#context i work at a restaurant in a airport

[vantastic-villian]

I hate that humanity has made it possible to fly 400 tons of metal, carrying a few hundred people at 40,000 feet in the air only to make the rest of the process absolutely suck ass.

[muttplatinum]

absolutely love it when a man who's worked here maybe two weeks comes over and tells me how to do my job

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not picking up on my friends “hints” + cutting off a friend after they ghosted me?

So a while back I (22 F) visited my friend (22 F) in another state to celebrate our 21st birthdays (hers was two months beforehand but I had to cancel my visit due to a family emergency). For context, me and this friend have been best friends since we were 9-10 years old.

Before we got together we got on FaceTime and made a very loose plan of what we wanted to do during my visit. That outline included things like ‘shopping’, ‘going out for dinner’ on my birthday, ‘baking a pie’ (since Friend had previously mentioned she admired my baking skills and said she thought it would be fun to bake together) and ‘roller skating’ since it was something we always did as kids. When I arrived at her house I said something akin to “I’m so excited, I saved up a ton of money so we can do whatever we want” and she said “same, I saved up about a thousand dollars” but proceeded to say she wasn’t broke and didn’t have any money for the rest of our time together.

I already know this is going to be long, so tldr; we did all our planned activities except going to the roller rink for reasons I’ll explain later; she paid for two ride shares on my first day and offered to buy me lunch, which I accepted. I paid for the next five rides, and we split any other meals that we didn’t eat at her home, except for when she offered to buy me an iced latte my birthday. The night of my birthday we, to my knowledge, didn’t have any concrete plans for dinner. She suggested one restaurant but for whatever reason I wasn’t feeling it so I asked if there was anything else we’d both like. She suggested a Japanese restaurant and that’s where we ended up. The dinner extremely uncomfortable—she didn’t seem outwardly angry, but she only gave brief responses any time I tried to make conversation, and when I couldn’t get anything else out of her we ate in silence.

Her birthday present to me were custom roller skates she’d ordered in my favorite colors. It was a very nice present! But at the time it felt like a slap in the face because by that point I figured that I’d be paying for the rest of our rides, something I didn’t plan on, and I neither had the money nor thought it was fair for me to do that, so we never went roller skating. When it was time for me to leave I asked if she could mail the skates to me (and I’d pay her back whatever it cost to mail), because I already had several large bags to take with me on the plane and would be uncomfortable carry the large box of skates around the airport as well. She never sent them, and i later found out she returned them.

I was very angry and frustrated when I got home, and didn’t text her for about two weeks (this was not intentional, I got busy with work). When I finally did text her she ignored me and ghosted me for four months. When she did finally reply she said a lot of the things I did during the trip upset her. We called to talk it out and she essentially said she felt taken advantage of because she felt like she was made to pay for everything (rides, food, etc.) She said I bought something at the mall but she felt like I was pressuring her into buying it for me (never in all our years of friendship have I asked or expected her to purchase random things for me? I asked her what I did to make her feel this way and she couldn’t give me a straight answer?) and that she spent so much money she had to borrow from her parents for the rest of the month. But I don’t know what I could have done since we split everything besides what she offered to pay for me? She also said that she made reservations at the first restaurant she suggested and paid them to make a cake for me, and had to pay a cancellation fee because we didn’t go, but she never told me that because it was a surprise and just hoped I’d pick up on ‘hints’ instead. She also says she was upset that we baked the pie because ‘her family didn’t even like pie’ and it went to waste. She said she tried to give ‘hints’ that she didn’t want to make it, but she didn’t have any objections when I first suggested it? It wasn’t super important to me, just a fun thing to do, so if she didn’t want to I wouldn’t have minded at all?

She also was upset with me because on the day I left, I wanted to visit my father (he lived in the same city) before my flight. When I mentioned where I was meeting him, Friend’s father said he knew where I was going and could drive me since it was only 10 minutes down the road. Friend said she felt like I was using her family and that it was wrong of me to ‘ask her dad for a ride’ because he works so hard and was tired all the time. But I didn’t ask, he offered? And my mother has been a surrogate parent to Friend since we were children, helping her with everything (relationship advice, finances and medical debt, driving her across states to go apartment hunting) her actual parents neglected to. So I didn’t understand why having that kind of relationship with my mother is okay, but me getting driven 10 minutes down the road crosses a line? In the moment I was happy to have talked everything out with her, but the more I thought about her gripes, the more angry and frustrated I became. And I bottled this anger until I couldn’t take it anymore and sent her a brief text that basically said I was better off when we weren’t talking and I was learning to live my life without her (this was a horrible and mean thing to say to her, and I have since apologized). A few days later she sent me a message back saying I was a very special person to her, that she’d always love me. We didn’t talk properly for about a year and a half after that. She’d text me on my birthday and holidays but that’s it. We’re speaking again now, but she said she still felt like I used her for money or that I’m somehow in the wrong for not picking up on her ‘hints’ during my visit, and that me ghosting her was deeply hurtful and she cried for weeks about it. I have complicated feeling about that though because I didn’t WANT to hurt her, i only wanted to remove myself from a situation that was making me so perpetually angry I was getting headaches daily, and I wouldn’t have even considered ghosting her until after she ghosted me.

She mentioned visiting each other/going on a trip together sometime in the future, but the idea gives me so much anxiety because I don’t want to go through this all over again. Did I use her? Was I in the wrong for not picking up on her hints or ghosting her?

What are these acronyms?

[risetherivermoon]

Sock's New Au - Beach Au(??)

(working title)

hi! i mentioned in a poll post i was thinking abt making another fic thats similar to the fame au, so...here's an introduction to that with some out of context ss !!

small background; Marlene & Barty are cousins at a beach house in England for the summer, where they meet Evan & Dorcas on the beach, the Rosier's own a surf shop down by the beach and Marlene & Barty's aunt own a restaurant,

Marlene and Barty are living in a beach house with a bunch of their extended family and stuff, so yes

sneak peek to that! posting this from the airport, but the first part will likely be posted tonight!!!

[meanderful]

Wonder and Splendour in Alor

The Calor of Alor

After we disembarked from the Komodo liveaboard boat, we spent a few days in the national park’s port town of Labuan Bajo, sorting out various logistics. Sam went to a doctor to check whether there was any progress with his ears (improving but still not right) and we lost a whole day to booking onward flights because the airline’s website made it near impossible to book flights within 48 hours of leaving. Eventually, we had to book the flights at the airport itself a few hours before departure—having previously joked about who on earth ever just turns up to the airport without a ticket!

We had selected the remote Alor Archipelago as our next destination, 750km east of Labuan Bajo. We had heard tell that because of a lack of tourism infrastructure and therefore few visitors, the diving there was knockout. Two short flights and one night transiting in a different city later and we were touching down on the island of Alor itself.

Photo Above: an aerial shot of the gorgeous land, islands, atolls, and reef

An hour’s taxi ride took us from the airport along a coastal road that ran alongside the large Kalabahi bay, until we reached the village of Alor Kecil. From there, it was a five-minute boat ride across a short stretch of water to reach Kepa, the very small island where our accommodation was located.

Photo Above: the boat ride over to Kepa island with our luggage

A moment for some wider context. The Alor Archipelago is made up of two larger islands (Alor and Pantar), five smaller, and numerous outcrops. The vast majority of the total 210,000 people of the archipelago live on the two larger islands. There is only one single town, on the island of Alor, and otherwise, all residents live in numerous villages dotted about the islands. A whopping 56 different languages are spoken across the archipelago, with 70% of its residents being Protestant and 20% Muslim. There barely any restaurants outside that one single town on Alor, very few accommodation options, and just six dive shops in total. The island we were staying on, Kepa, is home to 75 permanent residents only. We were staying at Marangki, a mini complex run by a lovely man called Harris, consisting of 4 bungalows and a dining hut. Our wooden bungalow had a wet room (with flushing toilet and shower, but no sink), bedroom (consisting of the bed with its mosquito net and a wardrobe), and veranda. The island has no electricity (so a generator was run for two hours each evening to allow us guests to charge electronics) or fresh water (every day, water was brought over in a number of large jerry cans from Alor on a boat and added to a huge water tank that fed our bathrooms).

Photo Above: our bungalow!

The view from our veranda was stunning, looking down a short slope with several Flamboyan trees in full, bright bloom (also called December trees because their gorgeous red flowers only appear for a couple of months a year, just when we were there), across the bay to Alor Kecil on the other side. Within ten minutes of arrival, we saw a pod of dolphins curving through the water right in front of us—an excellent welcome all round. We also realised that as boats are the far more common form of transport (what good are land-based vehicles in an archipelago??), there was always something to see and as it turned out, hear—most of the boats had a cheap type of engine that was so loud and choppy that it sounded exactly like a helicopter landing right on the banks next to us (at all times of the night too, oh joy!).

Photos Above: the view from our bungalow; the view from one of the seating shacks of the ocean and the village of Alor Kecil

We met Tamar and Nico that first day, the dive instructors and new owners of Lazy Turtle Diving. Having worked in the dive industry for years, they had bought the dive shop just six months previously, taking over from the previous management, and so were pretty new to the area. Over the next few days, I quickly learnt that Nico had worked in diving for a solid 15 years, had quite a number of predominantly marine animals tattoos, and in his spare time liked to unwind by crocheting (while we were there, his ongoing project was the creation of a pair of SOCKS in the shape of SHARKS. Need I say more). Tamar was really welcoming, had fantastic life anecdotes (including cycling half the world in just under five years…), and was a complete whiz at repurposing and upcycling all manner of materials via her own crafty solutions—bike tyre inner tubes became dive mask straps, a beach ball in the shape of a globe became a handbag, plastic washing up liquid sachets became mobile phone pouches and purses. Both of them were so completely in love with diving, and especially the underwater wildlife, that they made for a fantastic guiding team.

The Remote Life

Our days quickly fell into a pattern. We’d be eating breakfast by 7a.m.—all our meals were cooked for us, given that all food supplies had to be shipped from Alor. We ate with the other guests in the dining hut, but as we were there right at the end of the season, there were only ever a maximum of two other guests. At 7.30, Tamar, Nico, and Jimen (the captain), would be waiting for me in the Naughty Nudi (their excellently named dive boat) on the shore right in front of our bungalow. There were more than seventy dive sites within 20 minutes, so we were never short of choice. We would zip our way through the sea, tracking our way amid the islands to our dive site of choice, often right in front of a village on one of the small islands. All the villages seemed divided by religion, so there would either be a disproportionately large church or a disproportionately large mosque perched on the hill overlooking the water. Lazy Turtle Diving have an ethos of only diving in small groups so there were very rarely more than a couple of other customers besides myself. They also have a great ethos of finishing the dive based on air consumption and not time—it’s far more usual in the dive industry to finish a dive at 60 minutes (as long as you haven’t hit 25% or less of your tank beforehand), so because I have decent air consumption this meant we often had 70–90 minute dives. We would dive twice in the mornings, with an hour’s surface interval in-between, and then be back at Marangki in time for lunch at 1pm. I often went out for a third dive after lunch, which was always a “muck” dive—a type of diving on the sandy, rubbly bottom of the sea (as opposed to full blown reefs), usually at a very slow pace and with a torch to find the incredibly weird and wonderful critters. Then once back at Marangki after the third dive, I’d enjoy the dense heat of the afternoon and the consistently noisy “helicopter” boats passing by with a nice strong coffee from the dining hut, and hunker down to fill in my logbook (the record for all my dives), have a catch up call with friends or family from home, or do logistics planning with Sam for the next section of our trip. At 5.45pm, the calls to prayer from the mosques across the water in Alor Kecil would start up. The mosque that Sam and I fondly named “Disco Mosque” (due to its shiny silver dome and four smaller, rotating silver minaret domes) would always lead the way with a very melodic call, quickly joined by the call from the very large mosque a few minutes up the hill from disco mosque, which made up for an intense lack of tunefulness with its extremely loud and low-quality speakers. And finally, the third mosque, just along the coast, would join in to complete the clashing trio for the next 45 minutes. I loved the call to prayer, even including the 4a.m. round, which I was almost always awakened by and lay listening to in bed before drifting back off to sleep. Not long after the evening call to prayer, we would have dinner, relax a bit more by the water, and then be in bed by 9.30pm. Without a fan, the sizzling heat of our first few nights there made sleeping pretty difficult (I tell a lie—I found the heat pretty delightful, but all other guests seemed to have a hell of a job sleeping). Considering we were visiting right at the end of the season just as the rains were coming in, we got really lucky with the weather. We experienced a week of sizzling heat, then the odd occasional shower began to creep in, and then a full day of rain on my very last day out on the water.

Photos Above: the dining hut with one of the amazing spreads; disco mosque; the beautiful island of Kepa; a sunset over our bungalow

We were hopeful that Sam would be able to dive by the end of our eleven days in Alor, but it wasn’t to be—although his ears eventually began to feel a bit better right at the end, they were never good enough to dive. Instead, a wonderful thing happened for Sam. In being cut off from electricity, and with very little to do or achieve, he slowly settled into a very present and enjoyable kind of experience. He often did yoga on the veranda, joined us on the boat for a couple of mornings to snorkel, and took his camera out in the water right in front of our accommodation a few times too. But most of the time, he sat on one of the wooden seating “shacks”, as he called them, in front of the water and just watched the world go by—the boats passing, the numerous dolphin sightings, the water flowing with its heavy currents that changed constantly throughout the day.

Video Above: Sam managed to catch one of the dolphins (probably Spinner Dolphins) backflipping!

I found the diving around Alor completely incredible. The marine park contains easily the most pristine reefs I’ve ever seen, with such an incredible variety of corals, marine life, sponges, you name it—at several sites, I saw barrel sponges the size of cars and individual table corals (large, flat coral) far larger than a king’s size bed. Though the currents could be incredibly changeable and speedy at times, I also did plenty of dives with no current or only a very gentle current drifting us along slowly, so that we had plenty of time to peer at all the macro life on the reef. There was a great variety of diving, from shallow reef dives, to huge drop off walls that filled you with awe and wonder at the sheer topographical beauty, to fantastic muck diving. We did one dive where we saw volcanic gas bubbling out of the sea bed at just a few metres; on another, there was a vast wall that both rose out above the surface and dropped down underwater in dramatic curving swoops to who knows how deep and was teeming with so much life that I could barely take it all in.

Photos Above (all courtesy of Sam's camera skills while snorkelling): the volcanic gases bubbling up from the sea bed; the teeming reef; a hermit crab; our diving group below the water, just about to ascend (hence the neon red surface buoy); a shot of me just as I'm about to surface; a snorkelling selfie!

I also did a spectacular cavern dive that was particularly special. Tamar and I descended to the reefy bottom at about 12m and entered a cavern (the important distinction between a cave and cavern—with cavern diving, you can always see the light from the entrance). As it’s been more than two years since I last cavern dived, I’d forgotten the amazing feeling of being suspended within a cavern, perfectly held between the floor and ceiling by the water—plus I always love looking back at the entrance and seeing the black framing silhouette of the cave’s entrance surrounding an oval of vivid blue light. It’s always fascinating to see the creatures that live in a low light environment, from the brightly coloured coral (think neon pink stems with vivid yellow fronds) to a glowing orange sea cucumber. Tamar showed me these brown, almost leathery looking sacks hanging from the cave wall, each about the size of my palm and often several grouped together. She held her torch behind each one, careful not to touch it, and it glowed orange, showing the yolk within. A couple of the eggs even had something flickering around the yolk, undulating side by side in the classic movement of a fish spine—they were the tiny offspring of a bamboo shark!

We slowly made our way around the cavern and back out, then swam a short distance to another cavern. After we had swum a short way in, we did a safety stop (the diving practice of pausing at 5m for 3 minutes when ascending, to greatly minimise chance of decompression sickness), and then completely ascended, coming out in an air pocket—but when I say air pocket, I mean quite a large, cavernous space (though we kept our regulators in our mouth most of the time as the air quality may have been questionable). We spotted a Banded Sea Krait, a type of sea snake on the rocks close to the water’s edge, banded black and blue. After we’d peered at it for while, we descended back into the underwater section of the cavern and swam towards the back, then turning off our torches. The water around us lit up with flashes of blue from Flashlight Fish, which have bioluminescent stripes on their cheeks that they can turn on and off. I felt like a kid who just kept wanting to stare and stare. The whole dive felt like quite the adventure.

On one special morning, as we were travelling the open water between our two dives sites, we spotted a pod of dolphins. Our boat slowed and moved towards them, and they must have realised we were there because they surrounded us. They zipped through the water, following the bow of the boat, leaping fully out of the water in great curves around us and moving so fast that they were just wavering grey shapes in the blue. Another dive boat that was also passing joined us, and for a solid ten minutes, our two boats and the pod moved back and forth together, the entire pod of dolphins circling back around several times to keep moving alongside the boats. I tried getting a sense of how many individuals there were—definitely a minimum of 50, but probably nearer 100!

Besides Harris, Tamar, and Nico, we also met some great people in the other guests at Marangki. For our first few days, there was Jeannine, a 70-something American who has been diving all over the world for the last 40 years and spends at least 4 – 6 months of every year outside the States, travelling and diving. As you can imagine, she was a wealth of diving knowledge, and a flipping interesting person to boot. And then for our last few days, there was David (northern English) and Stu (Kiwi), two international school teachers who had lived in Indonesia for more than ten years and had a load of local knowledge and fascinating anecdotes.

It wasn’t all perfectly idyllic. On one dive, we heard several explosions that vibrated through our bodies and realised that it was illegal dynamite fishing. This is exactly as it sounds: lobbing dynamite in the water to kill everything within radius with one mega explosion, decimating the reef and indiscriminatingly killing all life. Though it must have been not all that close to us (if it takes place within 1km  underwater then apparently your whole body shakes) so we weren’t in any danger, but looking around at the reef, including sponges that were easily several hundred years old, it felt like a vast, painful loss.

And one day, when Harris was away visiting his family on Alor and Sam and I had been working on our laptops in the dining hut, I walked the one minute back to our bungalow to interrupt a man in our room who had, it became clear afterwards, just opened the wardrobe to start going through our things (my immediate thought was that he was obviously in there for a legitimate reason, such as fixing something in the room, so I actually exclaimed “oh, sorry!”). He immediately ran and I was left staring at the things he had been riffling through, which were RIGHT next to where our passports wallets, fully intact, were kept. Somehow, he had taken absolutely nothing. A sign from the universe that no matter how close we are to our room, we had to be better at always locking up.

But these were tiny downsides amid an incredible couple of weeks. Though we’d each had a very different experience of the place, we knew that we had found something really special. And given the tales we heard of developers buying up portions of land in the area, we suspect we got to experience the glory of Alor just in time.

[nocturnalswarehouse]

Tag game!

I was tagged by @blossom-adventures and @thequeenofthewinter :)

3 Ships:

I'm going to delve away from Skyrim here because my procrastination response if I don't want to be productive around my place, is to immerse myself in as much media as possible. So an obvious one is OC/Brynjolf. Otherwise, Adi would not exist XD my others are OC (or reader)/Jacob Frye because I'm still hyperfixating on AC Syndicate. I also recently finally started Jane the Virgin, and I'm a slut for Jane/Rafael

1st Ever Ship:

I was but a young child, barely able to comprehend reading when my first ever a ship came to be. I shit you not. I think I was 5. It was Blue/Magenta in Blue's Clues. I found out a couple years ago was also my first gay ship, and I am HERE for it.

Last Song:

Boyfriend by Dove Cameron

Last Movie:

I watched one in my filmmaking class by a local director who created a film about a Ukrainian woman who immigrated to modern-day Winnipeg. Do I remember the title? Nope. Do I want to? Nope.

This movie was filmed back in like,,, 2019 I believe, is what he said and released like last year. It's two hours and could've been easily cut down to one. Very slow, almost too slow. I liked a lot of the shots. It was interesting to watch a film where only two characters - who were in there briefly - spoke English.

So there are good things about it, but it definitely could've been way better. I felt like the writing was almost too dry, and the director didn't give us any context as to what the plot was or any warnings that were needed (nudity and a certain subject related to nudity that is unpleasant to watch, to put it nicely).

I just think we should keep cishet white north American men away from creating films with that kind of subject because they don't,,, get it. Granted, neither do I but I do have an entire family of immigrants.

Currently Reading:

Well, it was my personality psych textbook, but no more! I hope to finish @thequeenofthewinter's fic because I'm behind due to school, and after that? Well, when the term starts, one of the texts for one of my classes is "The Handmaid's Tale," and I'm VERY excited to read it.

Currently Watching:

Too many things at once.

Jane the Virgin

Wednesday (I get the hype, I have critiques, but imma keep them to myself because it's very nitpicky and a bit pretentious)

RuPaul's Drag Race S14 (I'm on episode 7)

Canada's Drag Race S2 (I'm on episode 4)

The Witcher (started it in September, had a depressive episode)

Slow rewatch of Avatar: The Last Airbender because I'm following the podcast recaps and discussions

Slow rewatch of Kim Possible because I got bored and switched to the Witcher (it's great to watch after a long shift at work, though)

Wizards of Waverly Place (helped me through the depressive episode. Downside? I've seen it so many times the show is fully memorized)

Hunters on Amazon Prime (They re-edited the show to take out the scenes that got a lot of negative press, and I'm mad, so I stopped because they also re-edited my favourite scene in the entire show)

Teen Wolf (gotta prep for the movie coming out in 2023)

Okay yeah, so my fam and I have a lot of streaming services. Welcome to my Dad, and I are movie buffs

Currently Consuming:

Water. I'm pulling an all-nighter because I gotta be at the airport in two and a half hours, so if I sleep I will miss my flight. Gotta stay hydrated!

Currently Craving:

Tacos from a place back home, and lemonade from a pop-up lemonade stand that ends up at every big event in my city back home and if I can convince my parents I'll be able to get one and won't have to wait until Stampede in July next year. It's the best damn lemonade I've ever had.

The specific tacos I'm craving are the best damn fast-food tacos I've ever had, but I've definitely had better. My sister worked at a Mexican restaurant specializing in tacos that a family member owns, for god's sake. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I also crave those. I think I just want tacos.

I can't really think of anyone to tag (the main person I would've tagged, tagged me first XD), so I pass this on to anyone that wants to do it :)

[dknuth]

Saudi Arabia

I'm doing an AIA Archeological Tour of Saudi Arabia. I must admit that Saudi was not high on my travel list, but the chance to see it as part of a group with the Archeological Institute was impossible to pass up. Especially since Saudi has only in recent years started allowing tourists.

This post is a few days late, but our days have been busy and we are frequently late enough getting back to the hotel room that I haven't been inclined to prepare a post. We spend a lot of time on the bus every day, so I have been writing text offline to put into posts, so I hope to catch up. Also, many of the hotels have had slow or irregular wifi, and photos weren't uploading.

I left Madison on the afternoon of January 8 on a bus to O'Hare Airport, where I caught an 8:30 Turkish Air flight to Istanbul, arriving on the afternoon of the 9th. Then another late flight to Riyadh arriving at 1:30 the morning of the 10th. By the time we got to the hotel in downtown and in our rooms it was 3:30, and I was beat. But I was up and going again by 9.

It was a free day for us, so a few of us took Ubers to the National Museum.

The museum is new, large, and well-designed. We skipped the astronomical, geological, and dinosaur exhibits to focus on the human history in the area.

Our Trip Leader, Barbara Porter had provided us with an extensive reading list prior to the trip and I bought several of the recommended books. The main thing I came away with from my readings was the realization that my image of Saudi Arabia as a backwater, end of the earth desert prior to the discovery of oil couldn't have been more wrong. From the earliest times it has been tied by both overland and sea trade to Egypt, the Mediterranian, the fertile cresent civilizations and India.

We saw paleolithic and neolithic artifacts and interesting petroglyphic rock art, the development of pottery through the ages and the rise of local civilizations as well as the interactions with the surrounding ones.

The Nabateans I had become familiar with in Petra last year were a substantial presence here too, as this was the source of the frankincense and myrrh that was their core business.

The final part was the history of Islam and also informative to those u of us less knowledgeable than we should be.

In the afternoon I visited a small museum close by the hotel with a collection of beautiful artifacts, especially handwritten manuscripts.

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

The next morning we went back to the National Museum as a group, which was very helpful as Barbara could add more context to a number of the exhibits. I found a tiny cylinder seal fascinating. It was carved from very hard stone and is smaller than the diameter of a pencil but carved with many figures on it. The image on the seal can be seen rolled out on the wax to the right. I don’t understand how someone could carve that with primitive tools and no magnification.

On the way to lunch we drove past the new financial district. There is an area about the size of the Chicago Loop being developed with high rise buildings for financial companies to have offices. The king is requiring all financial companies working in Saudi to have substantial offices here. There is a monorail system connecting the towers, and a train connecting the district to the rest of the city. I understand the next step will be a requirement to have some senior management located here too.

Lunch was at a recreational village built for the purpose. It uses traditional architecture and is full of high end shops and restaurants. We were there in the early afternoon, and it was not very crowded, but we were told it’s very popular after hours.

It was adjacent to Diriyyah, the early town where the First Saudi Kingdom was launched in 1744. The modern tourist center extended to the ruins of the old town, which has become a museum. So it was an interesting conjunction of modern and old.

They had large family trees of the Saud royal family. They have huge families!

In the evening we went to the Al Masmak fort, another critical location for the founding of the Saudi Kingdom.

We finished at the local street market. It was pretty small and had an arrangement of old junk. My Dad would have loved it.

I found Riyadh an interesting city. It’s almost totally modern. In 1950 the population was 100,000 now its 8,00,000. So everything has been built in the last 70 years and most of it in the last 30. But the whole city has been built for automobiles. As a result the streets a clogged with cars and traffic is terrible. In the summer it’s too hot to walk around town, so there are few sidewalks. There is a subway system under construction, but it’s several years late, of course.

[kazo-usagi]

I spoke with my General Contractor some days ago...

An he pointed some interesting things i should know before i start fulfilling my dreams.

For context, in my city there's a representative street, unfortunately, it not looks like one by some time now. I assume maybe even 1/4 in dwellings are not residented, not occupied, and with commercial premises it it a roulette: half of them are ethereal and the other half lives for 2 yrs maybe and then change. I heard even that a few of them are not raise enough money to exist despite the popularity, and the owners could fund them because of other long-term activity other gastronomic establishments in the sector in our cities!

Anyway, back on the track. I dream of managing one (very particular) of the tenements. The tenement itself is kinda basic, with 4 levels of dwelling, each level with 3 (two in max 80 meters square, and one smaller). Two locals in base level, one about 140~ and the second by 60 msq. As far as I know, nobody lives in it, and, for the last 15 yrs, no one rented the premises. I am not sure of the purpose yet. Cheap flats to rent for students are good one of the options, along with restaurant/coffee shop and small boutique. That's kinda basic for me. Or half flats and half small offices could also work. I thought also about a workshop, or even an 3D printing workshop on one of the flats or even on the whole level.

You may think, hey, how it could be possible? are you a banana kid, or maybe some entrepreneur? It is that dream, to just own a real estate? Well, last one kinda, but I know the plan! During studies, they said to us: that in work with real estate, there are needed 3 things: the money, the good plan to use/manage/fund/whatever (not the idea but full paper-ology), and the actual real estate (anything from piece of land to dwelling itself). Two of the three, and you're good to go. You wanna flip? you need money and a plan. You wanna build, idk, an airport, a mall, or an office? you need money and land. But... what happens when you don't have money? Plan and land should be sufficient. But who the hell in these times from regular ppl have plain land with no plan?! And there comes all in white UE and the business loans. To put it simply, I can prepare all by myself proper plan (yeah; it costs a few thousand) and the bank/UE can count it as my own contribution. Enough about the funds.

My General Contractor pointed, out that it is possibility about the reason why the whole building stands unrented so long. Maybe there's a long-missed owner or inheritor? Even if the tenement is for sale in one of the estate agencies. Maybe it has some "stinky" papers, and some conservationist keeps away the potential buyers? Or the condition of the building is much worse than the other buildings? Or maybe someone died there and it is way toooooo stinky? I cannot check it just from a stranger's position. But my GC suggested something: to act like a pollster and ask ppl around, ppl living in nearby tenements, etc. The best theme is "Do ya want some refurbishment or renovations? it is loud, we're collecting signs to cancel it! No one likes noises like that. Oh, you live next to it? Do you know what was here? We are an outsourced group, we do not know anything about it, would you like to describe it?" and so on.

About the cash, little add-ons: the cost in the agencies is about 8 million PLN itself. My GC said that the old building could need real-general renovation not just small updates. The walls itself probably should be stripped away to the clear brick. Then replacement of the pipes (water, CO, electricity, possibly gas) will be easier and done already. He estimated the cost at 2 million... so it should be close to 10 mln, fantastic~.

now, all I need to do is my regular, actual work... and maybe someday finish business plan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 7 in Limerick (and London)

Hey, everyone, it’s Katie, for the last time because my time abroad is over. Of course, I’m sad to leave, but so glad I got to participate in research abroad and see Ireland. Here’s what I did during my last few days in Ireland and during my short family visit to London.  

Monday: Today was my last HTC experiment of the program. I used the white sludge and ran it in the reactor for 30 minutes at 190 degrees, then added acid and ran for another 30 minutes at 80 degrees. In the evening, I hung out with Grant and Maanav, watching tv and finishing up some of our alcohol.

Tuesday: Today was my last day in the lab, so Nina and I used the elemental analyzer to determine the chemical compositions of each of my samples. It took about three hours to measure and prepare small amounts of hydrochar to put in the machine, but once that was done, we could look at the carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen percentages in each sample. After the machine ran, Nina gave me a formula to determine the HHV, or energy content, of the hydrochar. At the end, we were able to see the slight increase in energy content from adding a mild acid made to the hydrochar product after the first round of HTC. This was interesting data, and was a great way to bring together my work over the past few weeks. After I finished packing and getting ready to leave, Pascale and I hung out for the evening before going to bed.

Views on my morning run

Wednesday: Today was the last morning in Ireland, and the day my family and I flew out to London. I had some issues in the morning with my key card being disabled too soon, and then my parents had trouble finding my apartment complex, but once all that was sorted we drove from Limerick to the Dublin Airport. Our flight left around 6 in the evening and landed around 7:30. Baggage took a while, but we didn’t have to go through customs, which was nice. We took a cab into the city, dropped our luggage off at our AirBnB, then went to a nice Italian restaurant for a late dinner.

Thursday: Our first full day in London started with a quick cafe breakfast, then a trip to Westminster to see the Houses of Parliament. They weren’t offering guided tours, but they let us in to watch the House of Commons and House of Lords in action. We watched each for about fifteen minutes, which gave us a little context on what the Parliament sessions are like, and also got to admire the beautiful architecture and decorations within the building. Then, we walked over to Trafalgar Square, got lunch nearby, and headed back towards Buckingham Palace (which was honestly underwhelming). We walked back towards our apartment through Hyde Park, which was very pretty, and also saw Royal Albert Hall on the way. In the evening, we took a quick trip to the grocery store, then found a place to eat dinner near us. 

Top left: Big Ben. Top right: A painting in the Houses of Parliament. Bottom left: Houses of Parliament. Bottom right: Trafalgar Square.

Friday: We had a long day planned today. First, we went to see the Tower of London, which was very exciting because it was a whole complex of buildings, each with their own exhibitions. We went to see the Crown Jewels first, then the weaponry displays in the White Tower. Next, we saw Tower Green, where nobles were executed in more privacy than everyone else. We could also go inside one of the tower prisons and see some of the carvings prisoners made during their stays. We also saw a smaller display of torture devices, such as the infamous rack. I was surprised to learn that torture was rarely used, in spite of how well-known their methods are today. Lastly, we explored some of the battlements, which took us through the medieval palace. After this visit, we went to see Westminster Abbey, right across from the Houses of Parliament. There were several famous scientists and nobles buried there, including Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, who each had elaborate tombs in their own chambers. The stained glass and architecture were both gorgeous, so this was definitely a highlight for me. Later in the afternoon, we took a trip on the London Eye, from which we could see much of London from above. 

Top left: View from the London Eye. Top right: The rack, displayed in the torture exhibit at the Tower of London. Bottom left: Outside the Tower of London. Bottom right: Inside Westminster Abbey.

Saturday: Today, we took a day trip to Oxford to see the campus and town. We couldn’t get inside the buildings because the tours were all full, but it was still really cool to see the buildings from the outside, including the famous Radcliffe’s Camera, a domed building that holds part of the library. A bit farther down campus was a natural history and archaeology museum, which we explored for a little while. The archaeology museum was very impressive with its vast collection of artifacts and interesting explanations of their purposes/origins, and the acknowledgment of colonization and eurocentrism in museum collections. Although the visit itself was short, the campus and town were both gorgeous and well worth the trip.

Top left: Oxford's Divinity School. Top right: Fossils on display at the natural history museum. Bottom left: Street in downtown Oxford. Bottom right: Radcliffe's Camera.

Sunday: Today, we had a more relaxed cafe breakfast, then went to the Globe Theatre to see the Comedy of Errors. The story was about identical twins separated at birth, one of whom unknowingly arrives at the other’s hometown and causes all sorts of mix-ups. Shakespeare can be hard to follow sometimes, but the excellent acting more than makes up for it. For the rest of the afternoon, we explored the city, which is where most of the major corporations are located, but also has some nice older landmarks, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. Next, we visited Harrods, a well-known department store full of extremely expensive stuff. It was still nice to look around the store, unless we got caught in a massive crowd, which could be more annoying. Lastly, we got dinner at a place near our apartment, enjoying one last night in London.

Left: The Globe Theatre. Right: St. Paul's Cathedral

I have to catch an early flight tomorrow. It was super great spending all this time abroad and writing all about it, so thanks for following along.

[thebroccolination]

I cried for roughly thirty minutes during this concert. Both days.

It started when he introduced his song "Missing." He wrote it for his grandmother who passed away when he was a child. Then his other grandmother passed away in September on the same day GMMTV announced Krist's Bangkok concert. On that day, he was flying back from a concert in Cambodia.

He said it was the happiest day of his life, and then it also became the worst. Fans were waiting for him at the arrivals area of the airport, and while he greeted them as usual, he was on the phone, and he seemed distracted. He'd spent the plane ride home thinking about losing a beloved person who helped raise him, fearful of loss and the subsequent pain of her absence. He went directly to the hospital and said his goodbyes.

If you follow him for a while, you'll see on a regular basis how deeply he cherishes his family. He talks about them often. He even started working young and then joined the entertainment industry with the goal of erasing the debt his family lived under. After he succeeded in that, he gave his parents full control of his finances. He wants them to use the money he makes however they wish.

Since his grandmother passed away, he's talked about how it's changed his priorities to try and spend more time with his family. His solo tour was supposed to happen years ago, but the pandemic pushed it back until this autumn. His grandmother wanted to attend, to see his fans, to meet them in person. She wanted to see the people who love and support her grandson who loves his family proudly and profoundly.

She was so close.

Krist said he was so cautious of her health with covid surging around the world, he wanted her to stay inside and keep the risk of infection as low as possible. He said he regrets it now, that she never got to meet his fans.

When Krist sang "Missing" on the first day, he was already fighting a sore throat. He'd practiced so hard for these concerts he wore out his own voice. But singing a song he wrote, in tribute to a beloved grandparent he'd only just lost, someone he still hadn't fully grieved, was clearly a brutally painful experience for him. When he couldn't sing, the fans picked up the song for him.

And on the second day, he knelt and bowed to her image, a smiling constellation watching over him.

The next song was "Thankful," the song featured in Be My Favorite that Krist wrote for his Yuyus years ago.

After that, a surprise video from his fanclub. On the first day, when I got to my seat, I saw a slip of paper on every seat. It said, "I am here for you," and the instructions on the back said to hold it at chest height when the special video began.

At the end of the video, we all held up the papers for him to see.

For added context, this was the day after GMMTV posted a public statement in support of Krist for the first time since scores of interfans began cyberbullying, harassing, and defaming him en masse years ago.

I was with other fans in Krist's restaurant when they posted this. What prompted it was a video of a Brazilian girl calling Krist a homophobe in Portuguese and then giggling to herself. He greeted her politely with a smile, but had no idea what she'd said.

He's been aware all these years of what people were saying, but he did nothing to defend himself because he felt responsible.

To be clear, Krist has apologized for the IG story over and over all these years. He organized the press conference in 2020, and he's said he'll always apologize whenever it's asked of him. However, that apology was never for being homophobic. It was for the IG story and for acting impulsively and hotheadedly in response to ongoing harassment and invasions of privacy. Never forget that Krist himself was the target of homophobia for starring in SOTUS in the first place. The fact that he's been painted as a homophobe is wildly ironic.

I see a lot of people taking the middle ground recently of "I'm glad he's changed his opinion :)" when, if you look back, he's always been vocally supportive of the queer community. Not to mention a lot of his close circle of friends are queer, and the Thai BL industry itself is so overwhelmingly queer at so many levels professionally that if he were homophobic, he simply would not get work.

The reality is that he's been defamed for years and a lot of interfans don't bother to check their sources, and while he isn't perfect, I'm a lot more willing to trust someone who owns up to his mistakes and genuinely wants to improve himself than the ones who pantomime perfection.

And all this was going through my head as I looked at him onstage surrounded by people like me who took the time not just to look at him but to see him. To understand him as someone who loves the people in his life so deeply, who works for the joy of the people around him – not just his fans, but his family.

And whenever he can, he takes all of that love and gives it back however he can.

That's why I admire him. He's brave enough to be kind. To be vulnerable. Even after defamation and death threats to the point where his mother fears for him because she's seen what interfans say to him online, he tried to cope not by lashing out again but by distancing himself instead.

This whole interview is lovely.

I just want more people to see him. To get him. To understand why he's been so loved by so many for so long.

He means so much to a lot of people, and everyone he works with speaks highly of him as a professional and as a person. And it's that person I hope people learn to appreciate.

He's just lovely.

TheKristElementsConcertD2: Let's fight together.

[fine-dine-restaurants-nisku]

best fine dine restaurant nisku

 The sweet syrup that comes from the sap of maple trees is known as maple syrup. Personally, I believe that when it comes to pancake toppings, nothing can beat the traditional and timeless flavor of maple syrup. What are your thoughts? I'm sorry, I cannot rewrite anything without the original content. Please provide the content that needs to be rewritten. 

 Fruits that are newly harvested. Looking for a delightful topping to cool down your hot pancakes? I apologize, but there is no content provided for me to rewrite. Please provide the content you want to be rewritten. 

 Cream that has been whipped. I'm sorry, I cannot complete this task as there is no content provided to rewrite. Please provide me with the original content to rewrite. 

 Berries that are freshly harvested or picked. I'm sorry, I cannot complete this task without any content to work with. Could you please provide me with the content that needs to be rewritten? 

 Chocolate chips and bananas. I am sorry, I cannot rewrite the content as there is no content provided. Please provide me with the content that needs to be rewritten. 

 Sorry, I cannot rewrite a single word. Please provide me with more context or content to begin with. I'm sorry, there is no content provided for me to rewrite. Please provide me with the content you'd like me to rewrite. 

 Sauce made from blueberries. I'm sorry, there is no content provided to rewrite. Please provide the content to me in order to start. 

 I need more information or context to be able to rewrite this content. 

 For a delicious breakfast option near YEG airport, consider trying the pancakes at the top-rated restaurant.You can also try pancakes from the best restaurant for breakfast near  yeg airport

[lulubumps]

My trip to Brazil

Maybe it was a long time to get back to writing on Tumblr, but I think I finally have some time to describe my trip to Brazil, one of the first by plane and with a unique experience.

All of this dates back to the following dates:

March and April 2022: "The beginning of the journey"

On these dates, conversations began about a work trip to Brazil, with a Communication Meeting of the South American Division "Connecting Universes: Mission without borders", an event that took place in Brasilia, inaugurated as the capital of Brazil in 1960, is a planned city distinguished by its white modern architecture, whose design was in charge of Oscar Niemeyer. It was designed in the shape of an airplane and its "fuselage" is the Monumental Axis, two wide avenues surrounding a huge park. In the "cockpit" is the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, named for the three branches of government that surround it.

"The journey and its arrival"

On May 15, 2022, the trip from Santiago to Buenos Aires began, and then followed the trip from Buenos Aires to Brasilia (how exhausting that sounds).

I was able to travel by plane for the first time, and well, I felt a lot of nerves at the moment I started the trip, not even at the moment I started flying on the plane, but rather, it started the moment I was already at the airport.

When I was already on the plane to Buenos Aires, it was when I felt the best: how I was glued to the seat at take-off time and how I saw the city of Santiago as if it were small. Arriving in Buenos Aires, we were stuck for about 3 to 4 hours at the airport, easy, because the stopover was later, and when we got back on the plane, the emotion was much better, because I could see the most beautiful thing in my life: an unparalleled sunset from the plane window … it was beautiful.

And finally, after making friends and more on the plane, the journey to the hotel where we would stay with my work colleagues began. On it, Jorge, Natacha, Coto, Colato and I started to leave the airport with too much heat (because of the damn humidity in Brasilia), and after almost 20 to 30 minutes, we arrived at the hotel.

Before we continue, I want to apologize to Colato…. I'm sorry :c (Context later)

"Getting to know Brasilia with heat"

We arrived in Brasilia, spent the first night in the hotel (and with air conditioning on all night) and started our first day in the city. We visited many places such as the Cathedral of Brasilia, its Government buildings, its Chamber of Deputies and Senators (it is worth mentioning that these last two buildings looked like a giant cereal boul) and other extra places that were close to the area.

It was a good time to capture funny moments and things in that part of the trip, since I didn't know anyone else apart from my colleagues, I was able to do a lot of stupid things in a free way (like running like Naruto).

Finally, it was hours of walking, hours of fun, recording, knowledge, food and of course, many stupid things that were done in a single day, which I can perfectly summarize in this video that I edited weeks after the trip to Brasilia:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lulu Pro Max (@lulubumps)

"Work stuff and such"

Do you think I'm going to comment on what was done on that trip? Well, yes, but only the fun part, since it is known that I went for work. Anyway, we went to coffee shops, restaurants in the area, and of course, we went to a strange pizza place. It turns out that the pizzeria, you could pay only once, and you could eat the pizzas you wanted (obviously the waiter was telling you which pizza he had). Let me explain.

If you wanted to eat mushroom pizza, and the waiter had a mushroom pizza, all you had to do was raise your hand and they would give you a piece of that pizza. Then the waiter would show up with another pizza with other flavors, and you wanted a slice of that pizza, you raised your hand and ate. Practically, you had all the pizza you wanted to eat.

Speaking of unlimited pizzas, Colato and I came up with a fucking awesome idea: to kill the whole trip drinking "Guaraná", a very popular drink in Brazil. And for the best, everything was very cheap, so we ended up acquiring about 40 guaranás in the whole trip.

Also, a couple of paragraphs ago, I mentioned many people, and among them was Natacha (here I leave you a brief gif so you know who she is).

She is a full-fledged graphic designer (get the idea that just mentioning the word Canva gives her a mental seizure). At the conference we went to, the first day was not much to her liking, let alone mine.

It turns out that I have a lot of esteem for her because (even though we argue and our relationship between colleagues is a bit weird), we can both learn a lot from each other.

In the event, I have realized that it is not easy to have this kind of problem, since in order for me to understand, it must be by sign language or lip reading when interacting with her. Even though she didn't want me to worry about it, I still did, since she dared to fly miles to be part of this trip. It is important to see this type of situation, as we all need to be part of the inclusion of those who really need it.

The good thing is that this problem was solved and I could see how Natacha could also enjoy both the trip and the event.

Finally, about Colato. I am publicly writing that I am very good at snoring when I am very tired. Therefore, I had to sleep with Colato in the same room.

While, on the first night we didn't have much of a problem because we were obviously both tired from the trip, there was no problem. But when the second night onwards started, I couldn't let Colato sleep.

So, this will be the last time I will apologize to him: "sorry xd".

I even made an effort not to snore, putting the sleeve of my sweatshirt in my mouth, but it was useless, because after a few seconds, I was out of it and three doritos later, he went to sleep in Jorge's room.

"The farewell"

It was my first trip out of the country, which had me pretty excited from start to finish. I got to enjoy and learn about new cultures. If I ever have the opportunity to travel again, "I don't think about it and I'll shoot," said Kid Lucilfer.

Thanks for reading this tumblr post, I had to post it. One down, now there are other stories to tell.

[compassionatereminders]

Re: "Wondering whether Japanese people are exceptionally kind or whether the issue is that Danish people are unusually cold and rude"

Tbh in my experience it's a bit of both, in a way - I think in Denmark we have a strong culture of "minding one's own business", and we quickly feel awkward if an interaction doesn't go according to our internal "script", especially with strangers. We are friendly with inner circle people, but it's hard to get to that level, and people largely ignore/tolerate each other in public spaces.

In my experience in Japan there's kind of (at least) three "levels" of interaction. The first level, complete-stranger, is much like in Denmark. It includes people who are clearly in a separate context from you, while sharing a space. People on the metro, someone sitting at a different table in a restaurant, etc. Usually other people in the public bath fall under this as well (hence why I don't approach unless there's an obvious opening from them).

(There's a grey area between all of these levels, but I'm simplifying)

The next level is stranger-I'm-having- temporary-relationship-with. I would say we have this in Denmark too (it's probably fairly universal), but I think it is "wider" in Japan, which mostly accounts for why people come off as more friendly. It can evolve anytime people are temporarily "grouped in a context" - like "we all just arrived at the airport and are going to the city" can be enough, "I'm your waiter and we're hanging out/having fun at the izakaya (bar-restaurant)" works too - I think in Denmark this definitely occurs, but we take longer to warm up. Like if Danes go on a week-long bus trip somewhere together, after a day or two we will start to mingle too...

And ofc in Denmark and Japan both, we have inner-circle people. On a general level, I find that Japanese people are more expressive and "openly emotional" with inner-circle people than we are, but it's a similar concept. I think Danish and Japanese culture is similar in that it can take quite a bit of work to reach inner circle status.

But I think in a way, Japanese people are more friendly with outer-circle people. It's basically a more smooth spiral moving?? XD

(Something I often hear from immigrants from other cultures in Denmark is that they end up feeling sad and lonely, bc Danes come off as cold/unfriendly (though polite) in situations, where many other cultures would be more friendly and open. .. Meanwhile Danes will consider it impolite to be too forward in public lol, it's a mess)

There's another factor I wanted to mention, but I think I'll put it in another ask bc this is getting long lol.. :P

Interesting... So there's generally more of a culture of friendly interaction with strangers in Japan? That would make sense

[raindownforme]

Writing Event

Hi! I was tagged by @jschllatt for a writing event, and this is for her!

———

5. Charlie slimecicle x reader [they/them used] (reader had freckles for context)

y/n stirred in their sleep, doing their best to shift with the almost unfamiliar weight. Almost, as if they didn’t know what it felt like to have someone else laying on top of them.

“Charlie?”

“No no no, go back to sleep.”

y/n peeked one eye open, looking at their boyfriend. Charlie was lazily propped up on one arm, the rest of his weight draped over y/n’s once sleeping self.

“Good morning I guess.” y/n tried to move, but found themself still stuck under Charlie. He had a leg wrapped between theirs and a hand holding the side of their face. “Can I get up yet?”

“No wait I’m counting.” Charlie’s voice was hushed, just above a whisper. y/n watched him squint as he focused on various points of their face.

“Maybe you’d be quicker if you put your glasses on.”

Charlie gasped, letting go of y/n’s face to reach over to the bedside table. He returned with his glasses resting on his nose, starting to fall off from the angle. “Okay. Now I have to start over.”

“Do we have to do this right now?” y/n yawned.

“Aw, you’re adorable. And yes I do.”

“Babe, I want to get up. Can you do this later? Some other time I’m asleep?”

“Fine I’ll stop counting.”

“Thank you.”

“Now it’s time to play connect-the-dots!” Charlie pulled y/n closer with his legs. He began to very gently drag his finger across the surface of y/n’s skin, following made-up patterns and lines.

y/n hummed lowly, feigning annoyance with their boyfriend. “Can you stop playing connect-the-dots with my freckles?”

Charlie drew back his touch. “Fine.” He rolled over, releasing y/n from his weight, and rolled over.

y/n propped themselves upright, frowning. “Don’t tell me you’re upset?”

Charlie mumbled a response and y/n leaned closer to try and hear him. He leaned closer a bit as well, repeating himself. “I wanted to see.”

“They aren’t even patterns, it’s just dots.”

“No, these ones-“ Charlie turned back and very gently put his thumb over the side of their face, right over where the cheek bones began and to the side of the outer corner of their eye. “It’s almost a triangle shape. Or a couple triangles. There a couple patterns, you just don’t see them.”

y/n paused, almost freezing under Charlie’s touch, then leaned into the contact. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Get back here and keep counting loser.”

y/n opened their arms, allowing Charlie to get back to his previous position in the shared bed and continue happily connecting the dots.

———

8. Charlie Slimecicle x reader [they/them]

y/n shivered. It was that kind of early morning cold. The being on a leather car seat while the wind whipped outside. The early morning chill of January.

y/n and Charlie knew this was coming. They’d known for two months know. Earlier, in the beginning of November when they planned the trip, neither one of them felt the sadness they feel now. They’d both been happy; y/n had the ability to come stay the whole month with Charlie. Usually, the couple could only see each other a few weeks out of the year. Usually it was Charlie with the looser schedule, and usually that made Charlie the one to drive or fly the distance between them.

y/n stared out the window lazily. There weren’t very many people out on the roads at this hour. They watched the grey industrial buildings pass as Charlie turned into the airport, going up to the third floor of the parking garage and finding an empty spot.

y/n quietly and slowly unbuckled themself from the car. They left the car, turning to see Charlie already holding their large suitcase. y/n smiled at him, small tears coming to their eyes. They reached out politely, trying to take it from him.

“No I want it.”

“It’s okay, it’s not even yours.”

“Let me. Please?”

y/n gave in with a smile, taking Charlie’s free hand in theirs as they let Charlie lead them into the airport. They made their way across the patterned carpet to the check-desk.

“Hi there.” There was a lone employee working the front desk. She extended a hand outwards. “Boarding pass and ID please?” y/n fished though their carry-on bag, bringing forth the paper and plastic card. The employee scanned it and looked over at their computer. “Alright, just you y/n?”

“Yes.” y/n knew it wasn’t meant to be cruel, but the words still dug at their skin and itched at their bones. Just them. No Charlie. They’d be alone. Again.

“Alright. That’ll be gate 36B. Unfortunately, sir, you can’t come to the gate.”

“What the farthest I can come?” Charlie glanced over to y/n.

“Just to TSA.”

“Is there any way?”

“I’m sorry I can only bend that rule if you’re accompanying a minor.”

Charlie nodded and the couple walked away. They walked towards the large LED bord that displayed the flight information. y/n watched Charlie scan it with squinted eyes.

“401 right? Flight 401? We’ve got— shit.” Charlie frowned. “40 minutes. We move gotta get you through security.”

“We?”

Charlie looked back to y/n. They had tears brimming their eyes and were fiddling with a loose string on the sleeve of their sweater. They were still wearing Charlie’s sweater.

“I guess I can’t take you any further.”

“I know that.”

“You don’t have to get mad at me.” Charlie frowned at y/n. He set their bag to the side and gently took the carry-on from their shoulders, placing it near the bag. Charlie pulled them closer, wrapping his body around them and leaning his head against the top of theirs. “I’ll see you again.”

“But when?” y/n did their best to not cry, but it seemed impossible in this moment. They were tired. They were cold. And they had to leave the person they cared for more than anything within the next ten minutes.

“I don’t know. Valentine’s Day? I can try and drive over in maybe April?”

“But that’s such a long drive. God why can’t this be fucking easier?” y/n groaned against Charlie’s shoulder, grasping onto his shirt tighter with their fists. “It took me so long to save for this and I don’t know— I don’t know anything.”

“Then move in with me.”

“What?” y/n looked at Charlie with a strange smile. It wasn’t the first time Charlie had suggested the idea, but they’d only been dating for a few months the last time it was mentioned. Now they were a year and 6 months deep and it was the first it had been mentioned in a while.

“Or I’ll move in with you. We wouldn’t have to be separated, and I could work virtually anywhere.”

“We don’t have— I don’t have room at my place for a streaming set up.”

“We can get an all new place. Just us. We can go look around when I’m down there.”

y/n thought for a moment. “Alright. You better hurry then.”

“Of course.”

The two stood in silence for a minute, still hugging. y/n glanced over at the clock that hung near the LED display. “I gotta go. I still gotta get through security.”

“No. Wait, don’t pull away… not yet.” Charlie pressed y/n even closer, leaving light kisses on the top of their head and the side of their face. “I love you. Please text me when you land. Like seriously.”

“I will I will. I love you too.”

“Okay.” Charlie let y/n go. He handed them all their stuff and stepped back, taking them in before not seeing them for the next few weeks. “How many other sweater did you steal?”

“Only two more, but I think I deserve them.”

“Alright.” Charlie laughed a bit. “Go get on your flight.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

Charlie watched silently as y/n made their way through security. It took them almost five minutes, but once on the other side, they sent a sad wave to Charlie and walked off to the gates. Charlie waited a moment, hesitating, then made the walk to his car alone. He crossed the airport street alone. He walked in the parking garage alone. And he got in his car and drove home. Alone.

———

12. Canon! Charlie slimecicle x reader [they/them used]

Las Nevadas was on fire. The water feature had died out hours ago. The casino was crumbling to stone. The tower had been cut in half. The strip club had been shattered. The restaurant had been torn apart. The roads were destroyed. The toll bridge had collapsed.

But they won, right?

Quackity stood alone. He watched his allies from a short distance. Foolish supported Purpled’s weight as he leaned against the god with a broken leg. Fundy rested against a wall, panting and covered in blood that didn’t belong to himself. Sam was no where to be seen, but they knew he was still alive.

But Slime? He was running. He was running in a large circle, searching through rubble and ash as he shouted.

“y/n?” Y/N?” He leaned on his hands and knees in the sand. His suit had been ruined for a long time now. The seams of his button up shirt had begun to rip in battle, the bottom of his pant legs had been singed and torn and blackened by the battle, and he wore only one suspender now, the other one much too weak and quite easily forgotten. He did not wear his tie, however he knew who was wearing it. “y/n?”

“Quackity,” Fundy looked upwards to his ally. “We can’t let him.”

Quackity ran a shaky, blood-stained hand down the front of his own suit in a nervous manner. “He has to find out somehow. Do you want to tell him?”

Fundy didn’t say anything, instead watching his friend run around. “Y/N!”

“This is cruel.” Foolish whispered to Purpled. The young boy could only nod in agreement, just a little too weak to do much else. Foolish, realizing this, helped the teen move over to sit next to Fundy, resting him against the crumbling wall of the fountain. Foolish turned around with the intent to aid Slime in his search, but was stopped by a simple hand placed upon his shoulder.

Quackity stood to the left of Foolish. He could see Quackity do his best to hold in the tears that had already left small tracks through the dust that had settled over Quackity’s face. “Just— let him. I can’t tell him. I can’t.”

The group watched Slime dig by hand. The rouble almost phased through his skin, but he kept digging. When he got too frustrated by one building, he ran to the next one, repeating the process. They watched on in pain for only a minute longer. Fundy looked to Foolish and Quackity. “Do we know where-?”

“Y/N.” Slime screamed in utter joy, pulling out y/n from the rubble. He proudly carried them back over to where Quackity and the rest of the group sat, gently setting them down on the ruined pavement. He kneeled with them, resting their head in his lap. Slime very gently carded his fingers through their hair, seeming to think to himself. He reached deep into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a neon pink healing potion.

Foolish shrugged off Quackity’s grasp and walked over to where Slime sat. He kneeled down next to the green guy, placing a hand on his shoulder to try and pull him away. “Slime, buddy—“

“Let me go.” Slime’s voice was gentle and somehow mature. He spoke sadly, but also as though he understood what was happening still. “I can still save them. I know I can.”

Foolish glanced back to the group to watch Quackity shake his head solemnly. “Buddy, I know it’s hard-“

“No, I promised.” Slime’s voice began to shake. He desperately poured the potion over the parts of y/n’s body where damage was obvious; bruises from the crushing rubble, burns from the fires and explosions, and the gaping cauterized sword wound to their abdomen. Slime smiled as he gazed at their peaceful face. It almost looked like they were sleeping. “I promised them.”

“Promised what buddy?”

“I told them everyone turns to dust and goes away, but I promised them I wouldn’t let it happen. I’ve seen it happen. I watched it. And I wouldn’t let them turn to dust.” Slime leaned down, pressing a light kiss to y/n’s forehead. He stayed close, whispering to the corpse in his lap. “Im so sorry.”

Foolish placed a hand on Slime’s shoulder again, trying to pull him away. “Buddy-“

“No!” He pushed Foolish away, leaning closer to y/n and holding them in a protective embrace. Slime gently laid a hand on y/n wrist, feeling the material of his neck tie in a knot around it. “I can still help them, please just let me— let me save them. Please.”

The group sat in silence. Slime’s shoulders shook as he sobbed over y/n’s body. Fundy and Quackity wiped away a few tears as well, listening to their friend wail into the night.

———

14. Charlie slimecicle x reader [they/them]

“Listen, man, hurry up. We were supposed to leave twenty minutes ago.” Schlatt leaned back into the plush leather seat, resting a hand over his eyes.

Charlie sighed, looking over the stuff he’d piled on the couch. He huffed, looking around. “Okay. I’ve got my phone, charger, wallet, jacket, I’m dressed, teeth brushed, what the fuck am I forgetting?”

“Uh, buddy.” Ted cleared his throat and tapped at the side of his face. Charlie paused for a moment, squinting before realizing what he missed.

“My glasses! My goddamn glasses. Alright gimme a minute.”

The two boys watched Charlie walk back down the hall of Ted’s apartment. Schlatt groaned and lazily stood up from his seat. He walked over to the small pile of Charlie’s stuff and began sorting through.

“What are you doing?”

“If I can find these faster, maybe we can actually get out of here.” Schlatt stuck his hands into the pockets of Charlie’s jacket. “Hate this fucking smog— oh.”

“Oh?” Ted sat up slightly, watching Schlatt pull a small black velvet box out. “Oh. Oh! Holy fuck.”

“Did he talk to you about this?” Schlatt dropped the volume of his voice, trying to not alert Charlie.

“No not at all. Is it for y/n?”

“I guess.” Ted and Schlatt had never met y/n in person before, only talking when they would be nearby if Charlie was in a discord call. But the two knew that Charlie loved them dearly, he talked about them whenever he got the chance. He boasted about anything y/n did, anywhere they went, any thing he could say.

“Do we— do we give him advice? Do we say anything?”

“Do you have advice to give someone who’s about to propose?”

Schlatt bit the inside of his lip. Instead of responding to Ted, he opened the box and his eyes went wide. “Holy shit dude.”

“What?” Ted got up and walked over to Schlatt’s side. The ring Charlie had gotten was beautiful; a silver band with ornate vines that held very small diamonds, all encasing a round amber gem. Ted very gently took the box from Schlatt, rotating it back and forth to see how the light glimmered on the gemstones.

“Ted this is… where’d he even get that?”

“I don’t know.” Ted stared into the ring. “We shouldn’t be hanging this. We should put it back.”

“Why do I want to wear it?”

“Why do you?”

Schlatt took the box from Ted, staring at it for a moment, then put it back in the coat pocket. He shuffled the jacket around, trying to make the setting look natural. “Now wha—“

“Okay I found it.” Charlie ran out of the room, rubbing at the glass with his shirt material. “What are we standing about?”

“Nothing.” Ted turned to Charlie quickly, awkwardly smiling. “Ready?”

The three boys made their way from Ted’s home to his car, then out onto the streets of Hollywood, headed towards Santa Monica. It was only a half-hour drive, and no one had too much to say.

“So. Charles.” Ted glanced at his friend in the backseat through the rear view mirror. “How are you and y/n doing?”

Schlatt made a pointed look at Ted as Charlie began talking. “We’re great! They got this really big job and we’re going to celebrate when I get back. There’s this restaurant downtown that’s so pretty— it’s their favorite! I mean, it was going to be a surprise, but hopefully it all goes well.”

Schlatt, thought for a moment, catching on to what Ted was thinking. “Is there something that needs to go well? It’s just dinner isn’t it?”

“Actually, can I tell you both about something?”

“Yes.” They both answered in unison, turning to look at Charlie as they stopped at the red light.

“Well, I wanted to, at dinner, I mean we weren’t doing dinner until I get back home, but I have this.” Both boys held their breath as Charlie went fishing in his jacket pockets. It took him a few minutes to procure the small black box, but eventually his found it and held it forwards, showing it off to his friends.

“Wow. Proposing?” Schlatt laid surprise thick into his voice, and thankfully Charlie didn’t notice.

“Yeah! I picked it out myself. Here look.” Charlie opened up the box, showing off the gems that sparkled in the sunlight. Schlatt glanced up at Ted who stared forwards at the 10 freeway.

“That’s really cool, thanks for telling us.”

Charlie frowned. “Is it not as good idea? You don’t sound that excited.”

“No it’s a great idea! I mean obviously we don’t know y/n as well.” Schlatt gestured to himself and Ted. “But it’s obvious you love them. I mean look at you, buying a ring and everything. Making dinner plans, Charlie this is amazing.”

“Also Schlatt found the ring earlier.”

Schlatt smacked Ted on the arm, sending him a glare. “So you guys knew?” Charlie smacked the box shut.

“Not on purpose. I was trying to find your glasses and I just happened across it. You didn’t hide it very well.”

“I—“

Ted laid on the horn, repeatedly honking at the Tesla that had cut him off. “Son of a mother fucker.”

“Starting to hate LA?”

Ted peered over at Schallt with a glare, then went back to driving. “We are happy for you Charlie, we were just kind of waiting for you to mention it to us.”

“Yeah, and we want to meet y/n! It’s been two years now?”

“Of course you can.” Charlie scratched at the back of his neck. “I’m just scared? I don’t know. I mean, I’ve never felt so strongly about anyone before. I’m terrified.”

“Hey, you’ll be okay. It’s y/n. You fly home tomorrow right?” Charlie nodded. “Let us know how it goes man. I’m invested now.”

Charlie laughed. “Alright. Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow, Charlie took the 7 hour flight home. In that same day, Ted and Schlatt each received a picture of y/n wearing the engagement ring around their finger, both them and Charlie smiling wide.

———

Congrats Nat on getting 1k!

[asimper]

A year and a day

Inspired: Lord Huron - "The Night We Met"

Pair: Bruce Wayne x reader

Warnings: none

POV: you will understand from the context, some romantic drama here

***I am sorry, this is my first writing here. I was just thinking for a long time about this scene and decided to put it somewhere... Sorry 💔 ***

I had been waiting for him for hours. He booked this place a long time ago, where was the first date, saying a lot of lovely words about how wonderful it would be... He forgot it... He forgot and didn't come. I am so stupid to think that he will take it seriously. Of course, he had other things to do, more important than to spend this night with me. Huh, just a day, nothing significant. But I bought him the most expensive watches, ordered with "It will stop when my heart will end loving you", with the unlimited power of working. 300.000$ for a thing. Y/N, you are a serious woman, run a business, but hoped that this man will change from an adventurous bachelor to a lovely man ready for relationships... Stupid woman... I am so stupid...

*

-Master Wayne, what date is it today? asked Alfred walking into the cave and looking at a dark blue box.

-The 15th, he was working on a new system of security around the city, that will manage to determine the robber in some seconds.

-Actually, it is the 21st, he gave him the box and looked with disappointment at him. She came early in the morning, refused to enter the house, just gave me this box, and said that she understood you and your intentions to her. Oh, and she named you an asshole, but I would name you worse, he took off his glasses, smooth over the nose where had been the glasses. How could you forget?

-I... I didn't forget it, okay? We both know that these days I was working and sleeping. And... Was she crying? Bruce was worried, looking at the box with an uncomfortable feeling.

-No, but we both know that she did it yesterday. You are going to lose her. She makes you happy, but you make her cry.

Bruce took the box from the table and opened it. One of the most expensive watches... Petek Philippe Grand Complications. On them were written, "Look on their back".

-It will stop when my heart will end loving you, said loudly and he fell on the table in pain. How could I lose the time?

-I can buy you something to give her. I saw a very beautiful necklace that... Alfred didn't finish, looking surprised how he took from nowhere a light blue box.

-I was going to purpose her. I know, a year is too early, but...

-Her flight to London will be in 4 hours, you can take a shower before going and stop your air-jet.

He hugged him and run away.

They met a year and a day ago, at a gala. Bruce and Y/N are the people that rule with Gotham but didn't know each other until that night. They lovely talked, discovered that Y/N has 40% of the Gotham's airport, Bruce 45%. She owns a company of cybernetic prostheses, she could literally make from a dead man in a healthy and strong, thanks to engineering degree and mom's lessons of neurology. After that gala they met again, he asked her on a date in that restaurant. He gave her red roses, of course, he found everything she likes and dislikes. They talked, and walked, and laughed... He was never so free to someone as with her, even if everyone said that Y/N is a severe woman. At the end of the night, they kissed. Bruce didn't want to spend a night with her and forget, he wanted more, even if she was ready to go with him that night. She was often traveling from Gotham to London, where her company had the main building, but she always tried to spend her time with him, even when he was full in work. Y/N knew that he is Batman, she always knew it, and she took care of his injuries whenever she was in Gotham.

She gave her luggage and went to her flight. Disappointment. Heartbreak. She should expect it... She laid on the chair, reading her book, something about the human body.

-Why we are not taking off? she asked neutral and when she looked up, she saw Bruce. What are you doing here?

-Y/N, he sat in front of her and tried to take her hands in his, but she pushed him away, looking with hate. I didn't forget. I know that we were supposed to go to that restaurant on the 20th. I was working and I... I lost the track of time. I thought until Alfred came that is the 15th.

-Don't lie to me, Mister Wayne. Be honest, you didn't even pay attention to our "meetings", she was full of anger, almost ready to cry from a breakdown. You don't love me, but I couldn't see it before.

-Don't say it, you know it is not true.

-I want you to leave, said but Bruce was sitting next to her, continuously looking at her. Bruce, leave my fucking plane.

-It is mine also, 5% more than yours, he said with a little smile. Don't be a dummy, you are a wise woman.

She saw her gift on his hand, but instead of happiness, she felt disgusting.

-In this case, I will leave, she took her book and stuff, arranging everything in her bag. We are going to meeting separately, not even talking together. We have never met in a public place. We say that we are single. I am not even a girlfriend to you, Bruce. I need to shut up when young reporters flirt with you, but if someone is touching me, you are ready to burn the entire planet, her nerves were done, tears laying on her cheeks, trying to handle her sobs. For sure you cheated on me already. God, I am so stupid that I thought that you, a bachelor that slept with more women than I can imagine, will stop on me, a girl with not a manipulative personality, not a model or ballerina, and with a gap of 20 years. SAY SOMETHING! she shouted at him and stopped in fear of the light blue box.

It was open and... Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger, Two Bees, Engagement Ring... She froze, still sobbing in silence.

-Y/N L/N, I planned to say it yesterday, but... Will you marry me? he stood up and went closer, gently taking her left hand. I hope it is the right size. Of course, it is, I took the size of the rings you are wearing when you went to the shower at your house, he smiled looking at her hand.

-You were last time in my house half a year ago, she murmured staring at him.

-And? he started to clean her face from mascara and salty tears. I was sure that you are my perfect woman from the first met, from the night we met, darling, he sat down. I wanted it to be perfect, but I messed up, as usual.

-Bruce...

She kissed him, feelings of happiness messing with anger, butterflies in the stomach, and a lot of things, like where are they going now. He took her thin body in his big hands, hugging her like it is the only reason to live.

-Y/N Wayne, she whispered in his lips and giggled. The best gift you could give me. I love you so much.

-I love you too, my lovely wife. You know, he kissed each finger from her hand with the ring, meanwhile, she is looking at it, it was pretty hard to take that size, I sized with my finger.

-Dummy, she laughed and kissed him again. Where are we going now?

-To our ceremony, Mrs. Wayne. We are going to Bali, where it will be the dress that you wore in London for fun and liked a lot, and we will get married at the seaside. We will take a lot of photos and post them everywhere, to know who you belong to.

-More precisely, who YOU, playboy and millionaire, belong to, they laughed and kissed again...

[downwiththeficness]

A Need So Great-Chapter 17

Summary: Eva Moore is assigned to work the last year of her contract with the DEA in Colombia. She just wants to get to the end of her tenure, but she keeps getting drawn further into a string of murders in the city. It isn’t long before she’s forced to face the ghosts of her past.

Word Count: ~3,700

Warnings: None

A/N: For the purposes of this story, Carrillo isn’t married--or, if you like, divorced. A/B/O dynamics are prevalent, and they come with their own warning. The overall rating for this story is Explicit, although not every chapter will contain adult themes.

Taglist: @dirtynerdy98 @1zashreena1 @heresathreebee @deliciouslyclassytrash @maybege @kid-from-new-zealand @clydesducktape @revolution-starter @autumnleaves1991-blog @jedi-mando @buckysalefty @anaeve

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21

They punished him when he got back. He’d been gone for almost two weeks—twelve days—and they took it out on him the second he returned. His work hours lengthened until he was leaving before the sun came up and coming home after midnight. Sometimes he’d key into her apartment, falling into bed next to her with his uniform still on, boots kicked off next to the door.

Eva kept food wrapped in plastic in the fridge for him, pulled his belt free from the loops and at least got his button up off when he was too tired to do it for himself. When she did see him, on the occasions he set foot in the embassy, there were dark circles under his eyes.

Still, he didn’t complain. Not one word. Eva’s own workload had grown, having to pick up all the things that had been sitting on her desk. But, Javier and Steve had taken it upon themselves to do a little when they could. Connie would sometimes bring her lunch and they would chat, Eva having to forgo their usual work out nights until she got caught up.

And still, he seemed to just...take it from them. This went on for almost a month before she said anything. The conversation had been short, brusque in a way that he normally wasn’t, the stress peeking out from behind strained eyes. She didn’t say anything after that.

Eva gave him comfort where she could. She set the coffee maker to an earlier time and made sure that he had a travel mug sitting beside it every morning. She washed the uniforms he sometimes left behind, even going so far as to iron his undershirt and fold it neatly atop the pile on the dresser. This was about the extent of her ability to help and it ate at her.

After the first month, he got a day off and spent most of it asleep, or close to it. He’d crawled in next to her after showering, pulling her into his chest before dropping off into unconsciousness. When she’d woken the next day, he was still asleep.  When she checked in with him mid-morning, he was snoring softly, one arm reaching across the bed to the place where she’d been.

Finally, when lunchtime slipped by, Eva roused him and forced him to come out and eat a little. He did so mechanically, his eyes unfocused. She maneuvered him to lay on the couch after that, pulling all the curtains in her living room closed, the TV at a low volume.

They spent most of the day like this, vegetating on the couch. And then, when the evening came, Eva put more food in him and sent him to bed early while she worked on a few files she’d brought home from the office. The next morning, he’d gone in early, as he had to the month previous, and she didn’t see him for three days.

This went on for another month before the higher ups started to let off. By that time, he’d been worked nearly to the ground and she could see the beginning of burn out start to set in. Eva encouraged him to rest on the days he had off, doing what she could to bring back the determined set of his jaw when he went about his work.

And, when he seemed to come back to his normal self, she set up a dinner at a nice restaurant with Connie and Steve. They worked in tandem to keep the conversation from flowing back into office talk, but weren’t entirely successful.

“I got those photos developed,” Steve said a little too casually. “I have ‘em if you want to take a look.”

Connie took a disdainful sip of her wine, “I told him not to bring them, but he insisted.”

Eva looked at Horacio, who was carefully gauging her reaction. With a shrug, she reached over the table and flicked her fingers at him, indicating that he should hand them over. He leaned down and pulled a manila folder from where he’d stashed it under his chair. Eva took it from him, opening it and pulling out the photos.

She felt her jaw lock with the effort it took to control her face. The first photo was of her, standing in the airport, looking lost. She flipped to the next: moving in. Then, her walking from the parking lot into the embassy, her sitting at a park after her first day staring into the middle distance, and her talking with Javier as they walked on a sidewalk—a conversation she’d forgotten about. That’s when things started to get interesting.

The next photo pictured her standing next to her car down the street from that little hotel, Horacio leaning over her. His expression looked frustrated. She was smiling. Next, the two of them in a similar position after the bar fight, mid motion as he’d pushed her against her car. Then, her and Connie laughing outside of the gym, sweaty and glowing in the streetlights.

After that came the moment outside of the bombed restaurant, smoke everywhere, Horacio hovering over her. Out of context, it was a stunningly captured image. They looked utterly alone, his concern for her written all over his face. She was holding him by his forearm, chin tilted up a bit, her hair falling in haphazard curls, haloed around her.

Eva stared at it a moment longer before she flipped to the next one. More of her and Connie, sitting on a low wall, eating. Her arguing with Javier on the steps of the church. Her and Horacio sitting on that bench across the street, his hand trailing down her arm, eyes wandering to the hem of her skirt. Another of him kissing her at her door after dropping her off from one of their early dates.

And then she was standing in the street, staring her ex mother in law down. A little out of focus behind her, Horacio was standing by the table with his arms crossed. Eva stared at the picture for a moment longer than the rest, feeling her lip curl. That woman was still living, and possibly already figured out that Zero had been unsuccessful—possibly was already contacting another contractor to finish the job. That would need to be dealt with eventually.

The final photo was taken a few days before she’d been called to examine Zero’s final warning. She was walking hand in hand with Horacio, they were in a busy farmer’s market, picking out a few things to cook up for dinner. Eva was looking up at him as he talked with a vendor, her eyes so full of emotion that she felt herself blush even looking at it. She looked like a woman in love, a thing that Eva had never thought would be something she would have.

Very carefully, Eva slipped the photos back into the folder and set it aside, “Thank you for doing that.”

Steve nodded, his eyes dropping to the glass in his hand, “At least its over now.”

She sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The ride back to Horacio’s house was quiet. Eva glanced at him periodically, could tell that he was deep in thought. She clutched the folder of photos in her lap, unsettled. It wasn’t until she was taking her make up off in the mirror of the bathroom that he finally broached the subject he’d been contemplating all night.

Standing in the doorway, leaning against the jamb, he watched her wash her face, “We do need to address it.”

Eva looked at him in the mirror as she turned off the water, “Address what?”

“The fact that there is likely another hitman already contracted to kill you,” he said matter of factly.

Eva drew in a breath, glad that he hadn’t taken too awful long to decide to have this conversation. She didn’t know how fast Myra would move, but the woman was not known for her patience, or her mercy. It was extremely likely that they had contacted a new guy to finish the job.

She wiped her face off with a towel, “I know. I’ll think of something sooner or later.”

His mouth thinned, eyes narrow, “How can you be so calm?”

Setting the towel on the counter, Eva stepped up to him, placing her hands on his chest, “I have spent almost my entire life with people doing things to me that are completely out of my control. Maybe I’m used to it.”

Walking him back, she sat him down on the bed and kissed his brow. Turning, she reached behind her and tugged down the zipper of her dress, pulling it off while she searched for a sleep shirt to wear.

“This is serious, Eva. Your life is in danger.”

She laughed as she unclasped her bra and threw on the shirt. He very likely did not know how much of a hypocrite he was being in that moment.

“What?” he asked, his tone sharp.

Eva fixed him with a sardonic look, “I’m not the only person in this room with a bounty on their head, Horacio.”

His eyes looked away, “That’s different.”

“How?” she exclaimed, incredulous.

“I’m a police officer working to dissemble a cartel.”

He stood, hands on his hips, mouth curling. Eva felt her inside harden up, unbowed by his fierce look.

“And I’m a felon and former drug trafficker. I can’t escape this, I cannot walk away from it. You have a choice.”

He was already shaking his head, “I don’t.”

Eva stepped up to him, taking his hands, “You do. You can walk away. Retire. Spend some time at the cabin by the ocean. Fucking relax in public places. All of these things you can do. You just have to make the choice to do them.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Horacio looked unsteady. He was looking her with so many conflicting emotions that Eva couldn’t quite parse them out. Sensing that this might be the time to have the other conversation that she’d been keeping to herself for the last few weeks, she soldiered on.

“This job is going to kill you,” she whispered, voice low and rough, “I can’t stand to watch that happen.”

His mouth parted, “We have guards, protocols-,”

She cut him off, “That’s not what I’m talking about. Have you seen yourself these last few months? Did you see what I saw? They’re going to drive you into the ground.”

Horacio blinked, “Its difficult for everyone.”

“No,” she bit out, her hands tightening on his, “You’ve had maybe three days off since we got back. You’ve hardly slept, you’re not eating regularly, you’re so stressed I can literally smell it coming off you.”

Gently, she thumbed the skin beneath his scent gland. His eyes drooped a little, jaw loosening from where he’d been holding it so tightly. Settling into his body, Eva held him to her, trying to convey her worry, her concern for him.

“You want me to walk away from my career? Everything I’ve worked to build?” His voice was on the edge of anger, and Eva fought the urge to back up, to relent to him.

“I want the same thing that I think you want for me,” she murmured, “I want you to live. Really live. You can’t do that if you don’t make some changes. Take that one foot out of the darkness.”

He sighed deeply, dropping his head into the crook of her neck and embracing her, “Its late. We’re both tired. Let’s table this for now.”

Afraid that she’d push him too far if she pressed on, Eva nodded and stepped away to crawl onto the bed. She watched him undress and climb in next to her. After turning off the lamp on the nightstand, he settled into the pillows, taking her hand and kissing it. She drifted off with that solid connection between them.

The next few days were dusted with sporadic conversations about an intangible future. The end of Eva’s contract loomed, now four weeks away. She went to work every day, knowing that it was one less day she would be required to be there. And then something weird happened.

She’d been pulled into a meeting. She’d been censured for continuing to perform field work, outside of the scope of her contract. And then they’d told her that they were cutting it short and to clean out her desk. She’d have two weeks to get her personal items out of the apartment rented for her by the department. Eva couldn’t help the little sneer on her face as she watched Vanessa happily deliver the news.

She couldn’t keep her desk past the end of the day, had been given a box to put her belongings in. Eva had done so mechanically, putting the box of little personal items into her car and returning for her purse, still sitting on that shitty desk Steve had pointed out to her all those months ago. On the way out, she stood under an awning, looking out to the parking lot, confused and feeling just a tiny bit...sad.

A boot scuffed behind her and Eva looked over her shoulder to see Javier standing not far away, his fingers drumming on his leg.

“I guess you heard,” she said, a small smile on her lips.

Javier nodded, reaching up to pluck the cigarette from behind his ear, his other hand already holding a lighter.

“Its strange,” Eva continued on, “I think I’m actually going to miss it.”

He nodded again, not speaking. Eva frowned, gesturing at him as if to say ‘what’s the deal?’

Javier took a drag off the stick in his hand, “Let’s go to lunch.”

Without further explanation, he grabbed her by the elbow and started walking with her. His stride was quick, firm, determined.  His expression was closed. Eva felt her stomach drop with anxiety as she followed along.

“Okay,” Eva drawled in a false attempt at bravado, hustling to keep up with him in her heels, “What is this about?”

“Not here,” he murmured, steering her to his car.

It wasn’t until they were both ensconced in their seats and the engine had turned over that he said anything.

“We’re gonna meet Carrillo at a little out of the way dive just outside the city. I’ve been digging into your contract for a couple weeks and wanted to tell you both.”

Interesting.

Eva’s brows lifted, “What did you find?”

“Let’s wait until we get to the place, I’ll tell you everything then.”

They did, indeed, drive just outside of the city to a little hole in the wall place with what looked like only one waiter. At Javier’s direction, he led them to the back of the main room, through the kitchen, down a hall, and into a basement. Eva stood at the top of the steps, feeling just a little bit like she was walking into a trap.  She looked at Javier’s back as he descended, looked at the waiter, then sighed and stepped down.

It smelled a little bit musty, and there was only a single light hanging from the ceiling. But, a table had been set up with a few chairs. It even had a tablecloth.

“Well,” she commented, because she needed to talk or she was going to start freaking out, “This is certainly the strangest going away lunch I’ve ever had.”

Javier rolled his eyes and sat heavily in one of the chairs, “Have a seat. They’ll bring us some coffee.”

Eva sat, looping her purse strap over the top of the chair, “Is Horacio on his way?”

He nodded, “Should be here any minute.”

She stared him down, looking for clues as to what this was all about. He hadn’t brought a file, he didn’t even have that little notebook he sometimes carried with him. All he had was his wallet (currently wearing through the fabric of his jeans), his gun (tucked in the back of his waistband), his cigarettes (slipped into the breast pocket of his short-sleeved button up), and his lighter (twirling between the forefinger and thumb of his right hand).

The door at the stairs opened and Carrillo’s heavy steps sounded, a slow, measured thump. Eva folded her hands in her lap and waited until he ducked down to scan the room. He was wearing his uniform, gun at his hip, the first few buttons of his shirt undone so that a little of his undershirt peeked out.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said as he approached and sat down, “Had to make a few calls.”

“Not a problem,” Javier responded, “I almost didn’t catch Eva before she headed out.”

Eva scratched at the skin above her brow, “Does anyone want to tell me what this is about?”

Javier leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, “I did a little research on you.”

“This again?” Eva bit out, feeling a hot anger bubbled up from where is had laid simmering since she’d walked out of that meeting.

Hand up, he indicated for her to wait, “More than just your work history. More than your prison stint. I know a guy who knows a guy, who pulled your file—your actual file. I got a copy of your contract, and I managed to dig up some interoffice mail between Vanessa and some shady people.”

“Okay?”

He leaned forward on his forearms, “There’s a few expense forms that were incomplete, but paid out anyways. Expense forms for plane tickets for, Vladimir Prost—a known alias of Alexei Volkov, according to an FBI friend of mine—w ith a hotel voucher for the same name.”

Eva’s eyes narrowed, her brain circling around the information and coming out on the other side feeling her anxiety spike.

To her left, Carrillo added, “I went to the hotel, pulled a few of their records.  He stayed there for months, Eva.”

She crossed her legs, trying to keep her body more still, “I told you that he had, the pictures proved that he had. The question is why Vanessa, why the DEA, was footing the bill.”

Javier shook his head, “That’s the thing, they weren’t. The forms weren’t standard DEA—very close, but not quite the same.”

She blinked, “You’re saying they were doctored.”

“I’m saying they were doctored,” Javier confirmed with a sharp nod.

Carrillo looked at her solemnly, “I paid off a few administrators where she banks, tracked her bank statements and accounts for the last two years and cross referenced them with the forms Javier found. There are several large deposits close to the dates on the forms from a company our of Louisiana, Ardent Pharmaceuticals. That name familiar to you?”

Eva could feel the blood drain from her face, “That’s the company name for the Moore family’s business front.”

“Well,” Javier commented with a little shrug, “They’ve gone straight with a lot of their stuff. They’re a leader in the field of suppressant therapy.”

“I’m sure they are,” Eva sneered, eyes cutting to the side as she thought about those three syringes gleaming on that table.

“Eva,” Carrillo prompted lowly, “Do you understand what we’re telling you?”

She looked at him, “That my early release, my contract, all the work I’ve done, the shitty boss I’ve had, and my entire professional career is a big set up to keep me contained and under the thumb of my former mother in law so that she can eventually corral me into a corner and murder me? That sound close enough?”

“I know you’re mad,” Javier said, catching her eye, “But we’ve got to think smart about this.”

“Smart?” Eva hissed, her voice high, “You’re telling me to be smart? Everything I’ve done under this contract is a lie and you’re telling me to be smart?”

He made a soft sound of comfort, “You can be mad about that—hell, I’m mad about it—but, you can’t react from that anger.”

“How am I supposed to react?”

“With cunning,” Carrillo answered, and she could tell that he’d already made a plan. “I looked at the contract, the end date is set in stone. Did you get a formal letter of release?”

Eva nodded, reaching into her purse and handing it to him. He read it over quickly before handing it to Javier.

“Good,” he said, “That saves you from the DEA asserting that you broke the contract. Now, I’ve still got a hand in Vanessa’s accounts.  For the near future, that’s going to be our best bet for tracking when the next hit will come.”

Javier handed the release letter back to Eva, “I also made a call to one of my contacts at the IRS. He’s going to call for an audit of the Ardent books, which should tie up some of their funding for the next few months, at least.”

Eva shook her head, “If they’re still using my system, then they won’t find anything.  All their off the books transactions are buried under layer after layer of red tape and false company names.”

Javier leaned forward, “Can you lay out that system for me? So I can send it to them?”

She nodded, “I can do that.”

“Okay, that’ll work. I’ll fax that over to him and that might help speed things along. Eva?”

“Yeah,” she croaked.

“We need you to go about your life as usual. Go pack up your apartment, buy a ticket back to the states, do whatever you think will need to be done so that no one knows you’re onto them.”

Her brows drew together, “You want me to go back to the states?”

Carrillo put a hand on her arm, “We want it to look like you’re going back. We need to buy some time, until we hear back from our contacts.”

Staring into the middle distance, Eva processed the conversation, running over the information a second time and coming out just as angry, if not more so. She was quiet so long that the two men at the table began to fidget.

“Eva?” Javier edged.

She swallowed, then sighed, “Are we actually going to eat at this ‘lunch’? I’ve only had coffee today and I’m starving.”