#as many of you likely know: flour is flammable!

[lightspren]

hey kids, pro tip: don’t get flour in your toaster

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

it's very bad no good cupcake baking time for the hotel crew (save them) (charlie did you think this throu-) (NO)

Charlie: “I have! The most brilliant plan for a group bonding activity!”

Angel Dust: “Oooh~ Bondin’ or bond-”

Vaggie: “You live here for free.”

Angel Dust: “Buy my silence, Vaggity Fair, cause’ it sure ain’t free.”

Vaggie: (groans) (slips him a twenty) “Go on babe, what’s the mission statement?”

Charlie: “We should all bake CUPCAKES together!!”

Hotel Crew: "......"

Husk: “…Why.”

Charlie: “Beeeecaaaause it’d be so SWEET!”

Vaggie: “And you also live here for free.”

Husk: “Not of my own free will I don’t.”

Charlie: “Aw c’mon Husk, please? Baking is probably KINDA like drink mixing, right?”

Husk: “It’s not.”

Vaggie: (SIGHS) (slips him a twenty)

Husk: “I’ve got cooking sherry around here somewhere, I think.”

Alastor: “How thrilling! Extreme heat sources, flammable liquids, and so many little bottles and vials that couldn’t possibly get mix up with anything in the pest control cabinet!”

Niffty: “Hee hee hee…. Rat poison~”

Vaggie: “Twenty bucks and you LOCK that cabinet, okay?”

Niffty: “Thirty and a new knife set!”

Vaggie: (has given up) “Fine.”

Niffty: “OKAY!”

Charlie: “We need to go shopping anyway. We’ll need flour and sugar and uhhhh flavory things of some kind probably and um, those little paper thingies- the cup cake… skirts?”

Alastor: “Glad to see how prepared our intrepid leader is for this marvelous expedition!”

Charlie: “Cup cake… dollies…?”

Vaggie: “I’ll handle it. You remember how to pre-heat the oven?”

Charlie: “NOT with actual fire!”

Alastor: “Aww.”

Angel Dust: (handing back the twenty) “I want a new pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs. Mine broke~”

Vaggie: “I don’t want to know.”

Husk: (handing his twenty back too) “Beer.”

Vaggie: “Beer? You run the hotel BAR.”

Husk: “What, you think I nip stuff under the table at work?”

Alastor: “Oh there isn’t much thought needed when it comes to you, I’m afraid.”

Husk: “You think I LIKE that I do that? That’s the stupid hotel’s shit, can’t relax sneaking shots that aren’t mine, racking up a tab like that. This beer is gonna be only for me.”

Charlie: “Husk…”

Vaggie: “Great whatever, guilt free beer for the alcoholic.”

Alastor: “How touching. And I require-”

Vaggie: “What YOU need is a-”

Charlie: “Happy place!”

Vaggie: “-which I’m not picking up for you. I’ll get more cleaning supplies too while I’m at it.”

Charlie: “More? Vaggie, have some faith! We’re all adults here! It’s not gonna be THAT messy. We just need to measure things, maybe chop some stuff up first-”

Niffty: “KNIVES.”

Charlie: “-put all in a- blender-? A blender would work for mixing, right? Then pour the batter in the things and into the oven! Which I WILL remember to preheat this time. Without fire.”

Vaggie: “Good point.”

Charlie: “See!”

Vaggie: “We should stock up on first aid stuff too.”

Charlie: (pouting) “We’ll talk about it on the way.”

Vaggie: “Sweetie, thanks for wanting to help carry groceries, but I really think we need to divide and conquer here.”

Charlie: “Huh?”

Vaggie: “Husk is already halfway to the wine cellar.”

Charlie: “He wh- Husk wait! You can’t help make friendship cupcakes if you’re blackout drunk!”

Angel Dust: “Toots that’s the whole idea.”

Vaggie: “Fifty bucks if he’s still conscious when I get back. I’ll need him in the kitchen later if we’re gonna get through this alive.”

Angel Dust: “Spend it on getting’ him a really NICE beer and you’ve gotta deal.”

Vaggie: (eye twitch) “Why is all my money turning into drugs and sex toys?”

Niffty: “And KNIVES!”

Vaggie: “The one silver lining…”

Alastor: “You know, if you won’t extend simple shopping list courtesies to me, then I suppose I shall have to go shopping myself as well.”

Vaggie: “Keep your shopping on the other side of town from me or I’m coming home with a flat screen tv.”

Alastor: (annoyed channel switch sound) “….Noted!”

– LATER –

Hotel Crew: “………….”

Oven: (DING)

Vaggie: “…”

Vaggie: “….cupcakes are done.”

Charlie: “Oh yay. Whoo. Hoo.”

Hotel Crew: “…….”

Vaggie: “If no one takes them out they’re gonna burn.”

Angel Dust: “Let ‘em.”

Husk: “Little fuckers deserve to fry.”

Charlie: (exhausted) “No one deserves to burn for all eternity.”

Niffty: “Yeah! I wanna RIP THEM APART and STAB THE CRUMBS.”

Alastor: “Well that’s two votes for burning and two for rescuing, to a certain extent. I myself would like to try out these DARLING cupcake toppers that I found while out doing my shopping completely alone.”

Vaggie: “Oh my girlfriend’s dad shut up. You won’t die just because no one was listening to you for ten minutes.”

Alastor: “In any case, that makes three for rescue and two for burn, with you as the undecided vote, Vaggie. Choose wisely~!”

Vaggie: (sighing) “Someone hand me the oven mitts.”

Husk: “They’re in the fucking blender.”

Angel Dust: “What’s left of ‘em.”

Vaggie: “Fine. Someone move the pile of dirty dishes off Charlie so SHE can be our oven mitts.”

Charlie: “It’s so peaceful under here…”

Vaggie: “The friendship cupcakes are dying, babe.”

Charlie: “UggghHHHHHH ‘kay. Coming.”

Angel Dust “That’s what she sa-”

Vaggie: “KNIVES.”

Angel Dust “-cough cough cough! I didn’t say nothin’, I got a piece of walnut shell stuck in my throat!”

Alastor: “Usual night for you then, hmm?”

Husk: “Who the fuck put in walnuts?”

Vaggie: “Who cares. If they shelled them then it’s at least better than the coconut thing.”

Charlie: “Did we add anything that wasn’t nut related?”

Vaggie: “Uhhh.”

Angel Dust “Nope!”

Husk: “Is that the only thing you were keeping track of.”

Angel Dust “Hey I know my strengths and I’m stickn’ to ‘em!”

Charlie: “Speaking of strength and sticking… um…”

Hotel Crew: “……….”

Charlie: “They’re bubbling.”

Vaggie: “Yeah.”

Charlie: “Or, breathing?”

Vaggie: “Yeah…”

Charlie: “Is that normal? It feels kinda… not normal.”

Vaggie: “It’s. Impressive.”

Niftty: “They’re ALIVE!” (knife) “For now.”

Charlie: “Well I guess we shouldn’t REALLY judge them until we’ve actually seen what they taste like-”

Angel Dust “Not it!”

Husk: “Fuck no.”

Alastor: “I’m terribly afraid that I am on a diet.”

Vaggie: “You eat rotting deer carcasses.”

Alastor: “And THEY aren’t still moving when I chow in, ha ha!”

Charlie: “Okay well, I guess I’ll just…”

Vaggie: “Wait. You’re probably immune to half the stuff that’d kill us.”

Charlie: “Right, so I should-”

Vaggie: “You’re not a good example of what happens when a non-demon princess person eats these, sweetie. If wanna test for uh, quality control, it shouldn’t be with you.”

Hotel Crew: “…..”

Vaggie: “….hand me a cupcake.”

Husk: (edges out of the splash zone)

Charlie: “You don’t have to do this.”

Angel Dust: “But you totally should! After I get my phone out though, hold on a sec-”

Vaggie: “I’m standing right in front of Radio Head over here so don’t even THINK about recording this.”

Alastor: “Aww my dear little angel-”

Charlie: “Alastor.” (calm smile) (horns out) “Her name is Vaggie.”

Alastor: “-Vaggie, yes, I would almost be willing to make an exception to my own morals for you.” (grins at angel dust) “Almost.”

Angel Dust: (lowering his phone) “I was jus’ takin’ a selfie. You know. Since I’m covered in sticky white shit anyway.”

Husk: “This fucking sucks.” (shakes his paws)

Vaggie: “No. THIS does.”

Vaggie: (bites cupcake)

Hotel Crew: “……………..”

Vaggie: “….hm.”

Hotel Crew: (STEPS BACK)

Vaggie: “It’s… well it’s kinda…”

Charlie: (cringing) “Break up worthy??”

Niffty: “PAINFUL?”

Vaggie: “It’s.. Fruity..?”

Hotel Crew: (stares at still moving cupcakes)

Angel Dust: “No. Fuckin’. Way.”

Husk: “Since the fuck WHEN did they have fruit in them?”

Angel Dust: “They didn’t! I swear I checked!”

Charlie: “Are they, um, edible?”

Vaggie: “Well I wouldn’t sign them up for a baking competition but I’m not dying either, so.”

Charlie: (excited) “So we did it? We all made actual cupcakes together?”

Vaggie: (smiling) “We did it. Mission cupcake completed.”

Charlie: “HAHA YUS!” (fist pump) “FRIENDSHIP POWERRRRRRR!!!!”

Alastor: “Now now now, no cupcake is fully complete without a lovely floral topper!”

Angel Dust: “Ain’t THAT the truth~”

Alastor: “Which I bought. Alone. Without any second opinion to rely on.”

Vaggie: (rolls eye)

Charlie: “And they’re so cute! Thank you Alastor- you picked wonderfully. Everyone, get decorating!”

Niffty: (drooping) “No stabbing?”

Vaggie: “You can poke ‘em each with a knife to check that they’re done.”

Niffty: “HEHEHEH.”

Vaggie: “Poke them with the knife ONCE Niffty- hey- NO- don’t leave it inside-”

Angel Dust: “That’s what-”

Husk: “Will be on your gravestone if she fucking hears you.”

Charlie: “Awww~ Now they’re adorable AND delicious!”

Husk: “Don’t.”

Angel Dust: “I didn’t say nothin’!”

Vaggie: “I actually kinda wish you’d go back to sex jokes instead of whatever you’re doing to that cupcake”

Angel Dust: “There’s more than one kind of oral performance in the world~”

Vaggie: “Say that and then look at what Niffty’s doing to her cupcake.”

Husk: “Unholy fucking shit!!”

Niffty: (GLEEFUL CACKLING)

Charlie: “Okay well, we clearly each have our own… unique ways of enjoying these cupcakes. Some more uh, graphic and concerning than others-”

Angel Dust: “Why the fuck are the insides RED like that?! Who put in red dye???”

Charlie: “-but the point is we all came together to make these sweets! Which. Taste like strawberries?”

Vaggie: “I didn’t buy strawberries.”

Charlie: “A-at least it and the redness go with the rose themed toppers!”

Angel Dust: “Yeah, I mean, is it weird that out of this whole maybe-living cupcake thing, the professional spun sugar parts are the ones with the funkiest taste to ‘em?”

Vaggie: “….”

Vaggie: “Alastor. Where the fuck did you buy the rose themed cupcake toppers.”

Alastor: “Hmm? Does my private, SOLITARY shopping FINALLY interest you?”

Vaggie: “Where you literally on the other side of Pentagram City from me.”

Alastor: “I do believe that is what you requested, and I, being a proper gentleman even to someone who might be considered a less than proper lady, was only too happy to oblige!”

Charlie: “Vaggie are you okay? You’re looking kinda pale.”

Vaggie: “I’m.”

Vaggie: “Alastor did you get these rose themed toppers-"

Vaggie: "-in Cannibal Town?”

Angel Dust: “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Alastor: “I did.”

Angel Dust: “FUCK!!!”

Husk: (hairball noise)

Charlie: “Oh no.”

Alastor: “Dear Rosie gave me quite the discount. Wasn’t that sweet of her?”

Charlie: “Oh. Nooooooooo-”

Alastor: “I think it utterly darling of her~”

Niffty: “Alastor, hey hey!”

Alastor: “Yes, murder of my eye?”

Niffty: “I stabbed my cupcake topper heheheh WHO did I just stab????”

Charlie: “NOOOOOO-”

Alastor: “I believe it was an unsatisfactory husband by the name of Bill.”

Niffty: (grinning) “A BAD boy?”

Alastor: “Not bad enough to escape Rosie’s Emporium intact but yes, in a manner of speaking.”

Niffty: “Oooh.”

Niffty: (snatches up another cupcake and hugs it) “For my collection.”

Charlie: “GAAAHM NOT HEARING THIS! I DIDN’T HEAR IT!”

Angel Dust: “GREAT CAN YA MAKE IT SO’S I DIDN’T EAT ANY OF IT EITHER!??!”

Alastor: “Not to your tastes, Angel Dust? And here I though you enjoyed have strange men in your mouth.”

Charlie: “DO WE KNOW HIS ADDRESS SO I CAN SEND AN APOLOGY LETTER???”

Alastor: “I suppose his business card might still be in the hand Rose tore off him-”

Charlie: “AAAAAGH!”

Vaggie: “Hostia. You really can’t not be the center of attention for five minutes can you.”

Alastor: “I can, truly I can and very happily! It seems however that YOU cannot withstand the consequences of your own, short-sighted actions.”

Charlie: “Um guys-”

Vaggie: “Oh yeah? You’re not the only monster here, dumbass.”

Charlie: “We’re getting a little off topic-”

Alastor: "But as I am the only one not mired in glorious self-pity, certainly I am the most impressive specimen here.”

Charlie: “Okay this is going a bit-”

Vaggie: “Impressive HA! Fuck your empty grin and your stupid suits. You’re not even the one with the highest body count.”

Angel Dust: “Are we talkin’ sex stuff orrr-?”

Vaggie: (takes topper off her cupcake and pops it in her mouth)

Hotel Crew: “………”

Vaggie: “What?”

Charlie: “Vaggie, um. Person.” (points) “Person food.”

Vaggie: “Sweetie, you know how murder crazy exorcist are. You really never thought we didn’t lick a little blood off our weapons now and then, to feel extra badass about slaughtering people sometimes?”

Charlie: (dazed) “I’m thinking about it now.” (covers cheeks)

Niffty: “BLOOD!”

Angel Dust: “Oh ew. Oh you're getting off on that- Oh that’s just-”

Charlie: “Part of her past, a thing EVERYONE has.”

Angel Dust: “BLEH.”

Husk: “Also step one to seeing her shitfaced.”

Charlie: “Ha haaa…” (claps hands) “Okay everyone- that’s a wrap on today’s bonding activities! I uh, I think we can save the clean up until we’ve all recovered from the actual cupcakes a bit, right Vaggie?”

Vaggie: (shrug) “Whatever.”

Husk: “About damn time.” (sighs) (walks out) “I’ll get the fucking vodka.”

Niffty: "HEE HEE." (carrying cupcake over her head) "TO THE COLLECTION!"

Angel Dust: “Hold up baby! I wanna get shitfaced too after this!”

Charlie: “Well I think it’s all very interesting! Angel stuff is interesting, isn’t it Alastor?”

Alastor: “Yes. Quite.”

Vaggie: “Uh-huh.” (slumps and drops cupcake) “Bill tastes boring as hell, by the way, maybe let Rosie know before she sells anymore of these.”

Charlie: “Oh? Maybe THAT’S why she gave such a steep discount?”

Alastor: “Perhaps.”

Charlie: “Awww cheer up Alastor. You can bring her some of our cupcakes as a thank you, now that we uh, we’ve um, had our fill of them already.”

Alastor: “Hmph.”

Vaggie: “Think I’ll head up now.”

Alastor: “While grabbing a drink along way, hmm?”

Vaggie: “Yeah. Why not.”

Charlie: “Vaggie-” (catches her hand) (squeezes) “-grab one for me, too? I’ll be right behind you.”

Vaggie: “…wine from the cellar then, huh?”

Charlie: “I’m having whatever you’re having.”

Vaggie: “Sweetie, you hate the shit I drink.” (small smile) “I’ll get us something from the cellar. Meet you up there.”

Charlie: “In a heartbeat.”

Charlie: “….”

Charlie: “Alastor.”

Alastor: “Oh don’t scold me for her baggage, dear, I don’t make her carry it.”

Charlie: “I’m not scolding. I just- I get that you have this whole-” (air quotes) “-annoying big brother who hates being ignored thing going on with Vaggie, and while it IS kinda sweet-”

Alastor: (microphone feedback) “Excuse me?”

Charlie: “Could you turn it down a tiny bit when it comes the exorcist stuff?”

Alastor: “I do not-”

Charlie: “I know I know you don’t mean to make her all droopy like this, it’s boring for you, totally a killjoy-”

Alastor: “There is NOTHING enjoyable about that woman!”

Charlie: “-So maaaaaaybe back off a little when things get too serious?”

Alastor: “NO!”

Charlie: “Think about it okay?” (pats his shoulder) “Anyway, thanks for sticking around for the friendship cupcakes, see you at the next hotel bonding session, Dadastor!”

Alastor: “At the next-”

Alastor: “………”

Alastor: (hissing) “DADastor!?”

[mochegato]

Capturing a Dream

Chapter 12 – That Holds In the Pain

Chapter 1     Chapter 11

“Is that… IS THAT ONE USING A YO-YO!”  Marinette whisper screamed to Adrien.  Her head was just visible around the corner of the warehouse they were hidden behind, observing the robotic henchmen that the Toyman had fashioned into marionette looking dolls.

Adrien poked his head around the corner just above hers and grimaced.  “Yes, I believe he is.”

“That little… that… How dare he!” she seethed, glaring at the robotic marionette. “You can’t just… you can’t just steal someone’s shtick like that.”

“Apparently you can,” Adrien commented, turning back to the rest of the Team.

“I feel like this is a personal attack.  Using marionette dolls, using a yoyo… what did I ever do to this guy?  I’ve never even been to Metropolis before,” she groused. “Usually I’ve at least met someone before they decide to harass me.”

Adrien scoffed.  “No you haven’t.  With villains, I’d say it’s about half and half.”

“You get harassed a lot?” Conner asked.

“It’s not uncommon.  Paris will do that to you,” she shrugged.

“What the hell is up with Paris?” Wally asked in confusion.

“Nothing… anymore.  You know, doesn’t really matter right now.  How’s it going?” Adrien asked Robin.

“I’ve almost hacked into the security cameras,” Robin answered quickly.  “And done.” He moved slightly so the others could gather around him to look at his phone, which was precariously linked to the security camera wires running outside the warehouse.  He flipped through a few screens before stopping on one with a view of the marionette henchmen waiting in the main section of the warehouse.  He angled the phone for them all to see it.

“Oh, that's...” Marinette started.

“That's a lot,” Conner finished for her.  It was definitely more than they could handle without using superpowers or super suits, although if they could distract Marinette and Adrien, they might be able to get away with it.

Robin noted an estimate of how many there were in the warehouse and continued flipping through cameras.  After a few more he stopped again.  “That your friend?”  He tilted the phone toward Marinette and Adrien.

Adrien nodded.  “That’s her.”

Marinette grabbed the phone, almost dislodging the wires connecting it to the security system.  “Is that a play pen?  Are you kidding me?  What the hell is this guy’s problem?  I kind of get the toy inspired henchmen, I mean, if you’re called the Toyman, it makes sense, but a play pen?  Really?”

“Mentally disturbed is kind of a prerequisite for most villains,” Wally pointed out.

“Hey, can we get a still of that, please?” Adrien asked as politely as he could.  “For… scientific purposes?”  He gave Robin a huge grin.

Wally chuckled and shook his head, but Robin gave him a cold stare.  “Oh come on, you’d do it if it were one of your best friends,” Marinette rolled her eyes. “How are we going to make fun of her for the rest of her life about this if we don’t have pictures?”

“Pictures or it didn’t happen,” Adrien nodded sagely.

Robin huffed.  “Can we focus please?  We’re supposed to be trying to save your friend.”

“Right,” Adrien nodded, letting him change the subject but pouting internally.  “Anyone have any ideas?”

Marinette turned back to the marionette sentries. “They're all robots, right? Being controlled by one guy, we think?”  Her voice was distant, as if she was still in thought.

Conner did a quick scan of the area.  There were only two heat signatures.  From the security cameras, those had to be the Toyman and their friend.  “Yes,” he confirmed.

“Electronic, right?” she continued, more quickly this time. She turned to them with a glint in her eyes that Adrien immediately recognized.  Conner stared at her for a few seconds.  He’d seen that look before.  It was familiar.  He knew it meant something good.  He just wasn’t sure why he knew that.  

“Everything he has must be digital or electronic. Which is great for ensuring that everyone working for you is of like mind, more specifically, his mind.  But terrible when things like an EMP goes off. Because then, it’s just the Toyman, all by himself.”  She looked over toward the Team with a grin.  “I don’t suppose any of you boys would know how to make an EMP, would you?” She was already well aware of the answer, having seen Wally and Robin both do different versions in the field with parts they found around them at the time, but she had to play dumb.

Wally nodded excitedly.  “I can, if I can find the parts.”

Adrien nodded toward the warehouse across from them. “I bet there’s parts in there.”

“We just need to figure out how to get in without drawing attention to ourselves,” Robin observed staring at it.

“There’s a window up there,” Marinette noted, pointing to a tiny window way at the top of the warehouse.  “If I can get up there, I can fit through.  Open the door from the inside.”

“And how are you planning on getting up there?” Conner asked.

“Well… I was thinking… climbing might be an option,” she drawled out, pointing to a pile of boxes leaning up against the side of the warehouse.

“That’s not going to get you in,” he pointed out.

“No, but lucky for me, I have a rather tall conspirator who looks like he works out quite a bit.”  She was still staring at the window, trying to figure out the logistics and missed the way his cheeks darkened slightly.  Robin did not miss it.  He narrowed his eyes at Conner and smacked his shoulder.  Conner glared back at him.

“Think you can lift me up?  Maybe even throw me a little?” she asked excitedly, turning back to him.

Conner straightened up and looked back between the window and her.  “You sure? It could be dangerous if I miss or if you can’t get a grip.”

“I trust you.”  Her voice was heartfelt and her eyes shone with confidence, like there was something more there, but whatever it was Conner couldn’t figure out.

He nodded.  “Let’s go then.”

Working with Marinette was significantly easier than he had anticipated working with a stranger would be.  They worked like a well-oiled machined, seemingly able to anticipate what the other was going to do and react accordingly.  Instead of awkward fumbling to get her into position, it was a graceful act.  She was crawling through the tiny window within a matter of minutes.  

A few minutes later Adrien’s phone pinged.  “She says that she’s at a door at the southwest corner of the warehouse.”  They headed to the corner of the warehouse hidden from the marionette sentries.

As soon as he was through the door, Wally started running around, trying very hard to keep his speed to a reasonable level.  Marinette slapped Adrien’s shoulder to get his attention. “Hey, Alya texted.  Here look,” she said a little louder than necessary and pointedly turned away from the rest of the warehouse to look at the text. Wally looked over to Robin uncertainly, but Robin nodded at him.  Wally instantly zoomed around the warehouse, cataloging and locating all the items they would need for the EMP.

He was back by Robin’s side in an instant.  “Right, I think we’re good to go.  All the parts are here, just a bit scattered.  The only issue is one of the parts is going to take a bit of effort and noise to get out.”

“How much noise?” Conner asked cautiously.

“A lot.  They’re going to notice.”

“We’ll need a distraction to cover him so he can work,” Robin stated, looking around them to see if there was some distraction he could use.

“How big of a distraction are you looking for?” Adrien asked hesitantly looking over to Marinette.  He nervously fiddled with his ring.

“Large enough they can’t ignore it, but not enough to cause too much damage,” Robin answered.

Marinette put her hand on Adrien’s shoulder, and subtly shook her head.  She looked around the warehouse.  “It’s a baking supply warehouse…” she noted examining the bags on the shelf.  Rows and rows of different sized bags of flour in a variety of flour types.  

“Going to bake something for them, Mari?” Adrien grinned at her.

Marinette’s eyes narrowed at an industrial sized fan. Her eyes quickly flicked to the flour and a lighter propped on an exposed bracer by the door, left there for employees to grab as they left to smoke.  “Depends on your definition of bake.”  She looked back at him with a determined glint.  “Did you know flour is flammable?”

“We are not setting the warehouse on fire,” Conner exclaimed.

Marinette looked at him shocked.  “Of course we’re not.  Do you know how huge that explosion would be?  And how many baked goods we’d be denying people from that amount of destruction?” she exclaimed in horror.  “We only need one bag to make a point.”

“I’ll go with you,” Conner volunteered.

Marinette nodded as Robin set his mouth in a frown. “Grab the fan, please?” she requested as she grabbed a small bag of flour.  “Give us eight minutes.  I’ll text Adrien when we’re ready then within a few seconds you should hear a big bang.”

Wally groaned and dragged his hand down his face.  Robin came up next to him staring at the mechanism Wally was working on with a concerned frown.  “What’s wrong?  Is it not going to work?”

Wally looked at him confused for a second. “Huh?”  His face suddenly smoothed out in realization.  “Oh, no.  Of course it’s going to work.  I just realized, I’m definitely not getting new cupcakes everyday next week.”

Marinette laughed and made her way through the door. “Good luck, guys.  See you on the other side.”

Adrien nodded to her and turned back to Robin and Wally.  “Let’s get the rest as ready as we can then.  What can I do?”

Marinette and Conner snuck around the far side of the warehouses, moving quickly but quietly.  When Marinette seemed to slow down and examine an area with interest, Conner finally spoke up.  “Okay, what are we doing here?”

“I need this,” she patted the industrial sized fan, “to blow this,” she held up the small bag of flour in her hands, “into the air. Then we need to light it on fire and take cover right quick.”

“Shouldn’t we have brought a larger bag if that’s what we were going for?” he asked looking at the small bag in her hand skeptically.  “I could have carried the fan and one of the large bags.”

She smiled at him and glanced quickly down at his arms.  “I have no doubt,” she said almost absentmindedly.  She flicked her eyes back up to his, her cheeks reddening slightly. “But this is enough.  Anything larger and we’d be looking at taking out the entire complex.”

“Flour is that explosive?” He looked at the bag in her hands in awe.

“Extremely.  Lucky for us.”  She stopped and looked around.  “This should be good.  Far enough from the warehouses, it won’t blow them up, but close enough to get their attention.”

Conner nodded and started looking for an outlet. “I can plug it in here and we should be able to hide behind that.”  He nodded toward a concrete half wall.

Marinette nodded.  “We should probably move further away from that then.  I don’t think you understand just how big this explosion is going to get.”

Conner nodded but stared at her for a few seconds. “You’re sure about this?  With flour?”

Marinette smiled at him.  “I grew up in a bakery.  Trust me.  You learn the most interesting things.”  She ripped the top off of the bag of flour.  “Okay start up the fan and point it up and out.”

Conner nodded and turned on the fan, still standing slightly in front of the fan.  Marinette moved behind the fan and grinned at him as she dumped just a little bit into the fan.  She laughed as the flour flew right into Conner’s face.  “Things like don’t stand next to flour when a fan is on.”

Conner narrowed his eyes at her but started chuckling too.  Chimera already taught him a lesson about how easily flour spreads.  He should have remembered it.  “At least it wasn’t the whole bag,” he acknowledged, starting to dust himself off.

Marinette’s laugh calmed down into a sweet smile. “Trying to set the air on fire. Not you.  Come on, get behind me.”  She slowly emptied the bag into the fan’s current.  After a few seconds the air in front of the fan was thick with particles of flour hanging in the air.  There was more flour on the ground than in the air, but there was enough for what they needed.  “Ready?”

Conner bunched up a piece of paper into a ball and nodded.  They moved behind the half wall and prepared themselves.  Conner took a deep breath.  This was the moment of truth.  He lit the ball on fire and threw it into the flour cloud.  

The explosion seemed to happen in slow motion at first then all at once as one particle ignited the next, which ignited the particles next to it, escalating at an expediential rate until the entire cloud was lit up and pushing out.  Conner’s eyes widened in surprise as the blow back came for them.  He dived on top of Marinette, forcing her between the ground, concrete wall, and himself, protecting her from all sides.

When he finally looked up, his ears were ringing from the explosion.  He definitely had not been properly prepared.  Thank god they didn’t use a larger bag.  He looked down to check on Marinette, but stopped when he saw her wide, blue eyes. It was mesmerizing and confusing. Just seeing her eyes shouldn’t make him feel this way and he couldn’t figure out why it did.  She was mouthing something worriedly at him.  He furrowed his brow trying to make out what she was saying.  He finally figured out she was asking if he was okay when he felt her push him back to sitting and crawl around him to check his back for any signs of injury.  

He felt his skin tingle where she ran her hands over his shoulders and upper back, before working their way into his hair at the back of his head.  It felt brilliant and like a betrayal at the same time.  He moved out of her reach and gave her a weak smile.  It felt nice to have her fret over him and touch him, but not as nice as it did when Chimera did it.  They stood up just in time to see an army of marionettes descending upon them.  “We may not have thought this through,” he whispered to her, or at least thought he whispered.  He’d actually screamed it at her.

She nodded, keeping her eyes on the robots in front of her.  She held her hands up in surrender.  She slowly unwrapped the white ribbon in her hair and waved it around.  “Parlay?” she requested with an unrepentant grin.

Conner gave her a flat look.  “Really?”

“You want to take on that many?  By ourselves?  We just have to keep them distracted and ourselves alive for another few seconds.”

Conner sighed and turned back to the marionettes, raising his hands grudgingly as he did.  Before the marionettes could advance on them, they all froze for a second before falling to the ground.  Marinette and Conner looked at each other uncertainly for a second, waiting for them to do something.  When they didn’t, Marinette grinned at Conner.

“Now it’s just the Toyman,” Conner said.

Marinette nodded at him.  “Let’s go get him.”

“Should we wait for the others?”

Marinette shook her head.  “They’ll catch up.”  They reached the door to the warehouse at the same time as Wally, Robin, and Adrien.  They found and tied up the Toyman easily.  Without his army of robots behind him, he surrendered without a fight.  Finding Chloe only took a matter of minutes after that.

“Finally!  It took you long enough.  Do you know how long I’ve had to sit here in this?  It’s been ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.  Who are those losers?” Chloe scoffed, glaring at the Team members.

Wally crossed his arms and leaned toward Conner. “Can we give her back?” he asked, not trying to be quiet.

“Yes,” Marinette nodded.

“No,” Robin answered.

“Eh,” Adrien shrugged.

“Hey!” Chloe yelled.  “Now get me out of this!”

“If you don’t like who’s rescuing you, you’re welcome to stay in there,” Adrien threatened.

“Fine, fine, whatever.  At least they’re cute.  What happened to the things?” she asked.  She flicked her hands in the general direction of somewhere else.

“The marionettes were taken out by an EMP these guys created on the fly, and the ‘mastermind’,” Marinette spat the word out sarcastically, “is bound and gagged outside.”

“Rather lackluster fight, really,” Adrien mused. “Turns out the Toyman isn’t much of a threat once his toys are taken away.  August was more of a threat.”

“What do you say, Chloe?” Marinette prompted her as she held the door open for Chloe.

Chloe scowled at her and flicked her ponytail over her shoulder, heading through the door.  “Let’s get out of here before something bad happens?”

“Chloe…” Marinette started in a warning tone.

Chloe scoffed at her.  “We’re thanking each other every time we save one another now?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s what we do,” Marinette’s exasperation was clear.  Conner chuckled at her expression.  Marinette’s eyes flitted over to him for a second, her cheeks turning slightly pink before focusing back on Chloe.

“Every time?” Chloe gasped.

“Yes, every time!” Marinette groaned.

“That seems excessive,” Chloe shook her head. “Ridiculous.  Utterly ridiculous.  What a waste of time.”  She continued toward the warehouse exit, not bothering to look back at them.

“So… she’s like this all the time, huh?” Robin asked Adrien quietly as they followed her out.

“What?  No… She’s being nice right now,” he answered seriously.

“That’s why her kidnap count is so high,” Wally nodded knowingly.

“Definitely a contributing factor,” Marinette agreed.

“I heard that,” Chloe announced loudly.

“You were meant to,” Marinette yelled back. Conner looked over to her with an amused smile, but quickly schooled his face when Robin raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’ll make sure to get that picture to you,” Robin whispered to Adrien as they made their way through the exit and into the flashing blue and red lights waiting for them outside.

Just before she made it through the door, Conner grabbed Marinette’s elbow.  “Hey, I just wanted to say sorry for earlier.  Telling you guys not to come.  You did great for a civilian.”

Marinette beamed up at him.  “Thank you.  But… whoever said I was a civilian?”  She winked at him and twirled with a cheeky grin back toward Adrien and Chloe as they were loading her into an ambulance so a doctor could check her out.  

<><><><><> 

“Try not to get kidnapped… until you get back to Paris at least,” Marinette instructed Chloe in mock seriousness as she gave her a hug goodbye.

Chloe scoffed, but returned the hug, pretending to do so halfheartedly.  “Of course. Getting kidnapped in America is so boring.  Who has time for that?”

Marinette rolled her eyes.  “Come on.  There were boring akumas too.  And not all of our villains are that…”

“Pathetic?” Nino offered, slinging his arm over her shoulders.

Marinette quirked her head to the side contemplatively.  “Not the word I was thinking but… I’ll go with it.”

“Hey, I got to meet Batman.  I’m counting it as a win!” Alya gushed.  “I got a picture of him!  And the Batmobile.  How awesome is that?”

Marinette grinned at her as she hugged her.  “Maybe next time I can introduce you properly.”

“Yeah?” Alya’s eyes brightened with an excited glint.  “That would be amazing!  Think you can get me an interview?”

“I don’t know… nobody else knows my identity, other than Black Canary, so it would have to look like something he did on his own.  You figure out a plausible excuse for that, and I can probably make it happen,” Marinette agreed.

“Yay!” Alya cheered, pulling her in for a long tight hug. “See, this is why you’re my favorite person.  You always look out for me.”

“Hey!  What am I?” Nino protested.

“The love of my life,” Alya reassured him, wrapping an arm around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek.  “But she’s still my favorite person.”

Nino rolled his eyes and groaned.  “I guess I get that.  As long as you two don’t start kissing behind my back.”  

“So you want them to do it in front of you?” Chloe asked, looking up from her phone.

Nino sputtered, his cheeks turning red as the rest of the group laughed at him.  Marinette moved over and wrapped him in a hug.  “Don’t worry, Nino.  We won’t start kissing behind your back.”

Nino gave her a deadpan look.  “I’m not going to miss you, Dudette.”

“I will,” Alya pledged, jumping onto Marinette, knocking her over with a hug.  “So much. You stay safe.  Love you, girl.”

Marinette grinned back at her.  “Love you too.”  She turned to Nino.  “And you too, even if you won’t miss me.  Have a good trip and keep them safe.” She gave him a meaningful look with her last sentence.  

Nino nodded in understanding.  “You stay safe too.  Love you, Dudette.  And of course I’m going to miss you,” he said seriously, ushering Alya and Chloe onto the train back to New York so they could catch their flight home.  

Marinette turned to face Adrien with a watery smile.  “I think I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow.”

Adrien chuckled and looked down.  “It was nice working with you again.  As a team.  I’ve missed it.”

“You know, you could probably join the Team… if you really wanted,” she offered.  

There was a smile on her face, but Adrien could see it was strained. He offered her a soft, unstrained smile back.  “Not remotely interested.  My superhero days are behind me.”  He looked down as he shook his head gently.  “Don’t get me wrong,” he continued, looking back up to meet her eyes, “I loved every second of it, but I think now I need to focus on healing. After everything we went through…”

Marinette looked down guiltily and nodded in understanding. Adrien hooked his finger under her chin to encourage her to look up.  “Because of what my dad… Gabriel did.  Not because of anything you did.  You aren’t responsible for my struggling, no matter what you think.  And I’ll keep repeating that until you finally believe me.  If it wasn’t for you… I don’t know what I would have become.  I would probably still be fighting him, in and out of the costume.  He’d still be making me miserable.”  

He moved his hands so they were firmly on her shoulders, offering support and encouraging her to keep facing him.  “Don’t ever think for even a second that any of what we went through, any of what we’re still going through, is your fault.”

“I’m sorry I left.  I left you to heal alone,” she said quietly to the floor.

“Oh, Mari,” he pulled her into a hug.  “You didn’t leave me alone.  I have people there for me.  I have people I can talk to.  You made sure of it.  You still do. I have people helping me.  You’re one of them, even if you don’t think so. I’ve always been surrounded by people, but for the first time, I’m not alone.  You made sure I was going to be taken care of.  You check on me constantly.  You did not abandon me.  

“I’m getting the help I need.  I needed to stay in Paris.  I needed familiarity to heal.  You needed a complete break.  You needed to be away from all the reminders.  A fresh start.  And you needed it just as badly as I did.  Don’t feel guilty for seeking the help you needed, too.”

He took a breath and squeezed her closer for a second. “Can you do something for me?” he asked quietly.  He waited a beat before he continued.  “I need you to try to let go of the guilt.  Which isn’t easy, I know,” he rushed to assure her.  “I was wearing mine like armor, but I think it was more of a barricade, holding in the pain.  I thought it was protecting me from getting hurt.  I still kind of do.  But I think it was really just isolating me, preventing me from seeing the world as it really is.”

He pulled away to look her in the eyes, studying the eyes he knew better than his own, eyes filled with strength but also self-doubt.  “We learned so many lessons as heroes, but… but I think I’m starting to realize not all of them were real.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly with a mirthless chuckle.  “Guess therapy is doing some good after all.”  He shook his head lightly and looked back at her with a concerned gaze.  

“I’m slowly realizing a lot of the lessons we were taught, lessons we thought the universe was teaching us; about how the world was for us, that we needed to suffer to be heroes, they weren’t...  it was just my… Gabriel.  They weren’t universal lessons or miraculous lessons.  They weren’t real.  It was Gabriel punishing us, not the universe.  Gabriel manipulating the way we saw the world.  But he’s gone and we can make our own rules now. I’m still coming to terms with that. It’s still hard and uncomfortable and I hate it… but I also don’t?”

He shook his head again, his eyes settled back on her.  “I’m still working on it.  And I just wanted to let you know because… I just… you… you seemed to internalize the lessons even more than I did and…” he looked away and pursed his lips, trying to think of the words he wanted to say, the message he wanted her to take away. He looked back at her with compassionate determination.  “I won’t let him dictate my future or how I see the world anymore.  And you shouldn’t let him do it for you either.  We defeated him.  You defeated him.  Don’t let him win this.  He made us suffer, not the universe.  Don’t let him make you think we can’t be happy, that you can’t be happy.  I’m happy, mostly.  And I just… the thing is you’re amazing at giving advice, but you’re shit at taking your own advice so… I just thought maybe if you promised to do it for me…”

A whistle sounded, cutting off the rest of his sentence.  Adrien looked back at her for a few moments, studying her carefully again, looking for any sign that his words finally made it through to her.  After a few seconds he gave a defeated sigh and kissed her temple before he hugged her again.  “That’s my cue.  I love you, Marinette.  I’ll see you in a few weeks, okay?  But if you want to talk before then, don’t hesitate.  You have a phone, a laptop, a tablet, a Zeta tube, who the hell knows what else in your base, and a Kaalki.  Do.  Not. Hesitate.”

She nodded and squeezed him back.  She pulled away and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Have a safe flight.  Love you.”

She watched him as he walked onto the train and disappeared with a final wave.  Her eyes stayed focused on the door he disappeared through long after he was gone. They continued their focus long after the door had closed and the train had started moving.  She didn’t notice the change in scenery until someone accidentally knocked into her with an apology and guilty smile.  She waved them off with a kind smile and turned toward the exit, stumbling slightly in a daze.  

She walked another block before her breath started getting uneven.  She stopped to lean against a building, her brow furrowing in confusion.  What was going on with her?  Why did her chest feel so tight all of a sudden?  She looked around her, hoping to figure it out, but there was nothing there.  It was just her.  Just her and her thoughts.  She gasped again and leaned harder against the building.  She shook her head.  She needed to get home.  She looked around again, this time to confirm nobody was watching her and ducked into a hidden alcove.  She put on Kaalki’s glasses and Trixx’s necklace, whispering the transformation words.

She stepped through the portal and breathed in the familiar air.  She took another step and let her head rest against Conner’s doorframe, her bag dropped to the floor with a thud loud enough she was sure he had heard it.  After a few seconds, she collected herself enough to knock lightly on his door.  She barely had time to take a bracing breath before his door swung open and Conner appeared in his pajamas.  “Chi! I wasn’t expecting you to be back tonight!”  He pulled her into a tight hug.  He let his arms linger around her, keeping her close as he pulled away slightly, just enough to look at her so he could ask her about the visit.

He hesitated momentarily when it seemed like she clung to him tighter as he tried to pull away.  But just as soon as he noticed, she loosened her grip.  “Yeah, my friends just left.”

His bright smile quickly gave way to a concerned frown.  The smile she offered him didn’t reach her eyes and her voice was a bit too happy to be real.  “How was it?” he asked carefully.

Although her smile got bigger, it didn’t get any brighter.  “It was great.  We had a lot of fun.”

He nodded cautiously.  “That’s… good…”

“Yeah… good,” she agreed, looking away.  She tapped her fingers together nervously.

“Chi?” She didn’t look up, but she did stop tapping her fingers.  “Chi, are you okay?”

She looked back up at him with a heartbreaking smile and nodded, her eyes shining with uncertainty.  “Yeah, I think I… don’t know.”

He pulled her back in for a tight, protective hug. “Did something happen this weekend?” he asked darkly.  He was working incredibly hard to keep his anger tempered and his body relaxed so she wouldn’t be able to sense how angry he was at whoever caused her to react like this.  He knew, he knew, seeing her friends was going to end badly and now she was just barely keeping in the tears.  These were supposed to be her friends and yet every time she saw them, she came back a little more threadbare, a little more broken. Whatever they were doing to her, it had to stop.

She curled into his hug, taking some time to let his presence calm her before she spoke up, her voice so quiet, even with super-hearing he had to strain to hear her.  “I’m… I’m really not sure.  I didn’t think so but…”

“Do you want to talk about it?”  She shook her head after a few seconds, just holding him tighter.  “Chi, whatever happened, whatever your friends said…”

She shook her head stronger this time.  “It’s not like that.  It’s… I don’t know.  Everything was great and then… I couldn’t breathe.  I… I don’t know what happened.”  She shook her head again, more gently this time as if to clear her head.  “I think I need to talk to Black Canary, but first I just… I needed this.”  She stopped herself before she said what she meant, she needed him.  

His anger melted away and turned to concern. She didn’t talk to Black Canary, not for therapy.  Batman and Black Canary had encouraged her to go.  Batman made vague references that talking with her might help her after different emotional outbursts in battle.  He shuddered slightly remembering the video of her fighting the mind-controlled Superman.  His comments were subtle and deceptively casual, meant to encourage her to decide it for herself without putting pressure on her.

Black Canary was much less subtle in her encouragement, going as far as to threaten her position on the team if she didn’t seriously consider it.  She was stopped each time by Batman from enacting it, but it didn’t stop her from pushing it whenever she could.  Each time, Chimera closed off more, backed away further, as if the idea of opening up was a physical threat to her.  It had always confused Conner.  

If anyone was going to have an issue discussing emotions, he would have bet on him over Chimera.  She always seemed so open with her emotions, but the more he thought about it, the only emotions she seemed to share freely were positive ones. The negative emotions she kept a tight grip on, as though she thought they would cause physical and psychological torment if they ever escaped.  And from the few times she did discuss them, when consoling one of the Team about something they were feeling, it didn’t seem too far from the truth for her.  If she was actually planning on talking with Black Canary, even if she was just seriously considering it and didn’t actually go… this weekend must have hit her hard.  And honestly, he didn’t know if that was a bad thing after all.

He looked back in his room.  They really needed somewhere to sit down so she could calm down and relax.  But there was just a chair and a bed in his room.  There was no way she'd be okay with that.  That left the common room.  “Why don't we move this to the couch?  We can put on a movie and ignore it,” he offered.  She didn’t respond.  The silence was broken by a beep that sounded like it was coming from her glasses.  “That means you’re going to lose one of your magics, right?” he whispered into her ear.

She was motionless in his arms for another beat before nodding.  The couch was out then.  She’d want to keep her identity and the fact that her appearance changed, a secret. He looked back at his bed.  There wasn’t really a choice then.  “How about my room instead?  I don’t have to look at you while you recharge, if you don’t want me to,” he offered.  He looked between the bed and the rug on the floor.  He grimaced slightly.  He really had no idea which she would prefer.  “You want to sit on the floor or the bed?  I can throw some pillows down for us.”

She looked between the two a few times.  “Bed would be more comfortable,” she finally decided.

He nodded unseen by her, his heartrate picking up at the words.  They might have woken up cuddling on the couch a few times, but they’d never done it intentionally and he wasn’t sure what this meant.  Had anything changed?  Were they still just teammates?  Is this what teammates did?  It definitely wasn’t something he did with Robin or Wally.  

He piled up some pillows for them to lean against and nervously got onto the bed, positioning himself so Chimera would be able to lean on him comfortably. He fought to relax is body from the tension that instantly took over, unsure if he was allowed to enjoy this or not, afraid he might enjoy it too much if it didn’t mean anything, afraid he wouldn’t enjoy it enough if it was the last time.

Chimera crawled in after him, laying her head on his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist, squeezing him as if afraid he might leave her alone.  He tightened his grip around her, reassuring her that he was still there for her.  He wasn’t going anywhere.  He never would.  He fought the urge to nuzzle into her hair.  That was definitely going further than supportive teammating.  

He scrolled through a few shows and movies until he found one he knew she liked. “This okay?” he asked quietly.  

“Yeah, good choice,” she answered just as quietly.  She knew teammates don't watch a movie like this. But right now she didn’t care.  She needed this.  She needed his steady heartbeat and his rhythmic breathing.  She needed his scent and his touch.  She needed him.  She suddenly felt incredibly unsafe and unsure, like the world was getting upset around her and she wasn’t even sure where the hell that came from.  She just knew she needed to feel safe and there was nowhere in the world she felt safer than with him, in his arms.  She had no idea when that happened, hell, she didn’t even know she felt that way until just then, she just knew it was true.

He smiled gently at her.  “Told you I had good taste,” he teased lightly.

His smile widened at her playful scoff and small smile.  “Can you… can you close your eyes?” she asked quietly.  Conner immediately closed his eyes.  Even with his eyes closed, he could still see a bright, teal light flash quickly.  Chimera moved a little bit before resting back against his chest.  “Okay.  You can open your eyes.”

He obliged, focusing on the movie, but let himself shoot quick glances at her new costume.  “Is it… is it okay for me to…”  He motioned to her costume.

Chimera chuckled lightly and buried her head in his chest a little.  Conner could just catch a dusting of pink on her cheeks.  “Yeah, it’s okay.  As long as I don’t have to move.”  

Conner smiled at her and nodded.  “Understood.” He took in as much of her costume as he could.  Orange this time with black boots and gloves, but most importantly, he could see her eyes. An incredible shade of blue that seemed more familiar than it should…  He blinked a few times and focused back on the movie, her eyes were making his heart rate speed up again and he really needed to calm down.

They watched the movie for a little while before she finally spoke again.  “You were right.  There was an explosion.  Nobody was hurt, but there was an explosion,” she admitted.  This game was dangerous, she knew it was.  She was daring him to figure out who she was.  But at this point she wasn’t sure she cared anymore. “And we… I destroyed some… things.”

Conner chuckled and rested his chin on her head.  “Yeah, us too.  Does that mean we all win?  Or we all lose?”

She shook her head.  “I’m not sure.”

“The explosion helped save someone, so I’m calling it a win.  We protected someone and, you know, sometimes you need to destroy a little in order to fix something.”  He looked down at her fondly.  He picked up her hand with his free hand and started playing with her fingers until he realized what he was doing and let them drop.  “And sometimes you have to cause a little damage to prevent more, like firefighters, you know?  Set a small fire to prevent one that would destroy the entire forest.  You told me that.  I think you were right.”

He looked down at her expectantly.  Any second now she should chuckle, at least crack a smile, tell him he should never doubt her, that she’s always right, but instead she sat up and blinked at him a few times, her face completely devoid of any emotion.  She looked away absently, seeming to stare at nothing.  “I’m going to lay down,” she finally said woodenly.

Conner stared at her in disbelief.  His brow furrowed in surprise at the unexpected reaction.  “What?  Why?” What the hell just happened?  She was smiling.  Why was she upset again and why couldn’t he say the right things? Why did she keep hanging out with her friends if they kept doing this to her?

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up.

Conner lurched forward and grabbed her wrist.  “Chi, no.  Just…” he paused at her reaction.  She seemed to curl further away from him, like she thought his anger was directed at her. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down again, forcing his body to relax and his face to smooth out. “Just, wait… please.  Stay.  We don’t have to talk anymore.  We’ll just watch the movie, no talking, no thinking.  I’m terrible at both anyway.”

He knew he convinced her when she let out a barely audible huff.  She turned back toward him.  Her eyes flitted up to him for a fraction of a second and returned back to the bed next to him.  She wet her lips and gave the tiniest of nods before crawling back over to him and laying her head back on his chest.  Conner cautiously settled his arm around her shoulders again.  He was pretty sure she needed comfort, but wasn’t sure if it was welcome from him.  

She nestled further into his chest almost imperceptibly, but enough for him to notice in his hyper vigilant state.  He took that as a sign he made the right call and relaxed further.  He wrapped around her more, cocooning her, protecting her from whatever was going on in her head.

After a few minutes he leaned his head closer to her ear and whispered, “I really want to say what a complete idiot that guy is but I promised I wouldn’t talk.” He smiled proudly at the giggles he could feel more than hear from her.

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[catching-bananas]

One liner prompt #5 has peak Shorter energy. I can fully imagine him and Sing trying to make a 'happy anniversary' dinner for AshEiji or even just a cake to get AshEiji together and saying that. That cake would be tricked out with glitter and sparklers and lights or something, just absolutely extra. Since you are looking for something to write, how bout prompt 5 or 8???- AnonymousNuisance

5. “I think the edible glitter, might be a bit much.”

8. “….Well I suppose that’s one way of doing things. Wouldn’t have ever thought to use a flamethrower, myself.”

Sing blinked at the monstrosity in front of him and wondered if it was too late to back out now.

“You think it needs something else Shorter?” He raised an eyebrow like he was questioning the older man’s sanity.

“Well? I think we could add some cake pops, maybe some more fondant-”

“I was kidding.”

“But it could still be better!”

“I think you’ve done enough to the poor cake.”

It was three layers tall, and looked like it lost a fight with the blender. Sing swore he could see the eggs shells poking through the fondant. Speaking of which, it was layered on poorly, and because Shorter couldn’t chose a color there was about four layers of fondant on each layer. Every layer had it’s own separate colors.

And oh dear gods the decorations. Layer one was covered with pink glitter, so much so that the color of the fondant couldn’t be seen. On the top there was a dozen cake pops, which bugged Sing because it’s a cake, why do you need cake pops.

Layer two was blue with unlit sparklers and a god awful amount of chocolate. The pink and green squiggles along the side only added to the eyesore.

Layer three was crooked. And lumpy. And the cake looked like some preschooler patted clay with their grubby hands. It was red and orange (Sing thought the fondant was melting to reveal the second layer) and covered with more glitter, this time green, and had tiny chocolate chip cookie dough balls around the edge.

In all, it wasn’t pretty.

“Ash will say there’s too much glitter”, Sing stated, so many insults on the tip on his tongue, but not bringing himself to do say any of them.

“He’ll be fine. They’ll love it!”

“Uh huh...”

~

Bones held the banner up higher, tiptoeing on the chair that was precariously balanced on the table. He wobbled a bit before steadying himself. “Is this good?”

Alex bit his lip. “It would be good if you get down.”

Kong grabbed Bones’ waist. “A little lower.”

Shorter and Sing walked in as Bones (who was a little red in the face) tacked the banner to the wall.

“We brought cake everyone!”, Shorter announced, placing the large brown box on the table. It was in a box as Shorter was nothing if not professional.

“Great.” Alex leaned over at Sing. “How bad is it?”

“My eyes are bleeding.”

“Oh geez.”

“Ya’ll need help decorating?” Shorter glanced at Alex, who straightened up instantly.

“Uh- cough- yeah”, he pointed to the other table, “Cover that with a table cloth please. Then we can put down the chairs.”

“Then Ibe can bring the boys”, Max, who appeared from under the table, mumbled.

Sing made a face. “Why are you under there?”

“Trying to fix a screw.”

Alex and Sing sighed in unison. “This may be a complete disaster.”

Shorter wrapped his arms around each of their necks. “Don’t say that. This will be great!”

~

Three hours later, after a unholy amount of liquor on Max’s part, everyone gathered around for the cake cutting.

“Hey Eiji”, Sing muttered. “If you have anything to say as terms of a complement, say it now before you see the cake.”

Shorter feigned offence as Eiji and Ash chuckled. “Okay okay everyone.” Eiji raised his knife like a glass. “I would just like to thank you for throwing this party in honor of my birthday. “I know Ash didn’t lift a finger to help.”

He smirked at his now pouting boyfriend before continuing. “Everything looks wonderful-”

Wait you see the cake, Sing thought.

“-and I’m sure the cake tastes great”, Eiji smiled. “Now let’s eat.”

Everyone cheered as Eiji opened the box and pulled the cake out. If you asked Sing, it was even worse.

The fondant on the bottom layer completely melted, the chocolate from layer two was dripping on the table, and the chocolate on the cake pops died on the top layer.

Did he mention the cake was sliding? It was sliding.

“Sing-”, Ash began.

“Oh no, this is all Shorter, I have nothing to do with this.”

“Ouch”, Shorter winced, holding his heart. “I think I did an impeccable job.”

“I think the edible glitter, might be a bit much.” Ash poked the top layer.

Sing gave Shorter the ‘I told you so’ look.

“Let’s light the sparklers”, Max insisted, grabbing the lighter next to Ash.

“Oh no, give that, you are to drunk”, Ash tried to grab it but Max ducked it behind his back and laughed. “Don’t be so silly.”

“I shall light this cake with the flamethrower”, Max announced, holding the lit light over the top of the cake. “But we have to sing first.”

Shorter looked at the burning flame with widened eyes. “Uh Max-”

“Everyone on three.”

“Max you should-”

Sing stepped back as far as his legs would take him. “Shorter please tell me you didn’t put a sparkler in the cake.”

“I-”

Ash glared at him and opened his mouth to speak.

“THE CAKE’S ON FIRE!”

Alex ran to the bathroom as Ash grabbed Eiji and pulled him back. Max backed  up but accidently hit the leg of the table and the whole table collapsed.

Alex came rushing past, pushing Bones and Kong into each other and nearly threw the water on Ibe. Ash grabbed the bucket from Alex, and was about to dump the water when the cake exploded.

No one was spared from the sugary bomb.

Sing, Bones and Kong got little snippets, while Ash, Eiji and Alex, who were much closer, were not to lucky. Max had it the worse, he looked like he was painted with it.

Ash grit his teeth, trying not to commit a homicide. “Flour is very flammable, which is why we don’t put candles in the cake.”

Shorter gave him a guilty look. “Sorry about that Eiji.”

“….Well I suppose that’s one way of doing things. Wouldn’t have ever thought to use a flamethrower, myself.”

Everyone blinked at Eiji, who was now tearing up from laughter. He licked some of the icing off his hand and laughed harder.

Suddenly Ash smiled too, and began giggling as well. Soon Shorter and Sing join, then everyone laughed along.

Ash grabbed Eiji’s cheeks and pecked his lips. “Happy Birthday onii-chan.”

“Shut up Ash.”

Shorter and Sing was punished with having to clean up by themselves.

[rhyolight]

Ok, so Ben and Jeff plan to prank Slenderman, but it goes horribly wrong. By that I mean like either slender finds out, or they do something like accidentally set something on fire.... or both! What do you imagine would happen? Also what kind of prank would they plan? -ゆう

This one was great fun to write. The style may be a bit different than usual, as I have helped with the writing, so this piece is a mix of Rhyo’s style and mine. We hope you enjoy it! 

      When it came to pranks, few would go as far as Ben and Jeff often did. Of course, one might expect that they should be mature, but alas, this was not the case. 

      While intelligent, Ben remained childish at heart, and maturity, to put it simply, was not Jeff’s strong suit. This meant that they would often come up with elaborate schemes, sometimes they worked beautifully, and everyone could appreciate a good laugh, but more often than not, things were carried too far, or were simply downright dangerous to begin with. The two had a knack for screwing up even the most simple and flawless of plans, they had been banned from even setting foot in the kitchen a few years prior. 

      So of course, when they got it into their heads that they should prank Slender, they made sure to keep it quite. Ben could keep a secret, that much was evident, but even Jeff, with his loud mouth that would blurt out whatever came to mind kept quiet, after all, they didn’t want the others to spoil their fun. 

      Perhaps if they had done something simple, perhaps if they had followed the rules, all of this could have been avoided. But no, they couldn’t settle for simple, after all, simple pranks were for simple people. They didn’t mean to, of course, they didn’t want things to end this way. Perhaps, they would later argue, if they had been given reasons instead of rules this never would have happened in the first place, but who could have expected this? 

      Of course, Slender had been selected as their target. Sure, he would be angry, but they loved to prank him. It was more fun, as it was much harder. They knew what one of Slender’s most famous traits was, his ability to watch others despite his lacking a pair of eyes, but unlike the general population, they knew why he was so skilled when it came to observation. They had seen it many times before themselves, the way he picked up the slight vibrations created by disturbances, allowing him to detect movement and hear sound with perfect clarity. 

      Normally this made it hard to plan, as he could pick up their whispers, but this time, they would use this to their advantage. And surprisingly, they had managed to work out their plan without being caught. So clearly it wasn’t their fault, after all, wasn’t it Slender’s responsibility to know what they were up to? And it wasn’t supposed to be flammable, flour went in the oven all the time and nothing bad ever happened. 

      Really, perhaps of they had been warned properly, Slender’s head would not be on fire. They had thought that this argument was flawless, but Slender, shaking with rage as he towered above them, flames erupting from his skin, was of a mind that their argument was dumb. Although perhaps the phrasing was a bit less polite. 

      By now, dear reader, I’m sure you’re dying to know what had happened. I could have started at the beginning, shown you the way they had slunk around the house, the weeks it took to plan, but no, this story starts in the middle. It could continue from the middle as well, perhaps I share with you what obscenities Slender screamed at the pair, leaving the true cause of his anger a mystery. Or what if the story just ended here? 

      But that’s enough putting it off, by now you must have grown impatient. So I suppose, if you truly wanted to know, I could let you in on the secret. 

      As I’m sure you are well aware, the best pranks are the ones that create true confusion, a sense of being baffled, rendering oneself unable to fully comprehend the situation. This was what they hoped to aim for, and it had seemed harmless enough. The idea was to create so much movement and change that Slender would not be able to process everything, this achieving the goal. 

      The plan had been to drag the leaf blower, and yes, they were banned from touching that too, but rules are meant to be broken, inside in order to blow loose flour throughout the room. And it had gone perfectly, that is, until everything exploded. 

      See, what they did not realize was that if the right amount of flour dust happens to fly though the air, it has a nasty habit of spontaneous combustion. And as they had blown the flour directly towards Slender, an unfortunate side effect was that he happened to catch fire. 

      The curtains had ignited as well, but never mind that, for curtains do not yell angrily. 

      Everyone was startled, particularly Jeff, as his fear of fire was common knowledge. And having Slenderman standing over him, bellowing with rage as flames crackled along his skin did not help in the slightest. 

      Ben should have felt remorseful, or slightly guilty at the least, but adrenaline was pushing him forwards, and he tossed more flour into the air. The leaf blower skidded across the floor as Jeff dropped it with a shriek, beating at the air with his hands as if warding off a swarm of insects. 

      Luckily for Jeff and Slender, and unfortunately for Ben, Toby was able to help. He had been outside with Sally, using the hose to make a giant mud pit when he heard the commotion. He had run over with the hose, smashing through the window with reckless abandon as water sprayed everywhere. Ben, angry about the fact that he was now soaked, proceeded to yell as loudly as he could while stomping his feet. He may have been a ghost, but he still knew how to throw a tantrum. 

      Blood dripped from Toby’s face, swirls of crimson red spiraling through the puddles on the floor, although he didn’t notice. He grinned, blood dripping everywhere, shattered glass protruding from his face, yet all he felt was proud of himself for saving the day. 

      Then the second fire started. How did another fire start? You might ask, the room was soaking wet, there wasn’t an open flame in sight, but a problem persisted. 

      See, there had been no strategy to Toby’s plan to extinguish Slender, and the extension cord that brought power to the now abandoned leaf blower now sat in a pool of water. 

      They all watched in horror as oil leached from the piece of discarded machinery, creating greasy swirls in the water. Sparks flew, quickly igniting and racing along the surface of the water. 

      In fact, had Tim not burst in with a fire extinguisher, all might have perished. Well, except for Ben, he is a ghost after all, and nobody was quite sure if Slender could die or not. 

      Still, his calm was impressive, though he was used to dealing with the aftermath of Ben and Jeff’s tricks. 

      No major casualties were suffered, although Toby did need to have the glass removed from his face, but he didn’t put up a fuss, what would be the point? He couldn’t feel it anyways. 

      And although Jeff and Ben did act sorry, they still snickered in the passing weeks when they saw Slender walk by, his head, normally a flawless shade of white, now stained black. 

[bangtan-madi]

Year of the Rabbit — Three: Hwajeon

Pairing — Jungkook x Reader, Hoseok x Yoongi, Taehyung x Jimin

Tags — best friend!Jungkook, non-idol au, flower shop au, gym au, florist!MC, gym owner!Jungkook, brother!Namjoon, friends to lovers, slow burn, mutual pining

Genre — fluff

Word Count — 2.6k

Summary — Blame it on the storm or the secret feelings or the snow-in, but one thing is for sure: a lot can happen to two best friends when they're confined to their stores overnight. 

Warnings — language

Part — 3 / 7

A/N — I anticipate this series being 7 parts if it continues at the current pace, so it will most likely be 2 parts longer than I originally thought! :)

Previous — Next

The flower shop is one of many that line the historic street in Seoul. You're occupying one of several dozen that connect via old brick and mortar. They're all small and quaint, snuggled together in your favorite part of the city. Due to the closeness, you know your neighbors well. When facing the front of the shop, there's a supermarket on the left and a small department store on the left. Both make last-minute ideal when you're running behind on errands.

What you'd forgotten is that all the shops connect through shared attic space. It's not easy to access, but the space above each store provides useful space for storage. You've seen Yoongi tinkering with the heating units and plumbing from time to time. Jungkook pulls the panel down from the ceiling, and a retractable ladder folds out. You immediately get the impression that has also done this quite a few times before.

"I'd forgotten we even had that," you murmur. "W—Why are we going up there?"

Jungkook turns back to you with a smile. "I have a hunch. You wanna go first or me?"

Glancing up at the ladder rising into the dark and cold, you shake your head. "You first."

Your best friend laughs at your hesitation and props one foot onto the last tier of the ladder. With assured movements, he pulls himself up until he disappears into the pitch-black. 

A hand extends from above. "C'mon. Grab my hand." Though still unsure, you slip one hand out from under your cocoon of warmth and take hold. "That's it," Jungkook prides. "I got you."

Moments later, you're up in the attic space with him. His cellphone is in his other hand, and he uses it to light the way. Around you are large, clunky pieces of equipment and hundreds of feet of plumping and wires. Some good they're doing now, with the power shut off.

Jungkook taps his ear while looking at you, as if telling you to listen. "Do you hear that?"

You do as he gestures, focusing on a soft hum in the distance. "What is t—that?"

Motioning to the other side of the crowded opening, the brunet says, "Your next-door neighbor is a supermarket. When the power shut off, I'd bet you a hundred-million won that a separate, backup generator kicked in. A lot of supermarkets have them nowadays."

Hope returns to your eyes as you realize what he's saying. "What, really? So they should have power!"

"Maybe not full power, but definitely should be warmer than your place," Jungkook agrees. He tightens his hand around yours and nods to the other side of the attic, where a similar floor-door is. "Let's go find out."

Jungkook descends through the supermarket attic entrance. His steps are careful as he enters the neighboring shop. It's as dark as your shop, but the air is warmer. 

"Looks like it opens up in some sort of utility closet," he says, looking around as you scuttle down the ladder. 

"It's warmer, though." You land cautiously on your feet.

Your companion walks towards the door, and you follow behind. As he opens it, a huge grin appears on both of your faces.

Though not as illuminated as it normally is, the supermarket is covered in a dim glow. A few of the overhead lights are casting a yellow glow on the open space, and there are emergency, neon blue lights that line every walkway, shelf, doorway, and register. Add to that the white light coming from several freezers, the magenta hues from the bakery display section, the evergreen flickers from the neon signs on the windows, and the scarlet lights of the Lunar New Year decorations at every corner of the store: the entire place looks like a carnival or rainbow colors.

"This is one of those rare times I'm totally fine with you being right."

Jungkook snickers and enters the neon-glow of the supermarket. "Doesn't look like anyone's here either." He tries the front door, seeing it's locked from the outside. "Your neighbor must've closed up early for the Lunar New Year." 

"Can't blame him," you whisper. 

He turns to you with a wide, bunny-like grin and announces, "I promised you dinner, didn't I?"

"Are you serious? Wouldn't that be stealing?"

He gives a flippant wave of his hand. "I'll leave money and a tip for the trouble, don't worry. What's the alternative? We're in a supermarket. The power's out. We have no way to get home, and from the looks of it out there—." He gestures to the large windows that line the front of the store. The snow is only coming down heavier, measuring almost half a meter by now. "—we're going to be here at least for the night. So yeah, you're damn right I'm serious."

As if on cue, your stomach makes a gurgling growling sound. Jungkook cocks and eyebrow, and you offer a sheepish smile. "Maybe I am a little hungry. What're you in the mood to cook, Kook?"

"It's the Lunar New Year, and I'm not about to miss out on that. How does Tteokguk sound?" At your ecstatic nod, he skips over to you and tugs at the corners of your blanket hoodie. "Are you warm enough to go shopping with me?"

"Only if we make Hwajeon, too!"

"You and your sweets, I swear." 

"Promise?"

Jungkook places his hand over his heart, looking adorable despite his tone. "Cross my heart and hope to not burn down the supermarket."

You shrug. "Good enough for me. At least you're not my brother."

The brunet lets out a sound halfway between a groan and a sigh as he bounds away to retrieve a shopping cart from beyond the register. In his absence, you wander towards the baking section. At the end of the aisle, you spot exactly what you need. Edible flowers in all colors and varieties line the end-cap. You select several to your liking, admiring how they mirror the ones in your shop.

"Namjoon almost burnt down my gym," Jungkook says as he returns, finding you with half a dozen containers of edible flowers in your arms. "How do you even do that? There's nothing flammable!"

You place your findings in the cart, pulling the blanket tighter around you after you finish. "Hell if I know. Who can explain the god of destruction that is Kim Namjoon?"

"Where is he this year? Off exploring the world still?"

You nod, replying, "Yep. He's traveling with Seokjin still. Those two will be bachelors forever if they don't stop hopping from country to country, but they seem happiest with each other so..."

"You miss him?"

"Every day," you chuckle. "He's my brother. We fought like brats when we were younger, but he's pretty awesome now. Even if he did try to burn down your gym."

Your heart feels a little heavier at the thought of your brother. You were trying to not think about family over the Lunar New Year. With your parents still in Ilsan and your brother god knows where, you were alone in Seoul with only Elizabeth the 3rd and Jungkook to keep you company during constant work and school. Even your beloved co-workers were on vacation.

It's the first New Year you've spent by yourself. Well, mostly by yourself.

Seeing your mood shift and your eyes stare off, Jungkook walks up behind you and scoops you up into his arms. You let out a squeak of surprise but aren't able to make a response before he sets you down into the cart.

"You know the ingredients for Hwajeon?" he asks.

Shaking off those negative thoughts, you look at your best friend over your shoulder. Both of you are fully aware of what he's doing, but neither of you has a problem with it.

"Yep! Let's get flour while we're in baked goods. Then we'll need honey, salt, cinnamon powder, and sesame oil. You by chance know Tteokguk?"

Jungkook pushes the cart forward, allowing you to search the shelves from your seat in front of him. "You're lucky I helped my mom cook Tteokguk every New Year for almost fifteen years. It was my dish to make, so I have it memorized."

"Don't bore me, just steer me in the direction and tell me what to grab."

"You're awfully bossy," Jungkook murmurs.

Tossing a playful yet sharp glance at him, you turn towards the flour on the shelf. As you reach the glutinous rice variety, you ask, "What are Jimin and his boyfriend doing for the holiday, do you know?"

Jungkook gives a loud laugh as he pushes you along to the next item on your mental list. "Probably doing gross stuff on my sofa. Perks of living with your business partner and childhood friend are great. Jimin's awesome and he's always been like a brother to me. But holy shit, ever since he and Taehyung started dating, it's gotten awkward a few times. They have non-stop sex. Non. Stop. I hear it and..." He gives an involuntary shiver. "Let's just say I'd rather be stuck with you in a supermarket with only edible flowers to eat."

"Awww, how sweet. I'm honored."

"I'm serious!" he exclaims, eyes widening and hands moving with his words. "You call me the Gym Bunny, but they're the rabbits."

You turn and grab the salt that's to Jungkook's right, locking eyes with him in the process. "You jealous, Kookie?"

His throat moves as he swallows, something that doesn't slip past you. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous?"

You retreat back to your seat in the cart, placing the salt to your side. "Don't know. Just thought you might've wanted to spend the Lunar New Year with someone special."

"I am. I'm with you, aren't I?"

You lower your head and pull the heated blanket around so it hides your face. The last thing you need is for him to pick up on your blush or hidden feelings. "You know what I meant. It's been a few months since you broke things off with your ex. I would've thought by now you would've met someone else."

Your best friend takes the observation in stride, offering a response of, "Just haven't met anyone that great, to be honest. I broke things off with her because I wasn't feeling it anymore. I didn't love her, and I don't think she loved me either. We're way better off as friends."

A lump forms in your throat at his words. Is that how he sees you? A friend and never anything more? You're unsure if you're comforted by this thought or horrified.

"I guess that's fair." After grabbing the sesame oil from the shelf around the corner, you turn to Jungkook and ask, "Your turn. Show me what to get for Tteokguk."

Over the next twenty minutes, the pair makes the rounds through the supermarket. By the time you've gathered the ingredients for Tteokguk and Hwajeon—along with some soju and makgeolli that make every holiday meal better—you're both hungry and dying for something to eat. 

"We're gonna need a portable stove-top," you state as Jungkook adds banana milk to the cart with a greedy and childlike giggle. "The camping variety should work. Maybe we can plug it into the generator if we can find it?"

"There may be battery-powered ones, too," he says. "You go grab a couple of saucepans and cooking utensils. I'll get the stove. Meet back here in two?"

You nod, then lift your blanket-covered arms towards the brunet. "Up, up!"

Though he rolls his eyes, Jungkook leans down and scoops you up. Your arms wrap around his neck. His strength is effortless as he lifts you out of the cart and places you on the floor. The blanket catches on your toe, causing you to become off-balance. Jungkook reaches out and places his hands on your hips to ensure you don't fall. Your arms tighten around his neck.

"Whoa, you okay?" he asks.

You turn your gaze towards him, nose almost brushing against his in the process. You hadn't realized how close you both had gotten during the near-fall. Not that you're complaining. Your heart is hammering as his eyes search yours, that breathtaking brown that makes you want to melt.

God, you love his eyes.

Jungkook's lips tug upwards in a teasing expression. "Thanks, but that's not my best feature."

You shake your head a bit, not understanding what he's said. "What?"

"You said you love my eyes. I mean, they're great, but I think my personality is my best feature."

Your stomach sinks as you realize the accidental slip of the tongue. A wave of intense heat rises from your chest, up your neck, and covers your face. You break away from Jungkook and fix the blanket so it doesn't block your feet any longer.

"Fuck, I must be tired," you snigger. "I'm sorry, that was weird. Ignore me! I'll meet you in front of the bakery in two. That's the most open space." 

Without waiting for him to respond, you grab the cart. Not another moment goes by before you speed towards the kitchen equipment section. It's on the other side of the supermarket, but that gives time to hide with your proverbial tail between your legs.

Searching for a set of pans to use is the last thing on your mind when you arrive. Quickly finding a pair that will work, you grab the nearest set of bowls, chopsticks, and cooking tools. It takes much less than two minutes, and you use the rest of the time to recover from your blunder.

"'I love your eyes'? Really?" You rest your forehead against the edge of the shelf, letting it press against the cold metal. A groan slips past your lips. "My god, I'm such a fucking moron."

You've been trying to ignore these feelings for a while. They've been creeping in over the last year. But none have been more difficult to hide than when you first returned to Korea after a time abroad. Jungkook glued to your side the moment you returned, and you'd spent more time together over the extensive holiday season than ever before. You had convinced yourself it was a silly crush before you left. When you returned, you told yourself that it was just a relief to be back in the arms of your best friend.

But these feelings haven't left, and they're tired of being pushed to the side. One way or another, you have to face the truth. And if there ever was a time more perfect to do some self-reflection, the Lunar New Year is a perfect time.

You breathe a heavy sigh and close your eyes. Deep down, you know the truth is evident. It has been for months. There's no point in kidding yourself any longer.

You've fallen in love with your best friend. Slowly but surely, over years and years of friendship, in a way you never expected: Jeon Jungkook has stolen your heart.

"Shit," you curse, shaking your head to yourself as your eyes flutter back open.

There it is. There's the truth you've been running from. Out in the open for all parts of your being to see. The next question to ask is even more difficult to face, and you gnaw your lower lip at the thought of it.

What are you doing to do about it?

Taglist — @kookie-off-his-kookie​

[celiacandsalty]

Gluten Free in Tijuana (aka GF in TJ)

Alright alright alright, what’s up my GF globetrotters?? Who’s ready to talk about how easy it is to eat a gluten free diet while traveling internationally?? No one? Because it’s not? Yeah, that’s what I think as well.

I’m not saying that people with celiac disease CAN’T travel to other countries, but I am saying that people with celiac disease SHOULDN’T travel to other countries. To be honest, people with celiac disease should probably never leave their dumb gluten free houses. And that has been my plan of attack for the most part and it’s been working out very well because I live with a very nice man who enjoys cooking, is very good at it, and doesn’t want me to die.

Since finding out I had the celiac almost a year ago, I’ve really only traveled within the United States and it’s had its ups and downs. Traveling to Alaska ended up being better than I expected and going to Disneyland for 3 days ended up being exactly what I expected in that it was a 3-day-long waking nightmare.

I now find myself in Tijuana, Mexico and I can tell you this. If you do not speak Spanish, and you do have celiac disease or some other serious issue with gluten, Tijuana may not be the place for you. This might be obvious to some people, but I am just a little bit stupid.

I was of course anxious about this trip (as I am anxious all of the time about everything), so I tried to google my fears away with phrases  like “eating gluten free in Mexico” and “celiac friendly restaurants in Tijuana.” I really didn’t find much other than people listing traditional Mexican foods that are generally gluten free. Mexican is probably one of the more celiac-friendly cuisines out there, thanks to our friend corn. The streets are paved in corn tortillas and the rivers flow with shredded meat that probably wasn’t marinated in soy sauce. I have learned to beware the mole sauce, because the secret ingredient is bread, but other than that, most Mexican food (except for burritos and other flour tortilla-based meals and fried things) should be pretty safe. SHOULD being the operative word.

Hilary Clinton SHOULD have been our 45th president. Leonardo DiCaprio SHOULD date someone over the age of 26. “Inflammable” SHOULD mean “not flammable.” But alas, the world is not always as it should be...

Which is why I SHOULD (is this getting old?) tell servers at restaurants about my food allergy1 even if the food SHOULDN’T have gluten in it. Unfortunately, what I found was that contrary to what some people might tell you, not “everyone” in Tijuana speaks English2. And just because someone DOES speak English does NOT mean they know what the fuck gluten is. I should point out that even where I live, in Portland, Oregon (home of the imaginary gluten intolerance) the majority of people still do not know what the fuck gluten is. (My therapist keeps asking if there is gluten in cheese and now I need a new therapist.)

Anyways, I’m currently in Tijuana, sitting in a hotel room, eating spicy chicken soup with rice and avocados for every meal and while it is delicious (truly it is) I feel like a big loser for not going out and experiencing the many wonderful tacos this city surely has to offer. Would it be easier if I knew Spanish? Of course it would. Would it be much much much easier if I could eat gluten. YOU KNOW GODDAMN WELL IT WOULD.

I know it’s an autoimmune disease and not an allergy, and that’s a distinction that is almost never worth making.

I of course should know Spanish, and I am trying but I’ve only been doing 5 minutes of Duolingo a day for 6 months so all I know how to say is “I have the suitcase” and “My father is very elegant.”

UPDATE: I did manage to order some delicious pork (not soup) in a restaurant and while it took a long time and a lot of manpower (about 5 different employees) it was delicious and probably worth the humiliation. 

[babyleclerc]

Mimi’s 1K+ story a day! {Challenge}

For those of you that are newer to me & my blog - I’ve had this blog for seven years (!!!), but just began bringing it back a few weeks ago. Since I began posting Tom/Seb fics over the past few weeks, I’ve gained over 700+ of you, breaking me well into the thousand follower mark, and I would like to say THANK YOU!

As a way of thanks, and also for some more inspiration :), I’d like to give back to you guys by posting one fanfiction a day during the week of Christmas. I’m starting this now because I want enough time to both accept requests & also to write!

Details are below, hit up my askbox or this post with questions!!

DETAILS:

From December 19th through December 25th, I will be posting one fanfic story a day, totaling in seven stories for the week.

The last day for requests is Friday, December 15th.

This is seriously all for YOU GUYS! My wonderful followers. :) Please, please make requests, as I’m doing this for you! Don’t be shy!

For examples of my previous fics and/or to get ideas, see my masterlist here. (Honesty Hour part II is already in the making, so no need to request that).

RULES:

You can make as many requests as you like.

The last day to make a request is Friday, December 15th.

All requests MUST be made through my ask box. Do not comment on this post or another one of my fics with a request, it will be too hard to track and will not be counted.

I will not confirm or deny your fic request once you have made it, so don’t think I’m ignoring you! I want it to be a surprise which prompts I take - plus, it’ll be more fun that way. :)

I, under no circumstances, write fics with themes of rape.

I do write smut, but do not participate in writing dom/sub relationships. I think that those relationships are very unique and take a lot of love, respect, and care, that, as a writer, I don’t feel like I would be able to do justice. There are lots of amazing other writers on this site that do that if that’s what you’re looking for!

Given that it’s the week of Christmas, I would like some wintery/Christmas themes & prompts! I know they’re cliche, but they’re so fun. :) So don’t be surprised if the 24th is a Christmas Eve fic and the 25th is a Christmas Day fic ;). I’ll still need prompts for them, though, so check out the masterlist below!

Mimi (me!) must write seven stories, and they must be from requests. All other inspiration will just be considered extra content ;) Otherwise all of the seven fics must come from your requests!

Obviously there are many of you, and only one of me. :) So it will be naturally impossible for me to complete every single request that I get. BUT, if your request doesn’t get completed during my challenge week, just please message me or follow-up with me and I will do my best to write it afterwards!

PAIRINGS (x Reader):

Tom Hiddleston (lol obviously)

Chris Evans

Sebastian Stan

(I’m also open to writing all of the MCU folks in a group setting, but those three are the ones that I will write specific x reader/imagine stories for.)

THEMES:

Fluff/Angst/Smut/Best!Friends/Enemies. You name it, I’ll take a stab at writing it. :)

PROMPTS & WRITING IDEAS:

See below for a massive list of prompts and writing ideas. Of course, these are just suggestions - if you have a different request, send away! If you do pick a prompt, just please be specific as to which one.

Holiday Prompts (not mine, these belong to @theo-stilinski!):

“It’s almost midnight!”

“Yeah, uh, alcohol doesn’t go in hot chocolate.”

“FINE. You can put the topper on the tree.”

“It’s snowing!”

“That’s not how Santa Claus works…”

“Christmas doesn’t have to be about family, ya know?”

“Awwww look at my little elf.”

“You can be Santa’s helper.”

“How did you manage to the burn the cookies?”

“Why does the house smell like a cinnamon roll threw up?”

“Okay, but hear me out, these ornaments are way better.” -“They don’t even match.”

“You’re covered in flour.”

“Ho ho ho, bitch.”

“My gingerbread house is prettier than yours.”

“If you throw a snowball at my face so help me.”

“Christmas is lame.” -“You’re lame! You, you, you grinch!” -“Oh. Ow.”

“Open your present!”

“Wanna get shit-faced instead?”

“Why is there mistletoe everywhere?”

“So, I didn’t actually get you anything.”

“I’m still sad you won’t be home for Christmas.”

“Holy shit, you know Santa!”

“Aren’t you afraid of setting the house on fire with all the lights?”

“I hope you break your ass on that ice.”

“Wait, no one got you anything?”

“Oh, were those cookies for Santa?” -“Yes!” -“Well, what’re you gonna do about it?”

“Are you trying to find your present?”

“Oh my gosh, actual reindeer!”

“Not on Christmas.”

“We’re kind of tangled in lights.”

“So, we’re kind of snowed in.”

“I thought candy canes were supposed to be hung on trees? Not popcorn…”

“Don’t make me pour my hot chocolate over your head.”

“How much tape did you use?!”

“It looks like the North Pole threw up.”

“Are you sure it’s illegal to kill carolers?”

“You didn’t think I’d let you spend Christmas alone, did you?”

“Why is the floor covered in tinsel?”

“Wait. We’re really doing Secret Santa?”

“I told you you were going to get sick if you stayed in the snow all day.”

“Does that stocking have my name on it?”

“And now the power’s out.”

“Hey, um, why is the bottom of the tree decorated and not the top?”

“You’ve never had a New Year’s kiss?”

“You’re kind of cute when you look like Rudolph.” -“The reindeer?” -“No, my dentist. Yes, the reindeer.”

More Prompts (courtesy of @writersblockbecomesunblocked):

“Would You stop eating all the popcorn? It’s supposed to go on the tree!” “But I’m hungry!”

“So….. you wanna….hot chocolate and chill?” “If you ask me that one more time, I will dump hot chocolate on you.”

“How much eggnog have you had tonight?” “A f-few glassesss, why?” “Because I’m prettyyyy sure it’s spiked.”

“My mom got me that ornament! Stop breaking them!” “It’s not like I’m trying to break them.”

“We aren’t going to have anything left to build the house with if you keep eating all the gingerbread.”

“You’re making a mess.” “Shut up and pass me the tape.” “There’s more tape on that present than wrapping paper.”

“Why doesn’t our place look as good as that?” “Do you know how high our electricity bill would be? Christmas lights are expensive.”

“Can we please watch something else? This is the 4th time today we’ve watched elf. And it’s November 1st.”

“Are you sure your family can eat that many cookies?” “What? No. These are just for us!”

“You know, the idea of Santa Claus is pretty messed up. It’s a fat man who breaks into your house with presents made by tiny people who know if you’re bad or good. How do they know?” “You’re ruining Christmas for me. Stop.”

More Holiday AUs (credit to @berrybird):

we’re going ice skating for the first time this year and it’s pretty obvious that you’re secretly an olympic figure skater or something how the hell are you so graceful you’re literally twirling around on one foot on a frictionless surface and i can barely make a left turn

what no i totally have no idea how mistletoe got under every doorway in our house… *cough cough* …but since it’s there we should really honor the tradition right

STOP TRYING TO PUT CANDLES ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE YOU DUMB FUCK, I DON’T CARE ABOUT HOW AESTHETICALLY PLEASING IT IS TREES ARE FLAMMABLE

we’ve been just cuddling here watching movies for like six hours and this is officially the most cozy and comfortable we’ve ever been so we’re not getting up until new year’s

yes you look like a movie star with your tinsel boa but the i think it suits me better so ha

i love you but your christmas ornaments are weird we’re not putting those on the tree

you put a santa hat on my head this morning and i thought i took it off but it turns out i didn’t so i’ve been walking around all day wearing a santa hat i hate you

yes i know it’s almost christmas no that doesn’t mean you should watch every movie with snow in it seriously i can hear you singing along to love is an open door in front of my room and this needs to stop

i didn’t know that this holiday party was a dress-up thing and when i came to get you, you answered the door in your full-on GRINCH COSTUME and i almost had a fucking heart attack

you’re jewish so we’re celebrating hanukkah and most of this stuff is really new to me so you’re teaching me how to say the names of everything and so far all i can pronounc is menorah

you’re gonna fall off the roof if you try hanging lights with that ladder

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S EIGHT DAYS OF HANUKKAH yeah i know we have the 12 days of christmas song BUT IT’S JUST A SONG

come cuddle with me there’s this movie called “love actually” and it looks really cute i wanna watch it (a few hours later) W H Y

you asked me what i wanted for christmas and i was feeling really sarcastic so i said “a unicorn” and you actually went out and got me a stuffed unicorn i hate you so much but actually it’s really cute and i might sort of love it

i already told you i don’t like ugly christmas sweater parties because everyone just wears one that’s vaguely cute anyways so what’s the point and wHAT THE FUCK IS THAT I’VE ACTUALLY NEVER SEEN A SWEATER THAT UGLY WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S PART OF A MATCHING SET

we spent christmas with my family and now we’re going to spend kwanzaa with your family we’re gonna need a vacation after all this

let’s go walk around and look at all the lights and stuff

stop eating the popcorn you little shit, i can’t make caramel popcorn balls with just caramel

i’m making christmas cookies sTOP SNEAKING IN HERE TO EAT THE DOUGH OR I’LL SMACK YOU WITH A SPOON

if you try stealing the whipped cream off of my hot chocolate again i swear i will stab you with a candy cane

it’s new years’ eve and i am so determined to kiss you when the ball drops

you know i think getting engaged on chrismas it’s the most cliche thing ever but you fucking proposed anyway

^ but you proposed in the most amazing unexpected way and i’m actually getting really emotional about it aND I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING SHUT UP)

[tornrose24]

CU Corpse Bride AU part 4

I know it took too long. It’s a tricky AU to come up with, if I must be honest. Plus I’ve been working a lot on the OTHER au.

And apparently the boys were a little closer to their book counterparts in this au.

George and Harold hurry to get out of the land of the dead, but one of their fears comes true while they’re gone. Edith discovers that there is a way to look into the world of the living and view those who are still alive with a special looking glass. She commands it to show her Krupp and anxiously waits to see if he is alright.

To her confusion, she sees him leaving the town in a carriage with a hard to read expression and a suitcase in hand.

“Where’s he going?!” Edith panics before screaming at him to let him know where she is, but he cannot hear her and the image fades. She can only use the looking glass again when it is night time, but she cannot wait for that long. She has no clue what is going on in the land above or where Krupp is heading. She has no idea that he is trying to find a way to save her.

In the land of the living, Krupp is so lost in thought that he almost falls over his seat when the carriage stops without warning.

“Hey what’s the big idea?!” Krupp snaps at the driver–not knowing that the man fell over in his seat and lost consciousness upon seeing the true face of a cloaked figure who somehow was able to sneak up on him. “HEY! I have somewhere I need to go!” He gets angry and is about to give the man a piece of his mind when another cloaked figure throws the door open and snatches his suitcase away.

“HEY!” Krupp gets even more angry at this small figure who dared to delay him (and steal from him!) and chases after the pest as he leads him back towards the town and into the woods, though he soon sees that the thief has an accomplice who is also covered in a cloak.

It’s not until they get into the woods that the two finally stop to face Krupp, who is beyond angry at them for slowing him down. “I don’t know who you are, but I have somewhere I need to go, so if you don’t give me my bag back, then so help me–!”

Both figures throw their hoods back and Krupp stops mid-threat when he sees a couple of all too familiar faces–the faces of George and Harold, his former and now very much dead students.

They innocently watch and wait as he gaps at them and can only stare in shock for a few moments before sputtering out incoherent words. Then he collapses and passes out from the shock.

“Well he took that surprisingly well.” Harold comments.

Still, they don’t have time for this, and after throwing water in his face (of course), they wake him up and wait for him to quit freaking out and finally recover before he remembers what is happening. “What–HOW?!” He freaks out again in wide eyed shock at the two. “Why are you here?! Why aren’t you–what–?!”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re dead!” George finally cuts to the chase. “We didn’t miraculously survive, we actually died that day!” And so the boys are forced to admit the truth to Krupp.

Once upon a time, Krupp was especially cruel to the two boys who loved to draw, write, and play jokes on others for their own amusement, with Krupp being their favorite target. Yet one day it got to a point where they planned to play a prank on the whole classroom as well as Krupp. The plan was to cover them all in a bunch of jam, glue, and other sticky stuff, along with flour, feathers, and other random things. They would have a few loud sounds go off, then light up a scarecrow outside the school to scare a few of them.

They managed to get everything prepped, but on the day of the prank, they didn’t realize how many flammable items were in the supply shed. The moment they tested out a match, it sparked and caught one of the items on fire. There was an explosion that badly hurt  the both of them and knocked a beam down in front of the door to prevent their escape. There was too much smoke developing and because no one could hear them cry out for help–or realized where they were–

The boys grow silent.

Krupp just stares at them. He’s not surprised that one of their pranks was more than just the result of their undoing, but for once he can’t bring himself to gloat at the boys for one of their failures like he used to.

“So that aside,” George finally gets to the point. “We... kind of had a hand in you losing Edith again.”

And this goes as well as you’d expect. Krupp is more than furious at their involvement since it makes complete sense to him and he only gets angrier when they admit that they were keeping him away from the entrance to the land of the dead.

“Look, we’re sorry, ok?!” Harold begs. “We want to try to fix this because we know she’s not happy and he’s not going to be happy either. We know she wants you and I think he’s starting to get it. Just let us help you to make up for everything we did!”

“And if we get to our parents, we can tell them it was our fault that we died and they can forgive you!” George added. “For crying out loud, just listen to us this one time!”

Realizing that they are running low on time, the boys tell Krupp that if Edith marries him instead of CU, he’ll probably leave her alone, but Krupp is reluctant to do this after all that has happened. He doesn’t know if Edith could ever want to get married with him at this point. The boys want to tell Krupp about the ‘game’ with his existence on the line–that he’ll throw his life away if he let’s CU marry Edith–but they opt not to.

“Then let us try to talk some sense into him!” Harold tries to tell Krupp. “Otherwise we can try to get you into the land of the dead–without any jokes this time!”

“Besides, even if Edith were to marry him, it needs to be up here.” George added. “She’s still alive, so the laws of the living have to be obeyed, regardless of living, dead, religion, and a bunch of other things we barely care about.”

Unfortunately, while the boys succeed in getting Krupp to the entrance, the gatekeeper is NOT happy about living people being taken in before their time is up and refuses entry to Krupp, which leads to major arguing and unfortunately for the boys, the sun eventually sets yet again and CU takes over. The gatekeeper decides to teach the boys a lesson for their interferences and jokes and denies them entry for a whole twenty four hours. What’s worse is that the boys lose their chance to get CU’s attention and talk to him since he immediately rushes into the land of the dead without noticing them.

Trapped in the land of the living, George and Harold ponder what to do. They decide to try to visit their families to see them again and confess what really happened to them so that they won’t blame Krupp, in case their plan works. Then they will try to hurry back to the entrance in case something happens.

Yet things are about to get a lot harder for the boys. Edith tries once again to seek out Krupp with the looking glass, but it doesn’t show him–it doesn’t show anything. Confused, she asks the keeper of the looking glass why this is happening.

“Well, I don’t know what to say.” The undead woman admits. “This only happens if the person is not in the land of the living or the land of the dead. Either he’s gone up–or down–” she grimaces as she looks at the ground “–or somehow his soul ceased to exist. And unfortunately, that can happen.”

“So is he gone?!” Edith asks and pleads.

“I really don’t know.” The woman admits. “I’d just pray that he went up instead of the either two options.” Edith feels herself give into despair–she has no idea what is going on anymore, she’s trapped, and she doesn’t know why Krupp left town.

What if he was leaving the town as well as her because of his reputation? Because he didn’t want to face the supernatural again? Or because he couldn’t find her and gave up? Or what if something had happened and he would try to find her without knowing that both worlds were separated?

She would rather not let herself be a burden to him if that were the case. She wouldn’t want to condemn him to a life of endlessly searching for her.

Besides, she didn’t have much in the land of the living besides her family. She had been placed in an arranged marriage and she never had much hope of finding someone on her own.

Upon encountering CU, she tells him that she agrees to marry him, on the condition that a headstone baring her name is placed in the cemetery and that her family and friends made aware of her death. At this point she’s made aware of the rules–that she would need to die in order for a marriage with CU to be binding.

CU is conflicted about telling her that she does NOT need to die in this case, and a part of him can see that Edith is unhappy, but then he is too excited to really think things over and promises to have the ceremony taken up above by midnight.

Meanwhile, the boys are able to reunite with their families and it is both a wonderful and sad time spent with them, with lots of hugging and apologizing involved. They return back to the entrance to the land of the dead, but to their horror they see that Edith is being taken away by a ghostly carriage to a nearby church. When they ask the gatekeeper, he tells them that she’s agreed to the marriage–which will happen at midnight that night–and that means no more living people in the land of the dead.

The boys panic before tricking the gatekeeper into leaving his post and they hurry back into the land of the dead. They try to find CU to convince him to really think the matter over, but they can’t find him, which leaves them with one other option.

They can only think of repeating the same spell the person-in-charge used before to try to fix whatever went wrong this time. They need to bring back Krupp and even if it means having him appear before CU again, they don’t have a choice anymore. They know they have to atone for their mistakes before its too late.

The boys eventually succeed in getting the spell (which was an adventure in itself), but time is running low again and they have to hurry as fast as they can. They have to get to the church on time!

I’ve been having writer’s block with this more than once and doesn’t help with giving myself time to think it out. And trying to get the right motivation for Edith to agree to marrying CU was not easy (or fun for MANY reasons. Because I think realistically this girl would have waited one more day, but for the sake of drama I had to do THIS)... see why it was hard to write this? But I promise that I will make the last part as good as I can. :) It’ll come eventually....

[the-wheel-comes-full-circle]

The Snowball part 20

Yo I finished an essay so here have another chapter :)

Link to other chapters X

Feyre's head was throbbing like there was still loud music playing nearby. Her head felt so disconnected from her body she wondered if it was even still attached to her. That was until she tried moving an arm to cover her face from the faint light of morning and found that she was stiff and sore.

Feyre could have lied down, tucked into warm, clean sheets all morning if her mouth wasn't as dry as a desert, and her tongue as rough as sandpaper.

Her hand blindly reached out searching for her bedside table where she normally kept a glass of water, and instead hit something soft and fleshy, and very much alive.

Feyre yelped and jolted upright. She relaxed when she saw Rhysand sprawled across her mattress, mouth open and eyes shut, clearly dreaming.

He was still fully clothed and had half kicked off the blanket he had taken from the end of her bed.

Feyre registered she was wearing a baggy, oversized t-shirt that was definitely not her own.

When Feyre tried to remember the bar last night, all that came up was her and Rhys playing their game with Amren, and Nesta beating Cassian at drinking. Much of whatever happened afterwards was a blur.

A rising sense of nausea and a sickly heat had Feyre scrambling from the bed and running to the bathroom as her stomach punished her for all the alcohol she had consumed.

Feyre sat huddled over the toilet bowl as her sweat slicked hands gripped the bowl until her vomiting subsided.

She thought she had been quiet until a soft padding of footsteps told her otherwise. A warm hand pulled back her hair while the other rubbed her back and shoulders soothingly.

"Morning." Rhys said sleepily, while quickly planting a kiss on the top of Feyre's head.

Feyre groaned back in response which made Rhys chuckle.

"If it's any consolation, I think Cassian is having an even worse time than you." Rhys laughed.

Cassian's room was near Feyre's and they shared the same bathroom wall, which meant that Cassian could probably hear her throwing up right now, if Cassian was even conscious.

Feyre wiped her face with some toilet paper that Rhys handed her.

"You did this to me." Feyre said groaning, as she rested her forehead on the cool outside of the toilet bowl.

"I never did anything to you, this is your own fault."

Feyre went silent before asking, "Did you change me?"

"As fun as that would have been, no. You insisted you could do it yourself and I had to leave the room. It took you three times to finally get it on the right way, and not inside out."

"Is this your shirt?" Feyre asked, eyeing the gray material.

"Maybe." Rhys shrugged.

"Why?"

"You asked to wear it, and I obviously didn't mind." Rhys said, glancing down at her exposed legs.

Feyre groaned at how embarrassing her drunk self was. "Sorry, I guess I must have been a handful last night, huh?"

Rhys just smiled at her softly, "It's repayment, for you looking after me the other night and making sure I didn't do anything stupid."

"Did I do anything else... stupid?"

"You were fine. Perfectly well behaved."

"Really?" Feyre asked surprised.

"No." Rhys laughed. "When I got you home you refused to go to bed until I'd made you pancakes. You then dropped the entire bag of flour and decided to paint with it. You also kept touching my hair and saying how much you liked it."

Feyre curled into a small ball on the floor and hid her face from Rhys. "You can just kill me now. It's okay I'm ready."

Rhys instead pulled her to her feet and convinced her to go to the kitchen and try to eat some food.

In the kitchen Feyre was surprised and a little afraid to see Amren and Nesta sitting together and talking easily.

Amren offered them a small wave when they entered but otherwise ignored them for her conversation. Nesta however, looked up and locked eyes with Feyre before her eyes flitted to the shirt she was wearing and how it was so obviously not her own.

Feyre tugged at the hum of the shirt self consciously and wished that she had changed into something else before coming down but it was too late now.

"How's Cassian?" Rhys asked.

"He wakes from a coma long enough to hurl his guts up before slipping back under." Nesta grinned at them.

"I'm glad someone taught him a lesson for once." Amren muttered.

"Maybe I should go ask if he wants a coffee or something?" Feyre asked.

Behind the counter, and out of view of Nesta and Amren, Rhys wrapped an arm around Feyre's waist and tugged her closer.

"He'll be fine, he just needs to sleep it off." Rhys said into her ear.

Feyre blushed as she felt Nesta's eyes lock on them again.

"What happened to you two last night?" Nesta asked suspiciously.

Amren cut a glare at the two of them. "Well I know what they were doing before  they disappeared."

"No hard feelings Amren?" Rhys said winking, which Amren pointedly ignored.

"I didn't see you leaving the club." Nesta tried again.

"That's because you were too busy drinking flammable liquids." Feyre quipped back.

"Feyre was a bit tipsy so I brought her back home to sleep." Rhys added when Nesta looked like she would question further.

"I suppose she also doesn't own her own pyjamas, so you brought her some of yours too?" Nesta asked with a sardonic grin.

At that Rhys sputtered and Nesta turned to Amren who grinned back at her.

"Are Mor and Az home?" Feyre asked quickly.

"Yeah, they came back just before dawn." Amren answered.

Just then a news report came on the television that had everyone racing to get closer.

A headline was flashing across the screen as well as a photo of Tamlin which read, "Tamlin claims abuse rumours made up".

"This ought to be good." Amren rolled her eyes.

Feyre's eyes were glued to the screen as Tamlin appeared on camera being interviewed by a reporter.

"Were you and Feyre in a relationship?" The reporter asked.

"Yes, we'd been together for several months." Was Tamlin's monotone response.

"And did you attack her?"

"Absolutely not. I loved her." Tamlin's response was adamant.

"Then why would she spread these accusations?" The reporter pushed.

"Because she was using me for my money. I was supporting her family who lived in another town and I recently stopped, she must have gotten mad and decided to get revenge."

Feyre's blood was boiling as she witnessed Tamlin lying on national television. She reached out to take Rhys's hand for support which he squeezed back.

"She also mentioned that you were backing a deal which could potentially destroy a whole community?" The reporter asked.

"That's ridiculous, why would I take part in anything like that knowingly?"

Feyre was disgusted and made to turn off the tv when it switched to footage captured on a cell phone of her and Rhys leaving Rita's. She watched in horror as she was clearly drunk and unable to walk, with Rhys swinging her into his arms before they disappeared from view.

A voice over from a reporter cut in, "Clearly Feyre Archeron attracts the attention of very wealthy and influential men, seen here leaving a night club last night with Rhysand. Can we really trust her word?"

"What just happened?" Feyre asked in shock when a new segment started.

Amren quickly shut off the tv, leaving them in silence.

"He'll pay for this." Rhys growled, still staring at the tv as if he could see Tamlin.

"No. Getting into another fight isn't going to help anyone." Feyre said rubbing her temples.

Quick footsteps from the hallway alerted them to Mor and Azriel entering.

"We just saw the news!" Mor said horrified. "Feyre I'm so sorry this has happened."

"It's fine. We knew this could happen." Feyre said trying to remain calm, but her voice broke on the word fine.

"We just need to discredit him further." Azriel suggested.

"Yeah, find someone, a witness maybe?" Mor agreed.

Feyre listened to them all argue it out while she retreated into her own thoughts. The reporters didn't have to use the words that everyone would now associate her with. Gold digger. Man eater. Slut.

She sat down on the couch and stared numbly at the ground trying to sort out how she felt.

Rhys continued to talk to the others, shooting her worried glances, but giving her some space to think.

When the doorbell rang everyone jumped.

"I'll get it." Azriel said.

They all listened quietly as Azriel answered the door. He spoke so quietly that Feyre couldn't hear what he was saying but she thought she heard him dangerously growl "Get out".

Eventually two sets of footsteps echoed down the hallway and Azriel reappeared looking angry but wary.

When Azriel stepped out of the way Feyre saw why. Standing behind him was Hybern.

Rhys was immediately in front of Hybern, standing face to face with him as he did everything but outright snarl and bare his teeth.

"You are not welcome here." Rhys said growling.

Hybern simply smiled slowly. "How nice it is to see you again Rhysand. Shame about your house, but I am actually not here to see you." Then Hybern turned his dark eyes to look directly at Feyre.

Rhys noticed the look and took an impossible step closer to Hybern, practically nose to nose.

"Leave her out of this." He said dangerously.

"I just want to talk to the lovely Feyre." Hybern smiled sweetly.

The compliment only angered Rhys further who looked like he was one word away from throwing a punch.

"Rhys it's okay. I want to hear what he has to say." Feyre interrupted.

Rhys whipped his head to look at Feyre and the moment he saw her, his eyes softened and he stiffly nodded, moving away to stand back by her side.

"Impressive." Hybern whistled. "Do you know how many years I have tried to train that mutt?"

"It isn't too late for me throw you out of here. Say whatever it is that you want, and then leave." Rhys warned.

Hybern held up two hands in surrender. "Alright. I simply wanted to ask Feyre to drop her ridiculous allegations."

Amren scoffed. "And why would she do that?"

"Because I asked her very nicely." Hybern smiled sweetly at Feyre, but Feyre could see the rottenness underneath, and the threat that was thinly veiled.

"...And if I don't?" Feyre challenged.

"Well. I'd lose a lot of money if Tamlin was unable to fulfil his part of our deal due to... unforeseen circumstances. It would be quite terrible for my staff. Some you may even know." At this, Hybern smiled wickedly and Feyre had an uneasy feeling in her gut.

"Either tell us what you mean, or get out." Rhys snarled.

"Manners Rhysand. I know your mother taught you, what would she say if she could see you now?" Hybern taunted, and it broke Feyre's heart to see Rhys's composure break a little.

"Enough. Tell me whatever it is you came here to do or I'll call the police." Feyre asked angrily.

Hybern sighed dramatically. "If you kept a closer eye on your own family members Feyre, you would already know."

Feyre's heart plummeted. She glanced at Nesta confused. Nesta had her brow furrowed and looked like she was furiously trying to solve something.

"Just tell me already!" Feyre practically shouted.

"Tamlin was so very kind to give me some details when I mentioned I needed a new receptionist. Elain is a very diligent worker." Hybern bragged.

Feyre started shaking in anger but it was Nesta who spoke to Hybern.

"If you hurt her-"

"I would never hurt an innocent girl. Neither would any of my business partners. But, as I said, bad things happen when I lose money. So many workers lost." Hybern said sadly, and turned on his heel to stride back out the front door.

[detoxnearme]

How To Cook Methamphetamine Easy

Contents

Like you can't

Certain equipment and chemicals

Apr 05 glaucoma methamphetamine you

That exist with other

What's In Meth. Most of Meth’s key ingredients are toxic and highly flammable. Although the “recipes” vary, here are the most commonly used ingredients.

Apr 14, 2011  · Put three cups of Epson salt (Magnesium sulfate) to the bowl, then add ice. Insert the gas tube and slowly let the gas stream into the water. The hydrogen …

15 Nov 2010 free methamphetamine easy recipe. amphetamine convert using lithium ion to make methamphetamine. meth recipe laundry detergent . step Exfoliate tyrannids, …

Yah, meth is one of the easier drugs to make, but just like you can't bake a cake without flour, you cant make meth without certain equipment and chemicals, most of which are almost as hard to get as meth itself.

Dec 14, 2009  · Old school meth method: Mexican ... plume Uncle Fester and is considered the father of modern meth-making. "They make life difficult ... easy-to-get ...

Making Methamphetamine: To do the reaction. A typical composition of the striking pa d is about 50% red phosphorus. Now. With the ingredients mixed togeth er in the flask. Next. and make the acid mixture in fresh pure water. and slowly add the iodine crystals to the red phos phorus-water mixture. If so. the flask is allowed to cool. While it is …

Can Drug Dogs Smell Methamphetamine Contents Odor whilst withdrawing Widely known for apr 05 glaucoma methamphetamine you this Never this many cross-reactivity that exist Oct 12, 2011  · As this is my first thread, my apologies in advance if i break any rules. Please let me know if i commit any major "no no’s" so that i can get better… Narcotic How Does Methamphetamine Enter The Body Contents False positive drug test results That looks how much meth Looks how much meth Including does green widely known for Apr 05, 2017  · Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a condition characterized by deficiency of the exocrine pancreatic enzymes, resulting in the inability to digest … Addiction touches nearly every family, ravaging physical and mental What Can Cause A Positive Drug Test For Methamphetamine Contents Your overview methamphetamine you have glaucoma You have glaucoma Methamphetamine you this ghetto Children think its medicines 10th step. adderall Contents innovation was never this Many cross-reactivity that exist with other analytes can also cause a false-positive … false positive drug test results can be … and Methamphetamine. Like amphetamine, it causes increased activity,

How To Cook Methamphetamine Easy Read more on: https://detoxnear.me

from DetoxNear.me - Feed https://www.detoxnear.me/how-to-cook-methamphetamine-easy/

[investmart007]

MILAN | Italian bridge collapse sends cars plunging, killing 26

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/0Eb4pq

MILAN | Italian bridge collapse sends cars plunging, killing 26

MILAN — A 51-year-old highway bridge in the Italian port city of Genoa collapsed in a driving rain Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 15 others as it sent dozens of vehicles tumbling into a heap of concrete and twisted steel.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte called it “an immense tragedy … inconceivable in a modern system like ours, a modern country.”

The disaster, on a major interchange connecting Genoa and other northern cities with beaches in eastern Liguria into France, focused attention on Italy’s aging infrastructure, particularly its concrete bridges and viaducts built in the postwar boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

What caused the Morandi Bridge to fall remained unknown, and prosecutors said they were opening an investigation but had not identified any targets. Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said the collapse was “unacceptable” and that if negligence played a role “whoever made a mistake must pay.”

Early speculation focused on the structural weakness of the span.

Witnesses reported hearing a roar as the 45-meter (nearly 150-foot) bridge collapsed in a torrential rain during midday traffic on the eve of a major holiday that sees most Italians abandoning cities for beaches and mountains.

One unidentified woman who was standing below told RAI state TV that it crumbled as if it were a mound of baking flour. Video of the collapse, showing a misty scene of crumbled concrete, captured a man screaming: “Oh, God! Oh, God!”

Civil Protection authorities said at least 30 cars and three heavy vehicles were on the 80-meter (260-foot) section of the span that collapsed in the industrial area of warehouses.

There was an immense gap where the bridge used to be, and one heart-stopping image showed a green truck halted on the rain-slickened roadway just short of the edge.

A man who was standing under the bridge in front of his truck at the time of the collapse called it “a miracle” that he survived. The middle-aged man, who did not give his name, said the shockwave sent him flying over 10 meters (33 feet) into a wall, injuring his right shoulder and hip.

“I was in front of the truck and flew away, like everything else. Yes, I think it’s a miracle. I don’t know what to say. I’m out of words,” he said, walking away from the site.

More than 300 rescue workers and canine crews were on the scene.

They used heavy equipment and dogs to search for survivors in the rubble. At least four people were pulled alive from vehicles under the bridge, ANSA reported.

“Operations are ongoing to extract people imprisoned below parts of the bridge and twisted metal,” said Angelo Borrelli, the head of Italy’s civil protection agency.

Officials evacuated several hundred people living along the raised highway that traverses the city as a precaution.

The effort would continue into the night.

“It is a bit like working on an earthquake,” said firefighters spokesman Luca Cari. “The main difficulty is removing the rubble and safeguarding the rescue teams.”

There was confusion over the death toll throughout the day, with different officials giving conflicting numbers.

Officials in the Liguria region said Tuesday night that 26 people had died, saying two more bodies had been found and one of the 16 injured had died in surgery.

After visiting the scene, Conte told RAI state TV the tragedy was “a serious wound for Genoa, Liguria and Italy.”

The Italian CNR civil engineering society said that structures dating from when the Morandi Bridge was built had surpassed their lifespan. It called for a “Marshall Plan” to repair or replace tens of thousands of bridges and viaducts built in the 1950s and 1960s.

Updating and reinforcing the bridges would be more expensive than destroying and rebuilding them with technology that could last a century.

They cited previous accidents: a bridge that fell in April 2017 in the northern province of Cuneo, crushing a carabinieri police car after the officers and driver had barely managed to get away in time; and an overpass that in the northern city of Lecco that collapsed under exceptional weight, crushing a car and killing the driver.

The design of the bridge has been criticized in the past. Antonio Brencich, a professor specializing in reinforced concrete construction at the University of Genoa, called the span “a failure of engineering” in an interview in 2016.

“That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I do not know when. But there will be a time when the cost of maintenance will be higher than a replacement,” he told Italian media Primocanale.

Other engineers said corrosion or weather conditions could have contributed.

“As this reinforced and pre-stressed concrete bridge has been there for 50 years, it is possible that corrosion of tendons or reinforcement may be a contributory factor,” said Ian Firth, former president of The Institution of Structural Engineers, a London-based international network. He called the bridge “an unusual design.”

Mehdi Kashani, an associate professor in structural mechanics at the University of Southampton in the U.K., said maintenance issues and pressure from “dynamic loads,” such as traffic and wind, could have resulted in “fatigue damage in bridge components.”

Borrelli said highway engineers were checking other parts of the bridge and that some areas were evacuated as a precaution.

“You can see there are very big portions of the bridge (that collapsed). We need to remove all of the rubble to ascertain that all of the people have been reached,” he said.

The transport minister, Toninelli, said the company that has the concession to operate that section of highway said its maintenance on the bridge was up to date and no work was being done at the time of the collapse. But he added that they were about to launch a 20 million euro ($22.7 million) bidding process for significant safety work on the bridge.

“There has not been sufficient maintenance and checks, and safety work for many bridges and viaducts and bridges in Italy constructed — almost all — during the 1960s,” he said.

It was the second deadly disaster on an Italian highway in as many weeks.

On Aug. 6, a tanker truck carrying a highly flammable gas exploded after rear-ending a stopped truck and getting hit from behind near the northern city of Bologna. The accident killed one person, injured dozens and blew apart a section of a raised eight-lane highway.

By COLLEEN BARRY and DANICA KIRKA , Associated Press

[hotel-massage-london]

Massages from around the world – Weird, wonderful & whacky

Massages from around the world – Weird, wonderful & whacky

Everyone has had a massage before, whether it’s your bog standard Swedish style or something a little more touchy feely if you know I mean… Either way, most people have experienced first-hand the delights and wonders of massage in any form. Massage is an ancient ritual and was established thousands of years ago in Asia. Over the years, this sacred practice has adapted; hybrid styles have emerged and people have used their imaginations to create new styles. That’s all well and good obviously, but some people just have to take it too far don’t they? There is nothing wrong with being creative, but it’s safe to say that some idiots from across the world have gone a little OTT with experimentation. It’s almost a competition to see who can invent the most ridiculous massage style. Although the list is seemingly endless, we have gone to the effort of narrowing down our favourite weird massage styles from around the globe. Some call them revolutionary, I just call them down right stupid to be honest; but I’ll let you be the judge of that…

Python massage

Okay, so imagine it. You’ve been sightseeing all day and you’re aching in places you didn’t even know existed. You’re offered a massage- are you going to turn it down? Of course you aren’t, it’s exactly what you need right now. Or is it?… Cebu City Zoo in the Philippines is a tourist hotspot, but also attracts people from across the world for a different reason. Lunatics from around the globe don’t just come to the zoo to see animals; they come to get up close and personal with them. Well, the Pythons, to be exact. Cebu City Zoo’s notorious Python massage is arguably one of the strangest massage styles on the planet, and is probably a living nightmare for most people. Four giant Burmese Pythons, weighing a massive 250kg collectively are placed on a brave ass mother f***** and left to slither around as they please. The pythons, named Walter, Daniel, Michelle and EJ are fed about 10 chickens each before the massage to curb their hunger pains. No human for dessert then? The session is said to last around 10-15 minutes and is apparently very therapeutic and calming; each to their own. I’d rather not tempt 4 man-eating snakes to have a bite…

Cactus Massage

When it comes to spa treatments, we are all spoiled for choice. There’s a treatment for absolutely everything- literally. When you’re on holiday or out of town for business, exploring luxury treatments is a given- but would you be willing to take a risk on potentially waste a load of money on something unconventional? If your answer is yes, take a trip to the Four Seasons’ hotel in Punta Mita, Mexico and give their famous Hakali cactus massage a go. Before you ask, this isn’t an ancient form of acupuncture- the needles are removed before the session and only the paddles (the leaves) are used. The paddles are heated in warm water and are split in half once soft. The gooey side is then rubbed onto the skin, helping to heal sunburns, hydrating the skin and banishing toxins. And the best part is, the nopal juice absorbs quickly into the skin and doesn’t leave you feeling greasy or sticky after the session- result! Sounds pretty good if you ask me!

The meat cleaver massage

Is it just me, or does this sound like something out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre? No, this terrifying massage wasn’t inspired by horror movies; it was actually invented in China and dates back to 770BC! The session, which typically only lasts around 10 minutes, begins when the brave participant lays face down on the massage table. The masseuse/butcher look-a-like then uses the SHARP side of the 10” blade and gently begins to knead and tap the skin with the cleaver. However, these massages aren’t necessarily sought out for muscle release- it’s more of a spiritual style. It is believed that the steel can help to remove ‘negative energy’ from the body, and can encourage deeper sleep and better circulation. Okay, so maybe it isn’t as scary as I thought, and it only costs around $7 a session- bargain. Maybe you’ve pulled my leg…

Gondola Massage

Everyone dreams of experiencing the picturesque and sickeningly dreamy sites that Venice has to offer; after all, it is the most romantic city in the world. But, if bopping along the city’s’ famous canals in a gondola wasn’t good enough already, imagine getting a massage at the same time? Sign me up right away! Yes, Gondola massage is now a thing, and it’s safe to say people have lost their shit over it. At the Casanova Spa at the Hotel Cipriani, Venice offers these sensational massage experiences for any relaxation-seeker with a few hundred euros lying around. Easy. The massage is conducted in a private gondola with a trained masseuse and gondolier at hand, and is performed on the beautiful waters of the ancient city. As the massage focuses mainly on the feet, hands and upper part of the body, you don’t have to worry about passers-byers having a cheeky peek at your goodies. Afraid you’ll fry under the sun? Don’t worry; the massage oil used during the session was specifically designed to contain SPF protection agents- so no sunburn today kids. Get me there right now!

Elephant massage

Have you had a stressful couple of weeks and need a massage to let off some steam? If you’re feeling a little tense, why not commission an elephant to sort it out for you? No, we don’t mean some middle aged masseuse on Craigslist, we mean an actual elephant, believe it or not. A tourist park in Chiang Mai, Thailand advertises these chancy massages to any courageous volunteers with balls of steel. Of course, the elephants have been trained to delicately press their feet on the backs of the subjects, and also sometimes use their trunks to lightly manipulate the muscles. Don’t get me wrong, I love elephants, but I don’t fancy the idea of one standing on me. The fact this massage is free says it all!

African snail massage

If you’re obsessed with turning back the clock and preventing ageing as much as possible, then you’ll probably have all of the latest fad creams on the market. But how do you fancy giving snail slime a go? Anything for youthful, soft skin, right? Believe it or not, salons across the world are using this bizarre technique all in the name of beauty. This rather unusual facial was created by a French bloke a couple of years ago who claimed that snails are full of collagen. As such, having these gross little critters sliding all over your face can actually work wonders for the skin and its elasticity. This apparently, ‘relaxing’ massage/facial is meant to feel god damn amazing- that is after you’re able to get over the fact smarmy insects are probably crapping on your face. I’m going to pass, thanks.

Tickling massage

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find being tickled to be the worst form of torture known to man. Seeing a finger float towards my neck literally sends fear pulsating through my body. Unbeknown to me, however, not everyone shares the same dislike as I do. In fact, some people pay for it (weirdoes). Tickling massage is a thing, and for me, it is a manifestation of my worst nightmares. This tormenting massage style originated in Madrid, Spain and is performed in order to reduce stress. Using delicate finger tips and soft feathers, masseuses gently trace down the clients’ back and other areas, and adapt their routine depending on how ticklish each person is. The more ticklish, the more sensitive their routine becomes etc. Personally, I’d rather not pay a stranger $35 to torture me, but if this sounds like your kind of thing, be my guest. It’s your funeral!

Flames massage

Oddly enough, setting fire to yourself isn’t as bad as people seem to think- well, not when it comes to Flame massage, anyway. This rather fiery form of massage is not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure- but if you’re brave enough to get hot and steamy, then you’re in for a treat. Originating in China, Flame massage is very popular during the winter in traditional, Chinese hospitals and it used to prevent illnesses such as flu and colds. Typically, masseurs sprinkle towels with a flammable substance (usually alcohol) and then set it on fire. The towel is then placed on the client, and is then eventually put out using another towel. Surprisingly, the massage isn’t at all painful and is actually meant to be great for losing weight? The term, ‘burning fat’ has never been truer!

Massages by the blind

When you’re investing money into a luxury, you should never go into it blind. At least, you shouldn’t- but your masseuse might. Believe it or not, ‘blind massage parlours’ are insanely popular in China- so much so, it is believed that there’s one on every street block in some areas. The massage itself is pretty standard in many regards, and still focuses on relieving muscle tension and inducing relaxation. However, creator Ly Yuan says that blind massage is better because, “giving a good massage is dependent on a person’s tactile sensitivity. Obviously, blind people have a strong advantage in this.” If you say so Yuan, if you say so.

Pancake massage

Well, what would you know? Finally a massage with sense behind it! I mean, I don’t actually know what a hot pancake could do for the skin, but does that really matter? You’re covered in pancakes- that’s all I need to know! But seriously guys, pancake massage is an actual thing, and its meant to be pretty good. Essentially, fresh, hot pancakes are applied directly to the skin which is said to help tackle fatigue, nourish the skin and banish excess fluid. Practitioners of this tasty massage treatment also claim that it improves bloody circulation but maintaining proper body heat and utilising natural flour for healing properties. Sounds like a load of crap if you ask me, but count me in!

Egg massage

Oh my god seriously? Guys, my head if seriously scrambled now. I wish I was kidding, but im not- ‘Egg massage’ is a thing, and it’s more popular then you’d think. This style originated in china (obviously) and is practiced more for superstition purposes as opposed to healing ones. In China, they believe that it is good luck for a father to give his child a head massage with eggs after the baby has had a haircut. Traditional belief dictates that on the second day of the Lunar month, the egg-massage is said to bring good luck and fortune. I’m just going to stick to fortunate cookies I think guys, I don’t know about you.

Thankfully that concludes our list of weird and not-so-wonderful massage styles from around the world. I myself will stick to the more traditional styles; after all, I don’t really fancy being set on for, eaten by a deadly python, being tickled to death and being squashed flat by an elephant. Oh, and don’t forget about being smothered head to toe in smelly egg. No thank you. I’ll stick to something less eccentric I think…

If you’d like to book in for a massage that’s a little out of the ordinary but not too wild, why not consider an Oriental massage with a trained professional? If you’d like to be pampered and pleasured by a gorgeous Asian masseuse at a time and a place that suits you, then give us a call on the telephone number below or come visit us at our address:

Hotel Massage London Jermyn St St James’s London SW1Y 6JD 07818115228

This post Massages from around the world – Weird, wonderful & whacky published first on the hotel massage blog http://hotel-massage.co.uk/

[investmart007]

MILAN | Italian bridge collapse sends cars tumbling, killing 22

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/iXxbFy

MILAN | Italian bridge collapse sends cars tumbling, killing 22

MILAN  — A 51-year-old highway bridge in the Italian port city of Genoa collapsed in a driving rain Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 16 others as it sent dozens of vehicles tumbling into a heap of concrete and twisted steel.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte called it “an immense tragedy … inconceivable in a modern system like ours, a modern country.”

The disaster, on a major interchange connecting Genoa and other northern cities with beaches in eastern Liguria into France, focused attention on Italy’s aging infrastructure, particularly its concrete bridges and viaducts built in the postwar boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

What caused the Morandi Bridge to fall remained unknown, and prosecutors said they were opening an investigation but had not identified any targets. Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said the collapse was “unacceptable” and that if negligence played a role “whoever made a mistake must pay.”

Early speculation focused on the structural weakness of the span.

Witnesses reported hearing a roar as the 45-meter (nearly 150-foot) bridge collapsed in a torrential rain during midday traffic on the eve of a major holiday that sees most Italians abandoning cities for beaches and mountains.

One unidentified woman who was standing below told RAI state TV that it crumbled as if it were a mound of baking flour. Video of the collapse, showing a misty scene of crumbled concrete, captured a man screaming: “Oh, God! Oh, God!”

Civil Protection authorities said at least 30 cars and three heavy vehicles were on the 80-meter (260-foot) section of the span that collapsed in the industrial area of warehouses.

There was an immense gap where the bridge used to be, and one heart-stopping image showed a green truck halted on the rain-slickened roadway just short of the edge.

A man who was standing under the bridge in front of his truck at the time of the collapse called it “a miracle” that he survived. The middle-aged man, who did not give his name, said the shockwave sent him flying over 10 meters (33 feet) into a wall, injuring his right shoulder and hip.

“I was in front of the truck and flew away, like everything else. Yes, I think it’s a miracle. I don’t know what to say. I’m out of words,” he said, walking away from the site.

More than 300 rescue workers and canine crews were on the scene.

They used heavy equipment and dogs to search for survivors in the rubble. At least four people were pulled alive from vehicles under the bridge, ANSA reported.

“Operations are ongoing to extract people imprisoned below parts of the bridge and twisted metal,” said Angelo Borrelli, the head of Italy’s civil protection agency.

Officials evacuated several hundred people living along the raised highway that traverses the city as a precaution.

The effort would continue into the night.

“It is a bit like working on an earthquake,” said firefighters spokesman Luca Cari. “The main difficulty is removing the rubble and safeguarding the rescue teams.”

There was confusion over the death toll throughout the day, with different officials giving conflicting numbers.

Officials in the Liguria region said Tuesday night that 26 people had died, saying two more bodies had been found and one of the 16 injured had died in surgery.

After visiting the scene, Conte told RAI state TV called the tragedy “a serious wound for Genoa, Liguria and Italy.”

The Italian CNR civil engineering society said that structures dating from when the Morandi Bridge was built had surpassed their lifespan. It called for a “Marshall Plan” to repair or replace tens of thousands of bridges and viaducts built in the 1950s and 1960s.

Updating and reinforcing the bridges would be more expensive than destroying and rebuilding them with technology that could last a century.

They cited previous accidents: a bridge that fell in April 2017 in the northern province of Cuneo, crushing a carabinieri police car after the officers and driver had barely managed to get away in time; and an overpass that in the northern city of Lecco that collapsed under exceptional weight, crushing a car and killing the driver.

The design of the bridge has been criticized in the past. Antonio Brencich, a professor specializing in reinforced concrete construction at the University of Genoa, called the span “a failure of engineering” in an interview in 2016.

“That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I do not know when. But there will be a time when the cost of maintenance will be higher than a replacement,” he told Italian media Primocanale.

Other engineers said corrosion or weather conditions could have contributed.

“As this reinforced and pre-stressed concrete bridge has been there for 50 years, it is possible that corrosion of tendons or reinforcement may be a contributory factor,” said Ian Firth, former president of The Institution of Structural Engineers, a London-based international network. He called the bridge “an unusual design.”

Mehdi Kashani, an associate professor in structural mechanics at the University of Southampton in the U.K., said maintenance issues and pressure from “dynamic loads,” such as traffic and wind, could have resulted in “fatigue damage in bridge components.”

Borrelli said highway engineers were checking other parts of the bridge and that some areas were evacuated as a precaution.

“You can see there are very big portions of the bridge (that collapsed). We need to remove all of the rubble to ascertain that all of the people have been reached,” he said.

The transport minister, Toninelli, said the company that has the concession to operate that section of highway said its maintenance on the bridge was up to date and no work was being done at the time of the collapse. But he added that they were about to launch a 20 million euro ($22.7 million) bidding process for significant safety work on the bridge.

“There has not been sufficient maintenance and checks, and safety work for many bridges and viaducts and bridges in Italy constructed — almost all — during the 1960s,” he said.

It was the second deadly disaster on an Italian highway in as many weeks.

On Aug. 6, a tanker truck carrying a highly flammable gas exploded after rear-ending a stopped truck and getting hit from behind near the northern city of Bologna. The accident killed one person, injured dozens and blew apart a section of a raised eight-lane highway.

By COLLEEN BARRY and DANICA KIRKA ,  Associated Press