#cost of loft conversion

[lordansloftsuk]

Loft Conversion Building Company in Banstead | Specialist Service

We are a high quality and cost competitive loft conversion specialist business based in Horsham. With over years of experience in this field, recommended by happy Clients. ✔️0333 207 4233

[sparkedgebiz]

Loft Conversion Cost Calculator – Instantly Estimate Your Project Budget!

An excellent method to expand your living area and raise the value of your house is to convert your loft. Before beginning the project, it is crucial to comprehend the associated costs. A useful tool that can help you better plan your budget is a loft conversion cost calculator, which can give you an estimate based on the particulars of your project. You may compare costs, make well-informed judgements, and select the finest solutions for your house by using this calculator. Your loft conversion may be a gratifying and easy procedure if you prepare ahead and have a clear idea of the costs.

[poppy86579]

The Ultimate Guide to L-shaped Dormer Loft Conversion

Are you in the market for a home loft conversion? Check out our ultimate guide to L-shaped dormer loft conversions in London to explain the benefits and costs.

[leniogroup]

Unlock the Hidden Potential: Transform Your Garage into a Dream Space (No Planning Permission Required)

Introduction:

Are you looking to add more space to your home without the hassle of obtaining planning permission in the UK? Your garage is the perfect place to begin! Converting your garage into a functional and stylish living space is an excellent way to unlock the hidden potential within your home. In this blog, we'll delve into the exciting world of garage conversions and reveal how you can create your dream space without the need for planning permission. Get ready to embark on a transformative journey that will leave you inspired and in awe of the possibilities.

Why Convert Your Garage?

Space Maximisation: Your garage is likely an underutilised area that has the potential to provide valuable additional space for your home. By converting it, you can expand your living area, create a home office, a playroom for the kids, or even a cosy reading nook.

Cost-Effective Solution: Converting your garage is a more cost-effective option compared to building an extension or moving to a larger property. It allows you to optimise the existing space and add value to your home without breaking the bank.

Convenience and Accessibility: Converting your garage keeps everything conveniently close to your main living areas. You won't have to venture far for a home gym, an entertainment zone, or a guest suite. Enjoy easy access and seamless integration with your everyday life.

No Planning Permission Required:

Permitted Development Rights: In most cases, converting your garage falls under permitted development rights, which means you won't need planning permission. However, it's important to check with your local authority to ensure you comply with any specific regulations or restrictions in your area.

Planning Permission Exceptions: While converting your garage generally doesn't require planning permission, there are exceptions. For instance, if you live in a listed building, conservation area, or your garage conversion significantly alters the external appearance of your property, you may need planning permission. It's always best to consult with your local planning authority to confirm any specific requirements.

Design and Inspiration:

Customization and Personalization: A garage conversion[1]  allows you to tailor the space to your specific needs and preferences. Whether you envision a sleek and modern office space or a cosy and inviting entertainment zone, you have the freedom to design a space that reflects your unique style and personality.

Natural Light and Ventilation: Consider incorporating windows, skylights, or glass doors to flood the converted space with natural light. This creates an inviting and airy atmosphere, making the area feel more spacious and welcoming.

Efficient Storage Solutions: As you plan your garage conversion, think about incorporating smart storage solutions to optimise the use of space. Built-in shelves, under-stair storage, or hidden cabinets can help keep your newly transformed area organised and clutter-free.

Interior Design Elements: Pay attention to colour schemes, lighting, and furniture selection to create a cohesive and visually appealing space. Embrace warm and inviting hues, experiment with lighting fixtures to set the mood, and choose furniture that balances functionality and aesthetics.

Conclusion:

Converting your garage into a dream space is an exciting and practical way to expand your home without the need for planning permission. It offers a multitude of possibilities to create a personalised oasis that enhances your lifestyle and adds value to your property. Remember to check local regulations, let your imagination soar, and embark on a transformation that will leave you inspired and in awe of the incredible potential within your garage. Unlock the hidden gem that lies within your home and enjoy the freedom and convenience of a beautifully converted space. Getting planning permission for a garage conversion is hassle-free when you work with us at Lenio. If you would like more information or to contact us, please visit our website at www.leniogroup.com.

[nextgenconstruction]

Do you need loft conversions and looking for the best home improvement company? Next Generation Construction has an Impressive team for loft conversions in St Albans, Milton Keynes, Harpenden, Leighton Buzzard, Beaconsfield, Chalfont St Giles & Gerrards Cross. Get a quote today!

[bluestar5934]

Inspired by Deligracy's latest build. I wanted to try something out of my comfort zone and try building a mid-century home. I went more with the 70s color scheme, so it's kinda ugly, but you could always renovate it to be more modern.

This house cost around 108,000 simoleons. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, and 2 half baths. There's a loft up top that you could turn into anything, and I made sure to include a conversation pit for the mid-century aesthetic.

Download (SFS)

(All CC is included)

[pro-mammonologist]

Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend

A fun vacation to the mountains! The brothers are fascinated by the human world and even more fascinated by the human world’s interpretation of them. After exploring a local church, Asmodeus learns of Mc’s relationship with the church as well as igniting an interesting fantasy of theirs.

What happens when the brothers discover Mc’s more impure fantasies? (Plenty of irony)

Note: inspired by the song Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend by Powerwolf, if you’re okay with a little bit of metal, you’ll love this and want it in your obey me playlist

GN!Poly!Mc but with a coochie x All Bros

This chapter is SFW with NSFW conversation but no explicit action. The MC also has religious trauma so yeah.

Chapter 1: “theres a phantom lust to wake”

You shielded your eyes from the light blistering down on your skin. Having been in the Devildom so long, you forgot the intensity of the sun. You were thankful it was warm considering the coolness of the Devildom, it was a nice change, it was familiar. You packed cool clothes, making sure that your outfits were nice and airy for your trip. The brothers did the same, considering how their bodies had adjusted to the coolness of the Devildom, you already had Asmo and Mammon droning on about the heat only a few hours into your arrival.

Yes, your arrival. Lucifer wanted a trip with all of you and everyone said the usual beach, camping, famous city 1, famous city 2, and Lucifer of course suggested a factory tour but you wanted to relax. So, Satan suggested a more scenic trip, a nature trip. You loved the idea, being a lover of adventure. At least with them! So you all got to planning you settled on a mountain trip. Central Europe has many different attractions but none compare to the beauty of the mountains, especially in Switzerland.

“Man, ever been here before?” Mammon asked to no one in particular.

Satan opened your travel guide. “No, I don’t think any of us have been at least not to this one specifically.”

You looked out the window next to Mammon, lofting yourself from the seat on your train. “Are we not going to the alps?”

Lucifer chuckled from across you. “The alps would be boring… what if you’ve gone before?” He sipped at his tea, swirling the cup around before placing it on the tray in front you.

“I’m human, Lucifer, and this stuff costs money and time! What makes you think I’d have explored the alps in their entirety!” The scenery outside was enough to keep you fascinated, let alone the mountain trip approaching.

You could hear faint snoring behind you in the aisle and Beel munching on whatever food he had. Levi was babbling about how he’s seen this exact area in such and such while Asmo doted on the woman on the other side of the train. They pulled straws to choose who’d be sitting with you, short had to sit the next aisle over. They’re convinced Mammon cheated, but he insisted that if that were the case he wouldn’t have Lucifer in the same row as you two. Lucifer was offended, but it was entertaining to listen to them bicker as Satan told you about his most recent series.

You were on the train for much longer than you figured you’d be, causing eventually the whole party to lament. Once you arrived, you all were thrilled and ready to explore, but what caught everyone’s attention the fastest was the cathedral in the middle of the town.

“Beautiful architecture.” Lucifer noted, smiling to himself. “Catholic imagery has always had its appeal despite its not so kind depiction of us.” You could hear Satan scoff and you giggled at his reaction.

“I agree.” you could smell the incense from the exit of the train station. “I was shocked to find you and Satan are two separate beings.” You moved toward Lucifer as Beel lifted Belphie and his bags back up.

“Man, churches are kinda eh, if you ask me. Pretty but uncomfortable!” Mammon thumbed his nose up and pushed his sunglasses up, though with the current weather, they are unneeded. “Ain’t these places supposed to be sunny?”

“It’s Europe,” you sighed, “it’s always cloudy!”

“Still too hoooooot…” Asmo whined. “And we have to walk to where we are staying??? Ugh!” He looked exhausted despite having just sat for hours. “I’m already so beat!”

Satan started walking eastward. “Well, to rest, we need to actually get there first!”

“Well, that building has people giving out refreshments!” Beel notes, also feeling thirsty and tired. And hungry. “Maybe they have food.”

“Uhhhh,” you start, ready to protest but Mammon, Asmo, Levi and Beel (also Belphie) are already heading that direction.

“I don’t see why we can’t go inside. Perhaps we might learn something interesting.” Lucifer suggests and Satan gives up on trying to get to the cabin and follows suit. You give in as well.

Getting up close, you’re even more impressed. The stained glass and Roman build, the renaissance ambience, its all amazing. You inhale the scent of incense again and exhale. It’s hard to not be familiar with any Christian establishment in this world, especially of a Catholic nature and within Europe. Nuns were walking around the courtyard and they greet your party, speaking German. Satan speaks it eloquently and they offer to give you home baked bread. Beel obliges and eats it up in seconds.

“Danke.” You feel strange, receiving food from a place you abandoned long ago. You find it strange how the brothers seem so unbothered by it’s presence, but considering the various interpretations of demons, it makes sense.

“So holy water won’t burn huh?” You ask Asmo, who is drinking to his hearts content.

“This is bottled water, sweetie… I don’t think it’s holy unless they bless it.” He winks and offers the rest to you.

“Yeah… I think it’s funny how you guys are so… chill.” You trail off and fixate onto the crucifix adorning the doors of the church.

Asmo blinks and looks at you deeply. “It’s just a building. Humans get a lot of stuff wrong about us, don’t worry.” He sees your sudden shift in mood. “I love how cute you get when you’re worried.” He tries to soften the mood and make you smile.

Your eyes remain transfixed on the building. “I’m not worried, I just never thought I’d be back at one of these after meeting you guys. Any house of worship, really, especially a Christian one.”

Asmo looks confused. “I don’t really know this stuff, I just know they think we torture bad humans and there’s like 9 layers of the Devildom… oh and that Lilith was a human that corrupted the first human man or whatever.” He leans in closer. “Do the books and stuff say anything about me????”

“Yeaaahh.” You respond and finally look away from the doors. “I don’t really remember that much. All I really remember is the stuff about Lucifer.”

He pouts and walks to the doors. “Man, why is he so special. He’s beautiful but he isn’t me.” He pushed them open and the sound of the old doors creaking open make you jump.

The nuns look over in your direction and your face goes red. Satan comes up from behind you and grabs your shoulders. “Jumping like that makes you seem more demon than we.” He looked down at you and you shuffled out of his grip.

“Those things are too loud to be that old.” You hear Mammon say looking toward you. He has a cheeky grin on his face and his sunglasses now folded and hanging on his shirt. “Don’t worry,” he nudges, “I’ll protect ya from any scary nuns.”

You roll your eyes but can’t help but smile. Satan looks to where Asmo has stopped inside, admiring the—

“Gold!” Mammon shouts and chases after Asmo.

“There he goes again… do you want to go inside?” Satan asks you and you look aside to the rest of the brothers who are now looking toward you.

“It seems like…” you look at their eager and curious faces. “You all want to go in.”

“Is it wrong to be curious? We never get that much time here especially in a place with fictional depictions of us. You could say it’s like we are evil celebrities here.” Satan mentions and he’s right. Who wouldn’t want to know what someone wrote about them, especially if that many people believe it.

“Okay.” You say, nodding. “I wouldn’t mind seeing what they’re burning. It smells really good.”

You go inside and find yourself shoulder to shoulder with Asmo once again who was scurrying around trying to figure out what everything is. “Hey! Mc, what’s that man doing?”

“He’s going into confession.” You answer bluntly.

“Confession?” Asmo ponders aloud.

Mammon interrupts, “yeah you don’t know what that is? You confess to people stuff.”

“Kinda. But to a priest and it’s your sins.” You add, moving along to find where the smell is coming from.

“Ooooh… so it’s like that ‘daddy, sorry I’ve been naughty’ thing!” Asmo looks jubilant.

“Uh, more like ‘forgive me father, for I have sinned.’” Their ignorance is shocking. Don’t they know anything? “You really not know that or are you joking?”

Asmo taps his finger on his lip. “What’s the difference?”

Both you and Mammon look shocked now. You say, “uh, ones horny ones not!”

Asmo looks offended almost. “Are you not supposed to be horny in church?”

You froze and blinked for a minute. “Huh?” Thank the gods that there aren’t any English speakers around. “You… Asmo, you know lust is a sin.”

“Obviously but I was curious! It’s really funny that sorta stuff is sinful even though I see sexy nun costumes all over the place at Halloween in the human world. Don’t forget sexy priest too!”

It’s unfathomable what you hear from them sometimes, especially when it makes no sense. They’ve mastered your language, understand human pop culture for the most part, they even know some chunks of human history, but the one thing they don’t know is directly about them?

Lucifer joins your group. “You seem rather shocked, Mc. Is something wrong?”

“How do you not know anything about the group responsible for the whole religion condemning you?” You ask and Lucifer sighs.

“Well, as you know, I’ve long detested how I am depicted as well as the fact that Satan and I aren’t even considered separate beings. Truth be told, I just never encouraged them or myself to learn anything about it after the fall. I didn’t want them to be upset. Now, since you’re here, I think we might be more willing to interact with it.” Lucifer looks content and his words sound honest. That also makes sense but it’s still very mind-boggling their ignorance. “Mc, I only know what I’ve been told to be honest. I know much more about other depictions of demons that might be more accurate to us. But most human tales are a bit ridiculous.” Lucifer notes, scrolling to show you an image of Baphomet. “You mean to tell me most humans think this is me when it quite literally isn’t even me in the tale itself?”

“Yeah, I guess if it got that crazy, I would stay out of it too. Plus it’s not like you could really intervene and tell people it isn’t true.” You feel Lucifer’s cold hand on the small of your back. “Huh?”

“I’m curious, what did you think when you were going to meet us?” Lucifer looks at you, smiling.

“Well… a lot to be honest. Demons are depicted as deceitful, they’re to lure humans into sin. They’ll often treat you kindly, seduce you, or do whatever to make you feel safe and then take everything from you so I sorta expected that… but also I knew deep down that there’s no way that’s all true.” You answer him honestly.

He chuckles. “We do treat you kind, seduce you, and try to make you feel safe. Do you worry we are manipulating you?” He’s smiling but he’s hiding concern in his voice.

“Truth be told, the church manipulates so much that I figured I’d be used to it.” You only make him laugh again. “I know you guys love me.”

“Hmm, if I was expected to confess all of my wrongdoings to one person I’d feel terrible as well. That’s a lot of power to give one person, Mc.” His hand remains on your back and is now accompanied by Asmo’s arm.

“Heyyyy! We can all get a touch, can’t we??? I’d happily confess all my naughty thoughts to you, Mc!” Asmo snakes himself in between you and Lucifer. “And all the naughty things I’ve done.

“I’m sure you would.” You grin now, a thought coming into your head. “Say, wonder what that priest would say if I told him I’ve been bedding with demons.”

Lucifer grinned. “I’m sure they’d consider you quite the sinful human. I imagine sleeping with demons make for quite the punishment?” You nudged him playfully and stood by him for a minute.

“Don’t go getting too many ideas now.”

The clouds in the sky were heavy, ready to downpour. Lucifer pulled them group out of the church and you said your goodbyes to the nuns and made your way to your lodgings. It wasn’t too long of a journey, the rain only began when you were a few blocks from it. Lucifer rented an airbnb for your group and it was a homely loft, almost castle-like. It was clearly an older structure but had been receiving regular updates. It had only 4 bedrooms, but a multitude of beds for you all to share.

“So who gets to sleep with Mc?” Oh no. It has begun.

Beel asked the question innocently and Mammon was the first to speak up. “Obviously me!”

Asmo next. “Well, I think they want to sleep with me.”

Then Belphie half asleep. “Me n’ Beel should share.”

And then Satan. “I came up with the idea for the trip so I should pick where I sleep first and I choose where Mc plans to stay.”

Then Lucifer. “You picked it and I did the planning, I deserve first pick.”

Then Levi. “I never get to go first so I should!”

It was always bound to be chaos when you had to share rooms especially with seven demons completely obsessed with you.

You spoke up. “Let me try to make this fair. I guess I should choose first?”

They all agreed and you wandered the space. One room was large with one king sized bed in the middle, accompanied by a large window showing you the outside view of the woods. It was a dark room, much like the rest of the loft. Next there was another large room, this one with one bunk bed and another bed caddy cornered against the wall. It only has one window and small laterns hung to the ceiling, it’s charming and fantasy like. Thirdly, there’s another slightly smaller room complete with two beds next to each other, it wasn’t anything impressive, just like a hotel room complete with dark academia ambience. And lastly, a room about the same size as the next, another set of beds similar to the previous room but this time, it had a large window the exact same as the first room. The view in this one was certainly on par with the first one and you debated over which one.

But the answer was clear to you. “I want the first room. One more person can fit in the bed with me.” They looked as though they were ready to fight. “Okay, let’s do it this way… pick a number 1-50.”

“Ugh… 7.” Belphie answered.

“33.” Satan.

“I was gonna choose that one! 44.” Mammon.

“12.” Lucifer.

“Hmm… 24.” Levi.

“18!” Asmo.

And then Beel. “40.”

You waited a moment before saying who won. “Asmo gets to sleep with me.”

The brothers sighed of annoyance as Asmo celebrated and came up to you. “Yaaay! We’re gonna have lots of fun together.” He wrapped his arms around your hips and you pushed him back.

“Don’t get too touchy now. And don’t go feeling me up as I try to go to sleep, ‘kay???”

He pouted. “That’s no fun but I guess I will listen.”

You all started to move into your rooms and settle in. You could see the sunsetting as the downpour was intense. The sound was nice and calming, it made you want to cuddle up and relax with the brothers, but other things were on their minds. You walked up to the window to watch as the rain fell, gazing out into the woods.

“Mc, what are you thinking about?” Asmo asked, plopping onto the bed.

“Nothing really, just shocked Lucifer didn’t check the weather better.” You answered, briefly gazing back at Asmo.

“It must’ve not been in the forecast. You seemed upset earlier.” His voice went serious. “Was the church uncomfy for you?” He pulled at your arm to get you to sit on the bed.

“You could say that. I was kinda worried about you guys too. But really… there’s just not a lot of good in places like that. Even though they pretend to be good.” You chose your words wisely, not wanting to venture deeper.

He waited a moment before responding. “Okay. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah I’m good, to be honest…” you trailed off and your cheeks went pink. “I joked with Lucifer about how the priest would react if he found out I’ve been fucking you guys.”

Asmo giggled. “I imagine they’d be jealous, hun.” He rolled onto his back and cocked his head. “Ever seen any pretty ones?”

“Pretty priests??? Most of them are old.” You laughed, confused by his question.

“Well, it’d be funny if I were to seduce one huh? As a demon? It might be fun!” He suggested, his brain filling with naughty ideas.

You laid back beside him. “Well, they’re people too. I bet they wanna fuck.”

He turned his head to you slowly. “Have you ever been attracted to anyone of a pure status?”

You squinted at him, smirking. “Well, it is interesting to consider defiling them. But no one has ever caught my eye.”

“Demons love to corrupt.”

“Yeah I know.”

“Mc, I have… an idea.”

Uh oh. You looked at him and shrugged. “Okay.”

“You’ve already been corrupted by demons, so why not get punished by priests.” He suggested, nonchalantly.

“You want me to go get fucked by priests?” You were shocked, looking at him like he’s crazy.

“No silly, even better! Us pretending to be priests!!!! See, it sounds fun!”

Asmo was a man of many talents and many thoughts, but this one hit multiple parts of your psyche. Religious trauma, arousal, demons, kinks, and your insatiable lust for all of the above to be combined. Something you didn’t know until now. Well. Really, that’s a lie. It has always been arousing to consider how, as Asmo said, they’ve corrupted you, but to fantasize about retribution? Now, that’s new.

Asmo ran his hand up your arm. “Mc, you’ve been thinking a while…”

You snapped back in. “I like that idea.” You couldn’t be shy around him anymore, there’s no point with how well he can read you now. “So you wanna include the rest of them?”

“Satan and Lucifer will likely love this idea. Lucifer loves to punish as you know.” Asmo leaped up from the bed. “Let me go ask them now!”

“Hey!” You raced after him and he shouted for everyone to gather in the middle of the room. You were already feeling hot, embarrassment searing through you.

The brothers walked out of their rooms, complaining of being summoned, too tired, or annoyed. Asmo grinned eagerly and awaited for you to get beside him.

“So! Our lovely Mc confided in me of something naughty!” Asmo wrapped an arm around you and you saw the mood of the room instantly change.

“Naughty?” Lucifer’s mouth widened into a grin. “Do tell.”

The rest of them all nodded in agreement. Belphie yawned. “We just got here and they’re horny huh?”

You shot Belphie daggers with your eyes. “Asmo suggested I merely agreed.” He laughed at your response and looked at Asmo, eagerly awaiting to hear your fantasy.

“Mc has been dirtied by all of us, corrupted and fucked nice and good, so it’s up to the holy to punish them for their sins, is it not?”

Satan was the first to respond. “And we are to take up these holy roles?” He leaned on the railing to the stairs, propping his elbows up and resting his chin on his hands, his eyes lowering. “I quite like that.”

Lucifer chuckled. “Sounds interesting.”

“So we’re gonna punish ‘em?” Mammon looked to you, his face unreadable.

Levi came up beside Mammon, making him jump. “Ohhhh this is like that one episode of That One Time I Got Turned Into A Human! I know exactly what to do!” Levi looked even more excited that Satan or Lucifer.

Beel was still quiet but he looked deep in thought. When his eyes met yours you instantly knew what he was thinking about. You could see hunger in his eyes, this one not for food.

“So we’re all in agreement? Why don’t we do it tonight since we are all rained in?” Mammon broke the silence and to your own surprise as well.

“Hm, it’s short notice but I’m sure we can negotiate a scene.” Lucifer nodded and looked around to see everyone’s reactions and then his gaze landed back on you. “Shall we get on with it then?”

You breathed in deeply. “Yeah.”

[hometoursandotherstuff]

OMG, this large church, converted in 2015 in Grand Haven, MI has been turned into a mansion. It's like no other church conversion that we've seen. 3bds, 6ba, $2,595,900.

Check this out. Is this not gorgeous?

I think that the reason why all of these converted churches are coming on the market is b/c they don't consider the long winters. The high ceiling open spaces have to be a bitch to heat, and the costs outrageous, when you're still freezing your butt off.

The kitchen is a stunner. Look at the ceiling. There are probably high energy costs, as well.

Small dining area with a bar in the corner. They removed some of the stained glass windows and put in clear glass to brighten it up.

And, this is the formal dining area. Note the architectural feature dividing the space.

Love these gates.

Nice corner to relax in.

At the top of the stairs is a mini fridge for drinks, snacks, etc.

Primary bedroom on the main level has a fireplace and sitting area.

Look at the fancy entrance to the en-suite.

Very large bath with glass block features.

There's also a walk-in closet.

Another piano in the loft. It's a large space, there's still room to spare.

Stairs to the lower level family room.

Another cozy sitting area in the basement.

Pool table, golf simulator, and wet bar.

The wine cellar.

The covered pool and patio are on the roof.

Pull the car right into the rec room. It has its own fireplace.

Two other bedrooms are down here.

This one has an en-suite.

8,712 sq. ft. lot.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/600-Washington-Ave-Grand-Haven-MI-49417/149741922_zpid/

[bidisasterevankinard]

normal again?

G / 1041 words

Buck and Eddie talk in the gym about what happened at the cruise call (based on the photos)

text under cut

Buck sits in his Jeep looking at the station and for the first time in all his life he doesn’t want to enter this building, doesn't want to see his team, but most importantly doesn't want to, and even scared, to see Eddie. 

The cruise emergency, which almost cost them Athena and Bobby and marked itself as another near death experience for both, him and Eddie, was three days ago and Buck is still not ready to see the man. 

Not after what happened when they were almost trapped together with Eddie in the water, while saving people, and not after what he did to help the man with his panic attack.

Buck takes deep breaths to calm his mind and slow down his racing heart, remembering how Eddie looked at him after Buck’s lips left his. And this struck and almost hurt expression could be something Buck could forget about and live like nothing happened, but Eddie hasn’t talked with him since the moment they said goodbye to each other at this exact parking space.

No answers on his messages, except little one: I’m home. Not alone. Is that ok if we reschedule the movie night for tomorrow?

Then silence. 

Buck hates silence. Silence always was something around him because of his parents, and he always tries to create the sounds and conversations to never have a silence with people he loves. To never again feel like when he was a child, begging to be loved.

Eddie was the only one with whom even silence can be comfortable, but not this one.

Not when his best friend avoids him.

Loudly sighting, Buck takes his bag and gets out of the car. He was the one who kissed Eddie, who made Eddie avoid him, which means he should be the one to make it better.

And the twenty minutes before their shift is a good opportunity to clean the air between them before they will run to save people.

Good thing Eddie is already here too. Buck saw the truck the moment he parked ten minutes ago.

Entering the station he expected to see the man in the loft, and get himself five more minutes to get his thoughts together, but the way Eddie is working out, beating the shit out of the punching bag, makes him change the plan.

Buck approaches the man loudly, not wanting to scare him, so he knows the moment he appears near the bag is not a surprise for Eddie. Not with the way Eddie glances at him, with a tense jaw.

“H-hi,” Buck barely hears it himself, but Eddie nods at him, so he guess he heard it. Buck coughs and continues with normal volume, but not loud enough to make anyone look at them, “I-I was thinking we can talk about the … you know, what happened at the cruise.”

Eddie hits the bag again before speaking.

“Nothing to talk about, Buck.”

“Eddie, I kissed you and you stopped talking to me. And I-I know I messed up, but please let’s talk about it. I promise I'm sorry about my actions, and I don’t want to lose you because of it,” Buck needs Eddie to listen to him, to forgive him. 

“Wait, you think I was angry with you for the kiss?”

“I mean, what else could it be about?”

Buck raises his eyebrow, when Eddie bites his lip and nods to the benches.

He chooses to sit opposite Eddie, not wanting to trap the man with his presence.

“Buck, I’m not angry at you. I wasn’t talking to you because of my actions during the panic attack,” Eddie looks at him, but Buck sees in his pose he still doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Eddie, it's fine. You did nothing wrong.”

“Buck, I had a panic attack during work. And you had to save both of us because I was out.” 

“First, I’m your partner, it means making sure you’re safe. Second, yes, you had an attack because we were trapped together and you were triggered by water. It's normal. I-I was triggered too. I panicked too. Remembering the-the tsunami and how I almost drowned in the lift,” Buck still feels this uneasy feeling from hyperventilating which felt exactly like the tsunami. “But I just concentrated more on you, so that's why I had an attack at home. Alone. I'm happy I could at least help you. Even if I'm sorry about my actions to help you,” Buck can’t look at Eddie saying the last sentence. 

He still feels so guilty for kissing Eddie. But somehow he can feel more guilty. For wanting more. For wanting to kiss Eddie again and again.

“You... regret it?” 

Eddie's cautious and slightly sad voice makes Buck raise his head and meet Eddie's incomprehensible gaze. Buck doesn't know what that means, but he doesn't want to make Eddie think he hates the idea of kissing him. 

“I do not regret kissing you. I regret it was like that. When you were panicking and I never asked,” Buck explains and is almost ready to say something more revealing about his feelings but then remember the main thing why he should feel guilty for his actions. “And because you and Marisol are dating. You want it to work and I made it awkward.”

“I don’t feel bad about you kissing me,” Eddie slightly smiles, but then shakes his head. “But yeah, it made the situation with Marisol a little awkward. Let's forget about it? Nothing happened?”

Buck doesn’t want to forget but he would never say no to such a perfect present of making things normal again between them. Still, he needs to make Eddie promise him something.  

“Only if you promise to never hide any attacks or possible triggers ever again.”

“Only if you promise to let me help you with your attacks too.” 

“Deal,” Buck smiles and Eddie smiles back. “The cruise never happened.”

“Yeah. Nothing happened.”

Buck is almost sure they both do not believe it with the way they said it. At least he hopes so. Because for him this kiss meant more he wants to admit. But it’s not time for it.

Main thing is that he and Eddie are normal again. Right?

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[unhinged-summer-fun]

common grounds (oshamir) - chapter 22

Pairing: Osha Aniseya x Qimir "The Stranger"

A/N: Ever heard of the calm before a storm?

series masterlist

chapter 22: devil-may-care

The noodle shop Indara chose looked wildly different than what Osha imagined. The outside looked like any old concrete-exterior strip mall restaurant, but the inside was elaborately furnished, if inelegant. Artfully tattered banners crisscrossed the ceiling out of reach from the multiple, slow-spinning fan blades that circulated air in the cavernous room. To the left of the entrance, a loft area with several small tables provided ample view of the entire dining area and the small bar at the center. It was beneath the stairs leading up to the loft that Indara sat waiting for Osha. The shadowy alcove kept them out of view of the dining room, which made sense for the clandestine nature of their meeting.

Allegedly clandestine.

Whatever clarity Osha had hoped to gain from her brainstorming earlier that afternoon had been lost by the time she made it to the restaurant. How was this her life? Shady meetings, subterfuge, and gumshoe behavior. What was she becoming, a film noir character? Better the devil-may-care detective than a femme fatale, Osha mused. But she suspected she was on the verge of becoming both.

Indara looked tired. She supposed driving for six hours straight would strain anybody. Still, Indara was always the unflappable backbone of the Temple and never showed she was flagging, even in the final round of any match. But now, her hair was down, and she looked… bedraggled. The beer in her hand seemed mostly untouched, but the fact she’d ordered one at all spoke volumes.

“Hey,” Osha said, waiting until Indara saw her before sliding into the booth across from her.

She looked up at her arrival before pushing her drink a few inches away and sitting up straighter. It was astounding how a few inches of movement were all it took to return her to the cool, collected Indara that Osha had known for over half her life. “Osha.”

Indara didn’t make small talk. The attempts at it back in the storage room, tiptoeing around the actual topic, were trite and watery. Osha appreciated that she didn’t make any overtures about why they were there today.

“I’m not sure the kind of information you need right now, but—”

“It’s okay,” Osha said, waving her off. “Let’s just… eat some noodles.” God, this was weird.

But Indara agreed. They got their food, and as a result, the conversation flowed better.

“Mae said Sol was being a little weird in Theed. Is he alright?” Osha prodded.

Indara’s eyes flashed with something shifty but sorrowful. Osha had been anticipating it, as she’d been locked into the same behavior for over a decade: keep the secrets of the Temple secret at all costs. But the look faded away as she made a noncommittal gesture. “He’s on edge. We used to be close enough to talk about things like that, but I couldn’t talk to him without Vernestra swooping in and taking over. Her behavior is more suspicious than his.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I have seen a lot of things and said nothing over the years, even before I signed that document.” She directed her words toward her food instead of Osha, for they were both quite aware of the public setting. Though they didn’t recognize anybody they knew in the dining room, it was always possible that Vernestra had hired other investigators in addition to Idise.

“If you don’t want to say anything, point me where I can find out more.”

Indara winced. “Alright. First, I’d look at other gyms in the city. There are some other people there who know, who aren’t in league with her. It’s difficult to say which would run back to her, but… If you catch my drift, Vernestra can only clean her own house. Not everybody else’s.”

“Alright,” Osha nodded. It made sense that the conspiracy involved other members of the boxing community; Vernestra wasn’t the type to go down alone. Her hands itched to pull out the notebook with all her questions and evidence, but Idise had warned her not to do any of that in front of her informants.

It’ll make them nervous and clam up.

“I’ve heard she’s got a prolific legal presence. Can you tell me anything about Lakshay? Is it worth, um, pursuing anything?”

A curious light went on behind her eyes. “Yes,” Indara said slowly, like she was coming to a realization right then. “You know, much of her standing was helped because of her connection to the former mayor.”

“Mayor Chuwant?” He’d been mayor of the city for the last twenty years until his recent unseating in the previous election. “Should I talk to him?”

“No, not at all. They’re good friends, and he’d suspect you instantly. Go to Rayencourt, the current mayor. He’s the former district attorney. I’m fairly certain Vernestra tried to get in with him as well, but it backfired on her, and he started investigating her donations to the city government. It’s not illegal to make donations, but it does show a certain pattern that Rayencourt is smart enough to sniff out.”

“Did anything come of the investigation?”

Indara’s deadpan expression said, what do you think.

This was starting to feel much bigger than she could handle, and it must have shown on her face because Indara gave her a pitying look. She said, “From what I’ve heard, Rayencourt is a good man. He cares about doing things the right way and finding justice. If he can’t help you, he’ll at least show you where to find help. Vernestra has friends in high places; it’s probably for the best you make some, too.”

It was sound advice, though it didn’t explain why Indara would risk implicating herself to help move Osha’s goals forward. Something’s got to give. That’s what she’d said back in the storeroom several weeks ago. Looking back on it, that reason also didn’t make sense. Osha kept that behind her ear as she went on.

“So I have the mayor. Anything else to look at while I wait for an appointment?”

“You’ve checked the Temple’s website archives?”

Osha made a see-sawing motion with her hands.

Indara flashed a mirthless smile. “I’m assuming you’re gathering evidence for a case if you’re talking about lawyers.”

Shit. Had she given away too much? She winced. “Things are… in motion.”

The keen glint in Indara���s eyes was fox-like in its sharpness. “Then look at the website, but deeper than that. Vernestra is very concerned with image and optics, so look at historical SEO and PR trends surrounding the Temple. There’s an absurd amount of social media presence for a small business like the Temple, and it’s all smoke.”

Buffeted with information, Osha simply nodded and stuttered out, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

As they finished their meal, Indara’s demeanor started getting antsy. Osha wouldn’t get much else out of her, but she had a few leads, which was more than she had before.

“Can I ask you one more thing, Indara?” Osha said quickly.

Wary, the woman nodded and drained her beer.

“Does… have you ever known Sol to… hate somebody?” She cringed at the wording, unsure of how to convey her question. It made her seem like she didn’t know what she even wanted to ask, but Indara seemed to understand the gist.

She looked painfully awkward but settled herself and took a few moments to gather her thoughts. “When Sol—” she cut herself off sharply, clearly not liking where her thoughts had led her. She shook her head and didn’t meet Osha’s eyes as she started again. “Qimir is an orphan. He was a child when I knew him. He’d latched to Vernestra as something—not a mother, but a guardian. She didn’t want even that from him, as I’ve said before.

“But Sol has always wanted to be a father. He wouldn’t settle for being a father figure. He never wanted to be a husband or… or a lover; he wanted to be a father. When he was invited to coach for the Padawan program, he was so happy to be a mentor for the child he was working with. After the program concluded and Qimir stayed on, he was despondent. And he latched onto Qimir, trying to jockey himself into position so he would look up to Sol in that previous way, perhaps even growing to see him as his father. Vernestra let the Temple raise Qimir without her involvement, taking the it takes a village adage a bit far. It was very irresponsible, and she never curbed Sol’s enthusiasm.

“The problem was that Qimir just… never saw him that way. They trained together; they were cordial, but Qimir didn’t need him like a child needs their father. I think Qimir had a closer relationship with his spine doctor than he ever did with Sol. I took him to a check-up once, and it was easy to see how much he admired the doctor.”

Osha’s heart stuttered in her chest. Paul. She’s talking about Paul.

Kana’s words echoed back to her. I know Qimir would never say as much, but Paul’s absolutely his dad—and Qimir’s Paul’s son.

“And Sol resented that.”

“Oh yeah. Big time.”

Indara looked around and ordered another beer when she caught a waiter’s eye. While they waited for her drink to come, they didn’t speak further. Settling with this new information made Osha nervous, and she wished she wasn’t meeting Mae at a bar later so she could get a drink as well. Indara continued only after she received her second beer, which she took a long drink from to shore herself up against her next words.

“I think Sol just wanted to be a father but… didn’t want a child.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Osha said softly. She was here, proof of Sol having a child—two children. The implications of Indara’s statement spelled something quite worrying.

Indara cleared her throat and gave Osha a look she couldn’t quite interpret. “It doesn’t, you’re right.”

After a pause where Indara didn’t elaborate, Osha tried to reel her back onto the original topic. “So… Sol hates Qimir?”

“You have to understand, this was nearly four years of daily contact between them. Sol’s attachment came on quickly, but the resentment was like a slow-moving poison the longer Qimir just… didn’t reciprocate that attachment.”

“That’s awful,” Osha said, because it was. There was no spinning it otherwise. “He was a child.”

Indara nodded. “And considering everything else that happened between them, it’s amazing that…” She laughed, bitter. “Well. It’s amazing that Sol walked away from all this getting what he wanted: fatherhood. Though, I suppose, it’s not too far a stretch to believe it.” For as amused as she sounded, she seemed twice as miserable.

It made Osha’s insides churn uncomfortably. There was something big behind those words, something so big she couldn’t see the outline of it from where she stood—only the encompassing darkness of its shadow.

“Do you think he knows I’m… training with him? Is that why he was so weird this weekend?” Sol had certainly avoided less awkward conversations with greater effort. His recent absence from Osha’s life was bizarre compared to the helicopter parenting she grew up with, and avoiding such a conversation could be why.

But Indara shook her head. “No. He would have been much more—sorry, but he wouldn’t have been so neurotic about something like this. We don’t talk about Qimir, for obvious reasons, but long before that fucking spar, Sol had walled himself off emotionally to the child.” Her mood seemed to tank, a dark cloud cast over her expression as she stared, middle-distance, into the past.

Osha felt queasy at whatever was being implied, and couldn’t muster the spine to continue her questions. The dour note it ended on made her feel a little disappointed at the lackluster results of the meeting, having yielded more questions than answers once more. Next time, I’m bringing a list of questions.

“Okay,” she sighed, getting up from the table. “I’m… you’ve given me some good leads to follow, Indara. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said sharply, a haunted look on her face.

Osha had a feeling she’d be agreeing very soon.

O: Do you recommend any bars

Idise: Besides the obvious?

O: I mean that u want to follow me to lmao

O: I’ll buy u dinner while u watch me drink

I: I see.

I: The burgers at Dex’s aren’t half-bad and their beer is alright.

O: See u there

I: No you wont :)

“So it’s all gone bad?” Mae asked, shaking Osha from her distracted reverie. They’d been at Dex’s for all of fifteen minutes and she hadn’t been able to shake her mood. “I was only there for a second, but I didn’t hear the weird noise you told me about.”

“I’m not sure. I tossed everything that seemed sus and turned the fridge off, but the noise didn’t go away. It’s gotta be somewhere in the kitchen, but I couldn’t find whatever it was.”

Mae sighed and shook her head. “Damn. Well, it looks like things are a lot better tonight. Things haven’t even flickered once in here.”

“We’re near the medical district; they paid a private company to weatherize this section of the grid like two years ago.” Osha had looked it up in a fit of annoyance during the last outage she endured at the apartment. “Pip is pissed that his feeding times have been all fucked up.”

“I figured.”

Osha looked out the small, blackened windows at the front of the bar but didn’t see Idise’s black sportscar in the lot. Figures: Idise was good at what she did.

She’d been against the idea of taking Vernestra up on her job offer, but when Osha explained that it provided an opportunity to gather more insider information that Osha wasn’t privy to, the detective reluctantly agreed. Besides, we’ll be working together. You’ll look like hot shit, following me everywhere without me suspecting.

You wouldn’t have suspected me anyways. This way, I’ll be able to see if anyone else is following you, too.

“What’s on your mind?” Mae asked, pulling her back out of her head once more.

Osha remembered that Idise probably couldn’t sell she’s normal and this is just drinks with her sister if she was scowling in all the photos she was most likely taking. She fixed an easy, if tired, smile on her face. “A lot of things. I thought I’d be relaxing the last four days, but I ended up doing anything but that. We won $200 at bingo, though.”

“Bingo?” Mae laughed. “What, is he 90?”

“As a matter of fact, we went out with Bazil, who is my friend now,” Osha said proudly.

“Bazil? Snitchy neighbor Bazil??”

“Right? And get this, he told me he’s never snitched on us to Sol. He’s just nosy for like, his own personal interests.”

Mae’s look was dubious, and then her expression turned serious. “Then how did—?”

Bad man. I’m sorry.

“I don’t know.” It was killing her, not bringing Mae into the fold. As much as Osha loved to gossip with her sister again, the unfortunate truth was that Mae was a risky asset to their case—she was technically in Vernestra’s circle of trust, but she was also tied to the NDA. Osha yearned to speak with her the way they once had, with that unshakeable bond that assured one another they’d always have someone on their team. With the events of the last few months—last few years—it now felt like a lost cause. They’d have to build something new from the ashes of their former trust in one another.

Speaking of trust. “Did you find anything more about Sol hating anybody?”

There was a twinge of regret in Mae’s eyes at the direct question, the sudden down-shift into business that marked the end of whatever friendly chatter they’d been engaging in. Osha hated to see it, but something about the earlier meeting with Indara made things feel like they were racing a deadline.

“Not really. He didn’t want to talk about it, and if I’m being honest, it skeeved me out. Sorry.”

“It’s… it’s okay. I’m—” Unlike the rest of the case, this wasn’t something that Osha could just keep from Mae. This was a meaningful, potentially life-changing conversation they were preparing to have with Sol, and she needed to know what Indara said. “I was told he may have said something like that because he hates Qimir.”

“What?” Mae whispered. “I thought—I don’t know what I thought, but it wasn’t that. Who told you that?”

“I can’t say,” Osha whispered, shaking her head. “Only that I trust what they had to say about it.”

“And what did they have to say about it?” Mae asked, suspicious.

Osha recounted to Mae as much as she could without revealing Indara as the source. She probably could have provided more, but her notebook was in her car. Something told her not to leave it in the apartment by itself. “…and I’ve met his dad, so—”

“You met his dad?”

“What’s with the face?”

“You don’t think this is moving a little fast?” Mae said, concerned.

Indignation flared up in Osha’s chest before her cooler head smothered it. Mae was within her rights to be concerned, considering her own history with Qimir. And she wasn’t wrong, not really. They were already staying at one another’s place and getting up to no good. They were clearly obsessed with each other, but the glaring truth was that neither knew all that much about the other; they were too shifty and minced their words too much to reveal anything of substance. Hell, if it weren’t for his back spasm, Osha might never have met Paul in the first place. At the same time, she wanted nothing more than to spend all her free time with him, but Osha didn’t have a broad group of friends to begin with.

“It wasn’t an on-purpose meeting of the parents thing. It was kind of by accident. And I work with his siblings, too.” Keep it vague, Osha.

Mae nodded. “Okay. So you believe it? You believe that Sol hated him for not… I don’t know, picking him as his father?”

Osha grimaced tightly. “It doesn’t feel watertight, but maybe he was younger and didn’t know what he wanted. I mean, he adopted us at what, 26? That’s pretty young; it could have given someone some idea.” They drank quietly for a while. “I… something else they said keeps catching on my mind.”

“Hm?”

“They said, ‘Sol wanted to be a father, but he didn’t want a child.’”

Mae’s face twisted in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know,” she sighed. “Did you ever get the impression we weren’t wanted?” The words tasted like poison as she spoke them, and the cloud of paranoia that followed wasn’t much better.

Mae tapped her fingers against the glass. “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it like that. But… what you said a second ago is making me remember something.”

“The not wanting a child thing?”

“No. Watertight.” Mae leaned forward a little while she spoke. “You were in the hospital that first week after the accident, and Sol was carting me around with him. The papers were already signed and pushed through, which was weirdly fast. But when I first got to his apartment, he still just had the guest bed. He didn’t have beds for us or anything. It wasn’t until Vernestra came by that week and told him to go buy kids’ furniture that we had anything. She told him to ensure this is watertight, and I never forgot how angry she looked.”

“Did she know you saw?” Osha asked, tense.

She shook her head. “We were always very good at sneaking around and not being seen. And Mother Koril told me once that people’s character comes out strongest in the actions they believe are unseen.”

The reminder that they’d been robbed of their mothers’ wisdom so young still hurt, but it was an aching pain instead of the stabbing loss that they’d felt before. The truth of their mother’s words rang true, though perhaps not in the way she’d intended when she said so.

Mae didn’t know they she was being observed by Idise outside, and that unseen aspect to her actions spoke to the integrity of her sentiment. It sucked to have to question the truth of her feelings at all, but Osha couldn’t change the past. She could only choose to believe Mae wanted to be trusted again, and it was in her hands to offer that trust again.

But she couldn’t do that without sharing information about Qimir and his case.

So, she changed the subject a little, focusing on old wounds that needed healing.

“You asked me if I thought about our mothers not too long ago. The truth is I don’t. And… when I went stargazing, it brought back so many memories of our childhood that I didn’t realize I missed. It’s like I just packed it all away long ago and—” She cut herself off and looked up at Mae, who was confused at the sudden pause.

“What?”

“I… I don’t know.” Osha felt, for the first time, awkward from her habit of silencing herself. “We haven’t really… talked about them, have we?” All mention of their lives at the compound had been on the Topics Sol Didn’t Like Discussed list, so the few times they had spoken about their mothers had been under covers and across whispered words.

“I’d like to, though. And… I feel the same way; I had to seal it away. But I feel like your reasons are different than mine…?”

Osha nodded. “It’s not really something to discuss in public, but... I was awake for a lot of the accident, Mae. And I still remember a lot of it.”

Mae went pale, realizing the implications of such a thing. She looked fit to burst with all the questions undoubtedly filling her head, but she respected Osha’s acknowledgment of the public space. “I’m so sorry, Oshie,” she whispered. “I didn’t know.”

“I know,” she said softly, reaching out to take the hand Mae offered her. “I haven’t really told anybody.” Except you and Qimir.

“Do you think you have PTSD from it?” she asked awkwardly.

“Oh, probably. I’ve never been comfortable driving, and you know how I get around fireworks.”

Mae squeezed her hand. “Well, whenever you want to talk to me about it, I’m here. I promise. If not, I… was thinking of seeing a therapist.”

“Depending on how this talk with Sol goes, we might both need family therapy just to survive it,” Osha joked, but it felt more like a sound suggestion than a humorous one.

“Yeah, no kidding. The last couple of weeks have highlighted how we were let down as kids.”

“Hey, we’ve never had a dad before, so what would we compare him to?” Osha said, raising an eyebrow.

Mae laughed before she could help herself, then half-heartedly glared at Osha. “That was…”

“It was funny; you’re allowed to laugh.”

“You’re terrible,” she said with a sigh, though she was smiling.

When they got in, the incessant noise was gone, and some of Osha’s cluttered mess from her weekend alone had been tidied. “Did you clean?” Osha asked before she could stop herself.

“No, I was here for like two seconds...” Mae didn’t see anything wrong with it, but seeing Osha’s poleaxed posture, she went on alert, looking for anything out of place.

‘Someone’s been here,’ Osha mouthed to her, heart pounding. “You said you forgot to bring up some of your gear from the car, right?” she said, gripping Mae’s wrist. If someone had been in the apartment, it was entirely possible that they were still in the apartment. They backed out quickly and closed the door.

“Osha, what the hell is—”

A chittering greeting behind them made both twins yelp in surprise and whirl around. Bazil stood in his doorway, eyes wide and concerned. Osha recovered first, taking a long stride over to him. “Good evening,” she said in halting Tynnan.

Whatever glee he would have normally responded to her with was absent from his returned greeting. He held up a finger and ran inside, returning with a piece of yellow legal paper. He’d carefully translated and written down a message for the both of them.

Sol was in your apartment at 1745. He left at 1800.

"Fuck." Osha showed the note to Mae, who blanched. “Thank you, Bazil. Do you know what he was doing?” She pulled up her phone’s translator app to better communicate with him. It was slow-going, but it helped a lot.

“I don’t know what he was doing, but he didn’t look happy when he left.”

“Did he bring anything with him in or out?”

“Not that I could tell.”

“Has he done this before?” Sol didn’t have an emergency key; Mae and Osha had the only ones.

Mae asked this last question, arms crossed over her chest. She spoke softly, almost too soft for the app’s voice-to-text converter.

Bazil frowned and held up two fingers. Twice.

“When was the last?”

Waiting for the translation to process felt like a thousand years.

“The last time was when you moved in. He was carrying lots of electronic equipment. Whatever it was, it must have shorted with the power surges.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Mae said.

“I need to make a call,” Osha said. “Mae, can you just. Not go anywhere—oh. Bazil is asking you to come sit and wait inside with him for a second.” Mae looked dubious, still doubting the non-snitch nature of their neighbor, but she went anyway. Once she was away, Osha hit call on the contact she pulled up.

“You know, it’s not a good look if the only pictures I take are ones where you’re calling me.”

“Do you have a bug sweeper? Like—” She took a sputtering breath. “How do I find spy equipment?”

Idise went silent for a very long time before speaking again. “I can do a sweep myself, but that’ll risk me getting on camera. Who do you think is spying on you?”

“My dad.”

A sharp intake of breath. “Fuck. Okay. Well. Come down to the parking lot for a second. Where’s your sister?”

“With a neighbor. I’m coming down,” she answered, hanging up the phone and heading downstairs.

Idise made a tsst noise to pull Osha’s attention toward one of the covered spaces nearby. She was dressed in all black as usual, but this time, she wore a scarf over the lower half of her face, similar to a shemagh but meant for winterwear. It was pulled down so Osha could see her face, and it wasn’t out of the norm for this time of year, but— “I would have thought you hated wearing a mask.”

“I do,” she groused. “But it’s the job. You don’t want a camera sticking to your face in this weather. Tell me what’s going on.”

Osha explained the strange ringing noise, her observation of the things that had been moved around in the apartment, and Bazil’s message. Idise kept her arms crossed, glaring up at the building like it might submit to her annoyance and stop spying on Osha. Perhaps she sees the potential bugged apartment as someone stepping on her jurisdiction; only one person’s allowed to stalk me in this city, and it isn’t Sol.

“And you trust your neighbor?”

“Yeah.”

“Not a common occurrence,” she muttered. “But okay. Step one is making sure they’re there, without being caught. Then, step two is getting them out without risking your safety. I can do them both in one fell swoop. Can you take him out to breakfast tomorrow or something? Just to keep him off his phone or however else he’s monitoring.”

Even though Idise took things seriously, Osha still had difficulty doing the same, her thoughts rattling around her skull like beans in a tube. Sol is spying on us. Sol put spy equipment in our apartment when we moved in, and he maybe started freaking out about it when the power knocked it out this weekend.

“We’re supposed to talk to him about something important tomorrow night. Does that work?”

Idise nodded, unfazed. “As long as you keep him off his devices and let me know when to come in, I’ll be fine. In the meantime, find a way to trip the power in the apartment. Hopefully, it’ll reset again and disable the devices.”

“How do I do that?”

Idise quickly explained the process of overloading fuses with the blunt efficiency Osha truly needed. Her day felt like it had been a hundred hours long—had it really been that morning that Qimir had his back spasm?

“You look tired. Your conversations go that bad?”

“That’s one way to put it. I’m fucking exhausted right now, so I’ll debrief like, tomorrow.” Wait. “Let’s actually make it the day after tomorrow. I’ll let you know about the—” she gestured to the building, implying fucky spy shit without embarrassing herself by saying as much.

“I’ll be in touch. And—tell your sister to act normal and find an excuse to be out of the house if she can’t do that.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Best case scenario, there’s no actual spy shit in our apartment, and we have an avant-garde evening of acting like how we think is normal.”

“Worst case, our dad has been spying on us for years, Osha.”

She winced. “I know.”

“Why would he do this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did he—oh no. I talked about the—”

“Don’t even worry about that. You’re just going to make yourself not act normal.”

“Right.”

“Think normal thoughts.”

“What the fuck does that mean—”

“Did you just say the F word, Mae?” Osha said, pushing the front door open and deciding for her.

“No I didn’t!” Mae protested, the panicked look on her face seeming entirely genuine for the accusation at hand.

If it works, it works.

They chattered loudly, exceptionally aware of every word they said. But it was late, and they could use the excuse of going to bed after a long day. “I’m going to check the fusebox, I don’t want to wait for the maintenance guy.”

“Are you sure that’s a good—”

Brrrfwww…

The power went out in the apartment, and Osha waited—

The high-pitched ringing returned.

“No fucking way,” Mae muttered from behind her.

Osha couldn’t even revel in her swearing, too disturbed that she was essentially correct. There was something in here that wasn’t there before. Under her breath, she whispered to Mae, “We can’t be sure that’s the only thing in here. Just keep acting normal, okay? Go to bed.”

She kicked the power back on, and the ringing persisted, even though the lights turned on. Mae looked distraught.

“Go to bed, Mae,” Osha urged. “I’m going to do the same.”

She got a text less than thirty minutes later, and she answered it from under her covers.

Mae: There’s absolutely no way I can sleep right now.

O: Me either

O: Did you tell Jecki

M: Idk should I?? Did you tell Qimir

M: God I’m thinking of all the things I’ve done here.

O: Ew but ur right.

O: And no I haven’t

If Qimir hadn’t been recovering from his muscle spasm, she would have asked him if she could sleep over. He would have said yes without question, which was the worst part. It would have been another secret between them. If she had told him about the spy stuff, she would have had to tell him about meeting with Idise, and that point was a load-bearing secret upon which about a dozen porcelain dinner secrets precariously spun.

She’d probably give him another spasm if she told him everything.

And perhaps an aneurysm.

She worried herself to sleep, half-resolved to tell him something tomorrow when she visited him at work.

“Hi, Cam!” Osha said, all forced cheer.

“Hi, Osha,” Cam said. They caught her tense mood. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just… they’re not using my favorite cups anymore. Do you have any Sharpies?”

Cam took their job seriously, drawing little red and green ornaments all over the bland white surface of their assigned coffee cup. Osha drew Qimir’s, little mittens and snowflakes and what technically qualified as a festive tree. The sleeves got the same treatment, and though each sip had a vague scent of permanent marker under it, it got the job done. There were festive cardboard cups in festive cardboard sleeves ready to go.

She’d also brought Qimir’s clothes back, washed and folded that morning in an excuse to vacate the apartment as soon as possible. The ringing hadn’t stopped, not even nine hours after she tripped the fuses. She’d gone from the laundry room to the college and still had many extra hours to fill before meeting with Mae to go over to Sol’s that evening.

Maybe working some of this off at Unplan would be a good idea.

She found Qimir in his office. By all appearances, he was taking things easy the way he promised. She knocked on the open door with the toe of her boot, and he looked up from his phone call. He had on his black baseball cap and a matching black jacket, which Osha had borrowed yesterday. She remembered worrying about getting the scent of cigarette smoke on it; if he was opposed, it mustn’t have been enough to keep him from wearing it. “Yeah, she just walked in; thanks, Cam.” He hung up and stood, taking his time instead of the Mr. Darcy-esque clatter he usually stood for her with.

(It did not make her swoon.)

(Much.)

“Hi, I’m here to make sure you’re chilling out,” Osha said, sing-song.

“Is that so? And do I get one of those coffees if I pass inspection?” he said, sauntering around the side of his desk to tower over her. He made her feel so petite beneath his more impressive stature. She’d met taller men before, but none had such a looming, overwhelming presence as Qimir did.

“Mayyybe,” she said around a grin. “So, have you been relaxing and recovering?”

“I have. But I’ve been sitting down most of the day, and it’s killing my hips,” he admitted, sighing and looking back at his desk—which seemed particularly laden with paperwork today. “You mind if we take a walk?”

“Not at all.” She dropped off his clothes near his backpack and handed over his coffee. He snapped the lights off in his office and they made to leave, but he stopped her just before they went into the hall.

“Hey,” he murmured. “I don’t think I properly said good morning to you.”

Her heart flipped in her chest, resisting the urge to beat like normal. “Is that so?” she said. “You better make up for it right n—”

His lips found hers, a deep kiss entirely inappropriate for anyone else’s ‘good morning’ but standard passion for them. The hand not occupied with holding his Americano came to press against the small of her back with surprising force, holding her to him like there was anywhere else she would rather be. She melted beneath his touch, her smile breaking their kiss before the distance could. And because she smiled, so did he.

As far as good-morning kisses went, it was pretty damn good.

They walked on the outdoor track when she told him it wasn’t too cold that day. Because they had gloves and didn’t need the coffee cups to keep their hands warm, Qimir noticed the “artwork” rather quickly. “Oh no,” was all he said.

“I know, I know. Don’t make fun of me. I can’t let it go, and I’m not ready to grieve holiday cups yet.”

“Denial is a stage of grief, you know,” he said, one eyebrow raised.

“No it isn’t.”

The other eyebrow joined the first.

“Shut up.”

After a lap, he encouraged them to pick up the pace a little more than their leisurely walk. “Is that… okay? I mean, for your back.”

“Staying moving helps with pain and tells your body to get on with it and heal up. Yes. It helps.”

“Huh.” Osha looked ahead. “I’m guessing you’ll need a little time before you can get back into training, then?” She didn’t like the idea of doing another Qimir-absent workout, especially if it was anything like the one she had not long ago.

“I’m going to swim today, but I can—”

“Then I’ll swim today, too. You are not making me do burpees while you’re out of throwing range ever again.” More than that, she wanted to get back on the same page as him; his injury yesterday only highlighted that they were out of sync.

He chuckled, bumping his arm into hers. “Noted.”

After some more time, Osha grew brave enough to ask, “Why didn’t you tell me it could get that bad? Yesterday, I mean.”

He grew slightly shy but didn’t hide from her question. “That was a ten on my pain scale. Typically, I hit an eight or nine when something like that happens. It would often happen in the middle of the night, wake me up just long enough to make me pass out again.”

“And how often would that be?”

He mumbled something she didn’t catch, and when she asked him to repeat it, his eyes held a desperate gleam to them. The Osha from two days ago, who hadn’t experienced the terror of seeing him like that, would have caved to his wordless request to let it lie. But she had seen him, and she had felt the fear. So, she did not stand down. Finally, he murmured, “About every three weeks.”

She stifled her gasp and looked straight ahead. “Qimir,” she said softly, admonishing.

“I know,” he sighed.

“I don’t think you do,” she said, stopping him and stepping in front of him. “Paul, Idise, the others—they were terrified. And they should be. You may have normalized yourself to this, may have accepted that this is just how you live life, but they want to help you find a life that isn’t spent in constant pain, waiting for the next time your body betrays you.”

“You think I don’t know that?” he said, moving to push a hand through his hair but stopping at the baseball hat—a familiar gesture for when he was nervous. “The first time it happened, I was sleeping on the streets, like two miles from here. I was so scared someone would hear me and find me unable to move and rob me—or worse. Every time it happened after, I had to force myself to stay quiet. I’m grateful I don’t have to be when I’m in my bed like I was yesterday.”

“Degrees of gratitude aside, wasn’t there a period where this didn’t happen to you? You said this only started up again a few months ago.” She gave a pointed look that said do you want to guess why that happened, or should I?

He avoided the implications and shook his head. “I’m managing them.” He tried to walk away from the questions, but Osha piped up with the truth.

“You scared me.”

That stopped him short. He didn’t turn, but she knew he was listening.

“You scared the fuck out of me, Qimir. And this happens about every three weeks? In the time I’ve known you, you’ve had—what, six?”

“Eight.”

“Great. Eight. You know, for all you want to believe you’re still alone and need to do this alone, you’re not. You wouldn’t want me to go through something like that alone, right?”

He whirled on her. He wasn’t angry, but his voice was full of emotion as he said, “I knew it’d scare you. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I knew it’d scare you. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Of course there is. I helped you yesterday, didn’t I?”

“When I saw you there and how scared you were while I was—like that, I thought —if there’s. If any—” he cleared his throat, and Osha’s heart ached when she noticed the wet sheen gathering in his eyes. “All I could think about was if something like that happened and I couldn’t protect you because of it…” He shook his head, disgust marring his features.

Osha closed the distance between them and put a hand on his face, cupping his cheek. He leaned into her touch like a flower found the sun, like a key found a lock, like a book found its place on the shelf. Like there was no place else to be but here, nothing else to be but hers. He closed his eyes, and Osha caught the tear that slipped before it made it an inch across his skin. “Please. Please look at me.”

Though dark, his eyes still held the warmth of affection she was starting to hope was the same as hers. She gave him a soft smile and stood on her toes to kiss him. “You’re not alone anymore. I’ll sleep at your side every night if I need to. Nobody should go through that alone, especially not you.”

He was quiet for a long time. Then, his hand came up to cover hers, and his eyes showed he’d come to some realization. She didn’t know what it was, but whatever it made him feel, it encouraged him to kiss her deeply. It seemed like neither knew how to dig themselves out of this emotional pit they’d fallen in, at least not with words. Kisses and touches soothed the scraping ache of growing pains.

But eventually, they had to let go; they had to make murmured apologies and promises to be better; they had to get out of the cold. As much as they would have liked to stay in that moment forever, they couldn’t.

Their return to reality wasn’t as dramatic as it sounded. He walked her to the front office from the track, and they shared their goodbyes there. Osha was all bundled up again, sans coffee. “So I’ll see you at the pool around five?”

“Can you make it to then without me?” he asked, adjusting the zipper on her coat with a little smirk on his lips.

“I suppose,” she sighed, drifting off toward the door.

His hand snatched out and grabbed her jaw—with so much gentleness she almost flinched. He kissed her sweetly, at odds with the claiming, iron-strong force of his presence keeping her in place. She nearly melted into him again but remembered they weren’t alone at the last moment. She pulled back, smiling at him and then nervously glancing at Cam, who had started making tea kettle noises from their desk.

Qimir’s satisfied smirk turned into a playful glare leveled in his athlete’s direction. “Something to say, Corderre?”

“Only that I am very happy for the two of you?” Cam squeaked.

“Good answer.”

“Alright, Coach Lo,” Osha said. “I’ll see you around five. If you can make it to then without me.”

“Now that, I’m not certain of.” He kissed her forehead and squeezed her shoulder before spinning her toward the door.

She thought about that kiss for hours.

“You seem distracted,” Qimir said as they stretched out after their workout. His hair was still damp and getting pretty long—it flipped into his eyes almost comedically.

“It’s been a long day,” she said. And it’s not over yet.

“I thought you were still off work at the cafe,” he hummed, pushing his hair back. It flopped back almost immediately, and he gave up.

She smiled to herself and turned her attention back to her ankles. “I am, for a few days. I just had a lot of things to do between when I saw you this morning and now. It’s no big deal, though. Was I slacking on the workout?”

She squeaked and squirmed away from him, but he pounced, covering her body and pressing her back against the yoga mat. If she was distracted just before, she certainly wasn’t now.

“Anyone could see us,” Osha halfheartedly protested.

“Lucky them,” Qimir said, kissing down her neck. The wet trail his hair left along her cheek wasn’t as annoying now, she decided. “I wonder…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, and it took her an embarrassingly long time to ask him to continue. “Wonder what?” she asked, breathless.

“I wonder what you’d let me do to you.”

Her moan was a surprise to them both, echoing sharply around the yoga studio before returning to them. To be fair, what he’d said was surprising.

Qimir leaned back to hover above her, biceps flexing in her peripherals. He filled her entire field of vision, taking up space as much as he took up her attention. “Are you going to let me find out?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. Glacier-slow, he ground his hips down against hers, scattering all possible thoughts out of her brain like dust off a shelf. The droplet of water that splashed on her cheek felt superheated by the furious flush beneath her skin.

She was seconds from folding, from caving to both their desires and letting him find out whatever the fuck he wanted from her, so long as…

The wide windows several feet away were kind of a mood-killer, if she was being honest. Something thrilled inside her to be so exposed, but the way things were between them, and the delicate nature of their growing intimacy, she didn’t want to put a black mark in their book this early.

Qimir caught where she was looking and nodded once. He didn’t make her feel embarrassed by the weak rejection, taking it with grace the way a good friend would take a rain check.

And this was a rain check.

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and drew backward, sitting on his heels and offering a hand to her. “Someday, Osha. Someday soon,” he promised, “I’ll know just what you’ll let me do to you. And you’ll know just the same for me.”

CHAPTER 23

[byenycfm]

Harry Theodore 'Tad' Wells || 33 || #904 || Manny Jacinto || Closed

Personality:

There’s a lot of assumptions to be made about Tad but generally they sum up to him being some kind of brainless jock who peaked in high school and slid into the good life by hanging on his father’s coattails. Sure Tad likes to take care of his body--but the brain is the most important muscle, right? Have more than one conversation with him and you’ll begin to realize he’s a pretty thoughtful guy. He believes in the power of intention and manifesting what you want in life; he understands that emotional pain is just as real as physical pain and he’s a pretty good shoulder to cry on after a messy break up.

Biography:

Tad and his siblings were second generation immigrants from the Philippines. Thanks to their parents and grandparents Tad, Becky, and Doug were damn well guaranteed an easy life. Grandpa had worked in corporate finance with a number of big name companies and dad had continued the work during his own lifetime. Their family name had become respectable within the circles they worked and there was clear intention for Tad and Doug to carry the family business on. Doug was several years older and had already been working in dad’s shadow by the time Tad was graduating college.

He still isn’t sure if it was greed or the need to prove himself to the family, but Tad made a very stupid choice that cost his family almost everything they’d worked for. A rival company had made Tad an offer--a damn good offer--and he made the mistake of thinking that just because he had a finance degree he knew anything about the world of money management. The reality was cutthroat, dangerous. When that much money was on the line.. People.. Companies.. Were willing to do just about anything to protect their investments.

Doug and dad were left dealing with the mess Tad had made and he was all but excommunicated from the family. He spent a few years doing nothing jobs and going nowhere before Sada finally wore him down and he accepted the offer to work for her. He figured he’d already lost the things that were most important to him, going to jail for white collar crime didn’t really scare him anymore.

The last thing he expected was for things to actually work out. He began making more money than he knew what to do with and his loyalty to Sada only deepened. She became the only family he had, some fucked up aunt who offered him blow as a reward for successful investments. Ria had been the jewel in his crown. He’d been in love with her from the moment they met and he was willing to spend all the money in the world to make her his.

Tad got stuck in the chaos of the winter supply runs and ended up on the far side of the city with a broken ankle. He was lucky enough to find a kind stranger who helped him survive the winter by taking him back to her farm. With his ankle now healed, Tad was finally able to make the journey back home and bring some interesting supplies thanks to the famer.

Pre Outbreak Occupation: Investment Banker Previous Zombie Experience: Had his first encounter with the undead during the supply run chaos but has become pretty capable since winter. Marital Status: Married Children: N/A  Residence: Loft 904 Years residing at The Wexley: Pre Outbreak 1 year Connections: Ria Wells - Wife, Sada Vang - Benefactor

[leniogroup]

Do you need planning for a loft conversion?

[alexanderlightweight]

hello! Happy Wednesday 💛

a prompt idea: someone tries to convince alec that magnus has/will inevitably cheat on him. Maybe even magnus finds out?

so i had to think about how to do this because i hate cheating and then i realized there was a canon scenario that i could use and just somewhat rewrite to my own preferences ^_^

i hope you enjoy!

<3 lumine

-lu

“Alec, you need to be prepared. Mentally, going into a relationship like this.”

“Because he’s a man?” Alec asks, casually uninterested in where Robert is trying to take this sudden and strangely personal meeting. “Or because he’s a warlock?” Alec really isn’t interested in the opinion of an ex-Circle member regardless of their status as his parents and it’s amazing how freeing the knowledge of your parent’s sins can be. The sudden release of a burden that was never yours to carry, but you were made to and blamed for it anyways and Alec is feeling lighter than ever… and less inclined to listen to his parents than ever before.

“Alec, that’s not why I wanted to talk.” Robert says and he grimaces, like this conversation isn’t going the way he wanted which is great. Because Alec enjoys watching him sweat and stumble over his stupid, prejudiced words.  “It’s about the type of person Magnus Bane is. And it’s not the kind of person I ever wanted any of my kids with.”

“Well, I didn’t want to find out that the reason my parents were pushing me to enter an arranged marriage was because they followed a genocidal maniac and contributed to his treason, genocide and terrorism. So… dad—” and Robert winces, because Alec’s never really called his parents informally and certainly not in meetings unless he’s being condescending.

“I think your opinion is not only irrelevant, but also unwelcome. Especially when it involves the level of hypocrisy that it does, coming from you. So, if you’d like to keep your tongue and not have to have Idris regrow it, I suggest you stop talking.” Alec smiles, the one that Izzy always says reminds her of sharks, and Robert pales further, “and leave. The sooner the better. Or I’d be happy to make your stay here a more permanent one. There are plenty of places here for you to rest.”

It’s the most blatant threat Alec has ever made to a family member and for a minute, he’s worried he’s too subtle like he normally is. However, Magnus is an incredible influence and Alec smirks as his point is firmly made and Robert backs up, sweating as he leaves, and Alec rolls his eyes. Whatever Robert wanted to tell him, was going to use over his head like a witchlight to guide Alec to the ‘right path’ isn’t going to work. While information is always powerful, you also need to be wary of where the information comes from and the price it will cost.

And there is a great many things Alec is willing to do to get information, but listening to someone insult Magnus and his relationship with Magnus will never be one of them.

Alec will accept the end of the world before he lets anyone insult Magnus in front of him, especially people who are supposed to be Alec’s family.

If needed, Alec will purge his life of whatever he needs to, in order to keep Magnus protected, even if it’s only from words and looks and insinuations. Magnus is older than him and knows so much more of the world, but Alec often finds himself wondering who protects Magnus, when Magnus protects the world.

Alec never had anyone to protect him until Magnus and now, Alec is going to return the favor, even if it’s only in small, invisible ways that Magnus may never find out about.

It’s with satisfaction that Alec goes to the loft that morning and is greeted with kisses and laughter and a deliciously dark smirk that Alec smiles contentedly against.

[tinyhouseexpedition]

Young Woman & Dad Build $18k Tiny House w/ Amazing Closet!

Meet Tiffany, a multi-talented 22-year-old who built her own tiny house with the help of her dad & other family members. It features a creative staircase vanity and pull-out closet system that stores 40 shoes! The idea to build a tiny house on wheels began as a high school project. After graduating, she built her 150 sqft tiny house for cash over 3 years. It cost her less than $18k, thanks to her resourcefulness & Fb Marketplace scores.

During the process, she fell in love and added a gaming setup in the loft for her husband. Now, their tiny home is parked on their own land, where they're renovating the main house to rent, creating lush outdoor living space, and building a shed conversion man-cave.

[forthrightroofing]

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