#but it's been a long. ass. time. since there were dinosaurs

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Has anyone ever suggested here an Animorphs AU where, in fact, animals do talk and think and humans are simply unaware of their language, the style Over The Hedge and basically any animated animal movie does?

Cassie is immensely validated and now has to ponder a whole new set of ethical concerns, Ax has a whole horde of forest animal friends and becomes even more estranged from human culture as a result of it (Marco and Tobias do their best to correct this, but they can only do so much), and the animorphs end up recruiting animals to help them in the war - maybe even ones they give morphing tech, like Tobias getting Dude out of his uncle’s place to become another full-time Animorph (or at least be a friend out in the forest, along with Ax)

Crazy thought: Are we sure that isn't the universe the Animorphs are living in already?

In #4, Cassie speaks directly with a whale that understands she isn't a real dolphin and knows what she's looking for. In MM1, she implies whales have their own language.

In #28, Ax notes that human and chimpanzee minds are basically the same, to the point where his friends are all weirded out and almost never use that morph again.

Marco "talks" to his inner gorilla mind several times (#5, MM1, etc.) and says it's almost like a second consciousness joins him in the morph.

In MM2, Marco confidently says that dinosaurs didn't use weapons — Ax points out it was so long ago we don't know that for sure.

Like... do we know for sure that gorillas and dolphins aren't using their own languages in a way we don't detect? Are we sure that dinosaurs didn't construct buildings that just crumbled away in the ~100 million years since?

Crazier thought: Are we sure that's not the universe we're living in already?

Dolphins show signs of metacognition and self-awareness (X)

Gorillas can learn language (X)

Chimpanzees can teach language (X)

Elephants name each other (X)

There's something deeply Animorphs in the idea that the more you learn about an animal, the more you realize is going on under the surface. And a big part of its message is that animal minds are a lot closer to human minds than we humans would like to think.

[rynfiles]

dad next door !

✎ᝰ — your brand-new apartment has brought you peace, calm, and freedom. but no one mentioned of a father of a two

★ — satoru gojo x gn!reader

★ — word count: 1.6k

★ — genre + warnings: fluff + dad!gojo, gojo is in his early twenties (21-23), gojo is a nervous mess, megumi and his smart antics, tsumiki is y/n’s number one fan

The space is small, yet livable. Your new apartment brings you this sense of freedom and independence from your loving, yet overbearing, parents. As much as you love them dearly, the thought of continuing to live under their roof was going to drive you mad. Which led to your brand new apartment, not the best but you made do with your stay.

As you continue to unpack your things, you hear noises coming from the other side of your living room wall. You ignored them by putting on your headphones and playing music as time passed.

Yet some hours passed, only three, and the noise continued. You moved closer to the wall to decipher what was creating such a loud noise. The only thing you could make out was a loud TV, yelling from multiple people you assume, and children. Your heart grew soft and sympathy grew in your heart for the assumed noise of children, since you know how children can be, especially at young ages when their emotions run rampant.

Though, as much as children softened your heart, the noise was becoming unbearable and you wanted your first day in your apartment to be perfect. You planned to be nice, introduce yourself, and ask your neighbor to possibly lower the noise coming from their apartment.

You paused your music and took off your headphones. You grabbed your phone and headed out the door, only making a few steps to your left until you reached the next apartment door.

You knocked gently, as you waited you heard the noise more clearly. You realized it was an adult and a child going back and forth while the TV was playing a children’s show. You heard some of the argument and giggled to yourself at some of the insults that were sent.

You continued to wait yet the door hadn’t opened nor had there been any indication that someone was going to open. You knocked again, a bit louder this time, and someone, you assumed was the adult, yelled that they were coming. Not long after, the door was opened and you were met with a man who had a staggering height, but that didn’t bother you.

The man had hair as white as the winter snow, which was decorated with those ball scrunchies and small heart clips that should be found on a small girl, not a grown (potentially over twenty) man. He wore a fitted tank top that had a dad joke on it and black shorts to accompany the outfit. His face in particular was graced with lashes that were thick and lay beautifully above his blue eyes. Also, his youthful face is currently covered in stickers galore, many of dinosaurs and flowers.

He greeted you with a smile, it brought youth to his face and gave sincerity, and apologies for taking so long to answer.

You reassured him that he was okay and also introduced yourself. You explained to him how you were his neighbor but also reported to him the noise from his apartment was bothering you. You tried not to come off as rude, since it is your first day.

He apologizes almost too quickly, mild stutters as he speaks, “Sorry sorry, my two- I mean these two kids have been hauling my ass since seven am.”

“I assumed it was younger children that were in there. Though, could you do me a favor and turn down the TV as well? The whole apartment doesn’t need to hear what you guys are watching.”

The man turns in the direction of the TV and lightly smacks his forehead, “Ah, that must’ve been Tsumiki with her runway model shows. I don’t know why but she always excuses that she has terrible hearing and always has the TV-”

“What about Tsumiki?” A young boy with spiked hair appears behind the man. The boy wears an expression that debates whether to tussle with the tall man or mind his business. With his presence now here, he chose the first option. Yet the stickers and hair clips placed on his hair and face don’t make him serious enough to take.

“Kid-”

The boy scrunched his face, showing a sign of annoyance to the man in front of him. “My name is Megumi, Meh-gu-mi. Don’t try to be all “mister cool” cause you think our new neighbor is hot.”

The man’s jaw dropped and all you could giggle at the compliment that was given. You spot his cheeks beaming with a light shade of red but disregard it as the man clears his throat. “Megumi, do me a favor and stay out of adult spaces.”

The boy sucked his teeth, “You were literally a child not many years ago, in dog years if you count.” The boy mumbled the last part but it was loud enough for the older man to hear.

The two males continue to go back and forth until a small girl approaches next to the small boy. From the height alone she could be the eldest of the two children, and her face was also decorated with stickers. It was cute to see the tall male and the two children behind him covered in all kinds of stickers on their face and their hair styled in hair clips.

The girl comes over to see what all the commotion is. But instead, she turns to you and immediately starts complimenting you, she smiles with such fondness to your beauty. She starts to compliment your hair, even if it is simple for the busy day, your outfit, and how you look so perfect. She believes so deeply that you came out of a magazine and all you could do was thank her and smile back. The girl just seemed all admired about you, even if she only met you about two minutes ago.

She turns to the older male to ask, “Can they join us for dinner papa Gojo?”

The boy scoffs at the question, “Don’t give him any ideas, he might scare the new neighbor away.” The blushing from earlier returns and the older man, named Gojo (?), seems to be slightly offended at the boy's remark.

The girl ignores the boy and pleads with Gojo, you continue to watch the two children and the man banter with one another. The interaction seemed to look serious from an outsider’s perspective, but up close, it was adorable watching them interact. Even if the boy seemed very annoyed with the entire situation, the girl poked his cheeks and played with his hair to uplift his mood, while the man told the two children to turn down the TV and check on the food cooking.

Gojo brings his attention back to you and smiles nervously, he laughs nervously as well. He brings his hand to comb through the back of his hair, “Sorry about them, they’re not usually this noisy on a Friday afternoon. Especially Megumi, he’s usually playing with his figures with Tsumiki, never this intrusive.”

“Don’t worry, I have younger siblings and we bicker quite a lot, so I get it. But I will admit that you guys are an adorable little family.”

The man blushes quickly but tries to hide it quickly, “Ah, thank you.” He grows nervous and lets the air become this sense of nervousness. He will admit, he wouldn’t have thought to have a neighbor as stunning as you and comfortable around his children. Then again, his two children take too much of his time to even pay attention to the people in his environment.

He clears his throat, “Umm, you don’t have to join but Tsumiki, the little girl, is gonna keep asking about dinner and I’m already in trouble with her. If you don’t mind, you don’t have to, but you can join us for dinner if you’re not too busy.” The blushing on his cheeks stayed yet you notice his ears turning into a light hue of pink as well, nervousness is ruining this man.

You think for a little while, letting the man watch you think and his face shows more and more signs of nervousness. You answer with a nod and a small smile, “I don’t mind at all. It would be nice to learn some faces in this town.”

Gojo seems more than happy to hear your acceptance, “We’d love to welcome you, Tsumiki loves making new friends and Megumi could get a friend or two. Geez this kid.”

You gave a small laugh and thanked him, you turned to make your exit until Gojo stopped you. “Oh umm, by-by the way, I didn’t get to properly introduce myself. I’m Gojo, umm Satoru Gojo. I’m right next door, literally, if you need anything.”

“Oh thanks, it was nice talking to you Satoru, and your two kids I assume, Megumi and Tsumiki?” The way you said his first name had Gojo going from a blushing mess to a flustered, stuttering mess. He feels heat rising in his cheeks and ears, embarrassment adds in as thinks that he shouldn’t be this nervous around his new neighbor.

“Yeah, that’s their name.” He pauses and lets his nervousness settle between the two of you, “Umm, well it was great to meet you y/n, and uhh gotta get back to finishing dinner, two hungry children aren’t the prettiest sight to see.”

“I would love to be the judge of that tonight,” you turn to walk away from his doorway and wave him goodbye, “have a good day Satoru, see you tonight.”

Gojo waves back and closes the door once you step into your apartment. He roughly combs through his hair and sighs heavily, “I don’t know who’s gonna end me first, these damn kids or dinner with y/n.”

★ I got this fanfic idea from this fanart actually ! I thought gojo and the kids were so cute with their stickers and clips on their face and hair 🫶🏽

© 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥 𝗋𝗒𝗇𝖿𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗌. 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽

[dinodanicus]

you can skip this wall of text its just about the scam this illustration was involved in.

This fairly ordinary illustration of two hands holding was involved in a very weird and convoluted scam. Last month I was commission to illustrate this image for invitations meant to go out for a supposed wedding anniversary coming up in March. The whole commission seemed odd to me I mainly draw dinosaurs and aliens. Not many people know I also draw people but the buyer who called himself Petterson Reid was offering to pay 300 up front and 200 after the work was finished. A nice offer for what was a very simple illustration. I took the job and sent him a very rough sketch of the hands to show him what the final image might look like. He liked the sketch and told me to finish the image after he sent the first payment I went ahead and finished the image that night. I held onto the picture to see if he would really send the 300 dollars first. The buyer wanted to send a check by mail which is weird but I thought he might have been a boomer who didn't understand how to use PayPal. His emails and text seemed like something my grandmother would write very proper and overly polite. I was fairly suspicious of him and waited to see if a check would actually be delivered. To my surprise a check did arrive a week later from Petterson Reid except it was for 2,790 dollars. knowing this was far too much money I asked him if it was a mistake. He said the extra money was for a PayPal invoice to the printers involved in the invitations. He wanted me to use the extra money on the check to pay the printers on his behalf. Again very weird but I chalked it up to an old person who didn't know how to pay online. I cashed the check the next day, since it was from an out of state bank they were putting it on hold for 3 days to see if the funds would clear. I told the buyer about the three day waiting period and asked for the invoice I was suppose to be paying and he went absolutely ape shit. He claimed I was trying to steal his money and was threatening to pursue legal action I was completely shocked by the change in attitude. I had to mute my phone because he kept sending wave after wave of threatening texts. At this point I was 90% sure this was some sort of scam but when I called the bank they said there was nothing to do until the hold expired. I was confident it wouldn't then to my surprise the check cleared and the money was in my account. At this point I had the finished artwork and the money so I wanted to get this crazy asshole on his way so I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. I told him to send the invoice for the printer and I would pay it with the money on the check then I would send the picture and our business would be done. This prick sends some half assed looking invoice with a payable link on PayPal. When I try to pay, it says payment will be held till Feb 7th. Apparently this date is too late for the printers so now that processing payment has been canceled by the printer in favor of a new payment process through Zelle. I was trying to figure out what was going on, if its a scam what is the take the entirety of the check was still in my account it didn't even say it was pending. I go to pay on Zelle and discover the 2,790 dollars has been rescinded by the bank. I call and learn this ass hair had sent a forged check to the bank in an effort to have me pay these fake invoices with my own money. He guessed the bank would deposit the check without fully vetting it for the standard 10 days since I'm a long time member. He knew he had until about five a clock that day before the bank would catch the discrepancy. He was posing as the printer in order to scam 4,740 dollars from me through both attempted payment methods. luckily for me I'm broke as hell right now and didn't have the money in my own account to cover either payment with out the check. everything has been taken care of now I just thought I better share this story since I've never seen a scam like this before. It took an entire month for him to essentially get nothing I really don't know what to think of any of this its such a weird scheme.

[sopiao]

can i request headcannons with the 141 and konig during a road trip? like a looong ass road-trip. nothing for a mission, just a little trip or vacation.

ooh i just got back from a 10 hour long road trip too!

(Callsign will be ‘Shark’)

Price would be the one driving, Soap in the front, Shark, Ghost, and Gaz in the middle row, while König gets the back all to himself. Sometimes it would cycle who would be in the front with Price since they all wanted to take turns sleep.

Since König is the big bitch he is, he gets the whole back row to himself. He can ‘shooonk’ and ‘mi mi mi mi mi’ all he wants. With his pillow and pink jaguar blanket someone lent him cause he forgot his (most likely Soap’s). While Shark is stuck in the middle, stuck between Ghost and Gaz.

—

Price would have first dibs on the aux since he’s the driver. He’d only play songs that no one knows. Y’know the classics and his personal faves. No one gave him the aux since.

Soap would play songs that he likes, regardless of what anyone else thinks. ‘Shut up and drive’ by Rihanna, ‘Talk dirty’ by Jason Derulo, ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars. Will literally blast the volume at his favorite parts.

Occasionally Ghost or Gaz would yell at him to shut up, his only response being to turn the music up even louder.

—

“I’ve got to go to the loo..” Soap asked. Price gripping the wheel and taking an audible and long breath in and out through the nose.

“We just left THE FUCKING STOP”

—

During stops to restock on gas stations snacks or fill up on gas Gaz would get drinks he never finishes, it just piles up in the back. Shark got a bag of chocolate marshmallows, they later played basketball with it, Ghost’s mouth being the hoop.

Price would 100% do the dad-snack-hand from the drivers seat. While König got a whole tub of ice cream to eat in the back, just because he felt like it.

Soap actually got left at a gas station once. The car ride back to get him was quite.

—

Shark’s gasp made everyone turn to attention since it was so quite and their gasp sounded so alarmed. Shark leapt across Gaz’s laps and looked out the window.

“Cow!” They pointed out towards the field of cows minding their business.

“Cow?

“Woooaaah”

“COW”

—

König gets motion sickness very easily. Which is why he spends 60% of the car ride sleeping. But the times where he is awake, half the time he’s throwing up in a paper bag. Ghost having to throw it out while Gaz and Soap try not to gag. Shark is rubbing him on the back and giving him water to feel better :).

—

Gaz would sleep against the car door, a pillow between him and the door, one leg would be across Ghost and Shark’s lap and the other would be on the middle console of the front. Sometimes Soap would have to nudge his dinosaur socks out of the way.

Ghost would claim he’s not tired at all, but is always the first one to fall asleep. Arms crossed and head back while he snores like a motor boat. First time this happened Price freaked out that he was dying, choking or something, and had Shark punch him in the chest.

He didn’t feel like sleeping after that.

Eventually when he does he’d be in the same position as Gaz, but both of his legs would be across Sharks and Gaz’s lap. Hitting the opposite door.

—

“Would you rather fight 100 toddlers or—” Shark asked of the first thing that came to mind.

“A hundred toddlers” Soap interrupted them, no hesitation.

“I didn’t even finish the question—”

“Those kids are getting CURB STOMPED”

“No—”

—

Going down a long path in the middle of the night. Practically in the middle of nowhere as the only thing keeping them company was yards of grass and mice that hid in little holes for the night. Everyone was fast asleep until they felt the car shift to a stop. They all immediately looked at each other after seeing where they were stopped.

“Let’s stretch our legs, been a while” Price explained, being the first to get out, turning the car off and the key out of the ignition. They were all still confused why they stopped suddenly, but they understood that hours of driving does no good for the legs.

Price made sure to turn the head lights off too. The rest of them thought that they’d just but in the middle of nowhere in the dark but they were frozen in amazement when they saw how bright the sky is, despite it being 12 midnight.

Without all the city lights and street lights to pollute the sky the night looked so bright. Stars that were barely visible, only a dot in the sky, were now shining and bright. In the city you could only see 6-7 stars 10 if your lucky, but right now it was like you could see till the end of the galaxy.

Not a word was spoken the entire time they were out. It was beautiful but also so surreal and bone chilling seeing how much space there is beyond this world. Every star a sun and every sun had at least 5 planets. There had to be at least one other life form.

Those 20 minutes were the most quiet but calming 20 minutes of the trip. Something they shared and saw together.

[surrealist-dreamer]

Manors Fucking Haunted - Chapter 1

Ao3 link - Episode 2

Summary:

Jason was tired. Very tired. It has been a long ass week starting with an explosion causing a mental breakdown and continuing with constantly thinking of life at the manor. At every corner something made him think about it. the counter looks like the manors, ‘hey remember when Alfred…’ He lays on the couch, ‘Remember how you fell asleep on Dicks lap while watching…’ OR: Jason breaks into the manor wanting his book. You can guess how this goes.

A/N: Finally posting this to tumblr

Jason was tired. Very tired. It has been a long ass week, starting with an explosion causing a concerning long panic attack, and continuing with constantly thinking of life at the manor.

At every corner something made him think about it. The counter looks like the manors, ‘hey remember when Alfred…’ He lays on the couch, ‘Remember how you fell asleep on Dicks lap…’ 

He had kicked someone across the face and was instantly shot back to when Jason had done the same as Robin, albeit with less force (also without steel-toed boots).

All of this to say, Jason was not having a good time. 

As he rounded a corner at a speed far too high, a thought crept into his head.

‘You could go.’

Jason gripped his bike tighter, it wasn’t something he should want. Not after everything Talia had told him home, not home, had done. 

‘…But you could pick up your copy of Pride and Prejudice.’ It needs to be done at some point, Jason wanted his book back. So what if he also got to be home while he did it? 

Fuck. Not home. Not anymore.

Jason took a minor detour to get in something less conspicuous than a reflective red helmet, then started towards Wayne Manor in darker civilian wear. 

‘It looks like something you would wear before you died.’

The voice in his brain needs to shut the fuck up before he puts his head through a wall.

———

Jason was outside the manor bypassing a truckload of security. ‘Are you really going to do this? I mean do you really want the book this much?’ He did not want the book that much. 

For some reason that didn’t make him stop.

After making sure there wouldn’t be any alerts or records of him getting in, he made his way across the yard and scaled the side of the manor to a porch.

Jason had always hated the inadequacy the house had given him. The size of his room swallowing him, the unease within his stomach while walking through the hallways. Just getting in a the car made the bike ride in his throat.

Bruce had tried to give him a room with a porch off it, but Jason was very obviously not okay with it and Bruce ended up settled for a room close to the library since the room itself had a balcony. Jason often read on when he wanted space from… everything. 

Now Jason was lock picking his childhood library, trying desperately to ignore the rocking chair he had always sat on.

The door finally gave a last click and gave way to the dark library. ‘Ah, that’s a problem.’

Jason had left his oh-so-convenient helmet at home so it wouldn’t give him away on this one journey. This is backfiring in a really stupid way because if the lights were on in the library it would encourage someone to check it, and more stupidly, the light switch was outside the library. Jason couldn’t turn it even if he wanted to.

Despite the universe seemingly telling him to go, Jason bumbles into the library. He shuffles along the room looking at shelves, and not so subtly… gets completely fucking wrecked by the stool he used to use to reach the high shelves. 

Jason makes contact with the floor, not bothering to move for over a minute (this was a massive hit to his pride on an already shit week, he can take a breather). Luckily no one seems to have heard. Jason starts peeling himself off the floor and then spots it. ‘Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs before Dark.’

Not quite what he had in mind but…

Jason picks it up from the low shelf and stands up, the shelf creaking as he uses it for support. He begins flipping through the pages. ‘Maybe you take this book for now, don’t want to leave behind something so-’

“Littlewing?”

Jason hadn’t even heard the door open. His head shot up and there he was, Dick-goddamn-Grayson. His face looked like he’d just been slapped. Jason opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted before he could speak.

“So this is what you’d look like if you got to grow old.”

‘…what?’ Jason just stood there as Dick scanned over his face before pinching the bridge of his nose and turning around, leaving the library.

“Huh.”

[saturnxlust]

HEYYY :P ik its been awhile my bad😔

Injured!Proxys+ben x Doctor! Reader

Tim Wright/ Masky

So this man is closed off, all of the proxys are😞

But hes not a idiot, he knows when his body has had enough and when he needs help

The only way you’d be able to help him is if its a severe wound or if your close with him

Im talking at least 2+ years of either dating or being friends..

Lucky you if you’ve made it this long!

Now actually helping him is difficult

Hes stubborn and doesnt like to admit hes in pain so when you stitch his sorry ass up or disinfect it, he winces but swears hes fine

Hes not fine

He also complains the entire time about how he could do it himself

Knowing full well he couldnt he just likes to be a pain in the ass

Brian Thomas/hoodie

Hes more lenient, he’ll let you help him even though we all know this man could do it himself

It wouldnt be good but as long as he isnt bleeding out he doesnt really care

Although hes the more lenient one hes still closed off and it takes atleast a year or more to be able to help him

The first time you actually clean up a wound he falls deeper in love

Its not covered in dried blood or anything!

Hes amazed at how gentle you were and found it cute if you were concerned about him

It gets to the point where he would make small bruises or cuts just to have you put a little bandaid on his finger or put pain cream on his bruise

He would totally make you kiss the bandages after, no matter how big or small😭

He has dinosaur bandaids and unicorn bandaids.

Toby Rogers

Oh boy buckle up

So he cant feel pain

Good luck☺️

He doesnt know hes hurt and most likely you wont either

If you somehow get him to wash his fuckass sweatshirt and seem to see a wound, he too, would be confused and surprised

He would find how concerned you were funny and laugh as you clean him up

If you yelled at him while he laughed he’d tell you to relax and that hes fine

Hes not fine

Like brian he would make small cuts and or bruises to have you patch him up

Back tracking a little, it would take a few months but not because hes closed off

He trusts you completely to not hurt him physically

It was just getting to see him without his sweatshirt on that was difficult

He keeps that thing on all the time no way your getting a peak at his scrawny ass unless you rip that sweatshirt off him or if you get…spicy.. with him..

Eyeless Jack

HAH

Good luck

He went to medical school

This man knows what hes doing

But like the others finds it funny that you want to help him

He doesnt need it but honestly

Hes too smart to get too badly injured, if he does it’s because he went awhile wothout eating and became reckless

I think that if he were to go more then a fee weeks without eating he would get reckless with how he got the kidneys

He wouldnt leave the victims alive and leave them in their bed naked with incisions on their stomach

When that happens he usually comes home with a bruise or scratches from the victims fighting back,

If you’ve gotten to the point that you know about that and accept it, not only will you be helping clean him up

You’d help clean his clothes up

Hes a clean guy dont get me wrong but after eating i think he would just need to sleep

And if your like me theres no way that 7’ tall demon is getting in my bed soaked in blood and possible guts ☺️

Jeffery Hodek

God i wish you luck if your with this man

He will let his wounds get infected for fun and he will enjoy it when you get upset (COUGH COUGH MOUTH CUTS COUGH)

He honestly couldnt care less and again, finds it amusing when you yell at him

Lets be honest his story is written awful so im gonna tweak it a litte

He did not get bleached, there was a explosion and some of his hair burnt off, it has since grown back a little but the burn scars are still there

So if you want to help him clean his mouth he’ll complain and tease you and taunt you but he’ll let you do it

..if you even want to after all that.😒

Benjamin Lawman

So he can’t actually get hurt…i mean unless hes like a zombie but he isnt, this guys a ghost

So i mean, unless he has some power to be human magically theres really nothing that can hurt him

Even you..

But you should find a way to hurt him, whether it be physical or emotional causr hes a jackass

And will make fun of you just to see you cry😒

Either bring up something from his past(he might get a little angry at that🥰) or threaten to throw him into a lake

You can’t actually throw him but..he..doesnt need to know that😇

[writeaboutit]

Marijuana Cigarettes

Happy 4/20 y'all🍃! Here's a little Ellie x Reader ramble with smoking, movies, and smut. It's not beta read so forgive me for any mistakes. Also, I am in a writing slump so if y'all have any prompts or suggestions on what to write next pls let me know!!💟

Word count: 2k

Warnings: smut (mdni) 18+

You got a text this morning from your girlfriend saying plainly, “Come over tonight?”

Even though the text seemed a bit eerie you knew that was just Ellie. She was awkward as hell over text, it made you giggle every time you got a strange vague text from her.

She probably just wanted to watch a movie or show you another dinosaur book she found at the library.

At 7 you decided to head over to her and Joel's house. You parked your car outside of the main house on the street and followed the narrow path down the side of the house and through the back gate.

The path was slightly covered in a bit of lingering snow from the storm a few days ago but come the morning sun tomorrow it would most likely all melt away.

You made your way to the garage door, tapping your feet on the mat outside to rid your shoes of the sticky snow before turning the brass nob and entering the warm-ish detached garage.

Ellie was standing in front of her desk fiddling with something you couldn’t see when you walked in. You bent down to unlace your shoes as Ellie turned around alerted to your entrance by the squeak of the door, “Hey baby,”

“Hey,” You say standing up and padding across the room to Ellie. She envelopes you in a hug that chases the lingering chill from outside away. You sigh sinking further into her.

After a few moments, you lean back to look at her, “What are you up to? Did you find another dinosaur book?” you ask in question regarding her earlier text.

“No, I mean well yes but that’s not why I texted you earlier. Do you know what today is?” She’s grinning in excitement. You rack your brain trying to remember what today could be. It’s not your anniversary, you would have remembered that. Nobody’s birthday. You shook your head, looking up at her when you couldn’t come up with an answer.

She smiled even bigger, “It’s April 20th,”

The woman was practically shaking with excitement after she stated the date. It took you a few moments of confusion to understand what she was saying.

“Oh my god, it is. Do you have any weed?” You were getting excited now. It’d been a while since you smoked. Life had gotten hectic and by the time you and Ellie had time to hang out late at night, you both just wanted to watch a movie and fall asleep.

Before you started dating Ellie you didn’t like to smoke, it wasn’t your thing. Constant overthinking and chest-crushing anxiety were the standard experiences for you when high. But after the first time smoking with her, you realized it could be a lot of fun. At least she made it a LOT of fun.

She nodded stepping aside for you to finally see what she had been toying with when you walked in. On the workbench desk was a Bob Marley-covered grinder, rolling papers, and three joints. Little green bits of weed scattered across the wood of the table.

“Wanna get high off our asses and watch The Duff, baby?” Ellie smiled down at you waiting for your response.

“Hell yeah,” You began to unzip your coat, now feeling warm in the small room. Ellie grabbed a joint and your hand, pulling you to her bed in the corner of the room.

She snatched a gray lighter with a cowboy boot engraved on it off the nightstand and crawled onto the mattress wearing only her boyshorts and a tank top.

Before you joined her you whipped your long-sleeved shirt off and walked to Ellie’s closet replacing your shirt with one of her t-shirts. You kicked off your jeans and turned back to her. She was smiling, letting her eyes trail the length of your body.

“What?” You giggled feeling nervous under her stare.

“Nothing, I just like you in my clothes,”

Her voice sends a chill down your spine. You crawl in bed beside her, both of you leaning back against the headboard and she scrolls on the T.V. locating y’alls favorite movie to watch while high, The Duff.

The movie starts and you both settle back into the pillows, Ellie’s arm around your shoulders, your leg thrown over her hip.

Ellie flicks the lighter open, places the joint between her lips, and sucks as the tip lights. The embers on the tip of the joint glow orange in the darkening room, the only other light source being the small television in the corner of the room.

Grey smoke billows out of her mouth as she smiles at the feel of the first hit. The earthy scent of weed instantly fills the room. You take the joint as she offers it to you, taking a deep hit. Smoke fills your lungs, settling warm in your chest before you blow it out.

You guys continue the rotation until most of the joint has burned up and you are significantly high. You feel like you’re in zero gravity and yet at the same time feel like you have an elephant sitting on your chest. You are hyperaware of every place where your skin touches your girlfriends.

The skin of your thigh feels like it’s on fire as it rests upon hers and her finger leaves a trail of lightning as it passes over your shoulder in methodical motions.

You grab her hand bringing it in front of her face. You take in the vanes running over the top of her hand, the lines weaving along her palm, and her short nails. You have lost all interest in the movie, far more concentrated on your girlfriend’s lovely hands.

Next, you move on to inspecting her tattoo. You trace the leaves across her forearm with your finger, reveling in the fact that the hairs on her arms rise with goosebumps in the wake of your touch. You move on to tracing the moth, circling all of the patterns on its wings.

“Baby?” Ellie sighs, the high hitting her just as hard if her voice says anything.

“Mhm?” You don’t look up, continuing your path up her arm.

“I need you to stop that,” Ellie choked out.

“Why?” This gets you to look up at her.

Her pupils are blown wide, turning her eyes black in the low lighting, “Because your touch is leaving every one of my nerve endings on fire and we haven’t finished the movie yet.”

You smirked, glad she was feeling just as affected as you. You let her arm go and leaned up kissing her deeply, “That’s good because my whole body is on fire,” You whisper seductively when the kiss breaks.

Ellie groans, leaning her forehead on yours before muttering, “Fuck the movie,”

You giggle nodding, “Fuck the movie,”

Suddenly you’re flipped onto your back and Ellie’s lips are on your neck. She leaves a trail of kisses from the underside of your jaw to your collarbones. Lifting your shirt she reveals your breasts. You gasp as the cool air hits your nipples causing them to peak.

Ellie lets out a grumble at the sight. Before long she’s continuing her trek down to the place you want her most. She starts at the place between your breasts, continuing down the center of your stomach before landing just above the hem of your panties.

She smiles up at you before lightly grazing her nail over your clothed clit. You whimper at the sudden contact. Squirming you wait for more. All you want is more in this moment.

“What do you want baby?” Ellie asks in a teasing tone.

“More… please,” You whine. Ellie’s chest rumbles with a chuckle as she places a kiss against the inside of your thigh.

“Tell me exactly what you want,” Ellie’s teeth graze the hem of your panties as she waits for your response.

You gasp at the sight of her between your legs, the sight turning you on more than expected. She always did this, asking you to tell her exactly what you wanted. The woman was a slut for your words.

“I want your fingers in me now Ellie,” You whined, losing patience.

She laughed, “Yes ma’am,” Suddenly she was ripping your panties down your legs and throwing your legs over her shoulders. She looked up at you as she oh so slowly dropped the lightest kiss possible to the top of your clit.

You threw your head back at the contact, balling the sheets in a punishing fist.

“You gonna come all over my fingers baby,” Ellie asked as she pushed the first finger inside.

“God yes Ellie…please!” You lifted your hips, following the movement of her fingers.

Ellie groaned leaning down to trail the tip of her tongue over your clit. You could feel the pressure building in the pit of your stomach. You needed to come so bad but you never wanted this to end.

Ellie must have felt that you were getting close because she pulled back slightly, stopping all her movements. You gave a whiny cry when she stopped. This made her laugh and you wanted to scream. You needed to come so bad.

“Do you want to come, baby?” You wanted to wipe that smile off your girlfriend’s face but that would not get you the orgasm you were so desperately craving.

“Yes.” You groaned back.

“What do you say?”

Ugh, this woman was pushing your buttons in the way only she could, “Please Ellie! Please make me come.” You bucked your hips prompting her to continue.

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Ellie dove back in, devouring you. She lapped at your clit, back and forth up and down. You felt drouzy with lust.

She added one finger, pulling it out and adding another when reentering. You moaned riding her fingers as best you could in this position.

“You’re doing so good for me, baby. Are you gonna come?”

“Yes, yes keep going, Ellie!” You practically screamed, chasing the orgasm you could feel teetering on the edge, ready to burst.

“Come, come for me baby, please.” Ellie pleaded.

It was her please that sent you over the edge. The whole time she acted as if she was in control of the situation but she wanted to make you come just as badly as you wanted to come. Her pleading for it was too much.

You twitched and sighed, coming down from the high as Ellie crawled up the length of your body, leaving kisses in her wake. She placed a kiss on your forehead before pulling you into her side, cuddling you.

After a few minutes of recovering, you leaned up and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. At first, it was soft and sensual but after just a few moments the kiss turned more heated. You threw your leg over hers, framing her hips on your knees.

Before the make-out could turn into anything more a knock sounded at the door startling you both. You froze and Ellie groaned.

“Yeah?” she called out.

“I’ve got dinner inside if you girls are hungry,” It was Joel’s voice that called back, “Oh and Tommy and Maria are coming over.” He continued.

You bit your lip to keep from laughing at the grimace on Ellie’s face. She rubbed her face with her palm before shouting back, “Okay we’ll be in in a bit,”

The sound of Joel’s footsteps retreated down the path back to the house. You giggled as Ellie rolled her eyes. You climbed off her and the bed searching for your jeans. After slipping them on you walked back to the mattress where Ellie hadn’t moved from, just watching you.

“Come on hot shot, I’m hungry.” You offered your hand dragging her out of bed. She grumbled something about Joel being a cock-block and she got dressed.

You both slipped your shoes on and made your way to the door. She placed her hand on the nob going to open the door but you stopped her.

Leaning up to her ear you whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll make you come real hard when we get back, baby.” You pecked her cheek and bolted outside giggling before she could drag you back to bed.

How did we like it? This is my first time posting my smut writings so if it was bad sorry I tried (I'm much better at fluff). Anyway, thanks for reading! 🤍

[skeleton-mischief]

Y/N who can see Dust!Sans papyrus. Papyrus, aiming to fix Dusts loneliness, lures her to him. (This can take place in a bad sans trio universe where dust just hops AU’s for funsies)

Ohohoho I appreciate the specifics, it helps me with knowing what you want. This'll be fun :-]‼️💥

Be warned, my silly ass actually has a fun interpretation for Papyrus when it comes to Dust and him. And for the sake of some plot hole answers, I'll give you a little treat when it comes to soulmates being involved. So, hopefully you'll like this take on it!

Hm. Something is wrong, very wrong. Where is he? Where is he where is he where is he where- no. no. This is normal. Paps always had a strange way of disappearing occasionally. His magic must be low, he hasn't dusted anyone in awhile. He has Saint and Killer, which keeps him company at least. Sure, Killer is a pain in the ass, but it's better than being alone. It's not like he needed to constantly hear his brother scolding him, but he feels a little emptier now. That's a whole part of his soul. One speck of his dust leaving his soul is a rare occurrence, a rare one indeed. Pap wouldn't use this to disappear somewhere though, right?

...

Where the fuck is he? It's getting awfully more uncomfortable for him when it's time to sleep, he can't focus on anything other than him. His one true companion, the one last remains of his own universe. For fucks sake he's been even confronted by Nightmare about what has been bothering him. Saint knows. Of course he does. Saint can tell that the absence of-...someone is affecting him. It's not like Paps doesn't appear every now and again, when his magic is strong. It's a small perk for his brother, especially since Dust is usually the only one who can see him. Killer asked him about his brother too, but he couldn't stop himself from walking off when he did.

Where is he? Why has he been gone for so long? Why? Why why why why why wh-

.....

He wants him to come back.

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Lately, you've been having strange dreams. Or... hallucinations?? It always happens at night, and you swear that it's not a normal thing for you to see a floating skull talking to you. Papyrus was his name. Ah- yes. That's a name that you haven't heard before, but it's pleasant. He's pleasant. Right now, he is talking to you about what used to be his favorite hobbies.

"Truly, I actually never could master how to cook spaghetti! It's not like it's my favorite food- that's dinosaur oatmeal- but everyone else likes it!! I always ruined it, but somehow my brother would eat it-"

"Brother?" You chipped in, interrupting his ramblings. He didn't seem to mind, his empty eye sockets seemed to somehow gleam when you asked. You were sitting up in bed, and he floated across from you with his gloved hands moving theatrically as he waved away an invisible line of thought. His mandibles opened as he grinned. He always had such a charming yet slightly off-putting smile.

"Yes, of course!! He's my older brother. He's still alive, actually! He goes by a different name nowadays, and he's...changed over time. But-!" Papyrus' skull leaned forward, his hands leaving a strange cold sensation that felt like icy air embracing your hands. You don't know why your chest made a strange feeling bubble up. "He's still a very kind skeleton. I wish you could meet him," He finished, his voice slightly softening from his usual boisterous tone. You smiled at this, tilting your head to the side as you humoured this idea. You wanted to know more about this skeleton and his apparent brother, but it's not like you didn't believe him. It's just that a part of you still clung onto the idea that you just happen to be having multiple strange dreams of the same skeleton with different conversations.

"Yeah? Well...what is he like? How much has he apparently changed?" You inquired, which seemed to cause Papyrus to hesitate. "Ah-...well. He used to be laid-back, happy. I remember how he happened to be quite popular and loved by others, with his charm and all. I found it irritating when he would prank me, spew nothing but lame puns, but nowadays I-....I miss those times. He's more...-"

One gloved hand waved slightly, as if he was trying to conjure up a description.

"Reserved now. He struggles with taking care of himself and connecting with others. He did something really...bad, a long time ago. He hasn't been the same sense, and sometimes it worries me. I think that someone like you could get through to him though!" "Why's that?"

Papyrus didn't answer quickly, and you didn't miss the slight spark of delight in his eyes. "I can just tell." He quipped, the hand that hasn't held yours now placed atop your head. If you were honest, it felt more physically present than before, as if his body started to solidify some more as his appearance becomes less hazy. "You're a good person, I think he needs someone to show him some of the good in things."

You felt your tongue click behind your teeth, a huff of laughter escaping your parted lips. Your ears tingled slightly, his words leaving your chest quivering for a moment as your grip became looser. "Well, thank you Papyrus," You let go of his ghostly hand after not saying anything for a minute, before you leaned back against the safety of your pillows. You rolled over on your side but still facing him as he adjusted himself to the side of the bed. "I haven't...I haven't heard someone tell me that in a long time." You finally settled on saying. Your eyes were hazy, and it seemed to click for Papyrus that you didn't want to explore that part of the conversation any longer.

He also noted the way your soul hummed through your ribcage, a special sight only he could see without complications. Who would've thought that you were his brother's soulmate? It was such a pleasant find, an accidental incident that not even Dust noticed. Thankfully, he caught it, saw the glowing of your soul from so far away. You were truly someone he found delightful to be around, and he knows that Dust would think the same thing, even if he would be stubborn about it at first.

He patted your head as your eyes started to close, his voice now a whisper. "Well, I'm glad that I was able to share my thoughts with you. Get some rest now, okay? I'll be back tomorrow, if that's alright with you?" "Mnh...yeah, that sounds...that sounds nice. Thank you again, Papyrus....Goodnight..."

"Goodnight,"

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Where have you been?!?" Dust couldn't help but shout, his hands gripping onto Papyrus' scarf and aggressively twisting it around. He had been collecting LV to try and get Papyrus back, only for him to now show up after a few weeks. "Do you know how confused I was? Worried?"

Papyrus didn't answer immediately, instead tapping his fingers against where his arms would be if he had any. Right now, he was still mostly transparent. He wasn't the only one though, with how Dust was trembling as his voice cracked slightly. He always fidgeted with his scarf when nervous. "I was spending time with a friend!!" He claimed with conviction. "A friend?" "Yes! And I think you'd love to meet them!"

Dust couldn't believe what he was hearing. A friend? From so far away? He was traveling multiple timelines, AU's, all to find Paps. And yet apparently that's where he has been this whole time? With a friend? He tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows squished together. He quickly tried to look indifferent, or at least more mad than he actually was. Papyrus wasn't falling for it though, he never did. "How did you even meet someone?" "Simple: I met them when I decided to travel back to where our timeline would be!" Papyrus was quick to dismiss, but Dust only frowned further.

"Why would I even want to? For one, we're always traveling, Pap. We're told not to get attached to anyone, you know this." Dust tried to rationalize, pacing now in his room as his hands kept fidgeting with the scarf. He's now resorted to pacing because he has too much on his mind, but he feels a cold touch to his head and it pulls him back momentarily. Papyrus has now drained some energy from Dust, his physical form more solid, visible to him.

"Brother. Please, I am aware. But trust me, this is for your own good. I really think that you simply must meet them, at least once." Dust felt Papyrus placing his other hand on his shoulder, his upper body slightly bent down to be more at eye level. Papyrus knows what will happen if Dust does meet you, but he wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. With the years passing of living with Sans, with who he is now, he's learned how to speak to him. He's no longer the easily swayed skeleton who would do anything on a whim. But, Papyrus isn't the same either.

"...Please?"

"....Pap,"

"....Do they really mean this much to you?"

"Sans."

Dust winced at the name.

"Yes, they do. I really think you'll like them."

"...Fine, fine."

Dust felt the cold touch of Papyrus when he wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him tight with a giddy laugh. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Regret is not the right word he would use. No, regret would imply that he wishes that he never met you or something along those lines. No, he just wishes that he didn't meet you at this point in time when he's who he is now. When he entered an old timeline of his, he found that his soul felt instantly off. Not a bad feeling per say, but more...calm? He's never been too calm ever since the human fell all those years ago. But as his brother spoke, a white noise at the moment, he felt that he couldn't focus. His attention was pulled somewhere else, but Papyrus was able to help him with this.

You were prettier than he expected, but of course he couldn't say anything when you were at the moment losing your shit. Papyrus told him to teleport, a big mistake honestly since he's never been here, but Papyrus has. Papyrus, however, is not of this physical world. So when he teleported, guess what?? He fell straight from the ceiling, mid air. Thanks Papyrus, you're so much help. You had so gracefully been awake already, but you were in a separate room. You had run straight from the bathroom, your hair disheveled and your toothbrush hanging sideways from your opened jaw.

Sadly he couldn't admire you for too long before he had a toothbrush flung straight at his face and directly messing with his vision. Papyrus had to immediately drain him of his magic in order to become more translucent of reflected light and full bodied. Heourgh, he felt less energetic immediately, but at least the floor was quite comfortable. He didn't bother straightening up, not if it meant you'd throw something else at him. It's not a great first greeting with his soulmate, he'd apologize if he wasn't so tired. Papyrus was right, he would like you.

His soul was pumping, singing practically as he was able to feel the wavelengths of your soul. You didn't seem to fully notice, but he did. He noticed since his soul felt calmer, happier, and much more....in love? What a strange feeling, his soul is so used to the LV he has, the motivation, the constant distress and guilt. He's never felt so light, but maybe that's because he's lightheaded from teleporting and falling. You seemed to be calming down since Papyrus was there and easing your panic. Thank the stars he's here. He wishes he met you sooner, or maybe in a different timeline where he was...normal. Would the others accept this? Would they be considered your soulmates too? He's never been great at sharing. He doesn't want to drag you in the multiverse mess that is his life, but leaving you alone after this isn't an option.

Stars above you were so pretty. Your voice sounds like the pluck of strings tied to a harp, or a guitar. Filled with emotion, a world of thoughts and history behind them. He hopes you'll like him too. He doesn't want to be scary to you, but he knows that he is. He could be less mean? Maybe you like things that he likes, he can like things you like. He can try to be better if it means you won't find him scary, if you can trust him. Right now you were coming over to him, apologizing but clearly weary. Hey, at least you weren't dumb enough to get too close, he is a stranger after all.

He is so happy that his brother convinced him to meet you. Yeah, regret isn't the word he'd use. It's just going to be complicated. That's okay, he can wait, patience is a skill on his part. Even if things don't work because you don't end up liking him, he at least met you. This quiet in your presence has been so pleasant, still as a pond and soothing. He's thankful for at least this moment of tranquility deep within his soul. His brother already told him your name, but he doesn't want to be weird.

"...The name is Dust, I didn't mean to fall in your bedroom. Not a great introduction, huh?"

Oh would you look at that, he was talking! He doesn't do that often. He is suddenly insecure about the rasp in his voice. You don't seem to mind though, and in fact you smile. Oh wow. Your smile. You seem less scared, that's great. He'd do anything to keep that smile on your lips, anything at all... Too bad he passes out before you can respond. Great job, Dust.

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Closing Notes: This took forever to type but I think I'm happy with it! I was busy, and a little unsure of how I wanted to type this. I hope you like this, vamp, you're so cool and this was fun. Don't be shy to ask for more stuff! I just wanted to write you a little more plot since you asked such a specific request for a skeleton hehe. Thank you :-)

[slashthrashandcrash]

We all know Frank's a seething ball of attachment issues, I occasionally ponder him as a Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria posterchild, particularly to people he looks up to (not naming names...Danny). Has Danny ever been too harsh in shooing him off, and felt bad--I mean *inconvenienced*--enough to do something about it?

Oh absolutely 1000000%. There's plenty of times Danny shoves Frank off of him or tells him to go the fuck away, but it's never done with enough heat for Frank to do anything more but pout or sulk for a bit before he's back to nipping at Danny's heels five minutes later. After all, there's plenty of stretches of time when Frank is off with any of the other Legion brats or annoying someone else, so it's not like Danny is being constantly smothered by this kid for it to ever truly fray his last nerve.

But the thing is that Danny has patience, not tolerance. He can tune things out, he can ignore Frank long enough until he gets bored and leaves, he can play along with whatever stupidity the kid is up to if he has nothing better to do. But the times Danny genuinely doesn't want to be bothered, do not fucking bother him, his neurotic ass cannot handle people relentlessly prodding him when he's in a bitchy headspace. Frank learns that lesson once the hard way, and of course being a hardheaded teenager, he had to make the interaction way worse because he couldn't help getting defensive and wanting the last word.

And then Danny doesn't see him around for an abnormally long time and honestly he's definitely using that as a brat-break. Taking advantage of the peace and quiet for once...then fine, fine, since the other Legion members are telling him that Frank's being extra mopey and reclusive, he'll go find him to smack him on the back of the head and tell him to get over it already.

Well, you know, they're both emotionally stunted freaks with daddy issues, so actually it's more like Danny tossing a pack of cigarettes at Frank's face and 20 minutes later the little shit is already back in his personal space asking what species of dinosaurs were still roaming the Earth when Danny was a kid.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Okay, so I've been surfing tumblr and seeing all these headcanons and various other little things about the Sullies as children and it got my brain going so thanks a lot to every last person who has aided in giving me Avatar brainrot. Anyways, I've built this whole thing up in my head that goes from the time Neytiri & Ronal get pregnant to who the fuck knows, so starting with the eldest lets begin (just the Sullys as babies, if you enjoy putting your own thoughts in this one then I'll get to Ronal and Tonowari's kids and more lol).

Neteyam

He was a total and complete accident 100%

Jake and Neytiri were a very quick-burn romantically and got married a little over a year after they officially began dating, they were only married for like 12 seconds when surprise! Positive pregnancy test, babe.

Jake spends a good thirty minutes fully committed to the idea that Neytiri is just fucking with him. She is not.

He spends another thirty minutes wrapping his head around the fact that he's going to be a dad.

He wants so badly to talk to Tommy about it but god damnit he can't.

He's for sure the more cautious one during the pregnancy, of that I have no doubt. Neytiri will want to do some random shit like go horseback riding with Tsu'tey (this man will always live on in my heart okay let me be happy) and Jake will practically faint at the thought alone.

Eventually Neytiri will start pretending to want to do #risky shit solely for the amusement Jake's reactions bring her with zero intentions of actually following through. Nobody is sure if Jake ever ended up catching on or not.

I'm 100% convinced that Neytiri would be into all of the traditional pregnancy milestones/events and fucking live for each and every one of them regardless of Jake's thoughts because it's their baby, Jake, and don't you want to see if a necklace will actually predict the gender of him/her? (It very much did not, Neteyam wound up being a boy. Stupid necklace.)

Grandma Mo'at is your trademark superstitious/nature-inclined grandparent and I have zero doubts that Neytiri has inherited some of that. I feel like it would flare up during her first pregnancy but only, like, low-key. Do with this information what you will.

Jake has no idea what to do or buy or anything but boy does he try. (When he fails he fails hard but when he gets it right he gets it right *that cute little dinosaur mobile is just so adorable!*)

Neteyam is by far Neytiri's easiest pregnancy. She doesn't really get any morning sickness and feels pretty fine in general throughout the whole thing.

She does wind up craving a ton of different fruits though (blueberries and honeydew melon mainly, but also strawberries, watermelon, blackberries, and pretty much any other melon under the sun. Oh, there was also that one time she refused to eat anything but pomegranates for like one solid afternoon).

Neteyam is a summer baby and nobody can convince me otherwise. August, to be exact.

I imagine that, while her pregnancy was breezy, Neteyam's actual birth sucked ass.

Jake almost passes out but luckily war prepared him for the horrors he witnessed in that delivery room.

Neteyam was actually pretty quiet after his birth. Once they got him all wrapped up he was chill.

Jake was the first one to hold him since Neytiri was exhausted beyond understanding, but Jake sat really close to her and she pretty much demanded to hold their son after like 5 minutes and the nurses were all like: ma'am, you're about to pass out???

As long as one of six songs is playing everything is chill: Edith Whisker's Home, Stephan Sanchez's See the Light, Sea Wolf's The Violet Hour, The Family Crest's She Knows My Name, Mills' Born N' Raised, or Black Match's Nowhere. If one of these songs is playing, Neteyam is an angel. The moment the music stops, though? I'd hate to be anyone within a ten mile radius because that baby's got pipes.

I feel like Neteyam is actually a big daddy's boy during this time period. He's all giggly and happy around everyone, but it becomes clear around three months in that dad is indeed the favorite. And it makes sense. Jake is who he's around the majority of his day (I'm fully committed to stay-at-home dad Jake Sully). Neytiri likes to tease him, saying if she was at home more it would be no contest. Secretly, though, she's happy he's bonding so much with their baby. He needs some light in his life.

Jake is completely restless inside but at the same time has no idea what he can and cannot do with a baby (plus there's the whole "music needs to be playing" thing) so he resorts to long car rides regularly with Neteyam's coveted songs playing on repeat.

Neteyam isn't a picky eater per se, but he is very particular---oh who the fuck am I kidding this kid refuses to eat anything but banana baby food voluntarily good luck with that Jake. Eventually Jake manages to weasel in plum baby food too (sticking to the fruit theme I see) but that is it. (I just picture this man in tears trying to get Neteyam to try some peas or a chocolate bar or "something, Neteyam, anything".)

Spider

Spider enters the scene a little before Kiri is born, I like to think. He's already around a year and a half when he's plopped into Norm's lap as a temporary placement while they scramble to find him a more permanent home.

It starts out with Jake agreeing to watch the little guy while Norm does science-y stuff, but quickly Jake finds himself getting attached. Spider is just such a sweet, lively baby who's curious about everything around him, especially Neteyam.

Like seriously, baby Spider is full-on fascinated with his siblings, starting of course with Neteyam. Whenever he sees the boy, he'll squeal excitedly and make hand gestures as if to say "bring him closer!" and it's just the most adorable thing Jake has ever seen.

Wherever Neteyam is set down, Spider will make his way to him no matter what is in the way. He can't walk on his own completely yet, but he is very good at walking by holding on to furniture and other such things. As long has he can pull himself up, this dude is getting places.

Jake learns very quickly to either 1) watch Spider like a hawk at all times or 2) but Neteyam close by and let his charming baby work his magic in getting Spider's full attention.

Spider isn't picky (something that relieves Jake greatly) and will eat pretty much whatever Jake hands him, though Jake quickly learns that yogurt is his favorite.

Spider has a strange fascination with fairy lights, too. He gets a kick out of when they change color and it provides hours of entertainment as long as Neteyam is near as well, allowing Jake to get various things done with little concern. Spider especially likes it when the lights turn red and he always turns to babble nonsense at Jake when they do, most notably being "no no no!" but in, like, a happy way? Jake isn't sure if Spider understands the true meaning of the word yet, which actually concerns him for a little until Spider makes it very clear one day that he is not fond of baths with many no no no's.

Eventually Neytiri can't help but become fond of Spider as well. It starts when Norm needs someone to watch him on a Sunday but Jake can't because Sunday is the day he and Neytiri decided would be his break day, a time away from the kids and house to just relax, so he's at the beach. She reluctantly agrees to take Spider as a favor to Norm, seeing how desperate the man is and also not wanting to interrupt Jake's relaxing day out.

It doesn't get off to a great start. Spider seems perplexed when he realizes that Jake isn't at the house due to the fact that at this point he's been spending Monday through Friday with Jake and Neteyam (along with some Saturdays), and this is followed swiftly by agitation. He isn't a loud crier like Neteyam, but he might just be worse anyways because Jesus does that kid squirm. He spends the first hour whining and squirming and pushing at Neytiri as if to try and get her to put him down. Neteyam calms him considerably, but he's still fussy and babbling "no!" over and over again, along with the occasional break in pattern to sprinkle in some variety.

Neytiri cracks and texts Jake asking what to do, and when Jake asks if she's tried the fairy lights she realizes she hasn't and gives it a try. Spider's whining ceases instantly, replaced by giggles.

After that it's easier, and Neytiri puts on Cars and makes sure that they're both situated safely before going to the kitchen to grab a smoothie and then comes to sit on the couch. When a little hand comes to rest on her knee she looks down and sees Spider looking up at her curiously.

He then proceeds to reach out and ask "eat?" and how did Neytiri not notice how cute he is with his sunshine curls and cornflower eyes and chubby little cheeks and okay maybe she's beginning to understand why her husband is fond of this child.

(She lets Spider try the smoothie, btw.)

The day Norm has to take Spider to his more permanent foster placement, Jake and Neytiri come with and Jake has like a whole list of dos and don'ts and has brought all of the things Spider likes and is all like "and remember, he's super easy to give a bath to so long as you sing him the tiny turtle song while you put him in the tub. Oh, also he loves yogurt but especially the key-lime pie yogurt. And lemon, too! You know what, he likes citrus in general. Don't forget that his favorite color is red! I packed a pair of red pjs in there, they're his favorite, we got them for him when we went to the mall that one time. Also, so long as you feed him a good time before you put him to bed he should go down just fine, just make sure you don't---" and Neytiri's all like "ma Jake I think they get it," only then she begins her own lecture on how he likes it if you put ice in his apple juice and to never give him chocolate because it makes him hyper and don't bother with baby gates because that shit doesn't work and soon enough they realize that, hey, this might be our baby now.

Kiri

She's born a little before Lo'ak. Definitely a spring baby.

The quietest baby you will ever fucking know. When she was born she was so quiet that the doctors were genuinely worried for a moment that she'd been stillborn.

Spider loves her immediately, to absolutely nobody's surprise. A good portion of Kiri's early days are spent being babbled to by Spider endlessly.

Unlike Neteyam, Kiri is a total mama's girl and gets all grumpy when Neytiri leaves the room unless she's sleeping when Neytiri leaves, then for some reason it's all good like? Jake will never understand. Eventually, however, this becomes a Mo'at thing. Very quickly Mo'at and her become one another's favorites and Mo'at will often find the most absurd reason to come see her.

Neytiri sings to her and takes her out to the backyard to lay on the grass and I swear this baby loves grass more than she loves the warmth of her own home.

Kiri loves carrot and pea baby food, much to Jake's surprise. Sure, Spider isn't a picky eater, but the kid was by no means a lover of vegetables. He'd eat them, but never pick them. And Neteyam? Hell, getting that baby to eat something more than plums and bananas was something he considered a win. So a child who actively eats veggies? Fucking finally.

Very interested in all of the plants around their house. Nothing else to be said. She just sort of looks at them in that weird way that only babies can look at something.

She has this purple blanket that Neytiri made for her herself and she will. not. sleep without it. Ever. She won't cry or anything like that if she doesn't have it, but you best bet that she will not be doing much of anything else either.

Whenever she has it she's asleep like 90% of the time. Jake's kind of confused actually because neither Neteyam nor Spider slept as much as she does.

Over all, Kiri is probably the chillest of the Sullys as a baby. Not very demanding, not very easy to upset, and doesn't make things difficult most days.

Lo'ak

Neytiri's hardest pregnancy for sure. She was puking, sick, huge, and could hardly keep anything down at all. The only two things Neytiri managed to keep down throughout her whole pregnancy without puking it up at least once was orange juice (extra pulpy) and Domino's barbeque pizza, and you best bet that got old quick.

Thankfully, the birth went smoothly. He was for sure born in early, early summer---like the time when it's still cooler and sort of rainy but also sunny at the same time.

I don't want to go so far as to say that Lo'ak was a demon-baby, but this child definitely gave Jake a run for his money. One minute he likes something and wants it, the next minute how dare you even so much as think about trying to feed that poison to him. One minute he loves being held, the next minute he's screaming and tears are falling and he hates you. With Jake he was like this all of the time. With Neytiri he was better, but still fussy.

I'm convinced that him and Neteyam were, like, so close when they were little and the only person that Lo'ak was an absolute angel to was in fact little one-year-old Neteyam. Whenever Neteyam was around he would smile and giggle and try to get closer. I swear, even as a baby Neteyam's charm was unparalleled.

Lo'ak has this binky that he had with him almost 24/7. Without it he was even more. . . er, challenging, than usual. And teething hit him hard as well. The amount of teething toys and biscuits this poor family had to go through, I swear.

Lo'ak, unlike the others, did not take to solids very well at first. The struggle to get this child to eat something, anything, that wasn't breast milk was so real you don't even know. Jake just let Neytiri take care of this one, it was clear he wasn't going to get anywhere. How she managed to get him to eat, Jake will never know (it was cinnamon applesauce, she coerced him with cinnamon applesauce).

Lo'ak had this particularly fun phase where he liked pulling on pretty much anything within reach and this led to him almost getting himself killed multiple times.

Whenever Neteyam cried, Lo'ak cried. Whenever Neteyam laughed, Lo'ak laughed. Sometimes when he was particularly exhausted Jake would do his best to get Neteyam in a good mood because if Neteyam was in a good mood, so was Lo'ak.

Despite how difficult Lo'ak could be,  there were these times when he would just cry and cry until Jake picked him up, and then he would just fall asleep while Jake held him. As much as Jake hated to admit it, it felt nice to walk around the house with a sleeping Lo'ak tucked to his chest.

Neytiri would often cook with Lo'ak strapped to her. He was her "little taste-tester".

I'm sorry this got so long my brain knows no bounds I swear I go so overboard sometimes 😭 Tuk isn't in this one because in my head I'm going chronologically btw.

I don't even think there is anything to add, anon. Just know I am crying?? Thank you so much for this genuine gift you have given me.

I LOVEEEE stay at home wheelchair dad Jake Sully he means the entire world to me. Jake being convinced Neytiri was joking about being pregnant??? Obsessed. WANTING TO TALK TO TOMMY?? Dead. FOSTER DAD NORM?? You can't convince me Jake and Norm didn't become friends through the foster system they were both in okay okay. And Norm and Tommy connected over their science shit and Jake was always trying to keep them from getting bullied too hard lol. Norm is a foster parent because he believes in fixing the system through it, Jake is more disillusioned. He was all skeptical of the idea at first, but boy did he get attached to Spider quickly. Neytiri and Jake's Spider speech kills me I'll die real tears. They're like oh shit actually... you can't have him. And the days before they can petition the court about it? So sad. Neteyam is a mess without his buddy. Kiri's vibes are simply flawless, and I love Mo'at making shit up to be there lol. DEMON BABY LO'AK, iconic, please. He tries to die so often. They have to baby proof the baby proofing on the house.

Please anon, this made my week, definitely send more.

[injaws]

jenna ortega, twenty-three, she/her   ⟡   —   is that ESMERALDA HEROUX i just saw walking around kilmer’s cove? i heard they’re a TOURIST who’s been here for TWO MONTHS. it slipped my mind, since they just tend to hang out at THE LIGHTHOUSE. at face value, they’re said to be INTELLIGENT and RESOURCEFUL, but i don’t know… some people have said they can be quite BLUNT and STANDOFFISH. just don’t get on their bad side, i guess! don’t tell them i told you this, but i’ve heard they DO  believe in all the ghost stories around town. who knows what the future holds for them! 

mention of child abandonment.+ disability (vision)

BASICS:

full name: esmeralda genesis heroux nickname(s): esme, es age: twenty-four gender: cis woman pronouns: she/her sexuality: bisexual biromantic date & place of birth: december 31 in el monte, california occupation: paleontology doctorate candidate & researcher at the tanya b. heady museum faceclaim: jenna ortega piercings: so many. six on each ear, a belly button piercing, and a nose stud traits: reserved, polite, observant, cynical, meticulous, blunt, curious, stoic similar to:  kat stratford (10 things i hate about you), prue halliwell (charmed), gayle weathers (scream), camilla saroyan (bones), monica geller (friends), nancy wheeler (stranger things), beca mitchell (pitch perfect) aesthetics: coffee with an ungodly amount of creamer, humming songs while cooking dinner, going outside at 3 am to look at the stars, accidental 5 hour long naps, an earbud always in one ear, an array of rings on each hand, bitten lips, over the ear headphones notable characteristics: wide, boring eyes, typically shaded by lenses; constant eye bags accompanied lips bitten red; hair hastily chopped at the shoulder with the claim of it being "easier to manage"; chunky soled shoes to make up for the lack of height otherwise; a near-permanent suspicious scowl

BULLET POINTS:

— born as one of two twins. her parents, who didn't know they were having twins, gave her up because they didn't prepare for two children. -- esme, who had been born legally blind, was chosen to be the one given up — was fostered and later adopted by parents aksel and sarah heroux in manhattan, new york. — found her forever home with the two, later coming to have younger siblings of her own (her younger brother aleksei is very close to her heart and practically her best friend) — growing up she was always known as an “old soul” (read: autistic), and on account of both her disability and a personality that favored blunt (but observational) remarks, esme was teased a bit relentlessly — grew to be quite reserved and tightly wound as a defense mechanism, building strong armor in the form of poisonous words and evasiveness (no she will not process any of this please dni) — leant into books, music, film, and poetry to help her escape throughout the years and cherished the time she had with her family (homeschool kid ass energy…) — went to columbia to get her bachelor's in geology, and stayed to begin her doctorate program in paleontology — special interest in dinosaurs and yes it is ridiculously serious — applied to work at a research site in scotland (where dinosaurs actually effing existed), got sent to kilmer instead. not happy about it, only staying because she thinks the museum is actually quite cool — currently maybe getting a bit too curious about finding out what the fuck is happening in town/its history … maybe she should watch where she steps :O 

HEADCANONS:

— wears special glasses that correct the little vision she had – can now see pretty much 20/20 with them on, hates them and sometimes doesn't wear them — when not wearing their glasses usually uses a form of echolocation through little tongue clicks or snaps and wears sunglasses to cover her eyes (has very fun shapes i must say) — autistic special interest is dinosaurs. sleeps to dinosaur jungle asmr. please do not engage unless you want to have your ear talked off. ---  baby loves to cook. always trying new recipes & loves to host dinner parties. she did many a cooking classes as a kid. she also danced for a while, but uses it now more as stress relief than anything else. — always tired. 9/10 if she isn’t replying it’s because she’s sleeping. insane concealer budget — loves film and movies and thinking way too deep into them. her letterboxd goes crazy. that being said, their standards are questionable — big fan of animal crossing. terraforming beast. her sims house goes crazy — she has a black leopard gecko named honey, a black cat named milagro, and an array of fish, including a small leopard catshark named buddy. — collects bugs in amber as well as other small fossils — maximalist and has a bajillion stuffed animals — favorite season is winter — always wearing chunky boots — always cold — wicked sweet tooth — rides a motorcycle (her dad hates it she keeps giving him a heart attack) — never found without her cherry cola flavored vape <3

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

guh. check back l8r.

[local-diavolo-anon]

thinking about some scene from my Prehistoric Mermen AU because i like brainstorming worldbuilding and random stuff

Y/N would probably be asked to send long reports on what they found to be edible for human and what wasn't, how they examined it, how accurate the examination was and how it has been prepared

time traveler scientists always had rations with them and were intructed not to eat anything from the geological era they were sent into because of of risk of food poisoning or straight up eating shit that they can't digest

Y/N had rations as well but those ran out after one week or two since they were not made for stops longer than a few days (again for safety reasons, you have no idea what might be lurking in the shadows of a prehistoric jungle or what illnesses dinosaurs got that never survived until our days)

so once those rations ran out Y/n had to rely on their inboard analyzer to individually separate the chemical components of plants and animals to determine what they could have eaten and what was going to kill them instantly

most of the food they found to be edible was probably sea food, and not because they might particularly enjoy it but rather because going into the forest was not an option and Sun and Moon absolutely bombarding their ass with extra food to make sure their weird land friend didn't starve

(and also because sharing food is a sign of affection among predators; Y/n knows this but things Sun and Moon just see them as a weirdly shaped possible mate, like ostriches do in their era with humans)

Probably all of Y/N reports are a bit chaotic, especially the videos

Some videos that they sent slong with written reports include:

Them screaming maniacally that they managed to find something akin to potatoes and that made them "unstoppable" (they weren't properly potatoes an tastes slightly more sour, but still acceptable)

Extremely out of focus clip of them dancing on the beach with a piece of salt they managed to make by drying sea water

Several harpoon hunting videos where all you can hear is them cursing at some smaller predator stealing their catches constantly

A Few videos of them screamind directly at other creatures like calling 'bitch ass motherfucker' a raptor that showed up, stole their blanket, ripped it to shreds and chased them until they were on top of a tree

first person video of them playing dodgeball in the sea with Sun and Moon using a poor ammonite

First person video of them chasing away a flock of small pterosauruses after the little asses started stealing their food like seagulls

But the reports on their diet always look the funniest because they took the iron as it was hot and beat the shit out of it, so now each video looks like a youtube mukbang; full on table with food displayed in front of them and camera as they describe what everything tastes like

sometimes Sun join them on their improvised table by the beach and snatches a bite because everything smells good, but only Sun because Moon can't stay on land (too big)

Moon however is sometimes visible in the background splashing around in the deeper ocean where he hunts

in a video or two he is probably visible straight out jumping out of the water to snatch pterosauruses fresh out of the air, having hands is a big advantage when your natural competitors only have their mouth

Y/N has many other logs and videos of things they did or accomplished, but some of them were supposed to be about other things and suddently stuff happened

like a video of them trying to fish and see what worked as a bait and what didn't, and then Moon drops a full ass squid by their side (it was later identified as a Tusoteuthis and luckily safe for them to eat)

as a conclusion: Y/N sending back home to their friends and colleagues chaotic videos of them having a blast with their prehistoric reptile friend

Y/n making a log diary of everything they did with Sun and Moon so they can remember them when and if they have/can to go back home

[sorawrity]

dreams . . jurard t rexford 🔞

warnings: NSFW (minors + ageless blogs dni.), transmasc! reader, squirting, implied start of aftercare, pussy eating, consensual somnophilia, soft dom! jurard with hard dom tendencies, spiked/ribbed dino cock... please hear me out, he/him used for character, no pronouns used for reader, implied condoms, lmk if i missed sumthin pleaseee (not proofread...)

wc: 710

NSFW UNDER THE CUT ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

the moment when you realized the heated dream you were already having soon began to feel a little more.. surreal was the moment your eyes began to slowly flutter open. Your brain was too foggy with sleep, though for some reason, your brain registered that there was a tongue gently circling your clit like no one was watching. Jurard sensed that you had began waking up and pressed a tiny kiss right on the bundle of nerves before sitting up.

“Jurard…” You had whined, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. It seemed he had been going at it for a while with the way your thighs felt so sticky. “I’m sorry, baby. Heard you moanin’ in your sleep.. had to come n help you.” Jurard softly mutters, voice deep and laced with need. His dinosaur tail was wrapped around your ankle as he sits up, spreading your legs as he watches your glossy cunt spread open just for him. You couldn't protest since need had blossomed in your veins.. partly due to the dream and the fact that your dinosaur of a boyfriend decided to eat you out while you were knee deep in a wet dream.

It wasn't long before you jolted with sensitivity, realizing the tip of his cock was softly patting against your clit, causing you to let out a squeal. “Seemed like you were drifting off there, sweet thing.. had to bring you back.” Jurard hums, looking down at you with a warm smile, sharp teeth on display. “You’ll let me take you.. yeah?” “..please..” It was at that moment Jurard decided to wait no longer, fat tip circling around your hole before he pushes in oh so slowly to not hurt you. The moan you let out was music to Jurard’s ears. It almost caused him to blow his load right then and there, but he held it back.

After a small moment of waiting, he then drags his cock back, watching you whine at the way the spikes on it dragged along with it, then roughly slams his hips back in, causing you to grip at his arms that were placed on either side of your head. “fuck.. tight ass cunt.” The dinosaur growled, hips not stopping their rough pace as he relished in your pathetic moans and mewls as you hold on for dear life. With every single thrust, it felt like the breath was knocked right out of you, rough yet slow pace causing you to gasp for air every time.

During the hazy mist of Jurards mind since your cunt felt like heaven, he looked down, smiling softly at you as he watched your cherry red face, pretty eyes filling with tears. “Takin’ me so well, baby.. doin’ so good.” He whispered softly, hissing at how tighter you got with the praise. “Fuck.. nasty thing.” He groans, hips now uncontrollable at this point as he plows you into your own mattress, his tail tightening around your ankle.

“g’nna.. mmh.. fuck ‘m so close, jurard.” You whined, nails digging into his arms. “Yeah? Gonna cum all over me? Gonna make sucha big mess for your leader?” He egged you on, his hips keeping that pace as he spreads your legs open a little more, hitting (more like bullying) that spongy spot in the back of you, causing your orgasm to build too quickly. You plead him to slow down, the rough pace causing your brain to mush. Though your pleads go in one ear and out the other as he grunts, feeling his own orgasm build up. “Fuck. gonna come.” He hissed, hips becoming sloppy.

His brain almost didn't register your squeal as your orgasm shot through you, making a mess of the sheets and his lower stomach. The sudden squirting causes him to release, moans slipping out of his mouth as his claws grip at the pillow behind you… “fuck..” he mumbles, pulling out of you carefully after you both had came down from your highs. “mmh.. i’ll get you a rag in a second.. let me hold you.” He mumbles softly as he flops right next to you, wrapping his arms around your waist, tail coiling around your leg in a protective manner.

yeah yall both fell asleep afterwards.

[a-world-with0ut-dr34ms]

Come Down In Time

From Control - Full Story in Progress on AO3!

Ghost x Shadow!Reader There's something about you that Ghost just can't seem to figure out, and it's driving him crazy. Or basically, Ghost has a crush and he doesn't know what to do about it, so he tries to fight his feelings.

TW - Non-graphic mentions of throwing up (nothing crazy) Tags: Slow burn, Angst, Touch-starved!Ghost, Soft!reader, Fluff, Teasing, Flirting, Innocent intimacy, sweet moments, kinda sad Ghost Word Count: 5.6k

Masterlist

Can be read like a one-shot

Author's Note: I feel like if Ghost started to like someone, he wouldn't know what to do about it. This is from his POV. I hope it's not too cringe. Sorry it's longer and slow~ (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ )

...

Part III - Come Down In Time

You talk a lot. 

The chatty ones usually got on Ghost's nerves, as it was mostly empty bluster and nonsense. Especially in regards to him. The man can only hear the same kinds of questions for so long.

People always want to know the most surface level things about him -- why he wears his masks, why he’s so quiet, what crawled up his ass and died? Ghost used to have a few creative responses for that, but after a while he’s grown less inspired to do so. 

Only you never asked the normal questions he was used to hearing about. Not really. Those thoughts never seemed to occur to you. You didn’t seem to care. 

Your questions were little ones. Ones he wasn’t used to thinking about, let alone sharing. They reminded him of the kinds of things a civilian would ask. Innocent. Not like how the other soldiers spoke at all.

And when you speak to him, you weren’t talking to his rank or reputation; you don't let that front of his distract you. You speak directly to him. The man behind his mask. A shadow of himself that you act as though you see clear as day.

And it didn’t seem to matter how many questions he dodged, or how blunt and aloof he behaved. You just continued to be there, asking away. Seemingly for no reason. Though Ghost was not naïve nor fool enough to believe this could just be a whim for you. He’s not an idiot, and neither are you.

You pick your words carefully. It might take you a second or two to come up with a response -- whenever it isn’t just on the fly -- but your words are not often spoken without some thought to them. Even your most honest moments only seem to be a small piece to an otherwise elaborate puzzle.

It unnerved Ghost the way he caught himself picking you apart. How he had begun to do so without even noticing. You and Soap both could talk a dog off a meat truck if given the opportunity, he’s come to learn. It should annoy him how casual you two were with him. It should.

It’s only made Ghost realize how long it’s been since there’ve been people around to feel this way about.

There was a passing thought he had, as he watched you in the passenger’s seat of the car. Some deep seeded memory which bubbled in his mind. Old and covered in dust. It’s there only for a brief second, but just long enough to nag at the man for the rest of the drive back to the barracks.

If only he could put his finger on it.

“I’ve got another!” 

You clap your hands in excitement, as a sloppy smile grows on your face. You must’ve had the entire bar after he’d stepped out for a smoke, judging from how drunk you still were. Ghost hadn’t even been that long; he thought so at least. 

Despite your enthusiasm to share another joke, for some odd reason you don’t speak until he gives you a response. Ghost almost didn’t, had he not noticed after glancing over. The way you were just waiting there like some lost, playful puppy had him reeling a bit. You even batted your eyelashes at him. 

You were just the strangest thing. 

“Well, don't get shy now,” he says.

“Why don’t dinosaurs talk?”

“Why?”

“Because they’re dead.” You laugh at your own joke. 

Seems you’re a dork as well.

Your laughter had an enticing pull to it though. Like a warm, open door, it beckons a look-see. 

Ghost wouldn’t admit it -- he hardly believes it himself -- but he likes the way your voice sounds. Don't ask him why though; he's been racking over that question all evening. Your voice just seems to draw him in rather subliminally, as though you were slowly putting a spell on him. 

You weren’t afraid to laugh or talk when no one asked, seemingly living life by the breeze. Only when he looked in your eyes, Ghost saw something else in them, behind the optimism and confidence. Something familiar. And it absolutely drives the man mad trying to figure out what that look could be.

You drum your hands on your lap bashfully, looking out your window again. "Not my best joke."

“We can’t both be funny,” he says.

“Gee thanks.”

The car falls into a sudden silence after your comment. Ghost finds a place in it, spacing out with his driving. Eventually he goes into auto-pilot, the passing of each streetlight blending with the next. 

You didn’t look like you wanted to cry anymore, which must be a good sign. Ghost watched you fight to hide it since you left the bar; a real battle with yourself from the looks of it. He’s not sure what brought these tears out, but he had a few ideas. If you wouldn’t mention it though, then he wouldn’t either. 

He never did enjoy watching others cry, especially those who don't deserve to. He can't help but feel a little uncomfortable around it too, never being quite good in these kinds of situations. But somehow, he's managed to help you, if not serve as a viable distraction. 

You awkwardly hum to yourself, shuffling in your seat a bit. The silence must bother you from how you squirm about and play with strands of your hair. Modestly. Ghost couldn't quite understand what it was that made you so awkward around him.

At first, he assumed you were just intimidated by his appearance, like most are. His looks alone have done enough wonders keeping the riffraff away thus far. Yet here you sit beside him. You’ve sat beside him all night. Looking at him as openly as any other man.

When Ghost saw you didn't care about his looks, he then thought it was his attitude which made you so strange with him. But you come back around even then, with that same little smile.

You just seemed to be OK with him.

It’s difficult for Ghost to pinpoint what it was about you which turned his attention so easily. He wouldn’t normally give anyone a second thought outside of their working relationship. He saw no need to. It’s not like people didn’t come and go in his life, enough to where it’s gotten easy to not bother and keep everything at proper distance. 

Yet with you around, Ghost felt different. He almost couldn’t help himself.

The fact that you even convinced him to come out tonight was something to be noted. It had just been that look on your face when you offered to drive him. All rain-soaked and chattery teeth, trying to keep up some front that you could endure the wet, cold conditions with him. You stuck around to the bitter end of it, like you really wanted him to be there tonight.

You had looked so excited when he finally agreed to, too.

“I don’t know how you can drive around with no music on,” you suddenly comment. 

Ghost watches you lean over and turn the radio up, as some commercial sounding pop music begins to play. You frown in a similar fashion to how he felt hearing it be turned on. Your fingers then flip through the stations daintily, twisting and pressing all sorts of knobs and buttons like a sound coordinator. A playful smile grows suddenly, as your eyes search his again.

“Any preferences?”

Clever girl. Ghost hasn’t forgotten how much you’ve seemed interested in knowing what he likes to listen to. At this point, he figured he’d keep the game going. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Damn,” you pout. “I thought that would work.”

“You’ll have to do better than that.”

What was it this reminds him of? Was this a memory? An old feeling? It stirs a storm in Ghost, something fierce. Like a song in the back of his mind he couldn’t remember the lyrics to. There’s a melody there, but it's all mixed up and far away. It grates at him.

Don't get used to this, he tells himself. Don't start now.

Ghost watches ahead, eyeing every pedestrian and car that passes by his headlights. Dissecting his own thoughts. Trying to get this damn nagging feeling to either show itself or bugger off. When he tries to think more deeply of it, somehow his mind always manages to come wandering back to you.

Suddenly, he has a clear picture in his mind of you again. Just as you are, just as he’s seen you thus far. Canary: The way your eyes bounce about, how your lips move when you talk or smile, the small cut above your brow from your last mission, that just doesn't seem to concern you in the slightest. 

Every hour he'd find something new to see, piecing in this puzzle of you in his head.

You change the station to something softer -- some acoustic song that blends nicely with the rest of the noise around him. Ghost finds it easier to concentrate. When he looks over at you, you’ve settled a bit, perhaps a little more nauseous in the face, but settled. Seems the music was all you needed.

You sing beneath your breath to the song on the radio. You're drunk enough to do it, but not so much to do so loudly, as you try and blend in with the singer’s voice, almost to hide it from him. Ghost picks up on your tune however. Your voice is distinctive.

He quietly listens to you sing for the rest of the drive home. 

He almost forgets the radio is even on.

...

Ghost parks the car in the barrack parking lot. Without much thought, he steps out and makes his way around to open the door for you. By the time he’s done all of this, you haven’t even unbuckled your seatbelt yet. This makes him rather impatiently lean over and unbuckle it for you.

As he leans in to do so, he feels the warmth radiating from your body, along with your eyes, which sit on him like the beating sun. Your breath catches in your throat, as you move your arms out of the way so he can help you.

“And they say chivalry is dead,” you joke.

Ghost doesn’t reply (though he rolls his eyes), merely watching as you swayed in your feet once you stepped out, seconds away from wobbling over drunkenly. He takes hold of your arm before you can tip over however. You then stubbornly -- and feebly -- shake him off you, straightening yourself up.

“I got this,” you casually assure him.

“We’ll see.”

You two walk back to the barracks together, no words to say. Only for a moment. 

“Mmm,” you begin to hum beside him.

“What?”

“The moon’s out,” you say.

Ghost looks up above himself. Indeed, the moon is out. You really are just some stray puppy he’s accidentally picked up, aren’t you? 

Feels like it’s been raining all night before now; only a few hours ago was he swimming in a pool of rain trying to fix his damn truck. He’d probably just be up in his room right about now if you hadn’t convinced him to come out tonight.

Now the moon hangs above your heads, as full and far away as the night before, the stars peeking out between the dark clouds that were just beginning to break apart. When his eyes drop back down to you however, he almost makes a double take. 

The view above only seems to pale in comparison.

Your head is cocked back, observing the sky above you with a drunken, childlike wonder. Your cheeks and nose are flushed from the cold, and the moon truly seems to fascinate you. You smile to yourself, big eyes skimming the clouds. Moonlight shines off your skin like a soft, luminescent glow; making you appear almost otherworldly. It’s enough to make a man lose track of his own thoughts. 

That distant, unfamiliar feeling nagged at him some more.

“Observant as always, Canary.” 

Ghost retook your arm when he saw you slip up one of the steps to the barracks entrance. You grab hold of him instinctively, your slender fingers gripping to the fabric of his hoodie. Your hands can barely fit around his bicep, your grip a lot more secure and gentle than he would have expected. It almost makes him not mind that you’re holding onto him so closely.

He hesitates to remove his hand from your arm once you've reached the top of the steps, debating whether or not you’ll need the help. You make the decision for Ghost, gently prying yourself from his grip.

“It’s Y/N,” you say. “Call me Y/N.”

You look up at Ghost, who looks down at you, standing only about a foot away. He smells your perfume, even in the cold air, watching your breath fog above you towards the night sky. It makes the man tense up.

Y/N . He plays it back in his mind. Fitting.

“I’ll think about it.”

The place is quiet; by now you’re sure it’s nearly one in the morning. The soldier they had on CQ was passed out in his chair, though he would not have cared that you two were arriving so late regardless. You managed to make it to your door without needing any more help from Ghost however. Only just.

You clumsily dig into your pocket for your keys, before they jump from your fingers and clatter onto the floor. You then start to bend over to retrieve them, only to overestimate your stability and wobble forward. Ghost catches your arm just in time, hoisting you back up to your feet, as he picks your keys up for you.

The whole motion of this makes you suddenly nauseous, your stomach stirring and slurring and threatening to bubble in your throat at any moment. You begin to taste that acidic taste in your mouth, as you're now focusing on swallowing it down.

“Which key?” Ghost asks. You turn to him and point to a golden, round key. He unceremoniously unlocks and opens the door for you, though he doesn’t go away just yet. “You straight from here?”

“Yeah, yeah…” You begin to nod, but suddenly your legs start to buckle. You make a worried expression like you were about to be sick. Without saying anything, Ghost invites himself inside and ushers you to the bathroom. He swiftly lowers you to your toilet, lifting the seat for you as he seats himself at the edge of the tub beside you.

You didn’t need much else of an excuse to start letting out everything you’d had to drink tonight. You hug the toilet bowl in your arms, letting the sound of your own retching echo in your ears as you groan after every outburst.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Ghost comments. He instinctively pats your back, roughly, trying to help you out. “Have a few less in the future next time, yeah?”

You respond with a resounding groan, lifting a hand to give him a thumbs up, before letting more of yourself go. He’s sure you’ll feel less drunk once you’re done. It should help.

Ghost stops patting your back at some point, though his hand lingers. Unconsciously. When he finally notices the way the warmth of your back makes his hand tingle, he removes it, resting them back in his lap and looking off into the room.

This bathroom is dark, as the whites of the walls made the room feel cold. There comes this moment after midnight where the silence surrounding you feels just a little more trance-like, as though your consciousness teetered between thoughts and reality. Ghost experienced this the longer he sat by you.

He’s been here before, hasn’t he? Back home, long ago. With someone else. Back before… 

Old names with dead faces, long buried someplace deep in him slowly began to surface. Faces he’d rather not think of.

Is that the feeling which nags at him? 

What was it about you which felt so… forgotten…

…And why did it unsettled him so much?

Ghost stands up from the tub. He’s let this go on long enough.

“I should go.”

You look up at him from the toilet bowl. Your eyes are more sullen now. “Oh,” you say it with such disappointment, before clearing your throat and looking away. “OK. I understand. I uh… I’m sorry for tonight…”

“Enough already,” he says. “Weren’t like you forced me to be here.”

“True,” you stand yourself up from off the floor. “Less I forget I had to bribe you earlier to even come out at all…”

"Exactly."

You quickly make your way over to the sink to make use of your toothbrush. As you did so, Ghost remained in the bathroom with you, looming a few feet away.

He hasn’t gotten used to looking down to see you yet. He keeps forgetting how tiny you are. At least compared to himself.

Your appearance and physique alone were rather opposite to what he was used to. Had you two not worked together he would never have thought you were a soldier, let alone a mercenary. He supposes not everyone has that look. You certainly didn’t need it to be here either.

From where Ghost stands behind you, watching you brush your teeth, he sees the way your spine curves. How your legs extend to the floor, as well as their shape. You give your back to him rather vulnerably. What has he done to garner such trust?

When you finish, you look up to see Ghost still lingering by. Despite stating he’d be leaving, he hasn’t gotten around to it yet. 

You grow quiet, trying to make sense of him through his mask again. Searching endlessly. Your expression drops, and your eyes glint with melancholy. As though you’d just made a foul discovery in him. 

Ghost hides it, but it catches him off guard to see the shift in your demeanor. Because that’s a look he’s more familiar with. Did you finally see something you didn’t like in him? Have you finally come to your senses?

And why did he suddenly care to know?

Ghost knows the smart thing to do would be to leave it. But that other part of himself, the part which nags at him even now, had a different idea. One which felt more natural to do.

“Have I got somethin’ on my face?” A joke.

It’s the sound your voice makes when you giggle which has him feeling like a fool. It shouldn’t have moved him like it did.

“No,” you say. “Just taking in the view.”

“Must be a nice one.”

“It is."

Ghost nearly chuckles.

You're a flirt. He’s met his fair share before, but none quite as consistent as you. You've casually flirted with him since you two met, as you have with everyone he’s seen thus far; meaning he’s no one special. Though you’re a natural at making your words feel good. 

“You play too much, Canary,” warned Ghost.

“I thought I told you to call me Y/N,” you tease back. Though your voice is still a little slurred and playful, you're being serious. “Have you forgotten already?”

“No,” he says. “I haven’t forgotten.”

The room grows still, and for a moment it feels as though time no longer exists -- the two of you stuck in some midnight plane of existence. 

You observe him as intensely as he does you. The more you two stare, the more he's about to pick a new detail out from you to think about. Another qualm.

You have kind eyes.

When Ghost met you, that’s the first thing that caught his attention. How your eyes are so full of life and wonder. Gentle. Inviting. Human. And completely wrapped up in him. 

You want to see him. You want to know him. Your kindness is like a hidden syringe, embedded in his veins somewhere before now, slowly injecting him. You pull the feelings from his chasm of a mind so easily. 

Your kindness infuriates him. 

Something else nags stills.

Ghost eyes shift to the mirror behind you. He sees a giant shadow. Himself. He could take one step closer to you and watch that “kindness” you've built for him crumble like the weak foundation it was based on. Witness all your hard work fall to ruin. Just as he’s willfully done before to countless others. 

Since when has he been deserving of such kindness anyway? Who gave you that notion? What a cruelty it was, how easy it creeps up on him so uninvitedly. If only you knew what you toyed with. You wouldn’t bother with the likes of him if you did, he’s decided.

If only you truly saw.

“Are you tired, lieutenant?"

Ghost pauses. Your big eyes gaze up at him, genuinely curious to hear his answer. Had you not said another word, he may have stood there all night. 

At first his mind hears the word "tired" and takes it personally. Yes he was tired. He’s been tired his whole fucking life. But then he realized what you meant by tired, and quickly settled down.

"Not necessarily," he says. Truth be told, he felt wide awake. He knows he probably wouldn’t have gotten any sleep tonight as it was. The nightmares have gotten bad again, worse than normal lately, though he hasn’t shared that with anyone. The last thing he wants is another evaluation. "Why?"

You grow shy suddenly. Words hang in your mouth but you hesitate to let them out. And Ghost holds his breath, waiting to hear you speak.

"Do you have to go so soon?" 

He was afraid of this happening. Ghost had an inkling that you would ask him to stay. Would he have the strength to tell you no? He needed to. He shouldn’t even be thinking in any other way to begin with.

“It’s for the best,” he says robotically.

“Why?”

Bloody hell. “It just is,” he says, a little more irritated now. “Why ask?”

“I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Don't do this. Ghost can’t help but cross his arms, hugging them to his chest as he huffed to himself. "Weren’t you havin' a shit night a second ago?"

"I'm not anymore."

"I won’t make it much better."

You laugh now. "I'd beg to differ."

You just don't know when to quit, do you? You're so careless with how you speak to Ghost, not taking a moment to think of how much your words coaxed something dark in him. Something buried. It screams for you to leave it.

Ghost never lets off that your words have any effect on him. He’s mastered his poker face. The mask helps. “You give me too much credit.”

“You say that like you don't deserve it.”

“I don't," he takes a step closer to you now, towering over you. Subtly warning you.  "Don’t act as though you know me. I already told you, you don't.”

He's right. You don't know him. No one knows him, or the hardships he's had to face, the people he's failed and lost… all the sacrifices he's had to make of himself just to survive. You only know a shell of himself. A mask.

The only ones who knew Ghost are dead ones; he didn't need more faces to join that crowd. He didn't need more fuel for the fire.

But you’re so Goddamn stubborn. You remain leaning against the sink, your gaze unwavering from his, arms crossed. Why do you look at him with such ease, even now?

“I don’t care,” you say. 

You push yourself from the sink, approaching him closer, until you're only about a foot away again. Ghost doesn’t flinch. He makes no movement at all, merely keeping you in his sights. The air in the room starts to grow heavier.

Somehow you still smell of perfume and cold rain. It slowly takes over his senses, like some sort of pheromone.

“You should care,” he says.

“I wish I could know you more,” you continue, your smile only growing brighter. You’ve truly convinced yourself now. "You're quite the character."

Ghost finally breaks his gaze from you, looking off to the side. “There’s nothin’ about me worth knowin’.”

“That’s simply not true,” you tell him. “I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.”

You don’t know what you’re talking about, Ghost tells himself. You think you do, but you don’t.

Whatever it was you were trying to do -- this getting to know him, trying to read him, or bond with him -- it needed to stop. It wasn’t necessary, and it wouldn’t do either of you any favors in the future going down this path.

He’s not just some book you can read through and understand, even if you two had a sit down and went through it word by word. Page by page. Trauma by trauma. What you see of him is some idea you’ve created, a bubble needing to be burst.

He begins again. Don't get comfortable.

“And what is it you know?” he challenges you harshly.

To his shock and dismay, you bring your hand up and begin going over a list with him.

“I know you care a lot more than you let on," you say. "I also know you’re funny. You’re good at what you do, and I know that you’re smart.”

You pause and start to think more about the man in front of you, gathering up everything you’ve managed to put together in such a short amount of time. In this silence, Ghost longs for you to stop.

End this while it was fun. 

You then say, “I know that you were my favorite part about tonight.”

The man stands there, processing all your words. Is that what you think of him? “You’re still drunk.”

"You’re avoiding my eyes,” you taunt.

He's had enough of this.

As if to protest your words, Ghost rips his gaze back to you, and you see a fire burn in his dark eyes, piercing straight through you. They tell you to get back. If he could scare you away with one look, he’d let it be and forget this exchange ever happened. 

But you’ve seen all sorts of eyes in your lifetime, and Ghost’s did anything but scare you.

You’re unmoved by his cold gaze. Unflinching as you had been when he’d first met you. Trying to find some home for him in your mind even now. It makes Ghost frown beneath his mask.

But even now, you still find some reason to smile at him. Ghost sees himself wrapped in your irises, absorbed by his presence, happy to have his eye again. "That's better."

Ghost's cold gaze wavers. He doesn't know what to say.

You stand so close to him now, if either of you extended your arms you could brush one another. There’s nothing he'd want more than to see how you might feel in his arms. How easily he could hold you. Touch you. He feels a few more starved heartbeats away from acting out on these impulses.

Ghost can only wonder what runs through your mind right now.

That nagging feeling just won’t go away.

Would he have to beg you to leave this where it is?

"I can't stay,” Ghost says again, quieter this time, his voice so low it sings in this empty room.

You hear Ghost's words, and really take in the emotions in his eyes this time. Your expression softens and you give the man a reassuring smile. You push no further. 

Your acceptance shames him.

You say to him, "OK."

Somehow it doesn’t make him feel any better.

Ghost walks you out of your bathroom, shutting the lights off and closing the door for you, as the man watches you make your way over to the front entrance. The fairy lights you have decorating your window make the lighting a deep shade of purple, only offset by the streetlights that peaked from your curtains. It makes your room feel like a figment of his imagination at first.

Ghost pauses at your door, turning to face you a final time. You keep some distance from him.

“Hey um… before you go.” You take another step closer; each time you’ve stood by him you’ve found some way to be nearer. “I just wanted to say thank you. You didn’t have to come out with us tonight, or drive me home and deal with my bullshit, but you did, and… I really do appreciate it.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

You show him too much kindness. You stand there, looking up at him, with your sweet words and sweet scent. Standing so close to him. Too close.

“Well I am,” you say. “Tonight wasn’t really what I wanted, but... I mean it when I say you definitely were the highlight.”

You present your hand out, inviting him to shake it. “I hope you have a good night, lieutenant.”

Ghost looks down at your hand, feeling his heart catch in his chest. After some thought, he decides to return the handshake. His large hand engulfs yours, and though the coldness of his skin is so sharp it sends goosebumps up your arm, your hand remains in his.

"Likewise," Ghost says.

Seconds pass, and your hands remain together. Touching you, touching him. You're as warm as your personality, your touch soft and delicate in his, as your thumb gently brushes his battered knuckles and rough skin, ignoring all its imperfections.

Do you have to go so soon ?

When you start to pull your hand away, Ghost's grip tightens, keeping your hand in his. The dumbest thing he could possibly have done. You bring your eyes to his, your expression caught off guard, and he sees it in you finally -- that want to not be alone. The want to be closer. The longing to be near someone real.

It's the nagging, familiar feeling in your eyes he's seen all along. A shared want to be human for a moment.

You use the grip he has on your hand as an excuse to pull yourself near. Your other arm extends towards him, weaving beneath his arm and around his waist. You rest your head against his chest and close your eyes. With your ear to him, you listen to his heart race, and settle more against him. An innocent embrace. 

Suddenly you felt as a giant, and he so meager.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think your touch frightened him, from how reserved he behaved. But you hug him like you’ve wanted to this whole time, smelling the outside on him, feeling the dry rain against your skin. 

Ghost hasn't hugged you back yet, becoming somewhat of a passive observer, soaking in every sensation. How long has it been since someone touched him so gently? Since he's allowed someone to? 

And how long has he been unknowingly waiting for someone to? 

Ghost is stiff in your hold, fighting this flexing urge he had to instinctively pull away from you. Each second passes and the touch of your arms settles him, his body finally relaxing against yours. Before long, his arms wrap over your small figure, pressing you deeper into his chest. Like a child clutching a blanket.

Your arms adjust around him, making Ghost feel ashamed by how soothing you felt to hold. These actions feel so foreign.

The man's hold tightens, his chin slowly resting at the crown of your head. He can feel you exhale, the air leaving your body as your face buries itself beneath his arm. Even with both your clothes on, he can feel so much of you pressed against him. Your heat feels like a flame in the dark; long has he spent on this lonely trek freezing.

What more has he been missing?

Your fingers start to clutch at his back tightly, a small whimper leaving your lips, muffled between his arm and chest. Ghost had begun to squeeze you. He doesn’t let go until he feels you squirm a little. Once he realizes however, it immediately embarrasses him.

That shouldn’t have brought that out of him. He should not have allowed himself to do that. He takes a step back, eyes looking between you and the wall behind you. He doesn’t say anything, but he’s scolding his own actions. Damning them. Because now he found himself already missing it.

“Couldn’t breathe there for a second,” you laugh, your voice cutting into his thoughts so effortlessly. Ghost blinks, and in that instance he sees you again. You were absolutely beaming. “That was like a bear hug.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Ghost says to himself. You just happened to be the only other person in the room to hear it too.

You take no mind to his words, chuckling at them in fact. “It’ll be our little secret, lieutenant.”

Simon. He felt himself about to tell you. His name is Simon, the man you speak to. The one you’ve been trying to see all night. Not that you even asked for his name; you never did ask for much from him.

Ghost steps into the empty hallway, feeling all the atmosphere and energy from your room shed off like a dead layer of skin. It won’t take very long for him to adjust back into his old habits, as they do die hard. Though he had a few more things to think about now. Great…

“Oh and Ghost!” you call to him from your doorway. Ghost turns, seeing your head peeking out from your room. “Don't be a stranger.”

Your door shuts, and yet he lingers in the hall a moment longer. Thinking. His head sags in defeat and he finally pries himself away.

...Chapter Eleven Here!

[iwaoiness]

Love in animal language

Iwaizumi loves animals, he graduated as a veterinarian with an impeccable academic record and quickly got a job at a pretty good vet in Tokyo where he has been working for a year now. His work is great, he enjoys the contact with his peculiar patients and gets along great with their owners.

However, there is one in particular, a pompous young man in his final year of nursing who, ever since he walked through the darn door three months ago, has become not a pimple on his ass but acne.

Oikawa Tooru. Tall, with ridiculously perfect fringes, a wide, toothy smile and an aura that radiates perfection, politeness and innocence. Although, in Iwaizumi's opinion, it's all a fucking facet because that idiot is neither perfect nor polite, let alone innocent. He's childish (he called him Iwa-chan, fucking Iwa-chan, in the first fifteen fucking minutes of meeting), annoying (he brings his poor, beauty persian cat every fucking week, sometimes for the vet service and sometimes for the canine and feline grooming service) and, above all, flirtatious (on every visit he tells the world's worst pick-up jokes and, on top of that, smiles with full confidence as if those jokes are actually working).

Well, actually, they work. But only a little. Although work isn't really the word, they're just so ridiculous that Iwaizumi finds them amusing.

And he also finds amusing and even endearing the way Oikawa blinks in puzzlement and his cheeks flush red and his mouth opens wide when Hajime smiles at him and flirts back (something much, much, more effective than scowling at him, pulling his middle finger out or shouting at him).

Like that time when Tooru tells him "Are you a cat, Iwa-chan? Because you are purrrrfect" and Hajime replies "Shittykawa, if you were a dinosaur, you'd be a Gorgeousaurus".

Or when Oikawa flirts with an "Are you a mermaid? Because you are cute as shell" and Iwaizumi hits back with an "I have thinking about you owl night long".

Or when Sillykawa tries it again with "I was born in the wild but for you I would be domesticated" and Iwa-chan says "I'm placing you on the endangered species list because you're one of a kind".

Somehow, that dynamic becomes tender, funny, domestic and theirs. Iwaizumi finds himself waiting for them every week, his heart beginning to recognise Oikawa's arrival and that "Yahoo, Iwa-chan!" that makes it bounce harder against his ribs.

And, well, maybe Iwaizumi is having felines for Oikawa Tooru.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Triangle" review

Novel from 1983, again by Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath (NOO!!), and the last one they wrote (YAY!!!). Has the same elements of their previous novels: a weak, puny Kirk; an overbearing Spock; a super-powerful warrior woman and a super-powerful evil man; lots of pretentious philosophy; and at least 2145 times that someone "bowed fractionally". Though at least this time nobody seems to be naked half the book...

It's a pity, because the central theme was interesting in the beginning, before devolving into a messy melodrama.

Some spoilers ahead:

The Enterprise is carrying Ambassador Gailbraith to the planet Zaran. And as many of these Star Trek ambassadors, he becomes a real pain in the ass, once he starts assimilating crewmembers into the collective consciousness he heralds as the future of the galaxy: the Oneness. There's maybe some precedent here for Sybok's cult in Star Trek V. And some interesting insights into the conflict between individualism and the collective. Had the novel taken a more political or Trek-like approach to the conflict with the Oneness, it would have been a better novel, in my opinion. Instead, we got the fist-fights and battles between "a Chosen one" and "an evil overlord" that these authors seem to love that much.

En route towads Zaran, the ship stops to rescue a Federation Free Agent, that had just landed on a savage planet (dinosaur planet). The Free Agent is Sola Thane, a half-Zaran woman with incredible hunting skills. And, inexplicably, Kirk falls in love with her immediately, and it seems as if they were long-separated lovers that had been waiting for each other all this time, despite they having just met! If that wasn't enough, Spock also falls in love with her, and enters into pon farr mode at first sight. So once back in the ship, Sola has sex with Spock to save his life. And then she also has sex with Kirk? I'm not sure. Maybe she has sex with nobody; the narrative is so obscure at times, that I had no clue what was going on... And I said before that both Kirk and Spock fall in love with her, but it just... doesn't feel like it. It's obvious the authors just wanted to write K/S slash, and they're using Sola as a mere screen. So the whole thing seems inauthentic, with both Kirk and Spock worrying more about each other than about her, and insisting she chooses the other one. I mean, either write a female love interest, or don't write her at all. But if you choose to have her, at least give her some personality and development.

It turns out that Sola is fighting against a different brand of Oneness that has taken her planet (and soon, the entire galaxy!), and is much more malevolent: the Totality. This Totality wants her to bond with a male, since in her species, a bonded female releases powerful psychic energies. And the Totality wants to use these to amplify its control over millions of enslaved individuals. The meeting between Sola, Kirk and Spock was thus arranged by the Totality (or by Gailbraith; I can't make head or tails of it, really). Under these conditions, Kirk decides to ally himself with Gailbraith, who also opposes the Totality as a rival force, in order to better help Sola in her quest. Thus, the "Triangle" of the title doesn't refer just to the love triangle between Sola, Kirk and Spock. It's also a reference to the triangle of forces at war: the Oneness, the Totality, and individualism (represented by Kirk).

Anyway, Sola can't choose between Kirk or Spock, and seems unable to form a bond with either, so she's going to die too!! (because her species also go through a similar thing as pon farr). The leader of the Totality, Soljenov, transports then to the ship, which had been falling under its influence, and abducts Sola, Kirk and Spock, sending them to dinosaur planet. Down there, Soljenov tries to force Sola into a "mate-hunt" and rescue either Kirk or Spock, so she bonds with one. There are lots of monster-killing battles in this part, and Kirk rips his clothes (and this one is post-TMP Kirk, not TOS Kirk, though you'd never guess it by his behavior). Still Sola can't choose between both, and they decide their strenght against the Totality lies in them being a triangle, precisely.

In the last part, the three of them storm the Totality's stronghold inside a volcano. And there are some Dragon Ball fights with bolts of psychic energy and such. Sola has to choose again between rescuing Kirk or Spock from a couple of ledges over molten lava. But it doesn't matter, because she saves both, and then goes on to sacrifice herself for the galaxy (predictably). A "power of love" speech also makes both the Totality and the Oneness to reconsider their plans of conquest. Ah! McCoy had also arrived in the volcano, but he does nothing, as is his custom in the novels of this pair.

Spirk Meter: 10/10*: No love triangle can disguise the real intentions behind this story. Kirk and Spock share a mind bond, their close relationship is legendary even among strangers, and McCoy reflects that the two men have "virtually become one". Kirk also says that he's the best expert on Spock in the galaxy. And both of them try to sacrifice themselves to save the other more times than I cared to count. In one scene, Spock comes to the rescue, when Gailbraith mind-melds with Kirk and starts assimilating him. And (jealously) replaces Gailbraith's link with his own, while calling Jim "t'hy'la".

There's a little Spones and McKirk too. McCoy lies about his psychic sensibility, and even if he'd never admit it, he's said to "bask" in Spock's mental energies. We're also informed that McCoy knows Kirk's mind and body better than his own... Just how physical get those physicals, Doctor?