#gonna take a break from my other works then i'm gettin right back on my bullshit

[aesolerin]

dear god i didn't think i'd have the energy to keep up but i did

happy halloween and ddmonth has been so awesome!!!

[ddejavvu]

I do not know Tyler Owens at all but love your writing so i’m gobbling it all up ☆

what if this time, the tornado’s path is going to come too close to their house? how would Tyler break it to scaredy cat, would he stay with her somewhere else or do his job?

No Storm in Sight - Tyler Owens x Reader

please send me tyler owens requests!

Tyler manages to get all of your essentials packed up while you're still asleep, but he can't prevent the blaring tornado sirens from rousing you.

"Tyler?" You jolt awake, fear clinging tight to your chest and leaking into your voice as the awful sounds permeate your once-peaceful night, "Tyler, what- what's going on?"

"Storm's comin', baby," He croons, but his voice is tighter than it would have been if there wasn't any danger. "We're drivin' out for the night. I'm not chasin' this one. Not with you. It- it shouldn't hit here, but it's gettin' close, and I just wanna be safe."

"Oh my god," You're choking on the words while you're trying to get them out, breath short and choppy as you scramble out of bed, "I have to get- we- all of our stuff, Ty, we-"

"I got it. I packed up what we need," He gestures to a hefty backpack of valuables, cash and photos and mementos, everything that can't be bought back after it's whipped into a storm. It comforts you to know that Tyler's prepared, but just because you can replace the rest of your home doesn't mean you want to lose it.

"Come on, honey, you're okay. Let's get into the truck, m'kay?" He soothes, taking your hand in his despite having far too many things to juggle already, "Remember, even if it hits the truck we'll be okay. We're safe in the truck."

"Tyler, I'm scared," You breathe, still seized by the bleariness of sleep but feeling the stabbing pain of panic in your chest, "Please- Tyler please stay with me, I-"

"I'm stayin', darlin'." He promises, but you're not done blubbering.

"No, I mean- don't run back to grab anything, don't- don't get out of the truck for any reason, please Ty, I- I need you to make it out with me or I don't want to make it out at all."

Sirens blare louder but they can't manage to drown out the beating of your heart as you let Tyler drag you into the driveway. Gravel and dirt kicks up around your feet, really, you're walking through a cloud of the stuff, and you fight to maintain clear vision as foliage and dust attempt to steal it from you.

"Push through it, darlin'." Tyler calls, shouting over the roaring winds, "Just get to the truck, okay? We're safe in the truck."

You manage to grip the driver's side doorhandle, and with all of your strength, you rip it open where the wind wants to slam it closed. He holds it open for you, and you crawl over the console so that he can take his seat. Just this once Tyler doesn't make you buckle up before he peels out of the driveway, his bag of your essentials rolling off of the seat and landing on the floor of the truck. You've already got clothes and food packed away, and you're glad that Tyler had evidently made a mental checklist of what else to grab in an emergency. You manage to get your seatbelt buckled as Tyler turns out of your drive, and the dark clouds headed towards your home seem to spell disaster.

"Tyler, it's coming right for us," You choke on a sob that takes you by surprise, one that aches in your chest as you try working through it, "I- What if it knocks down our home, or- or what if it pulls us in, or-"

"Easy, angel baby." Tyler sets a hand on your thigh, using the other one to drive the truck steadily away from the incoming storm, "Like I said, it's not projected to hit us. It's just gonna get real close. Maybe knock down a couple'uh trees, break a window, that sort of thing. But we can fix it. And nothing's gettin' us in here, that's for sure."

You are thankful for the armored safety of his truck, thinking of the drills between the wheels that will anchor you safely into the ground. The storm doesn't look huge, but any storm is a dangerous one, and you're glad you and Tyler will, at least, survive.

The storm seems to curve, now heading left just as much as it is towards your house. You find yourself staring, fixated at it in the mirror until Tyler barks, "Hey. Don't watch it, baby. Look ahead, m'kay? See them clear skies? That's where we're headed."

Your hand shakes as you reach over to settle your own palm on Tyler's thigh, feeling the sturdy, rough material of his jeans beneath your fingers. You mourn the absence of your own sturdy clothes, thin pajama pants feeling bedraggled as Tyler speeds you away from the incoming storm.

You lose sight of the twister as Tyler rockets down the highway, and now the brunt of your worry is on your home, not your safety. Eventually, when there's not a cloud for miles, Tyler pulls over, breathing out one huge sigh as he slumps in his place.

"Ty," You gush, leaning over to wrap him in an awkward hug, "Ty, I- What are we gonna do? What if it gets our house?"

"It won't. It curved, it's- it's swerving. And even if- We can rebuild it," He murmurs, gripping you just as tight, "Don't think about that, baby. We- I... My team'll help. Boone's- Boone's good with electrical. Dani knows an architect. And I can handle the heavy liftin', darlin'. But we won't need that, m'kay? It's goin' the other way now. Our house is gonna be fine. And we're gonna be fine, look. No storm in sight, and we're safe in the truck."

"No storm in sight," You parrot, glad for the presence of Tyler's strong frame in the armored truck beside you. You're glad for the knowledge that the storm is turning away from your home, and you trust Tyler explicitly on the subject, happy for the security he offers as he holds your hand tightly, "We're safe in the truck."

[lcriedlastnight]

Accidentally saying I love you with Lando

tysm for your request anon, i appreciate it so much! p.s lando deserved that win today. max verstappen i am inside your walls.

tw: fem!reader, short and sweet, swears, lmk if there's anything you want me to add.

w/c: 1k

you and were a newer thing. you weren't new new, but new enough that you have not said those three little words to each other yet. you knew you loved lando since the third date, when even though he didn't like seafood, literally couldn't even stand being near the stuff, he took you to a sushi restaurant because you had never tried sushi and you wanted to give it a go. turns out you didn't like it either.

there had been a few times where you had almost let the words slip out your mouth but you had managed to bite your tongue at the last second. you would tell him when you were ready and when the time felt right.

lando was currently in spain for the spanish grand prix and this one was difficult. it was only the first race out of the three in the triple header and yet here you were, laying in yours and lando's shared bed, on facetime to him, close to tears. just seeing his face made you miss him more.

"come on honey, don't cry. don't do this to me. i don't want to watch you cry." lando frowns from his own hotel bed, the sheets too white compared to his usual ones. the bed too empty without you. you were usually really good with the distance but this was your first triple header with lando. there were double headers but even with those you made it to the last race so it was even less time. this time around you can't even go to one.

you sniffle as you try to stop your tears. you wipe your eyes with the sleeves of lando's jumper. "i know. i'm sorry. it's not your fault. i just miss you a lot tonight, lan." you express.

you can see lando nodding along with your words as you speak, you know it's not easy on him either. you sigh.

"okay. sorry. we can talk about something else now." you try your best to shake off the sadness. you can always cry when lando hangs up the phone.

"don't apologise, my sweet girl. i know it's hard, i'll try speak to you as much as i can. and i know i'll be busy but i'm back in monaco for the next three tuesdays." lando tried to find a positive in all of this. it was difficult.

you nod, with a hum taking his word into account. "not gonna let go of you for the full night on the tuesdays." you insist with such determination it makes lando's heart melt.

"is that a threat or a promise?" he asks, cheekily. that stupid smirk on his face as he tries his best to make you laugh. it works, not because it's funny but because his smirk always made you laugh.

"promise." you say through giggles. lando laughs along with you until he checks the time on the top of his phone. he sighs as it reads two am.

"m' gonna have to go now, honey. it's gettin' a little late." lando frowns like the words actually hurt him physically to say. you frown too but you understand so you don't put up any fight.

"g'night lan. speak to you tomorrow. i'm not working so call whenever you can i'll keep my day free for you." you bid him goodnight and send him a kiss through the phone screen. lando smiles at your cute gesture.

"night, honey. i'll call you whenever i can. i love you." it is quick but you catch it. lando blows you a kiss then ends the call. you didn't get a chance to say anything back. you don't think he even realises he said it. well he will now he's laying thinking about it. you think to yourself as you settle down on lando's side of the bed and fall asleep.

it's not until he returns home that it's spoken about. you are happy he loves you too and you are even happier that you didn't say it first. you were scared that if you said it first and lando didn't feel the same then he would break up with you. you let your mind carry you away sometimes.

you wait on the couch in your living room for lando to come in. you hear his key in the lock and the rolling of the wheels on his suitcase through the doorway. it makes you giddy but instead of leaping off the couch you stay where you are. lando notices you there and makes his way to you. he doesn't give you time to think before he is wrapping you up in a hug.

your head resting in the crook of his neck as he picks you up in the hug. you laugh at his strength. when your giggles die down thats when you hear him. he's mutter a quiet stream of "i love you"'s into your ear. this is when the tears spring to your eyes again. you pull his head out of your neck to really look at him.

"i love you too. you didn't let me say it back last time." you try to slip the joke in but lando doesn't laugh. no, he just springs forward, lips locking with yours in the sweetest kiss you've had yet from the brit. he pulls away put sends a quick few pecks to your lips, because he can never get enough of you.

you both spend the rest of the day repeating those words to each other like you have just found out what they mean. lando literally feels the need to shout them to everyone he see's in the airport as you wave him goodbye the next again.

while lando is on the flight with no internet he spends his free time typing the words 'i love you' out individually, over and over again then sending it to you just before he lands so that when he does actually land and you get the message. you will be reminded that you are all he thinks about even when you aren't with him.

[upsidedownwithsteve]

Alright my friend, what about a smutty blurb with Steve that is totally not related to your writer's block at all? 👀

You're frustrated with work. Something not going the way you want it to. You're huffy. You're at your desk, the kitchen counter, heck you're outside by the pool trying to work on it.

Steve's tried the sweet, baby come relax, he's tried making you drinks. Feeding you snacks. You're like nah, Steve, I'm going to sit here and huff, nothing is going to work.

His penis. His penis is gonna work. Take it out on Stevie, he doesn't mind. In fact, he'd love it if you got a little mean, a little more vocal for a change.

- @superblysubpar 💛

TAYLOR WHAT THE FUCK IM FINE

18+

You’d been sitting in front of your paperwork for hours. Books surrounded you, mostly unopened, sheets of paper showing nothing more than scored out sentences and scribbles in the margins, hearts and clouds that turned into frowny faces and raindrops.

There was a coffee cup, still full, untouched as was your flask of water, the bowl of strawberries Steve had placed on your desk after you’d turned down his offer of lunch. And the last three times he’d asked you about dinner, about settling down for the night, you’d grunted and grumbled your disagreement, gaze never straying from your work.

“Honey, c’mon,” Steve tried again, the clock on the wall above you ticking towards eleven o’clock. You’d been at it for almost nine hours. “You need to eat. There’s pasta waiting for you. How ‘bout you eat and I’ll run you a bath—”

“Steve,” you didn’t quite snap, but it was awfully close. Your voice was clipped and your boyfriends name didn’t come out nearly as half as sweet as you normally said it. “I need to finish this.”

“You’re not gonna get anything done when you’re in that mood,” Steve shot back, eyebrows raised when you huffed at him, barely turning away from your desk to look at him.

“I’m not in a mood.”

The boy laughed at that, a breathy noise that sounded more mean than amused. He walked into the room, abandoning his position against the doorframe that he’d been leaning on. You felt him before you heard him, nose brushing behind your ear before his hands came to rest on the desk in front on you, arms either side, caging you in.

“Yes, you are,” Steve replied calmly. His tone would’ve riled you if it hadn’t been for his lips on your neck, ghosting across the nape of it, his nose pushing your hair out of the way for himself. “Can’t lie, babe, you’re gettin’ a little bitchy—”

“Steve—”

“And I know you’re stressed, honey, but you’re not gonna get much done when you’re locking yourself away in here all day.” Another kiss, this time on your jaw, softened his words. “Take a break. It’ll be here tomorrow. Eat. Shower. Sleep.”

You groaned, pouting at the boy’s words. You knew he was right, you did. But the empty lines on your notebook mocked you. “I can’t,” you grunted, slipping back into your bad mood. Grey clouds seemed to gather in front of your vision. “I can’t do any of that until this is finished.”

Steve straightened back up then, his mouth leaving your skin. You weren’t sure if you were disappointed or pleased he was listening. But then his hand came back into your line of view and your book was snapped shut.

“Hey! Steve, I told you—“

Your chair was spun, Steve’s pretty face in front of yours as he leaned into your space, one hand take your cheeks between his fingers and thumb, squeezing a little. A warning.

“Do me instead.”

You blinked, jaw slackening, even in his grip. “What?”

The boy grinned. “You heard me, honey. Do me. Use me. C’mon, let me get you out of that pretty head of yours, huh? Make yourself feel better.”

That’s how you ended up bent over your desk, sleep shorts on the floor and your vest top pulled down so your tits could spill out, hard nipples grazing the tabletop. Your papers were spilled in every corner of the room, pens rolling to the carpet as Steve kept you pressed down with one large hand on the small of your back.

The other held your knee, hitching it up and pinning it to the desktop, keeping you spread open for him as he fucked himself into you, hips rolling slow until you cried out in frustration.

“What’s that?” He cooed, brow furrowed as he tried to hold himself back, his eyes dark and trained on your cunt, the way it glistened in the glow of the lamp, the way it stretched over the girth of his cock. “You gettin’ all quiet on me? C’mon, honey, you’ve been runnin’ that bitchy little mouth all day, you wanna ask for something?”

Steve reared back, a hand leaving your back to deliver a swift slap to your ass, a groan rumbling in his chest as he watched it jiggle for him. You whined, eyes fluttering closed as you tried to arch your back, doing your best to take more of his cock.

“Try asking a little sweeter, baby,” Steve smiled, panting as he kept himself snug inside of you. You were tight around him, teetering on the edge, just where he wanted you. “Ask me real sweet and I’ll give it to you, yeah?”

You gave in then, gasping, fingers curling around the edge of the table. “Harder! Jesus, Steve, fuck me harder, please… please baby.”

Steve grinned as he pulled almost all the way out of you, the tip of his cock nudging at your folds, revelling in the way your cunt tried to suck him back in, desperate.

“Shit, honey, see?” Steve slammed back into you before you had a chance to reply, groaning when you moaned high and loud, cheek pressed to the table. “Gonna give you whatever you want, just gotta be nice about it. You’re out of your bad mood now, aren’t you?”

You didn’t have it in you to argue back.

[ilikekidsshows]

About you being harassed by Marinette fans. I don't know if me doing this is weird, but you being open bout that makes me want to open up more too. I've send you 4 anons by now (u probably could already tell they were from one person) because I don't have a miraculous Blog anymore since the hiatus before Destruction because Marinette fans found one of my posts criticizing Marinette's treatment of Cat Noir and her leadership and they went after me for i think almost an entire week. I ended up deleting my blog in panic and fear of it getting worse the more traffic it got amongst Mari stans.

I followed the show and Fandom til now from afar to see if any of my Marinette problems were getting the fixes everyone screamed about season 5 would deliver but I can't say that happened. I wholeheartedly agree that with alot of other people that it only got worse with the doubling down and her gettin less heroic underneath the surface.

So I'm still here and upset that I was bullied out of this fandom for things I was apparently right about to degrees I didn't even knew back then how right I'd end up being....

I found a couple of blogs to follow that share my opinions and you guys have been interwoven alot now so I thought sending anons to dip my toe back into being part of the discourse is a good idea. I hope I didn't cause any Mari stans getting angry at you for it, I've been worried bout that ngl.

I would like to ask bout one of the topics Marinette fans cyberbullied me for but I still think I'm right for questioning:

How much value does Marinette see in being friends with her love interests?

Oc im not doubting that she sees at least some worth in it, but it feels very shallow. Fandom is working the lion's share to take what little canon gives and run with it til they think their fanon is real.

Marinette values friendship, sure, but Zoe is the only love interest of hers for whom that feels right to say

Marinette in Canon has said many times that for her being friends with the one she loves is the worst thing she could possibly imagine. E. g. Psycomedian. And she was rewarded with Adrien being her devoted and desperate prince for her doing probably the most friendship related thing she did in all season 4. She had a basic little convo with him about understanding to have problems and that's where it ended. Where did Marinette ever even try to be rlly Adrien's friend? She said 500x that she's finally gonna put her romance feelings aside for a bit to focus on her job (which I hoped would mean she'd work on her weaknesses in the platonic Ladynoir team dynamic too... Silly me... )

But that never goes anywhere? Weren't Adrien and Kagami the ones literally having been created out of the feeling love or to love someone in particular and even THEY could overwrite their senti programming better than Marinette ever could get over her normal ass feelings for a week? Adrien and Kagami value the friendship with the one they love deeply, is that the difference? That Marinette can't ever move one from loving someone because friendship feels like an awful downgrade and torture to her so she stays the same? What does that say bout her?

Or that Luka and Cat Noir never caused her stalker paranoia to break out that Derision claims she does to protect herself. Why does it only apply to Adrien? And not even Cat Noir, too? In my other anons I brought up how awful I think it is that Marinette seemingly has no interest in leaning anything rlly about the boy underneath Cat Noir's mask, now she barely acts like she remembers that he's real and that they'll one day reveal where he'll then find out how many times she deliberately deceived him with her civilian identity in very hurtful ways.

How does that correspond to her being in love and more important for my question, what does that level of refusal to treat someone like a real person say about her willingness to be Cat's friend? Cause I can't see friendship in Ladynoir anymore. Marinette was the one who killed that in season 4 and then season 5 didn't improve her in much. Friends don't treat each other the way Marinette so easily uses, hurts ignores, silences and deceives Cat Noir without batting an eye.

The only effort she really made was before Kwamis choice. When she thought he was still in love with her and expected that s4 magically caused no damage to his feelings for her. she seemingly thought she could just allow him to dedicate himself to her for an overall easy way to sweep everything under the rug and make him "happy" again without her ever having to really try and do better herself because that was the comfort she was seeking at that time (shoutout to Familyagrestefanblog and erisluna35. I've been paraphrasing them alot and wanted mention that too. Didn't get to write out my own opinion in a while and I agree with them x})

This refusal to face her hurtful actions of s4 quickly developed into her craving for him to give her his easy love and not wanting to take anything less than precisely the endless devotion she wanted from him now. No matter what the price. No matter how much it put him too in danger (what even meant Cat Blanc?), and yet, still no interest in him as a person.

Once she had to take the no, she left and then she never again made a genuine effort in Ladynoir. Any effort to better herself was romance related. Determination may have been the episode where she rlly noticed her changed feelings for him, but she did try earlier than that. But it fully stopped with his no as did her changed feelings vanish as quickly as they showed up. So what does that say about her and how she views their "friendship"?

Season 4 has her already show that she doesn't want Ladynoir to be an actual friendship since she treats him barely better than a magical pet she rarely ever thinks about, which caught her off guard over and over that she isn't being the kindest and adoring person of all time to him. She treats him so much worse than her actual friends and in s5 she isn't trying to build a real connection beyond wanting him to shower her in his devotion and love.

What season 5 shows bout Marinette's view of the Ladynoir friendship is in my most generous reading her not getting to hide behind any romantic feelings from either side that she doesn't know how to be his friend, after she had to learn in season 4 that she was a really really bad one. But even with that generous reading, it would still mean that Marinette then went on prioritizing not having to feel any further discomfort or having to owe up for her actual mistakes in their bond over her finally being the friend she SHOULD think Cat Noir deserves. A friend he desperately needed but never got cause she called it a day with her personal needs being met my having her best friend Alya with her.

Friends don't do that. Marinette denied him any genuine friendship he obviously truly needed as Cat Noir because she personally didn't need it from him anymore cause of Alya. And he rejected her desire to now be adored by him so there was no purpose left anymore for him to fulfill in her life besides the easy partner she made clear cant ask shit from her.

That is so unbelievably selfish... How on earth is that supposed to be FRIENDSHIP?

Srry, for this being long. Last point.

Luka of course needs to be mentioned too. Sure, the show says they are friends. But are they really? Their friendship is built on him being her platonic therapist back-up boyfriend who doesn't ask shit of her either. This is still the same pattern as with Catrien. Luka does all the emotional labor and Marinette just takes and takes and that's what makes her so comfortable around him but she isn't interested in him either beyond what she sees day to day in front of her.

That doesn't count as friendship in my book. For Adrigami you can still feel their friendship after their breakup. But Lukanette is Luka being a platonic therapist boyfriend and Marinette being just as disinterested in him as with Cat Noir while being just as comfortable getting showered in emotional labor that she's unwilling to work on giving back the way she should.

How is that friendship? What value has friendship for Marinette once any romantic feelings are involved from either side and it isn't Zoé (feels like a homophobic backhanded compliment lmao)

That was very long, I apologize. But thanks to writing in anon I started becoming more comfortable with the idea of joining the Fandom discourse again. I've got alot I wanna say after all that time in silence but I'm not sure yet if I should put myself out there again with a blog. With how season 5 ended Marinette stans are gonna be vicious beasts to any criticism they come across and I don't want that to happen again :(

---

I hope this isn't a case of speak of the devil and he shall appear but lately things have been really quiet on the Marinette stan front. The worst I’ve gotten was this really unhinged one, but they were so unpleasant they didn't have any friends so the harassment was very one-note and stopped pretty quickly since they had to run it alone. It could be that now that season 5 confirmed that season 4 wasn't an outlier, that the show’s writing has gotten incredibly sloppy and nasty, the critical side of the fandom has become unified and we add to each other’s posts and kind of back each other up. It's harder for Marinette stans to target us one by one, and their preferred tactic is dogpiling a single blog. A lot of the Marinette stans protesting my posts now shut up right quick when they see more people agreeing with me adding to the reblog chain.

As for the question, I agree with your assessment. It really does appear that Marinette hates the idea of being friends with a love interest. She whined about Adrien seeing her as just a friend all the way back in Riposte. Adrien sung her praises to Kagami, while she spied on them, and she had the gall to whine that the boy she “loves” thinks so highly of her because it wasn't the kind of thinking she wanted.

There was this one thing I said in a previous post that I think is accurate: Marinette part-times being Cat Noir's friend. Even the part of time she acts as his friend, she ignores his feelings, insults him, pushes him away, refuses to give him emotional support in any way and lies to him about anything she possibly can. She only approaches him as Marinette when she wants to complain about Adrien not coming to the date he didn't know was a date, when she thinks she can score a date with him or so that she can practice confessing to Adrien on him. Marinette's “friendship” with Cat Noir is all take with no give when she isn't outright ignoring his existence.

She also ignores boys who have feelings for her in her civilian life. Nathaniel is very suspicious of her in Reverser, having to be convinced that she wasn't planning to humiliate him, implying he isn't part of her friend group since he doesn't know her well enough to know she only humiliates people when they're in her way of getting at Adrien. (Alix makes it sound like she wouldn't do that period, but we know the truth by now.) She also refused to come to Juleka and Luka's shared birthday party if Luka was present after they broke up. I bet if you tried to tell Marinette, or her writers, that your romantic partner should also be your best friend to make a healthy relationship, they just wouldn't compute. 

I don't want to say Marinette doesn't hold friendship in high regard period, because the amount of exceptions she makes for Alya shows that she at least values Alya’s friendship. I think she just doesn't value friendship with boys. I feel like Marinette is the kind of person who doesn't think boys and girls can really be friends, which would explain why she thinks Adrien considering her a friend is worse than anything else. If boys can't really be friends with girls, Adrien using the word “friends” means they aren't even that.

Consider this: how often does Marinette hang out with her guy classmates when it isn't 1) a whole-class outing or 2) more likely that Marinette just wanted to hang out with his girlfriend? Like, in Animan, Marinette had no idea Nino had a crush on her, but she still acted like an outing with him at the zoo was the worst thing ever. I get that she was disappointed Adrien wasn't there, but Nino is one of Marinette’s oldest classmates, yet she doesn't want to spend time with him, unless she's planning to use him to get closer to Adrien, since he's Adrien’s best friend.

Of course, she doesn't really value the time with her other friends for its own sake outside of Alya either. It seems like the only times they hang out together is to plot or participate in her get Adrien quick schemes. The only times the girls do something not Marinette related is when Marinette hasn't called them together, like when they were going to the pool in Gorizilla, something Marinette completely forgot until Alya called her. Marinette has poor memory but, despite her knowing she has poor memory, she apparently gave herself no reminder to hang out with her friends. You bet I write down every occasion I’ve agreed to see my friends specifically because I have bad memory as well.

It seems like, unless you're Alya, Marinette only cares about you for how able and willing you are to help her catch Adrien's attention. I keep saying Marinette treats her Adrien romancing problems as the most important thing going on at any given moment, and it's true for all areas of her life. Maybe that's the reason we didn't see Socqueline for four seasons despite her supposedly being such an important friend to Marinette, and why she never joined the friend group proper; Socqueline couldn't help her get with Adrien so she wasn't worth Marinette’s time.

This is a yet another thing where Miraculous is actually pretty sexist; girls and boys can't ever just be friends and girls care more about getting guys than they do about their friends. Another thing of course is this idea that boys just don't have as in-depth feelings as girls or should bury their feelings and never ask for emotional support, which is why all of Marinette's love interests are her emotional support dispensers whose opinions on anything don’t matter when their job is to simply mindlessly worship Marinette while their feelings are devalued by the narrative every time they dare to try to ask Marinette for some support back. Luka gets Akumatized which convinces him to break up with Marinette when he had emotional needs she wasn't willing to fulfill. Meanwhile Adrien goes through the travesty that is Kuro Neko

“Power of love always so strong” but only when it's Marinette's toxic idea of love and when it isn't platonic love. Unless you're Alya, I guess.

[basilone]

Thanks for the reminder, I've had the prompt page open since yesterday in a tab. Can I prompt 06. — surface for either Brady and/or an OC of your choice, please?

Love that my little post from a bit ago reminded you that you wanted to send me something! 💙 I had to sit with this one a moment, as I'm still wrangling Brady in my brain, but landed on the following...

surface

He hears her before he sees her.

It’s rather a common occurrence on base these days. Can’t move five feet without hearing a woman’s raised voice carry over the din. Can’t set foot outside a hut without hearing their shouts or their laughter – in worst cases both at once – as if all of Thorpe Abbotts now belongs to them. The woman currently cursing up a storm in the belly of his plane is one of the worst offenders. Voice with the power of a foghorn, voice that only seems to stop when she’s eating or sleeping, voice that has all but elbowed its way into his subconsciousness already.

John Brady heaves a sigh. Takes another sip of his coffee while he leans against the one part of the space that hasn’t been subjected to her rather impressive array of tools. She treats this plane like she owns it, having draped her jacket over the other gun, using her previously pristine white scarf as an extra cloth to wipe the grime off her hands with before unceremoniously flinging it to the floor. He eyes the dirtied scarf a moment. Refocuses on her only when she lets out a rather large snort.

“You on your coffee break, Brady, or are you thinking ’bout helping?”

“Helping with what?”

She wipes at her forehead. Leaves it with streaks of black. “Damn gun keeps jamming on reload. Max complained about it after our last run. She kept having to slam down on it with her fist.” Her dark eyes narrow as she peers at the gun’s slide. “Son of a bitch is gonna cost me more work, think it needs to come apart before we’re wheels up again.”

“Just the one, not the other?” John nods at her jacket. Isn’t surprised when she nods back to indicate that only one of their guns is out for the count. “Sounds like a job for Morrison herself.”

“Max ain’t flying this one next time. Egan said she’s up with him, and Dee’s gonna be wheels up with Crank. Guess we’re getting one of their gunners in return?” She scoffs a moment. Rakes her short hair back best she can, which isn’t well at all. “Don’t you look at me like that, ain’t our fault brass keeps shuffling crews like a deck of cards!”

“Just wondering about the end game,” he says carefully, setting his empty cup down atop her toolbox. “They’ve been moving you around different crews since Trondheim. Filling gaps.”

“Softenin’ y’all up for more female replacements, more like,” she snipes. Her hands deftly pry a part of the gun away from the slide. “C’mere, hold this for me, easier with two”– and his hands are on the panel before he can think twice about following orders –“gonna get this baby up and running for you and me. I don’t wanna get mid-flight only for this to decide it don’t wanna play no more.”

John’s eyebrow raises. “Keeping me company, Perrault?”

Her laugh is throaty but loud. “Sweet baby Jesus, you and Darlene are just about the only ones gettin’ my name right around these parts. Egan keeps callin’ me Perry, for fuck’s sake, and all them rest calls me Push. Stupid nickname.” Her hand covers his a moment, directing him to the edge of the panel. He takes a shallow breath in through his mouth as she leans forward and fills the air with gasoline-and-grease smell. “But yeah, Jules said they were gonna shift me to your crew for the next run. Somethin’ about your engineer getting frostbite up in the turret?”

“Hole in his suit.”

“That’s shit,” she says conversationally, tugging at the gun between them until it clicks apart. “Can ya take me through this baby once we get this gun fixed? I like to know what I’m workin’ with. Know she had a belly landin’ not too long ago, yeah?” She hums as he kicks a wrench over to her. “Ken said she’s all right now, but I want a look at that landing gear before we go.”

“Landing gear should be okay. More worried about the plating around the second engine,” he confesses as he holds two parts of the gun while she’s loosening a third. “It felt like it wasn’t quite feathering the way it should.”

“What, on the surface? Or deeper?”

“Could be deeper. Think it’s surface.”

“You tell Ken that?” She grins at him, unapologetic, as he frowns at her. “Of course ya did. You’re a smart one, John Brady.”

“Perrault,” he says, feeling just a little unmoored about the totally sober way she just called him smart, “just don’t get frostbite up there.”

He flinches a little at her booming laugh. Bites his tongue when her oil-stained hand lands atop his. She pats it reassuringly, as if that’s answer enough in the universe she inhabits. No boundaries between pilot and engineer, or so Bucky would say. The man’s insane.

“Chin up,” she says, then, and her hand squeezes his fingers before letting go. “Your face went all sour lemon. Thinking about repairs?”

“Bucky and his big mouth, actually,” he says, before he can stop himself.

Perrault lets out a groan that practically reverberates off the walls. “Please, say no more.”

“You too?”

He decides he likes Perrault just plenty when she rolls her eyes and slams the wrench down on the gun’s chamber. “Lord, where do we start?”

[laughingsapphic-creates]

Inukag Week, day 6: Sacrifice

Works as a follow-up to my story from day 3, but each works as a standalone as well. This bit would take place maybe a month or so after that one

@inukag-week

~~~~~~

All's fair in love and (nerf) war

"We're surrounded."

Kagome's grip on her weapon tightened, and she sighed in resignation. This should have been easy; they had faced much worse threats in their time together; things that should have beaten, broken and killed them, and they had always come out the other side smiling, stronger than ever. The three little monsters had them on the ropes from the moment the fight began

They knew the terrain better, and they were small enough to hide just about anywhere. Meanwhile, their current hiding spot was the only place large enough to house the two of them, with Inuyasha braced against the entrance to hold it shut. Taking a deep breath, Kagome peered up at him, finding his eyes in the dim light that filtered through the musty air.

"How long do you think it'll be until they get bored?" she whispered, ears straining for any sign of the telltale giggles of their pursuers.

"Too long. Sango and Miroku should be along with backup, but we shouldn't count on them to arrive in the nick of time. We need to end this, now," he cracked the entrance, peering carefully out into the light. "Not that I mind all gettin' all cozy, but maybe we should save it for when we're. not bein’ hunted for sport.”

Kagome felt her face get hot, but shook her head, making a sincere effort to focus.

"Find something to throw. Make noise somewhere else, draw them away."

"Can't get a clear shot. Not sure anything I could throw would get far enough.” He closed off the entrance again, sighing softly before meeting her gaze. “Okay, I'm gonna make a break for it. Once they come after me, you follow behind and shoot 'em down while they're focused on me."

"What? Absolutely not! All four of you are faster than me, they'll maul you before I got a shot off!" she hissed, the fingers of her free hand clenching in his shirt. A warm, calloused hand wrapped around hers, and he met her eyes.

“You're the best shot in this fight, Kagome. And this is the best shot we have." His other hand wrapped around hers as well, reinforcing her grip on her weapon. She flashed a bitter grin, laying her palm flat to his chest so she could feel his heartbeat.

"When did you turn into such a cornball?"

"Dad jokes come with the territory," he explained, releasing hand to touch her barely-distended belly. She sighed deeply, covering his hand with her own and leaning up to press a long kiss to his mouth, which he readily returned.

"You be careful. No unnecessary risks,” she ordered, barely pulling away to voice the demand. She felt his lips quirk upward, and he kissed her again.

"Not about to put the "dead" in “deadbeat”," he assured, earning a smack to the chest that made him laugh softly. Righting herself, Kagome tucked her body further into their alcove. giving him room to ready himself for takeoff.

“Ready?”

"As I'll ever be.”

He held up a fist, the other clenched around the grip of his weapon. Silently, he held up one finger, then another. When the third went up, he shouldered the door open, throwing himself into the open with a loud cry.

"There he is!"

“Get him!”

The little demons shrieked and cackled, taking chase without a thought. When they passed her hiding place, she emerged and took aim.

The first shot struck one at the middle of the back, and she went down with a cry of surprise.

“Behind you!” she warned the other as she tumbled to the ground. The second whipped around, but Kagome fired again before she could even lift a hand to her defense. Kagome's projectile found a home on the girl's abdomen, and she fell to her knees, laughing even as she clutched her chest.

“Nice shooting Kagome!”

The woman smiled as Inuyasha stopped and turned back to look at her, a proud grin on his face as he started to head back towards her.

“Inuyasha, look out!”

The boy.

Inuyasha only glimpsed him. That was all he needed to realize that the last one wasn't aiming at him.

Without so much as a thought, Inuyasha threw himself between them, taking the shot fired in his wife's direction.

“No!”

Kagome bolted to his side, the last of the enemy ducking out of sight as she raised her weapon to fire as she ran. When she reached him, she took a knee at Inuyasha's side, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“Inuyasha! Inuyasha, say something!”

She lifted him into her lap, and he groaned softly.

“You guys are so dramatic,” the boy teased from his hiding place.

“Dramatic…?” Kagome asked, looking up at him from under her fringe, a sharp smile on her face. “Or distracting? Now, Sango!”

Another shot was fired from the other side of the barrier he hid behind, and the boy whined.

“Moooom! That's not fair!”

“Never forget how many enemies you're fighting, Hisui. Once you lose track, it's all over” she hummed, moving to scoop up the eight-year-old and smother him in kisses. He tried to argue and push her off, and shrieks of joy joined from the corridor between the fence and the side of the house. Miroku rounded the corner with a girl under each arm, joining them in the small back yard.

“Thanks for looking after them, you two. I hope they weren't too much trouble,” he greeted, setting his daughters down.

“Not at all. And even if they were, we'd deal. I'm just glad you two had a good time celebrating your anniversary,” Kagome grinned, hugging Sango when she set her son down. “Besides, I have to enjoy getting to play on my feet while I still can.”

“That's true. Plus, we're gonna have to get used to dealing with more than one brat at a time.” Inuyasha agreed with a sly smile, helping Gyokuto and Kin’u reload foam bullets into their nerf guns.

“What are you- wait-!” Sango whipped around to look between them, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“We found out a month ago. Told Moroha before sending her to her friend's place for a sleepover,” Kagome beamed, accepting another hug as Sango wrapped her up tightly.

“Oh my- congratulations!” Miroku exclaimed, clapping Inuyasha on the back before the two of them slid into a hug as well.

“I think we missed something,” Kin’u stage-whispered to her twin, getting a teasing look from their mother.

“Aunty Kagome and uncle Inuyasha are having another baby!”

The girls gasped, looking at each other and shrieking in excitement. Abandoning their weapons with Inuyasha, they crowded Kagome, asking a myriad of questions. Kagome laughingly requested that they keep it to one at a time, grinning over their heads at her husband. Moroha would be home soon, and she would probably have to answer all these questions again. And she would answer with a smile, content to revel in the happy glow that surrounded her family.

[drpeppertummy]

3 in one day lets GOOOO finally got dave out again

[post-stuffing, liquid bloat, mild burping]

"Hey Dave, you finally gettin' a belly or are you just full of Tastykakes?" Carrie poked her friend's rounded stomach. "Nope, just Tastykakes." Dave smiled sheepishly at her.

"Y'know how it is," he said with a shrug. Carrie laughed and patted him firmly on the back.

"Yeah, I do. What're you working on?"

"Evil baby," said Dave, casually holding up a grotesquely mutated baby doll. "I'm about to take a break, though. I just painted him so he needs to sit a while."

"I think your stomach needs the break too," teased Carrie. Dave had a habit of snacking nonstop while he worked, and he and Carrie both knew it. More than once he'd been so absorbed in his projects that he'd absentmindedly eaten himself into a stomachache. He set the baby down and stood up from the table he'd been working at, one hand on his bloated belly. It felt more stuffed than he'd realized.

"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed. He stretched his arms above his head, joints cracking as he did so, and flopped down over the arm of the couch, letting his legs dangle over the side. Carrie sat down at the other end, looking with amusement at Dave's belly. Even under his baggy, paint-stained T-shirt and the loose flannel over that, it poked out noticably from his skinny frame. She reached out and gave him a pat on the stomach. It was firm and taut. Dave stretched again, his shirt riding up slightly, and reached for a bottle of grape soda on the coffee table.

"Dave."

"Huh?" He looked up, opening the bottle.

"Aren't you full? How can you have any room for that nasty shit?"

"I dunno. It's just soda," he said with a shrug.

"Look at your belly," Carrie exclaimed. "That's gonna bloat you up even more!" Dave looked down at his stomach, then shrugged again. He propped himself up on one elbow and took a swig. His belly gurgled and bubbled as it filled up even more. He set the bottle down and let out a loud burp.

"Nice," Carrie laughed. He grinned at her.

"Hey, watch this," he said. He lifted the soda again and chugged the rest of the bottle, his stomach gurgling uncomfortably as it strained to contain the sudden onslaught of liquid and fizz. Carrie watched, astonished, as his belly bulged even further. Finally, he pulled the empty bottle from his lips with a groan. He paused for a moment, then his belly rumbled loudly, and an enormous burp erupted from his mouth.

"Damn, Dave!" Carrie gave him a brief applause. He dropped his head back down onto the couch, sighing. His distended stomach sloshed at the movement. He hadn't been uncomfortably full before, but the sudden expansion left his stomach aching. Carrie noticed the discomfort on his face.

"Wasn't your best move, huh?" She gave his belly a sympathetic pat. It was much tighter now than it was before.

"Not my best, not my worst," he said. She chuckled and gently rubbed his belly.

"I'm sure you'll definitely learn from this, right?"

"Oh, yeah, totally." He smiled up at her, and they both laughed.

[spaceratprodigy]

The Siren Song of Devil's Peak

yes I am using this drawing as a cover image again lmao it cracks me up and I didn't feel like making something else. I think it's still rather fitting ✏

"Welcome back, Captain" Ada greeted as Faith stepped through the door of the Unreliable, her companions not far behind her.

Faith had been more quiet than usual.

She didn't want to be here, didn't want to be alone with her thoughts. The stillness of her room had been suffocating. She had been spending more and more days away, wandering anywhere she could on Monarch.

Her friends, however, were tired.

They needed a break, food, for Ellie to make sure they weren't falling apart. Faith needed it, too, but her body wouldn't let her stop. She was ready to head back out.

"Hey Boss," Felix chimed "are you feeling-"

"I'm fine" Faith cut him off sharply, immediately looking down in shame. "I'm sorry."

"Cap, we're worried about you. You need to rest" Parvati said, her tone more concerned than usual.

"I'll be fine, I need to go back out there."

"For what? Boss, you need to stop. We have to talk about this" Felix interjected.

"We don't have to talk about anything. You two get some rest, I'll see if Nyoka and Ellie-"

"No!" Felix's worry was turning into frustration "look, I'm sorry but.. I don't want you to get hurt. You can't keep running away."

"Cap.." Parvati was softer now "you're not in a good way and this isn't healthy."

Faith knew they were right. She was avoiding the fact she had to confront the problem in front of her sooner or later. That's why she won't sit still, why she keeps running headfirst into the Monarch wilds against everyone's warning.

Can't feel how much pain she's in if she's too distracted defending herself from things trying to kill her from all angles.

"Cap, you need to sort this mess out. I know he hurt you, but.. you and Max need to talk about this."

"Hah!" Felix was annoyed "you mean Max needs to come down here and apologize for being an ass. Boss, why are we even keeping him around after the way he lied to you?"

"Felix, I don't wanna.." Faith began but trailed off.

Because I don't want him to leave.

"At least talk to us about it. We're your best friends and we want what's best for you." She knew Felix was being sincere.

"Yeah, Cap. We're family, we don't want you goin' through this alone."

Faith didn't know what to say. She appreciated how much her crew, her friends, were trying to help her. Her heart was just in so much pain. She was confused, scared, she didn't really know what she wanted.

I want Max.

"I.. I.." she was trying. "Thank you.."

"Captain," Ada's voice rang through "you have a call coming in from Devil's Peak Station."

Parvati and Felix glanced at each other nervously.

"Hey Boss.. maybe you shouldn't take that call.." Felix began to say, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why? Hiram's my friend" Faith was surprised at her companions reactions.

"Well, yeah.. but.." Parvati was trying to think of what to say "last time you were hidin' out there, you and Mister Blythe were gettin' real close.."

Faith was waiting to see where this conversation was leading.

"We just think that maybe.. havin' him in the picture is makin' things.."

"Worse" Felix butted in.

"Well, No! I mean.. not worse.. just.. complicated?" Parvati's voice cracked.

Faith stood there in silence, crossing her arms. Her friends were babbling, unsure of how to get their point across gently.

"Boss, please just listen to us on this one" Felix finally said.

"There's a lot of hurt and raw emotions in the air right now. We just think the closer you get to that Broker fella.."

"Everything is going to be fine" Faith finally spoke "Hiram and I are.. just friends."

Why did I hesitate?

Felix and Parvati noticed, giving each other another worried glance.

What are they so worked up about? Faith thought, walking away to answer the call.

They're acting like I'm gonna fall for the guy or something.

We're just friends.. Right?

Her heart was beating hard now.

Oh stars..

She answered the call and Hiram's face popped up on the screen.

Dammit.

"Ah, Captain! There you are. Thought for a moment you may have forgotten about me."

The snark in his voice would have been of annoyance to others, but she had come to learn this was him being rather playful. In his own way, of course.

"I could never, Hiram."

"Are you still on Monarch by any chance?"

"Suppose I am, what would The Great Broker ever want with me? Need someone to get their hands dirty for you again?"

She knew how to play right back.

Hiram flashed her a small smile, immediately finding his serious face again.

"Come to my station, will you? I want to speak to you directly."

"Oh! How unusual of you to want to do business in person" Faith teased, unsure why she was trying to sound her flavor of freelance professional, Felix and Parvati's little talk was making her nervous.

"Let me get my crew and-"

"No" Hiram said sternly "I wish to speak to you." He swallowed, trying to keep his cool.

"Alone."

"Sounds a little dangerous doesn't it?" Faith rarely went anywhere without backup.

"You've done it before. Just to seek me out. All by your lonesome, might I add" he gave her a subtle grin "be a doll and do this for me, yes? I'll be expecting you."

Hiram hung up before Faith could get another word in.

Sly bastard.

Faith turned back towards the door, already knowing Parvati and Felix were still standing there. Waiting with concern. Knowing better than to leave their captain alone again in fear of what trouble she might get herself into next.

Fuck.

[riality-check]

*bites and shakes the bars of my enclosure* APPALACHIAN EDDIE!!!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU GOT INJECT IT STRAIGHT INTO MY VEINS IM SO PBSESSED

Thank you so much!! I'm currently trudging my way through chapter 2 of Born to Run, but before that's done, here's some stuff I wrote up from a while ago related to the Munson Lore post.

Basically, if you're interested in Wayne feels, keep scrolling!

Wayne enlists the second he turns eighteen, the last months of high school be damned. It was his plan all along, the only way to get the hell out West Virginia or at least the holler. The war in Korea breaks out around that time, but he still enlists.

If he's gonna die, it ain't gonna be in a mine. He's seen what happens to men down there, sees them come home with coal-stained faces and crooked backs, watches them drown themselves in bottles.

That last one might just have been his pa, though.

Wayne feels bad leaving his mama, but especially his brother. He's only six, and he's already a little too wild for their mama to watch on her own. Over the course of Johnny's short life, Wayne has spent a lot of time makin' sure he stays outta trouble. He's a rambunctious, bright kid. Wayne doesn't know what he'll get into while he's gone.

But it makes him feel better that their old man's been in the ground a year now. It's one less thing for Wayne to worry about, for Johnny's sake.

Wayne goes to Korea, and he doesn't come back the same. He doesn't come back right, and until he can, he decides not to. Christmas cards and a visit once every few months will have to do because Wayne can't do anything more than that right now. He just can't.

It wouldn't be fair for Mama to have to take care of him, now that he's grown. It wouldn't be fair for Johnny to see his brother shaking and crying because of bad dreams, something he's surely grown out of by now.

So, he takes jobs driving trucks all over the country. The hours are long and it don't pay much, but if he's got music on, he doesn't have to think. He gets a pretty good collection of hats going, too. One from every state he's been to. He wants to go to Hawai'i to complete the collection.

It takes ten years for Wayne to piece himself back together. He ain't the same, but he's enough of a person by the time he's twenty-eight that he thinks he can go back for good.

So, he does. He drives back up to West Virginia and sees his mama and doesn't see his brother, who's sixteen now. When he asks Mama where he went, she shrugged and said, "Out."

Wayne does see his wife. Or, well, they're not married yet. They decided to wait until she has the baby so she can fit in her mama's wedding dress.

Rebecca is sweet and pretty and a high school dropout, just like Wayne, just like his brother is, now, apparently. She and Wayne talk for hours, and he really likes her. She's funny and grounded in a way that his brother definitely needs.

They talk until his brother comes back, stumbling in, face bloody. Johnny - no, John - smiles when he sees Wayne, and things are okay for a little while. They all stay at Mama's house. Wayne picks up some odd handyman jobs, Rebecca works as a cashier at the grocery store a mile down the road, and John-

Well, Wayne doesn't know what John is doing. All he knows is that he works odd hours and seems to be gettin' skinnier, but he's putting supper on the table, so things are okay. They're okay.

They're okay until The Fight to End All Fights.

They're okay until he and his brother are screaming, and throwing things, but they didn't hit each other. John swung once, exactly once, and Wayne stepped out of the way. He doesn't swing back, not like Pa would have.

Wayne leaves. His brother does, too. Wayne doesn't see him for years, but his wife calls and sends pictures of their little family.

Wayne isn't sure how she keeps getting his number, even after he's moved a few times. But Rebecca calls at least twice a year, some years more than others. Sometimes, it's a whispered rush of words; others, it's a nice, long, chat, even if her words sound slurred together.

She sends Wayne cards for his birthday and Christmas. She includes pictures of herself and Johnny. Wayne tries not to look at those too hard, not when it's clear that both of them are getting worse.

He does look at the pictures of their kid, though. "Eddie" is the name Becca writes on all the pictures. He's a skinny kid with eyes like John and hair like Rebecca. He's a smiley kid, too, and he always seems to be holding a book.

Wayne wishes he could meet him. But even if The Fight didn't happen, that's just not possible.

Rebecca never gives him a return address.

[chesters-ocs]

i dont know what this is. but im very much so half asleep so. yeag. @the-whispers-of-death heres your daily dose of sylvester x butcher. no beta read we die like men cuz i am not reading this shit myself

cw: none, just butcher being needy. like he always is.

wc: 793

"Y'know..." Butcher drawls from the doorway, catching the attention of Sylvester, who looks up from the disassembled camera he's been fixing "it's been a while since you've kissed me."

"... What?" Sylvester scoffs, staring at the man clad in leather "Feeling needy again?"

"And if I am?" he challenges, smirking.

"Well.. can you at least wait until I'm done working?"

The question causes Butcher to grumble, as he stalks inside the room "No can do, kitty. You damn well know that..." the man almost growls in the crook of the smaller one's neck, only to be met with a hand to the face, batting him away.

"Oi! None of that! You're waiting. Go pout elsewhere, asshole!" Sylvester grunts, adjusting his glasses to sit on top of his head, as Butcher whines from the impact of the hit, which in reality, was more like a gentle shove.

"You wound me, dollface, you know that? Can't even spare your baby a little kiss?"

"... If I kiss you. will you promise to never call yourself baby ever again?" Sylvester questions, with Butcher taking the deal immediately "Oh, dollface, now that's something I can work with! Deal."

Rolling his eyes, Sylvester stands up from his desk and cups Butcher's cheek, who leans into the touch, deep brown ones staring into his own blue ones.

Purposefully dragging out the moment, Sylvester leans in slowly, and the moment Butcher's eyes slip shut in anticipation, all he gets is a quick peck on the cheek, and the soft laughter of the shorter man, who slides back into his chair, and yells out "Hey-! No fair!"

With a satisfied smirk, the hybrid looks up at him from the chair, pulling down the glasses as he continues to work, tutting "You never specified where you want it, baby. You gonna let me work now?"

As much as Butcher's eye twitched in dismay, he was never one to break a deal, even one as menial as this one, so he opted to accept his defeat in his heroic battle for affection, and sits down on the office chair next to Sylvester, looming over, before resting his chin on the hybrid's shoulder.

"Whatcha even fixin' there? Looks like a pile o' junk... And my junk could use some attention too~" He purrs, the human's arms snaking around the others' waist, only to be met with an incredulous laughter.

"What, is this what your flirting has devolved to? Come on, you know you can do better, man... But it's a camera. One of my old ones, actually."

"Mm.. what's so special bout it?" The larger man asks, hands playing with the hem of Syl's shirt.

"I'm pretty sure it's just got some old film in it. Y'know. College party bullshit, maybe an occasional nude, the usual. It's just stupid shit I need to dispose of, really."

"... Now you've intrigued me, dolly..." Butcher purrs, his breath hitching, "no way you're gettin' rid of that then... I'm sure I can make some use out of it~"

"Christ, you're hopeless, babe."

"Only for you, dollface... and keep talkin' like that and you'll have an even bigger problem to deal with..." Butcher mumbled, his face still in the crook of Sylvester's neck. Not doing anything, just breathing in the scent.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" Syl sighs, wanting to change the subject, which Butcher obliges to unknowingly.

"Nah.. got a day off. Something with th' boss rearranging the schedules and shit. Felt like I should bother my favorite nerd" he teases, poking at his ribs, which cause Sylvester to jolt, and drop the screwdriver he had just picked up.

"I told you, I'm not a nerd! And I could have dropped something important! How many times do I have to sat 'don't touch me while i work' for it to get trough to your thick skull?!" he rants, peering at Butcher over the rim of his glasses, displeased frown on his face.

The sudden rant only amuses the human further, as he laughs deeply, cooing "Aww, dollface, you think my skull is thick? You shouldn't have!" he grins, leaning forward, and tries to again capture Sylvester's lips, this time succeeding for a moment, before pulling back with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Got my kiss" he teases, to Sylvesters chagrin, while standing from the chair and pushing it back in its place.

"Can I keep working now? Didya get your fill?"

"Sure did, doll, thanks again. See you at dinner?"

"... Yeah. See you then... Asshole" Sylvester sighs, but can't help the small smile which graces his face, as he looks over his shoulder as Butcher leaves trough the door he entered from.

"I heard that, kitty!" Butcher calls out, before getting out at last, closing the door quietly, leaving the other to his project at last.

[jiniwae]

Laptop Scene from Ted 2

Traveler: Shit. I can never get a signal in your apartment. Hey, can I use your laptop?

Ballister: Yeah, go ahead.

Traveler: Okay, thanks. [slides off the couch and walks into another room, then five seconds later, offscreen, yelling in shock]WHAT THE FUCK?!

John: Holy shit, dude! What's the matter?! What happened?! What's going on?!

Ted: [views John's laptop] There's so much porn!

Ballister: Well, what the hell are you doin' lookin' at my private shit?!

Traveler: What are you talking about, "private shit"?! Johnny, it was wide open! There are literally thousands of files here!

Ballister: Well, I've been meanin' to clear some of that out!

Traveler: Jesus Chri--! Look at the organization here! "Clockwise Rim Job"? "Counter-clockwise Rim Job"?

Ballister: Yeah, well, sometimes you like seein' the tongue go the other way!

Ted: You sick bastard! Look at this! "Chicks With Dicks"?!

Ballister: [breaks down] Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I have a disease, all right?! I need help!

Traveler: There are no chicks with dicks, Bal! Only guys with tits!

Ballister: Well, this is such a relief! You know, I'm so glad I'm finally caught! I wanted to be caught!

Traveler: Bal, now you listen to me. This is a wake-up call, all right? You gotta get back out there, and meet somebody, because you are spiraling outta control here.

Ballister: All right, all right. I will. Fine. Just stop lookin' at that shit, please!

Traveler: Bal, I mean it, all right? The next chick you meet, you are gettin' back in the game. [closes Ballister's laptop]

Ballister: Fine. I got it. Done.

Traveler: All right. Now let's get rid of this.

Ballister: What, what do you mean? We'll just delete the files.

Traveler: No, no, no, no. That shit can always be recovered. We gotta smash your laptop with a hammer.

Nimona: Promise me you won't freak out.

Ballister: How, if I don't know what's gonna happen?

Nimona: I guess you'll just have to trust him.

Ballister: Why would I trust him?

Nimona: If you don't, Si'ha Nova is going to see this!

Ballister: See this?

Nimona: Now promise!

Ballister: I promise.

Nimona: Promise promise?

Ballister: On my life!

Nimona: Then say it again.

Ballister: I promise!

Nimona: Wow.

Traveler: Good!

[they smash Bal's laptop outside with a hammer and a crowbar]

Ballister: All right, there, you happy?

Traveler: No, the circuits could still be reconstructed if somebody worked at it. We gotta bury it in the harbor.

[he and Ballister bury the pieces of the laptop, contained within a plastic bag, in the harbor]

Traveler: Okay. We'll come back once every three months, take a dive, and check on it.

[princeofgaycats]

fluff prompt list number 16!

cat's grace.

astarion supposes, pawing at the twine around his neck in a vague affectation of a collar, that he should have seen something like this coming.

"az."

"yes, dear."

"why are you a cat again?"

his tail swishes over dead leaves. at least this campsite is drier than the one near last light, astarion muses distantly, avoiding lux's gaze. even on solid ground, the air was always wet, waves splashing up to shore.

the tiefling crouches down closer to his height. gentle fingers smooth the fur atop his head, and he can't help but tilt into it. "i'm not mad at you, i'm just worried i need to go stab someone i already killed."

astarion flicks his tail again, avoiding eye contact the same way it usually does. "this is more gale's fault than mine, really. he's the one who said there was some other magic attached to the hag's boon, something beyond the enhanced dexterity." he growls when lux raises an eyebrow. "like any reasonable person, i wanted to figure it out. it's something to do in these cursed lands that isn't trying to wrestle with the necromantic tome again.

"besides, having unknown magic hanging about my person can't be good. it's only right to puzzle out what it does!"

his ears lay back as he glares up at a very bemused lux.

maybe he should have endured the mystery.

"you know gale's out with wyll and karlach, right? he's not gonna be back til, like, this evening… or whatever counts for an evening around here," it grumbles, its own tail flicking. "no real way to fuckin' tell. anyways, uh, whatever." lux tugs at the twine. "you want i should try gettin' this off?"

astarion takes stock of the situation. last time, the transformation left him panicked, struggling hard against the cat's reflexes. now he feels… fine, actually. it's annoying to be changed against his will, but there's not a cage pressed against his mind. only…

he narrows his eyes, and lux leans back. there's something attached to him. not physically but stuck on the edge of himself, cold and sharp, dark and familiar. astarion leans towards it-

and stumbles on his hands and knees, barely caught by lux's flailing. thankfully his clothes survived the trip, or he'd be even more flustered. as is, he coughs as he pushes himself upright, straightening the collar of his shirt. the half-burnt twine is once again hooked through his belt loops, hanging innocently from his hip.

he expects to be mocked and is taken off guard by lux's grin and the hand clasping his shoulder. "whoa, great job! you figured it out yourself! some sorta, uh, uh- shapeshifting magic, transmutation? enchantment? those are weird to work out, i'm not a wizard, whatever, anyways, that was cool!"

"i- yes, it rather was, wasn't it?" astarion has no idea how he did that, but he's not going to turn down free praise. lux's hand is warm, squeezing once- and then it blushes and pulls out of his personal space.

cute.

lux's grin softens to a smile, and it gestures at the twine. "can you do it again? you could sneak through so many gaps like that, and there's enough cats when we get to the gate no one'll think it's weird to see another- oh!" it breaks into a snicker, hands flapping then pawing at its mouth. "we could, we could, 'oh, please let me in real quick, my cat got past your gate!'" it simpers to an unseen guard, or noble, or shopkeep. "and then boom, we have a reason to be places, easy!"

"well, i have to say it's more interesting than simply charming the doorman…" astarion chuckles at its bright-eyed excitement. "let me try."

lux straightens up and forces itself quiet, though it can't stop the wagging of its tail. it truly doesn't take much to entertain the warlock.

astarion closes his eyes and rests a hand on the twine. first, he tries to sense the cold feeling again, but it isn't there; instead, there's a soft, lazy warmth under his fingers. in his mind, he grabs ahold of the feeling, pulling it closer until his bones rattle with it, and then he has to brace himself on his forepaws to keep from losing his balance.

he knows for sure he's done it correctly when lux coos at him. astarion purrs his pride, opening his eyes to take in its admiration. it extends a hand that he happily nuzzles into, urging it to scritch his jaw with expert fingers.

he hardly notices that he's following its retreat until his paws rest on its knee, neck stretch after its too-far-away hand. "what are you doing, get back here!" astarion protests, and lux has the audacity to laugh as it returns to its duty. each pet has the perfect amount of weight behind it, tousling up his fur and then smoothing it back down. now that it knows about his scars, it's gentle with his back even in this form, only touching the runes to figure out where the edges are.

the focused attention draws him closer, and astarion consoles himself with the fact that no one's in range to see him slink into lux's lap. it's warm and purring to match him, looking very much feline itself with perked ears and half-shut eyes. when he reaches up and paws at its chest, demanding more room silently, it obeys, laying back on the cool ground to let him sprawl across its torso.

"sweet, lovely… good good good…" lux's voice is mumbled, barely audible. he's not entirely sure if it knows it's talking, but coupled with the petting, he's not going to protest the absent compliments. astarion rolls on his side to tuck his head under its chin, freeing up space for it to pet along his ribs.

"how are you so comfortable?" he mutters, and takes a private joy in feeling its laugh bounce his body in place. "i've seduced people in beds less pleasant."

"i was put on toril to pet cats and kiss guys, and all the guys are unavailable."

[nightsidewrestling]

D.U.D.E Part 17 - She Drives Me Crazy (Set in 2021)

Note: This is set in a universe where Men VS Women / Intergender matches can happen.

Chapter 1: here Chapter 2: here Chapter 3: here Chapter 4: here Chapter 5: here Chapter 6: here Chapter 7: here Chapter 8: here Chapter 9: here Chapter 10: here Chapter 11: here Chapter 12: here Chapter 13: here Chapter 14: here Chapter 15: here Chapter 16: here

Tags: @piratewithvigor @tantamount-treason @thedollmaker16 @janetreader

Around 2000 Words. 18+ in places (those chapters will be marked as 'Mature / sexual content' just to be safe). Please inform me if you wish to be tagged or untagged from posts. If the text is in italics and orange it's Kirby's inner monologue. If the text is coloured but not in italics, it's either dialogue or a P.O.V change (P.O.V changes will be in bold and translated dialogue will appear in square [ ] brackets), Key below. Quick note on Geia's text colour: Yes I do know that as Greed she should be in yellow but I decided to colour the men's dialogue yellow so Geia was changed to be pink like the other women in the story outside of the main 8.

The Main 8: Damo - Bio. Vi - Bio. Billie - Bio. Geia - Bio. Kirby - Bio. Honey - Bio. Eli - Bio. Sara - Bio.

Kirby's P.O.V:

Eddie and Kirby had gone back to Jacksonville, Eddie keeps Kirby next to him at all times. He's going to the gym, she's by his side; he's going out with his friends, he brings her along; he has to go into work, she's there with him backstage.

January had come and gone. As had February, the couple spending Valentine's day in Miami, Eddie watched Kirby get two new tattoos, the first two on her legs, a Yankees symbol on her inner right thigh, and the phrase 'Let's cause a little trouble' on her inner left thigh.

March comes next, Eddie has a promo at the end of Dynamite on the 10th.

Kirby wakes up early, running her hands over her bump, and then looking at Eddie. He's still fast asleep, and completely nude, she gives him a gentle kiss before going to do her morning routine.

"Ya big for a lil' dude, ain't ya." She murmurs as she looks at her belly, side-on in the mirror, "I think auntie Renee might be right when she says there's more than one of ya."

"Are you talkin' to yourself, Ma?" Eddie asks when he walks in the bathroom.

"Actually, mr loverman, I was talkin' to the bump."

"Our little man, soon ya belly's gonna be as big as my dad's."

"Eddie, we still have a few months before that, so, not soon."

"I'm sorry Doll, I know, I shouldn't tease my beautiful, pregnant wife." He smiles softly, pulling Kirby into a gentle hug and his lips soon finding their way to hers.

"So, Kingy, you thought of what ya gonna tell Damien tonight? How badly will he need to ice his ego, from the whiplash of that talented tongue of yours, my darling?"

"You'll know as soon as I've thought of it, Mama. But I assure ya, he'll be needing help, if he thinks he'll be gettin' you away from me, Mrs Kingston." Eddie smirks as he backs Kirby against the shower wall.

Eddie trains with Kirby by his side, caressing her stomach whenever he takes a break, he watches her hum along to her music as she watches him train. The show goes off without a hitch, Tony makes sure to let Eddie's promo take place with enough time before they go off the air.

"Cut my music, cut it!" Eddie hollers, walking with Kirby by his side through the tunnel and out into the ring, "Look at who I got, look at this beauty." He makes Kirby do a spin for the cameras, showing off her black and orange dress (made to mirror Eddie's ring gear), "All mine. True, I had to go out searchin' for her, and true, it's not as easy as the movies make it look. But I got my true love to return to me," He smirks, pulling Kirby into a gentle kiss, and showing their rings to the camera, "the beautiful Mrs Kingston, my lady. You know what she told me, when I went searchin' for her, she told me, 'Eddie," Kingston starts doing an impression of Kirby, "I ran because I finally got free of him. I ran because he lost control over me. I ran because I didn't want you... Eddie, I didn't want you to get hurt.' Of course I told her, it's okay, I get hurt all the time. But the way she looked at me," Eddie holds Kirby close to him, "I knew I needed to protect her... I knew deep down it was time to start a war with 'him'. You may be askin' who is 'he', oh brotha," He smirks and chuckles lowly, "you already know who you are." He growls, snarling at the camera, "Oh, and uh, this Mad King may be the last of a dying breed, but one day I'll have my own, what's that word you used, Princess?"

"Brood, Kingy." She smiles softly.

"I love the way you say it." Eddie smirks, kissing Kirby roughly.

Eddie's about to lead Kirby to the back when Damien's laughter can be heard, deep and demonic. Kirby attempts to push Eddie away but he holds her tighter. FUCK! Is all that Kirby has time to think before they get showered in fake blood, or at least she hopes it's fake blood.

Eddie's face is red with rage when they get backstage, "Where the fuck is Tony Khan!?"

Kirby rushes to his side, placing his hands against the baby bump, and caressing his face, "Eddie, calm, focus and breathe."

Eddie's bright green eyes lock with Kirby's ocean blues, he breathes a deep sigh of relief, "I still have you and I still have the baby. I know, I know... but Damien needs to pay for what he's done to you, and whatever he did to get that blood."

Tony rushes over, "What happened?"

"Damien's blood bathed us," Kirby explains, "I don't know where he blood, how he got it, or even if it's fake or pig's blood. But what he just did, means this is a war, so I may not be able to fight, but Eddie is, Moxley is, there are many men who would be willing to stand, and fight against that false King."

Eddie lets Kirby talk, keeping one hand on her stomach as he dials Mox's number with the other.

"Tony, I need you to allow me to bring my family over here, the men at least, just to stand against Damien, we won't fight unless you allow us to. You have my word, an ancestral King's honour."

"Call whoever you need to, if Damien's willing to go behind my back and do this, I don't know just how far he's willing to go." Tony nods, giving Kirby a nervous smile.

"Thank you, boss, I would shake your hand, but I an covered in blood."

"That's okay, you two go get washed up, and have a good evening. I'll see what I can do."

Eddie's still pissed after they both shower off. He's still fuming when Moxley joins them at a local diner. Kirby lets Renee sit next to her, Kirby's hair still tinted pink from the blood, the two women smile softly at each other, practically each other's sister-in-law.

"Eddie stop it, if I hear you growl one more time, I will spend the rest of tonight putting your mouth to a better use." Kirby grumbles.

Eddie smirks and raises an eyebrow in response, "Oh really?"

"Yes, really, you've been growlin' for like half an hour now, and it's startin' to annoy me, I love ya, but shush for a moment so I can think."

"Sorry, Ma, I'm just... ya know."

"I know, Papi, I'm also pissed off at Damien." She reaches over the table, holding his hand.

"Ya don't look it." Eddie mumbles.

"Because I'm planning on how to go about, closing Damien in, and executing him." Kirby growls.

Eddie's eyes light up and Jon groans and looks away.

"I'll get up, so will Renee, and then you can fuck Kirby in the bathroom, how's that for a plan?" Jon suggests.

"Nah, she's only just started talkin' dirty." Eddie grins.

"Keep it in ya pants, Edward, we have our first ultrasound tomorrow, I wanna be awake for it."

"Ultrasound? As in we get to see the baby?" Eddie asks softly

"Baby or babies," Renee notes, "given how big Kirby's bump is already, there's more than one in there."

"Don't spook Eddie, he's had a hard enough day." Kirby chuckles softly.

"If there's more than one, I hope one's a boy and one's a girl. A little me and a little Kirby." Eddie smiles gently.

"If there's more than one, there's a few possibilities, at the low end with twins, we could have two boys, two girls, or one of each, but then there's multiples like triplets, or quadruplets, up to, what, like eight?"

Renee nods, both of the girls giggling quietly as both men go pale.

"Eight... in one..." Mox bites his fist, "that's gotta fucking hurt."

"They made, God, either a documentary or a show about the lady who had eight kids." Kirby murmurs.

"God, three at the most, please." Eddie whispers, kissing the crosses on his rosaries.

"Yeah, three at the most, so Eddie has to help me put my shoes on, every day when I'm six to nine months pregnant."

"I'll help you, in any way that I can, Ma."

The group orders and eats, Kirby makes sure she pays the bill.

When they head back to the hotel, Eddie's listing off his ideas for how to get back at Damien.

The following morning (Thursday 11th March) Kirby gets ready for the day, before waking Eddie up, making him breakfast. He keeps his arms wrapped around her waist, from behind, as she cooks, softly humming as they sway, side to side.

"Baby, it's yours, all yours, if you want it tonight," Kirby starts singing softly, realising the song Eddie's humming, "I'll give you the red light special, all through the night."

"God, I love you, my Celtic Queen." Eddie whispers against her neck, kissing between her shoulder blades.

"You better love me, I'm making you breakfast when all I wanna do, is go to sleep." She smirks.

"But ya the best chef in the world, and ya love me and..." Eddie's voice trails off as he slides his hand down her side, Kirby swats his arm away when he reaches the front of her sweatpants, "oww, c'mon, Ma, really?"

"Yes, really, no sex until after the ultrasound, ya goon." She reminds him, plating up the food, bacon, eggs and toast.

"Thought you were only makin' me bacon and eggs?"

"The toast is so I can steal it when you inevitably get up to smoke."

"Inevita... what?"

"Inevitable. Certain to happen, unavoidable, inescapable, for sure. Like war, or taxes, or death." She explains, her tone soft-spoken, earning a nod of understanding from Eddie.

"Inevitable, like you stealin' my toast every mornin'?" He teases, smirking and winking at her.

"You fuckin' let me, you goofball," Kirby tries to avoid Eddie but gets pulled into a hug, "nope, no kisses for the idiot, no" She chuckles softly, before giving in and letting Eddie dip her into a kiss.

Eddie finishes his breakfast and slides the leftover toast to Kirby, letting her eat it, as he goes out on the back porch to smoke, the first cigarette of the day. She finishes the toast as he finishes his cigarette, he grabs the keys for their rental car and drives them to the clinic, letting Kirby lead him, to where they're supposed to be.

Kirby takes in how the nurses and doctors smile at her, and then gain a look of confusion and concern on their faces upon seeing Eddie. He's probably doing his usual grumpy face, whenever we're out in public, and Eddie doesn't want to be around people, out comes grumpy Eddie. She looks at her husband, and sure as the sun is a ball of fire, Eddie's got a grumpy look on his face.

"Edward." Kirby whisper-yells.

"Yea, Wifey?"

"Take that grumpy ass look off ya handsome fuckin' face, ya scarin' people."

"What? Babe, you know what I'm like... Doll, don't make me smile at everyone."

"I'm not sayin' that, you've got your mask on, ya can drop the mean muggin'."

Eddie nods, adjusting his Yankees cap and giving Kirby a soft smile, his features softening slightly when he attempts a neutral expression. Kirby pulls him close, and hugs him for a moment, the tension in her shoulders giving away how nervous she is.

"Sweetheart, it's okay, we're here to see our baby, not for anythin' else. A'ight, Ma?" He murmurs, rubbing her arms until she pulls away.

She wipes a few tears from her eyes, "I'm okay, it's okay. I'll be alright, just gimme a sec."

"Mr and Mrs Moore?" A nurse asks as she approaches the couple.

"Yea, that's us." Eddie nods

"Come with me please, your appointment is in room two-zero-five."

Kirby and Eddie follow the nurse, Kirby clinging to Eddie's arm, and Eddie unconsciously going back to his grumpy look.

[passerine-writes]

Silent Sparks - Volt 92

Warnings: There's a kid in danger and medical stuff but Tsukare saved the day, fluff, is this unrealistic to happen given work studies were cancelled? yes. yes it is. however, i think Tsukare needed a good day of saving someone to heal part of his inner child Word count: 2534

Notes: Italics - Tsukare signing Bold italics - Family member/friend signing 'Italics with apostrophes' - Thoughts

Masterlist

Volt 91 | Volt 93

"Thanks for gettin' here as soon as you could. I know it's a bit of a trip from your school." Rock Lock greeted me as I walked up to the abandoned house in Mie, police officers surrounding the house and staring at me in befuddlement.

"Didn't know you were cleared to come back yet. How's the wound healing up?" I asked as I shook his hand, Dad allowing me to go on my own.

"It's great. Came back to work and this is what I get on my first day. A long graveyard shift with a kidnapping and now to find out the kid has major health concerns? I can't leave now, I'm too invested. I'm gonna give it to ya straight, we've been going in circles in that house for hours and keep coming up blank. Can you take a crack at it?" I nodded and walked inside, the captain blocking my way.

"The hell is a kid doin' here, Lock? Thought you said you were callin' help." He said in a condescending tone while he looked down at me.

"Gimme ten minutes and I'll prove my worth." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. He glared at me but stepped the side. "Rock Lock, time me, will ya? Sarge! Gimme the details on who we think did it so far."

"We're looking at the ex-husband, the kids step father. He never legally adopted her, mom lives in Fukui, looks like it was a messy divorce especially when it came to the custody battle he tried to force but lost. The girl, Emi, has diabetes and stress induced asthma." He explained.

"And the ex? Where's he?" I followed with as I looked around closely.

"He's in custody. He already admitted to kidnapping her, but he won't give up the where."

"Okay. Assuming she gets her insulin around the same time everyday, which would be around lunch time, we have about four hours to find this kid before things get really dicey. Rock Lock, I'm done. What's my time?" I asked.

"Four minutes and thirty seven seconds."

"There's no damn way, that you-"

"This house was condemned by the prefecture. It's unsuitable to live in. If somebody bought it, the first thing they would contractually be required to take care of is the mold spores. That tells me the neighbors here think he bought it as a vacation home to fix up and visit once it's done. They were none the wiser. In all the array of foot prints, none of them, even the edges of them, match anything other than my shoes, or cop shoes. The handle on the door is broken, further proving my point. You're going in circles and not finding anything because she's not here. I'm willing to bet that he's in the middle of a psychotic break and doesn't realize he's going to kill her. He's playing a game and you walked right into his trap. Let me talk to him." I pushed, watching as the captain looked at me, purely baffled.

"I'm not sending a kid to talk to a criminal."

"It's not the first time I have. Make the choice, are you going to take part of the blame when she dies because you tried to hold onto your ego before anything else?" I antagonized, watching him sweat drop.

"Fine, get in a car and let's get this show on the road." He barked. I sat in the back of a squad car as they all flew down to the station. "You ready?"

"Almost. Gotta print a few things. You'll understand." I told him.

"Whatcha doin', ginger?" Rock Lock came over and asked me.

"I'm about to break this guys entire spirit and get a location." I told him as my fingers flew across the keys and the printer sounded across the room.

"You been sleeping?" He asked as I moved to the printer.

"Yeah. Why."

"You look exhausted." He explained and I rolled my eyes.

"Not important, what matters right now is this missing girl." I told him, putting the papers in a manilla folder and walking down to the interrogation room door. I knocked twice before stepping in. "My name's Sonus, you must be Emi's father, right?" I asked gingerly as I sat down.

"You're not a cop." He said cautiously, studying my figure intensely.

"Not at all, I'm Sonus. Hero in training under Fat Gum." He nodded slowly and sat there nervously. "Look, I'm not here to bark down your throat asking questions, I only wanna know one thing and you know what that is."

"You wouldn't get it, you're just a stupid kid!" He snapped and I held up my hands in a surrender.

"Hey, I don't yell, you don't yell. Sounds fair?" He paused but nodded. "Look, I think I get it more than you think. You raised her for most of her life, you're her Dad, I get it. It's just the legality bullshit that's screwing you over, right?" He nodded rapidly.

"Yeah, you're on my side!"

"I don't pick sides. I'm Switzerland. We actually had to call Emi's mom, just because of standard procedure stuff, and uh, I think it was just the worried ramblings but she told me that Emi's growing like a weed and was really uh, excited about her getting a new bed." He nodded along.

"Yeah, she's eleven and hitting another growth spurt." He said softly.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to pick out some bed frames and stuff, that way she can feel comforted that it came from you." I suggested, setting my plan in motion. He quickly perked up and leaned forward, eager to see what I had in the folder I brought with me. I opened it up and placed it in front of him, watching his face fall.

"This isn't funny." He said grimly.

"It's not. But if you don't tell us where she is, that's going to be her bed soon enough. There's mahogany, oak, cedar, different varnishes and lacquers you can choose from. If you want the handles to be gold or brass or silver. We could even discuss if you want a proper head stone or just a plaque in the ground. Unless you were thinking something more like a tomb." He shook his head and I could see part of his rationality reaching him. "She's diabetic and has asthma. You remember all those doctors appointments, don't you? How many times you had to give her her insulin? Find a back up inhaler? Do you want to see her again?"

"Yes, that's all I wanted out of this. I just want my daughter." He confirmed through short, stifled sobs.

"If you don't tell us where she is, then you'll never be able to see her again. The only time you'll see her, is when you get out of jail and you look at the tombstone you picked out." He stared at the photos I had printed, holding them with shaky hands and watery eyes. "We have about one hour until we're in the danger zone. Choose wisely."

"She's in Gujo. My grandfather left a farm house to me when he died. She's in the shed." I gave him a small nod and walked out of the room.

"Already cross checked, he was tellin' the truth about the property. That also explains why he was holdin' a bag of mulch when I found him. His quirk let's him teleport things and swap out their place. Let's go save her." Rock Lock said and I made my way to head home, not thinking they needed my help anymore. "Kid! Where ya goin'? Hop in." He said, pointing to his expensive looking car.

"I thought my work was done." I said as I sat in the front seat.

"Not yet, you always see a job through unless you're out of commission." He said before speeding off.

We got there in an hour and eighteen minutes, driving through the streets at illegal speeds to get there as soon as we could.

"Wait." I said as the group of me, Rock Lock and the cops ran towards the shed. "Send me in alone."

"What? Why?" Rock Lock asked, clearly perplexed.

"If she's in there, she's already terrified. Seeing a bunch of adults surrounding her will only freak her out more. I'm the closest to her age out of all of you by a long shot and I've been told I'm a natural with kids. And if it's a trap, then only one of us gets hurt." I explained, waiting for Rock Lock's approval. He paused but gave me a firm nod and I walked up to the shed cautiously. "Someone call an ambulance to have on standby. Emi? Are you in there? My name is Sonus, I'm here with some friends to take you back to your mom, okay?" I called out through the door before slowly opening it. I shined my flashlight in, the dust particles flittering around and I could already feel my breathing begin to labor. "Emi? If you can hear me, I need you to move something, okay? It's alright if you knock something over." I continued as I walked in, checked behind things, in corners and in the rafters until I saw something in the corner of my eye. A pink shoe. I slid over to the corner and moved the stuff from in front of her. I picked her up and carried her outside as fast as my legs could carry me, laying her down on the grass. "I got her! How far out is that ambulance!"

"Eight minutes!" One of the cops responded.

"I need one of you to grab me an emergency blanket and any hot packs or hand warmers you keep in your squad cars! She's hypothermic!" I yelled as I saw her blue lips and finger tips. I brought my own to her pulse point and felt nothing. "Starting CPR! No pulse!" I brought my hands to heart chest and remembered the course I took a while ago. Pumping my hands routinely against her diaphragm between her ribs. Pinch the nose, tilt the chin, breathe. Repeat.

I only briefly stopped when the cops came over with the items I had requested. Letting them place the blanket under her to wrap around her arms, placing the hot packs around her body.

"Medics are almost here, kid!" The guy who had a problem with me earlier called out.

"Tell them to hurry up!" I barked back, not losing my tempo on getting her heartbeat back. Until a harsh cough came from her, followed by more, her chest seizing up as she coughed. "Hey, hey, breathe it out." I said soothingly as I sat her up and grabbed the inhaler from my pouch, popped it open and helped her breathing balance out. "There ya go. You're okay now. Can you tell me your name?"

"E-Emi. It's so cold." She said through chattering teeth.

"I know. We're gonna get you warmed up soon. Okay?" She nodded and curled into my chest a bit for warmth while I rubbed her back. The ambulance came moments later, rushing her onto a gurney and into the back of the ambulance.

"Sonus, thought that was you. You helped that lady deliver her baby." The woman said as she approached me. "Fill me in, how's the patient?"

"Eleven year old with asthma and diabetes, found her hypothermic with no identifiable pulse. I performed CPR in the field, we wrapped her in a blanket and placed hot packs on her to bring up her core temp as much as we could. After about six minutes of CPR she came to and immediately had an asthma attack and I gave her an inhaler to stabilize. Check her lungs for debris, she was in that shed for a while and it was messing with my lungs for the few minutes I was in there. She might present with PTSD or anxiety after what happened." She nodded and shook my hand.

"Can't wait for you to graduate. You'll be an asset wherever you land. Let's head out!" She yelled to the driver, hopping in the back of the ambulance.

"Gotta say, you did good kid." The captain said as he walked over to me.

"Told ya he'd be able to help. This is the kid that patched me up during the raid after I got stabbed." Rock Lock told him, resting an elbow on my shoulder.

"You just saved that kids life, be proud of the work you did today." I gave him a small nod.

"It's why I wanna be a hero. I want to save people." I told him earnestly and he gave me a gentle smile.

"You should get back to the dorms kid, and get some sleep." Rock Lock told me and I started on my way back.

After getting changed in the locker room and cleaning myself up, I got back to the dorms a few hours later and I was glad I didn't have school that day.

"You're back!" Denki exclaimed as he ran around the couch, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm back. Sorry for heading out with no notice." I told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Dude where did you go? You were gone when I woke up." Hitoshi commented.

"Dad and I went to the 24 hour diner we always went to and Rock Lock called in a favor. Ended up hopping on a train to Mie to save a girl who was kidnapped." I said non-chalantly, only for my entire class to erupt in questions. "Can any of these questions wait to be answered later? Cause I'm tired." I said while yawning, leaning further into my boyfriends side. Everyone eventually agreed, Denki guiding us over to the couches and letting me use his thighs as a pillow. I took out my hearing aids and put them in their case, my phone buzzing grabbing my attention again.

From Pikachu <;3: How long have you been up baby?

To Pikachu <;3: Promise you won't be mad?

From Pikachu <;3: I promise

To Pikachu <;3: About sixty hours now

From Pikachu <;3: Onryo...

To Pikachu <;3: I'm okay, really

From Pikachu <;3: Being up that long can't be good for you

I peered up at him through my lashes, only relaxing further when one of his hands started combing through my curls. I reached for his free hand that was resting on my chest and brought it towards my face, gently kissing his knuckles. He smiled down at me with a familiar warmth that made my stomach erupt in butterflies.

"No fair, you're using my weakness that makes me sleepy." I mumbled, already feeling my eyes struggle even more to stay open.

"Take a nap. I'll be here when you wake up." He told me and I only nodded a little, unable to fight it any further.

[eartheats]

[Huh. There seems to be a leaked chatlog here. Read?]

𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Hey, Ren. Are you there? 🪱🪱🪱: oh, miss carmine, hi!!! i am yeah, just getting off break, what's up??? 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: I'm just checking in on you, after...you know. That whole thing with your Mom. 🪱🪱🪱: oh! that's real nice of you :) 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏����𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Considering that I'm taking time out of my precious day to do this, you better appreciate it. 🪱🪱🪱: oh i do!! it's just not expected 🪱🪱🪱: but everything's going okay as it can. i'm hiding out at my adopted dad's place for the time bein', work's going okay, and i'm still gettin' schoolwork done, even if it's a whole lot slower than i'd like it to. 🪱🪱🪱: idk i just got. like. a lot on my mind since that whole thing. 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Yeah. The news outlets who reported on it made it seem like a disaster. 🪱🪱🪱: what about you miss carmine? how are things goin' over at the academy??? 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: First of all, don't interrupt me when I'm typing!!! 🪱🪱🪱: eep! sorry miss carmine :( i was just curious okay!! <:( 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Ugh!! Now I lost my train of thought. But the less I say about that the better. 🪱🪱🪱: ohhhhh shit, sorry about that :( i didn't realize it was a sore subject for ya 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: If Kiki could get over his teenaged angst for five minutes and listen... 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Ugh. Whatever, never mind that. I remembered what important thing I was going to ask you. 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Do you want another place to hide out? 🪱🪱🪱: bwuh??? 🪱🪱🪱: i mean. 🪱🪱🪱: i ain't exactly gonna say no, but what's with this all'a the sudden??? 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Ugh! Here I am trying to be considerate for once in my life, and here you are, all confused! 🪱🪱🪱: okay, you. 🪱🪱🪱: shut the fuck up right now. 🪱🪱🪱: can you fucking blame me for bein' wary after the shit my mom did to get into my account? 🪱🪱🪱: for all i know she could've hacked you like she did me???

(there's a bit of a pause in the conversation here, before the next message sent is a video recording)

𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: [a video recording of carmine in the main entrance area of the blueberry academy; she looks a little irritated (her usual) but she does seem apologetic.] "...Ugh, fine. That might've been in bad taste of me. I didn't realize how that could've come off.

(there's another pause in replies, before ren does the same in kind--admittedly, in a bit of a public area, but near amy's place of residence)

🪱🪱🪱: [a video recording in the city, and ren smiles down at the camera, apologetic in their own right.] "It's alright. Sorry, I'm just...worried, given everything that's happened, and everything that could end up happening due to all of this. But...that's real nice of ya, Miss Carmine! I ain't gonna say no, but isn't that Academy pretty darned prestigious and expensive?"

(the conversation goes back to text at this point)

𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Never fear, the great and amazing Carmine has already planned for such an argument! 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: [there are links. so many links. perhaps chief among them are free scholarships, and other such things that would basically ensure that the stay is less resource intensive than it could be] 🪱🪱🪱: holy arc in the hall of origin, you came PREPARED for this?! 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Of course I did! Would you expect any less from someone as smart as me? 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Let me answer that for you. No, you wouldn't! 🪱🪱🪱: holy shit. this is so much...thank ya, miss carmine! 🪱🪱🪱: i really appreciate it. :) even if it takes a bit to get in, it'll be nice to learn even more about battlin'. lulu and i have been itchin' for some more fights, especially now heehee 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Well, I'll just have to see if I can fit kicking your butt into my schedule once you get here. I am a busy girl, after all. 🪱🪱🪱: heehee! don'tcha worry, i'll be there to give ya an actual challenge whenever i can!! promise!!! :) 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Good! I would hate for a budding rival to lose their edge. Keep it up and you might even give Juliana a run for her money! 🪱🪱🪱: arc, i hope in time i can do that!!! girl's got a lot of moxie for my old, dayjobbing rear though, so it might be a torterra vs. cinderace kinda story, heehee 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Well, you better do it sooner rather than later if you want any hope of catching up to me~ 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: ...So, hey. Where would be a good neutral place for us to meet up for a battle? 🪱🪱🪱: where i am? 🪱🪱🪱: probs mauville? in hoenn, if you've ever been there. 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ✨𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒✨: Good. I've been wanting to travel for a little while, and this break is a good excuse to. I'll see if I can't find a hotel, then. 🪱🪱🪱: ... 🪱🪱🪱: did you. literally just invite yourself over to this region. 🪱🪱🪱: miss carmine??? 🪱🪱🪱: well at least make sure your team's in tip top shape so we can kick you guy's butts!! bye!!!

(...

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