#compound-gins

[kingdrawcse]

Let the Evening Be ‘Gin’ ！！！

🍸😄

Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink that is made from grain and flavored with botanicals. It is most noted for its pine flavor which from juniper berries. Various chemicals have been found that contribute to gin’s flavoring, such as α-pinene, limonene, and myrcene...

[zepskies]

I had another idea about soldier boy…🙃💞

Imagine his partner dragged him to a 90s night at a club…LIKE DRAGGED HIM. He didn’t want to go, he didn’t wanna see anybody, he didn’t want the entire get-up and actually having to pretend to enjoy himself. Then after he steals his girlfriends Gin and downs it, he just lets loose and doesn’t give an F.

Hello, friend! I love this idea!! 🥰

This one intrigued me. I dug deep into my '90s music playlist for inspo! And if you want to know something about my writing process, I often write with music in the background. It sometimes drives the tone and feel of what I'm writing.

But anyway, getting into this imagine!

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Female Reader Word Count: 1,000 Warnings: 18+ only - just to be safe.

Imagine: Taking a reluctant Ben to a ‘90s night at the club.

You love spending time with Ben, living together, sharing your lives and your space. You've been helping him catch up on TV shows and movies he missed, helping him adapt to the ways things have changed.

He really hates all the self-checkout screens and shit at the grocery stores now. (Like for fuck's sake, he's just trying to buy his beer and coffee creamer in peace. Everything's a touch screen nowadays.)

Even the damn McDonald's has an order screen. His hand once broke straight through one out of sheer frustration.

But anyway, when Annie invites you to check out this awesome club with her and Hughie and Frenchie and Kimiko, you're sold the moment she says "'90s theme night." However, you also know that convincing Ben is going to be a nearly insurmountable task.

"That sounds dumb as fuck," he tells you.

You frown at him, hands on your hips. "Come on, Ben. It'll be fun!"

Ben likes to have a good time. Lord knows. But you also want to look the part — dressing up for a decade he had no part in.

The '90s weren't exactly a fucking party for him. In fact, he tries harder than you know to block out that entire decade, as that's when the Russians started to get truly creative on that compound...

Sensing you're losing him to his memories, you grab his hand and stroke his cheek. "I promise, if after an hour you're still not having a good time, we'll leave."

You give him those eyes. You ply him with sweet and tantalizing kisses. And you show him what outfits you're considering. (One dark green dress in particular already has his dick twitching to attention in his pants).

So that's how Ben ends up caving. For you, and no one else. (As usual.)

For a while he just sits at the bar with you while you catch up with your friends. You're so damn excited, he can tell. The inside of the club is interesting, he supposes, with dim lighting and a DJ on the stage with a very sophisticated looking setup that Ben finds wholly unfamiliar.

The music, however, is ass so far. What the fuck is this, Hip Hop? Rap? R&B? He can't tell, and he doesn't know any of the songs. It sounds like a bunch of fucking whining. And don't get him started on whatever you call grunge.

The bottom line is, this entire thing is not his scene. It makes him feel out of place...it makes him feel old. In a way that he doesn't truly feel all that often, even when he's with you. So he really wants to fucking leave. But he doesn't.

He just downs his entire whiskey and then another. He sees you're still nursing a gin & tonic beside him while you watch your friends head out onto the dance floor. Hughie, that moron, actually seems to have some moves as he shakes his ass around his blonde girlfriend. Ben rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe comes on, and you light the hell up. You're smiling and bopping to the music.

And you look beautiful tonight. The short, dark green dress is eye-catching even under the dim lights. Your hair is wrapped in a tight but messy bun. You've got some tall black boots on and a black velvet choker around your neck. You're adorable and sexy all at once.

Ben can tell you want to join your friends on the dance floor, but you're nothing if not loyal. You did promise to stay with him. And you give him a flirtatious, teasing smile, bumping your shoulder with his.

"How're you doin', babe?" you ask.

"Fine," Ben replies, with his usual stoic front. Your mouth quirks. But when "No Diggity" by Blackstreet comes on, not only are you excited, but you also get an idea.

You slowly slide out of your seat and move in time with the beat, just vibing, dancing near your boyfriend.

You give him a little show, twirling under his hand, brushing against his side and letting your fingertips slide against his neck, down his thigh. Your touch makes small zings of sensation run through Ben's body, teasing, arousing. You know exactly what you're doing.

"Shorty get down, good Lord. Baby got 'em open all over town. Strictly biz, she don't play around. Cover much grounds, got game by the pound…"

Ben watches you with rapt attention. The smooth, sensuous way your hips move to the beat. You remove the pin from your hair and shake it out in front of him, then beckon him with a hand.

"Come on. Come dance with me."

You continue to roll your hips nice and slow. Teasing him with the curve of your ass, as well as your smile.

"She's got class and style. Street knowledge by the pound. Baby never act wild, very low key on the profile..."

Ben finally realizes that you don't see him as "the old man in the club." You invited him because you want him with you.

And what, is he afraid or something? Like he cares about what the rest of these fucking pussies think of him.

Fuck it. He takes your gin & tonic from the bar counter and downs it all, a nice burn down his throat. Then he reaches out for your hand and firmly takes it.

You lead him onto the dance floor, where you guide his hands onto your hips and he draws in behind you. You reach back, your hand gliding up the back of his neck and into his hair.

"You're blowing my mind, maybe in time. Baby, I can get you in my ride..."

Ben knows how to dance, but this is different from what he's used to. So he follows your lead at first.

"I like the way you work it. No diggity, I got to bag it up (bag it up, babe)…"

But then, he lets the smooth beat infiltrate his body and he just lets go. His feet and his hips and his hands on your body — he turns you around and pulls you in close, flush against him so he can feel every part of you where you fit just right.

Your chin tips up and your lips brush against his. "Having fun yet?"

Ben smirks. When he gets you home, he's fucking you in nothing but the boots and that little velvet choker. But for now, he's having a good time.

AN: Thanks so much for this ask! I truly had so much fun with it. 😊

Next time:

I've got an imagine from a friend of mine. She requested some clothes shopping, some jealousy, and a whole lotta Soldier Boy being himself. (I added in some dressing room shenanigans for good measure. 😏)

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[secret-bug-pain-blog]

The fun part about stress is that when you're under a particularly large amount of stress from a single source, it's really hard to actually buckle under that One Thing. Even if it's a really, really big thing, that is threatening to ruin your entire life in one fell swoop, it's hard to fully get yourself to wrap your head around it. Big Things, in our experience, almost always take a good chunk of time to chew on and fully digest. You don't give way under the weight, you simply have to chew on it. Work through it. Maybe not directly work on it, but you don't really shatter from it. It just sort of hangs over your head, like a single massive weight.

The thing about these sorts of weights, of course, is that this adds to the stress from other things. You don't break down about the Big Things directly. When it happens, it won't be the Big Weight of, say, that cloying medical problem. It'll be the little things. That big weight is too big to really wrap your head around, too heavy to comprehend in one piece - so what gets you is, instead, the little things. The stuff that reminds you of it, in a way that's ever so more tangible.

Because you don't just think about, say, your future potential inability to financially support yourself. You go on with your life. You keep acting as normal. You work as you are, for as long as you can. And then that straw comes along.

You go out to a club with your friends. You think of buying drinks together. All of a sudden, you remember your bank account. Every penny spent on gin feels like a risk, a waste. You're irresponsible. You're wasting your savings away. How long can you sustain this? Everything you buy, and everything your friends buy, feels like abrasions on an invisible plane. Thinking about it makes you feel sick, and the more you stay, the worse you feel.

It's not spending two dollars on a beer, realistically, that's causing you the stress. It's the looming spectre behind it. The problem, showing itself in symptoms, so much more easily grasped. Your phone slips from your hands, and you think of the nerve problems that will only compound, and all of a sudden the mere idea of picking it up and dropping it again makes you feel sick. Your friend texts you something just north of warm, and all of a sudden you're spiralling worrying if your continuing problems have finally alienated them.

It's easier to grasp the smaller things, you see. It's easier to have one little thing happen and realize that you'll have to grapple with that for the rest of your life than it is to go through the symptoms list, because it's simple and immediate. Thinking of your future is too big to wrap your head around, but thinking of having to rely on someone to hold your hand just to walk you to the bathroom, over and over for the rest of your life - that thought scares you, more than any thought of the underlying cause ever would. It's not she's dead, it's how will i water the roses without her? or what will i do on tuesday now that she's gone? or how do i ever care for her pets?

Small is easy to grasp. Easy to think about. Easy to worry about. Easy to have happen, and have the horrible, bleeding spectre of its underlying cause crash into you, and leave you shaking and struggling to pull yourself together on the floor. A forced windows update might not scare you, but the looming fear of forced obsolescence will, the horror of not even being able to choose to opt out on a should-be-optional update.

Which is to say: it's not being forcibly turned into a werebeast that really gets you. Not the blades at your heels, or the blood on the floor, or the immediate knot of emotions when you realize your teammate's just seen you behead someone without even meaning to do it. It's not the injury, or the inability to walk, or the burning like boiling oil trickling down your muscles hours afterwards. What really gets you, once everything's over and done with, is sitting down and realizing that your only pair of shoes has been slashed to ribbons because of your own cursed body's spur blades.

Because it might not be the boots, on their own, causing the problem. But that, in and of itself, makes it worse. Because even if it's not the core of the problem, it's still the part that you'll fixate on, because it's faster, because it's simpler, because it's so much easier to grasp than wrapping your head around all that's been done to you, and crying over something as horribly, horribly trivial as boots makes you sound - well, it makes you sound like an immature fool, doesn't it?

A cruelty, perhaps, that the emotional state at which you'll cry over boots isn't one where you can put the source of the problem together. But really, knowing that it's the werebeast thing doesn't make you feel any less stupid. Because now you're the kind of person who cries over boots, and stupid, material possessions, when you have so many more problems, when a slip of your sleeve could get you arrested. And that, more than anything, makes you feel a tiny bit more helpless than before.

They were good boots, too.

[teal-fiend]

Party Trick

A uni student pred goes to a party. The group Find out he’s a pred. They want to see it for themselves.

Content: intoxication, fatal vore, pred pov, digestion, willing prey

—

It was a late night, I was in my dorm, rewriting notes under the yellow light of my desk lamp. I copied my scrawlings from the lecture in perfect, even strokes. 

I finished the page, and took a sip of coffee that had gone cold. I felt a hungry growl from my stomach. I’d gotten distracted by my work and neglected to have dinner. I lit a cigarette. Another distraction from hunger. 

As I was drifting off in thought, indulging in the cheap satisfaction of a nicotine high, the phone rang. It was an odd hour to call, still I answered it.

“Rowan speaking” “Ro,” I heard laughter in the background, “where are you?”

Alice had invited me to her party, I’d completely forgotten about it, too busy with my studying. 

“I’m at home.” 

“Get your scrawny ass over here now!” She shouted over the ambiance of the party. 

I thought I’d done enough work for the night, and I did want to go. “Alright,” I said loudly. She said something incoherent and then hung up.

I didn’t want to arrive sober, especially since I was already late, so I took a few long swigs from the bottle of whisky I kept in my room, then I put it in my satchel bag, along with my cigs. 

I felt a wave of light nausea and dizziness after the alcohol settled in my empty stomach. I hoped they had food at the party, because otherwise I’d be in for a rough night. 

I checked myself in the mirror before heading out. There were dark circles under my eyes, behind my tawny glasses. And my hair was deranged. I smoothed it down, I adjusted my collar, and smoothed down my dress shirt as well. 

I arrived at Alice’s not twenty minutes later, I fumbled with the gate’s lock, and watched my step as I ascended the stairs.

Alice greeted me, leaning against the doorframe, “Rowan’s here!” She exclaimed, drunk, happy, willing to share that with me. A few other party guests cheered when she said this, partially excited to see me, but mostly wanting something to cheer about.

I entered the house, the windows were foggy from the warmth of the bodies inside, drinking, talking, there was a stereo playing. Alice had a pole in her living room, and a tall boy was swinging around on it like a gymnast, even still with a bottle of gin glued to his hand.

I drank too, and was offered someone’s weed pipe, which I took a few introspective puffs from. I was still hungry, my drunkenness was less energetic like the rest of them, and more forlorn. The weed kicked in and I was content to feel sorry for myself. 

I found myself on a leather couch, in a conversation, but not able to pay much attention to it. The party was winding down, I was nestled in, we all were, in something of a circle.

They were trying to get my attention. 

“Rowan,” a blonde girl, who’s name I couldn’t remember asked, “is it true?” “Is what?” I asked dully. 

A boy, Peter, who was sitting next to me answered, “that you’re a predator?”

I did not expect that question. “Uh, yeah,” 

Alice asked, “what does it mean?”

“It means he eats people.”

“I haven’t done it in a while,” I said, and it was true, “I don’t even know if I still can.” Less true, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

“Why do you do it?” “I get hungry sometimes,” I explain, “It’s just something I can do, I guess,”

“Are you hungry now?” Peter asked.

“How did you learn how to do it?” Said someone else

My stomach made a protracted, implicatory growl. Its timing got the attention of everyone in the circle.

“You are hungry,” the blonde girl said, mystified. 

“You should consume someone here… that would be fucking crazy.”

I laughed self consciously. 

“Wait, should we actually?” Alice asked, with genuine interest. 

I felt a nervousness in my chest that was compounded by the pot. This could be a possibility... Everyone was drunk, high, and eager to see something they hadn’t seen before. My mouth watered at the realisation; the suggestion of a meal. I swallowed quickly.

“Maybe,” I said slowly, I didn’t want to seem too eager, But I’d never before eaten prey while high, and the idea was growing on me. 

“Okay, if we did, who would it be?” 

No one volunteered, and I was let down, and a little embarrassed. 

But then Peter said, “I would,”

Everyone hyped him up for that, and I felt my heart flutter concerningly. I hoped it wasn’t arrhythmia (it’s happened before).

Peter. I had never looked at him that way before. He usually wore glasses, but he wasn’t tonight. He was a good student, but not driven, not obsessive like me. I had never once considered him as my prey, but in the moment it was starting to make a lot of sense.

I had that thing that happens sometimes when you’re high, the time distortion, when you suddenly remember everything you did at once. Probably the weed making things seem more significant than they were, but I began to believe that everything I had done today was leading up to this moment. 

I watched him curiously. His soft brown hair might give me trouble, but his clear (if not alcohol flushed), smooth skin… He had an edible vibe to him. He wouldn’t be too demanding on my stomach.

And he had a healthy, organic aroma. Like he’d showered recently, but wasn’t wearing cologne. 

Alice giggled.

“What?” I asked innocently.

“Dude,” another guy chimed in, “you’re looking at him like he’s a ribeye or something,”

My face flushed. Peter grinned.

“Damn, okay,” Alice said, “do it then”

Peter turned to me. My predatory side was more than eager to have him, but I couldn’t help but wonder what my professor would think of me, eating one of my fellow students.

But then his hands were in my mouth, and I remembered how hungry I was. I hadn’t eaten in hours, I’d studied hard all day, the marijuana didn’t help with the cravings either. He tasted incredible, the vibrancy I was able to experience, no meal I’ve had sober could compare even remotely. 

Still I knew people were watching, so I tried to be cool about it. The prey dropped into my stomach and the reward chemicals in my brain made my body feel like butter. I fell apart.

The blonde girl felt my stomach through my dress shirt, which was riding up since my stomach had become engorged. She noticed how my belt was digging into my gut, so she undid it for me. 

The group cooed at me, gathering around, marvelling at the sight in front of them. The other guy, a redhead, I didn’t remember his name either, he unbuttoned my shirt in order to get a clear look at me. 

I closed my eyes and leaned back, offering my belly up for their inspection. Their many hands were on me, driven by morbid curiosity, pressing gently, tentatively testing my boundaries.

When the prey, Peter, started moving under my skin they gasped in surprise and fascination.

When I had my first prey, I was as interested in the visuals as they were. It was so strange to see my body change so much to accommodate my meal, and watching it squirm, pressing out against my own skin, it used to engross me. But now I was more intent on the sensations happening where I couldn’t see. Inside my stomach, I felt the prey at every point of contact on my internals. The friction caused by his wriggling invigorated my stomach. I swore I could feel the acids and enzymes being squeezed out with every press.

What’s more the prodding and patting that my audience was doing from the outside… I was being stimulated from every direction. It was almost too much. I kept my eyes closed.

I stretched languidly, smirking in content. I basked in the attention which was itself perhaps more enjoyable than the satisfaction of the meal. I relished in their enthrallment, these prey doting on my predatory body, witnessing me annihilating one of their species. It was a dark, existential event for them to indulge in, but by the way they kneaded into my belly, they seemed to be enjoying it more than I was. 

We were all high off our shit - I can’t imagine how Peter was doing in there, enveloped in a vacuum sealed, warm bag of flesh which teethed at him, unrelentingly. And then his friends on the outside, poking at him with almost scientific inquisition, playing with him like highschoolers at a frog dissection.

And for Alice and the two others, I was reminded of this psychedelic festival I was told about, where they had sensory boxes, filled with sand, or slime, any interesting texture that a tripped out party-goer could appreciate. I’d imagine my belly was having that effect on them; it was warm, doughy in places, but firm. It moved like it was alive, shifting unfathomably beneath their hands. 

Wait, does that mean I’m the sensory container? The thought made me feel strange.

Despite being stoned out of my mind, my digestive system went forward with its treacherous work. I heard a noise that sounded like someone was washing the dishes, and draining the sink. I wondered how the hell someone got a sink into the living room, when I realised the sound was coming from my stomach. The blonde girl pressed her head against my gut, and the others took their turn as well, listening to my drunken body digest our friend. 

I heard a door open, and footsteps coming towards us. Whoever it was said “what the fuck is going on in here?” Before promptly leaving. I thought that was the funniest shit ever, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to stifle a laugh. 

It was contagious, we all lost our shit for a minute. Laughing uncontrollably at the situation.

The ginger guy said, “ah man, Peter,” talking to my stomach.

Alice pushed with her shoulder on my lower belly, pushing it up further to my chest - my breath hitched - before releasing the hold, hearing it slosh as it settled back into position.

“Your tummy’s really heavy,” she sighed.

“What were you trying to do?” I asked, suppressing a belch due to the disturbance of my stomach contents.

“Move you onto the couch again.”

“I can get up on my own.” I couldn’t. I was pinned down and too inebriated to find any strength or balance.

“You’re so sleepy,” the guy said.

“Aw, sleepy Rowan,” the other girl sympathised.

It wasn’t so much sleepiness, but I couldn’t even begin to explain it to them. My conversational skills were not so finely tuned at the present moment.

The three of them got stuck into the task of covering me with blankets, quilts, and pillows from around the home. I was draped in what I think were hand towels as well, which confused me, but they were doing their best. 

I was strangely comfortable under the pile which was stacked atop me. 

All the lights in the house were turned off, and I thought they left me alone, but I felt at least one, maybe 2 bodies next to me, or maybe I was imagining things. 

As I fell into unconsciousness, I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to regret it in the morning.

[gallusrostromegalus]

I love everything you are doing with Orihime, if it's not too much troble, I wanted to hear more of what she does when she get kidnapped. Also did Rukia try anything when she got sentenced to death for bulshit crimes? It's been forever since I read the manga, so I don't remember what rukia was feeling exactly during this time, if she accepted the whole thing bc she has spent way too much time in the soul society that she just didn't see it how much bulshit it was or something else, or if it was just your standard damsel in distress thing

Rukia behaves in the calm, rational but firm way you'd expect out of a seated officer, especially a lieutenant that earned her position through hard work and demonstration after demonstration that she could be trusted with such a position.

...Byakuya, on the other hand, was appointed to his position by birthright as the latest scion of a long but narrow line of people who retained their power by violence as social standing. So when Byakuya experiences the psychotic crisis of "the people you respect the most want the person you love the most dead", the coinflip of his emotions lands on tails in AEIWAM.

*****

"...To Death?" She asked, staring at Renji.

"Yeah." He winced, shifting uncomfortably.

"...For a Misdemeanor Infraction that, per code 3.15.27846 sub-section 42-4, carries a MAXIMUM penalty of a month's suspension without pay while a performance review is conducted, and, pending the review, possible termination of my job, not my whole person?" She continued.

"...Um. Yeah, yeah that's the official rules per the Shingami Legal Manual." Said Renji. "It's real fuc- it's very peculiar and I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. Also, when did you learn to quote the manual like-"

"I'm a Goddamn Lieutenant, I know the law, and this stinks on ice." She glared. "I know I'm not allowed to question the orders or ask who issued them, but did you double-check that this is, in fact, what they meant to send, and didn't give you the memo for someone else or send out the wrong butterfly?"

"Um." Renji winced, pointedly studying the wall to his left. "Kuchiki-Taicho went to do that as soon as he saw the order."

Rukia blanched. "Renji. When did he leave?"

"He left for the central 46's liaison office directly from the 6th division's office when we got the order about an hour ago. I wanted to go with him, but he insisted that he could handle it and that you should get the news from me rather than a stranger."

"Abarai Renji." She spoke, voice low and dangerous. "Do you remember what happened the first day I came home from the 13th division boot camp with that shiner?'

"Yeah, Kuchiki-taicho broke into Ukitake-taicho's house with Senbonsakura at 2AM because he thought someone had hit yo-" Renji laughed then stopped. "-Oh."

"You let my brother, the absolute last person you can expect to behave in a rational and restrained manner to any perceived threats to my person, go off to visit someone who just issued an order for my extermination? UNSUPERVISED?" She growled.

Renji stood, paralyzed in wide-eyed horror. "I. uh. I gotta go prevent some treason." he sputtered, before bolting from the room.

***** "I fucked up, I fucked up, I fucked uuuuuup-" Gin hissed under his breath as he ran through the maze of buildings that made up the central government's compound. "Sure Gin! Keep feeding him spiritual power Gin! It'll fix everything Gin! No way he's going to cause a massive inter-dimensional destabilization event Gin!"

He turned the corner to the central 46's liaison office, just to the side of the sealed gate, and sprinted for the small office at the base of the tower all Hell butterflies issued from, where the Gate's security guard and the Liaison worked.

"Hey guys sorry to burst in here but it's kind of an Emergen... cy." Gin shouted and then sputtered as something warm splashed underfoot. He looked down to find that the previously-beige carpet of the Liaison's office was now a deep and unpleasantly wet crimson. Behind him, there was a faint creak as the unsealed and unguarded gate swayed lightly in the breeze.

"Oh." Gin realized, wilting. "I'm in deep shit."

[selkielore]

went to the farmers market today and got so many strawberries…… going to make strawberry rhubarb infused gin for the best g&t’s this summer. also got garlic scapes & a chicken… going to make the scapes into a compound butter and rub it under the skin of the chicken and roast it up 😎

[madness1999sworld]

Oh, what a life

Summary: Tatiana has been through hell growing up to an abusing and alcholic father and a mother just wanting to keep the peace while raising her and her little sister. What happens when she leaves her home to find a new purpose in life?

TW: cursing, fighting, 18+

Although it's not discussed that the reader is black in this chapter, she is. So, no hate or racism in my comments, ask box or messages your ass will get blocked, no questions asked. Now hope you all enjoy

Minors do not interact

Chapter 1: a new beginning

It's the middle of the day and I have been on my journey of self-discovery for almost a week and a half now. Wanting to figure out what I want to do with my life. It’s been hard but rewarding at the same time. I thought it would be better for me to leave my home due to the toxicity of my abusive alcoholic father. I couldn’t bare the pain of being hurt by him anymore but I also feel regret for leaving my mother and little sister with him. As I’m walking out of the woods I see a trail that leads to a temple of some kind in the distance. When I walk closer, I hear what is like a group of people making a sound in unison. I become curious and walk a little quicker. Once I reached the temple I saw a man standing in front of the compound, wearing a gray ninja suit with a mask on his face, all I could see was his eyes. As I walk a bit closer, he sees me and speaks

???: Hello, are you here to join the Shirai Ryu

Me: *confused* Shirai Ryu? Sorry, I don’t know what this is.

???: *gins through mask* It is quite all right.We are a clan of fighters, trained to help defend our people and our realm.

I nod my head in interest at what he said, wanting to join but am unsure whether or not I should do so, due to my appearance and hardly enough fighting skills.

???: so, are you interested in joining our clan?

Me: I am but…. *is unsure* Do you want me in your clan, I mean I’m kinda on the chubbier side of things and I don’t have much fighting skills. I only do it if I don’t have much of a choices.

???: nonsense the Shirai Ryu does not discriminate against anyone based on anything, and don't worry about your fighting skills we will help you learn more.

Me: *tankful* then I would love to, thank you for that

???: No problem, now I’ll tell the master of the clan and tell him that you would like to join.

Me: alright

I watch the man head into the temple feeling happy that I will finally have a purpose in life, instead of just searching endlessly for something that I didn’t even know what it was I wanted to do. As I wait a few more minutes I see a man walking towards me, he seems to be maybe a few years older than me, to which I think, “Could this be the master of the clan”?

Master: *stern* so you wish to join the clan?

Me: *is a bit intimidated* umm yes sir.

The Man looks at me up and down unimpressed. “I thought the guy that was out here earlier said that nobody will judge me in this clan, what the fuck”. He looks me in the eyes again and starts to speak.

Master: you look like you can hold your own, follow me, please.

I looked at him confused not expecting that compliment from him due to the way he looked at me but I followed him nonetheless. As we’re walking in the temple, it’s very nice and calming inside the gates some students are training outside whether it’s light excurses or fighting with a dummy or a partner. We head inside the temple and walk into I presume a training room area in the center of the compound. we walked to the middle of the room and stood on a fighting mat. I look around and see theirs more students watching us outside of the fighting mat.

Master: if you want to join this clan you must fight me. To see if you're good enough. No weapons, no powers. Just raw strength.

I stand in front of him shocked and in terror wondering how am i going to pull this off but still stand my ground not wanting to waste my opportunity to be in the clan.

Me: *nervous* are you sure

Master: *smirks* Yes,I am *gets in fighting position*

Me: Ok *also gets into position*

He waited for me to make the first move, I didn’t want to but I didn’t have much of a choice.so, I threw a punch as hard as I could, to which of course he doges it. He counters it with a kick to my stomach. It hurt like hell but I keep fighting through the pain. He then grabs me by the collar of my shirt and slams me to the wall.

Master: Not bad. But you're still not strong enough.

He lets me go and takes a few steps back, I get off the wall wincing in pain but continue the fight. He waited for me to make the first move again, To which I got a bit fed up. So I kick the man in the leg and follow that with a punch to his face. He falls to the ground, hurt by my attack, he gets back up into his fighting position.

Master: Not bad. But you still have much to learn.

This time I wait for him to make a strike against me. He charged at me trying to grapple me to the ground but I dodged it just in time and ended up kicking him to the ground instead. To which he got back up and tried to sweep my legs. I jump over it and back away from him. He runs after me again trying to punch me but I grab his fist and punch him instead. The master grunts in pain but quickly recovers and tries to put me up by grabbing onto my arm but I used my weight to my advances so he hopefully wouldn’t be able to pick me up and puts me over his shoulder. The master struggles trying to lift me up, which is the only time I thank the gods for the weight that I am. He then tries to think of another strategy. This gives me the advantage to knee him in the stomach and kick him in the face. Thankfully with that final blow, it ended the fight. The Master clearly hurt tries to get up but is unable to and falls back down due to pain. trying to catch his breath he said.

Master: Not bad….. You have potential.

I thank him but am trying to catch my own breath, proud of myself for beating him, and can finally join the clan. The Master sits up from the ground and tells me to sit and take a break which I do. He looks at me, breathing heavily.

Master: You have talent but you have much more to learn. Now are you ready to join the Shriai Ryu?

Me:*gins* Yes I am

Master: *smiles* good, now what is your name?

Me: My name is Tatiana but people call me Tati

Master: It nice to meet you Tati my name is Kuai Liang, but you may call me Scorpion. I will teach you everything there is to know about ninjutsu. *smiles*

Me: Thank you, Kuai Liang

Kuai Liang: You are welcome. Now let us begin training.

After everything, it has been several weeks, of working hard training in different fighting styles, and different weapons, and even enhancing my abilities. To find out I had powers of my own when I was younger things would happen but I always thought that it was coincidental or just my imagination playing tricks on me but to find out it wasn’t. I have Telekinetic powers to help me with life and battle. Kuai Liang even told me about the History of how the Shirai Ryu was formed and the clan's mission to protect Earthrealm. From what I found shocking, I feel sorry for Kuai Liang for breaking ties with his brother Bi Han but I don’t blame him for it either. I finished my daily training for the day and was told that Kuai Liang wanted to speak to me. So, I went to his office, knocking on his open door.

Me: you wanted to see me LIang

Kuai Liang: Yes. Have a seat.

Me: *sits down in front of him* is something wrong

Kuai Liang: I have a task for you Tati.

Me: What is it, Liang?

Kuai Liang: Some bandits have been causing trouble in the outskirts of the Shirai Ryu territory. I want you to track them down and take care of them.

Me: I will do everything that I can

Kuai Liang: I have faith in you Tati good luck.

He hands me a map of the location of the bandits marked on it. I thanked him and left out of the temple to look for the bandits. I make my way to where the location of them is on the map, as I get closer I hear shouting and laughter. I see a group of them gathered around a campfire, drinking and having a good time. I remanded hiding from them and listening in on their conversation.

Bandit #1: Man, this is the life! No one to tell us what to do. We can do whatever we want!

Bandit #2: Yeah, but we’re running out of food. We need to find a way to get more.

Bandit #3: I heard there’s a village nearby. We could hit it up and take whatever we want.

The men laugh and toast to their next plan. I looked at them in disgust, hating these types of people thinking that they can just do anything without there being consequences for their actions. The men are too busy celebrating to notice I’m here so, I thought why not freak them out a bit? I use my ninjutsu skills to silently move through the trees getting closer to their camp. I throw a kunai at one of the bandits, striking him in the shoulder. They all look around, startled, not knowing where I am. I throw a couple more hitting each bandit but not in a fatal area. They all seemed to panic and try to flee but I made sure they were not able to by incapacitating them with sudden strikes. The leader, I presume, gets up and tries to attack me but I overpowered him easily. I appear In front of all of them giving them a warning to leave and never come back or else. They shake their heads vigorously and scurry away tripping over themselves out of fear. I roll my eyes at The cowards and head back to the temple to let Kuai Liang know that the bandits have been taken care of.

*back at the temple*

Kuai Liang: Excellent work, Tatiana

Me: Thank you, Liang

Kuai Liang: You did well. I am proud of you. You have proven yourself to be a valuable member of the Shirai Ryu. *smiles*

Me: I’m honored. *bows*

Kuai Liang: Alright, this time I have a special assignment for you. I need you to go to the Wu Shi Academy and deliver a message to Master Bo Rai Cho. it is an urgent matter.

He hands me the scroll that has the message inside it. I take it carefully not wanting to drop it or break it open. I place it in my belt holster to make sure it stays firmly in place, so nothing will happen to it.

Me: Of course, I won't fail you.

He nods his head, letting me know that he believes in me, in not failing this task. I look down at the scroll to make sure everything is in order and make my way to the Wu Shi Academy. Once I made it to the entrance to the Academy I saw an elderly man sitting down outside and looked to be meditating. I didn’t want to disturb him but I knew this was an urgent matter so, I walked up to him closer.

Me: Excuse me, but are you Bo Rai Cho by any chance?

He opens his eyes and looks at me a bit confused yet cautious but nods his head regardless.

Bo Rai Cho: Yes I am. Who are you?

Me: My name is Tatiana, I was sent here by Master Kuai Liang from the Shirai Ryu to give you this urgent message.

I give him the scroll with the message inside. He takes it and reads carefully, understanding the urgency behind the message. He looked at me again and began to speak.

Bo Rai Cho: I see, Thank you for delivering this message. Please tell Kuai Liang that I will do everything in my power to help the Shirai Ryu.

Me: You're welcome and Thank you, I will let him know as soon as I get there.

As I leave the academy to make my way back to the Shirai Ryu to tell Master Liang I delivered the scroll, I feel a strange present behind me. Looked and saw a figure in the shadows, soon realizing that it was Sub-Zero, the grandmaster of the Lin Kuei clan. I immediately get into my fighting position even if I’m a bit nervous.

Me: What do you want?

He walks out of the shadows slowly and menacingly, watching me. Not taking his eyes off me for a single second.

Bi Han: I heard that you're the new member of my foolish brother’s clan. Am I correct?

Me: why do you care?

He walks closer to me, his breath frosting up in the air. I’m still standing in my fighting position, wondering “What the hell is this guy gonna do”?

Bi Han: I care because you are working with the enemy. The Lin Kuei have been enemies with them ever since my brother formed that clan.

Me: They’re the enemies *roll eyes* You’re the enemy. You're the one who betrayed your family and realm because you were selfish and just wanted more power.

I continued to stand my ground, pissed that he would even think that I would betray my clan just like that. If anyone was foolish it would be him. I guess I pulled a nerve cause he started throwing ice balls at me i blocked myself from them but the ice was getting to me, making me feel weak and tired. I use my telekinetic powers to stop the ice balls. He was shocked to see his ice balls just floating in thin air. He looks at me in surprise. It allowed me to throw the ice balls back at him and kick him in the face. He stumbles backwards, grunting in pain. He looks at me in anger.

Bi Han: You have some skills I’m impressed

He raises his hands creating an ice wall in front of us blocking my exit. I take out my sticks, which I am temporarily using for training purposes. I start attacking him with them, he dodges my hits and counters them with his hands. He uses his powers again to create an ice blade and tries to cut me. I block his attack and hit him in the knee with one of my sticks. He grunts and falls to the ground, Sub-Zero looks at me in hatred.

Bi Han: You’re good, but not good enough.

He attacks me again by creating a barrage of icicles with his powers and sending them flying towards me. I use my powers to stop them and have them fall to the ground all around me but making sure they don’t hurt me. Sub-Zero becomes more frustrated that I keep avoiding his attacks. He concentrates and creates a massive ice wall in front of me, it’s so thick that I can barely see through it. I hear him stepping back waiting to see if I can break through it. I take a few deep breaths, focusing on my senses, once I am ready, I created a sonic boom with my mind breaking the ice wall and knocking sub-zero backward due to the fore of it. He has a look on his face, of anger and respect.

Me: It’s over Sub-Zero. Just give up.

Bi Han: You are powerful. But I am not one to give up so easily.

He gets back up and readies himself into a fighting position. I become even more annoyed and get into my fighting position again. Sub-zero starts running toward me and attacks me with a fury of punches and kicks, he is fast and powerful but lucky I can keep up blocking each attack and even landing a few of my own on. He looks tired but keeps fighting me with all his might. I seep his feet which caught him off guard and falls. He tries to get back up but I pin him to the ground, he tries to break free but I punch him in the face knocking him out. “Finally this fight is over”. I breathe heavily trying to catch my breath, thanking the gods that it’s finally over. I looked around the wood trail and realized that I just fought Sub-zero and not only that I’ve won.

Me: *whispers* Holy Shit. I just fought Sub-Zero. And won, I need to tell Master Kuai Liang.

I start climbing up the trees to make my way to the temple only to stop in my tracks to see Lin Kuei soldiers walking around the woods monitoring the area, most likely waiting for Sub-zero’s report. I make sure that they don’t see me, still moving from tree to tree. Escaping the scene, making my way back to the Shirai Ryu. I made it outside of the gate of the temple. I stop to catch my breath for a moment and look at the temple.

Me: I made it, now I must find Master Kuai Liang and tell him what happened after giving the scroll to Bo Rai Cho.

I make my way inside the temple looking for Kuai Liang eagerly wanting to tell him what happened. As I searched, I found him sitting in his throne room looking out at the courtyard. I walked up to him but calmed myself before speaking.

Me: master I have returned, You will never guess what happened, on my way back home.

He smiles when he sees me, but Immediately stands up and walks toward me, curious about what I have to say.

Kuai Liang: What happened?

Me: After giving the message to Bo Rai Cho, Sub-zero appeared behind me on my way back home.

Kuai Liang: *surprised* You’ve encountered Sub-Zero

Me: Yes Master.

Kuai Liang: What happened?

I told him everything from Bi Han appearing in the shadows to me beating him and escaping the woods with his soldiers waiting for their next order from him. Kuai Liang looked at me proudly, impressed.

Kuai Liang: So you defeated Sub-Zero. That is quite a feat. I am so Proud of you. You have done well. Your skills and dedication have not gone unnoticed.

Me: Thank you, Master.

Kuai Liang: come I have something to show you.

I follow him through the temple to a small room. There I see a pedestal in the center of the room and on top of it, two swards are there, one sword has a long, curved blade and a handle that has a red cloth wrapped around it. The blade is made from this mysterious, shimmering black material. The second blade is made from pure silver, it has an intricate design etched onto the blade. The hilt is wrapped in black leather and has a red dragon carved on it.

Kuai Liang: these swords used to belong to my father the grandmaster of the Lin Kuei but due to the circumcisions between me and my brother they stay here at the Shirai Ryu.

Me: they're beautiful.

Kuai Liang: Yes they are. But now I would like for you to have them. Take them you have earned it.

Me: Really? *shocked* Thank you Master

Kuai Liang: You are welcome. My student. But remember these swords are not just weapons they are a symbol of the responsibilities you have to protect this clan and our values. I have faith in you and I know you will make us proud.

He hands me both swords and puts his hand on my shoulder, reassuring me.

Me: I’ll do everything that I can.

Kuai Liang: *smiles and nods his head* I know you will. Now go. Train hard. You have a long journey ahead of you.

I bow to him and start making my way to the training room, as I leave I hear Kuai Liang calling out to me.

Kuai Liang: remember my student, The path of a warrior is not easy, but it is worth the journey. You have the strength and determination to succeed.

Me: I won’t forget.

I enter the training room and start training for a few hours before heading to my room as I finish up, a thought comes to me. “ Whatever happened to that guy that I met that, that was in front of the temple gates when I first arrived here”?

[fatehbaz]

In the 19th century, British colonists faced several challenges in India, [...] [including] malaria. [...] The imperialists needed an answer to the problem and they found it in quinine. [...] [T]he British promptly embraced quinine, consuming tonnes of it every year by the mid-1800s. [...] Quinine was so bitter that soldiers and officials began mixing the powder with soda and sugar, unwittingly giving birth to “tonic water”. [...] [I]t prompted Winston Churchill to once proclaim, “The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.” [...] If by some good fortune malaria did not claim them, plague, cholera, dysentery, enteric fever, hepatitis or the unforgiving sun could. Preserving and protecting the body was [...] crucial to the success of the colonial project. As historian EM Collingham aptly summarised in her study, “The British experience of India was intensely physical.”

One way the colonists tried to deal with this challenge was through food and drinks. “The association between food and the maintenance of health was a concern of Anglo-Indian doctors, dieticians and the British authorities throughout the duration of colonial rule [...],” writes Sam Goodman in Unpalatable Truths: Food and Drink as Medicine in Colonial British India. [...]

---

The Medical Gazette, for instance, recommended treating dysentery with a “low diet” comprising thin chicken soup [...]. Botanist-physician George Watt too extolled the virtues of sago. In A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (1893), he wrote that sago is “easily digestible and wholly destitute of irritating properties” and in demand [...]. For fever, weakness and sundry ailments, beef tea [...] was considered an ideal remedy. And for cholera, The Seamen’s New Medical Guide (1842) prescribed brandy during the worst of the sickness and half a tumbler of mulled wine with toasted bread and castor oil [...]. Ship masters and pantrymen would stock their vessels with foods with known medicinal benefits such as sago, arrowroot, lime juice, desiccated milk and condensed milk (the iconic Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk tins, later known as Milkmaid, enjoyed a permanent spot on British ships).

---

Businessmen too recognised the precarity of life abroad and realised that therein lay a perfect commercial opportunity. By the 19th century, numerous companies had cropped up across Europe, including in England, that would sell food in hermetically sealed tin containers.

One of these was Messrs Brand & Co. Recommended highly in Culinary Jottings for Madras by Colonel Robert Kenney-Herbert, Messrs Brand & Co had several offerings [...]: essence of beef, concentrated beef tea, beef tea jelly, meat lozenges, [...] potted meat, York and game pie, and A1 sauce [...]. Another company, John Moir & Sons, focused mostly on canned soups [...], selling oxtail, turtle, giblet and hare.

---

By the late 19th century such was the popularity of canned foods that rare would be the pantry in a colonial home that didn’t store them along with medical provisions like opium, quinine, chlorodyne and Fowler’s solution (an arsenic compound). [...] As Flora Steele and Grace Gardiner wrote in The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, “A good mistress will remember the breadwinner requires blood-forming nourishment, and the children whose constitutions are being built up day by day, sickly or healthy, according to the food given them; and bear in mind the fact that in India, especially, half the comfort of life depends on clean, wholesome, digestible food.”

To assist the British woman in this ostensible duty, there were a number of cookbooks and housekeeping manuals [...]. The Englishwoman in India, for instance, published in 1864 under the pseudonym A Lady Resident, had a whole section with recipes for “infants and invalids”. These included carrot pap cooked into a congee with arrowroot [...] and toast water (well-toasted bread soaked in water). Steele and Gardiner too had a few recipe recommendations [...], including champagne jelly (“most useful in excessive vomiting”) and the dangerous-sounding Cannibal Broth (beef essence), which they said should be consumed with cream [...] to treat extreme debility and typhoid. [...]

---

One dish born of this encounter was the pish pash. The pish pash is considered an invention of the colonial cook, who adapted the kedgeree – the colonial cousin of khichdi – into a light nursery food. The famous Hobson-Jobson defined it as “a slop of rice soup with small pieces of meat” [...]. None other than Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Bengal, gave confirmation of its efficacy when in 1784 he wrote to his wife from the sick bed [...]. There are enough records to show that the imperialists counted marh (starch water from cooked rice) and bael (wood apple) sherbet among their go-to remedies and benefited from the medicinal qualities of chiretta water and ajwain-infused water.

---

Text by: Priyadarshini Chatterjee. “How food came to the rescue of the British in India.” Scroll.in (Magazine format). 26 April 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[sixpennydame]

I BEG OF YOU. I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. Never Have I Ever is too good please make it an ongoing series, oh gosh I fell in love again. 😩

Hi Anon! This is for you..

Never Have I Ever, Part 2

Part 1

Levi x fem!reader

C/W: Canonverse, Levi being awkward about love, hangovers, mentions of alcohol / drunkenness, fluff

————

Levi was hungover, no doubt about it.

He never really drank much, but he figured with his above-average physical strength, he’d be able to quickly get over a hangover.

He was wrong.

Riding back to Headquarters after that night was agony; every noise felt like a cacophony in his head, and the bright sun hurt his eyes. His head was pounding like a drum.

Looking at him, though, you’d never suspect it. He still had that same, slightly pissed-off look on his face, so when you rode up to him, you expected him to just be his normal self.

But you and he knew things weren’t normal between the two of you anymore. You’d done something, but both of you were still trying to put those pieces of the night together.

You remember going to the bathroom, and when you came out, Levi was there in the hallway. Before you could ask him what he was doing there, he’d grabbed your arm and pulled you into him, his lips immediately meeting yours. The rest is hazy, but you can slightly remember you kissing down his neck to his collarbone, where you…

Oh my god, you thought to yourself, you’d left a huge kiss mark on him. You remember smiling into his neck as he took in a sharp breath in reaction to the sensation, his hands on your buttocks.

This morning, you notice he’s wearing his cravat a little tighter than he normally does, but his face is unreadable. Is he angry at you? Annoyed? He was the one that started kissing you, but maybe he doesn’t even remember doing that. You decide to take a chance and start talking.

“Fun night last night, huh?” you say with a small laugh.

“Yeah, it was…fun,” is his only reply and he doesn’t even look at you.

You try again. “But I’m afraid I drank too much during that game and I can barely remember anything after that,” he looks over at you when you say that. “How about you?”

“Nope. Nothing.” His answer is curt.

There’s no way he didn’t notice the kiss mark you left on his skin. Does he hate you for it now? “Listen, Levi, I -”

“I need to go talk with Hange for a minute. We’ll talk later,” he cuts you off as he rides ahead, leaving you toward the back of the group.

When Levi makes it to Hange, they’re humming a song. “How can you even be humming right now? I saw you down almost a whole bottle of gin.”

“Easy,” they smirk, “I drink a concoction of ginger, charcoal, and turmeric before I know I’m going to drink alcohol and it keeps me from getting a hangover.” They push their glasses up. “You see the mineral compound in charcoal works with the ginger to..”

Levi rolls his eyes. “I don’t need to know the science, Four-Eyes.”

“Ok, ok, but maybe you need to know how to treat someone after you make out with them…or whatever you two did,” Hange says, a little loudly for Levi’s comfort.

“Shh..shh..” Levi looks around to see if anyone was listening, “I don’t need everyone knowing my business.”

Hange laughs. “Levi…it’s no secret to anyone at that bar that you and Reader have got the hots for each other.” Hange looks at Levi, but the look on his face tells them he has no idea what they’re talking about. “I mean, you both were gone for a while, then you went over to a table in a corner by yourselves, and then you both left the bar together.”

“We…did?” Levi can’t believe he doesn’t remember any of this. In fact, he wouldn’t believe it if not for the mark on his neck. He feels so stupid. What if he overstepped his boundaries with you last night? How does he apologize for something he can’t even remember?

Hange and Levi both hear you laugh as you ride by with a few comrades. Your eyes linger on Levi for a moment, then they look away to focus again on the group. Levi’s eyes, however, stay on you for a few second longer.

Hange smiles. “You should talk to her. Tell her how you feel.”

“I…can’t,” Levi sighs, “I’ve never really done this before.” His voice gets even lower, “And what if she doesn’t even like me? Maybe it was just the alcohol.”

“Oh I doubt that very much.” Hange laughs. “Besides, you’ve liked each other for a while, but were both too stubborn to admit it. You know what they say… In wine, there is truth..”

When you all arrived back to headquarters, Levi stables his horse and goes straight to his quarters. Maybe Hange was right - maybe the alcohol tore down enough of his defenses for you to see how much he cared for you. How much he wanted you. And you must want him too, right? He takes off his cravat and pulls down his shirt to look at the purple mark. He presses on it, hoping in some way that the slight pain might jog some memories.

But he does remember touching you, pressing his body against you. Shit, if he could only remember more..

He paces the room, conflicted about what to do. “Fuck it,” he finally says to himself. He needs to talk to you. Clear the air once and for all.

When he opens his door, you’re standing there, hand up in a fist as if you were about to knock.

“Hey…” you say awkwardly, “can we talk?”

“Yeah, sure. I was just coming to look for you.” His heart is beating fast as he opens his door wider to invite you in.

“I drank a lot last night, as you know,” you confess, “and I think…some things might have happened between us. Things I can’t exactly remember.” You blush.

“I’ll admit, I can’t remember either.” Levi runs his hands through hair, clearly embarrassed. “And if I crossed any lines last night, I sincerely apologize.”

You walk over to him. “No, no. That’s the thing: I…wanted to be with you last night.” You’re face is getting hot; you can’t believe you’re finally saying it out loud.

He moves closer to you, his own cheeks turning flush. “I wanted it too. I want…” he runs his thumb across your plump lips, “…you.”

He can’t resist anymore - he has to kiss you. His lips hover over yours and then he stops. “Is this ok?”

“It’s more than ok,” you reply as you grab his shirt and pull him closer to you. His lips are so soft when they move against yours. As you both come up for breath, you start kissing his jaw, then down his neck, and that’s when you see the bruise you left.

You smile. “I hate that I can’t remember what we did last night.”

He takes your chin to lift up your head, then he starts kissing down your neck, sucking in almost the same place you’d left your mark. “Well then, let’s work on making some new memories.”

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 13 (Mastermind)—MOTA Fic

A/N: Admittedly, this one was a lot of fun! I had a great lake day yesterday but that also means I'm behind on writing and answering requests haha! They're still open though, so feel free to keep sending me stuff! I'm going to try and catch up today, if I can! As always, let me know what you think and enjoy!

Ruth’s hands didn’t stop shaking after they left her office.  They didn’t stop shaking when she dug through her bag looking for a cigarette and a lighter.  They didn’t stop as she lit the thing—though her hands were rattling as though she was part of some jazz quartet or something.  They didn’t stop shaking as she inhaled the smoke in a rapid breath, unable to get ahold of herself. 

For a moment, it was all she could do to just sit there in her office and stare at the paperwork she was supposed to be doing.  All thoughts of work had melted away into worries that were building and compounding about Abe.  

Any appetite that she had worked up was long gone and she would take the promise of an empty stomach and a cigarette over having to socialize in the mess hall.  What the actual hell had Abe been thinking?  He was just a little boy.  A little Jewish boy who, if caught, would surely be found out that he had lied on his forms and he would be killed or worse.  Ruth couldn’t even take the thought. 

There was a pull in her stomach that seemed to knot itself up tightly.  She wanted to throw up, wanted to scream and punch the wall, wanted to make all of this just go away.  But she did not have the power for that.  

And so for the first time in a long time, Ruth Sharpe let a small whimper slip from her lips and she couldn’t help the fact that the tears came spilling out of her eyes.  Like a dam overflowing, Ruth was simply overwhelmed. She wasn’t one to cry easily, wasn’t one to get emotional.  But she had failed in her most simple of all jobs—being a sister.  

Maybe if she had stayed in the United States, she would have been able to stop Abe from running away and trying to join the military.  Maybe she could have protected him a lot better than any efforts she could give at the current moment.  Ruth Sharpe, shark lawyer, JAG-Corp member, felt totally helpless.  And it wasn’t a feeling she liked. 

So Ruth let herself blubber for a solid five minutes.  She let the tears spill from her eyes, she let the emotions run rampant and all of the ‘what ifs’ swirl around in her mind.  And when she glanced over at the clock, almost exactly at five minutes from when she began her emotional breakdown, Ruth straightened up her back. 

She dabbed at her makeup and at the tear-tracks.  And then she got back to work.  Because what else was she supposed to do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although Glenn Dye’s party was in full swing, Ruth had little patience for the entire thing.  It was great for that particular captain that he got to go home and that 25 missions could, in fact, be done.  But for everyone else, Ruth didn’t really see a point in celebrating.  After all, there was another mission to be run in the morning. 

Staying out late and celebrating the new arrivals and Glenn Dye didn’t seem like the best use of time, in her opinion.  And her sour mood wasn’t helped by the fact that Helen and Tatty absolutely insisted that she let loose and came to the party. 

Ruth had never particularly cared for parties, even her own.  Her mother had always thrown the best birthday parties and holiday parties—but Ruth would rather be in a corner with a book or in a good conversation than in a room full of people.  And that was thus evidenced by Ruth’s lack of enthusiasm at the current party. 

In the midst of her grumbling and occasionally sipping at a gin, someone came running up to her, tugging on her arm.  Ruth wasn’t even surprised to find Abe, grinning as he encouraged her to come and meet his friends.  

“Aren’t you—embarrassed or something?” Ruth demanded in slight annoyance. 

“Embarrassed? Why would I be embarrassed?” Abe asked, giving her a strange look.  “You’re JAG-Corp AND you outrank them.  I get to brag!” 

As Abe brought her to a stop in front of the new recruits—a few of whom she vaguely recognized from the inspections done earlier that day—there was a slight look of fear that gave rise to pride in her chest.  “Uh, Abe—” One of them started nervously. 

“This is my sister!  Ruth!” Abe exclaimed proudly, a wide grin on his face. 

Ruth didn’t even blink as her gaze turned onto the men curiously.  “The uh—the scary—” One of them started, earning an elbow to the ribs and a wince.  “The lawyer lady is your sister?” 

“I can see you’re just as charmed to meet me as I am to meet you,” Ruth retorted in a steel tone.  “Your names, soldiers?” 

“Ruthie—” Abe started in a slight warning tone. 

“Nash,” The one in the middle piped up. 

“Speitz.” 

“Pappy.” 

“Is it true that you grew up down the hall from Rosenthal?” Nash questioned, gaze flickering between the two siblings. 

A tight smile found its way onto Ruth’s features.  “Guilty as charged, I’m afraid.  Why?  Are you looking for blackmail?” 

“Be nice, please,” Abe mumbled. 

“Oh look, here’s Twinkle-Toes now.  Just like Senior Prom,” Ruth said, letting out a sigh at the sight of Robert Rosenthal dancing his way over to the group.  He continued his moves right up until he nearly bumped into Ruth, a panicked expression crossing his features quickly. 

“Uh, I didn’t see—” 

“You?  Not paying attention?  I’m shocked,” Ruth said dryly.  

“I’m sorry, you said prom?” Pappy questioned, leaning forward. 

Both Ruth and Rosie gave each other a withering gaze.  “Oh yeah!” Abe exclaimed, cutting them off before either could speak.  “They went to prom together since their dates both had the flu!” 

“Anyways,” Rosie expressed in a louder tone.  “What have I missed?” 

“Well I’m eying broads and Pappy here’s trying to dour the mood,” Nash said, gesturing at his friend. “So in other words, nothing.” 

“Sour,” Rosie and Ruth said at the same time—immediately giving each other an incredulous look of annoyance.  

“What?” 

“The word, it’s sour,” Rosie corrected. “Sour the mood is what you mean.” 

“No, no,” Pappy insisted.  “All I said is that it’s not a good sign for us.  One crew making it merits a blowout bash?” 

“I’m gonna grab a drink—” Abe started. 

“You are not 21,” Ruth hissed, gaze withering onto her brother. 

Rosie gave a grin as Abe frowned.  “For you, Ruthie!” Abe exclaimed, hurrying off. 

“That kid is such a menace,” Ruth murmured, shaking her head as Abe dipped off to the bar.  “Drink for me—yeah, he’ll take a sip out of it.” 

Nash didn’t respond and everyone followed his line of vision.  “Oh don’t bother them—” 

Ruth glanced over—following the line of sight onto Helen and Tatty.  She nearly snorted, amusement spilling onto her features.  “Good luck with that.” 

Before Nash could so much as ask what she meant by that particular comment, Abe returned.  This time, he was accompanied by Major Egan and Major Cleven and Ruth felt as though everything in the universe were aligning to try and take her out today. 

“Ruthie!” Bucky exclaimed in a peppy tone.  “Baby Shark here was just telling me that you’re his sister!” 

“Oh good God,” Ruth pinched the bridge of her nose as Abe looked smug, snugly standing between the two Majors as if he had picked out two sixth graders to protect him from bullies on the playground.  

“Baby Shark?” Abe questioned, glancing over in their direction. 

Bucky just flashed an award-winning smile.  “You know,” he said, gesturing at Ruth with his head.  “Because she’s a shark.” 

“Gentlemen,” Major Cleven cut in, shooting Bucky a warning glance.  The last thing that they needed when they were trying to meet the new pilots was to anger Lieutenant Sharpe and start a ruthless verbal battle. 

Ruth plucked the drink out of Abe’s hand and made her getaway before anyone could stop her.  Her head felt like it was pounding and honestly?  The last thing she needed was to put up with Abe, Robby Rosenthal, and Bucky Egan in one sitting.  That was too much for her sensibilities and she didn’t have the patience for that at the moment.  

Returning to the bar, Ruth found Jack Kidd sipping on a drink and she let out a deep sigh.  “Push me down the stairs of the tower next time we’re up there?” Ruth questioned, gaze locking onto him. 

Kidd, to his credit, choked on the drink, eyes going wide.  “That’s uh—that’s an extreme reaction.” 

“See the shrimpy kid over there in between Cleven and Egan?” 

“Well yeah.  What about him?” 

“That’s my brother.  And the new guy with the worm on his face and far too much hair gel is his favorite neighbor and my rival from school.” 

Kidd blinked at the scene up ahead, shaking his head.  “That’s awful luck, Ruth.” 

“Don’t I know it,” Ruth exhaled, taking a sip of her gin.  “If I have to put up with those two and Egan, I think I might just….court martial everyone on this damn base.” 

“Duly noted,” Kidd retorted.  “You didn’t know your brother was coming?” He added, curiosity brimming in his features. 

“Not really, no.  And I wouldn’t expect him to end up on the same base as me either.  God must have a really good sense of humor when it comes to me,” Ruth said lightly.  “Who knows?  Maybe I’ll rub off on you and you’ll start having this sorta luck too.” 

“Don’t you dare!” Kidd exclaimed.  “I’m tired enough of Egan’s bullshit and the rest of what we’ve got going on to have that sorta luck.” 

“Relax, I won’t start prayin’ for that,” Ruth insisted, a small grin on her features.  “Any way we can get my brother in Rosenthal’s plane?” 

“Why?” 

“Kid brother, I tend to worry.  At least with Rosenthal, he’ll be with someone I’ve known most of my life.” 

Kidd gave a nod.  “Shouldn’t be too much of a problem.  I’ll get him transferred there before tomorrow’s mission.” 

“Thanks, Kidd.” 

Before he could reply to that or ask any further questions, a slightly tipsy Harding had made his appearance, calling out for his boys.  And unfortunately for Tatty and Ruth, they knew that they were included in that same line-up—after all, Harding communicated with the Red Cross as much as he did with the Majors.  

“My boys!  Listen up! I just had a mood-killing conversation with Doc Stover, and he thinks you sissies could be getting flak-happy.” There were groans of disagreement from the men and Harding gave a firm nod.  “I told him war is war, and the longer you go at it, the more it screws a man up.  And it’s been that way since the first caveman son of a bitch picked up a club and went after the other.” 

“Cain and Abel, you mean,” Ruth mumbled, earning herself an elbow from Kidd—though she wasn’t necessarily wrong. 

“Did cavemen go for head-shrinking?” Harding questioned.  “Damn sure not.  What counts is that you soldiers show up ready and able to fight.  What you do between battles…” Harding trailed off and Ruth couldn’t help the fact that her jaw dropped at the insinuation of fraternization being alright. 

“I like your style, sir!” Bucky exclaimed. 

“Oh you’ve gotta be shitting me,” Ruth hissed out. 

“Aerial combat like this hasn’t been around since the cavemen, sir,” Red piped up. 

“Well of course not, Red.  Every war has its novelties,” Harding turned, eyes catching onto the decorations.  He soured, a frown painting onto his features.  “Who the hell decorated for this fiesta?” 

“Well I put together a committee, sir,” Crosby mumbled. 

“The damn plane looks like it’s in a nosedive!” Harding exclaimed.  He mumbled some more before ushering the group closer together.  “You know how we could end this whole thing tonight? We fill up one of our first with as many 500 pounders as she can hold and we bomb the hell out of Hitler’s hidey hole.  I’m sure that Red and Bubbles could locate that mustached little fu—” 

“That’s against the rules of conduct,” Ruth’s voice cut cleanly through the crowd, effectively silencing Harding and sending chills down the spines of several of the men.  “And quite frankly stupid.  After all, we’re aiming to kill the soldiers, not the innocent kids and families of Germany.”

Harding blinked as Ruth approached him, almost having to take a step back to process the fact that she was in front of him.  “War is war, sweetheart.” 

“Oh shit,” Kidd breathed out. 

Before Ruth could so much as verbally end this entire thing with Harding, Bucky had taken it upon himself to speak up.  “Well now who’s flak-happy?” Bucky piped up. 

Both Ruth and Harding’s glares set on Bucky at the same time.  “Who?” Harding questioned. 

“I believe you’ve had enough to drink for the night, sir.  There’s a mission early in the morning and I doubt you want the men flying into combat without your instructions,” Ruth said in a steel tone. 

“But—” 

“Red, please escort him back to his cabin.  Egan—” Ruth turned, gaze falling on him.  “A word?” 

Bucky let out a slight grumble, following Ruth a short distance away from the crowd of men who were now talking.  “What?” He questioned. 

“Cleven talked to me earlier.  And now I’m seeing what he means.  I’ll ensure you get a weekend pass for tomorrow.  I can handle Harding for the weekend.  You need a break.” 

The foul stench of alcohol stung the air in front of her as Bucky let out a snarled breath of annoyance.  “I don’t need jack-shit from you.  What do you know—” 

Ruth’s hand sharply cut through the air, slapping against his face.  Everyone had heard it and wisely chose to avoid eye contact with the fuming Major at the moment.  “That was me holding back and being polite—your men need you at your best.  This?  This is not your best.  Take a break, re-center, relax….whatever the hell you need to do to get your head back in the game.  Then you come back and you lead your men through it.  Understood?” Ruth demanded, crossing her arms.  

“I don’t suppose it’s up for negotiation?” 

“Not a chance, flyboy.  Now get going.” 

“Okay…..Mama Shark.” 

She made a slight movement and he dashed away.  Ruth just pinched the bridge of her nose.  She had a sinking feeling that tomorrow was going to be an utter shitshow. 

But there was nothing to be done about that now. 

[mochie85]

To Have and To Hold - Chapter 2

Series Masterlist | My Complete Masterlist

Summary: You and Loki spend time apart, but your reunion is not exactly how either of you planned. A/N: Thanks to @lokisgoodgirl for the help on this chapter. I would have been stuck at writer's block and you guys would not have had a chapter 2. Pairing: Loki x OFC/Reader Word Count: Over 3.4k (It's a long one, folks) Tags/Warnings: Lots of angst. I mean...LOTS. Gunshot - nothing too graphic. Possibly some bad decisions made by our girl...who knows...I don't know. 🤷‍♀️ Dividers by: @firefly-graphics

Loki stayed in your room all night, hoping you would return so you could talk about what happened. He knew he said some awful things. He accused you of being manipulative and deceitful. All of which he never believed. Not once. So why did I say those things to her?

He was shocked. It was just like the fates to pull a stunt like this. He wanted, so bad, to be a part of your world, and you in his. He didn’t want to hide your relationship anymore. He got his wish. Sometimes he thought the fates were more wily and mischievous than he was.

Talking to his brother calmed him, surprisingly. He couldn’t remember the last time they had a heart-to-heart talk over imbued spirits. Thor, of course, was surprised about the secret relationship you two had. Or at least, he was kind enough to act surprised. Neither of you really tried to keep it under wraps.

By the end of the session, Thor looked…elated at being an uncle. Loki could only imagine what was going through his head. Sigh. He’d rather know what’s going on in your head.

A sudden burst of the door startled him out of his thoughts. He looked up from where he was sitting on the floor, leaning onto the foot of your bed.

You barged into your room, in a hurry. Running in as if you needed to get something. You stopped when you found Loki waiting for you on the floor. He looked tired, holding on to the nearly empty bottle of gin. His eyes were bloodshot and his shirt looked wrinkled.

“Where have you been?” Loki asked relieved.

“Get out.” You commanded.

“Darling, we n…”

“Don’t ‘darling’ me. Get out. I don’t want to see you right now.”

“Well, when do you wanna see me?”

“Never.”

“Violet! We need to talk about this.”

“I don’t need to talk to you about shit! What I need to do is get ready for this urgent mission and you need to leave me the fuck alone.” You headed for your closet, grabbing your duffel bag.

“Listen…”

“No! You listen. Since last night, you made me feel like it was my fault! My issue! So I’m claiming it and making it my issue. And mine alone. I come in here and the first thing you ask me is where I’ve been?” you screamed at him.

The nerve! The audacity! Not even an apology?! “Were you sitting here, wondering if I’ve been fucking the whole compound? Looking to see who my next baby daddy is? So I can entrap them too?” you mocked him. You grabbed your small toiletries from the bathroom and noted how the grocery bag was on the counter. All the tests were still inside. He must’ve picked them up sometime last night and stashed them here.

“I never thought of you that way.”

“Oh, and what way is that? A gold digger, only after your money? Or your title? You know, not that it’s any of your business, but I spent the entire night at the lab. Just to answer your question. Bruce sure is mighty fine company,” you sneered. God, I need to stop talking. Don’t bring Brucey into this.

“All right, that’s enough!” Loki raised his voice.

“I’m leaving for this mission. So help you, God, if I come back and you’re not on your knees begging for my forgiveness you can kiss this relationship goodbye!”

So there’s still a chance! Loki thought. “Vee…”

“No! the first words I better hear from you are an apology. Or I don’t want to hear it. I shouldn’t have to fucking tell you! You should know already you narcissistic asshole!” And with that, you slammed the door on his face yet again and made your way to the hangar.

Loki slammed the door open and followed you. He was about to say his mind. Give you his peace, but you quickly stopped in the middle of the hallway, dropping your bag. One hand was holding on to the wall, the other clutching your stomach. You winced in pain only momentarily before you schooled your expression, picked up your duffel, and continued walking.

“Darling…what was that? Are you ok?” He asked. All his anger forgotten.

“I’m fine, Loki. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” You said not turning towards him.

“Weeks!” Loki screamed out. “What about the…what about the baby?” he finished in a whisper.

“You didn’t seem interested in it last night?”

“Darling, please.”

“Please…what, Loki? You keep pleading with me but I don’t even know what you want from me. Last night you said you wanted me in your life and for the whole world to know! Then as soon as you find out about the tests, you turned on me like I was a disgusting piece of manipulative trash. So until you figure that out, don’t bother pleading with me for anything.” You stormed off, trying to hide the fact that you were clutching your stomach.

Days went by. And although you did speak to Loki over the phone, it was always very short and brief. You couldn’t believe you left the way you did. Without so much as a ‘goodbye’ said between the two of you. It hurt you to hear his voice. Both of you were on guard. Never really saying what needed to be said. Polite conversations about the mission or info that needed to be passed along.

At least on your part, you could use the excuse that there were other people around. The others that were with you still didn’t know about your involvement with each other, besides Thor. You wanted to keep it that way for the time being.

Thor had spoken to you about it one night. The others had gone to bed and you and Thor had stayed awake, taking turns on patrol.

“I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear that you and my brother had found love, milady.”

“Thank you, Thor. Even now? With the…you know?” you gestured to your stomach.

“I think, it’s wonderful news. I know my mother will be thrilled to witness Loki finally find his happiness.”

“Happiness? Ya, right. He practically kicked me out like a used trollop.”

“Forgive him, milady. He is very guarded. We’ve both been taught to be careful because of our stations and positions.” He appealed to you. You raised your eyebrow at him and gave him a cynical look. “That is not to say that if we find love we cannot express it. But rather to be mindful…of our actions.” Thor clarified.

“He accused me of doing this on purpose. To trap him into a relationship with me. Like I was a scheming social climber.”

“You have to understand milady, you hold within you the next generation of our royal lineage.”

“But don’t your future children take precedence?” You asked confused.

“Our customs don’t work that way. We are both kings, my dear sister. And we both have equal claim to the throne of Asgard if we chose to go back and do so. Loki more than me because of his Jotunn blood. He’s actually in line for two thrones.” Thor laughed.

Jotunn. You hadn’t even thought about that. Loki’s DNA. His genetic makeup. Are they even compatible with yours? You stuffed the notion into the back pocket of your mind to ask Bruce later when you get home. Right now, you were still reeling over the fact that you have a prince or princess growing inside of you.

“Father would be glad to know that there is someone to carry on the lineage. They would start the lessons and training right away.” Thor’s eyes glittered with excitement. “I would have loved to personally handle their battle training.”

“What do you mean?” You asked confused.

“The little one would be taken to Asgard, sister, to be cared for under our father and mother while we stay here on Midgard. They’ll learn about our culture and history. They’ll learn to defend themselves as true Asgardian Warriors.”

“What do you mean, right away? Wh-Where are Loki and I in all this? Did he know this was going to happen?” You asked almost hyperventilating. So many questions ran through your mind. Thor’s statement about taking the child away from you raised even more. You weren’t even sure you wanted to keep the baby yet. And here they were planning for its future.

“Loki and I talked briefly about it the night before we left for this mission. Loki didn’t think you wanted to leave your life here on Midgard so soon. There is duty and honor to be upheld, milady. Surely you will understand.” Thor watched you with uncertainty. He saw your eyes water and your breathing quicken. He was not sure of what to make of your reaction.

“Unless…you’d like to be there with the babe. You and Loki should be there of course. We would never wish to part you from your child.” He said looking at you patronizingly. “You will be whisked to Asgard as soon as you two make it official. You’ll be the princess to the people. And If Loki decides, and wins, his claim to the throne, a Queen someday.” Thor patted you on the back with a warm smile on his face.

Queen?! What the hell?!

All you did was fall in love. You never thought it would lead to a baby right away. And now, the future queen?!

“All I ever wanted was a quiet life back home, close to my family. I just wanted my knight in shining armor to grow old with. Not the Prince to make me his princess.”

“Have you spoken to Loki about this?” Thor asked.

“I didn’t give him a chance. I was just so angry and I left.” Tears started to trickle down your cheek. “I – I didn’t realize what this would mean. No wonder he was so shocked! He probably would be glad to get rid of it. Then get rid of me. It’s so much more complicated than I thought.” Tears fell down your face. You bit your lip trying to stop the wail that was about to come out of your mouth.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, milady. Before we left, he practically threatened to disembowel me if I let anything happen to you or the…” Thor said pointing to your belly. “He loves you. That is for certain. He would never throw away his chance at true happiness. He might fumble it a bit. But never doubt his love for you, dear sister.”

Does he love me? He said so much himself before he found out about the baby. Loki wanted to take the relationship public. “Thank you, Thor,” you said as a sniper’s bullet shot through you making you fall to the ground.

Loki was pacing back and forth in his room. You were due back next week and he wanted to practice his speech. He’s written it down on a napkin from the coffee shop down the street. The one you two frequented in secret. He would go there while you were away to think about you.

You were right. You were always right. He should’ve apologized. That was the first thing he should’ve done. The napkin in his hand had been crumpled and nearly see-through with all the handling and folding Loki has done to it. He placed it as the bookmark to one of the many books he bought about human pregnancy and what to expect.

He made his way down to the lab to ask Bruce questions regarding human anatomy and Jotunn biology. In a span of a week and a half, Bruce and Loki had formed a special trust with one another. Mainly because Bruce was the only other person besides Thor that knows of your involvement with each other.

Loki came to Bruce at first angry and beside himself. He was jealous at the fact that Bruce was the one you ran to when he himself pushed you away. But Loki couldn’t stay mad for long under Bruce’s gentle demeanor and The Hulk, shadowing his every move, not too far off.

Now, he’s thankful that you had Bruce to run to. His friendship proved invaluable and his wealth of knowledge insurmountable.

“As far as I know, Loki, she and the baby will be fine. You’ve brought over many past records and instances of Jotunns and other races mingling. There were only a few casualties. And it wasn’t because of the difference in genes but rather poor health conditions of the mother or lack of medical treatment,” Bruce reassured Loki for the millionth time. Loki took a big sigh. He knew he was bothering Bruce with the same incessant questions. But he was nervous and scared that something would happen to you.

Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder, “She’ll be fine,” he said. “Have you talked about it, though, since you found out?”

“No. Our conversations have been brief and usually about the mission that she’s on.” Loki sighed.

“Have you…have you considered that maybe she doesn’t want to keep the fetus.”

“I have,” Loki said looking up. Bruce just nodded his head. He didn’t want to pry any further. But Loki had become a good friend. Bruce remembered how distraught you were the night you found out and how he tried to help you. You talked about multiple scenarios and solutions until Fury came in asking for you to go on an urgent mission.

Watching the god before him crumble at the thought of losing you was a real eye-opener.  Bruce saw a new side to him. One that he was glad to call a friend. Because of their budding friendship, he wanted to make sure that Loki has thought about all the other multiple scenarios and solutions as well.

“It will be her choice. Always her choice. I would love her no matter what.” Loki said, looking down at his bookmark napkin, the one with his love written all over it.

“All medical personnel please be on hand,” FRIDAY announced through the speakers. “All medical personnel please be on hand. Airstrip Alpha. One injured. Bullet wound through the chest. Female.”

It was late Sunday night. The team wasn’t supposed to be back for another four days. The announcement alarmed Loki. The description of the injured describes you. Although, it could be any of the agents that went with you.

Please not her. Please not her. He ran alongside Bruce to Airstrip Alpha. His long legs got him there much quicker than any of the other medical staff. He saw the quinjet’s back door open midair before it ever had time to land. Thor had jumped down from such a great height carrying someone in his arms.

When he landed, he and Loki immediately locked eyes, and he knew.

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Loki screamed out.  He ran towards Thor reaching for your body. He pushed Thor away as he cradled you. Thor stood back, his face a portrait of pain and remorse.

“Loki?” you whispered.

“I’m here darling. I’m here.” Loki said wiping the hairs off your face. He looked up and saw the medical staff running towards them, Stephen Strange behind them. Loki cradled you close and ran towards them. Strange summoned a portal to the medical wing's operating room. Everyone stepped through and Loki placed you on the gurney.

There was chaos erupting everywhere. Hands and voices toppling over each other, trying to open your suit. Trying to pry your wound. Trying to save your life.

And the life of your child.

“Loki! Loki! Look at me.” Bruce tried to get his attention. “She’s alive. She’s alive! And we’re gonna do all we can but I need you to step outside. Ok.”

“I – I can help. I have seidr. I can locate the bullet…or, or…stop the blood…or…” Norns there was so much blood.

“No. You’re too close. Too emotional. Stephen is here. He has powers too.

“But what about the…” Loki tried to argue.

“I will handle it,” Bruce said.

“Come brother,” Thor said as he placed his hand on Loki’s shoulder.

“Don’t you dare touch me! You were supposed to keep her safe!” Loki smacked Thor’s hand away from his shoulder. “Disemboweling you now would be a great mercy. Would you like to know why? Because there are healers here that can probably save your life!” a dagger materialized in Loki’s hand, pointing it directly at Thor.

A portal opened up to the hallway outside and in a flash, it traveled over both the brothers putting them away from the emergency that was happening to you.

“Goodbye,” Strange said as he closed the portal on both of them.

“I was with her the whole time, Loki. I never left her side.” Thor screamed.

“So why is there a bullet in her and not you?!”

“Loki. I swear to you. That attack came out of nowhere. Natasha and Barnes are still there, hunting down whoever attacked her.” Thor said with the blade pressed up against his throat.

Loki was overwhelmed with grief. He pushed off of Thor and began to pace the halls. “For the sake of this realm and everyone in it. She better live.” Loki seethed. His anger and misery ebbing out of him like steam.

Not long after. The operation concluded with the medical staff drained and exhausted. They all congratulated each other on a job well done, and successful surgery.

“Bruce. St-Stephen.” You croaked out.

“Hey…you should be sleeping. None of this heroic stuff. You just got shot.” Bruce said.

“I’ll be fine. Is…” you looked over at Stephen. Then your eyes wandered over to the rest of the staff that was putting things away and cleaning up the room.

“The baby is fine. Still growing.” Strange answered your question. Great! Your secret was just now made public.

“I ask for one thing. And one thing only.” You said aloud so that everyone in the room could hear you. “If anyone asks, and I mean ANYONE from outside of this room asks, tell them I lost the baby.” You looked down, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. You had your reasons. No one was entitled to them but yourself. “Please. I will only say, that it’s for my safety and the safety of the child that I ask…that no one says anything about it.”

“But what about Loki?” Bruce asked.

“Especially, Loki. I’m doing this for Loki. Please, Bruce. Stephen. He can’t know.” You looked up. Pleading with both of them. Stephen circled his fingers and a bright round sigil formed on top of each of the staff’s heads.

“I have altered their memories, slightly. They will remember seeing you were pregnant, but that the baby was lost.” When he finished, the staff’s mood turn more somber and pained. They refused to look up at you, sorry for your supposed loss.

You started crying. An emotion befitting a mother who had just lost her child. You were overwhelmed with the events that just happened. You were scared of the plan that you had just implemented. But for you to keep your baby. For your child to have a happy, normal life, no one can know that they exist. Especially Odin.

Loki sat on one of the chairs in the lounge. His leg - restless, as it jittered up and down waiting for news of either your recovery or of your untimely departure.

When Bruce walked in, Loki all but accosted him for the update. “Good news. She is alive and well.” Loki was overpowered by relief that he hugged Bruce. “She’s resting right now. Recovering. You can probably see her.” Bruce patted Loki on the back, sighing. The next bit of news he was about to give would leave a bad taste in his mouth for as long as he lived. “The bad news is…”

Loki let go of Bruce to look into his eyes. There was bad news! There was always bad news. He should’ve known. Fate would never be so kind to him as to just give him a happy ending.

“…the baby didn’t...” Bruce tried looking down. “The baby didn’t…I’m sorry Loki.” Bruce said.

Loki’s heart broke twice that day. Shattered into indistinct pieces. He had no idea how to move forward. How to talk to you. How to help you. “I think you should talk to her, Loki. Be honest about your feelings. You two need to have a real, candid conversation.” Bruce said looking deeply into his eyes as if he was trying to convey something.

Loki nodded his head, thinking that he understood what Bruce meant. He walked over down the hall up to your door and knocked.

“Come in.” You said weakly.

“Darling,” Loki said as he opened the door and walked in.

⬅️Chapter 1 | Chapter 3➡️

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[anamelessfool]

[Instrumental]

Copia x Cardinal Marian, Copia & Terzo Domestic Fluff sponsored by @comp-lady's Domestic December

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Tags: Duet, Singing, Being Silly, Holiday Doldrums

Dedicated to @delullu and @thew0man <3

Ficlet Below the Cut!

After the Solstice Holidays and before the New Year, it was rough around the Ministry compound. Not much to do except nurse a hangover and wait for the calendar to refresh you, to wash away the old year. Next year will be different. But right now, I got to lie the fuck down.

Papa Emeritus III would make it everyone's problem and start wandering the halls looking for some last minute pick-me-up from a sibling who was already either exhausted with him or disgusted by him thanks in part to his traditionally ridiculous behavior at the Solstice party. Sister would have nothing to do with him, which of course meant he would resort to the only two people whose job description required mandatory interaction: Sister's Personal Assistant Marian and his protegee Papa Elect Copia.

Which is why during this time Marian and Copia preferred to hunker down somewhere. And when Marian would get so sick of puzzles or hearing Copia crow about The Life and Times of JP Morgan she would demand a field trip.

Luckily at this time of year Copia’s beige LaSabre would have the snow chains on and they could go into town without careening off of a snowy cliff on the way there.

And in the nearest town there was a bar that, for a discreet twenty dollar bill it would be Karaoke Night any night Marian wanted.

“Here we stand…Worlds apart, hearts broken in two! Two! Twooo….” Marian scream-sang the words as they lit up across the video screen. From his place at a nearby table, Copia sighed wistfully. She was a terrible singer, he had to admit. Not a musical bone in her body. But her heart was into it. Always, fully.

Also watching her plush hips sway in time to the music was a bonus.

“Some day, love will find you! Break those chains that bind you! You know, I still love you—” Marian held out her hand to him, flashing a winning smile. Copia’s heart soared. “Even when we go our separate ways!”

A man wandered up to the stage and threw a dollar into the empty plastic pitcher for her. She blew him a kiss. Copia felt a little tinge of jealously bubble up in his throat but it was followed by another thought, this one much more thrilling. Doesn’t matter, she’s coming home with me….

“Closer to the heart! Closer to the HEAAAAAART! YEA-YUH!” And Marian jumped off the small stage, drink in hand, to wander back to Copia’s table and his nest of empty glasses with lemon slices.

“The song’s over?” Copia asked. Watching her sidle over to him, a smirk across her face put him in a certain way. He pretended for a moment she had eyed him from across the bar, a mysterious temptress. He a debonair scoundrel. His heart fluttered.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine….

“No there's like a five minute instrumental section, get with the program,” she said. “Here, drink this.”

Copia did what he always did—immediately what was told. He took a sip from the tiny straw. His whole mouth was awash with acrid flames as the liquid scraped down his throat. He nearly arched and hissed like a cat. “W-what was in that?!”

“Long Island Ice Tea—I thought you'd like it. The most alcohol for the least amount of money.” Marian cackled. “Enough with that unsweetened shit. You're up next.”

Copia clutched one of his empty glasses of unsweetened shit. “No thank you. I enjoy just watching you.”

“Why not?” Marian scanned the room. There were a half dozen people besides them on this impromptu Tuesday night karaoke.

“I just….prefer…”

“There's like five other people here.” She gestured towards the bar. “Four now, because I think that guy over there is asleep.”

Copia idly tapped the glass, blinking.

“You know you're going to perform in front of thousands of people soon, yeah?”

“That's different. So many, and they're ah…they're a wall at that scale, really.”

The little [INSTRUMENTAL] blocks started filling across the screen. She’d have to start singing again soon. Marian threw him a determined look. A hungry look. Her eyebrows raised and her mouth quirked. “Drink the rest of that. I'll get you up here.”

Marian turned back to the stage and Copia watched her ass in her tight jeans cross the floor. Imagined his hands across the nipped in part of her waist. He knocked back the rest of the burning concoction and dealt with the pain.

Marian’s solo ended and someone in the darkness actually clapped. She did an ironic curtsy and the next song title appeared across the screen.

Copia bit his lip and gripped the empty glass.

He heard the song. The fake organ refrain. The plinks and chirps of the most perfect arrangement of notes he'd ever heard since Bach felt inclined to start writing.

It was his ringtone for years, when custom ring tones were a thing.

Are they still a thing?

The intro ended, and the lyrics flashed across the screen, unsung. The midi karaoke track blared without any singer. Without anyone to help push the song along and give it life.

Marian stood there, staring into his eyes. Her smirk transformed into a wild, toothy grin.

How dare she.

How dare she let this song run down.

This perfect song.

Copia blinked again, this time keenly aware of how heavy his eyelids had become. He got up and his vision swam a little.

Marian was right. That was a lot of alcohol for a sensible price. And maybe chugging it wasn't the best idea Copia ever had.

The eight inch step up onto the little stage brought with it a surge of emotion. He was already singing the song in his head, trying to keep time. He wanted his intro to be completely on time.

Copia touched her arm with one hand, then grabbed under her chin. Marian laughed, dropping the mic in his other hand. She winked.

The horrible rinky-dink light set up was still unnaturally bright and he shut his eyes tight, leaning into the mic. He had to recover. He owed it to the song. “Don't go wasting your emotion! Lay all your love on me!”

Marian pulled another mic from the plastic pitcher nearby and joined in, trying to mimic the dulcet tones of Agnetha Fältskog the best a mere mortal could. “It was like shooting a sitting duck! A little small talk, a smile, and baby I was stuck!”

Copia made a little pleased grunt, a nod, then swept his arms out theatrically, continuing, “I still don't know what you've done with me! A grown-up woman should never fall so easily…”

Something pressed play in Copia's heart. The program ran without any doubt, dismay—there was definitely something beyond the buzz of a drink mixed with a heavy hand. For some reason he wanted nothing more than to give the performance of a lifetime. He put a foot up on the stool, leaning into the bridge. “I feel a kind of fear when I don't have you near… Unsatisfied, I skip my pride, I beg you, dear!”

Copia glanced over to Marian. She was red faced and giggling, the mic forgotten in her arms. He threw her his own smirk, pointing at her with an accusing finger. “Don't go wasting your emotion! Lay all your love on me! Don't go sharing your devotion…”

Marian stepped forward into him, and his hands automatically wrapped around her. Her fingers brushed the back of his neck and her lips connected with his. He tasted something tropical, warming him on this dreary winter December evening. The empty song continued, abandoned, but her kiss was consolation enough.

Marian couldn't resist a little bite as she pulled away. “Told you,” she said.

“Eh er-well..I was going to pick that one next anyway,” Copia huffed. He shifted his weight and through the bright lights he saw a curious gleam of metal in the far corner. A figure had slipped into the bar and settled behind a table, a large square-shouldered rectangle. With horns. With a metal mask.

“Omega?” Marian stammered. “What—”

There was a theatrically wicked laugh from behind them. Terzo was standing by the stage, leafing through the giant binder of songs and typing in numbers.

“You think you could keep this place a secret forever, fratellino,” Terzo sneered. The Infernal Eye gleamed in its socket. “We’re singing Super Trooper next.”

Bonus Organ Cover Of the Greatest Song Since Bach Decided to Dabble (Copia's words)

[the-red-thread-that-strangles]

It ends, after all this time, not with a bang, but with a ragged breath.

Mind you, Akai stayed quiet through the breaking of his fingers and the cuts etched into his skin, but somewhere around the time Rei had ripped out his fingernails one by one he'd started screaming. And Rei had kept him screaming, until his voice grew hoarse.

Not that he'd let out anything useful, despite Rei's best attempts to get information out of him.

And alright, that one might be his fault - Akai was unlikely to give anything of importance anyways, the stubborn bastard, so Rei hadn't bothered much with trying. Had focused, instead, to share some of the agony the sniper has brought him over the years they've known each other. Every slight and every crime, remembered and repaid, while Rei still has time to do so - because it's rapidly running out, for Akai.

And still, he'd spat in Rei's face and smiled, giving him not even an inch. Insolent to the very end.

He's writhed in his restraints, trying to escape as death grew close, but Rei has learned from his mistakes - this time, he's made sure they're reinforced, rigid, will resist the FBI dog's death throes. It all ends, today.

One last, ragged breath and then blessed quiet.

At precisely 4 minutes and 36 seconds past administration of the poison, measured for science department's analysis, the light in Akai Shuuichi's eyes goes out. All that's left is his sweaty, bloodied, broken corpse, no more than an object, lying in front of Rei.

It leaves him feeling hollow.

After all this time, this is all that's left of Akai, the silver bullet, always larger than life?

"Target neutralized."

Rei ends the stream.

.

It starts, while Rei is still contemplating how to dispose of the body, with the grinding of teeth.

Great. R&D had mentioned there might be side effects.

Whatever is going on seems to be creating enormous amounts of heat, because Akai's remains start steaming. Rei sets his Bourbon phone down to keep recording, science will want footage of what happened to the body, and takes cover behind the doorframe. If the corpse is going to explode, Rei would rather not be covered in gore. He uses the time to open a window; who knows what kind of compounds the toxin he injected into Akai creates.

Scraping of metal against the cement floor can be heard from inside, though visibility is too low make out what's going on in there. There's the cracking of bones, a rustle of clothing.

A gasp?

Then, it's quiet again.

The vapour quickly dissipates through the open window, and where Akai's corpse lay, is now just a pile of clothes and bindings.

Which would be convenient - the org would surely love it if they could kill and dispose of the body in one go - if there wasn't a trail of blood leading into a corner. A corner where, draped in an oversized, torn shirt, panting heavily and clutching a knife larger than its forearm, a child is huddled.

A bloodied child that stares up at Rei with murder in its eyes, their colour a too-familiar shade of green.

"What did you do to me?", the kid growls.

Rei should've just shot Akai, Gin's curiosity be damned.

[hufflepuffronstan]

#7 - Jump, for @hinnymicrofic

Rating -M (to be safe)

"Be careful!" He whispered as Ginny climbed the wall and jumped into his family compound.

"I've reached." Came her voice from the other side.

Harry climbed and landed on the ground a little less stealthily than Ginny.

"Oof!" He patted his knees.

They both crept into his house like a pair of rabbits, careful not to make too much noise lest they alert the guard or even worse, his parents.

They entered his room on the second floor and Harry closed and locked the door behind him.

"That took a year and a half of my life, Gin. We're never doing that again."

She giggled, "Live a little, you old man."

He pulled Ginny close to his chest and they tumbled on to his bed.

"It makes no sense for me to come to your home and drag you to sneak into my parent's house when I could easily climb through your window to your room."

She playfully pecked his lips.

"I don't want to make out with my boyfriend knowing that my brothers are sleeping rooms away."

His hands moved under her shirt, caressing her soft skin.

"So it's fun for me to climb the same wall twice for some alone time at your convenience?"

He pulled her shirt up and started kissing her stomach. His hands continued caressing her skin and she almost moaned out loud when he started licking her skin.

"That- uh that's s not fair. I- I have to climb the walls of your big mansion too." She sat up and pushed him onto his back, climbing on top of him. "And I don't think you're getting a bad deal either. Why don't you do something about the guard at your gate so that we wouldn't have to climb the damn walls?"

He struggled to reply as she started kissing his neck.

"No complaints at all but you know he would rat on us to my parents if I tried to- ughh t-try b-bribe him."

She just hummed as her teeth worked on a soft spot on his neck. Harry moaned loudly as her tongue laved at the bite.

She leaned back and stared at her handiwork, feeling extremely proud of herself.

Harry saw the smirk on her face and growled, "You're a minx. And I'm so damn going to make you pay for it, Weasley."

Her smirk grew wider, "You can try, Potter!"

[tieflingkisser]

Israeli Extremists Set Fire to UNRWA’s Headquarters in East Jerusalem

The agency was forced to close its compound in the occupied city after the latest attack.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday that it was forced to shutter its headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem after a mob of Israeli extremists set fire to the perimeter of the facility, causing significant damage and endangering staffers inside the building. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said late Thursday that the fire was the latest escalation by Israeli extremists who have been protesting outside the UNRWA compound for months, ginned up by the Israeli government’s unsubstantiated claims about the agency staffers’ ties to terrorist groups. An independent probe released last month concluded that Israel “has yet to provide supporting evidence” that “a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organizations.” In his statement Thursday, Lazzarini said U.N. staffers have “regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation” and that the East Jerusalem compound “has been seriously vandalized and damaged.” “This is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of U.N. staff were at serious risk,” said Lazzarini. “In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is restored.”

Attacks on the agency’s East Jerusalem headquarters began in February after Arieh King, the far-right deputy mayor of Jerusalem, called on the Netanyahu government to kick the UNRWA “out of Israel and specifically from Jerusalem.” Lazzarini said that demonstrations “became violent” this week when Israeli protesters “threw stones at U.N. staff and at the buildings of the compound.” “On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns,” said Lazzarini. “It is the responsibility of the state of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times.” “I call on all those who have influence to put an end to these attacks and hold all those responsible accountable,” he continued. “The perpetrators of these attacks must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable. Anything less will set a new dangerous standard.” Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s foreign affairs minister, said Friday that he was “shocked” by the attacks on UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters and echoed Lazzarini’s call for an investigation. “As host country, Israel has a duty to protect U.N. personnel and premises at any time. The incidents must be investigated, those responsible must be held accountable. UNRWA is the lifeline for millions of Palestine refugees.” Norway was among the nations that did not suspend funding for UNRWA as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and other Western countries cut off donations to the agency earlier this year following Israel’s baseless allegations against the body’s employees. UNRWA’s chief has accused the Netanyahu government of launching a “concerted campaign” to destroy the agency.

[keep reading]

[nginiamhim]

Hello N. Gin. I have a bit of a..question...

I may or may not have bitten the doctor's thylacine after he grabbed onto my snake tail (don't ask), and he may or may not be laying on the ground giggling currently because of my paralytic venom. How do I hide him from the doctor?

- Sincerely, Nora Zine, @ask-n-zine

you??!? BEET Master Cortex???? who?? hh..?

n.gin weel be there shortlee.. @drnitrusbrio-science we need an anti-venom queeck, nitrus brio… n.gin weel extract compound from the… snake hybreed..