#but seriously I need to find out what sales are like for those cars

[crnl-chicken-tots]

Millions of people have watched Deadpool and Wolverine since opening day. that being said-

There has to be several if not hundreds, maybe a few thousands of people with one, right??? I wanna know how many Honda Odyssey owners are now haunted by the atrocities those two committed in one right now

imagine having to go to work in an odyssey and getting stuck in traffic with enough time to think about that scene and then some

Nevertheless I'm hoping Honda's sales are peaking right now, I'm rooting for them after giving us that gift

[petermorwood]

This post mentions the Le Creuset Doufeu casserole (Dutch oven) and several comments were "I want / must get".

@dduane and I don't need one, but from curiosity I went looking to see what they cost, and what I said in the original post still applies:

New Le Creusets like the one above are hideously expensive...

Ouch!

Since buying by brand name Is A Thing, it seems to me that the words LE CREUSET on cast-iron cookware immediately jacks the price up by at least 100 £$€ currency units over similar items from other manufacturers; for curiosity I compared Le Creuset to Staub, which also aren't exactly cheap: 41cm oval Staub, €449; 40cm oval Le Creuset, €599.

OUCH!

*****

They can be found somewhat (and if lucky, much) cheaper on eBay and Etsy, or in yard sales, garage sales, car boot sales and thrift shops.

A bit of searching revealed that people have had some very good luck with vintage Le Creusets, quite possibly because the original owners didn't know what they'd got.

This has to be the best thrift shop bargain I've seen in a long time:

*****

We've got these:

Even though only the orange one is actually labelled as a Doufeu, the other two have recessed lids and also work that way, complete with condensation drip-points cast on the insides.

This seems standard on recessed-lid casseroles, Staub have them too, and makes me think that casseroles with those lids are a better buy, since they can be used for regular OR doufeu cooking while those with flat or domed lids can't.

Also, remember where I said "original owners don't know what they've got"...? I found a hint of that in a sales listing which says:

It has a multi banded lid with a sunken knob, enabling the lid to be inverted, and used as a serving dish, with raised studs to help stop the food from moving around when being carved.

I think what happened here was that whoever wrote the description didn't know what the studs were actually for, and defaulted to what they thought they were for.

They're not sharp enough to hold food in place, and while this style of lid can be balanced inverted, it's not so they become serving dishes, because they'll teeter off-balance again with the slightest sideways pressure, such as trying to carve meat. So, er, don't.

*****

The cream/brown Fontignac was bought new more than 30 years ago - I've mentioned the French Country Recipes (seriously yummy) cookbook that came with it a couple of times - and DD bought the orange Le Cousances Doufeu about 5 years ago on eBay.

The smaller black Tramontina (from Brazil) was bought new last year to find out if something at that price level was any good.

So far... Yes, it is.

Staub own the Fontignac brand-name and Le Creuset own Le Cousances, so here's what to look for on the base of vintage originals.

There must be other bargains out there, maybe even as good as that thrift-store capture, so good hunting!

[boldlyvoid]

December 16th, 1986

Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Summary: It took 8 months, but Steve's parents finally sold their house... and Steve has no idea where he's going to live now.

Warnings: drug use, mutual pining, first kisses, getting together, moving in together, Wayne and Mr. Clark are dating in this

Word Count: 2.5k

For the past 8 months, Steve has been getting ready for this moment. 

His parents announced pretty soon after the earthquake that they would be moving. They put the house up for sale, they packed their things and they left… they said he could stay there till it sold, make sure that the Realtor showed the house off right and answer any questions that the potential buyers have. He answered things that he shouldn’t have, he told lies, he made the house seem haunted and he prolonged living there as long as he could until another rich family decided they’d take it no matter what. 

His last day to live in his childhood home is December 16th. He has 2 weeks to pack, find an apartment and start living life on his own terms. His parents “helped” the best way they knew how. With a check for $1000 as a thank you for looking after the place until now and words of support… those words being “We know you can do it, and if not, here’s our new address.” 

Robin offered to let him stay with her but without her mom knowing because she already thinks they’re dating in secret and that wouldn’t help. He can’t ask Nancy for help cause she’s in Boston— Jonathan might be willing to help but since their breakup… he’s not really hanging out with anyone much. Dustin's mom has made it clear he can stay over whenever he wants but he’d have to sleep on the couch in the living room and there wouldn't be much privacy.

The 4 apartments downtown are taken currently, they won’t be available for god-knows how long and he can’t afford to buy a house of his own… his job sucks, and he’s worried he won’t even be there much longer once Robin goes off to college cause Keith hates him, so he should be looking for both a new job and a place to live. 

It all comes tumbling out of him after a joint and a beer while lying on the carpet in Eddie’s room. 

“Dude,” Eddie stops him mid-ramble. “You can stay here.” 

“Where?” 

“Here,” Eddie waves around. “In my room, with me, for as long as you need.” 

He laughs as he sits up, “Yeah I can see it now, my race car poster can go there. My trophies will sit in a box over there on the floor and after I organize your closet for the first time like, ever, I’ll put my clothes in there.” 

“I mean, I think the race car would look better over there,” Eddie points to the one blank spot on his wall with a smirk. “I’m completely serious, Stevie, you can stay here. Wayne won’t mind.” 

He just sighs, “I mean, I think I can store all my things in Dustin's weird bomb shelter storage thing—

“Wait, what?” Eddie cuts him off. “He has a bomb shelter?” 

“I don’t know it’s like not connected to his house and it’s in the backyard and it’s underground and all concrete,” Steve explains. “But they just keep his mom's homemade stuff down there like she pickles shit and makes jam, so... I could keep some boxes down there and just bring the important things here.” 

“See, that sounds like a great plan,” Eddie cheers him on. 

“But…” he doesn’t know how to ask. 

“What?” 

He sighs, “where am I going to sleep?” 

“Here,” Eddie says like it’s no big deal, pointing down at his bed. “It’s not like you haven’t slept here before.” 

“Yeah, but, every night, for-for I don’t know how long?” Steve worries, “You’d seriously be okay with that?” 

Eddie nods, “I mean, we sleep pretty good when we’re together…”

Steve sighs, he’s right. No nightmares, no night sweats, no morning headaches, notate night anxiety attacks— and that’s just all the stuff on his end. Eddie hasn’t been on a regular sleep schedule like this since he was a toddler, sleeping from midnight to 9am every time they’re together, he’s more productive and he’s happier and they really love sleeping together... It just feels right. 

“Don’t-don’t take this the wrong way, but-but—

“Oh no,” Eddie worries right away.

“No, no, it’s a good thing I promise,” Steve assures. “I just wanted to say I… I love you, man. You’re a wonderful person and you take such good care of all your friends and-and don’t tell Robin but you’re one of the best people in my life and I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

Eddie tries to make a joke response but his mouth just opens and closes and he shakes his head in disbelief, “You do?” 

Steve nods, “I really do. Thank you… for everything.” 

Eddie gets off his bed and crowds Steve on the floor, wrapping him up in such a powerful hug they end up lying down with Eddie on top of him, “I love you too, Stevie.” 

They’re like that for well over a minute, but with the weed in their system, it might’ve been even longer than that. They end up cuddled on the floor, Eddie’s face in Steve’s neck, Steve’s fingers tracing shapes on Eddie's back, the two of them silent and content and oddly comfortable. 

They cuddle often. This is how they fall asleep. After long chats about all sorts of things: work, bad dads, evil teachers, stupid ex-friends, relationships that went south... You name it, they’ve talked about it. It started one night after he drove Robin home from work, she had a headache and just wanted to sleep and he needed someone to talk to— somehow he ended up parked in front of Eddie’s trailer before he could even register how he got there and Eddie was coming outside to make sure he was okay. He wasn’t. But he’s been okay since then, since knowing he has another safe space with someone who cares about him. 

Now he knows that someone loves him… and Steve loves him right back. Maybe more than how he loves Robin or Dustin. Maybe he loves him more like he loved Nancy? This did feel an awfully lot like when he cuddled with her, only, they did this after sex… completely naked, cuddled up for 10-20 minutes before he had to get her home for her curfew, but he soaked it all in. It was his favourite part of the whole thing. 

And now he has it again, just in a different form. In a different shape… an Eddie shape that’s even warmer and heavier and smells like home and doesn’t have to leave after a few minutes. And when Eddie said he loved him back, it was real. It was sincere. It was everything he wanted. 

He rests his cheek against the top of Eddie’s head for a moment, lets out a sigh from all his thoughts and then he does it. He kisses the top of Eddie's head and squeezes him tighter. And to his surprise, Eddie kisses him right back. His lips touch Steve’s neck and they stay there, again and again, he kisses him until he’s straddling Steve’s hips and his lips meet his jaw and Steve stops breathing. 

His eyes blown wide, his hands fallen to his sides, he’s frozen. Eddie notices and pulls back, he cups Steve’s jaw and stares at him, “hey… I’m sorry, I can—

Steve doesn’t let him finish, he simply grips his t-shirt and pulls him down into a real kiss. Lips pressed firmly together, eyes squeezed shut— on his end, at least. It’s not Eddie's turn to be shocked still. Steve holds him there for a moment and then releases, noticing Eddie’s now frozen as he opens his eyes. He laughs, finding him so un-godly cute, “Sorry…” 

“No, no, don’t apologize,” Eddie says in a mere whisper, still dumbfounded that that really happened. But he comes back to reality, he stares at Steve’s lips and then back up to his eyes, “Kiss me whenever you'd like, pretty boy.” 

Steve sits up with Eddie still in his lap, chest to chest now, he cups Eddie’s face, “same goes for you, handsome.” 

So, Eddie kisses him this time, sweet and gentile and everything Steve’s ever wanted. It’s slow and sweet, and his lips are soft, Eddie wraps his arms around him and holds him close. Steves is the first one to initiate more, swiping his tongue across his bottom lip, Eddie almost moans as he lets him in. 

Steve's hand slips from his cheek, down his neck and rests on his chest before he wraps his arms around Eddie’s middle and tugs him in even closer. He’s never had a kiss that feels like this: there’s love and passion and a familiarity that feels like they’ve kissed a million times before. 

He’s not sure how long they kiss, but it feels like hours.

Glorious, fantastic, and magical hours that he never wants to end.

When Eddie finally pulls away he doesn’t look too happy— which worries Steve. “I love this, but I’ve gotta piss so goddamn bad, dude.” 

Steve laughs, “Go, go pee and then we can continue this in the bed, my ass is going numb.” 

Eddie steals one last kiss, “Okay, I’ll be right back. Might get some snacks too… the munchies are kicking in.”

And then he’s gone, leaving Steve alone in his room… he reaches over for the walkie-talkie on Eddie’s bedside table, pulls out the antenna and changes the frequency to the one he and Robin use. It’s late, she’s probably asleep, but he’s allowed to wake her up when he needs her. 

“Rob? Robin? Are you up?” 

He waits a moment and then he hears it, she groans, “What?” 

“It happened.” 

“You’re gonna have to be more descriptive, dingus,” she bullies him. “And speak up, where are you?” 

“I’m at Eddie's, he’s gonna be back in a second but… but we kissed. It happened, Rob.” 

“Do you want a parade? Some gay confetti cake?” She teases, tired and not in the mood but he can hear her slight smile. 

“No, I just wanted to tell you,” he smiles like an idiot on his end. “And I told him I love him, so there’s that…” 

“Congrats, you kissed the same sex before I did— can I please go back to bed now?” She begs. 

“Yeah, sorry, I’ll see yo tomorrow,” he lets her go. “Night, rob.” 

“Night, dingus,” he says back and then the line goes dead. She’s turned it off completely. 

He flops back to the bed with the walkie pressed to his chest and the most shit-eating grin plastered to his face. He’s never felt so happy in his life. And Eddie sees it. He leans against the doorway, bag of chips in hand, just smiling back at him. 

“You know, I always wondered what my dad meant when he said I was more like Wayne than anyone else in their family, that I had to be a Munson like my mom said because I’m his twin…” Eddie explains and Steve sits right up, nervous that he was caught. 

“What?” 

“Wayne’s had the same boyfriend since I was like 14,” he explains. “They see each other in the mornings when he’s coming home and his lovers getting ready for work. He brings him coffee, they get a few minutes to just chat and then he'd come back here to make sure I was ready for the bus… and I didn’t know he was his boyfriend for a long time. I actually didn’t know for sure until we were in the hospital, and Scott was there, holding Wayne’s hand.” 

“Wait, that’s why Mr. Clarke was always around?” Steve can’t believe it. “I knew they were friends but… oh my god?” 

Eddie makes his way to the bed and nods, “They’ve been together for a while. And happily. If it wouldn’t fuck with his job, they’d be living together… he has a second room in his house so they’ve been thinking about pretending to be roommates but, I don’t know who’d buy that.” 

“I would’ve,” Steve assures him. “Believe me, that is not the first thing I think of when I see two older dudes hanging out.” 

“And if Wayne moves in with him… then I get the trailer,” Eddie explains. “And there’d be more room for your things… and you’d never have to leave…” 

“Oh,” Steve’s heart swells. “You’d want that?” 

Eddie nods again, “I want you for as long as I can have you.” 

“How does forever sound?” Steve teases, wanting that too. 

“Perfect,” he agrees before lunging at him for another kiss. 

—

When December 16th rolls around, Steve has all his things packed, they load it all into Eddie’s van and keep the non-essential things at Dustins in his cellar. It’s a relatively easy move, the hardest part was organizing Eddie’s closet so Steve’s things could fit in there. He convinces Eddie to donate some things, but by “donate” he meant put shit in a box and give it to Mike. 

And Wayne’s home that day too, he doesn’t go back to work until 8pm which means that he can make them dinner. He’s s happy to have Steve around, slightly because he’s loved Steve ever since he dragged Eddie out of hell and to a hospital— but mostly because Eddie loves him. They’re a little family. 

And, speaking of family: Scott comes over too. 

The 4 men sit around a little table and chat and laugh and celebrate the start of something new. Something beautiful. New love, but more specifically, Gay love. 

“Um,” Steve starts to speak when the conversation starts to lull. “Do you guys know any other lesbians in the area?” 

They nod, “Yeah, we do, why?” Wayne asks. 

“My best friend thinks she’s the only lesbian in the whole town and I thought maybe we could have like a gay New Year's party or something so she would feel less alone?” 

“Does she have a fake ID?” Eddie asks and Scott glares at him. “What? Candace and Sharon literally run a gay bar in Indy, we could just go there all together.” 

“You guys can go,” Scott waves his hands. “I am not going to a club at my big age. I am long past finding that fun.” 

“Robin would love to go,” Steve announces for her. “We’ll find her something to use.” 

“Candy isn’t above sneaking someone in,” Wayne teases. “You guys will have a blast.” 

“Can I just say thanks again for letting me stay here?” Steve asks, feeling a little emotional with how amazing this is all turning out to be. 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Wayne waves it off. 

“You could’ve even moved in with me, or just kept your things at my place,” Scott offers. “Any kid of Waynes is a kid of mine.” 

He gets a little choked up, unsure of what to say, he just smiles. “Thank you,” is all he can muster. 

Going from having 1 dad who didn’t even care to call him on his birthday to having Eddie’s 2 dads who’d do anything for him, thanks to Eddie is just too much to handle right away. But he’ll get used to it. 

This is his family now. 

They’ll have to do this every year now; a big dinner on the 16th of December every year to celebrate coming home. 

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @buckleyhans @mrs-ssa-hotch @ssavanessa22

Steddie

@nosaladallowed-ao3  @wifeyreid @girl-with-an-orange-cat @sunshinemunchkin @luna-munson83 @manda-panda-monium @steve-thehair-mamabear 

[boss-lifter]

[Introduction]

So, electronics are super valuable and everyone wants them. Those big corporate stores have seriously stepped up their security game, making it harder to snag what you want.

But, let's face it, we're all human. We make mistakes and sometimes the store isn't on top of their game. Maybe they're understaffed, maybe the workers just don't care, or maybe they're dealing with personal issues. Whatever the case may be, it's not always impossible to get what you want.

Now, let's focus on black friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day. I mean, come on, those are the days everyone's going crazy for deals. Just look up the dates, it's in the 3 friday of November every year.

Store associates will be running around helping other customers, leaving perfect opportunities for you to swoop in and grab what you want. Don't be scared to take advantage of these days, no matter what others say. Just check out my guide for spotting the store security.

Of course, you need to be organized. Plan out your route, set an early alarm, grab some coffee, and get a ride or make sure your car is empty. With a little bit of luck, you should be able to get most of what you're after.

Remember, it's gonna take some patience, skills, guts, and a bit of luck. Take whatever you can get, even if it's a similar product.

[Find your spot]

Start by making a list of the items you really want or need.

Now, what should you be looking for? Do your research, get out there, and start scoping out the best spots. Look for places with easy access to electronics. Check out big grocery stores, malls, drugstores, and electronics stores.

If you live in a small town, consider traveling to a bigger city or town. Map out all the stores in that area and plan out your route. Either go area by area or store by store, whichever you prefer.

Now, those electronics stores are a whole different story. They've got some serious security. But on black friday, they often put out a pallet of electronic goodies

Pick up the item and head over to customer service with a long lineup. Wait in the line for about 10 to 15 minutes, then act annoyed and leave with the item. This trick works because you forgot the receipt at home and didn't want to risk being denied and walking out. Just make sure to be natural and blend in as much as possible.

Another method is to have someone distract the worker or notice that they're busy with another customer. Take advantage of this moment to walk out with the item without attracting attention.

If you're in a drugstore with an electronics section or a department store, you can set up the item you want, remove the security tag, and have it ready for pickup. Buy something like $150 headphones to get a receipt. Then, simply pick up the item you want, walk out, and return the headphones on another day.

Another option is to set up a scenario where you purchase $800 speakers or a soundbar. While paying, ask the cashier to put $150 headphones in a bag. As you walk out, casually pick up the soundbar over your shoulder and wave goodbye. This method works because you're only allowed to buy and return items at the electronics area.

You can also try putting items in a bag and walking out, or leaving the item by the front door and picking it up later. Look for opportunities to make your exit when there's a momentary distraction.

To be continued... we need to come up with better ways to explain things.

For now, plan a day during Black Friday, sales, or Boxing Day. In summary, find your moment on boxing day. If it's not there, either come back later or wait around until you find your opportunity to walk out unnoticed.

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

So, there's many of you now. I know we're in the How Sweet It Is Not To Know Follower Counts website and I do cherish that, but still, more people than ever in my life clicked a button that in some capacity says "I care what this dork has to tell me" and I want to acknowledge and celebrate that - especially now that this growth seems to have settled into its rhythm.

Spot when @identifying-cars-in-posts reblogged my pinned, lol.

So, for my 100th post, I felt like celebrating our love for reaching round numbers. And little in the automotive world represents it more iconically than what reigned supreme above all cars in the 1980s.

Porsche started out as an engineering firm, whose most notable contract was what would become known as the Volkswagen Beetle (and boy what a story that is). The first car of its own was the 356 seen below - a sporty body laid over Beetle underpinnings and thus still mostly made by Volkswagen. But by God, they were going to run with that recipe and perfect it 'til the sun burst.

Meanwhile, in England, a chap called Colin Chapman decides the next of his company's track cars will actually be drivable on the street, to need no trailer to go race. Thus the Lotus Seven is born and sold in kit, which avoids high taxes on the exporting of cars to the US (but those taxes would have remained had they been sold with assembly manuals… so they were sold with disassembly manuals for you to read backwards. No, seriously.).

The Porsche 356 kept getting less and less Volkswagen and more and more Porsche until in 1964, the year of the Beatles, the year of the Stones, the stone-age Beetle was left behind for good with the Porsche 911 (seen below), a blank-canvas take on the same recipe of an air-cooled rear boxer engine powering the rear wheels of a squished-Beetle-shaped sportscar. 'Twas good.

In 1973, Lotus was doing pretty well for itself. The Seven's whole 2500 sales had carried it through producing a number of other models, and a few were even in production concurrently - a lineup! Exciting stuff! Well, that and an F1 team so successful its Wikipedia page features the section "Domination in the 60s and '70s". The exciting opportunity to move upmarket, with bigger models with AC and automatics and all that bougie shit, pushed them to move away from the image of scruffy old kit car makers, ceding the Seven's production to the last two dealers that sold it, main one being Caterham Cars.

The 911 headed into the 80s old enough to drive, and Porsche's plans considered it at the end of the line, with staff already mourning it. But then the yankee at his third week as CEO saw those plans (which to Germans are basically scripture), said "to hell with that" and extended that line off the chart. Literally. He went to the lead engineer's office and physically took a marker at a development chart. They all secretly liked that.

Still, it was clear the game was changing - intercoolers, all wheel drive, active suspension... how hard could the 911 layout go if it didn't stick to its simple air-cooled roots? Well, Porsche resolved to find out by filling it with the cusp of automotive advancements and then some. And I do mean filling - a chassis that didn't even need space for a radiator was suddenly tasked with storing it, two turbos, two intercoolers, and a good half dozen oil pumps.

Yeah good luck with that, buddy. Oh, and materials? The body was kevlar, the frame was aluminium, the floor was Nomex (ever even heard of Nomex???), the wheels were magnesium and the spokes were hollow!!!! You could blow into the spokes!!! And don't get me started on the technology! Variable height, an all-wheel-drive system that distributed torque at will, electronics galore... As you may be able to guess, development was… complex.

At one point a test driver was doing 180km/h (112mph) to go get the car un-on-fire-d, and that's just one of the plenty horror stories. Hell, work started in 1983 to create a car for Group B and took so long that when said rally series died in 1986, production was just starting. Not that development would stop at the start of production, either - the first cars just got updated when the owners took them in for their service. (Can't blame them, I fix wording in weeks-old posts...) But however long it took, the resulting Porsche 959 answered the originating question "How hard can this chassis go?" with a resounding "Hard and then some".

It was comfortable and refined enough to be driven every day, but so capable it extended the limits of the concept of production car. Put it this way: it reached car people's favorite round number, 100km/h (to yankee doodles, 60mph) in 3.6 seconds. The second fastest production car did so in 4.6. That's one second of margin in a race that ends in five. Oh, and if you want to put it another way: the 959 was the first production car to ever surpass 300km/h, let alone come 1 shy of the mythical 200mph (322km/h).

Meanwhile, the handful of chaps at Caterham was still producing the Caterham Seven. It's the Lotus Seven (specifically the third revision, from 1968), but I guess in '83 the engine changed. We were saying?

They couldn't sell the 959 stateside for lack of crash test data, and America's ban on importing foreign cars under 25 years of age had no exception. That is, until Bill Gates wanted a 959 so bad he spent 13 years getting an exception passed. That's how hot this car is.

And yet, this record-breaking, boundary-pushing, master-of-all-trades hypercar sits atop the 80s automotive landscape engulfed in shadow. But how? Why? Because it failed to contend with the greatest automotive headache: humans. It was planted, practical, reliable, predictable - docile, domesticated, amicable. Perfect. But these are not meant to be cars, they're meant to be posters. And you don't get posters of what is perfect, but of what excites you. And what excites us is the visceral, the raw, the uncompromising - the wild, the feral, the dangerous. And, of course, reaching round numbers. What excites us is a lot more like the first production car to break 200mph, the Ferrari F40.

Remember how the 959 was being developed for Group B racing and then the series died? Well, Ferrari got screwed over too, with the 288 GTO Evoluzione they were developing (seen here to the right of the base 288 GTO) suddenly having no reason to be.

The lead engineer then asked Enzo Ferrari to let him turn that weekend project (literally, they couldn't spend work week time on it) into a road car to celebrate their 40 years. Enzo, nearing the end of his days, thought "Ah, what the hell, let's leave with a bang", so they set off to build what would become the anti-959. Not anti as in response, but as in antithesis. Where the 959 was an attempt to modernize the noisy, unrefined, old-school 911 -to make a supercar "tested for everyday usability to the most strenuous standards", by Porsche's words- the F40 was a reaction to, per Ferrari's words, "customers saying Ferraris were becoming too plush and comfortable": "nothing but sheer performance. Not a laboratory for the future, as the 959 is. Not Star Wars."

To exemplify: left is the 959 - note the leather and electric seats, right is the F40, note the string you open the door with.

The F40 was noisy, crashy, torrid, and the turbo lag painstakingly smoothed out in the 959 here kicked you in the back like a locked door. It would rip your head off the moment it sensed you didn't know what you were doing. But it was more exciting - to look at, to hear, to drive. And that's what won people over - including the buyers, which were near four times as many as Porsche's despite the price tag being double.

Had the 959 lost then? Well, not quite. Enter the 959 S. Doing away with much of the 959's luxuries, like adjustable suspension, electric windows, AC, central locking, and even backsea- wait, the 959 had BACKSEATS???? Holy FUCK why does no one talk about that??? Take the family on a trip to 300kphville! I was saying. They schlapped some bigger turbos on too and power went from 444hp right past the F40's 470hp to a healthy 508, that propelled it over what any roadgoing F40 ever managed at 211mph, or 339km/h. Presumably for bragging rights.

And I want to stress, these were titans clashing here. This was leagues beyond what other production cars could even comprehend. Again, the 959 hit 100km/h in 3.6 seconds. The F40 held a record by taking less than 16 seconds to go from 0 to 160km/h(100mph) and back to 0. This was witnessing superhumans fighting through the clouds.

And then in 1992, the two chaps that 'developed' Caterhams (i.e. banged new ones together in the shed) told the chap they worked for "Hey, let's make one that's really barebones and fast", rang up their ol' mate (and ex-F1 racer) Jonathan Palmer to ask to lend a hand, and bought some of the 250hp engine that powered the Vauxhall (British for Opel) Cavalier GSi in the British Touring Car Championship.

Thus, the Caterham Seven Jonathan Palmer Evolution - a raw, uncomfortable, uncompromising beast that went fast as all fuck. Now, if you don't know Sevens you may think "Ah, so just like the F40, what with its handcrank windows and the string to open the doorlatch and all". And to illustrate how far off that is: in the Seven the windows were sown on and you latched the door yourself with a press button.

And that's the standard version which had windows and doors. The JPE didn't.

The JPE had a carbon tub you were meant to call a seat, the controls, a rev counter and a tach that didn't even bother reading until 30mph, and fuck you. And this one is not even as barebones as the JPE got: this one is painted.

So while the F40 went from 1,250kg (2760lb) to 1370kg (3020lb) when adjusted to comply with US regulations and the 959 went from 1450kg (3200lb) to the lightweight S version's 1350kg (2975lb), the Seven JPE weighed 1170. As in 1170lb. 530kg. Read that again if you need to, but it had about half the power of those two and considerably less than half the car to move. And so, in January 1993, this thing -this '50s coffin with a Vauxhall engine banged together by one guy in a shed- took the Guinness World Record for fastest car to 100km/h with a time of 3.46 seconds - and the 0-160km/h-0 record with 13.1 seconds. Close your eyes and picture that.

Yet the Seven JPE is hardly known to anyone but the most hardcore of enthusiasts, and owned by barely four dozens of 'em. So did it, perhaps, ultimately lose? Not at all. In fact, none of these cars did.

Every 959 cost Porsche twice what they sold it for, but the project proved the 911's layout could stand the test of time, and its development gave Porsche technologies it gradually infused into the 911 keeping it relevant, competitive, and most importantly alive to this day.

And I think we can safely say that when Enzo Ferrari died in 1988, a year after the F40's launch, his wish to leave with a bang was perfectly fulfilled - so much so that the F40 is commonly regarded as the peak of his legacy.

And the JPE was simply the greatest Seven ever - the most raw, thrilling, pure automotive experience the streets had ever witnessed. If driving a fast car was like biking down a hill, the Seven JPE was skydiving. Hell, it was the cover car of éX-Driver, an anime about a team using old-school sportscars to rescue haywire autonomous vehicles!

Not that culturally relevant but MAN was it cool as a kid. I need to hang those damn posters one of these days. I was saying.

These are three success stories in three radically different ways. Because, as much as I've made this post all about the numbers, sometimes it's not about that. Sometimes it's about making a show, leaving a mark, being spectacular. Sometimes it's about pushing yourself to achievements you can take pride and inspiration from. Sometimes it's simply about having fun seeing just how far you can really go. Sometimes it's about deciding what you want to be and make a new favorite version of yourself, that is the best it can be at what you care the most about. And for some that may result in less popularity or success or impact or legacy than others, but those are just some of the things you can work towards. It can be okay to just work towards having a blast. Hell, those madmen at Caterham used to stay after work to build themselves track cars, race them the next day and put ‘em back in the workshop after racing them, and the company survived to this day. Because, yes, they're still around - and their new lineup topper gets to 100 in 2.8. Windshield still optional. Well, at least there's headrests now. And a wider version, for the concrete possibility that you physically don't fit.

Never change, Caterham, because you certainly never have.

Links in blue are posts of mine explaining the words in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

[cirerally]

Indie Browser Games Masterpost

⚠️ Make sure to check the descriptions of the games for information beforehand as some of them can be triggering! ⚠️ Also, feel free to suggest games to add! The platform doesn’t matter as long as it’s safe and you can play without necessarily logging in! 

Stylization 👾: pixel art 🎮: low poly (ps1 style) 🧊: 3D

Difficulty 🍃: easy 🍊: medium 🌶️: hard No emoji: doesn’t apply

Visual novels

Off day: "A point & click visual novel about appreciating the little things in life." (via itch.io)

👾 Is it that deep, bro?: "A text-based game where you navigate the tricky headspace of a teenager who is going to see a movie with his friend." (via itch.io)

Dating sims

👾 Nothing to say: "You're on a date with a cute girl, but you're feeling tongue-tied... Can you puzzle out how to confess your feelings?" (via itch.io)

Horror

👾 Five Nights at Freddy’s NES: do I have to explain. (via itch.io)

🎮 Burger & Frights: "It's a late night and you were craving burgers. It's time to ride home." (via itch.io)

👾 Egg friend: "Play games. Earn money. Feed it. Love it. Watch it grow. It is sure to love you back. "

Adventure

👾🍃 Princess Poffin and the Spider Invasion: "The moth kingdom has been covered in spiderwebs! it's up to poffin to find the spider responsible, and restore her kingdom to its former web-free glory!" (via itch.io)

Platformers

👾🌶️ HELP! NO BRAKE: "Hey umm, your car won't brake anymore. So better clear all the levels to get it fixed I guess."  (via itch.io)

👾🍊 Bio Evil 4: "Leave to me, Leon!"

Under 5 minutes

How to make a cup of tea: "Hello! You know, I could do with a good cup of tea. Could you please make me one? Don't worry, I'll guide you through it!" (via itch.io)

We become what we behold: the legend itself. (via itch.io)

Gacha

👾🍃 Catfishing cuties!: "Catfish to fish for some local cuties! Collect them all!" (via itch.io)

Text based (like, only text)

You Are Jeff Bezos: ‘’When you wake up this morning from unsettling dreams, you find yourself changed in your bed into a monstrous vermin.’’

Puzzle games

👾 Economical: "2D puzzle action game where saving coin is important!"

👾 Poca - A Thief’s Escape: "Steal all carrots in a level to exit."

👾 Knightin’:  "Knightin' is a little zelda-like adventure. Explore dungeon, fight monsters and solve puzzles." (via gamejolt)

👾🍊 Witch’s familiar: "Your master has tasked you with an urgent delivery." (via itch.io)

🍃 Good Morning!:  "A morning routine simulator." (via itch.io)

👾 Last seen online: ‘‘You find an old computer at a garage sale. So you decide to turn it on.’‘ (via itch.io)

Roguelike

👾🍃 Labor power: "A small Pikmin-inspired game dedicated to class solidarity and the betterment of working conditions."

Multiplayer

Local 

👾 Toe II Toe: "Who said fighting games need to be difficult and time consuming? (Seriously, punch those gatekeepers!)" (via itch.io)

Thwack: "Funky-legged tennis." (via itch.io) (also a demo)

Online

Count together: "Count all the passing creatures." (via itch.io)

Shooters

🧊🍊 Wolfgun: "You are WOLFGUN - an ornery, rage-filled werewolf on the set of a bad horror movie. Hordes of undead ghouls wielding knives have broken into the studio and want you dead, and it doesn't look like they're part of the crew." (via itch.io)

Demos

👾 Small town emo: a game set before Halloween in 2007 about a seventeen year old emo with a crush on his best friend. (via itch.io)

👾🍊 10 Minutes Till Dawn: "Survive the onslaught of an endless horde of monsters for 10 minutes!" (via itch.io)

🎮 Fear the Spotlight: follow your mysteriously-vanished friend to the abandoned area of Sunnyside High, but beware, something seems to be lurking there with you. (via itch.io)

Mr. Stretch and the Stolen Fortune: "Join the late Mr. Stretch on his quest to reclaim his fortune, stolen from him by an old enemy that Mr. Stretch can't quite remember."

No ending 

👾🍊 BASES LOADED: a baseball survival game... basically? (via itch.io)

👾🍃 Bunnyland:  "A bunny is shipwrecked on an island and your task is to survive and get off the island." (via itch.io)

👾🌶️ GB-Wordyl: A Wordle clone for the Game Boy that will ruin your life. (via itch.io)

🎮 Hungry ducks: "If there is no food... you become the food!!!" (via itch.io)

👾🍃 Ketris:  "Avenge your adorable dog by clearing rows and decatpitating the evil Kets! (via itch.io)

Plant daddy: "Your plants grow in real time–water them, buy some furniture, and then close the tab and come back when you have a spare moment!" (via itch.io)

👾🍃 Shoukan Connect: "Use your tripwire to prevent the ghosts from reaching the circle and connecting the 5 points of the star that has no affiliation to any existing religion!" (via itch.io)

Terraforma:  "Grow your land by placing blocks & buildings while carefully planning your placements, and make your own little world in this small idle game." (via itch.io)

[queen-of-the-avengers]

CATFA: Part Seven

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.4k

Warnings: canon violence, language, and angst

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

They're using Steve as a face for their brand, and he's doing shows in front of soldiers and civilians to sell bullets. They're not even using the two best weapons they have, and you hate seeing Steve dress up and go on stage every weekend. Steve's been doing this for months, and you can't believe he hasn't stood up for himself. This act has taken you across Europe and into Italy.

"I don't know if I can do this," Steve sighs.

Soldiers are watching the girls perform songs right before Steve is supposed to go out there. You refuse to put on one of those tiny outfits and strut on stage. So, they stuck you backstage to watch.

What a fucking joke.

"They're fucking stupid if this is the best they can come up with," you groan.

"There is nothing to it," the Senator's assistant says. "When you sell a few bonds, those bonds buy bullets, and bullets kill Nazis. You're an American hero."

"It's just not how I pictured getting there."

"You and me both," you sigh.

"The senator's got a lot of pull up on the hill. If you play ball with us, you'll be leading your own platoon in no time. Take the shield," the assistant says as Steve puts on his head mask. 

"Seriously? This is the best they can do?" you ask the assistant.

"I don't make the rules, doll."

"Don't call me that."

Steve walks on stage and every soldier is silent. He's used to performing for kids and families who cheer him on and clap. These soldiers give him nothing.

"How many of you ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?" He gets nothing but silence. "Okay. Uh... I need a volunteer."

"I already volunteered! How do you think I got here?" one of the men shouts, and an echo of laughter follows. "Bring back the girls!" 

"I think they only know one song, but let me... I'll... I'll see what I can do," Steve stutters.

"You do that, sweetheart."

"Nice boots, Tinker Bell!" another man shouts.

Steve awkwardly walks off stage and the girls who performed come on stage again. That gets the attention of every soldier who whistles and cheers for them. Typical men. 

"Don't worry, pal. They'll warm up to you," the Senator's assistant says.

This is a nightmare. You're living in a real-life nightmare that you can't seem to escape. After the show and right before dusk, you find Steve sitting by himself. The clouds rolled in early afternoon and are giving you a light drizzle, but Steve doesn't care if he gets wet. He's depressed because he wants to fight and help others.

"Hey," you say and sit next to him. "I can stop the rain if you want."

"I don't care," he sighs.

"There you two are." You turn to find Peggy approaching you two. "I've looked everywhere for you."

"What are you doing here?" Steve asks.

"Officially, I'm not here at all. That was quite a performance."

"Yeah. I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I'm used to are usually a lot younger."

"I understand you're 'America's New Hope'?"

"Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every place I visit."

"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?"

"At least he's got me doing this. Phillips would have had to be stuck in the lab."

"I don't get it. He knows what we can do. Why doesn't he just use us?" you sigh.

"You think these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this."

"For the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas, being on the front lines, and serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I'm wearing tights."

Sirens can be heard in the distance that gets louder the closer they get to base camp. You look over your shoulder and see wounded men on stretchers inside a few cars. If only you could heal others like you can heal yourself.

"They look like they've been through hell," you comment.

"These men more than most," Peggy explains. "Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him, and less than fifty returned. Your audience contained what was left of the one-oh-seventh. The rest were killed or captured."

The second she says the 107th, your heart drops into your stomach. You didn't see your boyfriend in the audience, which means he's on the enemy's territory.

"No, the 107th?" you asked in horror.

"What?"

"Bucky," you say and look at Steve.

You both get up and rush over to the Colonel's tent who is busy with stuffing papers into envelopes.

"Colonel Phillips."

"Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man-With-A-Plan and his secretary. What is your plan today?"

"I need the casualty list from Azzano," Steve orders.

"You do not give me orders, son."

"We need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th," you urge.

"You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy," the Colonel points to Peggy.

"Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R—"

"I can spell!" The Colonel cuts you off. "I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count, but the name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."

No, you refuse to believe the love of your life is dead. You shake your head and back up slowly to keep yourself from strangling the Colonel.

"No, he's not dead."

"What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?" Steve asks.

"Yeah! It's called winning the war."

"If you know where they are, why not at least--"

"They're thirty miles behind the lines through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lose more men than we'd save, but I don't expect you to understand that because you're a chorus girl."

"I think we understand just fine," you growl.

"Then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got someplace to be in thirty minutes," the Colonel says before leaving his desk. 

There is a map of the location of the rest of the 107th team. They're not that far from here, and you know you can save them all if you can just get over there. Based on the look Steve gives you, he sees it too. You two leave the tent and head over to yours to pack a bag. You're going to go over there and save everyone, including your boyfriend.

"What do you plan to do?" Peggy asks, following you inside your tent. "Walk to Germany?"

"He won't be walking," you smirk.

If you had to, you'd change into an animal to carry Steve all the way over to Germany.

"You heard the Colonel, your friend is most likely dead."

"No!" you shout and turn to her with an angry look in your eyes. "He's not my friend, he's my boyfriend. He's the love of my life. Until I see a body, I refuse to believe he is dead."

"The Colonel is devising a strategy. If he detects--"

"By the time he's done that, it could be too late!" Steve shouts and finished packing up. "You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"

"Every word."

"Then you gotta let us go."

It doesn't take a lot to convince Peggy to help you cross the border into Germany. She and Howard Stark can offer you a plane ride into Germany, and get you as close as they possibly can. The Colonel knows nothing of this, and even if he did, you don't care. Once you heard Bucky is in danger, nothing is stopping you from going over there and saving him.

"The Hydra camp is in Krausberg," Peggy says once you four are in the air, "tucked between two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind."

"We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep," Howard says from the cockpit.

"Just get us as close as you can," you say. "You two are gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble at the lab."

"You two won't?" Peggy asks.

"Where we're going, if anybody yells at us we can just shoot them," Steve smiles.

"They will undoubtedly shoot back."

"Well, let's hope it's good for something."

Steve stole the shield, helmet, and uniform he used in his shows to protect himself as well as show everyone just who is going to save them.

"Agent Carter, if we're not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue," Howard shouts over the loud noises.

You look at Steve to see what his reaction is to Howard's words. He and Peggy have a thing for each other but you're not going to interfere with their relationship. Steve gets up and puts his parachute on but you remain seated.

"Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace. We're lucky to have him."

"So, are you two...? Do you...? Fondue?" Steve asks awkwardly. 

"This is your transponder." Peggy avoids his question and hands over two communicators to you and Steve. "Activate it when you're ready, and the signal will lead us straight to you."

"Are you sure this thing works?"

"It's been tested more than you, ma'am," Howard grins.

Suddenly, the plane is being attacked by bullets from people on the ground. They sensed a foreign aircraft in the air, and with this being a war, they decide to shoot first and ask questions later.

"That's our cue!" you yell.

Steve walks over to the door and opens it, and a rush of wind gets sucked in. You use your aerokinesis to divert the air away from you so you can see what you're doing.

"Get back here! We're taking you all the way in!" Peggy yells.

"As soon as I'm free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!"

"You can't give me orders!"

"The hell I can't! I'm a Captain!" Steve grins and jumps out of the plane.

You're about to follow after him when Peggy stops you.

"Wait, your parachute!"

"I don't need one!" you yell and dive out of the plane.

The wind is nice against your face. Flying is and has always been your favorite thing to do. You can control how fast you go, and you can go as high as the atmosphere will allow you to. Since there is no air in space, you can't fly up there without your space suit on. 

This will never not get old.

You catch up to Steve who looks at you like you're crazy for not having a parachute on. You wave at him and continue flying faster to get to the ground quicker. You get to the ground before Steve does, and you land as gently as a feather. Steve's landing is a bit rockier but he manages not to alert anyone. He clips off his parachute just as you join his side.

"Damn, I can't see a thing. We are close?" Steve whispers.

"Stay here. Let me check."

You transform yourself into a bird and fly high, making sure not to be seen by German soldiers. About three yards from where you were is a road where trucks are being driven into the base. The cars have thick and dark covers on the back of the trucks that could easily hide you and Steve if you were to hijack one. You fly back to Steve and transform back into yourself.

"There's a road with trucks. We can hide in one of them and it'll take us into the base. Come on."

You and Steve run over to the street just as the last truck passed you by. You run towards the back of it and jump inside only to be greeted by two soldiers.

"Fellas," Steve pants.

They go to attack you, but you grab their shoulders and head-butt them as hard as you can. You punch one and fling him out the back of the truck while Steve does the same. No one saw a thing, and you're now inside the facility. The truck backs up to a dock of some sort to get unloaded, but Steve is prepared for this. He hits the soldier who moves the curtain away with his shield, and the soldier goes flying backward.

You two escape the truck and run further into the facility while remaining unseen. There is a bis ass factory where the 107th is being held, no doubt, and in order to get there without being made, Steve jumps on top of the sea containers. You two make your way to one of the back doors and slip inside.

You thought the outside was crawling with soldiers, but the inside has three times as many. There are large machines in lines throughout the factory, so you use those to hide yourselves from Hydra soldiers.

There is a small area where weapons are laid out on top of boxes, but these aren't normal weapons. Each weapon is glowing with blue energy, the same kind the Tesseract emits. You feel a sudden pull to it like you're a moth and they are the flame. Steve grabs a small weapon to see what it is and decides to pocket it.

"What are you doing?" he whispers.

"I'm sorry, but there's something about this light... I can't explain it."

"Come on."

Steve has to physically pull you away to get you to focus, and you two rush into another part of the factory. This part has a bunch of cages with men stuck inside of them. They're from the 107th, and that means Bucky might be here somewhere. A guard is patrolling on top of the cages, and you use your powers without touching him. You heat his body temperature quickly but not enough to kill him. He gets so hot that he passes out right on top of one of the cages, alerting the soldiers in them.

You and Steve run over and grab the keys off the Hydra nut.

"Who are you two supposed to be?" one of them asks.

"I'm... Captain America."

"Lieutenant Y/N."

Steve unlocks all the cages, allowing the soldiers to escape them. You look at every soldier who Steve frees, but Bucky isn't anywhere here. If he's not here, then he has to be somewhere in this factory.

"Is there anybody else? I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes," you ask as you make your way through the crowd.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one's ever come back from it," a soldier informs you.

"Alright," Steve says, capturing the attention of the men. "The tree line is northwest about eighty yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell. We'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else we find."

"Wait! You know what you're doing?"

"Yeah. I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 16: WE MEET THE DRAGON OF ETERNAL BAD BREATH

"So you will not be detecting a hint of minty freshness?" Magnus grinned. He didn't even freak out this time there was going to be a dragon.

"I'll give Grover mad props if he tries to seduce the dragon," Alex nodded along, scrutinizing the book in her hands and wondering how detailed this thing was going to be if the dragon ate someone, or fell for the goats sweat talk. Either way, she was excited to find out.

"I swear you two are certifiable," Percy said in exasperation, mildly concerned why Alex was trying to set his best friend up after his last disastrous date with Polyphemus.

"Hopefully its rank breath is its main attack, which means it can't breathe fire?" Jason offered. Thalia thought it was adorable how optimistic that was but decided not to tell him that.

"We will never make it," Zoe said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," Bessie said.

"He was probably agreeing he didn't want to get left behind again," Will nodded for the poor thing. "I bet he's been mad offended this whole trip Percy never traveled with him before this."

"Do I want to know where he'd take me?" Percy asked wearily. Was Bessie going to drag him off to the alter where he was supposed to be sacrificed for his big choice?

He swam next to me as we jogged along the waterfront. We'd left the shopping center pier far behind. We were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than I'd realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," I said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"I wish more doors had physical limits like that," Alex grinned. "Reinforced business hours."

"The rush would be mad though," Magnus imagined actual murder going on rather than the occasional trampling to get to those sales. Alex, of course, didn't seem very concerned about that part.

"What happens if we miss it?"

Thalia gave Percy the concerned and very confused stare she hadn't managed at the time while running. Like he didn't know the answer to that?

Percy grimaced. "I was hoping she'd say something nice for once, like oh, we can sneak in through the backdoor."

"The girl who has never once started a sentence with the good news?" Thalia confirmed.

"I was being optimistic for her," Percy sighed.

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

Or Annabeth will be dead, I thought, but I didn't say that.

He didn't have to. The painful squirming number he did in his seat said it for him. It was quite possible he was being attacked by an invisible assailant and just wasn't screaming out loud.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" I asked.

"Would he shrink to fit in a cat carrier?" Alex asked seriously.

"I vote we don't bring the world destroying cow-serpent to their front door," Jason frowned.

"I think he goes wherever he wants," Magnus uneasily reminded.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"Could he just pop you over to where the entrance is?" Magnus asked with a frown. "Isn't it a little dangerous to be taking him to where Luke is going to be? I'm assuming it's not just a child of the big three that can use his entrails."

"We don't even attempt to try that," Thalia promised.

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

Jason studied the book with unease. "Is it really a good idea to send Bessie to Olympus?" He didn't think it was entirely his instinctive distrust of these gods that made that sound like a bad idea.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Percy asked, clearly frazzled and still stuck on the other major time limit. "I don't think my mom can keep him in the bathtub for long!" His dad would know what to do with Bessie, he was sure of that.

Jason let it go, for now, with more pressing matters on the horizon, but he he was worried what would happen about this later. 

"But he was following me." I said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

I stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.

"Goats can swim just fine," Alex said with a weird amount of confidence, as if she spent a lot of time at the Y in more kinds of kid swimming classes than they had.

"Maybe it's his different anatomy that makes it a tad difficult," Percy suggested. He'd offered to chill with him in the Long Island Sound a few times to get his confidence back last summer and Grover had barely wanted to get his hooves in the sand, let alone near the water, so Percy had quickly let it go.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

"Technically we can all talk to him," Will grinned, "we just can't tell what Bessie's saying back."

"And here I thought ASL could be a good universal language," Jason looked legitimately like he was pouting over there he'd never get a chance to talk to the cow.

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said.

"So he can use that on himself!" Jason blurted, before breaking out into snickers.

"He's a wild animal at parties only," Percy grinned along.

"Grover's going to shove his reed pipes through your ears," Thalia promised the two idiots.

"That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

I didn't understand how they could possibly swim back to Long Island from California. Then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. I'd seen plenty evidence of that.

Nico winced and was now very glad Percy didn't know about his ability to shadow travel. Just one more thing Percy could associate with him being creepy and weird.

I tried to concentrate on the waves, the smell of the ocean, the sound of the tide.

"Dad," I said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."

I thought for a second. Then I took off my coat.

Thalia couldn't help an uneasy feeling at him using the Nemon Lion fur, even though she knew it all worked out. It had already saved Percy's life once, it was very valuable indeed to pass muster for this prayer, but she was more selfish than him and wished he'd kept it to keep her friend safe.

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

As soon as he said that, I realized something.

I glanced at Zoe, who was watching me carefully. I realized I did know who Zoe's hero had been—the one who'd ruined her life, gotten her kicked out of her family, and never even mentioned how she'd helped him: Hercules, a hero I'd admired all my life.

"Because his life is crappier than yours," Nico recalled with a smile. "Never his attire."

"Or his personality," Percy agreed with a sharp look at the book. He hoped if he ever ruined someone's life like that Thalia wouldn't hesitate to jab him with a bow and arrow to remind him.

Nico sighed to himself even when he said something Percy agreed with he couldn't get a smile out of him.

"If I'm going to survive," I said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

"Oh that was obvious from the start," Alex grinned in a way that didn't make Percy feel better. "You'd never be enough of a lady's man to convince Zoe to betray her family for you."

"Thanks, it's what I've always strived for," Percy sighed.

I threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

"What would happen if Poseidon didn't accept the sacrifice?" Magnus asked. "Would he spit it back at you covered in algae?"

Hopefully, the answer wasn't drown Grover, Percy kept to himself as the awkward silence hung. Nobody really wanted to know the real answer.

The sea breeze picked up.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful," I told them.

"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" Bessie said.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And... it's long.

"Who needs a map when you have a satyr," Percy said proudly.

"You two officially share everything, an empathy link, a brain cell," Jason chuckled.

Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention—" Glub!

"Not the final words anyone should have," Nico muttered. He liked the memory he had of Grover introducing himself at Westover. It was real, and those cheese enchiladas weren't bad.

Under they went, and I hoped my father's protection would extend to little things, like breathing.

"Hopefully that wasn't a bonus sacrifice we had to give extra for or something," Percy muttered. "I'm all out of bull intestines."

"I'm sure he will, he made those pearls airproof through the ocean," Jason reminded.

"If Oceanus can remember I've got faith in your dad," Thalia agreed reluctantly.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right," I said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

I didn't like that option. I mean, sure this was a life-or-death situation, but still, it was stealing, and it was bound to get us noticed.

"I bet Hermes is so disappointed in you," Will snickered. "He's probably restraining himself from throwing Travis and Connor through the nearest hotel door to teleport them beside you and help move this along."

"Can he do that?" Percy said in awe.

"I don't know, but I'd believe it," Will shrugged.

"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" I asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

"He already moved there!" Magnus somehow sounded more outraged the more times he heard it. "Does he even know Annabeth's missing?!" Or care...

Percy didn't know. It's not like he could have called up and told. If he'd even thought of that himself he would have thought Chiron could somehow send a message, but he'd been a little more preoccupied with getting her back after the go-ahead from his mom.

The awkward silence lingered so long, Alex wasn't sure how to break it. She found herself wanting to hug a stranger she knew quite well by now, promise there were plenty of people who cared. Even Will got a moment of unease on his face before he shook it off, he couldn't imagine a single moment in camp without crossing her.

Thalia finally cleared her throat and offered, "um, no, I don't think he did know." She sounded almost confident about that at least. "He's used to going long bouts of silence from her, and last I heard she was waiting to send him a message if she'd be joining him there, or, err, other options available." Her Huntress threads glimmered as if she carried the moonlight around with her. Percy fidgeted with his camp beads and a grimace.

After hearing Annabeth gripe about her dad for two years, I was expecting him to have devil horns and fangs.

"I think I would have remembered that," Magnus muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I thought Athena had a type for blondes," Alex snorted.

I was not expecting him to be wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles. He looked so weird, with his eyes bugging out through the glasses, that we all took a step back on the front porch.

"Gods, I hope he didn't wear that when she was little," Nico muttered. No wonder she was always so confident in the face of monsters, if she'd grown up seeing that every day she probably was the bravest person ever.

"I bet Annabeth used to steal it to try and wear," Will grinned, causing the dopiest smile ever on Percy's face. Nico studied Percy for several moments and grew a bit concerned with himself why he'd never felt something like that. He even tried to picture Percy in such a stupid hat for a moment and still nothing.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

"Of course, there's an app for that," Magnus muttered.

"Why is he ordering airplanes and where do I get one!" Jason grinned.

"I'm sure if you ask Annabeth nicely she'll help arrange a ride," Percy tried to say like it was no big deal, never mind the fact he wasn't even sure if she was alive or they were on speaking terms, let alone giving out such favors.

Thalia, Zoe, and I looked at each other warily.

"Um, no, sir," I said.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," I said, though I had no clue what he was talking about.

"It's a biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917," Jason cited like he was reading from a dictionary.

"So you're telling me they're not the desert, spitting kind?" Percy asked blankly. "I'm begging of you to get a new hobby than just knowing everything," Percy sighed.

Jason wouldn't mind that either, considering he still went crosseyed with no clue why he remembered stupid trivia and that same vague feeling of a library he couldn't begin to understand.

"We're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if I'd just given him an electric shock.

"Thalia, we talked about this," Percy gave a long exaggerated look.

She smacked him with a hardy zap for good measure, smirking as his hair stood on end and he rubbed the spot.

"Is she all right? Has something happened?"

"How do you even answer that?" Alex mock whispered.

"I think you've already said enough to get the keys and be on your way," Magnus muttered, his foot twitching uneasily like he'd be as good as his word if he had half a chance. It seemed an official good thing he'd never tried to find Uncle Fredrick even if he could bear to leave Boston.

None of us answered, but our faces must've told him that something was very wrong.

He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome, I guess, for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

It didn't look like a house they'd just moved into. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home—the kind of place that had been lived in forever.

It was what a home was supposed to feel like. It was no wonder to Thalia he instantly recognized such a thing, having always had one with his mom. She on the other hand had noticed the way one could trip over the wooden floor turning to carpet, which LEGO robot was closest and could be used for the best projectile, how many exits there were and which direction the kitchen was that would have the best knives and maybe a snack to steal for the road.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

Percy tapped his pen against his knee as he considered why that bothered him for a moment. It took a second to realize, there was no feeling of a memory returning like he got every few paragraphs. He'd never learned this.

Not once in the two years he'd known Annabeth had she mentioned her half-brother's names. She didn't talk about her step-mom at all, he didn't even know her name, and might have pictured her as Lady Tremaine. The only reason he knew her dad's name was because she'd get angry and say the whole thing when she talked about the time he'd left her dog at the dog park or her at the store.

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun. "Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is..."

He stared at us blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

"I'm guessing you hadn't sent any pictures to Annabeth," Alex tried at a teasing tone, but it came across more sad. Sally would probably recognize Annabeth on sight without a picture.

"I get the feeling he'd forget our names even if we told him unless camels were involved," Percy shrugged off.

We introduced ourselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if we were hungry. We admitted we were, and she told us she'd bring us some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

I half expected Mrs. Chase to turn into a raving lunatic at the mention of her stepdaughter, but she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at me. "Nice meeting you, Percy. I've heard a lot about you."

Percy had woken up in here with such a deep-seated sense of longing, he knew in that moment as he looked blearily around it must have been there long before he'd lost all memory of Annabeth. He was slowly getting them back now, and this most confusing of all.

Just a glimpse, a small piece into her life he'd never have seen if she hadn't been taken.

Had she ever introduced her dad to him? He still didn't even have proof he'd gotten her back, that she was truly safe somewhere while he was trapped here. Was this a part of her life she'd never want him involved in, the mortal family who would never understand her?

Yet in these small, brief moments, they were welcoming and concerned. She'd talked about him to her stepmom, like an actual parental conversation had gone on at some point, at the very minimum a friendly enough one. He desperately wanted her beside him, as much now as ever. To turn and look to see how she thought of all this.

Magnus's surprise and unease was blatant enough, and that made him feel all the more concerned. What the heck kind of family was she always trying to escape? What would Annabeth say to them now for turning to these mortals for help in their desperate hour?

Other than calling him a seaweed brain anyways.

Upstairs, we walked into Dr. Chase's study and I said, "Whoa!"

"Never a good sign," Magnus gave a long suffering sigh. "Who's got the stopwatch until something explodes?"

"Hey," Percy wanted to protest, but his record really was against him.

The room was wall-to-wall books, but what really caught my attention were the war toys. There was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and stuff. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

"Cool," everybody in the room muttered at once. Jason looked like he'd murder someone to get his hands on the idea of that, and Alex was clearly contemplating the passage to decide how much time she'd have before Dr. Chase caught her messing with that.

"I'll bet none of you could count the number of times Annabeth was told off for wanting to play with those," Magnus said with a hint of pride.

"I'm proud it was just once," Thalia smirked.

Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for."

He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.

"Oh, right," I said. I knew Annabeth's dad was a professor of military history. She'd never mentioned he played with toy soldiers.

"It kind of makes him a lot cooler," Percy said uneasily, like he expected his girlfriend to appear beside him now of all times to smack him upside the head.

"At least you won't picture him with fangs anymore," Thalia snorted.

Zoe came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther from the river."

Dr. Chase stared at her. "How do you know that?"

"I was there," she said matter-of-factly.

Magnus made a pained grimace like somebody had just sucker punched his brain. Again. Of all the battles in history...

"Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."

"Aren't they all," Magnus said with a shake of his head. He'd only been a dreg of humanity for a few years, but long enough to be familiar with the idea humans would fight over the stupidest things that shouldn't matter in the grand scheme.

Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You—"

"She's a Hunter, sir," Thalia said. "But that's not why we're here. We need—"

"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said.

"Your help about Annabeth," Thalia finished her rudely interrupted sentence with a scrunched up nose. It was hysterically easy to recall her little sister telling her about how easily distracted her dad could be all of a sudden, and how that could be useful when avoiding getting grounded, and very disappointing when he forgot to pick her up from preschool. Again.

"How many were there? What formations did they fly?"

"Sir," Thalia broke in again. "Annabeth is in danger."

That got his attention. He set the biplane down.

"Now we're on to something," Magnus huffed.

"Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."

It wasn't easy, but we tried. Meanwhile, the afternoon light was fading outside. We were running out of time.

When we'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"We," Alex repeated with reluctant surprise. She'd been hoping he'd at best hand over the keys when he realized what was going on, at worse they'd get a live play of why Annabeth kept running away from this place.

Magnus was smiling though for this exact same wordage. Mortals still had the makings of heroes in them. He finally realized why his mom had always said that with such a secretive glint in her eyes.

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said.

Jason shivered like his brain was trying to crawl out of his skin through every orifice. He knew, without a doubt, that would be his place to start looking for answers when he got out of here.

It troubled him greatly Percy had woken up knowing the name Annabeth and nowhere to start looking for her, and he had a place with no face attached.

"And we need it immediately."

"I'll drive you. Hmm. It would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

Percy winced a bit at the thought of that, hoping Zoe would be first to volunteer to be strapped to a wing...and it's not like he'd make Thalia do it, gods that was going to suck-

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" I said.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"

"I'm starting to wonder how Minerva kept his attention long enough for Annabeth to exist," Jason muttered for himself. This guy was something else. Sally would have put her book down in an instant and had full attention. It was probably unfair of him to be weighing mortal parents, but since he had less clue about his own than even his godly parent, he was certainly riveted by the comparison.

"Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I... I can't just—"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced.

Thalia winced and released a very tired sigh. Annabeth hadn't eaten in days by the time they'd found her, and then it had taken a very delicate process for her and Luke to convince her to eat at the start. Mrs. Chase had the bad habit of trying to soothe fears and never let anybody get a word in, constantly cutting off Annabeth's attempts to talk or warn of a monster coming by offering snacks. Like she'd been taught playtime was over and food would make it all better, when that had never happened for her.

She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia and I inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Percy choked on his imaginary cookie he wished he could have been eating, dragged away from nice flashbacks of his mom and plunked into an uneasy feeling of when that promise had been made to Gabe. He swallowed a suddenly dry mouth and hoped history wasn't about to repeat itself.

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but... apparently it's no place for mortals."

It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out.

"Then maybe he's using the wrong word," Alex said slowly. There might not be a right word Magnus's uncle would ever feel comfortable using, but she'd heard and lived through worse parent relationships than she was seeing on the surface right here. Maybe Annabeth was just having a disconnect and could mend this fence.

She kept watching Magnus's troubled face though and sighed uneasily for her suspicion he was homeless just like her, and clearly, this hadn't been a considered option. Not all fences could be mended, and tolerance couldn't make a family.

I waited for Mrs. Chase to say no. I mean, what mortal parent would allow three underage teenagers to borrow their car? To my surprise, Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."

The relieved exhale that passed around the room gave them all a queasy feeling. They were a bit ashamed, that they were surprised it had gone so easily. Could whatever troubles that had caused Annabeth to run away been exaggerated by the kid? Were they still not hearing something major that Percy obviously couldn't pick up on after being there five minutes? Or was it just little things, that kept building over time Annabeth kept going back and forth on?

Will still sort of wished he could erase this exchange from his mind, getting this private glimpse into Annabeth's house without her permission, he certainly wouldn't be pleased if she was sitting around camp reading a book about how his relationship with his mom had gone.

"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys..."

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said.

Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now."

We hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us.

"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as I was leaving, "tell Annabeth... Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."

Percy's hand went up to fiddle with his necklace, his mind on a college ring that wasn't there but still resided on hers. Annabeth had never needed Percy to tell her anything, it was usually the other way around. He had a feeling she'd always known that.

He'd always associated her with Camp Half-Blood, where they'd met and spent so much time together. He tried to imagine if Annabeth had got a peek inside that disgusting old apartment with Gabe around and if she'd think he had it made with a roof over his head while she'd run away from this family. Or if she'd look at Smelly Gabe and understand how it felt to have a step-parent that made everything worse despite their parent's best efforts.

Regardless, he knew he'd always follow her lead on what she wanted.

I took one last look at the messy living room, Annabeth's half brothers spilling LEGOs and arguing, the smell of cookies filling the air. Not a bad place, I thought.

"I'll tell her," I promised.

We ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. I figured we had less than an hour to save Annabeth.

He shivered at the worst time restraint of his life. If he'd even get a chance to open his stupid mouth around her again.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."

"You both sound like my mother," I said. "Shut up!" they said in unison.

"Way to make me feel home away from home," Percy chuckled.

"Next time I'll even drive you off the road to get all the warm and fuzzies," Thalia rolled her eyes.

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.

"I really hope that's those Huntress reflexes, and not, you know, her vague immortality forgetting we would die on impact," Percy muttered.

Thalia didn't have an answer, but she did feel a tad more smug when she remembered Percy clutching his seat, fingers digging into the cushion like a lifeline just like she was.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" I asked.

"Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."

"Why?" Magnus drew out the word with painful and familiar concern if he wanted to know the answer to that.

"I'm assuming it's not for their high water content and more for the added bonus of being poisonous," Alex shrugged without concern.

"It also explains the bad breath," Will nodded like that was the biggest concern, not how they were going to get past it!

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"

"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

I didn't question her,

"You have a really bad habit of doing that," Jason pouted. It was obvious to anyone he'd be interrogating Zoe any given chance if he could.

"The less I have to pretend to remember the better," Percy shrugged.

but I did keep my eyes peeled more closely as we drove. Ahead of us loomed Mount Tamalpais.

Thalia was still watching Jason twitch every time that was mentioned and clenching her jaw against blurting out asking if he remembered something. The place obviously bothered him, but he was two when he vanished, how could he possibly have memories of it...

I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it.

"Are you literally making a mountain out of a molehill right now?" Alex asked.

"In what world is driving up to face the guy who kidnapped a goddess a molehill?" Percy yelped.

"I mean the mountain itself," Alex sighed.

"I think in this case he's making a molehill into a mountain," Magnus offered.

"I want this stupid metaphor to end," Percy groaned, and Alex obliged purely to get to the dragon.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked.

"Yes," Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

"Because it causes despair," Thalia said grimly.

"Probably a translation issue," Will said brightly, "that's how a lot of things got named way back when."

Percy didn't find either answer very comforting. Couldn't one person just pretend it was misnamed and really it should be called the Fluffy Bunny Mountain of Happiness Where Annabeth Was?

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"Why was he put in a garden with sunset spirits?" Magnus asked. "Sounds like he got a great lawyer to get him on community service or something."

"Remember everything you've yet heard in this Magnus," Thalia reminded. "Just because it sounds nice doesn't mean it's going to be." Her face could have been a Mist colored version of the Mountain of Despair to give them all a visual.

"The General," I said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?"

Zoe didn't answer. I got the feeing she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.

"Storm can't be worse than a dragon, right?" Magnus whispered just for Alex this time.

He didn't know why he'd been expecting a better answer. She scoffed and said, "knowing Percy's luck, the dragon's bad breath causes tsunamis."

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" I asked.

"Both."

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.

"Your dad sunbathing?" Will asked innocently.

"Godly backup?" Jason asked without hope.

"Beach party full of drunk teenagers," Alex said confidently.

"None of the above," Thalia sighed, which was probably a relief. Any of their three things just would have added to the horror movie cliche of what was waiting at the top.

"Look!" But we turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

Percy rubbed the side of his face where he'd smacked into the window from that sharp turn. Zoe was a true maniac with that wheel.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"A big white ship," I said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

"Only in your world have I ever considered a cruise ship a bad thing," Alex told him.

"Huzzah for being memorable," Percy sighed.

Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"

I wanted to say I wasn't sure. It might be a coincidence.

"The biggest honking coincidence I've ever heard," Will frowned, no matter he wished that too.

But I knew better. The Princess Andromeda, Luke's demon cruise ship, was docked at that beach. That's why he'd sent his ship all the way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California.

"I'm just going to pause and be grateful he can't make it fly," Magnus groaned.

"I, for one, hope those monsters at least enjoyed such a scenic route. Those trips aren't cheap," Alex sniffed.

Nico resisted the reminder those monsters had probably been to busy picking their teeth with human bones to take in the view.

"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."

"Why can't we ever have good company come over," Percy sighed. "It's always, monsters are attacking the camp, or, monsters are invading our rescue! I want a battalion of backup to be our company!"

"What I'm hearing is that you want to make more fwiends," Will said in a disgustingly gooey voice.

"You can be the pawn," Percy rolled his eyes.

Thalia was snickering at them, but as was usual now her eyes flickered to Jason who had a constipated look on his face. She didn't see how Percy's usual sarcastic commentary could have caused that, but she was resisting the urge more every moment to rush through this already and find out what he either couldn't, or wouldn't say out loud.

I was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"

Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question.

She used those with the same lead foot she had the gas. Percy clutched the seatbelt in memory only, if he hadn't been wearing one then, he probably would have sailed out the front window and gotten out first.

The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed me hard.

She'd reached past him with such speed he'd almost cut her hand off if he'd been able to get Riptide up in time. A pin from her jacket had clocked the edge of his eye and he'd only felt the dull throb of pain long after as he sat there rubbing it now.

We both rolled onto the pavement.

The next second: BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade.

Percy rubbed his neck in the awkward silence that followed and asked, "think this'll make Dr. Chase ban me from dating Annabeth?"

"If he doesn't I might," Magnus muttered without actually meaning it, but it was sort of distressing he'd already lost count of how many near-death experiences Percy had been in.

"You are never allowed near any motor vehicles around me," Alex informed him.

"I don't explode them by proximity!" But Percy's protest was useless to his own ears.

I probably would've been killed by shrapnel except for Thalia's shield, which appeared over me. I heard a sound like metal rain, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

"It looked like somebody had finally exploded the wrong Barney friend," Percy admitted.

"Little to specific Perce," Thalia told him in concern. "Especially because everybody in here already thinks you're a self-proclaimed pyro."

Percy thought about it for a moment before he said, "looked like I exploded another bus?"

"Vaguely better," she sighed while Alex huffed and muttered some more she'd never even gotten to see one.

"That's what you have to say after a car exploded around you?!" Magnus asked like they were insane. "Not, what the hell!?"

"Oh, err, right," Percy turned back to the book attentively like Mrs. Dodds had just snapped at him, but it still wasn't really that convincing.

I swallowed the taste of smoke out of my mouth, and looked at Thalia. "You saved my life."

"I do that from time to time," she agreed casually.

"Now I know I should never go on another quest without you," Percy grinned.

"You'd have to kidnap me to work with you again after this," she lied just as casually.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"

Percy didn't think that explosion was such a run-of-the-mill thing in his life now as he turned sharply back to Thalia. He wanted to protest, promise Zeus wouldn't do that to her. He'd saved her life on the dam, and Mr. D just had at the pier. Not to mention Apollo and Athena! They'd had more help on this quest from the gods than his past two put together. None of them were exactly acting like the end of the world was upon them, but clearly Artemis going missing had gotten all of their notice!

He wanted to believe that, he could almost delude himself for a moment it was true, but the troubled look on her face left him breathless with doubt again. Why had it taken the worst possible outcome for a goddess and Annabeth to be taken to get their attention? Where was his dad's help outside of two stupid words?

The unsettled look on Thalia's face wasn't helping to discourage these thoughts. That wasn't a line of the prophecy easily talked out of.

It hadn't worked though, Thalia was still here, very unperished. He had to hope that, like all those other prophecy's, he was missing something.

It took me a second to realize she was talking about her dad. "Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."

"Wasn't exactly the nuclear explosion I was promised," Percy insisted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, next time somebody tries to kill us you can give them an exact radius," Thalia rolled her eyes good naturedly enough. He hoped that meant she was past this little snafu of thinking her dad had tried to kill her.

"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name.

"She did?" Alex muttered, kicking herself as she skimmed back a few paragraphs to check. Damn, she had. They'd been saying all of the god's names so casually in here, she'd forgotten that was a warning. She twitched with stress and glared about the walls for a moment, wondering how complacent this place was starting to make her.

Maybe he—"

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."

"Wait," I said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"

Percy nearly startled out of his seat. "She has better reflexes than us! She got out right? Right!"

Thalia didn't want to lie to him again and say Zoe made it out of this. Her silence felt just as damning. She couldn't disrespect a fellow hunter by brushing it off as a joke. She was frozen, and hated herself for that indecision. "Zoe's reflexes are better than both of us put together," she finally managed. It certainly hadn't been a lack of skill to get her killed...but she still hated how it felt like lying to him. No answer at all. At least it wasn't a disservice of the old lieutenant.

We both got up and ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. I looked down the cliff. No sign of her.

It was like Bianca all over again, Percy shivered. Were all of his friends going to vanish without a trace, one by one until the gods had taken everyone away from him and still expect him to not care!

"Zoe!" I shouted.

Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Silence, fool!

Alex let out a blasting sigh of relief and shook the green hair from her face. "You could learn a lesson or two from her Thalia. How to jump out at just the right moment." Right on the edge of really feeling like another death had arisen, but before the cliché she was alive all along come-back could have happened.

"Oh, I'm aware," Thalia said, an old smile of regret that had been on her face since Zoe appeared on that cliff when Annabeth fell over.

Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"Depends on if he's a morning person," Alex shrugged.

"Nobody's a morning person," Will shook his head.

"Really? Not even a child of the sun?" Magnus asked in surprise.

"That's a stereotype," Will said tragically. "I drink coffee and smother it better than some of my siblings, but I assure you, morning people are an even more rare myth than seeing Pegasus himself."

Nico started chuckling quietly beside him, and Will felt such an immense glow he checked his arm real quick to make sure he wasn't. Thankfully not, but even that embarrassment would have been worth it to make Nico laugh, even softly like that.

"You mean we're here?"

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Thalia and I looked at each other.

"Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

"The clearest instructions I've ever gotten in my life," Percy said gratefully. And he still wasn't confident he'd pulled it off without screwing up somehow. He'd blame it on the foggy outlook.

"Wait, Thalia. About what happened back on the pier... I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You wouldn't actually have... you know?"

Alex scowled and muttered a bit Percy never actually shut his mouth when his friends asked him to. Thalia looked plenty annoyed at him, but was clearly resisting the urge to throw an arc of electricity directly into his brain through his ear so she obviously wasn't that annoyed.

She hesitated. "I was just shocked. That's all."

"And you're usually the one doing the shocking," Jason tried and failed at a grin as the unease lingered in him too. Thalia came across as a cool, confident badass. If she was having doubts, he found his own worry about the kind of parentage he could go back to rising. He rubbed his tattoo without realizing he was doing it again as he lost focus on the room, searching in vain as always in himself for some sort of clear-cut answer about anything. Why would Thalia's dad trying to kill her, of all things, leave a sort of annoying impression? What on earth kind of life had he led that would make him think murdery attention was better than nothing?

"Zeus didn't send that lighting bolt at the car. It was Kronos.

"Whom you're still casually using the name of," Nico muttered. "Yes, invite more trouble."

"I think that's Percy's middle name," Will snorted.

Perseus Inviting-Trouble Jackson. Has a nice ring to it, Nico smirked.

He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad."

It had worked. Thalia was still pretty pissed at herself for that. They probably hadn't even needed Luke's insights for the best way to get under her skin, but it still infuriated her to no end how easily she'd been manipulated into feeling exactly what they'd wanted going into this fight.

She took a deep breath. "Percy, I know you're trying to make me feel better. Thanks. But come on. We need to go."

"Do I at least get credit for trying?" Percy asked as he still watched her with troubled eyes. He hoped it was just pessimism making him worried she'd hesitate again. He trusted her to see this quest through, surely that would be enough for her to trust herself, if not her dad, then at least Annabeth.

She stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and I followed.

Magnus felt mildly more prepared for whatever they were about to come across in this place. Couldn't be any worse than a whole sea of unknown Mist, right?

When the fog cleared, I was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like I'd seen in my dream.

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen.

"I can't believe Grover missed out on the second paradise you came across." Jason would feel a lot worse for him though if he hadn't been held hostage on that first one, and the whole dragon thing slipped into there.

A point that Magnus was looking very uncertain about as he gripped his seat to try sinking even further into it. He wasn't screaming and freaking out about the dragon though, so, you know, progress.

The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and I don't mean yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. I mean real golden apples. I can't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as I smelled their fragrance, I knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.

"Could you eat one?" Magnus asked. "Or are they just there to tempt the foolish?"

"I bet Grover could eat one," Alex offered.

"Wasn't Luke sent to fetch one of these?" Jason leaned forward in his seat. "Something about a dragon?" His eagerness clearly wasn't abated at the idea of getting details over that.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

"Why would Zeus give Hera a gift to make her immortal? Wasn't she, already?" Magnus interrupted again.

"It's the principle of the thing?" Thalia answered with no enthusiasm. "Their love was supposed to be immortal or something." Her existence proved how well that lasted.

I wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.

Now, I don't know what you think of when I say dragon.

"Mountain-sized four-legged scaley snake thing on a pile of gold," Magnus offered.

"Rattlesnake bird mix eating someone who deserves it. With any luck you meet a real one," Alex grinned.

Jason opened his mouth as if to continue the insanity.

"I'm sorry it said anything, that wasn't meant to be an invite," Percy sighed, the last thing he needed was more ideas in his head of other dragons he could meet.

"Peleaus," Will grinned. If you scratched him in just the right spot, his scales ruffled up.

"With the exception of Will," Percy agreed while glancing over.

'Will's the exception to everything,' Nico silently agreed.

Whatever it is, it's not scary enough. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together.

Jason's mouth was still open in shock and awe and Magnus looked like he wanted to vomit his guts.

"Cooool," Alex was all but drooling at such a pristine monster she could spend ages looking at.

"Luke survived that?" Jason got his jaw working enough to cobble that together. "He came away with just one scar?"

Nobody had actually warned Thalia about that story. The first time she'd seen his scar was this day, when she'd finally seen him in person months after she'd awoken. She'd wanted to perversely know that story from then on, and yet nobody could ever tell it except the person she'd tried to kill.

He appeared to be asleep.

"No it did not make him look cute Alex," Percy said before Alex could finish looking around.

"I was going to ask if he snored?" Alex scoffed.

"No," Thalia said, "which made him all the more dangerous. Means he has great sinuses, the better to kill us with."

"So, even cooler," Alex nodded, obviously satisfied.

The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.

"Only Percy could make spaghetti a terrifying comparison," Nico chuckled.

"I bet his mom tried to slip broccoli into it and he's holding a grudge," Will nodded.

Then the shadows in front of us began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. I reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped my hand.

"After the sirens, I'm surprised your first instinct isn't to reach for ear wax," Jason said.

"Why is your first instinct to always reach for your sword? You cannot stab all of your problems Percy," Magnus seemed to agree.

"Hasn't failed me yet," he shrugged.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but I'd never realized how beautiful Zoe was until I saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"I feel like Zoe would not punch you for that description," Thalia nodded in approval.

"Annabeth might not either," Magnus chuckled.

"That's how you know you won the prize," Alex snorted.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see two half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

Whatever humor Percy had, as always, infused was blasted away by those icy words. Magnus in particular was pretty uncomfortable with how easily they dismissed their would be sister and how passive her death would be to them.

Thalia looked like she was trying to swallow dragon breath at those words. Jason was starting to get a really bad feeling about why that would bother her so much. That most damning line of the prophecy still on the forefront of his mind, and his earlier suspicions and clearly wrong assumptions about how Zoe might know so much about the general. She'd been kicked out of her home for loving somebody she shouldn't, a hero.

"You've got it wrong." I stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Thanks," Percy said sincerely. He didn't want people to take one look at him and think that anyways...wait.

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"Thanks Thals, feel the exact same way," Percy and she fist bumped. Their friendship was so casual it honestly made the others a bit jealous, especially Nico. It wasn't hard at all to imagine his dad becoming bitter after centuries watching Poseidon and Zeus hack each other off at all hours but always quickly forgive each other while either outright ignoring, or fearing Hades.

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Nice to know there's no delusion of a spa treatment this time," Percy scowled. He wasn't leaving that mountain without Annabeth.

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

Thalia and Percy didn't need to high-five again. The exact same look on their face spoke that action.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoe did the last thing I expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

"Wow, tell me how she really feels about me again?" Percy asked nervously.

"Confident," Thalia shrugged. If she hadn't trusted Percy, she likely would have just thrown him at Ladon to wake him.

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered.

"Well at least now we know Zoe was the best of them anyways," Jason grinned.

The idea of this place sat like a festering wound in his mind he wanted to pick at. At least these girls didn't contribute, he'd swear he never came across them period. Which didn't track with the very solid knowledge he swore he'd been here. This could not get any more confusing.

The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"

"Angry, yes. Delusional? Nah," Alex shrugged.

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem."

"I feel like there's a lot of problems going on here actually," Will waved his hand at nothing in here as he gestured at the book. "I can't think of someone in Greek mythology who doesn't need counseling in some way or another though."

"Group therapy doesn't fix everything, especially when dragons are involved," Thalia rolled her eyes.

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"I don't think he wants a hug," Magnus mock whispered.

"I bet he'd love one," Alex sniffed, "and nobody's ever tried."

"You'd need a hundred arms to do it fairly," Will snickered.

Percy got a strange feeling in the back of his mind and tapped his skull to make sure it was still working properly. No way did he have a memory of something about that.

"Zoe, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

"Should," I said. "Not exactly reassuring."

"The first reassurance she's ever given though, baby steps," Will offered.

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down my back, and that was before his breath hit me. The smell was like acid. It made my eyes burn, my skin crawl, and my hair stand on end. I remembered the time a rat had died inside our apartment wall in New York in the middle of the summer. This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. I promised myself right then that I would never ask a school nurse for another cough drop.

Thalia was mock waving her hand in her face, but her tone was very serious. "Seconded, and I don't even attend school anymore."

Jason whistled in awe. "Must be one powerful stench to never give an excuse to leave class again."

I wanted to draw my sword. But then I remembered my dream of Zoe and Hercules, and how Hercules had failed in a head-on assault. I decided to trust Zoe's judgment.

"Hercules would eat his sandal before he'd admit the same," Will grinned.

"Grover would eat a sandal too and he's not a jerk, I don't think that's a good measure," Percy said.

Will thought about it for a moment before he refined, "Hercules would give up his lion skin coat before he'd admit the same."

"Yeah, that I believe," Percy sighed.

Thalia went left. I went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.

Percy felt strange. For once it wasn't him charging down to confront death. The last time he'd let a friend go in his place, Bianca hadn't come back. He wasn't used to skirting the sidelines around the monster. Annabeth's hat had still been in his pocket, but he hadn't felt the need to put it on. A cap of invisibility wouldn't have fooled this dragon for long, he'd smell Percy who would have no chance and way less experience than Zoe. Percy trusted her without question to do this, but it didn't erase the sick feeling in him something was wrong.

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion.

"You say that like it's a thing," Jason smiled, clearly fixing to ask for a book on that.

Magnus frowned. "I'm more concerned you've been around enough dragons for it to be a thing."

Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I'm starting to think fool is a compliment," Percy smirked. "None of us ever call our enemies fool."

"I can call you a fool if you like," Thalia smirked.

"You've complimented me enough for one day," he waved off.

"And Percy's also implying he doesn't dish out the sickest burns to his enemies, so I don't see his point," Alex grinned.

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

"She doesn't smell like lamb's meat does she?" Percy muttered.

"Not unless you two stopped for gyro's without me," Thalia resisted the urge to whack him upside the head.

Magnus sighed and wished he could have a gyro now. It was probably rude or something to excuse himself for some falafel before a fight though.

Thalia and I were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

'About that,' Nico resisted the urge to say, but his nervous laugh still made it through. He'd heard the story a thousand times about how Percy had gotten that faint grey streak in his hair. During those epic retellings of god like proportions he was sure now might have been exaggerated slightly, he'd always felt less like a freak for his crush because of the awe on the Stolls faces when telling it over the campfire.

We'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. I felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.

"That girl deserves to cuss so much right now," Thalia said with full sympathy. "It's a true shame she missed out on our modern lingo just for that moment."

"I was thinking it for her," Percy swallowed.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

I drew Riptide to help.

"No!" Zoe panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past us up the mountain, and we followed.

Alex was starting to feel a little twitchy. That was twice in rapid succession Zoe had almost died or she would have been presumed dead in the following sentence at minimum. She really hoped that was her pessimism talking.

The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but I guess he was well trained to guard that tree.

"I hope he and Peleus have a playdate," Will said. "They deserve to get some time to stretch their legs away from their jobs."

"Only you Will," Percy told him in exasperation. Nico once again found himself agreeing with Percy, only Will would think the monsters needed more play time after nearly eating someone, but he found it kind of sweet the guy was obviously so considerate about everything he came across.

He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

We ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us.

The music didn't sound so beautiful to me now—more like the sound track for a funeral.

Percy tried to tell himself that wasn't ominous going forward. That Thalia and Zoe were now besties off in Huntress lala land bad-mouthing boys and shooting arrows at life-sized mannequins of him or something when he annoyed his friends. Maybe Thalia had that prophecy all wrong and the line had even referred to Bianca...but the burn of having a Di Angelo kid back on his mind hurt to bad to keep trying to pathetically convince himself.

At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

Jason's mouth went dry, he got chills the moment the first word was said. A ghostly whisper, a memory slipping through the fog of his brain. More powerful than even hearing Hylla's name had been, but so much less...meaningful. He sat quivering in his seat, his blue eyes nowhere they could follow as he strained against nothing to understand. He'd been here, this was supposed to be an important place to him, so why did it feel like another moment he'd passively earmark in a book of his life?

"Jason?" Thalia gently touched his shoulder. She expected to get shocked again, but that didn't happen. He just looked tired, and confused. She wanted to put a blanket over his shoulders and offer to get him a snack. He looked like that lost kid she'd always wanted to find.

Her heart skipped a beat when he didn't shake her off or push her away. Instead, he leaned into her touch, just shaking his head and waving at the book.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" I asked, feeling like a fool as usual.

"You ruined my moment Percy," Thalia huffed, her hand still tight on Jason's shoulder as she addressed him. "Now how can I call you a fool when you're doing it yourself? People will think I'm copying you."

"Gotta be faster Thals, I'll call myself everything under the sun while you're busy laughing at me," Percy tried to keep his smile as light as usual, but the feeling of standing amongst black death radiating from those ruins was leaving him a twitching mess in here. Annabeth had been trapped there for days, and he didn't see her yet. It didn't help the white marble of the walls, floor, and ceiling in here had so many cracks in them by now it looked like he'd be creating more here soon if they didn't get out.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" She winced and held her side.

It wasn't just a scratch. Will didn't have to be there to know that. Adrenaline and skill could only last one so long, even a warrior like her. His hands twitched, he came up with a bag he'd have to have a Hephaestus kid help him make that had a pocket for everything he'd need. A moment that he should have been there, and yet he'd probably been sitting around camp having a snowball fight.

Nico watched that frustration, the self-inflicted uselessness rush over and linger all on Will's face. Will wasn't alone in feeling that of course, they'd all probably felt it at least once by now. It just hit him differently to realize when Percy felt like that he could do something about it, he reacted and kept moving. Will was still going to be thinking about this for a while.

"You're hurt," I said. "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing. I was saying... in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But... how is it here?"

Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."

"At least it didn't show up in New Jersey?" Percy offered. "Then we'd know we were screwed."

"Why can't anything show up in West Virginia? Nothing interesting ever happens there," Alex nodded sagely.

"Why?"

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

"The sky? As in," Magnus pointed uselessly up.

"That's the one," Thalia nodded.

"Uh, huh," Magnus finally seemed to decide that was to much. He was done. His brain had shut off and somebody would have to come back around later and make sure he hadn't turned into a vegetable.

We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn't been a cavern roof that Artemis was forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.

"Annabeth." Her dusty, strained, terrified face had been on his mind so long he felt like it was ingrained in the back of his eyelids. She'd done what a goddess was straining to do for who knew how long? How had she even survived?

And it was all Luke's fault.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.

Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.

Thalia's mouth was as tight as it could go, she looked like she was holding in a world-shattering scream. Holding the sky up felt like too good a punishment for Atlas after all he'd done, he deserved the nothingness of Tartarus while Luke was forced to hold this for the rest of eternity.

A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching."

We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat.

The water blasted around them in a scalding burn, so hot it took a moment as Percy gasped in a breath to figure out why everybody looked like they got a bad sunburn for a moment. He tried to unclench his hands, but they shook uselessly as if fighting him.

I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she was sending me, though: RUN.

Percy tried to, in here, but the effect was ruined by having nowhere to go. He just found himself in the middle of the room once more with no clue how to run to her side.

"Percy," Thalia tried to put an arm around him, but he shrugged her off with a wild look.

"I can't just sit here anymore! I have to get back to her, I have to do something!"

Thalia understood. Of course she did. The only thing that had been in her mind's eye since she found him down here was giving him just that, if the two of them could have drawn up some battle strategy to get out of here that had no chance of succeeding they'd still rather be doing that.

All she could do now was squeeze his arm and plead with Alex to finish while Percy fought against nothing. Not trying to pull away from her again, but her's wasn't the touch he needed right now.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."

Thalia spat at him.

The surprise that had been on his face had somehow stung her more than she'd done to him. That he'd deluded himself, even for a second, she'd run to his side without intending to gut him for all he'd done. That Luke had actually looked hurt, confused even why she'd do such a thing. They didn't know each other anymore. Nothing could have ever been the same since she died.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," I said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at me. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoe," I said. "I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

I frowned. "A family matter?"

"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

Not the something Percy had been hoping he was missing. He winced like a punch to the gut. Had Zoe known all along they were headed towards another parent's hand who would happily perish her? "These books have got to stop dramatically ending on somebody's parentage," Percy scowled. "All Greeks are sort of related and none of us like talking about it!"

"That's the spirit Percy," Thalia gave him a fond clap on the shoulder just like always. Trying to hide her trembling hand just a few moments more.

[kissmetwicekissmedeadly]

(Prev. Shakespeare Dream Anon here but I decided to no longer remain anonymous lol)

It is nice and reassuring to learn I am not the only one who has Ikemen Vampire dreams. Shakespeare is my favorite suitor. Oddly enough, I have had the total of four Ikemen Vampire dreams, and only two of them have had Shakespeare in them. I’m so excited to finally talk to someone who understands what it is like to have Ikemen Vampire dreams, so I apologize in advance for the long ask.

The only reason I can recall them so well is because I have started keeping a dream journal. I like to keep my dreams for stories and fan fiction ideas to use later on (though I struggle with writer’s block and I haven’t written anything in long time lololololol).

The first one had Ikemen Vampire show up as a side plot line. I was shopping at a garage sale, and I found Ikemen Vampire 3 for the PS2. I don’t own a PS2 nor did I own one in the dream, so I was very sad. I still bought it because I wanted to find someone who had one. The cover said it was the special fireworks event version, and that it was a whole game with new routes with your beloved characters. I was so excited when I woke up from this dream because I was like “FINALLY I HAD IKEMEN VAMPIRE DREAM”. I also woke up wondering what the second Ikemen Vampire game must have been and what the third game even had.

The second dream sent me back in my sophomore year of high school pre-COVID. I was on the bus, waiting to go to school, when I saw Sebastian come on the bus. The person sitting next to me was my best friend and also another Ikemen Vampire player. (Sadly, they only existed in the dream ;-;) We were both flipping out. I bumped into Sebastian into one of my classes (because he was younger and back in high school too?), and he invited me to come visit the mansion. From there, I (totally) accidentally realized everyone was vampires, and I agreed to help out around the mansion. Unlike MC, I could seriously walk home afterwards and return to my normal life, but I become best friends with Sebastian, and I didn’t want him to take care of a whole mansion by himself especially when we had school work to do.

The third dream was just me dating Shakespeare and having a total fanboy freak out when we did normal couple shit together.

And I already told you my fourth dream. There is a lot more to the plot of the fourth dream. Like how the antique car roller coaster was actually against FBI regulations, but it isn’t Ikemen Vampire related.

I’m curious as to the other Ikemen Vampire you have had if you don’t mind sharing! I hope your Napoleon dreams go well. I believe he is your favorite suitor, so I hope more come your way!

Oh, hello there!! 👋🏻

Hahah, indeed is great to meet another person who is obsessed with ikevamp enough to have weird dreams about it 😂 and omg you're so lucky to have Shakes in all of yours! Don't apologize, you have all my attention about this topic <3

See, you're doing the wise thing by writing them down, mine are either turned into fics or forgotten 😂 and i only started doing that this year oops

I hope you get rid of that nasty writer's block soon! I hope you dream about something really fic-worthy so it gives you the needed push, or maybe you get inspired by something else - don't rush it, it will happen eventually im sure ❤

OK THIS DREAM ABOUT IKEVAMP AS A CONSOLE GAME IS INTERESTING AF. i can almost feel the vibes of being inside this dream and even the cover of the game somehow?? with that firework event?? like those cards where they wore yukatas , i think there were fireworks in the background.... now i feel nostalgic for something that never happened

AND THE SECOND ONE TOO?? this is a whole made up universe combining irl and the game's world and yet it works out so fine?? it's not a weird dream is someone's carefully thought AU fic HKJHKJHJKK no but seriously, i love the idea of the door working fine to the point where sebas can go back and continue his education if he wishes or for mc to freely go back home, i enjoy reading about this in fics... i can imagine this one so well too 😭😭

LOL the third one 😂😂 after the two previous ones this is a nice change of pace as if your brain is simply rewarding you

OKAY I DIDN'T EXPECT THE FBI TO JOIN IN. wow. we're back with the crazy dreams then 😂😂

ok now i'm feeling dumb because i have nothing to contribute to this 😂 im going to type "dream" into my groupchat conversation history and see if i actually forgot about smth interesting but i doubt it 😂 don't expect much from me, i just woke up from a dream where ducks were falling from the sky and i wanted one to land on my outstretched arm and got sad that none did 😂😂

ok i found one "i dreamed about Comte singing"; one "i dreamed about being in a poly relationship with comte and Fenrir" and three "i dreamed about napoleon but i don't remember any details" 😭😭

im sorry that ive nothing interesting for you, i'll make sure to let you know if i do though, i tend to dream a lot these days (so much for the quality of my sleep tho, today too, i feel like i didnt as much as blink the whole night) and THANK YOU for sharing all of this, i really like talking about stuff like that and your imagination is wild and beautiful even when you sleep 😂❤ HAVE A GREAT DAYYY, come talk whenever you want to, for whatever you want to talk about!

[the-firebird69]

Ferrari F8 Tributo, #Ferrari #Supercars #Turbo #FYP #CarCulture#fypシ #Sh...

They're going around looking in that area and they know there are kids there and they know what address and they can't seem to figure it out. So trying to ask the guy if it's a Ferrari and he says doesn't look like one and they say yeah it probably is one then and they leave and you pull it into the garage and they say can we look at it he says no I need to get off my property and stay off my property and it wasn't a kit. His father filming and said I need you to erase the film he said no I said yeah so they're fighting over I think it's submission to find real price and people do that. It's going on all over and their kids for the Ferrari for the Corvette and brand new stingray and older stingrays and it's the older Ferrari model that goes with it and it's the panelized system there are about 200,000 sold no it's about 50 million an area in about 2,000 areas so about a100 million kits yes. That's a lot of Corvettes but it's not that many they sold about 300 trillion new Corvettes. But with that hundred million which is really a whole year of Ferrari sales there will become about 10 billion orders by Monday and by Tuesday 200 billion Wednesday it'll be about $700 billion and Friday probably 3 trillion it's going on right now. Ferrari is going to be famous again

Thor Freya

His exhausted again and needs to rest

God and goddess of Italy Ferrari

We have our car up and running and we have sold 800 million body panel kits interior suspension tires exhaust and speed kit and it's all one kit and they are going to buy probably 5 billion by Monday and we will be ahead of them by many billions and we think by Friday about 5 trillion if not more it is for the Ford GT and they sold a ton of them and the base model they sold about 400 trillion with the upgrade they sold 500 trillion and there's several hundred other trillion for different years a total of six or 700 trillion about 1.5 septillion we expect to have a good piece at least

God and goddess of Italy Lamborghini

We made progress we're selling cars we are one of the best in the industry and we sell a vehicle that is high performance and it's made with precision so it goes very fast and we do enjoy building them and we enjoy selling them and we enjoy working using them much more it's going to start up with much more seriousness because we're not doing what we're doing. We're making about three kit cars now we are tossing the kit car away. And we are selling them now and the Russians will step in shortly. We have a few options they said other than that true transport vehicle thank you Apollo and goddess wife say and they need it. They do need it. Me and it damn it they mean it. Stupid people here it says it happens with everything it's very hard to get through the day they're coming here and bust her balls. Right into the gutter but we're going to make them our style our design and asked proper out of metal and more high quality materials high strength materials and less expensive than you would imagine they'll cost more than the kit car but considerably less than what Porsche is charging they're far overpriced it is a very fast powerful car handles extremely well ours will be much dirtier and much safer and much faster it will cost about a third of what they're charging and they're charging under a million dollars on all of them they're just way too expensive

Porsche mother and father of Germany

We of course are following suit and are making the Mercedes supercar and we're making a kit we are switching to metal and we are switching to our version of the Mercedes supercar which is much faster and stronger than theirs and much cheaper but very high quality construction

God and goddess of Germany BMW

He's been trying to get me to squeeze this in damn it it's not swearing going on here and I got a dinged a little bit and he is going to see them die those idiots and Trump is over so we have the crane and he's going to get cut in half by it then he's going to get stuck into a robot no he gets put back together pretty much gets fried stuck into a robot and then dies. The Chrysler supercar we're building it now as a kit car there's 20 other manufacturers five are serious two of them dropped out the three are starting using metal and we are now too and they're building about 2 trillion a day no it's a week and it's pitiful I can't stand these people with so slow we're going to build about 5 trillion by the end of this week

It is a new record we're being recognized for it. And yeah movie badass Garth the wise ass is driving around in the bronco OJ Simpson drove and that was Obama and he was mad what is this so I don't know Cato I think it's a clone and working for Stalin in their huge and who can get you out of it or probably the max they don't know his huge too huge and they're set up by somebody so he went and said that and they said oh this is great and they did figure it out and they helped him and they fumbled and it's Stalin who's grabbing people that kind of words it's not really Mac. We made that many no we're saying by tomorrow and he said whoa here it comes again and she's laughing because he can't remember what it was a second ago or something that's a lot... We're trying to reach 20 trillion by Tuesday and we are going to try for 100 trillion by Friday and how we doing it is we are going up factories in the Midwest and moving them to the Midwest. And he's asking what are we going to do with 100 trillion class A hypercars and that's a lot. And we can make a lot more. It looks just like the original and is extremely fast and our son and daughter and us we designed it it's our company but boy they had the great ideas and you just kept on firing him off and we put a few in too ABS braking system that's manual and high speed brake assist which is manual which is a great idea he says he's really happy cuz a lot of regular people will be doing it and driving this car he himself he says let me say no it says but it handles real well just in case and we don't think so but we're thinking about it like later on and it's a lot different here that's a lot of cars it's an amazing number of cars they just don't understand what's going to happen we have orders in for 5 trillion of these cars and they're verified. Now we're getting orders in now and they are trying to order online where using their website and they look and there is a supercar there and they're saying that it shouldn't be there but it's not true they left it up and you can feel an order form out and it's for that car and they did leave that up and they left the order form and people were supposed to get discouraged but we are building them and our first delivery will be Saturday all over the world to tons of people and they're going to love it they're going to think it's John arena Lord and they're going to come knocking for jobs and pay back pay and all sorts of stuff and he's going to say he's not making him and he's going to get beat up cuz he'll just keep saying it eventually he might try and make them but the orders are going to come in Monday and we're getting a report now that we're getting about 100 trillion orders now and we have to move out and get the factories

Frank Castle hardcastle

Yeah it's got to get back to work and really these kit cars are selling like madness and they're not making the regular Ferrari yet they probably won't for some time now that's not true they'll make it the same time but the kit cars are going to knock the crap out of Ferrari no people want to order them and they won't keep up with the orders straight and right now it's like $200 billion orders in and we don't think that they filled 100 million and they haven't sent anything out to people saying they're going to and the father well parent evento he's not our Enzo is not our kind but his father is and mother they are beginning to gear up right now to start production of the Ferrari itself and many of the models are ordered and he's going to start feeling them and they're legitimate orders and we're getting orders in from people that know our son and we're going to send them out and it'll be massive orders after and he wants to make a deal for advertising he wants to give you jobs microbrewery would be up Biden Ali and Uriel oops and goddess wife well they want the sake version and he's interested but we we want to do the microbrewery idea and it's Nuada and Ariana they had millions of these back in the day and it's good he says that's great he's no idea and Savage oppress is accepting Darth maul Darth talent is going to work with Uriel and goddess wife who have done it before and there are others the counterpart of theirs in China and of course mother and father of China I'm going to do that as well they are god and goddess of China the chans and with d since BJ had an illegal party and was encouraging it and he wants her to ask Camilla Veep to open up with a team of ours The Brew House beer Halls and we call them beer house and some places would be House of beer and some will have some wacky entrances for the gigantic beer can and as the whole entrance in a rotating door with pretty big and it's a lot of fun watching drunk people trying to get through it and Mom will have fun doing that we know that and he knows that and she gets it and still be here before you go don't drink and drive thing and she wants to do it and we get why and he didn't really pinpoint it he just knows it's an easier business it makes a lot of money people don't say no and they like you for it they really shouldn't but they do and she gets that occasionally but they don't have to deal with that and it's a job and she wants to open five in the DC area for real so we're going to do a deal and it's nice. So they're going to get the vehicle and she's picking which one and it's the Bradley GT2 and she wants her son's car when is that trying to screw everybody completely and she wants to drive around and have a good time and be made of metal and be strong and sturdy and safe with about nine airbags for the driver and eight for the passenger and some warning systems and everything it's very nice high tech EMP resistant and bullet resistant and she is in the movie with it and we will tell you which one

Duke nukem Blockbuster

Olympus

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Wow, he’s hot

“Pairing: Fem!Reader x Seo Changbin (SKZ)

Word Count: 8K

Genre: Neighbors to Lovers? Lol

Warnings: Aged up characters (Changbin is ten years older than the reader), explicit sexual content, language, drinking

Summary: You were a fresh college graduate, returning home for the summer before starting a bright, shiny new position in the city, but you certainly weren’t expecting to fall hard for your neighbor. 

A/N: I hope at least one person gets my reference/pun at the end....But seriously? Oh, what have I done...

Your roommate was hungover again, dressed to the nines in a purple bathrobe and pink fluffy slippers as she attempted to move huge boxes of random shit between her bedroom and the foyer of your shared apartment. 

It was priceless entertainment, at least in your opinion, especially after witnessing your roommate in rare form the previous night dancing from one frat boy to the next, draining entire bottles of alcohol like she needed the liquid encouragement. 

From what you had observed, she was determined to embarrass you at all costs, and under normal circumstances, you could’ve avoided her rather inappropriate behavior in exchange for your regular hook-up, Joshua. But he decided to remain mysteriously absent for the entire evening, which meant that you had been stuck watching over your roommate, hoping that she wouldn’t get you kicked out again....

“I know what you’re thinking, Y/N,” Laura huffed, pausing next to the counter-top where you sat. “What did you expect? It was my last night of freedom before going back home.”

“Yeah,” you snorted. “It was mine too, but I wasn’t plastered face-down in the shower last night.”

“Whatever,” Laura grimaced. “Did you sign off on the lease yet?”

“I did it earlier,” you replied. 

“Our bitchy landlord’s been complaining all week,” Laura said. “I’m tired of her late-night phone calls, plus my mom’s been really annoying about the move.”

“Oh?” you questioned. “When is she coming?”

“In like an hour,” Laura huffed. “Why do you think I’m busting my ass to pack everything?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “Maybe you needed a distraction from thinking about puking in the bushes behind the frat house last night.”

“Oh, shut up about that!” Laura hissed, slapping your arm as you kept laughing. “Isn’t you brother coming tomorrow?”

“Ugh, yeah,” you groaned. “He said he has to come super early because of work, but my ass doesn’t start functioning until at least 8:00.”

“Well, at least tell Chan ‘hi’ for me,” Laura said, giggling like a love-struck teenager because she had been infatuated with your older brother for years.

“If I remember to tell him,” you grumbled, stretching out your arms and deciding that it might be useful for you to start packing as well, especially since the most you would be able to accomplish tomorrow morning at the ass crack of dawn is following Chan around the apartment in a zombie-like state as the two of you loaded your belongings into his car.

“Don’t forget that I’m coming to visit next week,” Laura said, and you perked up a little at the idea of having your friend come around, especially since the two of you had just graduated together and those long days and nights of being glued together at the hip were coming to a bittersweet end.

“Sounds good,” you agreed, checking your phone one last time to see a weird gif from Chan (as you had come to expect from him) before joining your roommate in packing up the remainder of your former college life.

Chan had always been prompt when it came to his familial obligations, and the two of you spent two hours loading all of your stuff into his car before starting the long drive to your old childhood home. A place that you hadn’t ventured to since leaving four years ago to start undergraduate school.

“Looks the same,” you remarked, sunglasses perched low on your nose as you allowed the window to roll down to take in some fresh air.

“What did you expect?” Chan asked, humming away to whatever shitty metal song he had playing over the radio.

In a totally random and last-minute decision, you had decided that for the next three summer months while you were stuck in an in-between phase, you were returning home for a while before you were set to move into a new apartment in the city close to where you would be working full-time. It seemed logical to save money, and there was a small part of you that did miss your family and old friends. 

Of course, despite Chan’s dismissal of your earlier nonchalant comment about the unchanging surroundings of your hometown, you were startled when you realized that the old house next door, which used to be occupied by an elderly couple until they moved away during your senior year of high school, was missing it’s familiar ‘for sale’ sign in the front yard, and there was a black Mustang in the driveway.

“Home sweet home,” Chan sighed when he stopped in the carport attached to your former two-story staccato, opening the door with a grumble. 

You frowned, following him around to the back of his car. “Someone bought the house next door?” you asked, dragging your eyes away from the sleek, shiny sports car to look at your brother.

Chan grunted as he heaved your suitcase from the trunk. “Yeah, they moved in last month. I think the owner is a lawyer and he lives there with his daughter.”

“Huh,” you remarked. “That house has been vacant for years.”

Chan shrugged. “Yeah, well, the guy who lives there now is really nice. Mom and dad babysit for him a lot when he’s working.”

“Great,” I muttered. “They’ll rope me into helping.”

“S’ not so bad,” Chan said, growling in frustration when your suitcase fell over to the side with an unpleasant crash. “Can you help or what?”

You laughed at your brother’s outrage, reaching back to pull your hair into a messy bun. 

Meanwhile, you noticed the front door of your house opening from the corner of your eye, smiling when your mother shrieked and rushed down the sidewalk to meet you halfway in a long-winded embrace. “Y/N!! I’m so glad to see you.”

“You’re crushing me,” you heaved through constricted lungs, accepting your mother’s open arms even if it was a little over-eager.

“Oh! I’m sorry, dear,” she said, pulling back just enough to allow oxygen to circulate once again, but not enough to pull you away from her mushy kisses. “You look so healthy and beautiful!”

“Yeah, thanks mom,” you said, slowly beginning the untangling process of removing her arms from around you while Chan struggled in the background to carry your suitcase up the front steps. “I should help.”

“Of course!” your mom agreed, but a distant tug of curiosity had you turning back to look at the house next door once again.

“Hey? Do you know anything about the new neighbor?”

“You mean Changbin? He’s wonderful, darling. So polite, and his daughter is so funny.”

You wrinkled your nose, never having been a huge fan of kids. “Chan said you babysit for him sometimes.”

“It’s always nice to help someone out,” your mother tsked, and you could recognize her patronizing tone from anywhere. “Such a shame that he divorced his wife. Heard it was kinda nasty.”

“It’s not any of our business,” you reminded her.

“Oh, I didn’t say it was!” your mother sighed. “He doesn’t talk about it much.”

“Jeez, how much do you guys talk?”

Because from the sound of it, Changbin had to be as old as your mom to make this much of an impression. You grinned as you briefly imagined the two of them on the front porch drinking tea together and gossiping about the rest of the neighborhood.

“He’s far more friendly than Mrs. Jones was,” your mother remarked. “I think you’d like him, Y/N.”

“I don’t know about that...”

“Well, you’ll get the chance to meet him tonight,” your mother said, smile full and wide. “I’ve invited him over for dinner!”

Oh, great.

“Can’t wait,” you forced out between clenched teeth, rolling your eyes when your mom clapped her hands together before grabbing your hand to drag you inside, feeling only a distant shiver roll across your spine as you walked onto the porch as if someone was looking at you from afar....

Your mother was hardly the type to run out of conversation, and you eventually were forced to leave her downstairs to argue with Chan over some menial thing that he forgot to do for tonight’s big dinner while you trudged upstairs to find some peace.

Unsurprisingly, your childhood bedroom remained untouched, and you circled around the perimeter, studying old pictures of yourself playing sports and hanging out with friends. Fingers dusting over your collection of old trophies and high-school yearbooks that recalled long-ago days of feeling carefree - with the future wide-open in front of you for the taking.

But you were well off in the present, allowing yourself to indulge in the nostalgia of looking through old diaries and journals before your mother’s voice called you downstairs for dinner later that evening. “Coming!” you called back, pausing next to your mirror to check your reflection.

The smell of your mother’s cooking had your stomach rumbling from the hunger of only stopping once on the way home to eat cheap fast-food with Chan, and you forced yourself to walk like a normal person even though every instinct was screaming at you to find the source of that delicious odor.

You were nearly salivating at the idea of your mother’s homemade cooking, and your hand caught the rail of the bannister to turn the final corner, but the sounds of voices from below forced you to pause at the top of the stairs, eyes growing wide as you took in the sight of the unfamiliar man standing in your foyer, talking to your mother like they had known each other for years. “Oh, Y/N,” your mother said, and you shivered when the man turned to look at you. “Come meet our neighbor, Changbin. I think you’ll really like him.”

You held back a snort at the ironic comment because it only took you a few seconds to come to the conclusion that Changbin epitomized the phrase “just my type.”

He was on the shorter side, built like he had literally spent his entire life working out, arms bulging beneath his t-shirt and chest straining the material tight to his front. So much so that you could practically see his nipples through the fabric. 

His hair was jet-black, ruffled from the wind outside, and his eyes were equally as dark, lips contorted into a self-satisfied smirk that you found exceedingly hot.

“Hi,” you mustered without much thought, nearly tripping over your own two feet on the way down the stairs.

“This is my daughter, Y/N,” your mother said, inviting you closer so that you were standing directly in front of Changbin.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in a deep voice that was slightly rough around the edges.

“Y/N just graduate from college,” your mother gushed. “We’re so excited to have her back.”

“I’m home for the summer,” you explained, shivering at the dark look in Changbin’s gaze. “I’m starting an internship in the Fall.”

“Y/N will be working in publishing,” your mother explained, jumping in while you and Changbin continued to stare each other down - something intense and provocative.

“Really?” Changbin asked, eyes making a leisurely stroll of looking you up and in down in a way that had you feeling extremely self-conscious. 

“Oh! Give me one second to check something in the kitchen,” your mother said, excusing herself with a smile before leaving the two of you alone in the foyer.

You inwardly cursed your mother for leaving you both in an awkward silence. Say something!! You screamed to yourself.

“So,” you started, clearing your throat and forcing yourself to stop swaying back and forth. “Chan told me you practice law.”

“Yeah,” Changbin agreed, and you swooned at his crooked smile. “It doesn’t sound as interesting as your work.”

“I don’t know about that,” you countered politely, but Changbin was unrelenting.

“You looked surprised to see me earlier,” he remarked.

You swallowed hard. “Oh, well when Chan mentioned a neighbor with a kid, I just wasn’t expecting someone so....”

“Yes?” Changbin prodded, encouraging you to continue.

Someone so fucking hot, you thought to yourself, someone who was literally made inside my best fantasies, but those explicit thoughts belonged exclusively inside your head. “Young,” you eventually finished, and Changbin seemed disappointed for some reason.

“I’m 32,” he said, and your eyes widened perceptibly, realizing that he was ten years older than you.

“I would’ve never guessed,” you said. “I mean, not that it’s a bad thing-”

“It’s alright,” Changbin interrupted, and you were relieved to hear him chuckle. “I know what you mean.”

“I’m sorry,” you said. “I can be a little awkward.”

“No,” he shook his head, coming to stand a little closer. “I think it’s nice.”

Oh? What was that supposed to mean?

“I used to have a boyfriend who looked a lot like you,” you went on, freezing when you comprehended what you had just blathered without thinking.

But Changbin didn’t seem bothered at all. “I bet he wasn’t as old as me.”

“He was my age,” you said. “But I kinda like older men...”

Fuck. Did those words really just come out of your mouth?!

“Y/N,” Changbin said, and you trembled at the huskiness of his tone. “You should be more careful.” He leaned in then as if trying to keep whatever he was about to say a secret for just the two of you. “I can be a very dangerous man.”

“O-oh,” you stuttered, finding yourself two seconds away from literally melting at his feet when your mother suddenly re-entered the foyer with a dusting of flour across her chin. 

“Dinner’s ready!” she announced, and you were fleeing behind her without a second thought, escaping the intoxicating hold of Changbin’s presence before you did something you might regret.

For whatever reason, you found yourself sitting next to Changbin in the dining room for dinner that night. 

“I made chicken,” your mother said, gesturing to each dish sitting in a line down the center of the table as she explained tonight’s menu. But you were barely cognizant of what your mother was saying because the close proximity to Changbin was doing very strange things to your head.

“So, Y/N,” your father started when everyone had been served. “I hope your brother was helpful with the move.”

Chan rolled his eyes, but you grinned at your father’s words. “Yeah, I was a little out of it though because of the time.”

“Like I said,” Chan huffed. “I couldn’t get there any later.”

“Let the bickering commence,” your mother said. “Changbin, you wouldn’t believe the fights these two had when they were young.”

“I can only imagine,” Changbin said, and you were wondering how someone could be even more attractive by the sound of their voice alone.

“Do you still need us to babysit for you tomorrow night?” your mother asked. “We would be more than accommodating.”

“That would be great,” Changbin said. “I’ve got a late conference call.”

“It’s no problem,” your mother continued. “Your daughter is just the loveliest.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Changbin replied.

“Y/N,” your mother said, catching you with a mouthful of chicken. “Changbin’s daughter is such a peach.”

You quickly forced down the food in your mouth when you felt Changbin’s gaze rest on you. “Oh? How hold is she, Mr. Seo?”

“She’s six,” Changbin said, and he shifted in his chair, causing your knees to brush together in a move that you knew wasn’t intentional, even if it didn’t stop your legs from wrapping together. “And you don’t have to be so formal with me, Y/N. Only my clients call me Mr. Seo.”

“O-oh,” you exhaled, reacting to the brief contact under the table, hoping that nobody else was noticing your strange behavior.

“Maybe Y/N could help watch Lucy when you’re gone,” your mother suggested, always the first to rope you into these things.

“Sure,” you agreed, even though the idea of pulling babysitting duty was less than appealing, and you could hear Chan snickering from across the table. He knew perfectly well your attitude when it came to kids. 

“I think Lucy would like that,” Changbin agreed, and you started to nod along until you felt Changbin’s hand move to your thigh.

Just that single move had your entire form frozen in place. 

While your mother continued talking about whatever subject caught her attention, you were left wondering how you should react to the very obvious posturing of Changbin’s hand moving decidedly against your bare skin.

“I’ll probably head back into town tomorrow morning,” Chan said. “I wasn’t able to get much work done.”

You knew it was a playful jab at you, but at that moment you were incapable of coherent speech.

“How is work, Channie?” your mother asked, just as ignorant as the rest of them to the situation unfolding beneath her table. “Anything interesting?”

“Not really,” Chan replied, and you nearly choked on the food you were swallowing when you felt Changbin squeezing your thigh. 

“Try to chew it first, Y/N,” your father chuckled, and you forced a smile which you hoped wasn’t as strained as it felt.

“What about you, Changbin?” your mother politely queried. “Anything interesting happening lately?”

“Maybe,” he said with a tone that was far too knowing.

“Hmmm?” your mother smiled. “You aren’t seeing anyone, are you?”

You knew the question was invasive, but Changbin handled it in stride. “I think it depends.”

“Sounds scandalous,” your mother joked, and you couldn’t have possibly been imagining it, feeling his fingers reach so high under the opening of your shorts that his fingertips touched the outline of your panties. 

You reached down to cover his hand with your own, bringing awareness to the fact that you weren’t ignoring what was happening, and he had every opportunity to pull back.

But he didn’t. In fact, Changbin’s light, playful touches only continued, and you were left reeling for what the intention could possibly mean.

Early the next morning, you were supposed to be cleaning the pool as a favor to your mother, but how could you be blamed for sneaking peaks at your neighbor working out in his backyard? 

“Holy shit,” you cursed under your breath, failing to do a very good job of pretending to be occupied with your current task while ogling the man across the lawn who was in the middle of another round of push-ups, biceps flexing while the rest of his body practically glowed under the sun. 

You knew it wasn’t a crime to permit the occasional glance, but your hardcore staring could certainly be qualified as spying at this point (especially in the direction of a lawyer) - making it blatantly obvious that you were very appreciative of the male form at the peak of performance.

Was Changbin seriously 32? And a father?

The questions boggled your mind, and in your distracted state, you clearly forgot to keep a firm hold on the handle of the pool’s leaf skimmer, huffing in annoyance when it splashed beneath the water.

It was enough to attract Changbin’s attention, and you were sure that your face was just as red as the towel draped over the back of your mother’s patio furniture when he stood to his full height before walking in your direction.

“Were you watching me?” Changbin asked, sauntering over to you with black mesh shorts hanging tantalizingly low on his hips, shirt foregone in exchange for a delightful sheen of sweat coating the skin of his thick upper torso in dripping rivulets. 

“Uh...” you trailed off anxiously, realizing that Changbin wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for your half-assed excuses, especially after what had happened between the two of you last night. 

“You’re not planning on lying to me, Y/N?” he asked, raising one eyebrow in question.

“N-no, Mr. Seo,” you said, shaking your head quickly, barely keeping a firm grasp of your bearings as he abruptly leaned in closer, musk hanging heavy in the air between the two of you. 

“I told you not to call me that,” he said, lips lingering far too close to your ear for a simple neighborly exchange, and you could feel the body heat emanating from him in waves, holding you completely hostage as you briefly entertained the idea of falling to your knees right then and there. 

“What should I call you?” you asked instead, fisting your shirt between your hands because you were desperate for something to ground you in that moment. 

You could practically feel his smirk, holding in a gasp when his hand settled at the low dip in your spine, fitting into the space there as he pulled you tight against his front. “You can always call me daddy instead.”

Your heart skipped several beats at the scandalous words. Either that or you had just entered cardiac arrest.

But before you could muster a response, you found yourself leaping out of Changbin’s hold when the backdoor opened, and your mother was screaming out your name while waving like a maniac. “Oh!” she said when she realized that you weren’t alone. “I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“We were just talking,” you quickly inserted, glancing at Changbin from the corner of your eye to see him smirking. 

For a while, the very strange flirtation between you and Changbin simmered down, and you tried your best to avoid him when you could, even if he made that very hard to do since he insisted on doing his morning workouts outside in direct line of your bedroom.

It was during the following week that you brought the divine glory of Changbin to your friend, Laura’s, attention, ushering her into your house when she parked on the side of street. “What the hell, Y/N?” she complained when you started practically dragging her up the stairs. “I’ve been driving for hours.”

“Oh, hush,” you said. “You’ll thank me later.”

“Thank you for what, exactly?” Laura questioned, but your response was to simply push her toward the window, standing side by side as you looked through the blinds.

“My new neighbor.”

“Holy fuck!” Laura gasped when she finally joined you, and you could only nod your agreement as the two of you continued to watch Changbin through two narrow breaks in your blinds, wondering how the image of your sexy neighbor simply mowing his grass could make you so wet. “That man is huge!”

“I think he does it on purpose,” you remarked, feeling your heart palpitate inside your chest when Changbin took a moment to pause his chore, reaching down to remove his shirt and tuck it into the waistband of his shorts.

Laura’s gasp was almost outlandishly laughable. “He’s ripped! Like, Sports Illustrated model worthy.”

“I would buy every last copy of that edition.”

“I’d even go a step further and tape the pictures to my wall.”

You both stopped to look at one another, nodding in your collective agreement. “Not here, though, my mom would freak.”

“Yeah, but how can your mom expect you to just ignore...that!” Laura exclaimed, gesturing wildly to Changbin. 

“She thinks he’s a fucking Saint, but I swear to god, Laura, he’s provoking me on purpose! The other night at dinner? He came over and put. his. hand. on. my. leg,” you said, emphasizing the last line with what probably looked like a comical widening of your eyes. “And he works out every morning in front of my bedroom? What the hell am I supposed to think?”

“No think,” Laura sighed dreamily. “Just enjoy the view.”

“Do you think I’m not?” you snorted. “I’m serious about him doing those things!”

“So what?” Laura grumbled. “Why are you actually worried that your fucking super model neighbor wants to make a few moves on you? I would be honored.”

“I’m not worried,” you huffed. “It just feels like he wants something from me.”

“Well, if it’s a good fuck, then send him all the signals you can, girl.”

“Really?” you muttered. “You know I suck with flirting. That’s why I only hooked up with Joshua at those stupid frat parties. He didn’t care that I was an awkward mess.”

“Well, neither will your neighbor,” Laura said. “Especially if he’s as interested as you say.”

You pursed your lips, considering her comment, but the sudden and unexpected sound of your door opening sent both you and Laura jumping nearly ten feet into the air as you hurried away from the blinds as fast as humanely possible to take up some form of normalcy.

No, mom, of course we weren’t staring at Mr. Seo.

“Girls,” your mother inquired as she walked inside, and you prayed that your mother hadn’t caught the two of you taking sly peaks at Changbin outside, but she seemed completely ignorant. “I have a question for you.”

“Hmmm?” you inquired, innocently enough, trying to act like the position that you had forced yourself into on the bed was totally not uncomfortable.

“Changbin needs someone to watch Lucy tomorrow night, but your father and I already made plans,” she said. “But I told him you would be more than happy to come over and help him out.”

You winced when Laura elbowed you in the side, giving you one of those looks that you knew quite well from countless nights of barhopping as sophomores. “Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Laura snickered, but you payed her no attention as you hurried to close the door behind your mother’s retreating form, breathing a sigh of relief to hear her walk back down the stairs.

In all of your years of existence, never had you questioned the appropriateness of an outfit to wear to someone’s place to babysit.

“Fuck it,” you eventually decided, settling on regular, well-worn jeans and a college t-shirt.

After all, it wasn’t like Changbin was staying for very long. He claimed he had something to do at the office, and you would be all alone inside his house with only his kid for companionship.

Still, after your conversation with Laura from the previous afternoon, you couldn’t help but feel more mindful about how he might look at you, and you forced yourself to wear your most professional smile when you rang the doorbell to his house, counting slowly from one until he opened the door.

“Hi, Y/N,” Changbin said, and you tried not to blatantly check him out; although, you couldn’t help but linger on the tight fit of his shirt across his pecs.

“Hello,” you nearly whispered, cursing your hormones as you followed Changbin inside.

“I actually have something to tell you,” Changbin said, leading you into the living room so that you could sit down while entered the adjoining kitchen.

“Oh?” you queried, as politely as you could, waiting for him to return.

It didn’t take him long, and you found yourself sitting up a little straighter from where you had made yourself comfortable on the couch. “So, I actually found someone else to watch Lucy,” Changbin explained, coming around to land next to you on the couch with two glasses of wine. 

“You did?” you asked, surprised and taken-aback. 

Why were you here then?

As if he could read your thoughts, Changbin smirked. “Thirsty?”

“Sure,” you agreed, taking one of the glasses and bringing the rim up to your lips. “I’m sorry, I just thought you wanted me to watch her.”

“I did,” Changbin said, and he seemed contemplative as he sipped his own drink. “But then I kinda wanted you for something else.”

“Something else?” you repeated because your mind was spinning those simple words in a thousand different directions, and you were only able to settle on one likely outcome when Changbin’s hand dropped to your thigh, reminiscent of your first dinner together from several evenings ago. 

He suddenly moved in closer to you, allowing you to smell the subtle cologne that he was wearing. “You’ve been watching me,” he said, and you shivered, feeling both hot and cold at the same time as you looked at him.

“S-sir?”

“Don’t play coy,” Changbin continued, and you found yourself observing the way his throat bobbed as he drank. “I don’t mind the attention.”

“You don’t?” you replied, a rather useless question considering the circumstances, and Changbin took your glass and sat both alcoholic selections onto the side table.

“Why wouldn’t I like it?” he asked, tracing little nonsensical patterns on the covered part of your thigh. “You’re a very beautiful girl.”

What. The. Hell?!!

“Mr. Seo, I don’t think-”

“Y/N,” Changbin interrupted, and you were so frazzled and disjointed by the sharp grip he took on your chin, forcing eye-contact that was so intimate, you could feel yourself grow a little bit wetter. “I told you not to call me that.”

It was the only precursor you got before Changbin was delving in, gripping your chin firmly as he connected your lips in a deep, sensuous exchange that had you reeling from the sudden 180 degree turn that the night had taken. 

In one word: everything was rough. Teeth meeting teeth, and tongues rolling in a messy glide against one another. Wet and warm. Silky and smooth. It was everything you needed in a kiss to get your gears turning, feeling your pussy positively throbbing in response.

“That’s right,” Changbin eventually said when he pulled the two of you apart - very much still in control. “We shouldn’t ignore this tension between us.”

“No,” you eagerly agreed, diving in once more for another earth-shattering kiss that rocked you to your very bones, taking the initiative to crawl into his lap, grinding yourself shamelessly against the tight bulge in his jeans while your fingers dug their way into his thick, dark hair. 

“Eager,” Changbin whispered between feverish kisses, keeping your mouths locked together at all costs, even if that meant growing a little bit light-headed from losing too much oxygen.

But you couldn’t get enough of him, not after all this teasing and tension. 

You didn’t care anymore, consequences be damned, and there wasn’t a single part of you opposing his intentional touches, giving him enough space to unbutton your jeans before sliding one hand beneath the waistband of your panties. In response, you moaned into his mouth, bracing your hands against his shoulders as he found the delicate folds of your pussy.

“Do you want me to touch you here?” Changbin asked, and you were feverishly nodding, sweat forming at the top of your forehead, trying your best to hold back your loudest moans when he slid right in with little resistance, moving his fingers around the inside of your cunt, stretching and filling you in a way that you imagined was nothing compared to what the thick cock beneath you could do.

But you would take anything from him, savoring the glide of his fingers since you were practically drenching him in sticky arousal, jerking forward every so often when his thumb pressed down a little too hard against your clit.

All the while, you could feel yourself start to break apart from the heated contact between the two of you, aching and wanting for the release that the look in his eyes told you he had every intention of providing.

And you were enjoying every bit of the journey to get there, bathing in his attention, groaning when his fingers curled up just right to tease your g-spot, and grinding down against the erection confined tightly in his jeans. 

Everything was suddenly so much louder, the sounds of his palm smacking against your cunt, fingers gliding through wetness, and the joined harmony of your combined moans and grunts. 

It was a rapid uphill ascent into the clouds, and you could feel him start to move even faster, pulling against the fabric of your jeans, and there was hardly any time for your mind to truly comprehend what was happening. Lost in a sinful haze of lust and divine rapture, wanting nothing more than to just lose yourself in Changbin.

Except he wasn’t letting you simply drown in the pleasure he was giving you, tugging at your hair to bring you back to the present, to the final string keeping your orgasm just out of reach. “You don’t think I haven’t noticed,” Changbin growled into your ear, keeping one hand tight around your waist to stop your squirming as he continued plunging his thick fingers between the tight walls of your pussy. “I see you looking at me because I want you to look.”

You moaned at the explicit expression of his desires, closing your eyes and returning your head against his shoulder, hips titillating according to the way he moved his fingers inside of you. 

“Cum for me,” he said, and you were more than willing to let go of everything, including the moans you had been trying to hold back, filling the house with the loud raucous of your screams as your orgasm snapped and unleashed a molten hot thrill along your spine.

You were gasping for breath, returning from the highest peak of satisfaction, but Changbin hardly gave you anytime to recover before he was removing his hand from your jeans and forcing you into the floor.

“My turn,” he grunted, and the sound of his belt unbuckling triggered some semblance of rationale, and you were practically salivating over Changbin’s cock, eyeing the red bulbous mushroom head and wondering how deep you could take him. “Well?” Changbin prodded, grabbing the base of his thick erection to brush it across the pout of your lips. “Open wide.”

You whimpered, but obeyed, allowing your tongue to stick out just enough to taste the drop of precum leaking from the tip. It was bitter and unappealing, but since it was from Changbin, you couldn’t resist trying more of him, going further and further down until you felt him at the back of your throat.

Your jaw was already aching from the extension, and a distant thought had you thinking, damn, you were gonna be sore in the morning. But it was completely worth it to hear him moan from above you, fingers tightening in your hair as you allowed him to set the pace, rolling you up and down his cock, tongue sweeping the sides and tip and digging into the little slit where you discovered he was the most sensitive. 

At the same time, you were all but humping his leg, desperate to get off again as he used your mouth for his own personal cocksleeve, hitting the back of your throat repeatedly, sending you gagging around his impossible length.

“You take cock like you were made for it,” he remarked, eyes glossing over in a way that had you feeling rather proud of your skills. 

It only lasted for a moment, and he abruptly held himself all the way down for one, two, three seconds until you were whining for him to let you free just long enough to take in another deep breath. 

“Finish me off,” he groaned, and you were working overtime to bring him to the edge, bobbing your head up and down the full expanse of his length, all gorgeous and velvety smooth skin. And you braced your hands against his knees, an anchor to reality, when he finally released down your throat, heavy and warm, causing you to nearly choke as you struggled to swallow every last drop.

“Good girl,” he whispered, petting your head softly as you whined and continued to rub yourself against him, jumping off the brink of orgasmic bliss right after him, allowing your head to fall down between his spread legs.

It was a quiet for a while as you both fought to catch your breath, but then he was moving again, rising from his position on the couch. 

You sat back on your heels at the jostling, whimpering when he stood over you with a menacing sneer, grabbing your face between his hands, forcing your gazes to meet somewhere in the middle even though you still couldn’t completely concentrate. But you were cognizant to at least understand his next words: “Lucy won’t be here tomorrow night, either.”

“Changbin,” you gasped, understanding the implications of his request and shivering at the effect they could still have on your worn-out body. 

“I’ll leave the door unlocked,” he whispered into your ear, keeping eye-contact as he brought his fingers still coated with your arousal into his mouth, sucking while you grew faint at the sight. Then, he pulled them free and knelt down to sear your lips together so that you could taste the riveting combination of your releases on his wicked tongue. 

You returned home that night in a daze, immediately heading for your room after assuring your mother that everything was totally fine with the babysitting, even if you probably appeared a little out of sorts. 

In the meantime, you landed on top of your bed with a sigh, opening your phone contacts to pull up Laura’s name, placing the call without any mind to the late hour.

She answered on the third ring with a curt grunt. “This better be good, Y/N.”

“Oh?” you replied with a nonchalant tone. “I thought you might be interested in hearing about my latest dick appointment.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end. “You didn’t.”

“I did!”

“With your neighbor?”

You laughed at Laura’s shrill tone, rolling over onto your stomach with your feet dancing in the air behind you. “I totally sucked him off.” 

“Shit! How big is his cock?” Laura whispered over the phone as if anybody could possibly overhear your conversation. 

“Let’s just say he’s well-endowed.”

“You absolute slut!” Laura exclaimed. “Did he at least return the favor?”

“Oh, he’s a gentleman,” you explained. “He took care of me first.”

“Details!”

“He just fingered me,” you said, even as your mind sprinted with images and sensations; Changbin’s sultry gaze, defined muscles, and the burning desire he had planted deep in your core. 

“That’s hot though,” Laura said. “I can’t believe you actually did anything with him.”

“What? I told you he was sending me signals!”

“Yeah, but I was only halfway assuming that those signals might lead to his fingers in you!”

You couldn’t help yourself, laughing at Laura’s incredulous tone, and spending the next several minutes doing your absolute best to provide a heavily detailed play-by-play of your evening tryst with Changbin. 

“Lucky bitch,” Laura scoffed at the end of your long-winded tale. “I’d kill for someone to fuck me.”

“Well, we haven’t gotten there yet...”

“Yet? Are you planning to go back to him?”

“Obviously,” you said. “There’s unfinished business that I need to take care of.”

“You think he wants to fuck you?”

“I think he wants to do a lot to me,” you purred, smirking at the sounds of Laura’s outlandish squeals from the other end.

Still, you didn’t think those explicit fantasies would come to fruition so soon. But the next night when you returned to Changbin’s house under the guise of babysitting his kid, there were no formalities between the two of you because you both wanted each other in a way that should be considered improper. 

Fortunately, you were tired of caring about other people’s opinions, and it only took Changbin a moment to pull you into his house before his lips were crushing against yours, holding you around the waist as he started working at your clothes.

If whiplash was a thing in moments like these, then you had it bad, trying to follow the taste of him as he backed you both into the bedroom, closing the door and enveloping you both in the gentle glow from the lamp.

“Get on the bed,” Changbin growled when he finally pulled away, reaching down for the hem of his t-shirt. You swallowed hard at the sight of his broad, toned upper form, stumbling backward along the floor, hopping on one leg to finish removing your jeans for him, leaving you completely naked as you lowered yourself onto the mattress. “Good girl,” Changbin cooed, and you shivered at the huskiness of his voice, rubbing your thighs together in anticipation as he blatantly traced the outline of his cock through his jeans.

“Changbin, please,” you panted, already so worked up from just kissing and feeling his hands all over your body that you were desperate for something more.

“What do you want, gorgeous?” he asked, walking slowly around to the front of the bed as you watched him with eager eyes.

“Want you to fuck me,” you said, heart thundering against your chest when he started working apart his belt, pulling down his jeans and boxers and allowing his thick cock to slap up against his abdomen, already so hard for you even though you had just started.

“Hands and knees,” Changbin ordered, and you were surprised by your quick compliance, supporting yourself on shaky limbs as you felt him climb on the bed behind you, tensing when the head of his cock grazed your wet opening. “Look at you,” Changbin rumbled, teasing you even more by running his fingers down your spine, allowing his other hand to reach around to grope your breast.

“Hurry,” you practically begged him, and it was like the metaphorical band had finally snapped, and you moaned when Changbin took a firm hold of your hips, manhandling you back into position. 

“Good girls say please,” he snarled, and your entire form light up at the abrupt command.

“P-please,” you stuttered, and there was an unholy line of curses that left your lips when he directed his cock inside, penetrating you so slowly that you could feel every inch of him until he was snug against your ass.

“Since you asked nicely,” Changbin chuckled, and you had never been so turned on before in your entire life, heart racing and blood pumping, bracing yourself against the mattress when he started thrusting, gentle at first, but then faster and faster as you egged him on, wanting him to go so hard that he split you in half around his cock. 

“Oh, fuck,” you gasped, struggling to maintain any sort of grip on the headboard. 

“You’ve been holding out on me,” Changbin purred into your ear, sounding perfectly put-together despite the fact that he was literally drilling his cock into you. “All those guys you’ve fucked before, I would think your pussy wouldn’t be this tight.”

“You’re just too big,” you managed, crying out when he grazed a sensitive spot. 

“Oh? Is that why this little pussy is leaking so much?” Changbin asked, and you had no response for him, clearly fucked out of all rational thought as his hips slapped against yours in a bruising meeting of skin-on-skin. 

It was undeniable: you had never felt this full before...like Changbin’s cock was somehow reaching all the way to your guts, and you reached down to place a hand over your stomach, imagining feeling the bulge of his cock against the distended skin.

“How does daddy feel?” Changbin whispered into your ear, and if it was possible for him to literally destroy you, then it would be from that heavily suggestive question.

“So good,” you sniffled, tears falling inhibited, leaving your face just as wet as the place where he was crushing himself into you, repeating the same motion of leaving just the tip before re-entering you with added urgency, cock forcing its way between the slick walls of your cunt. 

It was a beautiful melodic song after that (or, perhaps, hard metal would be a much better genre), the rhythm of his hips rolling against your own, hard and then softer, bruising and fleeting, stuffing your pussy on every upstroke, holding you in place by his pure strength. 

You could feel that strength everywhere, the force of his cock squelching between your pulsating walls, the way you moved up and down the bed by his control, and, when you reached back with one hand to feel his arm, the flex of his biceps as his arms worked to move you however he pleased.

“What will your mother say, Y/N?” Changbin asked. “When she finds out that her daughter fucked the man next door?”

Your mother would absolutely lose her shit if she found out that you were willingly spreading your legs for a divorced 32-year old man who had a daughter you were meant to be babysitting. She would be even more taken aback to discover that you loved and craved every second of Changbin’s cock tearing you to pieces, stretching you so good that you imagined that you would still be gaping in the morning, desperate to have him fill you again. 

“Her little girl screaming like a slut for me,” Changbin hissed. “Say my name, Y/N.”

“C-Changbin,” you whimpered, feeling him roll to a slower pace, merely grinding his hips in circles as if teasing you for the answer.

You flinched and nearly cried when he smacked the fleshy part of your ass, trying to look back over your shoulder to see what you had done wrong. “Try again,” he said, giving you a meaningful look that your poor, fucked-out brain still managed to decipher; although, you were burning in your own skin at the thought of saying it out loud....

“Daddy!” you moaned, and Changbin suddenly reached down to catch a fistful of your hair, pulling your head back and forcing your back into an even deeper arch. 

“That’s right,” he sneered. “And Daddy’s about to ruin this pussy, fuck it so full of my cum that you’ll still be feeling it when you go back home tonight to your parents and lie about what you’ve done.”

Your next moan was the loudest of the night, overwhelmed by the nasty things he was saying to you, feeling your orgasm gaining speed and traction the longer he kept fucking you, cock moving at a neck-break pace, and fingers wet and hurried over your clit.

The combined friction of his cock and fingers had you reeling, struggling to keep yourself up as he pummeled you into the mattress. Taking great liberties in the screams he was forcing out of you, realizing that if he angled his hips with one of your legs stretched higher around his hip, then he could somehow reach even deeper, kissing your cervix and threatening to steal the breath from your lungs. 

More and More. Faster and Faster. Until the breaking point was right under your nose...

The next thing you remember is a release that was so intense, you managed to black-out when it was all over, pussy fluttering around the distinct waves of pleasure, barely coherent as Changbin continued chasing his own release until he fulfilled his obscene promise to you. 

Three Weeks Later

You had gotten awfully good at keeping Changbin a secret - a dirty and scandalous whisper at that. 

For a while, your mother questioned your insistence on going over to your neighbor’s house to babysit, especially considering your history of being less than willing to interact with children.

“She’s not like most kids,” you lied, waiting for your mother to relent before grabbing whatever bag you needed consisting of your overnight clothes, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible when you walked over to Changbin’s house.

Your mother watched you, at first, standing on the porch as if ensuring that you made it the dozen or so feet separating your yard from that of your neighbor’s. Eventually, she gave up on trying to catch you doing something you weren’t supposed to, but you still kept up appearances, ringing the doorbell and taking a few steps to the side to leave enough room for the screen to rotate on its hinges, offering you the irresistible view of Changbin standing there in all his glory. 

“You’re early,” he remarked; although he seemed to take great pleasure in seeing you as early as possible.

“Is that okay?” you asked with a knowing look, and Changbin chuckled while giving you his most arrogant smirk. 

In return, you smiled back at Changbin, watching him open the door just a little bit wider in invitation.

It was all you needed before surrendering yourself to whatever delicious and mind-blowing ecstasy awaited on you the other side.  

Summer of 69 indeed.

[harveywritings92]

Bnha Mafia AU Scenario: You need a new bra

[Summary: Busty reader! the last of your bra hooks break while lifting boxes at work! Leaving you in a bit of pickle, so, you text your friend telling her to go your house get you another bra... At least you though you thought it was your friend...]

"Goddamn lazy sons..." You huffed bending down getting another box of the floor, Naoki your male co-worker was supposed to be doing this but he decided texting on his phone and flirting with Mei from accounting was productive then doing his job! you huffed lifting a box full of text-book up when you felt your bra loosen..*Crap, one of the hooks must've snapped...oh, well I still got two more." then you felt your bra start to slip off did you realize your mistake...

This was the bra from last week! the one that had a broken hook after playing with your cat, you felt the second one snap this when you were putting on your jacket this morning...  Your face was on fire as you awkwardly looked around making sure you were the only person in the storeroom before unbuttoning your blouse and and taking off your broken bra to examine it to see if may the hook didn't break, maybe it just bent and you could fix it! Nope, it was definitely broken... How embarrassing you huffed grabbing your phone and texting your friend telling her it was an emergency!

{My bra broke, I need you get me another at my house! and please hurry my supervisors gonna be here any minute! I'm in Storeroom 13} 

[seen a 12:45 ✔✔]

Twenty minutes later...

"Y/n I got your text open the door"

You blinked bemused that didn't sound like your friend it sounded like... 

____________________________________________________________________________________

Shigaraki Position: the big boss: You open the door to see Tomura standing outside in the hall, You stared at the mob boss incredulously, before registering what he said *he saw my text...*, You looked down at you phone and saw his name on top of the screen...Your face felt like it was on fire as Shigaraki cleared his throat, you looked at him and saw he was blushing as he held out a bag from a very every expensive lingerie brand which looked at bemused did he buy her a new bra... "Y-you Didn't have get m-" He cut you off "Just take it!" You blinked and took the bag from the white haired mob boss, who waited outside thinking about the embarrassing situation at the lingerie store... 

He got that text and went to ask Kurogiri to bring the car around as he was going to attend to your wishes, until Dabi got a look at his phone and snorted. "Well, no shit it broke, she's not even wearing the right size!" the hit man noticed his boss eying him suspiciously. "And how exactly would you know that?" the scarred man just smirked knowing Shigaraki doesn't have a lot experiences with women.

"Boss I'm hit-man, it's my job to analyze people right down to what brand of socks they wear, You think I wouldn't notice a chick with {y/cup} size boobs in a {not y/cup} bra? it pretty obvious, especially when she does that little squirmy shrug thing with her shoulders."  

Shigaraki seemed to take this to heart as he didn’t like the thought of you being uncomfortable, So he had Kurogiri to take him to a lingerie store instead of your home, needles to say the staff were all on edge when the notorious head of the Shigaraki group came waltzing into their shop, looking around nervously at the various styles and varieties of underwear and sexy sleepwear.

One of the sales ladies finally mustered up the balls to approached and asked if he needed help. Shigaraki explained the situation and the lady put on a tight smile and helped him with obvious reluctance, before setting on a sky blue bra, but then Shigaraki paused when he saw a couple of other sleep sets he figured you'd like and one that he liked that was made to look like a game controller bought those too. 

He heard the door open and saw you walk out, Tomura cheeks were pink when he noticed that your chest looked like it had gotten perkier, that extra padding really was worth it, he'll have to have Kurogiri send those ladies at the Lingerie store a card or something... "D-does it fit alright?" He stammered scratching his neck while looking a you nervous about your reaction. "Yeah, actually it fits nice..." You said surprised that you're boyfriend got your size right. 

"That good! that's nice!...um I have to go I see you after work" he said kissing you on the cheek and walking out the back door, just as your worried boss rounded the corner asking why the head of Shigaraki was here? and where had he gone, yeah forgot to mention your company in under the Shigaraki's protection, but that was long before you and Tomura were a thing.

Needless to say when you got home that evening you were very surprised to find at least four more bags of Lingerie waiting for you on your coffee table, your face felt like a furnace as you read a note from Tomura detailing his high hopes that you'll be wearing at least one of them, and what he plans to do with you when he comes over to play later!~ 

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

Dabi Position Hitman/Enforcer: There stood Dabi dried blood on his jacket (at least you think it was dry, the jacket too black to tell.) with a pervy grin on his face as he held up a bag from a lingerie store... your eye twitched and went close the door in his face when he wedged his foot in the door to stop you. "Easy there Fairy~ I'm just answering your distress signal!" he said teasingly causing you look at him oddly.

"What are you on about?" He put his hand in mock hurt. "Oh that text wasn't for little ol'me?" Again you looked him like he'd grown six heads, before looking down at your phone and saw that, yes. You had texted Dabi instead of Abbi, oops... "Actually that text was meant for Abbi. " the hit-man took then shrugged. "Well then I guess I'll be goin.." You grabbed his arm. "h-Hold up!, hold up lets not be hasty now!" he looked back at you with a smirk as he handed you the bag.

Dabi waited outside the door when he heard you muffled "What the fuck?" then you angerly yelling at him. "Get in here right now!" the hitman resisted the urge to burst of laughing at your face, as you held up a cupless bra for him to see. "If you seriously think I’m gonna wear this I'm cutting your dick of right now!" you hissed as Dabi feigned innocence. "What. what wrong with it?" He eyes watched you reach for a shelf where they store the extra blades for the Paper-guillotine, and he put his hands up.

"Okay, okay I’m just kiddin' with ya!" he took the bag from you and pulled out a dark purple bra with teal polka dots the inside of the cup was also teal, you hummed before putting it on and were pleasantly surprised that it fit you! "That feel better than that [not y/cup] size rag you've been wearing?"  You gawked at him bemused "Wait...I was wearing the wrong size? How did you notice?" Dabi said you squirming your shoulders and walking around like the hunch back of Notre-Dame was a dead giveaway.

You hummed putting your shirt back and Dabi with this little smirk on his face seeing the improvement that bra. "Looks like Patty and Selma are safe and snug in their new home.~" he purred watching them puff up when you crossed your arms. "I still don't get why you named them after the aunts from The Simpsons." You say as you watch him check his phone. "Because!" He kissed you on the cheek before going to the window. "...They're always smokin~" he winked before hopping out the window and running into the foggy afternoon, just as you boss cam in asking if you were done with inventory? And where the hell was your male co-worker?! that night Dabi was pleasantly surprised to find you trying on the cupless bra; checking yourself out in the mirror let's just say the Hitman was definitely buying you more underwear if he gets to come home that every night!~

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

Hawks position smuggler/police informant: You were confused seeing your boyfriend standing in the hall "Hey Dove." he greeted smiling coyly and holding a sparkly bag from a Lingerie store, you looked at him oddly. "Uh...Hi?" you looked to see if your friend was hiding behind him, nope just his wings... "Why are you here?" you asked. "I got your text, see?" he took his phone and showed you his phone, your face felt warm as you saw your text staring you in the face.

You must've mistaken Keigo for Kaiko "Oh... That wasn't for you. " You hummed embarrassed Keigo didn't seemed to mind as he held out the bag to you causing you heat up realizing he bought you underwear... Which you were reluctant to take. Now it's not that you didn't trust Keigo it's just his track record buying you clothes isn't very good... but then you looked at your options and sighed taking the bag from the blond; not seeing the sneaky smirk Keigo was trying to hide.

 before he heard you go "what the hell?" he snorted and walked in the storeroom to see you holding up this, ugly neon yellow mesh bra littered with green sequins in the shape of peacock feathers that covered your nips, You looked at the bra then him at almost scared. "Dude..." You murmured in disbelief that he actually expected you to wear this! he burst out laughing you pouted and started hitting him. "Ow...ow, haha! Okay!...heh, Okay!" He snorted as he checked the bag he gave you and under all the cray paper he pulled out this red bra with little gold stars on it, it looked cute but you were skeptical as you put it on. 

"Holy crap, it fits...."You looked at him suspiciously as you were putting your shirt back on. "Who helped you?" You asked watching at he stiffened up "I don't know what you talking about..." he smiled coyly as you crossed your arms and cocked a brow, before watching Keigo's smile drop, your brows furrowed as you watched one of Keigo's feather's shot out through a gap in the door and you heard a yelp!

You both went outside in the hall to find your co-worker Naoki pinned to the wall by Keigo's feather his cell phone laying at his feet, the blond's eyes narrowed as he picked it up and looked through it, Keigo growled when he found photos of you changing on it. He looked at Naoki in disgust before crushing the phone much to your co-worker protest and hawks pocketed the memory card, then turned to Naoki. "I'd keep my mouth shut about this if I were you bub.”

Keigo hissed as brought another razor sharp feather up to nervous man's face and pressed it against his cheek. "Or else you'll learn the meaning of “”Snitches get stiches””... Ya get me?" Naoki nodded and Keigo put him down and watched him run, The blond then turned to you with a cheeky smile. "Wanna go the lunch?" You agreed and hastily left with your birdbrained boyfriend.  

[the-iceni-bitch]

Both Ends Burning: Teaser

Vices Assemble: Chapter 5.1/?

Pairing: crime bosses!Stucky x fem reader

Words: ~1.8k

Summary: Steve isn’t too happy with how you handled things while he and Bucky were out of town.

Warnings: explicit language, explicit sexual content (m and f receiving oral, anal play, mmf threesome, mild daddy kink), almost no plot, sub Bucky, SMUT!!! 18+ ONLY!!!

A/N: I’m steadily working on completing this whole chapter, but felt like giving you all a little teaser since this section is pretty standalone. Enjoy!!

I am no longer doing taglists so if you want to stay up to date on all the latest filth, follow my sideblog @the-iceni-library and turn on notifications!!

Steve had been sullen and grumbly for the past 12 hours.

He’d been hesitant to leave you in charge while he and Bucky had to negotiate in Toronto, but Buck was adamant you could handle it, that they trusted you enough to make you number three and share their bed with you, they should be able to trust you to handle operations for a weekend. Plus, Sam was going to be there with you, what was the worst that could happen?

Apparently, you killing one of their capos by throwing him off a roof in front of the rest of them was the worst that could happen. Sam had sounded like he had been holding back laughter when he gave him the call, and Steve hadn’t even given him the chance to explain what had happened before he was almost crushing his phone in his fist.

Bucky was nothing but amused at the whole situation. Steve was such a drama queen, of course he was going to throw a damn tantrum. He muttered mindless endearments at his partner as he ranted on the flight back to New York, rolling his eyes as he listened to the man lament ever bringing you into the fold for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Baby, don’t act like that pussy wouldn’t have sucked you in no matter what.” God, the man was stubborn. You’d already made them a shit ton of money implementing your changes to their distribution network, but Steve needed to be in control.

“No, that’s all you Buck.” Still fuming like an volcano, he was constantly going back and forth between slapping your gorgeous face when he saw you and fucking the shit out of you until you agreed to be reasonable. “I’m not the one who thinks with my dick.”

“Maybe, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have you whipped, though, daddy.” Bucky just laughed when Steve growled at him, leave it to that cocky bastard to start using his pet name against him. You were such a bad influence.

They stopped their conversation when they pulled up to the offices, Steve shrugging uncomfortably when he stepped out of the town car and ignoring Bucky’s eager grin as he tried to come up with a way to get a handle on you.

He thought he might soften once he actually set eyes on you, but when they walked into the office to find you with your feet propped on the desk and sipping some gin while you laughed uproariously at something Sam said just made him angrier.

“Well, hello there boys!” You beamed between the two of them, winking wickedly at Steve before opening your arms to Bucky and letting him kiss you deeply when he crawled into your lap. “Did you miss me?”

“Get the fuck out, Sam.” Steve ran his hand over his face in frustration, glaring at you as you nipped at Bucky’s lips while keeping your eyes fixed on his.

“Sure thing, boss.” The man just shook his head as he stood from his lounging position. “Boss.” He nodded to Bucky. “Boss lady.”

“Bye Sammy!” You purred when Bucky started nuzzling at your throat, giving Steve a mocking pout. “That was awful rude, Stevie. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“Seriously?” He just scoffed at you, trying not to lose focus when Bucky ripped your blouse open and popped your tits out of your bra so he could suck on your nipples with a low hum. “The name Gentry mean anything to you?”

“Oh, that.” You bit your bottom lip teasingly, tangling your fingers in Bucky’s hair while he whined against your breast. “That fucker deserved it.”

“I dunno what our most established lieutenant could have possibly done to deserve getting thrown off a fucking building.” He was trying his absolute best to keep from getting hard, but when you spread your legs wide so Buck could slide between them he almost lost it. “Please, enlighten me.”

“He- oh Bucky, baby, fuck.” Your eyelids fluttered when he dragged his tongue over your clothed core, the soft moan that escaped from you making Steve’s cock twitch. “He was stealing from you.”

“What?! Bucky, give it a fucking rest!” His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were creaking, the veins in his neck bulging as he tried to restrain himself from striding forward and ripping his baby boy from between your thighs so he could bury himself in you and fuck out his frustration.

“Nu-uh, you stay right there, baby.” You wrapped your thighs around Bucky’s head and held him close, grinding your hips into his face as he tugged your panties to the side and started dragging his tongue over your pussy in slow stripes. “That dumbass so-called ‘King of Manhattan’ started fudging his sales as soon as you brought in that new shit from Miami. God, Buck, right there.” His lips wrapped around your clit and you arched your back into him. “Trying to poach your established clients too, had to let the other assholes know that wouldn’t be tolerated.”

Steve was furious. Aside from the fact that one of those morons they had let roll over from the previous organization had betrayed, the fact that you had been right about not trusting those idiots was making him see red.

“What about the others?” He was going to murder someone, he didn’t think he’d ever been this angry, all he wanted was to fuck you and Bucky until he couldn’t think anymore.

“I’m auditing the other boroughs now… mmm.” Bucky must’ve found the right spot, because your entire body jolted suddenly while you let out a satisfied hum and almost snapped his neck with your thighs. “Aww, looks like daddy’s mad, why don’t you go help him out, baby?”

Bucky whined when you tilted his chin back with one finger, his eyes blown wide and his cheeks and chin covered in your slick as he turned slowly on his knees to face Steve. The blonde growled from deep in his chest when you stood up and gripped Bucky’s jaw, dragging him forward until you were practically throwing him at Steve’s feet. You bent to give him a sloppy kiss before straightening back up and cupping his cheek gently, using your other hand to undo Steve’s belt while you mouthed at his neck.

“You’re a manipulative bitch, you know that?” He rolled his eyes before turning his head to smash his lips to yours, groaning when you freed his cock and wrapped your fingers around it to slap against Bucky’s cheek.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m so good at my fucking job.” You purred when he sucked a bruise against your jaw, drawing your fist over his length while you guided Bucky’s head so he could suck on his balls. “Just fucking relax, Stevie.”

You gave Bucky a light slap before shoving Steve’s cock in his mouth, smirking at the desperate, muffled keen that escaped from his painfully stretched lips when he started fucking his own face. Steve let out a low moan when you stroked his tongue with yours, one of your hands winding through his hair while the other yanked his trousers the rest of the way down.

“Y/N, what the fuck are you doing?” He gasped when you released him, pressing your lips over the curve of his shoulder while your hand slid down his spine and slowly traced over the upper curve of his ass. “Baby, Jesus.”

“Look at you taking such good care of your daddy, pretty boy.” Bucky whined around Steve’s cock at your praise, blinking up at him with big doe eyes while drool leaked from the corners of his mouth. “To answer your question, Stevie, I’m helping you relax.”

“Unh… fuck.” The way Steve’s voice cracked when you spat on his pretty hole before sliding a finger inside him had your clit throbbing, your chest pressed tight against his back as you kissed the back of his neck and started fucking him with your hand. “Oh god.”

“Close enough.” You could tell he wanted to growl at your cocky retort but then you were stroking his sweet spot and he couldn’t think about anything else.

Between the way you were stretching him open and Bucky was swallowing him whole his knees were starting to feel weak, his back arching when you slipped in a second finger so he could let you catch his lips with yours. Bucky was humming around Steve desperately as he gazed up at the two of you, his cock twitching as he brought a hand up to wind his fingers through Steve’s with a needy little whine.

“Shh, didn’t forget about you, baby.” Steve broke away from you reluctantly so he could look down at Buck, stroking his hair soothing as he started grinding his hips against his face. “Look so fucking pretty on your knees for your daddy. You want me to fill that gorgeous mouth with my cum?”

The pitiful whimper he let out was the only answer Steve needed, his pleasure already so close with the way you were milking him. You practically squeezed him from the inside and he choked on a moan, shoving his hips into Bucky’s face as his cock jerked and thick, warm ribbons of his cum shot against the roof of his mouth. He almost collapsed when you kept fucking him through it, prolonging his pleasure until poor Bucky was almost suffocating from the sheer volume of it.

“Buck? You good, pretty boy?” You were practically holding Steve up when he pulled out of Bucky’s mouth, running your fingers over his chest and beaming at the filthy grin the brunette gave you. “See Stevie? Nice and relaxed. You boys might want to get cleaned up, we’ve got a meeting in an hour. Something about a dead lieutenant.”

Steve couldn’t even muster the will to get angry as he collapsed into the chair behind him, running his fingers through Bucky’s hair when he rested his head on his knee and panted.

“Told ya, daddy.” Ok, now his annoyance was starting to come back. “She’s got you whipped.”

“You fucking brat.” He ignored the low chuckle Bucky gave him, his lips tracing over his thigh before he nuzzled into his hips. “I’m gonna take that sass out on your ass in front of that bitch tonight, just you fucking wait.”

[gobblewanker]

Well. Guess who had some late night Emotions™ and wrote another drabble on that "Sherman adopts Stan and Ford when they're eight because Filbrick is the worst" story?

The room at Sherman's apartment was smaller than the one at their parents place had been. It was cramped, the singular window was poorly insulated, and the wallpaper was flaking. Almost everything in it was second hand - deeply cherished childhood toys picked up from garage sales piled in a corner, a banged up desk Sherman's college was going to throw out anyways nestled under the drafty window, an old space heater Ford had to repair nearly every winter puttering away snugly next to the drawer with it's missing handle. Everything was old and worn, but in a good, reassuring, way. Like a pair of well used shoes, slowly adjusted to it's wearer's feet and fitting far more comfortably than a new pair ever could. As far as Ford was concerned, it was infinitely more a home than the pawnshop had ever been.

Maybe that made sense though. He'd soon spent half his life there. The latter part. The better one. The one spent living in a shoddy apartment which's walls nonetheless practically oozed with love and family. The one without dad looming large like some invisible but always precent danger. The one with memories permeated by safety and stability.

Ford knew much of that stability was a carefully crafted façade, propped up on his big brother's shoulders. He'd caught on to it long before Stan, but in retrospect it was obvious. The way Sherman would skip meals so they never had to, the way he always seemed to be working overtime, all of it. It wasn't a stable situation at all. But he'd made it feel that was. Always made it seem like there was nothing to worry about. Ford and Stan had tried to help out wherever they could, doing chores when there were any and otherwise just being good and staying out of the way. It had taken a long time for the permanence of the situation to sink in. For the realization to hit that they wouldn't get sent back. That no matter what they did, Shermie wouldn't get fed up with them and cart them back to Pa.

But what if it wouldn't be up to him?

"Hey, Stan?" Ford whispered into the quiet of the dark. From the bunk under him, he heard a low grunt of affirmation.

"Yeah?" There was no trace of drowsiness in Stan's voice.

"I can't sleep."

"Tell me about it."

Ford dropped his arm over the side of the bed, letting it dangle. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Stan's hand to find it. Five fingers intertwining with six. An old gesture of reassurance. Quiet and secret, Pa wasn't big on sentimentality. That stuff was for women and crybabies. The secrecy wasn't a necessity anymore, Sherman didn't mind, but the gesture had carried them through long enough to become ingrained.

"I'm scared." Ford said. The confession came with ease. Just one of the millions that had been dispersed into the darkened bedroom over the years. Half a childhood spent.

"Me too." Stan's voice answered, drifting up from below. "Ya thinking about the war?"

Ford nodded into his pillow, before remembering Stan couldn't see him. "Yeah."

Silence descended on the room like a blanket again. Soft, but very palpable and almost suffocating.

It had been a perfectly normal day at first. When they woke up that morning, everything had been just fine. Perfectly average. You never really appreciate 'avrage' until it's threatened.

There'd been recruiters at their school, talking to the older students about war and enlistment and other things Ford wanted nothing to do with. It was something he was going to ignore. It didn't concern him. He and Stan were both too young. He'd felt a strange sense of almost invulnerability at that. So he'd just kept walking. He'd gotten caught up in an interesting discussion with his physics teacher at the end of the lesson, and was far more concerned with the fact that he was running late to meet up with Stan for lunch. But then it'd hit him with the same speed and ferocity as an oncoming freight train that while he and Stan might be in the clear, that same certainty was in no way extended to Sherman.

The closest thing to a parent they had, and an uncaring universe had just added his name to some nebulous lottery where being picked would spell tragedy.

Sherman was security, and now he might be ripped away.

Suffice to say, they hadn't gone to get food after that. Instead, the entire lunch period had been spent locked up in a bathroom stall, Stan trying his best to talk Ford down from the ensuing panic attack without becoming overwrought himself.

"What do we do, Stan?" Ford's voice was low and miserable. He'd managed to pull himself together for the entire evening, not wanting to worry Sherman. But problems always seemed much bigger in the dark, and this one was insurmountable enough in daylight.

"I donno." Stan said. "Do ya wanna go talk with 'im?"

"I don't know."

Ford went quiet again, just listening to the rumbling heater and the odd car passing by outside. If there was one thing he missed about their old room, it was the sound of the ocean. A busy road was no substitute for calming waves.

Did he want to go talk to Sherman? Yes. The sense of comfort he usually got - both of them usually got - from doing that was so deep rooted it was only surpassed by the comfort they could find in eachother. But this was about Sherman, so venting their fears with him might help. He never got upset at them for doing so, not for being 'sissies' or for keeping him up when he had work in the morning or for bothering him. The fact that they could go wake him up if they needed it was another one of those truths that had taken a long time to sink in. But after a bad bout of the flu had almost escalated to hospitalisation for both of them because they wouldn't tell Sherman they weren't feeling well they'd sat down and had a very long chat about the importance of communication. It still felt like night and day compared to Pa.

"I guess I want to go talk to him. But it feels stupid."

"You know he wouldn't see it like that." Stan's hand squeezed Ford's comfortingly.

"I know. But..."

But what? Ford wasn't sure how to articulate the issue. Not even to himself really. He wanted to go and ask for reassurance, he wanted that familiar comfort. The one that made him think of sitting up late at night being hugged and reassured through childhood stomach aches and emotional breakdowns over bullies. That strange paradoxical feeling of a miserable situation made almost... Cozy? None of those situations were ever good. The things that facilitated them hurt. But that hurt facilitated closeness and safety, and those emotions were always the ones that remained. They were good memories tinged with something bad. Or maybe bad memories overwhelmed by something good?

So yes. He wanted that. He wanted to make a good memory out of this hurt.

But that felt selfish.

The situation was horrible. Horrible to the point where trying to make something good, however miniscule, come out of it almost felt like it'd be disrespectful. Making light of something that should stay dark. That should hurt, and only hurt.

"Ford? Ya still awake?"

Ford breathed shakily through his nose. Trying to stop his voice from wavering the way he just knew it would.

"I want to go talk to him. But it feels wrong."

"Why?"

"I don't know how to- I don't-" Ford paused, focusing on breathing again. Intellectually, he knew he didn't have the keep the emotions tapped down. Another lesson Sherman had worked hard to drill into them. It was okay to cry and dad was an asshole for demanding they don't. But he still didn't want to. It still felt somehow weak. Shameful. "I want to go, I want to make it feel better, but I also don't want to make it feel better because it hurts and it should. It should hurt. It's awful."

Stan remained quiet for another few seconds. Usually he had no qualms about blurting out whatever came to his mind, but maybe this situation required more thought.

"Let me get this straight... The reason you don't want to go and talk to Shermie is because ya want to be upset?"

Ford didn't know if that was it or not. He couldn't make heads or tails of his own emotions. They felt huge and overwhelming, too big to fit inside him but also too big to unravel and understand. Like a nest of gigantic snakes all tangled up in eachother, chaotic and confused, hissing and biting itself.

"It's bad. It's so bad that trying to make it good feels wrong." He didn't know if that was it either.

Stan let go of his hand, and Ford instantly mourned the loss of contact. Comfort? Wasn't comfort what he didn't want? He was so confused, he just wanted everything to make sense. He lifted the corner of his t-shirt to wipe at his stinging eyes as Stan's face appeared over the side of the bed.

"Ford... Look, it's okay to let things hurt, but it's also okay to make them hurt less." Stan looked at him intensely. Ford felt himself becoming even more choked up at the scrutiny. "No, seriously. It's like... Like breaking a leg, right? Remember that time in fourth grade when you did that?"

Ford nodded, slightly unsure what this had to do with anything.

"It hurt, and it's okay that it hurt. It made sense that it hurt, and you don't pretend like it doesn't. But just because it makes sense that it hurts doesn't mean it was bad that you got painkillers and a cast. Without that junk it wouldn't have healed right."

That... He supposed that might be a valid analogy. Maybe Stan had a point.

"So... You think we should go?"

"Are you going to feel any better if we don't?"

Ford considered for a moment, still warring with the conflicting emotions twisting his stomach all up in knots. But he thought maybe it was slightly less. Shaking his head, he excavated himself from the nest of blankets and clambered down the ladder. Moving through the darkened apartment and arriving to knock at their brother's door as they'd done so many times before.

In the end, it did help. Sitting huddled together on the bed in the dark until the sun began to rise and the fear crept away with the shadows. Until it felt safe enough to fall asleep, secure in the knowledge that everyone would still be there come morning. The situation was large and looming and firmly out of their control. That much didn't change. They couldn't decide how things would end, but they could decide how they would cope. And they would cope.

Together.

[willwriteforhugs]

you saved me- park seonghwa

seonghwa x reader - one shot !

word count: 2k

genre: fluff, meet-cute

synopsis: a busy and cold winter day leads you to a (very close) brush with death. but a stranger seems to be in just the right place at just the right time...

warnings: mentions of loneliness, near car accident (nothing too serious)

a/n: 

me as i open tumblr with the intent of actually posting for once: god i need to go post something so i feel less bad about being alive

so, anyways. first seonghwa fic- which is really just a long drabble. i always knew i wanted a seonghwa meet-cute, and this idea just seemed to suit him... please remember that this is for entertainment purposes only, though, so be respectful! (also, ^^^THIS genre of seonghwa pic, with the grainy filter and the tan...bruh...)

 anyways, i hope you enjoy, and as always- thank you for reading :)

- - -

your breath comes out in short, angry puffs, which you can see reflected in the cold afternoon air. the temperature in seoul is absolutely freezing, and you are not dressed for it. when you had left for work this morning, (in your standard sweater + jeans combo) you clearly were not anticipating that the sky would dump snow all day long. you long desperately for your warm winter coat.

so now, here you are: jogging, but only as quickly as you feel is safe in this weather. your condo is only a few blocks down- hence why you had walked in the first place, and why you hadn’t brought cash to pay for a bus. but god, the cold is just piercing.

the streets are practically empty, because of the terrible weather. so, at the very least, you are spared the embarrassment of having to waddle awkwardly on the ice in front of others.

but, to add to the stress- your day had seriously not gone as planned.

 when you first took it, you thought that the simple receptionist job would be easy- and doubly so with the convenient location. but these past few weeks were proving you wrong, today especially. while being distracted by coworkers, you accidentally put an important client on a somewhat permanent hold, and ruined a potential sale. as if that wasn’t enough, the next call you routed to a completely different office by mistake, earning you a strict talking to by the supervisor. 

so, to put it plainly: you were tired, annoyed, and cold. so. freaking. cold.

heaving a sigh, you continue your jog/waddle towards your street corner, which is two intersections away. faintly, you can hear a city bus approaching, the one that always stops near your work building. from where you are standing, the bus will be driving perpendicular to you, and you cock your head in thought. you don’t need the shuttle itself, since you live so close, but you wonder how close the bus is now...

feeling a sudden burst of energy, you speed up a bit, challenging yourself to beat the bus to the empty corner, even though you know it won’t stop there. this is something you do often- set up little games for yourself. it’s mostly an attempt to stay busy, but- though you’d never admit it, it helps with the loneliness too. when you race against the clock (say, to make a speedrun to the copy room at work) it almost feels like you are competing against an old friend.

you obviously know that you can’t beat the bus, but the thought itself is entertaining, so you throw caution to the wind. your feet slap the pavement as you run, and you hear yourself laugh a little. the cold air rushing by your cheeks helps distract you from your own thoughts.

you sprint through an empty intersection, and as you approach the final corner- having obviously lost the race to the bus- you begin to slow down a bit. but as you near the end of the sidewalk, (which is parallel to the moving bus, whose hulking body is getting ready to pass you) you feel your previous momentum get the better of you. 

you stumble off of the curb- and right into a vicious patch of ice on the waiting asphalt. 

it happens in slow motion: your feet slide harshly backwards, and you scramble for any traction- but to no avail. you hear yourself cry out as you fall forward, right into the path of the oncoming shuttle.

you slam your eyes shut.

but instead of hitting the ground, or the bus, a sudden weight catches you around your middle and lurches backwards. you scream again, certain you’ve already died.

you hear the sound of the bus honking as it speeds by- the only thing traveling faster than it is your frantic pulse.

you hit the ground hard, with all of your weight on your left shoulder and hip. even so, you start with the relief of knowing the bus didn’t even graze you. 

only after a moment do you realize why it hadn’t.

someone had caught you.

grabbed you from behind, and used their whole body weight to get the two of you to safety. 

you lurch forward, startled. as you turn around, you see him lying on the ground, in the same position you were in just seconds before- and you meet the eyes of the person who’d just saved you. 

it’s a man- a young one. and good god, he’s beautiful, too. the boy on the ground before you is seriously the epitome of korean beauty- large, dark eyes, an open face, and full lips. as soon as he opens his mouth, you wonder at how his teeth could possibly be so perfect.

it takes you a moment of staring before you realize he’s speaking to you. 

“um.” your voice breaks. “what?”

the boy scrambles onto his knees, shuffling towards you. “i asked if you’re alright- are you hurt?” his voice is concerned, and his hands flutter about your face- too wary to touch you, but clearly wanting to.

his eyes are more genuine than you can even take in, and you hesitate at the whole scene- what the hell is happening? did you hit your head?

you stutter, trying to make sense of the situation. the boy leans back on his heels as you finally catch your breath. 

your words are breathy, but deliberate. “you- you saved me.”

the boy tilts his head slightly, the corner of his mouth tugging upwards. “yes, i suppose i did.” a beat passes before he continues. his eyes, though now bordering on playful, still look worried. “you probably shouldn’t be running in this sort of weather.”

you heave a sigh that comes out in a laugh. “yeah, i realize that now.”

your counterpart picks himself up off the ground, brushing off his front. he then extends a hand towards you. you stare at it for a moment, confused. for a moment, he looks down at you intently, waiting. your puzzlement passes, and you blush as you cautiously place your palm in his, allowing him to help you up. 

“i’m seonghwa, by the way. park seonghwa.” the man- no, seonghwa looks down at you, letting his sentence hang.

you clear your throat, feeling a harsh wave of embarrassment at the situation. “um- i’m y/n.”

seonghwa nods at you, taking a step back. his brow is furrowed. “well, y/n-ssi- you didn’t actually tell me if you were hurt or not. do you feel dizzy? nauseous?”

you throw your hands up in protest, not wanting to cause any more distress than you already had. “no, uh- i’m fine, really. maybe a little bruised, but i’m okay. i think it would be a bigger problem if you were hurt...”

you are not exaggerating- you can only imagine the guilt you would feel if he’d been injured. 

seonghwa represses a smile. “i’m alright too. you did startle me, though. thought i was about to witness something pretty terrible...”

at this, you give a surprised chuckle. “yeah, i’m so sorry...you really came out of nowhere, huh? i seriously didn’t even know you were there until i was on the ground!”

this time, it’s his turn to laugh. “yeah, those bus stops provide great cover.”

the two of you settle into a stiff silence, and you can practically hear your heart pounding- both with leftover adrenaline, as well as the sudden nerves that seonghwa was giving you.

“here,” he says, breaking the quiet. “take this.” he shrugs off his long winter coat, and before you can argue, he’s reached over and settled it on your shoulders. the relief is near instantaneous, but you find yourself a bit too tongue-tied to thank him.

you sigh again, determined to get the words out. “oh, god, i really am so sorry about that, um-” you stutter. “i really should thank you, for the coat. but also-” you take a deep breath. “thank you, park seonghwa, for saving my life.”

at this, the man actually blushes. he reaches a hand to rub the back of his neck. “no, really, it was just a gut reaction...”

you shake your head, insistent. “it doesn’t matter. i could have died, but you prevented that. now-” you can feel yourself gaining confidence. “what can i do to repay you?”

seonghwa’s face, which had previously harbored a look of child-like innocence, suddenly turns mischievous. 

you tilt your head, indicating an answer.

his smug smile is full now, chin tilted upwards. “i actually do have a request.”

“okay, shoot.”

“you’ll do anything i ask?”

you frown, narrowing your eyes in an almost flirtatious way. “i suppose i have a few limits...”

to your surprise, seonghwa interrupts you, eyes twinkling. “you’ll repay me- by allowing me to take you out on a date, y/n.”

your mind goes fully blank for a moment. 

...huh?

you blink in shock, not being able to suppress your initial reaction. “wait, come again?”

“will you go on a date with me?”

you stare at him- this terrifyingly beautiful man was asking you on a date? after you’d fully humiliated yourself in front of him? what on earth?

suddenly, before you can even finish the thought, you find yourself nodding. “i suppose i can arrange that.”

seonghwa’s smile is completely smug at this point. “does tonight work?”

you bite your lip, heart pounding despite the chilly weather. your voice comes out in a whisper: “yes, i suppose tonight works.”

seonghwa tries to bury his smile and looks at the ground. “that’s great.” he pauses, allowing his gaze to flit back to you. “do you- i hope this doesn’t sound weird, but do you want me to walk you home?”

you smile, but shake your head. “it’s alright, i live close. here- i’ll give you my number, though.”

you dig through your work satchel for a piece of paper and scribble your phone number on it. when you extend it, he accepts the slip, still trying to suppress his grin.

a beat passes, and the two of you look at each other intently.

and with that, seonghwa reaches down and gently takes your hand, glancing at your face to make sure the action is alright with you. when you don’t pull away, he lifts it up and presses a soft kiss to the top of your hand, holding your gaze the entire time. his lips are cold, an unlikely and romantic nod to the temperature.

you feel your neck and cheeks go red, but you smile in an attempt to seem casual. “thanks again, seonghwa. for helping me.”

“of course.” the man’s eyes are twinkling again. “as grim as it sounds, i’m sort of glad it happened. if it hadn’t, i probably wouldn’t be talking with you right now.”

you smirk in what you hope is a flirtatious manner. 

“well,” he continues. “don’t let me keep you. after all, you’ve got a date to get ready for.”

seonghwa begins to walk away, then turns back. “although,” he calls over his shoulder. “i’m pretty sure the guy you’re meeting with won’t care what you’re wearing. you could probably show up in your pajamas and he’d still think you were gorgeous. just for the record.”

before you could manage an answer, he turns on his heel and strides away- but even from here, you can tell he still has a goofy grin plastered on his face.

heart pounding, you turn and make your way towards your apartment building. 

despite yourself, you also can’t seem to keep the grin off of your face.

[madfantasy]

I haven't seen you post in a while, I hope you've been doing okay? How is everything? Hope it's been a good year so far for you 💕💕

You're too kind, u & everyone who made inquiries, bless ur hearts.. im sorry for disappearing, but yeah, I don't have net— using my phone credit and hope this posts..

I tried to record my voice answering this, like I sometimes did on tik, suddenly ended up trying to muffle the floods of my burning tears, so now I have an awkward vid of me talking then weeping out of nowhere, which a good reason for me to keep up the no cry habit, heh.. but seriously, I suppose I'm fine till I be conscious of it.. its much easier for not to talk .. even tho I'm aching to be back in thy company, lonely in my foresight to catch on to the present that joins us, hand held out to reach like minded souls but shying from the fear of forgetfulness occurring..

I'm fine tho, did few new stuff, merely drowning in too muchness and nothingness as usual, this month I guess you could say I took an act of mad fury in search of any happy source because the echoing silence and the swarm of sadness nipping on my brain cells thickened, and the reasoning merged with the obscene. So instead of giving my guardians the usual of 3/4 of my earnings last month for net and groceries, I spent it all. Ya know, as it was told to me it mine to do as I please? As being prevented any chance of work if it was possible, 't was supposed to be spent on art supplies & measly delights craved for years ?

Before hand, I've been begging them to take me for months to get any clothing or whatever, be it the first time I ever see a shop, then just to drive around, then just me peaking to the outside when the front door is open, merely seeking change I suppose. They kept vaguely promising me until they refused point blank— getting tired of my nagging, then their car just stopped working till this day. Its in the workshop rn..

Anyway, befouled by despair, needing the mere basics of life and not granted, I was delighted when i found a site to buy from cheap & pretty, I pressed buy without any further considerations, or taking their permission and thrilled to be able get gifts for my siblings too. I say gifts but really they are deprived necessities too and not even much just one each cuz well, they are 5 of my babies and to start with the top of priorities; we all draw

I could already see it, they can't help themselves; heck seeped through the clenched gates of their mouths, trying desperately to poison me with undirect attempts this time, cuz I bought for my sibs they're out of the option of calling me selfish. I was upping the same trance like state of vague existence dealing with them, absorbing their insults and degrading just to make sure my shi arrives safe.

Unfortunate for me, the site chose the worst carrier in this country

I did everything in my power to make it into their convenience, by embarrassingly messaging the carrier daily, they took a week of promising to deliver and flanking so my guardians reached a heated level of threatening, waving their hands nd almost tossing shi at mE saying that they don't care if they came and if i dared to order something again they'll do this and that. Not allowing me to open the door for the delivery guy when he comes, blaming me for missing vaccination dates (they kept missing them even before)& missing going to important places(again, they just didn't go to for ages), made them loose sleep, etc etc— in turn, I seen red and regretfully blew up.

I screamed at them its literally the only time I ever did this, it BECAUSE it easier on them & I'll do what I want whatever anyway, & to stop interrupting me while I try to explain things , then they suddnly back done and be like I'm not mad at u I'm mad at the delivery ppl, that they are proud of me for being able to do all this, and such sort. I left them to cool in my room, Idk how I did it but must have slam-gripped something so hard it chipped most of my short nails & cracked one, was glad I didn't hurt my drawing hand but yeah, goofy mani

They robbed me of the joy of anticipation & the dissipation of apathy, I started to lose sleep again and my liberating dreams left me and I don't think I remember leaving bed.

But still, If not force myself to do things.. there'll be nothing for me if I don't.. at least I know im able of that

I got my guardians happy tho after another tiresome refusal, by trying out one of those Uber-eat like local apps here, since they have no car and being disabled & ill, I ordered McDonald's for the first time. Slythry behind their backs per habit, told them someone coming and they had that look again, but thankfully the guy came through and didn't steal my money, heh. For a big 1800 calories meal I suppose it was passable, the happy fam faces I got was the real treat..

Oh with that thing with the credit card stating I owe them money, waited weeks & nobody got back to us? They started taking from my guardian's account directly to pay it, saying oh we did send you warnings--- TO THE SHADOWY LINES OF THEIR POSTERIOR A.K.A NOWHERE. Thankfully the account is mostly empty nd just for random transactions, i alerted my guardians not to use it. And again, my god, another round of endless calls and promises started, and we wait again so they just don't act as if we owe them a frking 17k dollars that we don't have.. was panicking cuz I have nothing and but my guardians were weirdly comforting about it and told me not to worry

One thing good bout no net is it made me stop thinking about life in general, and stop the tiny unnoticeable prick of misery when I have no input to share, trying not to helplessly compare people just living, in inflated style or not, in media, to my isolated-most-of-my-life style and missing much of that organic "life experiences and chances", heh. At least, my situation would be favorable to me if it was ever possible for it to let me have peace, or have the simple knowledge I'm not virtually imprisoned and have never familiarised with nothing of this world but the surrounding walls.. its nice to have more time to be consumed by muse and day dreaming that flutters life through my dull being and sing chorus of inspiring means for art to flow and finds its way delicately onto my realised canvas.. but no, I continued drawing whilst sight blurred with salty droplets contradicting that happy tintin dance on tiktok I worked so long on just cuz I couldn't stop, not the tears or the mad scribbles of determined intention to visualise the mourned excitement I need, hating everything I make

Somehow the lilac dream still intrudes, visualising me friends, living, in a quaint home, maybe we roommate, arm in arm we go to make every fracture of fate's encounters a disgusting adventurous thrill, like building a maze of cardboard or chasing each other in the dark.. maybe getting that half bleached head and endless ear pericings ... then it dies and I totally forget it..

But what those awesome headphones helped me do, literally blocks all their voices listening to Sev losing it and I can Waltz around not feeling gutted to go and interfere or play the referee each time. But I can't wear them forever, gives me a bad headache, and honestly; I can't be too neglectful.. my sibs hates me for it already hehe

At least these clothing came true to their measurements, felt the new sensations on how everything I wore hugs me & learnt the baffling ways on how "gender" and region plays different tunes on the same measurements. Getting fitting things felt like suddenly there's hope to be, for myself to be me, and ease this severe disassociation between who I am, and what my body is .. from how little I see myself nd consider it worthy of anything because of how long it been living like a phantom among people.. to numb this dysphoria until it be gone one day

Saddened that the only site I can't order from again if they keep using that awful carrier

...

I missed our country's 91 national day, too. They made sales everything 91 riyal so.. but knowing the sellers here, I don't think most of em went true with their offers.. Horrible news tho on the celebrations, sigh

I turned this into a dear diary, guess bothered you enough today, sorry

So thankful to yous, Idk if I can be back, but I'll remain creating, and will keep the thought alive of being tickled when sharing my creations with your viewing pleasure somehow

'till then my precious dears, take care 💛🙏

26.9.2021, 8 pm, sleeping