough is enough! I’ve-a had it! I want this thing OUT!!!” Peppino yells from the back of his throat, pointing sharply at the clone.

As soon as he does point, the clone jumps up and screams. It’s much more rattling and sharp than Peppino’s yell, and even more inhuman. It spreads its limbs out, holding itself up in the corner of the room. It lets out a hiss at Peppino as it jump’s into the air ducts.

Peppino sighs, but gives himself a weary smile. He claps his hands together. “Well! It-a seems to have-a gotten the message. Now, to fix that order..” Peppino says.

“Are you really going to-a let it suffer like that?” Gustavo asks.

Peppino rolls his eyes. Gustavo is his closest friend, in fact, many creatures and people consider Gustavo to be their close friend. He has a knack for befriending the weird, creepy, unsettling, and unnatural. And also Mr. Stick.

“That thing can’t-a suffer. It has no heart.” Peppino says.

“Oh, really? What makes you-a think that?” Gustavo asks.

“Because it wants to-a be me! I bet that moment I close my eyes tonight-a, it’ll sneak into my apartment and slit-a my throat!” Peppino loudly exclaims, making a knife cutting motion across his neck.

“It’s been-a months now! Don’t you think it would have already-a tried to do that?” Gustavo asks. He begins to clean up the mess on the floor, Brick slinks in to help.

“Maybe it’s-a waiting for the right moment. When I’m alone and don’t-a expect it.” Peppino mutters as he carefully places the toppings on the pizza.

Gustavo places a few dirty rags in a bucket of water, finishing up with the cleaning. “Oh, well, I hope you’re not-a too afraid.” Gusatvo says.

“I’ve-a got the gun upstairs.” Peppino says.

“And why do you-a have the gun upstairs?” Gusatvo asks.

Peppino hated that question. Gusatvo knew the answer, why even bother asking it? He keeps it upstairs in case…

Because…

He just…

Peppino chose not to answer, and instead, just kept working.

The rest of the day was quiet. A few more customers coming in and out, nothing special. Closing time has come yet again. Another day, another dollar, until the rent is due. Again.

“Have a good night, Peppino.” Gustavo says while riding Brick out.

Brick does not squeak a goodbye. How odd.

Peppino waves them off. He has to count the earnings from today, then, he can finally go to bed and forget about this nonsense day.

DING!

Cash register is open.

“One, two, three, four, five…” Peppino begins counting.

Drip….Drip.…Drip….Drip.…Drip….

Where was that dripping coming from? Is it a leak? Better not be, just another damn bill to pay..

“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten…” Peppino continues to count.

Drip….Drip.…Drip….Drip.…Drip….

The sound is…getting closer? What if.. No it can’t be. That thing ran off, but still…

Peppino looks around for the source of the dripping. He doesn’t have to look long or hard at all, as he sees flesh colored ooze dripping from the air duct above him, and a single eye looking down at him.

“EEEEEYYYYAAAAAHHHOOOUGH!!!”

“!!!HGUOOOHHHAAAAAYYYYEEEEE”

The two of them scream. Peppino feels his heart shoot up in his throat. His entire chest beating like a drum, wanting to escape.

The clone immediately drops from the air duct and onto the floor, where it tries to run away, but instead backs itself into a corner.

“You!!” Peppino shouts. “You almost-a gave me a heart attack!”

The clone melts into a little pile of flesh again, gurgling apologies.

Peppino approaches the mass of flesh. “What-a the hell is the big idea, scaring me like that?!” He can really feel his anger rising now. “Am I going to have to beat-a some sense into you?! Is that it?!” Peppino yells at the clone.

His clone stops shuddering for a moment, it regains its usual shape. Tall, disproportionate, googly eyes, pink cheeks, all that it was missing was its goofy smile.

The clone’s hand reaches back to the kitchen, searching around for something. Peppino is left completely in the dark. “What-a are you-?”

CLANK!

The clone drops a knife in front of Peppino.

He stares at it.

“What it…Why?” Peppino asks.

“.tnemhsinuP” Utters the clone. It nudges the knife closer to Peppino with its foot. “.tnemhsinuP” it repeats.

“You’re-a going to punish me?! For what?!” Peppino hollers.

The clone winces and shakes its head. “.tnemhsinup yM. tnemhsinup yM.” It gestures towards itself with one arm, and sticks out the other one as if it’s waiting for something to happen.

Silence fills the pizzeria, an uncomfortable and heavy one. Peppino had no idea what the clone was getting at, but he didn’t want to say anything. For once, he was analyzing the situation before him instead of just acting upon it.

Until finally, he spoke. “You want-a me to-a punish you? Why?” Peppino asks.

“.azzip depporD..” The clone gurgles sadly.

“But why would-a that--”

“.tnemhsinup sa tuo hself ym fo stib tuc dluow daehazziP .rewot eht ni pu ssem dluow I nehW.” said the clone. Its eyes stared directly into Peppino’s, despite them always being a bit lopsided.

The clone steps closer.

"...pu ssem dluow I revenehw os ,tcefrep eb ot em detnaw eH .uoy fo enolc a ot teg dluoc eh tsesolc eht saw I" said the clone.

".pohC" It bubbled.

“Pohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcp̸̰͉̯̲͈̒̈́͂̀́̈́͋̈́ơ̴̱͔̭̤͛̅̈́͒͒h̶̛̟̞̲͖͔̙̝̯͓͙̣͔̝͔̝̋͐̈́̆̅c̵̲͔͋̈́̿̀̆͌͘̕͝͝p̶̨̡͉̃̑̏̐͑̐̔ͅo̴̜̻̗͉̖̱͙͆̂̂̃̾͌͋̽͂̏͂̕͝h̵̢̙̜̻͕̕c̶̢͈̰̮̦̘̖͍̑̚p̴̝͕̠͈̭͔͈͖͚͖̩̟̓̍̀̈̍̕o̵̲͊͂̏͑h̸̞͇͓̘̞̲̿̂̅̚͝͝ç̴̐͛̃͛̄̂̂̌̂̃̑̚͝͠p̷̡͕͚̞͚̬̻̣̝͉̝̰͍̤̈́o̴̧̞͉̙̳͔̜̲͍̩̺͂͛́̿̅́͂͐̀̿̈́̏͜ḩ̷̼̣̺͍̾́̇̀̀͐c̶̹̮̆̄͗̓̑̃͘ͅp̴̨̧̥̬͇̪̫̰̬̗̰̫̝̜͝o̶͎̳͉̲̎̅͆̊͐̔̀͘̕͝ḧ̴̛̟͉̯̝͕̝́̎̉͒̓̆̾̓̆̆̅͝͠͠č̵̩̿͂͊̏̐̈́͝p̶͉̑̔̎̃͑͛̍̀̈́͑̓̀͛̚͝o̴̧̭̪̤̟͉͖̪͚̹͖̞͇̒̈́̊͆̃͜͠h̷͇̩͇̟̗̤͎͍̬̐̋͊͐̌̒̽͊̾͛͌̔̔͘ç̸̧̺̫̹̲̠̝͍̩͌̐̆̈́̉̈́…” The clone kept repeating itself over and over until even it just kept repeating a garbled mess of backwards words and cries. It melts again into the floor, but the arm is still up at Peppino.

Disturbed. Peppino always felt a bit disturbed at the sight of his clone. But this time, he didn’t feel it towards the fake, but instead himself.

What the hell did Pizzahead do to this thing? All it does is act like a weird dog, sniffing things, occasionally eating restaurant equipment and the odd rat. His clone didn’t deserve that, nobody did.

Peppino looks down at his clone’s hand, and takes it. His clones shudders, morphing and changing against its will in a fit of unbridled anxiety and fear. This thing is just like him..

This thing is him..

It acts like him, it mimics his speech patterns, it even cooks like him. Which makes Peppino wonder if his clone suffers the same way he does?

“Mio dio… When the hell did I become-a so heartless?” Peppino sighs as he gingerly puts his other hand over his clone’s. “I’m not gonna hurt you, compango.”

“?ognapmoC” his clone uttered softly.

Peppino kicks away the knife between the two of them and sits down. “Now, I don’t-a know what-a Pizzahead did to you in-a that tower. I almost-a don’t want to know… But rest assured, I will never-a do that to you, capeesh?” Peppino says. He explains it sternly, like a father talking to his kid.

His clone slowly regains his form, building up from the pile of flesh it once was.

“I’m not-a exactly used to having you here yet. If I’m-a being honest, you still kinda freak me out. But, I’m-a sorry for yelling. I’ve let-a my anger go unchecked when it comes to you. You didn’t ask to be brought into this-a world, so why should you be punished for it?” Peppino says.

He notices his clone poking at his hand. Peppino takes it and gives it a firm but loving squeeze. “I’ll be more-a patient with you from now on.” Peppino says.

For the first time in what feels like a while, his clone smiles again. It was that moment, Peppino learned to appreciate his clone’s big dopey smile.

[lesbiancharliedalton]

Literally this sucks so fucking bad. I'm really guessing we probably just need to get the air ducts clean but good luck getting anything done in this apartment. The communication with all the maintenance people the landlord has hired or told us to call says it all. Our landlord is so useless like if you have a problem all he does is tell you to call someone about it. Like ok that's literally your job but ok.

[omniblades-and-stars]

Ding dong me again

“what if i asked you out?” Nilea/Lou

You brilliant bastard, you made me write something I can actually use in the real story. Anyways, I wrote this over my lunch break, so it's not the finished product that will 100% be in Pass the Knife, but here's something nice happening to Lou for once. I can't be mean to her the whole time. Under the cut for length!

What If I Asked You Out?

The mug was warm in her hands. The tea inside rippled with the gentle shake of her hands, mirroring the floating wake of thoughts freed from their chains by generous application of pain killers.

Crawling through air ducts, riding on top of a crashing car and rumbling with a biotic mercenary were apparently not what the doctor had ordered. Dr. P'Beria was kind enough to make a house call once they stumbled back to Lou’s apartment after the whole debacle. Dr. P'Beria had not been kind enough to spare Lou the lecture about post-surgical wound care, concussions and whatever that asari had done to her that made her head all fuzzy and the world go in triplicate every time she opened her eyes for a couple of hours. Her promise to the doc to stay out of trouble had gone in one ear and right out the other.

Lou had never been good at staying out of trouble.

She didn’t know which way was up, partially because her head was swimming and every time she tried to stand up everything went kind of upside down or sideways. Or maybe that was just her going sideways. And partially because she was growing frustratingly fond of the turian who was her captive to start with. When her head was inhibited by the sort of logical thinking that sobriety brought, she was able to reason herself into believing she was just being foolish, and everyone felt kind of like that when they were stuck in close quarters with someone for extended periods of time anyways.

Someone who didn’t have to help her escape. But she did.

Someone who didn’t have to talk her through daddy dying. But she did.

Someone who didn’t have to stay with her at the hospital. But she did.

Nilea could have just taken the datapads and Lou’s omni-tool and disappeared into the night. And maybe she’d have been right to do it. But she didn’t. And more than that, she’d just given Lou a steaming mug of tea (though Lou wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t just a ploy to get her to stop trying to stand up), and was currently carefully cleaning the blood off of Lou’s armor which had been discarded haphazardly by the couch when the doctor arrived to make sure she hadn’t suffered anything worse than getting the shit kicked out of her a bit.

Whether it was good fortune or bad, sobriety had left the building along with anything resembling good sense that Lou might have had.

“You don’t gotta do that,” Lou murmured into the mug as Nilea diligently wiped the violet spatter free of the white surface. Lou didn’t look up from the cup lest the movement release the rusted and fragile valve holding back every thought she’d ever had about the woman in a deluge.

Nilea hummed and didn’t look up from her scrubbing, even in the low light, the armor glinted in the spaces where it hadn’t been scuffed by Lou’s unfortunate meeting with the asphalt. “I know. But you’re in no shape to do it yourself.” Like everything inside of Lou’s home, the old armor looked brand new when she’d donned it just prior to their misadventure that day. Immaculate, in perfect working order, every piece stored in a special case made just for it. Nilea wondered if Lou could ever be convinced to take care of herself even half as well as she took care of her things. “Besides, it’s a tripping hazard, and you’re already enough of your own tripping hazard. Armor doesn’t get put away bloody.”

The logic was sound enough to Lou, but again, higher reasoning was on vacation, leaving Lou sitting in a dark room trying to sift through all the nonsense in her head all by her lonesome. There weren’t easy compartments for her to put each thought into, she couldn’t just carefully paint a grid out in her mind like she did for her workbench. Those little bitty screws went over in square 4A, firing pins on 2B, but where the hell did these feelings of affection go? They probably needed go right into the trash can.

Something was bubbling up inside of her, threatening to break free of her lips and embarrass her for good. Lou did the only thing she could think of to stop it, she tilted the mug up and took a slug of the tea that was still entirely too hot for that sort of consumption. The scalding on her tongue didn’t stop the words from hissing past her teeth, “What if I asked you out?”

Damn it. Stupid. Stupid and juvenile and inappropriate.

Nilea paused her scrubbing and quietly stood up. Lou tried to watch her as she approached, but her vision was still a little on the wonky side. Though she was down to twins instead of triplets on that front, at least. Nilea propped herself up on the edge of the coffee table before finally speaking, “Lou, you have a concussion.” Talons tilted her head back and Nilea examined Lou’s eyes.

Lou’s heart plummeted somewhere down into her feet. Her face burned bright red, and a veritable flood of words tumbled out of her as she back pedaled as hard as she could without physically throwing herself over the back of the couch and locking herself in her room to hide from what she’d just said. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said that. It ain’t right of me to say shit like that. You’re here ‘til we can save your friend. You’re only in this mess ‘cause I tried to take you in for creds. Look you can just take all that information and shit and Tac and Adi’ll help you get Yaeno back. You don’t gotta deal with-“

“Lou,” Nilea said her name sharp and like a knife it cut through the ramblings rushing out of her and blessedly stopping Lou from embarrassing herself anymore than she already had.

Lou took a deep breath in, given that she had not breathed at all since … well she wasn’t exactly sure. “Yeah?” she asked wearily.

“Shut up.” Nilea chuckled softly and leaned in, brushing her mouth plates gently against Lou’s lips. “When this is over, I’d like that very much.”

[aggressivelyaverage21]

Chapter 3: The Amber Price of Whiskey

She's a badass, she's a lightweight

.... enter one Ava Silva

“Do you have a mirror under there? This is some Vegas magician shit you’re pulling.” 

Suzanne peered out the screen door to the patio, where Mary and Shannon sat across from each other, evidently playing cards. A modest pile of beer bottles collected to their left. Mary slammed her cards down on the table. 

“I’m just good!” Shannon, tall, fair, and smiling, laid her cards face down onto the table and leaned in with a smile. 

Mary huffed and picked up her cards. “Chief? That you in there? Shannon’s cheating at cards again.” She turned back to Shannon. “And what am I, ‘o for seven, ‘o for eighteen now?”

“Stop cheating, Shannon,” called Superion. 

“The next time I win, you’re cleaning the fucking toilet is what you’re doing,” Mary muttered.

Just then, a door closed somewhere in the house. Rather than Beatrice, Lilith walked into the kitchen. Lilith was tall and stern, with distinctive cheekbones and a delicate bone structure. It was modelesque in a way that could be intimidating. This wasn’t helped by the most severe case of resting bitch face Suzanne had ever seen—outside of her own, of course. 

Lilith greeted her with a nod before opening the fridge. What she was looking for, Superion didn’t know; it was empty but for a beer called Alhambra when she’d just grabbed the water bottle. 

Lilith closed the fridge, beer in hand. She nodded towards the whiskey. “I don’t know how you can stand that with no ice.”

“ This is for cooling off,” Superion held up the water. She held up her whiskey in the other, nodded toward it. “This is not.”

“Just drink beer like the rest of us, Chief, and you’ll get both at the same time,” Miguel said, sliding onto the stool next to Superion. He held out his hand toward Lilith and she obliged, tossing a beer across the kitchen. He caught it easily.

“Mmm. But then I’ll have to look like you.” 

Just then, Beatrice walked through the living room and into the dining area. She’d caught the tail end of the conversion, so at face value, this was a wild thing to say. Miguel wasn’t Beatrice’s type, but she had eyes. The guy was fit, and not un attractive. 

But you know what? Somehow that made it even funnier. 

Beatrice continued into the kitchen comfortably, eyes settling on the beat-up yellow YETI cooler at Superion’s feet. On top, it had a dirty piece of duct tape labeled CANTINA in thick sharpie marker. Beatrice grimaced, amused. Almost every unit she’d deployed with had something similar, though the YETI was a step up from the beat up old Igloo held together by duct tape and dreams they’d had in Syria.

Miguel raised his head to look at Beatrice. “And you must be our little Sparrow.”

Mary leaned her chair back to more clearly see from the backyard into the apartment, hand over her brow to shade her eyes. “Hey, if you’re here to fix the air conditioner, it’s right around the corner. Thank you very much. Thank you for your service.” 

Ah, ball busting, a tradition as integral to this job as much as any other. Beatrice ignored her and leaned on the back of the sofa. She did, however, fight a smile when she heard a thud followed by a whispered “ What ? I was just fucking with her.”

Superion set down her whisky glass and cleared her throat. “I’ll introduce you to everyone. That out there is my QRF team lead, Shannon. That across from her is Shotgun Mary.” She gestured to the shirtless blond to her right, then to the woman cracking a beer open by slamming it against the counter. “This is Miguel, and that’s Lilith.”

“We’ve met,” said Beatrice to Lilith. She offered a respectful nod toward the fellow Marine. Former Marine? Beatrice never could tell; some people said you could never be a former Marine. Beatrice tended to agree. “Villaumbrosia.”

They’d worked together a couple of times in Kuwait. Lilith was precise, meticulous, and to the point. A bit more abrasive than Beatrice usually preferred in her coworkers, but trustworthy and reliable overall. Lilith returned the nod. “Kline.”

The door shut, and everyone turned to see a short-haired brunette kick off her shoes, grocery bags in hand. “And I’m Camila” 

Lilith set her beer down to help Camila with the grocery bags. Mary opened the screen door and came inside, moving counterclockwise around the kitchen bar and gathered crew to get to the fridge. 

“Why Shotgun Mary?”

“Take a guess.” Snarky, but alright. Beatrice had earned that. Also, if it was anything like the other nicknames or callsigns, it was probably something incredibly stupid. 

“Beatrice, can I get you a beer?” Superion stood and made like she was moving toward the kitchen.

“Just water, please.”

“Water,” sniggered Mary, not enough under her breath to not be a goad. Despite her protests, Camila sent a water bottle Beatrice’s way via air mail. It only narrowly missed Superion as she ducked out of the way. 

Much to Beatrice’s relief, she didn’t bobble the bottle at all as she pulled it from the air, smoothly twisting the cap off as she raised it to her lips. Yikes. It was never a good sign when water tasted sweet. She should probably get on the hydration train fairly soon or she would be regretting it tomorrow, drinking today or not. “When do we start?”

“His family keeps an apartment here,” Superion answered, idly twisting her back as she moved around. Beatrice didn’t blame her—she felt stiff from the plane ride too—but each twitch as Suzanne subtly stretched a certain spot implied the woman had an old injury. “We have eyes on it. When she moves, we move.”

“And where does he stay?” Beatrice obviously had said she didn’t have a problem using this woman to get to her father, but it would be infinitely easier if she could just access the target with little to no fuss.

“That’s the million dollar question you’re here to answer.” The reply was provided with some satisfaction, like Superion was sure that she’d made the right choice with Beatrice.

Just then, Mary walked up to Beatrice, face smiling—practically a picture of compassion.

“Let’s see that,” Mary chided, taking the open water bottle directly from Beatrice’s hand and slamming a beer in its place. She looked Beatrice in the eye, set a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t doesn’t get drunk with me. Bottoms up, Babygirl.” 

KEEP READING

[meret118]

1. Block routes for outside air to keep it from coming in — within reason. That means closing windows and doors, and, where it’s relatively easy to do so, sealing visible crevices.Cull said that caulking around drafty windows, or applying seasonal shrink-wrap window covering to prevent smoky air from getting in through unseen cracks, probably isn’t going to yield much additional protection. “

Air finds its way in,” he said, and focusing your energy on other strategies like filtration (more on that below) is probably more effective.

But if you have a big gap to the outside that’s easily sealable with duct tape, throw some on there, he said.

2. Keep exhaust fans off. Differences in pressure between the inside and the outside are what determine how much outside air flows into your space. Exhaust fans — like the ones in bathrooms and on hoods over kitchen ranges — are designed to suck air out of the room, which creates an incentive for outside air to flow in. That’s normally a good thing, but in a smoky air situation, it’s the opposite of what you want!

3. Switch from ventilation to recirculation on any and all HVAC units. When the outdoor air is clean, we generally want it to replace stale indoor air pretty frequently. But now, with the outdoor air quality so low, we want to keep it out. Instead, we want to just recirculate the better-quality air that’s already inside our homes.

Doing that will look different depending on what your home uses for cooling the air — and on how much control you have over tweaking any central systems’ settings.

If you have central air, see if you can figure out how to close the fresh air intake ducts. These are generally openings on the outside of a building, often with a grill over them — and for someone not used to finding them, they can be hard to tell apart from other openings in the side of a building. Still, if you can find yours, closing it is a good first step.

If you have an in-unit (“window”) air conditioner, you likely have the option of bringing in outdoor air (often symbolized with wavy one-way arrows) or recirculating indoor air (which often is indicated with arrows running in an oval or circle). When the air outside is bad, opt to recirculate.

More at the link. Great information I haven't seen elsewhere!

[friendly-books]

Dresden files Death Mask live blog

Death Mask live blog

Larry Fowler show

Aw Harry has stage fright 

“I’ve been in house fires I liked more than this” pg. 14 Ha and Harry probably started those fires

“An old, quiet hurt mixed in with my nervousness” aw :(

“Because I’m broke and your producer is paying double my rate” pg. 18 Ha

Go away Duke Ortega 

“So would killing every vampire on the planet. What’s your point?” pg. 28 Well Harry you certainly put a dent in that population.

Harry, don't you dare agree to this duel. HARRY no stop why did you agree?!?

I’m glad to be getting Marcone in this book but confused as to why he’s trying to kill Harry? A public shootout doesn’t seem like him. And shooting near an innocent Priest too

Susan’s back! 

Polka music is this Butters? I’m meeting Butters! Wow he had a beat on the supernatural before meeting Harry. Poor guy almost getting fired. 

“The soul gaze began almost instantly” pg. 89 So Harry soul gazed a denarius. “GET OUT” pg. 91 I take it that that’s the fallen angel

Go Shiro! 

Go Sanya!

Michael! 

With how Harry’s describing Michael I’m not so if it’s Bi Harry or vivid description from Jim

“I’d have died. It isn’t like isn’t going to happen sooner or later” pg. 113 Definitely sooner than you’d hoped 

“The Order of the Blackened Denarius” pg. 114 Such a pretentious name 

“Believe it or not, Micheal, I’ve been tempted once or twice. I can handle it.” pg. 115 Not just handle it. Turn Lash around to the good side. Michael should have more faith in Harry’s stubbornness and goodness

Ebenezar! 

I hope to learn more about Harry’s apprenticeship with Ebenezar and living in Hog Hollow

“I frowned at her. It’s not like I don’t like kids or anything, but I hadn’t had much experience with them.” pg. 155 Just you wait Harry

I love Ivy already. I love that Harry gave her a name

“Now that’s creepy.” pg. 159 Ha

Charity being mean to Harry Electric Boogaloo. The fact that Harry thinks that Charity might not tell Michael about the duel is concerning.

“I hear they make disinfectants that don’t hurt these days. But Charity used iodine” pg. 222 Ouch

Murph please stop trying to arrest Harry 

“Rudy was young, good looking, clean-cut” pg. 231 Bi Harry 11

We’re getting more Marcone yay!

Harry and parties don’t get along. I fully expect he sets off one fire 

“Do you remember the last time you wanted to come on an investigation with me?” pg. 233 I remember. It was Terrible 

“He had a male model’s face” pg. 241 Bi Harry 12 Thomas! I didn’t know you were in this book! 

“As one of us” pg. 245 No one wants Harry as a immortal blood drinker vampire least of all Harry

“The Red Court has been quietly building its resources for years.” “You were not the cause of the war. You were merely the excuse” pg. 253 I don’t know which would be worse starting a war or being the excuse.

“He had handsome but unremarkable features” pg. 264 Bi Harry 13

“Cautious that’s me” pg. 266 Ha

“Marcone blinked” pg. 266 Oh Marcone didn’t know? Interesting I like that Harry knows Marcone’s tell(?) 

“Don’t try me in public, Dresden. You can’t afford to do it. I can’t afford you to let you” pg. 266 Is Marcone worried that Harry will make a scene in public? He already had one at the Varity back in storm front

Gard! 

How big is this air duct?!?

“Marcone isn’t going to sprout horns and claws and start tearing you apart” “Or at least, I don’t think he is” pg. 284 Not yet

“You’ve done such things repeatedly when there was a woman in danger, Harry Dresden” pg. 290 Wow all the bad guys know that Harry has a Chronic Hero Syndrome. First Mab now Nicodemus like Harry this is starting to be a problem now that it’s being used against you

Go Susan! 

“I remove their tongues” pg. 304 Well that’s not good. How would they communicate with each other and their boss? 

“Little Maggie’s youngest” pg. 305 Does every morally dubious person know Harry’s mom? I’m questioning her and her friends? What bad social groups did she run in Nicodemus knows about Thomas? So he knows Thomas father 

“Not at all. Give us a kiss?” “She slid onto his lap and did. With tongue. Yuck.” pg. 310 Yuck doesn’t even begin to describe the visceral feeling of disgust I got from reading that line. 

“I wasn’t immune to temptation. The Demon, the Fallen, would drown me in it. It’s what the Fallen do.” pg. 315 Believe it or not Harry but you won’t give into temptation 

“The Jap” Racist much Nicodemus 

 No Shiro :(

Well Maggie’s conceived 

Lash/Lashciel! I can’t wait to meet her

I’ll let the snakes eat her. Bite by bite” pg. 394  Well he’s done messed up 

Harry torture doesn’t work

“It’s from Outside” pg. 408 interesting 

Ortega made the mistake of threatening Harry’s friends 

“What was left of Shiro lay on it” pg. 438 Sobbing:(

“When he coughed and wheezed I almost screamed” pg. 440 Ha

Marcone to the rescue on a helicopter!

Ride of the Valkyries Ha

“He gave me a direct look “I can only speculate as to why” pg. 446 Ha

I love Harry and Marcone’s banter. It’s always funny. I have to stop myself from quoting the entire dialogue 

 Train battle! 

“Do you know what I think?” said Marcone. “You think we should shoot Nicodemus in the back at the first opportunity and let Michael dismember him” “Yes” I drew my gun “Okay.” pg. 463 Ha 

“It was Marcone. And he hadn’t thrown a rope at me. He’d hauled me out with the Shroud” pg. 468 Cool

“Great. I’m going to require an armored escort to make sure  I get to hell” pg. 470 Ha

Ebenezar did a colony drop. It was cool

“He pulled in, dressed in casual clothes and wearing a baseball cap, which alone generated enough cognitive dissonance to make me start dropping” pg. 481 Bi Harry 14?

Persephone/Amanda!

“He pulled out a teddy bear and slipped it into  the crook of the girl's arm. He got out a book. Then he started reading to her, out loud.” pg. 481 Awww

“I hadn’t ever pictured John Marcone praying. But I saw him forming the word please, over and over.” pg. 482 My heart

“My eyes widened. “She’s yours?” pg. 483 Unfortunately no but that would certainly make an interesting au

“I’ll kill you,” he said in that same soft voice. “If you so much as breathe in her direction I’ll kill you, Dresden Myself” pg. 483 Marcone sure is protective of Amanda 

“I shook my head and stood up. “No. I won’t do that. I’ll take it up with you” He stared at me for a long moment before his expression softened “All right” pg. 483 My heart 

“I panicked abundantly and lunged out ahead of him, slapping my hand down over a polished silver coin before the child could squat down to pick it up.” pg. 486 Let’s go can’t wait to meet Lash 

“Harry” whispered a gentle voice” pg. 487 Spooky 

Final thoughts 

I’m planning on reading the short stories but I’m not sure when. Maybe after Changes to give myself a break from all that’s going to happen in that book. I loved all the Marcone we got. We’re up to 13 or 14 Bi Harry moments depending on that drooling comment. The train battle was so cool! I liked that Harry and Marcone had the same idea. I liked that Harry figured out that the noose. He really scared Nicodemus. Harry’s in his early thirties and Nicodemus is thousands of years old. What is Marcone’s end goal with Amanda like say she wakes up. She’s been in a coma for years. She'll want her parents and not this stranger (Marcone) . What's Marcone going to do to tell Beckitt that their kid is alive and awake. What’s his plan? Does he know that Helen tried to kill him back in Storm Front? I liked the fights in the book. I thought the duel with Duke Ortega was cool. I loved Ivy. I thought Shiro was cool. Now about that dual the Outside stuff Ivy brought had the same naming convention as He Who Walks Behind maybe they’re from the same place. Outside reality but that brings how did Justin sic a being outside of reality on Harry? As always, I love all the Harry and Marcone banter. I loved Marcone and Amanda. I loved that Harry was willing to take up the Shroud with Marcone. I liked that Harry picked up the coin to save little Harry. But couldn’t he just pick up little Harry instead of touching the coin? Can’t wait to get Lash. I really liked this book. Onto the next one. I’m making steady progress on the series.

[sugar-free-daddy]

how do i do a prostate check (i learn by example btw)

Sure! I think it’s best step by step, some principles overlap with general practices

1. Clean thoroughly with water.

2. Prepare lots of lubricant at skin temperature.

Best practices for boynecologists differ here

1. Instead of standing, preferably have the patient prone on their tummy, with legs shoulder width apart spine and hip flexed to push their butt up in the air. Ask them not to wag tail (if applicable).

2. Spread the cheeks apart and apply lubricant gently with a finger on the anus. If plug present lubricate the outside and slowly rock the plug around to remove

3. Let the boi know you’re going inside and that there will be pressure. Using one hand push past the anus slowly then allow the cavity to envelop your finger. Then push using the bottom of the rectum as your guide until you feel the circular smooth bulge. Prostate sizes vary, increasing by age and are walnut sized ~2-4 cm across. Sweep across it to figure out it’s size. There may be meowing. This is normal.

4. If a sample is required, rub or press the prostate as needed and use your other hand to massage the penis shaft. Verbal encouragement and grabbing hair assists as well. Have a sterile sample opened and stimulate until ejaculation.

5. If there’s any difficulty locating the prostate, gently exit slowing as you hit the anus. Explain that you haven’t felt the prostate and will use a tool to assist. Extensively lubricate your shaft and glans. Grab both shoulders. Warn the patient and gently insert and very slowly push in. Begin probing back and forth and use the patients barks or meows to correlate if you are near the prostate. Adjust their hips and positioning as needed. Add lubricant as needed. If patient ejaculates, try to find a pulsation as the ejaculatory ducts feed into the prostate.

It’s a bit wordy to type out but this should help get you started.

[lillylila2]

STAR WARS

Episode 1: Aux's origins.

Name: Aux syndulla

Aux was born on Dathomir as a soft pink Twi'gruta (Twi'lek Togruta hybrid) by a Dathomirain slave. From as far back as aux can reliably remember he was a cleaning slave along with all the other maids and Butler slaves but during one night there was a mass escape attempt with all the Dathomirain slaves fleeing for their freedom all except Aux too scared to move from under a table in the main hall knowing if he did try it would be whipping until his back bled or worse. When his master came back aux took to a high advantage point to watch what his master called a "grand Show". This so-called show was watching the rancor be siced on the fleeing slaves and one by one to Aux's horror he saw the runaway cleaning slave staff those he had known his formative years just mawled to death and ripped apart before his eyes. After that day aux swore to himself that he'd escape one day and after many years when he was 10 he would sneak out when his master went out to her ceremonies and cling on to the underside of the patrolling rancor like a tick and surprisingly they didn't notice so every time 2 patrolling rancor would pass each other he would jump from the one he's on to the other untill he would get to a shipyard and stow away on a ship until it would take off. After that he would bounce from ship to ship stowing away until he would sneak onto the ghost through exhaust vents and into the air ducts where he would fall out and onto Hera's bed where he would feel the comfort of a proper bed and become unable to move from how comfy it so he tucked himself in and took a nap. When hera did return to her bed she found little aux there still resting and naturally she jolted back shocked that this little kid pitched black with soot and dirt was resting in her bed so she shook him awake gently which caused aux to jolt awake and try to runaway like a scared little animal but Hera catches and lifts him up by the pits causing Aux to cry and beg her not to kill him which shocked hera to her core intern causing hera to hold the little alien to her chest and gently reassure him to that she wasn't going to harm him and just wanted some answers. After a few minutes building up trusts and a shower she gets his story and she would let him live aboard the ghost until she could find him somewhere more suitable for him to live but in that time Aux would bond with hera helping her with ship repairs, learn about piloting from hera, and after a while Hera would find Aux has an innate talent on working on machines and over time take time out of her day to educate him as best she could until one day he was handling ship repairs all by himself. Hera started to notice whenever she had music near Aux would become overly hyperactive with him and aux would bombard her with questions like " what noise is this?", " What animal sounds like this?", " why does it sound nice?", " can I listen more?". Hera would soon show him all sorts of music she had saved and show him how to play it on the ship's speakers through the aux port and after a while he would ask her often if he could have the aux to the point she would tease him on making Aux his name and soon enough that's what happened. Despite all the good times caring for Aux she would still have to find him a suitable home so she would spend hours a day training to bring herself to sign the papers that would put aux up for adoption but one day he would come in while she was trying to sign those papers and instead of saying "hera" for her attention he addressed her as mom making hera spin around in her seat to find him with with his lekku tips crossed over twice (meaning I love you) and right then and there she threw those papers away, hugged him, and signed some new papers to officially adopt aux as her son.

To be continued...