#finished all my onboarding paperwork today

[doctorweebmd]

sorry guys I’ve been slammed started second fellowship today 😅 I am still alive prommy

[wordsbyrian]

Soul Timers - Ona Batlle x Reader

Summary: On your 18th birthday a timer appears on your wrist counting down the seconds until you meet your soulmate, today you meet yours.

A/N: A soulmate au was requested by @omi06 and Ona made her return to field today so I cranked this out pretty quickly.

The timer on your wrist might be the bane of your very existence.

Every day since you turned 18, the stupid thing has been counting down the seconds until you would meet your so-called perfect match.

Every day for almost six years and yet somehow today is supposed to be that day. Today, the day when you start your new job as a member of the training staff at Manchester United’s youth academy.

The only thing you find yourself thinking as you sit in your car and watch the numbers continue to drop is that it better not be a member of the U-21 team you’re supposed to train because that would lose you your job before you can even start it.

Taking a deep breath, you get out of your car and head into Carrington’s main building.

The onboarding paperwork is fairly simple and before long you find yourself being given a tour of the facilities. The last stop of the tour is the film room where the team is finishing up a review of their last game and you walk in just as the lights come up.

“Alright everyone, this is the newest member of our training staff,” the manager says, “go on and introduce yourself.”

“Howzit, I’m Y/N but just about everyone calls me Y/N/N. I’m gonna be your new strength coach but I’m mostly here to help make sure your bodies are in the best possible shape so you don’t pick up any preventable injuries.”

The team takes their time introducing themselves and much to your relief, a glance at your wrist reveals that you still have some time left.

With that panic out of the way, you spend the rest of your work day very relieved as you get acclimated to your surroundings and begin coming up with training plans for the upcoming season, including some fitness testing.

It isn’t until you’re on your way back to your car and hear a voice calling out for you that the panic resurfaces.

Turning towards where the voice came from you're surprised to see both Ella Toone and Alessia Russo jogging towards you holding gear bags.

“Y/N/N,” Ella says, dropping her bag to throw her arms around you, “Long time no see.”

“Hey Tooney, Less,” you reply, returning the hug and giving Russo one when she reaches you, “It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?”

“Of course it has, you birk,” Less says, pushing your shoulder, “You move back to Newcastle and start acting like you don’t know anyone. What are you doing here?”

“You’re looking at the newest strength and injury prevention manager for the U-21s,” you say showing your work ID.

The piece of plastic is quickly ripped from your hand by Tooney, which isn’t all that surprising but you are shocked when Less cuffs her ‘round the head for it.

“Come out with us to celebrate,” Tooney says, handing it back to you.

“I don’t know, El,” she cuts you off before you can finish coming up with a good excuse.

“You have to Y/N, we haven’t seen you in forever please,” she whines.

Turning to look at Russo you could immediately tell that she wasn’t going to help you get out of this, not if the slightly hopeful look in her eyes is anything to go off of.

“Fine,” you say, giving in, “Text me where to meet you, my number is the same.”

The celebration from the two Red Devils is instant and you can’t help but smile at their antics.

No more than two hours later, you find yourself entering the bar where you were told to meet them.

It doesn’t take them too long to spot you, or vice versa, as Tooney, clearly already a couple of drinks in, gets up on her chair and yells your name across the bar.

Shaking your head, you cross the room and approach the booth where they’re sitting with a couple of what you assume to be their teammates.

When you reach, you’re immediately pulled into a seat as Ella launches into introductions.

“That’s Millie, Katie, Mearps, Kirky,” she pauses, “Where’s Ona?”

“She went to the loo, she’ll be back in a moment,” the newly identified Mary explains in a gentle but no less exasperated tone.

“Oh, alright,” Ella says, completely unbothered by this probably not new information. “Anyway, this is Y/N/N, she’s the new trainer with the U-21s.”

“That’s cool,” Millie says, “How do you know these two?”

“Youth teams,” you, Less, and Toone answer simultaneously.

To your left, you can hear Kirsty mutter about how ‘that wasn’t creepy at all’ but she cuts herself off with a groan, presumably from the way Katie throws her elbow into the forward's side.

“You play,” Katie asks, acting like she hadn’t just assaulted her friend.

“Used to.”

“Why’d you stop,” Kirky asks, recovered from her incident.

“Tore my ACL at 17 then tore the opposite one while rehabbing,” you explain. “Figured I’d quit wasting my time, start putting my brain to use and try to figure out why ACL injuries are more common in women.”

You’re used to the shocked silence you get when you explain why you’ve stopped playing at what you study but somehow this is unlike anything you’ve dealt with before.

The silence is only broken when someone new approaches the table.

“What’d you say to get these chicas to finally shut up,” the stranger asks, voice heavily accented, “I’m Ona, you are the friend Lessi was telling us about?”

“That’s me, Y/N,” you say, standing up and sticking your hand out for her to shake.

The moment your palms touch, it’s like the world begins to move in slow motion; the music in the bar is no longer too loud and your wrist feels like it’s on fire.

You can tell that the woman, Ona, is experiencing the same thing because she can’t stop glancing between your face and your joined hands.

It’s impossible to know how long the two of you stand there staring at each other but eventually, you’re broken out of your trance by wolf whistles from the rest of the gathered footballers.

Turning to the table, you’re instantly annoyed to see Ella pushing a tenner into Alessia’s hand.

Looking back at Ona you speak, “Let me buy you a drink?”

She nods so you use your joined hands to pull her along with you toward the bar ignoring the way her team gets louder as you walk away.

After securing your drinks and a couple of seats at the bar, the two of you find yourselves drawn into a conversation that lasts hours.

It isn’t until Millie comes to tell you that they’re getting ready to head out that you part with the promise of you taking her on a proper date in the near future.

6 months later.

You wake up sweating and, just like you have nearly every day for the past few months, with an asleep Ona curled into your chest, legs tangled with your own.

You’d love to stay curled up with her like this for the rest of the day but unfortunately, you have to go supervise the morning lift for your team.

Much to both your pleasure and displeasure, all attempts to leave the bed are only met with Ona wrapping her arms around you tighter.

“Ona,” you say softly, “you’ve got to let go, I need to get to work.”

“No,” she says, not releasing you.

“Love, please.”

“No, quédate aquí, es muy temprano.”

“I can’t stay here,” you respond, chuckling softly, “I’ll bring you coffee when I come back but I have to make sure the girls don’t kill themselves playing with the weights.”

Finally, you feel her loosen her grasp enough for you to slip out of bed.

Getting ready quickly, you aren’t surprised when you poke your head back into the room and see her still asleep and curled around your pillow.

Walking back in, you drop a quick kiss onto her forehead and whisper your goodbyes before starting to slip back out of the room.

“Te amo,” you hear her say sleepily behind you.

“Love you too.”

You finally make your way out of her flat and a few hours later you find yourself reentering it but now armed with a fresh cup of coffee as promised.

But while you had expected to see at least one sign that Ona had woken up in the time since you left, there isn’t any. A quick nudge of the bedroom door open reveals that Ona is laying in the same position you left her in.

Shaking your head, you place the cup down on the dresser before stripping down and climbing into the bed next to her.

It takes mere moments before she’s wrapped around you again, her body instantly finding yours like a heat-seeking missile.

Smiling to yourself, you get comfortable and find yourself drifting back to sleep with your soulmate pressed against you.

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 22 - Climbing the Ladder

It's practice time at La Coppia Serena! But first, Hilary has requested to speak to Ophelia in the Laurents' office. Ophelia doesn't get to talk to the Laurents in person much, so it's either good news or bad news. Fingers crossed.

Hilary: Thank you for taking the time to speak to me, dear.

Ophelia: Of course. I feel like I hardly ever get to talk to you and Hector, you’re both so busy.

Hilary: One of the pitfalls of being business owners, I suppose.

Hilary: How has practice been? I hope Drew and Moses have been welcoming.

Ophelia: It's going great, they're both really talented. I’ve learned a lot from them.

Hilary: I’m pleased to hear that. They’ve had nothing but nice things to say about you as well.

Hilary: You’ve met Tiff, who we are currently planning on having fill the permanent singer position. How has she been?

Ophelia: Uh, I haven’t talked to her much since we met with Penny and Miko. 

Hilary: I see. Well, that’s part of the reason I called you in.

Hilary: When Tiff takes over the singer position, Anaya will become lead violinist. That would leave a spot on our string team open. You’ve been practicing, correct?

Ophelia: Yes, I’m level 7 now.

Hilary: Color me impressed.

Hilary: Are you still interested in working with us full-time? Hector and I have spoken and we'd like to offer you a permanent position as a violinist after the Pizzazz wedding. We can offer a 15% pay increase from your current salary. There’s also opportunities for advancement.

Ophelia: I’d love to. Can I give the Blue Velvet a few days notice so they’re able to fill my spot? They’ve been really good to me, I feel I owe them.

Hilary: That’s absolutely fine. I’ll finalize your onboarding paperwork and we can go from there. Welcome to the team, Ophelia.

Xander: Hey, sounds like Lemon Cake joined the fam! I knew you would. You should have seen Hil last night, she was all worried you’d say no. 

Hilary: Alexander, shouldn’t you be at the restaurant?

Xander: It’s 11 AM. Not the best time to get juiced.

Xander: For your information, I came to restock the bar, but I wanted to check in with my favorite big sister first.

Hilary: I’m your only sister period.

Xander: Well it’s a good thing you’re my favorite then! It'd be embarrassing if you weren't.

Hilary: Ophelia, I see you’ve met my younger brother. Xander, you remember Miss Lemon.

Xander: How could I forget my third favorite patron?

Ophelia: I need to work on my ranking.

Xander: I'm not gonna lie, I can be bribed.

Xander: Drew and Moses and I were just talking about going bowling later to celebrate you joining the team officially. You in?

Hilary: I told you not to tell people yet, Alexander. 

Xander: Trusting me with a secret was her first mistake. 

Ophelia: Bowling sounds fun. I’m in.

Hilary: Xander, please go restock the bar so I can finish talking to my new employee.

Xander: Okay, okay. I can take a hint.

Hilary: That wasn’t a hint, that was a full-on order.

Xander: See ya sis, later Lemon Merengue Pie!

Hilary: I apologize for him.

Ophelia: It’s okay, he’s a really fun guy.

Hilary: That’s the consensus. I’m glad his job is more fun than mine, at least.

Ophelia: Do you want to join us for bowling? It’d be nice to get to know one of my new bosses better!

Hilary: That’s sweet, hun, but Hector and I have Family Night with the kids today. They’ll be disappointed their uncle can’t make it though.

Ophelia: What if you all came? You guys can bond, the kids can see Uncle Xander, and we can do some team building. Multitasking!

Hilary: We wouldn’t want to impede on your fun. You’re young adults, you don’t want to hang out with your two boring bosses and their kids.

Ophelia: Hey, you’re not boring! You just have to work super hard to make sure we all get paid. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

Ophelia: We’d have to do separate lanes anyway, so we could all do our own thing and then mingle in between sets.

Hilary: Well, we haven’t taken the kids bowling in quite some time. They’d probably enjoy it more than Don’t Wake the Llama. I’ll talk to Hector but no promises.

Ophelia: Great, see you at the bowling alley!

Hilary: I just said I'd have to see-

Ophelia: I gotta get to practicing with the band, we’ll chat tonight!

Hilary: These young people are going to put me in an early grave.

[pbandjesse]

It's my birthday!!! Today I am happy and 32!

And today was a very good day.

When I woke up this morning it was pouring. So I had to get up to take James to the museum. Not a huge hardship. But I was tired. I washed my face and put on leggings and rainbows and we headed out.

It was very nasty out. But James gave me birthday kisses. And I got them to work early. And I was home by 8.

I was a little upset when I tripped and fell coming in the building. I scraped the tops of my fingernails on the rock of the foyer. And got a little more rained on. But I got inside and was just happy to be warm again.

I held Sweetp for a minute. And then got back in bed. Where I slept for another hour and a half.

When I woke up I was feeling a lot better. More like a person. James had left a bunch of presents for me but I didn't want to open them yet. Well I did but I didn't want to open them alone. So I would wait.

On the way to dropping James off we stopped at 711 and James got me a donut and a juice. So I wasn't starving. Instead I got all the way dressed. Did my makeup nice. And start to clean the apartment.

I vacuumed and Swiffered and threw away some stuff from the fridge. I moved some stuff around and tried to make it nice. And get ready for Jess to come over.

I made a hotdog as an early lunch. And chilled on the couch with Sweetp until it was time to head over to art with a heart.

I got there a little early. Shocking right? Me early?? And so when I got inside I had to wait a few minutes. But the other girl who was doing onboarding with me was soon there and she was nice. She's going to be an assistant so that's cool.

And it was a lot of fun. I mean it was paperwork and going over their handbook and expectations and procedures. But I really really enjoyed the process. I got to learn a lot. Some things that aren't ideal but are fine and things I can work with. A lot of it was just general contractor stuff. Having to be in charge of my own taxes and things like that. Nothing outrageous.

I was thrilled to find out he is recommending me for the three locations I had as my preferred sites. So if things go well and they are okay with the dates I am unavailable I will be working with 3 different groups, some kids, some adults. The Autism Society of Baltimore, patients with HIV, and a group that works with people with MS. I'm thrilled that I'll be able to work with these populations and really work on expanding my adult and medically and ability diverse experiences and skill set.

It didn't take the full two hours I had set aside today. Instead I finished at 1. And was able to get a lovely message from my mom singing me happy birthday. Made me feel really good inside. The rain had let up a lot and I was just feeling really happy.

Jess let me know she was stuck in some traffic and would be here closer to 2. So I didn't need to rush.

I had a snack in the car and headed home.

When I got back here I curled up on the couch and worked on some calendar stuff until Jess let me know she was here.

I was so happy when she did arrive. She came in her new Subaru and had parked down the street so I didn't see her at first. But I found her soon and helped her carry stuff upstairs.

Sweetp was upset with Jess for some reason. Yelling at her. But it was mostly funny. We chatted for a few minutes. But very soon we were bundling up and heading out again.

I drove us out the Ellicott city. I love that little town. It's so cool looking. Shame it's always flooding or I would maybe consider living there.

I had Jess take a video of me wearing my finished coat. Which I love. I'm so happy with how it came out. And we walked over to the antique depot.

We did really good. I got one of my holy grail pieces today. Which is a candy machine. I was so happy. And we got a set of four mugs and we are going to keep two each. We also each got a set of salt and pepper shakers. She got tomatoes and I got black cats. It was really fun looking around and talking and joking. And it was nice when we were just quiet and enjoying the space. I had a great time.

It was late in the afternoon. And I knew James would be done work soon. So we headed out. And got home soon after James had rolled in.

It was wildly windy at this point. James got all sweaty fighting it home. And our car had been pushed a little. Slightly scary but we were fine.

Once we were all settled I opened presents. Jess got me a cup that I love and a pin and some other great little pieces like some very funny (to me) stickers. A packable hip pack that is a very cool color block. And she made me a card!

James got me a book I really wanted and a customized hair clip. A steering wheel cover that looks like a goose. And some other really thoughtful stuff. I felt very loved and seen.

Once gifts were done we headed down to harbor east to go to the recently reopened James Joyce Irish pub.

It was different but the same. We had some trouble parking but James is a very good parallel parker so we would eventually find somewhere to tuck in. The wind was very very cold so close to the water. But inside the restaurant was very warm.

The menu is smaller and less authentic to what you would think of Irish pub food. But it ended up being absolutely perfect.

Jess got mussels that she shared with James. Me and her also split a Caeser salad. James got a sort of French dip sandwich with horseradish. Jess got a eggsalad and crabmeat sandwich. And I got a black truffle grilled cheese with a spicy tomato soup. We all got fries. And it was so fabulous. I was so happy with our choices. And it was nice just being together with my favorite people.

Once we were done eating we would walk across the street to get ice cream. Jess and James got milkshakes. I got a caramel and banana sundae. And we went home.

Once we got back here we chilled for a bit on the couch. But at 8 we would all head into James's room to watch the last of us. While me and Jess worked on our blankets.

I have seen most of the show through TikTok clips and from watching a playthrough of the game. So I was mostly getting context for the clips and loving finding little details. It is not how Jess watches shows and I think she thinks it's goofy that I absolutely have no interest in being surprised. I want to know all the details going in. Who lives and dies. And that's how I enjoy things. We watched the first two episodes and I love it so far. I have seen almost the entirety of the 3rd episode and I am looking forward to seeing it in one go with context. But I don't know what happens in 4 and 5. Jess says I shouldn't search it out. And I won't because she doesn't want me to. But I hate not knowing! I am looking forward to watching more with my favorite people.

I was suffering a little watching the show though. My cough is really painful and keeps making me gag. But I had my knitting to focus on and I'm all caught up now. Jess's crochet is so huge that her blanket for the same time period as me is more then twice as long. She's going to have to start a new one half way through the year I swear it's so big already. But it looks great. So much yellow! For a crying tracker it is very sunny so far.

Once we finished the show me and James got the couch set up for Jess. And then I got a quick shower. And when I got out James had two more gifts for me! A weighted teddy bear (who we have collectively named the public universal weighted friend) and a bubble wand Swiss army knife! It's so cool. James also made me bubble liquid. I love them so much.

And now the house is quiet. James and Jess are asleep. And soon I will be too. Everyone I love reached out to me and wished me well. And that brings us to the end of another year. My first married birthday, my brother reminded me, and it feels really good.

Here's to another go around. Sleep well everyone. Good night!

[call-me-jennn]

latelys.

I came home one weekend after a productive morning errands date. I sat at the table eating my breakfast and looked around the apartment. What a shit hole. I started getting irritated, but it’s the least of my worries. I have so much going on right now.

My externship will be starting up again soon, hopefully. I’m just waiting for the school to complete the paperwork and set up the registration so I can start. The longer it takes for them to process everything, the less time I’ll have to complete my hours. The manager is requesting we work weekend night shifts, which is okay with me. I don’t usually plan on wild weekends while I’m in school. But I’ll lose a day of the week recovering from the night shift.

Under the externship we’re only allowed to work 120 hours. After we’ve completed our hours we’re not allowed to work in the hospital through the school. But the unit still needs help with small tasks like restocking and sterilization, so the manager has asked us to onboard as volunteers so that we can work under the hospital. This way when we’re finished with 120 hours of free labor as externs, we can work for free some more as volunteers. I know that sounds bitter, but I’m grateful. I love it there. And it’s just one more thing to add to my resume. And this unit notoriously hires their externs, so I’m saying yes to anything they ask, because it’s a great hospital. The onboarding is a super long process with its endless paperwork, orientation modules and Tb test to schedule. It’s all on my to do list.

The 2nd year of my program has just begun and we’re all worried. The workload seems to be lighter, we only have two courses this semester in addition to our clinical versus the three we had the last two semesters. Our lab class also only has one lab day, not two. Unfortunately, one of our classes is taught by our least favorite professor, who I feel is just incompetent. We, as a cohort, attempted to go to our program director about her. She’s not just a poor instructor, she straight up teaches us misinformation. And when we try to argue with her, she only doubles down. One time, in lab, when I was arguing with her, she told me not to try and use logic to explain things. I almost lost my shit. AND I WAS RIGHT. I find the best way to go about her class is to completely ignore her and just read the book. That’s how I aced her class last semester that a lot of people almost didn’t pass.

In our course that has a lab, there are three sections. One is directly after lecture, meaning the students in that lab only have to be on campus two days. The other sections are in the morning or afternoon on Fridays. I tend to have a later registration so I wasn’t originally able to get into the good section and I was going to have to be on campus three days. I actually had to decline coming to my cousin’s wedding because it was on a Friday and I couldn’t miss the first day of lab because it’s a crucial day to pick your lab group for the whole semester. But the best laid plans go awry, because I unexpectedly ended up getting into the good lab section, but wasn’t able to pick a good group.

On the night before our first day of class, one of my girlfriends in my friend group sent us this long text telling us she was dropping out of the program without explanation. She sits next to me so it was especially a gut punch sitting alone without her. On the first day of class the professor called her name for attendance and asked the class if anyone knew where she was. We just avoided eye contact. The next time we had class, one of my classmates asked me where she was, and that their clinical instructor was asking about her when she missed their rotation. I went to talk to our professor for our lab to make sure she doesn’t call out her name for attendance today to avoid calling more attention to the fact that she was missing. It’s not like people weren’t already aware that she’d been missing and they were already asking questions. But I just wanted to protect her a little bit. When I told the professor that she had dropped out of the program the professor said, I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you this, but she hasn’t officially dropped, she’s still registered for classes. I said okay and started to walk back to my seat. But after a few steps, I realized that she was registered for the good lab section, meaning once she drops there will be a seat available. I turned around and asked my professor if I could have her seat. Part of me feels a little slimy, like I’m benefitting from my friend dropping out. The professor said she would work on getting me an add code, but that meant I wouldn’t be attending the first day, I’d still have to attend my original section. This also meant I wouldn’t be there to pick my group. My classmates later told me that she ominously wrote “Student X” on the board under one of the groups and said choose your groups. No one knew who Student X was, and no one wanted to choose them for their group. So in the end, I ended up in a group with the three left over students who couldn’t get in a group. I totally got screwed. Man, this freaking sucks, and everyone knows it. People came up to me later and apologized, saying if they knew I was Student X, they would’ve chosen me for their group. It’s not like the people in my group are stupid. I truly think that everyone who made it to second year is smart. They’re just not as fast at understanding stuff and they’re not great at explaining or articulating their points. So if I think the answer is A, I’ll be able to explain clearly why I think my answer is right. But if they think the answer is B, they can’t explain why. That’s not helpful to me if my answer is wrong. They’re going to slow me down, and I am already a very lazy student. I don’t come to lab prepared to explain everything, most of the time I don’t come prepared at all and I can just figure it out as I go. I sulked for a few days over this.

So as I’m sitting at my dining table thinking about all that I have to do, I suddenly have this burst of inspiration. Maybe this lab group thing could be an opportunity for me. I really don’t approach my schooling with much of a sense of urgency. Do I study? Sure, when I feel like it. Do I come to class prepared? Depends on your definition of prepared. In the end everything always gets done. I always read all the chapters before I’m tested on it. I learn all the material and I learn it well enough to ace my exams. And that works for me, but when my classmates ask me questions I don’t always know the answer. I can figure it out and answer it well enough. But I’m not always on top of the material. Maybe this is an opportunity for me. I know my group is going to look at me to be a leader. I know they’re going to look to me to clarify any confusion they have. Maybe that I should be that leader. Maybe I should come to lab prepared and ready to explain things to them.

Hm… okay. This isn’t a crazy ambitious plan. Like I said, I eventually study all the material either way. This way I’m just studying all the material before class/lab. Maybe I should implement a system to help keep me accountable. Well my preferred system is sticky notes. A task on each sticky note pinned to a corkboard, and with completion of each task, the stick note gets pulled. A visual system and pulling off the sticky notes can be satisfying. The corkboard gets pulled out and I go to look for my sticky notes.

Where the fuck are the sticky notes. I’m looking all over in my room, searching in different bins, rooting through a bunch of crap that I have. Why do I have so much crap? When was the last time I even touched half this stuff? A bunch of craft stuff from one project I did 6 years ago? I’m so irritated. All this freaking clutter for no reason. Why do I live like this?! By the time I find the sticky notes, there’s a fire that has been ignited in me.

I’m not freaking living like this anymore! All this crap needs to go! I’m changing my life! I need to get serious about my life! In addition to my new study schedule, I’m going to purge one area of my room each week. And so I study for the week and clean one section of my room as planned.

Monday morning rolls around and I have a doctor’s appointment. My psychiatrist says, so Jennifer, how have your moods been? Stable? No sudden optimism or goal setting? Um. Well this is awkward. I try to defend myself. This isn’t an intense hyperfixation! I’m not trying to change my life overnight. I just set small, achievable weekly goals for myself that I think overtime will lead to an overall change. She says okay, it seems alright. Just monitor yourself.

Lecture/lab day rolls around. I ace my quiz, because I read the chapters beforehand. It feels nice. Most of the time I ace the quizzes based on good test taking skills, but this time I know the answers confidently. In the lab, I’m very prepared since I looked over the lab assignment and answered most of the questions in advance. I took the lead on going through the assignment and tried to give each of my group members opportunities to answer the questions, adding in clarifications where they seemed confused and explaining the answers. I tried my best to encourage them when they seemed hesitant to answer or nervous. I felt like it went well and we were able to get through the assignment fairly quickly. I felt good, like my plans were going well. I also felt a little nervous, I hope my group members don’t think I’m too bossy or anything like that. We were able to leave lab early. I stopped by the bathroom, then started walking out to my car in the parking lot. As I’m walking out, I hear my group member call out my name. I turned around and she gestured for me to walk back to her. When I reached her she said, I want to give you a hug! She hugged me and whispered in my ear, “I’m so glad you’re in my group, you’re so smart.”

So yeah, you could say things are going well.

[sailorsharky]

⚓️Journal of a Sailor V⚓️

-= Log: 1=-

-= Day 1=-

-= Time of writing: 1930 =-

-= Weather conditions: Mostly clear skies. =-

I left home at 0700, and arrived roughly 3 hours later aboard the vessel. A vessel with a sizeable crew. There was some paperwork and instructional videos to get through, but once that was over, it was time to get my hands dirty.

Spent the remainder of my shift assisting others on deck whilst trying to form a mental map of the vessel along with asking around for info about the ship and the type of work that she's made for. More on that later.

For now, my shift is over and I've got 12 hours completely to myself. We've just slipped our moorings and are underway to the North Sea proper.

-= Day 2 =-

-= Time of writing: 1010 the following day. =-

-= Weather conditions: Warm and sunny. =-

Not much to comment on for day two, as the whole day was spent cleaning the decks, starting from the bridge deck, down to the forward deck and finishing off on the main deck. Still more to do the next day.

-= Day 3 =-

-= Time of writing: 2100 =-

-= Weather conditions: Clear during the day, more cloud cover towards the evening. =-

More deckwashing today, plus some extra familiarization. Couple of meetings too, especially in regards to the job of decommissioning an offshore installation. We're now at anchor at the location and we'll stay here for two to three weeks as we take it apart.

Looking forward to seeing how this'll go, as it's the first time I'm involved in work of this sort.

So far I can say that I like the ship, as well as the folks aboard. Friendly colleagues, for one, and the ship is quite luxurious all things considered.

-= Day 4 =-

-= Time of writing: 1932 the next day. =-

-= Weather conditions: Clear skies most of the day. =-

Well, this log entry slipped my mind for a few.

The day was mostly spent keeping watch over the gangway connecting the ship to the platform, including keeping an eye on who goes off onto it.

Aside from that, there are some other odd jobs on the aft deck, mostly involving hoisting, lifting and the preparation for the materials to be hoisted.

I did, however, injure myself on something, but I'll be alright as it's nothing major. At most it's annoying in that it makes working with heavy gear a bit more difficult.

Should pass, given some time.

-= Day 5 =-

-= Time of writing: 1938 =-

-= Weather conditions: Rain and wind in the morning, sunny in the afternoon. =-

Immediate follow up on the last entry; I got my injury checked out by the onboard medic. It's nothing major, but still painful. Been described some pain meds and with those it's a bit better.

Other than that, I've been up the platform myself today, to help out with things, such as cleaning the heli deck, lashing loose objects in order to secure the first part of the rig for lifting and taking down materiel from the rig by crane.

Not much else to report at this time.

-= Day 6 =-

-= Time of writing: 1949 =-

-= Weather conditions: Sunny in the morning, shifting to rain, string winds and high waves over the course of the afternoon. =-

Welp. I overworked myself this morning and had to pay the ship's medic another visit. No change in the situation with my injury (bruised ribs), but in order for it to heal properly, I'm relegated to light duties only. Right now that means gangway watch. No heavy lifting, hauling, pulling or what have you.

So, that's what I'm doing from now on.

As for the project, the first third of the rig has been removed and put on a barge, and cutting of the second section has been nearly completed. All that remains is to remove that, followed up by the underwater section.

We also managed to dredge up some scrap that was lying on the seafloor. To which quite a lot of sea life was clinging onto. From anemones to seasponges, starfish and crabs.

No doubt we'll see a lot more when the final section of the rig is lifted up from the seafloor.

-= Day 7 =-

-= Time of writing: 1927 =-

-= Weather conditions: Sunny all day with a slight wind. =-

More gangway watch, plus some small tasks here and there as needed. The usual.

My ribs still hurt immensely in the morning, but the painkillers do help.

Other than that, two-thirds of the rig has been cut loose and hoisted up during my shift.

Now, all that remains is the underwater portion, which will take a significantly longer time to complete.

But with that said, the first quarter of my contract is over now. And with that, this log will go up.

P.S: I can't show pictures of the job in question yet, as I need to ask permission for that first. But some beauty shots I can use for the next log.

✨️May Polaris guide you always.✨️

[fusion-ego]

✩ Update ✩

I haven't made one of these since the day of my flight out to Arizona, back in February, and I don't feel like covering every little thing that's happened, so we'll do the cliffnotes version of an update for Feb 10 - May 20.

✮ Got to Arizona, ended up not being able to make it to the drug test for my job, therefore didn't get to start and decided to look for something closer. Spent the remaining time between then and April 17 using my tax return to pay my bills while looking for another job.

✮ Started delivering food via doordash on April 17, continued looking for permanent employment elsewhere.

✮ Finally got my offer letter for a job working as a detailer at an RV dealership on May 17, finished filling out my onboarding paperwork on May 20.

✮ As of today, I've officially started my new job! I wasn't expecting to like it much, but it's honestly a pretty chill gig. I've got an office (I share it with the other detail guy), I can take breaks whenever the hell I want, there's no immediate supervision (as in I am not being watched the whole time I'm on the clock), I get an hour lunch, and I'm making wayyyy above minimum wage, so I have zero complaints. I actually enjoyed my first day a lot.

✮ Now that that's sorted out, my parents and I are working on getting me into my own apartment, and after that we'll begin working on getting my husband and best friend out here. As of right now it looks like late June/early July before we can do that, but so long as it actually happens at that point I don't have an issue with it. (Parents are involved in this partially because, as addressed in one of my other update posts, they are bound and determined to help us get out here and settled in since we weren't supposed to have to go back to Illinois to begin with. The other reason is that they have to head back to Missouri to get their RV and their stuff out of storage anyway, so they're willing to drive the extra couple of hours back to Illinois and nab my people as well.) (If they can't help around late June/early July as we're planning now, I will still find a way to make my end of the plan happen because there's no way in hell I'm dragging this bullshit out any longer than I have to.)

✮ Hopefully, updates on fics will resume shortly. I'm not sure how much writing I'll really be doing for myself after work every day, but I've gotten a bit done on some projects today. We'll see how that goes.

✮ Commissions are still open, as always.

✮ That's all, I think. I dunno, I'm exhausted. ✮

[stormclaws]

it looks like my summer vacation......

is over 😔

[theboardwalkbody]

Asking for Help

Hello Tumblr folks.

I never thought I would make a post like this but here we are.

I need to ask for help.

Back in November I ended up catching COVID and was out of work the entire month until I could provide a negative PCR test. My job was contractual and offered 0 assistance / sick leave /pto. Upon returning to work in December my hours were drastically reduced (on their end, not by my choice) to below 20 hours a week. The loss in pay followed by the decrease in pay did not allow me to make ends meet.

Throughout December I relied on asking family for financial help, which really was hard especially with the holidays, but there was very little help to be found.

I've since then left my previous job once I was offered a position with a new company - during the interview and onboarding process I was promised steady and guaranteed hours. I have not yet seen those guaranteed hours. Instead I am working less than 15 hours a week and with a lower pay rate than my previous position. I have offered numerous times to come in / asked to be scheduled more but so far those requests have been denied.

Despite having worked 15 hours I was informed today that it could take 3-4 weeks to see pay for any hours worked due to me not being in their payroll system until they finish the paperwork (those in charge of said paperwork are not due to return until next week) and then send my information to the bank for confirmation.

I also applied for TDI due to COVID - despite applying back in December I have not yet received a judgement on my claim. I called to check the status and was informed it could take a few months due to how backed up they are.

So what does this all add up to?

I am three months behind on rent. I am three months behind on car payments. My credit score has lowered ~60 points due to missed payments. I can no longer afford any of my bills (in addition to the car payment and rent); I can no longer afford my car insurance. And as of today I can no longer afford gas to get to and from work, nor can I afford groceries.

I won't even list how much I owe because, quite frankly, the number is so daunting. I know it's above 2k. The longer I go without being able to pay any of these bills the more I end up owing so the number keeps growing.

The stress alone has gone from just psychological to manifesting as physical symptoms. My memory is deteriorating. And I dare not say the thoughts I've had as my depression has been exacerbated. I've just felt like giving up as it all seems kind of hopeless. So I am asking for help. Because I need it badly and I know I can not do this on my own and it's only getting worse.

I hope you'll consider helping as much as you can by donating or boosting. I really can't say how much it would help.

Thank you for reading. <3

PayPal - thebananda@yahoo.com

Venmo - @ memelynn1991 (no spaces)

[notalwaysright]

Getting Into This Job Is Way Too Much Work

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=259408 I got laid off at my previous job, but fortunately, I found a new one during my last two weeks. I was excited to start a new chapter in my life, until… Job: “Hey, [My Name]. We need you to start right away, so can you fill out the onboarding paperwork today?” Me: “Sure. I’ll have it to you tonight.” Job: “No. We need it today. As in before 5:00 pm.” Me: “Um, I thought I explained that I’m still working third shift for the next week at my current job. I’m just now driving back from your office after working all night. I’ve been awake for thirty hours so far.” Job: “That doesn’t matter. You need to get this paperwork to us by close of business today.” I sighed and stopped to get a coffee to keep me alert for the next couple of hours. Then, I filled out the paperwork, emailed it to them, and finally got precious sleep for a few hours until the phone rang again. Job: “Just checking to see if you filled out the paperwork.” Me: “Huh? Yeah? Didn’t you get it?” Job: “Oh, I didn’t have time to check my email yet. We need you to go to [Site an hour away] for your drug test.” Me: “Okay, I’ll do it first thing in the morning when I get off work.” Job: “You need to do it today.” Me: “No, sir. I’m not doing it today. I already told you I work nights until [date]. I’ve gotten three hours of sleep in the past two days and I’m not risking getting into a wreck. It will be done tomorrow. If that is a problem for you, I can decline the job offer.” Job: “Well, okay. But we’ll need it by noon tomorrow.” I did the drug test and final paperwork and thought I was good. But I waited… and waited… and waited… Job: “Hey, [My Name]. We’re almost done with the background check. We just need your address from when you lived in Massachusetts.” Me: “I’ve never lived in Massachusetts.” Job: “Our background check says you have. We require every address you lived at for the past twenty years.” Me: “I’ve lived in North Carolina since I was seven. I’ve only had two addresses in the past twenty years and they are within ten minutes of each other. In North Carolina.” Job: “We still need your address in Massachusetts.” Me: “I don’t have one. I. Never. Lived. There.” After another couple of days… Background Check Company: “We got reports from the company that you still haven’t provided your Massachusetts address. Please advise.” Me: “The advice is I have never lived in Massachusetts. I don’t know how many different times I need to say this.” By this time, I had seen enough red flags to continue my job search elsewhere. I did eventually finish the onboarding process but quit after a week of orientation because the company tried to bait-and-switch me into a position I didn’t apply for or want. I quickly landed three more job offers back-to-back and took one that paid 25% more.  But, still… what the heck? Source: https://notalwaysright.com/?p=259408

[polymathemawrites]

Hand Holds - Part 1/?

cw: wow typical violence, rogue nonsense, mentioned trauma, mathias being mathias

No beta here, this doesn’t follow the canonical plotline for them because I do what I want, if I never finish this please forgive me I am a flake

Read under the cut for the story 

He watches Fairwind work on the deck of the Middenwake, muscles shifting under the linen of his shirt, his coat thrown somewhere and not on him for once, not surprising considering the work Mathias has been watching him do for the last bit of time. Heavy ropes coil and shift, and he's doing something with the sails that the Spymaster does not pretend to understand even a little bit. The lights onboard the ship illuminate him better than the setting sun, but even then Mathias would have been able to see the familiar frame just fine. Even with his wandering focus he can still feel someone watching him in turn and seeing as it's not Fairwind, he looks down from his dark little alcove to the deck proper to see what he expected to see - Shandris Feathermoon watching him, better than the Commander at least.

To stop what he is doing would be to admit guilt, so he turns his attention away from her and back to the Captain of the Middenwake, hip shifting to rest cocked against the wall. He doesn't hear her come, no surprise there, only knows she is there when she lets him know, the exhalation of a sigh.

"Humans have such odd courtship rituals."

"I'm not courting him."

She leans against the wall next to him, her arms crossing her chest, nearly mimicking his own stance, "Are you not?"

He does not want to be having this conversation and definitely not with Feathermoon.

Leaving is conceding ground, again - guilt he isn't going to admit. "I would be far more up front about it, if I were."

"So you've been standing up here, watching him for an hour, for no reason?"

Mathias turns to level her with a look that would have sent trainees in Old Town running, but he doesn't expect it to do much to her, and it doesn't. Partial commander of their forces here, and he himself too for that matter, not much could have cowed the sentinel, and certainly not one human a fraction of her life-span. "He's easy on the eyes." It's in itself a damning confession but there are few who know him by name that do not know his predilictions. It had been a political move mostly, no one would ravel him up in their machinations for marriage plots to better their station if he was confirmed to be unwedable because he was unlikely to produce and heir.

He could swear she rolls her eyes at him. "Odd, what did I say? Why do you not just go offer him your bed?" She motions toward the Middenwake, "He would accept, if that is what worries you."

Nope, nope - not having this conversation. He takes a steady grip of the rail and swings himself up and over, landing on silent feet on the bottom deck, startling a champion on her way to report to Commander Wyrmbane. He sidesteps around the woman with an apology, catching a glimpse of movement from the deck of the Middenwake he spurs himself faster and takes the gangplank, only to hear the footfalls of a night elf doing nothing to hide herself behind him.

Cursing under his breath he swerves rounding the dock, hoping to lose her in the crush of people outside the harbormaster's office but as easily as he weaves through the crowd, so does she. Night elves and their damnable grace, it took him an entire twenty years to learn this. "Are you running from me, or from yourself?"

"I would appreciate it immensely if you minded your own business, Feathermoon. Do you not have enough to do, would you like me to set you up a target practice range, find someone who needs killing?" They break from the press of people, hitting the ramp that leads up and along, but right as he moves to round the corner, he realizes his mistake, too close to the edge, nowhere to go, he runs right into the large form of a Kul Tiran sailor.

He's seconds away from breaking the steadying hold - hands on his arms, before he realizes the surprised face looking down at him is none other than the focus of his last hour's wandering gaze. "Captain." He only just sounds this side of breathless which is embarrassing enough.

"Aye Spymaster, you're going at a right clip." His grin makes Mathias' stomach do unfortunate flips, "Were you coming to see me?"

"He was." Feathermoon pipes up behind him.

Oh that damndable elf and her meddling, this is what he gets for abandoning his paperwork. "I wished to hear your report on the Azerite shipment from earlier today, first hand. I heard there was a dragon spotted?" He does break the hold now, easily stepping back but the heat of the Captain's hands remain burning on his bare skin beneath his pauldrons.

An admirable cover, he pretends he doesn't hear Shandris' sigh to the side.

Fairwind seems to only just have noticed Shandris and he does as passable a salute he seems able, nothing at all respectful about it, and his easy grin ruins the whole pantomime. "Were you coming to hear me tell all about the dragon too, General?"

She shakes her head in the negative, bouncing on her heels in a way he's seen her do when she's at ease, an oddly childish movement for a woman so very old. It just reminds him of how different night elves are to humans, and he wonders how old she actually is, not just in terms of years but in terms of her people's maturity. His wandering thoughts are interrupted by the sweeping and dramatic bow that Fairwind gives her.

"Then do you mind if I steal the Spymaster? It's not often he comes to talk to me of his own volition you see, and I was hoping I could convince him to get a bit of kip with me."

Food. Kip was food, Mathias opens his mouth to deny the invitation, but Shandris is quicker.

"Of course Captain, and well you should - I have not seen Master Shaw eat all day."

"Like a bird he is." Flynn spins on his heel, throwing a look back at them - mostly at Shaw. "Coming Spymaster? I have some victuals in my cabin you might find enjoyable."

"I'm sure he will." Shandris Feathermoon bounces on her heels again. Damned woman.

He easily catches up with Fairwind, following him the short distance to the Middenwake, berthed as it was directly across from the Wind's Redemption. "Have you really had nothing to eat?" Fairwind's voice sounds soft with concern.

"I skipped lunch, although General Feathermoon wasn't there to see me do so." He's annoyed at that, she'd guessed and it had been correctly, which grated on him. That she probably paid close attention to his routine to know the truth of it.

"You do that too often and I'll be able to throw you around."

The glare he levels Fairwind with lacks teeth, "You would be sorely pressed to try."

He finds where the man had put his coat once they're in the Captain's quarters on the ship, slung over the back of the chair seated at the man's very messy desk. The window is open to let in the breeze and also the sounds of Boralus outside. Lighting a number of lanterns and also putting wood in the stove, Fairwind bids him to sit in-between tasks, and Mathias obliges him by perching on the only other chair in the room not piled with things.

"So the dragon-" is how the story begins and Fairwind is a consumate storyteller, Mathias finds himself enjoying the journey despite the little barbs he puts in to tell the man to hurry up with it. He doesn't hurry up with it anyway, and so Mathias has been plied with a large number of hard meats, savory cheeses, and crusty bread, as well as a bottle of wine, "And then we had to avoid the Horde chasing us halfway back to friendly waters."

"That's the part I want to hear more about." It's been an hour maybe, there is nothing but darkness outside and the weight upon his shoulders has gradually lifted with the application of wine and company. "Did they open fire on you?"

"Oh no, no. We were a good bit out from them, it would have been a waste of cannonballs, if I were to take a guess I'd assume they wanted to see if we knew any other islands in the immediate area."

A blade's edge of anxiety leaves him then, and he doesn't even realize it was there until it is gone. "Glad to hear it."

When did it happen, he wonders on his way back to his berth on the Wind's Redemption. When did he begin to fall for Captain Fairwind? Was it the treasury? Before? Was it the man's docier on his desk? In the past it had been easy to bury it, send the offending person away, or himself away. But Fairwind wasn't one of his and he had nowhere to go to escape this slow descent into familiarity. He should push away, he knows. Too much at stake and more - he is terrified of the release in it. To let go of that control and what does he have but himself to master? Too many variables and one can never control them, but himself - he was good at that. At denial and the chains of servitude. He was born for this, bred to serve the Kings of Stormwind in blade and body.

But looking at the light coming from the Captain's quarters on the Middenwake stirs something in him. Dangerous as a knife to the throat it is a hunger inside of him for something more than he had been made for. He knew where that got him in the past, it bloodied his hands and broke his heart, it resulted in a man's head on his desk and the dagger at his side instead of the man who it had belonged to. What was right and what was moral? Not for him to determine, that was the work of greater men. Ripples in a pond and Mathias was the man who monitored them, sent them in the right direction when needed. He was not meant for soft things, for a warm body to come home to, or in this case - to be the warm body to return to. He was no man's home, and never would he be, as much as he might ache for it.

He looks up the gangplank and sees Shandris Feathermoon's back and he turns on his heel, something in him aching too much to be prodded and poked at right now. His mind is far away and he pulls it back, reins it in with the spur of his own physicality. He sets off at speed, kicking off the high wall, his gloved hands finding perfect grooves in the old harbor wall to pull himself up the distance. There is an exhalation of breath behind and below him, a vendor gathering their wares for the day, but he is gone before they even fully register he'd been there and likely their surprise will bleed into disbelief for he is nothing but a shadow. He is running the length of the wall then, high but not yet high enough. Age and strife has worn the brick work - nothing like Stormwind's pristine harbor wall, it's gleaming white masonry - so when he jumps gaps he's able to actually breathe without the weight of guilt in every step, and that freedom causes each leap to carry him further, like a bird nearly in flight. Too long grounded for a roof-walker, too long at desks and buried under bureaucracy.

He takes the gap from the wall to the rooftops as if he is weightless, barely do his feet meet the tiles before he's off again, running the length of the roof's crest on the strongest part of the structure. When he jumps the next gap he looks down to see the market below for that fleeting second, the milling merchantiers and the travelers from all corners of Azeroth, with him above them all.

He's passed the trade's district, passed the Middenwake now too, he's scaling the upper level of the bridge toward Mariner's Row when his lungs turn to fire. He pushes further, further, a snarl as he forces air into iron barrel of his aching chest. One long wide gap and he soars. The landing is rough, he rolls through it and pushes himself up, staggers forward, on, on, he's not done yet. Shandris' words come back to him, 'Are you running from me or from yourself?' He flings himself forward, off the bridge, only to catch his hands against the old stone, the leather beneath them burning as he slides, down and down - but it's enough friction to slow his descent.

On his feet he shakes his hands out, casually looking up to meet the stare of the guard stationed a few feet from where he'd landed. The man has his mouth hanging open in shock. Mathias pushes the hair falling forward onto his face back. "Just testing the structural integrity of the bridge." He murmurs, turning back towards the way he came.

Luck, or something like it, is with him when he gets back to the Wind's Redemption. The only people on deck are Wyrmbane and a couple of Alliance Champions all three of them focused on the campaign map. He moves to slip past them only for the paladin to look up and catch his eye, and before Mathias can nod and dismiss himself, the man is speaking.

"Master Shaw, these two have some information you might like to hear."

There is nothing but darkness and stars above and yet the work is never done so he comes to stand by the table instead of vanishing into the hold - as much as he wanted to just curl up with a pot of tea and his paperwork. One of them is a Ren'dorei in cloth and the other a human in leathers and he leans against the table with one hip, arms crossed over his chest.

"Master Shaw," the Ren'dorei man bows with the customary flourish of his ilk that Mathias still had trouble determining was sarcastic or not, but the man's words didn't betray any disrespect as he continued, "When my partner and I were flying over toward Drustvar we saw some suspicious Horde activity in the region between Tiragarde and the coast over there."

Here the human man took up the thread, "They had a landin' part right along the coast almost up to Fletcher's Hollow." The man had a thick Gilnean accent, "We couldn't see how many there were, but it was likely enough to give someone up there trouble."

Commander Wyrmbane looked to him, "It doesn't appear to be a full incursion." There was an unspoken request for input at this point and Mathias leaned over to look at the map, tracking where Wyrmbane had put a pin in to denote the Horde sighting. The little cove was protected enough by mountains and more, and he could only imagine the havoc that might be wrought by a raiding part with a good foothold there.

"I'll send scouts." But what he really meant was that he was going to go down, pack an overnight bag, and go out himself. "Can you tell me anything about the individuals you saw?"

"I know one of 'em was an orc. There was also a couple of goblins, or extra large green mice, we were fairly high up, I'm afraid." The Gilnean man rubbed his bearded chin, "Saw a lot of crates."

Mathias excused himself after reassuring the commander he'd have something to report to Wyrmbane about come the next day. Finally slipping away to below deck he went to his office and then pushed through the door to his private quarters behind. Lighting the lamp he hung it up over his bed and began to arrange his pack. Poisons, a gnomish spyglass, and a small ration would hold him for the night. When he came back on deck the only one out was the night watch guard on duty and he gave the woman a nod as he took himself down the gangplank again.

Stopping to fill his canteen at the fountain in town and slip in a bit of cleansing powder, he let the sound of night-time revelry from the tavern nearby pour over him. It would have been easy to assign an agent to the task, there were a number of them off-duty tonight, probably finding their pleasures and daily relief in that very tavern. But the thought of the cold air against his face, the thrill of flight, and the promise of a mission to get him out of his head was too tempting.

The gryphonmaster greeted him with a wave, hands full of straw, in the middle of packing it down onto the nest of the gryphon standing nearby. The dark blue and red creature greeted him too, with a headbutt to the shoulder that would have knocked him over had he not braced himself for it. He sunk his fingers into her feathers and gave her a good scritch. "She'll miss you when you've gone, Spymaster Shaw."

"Doubt that will happen anytime soon." The war felt like it would go on forever, certainly he'd been in Boralus more than he'd been in Stormwind for the past months. "I'll need her overnight if she's rested and fed."

"Shadowtalon just had her sup, so you'll be doin' me a favor taking her out. She'll only want to fly after that meal, I wasn't looking forward to have to fluff up her nest for hours to try and get her to settle."

Drawing away from petting under her beak, Mathias took himself to saddling the gryphon, "There's a girl, we'll get you up in the clouds soon." Glancing toward the other nests he noted that one of them was noticeably empty. "When did Cadet Fordragon leave?"

"Oh 'bout an hour ago, took off toward the south."

He hummed a soft sound and slipped effortlessly into the saddle, already Shadowtalon's body was tensed beneath him so eager to take wing. With a final nod exchanged he gave her the pressure of his knees and then she was off, strong wings buffeting the ground and knocking straw about, before they were zipping up into the cold night sky. While all the gryphons he'd ridden in Boralus had been exceptionally well trained, there were two he had a fondness for, depending on where it was in Kul Tiras he needed to travel. There is a duality in the gryphons he favours too, ebon and snowy-white, both good for different cover. But for tonight's trip Shadowtalon's ebon coat would disguise him best, and that's exactly as Mathias preferred it to be.

Tiragarde unfolded beneath him, the long edge of it's coastline and the lights of various townships. He was barely at the height he liked best to travel at when the first sign of trouble became apparent. Smoke rising up from the south, near the mountains that cut off the main body of the isle from Freehold. The amount of it was reminiscent of a forest fire or a town burning and he banked Shadowtalon back down low to skin treetops, the air currents holding them steady. The source of the smoke became clear soon enough as they rose over the crest of a hill, the little hunter's lodge tucked away on the edge of the mountains was being attacked. With no sight of backup from Bridgeport in view he leaned his weight forward and Shadowtalon swooped evenly toward the ground. A less trained gryphon would have balked at the heat and smoke in the air but she just shrieked shrilly, a call for battle and blood. They hit the ground running and she bowled over a man about to strike down one of the lodge's hunters with his bully club. With an effortless motion, Mathias dismounted and then clucked his tongue and pointed toward the treeline. The look of distaste showed in her deep brown eyes but she fled the battle as directed, if she ended up hurt he'd never be able to rent a gryphon in Boralus again.

The hunter with her broken crossbow scrambled to her feet and then kicked the club away from the downed man, Mathias caught sight of her removing her skinning knife from her belt before he was turning, already slipping into the shadows.

He worked best in the dark and the fires from the inn set ablaze and various tent structures only aided in the shifting chaos of shadows, helping to even further obscure him. Humans against humans always put a bad taste in his mouth, but it was easy enough to determine between sides here. The hunters and traders of the lodge wore traveling leathers or hunting gear and were also well warmed against the falling snow - the raiders in contrast looked like burly dock workers and were trying their best to loot during the ensuing chaos caused. Ashvane dockworkers, Mathias guessed. Out of work and on the wrong side of the war.

Shadow stepping behind a truly massive mountain of a man, he struck sure with his blade into the man's lower back. Swift and sharp, he hit with a kidney shot before kicking the man in the back, only managing to stagger him to begin with thanks to his blade work. Even still it didn't prove enough to put the man down and he rounded a circle, swinging his sword wide. Easily Mathias dodged back, and the next blow he easily parried and swept to the side with the cross of his daggers. "Little Alliance dog!" Spat out along with blood and frustration, and Mathias slid under another angry swing. The crimson bloom of flowing blood was spreading through the man's shirt now, but his adrenaline was keeping him going. Soon enough even that wouldn't save him though, Mathias merely needed to wait him out.

He didn't have the patience for that tonight, not with the smoke catching in his throat and the necessity of ending this soon before the fires could do any more damage. Fielding another blow he caught it with his blades but instead of bracing himself he let the blow carry him smoothly sideways, knocking the man off balance. As he raged and stumbled forward, Mathias followed after him and with one economically placed swipe, he opened the man's throat up, the arterial spray hitting another raider in the face - likely the man had meant to aid his friend, only to then be bathed in the man's blood.

Mathias watched as terror set into the man's eyes as he watched the corpse hit the ground and lay unmoving. The scream that ripped out of that man was one that Mathias has heard many times before. Loss, fury, fear, hoplessness. He braced himself for the impact of blade but instead the man turned and ran, fleeing for the treeline. Before he even made it three yard there was a crossbolt in his back, and then two more.

The battle was over, the raiders were trying to flee, and mostly failing. The workers of the lodge had set up a chain of buckets from the nearby stream to put out the fires. He's in the middle of cleaning his blades when a well built woman with greying hair comes toward him. "Well you came down like a very pointy avenging angel. Alanna Holton, my thanks for taking out their leader."

He took her offered hand and shakes it after sheathing his blades, "Mathias Shaw."

With the widening of her eyes he can tell the name is recognized. "Wait here, please Spymaster. I've got an inn fire to put out." She was off then, rushing on to help her workers organize.

Taking himself to the treeline he was barely in range of the underbrush when Shadowtalon trampled over a berry bush to reach him, butting her head into his chest with enough force to make him catch himself or risk falling over. "There there girl, you did well."

Holton finds him in the middle of watering and feeding Shadowtalon to calm her from the excitement, tucked in next to a lightly singed caravan near the Gryphon master's stand. "Thank you for your aid again, Spymaster. We've got some help coming in from Boralus now. Is there anything we can do for you, or were you just sight-seeing?"

With Shadowtalon beak deep in chicken innards, he considers the downtime this little sidetrack is going to cost. While swift and feisty, Shadowtalon was also prone to battle-lust, and he didn't much favor the idea of taking her on a covert scouting mission with her feathers ruffled like this. She might try and divebomb the Horde and that would not suit his needs at all.

"I was scouting something along the Drustvar's edge, but I'll need to wait now for my gryphon to recover."

Carefully reaching out the middle-aged woman gave Shadowtalon a pat, holding her hand there she was obviously testing the mood of the beast. With his own hand buried in the soft feathers under her cheek he could already feel what she was looking for, the fine thrum of energy and a creature well worked up. "This one of Boralus' Gryphons?" She asked and he nodded in turn, "I'll have my man tether her to a line and send her flying to wear her out for you and then bed her down. I'd offer you our gryphon on loan but we sent him off to Boralus to call for aid and he's down for his own recovery."

"Thank you, that will have to do."

"The inn isn't likely to collapse in on itself and the fires all out now, you're hardly dressed for the weather, Master Shaw, please go settle yourself by the hearth while we take care of your gryphon." She smiled at him and gave him a bow before she was off, her shouted orders carrying across to workers and hunters alike, with a tone that commanded to be followed.

It was not until he was in the quiet of the inn that the actual chill of the outside air hit him. With the heat of the room around him closing in like a firm blanket he found himself biting down a shiver. Sweat from activity and also the abated adrenaline left him trembling and he settled down near the hearth of the fireplace, sinking into a chair with a cushion settled atop it. Around him was the bustle of many being tended to. Bandages and burn salves, a lone priest doing his best to take care of the ones worse off. He watches, letting the scene roll over him, only to find a steaming mug shoved into his hands by one of the workers. Taking a whiff proved the beverage to be hot cocoa and he sipped at it, leaning himself back to then settle the warmth of the mug over his chest.

He'd have to go on foot, likely. Which meant sending word to Wrymbane about his change of plans. Pulling his map out he balanced his mug on one knee and planned the best route to take. The Old Drust road would carry him through to Vigil Hill, and from there he could cut over to the coast. On foot it would take a number of hours all told unless he wanted to run the entire way, which he did not - only now regretting the roof-top run he'd taken after dinner with Fl- Captain Fairwind.

Bringing out his writing kit he pens first a missive to Wyrmbane and then begins the more laborious process of encrypting messages to his agents in Boralus. Thrice his mug is refilled as he works, while the bustle of the tiny inn flows over him. The fireplace was kept blazing and in no time the cold that had permeated him fled to be replaced by bone-deep warmth and contentment, he would not relish leaving his place before the fire when it was time to go.

"Shift switch!" The strong commanding voice of Holton filled up the inn after some time and Mathias looked up to see the tired forms of Boralus dockworkers and guards come in, sooty and wet. To his surprise among them was a familiar form, Fairwind's sure frame coming to slump against a wall, charming smile alighting on the lady to hand him a mug identical to Mathias' own. And as if feeling the weight of his gaze, Flynn's attention turned from the inn worker to meet Mathias and hold, a look of pleased surprise passing over his ever-expressive face. Despite the way he'd leaned on the wall looking like a cat drug from the Stormwind canals he bounded up to Mathias' chair like an energetic puppy. His cocoa splashed over his sooty knuckles as he plopped himself on the stones of the hearth.

"Fancy meeting you here, Master Shaw, come often?" Fairwind batted his lashes at him and Mathias applied himself to sealing his letters. "Shouldn't you be asleep on top of your paperwork or something?"

"There's something I needed to check up on along the Drustvar coast." Draining his mug he handed it to Fairwind who was tricked into taking it, before standing.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Fairwind asked, peering into the empty mug. Someone was trying to put a blanket around his shoulders but he was too busy scrambling up after Mathias to let them do it properly so they gave up on him.

"Whatever you'd like." He isn't much surprised to find Fairwind following his steps out, it was too much to ask that the man be exhausted from helping out, at least too exhausted to hound him.

[cuttoothed]

tooth.... this is definitely a very mild spoiler for the newest (141) ep so don't get to this until after public release but... do you think you could perhaps write a brief something with web!jon AND web!martin hhhh

Two soft domestic JonMartin fics in 24 hours? I think I might have strained something!

Since we discussed the concept, I tied in some Beholding for Jon, and some Lonely for Martin. Hope you like it!

*

At quarter past seven Jon’s phone chimes.

Are you coming home soon?

Jon sets it on his desk, unlocked. He’ll reply in just a moment, once he’s finished reading this section about sixteenth century Angolan nkondi sculptures.

A few minutes later he feels the tug, almost physical at the back of his skull, gentle but insistent. Jon looks down at his phone and realizes with a guilty start that it’s nearly eight. He snatches it up and replies to the text.

Sorry, on my way. Should I get dinner?

The response comes almost immediately.

You can make it up to me with red curry.

Jon is putting on his jacket when the phone chimes again.

And mango sticky rice. :)

*

He checks on Elias as he’s leaving. Reaches out along threads that are delicate as a whisper, strong as steel, strands that stretch and twist all the way from Jon’s mind to Elias’. Lets his thoughts crawl across the surface of Elias’ brain, carefully, checking everything is as it should be.

Elias is in his Kensington townhouse, reviewing some mundane paperwork. He is content after a good meal and a glass of fine wine, and considering nothing more menacing than next quarter’s budget.

It’s an intimate thing, feeling Elias’ mind pliant beneath his own. Knowing how easily Jon could form and mold his thoughts, his behaviors. He tries not to do it more than is necessary, because he doesn’t want to rouse Elias’ suspicion. A light touch is best.

As far is Elias knows, his plans for the Watcher’s Crown are advancing smoothly and under his control. The slow headway is nothing to be concerned about. Nothing at all. He is entirely unaware that his progress is circular, contrived to never bring his ritual to fruition. He may labor happily at it for decades, under the Web’s deft care.

And in the meantime, he continues with his paperwork.

Well done, Jon thinks, and lets his own satisfaction flow along the connection between them, lets it soak into Elias’ hindbrain. He likes to reinforce good behavior.

*

He's late heading home, so of course the journey can't go smoothly.

The creature that stalks towards him on the Tube was certainly human once, but the Hunt has sharpened its teeth and bowed its bones until, even hunched in a heavy coat, it’s hard to mistake for a person. Its eyes gleam under its hood. It looks hungry.

Jon sighs. This sort of thing isn't precisely an unusual occurrence, but he was hoping for a quiet night.

There’s about ten minutes before his stop. He considers, and then pins the creature with a stare.

“Why don’t you tell me,” he says, and feels the compulsion flowing off his tongue and into its brain. “What happened to you?”

The creature tells him, its words tearing out past vocal cords that twist them into snarls. It’s crying, Jon thinks, when he gets up to leave. A little twinge of guilt snags at him, beneath the Archivist’s gratification.

“You should stay onboard to the end of the line,” he suggests. “And then walk home.”

*

Sometimes, Jon doesn’t feel good about what he’s become. A monster twice over. He remembers when he feared the Web more than any other power, horrified by its stripping away of autonomy.

And now? Well, things change. The Web is control, yes, but not only of other people. After years of fear and uncertainty, it’s good to feel in command of himself. To feel sure, to feel purpose in the knowledge he restlessly seeks.

Everything the Eye knows, the Web can use.

*

He stops at the Thai place near home, picks up red curry and pad woon sen for himself, and a large portion of the mango sticky rice. On a whim he adds fried tofu to the order, because he knows Martin likes it.

The smell of the food is mouthwatering on the walk home. He feels a gentle tug again as he mounts the stairs to their flat, a greeting this time. He pushes open the door, and finds himself with an armful of enthusiastic boyfriend, wrapping arms around him and kissing his cheek.

“Careful of the food!” he warns, and sets the bag down on the counter so he can kiss Martin properly. When they pull apart, Martin is beaming at him like the sun.

“Glad you finally decided to come home,” he says.

*

People find Jon off putting or frightening, more than ever these days, with his scars and his too keen eyes. Martin, though, they find comforting. Safe and familiar. It’s a deliberate choice, Jon knows. Martin doesn’t want people to be afraid of him, so they aren’t.

The frightened people who come to the Archives don't see Jon, for the most part. They see Martin, who offers tea and kindness, and gentle encouragement to tell their story.

Most of them haven't had a true supernatural encounter, are suffering from mental health issues, or simply lonely or overwhelmed. Martin lends an ear, and offers friendly advice to seek help or support, and yes, they invariably think, that's a really good idea. Martin is such a kind person, it would be easy for Jon to forget that he’s by far the more ruthless of the pair of them.

He never does, though. All it takes is remembering the look on Peter Lukas’ face as the threads closed around his throat. But it’s not as if he didn’t deserve it, for the harm he did Martin alone. Never mind all the other evils of his long, cruel life.

The scars of Lukas’ presence linger. There are still times when Martin goes cold and quiet. When Jon touches his shoulder, and Martin gives him a look of such detached distance that it sends a chill down Jon’s spine. He has to pull tight on the threads that bind them, then. Has to draw Martin back to him, remind him what they are to each other, assure him he’s not supposed to be alone.

It’s not often, thankfully. And Martin is so much happier these days. They both are, and though Jon can’t dismiss the possibility that they’ve simply been persuaded that they’re happy, well -

If you can’t tell, does it really matter?

*

Martin gets the plates and cutlery while Jon unpacks the food. He allows Jon to hand feed him a piece of fried tofu, making small mmm sounds of pleasure as he chews. Uncorks a bottle of white wine and pours two glasses.

“Sorry I was so late,” Jon says.

He’s really been making more of an effort to leave work on time. He feels uneasy on days like this, when Martin goes home before him. It’s not that Martin can’t take care of himself (the cords of Peter’s throat straining against the silk) but still. It’s safer when they’re together.

“Like I said, this makes up for it,” Martin grins, pointing a fork at his red curry. “And I know you were busy today. It’s fine.”

Jon feels that little tug against his consciousness once more, this time playful and reassuring. It’s all right, we’re together, it’s fine. He gives a tug back, I love you, and Martin looks at him with such affection that Jon’s heart stutters.

“I love you too,” Martin says, and knowing it to his core, feeling it quiver between them, Jon has no doubts.

(Edited to add link to amazing art that has me screaming!)

[statementends]

Seemed like @jongeorgie needed some jongeorgie fluff so HERE IS SOME FLUFF.   

Title: Papers

Characters: Georgie, Jon, the Admiral

Pairing: Jon/Georgie

Rating: G

Warnings: None, tooth rotting fluff. 

Summary: It’s their one year anniversary and Jon has something special planned. 

AO3: Link

-

“I know I’m not… the most romantic.” Jon said.

Georgie had woken up alone which wasn’t uncommon. Jon liked to cuddle, but he also liked his own space so during the night he would usually sneak back to his own bedroom. She had expected he wouldn’t be up until later having stayed up with a book again, but here he was, 9AM with breakfast on the table.

“You made breakfast?” She grinned.

“It’s even edible.” He promised her forcing an awkward smile back. 

She went to him, took his hand and kissed his cheek. Jon wasn’t lying. He wasn’t naturally romantic. Georgie was surprised he had even noted their anniversary. It wasn’t that he forgot important dates, but sometimes he brushed over them without a thought. He had a hard time expressing himself. Georgie wondered if he expected her to laugh at his efforts, or be unsatisfied, but she never did and she never was.

It was important to communicate her fondness to her anxious boyfriend. He did his best and she loved him for it.

“This is lovey, thank you, Jon.” They sat down and he poured the tea.

“I uh…” He hesitated. “If you have… time today… there was something else I wanted to do… with you.”

“It IS our anniversary Jon. I suppose I can squeeze you in,” She gently teased putting her hand over his. “I would like nothing more.” She added before he could overthink it.

He perked up. “Oh! Yes. Good!”

“Are you going to tell me what you wanted to do?”

“I think I’ll let it be a surprise.” He looked very satisfied with himself now that he knew she was onboard.

“I got you something, would you like it now, or during this mystery date?” Georgie asked.

“Oh!” He looked surprised. “You didn’t have to.”

“Well Mr. Sims, I am rather fond of you, and it has been a whole year. I thought I’d be indulgent just this once.” She went to her room and retrieved the gift.

“Bookshaped.” He observed in amusement.

“I know you fairly well by now,” Georgie replied. “Open it.”

He did. It was a beautiful journal she had found at the campus bookstore. He smiled in appreciation and idly flipped it open. He paused seeing that there was already writing inside of it.

“Oh,” He said softly. He started reading the poem she wrote to him outloud. He had a good voice, would help her run lines, and edit her stories. He’d be good on the radio. She loved listening to him.  

She didn’t feel embarrassed at all as he read her words. If she couldn’t be afraid of the truly terrible then she refused to be afraid of those she loved.

Jon finished the poem quietly stunned and openly moved. “Th-Thank you, Georgie. I--it’s lovely.”

“Paper for the first year, I … thought it was appropriate.”

They finished their breakfast basking in each other’s company.

“How should I dress for our excursion?” Georgie asked.

“However you like, erm, casual. Jeans and a tee-shirt?”

“So no fancy Hungarian Restaurant?”

“It’s still morning, Georgie.”

“And yet I doubt you made reservations.”

“Not for the morning, no.” He held the door open for her.

“One day you’ll appreciate good Hungarian cuisine.”

He snorted. “There’s good Hungarian cuisine in London?”

They headed off walking down the street chatting happily. She expected him to lead her toward the tube, but they continued to walk.

“Maybe… close your eyes--no, you might bump into something, keep them open.” Jon lead her around the block. He stopped her in front of the animal shelter.

“I… since the flat allows pets I thought… we might get a cat?” Jon said. “And,” He added quickly. “If you don’t want to it’s fine, we can at least meet some, and I’ll make a donation in your name but--”

She stepped in close and kissed him on the lips. “You’re the sweetest man. Yes, let’s get a cat.”

He blushed hard, but wrapped his arms around her. “That’s good. I bought a carrying case and food. They said I could leave it there and see what you said.”

Georgie grinned, unsurprised that Jon was hyper prepared. She kissed him again and took his hand. “Let’s go meet some, yeah?”

“Yes.” He beamed.

There were quite a few cats. Very sweet. Some shy. Some ferocious. A bunch of kittens ended up swarming Jon. She wished her phone had a better camera.

She sighed happily. There was just something about cats. Their purrs that made her feel focused in the real world and cheerful.

Any of the cats in the shelter would have made her happy, but they found their cat at the very end, the last room. He was hidden in an open cat carrier peeking out at them. He had a fluffy orange head, but the rest of his fur was shaved off giving him a ridiculous lion cut. On his face were white markings that made him look like he had a marvelous handlebar mustache.

Georgie gently reached into his cage letting him inspect her hand. He bumped his head against it and realised what a wonderful feeling it was and did it again. Soon he was flopped between Jon and Georgie on the floor doing his best to get maximum pets from the both of them. He purred away like a delighted motorboat.

“I see you’ve met Nelson. He was found near the university.” One of the caretakers came in to check on them. “His fur was all tangled and matted with a flea and mite problem so that’s why he’s all shaved like that. It’ll grow back fluffy. We can’t say for sure of course, but he’s probably around one year old. He’s just on the cusp of being fully grown.”

“One year old,” Georgie smiled stroking the cat. Their cat. “It’s meant to be.”

“Nelson though?” Jon wrinkled his nose.

“Oh, you’re free to rename him… if you’ve decided…?”

“Yes.” Georgie said firmly. She looked at Jon and he nodded.

This was definitely their cat.

“The Admiral.” Jon declared suddenly. Georgie burst out laughing.

“The Admiral?”

“Horatio Nelson. He was a Vice-Admiral. And this one has the mustache of a seaman.”

“Oh no, he does, doesn’t he?” Georgie scritched under the Admiral’s chin. “I do think that cats should have proper titles, so yes. I think The Admiral is perfect.”

“I’ll get the paperwork started for you then,” The woman said cheerfully. “Do you have a way of bringing him home?”

“Oh yes. Uh… I’m… Jon… I … came yesterday?”

“Ah yes!” The woman smiled. She looked over at Georgie. “He’s a good one.”

“Oh yes.” Georgie cuddled the Admiral. “And my boyfriend’s quite good too.” She pecked Jon on the cheek.

Jon went beet red at the attention.

“I’ll… do the paperwork.” He said. “Haha, paper for the one year, right? You get the Admiral settled in the carrier.”

The Admiral was surprisingly fine with being locked in the carrier. Georgie stuck her fingers in gently stroking his fur while Jon finished up with the forms. He put the cat in her name --”He’s your gift after all.”-- They said their goodbyes to the caretaker and headed back out towards their flat.

Georgie carried the carrier in one hand (She refused to give up custody) and wrapped her other arm around Jon’s. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“This was perfect, Jon. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” He said quietly. “I…” He turned his head and gently pressed a kiss on the top of her head. She knew what he meant.

[zupeiza]

Korrasami Month 2018 - The Race

Once upon a time, Atalanta was a powerful huntress that had made a vow to never marry. Surrendering to her father insistence, she offered to marry anyone who could outrun her—but those whom she overtook she speared. In one race Hippomenes was given three of the golden apples of the Hesperides by the goddess Aphrodite; when he dropped them, Atalanta stopped to pick them up and so lost the race.

Jinora closed the ancient book she was examining and sighed. After putting it back on the shelf, she pondered where to look for reading material next. Republic City Public Library had seriously taken its toll after Kuvira's attack, and to make things worse, becoming the hiding spot for a particularly vicious gang of firebending crooks reduced the amount of salvageable books and scrolls to less of a hundred.

The young master airbender looked outside through the newly-restored windows. If only they could access to all the knowledge they had in Wan Shi Tong's library... They wouldn't even need to bring the originals with them, maybe just... copy them? In some format that was not so flammable, if possible? She made a mental note to talk with Asami about that, she would probably figure out a way to manage it.

But until then, maybe visiting Wan Shi Tong's library was enough. Maybe the librarian would allow them just browsing the material. After all, the Unalaq debacle had happened years ago. And yet, she was reluctant to try. But she glanced the single shelf with all the remaining reading material they had. It was time to at least try.

She sat cross legged on the floor. The library was empty and the restoration works had managed to turn it back to its silent state. It was a good place to meditate. Better than home, even, without Ikki and Meelo interruptions. She concentrated, and in the blink of an eye there she was, in the middle of her favourite place of the spirit's world. Some knowledge-seeking foxes were startled by her apparition, but they went back to their business, and Wan Shi Tong was nowhere to be seen. Well... maybe she could just take a look to some of the books there, before she faced the scary owl spirit.

She looked around. The aisle where she had appeared was as good place as any to begin her search. The banner at the head of the aisle read "Greek mythology". Uh-huh, whatever that is, let's find out - she thought. She took a beautifully decorated volume that called her attention, it had really detailed illustrations of people - nude people in some cases, she realized, blushing - with strange-looking robes, nothing like she had seen on any of the Four Nations styles. Also, the animals, or spirits, were different to what she was used to. "Maybe 'greek' means 'fantasy'" she muttered to herself. She opened at a random page and began reading. "In Greek mythology Atalanta was an Arcadian heroine-"

***

"I don't care what you want, father! Just because you want a heir for Future Industries, it doesn't mean you get to decide who I marry with!"

Asami stormed off her father's office slamming the door. She was sick of it, of all the self-absorbed, full-of-themselves suitors pursuing her day and night. Sometimes it was charming, granted, but very soon, every time, she discovered that they weren't interested on how she was but what she was, a heiress. And she wasn't just that! Not to boast, but she was a brilliant engineer, a more-than-capable fighter and an excellent driver and...

"That's it!" She stopped on her tracks and went back to Hiroshi's Sato office. She opened without knocking only to find her father lost in thought.

"I'll marry... whoever beats me in the racetrack." Hiroshi's brow arched, he didn't expect that. "But if I win, you have to make those candidates of yours to stop pursuing me, and you will not ever attempt to force me into any marriage". Asami crossed her arms awaiting a response.

Hiroshi pondered for a moment. Yes, she was her best satomobiles tester, but that didn't mean she was the best driver in the world. He was starting to feel desperate with his attempts to secure his legacy, and the look in Asami's eyes made her think this was no bluff but an ultimatum.

"Very well, it will be as you wish" Asami dropped her arms as she wasn't expecting her father to agree so quickly. "But this will require some time to prepare... " He looked at the calendar in his desktop and browsed through its pages "It will be in three months from today."

Asami nodded, and started planning her practice schedule. Three months was more than enough to achieve perfection. There was no way she was going to lose this. There was just too much at stake.

***

"You won't believe what Huan just told me!" Opal announced stepping into the training grounds of the Air Temple Island. Bolin and Korra stopped their training session and looked at her. "My brother Wei is entering the road race to opt to Asami Sato's hand!" Bolin and Korra remained silent and exchanged an amused look. "What?" Opal exclaimed, throwing suspicious glances to both of them.

Korra shrugged and said nonchalantly "Nothing! I just thought Wei of all people wouldn't be so interested in... *ahem* ... plus isn't he a bit young for marrying?" Bolin sniggered beside her, not really helping the Avatar to get out of trouble.

Opal decided it wasn't worth to feel offended, in fact she had thought very much the same when receiving the news. "Well, it seems like Mr. Sato is trying to establish some sort of industrial empire, so he has been contacting most of the big families throughout all four nations searching for a *worthy* heir for his daughter, and that includes my own one. But apparently there is a catch, and it's that she has only agreed to marry if she is beaten in a road race. And according to this article it will take place in less than three months" She showed the newspaper in her hand to her boyfriend and Korra. Korra held the article but couldn't tear her eyes from the picture of the Future Industries heiress even if Opal continued with her explanations "But you're right, and I just think this is a last resort kind of thing for Mom trying to marry off Wei..." Opal finished sheepishly. Her mother seemed to be very open in other aspects of life, but when it came to her children she was adamant to let them live their lives freely. "Well, I'll leave you to it, sorry I interrupted your training!" and with a swift of air she flew out towards the air bisons barn.

Bolin noticed Korra was still transfixed with the newspaper article. He waved his hand in front of Korra's eyes to break the spell, but she seemed lost in thought. Then Korra raised her eyes from the article and muttered "Bolin, I think I'm in love". Bolin looked surprised to his friend, looked at the dark beauty picture in the newspaper and back to his friend. He started jumping up and down and screamed "OOOOHHHH!! This is so goophhhh mmhhh!!" Korra muffled his mouth bending a chunk of earth to silent him while shushing her excited buddy. Bolin tried to look outraged while he spitted the soil out, but he couldn't help to be happy for her. He stopped moving and putting his hand in Korra's shoulder he whispered "Okay, but you know we need a plan, right?". Korra grinned, noticing he supported her, no questions asked, and then she leaned into him, murmuring in a conspiracy tone "I think I have a solution that will work out just fine for Wei... and for me".

***

"The answer is no." Beifong's answer was curt, and she went back to her paperwork.

Bolin looked exasperated and tried to elaborate "But... but... How can you say no? It's a noble cause! Love! Young Love!” Bolin looked at his brother for help. The Chief of Police was actively trying to ignore them but they needed her, if they wanted to have a chance in all this craziness. Mako sighed and tried a different angle. "Chief, I agree all this... is nonsense,” Bolin frowned “but think about your nephew. He's being forced to compete for something he doesn't even want! I can't believe you agree with that".

Lin stopped writing and held the bridge of her nose. The two brothers looked at her expectantly. "All right, I'll do it! But only because you two nosy punks won't leave me alone!" Lin looked up to them, they were smiling and Bolin was tempted to initiate a hug, but realised it wasn't a good idea. The chief dismissed both with her hand, and they complied quickly before she changed her mind.

Wei had already agreed to their plan in the phone. He would train his driving skills back in Zaofu to avoid suspicion, but once in Republic City for the race event, Korra and he would swap, leaving her compete in his place. Having Chief Beifong onboard granted they wouldn't have any issue infiltrating the race, and more importantly, she would be a perfect coach for Korra's driving lessons. Everything was going very, very well.

***

"Brake! BRAAAKEEE!!!" Metal squeaked when bent to pull the satomobile to a stop. Korra, with her knuckles almost white on the wheel, pouted. Lin grunted, and tried to compose herself. She turned to the back of the satomobile to find Mako and Bolin, all color drained out of their faces. "This is not working, kids" the Chief of Police said without emotion. "And at this point I'm not allowing her in a car, much less in the middle of a car race! She is a hazard for anyone in her way!"

Mako ignored the Avatar indignant cry and offered "Maybe if she isn't driving?" His audience turned to him, waiting for an explanation. "I know Varrick has been working on some kind of autonomous mechanism for satomobiles, he has been blabbering about it for weeks in the press. Maybe he could put one of those in Korra's satomobile, and at least she would be less... dangerous?" Korra huffed again, but again she was ignored. The date for the race was only a few days away, and it was a fact that Korra's advances driving were mostly non-existant. For an Avatar who had managed to bend four elements, it was astounding how incapable she was to manage mechanical devices.

Bolin nodded "That might work, I'll talk to Varrick later. He owes me some favors from the times we were together in the movers business, so I think I can bring him onboard." He was getting excited again, and that made Korra abandon her pouting face, but Lin just shook her head. "If that works, that would solve the fact that Korra doesn't run anyone over - which frankly, would make my life much easier - but we also need Asami to lose, and she is a really accomplished driver. And I don't think we can tamper with Asami's car, they would find out about any attempt to sabotage."

Mako nodded in agreement, "Then we need to distract her. But how?"

***

"Raava, I need your help" Korra's inner voice murmured during her meditation.

The light spirit made her presence known to the Avatar, and prompted her to make her request. "Avatar Korra... What is bothering you?..."

Korra gulped. "I need to know about a human, Asami Sato... " Korra fiddled with her hands, suddenly thinking this was not such a good idea. "I need to know her weak spots... but it's for a good cause!" Korra extended her hands, trying to justify herself. The light spirit made something similar to a sigh sound, their connection had made clear what kind of good cause was pressing the Avatar to ask for her help.

"She is a builder, but she is no bender. She needs tools..." the spirit voice was getting weaker, but before disappearing Raava imprinted an image in her mind. It was a workshop... a Future Industries workshop... and inside there was a cabinet containing a box... a toolbox marked with an anagram "A.S.". And as quickly as it came, the image disappeared from Korra's mind.

Korra woke up from her meditation. She was back in her room and Mako and Bolin were looking at her with expectation. Korra cocked her head. "I'm gonna be needing... tools?"

***

Mako didn't feel proud. He was a cop, he was supposed to catch trespassers, not become one of them. And yet here he was, holding a cloth with a wrench, a screwdriver and a hammer belonging to Asami Sato. He handed the evidence to the Avatar, embarrassed. Korra opened the package, examined its content and hugged her friend. She knew the effort he had made to break the rules for her.

The race day had arrived. Varrick had done a good job automatising the car. They had a trial the day before and it worked seamlessly. They had even managed to make a decent mark, with Chief Beifong driving remotely. Korra put on her helmet and pulled the zipper of the overalls Wei had just taken off. Together with the scarf and gloves, nobody would notice the deceit.

She hugged a last time her two friends and a very relieved Wei, and left the locker room for the starting grid. There were six other participants, but she had sneaked into their practice and she knew they weren't rivals to her - thanks to Varrick's device, that is. Korra took the seat of her satomobile, nodded towards Chief Beifong who was half hidden in a secluded box seat, and got ready to start.

Asami Sato was the last participant to reach her car. She flipped her long, raven black hair before fitting her googles, and looked back to her competition. She smiled smugly, and sat down in her seat.

All engines roared, ready to start. Ikki held a chequered flag by its pole, and upon Hiroshi Sato nod, she waved it down, with Meelo merrily floating in a small hurricane made by himself at her side.

The satomobiles sped up, wheels rotating at a burnout before shooting off. After just a few seconds, Asami Sato red roadster was clearly in advantage of all her suitors, with Korra's silver roadster following closely.

Asami sight was focused on the track, but her peripheral vision caught a glint of something shiny in that next opponent. She frowned when she recognised one of the hammers of her personal toolbox. The other driver threw it aside to the road margin. The distraction made her slow down, allowing her adversary to take the lead.

Korra was ecstatic, the plan was working! She laughed, exhilarated, until she noticed Asami's roadster was again at her level. Korra frowned, and got ready to use her second "secret weapon". She took the screwdriver, and purposedly wiggled it for the engineer to see. Asami was alternating looks to the road and to her opponent now, and Korra smiled at the heiress gaping mouth when she realized Korra had another tool of hers in her power.

Again, Korra threw the screwdriver to the road margin, allowing herself to mouth "Oops!", very much to Asami's anger. The engineer had slowed down again, but the rage towards this... this... dirty... Beifong scumbag... made her regain her focus and push to the metal. She managed to get matched again. There was absolutely no way she was going to let herself lose to some cheater.

Korra made a long face, but she still had her last ace up the sleeve. The wrench she had in her hand looked the same quality than the other tools, but much more worn away, probably a favourite for the engineer. Again she made sure Asami was looking at her, and shook it in front of the heiress eyes.

Asami couldn't believe it. "No, not Wrenchie, how do you DARE!" She was so dumbfounded she didn't realize until she saw the other car's rear plate that she had given up so much advantage. From behind, she could see how her nemesis threw her dearest tool to the side of the road. She was fueled by her fury and hit the gas as much as she could.

Korra winced. What she saw in the rear mirror was a very VERY angered Asami speeding up. Well, she would really have to make amends afterwards. She crossed her fingers and prayed that Chief Beifong floored it as much as she could. The finish line was closing, and Asami's roadster was still a little behind. "Come on... come on..." Korra was muttering to herself now, and then, all she could see was a the chequered flag waving again, and a red blur passing her after the line. She had won. Unbelievable.

"Wooohooo!!" She cheered and threw her right arm to the air, trying to maintain her cover. When the satomobile stopped, she jumped out of her seat and started to bounce up and down.

Asami Sato was making a beeline towards her. Maybe she was no firebender, but Korra could feel fire glowing from her green eyes. She was even more beautiful in person, Korra thought. "You cheater! How did you get hold of my tools! How do you d..." Asami seemed to lose her train of thought when Korra took her helmet off. The Avatar tried her best smile, and it seemed to be working.

"You are not Wei Beifong" Asami stated puzzled. And then something made click in her head. "You're the Avatar. You're the Avatar!" This outcome was not bad after all. Asami licked her lips, smiled and flipped back her hair. "But you really are a cheater, don't think I'm forgiving you so easily"

"So... I guess me winning means we're engaged now?" asked Korra with a goofy grin plastered in her face. Asami laughed and, knowing her father was approaching them, she took the Avatar's face with her hands and kissed her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

***

That wasn't Hiroshi Sato's voice. Jinora blinked twice, before recognising her surroundings, and Wan Shi Tong voice. She gasped, and closed the book she had fallen asleep upon. She smiled awkwardly and raised to her feet. Wan Shi Tong was in front of her, extending his wings to make himself more frightening. Bowing, she tried to calm herself, and appeal to the owl spirit knowledge hunger. "Honorable Wan Shi Tong, do you know how satomobiles work?"

Atalanta's myths are told, among others, in Ovid's "Metamorphoses". It's actually quite a cool character, one of the toughest chicks of the Greek Mythology :)

I'm not sure if it is a canon divergence... but dreams sometimes diverge from reality, so...

Comments, edits, suggestions... are very welcome. I hope you enjoy it!

[rrrawrf]

twas the day before thanksgiving

so, naturally, the airport went to hell in a handbasket.

credit to @thewinedarksea for the edit!!

so i’m gonna take y’all through this step by step.

my usual schedule is 530am to 600pm. a couple weeks ago, to be nice, i took a coworker’s 3 to 6 shift today on top of this, because they have a family and a real life outside their job, and meanwhile i’m just an airport troll who lives there anyway.

usually i work ramp or ops, because i like them better than dealing with passengers. today, i am actually the gate agent :) all day. :) :) :)

so we start today off nice and easy, with a mainline flight to denver that leaves at 705 am and is, of course, oversold. because it’s the day before thanksgiving, so of course it is.

fortunately, someone doesn’t show up for their flight, so we board everything smoothly, get gate checks, everyone has their seat assignment, it’s just another flight. i have to supervise my gate assist when she pulled the jetbridge back from the plane bc she is new and nervous, and then literally right after that, i have to go supervise two of the rampers in deicing the plane bc they are also new and nervous.

everything goes fine. it’s fine. no big deal.

next plane is a chicago flight (ORD #1) at like 9 something or other. we don’t usually have this chicago flight during the off season, so i had no idea i was working it until like 20 minutes before it landed.

scootch my bootch upstairs to deal with it. i’m merrily going about giving seat assignments to passengers when i get a call from downstairs.

“lisa there is a pet going on this flight, i need you to come accept it”

“admin j, my sign in does not work for this airport (still)”

“can you please come down i am sending another gate agent”

i go back downstairs while a very nice lady coworker takes over for me at the gate

turns out, the governor of a state i used to live in is flying out! turns out, he is also shipping a dog! turns out, we only found out AFTER the load plan had been locked, so we can’t get the dog on the plane! turns out! the governor and his dog aren’t even at the airport yet!

(: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (:

my manager, thankfully, gets involved as me and our main ops agent say no, we cannot get this dog on this plane, load planning cut us off, the guy isn’t even here, he doesn’t get to try and ship a dog less than an hour before departure and not even be here with the dog.

while my manager is down at the counter trying to manage things, this poor old lady who just wants to check in and needs wheelchair assistance shows up, so i bail on my manager and wheel her up to security

“i ship dogs with you guys all the time!” says the very late and angry governor to my manager, as i gleefully make my escape with a very kind old woman who later gives me a ten dollar tip

i manage not to flip the governor off, but his assistant may have heard me call the governor a bastard very loudly in the break room. i feel bad about this. i thought he was the mayor of a very large city by a very large lake, who with which my friends back in said state have had previous experience with in the flying arena.

when i get the lady back up to ORD #1, my fellow gate agent is just starting pre-boarding, so i just swoosh kind lady on down to the plane and help her to her seat, come back, displace a ramp agent who has some gate training as he tried to help the actual gate agent seat people. it was very kind of him, but he was out of practice and i took over and let him abscond back to the outdoors to throw bags, as i look on longingly from the gate windows and wish that i, too, could return to my natural habitat.

we rock ORD #1, get it out on time, everyone celebrates and i do my paperwork

time for ORD #2!

this is a smaller plane. it has 4 open first class seats. it has no one on the upgrade list. the only people with status were the very basic united credit card holders who really don’t get any benefit from the credit card at all.

do you know what this means?

it means i get to go hog wild.

we’re oversold by three in economy, so i have to upgrade people. i upgrade a dad and his lil son bc they had a hilarious last name and bc i just wanted to make someone’s day. i also upgrade a young couple. upgrading these four people meant i could throw two parents and their three kids together, a mom and her kid, her husband and their other kid, all in good seats next to each other with no families being separated. a guy on the heavier side asks if i can get him some extra legroom. unfortunately, i gave all the extra legroom seats to people with kids, BUT i have two empty seats in the back, so i move a couple people from a row back a row up and free up the guy his own row.

i am l i v i n g

breaking policy left and right

throwing upgrades away like oprah

it’s a thanksgiving miracle

(i go down to the plane to give the flight attendants their paperwork. they are less than thrilled with the woman of the younger couple that i upgraded - she was being mean and disrespectful. i feel bad for the amount of time it takes me to close the door and pull the jetbridge back, bc how would i have known this girl who got a free upgrade would be a witch? karma will get her back later.)

and then

ḑ̴̥̭̪̝͉̰̈́̓̆̃̈́̓̎̎͐̀͗ ȩ̸̧̛̠͈͚̺̪̣̙̳̲̲͍͎̰͛̾͌̉̉̓̑̓̂͠ n̷̡̡̻̬͎̫̦̹̰̹͈̫̏͘͜͝ͅ v̵̫̬̫͋̔̆̊ e̵̟͗͐́̓ r̸̡͕͈͎̟̜̣̠̰̖̦̒͊̆̓̈́̅̉̔̑͛̐̍̕̚͜͜͝

because it’s the day before thanksgiving, our big boy mainline denver is oversold by two! because of course it is!

i start soliciting for volunteers right away. amazingly, i get three (technically five, but two were a pregnant lady and her husband, so i just went “nope we are not putting them through this nonsense” and ignored that)

the first kid was actually a volunteer for the same flight yesterday, and got bumped, and he volunteered again because he didn’t want to spend any more time with his family in seattle than he had to

#mood

two girls who are going to just denver also volunteer. i very happily take them, because volunteers are literal angels and should have shrines built in their honor

as it turns out, by the time we stop checking people in, we need only one volunteer. boy going to seattle is first on the list, so he gets to stay (he ends up on san fran flight later). i shoo the two very lovely girls onboard, along with the older couple who would have been involuntarily denied boarding, had a pack of millenials who don’t want to go home for thanksgiving not shown up to go “please give me a reason to stay in montana”

fellow gate agent and i spend the next six years trying to figure out how to process an oversale by ourselves. it goes well. kid walks away with 800 dollars of travel vouchers from yesterday, and 900 today, and ends up with 1700 all total. he is gaming the system and i am unceasingly proud of him for it.

normally, this would be the end of my day. 

it is not.

because now we have

the californias

because half of california is on fire and also experiencing extreme winds, our los angeles flight (LAX) is delayed by like four hours. our san francisco flight (SFO) is on a ground hold for an hour.

because it’s the day before thanksgiving. 

the reason i usually work 530 to 3pm is because i’m willing to get up early, than stay late, because the californias are always late. and if it isn’t the californias, it’s our last baby denver plane (denver the third). because DEN #3 is flown by gojet. and gojet is consistently late.

except for today.

SFO gets here first, and then are on the ground for like an hour because they’re only delayed because of a ground hold in san fran because of smoke and high wind speeds. everything is chill. no one comes up to me to get rebooked. pilot asks for a departure time 3 minutes before what the computer says, and i give it to him.

now, at this point, the delay on LAX is known. it is in the system. pax would have been notified via phone, email, and the flight boards in the gate.

so, naturally, you would think that people on LAX who need to be rebooked would come up to me in the hour before i have to board SFO, right?

when i have the time? when i can take fifteen minutes to look at their itinerary and work something out?

lol

miss mary, older lady who is a little worried but overall a pleasure to work with, shows up just before i start boarding SFO and needs to get to sacramento and was on that LAX flight

i have no gate assist, because denver #3 just landed at the other gate and the other two gate agents are dealing with it next door.

so i have to board this plane, and i can get miss mary on only if one passenger doesn’t check in before thirty minutes to departure

fortunately for miss mary, they do not

unfortuantely for miss mary, she has to stand there while i board, try to rebook her, stop boarding bc the preboarding woman who thought she could use a walker on the plane (you can’t, aisle is too narrow) needs an aisle chair to get to her seat, make one of my rampers stand at the door and keep everyone from boarding, run down the jetbridge, aisle chair this poor older woman on, apologize 500000 times because i should have just taken the initiative, boarded her like ten minutes early, and done it myself because none of the rampers know how to use an aisle chair, then run back up to the gate, finish rebooking poor miss mary, reroute her bag and get her on the plane

that would have been enough

BUT THEN

i am paging the last two SFO passengers. they’re being stupid and not there. fourteen minutes to departure, which is four minutes to closing the main cabin door, a guy shows up

“hey uh if those two people you’re calling don’t show up, can we get on this flight? ours is delayed”

:| “no”

“are you sure?”

“i cannot rebook you in four minutes”

he leaves. two minutes later, his girlfriend comes, while i am still boarding, and asks the same thing

i get angry with her

“is there really no way?”

“well i could delay the plane for you,” i snap, very frustrated by this point

i think i scared her, she backs off

five seconds later, my last two idiot passengers show up anyway and the plane is full, so gf and her bf wouldn’t have been able to switch onto my plane anyway

sidenote: for anyone who thinks that rebooking you is a matter of like two minutes and a smile

it is not.

i get SFO out, which much pain and almost tears (but i didn’t cry!!!!!)

meanwhile, next door, three of my other gate agents are scrambling to do denver #3

tryna get another girl on LAX onto denver #3 instead, one coworker is on the phone with her dad who is trying to work things out

HALFWAY THROUGH BOARDING DENVER #3

THE MOBILE BRIDGE ADAPTER BREAKS

the MBA is a little bridge we use on certain aircraft that we can’t bring the jetbridge up to as closely, so we just scoot a lil bridge out to the plane

the right hand railing won’t stay upright

so i yell at gate 6 to stop boarding, drag the broken MBA out of the plane, run over to gate 7, yell at a ramper to help me drag that MBA over to 6, get it set up, have to run back up to gate 6 to yell at them to start boarding again, because no one! is listening! to the radio!!!!!

they are still trying to rebook this poor girl on denver #3. last minute, her dad changes his mind and says no bc we can’t guarantee she will get to sacramento that night

we took

a one minute delay

because of this bullcrap

anyway after the flight was gone one of the other gate agents got her onto a delta flight, so that’s good for her

now we still have like three hours before stinkin’ LAX even gets here

things kinda slow down - except my dearest darlingest coworker x

oh, x :)

x COMMITS A VIOLATION OF SECURITY REGULATIONS BY BRINGING A BAG THAT HAD GONE THROUGH SCREENING INTO THE PASSENGER AREA

NO, X

YOU CAN’T DO THAT

X

W H Y

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

fortunately, no one is arrested and we get it sorted out. i nearly have a heart attack. we’re most definitely going to get an email about this.

at this point, it is 640pm. we are overstaffed bc we only have one plane to come in, so supervisor sends most of the rampers home

and

praise hallelujah

they send me home

and i wrote this

[vaidenaxat]

Reasons Why Your Own Company Needs Standard Operating Procedures

Whether you really did not actually know it, I'm stressed with standard operating procedures. SOPs are actually the groundworks to creating solid, dependable devices that are going to improve your organization.

If there's one thing that is actually especially significant for companies, it's uniformity-- and also this is the main focus of change control. Uniformity is what establishes positive routines, which ultimately come to be second nature and take some body weight off your shoulders. It is actually the variation between successes and failings. When you consider the purposes as well as goals in your life, you consider constructing your goal property or even just obtaining your children to bedroom at 7pm (the real aspiration!), and all of these victories need you to constantly apply treatments and regimens.

Assume for a second about your favourite dining establishment. Maybe it is actually the Italian in the future, the one that serves pizza to die for. Why do you like to consume certainly there? Since you understand that that pizza is damn great, every single time-- and also the a glass of wine! In this particular scenario, generating and also following methods uniformity achieved that restaurant a good long-term reputation: making you a tremendously happy consumer with a meals baby that proves it.

Right now to quit thinking of pizza and a glass of wine (in the meantime) and also get serious. Your employees, your clients and also your company will certainly flourish off the congruity that SOPs provide. Let's look extra in to what they are actually and also why you 'd be ridiculous not to utilize them for your organization.

What are SOP?

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Keep things standard and also constant

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SOPs help you train new staff member

a SOP for instruction can easily assist you easily onboard brand-new employee. It can easily help your rookie comprehend their obligations and gives them along with a collection of very clear paths for finishing jobs. Likewise, SOPs may likewise help them to resolve any type of inquiries they may possess. Inevitably, this allows your workers to experience more secure as well as rubbishes less useful time. When needed, these instruction SOPs are absolutely beneficial resources for existing staff members memories if and also.

Get rid of mistake as well as foster productivity

Due to the fact that they deliver a crystal clear rundown of roles and expectations, you can easily utilize written SOPs to get rid of errors and uncertainty in your procedures. Typically, this creates whatever operate even more . In addition to that, they additionally offer the basics and make certain you and your group are all on the same web page, which generally generates a much more efficient working environment. Utilizing change control software is essential for every association.

Helping growth by ease of duplication

They can today be actually duplicated One hundred times over when you possess solid SOPs in location. Due to the fact that you presently recognize the success of these processes, they may be used over and over again as your organization develops. You can easily utilize all of them to track functionality of each basic procedure.

Dealing with premium as well as decreasing dangers

Quality control is very necessary for maintaining your customers, employees and also your business delighted. Depending upon the attributes of your company, lawful compliance may be a variable, and also it is actually these standardised methods that have acquired your spine. If your process is actually well-established, it shows you are actually ensuring to accomplish all necessary jobs. Changecontrol.com is the most effective royal residence where you may find software for change control in project management.

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SOPs are going to give you the confidence to switch-off and rest assured that your processes are actually taken care of in the correct way. This is wonderful if you get on getaway, and is equally necessary in being sure your butt is actually dealt with in the case of unanticipated absences like ill times. SOPs precisely describe who is in charge of what, thus when you need to entrust it will definitely be actually very easy to see that is your point of telephone call.