#at some point i am going to replace his lungs. they have been through so much and i really don't think they can survive the story

[revivisection]

drew this for a school thing lmaooo does anyone want to see cosmas again

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Harmony || CL16

Summary: Being a musician isn't the easiest way to make ends meet. Aside from being in the local orchestra, you balance being a tutor and a tuner - one Charles hires to tune his piano. Warnings: none, fluffy WC: 1.2k F1 Masterlist

Of course the city would be busy when you were running late. As much as you might have tried to run, or at least power walk, you didn’t want to damage the precious cargo you were carrying. You managed to make up some time at the sacrifice of your lungs and you were still recovering when you reached the address of your last appointment.

“Sorry I’m late, Mr Leclerc, my violin lesson ran over.”

“That’s okay, and it’s just Charles,” he corrected as he opened his door wider for you to enter his home. It was easy to see where you were going to be working so you headed straight to the upright piano in the light and airy living room. After placing your violin case on the floor beside his coffee table you shrugged off your backpack and opened your tool kit.

“May I?” you asked as you reached for the memorabilia balanced on the top you needed access to.

“Oh, right, sorry.” He rolled his eyes at himself for not preparing the piano for your arrival and helped you clear it off. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No, thank you, Mr- I mean Charles.” You opened the top lid before removing the front panel and sat down on the bench. First you tested the keys and pedals to see if any were sticky but they were in good condition, and you listened to each key to determine how much work was needed. 

“How long have you been learning to play the violin?”

You looked away from the keys as Charles took a seat on the sofa near your instrument. “Oh, no, I teach it. Well, I suppose I am still learning, because there is always room to improve, but my lesson was with a student.”

“So violin tutor and piano tuner,” he said with an impressed nod. “That is quite the niche market.”

“Not as niche as yours,” you pointed out as you pulled a tuning fork out of your tool kit. “There are certainly more than 20 of us in the world.”

The racer cracked a smile that was quite disarming and you had to return to your work as your cheeks warned. “When was she last tuned?”

He chuckled nervously and you winced before he even answered. “When I bought it, two and a half years ago.”

You suppressed the sigh that built and grabbed the adjuster to start moving all the keys up in pitch. “Without regular tuning, you’ll likely find she needs fine tuning again in a few weeks.”

Charles smiled sheepishly and nodded. A comfortable silence fell as you continued your work, moving with confidence through the motions until you were satisfied the piano sounded perfect. Replacing the front panel and closing the top, you took a seat again for the final test. There was already a page of sheet music on the stand so you placed your tablet next to it and opened the app that picked up notes and confirmed if they were in tune or not.

Your eyes scanned the sheet and you heard the melody in your head before you let it flow into your fingers that started their graceful dance across the keys. One page was more than enough to check your work was done but you were a little disappointed that you weren’t able to hear the remainder of the song as you closed the lid.

“I haven’t heard this before,” you said as you picked up the sheet but it had no markings on it. “Who is the artist?”

Charles rose from the sofa and took the page with pink cheeks. “I, uh, I wrote it.”

“It’s beautiful, and sad.” He frowned at the strange compliment and looked away before you placed your hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with sad music. It is meant to be a way of expressing oneself so it doesn’t fester inside. I tell my students it is a good thing.”

His frown softened and his grip on the paper eased before he reached past you to place it back on the stand. “I wanted to add some other instruments once I recorded it, but I wasn’t sure which ones.”

You nodded to yourself as you replayed the sonata in your head, your fingers drawing invisible notes that could accompany the melody. “Hmm, I think I can help…if you want?”

“Please,” he said as he watched you grab your violin case and unlock it. The lid opened with a creak and his eyes widened as he saw the logo for the Monegasque Royal Orchestra in the velvet lining. “You play for the orchestra?”

“Second chair,” you hummed with a proud smile. “We are playing for Prince Albert’s birthday this weekend.”

“I guess I will see you there.”

Of course he would have an invitation to the Prince’s birthday, all the important people in the principality would be there. “That’s one way to make me nervous. I’ll try not to mess up for you.”

“I think you’ll be great,” he said with a grin as he sat at the edge of the bench and watched you raise the delicate violin to your neck.

“Do you want to play and I will join you?”

“Uh, sure.” He was the one who seemed nervous now and he cleared his throat as he turned on the bench seat, his toes hovering over the pedals. “Here we go, I guess.”

His long fingers were elegant and his wrists remained loose as he began to play. You let the first eight bars open before you closed your eyes and drew your bow across the strings in harmony to him. Charles stumbled over the key as the higher octave caught him by surprise but he recovered with a quiet apology and soon the piece rose into an emotive crescendo that had your chest aching before the last note died out.

You let your arm relax and the warmth from the rosewood rest cooled on your skin as you lowered the bow and violin to your sides.

“That was…incredible,” he said as he turned in his seat.

“You are a very talented man, Mr Leclerc,” you said as you carefully laid the violin back into the bracket and locked it up. “A lot of people can play the piano but very few have the creativity to write their own music.”

His blush spread from his cheeks to his neck and he fidgeted with the ring on his finger. “Thank you, for tuning my piano and playing with me.”

“It was a pleasure.” You packed up your tools and shoved them into your backpack before picking up the violin case and looking at the door. “I hope you enjoy the concert.”

“I’m sure I will,” he said with a genuine smile as he walked with you to the entrance way. “Maybe we can have a drink together afterwards?”

You clutched the handle of the case tighter and tried to control your excitement with a small nod, but your smile was uncontrollable and bright. “I would like that.”

“I’ll see you Saturday.”

[justiceforvillains]

I'm almost back which means ✨SKZ Hybrid AUs✨

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

So imagine you work with a hybrid shelter who finds stray hybrids and gives them a new home and a family, you are one of the best people there and you had worked with many tough and complicated cases, so whenever they have trouble with a hybrid they call you to deal with it.

It isn't new to you, to get a call at 3 am because your coworkers can't deal with a difficult hybrid, it was almost a daily occurrence

And tonight was no exception, you got a call about a really, really, really injured but violent hybrid, so you did your normal routine packed a bag full of meat, put on some scent blockers to not smell threatening even put on a soft fluffy oversized sweater to look even less threatening

You went over there and your breath hitched there he was with blood all over him growling and snapping his Teath at anyone who dared get too close to him

At this point everyone were staying back too afraid of the "violent" hybrid

One guy got too close and ended up on the ground with his arm gushing blood, after that everyone backed away but still surrounded the Hybrid so he wouldn't be able to escape, they meant well but all it did was scare the hybrid even more

But you noticed it

You noticed it when the Hybrid hurt the guy, when they snapped their Teath and bite down on that guy's arm

You noticed how his eyes widened, you noticed how he pulled back and put his back flat against the wall, you noticed how he regretted it and how his ears went flat on his head.

But then he got angry again, or more like scared? So you stepped in, and as soon as the hybrid noticed, he glared and growled at you, but you didn't move, never breaking eye contact, your colleagues started yelling at you to get away before you ended up dead.

And just then, the hybrid lunged, but stopped just inches away from your face, the large male looking puzzled that you didn't flinch or back away or make a sound

Instead you just sat down you sat down right in front of the hybrid, who backed away, planting himself on the wall again

"Look at you, then look at me, do you really think I could hurt you?" you whispered in the softest of voices. The hybrid scowl never left his face, but he looked curious.

"Even though you're terribly injured, you hurt a perfectly healthy man because you're too strong," the glare was immediately replaced by regret as he caught the eyes of the man he'd hurt.

"No one here blames you, you've probably been through terrible things, you have every right to lash out and not trust anyone," you started to comfort him, now the big scary hybrid looked even more broken.

Eyes looking confused a pretty frown on his bloody face looking around ears flat on his head tail between his legs

"Listen, I know you won't believe me, but I'm not here to hurt you, no one here is" "So listen, I know you're smart, you're badly injured, so how about you come with me to the hospital to get help - or if you really think you can manage on your own, I'll tell everyone to leave you alone"

The Hybrid's eyes widened and you could feel your colleagues disagreeing with what you were saying.

"It's your choice, either you come with us to help you recover, or we leave and come back when we get a call about you again" The Hybrid looked at you, then at the men, and held up two fingers, and your heart broke.

the Hybrid was telling you that he had decided that you should leave him alone instead of going to the hospital, so you nodded and told everyone to get back in their car, some started to shout at you but then they did as they were told and it was only you and the Hybrid who were left.

The Hybrid looked hella confused, but immediately retreated in fear as you reached back into your bag and handed him a bag of meat, "If you're going to stay on the streets, you need to eat first".

With that you put the bag on the ground in front of the Hybrid and turned your back, you heard the bag being grabbed, when you turned around the Hybrid was closer now and looking at you

You tilted your head "you need something pretty boy" the reaction was almost immediately eyes widen comically before a blush made his way to his face, he took out one hamburger you packed and put it infront of you before dashing away.

You smiled you truly believe that there were no evil or "violent" hybrids out there, they were only like that because of the humans that treated them like toys for their enjoyment

You hope that when you get the next call about a certain "violent hybrid" It wouldn't be too late...

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

✦ Masterlist ✦

[nuumbie]

KARMA’S A DOG.

Prompt: You’re a prized worker at the IPC Marketing Department. You spend your days waiting for that flash of black.

Trigger Warning: Reader is mentally ill and a little shit head. Curse Words. General Violent Terms and Reader Gets Ragdolled. Boothill is NOT into you!!! He actually hates you! Guilt! Etc, etc… it’s just all hurt no comfort.

Author’s Note: Written to celebrate his trailer. Save a horse. Ride a cowboy. Contains spoilers regarding his character story.

He’s resting peacefully. This should still count as sleep. You pose the question in your head if you replace the pieces of something, how far until the thing is something else entirely. But he’s still alive. You find relish in that. There’s something in him that still lives.

He still has his head. Maybe, that’s all he has left of his old self. You wonder how the surgery must have gone. Of course you’ve met people who’ve changed themselves so drastically with robotics that you couldn’t recognize them after the surgeries. It’s a rebirth in ways. When you change so dramatically that you’re a different person by the end. His body’s 90% metal. 10% flesh. So, wouldn’t it be the cybernetics that win?

Despite everything. You don’t think so. Perhaps, that’s all that he needs. I think therefore I am. There’s no doubt he’s alive. Not to you, anyway. He’s brimming with human life. He’s more alive than you. Not in the same way where the question poses in your mind with other beings or creatures that change themselves so drastically. Boothill is obstinately simple.

You like that. He’s simple. The Hunt and those that follow it is straight forward. A single path. A single road. You like that you don’t have to read his intentions. You know what he wants and why.

Boothill. Galaxy Ranger. IPC Hunter. The Man who just tried to sneak into your office and put a bullet through your head like he has with many of your employees, those who’ve worked directly under you no less. You know. Most criminals don’t get this far. Not far at all past Pier Point. Oswaldo will have a riot.

If he knew he would. You’re not going to tell him.

Boothill is special.

The cowboy opens his eyes. Your personal grim reaper.

“I see you’re awake.” You smile in a loving way. If you can even manage that. People who can control their expressions make it seem so easy. Laying across his chest. You’ve opened up his core to play with his inner circuits. He must not like that though considering there’s a burning hatred in his eyes which threatens to scorch you. You glance up towards his face and sigh and ignoring the lingering, simmering, resentment. His body is heating up beneath your touch. So, maybe it resonates with his feelings, you wonder if his body steams. “We need to stop meeting like this. You’re going to make me think you’re obsessed with me.”

It’s the opposite way around. You know that. But the very idea that it isn’t causes him to lunge at you. The cowboy turns into nothing more than a blur, all the wires connected to the body collecting samples that took at least a good thirty minutes pulled from him. Some ripped from the walls, and in instants he’s on you.

“You dang—“ his hands make its way to your shoulders, you’re flipped without hesitation. his hands grasping you down, he lays on top of you. breath heavy. robots don’t breathe, though, so you try to think of another word as he catches himself and tries to make it so he’s the one on top. “— you again!?”

“I’ve been meaning to get my hands on you… you oughta’… you ANGEL!” He screeches. Music to your ears as he shakes you more like you’re more ragdoll than person. “AEONS, it’s so freaking annoying! You absolute delight! How did I lose to…”

“Thank you so much for the compliment.” You smile back. Probably the only one getting anything out of this arrangement. Pinned against the floor hand pressed tightly against your waist so you can’t struggle. He should’ve pressed it against your mouth. But it isn’t like you’re going to scream. You’re certain. Lots of women would love to be in this position you’re currently in. But it’s you. And this is far from some sweet, pure, little romantic story. You’re not delusional. You act like you are purely because it annoys him. It’s good for him to build up his rage, his discontentment because it keeps him on his toes. “I was just looking over your upgrades since the last time you invaded Pier Point. As for asking how I beat you~…”

“The electronic upgrade was not the best idea.” You smile. “If we can control your language… your body isn’t hard especially for a renowned genius like me. Have to talk to your doctor about that. You’re lucky I’m the one that found you. Where’s my thanks? If it was anyone else. They’d have torn you asunder.”

“Aeons of COURSE you Market-Phonies have something to annoy the DANGNATION out of me.” he grinds his teeth, looking around for his pistol. making a point about how dead he wants you. you can feel his grip loosen and tighten. he’s likely processing which one would get you to be quieter. “Where’d you put it? My gun. I’ve decided. I’m killing you now. Puttin’ ya out of your misery, sweet-face! You think this is rough? Think of a 9mm lead in your skull will be?”

“Cabinet.” You put on your best smile. “Is it for me?”

“Of course for you. Love you.” You didn’t take away his ability to say hate. So, he must have said something worse like an insult. You just know it’s bad because he says it in a way that’s so vitriolic it almost hurts. “You knew this was coming. I’m not going to miss my shot again. You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

You did know it was coming. You wished he would get the one person above you first so you could witness your boss with his brains blown out, the outcries that an Emanator of Qlipoth killed. You could have gotten wine with Diamond and laughed about it and died happy knowing the world was washed clean forever of Oswaldo Schneider.

But you can’t be so lucky. You’ll have to wish him luck. If he actually manages to kill you that is. With how things are going? You’re not making it hard.

He grabs you by the neck so you can’t struggle away to call help. The iron hands encased over your neck like a shackle isn’t a bad feeling. You almost quote as such so he might grab you a little tighter. Sadly, it seems his finger is directly over your windpipe— making talking an impossibility. He really doesn’t want you to run. Not like you would. Dragging you as he goes towards the cabinet. He presses you against the wall one-handed.

Using his other hand to peruse through your belongings. Even if you struggled. You doubt you could make a dent against the material. You’ve always been more of a pen instead of a sword guy.

It seems he’s smarter than you thought. Since, he checks the bullets in the gun. Rather show-offishly, too. He clicks the trigger against your head and nothing comes out. He counts them out, too. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

You already knew that none of the shots would ring. But here’s a certain heart-pounding feeling even if you know it’s empty. He clutches the gun even tighter till it threatens to break between his metal appendages.

Obviously, you’ve cleaned them out. He glares at you. Of course you’re the one at fault. Of course you were smart enough to know the first thing he’d do when he woke up was try to kill you. Of course you wanted to see the look on his face when he got his gun back when he realized it was empty. “Don’t you have spares? You eat them, don’t you? Just shit them out.” You smile. It’s hard to talk with his hand on your throat.

The floor hits you. Hard.

Or maybe you hit the floor.

Either way. It hurts. Your head spins. But, you collect yourself. Maybe. Dizzy people often can’t tell they’re dizzy. “You going to kill me right? You don’t need a gun to do that. To make it painful. To get your little revenge.” You’re sputtering. Aeons. It be embarrassing if you didn’t say that. If you’re slurring. Though who are you to ask for a clean death? Innocent have died in uglier ways.

“I don’t get you.” Boothil’s boot presses against your chest and juts against your lungs— “make up your mind you wanna die or not? You’re seriously flip-flopping.”

You smile back at him from the floor. “I’d rather my employees not go down with me when you’ve got to escape. Jeremy just got a promotion. You won’t die here… will you space cowboy? So, you’ll have to make your way out.”

“Might as well limit the casualties.”

“You took everything from me.” Robots don’t stumble over their words. Robots are more precise. Everything about him is human. The way he’s so sentimental, emotional at your lap, while you can do nothing but watch. “What right do you have? You have way more blood on your hands than I do.”

“You’re not wrong.” you repeat, quietly. “It’s karma. It’s justice. I’m so happy you exist. So people like me get that just-dessert.”

“I could never ever dream of it. I could never do it with my own hands.” You smile remembering where you work. Your boss. The things you never had the confidence or strength to do yourself. “So I’m glad that you did. Thank you.”

He looks down at you.

He steps back.

You already know.

Too self-aware for your own good.

Maybe you should have shut up. You already know you’ve messed it all up. The way he looks at you is a look of disgust.

“Everyone here’s so fluffed up.” he grimaces. rubbing his shoe against the floor like he’s snuffing a cigarette out. so lowly. “Anyone the IPC touches get’s gosh-dang ruined.”

You know why he did. You ruined his life. You did. So, it was only fair he did the same in return—

Reaching out— before you realize it. “Hey, wait.”

“You’re not dragging me down with you! I want you to pay I’m not letting you off easy. When we meet again. I’ll have changed this place forever. And you’ll be forced to live with yourself…!”

He doesn’t even look back at you. You wish he did.

He lets you go and he runs out the door. You hear the sounds of loud screams. Shooting guns. It turns into a blur after a few seconds. They’re going to fail to apprehend him. You hope.

On the messy floor. Your lab a wreak. You’re sure. They’ll come here. They’ll question you.

And your life will continue as always.

You’ll lie. Jade can tell. But she won’t tell on you. You hope Oswaldo doesn’t notice. He’s the tricker. If he knew. He’d laugh.

“Fuck you, too.”

You put your hands over your eyes and you just ignore everything until someone comes and gets you. You’d use the word save. But, that’s what he was meant to do.

You’ll meet him again. You can wait. It’s all you ever do.

[iamred-iamyellow]

⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ Good Luck, Babe! - [Part 1]

♥ next | ao3 link | masterlist

♥ pairing: oscar piastri/carlos sainz jr 

♥ ballet au - enemies to lovers

♥ PLEASE READ THIS AUTHORS NOTE (none of the pictures are mine)

♥ warnings: this fic has swearing and uses some ballet terminology

♥ taglist; @liamlawsonlesbian 

♥ a/n: I’m finishing the folklore series I SWEAR I just really wanted to start this as well lol

No one has ever gotten under Oscar’s skin the way that Carlos does. Since the beginning of time there’s been competitiveness in ballet, but as two of the very few men at their company, their rivalry became a little more personal. 

Carlos took his spot at the barre, a few people lunging out of his way. He practiced a few relevé’s to get his feet moving until he heard a group of girls whispering. 

“He talks so much shit about Carlos…” one of them said as he reached down and fixed the elastic on his ballet flats. 

“I guess Oscar really does hate him.” another mumbled with a shrug. 

“You can tell him it’s mutual.” Carlos pipes up, staring at them directly. 

The group quiets down, turning away from the man and pretending to stretch. 

“Who are we waiting on?” Toto, their instructor said, strutting into the room. 

A few people mumbled Oscar’s name in response. Everyone knew it was a dangerous game pissing off Toto. He never forgave tardiness.

Oscar showed up a few minutes late, sneaking through the crack in the door with his head ducked. Toto had his back turned to the class, adjusting the speaker. 

“Piastri,” he said, turning around. Oscar dropped his bag and lightly placed his hand on the barre beside him. 

“You’re late.” Toto crossed his arms. 

“I suppose I am,” Oscar smiled and a few girls around him giggled. 

“Get out of my class.” Toto nodded towards the door. 

“Sorry?” he questioned. 

“You heard me. Out. Late students do not dance.” 

“You’re joking,” Oscar grabbed the barre tightly. “I’m the leading man, you can’t practice this dance without me.” 

“Carlos will take your place today,” Toto stated. Carlos met Oscar’s eyes, smirking at him deviously. This did nothing but inflate Carlos’ ego. 

“This is a fucking joke,” Oscar mumbled, grabbing his bag. 

“Watch your mouth before I replace you completely.”

“Let that be a lesson to all of you.” Toto sighed, watching Oscar leave the class. “We’re going to start with some simple grande plié’s, tendu’s, and penché's. Then the girls will put on their pointe shoes, we'll do a few across the floor combos, and then work on the pas de deux. Carlos, thank you for filling in today.” 

Carlos nodded in response. 

“Looks like Oscar fucked around and found out.” A girl in the class whispered, eliciting a few laughs. 

-

Oscar was first in class the next day, stealing Carlos’ sacred barre spot. It was ballet etiquette to let the older and more experienced dancers take their position first. A couple of people eyed him while he warmed up. Carlos arrived just a few minutes before class started as always and immediately noticed the man in his place. He took the spot behind Oscar and whispered: 

“You’re petty.” 

“You took something of mine, now I take something of yours.” he referred to the incident yesterday. 

“Still mad that you showed up late? That was your own fault.” 

Oscar rolled his eyes. 

Toto entered the room, a group of women following behind him. The last person through the door was Susie Wolff, prima ballerina. The girls sat on the floor with their pointé shoes, hitting them on the floor to bang the noise out of them. No one wanted to have them clomping around the stage during their graceful variations. 

“Abbi and Oscar, you’re up.” Susie said, gesturing for them to come to the center of the room. Oscar snuck a few glances at Carlos as the other dancers watched from the sidelines. Everyone stood with a complete poker-face, watching intensely for a misstep that never came. At the end of their performance all the students clapped and stared blankly.

"Abbi that was truly amazing." Susie praised her. "Try to get your leg a little bit higher during your développé's and I think it will be perfect."

Oscar was too busy watching Carlos to hear Toto’s critiques. “Piastri, are you with us?”

“Huh?” he snapped out of his stare. “Yea, yes I am, sorry.”

Toto sighed, “Alright, you two go stretch while Amna practices her solo.” As they made room for her, Oscar could hear his phone buzzing in his back. This caught the attention of both him and Carlos. He snuck over to it pretending to get water, hoping his instructors were too preoccupied watching Amna to notice. He checked the notification on his phone reading:

Lando 

party tonight @ Charles’ be there at 10

Oscar 

sounds good i'll be there

“Too bored to be paying attention to your fellow dancers?” Carlos asked.

Oscar flinched, not expecting a voice to come from behind him. He quickly shut off his phone and hid it in a pocket.

“I just had to check something,” Oscar muttered.

“Well, try to stay off your phone before you get in trouble again.”

Another hour passed and class ended.

Oscar

Is there anyone at your company you just despise?

Lando

no…?

Oscar

no one, really?

Lando

should I? lol my company is contemp, jazz, and hip hop so the vibes are pretty good over here 🤷‍♂️

-

Oscar pushed himself through the crowded party, spotting Lando and Charles laughing and drinking.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he muttered, noticing another person with them. It was Carlos.

[yanderecookierunkingdom]

The Final Sunset

Previous | First | Next

TW: Violence, Unreality (poll)

You dodged. It's almost instinctual with how quickly your body moved. You flinged your body as far as you could, landing in a pile of snow near a tree. You quickly scrambled up. "Caramel Arrow Cookie-!"

You had no time to react, as the infected Cookie let out a noise that sounded like both a hiss and a snarl before it lunged forward. It trapped Caramel Arrow Cookie's arm in it's maw, and bit down.

A sickening CRUNCH filled the air as your friend screamed from the pain. You stood there, frozen, watching as your friend tried to yank herself free, but to no avail.

A blazing hot chain whipped past your face, a flame burning fiercely from it. Mala Sauce Cookie's voice could barely pierce the ringing in your ears. You could only watch as the chain of her weapon wrapped around the infected and burst into flame.

It let go of Caramel Arrow Cookie, who fell to the ground, wailing from the agony. The infected Cookie began to shriek and roar from both pain and rage, writhing around as Mala Sauce Cookie tightened the chain.

Rye Cookie called your name multiple times, but her voice still did not pierce the ringing in your ears. You could see in the corner of your eye that she had one of her guns pointed towards the infected Cookie, but the other hand was gently gripping you and shaking you. Trying to break you from your stupor.

You couldn't. You could only stare. Stare at Caramel Arrow Cookie bleeding on the snow, and the blue liquid that was dripping from the wounds on her.

Pure Vanilla Cookie,

We've learned that the first signs of infection tend to be a blue type of liquid dripping down from the wound. This happens when the infected either bites down on the victim, or in some way, manages to get the blue liquid in another way. I theorize that this blue liquid replaces the jam in a Cookie once they turned.

In unfortunate news, Caramel Arrow Cookie has become infected and Black Raisin Cookie has succumbed to the infection. While Caramel Arrow Cookie is being kept on strict lockdown, it was found that, somehow, Black Raisin Cookie was managing to escape from the quarantine zone.

Before she succumbed, she spoke of how guilty she felt to not be able rescue Pancake Cookie sooner. As such, she was sneaking out to try and get him acorn jellies. I suspect she is the reason why they have frozen over. Unfortunately, this is all we managed to get out of her before she turned into an infected right before our eyes.

I luckily had Chili Pepper Cookie and Capsaicin Cookie nearby, so they were able to subdue her. I am waiting for a response from our ruler on what to do.

On the subject of them, I have been told that they are in quite a bit of shock, unable to process what has happened. As such, I am recommending that Orchid Mantis Cookie and Mala Sauce Cookie be assigned as their personal guards. I also request Pink Velvet Cookie join Chili Pepper Cookie in guard duties, and Buddha's Hand Cookie help our ruler work through what has happened.

Respectfully,

Espresso Cookie

Pure Vanilla Cookie sighed heavily as he rested the piece of paper down on the table. Even with his eyes closed, he looked down at the letter with uncertainty. He tapped his fingers against the wood before he turned his head. The air in the office was cold, as everything was now, but it seemed colder than usual.

He thought back to you, and how out of it you were when you were brought back. You merely stared blankly, not responding to anything. Practically catatonic.

The healer hung his head. He wished his friends would be here soon..

taglist: @speadrunner / @haveneulalie / @queensharotto / @imaginarydreams / @luv-sorrow

Orchid Mantis Cookie - @valioz

Pink Velvet Cookie - @kousaka-ayumu  

Buddha's Hand Cookie - speadrunner

[youngpettyqueen]

for prompts, might I suggest a number 14 with Julian takin care of Kira, and a ‘it feels worse than it looks—no wait-‘ with Julian being a bad patient?

oh my god I finally fucking finished it.

I am SO SORRY this took so long I got hit with. the most violent writer's block ive had in a HOT minute and this had me fighting for my life. I dont even know how many times I wrote and rewrote this. I went through so many different ideas it was actually ridiculous. at one point I had something finished but it Was Not Good and I dont believe in posting writing I dont like so I scrapped it and started again

I keep waffling on whether or not I like this, but thats entirely because ive spent way too long staring at it. im sure in a few days ill actually really like it, cause I really like the dialogue, which was what I wrote out first. pulling myself out of my perfectionism, I do think I like this, and at the very least im proud of getting it down when it gave me so much trouble

again, im so sorry it took so long, but writer's block is a bitch and ive had a lot going on lately, so I hope you understand <3

for the readers- 14 on the list is "Stop pretending that any of this is ok. It's not." I did adjust that one a bit cause I was having trouble making it flow. but, without further ado, here's what I've got! 

Kira slides down with her back against the wall, grinding her teeth as she clutches at her wounded shoulder. The pain is still hot, the hole burned into her skin practically still smoking. She hisses as her palm makes contact with the sticky, raw flesh, but she still clamps down. 

“Anytime you wanna get over here, Julian!” She calls, her voice strained. 

“Doing my best, Major!” Julian calls from where he is, hunkered down behind some debris as a makeshift shield against the barrage of disruptor fire. 

This is, in eloquent terms, a right fucking mess. Getting into a fight with a bunch of Jem’Hadar soldiers is never a good thing, even when they’re prepared. When they’re not prepared, it’s even worse. And this time, they weren’t prepared. Because there weren’t supposed to be any Jem’Hadar on this planet. This was supposed to be a quick pit stop for the Defiant, replacing some whatsit that O’Brien said was damaged in their last firefight, but then there were Jem’Hadar soldiers and they’ve managed to land themselves in a whole different firefight. 

It really just hasn’t been a great week. 

Kira inches closer to the wall’s edge. Her grip on her phaser isn’t stable, but it’ll have to do. She takes a deep, steadying breath, and then she twists over so that she’s peering out from behind the corner. She spots the Jem’Hadar pinning them down, quick count tells here there’s 3 of them, and she snaps her phaser up to hit them with some fire of her own. The motion pulls at her injured shoulder in a way that makes her want to scream, but she bites down on it. 

Julian, bless him, takes the opportunity to lunge out from behind the debris. He scrambles across the gap, barely dodging the returning fire from the Jem’Hadar, and manages to throw himself down behind the security of the wall. He plasters himself up against the wall beside Kira, right as she ducks back behind cover as the Jem’Hadar’s fire intensifies. 

Kira looks at him. He looks at her. He’s breathing hard and heavy, his hair a mess and dirt and blood staining his face. She musters up a grin to tell him, “You’re late.”

Julian gives her a flat look as he turns to her. “Forgive me, it’s a bit difficult to make house calls in the middle of a battlefield,” He replies, sounding very, very tired. But then his eyes flick to her bloody hand, still clamped over her wounded shoulder, and she watches his expression shift as he clicks back into what’s affectionately referred to as doctor mode, “Let’s see that shoulder, then.” 

Kira moves her hand, letting Julian get a look at the wound. She winces as he pulls aside the burnt fabric, taking a deep breath in through her nose and resisting the reflex to jerk away. “How’s it look?” She asks, mostly just to distract herself. 

“Like it needs more than what I’ve got,” Julian replies, frowning, “The dermal regenerator I have will do for now, but this is deep. I’ll need to immobilize your arm,” He tells her, giving her an apologetic look, “If you move it too much, you’ll risk tearing it open again.”

“Just do what you have to,” Kira tells him, “Won’t be the first time I’ve had to shoot myself out with only one arm.” 

Julian nods, and returns his attention to her wound. “Right,” He pulls his kit up and rifles through it for a second. The first thing he pulls out is a hypospray, which he quickly sticks into her neck. Kira relaxes fractionally as the painkillers immediately start to work, dulling some of the burning in her shoulder. Then he’s pulling out the dermal regenerator, and bracing his hand against her shoulder again, “Try to hold still.” He advises.

Kira just gives a tight nod, already gritting her teeth and bracing herself. She feels the dermal regenerator start to work. The hypo helps, but it doesn’t take away that burning, itchy sort of feeling of muscle and nerves and skin stitching itself back together inch by inch. She clenches her fists tight, breathing hard through her nose as Julian works. 

“Sorry, I know this stings,” Julian says, “I’m doing the best I can. This regenerator wasn’t meant for a wound like this.” 

Kira grunts a wordless acknowledgement. If she says anything, it’s just going to be a string of curses. Instead, she focuses on keeping her ear on the sound of disruptor fire, making sure it isn’t getting closer. If the Jem’Hadar decide to come after them, she wants to be ready. 

“Done,” Julian pipes up. She looks over as he puts the regenerator back in his kit, taking the worst of the pain with it and leaving her with a dull ache, “That’s the hard part done. I’m going to move your arm now,” His hands are gentle, taking her arm and carefully easing it away from her side, “There we go. Alright, hold it there, please.” 

Kira does. Julian sits back, and unzips his jacket to get at his undershirt. “This will have to do,” He tells her, tearing a couple of strips from his undershirt, “These won’t be the most comfortable, but they’ll have to do. I’m out of bandages.” He leans back in, starting to bind her arm with the torn fabric.

“Sorry about your shirt.” She cracks weakly.

“I’ll get a new one.” He replies, without so much as a smile.

She hates how flat his voice is. Hates how… unlike him, it is. Quiet, with no bite. “C’mon, Julian, where’s that boyish optimism of yours?” She asks, “I could really use a hit of it right about now.”

Julian secures the bandage around her arm. “I must’ve dropped it when they started shooting at us,” He says, not meeting her eyes, “Do me a favour, Major. Don’t pretend any of this is ok,” He sits back again, still not meeting her eyes, all caught up in taking in his work, “Cause it’s really not.” He does look her in the eye, then. And he looks so… tired.

But then, he’s looked like that for a while, hasn’t he?

Kira gives him a smile. A sad, quiet little smile. “I never said any of this was ok,” She corrects, “I’m just… used to it, at this point.” Very, very used to it. Used to it in a way she hopes he never is. 

Julian considers that for a moment. His expression is hard to read- sad, maybe. Sympathetic. Then he sighs, and breaks eye contact. “Well, I suppose I’m getting used to it, too,” He scrubs a bloody hand through his hair, “We should get going. Can you walk?” He asks.

No time for sentiment, then. Kira nods. “It’s just the arm,” She assures him, “I can do a hell of a lot more than walk.”

“Good,” Julian starts to push himself up to stand, “Let’s-“ He doesn’t get far. He wobbles suddenly, his eyes widening slightly as he nearly topples right over. He barely manages to catch himself, bracing a hand against the wall before he can fall against it.

Kira quickly reaches out to steady him. “Julian?” She sits up, frowning, “What’s wrong?”

Julian frowns, confused. “I… don’t know,” He says, looking down, “I can’t feel my-“ He cuts off, suddenly, his eyes fixing on something, “Ah.”

Kira’s brow furrows. “Ah? What’s-“ She follows his gaze, and comes to the same abrupt halt as she sees just what he’s found, “Ah.” 

Julian has a substantial wound in his thigh. A chunk of his pant leg has been burned away, revealing a raw, painful-looking burn that’s steadily oozing blood down his leg. Kira’s eyes widen at the sight of it. That doesn’t look good. That really doesn’t look good.

“Well,” Julian says, “That’s not ideal.” And then he sways alarmingly, nearly crumpling right to the ground.

“Julian!” Kira lurches forward, manages to catch him by the arms. He grimaces as he eases himself down, taking his weight off his injured leg, “Damnit, Julian, what were you thinking ignoring this? Gimme that tricorder-“ She reaches for his medkit, not waiting for him as she rummages through it herself.

“I wasn’t ignoring it!” He exclaims, “I couldn’t feel it! Honest!” 

Kira finds the tricorder and pulls it out. “Don’t tell me they augmented the ability to feel pain out of you,” He shifts again, adjusting his position to give her a better angle to scan him, and it draws a painful hiss out of him, “Guess not.” She hums.

Julian manages a weak chuckle, the first one she’s gotten out of him all day. “Not as such,” He confirms, “I’ve just been- gah!” He grinds his molars as she pulls the burnt fabric away from the wound, “Preoccupied.” He growls.

Kira huffs softly as she reads the results on the tricorder. It’s not a fun wound. “So busy trying not to get shot that you didn’t realize you got shot?” She asks, arching a brow at him, “I’m almost impressed.”

“Only almost?” Julian asks, all mock indignation, “I’d hate to see what I’d have to do to actually impress you,” He mutters. His eyes drift down, then back up at her. He looks worried, “How bad is it?”

Kira puts the tricorder down. “How bad does it feel?” She dodges. 

“Pfft, this little thing?” He scoffs, gives a weak little wave that’s probably went to ‘wave off’ the pain, “It’s nothing. Just a scratch. It feels worse than it… no. No, wait, that’s not right,” He blinks, and she can almost see the gears in his head turning as he tries to figure out the order of the words, “I don’t mean to alarm you, Major, but I think the shock might be setting in.” He tells her.

Kira can’t help but roll her eyes. “No kidding,” She says, “This isn’t my first time, Julian. Hand me the regenerator, I’ll do what I can with it.” She holds her hand out expectantly.

Julian hands it over. “Now who’s being serious?” He asks.

Kira adjusts how she’s holding him, making sure she’s holding the burnt edges of his uniform away from his skin so that she doesn’t accidentally fuse any fabric to him. “Oh, so you can make jokes,” She takes the dermal regenerator and adjusts her hold on it, making sure it won’t slide out of her hand, which is slick with blood, “I thought you dropped that along with your optimism.” She gets the regenerator going, doing what she can with the wound.

Julian chuckles again, grins at her. “I told you, the shock’s setting in,” He replies, all charm, “I’ll say anything just to say anything. Apologies, but I’m going to be talking your ear off until we get out of here.” He warns.

Kira keeps her eyes on her work, keeps her hand braced on his thigh to hold him still. “As opposed to when you don’t talk my ear off.” She counters. After a few seconds, she can see that the burn’s healed as much as it’s going to. She switches the regenerator off and hands it back to him.

“Rude,” Julian huffs, taking the regenerator and putting it back in his medkit, “How’d the regenerator do? I don’t want to look.” He’s looking even as he says it, like he can’t help himself. 

“It’ll hold,” She tells him, not seeing any point in sugar-coating it. He would see right through her in a second, “For now. I’m gonna bandage it, just in case,” She adds. Now it’s her turn to get at her undershirt, tear it up for strips of fabric, “I liked this shirt, you know.” She informs him as she does.

“I suppose we’re even, then,” Julian cracks weakly, “Have I ever told you you’d make a great medic?” He asks.

There’s the Julian she knows. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” She tells him. Satisfied with her bandages, she gets them ready, “I do have one question for you, Doctor.” 

Julian frowns, confused. Yeah, the shock really has set in if he can’t see what she’s doing. “Go ahead.” He invites.

Kira starts wrapping his leg. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?” She asks.

He looks even more confused. “What are my-“ She yanks the bandages tight before he can finish, and he cuts off with a pitched yelp, “Fuck!”

Maybe it’s a bit mean to chuckle, but Kira can’t help it. She doesn’t often get to hear him curse. “Oh, language,” She tuts as she finishes tying the bandages off, “There. Nice and tight. That oughta hold you together till we get out of here.” She gives his knee a pat. 

Julian pouts at her. “You enjoyed that.” He accuses. 

“I did no such thing,” Kira replies smoothly as she pulls his medkit closer to her and starts rifling through it, not bothering to ask him, “Want a hypo?” She offers.

“No,” Julian shakes his head, making her stop short and give him an incredulous look, “I’ve only got the one left. Save it for someone who needs it.” He reasons. 

Her look quickly flattens. “Don’t start with the heroics, Julian,” She advises, “You’re not gonna be treating any patients until after you’ve been treated. On the Defiant.” She doubts he can even stand on his own, let alone treat people.

“I can hold out till then,” He insists, “Someone else might-“

“Julian,” Kira cuts in, not giving him any room to argue, “Take the fucking hypo.” 

Julian’s brows shoot up and he looks a little stunned. Just for a moment, though, before he huffs a bit of a laugh. “Now who needs to watch their language,” He says, his tone light and teasing, “Alright, go ahead.” He nods.

Kira takes the hypo out of his kit. “Oh, thank you,” She replies, making sure her own tone savours strongly of sarcasm, “You’re a terrible patient, you know that?” 

There’s that grin again. All charm. “So Nurse Jabara keeps telling me.” He replies, like the pain in the ass he is.

“You should listen to her. She’s always right,” Kira sticks the hypo in his neck, and watches his shoulders instantly sink down a notch. She didn’t even realize how tense he was, “Better?” She asks. 

Julian takes a deep breath. Probably the first one he’s taken all day. “…Much,” He admits, with the decency to look a little sheepish, “Thank you, Major.” His smile’s a bit less charm now, a bit more sincere.

Kira finds herself smiling back. “Anytime,” She says. She shoots a quick look around, regaining her bearings a bit now that they’re both taken care of. She can still hear blasters firing, but not as close. They might’ve moved off somewhere else. Or they could be waiting, “We should probably get moving.” She suggests.

“Probably,” Julian agrees, “Just one problem, though. I don’t think I can walk.” He tells her.

Kira figured. “Can you limp?” She asks, “I’ve still got two good shoulders, both perfectly good for leaning on.” She offers, patting her shoulder for emphasis.

There’s that glint in his eye. First time she’s seen it today- stubborn determination, or, in another word, cocky. “I think I can manage that.” He says.

Kira grins. “Great,” She ducks in and gets her arm around his waist, pulling him in snug against her as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, “Alright, lean on me. Steady. And…” She pushes herself up, and brings him with her. He leans heavy into her side, and she tightens her hold on him to keep him steady, “Up we go. Ready?” She asks.

Julian takes a moment to find his balance, shifting most of his weight off of his injured leg and compensating on Kira’s shoulder. “As I can be,” He tells her with a nod, “Let’s go.”

And they’re off. Making quite the sight as they hobble back into the action, pressed hip to hip and clinging tight to each other. But, hey, they’re still kicking, and they’ve still got their phasers, so they’ll make do. They always do. 

[ghost-proofbaby]

WIP word game

rules: you will be given a word. share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word.

this game literally had me bouncing in my seat!!! thank you so much to @the-unforgivenn and @hellfire--cult for the tags!!! i'm gonna knock both out on the same post here (also both your words are delicious)

my words are: BITE and PRESSURE

possible spoilers for so mordor it is, so scarlet (it was maroon), and the moon will sing (i loved you like the sun) below the read more <3

also for this game, i'm not entirely sure who's already been tagged and who hasn't, so i'm just gonna tag anyone i think would enjoy this! also tagging up here so there's no pressure to scroll all the way through my snippets if you don't want to haha

no pressure tags: @corroded-hellfire @jo-harrington @andvys @take-everything-you-can @littlesubbyflower @eddiesxangel and honestly anyone else who wants to take a go at this!! <3

your word (if you wanna join) is: HAUNT.

But the girl deserves her honesty, and so she whispers, “I thought it was just PTSD.” 

Something about it is easy – there’s a relief when the whispers of truth trickle a bit louder, rising until Willow finally pours out everything that only one other person could possibly understand. Steve wouldn’t understand, Robin couldn’t possibly understand, Eddie would only try desperately to understand – but Max? Max gets it. Max doesn’t look at her like she’s crazy when words fall from her lips about the nightmares, sparing as many details as possible while still communicating the point.

...

“I don’t understand why the front cover of some stupid ass magazine is so important,” Eddie grumbles as he follows you now, both of you deciding to stand and not yet sit in the empty chairs on the closest side of what must be Matt’s massive desk, “The tabloids run rumors about my dating life all the time-”

“Exactly.”

...

There’s no more quick remarks for her to add. With his unnecessary permission and subtle reassurance of his protection, she’s taking off around the wall of shrubbery, heart pounding out of her chest. 

I don’t have my weapons.

...

Even after all that the two of you have been through, you can’t resist that inherent urge to protect him. 

You can’t quiet the voice that whispers that you still care for him, and you still want to be there for him, even at your own destruction. 

Paler knuckles, tightening fist. The invisible leash is practically choking Wyll now.

...

Really, after Astarion’s feasting on her, she may be more magic than blood at this moment.

And that magic serves as a security blanket, a layer of armor to hopefully replace all the physical leather she’s left behind on the beach, as she hears the sound of an unfamiliar woman in camp.

...

Eddie had kept you a secret. 

Especially now that I know the truth.

Or spun you into a blatant lie. You don’t know which one is worse.

...

She’d tore her way through the process of grief in record time. She’d clawed herself out of those depths in order to be there for her mom, to return to being a daughter worthy of having survived that night with Parker. Nightmares, the gnawing hole in her chest, the way she still couldn’t meet her mom’s gaze when Parker became a topic of conversation – that was just residual shock waves. They would pass one day. These symptoms would pass one day. She had been so sure of it. 

...

She knows somewhere in the shadows, Astarion’s daggers have been drawn. 

“You’ve caused quite the commotion amongst gods and devils alike, if I’ve heard correctly from the whispers of the Hells.”

Time stops. Aruna’s blood freezes. All the magic dies beneath her skin, right along with the air in her lungs.

...

Until the space behind your eyes aches. “The headline went viral online, right?”

“Yeah,” guilt seeps into Matt’s words, “It did.” 

“Have they figured out who I am?” 

...

“Room. Now.” 

Of course, you don’t. 

The game was never one-sided. It was never you, a merciful victim of Astarion, always trapped in his shadows. It’s a game for two – and you’ve earned your blame in it all, the same as Astarion. 

...

Eddie scoffs as he shifts uncomfortably, “Maybe I’m just inspired.” 

“I’m sure you are,” Matt readily agrees, “By her.” 

what have we learned, you ask? that i do not like starting sentences with the letter R, apparently.

[melanieathene]

Suptober 2023 Day 14 - Fever

The fever hit without warning. One moment, Dean was perspiring lightly from the exertion of pursuing the witch. In the next, beads of sweat dotted his brow and he began to shiver uncontrollably. His steps slowed, and he stumbled to a complete stop: hands braced on knees, head hanging low. He sensed more than he saw his brother run past him, machete in one hand, gun in the other.

“Way to go, Sam,” he wheezed, the breath leaving his lungs in one long, shaky exhale. Replacing the lost air proved to be quite the challenge. He coughed, coughed again, and finally managed to inhale. Dizzy and decidedly weak in the knees, Dean decided the ground was a prudent place to be. He sank to a kneeling position, wavered there a second, then toppled over to land in a crumpled heap.

He lay there, gasping like a fish too long out of water, his face flushed an alarming shade of red.

And that was how Castiel found him.

“Dean!” he cried, dropping to one knee and placing a hand on Dean's forehead. “You're burning up!” he declared, worry evident in his voice. “But there's no trace of a virus... Was it something you ate?”

“Don't think so.” Dean moaned, and pushed his face further into the deliciously cool hand. “Sam had the same thing for lunch, and he's okay.”

Castiel's free hand travelled slowly across Dean's chest, trailed lower to his rib cage, down to his stomach, and lingered there. “It's not your appendix,” the angel murmured. “I can't find any root cause for a fever.”

“I feel better when you touch me,” Dean said, surprise evident in his voice.

“Touch you where?”

“Here.” Dean tapped his head. “And here.” He pointed to his chest.

Castiel felt the pit-pat of the hunter's heart increase in tempo when he laid a hand over it.

“Lower,” Dean moaned.

Castiel moved his hand down to Dean's belly.

“Lower.” Dean clasped the angel's hand in his both of his own and dragged it towards his crotch.

“Dean!” Castiel pulled free and backed away. Instantly, Dean curled into the fetal position and emitted a wail of sheer misery.

“Uh, Dean...”

“Lower,” Dean begged. “Please, Cas? Please...”

“Dean!” Sam echoed, arriving just in time to witness this odd exchange. He rested a hand on Dean's shoulder. “You okay, man?” he asked.

Dean reacted as if he'd been poked with a firebrand. “Don't touch me!” he screamed. “It burns! It burns!”

“What the hell?” Sam sputtered, watching in amazement as Castiel rested a hand on the same shoulder and Dean quieted immediately.

“I believe he is suffering from a spell,” Castiel said, allowing Dean to link their fingers together. “Before she fled, did the witch have time to say anything, Sam?”

“Not a word.” Sam frowned, thinking. “There was a dusting of grey powder on the table. It swirled into the air when we burst through the door. Dean ran through it, chasing after the witch. The wind was behind me, it blew the dust away before I entered the room... Didn't Dean bump into you as he followed her out the back door? Maybe that's why he's so fixated on you.”

“That's very possible, Sam.” Castiel cast a bemused look at Dean. “No nibbling on my fingers, Dean.”

Sam snorted a laugh, quickly turning it into a cough as Castiel turned a disapproving stare his way.

“Sorry,” Sam offered. “I know it's not funny, but you have to admit it's pretty weird. Who leaves sex pollen lying around the house? And leave it to Dean to stumble into it.” He shook his head. “Well, we'll just have to muddle though somehow, and hope the effects wear off. The witch is dead, so she can't revoke the spell. Maybe Rowena can offer some advice? I'll look into that... do a little research. In the meantime, let's get you two back to the motel. Maybe a warm bath – or a cold shower – will make Dean feel better. I'll book another room so I don't accidentally bump into him.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” Castiel said, more than a trace of desperation in his voice.

“Whatever you feel comfortable doing.” Sam grinned.

Sam was seated in the diner located across the road from their motel when the bell over the door jingled and Dean appeared.

“Morning, Sam,” Dean chirped, slapping his brother on the back. Easing himself into a chair, he picked up a menu and studied it.” “Mmmm, pancakes,” he murmured. “Or bacon, sausage and eggs with home fries and baked beans? Why not both? Ooh! They have pie!”

“I see you're back to normal,” Sam said wryly.

“Never felt better, Sammy. The spell ended shortly after midnight.”

“And you waited until now to tell me?”

“”Uh, sorry. It kinda slipped my mind. I was – We were – ”

The bell over the door sounded again, and a distinctly rumpled-looking angel entered. His coat hung off one shoulder; his tie was missing, his dark hair a tousled mess. A pink blush tinged his cheeks, and a purple bruise peeked out from under the collar of his crookedly buttoned shirt. A satisfied smile graced his lips; a matching smile lit Dean's face as Castiel seated himself beside him.

“Never mind, I get the picture,” Sam said, and hid his own smile in his coffee.

[stupidbeecandle]

are you against sports? a little confused by your post as someone who just recently got interested by sports for the first time. athletic competitions are like improv theatre in my option. they require a human element. the whole point is witnessing a group or individual overcome adversity through human effort and ingenuity. it would be boring if it was all AI. like watching a computer win at chess

Hi! I assume you're referencing my post earlier about how if we are gonna use generative AI for anything, it should be to replace heavy impact sports.

I don't necessarily have anything against sports for fun or even watching and cheering acts of athleticism from the stand lines. I've played sports! They can be really great. But just like everything that gets super big and has billions of dollars involved in the process theres some really DARK shit going on that a lot of people don't know about or don't want to think about. Or will learn and then conveniently say "oooh, but IM not really contributing to that, I'm just a fan~"

Lets talk about CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Its the condition I was trying to hammer on in my earlier post but while not everyone knows about the absolute horror show of CTE that has gone on to take the lives of many celebrated athletes, most people have heard of an athlete having their knees obliterated, or at least a good solid hand injury and personally I'd prefer nobody got put in such uselessly dangerous situations for the entertainment of others!

BUT I recognize that people want to engage in and celebrate athleticism and so the TLDR of my rant earlier was that I'd love it if we had better controls, protections, and limitations in place on what is and is not allowed in sports because these are human beings, some of which have died for entertainment and I am not exaggerating when I say they died.

Back to CTE, heres the wiki link if you'd like to read about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_players_with_chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy

But the TLDR of it is that getting hit by a linebacker causes brain damage and its no wonder, just watch how hard some of these folks get hit. There are some truly frightening reels on youtube and in the documentary I link at the bottom of this post. They're potent videos, because they're borderline delayed snuff films if you understand what the automatic twitching responses mean for the poor person's brainstem. Minor and major occurrences of brain damage happen repeatedly. And they stack. Just like a nasty repetitive stress injury at a desk job writing only its in the most vital core part of your nervous system. A few years down the line you have a pretty solid case of CTE which causes pain, anger, depression, suicidality, and all kinds of terrible things. Even worse facts have been found out but similar to the smoking industry, the professional sports industry has a vested interest in preventing people from learning about the actual statistics and grim details of the harm they directly promote and do not want to temporarily lose a small amount of money on adjusting to a new standard. Absurd amounts of money go to cover up this topic.

fans and children see this and we start lining up future generations to emulate these behaviors. You can see the start of some pretty serious neurological injuries even in high school sports with 14 year olds just barely coming into their bodies repeatedly practicing giving and taking hits that make them dizzy, leave them feeling breathless, and start to have slowly so so slowly deadly building lasting effects just like a lung cancer or a different slow killer.

Better people have said more intellegent things about this topic than myself. My specialties are in developmental and behavioral health but we all had to take a unit on CTE in my program. If you really want to learn more about the sorts of injuries that could easily be prevented by adding more safeties, regulations, and making sports even a wee bit less violent in the heavy impact range then check this documentary out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SedClkAnclk

[m4gp13]

Day 1: Love Language / Crush

Ethabaster (Ethan x Alabaster)

Word count - 1321

@them-awesome-rarepairs

-

Ethan flopped down onto his bed with a long, low groan. How long had he been in the Mt Othrys training rooms? Two hours? Three? He hadn't noticed his body's protest against the gruelling workout regimen until he had to adjust his place in the room due to the decreased visibility through the window when the sun started to set. And now his body was determined to pay him back for the hell he put it through. Served him right. He was a Nemesis kid through and through. Every single fibre of muscle he contained burned as if he’d been swimming laps in the Phlegethon.

He'd just toed off his loafers and dropped them to the floor when his door burst open; eliciting another groan from him. He dragged a pillow to him from further up the bed and slammed his face into it.

"Good evening, my favourite lieutenant," Alabaster said as he strutted inside. The door clicked shut behind him.

"Your only lieutenant," Ethan corrected, murmuring against the pillow.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Al shuffled over to the bed but Ethan stopped him from going any further with an outstretched arm pointing a finger in his vague direction.

"No shoes on the bed," he warned and relaxed when he heard his general sigh and undo the velcro on his sneakers. The mattress creaked and sagged under Al's weight; making an indent that caused Ethan to droop towards him. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Alabaster shifted on the bed so he was leaning over Ethan’s back and combed his fingers through his hair. “Just wanted to make sure you’re still alive after your little romp through boot camp today,” he said, his voice softened to a melodious purr so at odds with his smart-ass answer.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Ethan groaned into the pillow under his face. “I just lost track of time.” Al pressed down on a spot on his head that made him half melt into the comforter. “You should be grateful, anyhow,” he said after getting some more air in his limp lungs. “It’ll be your battles I’m training for.”

“I know,” Al chimed. His hands worked their way down the back of Ethan’s head, his neck and his shoulders until Al’s thumbs were rubbing circles into a knot of tension between his shoulder blades. “And I am grateful, for your information. But if you want to fight my battles you’ll need to make sure your body still works when we come to them.”

“My body works fine,” Ethan said, half expecting Al to ignore him due to the muffling effect of the bedding obscuring his words.

“It works fine now,” Al said. “Or it did three hours. Or it will when I’m done with you forty-eight hours later.” He punctuated his point with a deep prod of his thumbs into a muscle that may as well have been bone with how firm it was. The intense relief spilling out of Ethan’s mouth in a broken groan silenced any protest he might have made. “But not when you spend hours running yourself ragged until you’re a limp noodle on the bed.”

“Limp noodle, huh?” Ethan managed to wrench an arm out from under himself to elbow Al in the ribs. He remained undeterred in his pursuit.

“Oh,” he said, his smug grin audible in his voice, “We’re playing dirty now, are we?” He swung his leg over so he was straddling the small of Ethan’s back and pulled his hands free. Replacing them was Alabaster’s entire body weight pressing down against him while his arms came around to hug Ethan’s chest.

“Hey!” he huffed out; bouncing Al on top of him with his spasming laughs. “You’re crushing me!”

“Pretend I’m a weighted blanket,” Al said as he propped his chin up on the back of Ethan’s head.

“No. You feel like a boulder. I’ve already done weights in the gym.”

“Which is why you need this.”

“More weights?”

“No.” Al wrapped his arms tighter around Ethan’s chest and an infuriatingly comforting warmth bloomed along his back. “I’m just wringing all the tension out of your muscles. Like water out of a towel.”

“So I’m a wet towel now? Don’t I feel loved.”

“Come on,” Al whined. “You can’t keep working yourself to the bone like this! And if I need to flatten you to keep that from happening, then so be it!” He pressed his body further onto Ethan’s and worked some more tension out of his muscles.

“Stop yelling,” he groaned. “The whole army will hear you.”

“Good. They’ll know not to let you in the training rooms anymore tonight.” Ethan glared up over his shoulder but all the ire he’d mustered up was a weak defense against the face he was met with. Al wore a familiar sheepish smile that dimpled his cheeks and narrowed his gleaming eyes, which seemed to sparkle even brighter against his tawny face. The colour of it deepened from the warm pink undertone overtaking it. The heat rising in Ethan’s own face told him he’d soon have an embarrassingly deep blush to match and he turned around to rest his head back down on the bed.

“Whatever,” he huffed, burying his burning face in his forearms and relishing the cooling effect it had on him. “Just get it out of your system.”

Grinning, Al buried his face in the crook of Ethan’s neck and murmured against his furiously hot skin, “You know I love you, don’t you?”

In spite of himself, Ethan leaned into the touch and even reached his hand back to card his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. “I know.”

“And you know how much you worry me, don’t you?”

Ethan sighed. “I know.” It was the only reason he hadn’t shoved him off and kicked him out of the room already. For all his persistence, if Ethan seriously told Al to get lost he would have begrudgingly agreed and left him alone. And then Al would have been sitting in his room all night with a bouncing leg and a wandering mind.

“You know I don’t mean to worry you,” Ethan said. “Just trying to help out.” The two of them rarely told the other they loved them, not in so many words, but they knew how to express it. Al had a lot of anxiety about his role as general, Ethan knew this very well, and there was little he could do to alleviate the burden on his shoulders. The only real power he had was over himself and he intended to use that power to give his boyfriend the best damn lieutenant an army could use. Which, of course, involved putting himself through his paces in the training room until he physically couldn’t.

Al’s only response was to murmur a little, “Uh-huh,” and start kneading the overworked muscles of Ethan’s biceps. The press of his body was firm, insistent, and yet as gentle as ever. His thumbs dug into the tight knots Ethan had wound up in himself, nudging them until they loosened and fell away, while the rest of his body pressed all the tension out of him to leave him lying limp under his boyfriend’s weight. It was this that told Ethan his efforts did not go unnoticed and his feelings did not go unreciprocated. Ethan’s ‘I love you’s were etched into his actions. Al said his ‘I love you’s with his hands.

Ethan responded by leaning back to press a light kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. “Just so you know,” Ethan told him, “You’ll never be able to stop me from helping you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Al said, a smile audible in his voice. “Just like how you’ll never be able to stop me from helping you.”

With Al’s weight crushing him in the most gentle way and his warmth seeping into the very air around him, Ethan wasn’t very inclined to stop him.

[365partygirl305]

Chapter II: Who Was That Girl? Into Deep

Warnings: angst, mention of near death incident, mention of drugs, repetition of past trauma/near death incident, and nightmare

A/n: The following content may be unsuitable for younger readers. Reader’s discretion is strongly advised.

Matty’s pov

I could have sworn someone rescued me. That girl. Her beautiful voice. That familiar melody. Her touch was so soft.

My mates and I are on the couch again in the aftermath of my near death. I am so fucked for this.

“Mate, you could have died. We’ve been worried about you,” George begins. “And you’re telling us some saint saved you?”

“Yes,” I reply. “A girl saved me. I can’t describe how beautiful her voice is, her touch, that melody. I can’t get it out of my head even if I try.”

“Are you in your delulu era?”

“I’m not delusional!”

My frustration grows more like a balloon that is about to burst. I swear she’s real. I just need to find her.

“Are you seriously going to that beach again?” Adam asks We don’t want you to get hurt or killed.”

“I’m serious. I need to see her again.”

“Jesus Christ, mate. You do realize that you’re gonna repeat that again.” Ross noted, his tone annoyed at this point.

I’ve had enough. “So what if it repeats? Will it stop me from finding her? This is nothing like my heroin addiction! It’s a girl I keep seeing in my dreams for fuck’s sake! It’s been haunting me for days!”

The silence rings so loud in my ears. Everyone is stunned. Why did I bring up my heroin addiction and my cocaine addiction I had back then? Have I gone mad?

Ashamed of myself, I bolt out the door, ignoring the pleas and apologetic demands.

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

The sand in my hand falls in a neat pile as if it is an hourglass. The shores of the sea is where I calm down. The melody in my head plays again. I feel like I’m haunted by some ghost or something. My mind is plagued of her. She’s everywhere I go. Her eyes, her soft skin, her voice echoing in my ear.

I walk to the water, trying to see if she’s there. The haunting sounds push me further. The water rises up to my chest at this point. If I go under again, will she be there? Will it all stop? Will I end the madness for good? Will the world be better off without me?

I take a deep breath and go under. Her voice still echoes, the melody staying in my mind. Curious, I swim farther and farther into the blue. Deeper and deeper I go, the water temperature starts dropping. It is so cold, yet peaceful, but I am running out of air. So I swim up to the surface.

I break the waves with a huge gasp. Breathe, I tell myself. Breathe. You have all the time in the world to search for her. She’s still out there. So, I take another chest full of air and dive again.

Adrenaline rushes through my body as I swim deeper to the bottom, seeing if there is any sign of her. Nothing. Only the haunting sounds of her voice in my head. Are my mates right? Am I delusional? No! I’m not giving up on this yet!

Deeper and deeper I swim, ignoring the fire in my body, my mind counting the seconds of breath holding while at the same time I feel the fire again. My lungs burn once more to the point of resurface.

I float to breathe a moment. Relax, I think. Relax. You’re okay. You’ll find her. I’m sure she’s out there somewhere. That saint who saved you from your doom. One deep breath more and I’m back searching.

The ambience of the ocean calms me down a bit despite the loud sound of her voice. My head feels dizzy, but my gut says I must continue my search. The longer I hold my breath, the longer I can last underwater. I continue to swim further, ignoring the familiar flame in my body and the burning of my lungs.

I find myself in a similar spot where my car was. Where she found me. The past replaced what was in my mind and it is the night I almost died. Fear of death and almost about to die, I swim up to the surface, my hand reaching out to the light. Everything turns black for a split second before a pair of hands hoist me up to the surface. Was that her?

I look under face down. It is her. She’s wearing a dress that shimmers in the sunlight beneath the waves. She must be the one. She must be. I am then betrayed by claws instead and was pulled under.

“What have we here?” A voice says in a menacing tone. My body is still shaking from the grip.

“A human I see. Looking for someone who saved you? She’s not here. She’s away. Sure, she can be the one who saved you-“ I am slammed to the bottom again. “But she’s not going back. Long gone. Give up. Accept your fate.”

I want to speak, but only bubbles fly out my mouth as I accidentally breathe the saltwater. I want to go home. My mates need me now. They’re not ready to lose me. I get myself free from the invisible grasp and swim higher. Once again, my body stop working. I smile. The world fades to black…

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

I gasp for air, not realizing I was dreaming again. The girl was there. But something is forcing her back. What was it?

I have no time for analyzing. I try to take deep breaths, just like how my therapist taught me. But the panic stays. The same dream has been haunting me for days. The water felt like it’s human. Being slammed into the bottom. I look at the time.

1:02.

“Fuck me,” I whisper to myself.

“What has gotten into you, mate?” George grumbles after I began the call. I had already drank 5 bottles of wine at this point.

“I see her in my dreams. The death of my girlfriend is so bad,” I’m rambling again about what’s going on in my mind right now. “That girl I saw. The one who saved me. I see her everywhere.”

“Hey, relax. I see you’re not delusional now.”

“I still miss Amia.”

“I miss her too. She was a good one.”

I start shaking again, tears streaming down my face. The pain of losing her in the car accident has been haunting me. So is the mystery girl.

“It’s gonna be alright,” George coos on the other end. “Y’know, we’re all here for you. I know you’re grieving harder than ever. We got you.”

“I’m sorry I blew up at you guys. I’ve been an absolute mess since the incident and Amia’s death.”

“It’s alright, mate. Do you want me to keep you company for the night?”

Through recovering sniffles, I say, “I would love that. I love you, man.”

“I love you too, mate.”

[chocoblep]

#7: Sensory Overload

At least in Gridania, the forest still pervaded the city, and nature was respected. At least there, the sound and the smells and the bustle was manageably anxiety-inducing. Even in Gridania, the concentration of people was stifling to him, and every time he’d visited he’d been eager to depart almost as soon as he’d arrived through the gates. He could last a few days there and only be somewhat exhausted by the time he left. There was something to be said about encountering civilization after such a long time on his own, with no one but his master for company.

But Gridania, he’d soon discovered, was a country village compared to the stone-paved, stone-walled city of UI’dah.

He’d come to this desert city in search of information, and quickly he had been pointed to the Quicksands, where the head of the Adventurer’s Guild–and the establishment’s bartender–was posted. If anyone had a wealth of information at their fingertips or knew where or from whom to acquire it, it was usually bartenders… or so his Elezen acquaintance had said.

The double doors were so large that Rhyle was certain he would have been unable to open them had they not stood open already. Even outside, he could hear the din of many people gathered together, but it wasn’t until he stepped inside that something else assaulted his senses: The entire place reeked of what could only be described as an amalgam of scents that were not natural at all. Perfumes of varying types had all blended together, and underneath it all was the underlying stink of bodies who had spent too long in the desert heat.

His nose scrunched, and he pulled his sash free to wind it around his head and cover his mouth and nose. He couldn’t do much about his watering eyes; he knew that wiping them could invite whatever substances lingering in the air from those perfumes to burn them further. As he headed for the bar, he tried to ignore the patrons as best he could–particularly the ones that were giving him odd looks regarding his makeshift face covering and his clothing, which had definitely seen better days but had not been replaced since his portal incident.

“Excuse me,” he said to the red-headed Lalafell who stood behind the bar on a step stool, drying out a clean glass. “I am looking for Mistress Momodi.”

“Well, you’ve found her!” she replied, leaning forward a bit to eye him with interest.

“Oh, excellent. I am looking for some information that might help me find my way back to my home, and I would ask you a few questions if that is amenable?” He cocked his head, as if perhaps by looking innocent, he increased the likelihood of her cooperation.

“Oh, of course,” she drawled. “Ask away, but understand I won’t give away trade secrets or go into anyone’s personal business.”

“That is agreeable,” he said, and then lowered the face covering for a moment. Instant regret as the scent smacked him in the face once more. He forces himself through his questions, though, and by the time he walked out of the Quicksands, he had a list of people to contact for his specific questions.

Relief flooded him as he exited into the fresh air, and even though it was arid and sweltering against his skin, it still felt glorious to breathe in a lungful that wasn’t heavily doused with perfumes. 

Rhyle had the sinking feeling that going to the markets was going to be just as harrowing as his short stint in the Quicksands. Perhaps something to muffle sound for that one.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Title: Breathe

Summary: Andy Laidir, Rook and leader of the Veilguard, has a bad day with their lungs.

Notes: I am not an expert and this may not be totally realistic. Also this is unedited and will be posted to AO3 after editing.

When Andy opened their eyes, they knew it was going to be a shitty day. Their lungs felt tight, and each breath ached as they lay on the bed they’d convinced the fade to replace the couch with. It was soft, with plush pillows and comfy blankets.

Just like the one at home.

Sitting up, they felt the cough building up and let it out, the hacking burning their throat as they sat on their bed. After a few moments they pushed themself out of bed to stumble to where they kept their potions.

That was when they ran into the problem.

With everything going on, after Treviso, Minrathous, going to Rivain and Nevarra, they’d kinda forgotten something pretty important.

Their potions.

They found the throat soother but the one they took for the scarring in their lungs, the result of their mother paying off healers to leave in their lungs so they wouldn’t get any coy ideas about fighting and being a bard, wasn’t there.

“Shit,” Andy breathed before another coughing fit slipped through their mouth. They checked their hand out of habit to make sure no blood was there before sighing.

Usually the pain was ignorable. But today felt bad. Their lungs squeezed with each breath and their face felt hot.

“Maybe Harding has the stuff to make a paste,” Andy muttered as they took a throat soother and a pain potion from their potions. The paste they used on days they’d run out of potion or the times they’d been out of the money needed to buy the potion wasn’t hard. It would be a stopover so they could go to buy some.

They pulled out their pants, wrapping their sash carefully around their waist, and debated about what to wear for a top. Their usual clothes did well suppressing their breasts but today… no, they couldn’t. A crop top it was, the neck swooping down.

They left their room, heading to the kitchen area where the others would have gathered for breakfast. Harding would be there.

And indeed she was when they opened the door to said area, having had to take a stop up the stairs to breathe for a minute.

“Hey! Rook!” Bellara beamed seeing them. They gave a smile back, before launching into another coughing fit. “Oh! Are you okay?”

“Rook?” The others were saying but they waved them off, pulling their hand away from their mouth only to sigh.

“Yay,” they muttered seeing the blood. “Harding, do you have any elfroot, embrium and bitter sap? I ran out of my potions because I forgot to get more with everything going on.”

“Oh! For your lungs? I do yes!” Harding nodded. “Is it a potion or-“

“A paste,” Andy said in reply with a sigh. “Anyone have a cloth?”

“I do, but Rook, please. I insist you sit,” Emmrich said. Andy obeyed, sitting down at the table with a huff as they took the mage’s handkerchief. “May I?” He lifted a hand with magical energy and Andy nodded.

Every mage they’d met and who they developed a friendship with always wanted to check.

Emmrich placed his hand above their chest, the energy glowing as he closed his eyes. Andy waited, wiping their hand off.

“My word. That is… a fair amount of scarring on your lungs.” He said worriedly.

“You can thank my Mother. Her favourite punishment was to lock me in a room with a chimney in it to force me to breath it in. She paid off the healers so they left the scarring,” Andy shrugged.

“That’s horrendous,” Emmrich said. The others didn’t look happy either. “But Rook, you must know that…”

“That if I keep up the level of activity I’m doing now I’ll die sooner then later?” Andy interrupted him. “I know. My last mission for the Lords before I would retire to book keeping was supposed to be helping that noble. Instead here I am,” they spreaded their arms wide, grinning. “I take my potions, make a point to take a break often and I keep away from inflammation as much as I can. I have an enchantment on my necklace to keep smoke out of my face when we’re working so I don’t risk it either.”

“Yet you forgot to buy more,” Neve said, voice frosty. Andy winced.

“Things got busy… lame excuse but I can grab more when we head out today-“

“Nope!” Bellara shook her head fast. “We need to move yes but we take a day. Right?!” She looked at the others who nodded.

“Ashan and I need to do some training Rook,” Davin said as he leaned forward on the table. “You take a day to make sure your alright.”

“Manfred and I are still organizing,” Emmrich agreed.

“Yeah and I gotta… sharpen my stuff,” Taash said a little weakly but Andy snorted anyway.

“Alright, alright. I usually buy my potions through the Lords. That was the plan today, right? Head to Rivain to do some more snooping about the Antaam?” Andy clarified as Harding came back in. she had the plants in her hands that she placed onto the table.

“How are these prepared?” Lucanis asked, stopping Andy from grabbing them. He gave them a look when they tried to protest.

“Alright, alright. It’s about seven roots of elfroot, three petals of embrium and a tablespoon of crushed bitter sap. I do sometimes just eat elfroot if it’s bad. Today doesn’t feel like it,” Andy rubbed their chest. “Or well it’s a bad day but on the pain scale.. 7? Yeah 7.”

“I understand that,” Neve still sounded angry but she seemed to be less frosty. The detective tapped her leg. “Always about a three here.”

“Heh, similar. Sometimes a four if I’m being taken to places like the Storm Coast. Now that was an awful treasure hunt,” Andy groaned before coughing, the fit enough to have them double over as they pressed Emmrich’s handkerchief to their mouth.

“I will make the paste. Do you take it with something?” Lucanis asked.

“Coffee,” Andy said, taking the cloth from their face with a groan.

“You should stick to tea for today,” Emmrich told them.

“Lucanis makes the best coffee and I will be damned before I don’t get to drink it.” Andy said firmly. “I’ll stick to tea after. I think I have my ginger and elfroot one somewhere…”

The rest of the team all began to refocus on their own things. Lucanis got Andy their coffee and handed them their paste which was as disgusting as ever. The faces they made had Bellara giggling as Emmrich began wondering about the potions Andy took.

They leaned back in their chair and

[falloutstasis]

The Next Day 10:00 AM Goodneighbor Hospital - First Floor

The people in Goodneighbor can rest easy now knowing that three of the four people and their mayor is back. Daisy has been it's rock since the mayor went missing and keeping everyone in the town together.

Nick and Kelsey were at a building in Goodneighbor where it used to serve as an apparent building, now acts as a hospital building, being held down by George, the Ghoul doctor.

"Hm. You got your medical training all the way from New Vegas?" George said, tending to the major of Goodneighbor.

Kelsey sat next to the doorway, her two feet laying on the other chair. "Yeah. At the New Vegas Medical Clinic. When I became a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse. I wanted to be a doctor, so I trained there while I stayed at the Old Mormon Fort."

"That's on the other side of the United States. I wonder, how did you end up at Boston, of all places? I'm sure that Arizona and New Mexico were not easy to go through twice."

"Luck." Kelsey shrugged. "Actually, I'm glad I made it out one piece the second time. A friend of mine killed the Legion's leader, Caesar, but even with their leader dead, they were still strong enough to hold their own. Even in New Mexico."

George had replaced the bandage that Kelsey had wrapped and wrapped a new bandage around Hancock's leg after doing the necessary steps to help it heal. It was tight enough where he can pin it around the leg. Because of this, Hancock flinched a bit in pain after feeling the bandage around his leg.

"Still. Without their leader, Legion forces will slowly crumble and dissipate into the Wasteland."

Kelsey looked at the ceiling without responding to George, the ceiling fan spinning in the middle of it. She closed her eyes, wanting to take a small nap as George treated Hancock.

She rather not talk about her second trip through Arizona and New Mexico. Maybe she can feel comfortable about telling the story in another time.

Kelsey felt a small tap on her shoulder, opening her eyes to see Nick looking down at her.

"I hate to interrupt your sleep, but there's some questions I want to ask." He said, pointed at the entrance or more specifically at the lobby at the first floor. "Let's leave George to Hancock and talk at the lobby."

"Sure."

The two headed out the room and into the lobby, where a few other Goodneighbor residents sitting down in chairs, waiting for their turn to be treated.

The two stood in front of a window that showed one view of Goodneighbor.

"When we investigated Pickman Gallery, you mentioned the Enclave. What are the Enclave?"

Kelsey gave one big puff of air from her ghoulish lungs and nodded. "Right." She looked at the window, giving herself a moment to figure out where she should start first.

She returned her attention to Nick with, "Short version about the Enclave is that they are basically a bunch of Nazi assholes who want to press the restart button on the United States. They claim that they want to help people, but it's far from it. My friend..." Kelsey paused, not sure if she want to reveal Alex's name out of the blue. Knowing that she never really liked having that kind of popularity in the first place.

"The Lone Wanderer and I found out that the Enclave President, Henry Eden, wanted to commit genocide to all radiated creatures in the Capital Wasteland by poisoning the perfectly clean water Lone Wanderer managed to get for Washington D.C. That included Super Mutants, Ghouls-"

"And every other living being in the Capital Wasteland. Everyone who practically stepped foot in Washington is radiated." Nick finished.

"Exactly. With the Brotherhood of Steel, both of us managed to stop them. Eventually, we went into their base and destroyed them." Kelsey responded.

Nick had a hint of surprise in his features. "The Brotherhood was there?"

"Yeah." She nodded as she crossed her arms. "The same ones that are here in Boston. Well, before Maxson's, uh, questionable rise to the Brotherhood. Anyway, that's another story for another time. Anything else you want to know about the Enclave?"

Nick nodded. "Yes, actually. Who is Colonel Autumn?"

Before Kelsey would answer, the two can see Hancock walking on both of his legs. He joined the conversation after hearing Autumn's name.

"Feeling better, Hancock?" Nick asked, both amused and concerned on his current state.

"I feel like a half of a million caps, Nick." He grinned. "Still a little beat up, but not too much."

"Just doing what I do, Hancock." He gave a smile and nod his way.

"Thanks to you, we were able to find you and the others safely." Kelsey threw in a thumbs up. "So thanks."

"Well, I'm glad your search and rescue plan lead you to me and my people. Nick, who do I thank for our Ghoul-in-shining-armor for helping you?"

Kelsey humorously squinted her eyes at Hancock as Nick answered, "Well, you heard of Venessa Morris, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. The synth mayor at Charlton."

"Well," Nick pointed at Kelsey, who was still comically glaring at him. "This is her best friend, Kelsey."

"NOT the ghoul-in-shining-armor or whatever the shit you just said." Kelsey responded, causing Hancock to chuckle. She raised her hand nonetheless. "Nice to meet you, Mayor Hancock."

Hancock shook her hand. "Likewise, friend." He let go of her hand and looked at Nick. "Whatever you two are doing, I want in on this investigation too."

"Why? The last time we spoke, I recall you wanting to pick up your mayor boots again after the Minutemen ended the Institute for good." If anything, Nick was curious why would he leave his position as mayor again.

"These guys messed with my people in my town. I deserve to see this through to the end. And I plan on beating the shit out of whoever is behind this mess." Hancock explained.

Kelsey shrugged, perfectly fine with Hancock's reasoning. "Works for me."

"Alright. You're in, Hancock." He gave a careful stern look at Hancock. "No reckless business, alright? We don't need to lose any more people."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved off. "Just as long as we get the bad guys, then that's alright by me. I'll go and let my folks know I'm leaving again. I'll meet you guys at the front door."

And with that, he walked off of the building, opening and closing the door on his way out.

Now Nick turned his attention to Kelsey again. "About Colonel Autumn..."

"Right." Once again, the situation turned serious. "He's the second in command of the Enclave. Just as much as an asshole as the President. He wanted to take over the Enclave at some point, but he's dead already."

Nick raised a brow. "How do you know?"

"Cause I killed him." It took all the mental strength in the world to resist a grin at him. "At the time, he killed multiple people including the man trying to get good cleaning water to the Capital Wasteland. He and everyone at the Enclave got what they deserve."

From what Nick has heard so far, the Enclave were no better than any other Raider in the Wasteland. No, worse. He wasn't surprised about the Enclave's goal. Individuals who claim that they are trying to help people, often times do the opposite. While he didn't think that the Enclave was behind this, they do have some influence on Special Forces.

"Not that I don't mind, but why are you asking me about the Enclave?" Kelsey asked.

"I'm not sure if this Enclave group are involved, but...I bet on my caps that the Special Forces might be big enough for them to be influenced by the Enclave." He responded. "It's still too early to be sure. They sound like a cult too."

"I agree." Kelsey grumbled. "Them and their shitty cursive writing."

Nick walked toward the entrance of the building, holding the door out for Kelsey. "Speaking of their cursive writing, that kind style of cursive old italic. Kind of like John Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence."

"Huh. Interesting-" Kelsey stopped herself as soon as she was out of the building. She turned to Nick, giving him a questioning look. "Uh, Hancock is not...you know."

"Oh, no, no." Nick cracked a smile, amused with Kelsey's confusion. "Mayor Hancock is not John Hancock." He heard her breath a sigh of relief. "His first name is John, though. But he had a different last name before going with Hancock and wore his coat."

The two continued down their short path to the door that lead out of Goodneighbor and waited for Hancock to show up. Everyone was already gathered near the balcony to hear what their mayor had to say. By the time the two got in front of the door, he was almost done.

However, Kelsey got scared the daylights out of her, when someone banged on the door she was leaning on. It was rushed and caused Kelsey to open the door as quickly as she could.

"Where's- Oh, good! It's you!"

Kelsey did not know this individual, but from what he wore, he was apart of the Minutemen. Nick, however, recognized said individual. He looked at him with concern. "Cassidy? What's wrong?"

Cassidy looked out of breath and scared out of his mind. "Nick. It's really bad at Concord. Nora and MacCready need your help!"

As luck would have it, Hancock was just making his way towards the two. Judging from the look of panic on their faces, Hancock figured that there's a sense of urgency in the air.

"What happened at Concord?" Kelsey asked, as calmly as she could.

"O-one minute it was peaceful and the second, some army guy that calls themselves as Special Forces starts shotting at everyone. The Minutemen are holding them off, but I don't know how long we are going to last. They look tough...Please, you got to help us!"

Nick had placed both of his hands on Cassidy's shoulders. "We'll head out there as quickly as we can. Stick with us, alright?"

He nodded at him. "Sure thing, Nick."

"Alright. Let's get moving."

With that, the four rushed out of Goodneighbor and made sure they made quick work on their journey to Concord, praying that their friends and comrades are alright.

Quest Start: There's a reason why I sing, so give it all

□ Defend and help out the people of Concord.

[foolforharrry]

Aches

Word count: 3.5k

Summary: April comes home to find Harry asleep and not feeling the greatest.

Sickrry

To be fully honest this is like 90% fluff

I really hope you like it. And if you do. If you wanna check out more of my writings, my masterlist is here

No matter how much shit I talk about living in Los Angeles, the one thing that I’m never going to even entertain badmouthing is the ocean.

Even though my favourite colour is green, there isn’t much that beats being able to sit outside with a glass of wine as company to admire the masses of blue that stretch over the horizon.

My adoration for the view had been a fairly big selling point in Harry’s speech when he listed all the reasons why my moving in with him would be a no-brainer.

The speech had honestly been completely unnecessary. I would have said yes to moving into a hole in the ground right next to an airport if that mean living with him.

Lucky for me, I get to live with the love of my life and a view of the sea that sucks the air out of my lungs.

Taking a deep breath, I tear my eyes away from the water. The mesmerizing reflection of the afternoon sun riding the higher points of the waves had me in a spell the same way it always does.

After a rather stressful day, I somehow always end up wandering around the house instead of through the front door when I get home, needing some of that calming blue before I do anything else.

Today had been one of those days. Job interviews will do that do you.

Before Harry had gone to the studio, he had sat me down to have a ‘serious conversation’ with him. He needed to make sure I knew that he was expecting a full report on how the interview goes.

A full report is what I’m prepared to give him as I finally step into our shared home, giddy with pride. Harry had called me to tell me that he would be there when I got home while I was getting a well-needed manicure to destress after the interview.

Home he is.

The first thing I notice when I get into the living room is that the TV is on. An episode of friends filling the silence.

Second thing is that the back of a head of curls is rested on the back of the couch, face out of view.

“Hi, love. How was your day?”, I ask as I put my purse down by the bottom of the staircase before padding across the light wooden floors.

Realisation dawns on me when Harry doesn’t even lift his head at the sound of my voice, but it stays in the exact same position. He’s asleep.

His body lays horizontally across the comfy, grey furniture, his upper back and head propped up with the edge of the sofa and an arrangement of colourful throw pillows. His laptop is open in his lap, but the screen is black, one of his hands splayed over the keyboard and the other one draped across his stomach.

His eyes are closed and his pillowy, pink lips are barely parted. Mocha brown, curly strands of hair fall across his forehead so delicately.

Trying to be as careful as possible so I don’t wake him from his slumber, I reach for the TV remote on the coffee table to shut it off, silence replacing the noise.

Just as I start to retrace my steps back to the stairs to let him sleep in peace, a groggy, “Hi.”, has me stopping in my tracks completely and twisting my head.

Great job, April.

“Am I still dreaming? Or is an angel standing in my living room?”

My eyes widen in surprise momentarily before I burst out laughing. “That’s horrible, H.”, I tell him through tears of laughter, hand over my heart to calm my breathing down again.

“Meanie.” Even though Harry offers me a sad pout at the insult to his horrible attempt at a pickup line, he’s still got that bright glint in his eyes I love so much.

Setting his laptop on the coffee table next to the remote, Harry throws his legs off the sofa and pats the space on his left as a silent request for me to sit down next to him. That’s something I do happily, giving Harry a peck on the lips as I make myself comfortable.

Tucking my legs up on the sofa, I lean into Harry, basking in the feeling of being close to him again. The familiar scent of him has a warm and fuzzy feeling wrapping around my heart as he curves his arm around my back. His fingertips brush comfortingly up and down my side, allowing me to relax further into him.

I take his free hand between mine, absentmindedly playing with his rings as we sit in comfortable silence. Hands in his jean-clad lap. My head rested on his shoulder, the side of his face against the top of my head.

He’s probably got a nose full of hair by now.

“How did it go today?”, Harry asks, his voice courser than normal. “Did she have common sense and realise what a genius my fiancé is?”

A small smile decorates my face when I take my attention away from the hole that’s ripped through the course material of his dark jeans, exposing the tanned skin of his knees and a small part of his thigh.

“Yeah. She’s gonna call me back in to discuss some further details next week.”, I tell him bashfully.

There’s a beat of silence. And then before I even realise what’s happened Harry’s manoeuvred me so I’m fully on my back. A knee planted firmly on either side of my body as Harry peppers my face with kisses, mumbling praises in between them.

His silly, playful mood is infectious, and I can’t help the laughter that falls from my lips as he reaffirms every kind word with a kiss.

After peppering another round of adorable kisses on my flushed skin, I return one to each of his soft cheeks. “Thank you, pretty boy.”

Harry shakes his head, “No need for that. You know I’m always proud of you, right?” His words have a cheesy smile crinkling the corners of my eyes. “And I you”, I return with a tap on his nose. He matches my expression, stars in his eyes as he kisses the tip of my finger.

“Now go get changed before you start complaining about your jeans being uncomfortable.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”, I lie through my teeth as Harry removes his body from mine completely. He hums, seeing right through my lie, “Whatever you say.”

Striding away from him and the sofa and up the stairs, I refuse to acknowledge the shit-eating grin I know that Harry is probably sporting right now from being right. For whatever reason, he’s comfortable lounging around in jeans. How the man does it, I genuinely have no idea. I however am the kind of person who can’t get them off quickly enough.

He knows me too well

Once I’m rid of the uncomfortable jeans, I slide a pair of grey sweats up my legs before trading the top I’ve worn all day for one of Harry’s graphic tees.

“So. I was thinking we could watch a movie while we eat?”, is what I hear when I descend the stairs again. Much more comfortable than I was two minutes ago.

My heart swells in my chest as I spot Harry in the kitchen, looking at me expectantly with a plate in his hand and the sound of the microwave telling me what he’s up to. “Are we doing Me Before You or I Feel Pretty?”

Harry takes a moment to ponder over our two options before he shares his decision. “Me Before You.”

Nodding in approval, I take a seat at the kitchen island, resting my chin on my hands folded on the countertop. “How did it go at the studio today? Did you guys figure out that song you told me about the other day?”

“It actually went really well. I think we’re set on pretty much everything. All that was left really when I left was recording the guitar solo. Mitch and Tyler were about to get started on it when i went home. It’s gonna be good.” The pride is obvious in his smile as he switches out the plates in the microwave, crossing his arms above his chest and leaning against the fridge.

I hum approvingly. “You land on a title yet?”

Having a habit of keeping me on my toes and never spilling anything about his new projects, I’m taken by surprise when Harry smirks at me and gives me the answer I was looking for, “She.”

From what he has told me about She, and now the title, I’m fairly certain that this might end up being the death of me. Much like everything else the man does.

“I can’t wait to hear it.”, I tell him seriously. Harry’s cheeks gain a pinker shade, a sheepish smile as he thanks me.

Tutting and shuffling over to him, I tilt my head back to keep eye contact with him to make sure he knows I’m serious. “You are freaking amazing, H. You inspire me every day by just being yourself. I know you’ve been a little bit anxious about experimenting more with your sound and everything. And I am so fucking proud of you for not letting your fears dim your light.”

Seeming at a loss for words, eyes glossy with emotion, Harry wordlessly wraps me up in his tight embrace, burying his face in my neck. I hug him back just as tightly. He doesn't need to say anything and neither do I.

It’s the beep signalling that the food is finished heating that makes us break apart, a soft kiss exchanged before we take one plate of leftover lasagnes each and make ourselves comfortable on the sofa again.

Harry is in the chaise, legs stretched out while I sit cross-legged next to him. We balance our food in our laps, he uses my thigh and knee as a second armrest.

Pressing play on the movie, we make quick work of our meal. I hadn’t even realised just how hungry I was until the first piece of lasagne touches my tongue.

It’s fucking delicious is what it is.

Once we’re done with our dinner, Harry tugs me towards him, letting me cuddle into him.

It’s not really a secret that movie night is a favourite for both Harry and me. We have a rather long list of movies we want to watch, even though more often than not, we circle back to our favourites.

Whenever we’re watching one of our usuals, Harry can never seem to keep from reciting the lines along with the characters with the same emotion and conviction the actor playing has.

No matter what’s on the TV, he’s always needing to have some part of his body touch mine. Whether it’s just a simple hand on a thigh or tangled together the way my hair gets if I don’t brush it out the second I get out of the shower.

There is no need to even have a conversation about what his love language is. Touch.

So who am I to deny him?

I’m shaken out of my thoughts when I feel Harry remove his cheek from the top of my head, tapping my hip to get my attention.

“I’ve gotta get up for a minute, love.”, he explains when he’s got it. I nod, frowning when I notice how pale he looks. Maybe it’s just the reflection from the television that’s making his complexion sickly. “Sure. You feeling ok, Dimples?”

“I’m good. Don’t worry.” He kisses the space between my eyebrow I know is creased right now before he makes a move to get up. But it doesn’t do much to ease the concern as I take over the spot Harry just left.

He shuffles his feet to the drawer next to the sink where we keep our medicine. Observing as he places not just one but two pills from the Advil bottle on his tongue before chugging it down with water. He rubs the side of his temple as he puts the medicine back in its rightful place.

When it comes to Advil, harry barely ever takes two at a time, hating the drowsiness that comes from the pain reliever enough with just one. So the fact that he chooses to swallow two and has kept rubbing his temple, tells me that he’s got a headache worse than he can deal with on his own.

Not that he would admit to it voluntarily.

Opening my arms as an invitation, Harry lays down on his side, putting his head in my lap. The light from the TV highlights the closest points of his face, long eyelashes fanning across the tops of his cheeks as he lets his eyes fall shut.

Just as I redirect my attention back to the movie I had nearly forgotten was playing, Harry nudges the top of my thigh with his nose, “Play with my hair, please.” His eyes are still closed as he lays completely still, arms tucked into his chest.

And so I do. But not before taking the blanket that was folded across the arm of the sofa and draping it over his body. As well as I can, seeing that I can’t do much more than throw the end.

The satisfied hum Harry lets out once I run my freshly manicured fingers through his curls has me suppressing a giggle.

I bet all that I own that having his hair played with is very high on the list of his favourite things from the way he always seems to turn to putty when I do just that.

Before I know it the end credits are rolling along with the tears. My hands are still absentmindedly making little braids only to undo them in his growing hair.

His breathing is deep and even, his body completely relaxed and his nose is buried in the fabric of my sweats as if my lap was a pillow. I don’t even want to try to wake him up. The thought had crossed my mind when I’d first noticed him starting to fall asleep. Just shut the TV off and get his ass in bed. But I decided to just let him doze off completely since it was obvious that he needs it.

Knowing Harry, if he sleeps on the sofa through the night, he’ll be bothered by his neck the whole day.

I take a minute to admire him in awe. He looks so peaceful like this. Like there isn’t a thing in the world that could ever interrupt him and his peace.

Apart from me apparently.

Being as careful as I possibly can, I slide myself further away from him while lowering his head to the cushion, freeing myself so I can get up. After shutting off the TV, the living room now nearly pitch black from the lack of light, I rid Harry of the blanket and fold back over the sofa arm.

“Darling, you gotta wake up.” I caress his cheek tenderly, watching as his eyelids slowly but surely flutter open. “There he is.”

“I wanna sleep.” His pout thankfully melts into a small smile when I kiss his nose.

Before he actually does let himself fall asleep, I take his hand in mine as I get off my knees, a reluctant Harry actually sitting up in the process. His fingers are back to soothing his table and it has an instant feeling of guilt settling in the pit of my stomach.

Pulling him the rest of the way up, I don’t even question it when Harry leans most of his weight on me, arms looping around my waist and his face settling in the crook of my neck.

“Would it make you feel better if I pamper your face how you like?”, I offer. He hums and nods but makes no move to take a step in any direction.

So I remove his arms for him, slinging the closest one around my shoulders as I wrap my own around his waist so he can keep using me as his own personal crutch. Which he does all the way up the stairs, down the hallway, through our bedroom and into our bathroom where he lets go and seats himself on top of the closed toilet seat.

Thankfully the lights were already dimmed, and it doesn’t look like he’s too bothered by them either.

As I’m setting up the products I know are his favourites, I glance over at him every few seconds. He looks like he could sleep for a week and still not be fully rested.

Dark circles and heavy under eyebags are more visible from how dull and pale his skin is. It’s lacking that glow and shine of life that’s always adorned his features as if he was an angel sent from heaven.

I wash my hands before getting his hair out of his face with the use of his fluffy, baby-blue headband.

“Do you wanna tell me what’s bothering you?”, I ask him as I start to cleanse his dampened skin, taking my time to get all that funk out of his pores, careful to keep the product out of his closed eyes. The way he has his head slightly tilted back makes it a lot easier.

“Head hurts.”

It actually feels like someone just took a tug at my heart. And not in a good way. “I’m so sorry, my love.”, I murmur, kissing the top of his head.

Keeping his hands comfortably at my hips as I stand between his legs, Harry just shrugs his shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal. “S’fine.”

He’s full of shit and we both know it.

But knowing him I don’t try to argue and just continue with the task at hand in silence. With the exception of the hums of appreciation every now and then.

Doing his skincare routine for him isn’t going to magically take away his troubles. But if it can put a little bit of pleasure and comfort into the mix, I would happily stand and pamper him for hours on end.

Once he’s all done, I take his headband off for him and with a giggle, I give him the kiss he’s silently asking for by puckering his lips.

Harry watches me with tired eyes and his toothbrush slowly cleaning his teeth as I make quick work of my own nighttime routine.

Even though it’s way earlier than we normally even think about going to sleep, Harry is obviously about ready to throw in the towel where he sits judging by how slowly he’s brushing his teeth. The events and stress of the day have tired me out as well, to be honest.

His mumbled, “I love you”, through a mouthful of toothpaste had me giggling as I returned the sentiment.

Harry tries to help me put everything in its rightful place again, pouting when I tell him to sit his pretty little sick ass right back down again and let me take care of it. If he’d been his usual, not sick, self, he never would’ve listened.

“C’mon, Dimples. Time for bed.” “Yes, ma’am.”

I shake my head at the poor attempt at a smirk the man makes that quickly morphs into a grimace from his headache as I help him back onto his feet.

As if his body knew how close he was to finally be able to lie down and sleep again, the second his eyes lands on his final destination for today, he releases a yawn that makes his eyes all but disappear.

He plops down on top of the duvet, getting to work on shedding off his pink mickey mouse sweater as I slide my sweatpants off my legs and drop all the decorative pillows on the floor with them. Since neither of us bothered with turning on the light when we entered the room, there’s no need to make the short walk to the switch by the door.

“Do you need anything else?”, I ask as I fold back the duvet. I jump in surprise when I feel something hard meet my back the second I stand up only to realise that it’s just Harry when he hugs me to his chest and kisses the top of my head.

Swaying us slowly from side to side, he murmurs against my hair, “All I need is you.”

The butterflies that are going crazy from just how much I love this man in my stomach, stay there.

They keep buzzing around long after the warmth of the duvet envelops our bodies. The kiss goodnight Harry laid on my lips didn’t make them go away. They only increase when Harry nestles his face into my chest with his arm slung across my stomach. As if those little creatures could feel just how close he was.

I’m pretty sure they kept floating around long after I drifted off to sleep.

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