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saturdaynightghostclub · 1 year ago

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Highway Hypnosis

Chapter 4: Janus

I’m settling in. I’m doing well. I’m figuring it out. I say these things to myself, over and over, as I try everything short of witchcraft to rid myself of this jittery, unsettled feeling. Actually, maybe I should try witchcraft; it’s been a month and still the feeling lingers. It’s like a cloud of TV static, or a bluebird circling my head in disconcerting silence. I’m alright.

Magic didn’t get me to this point. I was the one who did that. I managed to get a part-time job with Janie at the coffee shop after realizing in the haze of a mild panic that, though Len left me with plenty of amenities, grocery money wasn’t one of them. I cleaned out the guest room in the cabin, which used to be my domain in the summer but which appears to have been used as overflow for Len’s extensive library in the time since my last visit; it’s now complete with my soft floral linens and sheer curtains, an oscillating fan perched on the windowsill blowing the scent of hydrangeas through the space. I haven’t touched Len’s room, terrified on some level of what will happen to me if I do–it’s a problem for another day, I think. Jasper and Joshy take turns asking me how I’m holding up, which is simultaneously annoying and endearing. I’m doing well. I am doing well.

I’m doing so well, in fact, that I haven’t felt the need to leave my house all weekend. Not when the sun was shining, not when the town’s annual daffodil parade burned slow divots into the streets, not when Joshy called to tell me that he and a couple of the other young people in town were going to spend the day at the river, “if I wanted to join them.” Certainly not now, on the first rainy night in August, which happens to be a deluge of truly Biblical proportion. I could rise above my body, I think, through the roof and above the town, and just stare at the moon reflected in the drenched asphalt of Main Street until the storm passed. I could let it beat against my skin, open my eyes against it, let it hurt if it wanted to. Then maybe, when I floated back into myself, I’d be scrubbed clean of my TV static-grit and free of unease.

Jasper was meant to come over tonight to exchange some books–it’s a routine we’ve sort of stumbled into, these few Sunday nights–it’s our time to revive Len in short bursts of normalcy. I can’t imagine he’ll make it out here, though. Not in this weather, and not at 9:00 at night. So I sit at Len’s–my–kitchen table with a cold cup of tea and hope irrationally that the windows won’t implode, or maybe that they will. It might be nice to get a bit of a cross-breeze going. I’m in shorts and a ratty sweatshirt I found in the dryer. A midwestern girl to my core, and not just because the sweatshirt has “Chicago Bears” emblazoned across the front. It’s hard to move and impossible to stay still, so my body freezes while my mind relays against itself like I’ve had too much caffeine. I work at 7:00 tomorrow morning. I think I could probably sleep here and feel no worse when I wake up than I would have if I’d spent the night in my bed. Shoving my neglected teacup to the middle of the table, I lay my head upon my folded arms to get started.

An hour passes in ten minutes, or maybe just an hour’s worth of thoughts. I’m alright. I’m so small, and this house is so small, and I’m living a small life now. To think that I thought Chicago was restrictive. To my great relief, my eyelids begin to feel heavy and the dense violet shroud of sleep slowly, slowly lays its weight on me. In my half-dream, someone knocks on a door. That must mean something, right? Dream analysis, largely disproven, is more a matter of symbolism than psychology–what’s the symbolism of someone knocking on a door? On an obvious level, whoever it is wants to be let in. Into my subconscious, presumably, given that’s where we are now; so the door must be one of my own creation. Not only is someone asking that I let them in, but I’m actively keeping them out. It’s a harsh analysis, but perhaps fair; I haven’t exactly been easy to reach these past few days. So now all that remains, assuming I want to start being more open, is to find the door. Behind me, somewhere—that probably means something too, now that I think about it—

“Andie?” A voice cuts through the fog of my pseudointellectual nightmare as if from a great distance. Male, on the younger side. “You in there?” Where else would I be, Man? You wouldn’t get it. The owner of the voice knocks again, and some stage manager in the depths of my brain hooks me, pulling me offstage with a fishing hook-cane and into the light. Someone is knocking on my door. The TV static feeling takes me once more as I stand. It’s less that I walk to the door and more that the door just happens upon me; I haven’t been sick in years, but I think this must be what people mean when they talk about fever dreams.

The Man on the other side of my real life brain door is Jasper Stevens. He’s wearing a raincoat, hugging it tightly around his wiry frame. Why doesn’t he just use the zipper? He looks cold, and I’m cold for him. I’m about to step aside and let him enter when he speaks.

“Andie, holy shit,” he says, so softly I can only just hear him above the rain, “you look like hell.”

“Thanks,” I manage drily. Jasper crosses the threshold without waiting for me to move.

“Are you feeling okay?” He asks, his hand pressed to my forehead before I can protest. I could have saved him the trouble—I’m not sick. Just lost. Seeming dissatisfied with my lack of a temperature, he pivots to another line of questioning. “What about sleep, you been sleeping?”

I’m about to nod, or tell him to fuck off, or something equally unproductive, but for a second he’s my sweet Jasper again and I can’t bring myself to make him leave. “I—no,” I admit, “I’ve been… stressed out.” As if that explains anything. Good going, Andie.

“Come here, come sit down,” Jasper says, one hand between my shoulderblades as he guides me back to the kitchen table, “I’m going to go switch out these books, okay? I’ll be back in ten seconds, don’t move.”

It could be ten seconds or it could be two hours before he returns, but when he does he places a glass of water before me and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the kitchen counter to look at me. At some point he took off his raincoat, leaving his arms bare in a too-big T-shirt. How come he gets to stand there and look at me like that, expectantly, as if I should have anything to say to him? I stand, just to be on somewhat equal footing, and all at once exhaustion hits me. I must be swaying, because he darts forward to steady me by the shoulders.

“Andie…” he says, looking down at me with his brows drawn close together. I don’t know what to say for myself, and he knows it. I’m not sure who moves first, if I lean into him or if he puts his arms around me, but all at once I’m crushed against his chest. He’s holding me so tightly I think for a minute we might become one person, our ribs hooked into each other and my ear forever against his heartbeat. “Tell me,” he says, voice muffled against my hair. I wonder for a moment when he got so sensitive, but then he’s always been this way. When I was nine and sprained my ankle, Jasper winced with my every step as if the injury was his—you can’t take that out of a person, no matter how many cigarettes you give him.

I extract myself from his embrace, not without recognizing the absurdity of being held by such a man. “You want it all?”

Jasper runs a hand through my hair, his brow still furrowed. “I want it all,” he says. I can’t reconcile this interaction with our previous dynamic, one I was certain he would have been happy to maintain. He’s aggressively concerned.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” I confess. Deep breaths. “I’ve never even lived on my own before, I don’t know how to do any of this. I don’t know anyone, which is fine except that you all know each other–I don’t fit here, Jasper.”

“And?”

“And what? I’m done, I’m overwhelmed. I can’t do it,” I say, all at once. I’m actually shocked at myself for admitting it. Here’s a woman who’s never asked for help a day in her life, not even when she was failing introductory statistics and desperately needed a tutor. Here she is, entrusting a man she knows only on the basis of a childhood friendship. “

Jasper nods, thoughtfully. “Can I ask you something?”

I’m taken aback for a moment, but nod. “Sure.”

“Why do you think Len brought you out here?”

I’m surprised at the wording of the question, as if it was Len’s plan to get me back to Evergreen as opposed to a side effect of his death, but I answer it anyway. “He wanted someone to take care of his house, I guess.”

“No, see, that’s not it,” Jasper says, shaking his head like I should know better, “Andie, Len brought you here because he thought you’d enjoy yourself. He thought you’d have fun. He wanted you to be part of the community, he told me himself.”

“He told you? When did he–”

“Later. The point is, we take care of each other here. He knew that, he knew you’d be taken care of if you came here. You’re not alone, Andie, you just need to open up.”

I scoff. I can’t help myself. “You’re one to talk, I think this is the longest conversation we’ve had in a decade.”

Jasper shakes his head, emphatically this time. “I’m a loner, totally,” he says, “but these people–they’re my people, you know? Do you get it? And they’re your people too. We all belong to each other, does that make sense?” He’s starting to sound less confident. “Listen to me,” he says eventually, “you are here for a reason. Okay? That’s what I wanted to say. You’re not here by accident, you’re here because it’s the right place for you.”

“Jasper, I don’t know–”

“Give it another month, please,” he says. His eyes are wide and, if the sun hit them, I think they might be the color of honey. “And we’ll go to the beach and climb trees and I’ll–I’ll organize the library for you, and I’ll fix that step on your front porch. One more month, then you can tell me you hate it.”

I let my shoulders heave as I sigh, allowing myself a moment of drama. How can I possibly refuse him, when this is the most I’ve heard him speak since I arrived? “You get one month,” I concede, and as he takes me back into his arms I feel the chasm between his two personalities growing, and wonder what I can do to bridge the gap and finally understand him.

#highway hypnosis #original content #writers on tumblr #toady’s battle with tumblr tags continues #this chapter is brought to you by fiona apple and intense anxiety #let me know what y’all think fr!!#Spotify

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awlimagines · 5 months ago

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TW: Depressing Thoughts/Depression

I know death and taxes; they can’t be outrun

I thought I’d have more time before the race begun

He could act like everything was fine. An easy smile fooled everyone; he could pretend he was moving on and living his life. Eventually, the day ended, and Griffin found himself facing the house. It remained an untouched shrine of their shared life together. Her shining smile and golden curls immortalized in the pictures of their time together. A time that was all too brief. How long had it been since she passed? He knew the date, down to the second that doctors declared her gone. The wretched hour was one he did everything to prevent remembering.

Instead, his life was spiraling downwards, and he welcomed the distraction. He stayed holed in the bedroom, burying himself beneath layers of her clothes and clinging to her lingering scent. Griffin glared at the bottles on his nightstand. Each taunted him with an emptiness that matched his own. He could avoid the kitchen and sleep more with the pills. His hand fumbled, sending the prescription bottle crashing to the ground. It landed dully on the carpeted floor without its contents rattling—another empty thing.

I need chemicals to sleep to see you in my dreams

If I take enough, maybe one day we’ll speak

His plans for self-destruction halted as he walked into an intervention. Her family and their friends crowded the living room. Griffin did his best to smile through the pity in their eyes. He could play the part and reassure them he was fine and coping, but they had already found the bottles. At their insistent urging, Griffin found himself slowly saying farewell. The house was cleaned, and Griffin gave pieces of her away to loving homes. The ones most important to him were safely stored until Griffin stood looking at the sign proclaiming the home as sold.

Griffin took the funds to open a bar and cafe in Forget-Me-Not Valley. He had always dreamed of owning such a place, and she always wanted to live near the ocean. Despite pushing to fulfill their dreams, the call of the glistening bottles on the shelves beckoned him. If he drowned in sorrow here, at least their loved ones wouldn’t see. The overpowering urge seemed logical in his mind. Though the town was small, locals soon frequented the BlueBird Cafe. Their steady presence helped Griffin stay focused and ignore the call of old habits. He only struggled during the empty hours when it was just him and the tidy rows of alcohol.

These photos and voicemails of you aren't enough

Let me close my eyes 'cause I can't stand the mourning

He thought his life had plateaued, and the steady years in Forget-Me-Not Valley had taught him to refrain from drowning himself in complete misery. Instead, he maintained a delicate balance, treading the thin line between living and depression. Griffin glanced up from the glass he dried as the door swung open. His warning of being closed died in his throat as his eyes focused on golden curls.

She couldn’t be here; it wasn’t possible. Griffin pushed down the irrational hopes that she returned from the dead so he could observe the young woman closer. Her golden curls were where their similarities ended. The woman standing awkwardly in his doorway had stunning green eyes. They were puffy and red, with streaks of black make-up running from them to her cheeks. Griffin’s sense somewhat returned as he moved to usher the young woman to take a seat. Griffin’s gentle offer of food or drink soon sent her into another fit of crying. As she slowly calmed, he learned her name.

Muffy fled the city after another heartbreak impulsively to seek a new start. Her path brought her to Forget-Me-Not Valley. She wasn’t sure where to go or how to proceed further. The inn was full when she stopped there. Griffin hesitated. His heart went out to the young blonde. He also arrived here heartbroken and wanted to help her as this town helped him. But wouldn’t staying with an unmarried, strange man be a strange situation for her?

He offered to let her sleep in the upper room. Griffin quickly explained how it might be a little cramped with storage, but it was clean and had an extra bed. She could even lock the door to feel safe, and he would help her find somewhere else to stay in the morning. Part of him was shocked when she accepted his offer, though it soon paled to the surprise when she asked to stay and work with him. Their efforts to find a spare room in Forget-Me-Not Valley were dashed when the inn owner’s son returned home.

Can't pretend that it's still the best day of my life

When I tell you the truth, you say it's all a lie

Sometimes, Griffin felt guilty for how much he enjoyed life now. The pain of her passing still lingered, but Muffy’s presence had breathed new life into the Bluebird Cafe and Bar. Griffin was nowhere near old enough to be Muffy’s father, but he couldn’t help but view her as such. If Griffin had ever had a daughter, he would have hoped she turned out like Muffy. She was someone who, despite the pain in her life, still enthusiastically greeted each day. Muffy did her best, and though her failures brought her down, the blonde soon bounced back. Griffin wanted her to have everything she wanted in life.

His sharp eyes quickly noted the new farmer and their interactions with Muffy. Griffin hid his smile as the two chatted at the bar, dancing around their growing feelings. When Muffy returned one late Spring day, she gushed about the farm. She shared how reassuring the farmer was when she worried about upsetting Takakura. When she confided that their dog disliked her, they shared its favorite treats with Muffy to foster a friendship. Muffy couldn’t wait to revisit the farm and meet the other animals.

Griffin wondered what he could do to help the young couple as he listened. Their budding love reminded him so much of the start of his own. In the dark hours of the morning, he cradled the old decorative box as he sat on his bed. Griffin had opened and closed the box several times, contemplating his next action. Despite the risks, he trusted his gut feeling wasn’t wrong. Determined, Griffin opened the box to shift through her keepsakes lovingly. He carefully lifted the Blue Feather he once proposed with years ago as a young man. He would be happy if it could be used again to further Muffy’s love rather than gather dust in a box. He was sure his lost love would prefer it be used as well.

Before he could change his mind again, Griffin hustled from the bar to the farmer’s house. He paused outside the cabin’s door, unsure what to do with the feather now that he was here. Griffin didn’t want to hand them the feather directly and push them to propose to Muffy. It should be their decision. The older man was lost as to where to place the feather to ensure the farmer found it safely. And what if they didn’t know its significance? Muffy had said the city folk preferred rings to propose with. A sudden sound startled him into dropping the feather and hustling from the farm as though guilty of some great crime.

Let me close my eyes

'Cause I can't stand the mourning

His seasons of worry about losing the Blue Feather were lost when Muffy burst into the bar toward the end of Fall. Her golden curls were in disarray, and she panted from her rush to the bar. The sparkle in her green eyes stopped Griffin from assuming the worst. Muffy soon rushed forward to hug him in excitement and excitedly chattered. In her hand was the Blue Feather, the farmer had proposed to her.

All too soon, Muffy moved from the Bluebird Cafe and Bar to the farmhouse. Griffin missed her constant company but couldn’t deny the thrill of seeing her so happy. She and the farmer soon had an adorable child that looked like Muffy. Griffin hoped the young family would have many happy years together.

#harvest moon #story of seasons #sos awl #story of seasons a wonderful life #harvest moon a wonderful life #hm awl #bokujou monogatari #awl imagines #awl griffin #awl gavin #he always seemed like a sad guy to me #and i was already giving him a bon jovi song when i came across this one #i'm not a huge griffinxmuffy shipper but i do like it #i just feel like he sees her differently is all #i need to play more ds cute and see their rival events #this was also way longer than i planned #anyway #tw depressing stuff #Spotify

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divinedomesticity · 8 months ago

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Enhancing Your Organic Garden: The Joy and Benefits of Hanging Birdhouses

Creating a thriving organic garden is a rewarding endeavor that not only provides you with fresh, healthy produce but also contributes to a balanced ecosystem. One often-overlooked yet highly effective way to complement your organic gardening practices is by attracting birds. Birds are natural pest controllers, and inviting them into your garden can help manage harmful insect populations. One of the best ways to attract these feathered friends is by hanging birdhouses. Let’s explore the many benefits of hanging birdhouses and how they can transform your garden into a harmonious haven.

The Role of Birds in Organic Gardening

1. Natural Pest Control: Birds are excellent at keeping insect populations in check. Many species, such as bluebirds, chickadees, and wrens, have diets that primarily consist of insects. By inviting these birds into your garden, you’re enlisting natural pest control agents who will help reduce the number of harmful bugs, such as aphids, caterpillars, and beetles, that can damage your plants.

2. Pollination Partners: While birds are known for their pest control abilities, some, like hummingbirds, also play a role in pollination. They help transfer pollen from one flower to another, aiding in the reproduction of many plants and contributing to the overall health and diversity of your garden.

3. Soil Health: Birds contribute to soil health by breaking down organic matter and helping to cycle nutrients through their droppings. This natural fertilization process enriches the soil, promoting robust plant growth.

Attracting Birds with Birdhouses

Hanging birdhouses in your garden is a simple yet effective way to attract birds. Here are some tips to make your garden bird-friendly:

1. Choose the Right Birdhouse: Different bird species have different preferences when it comes to nesting sites. Research which birds are native to your area and select birdhouses that cater to their specific needs. For example, bluebirds prefer houses with a 1.5-inch entrance hole, while wrens prefer a smaller 1-inch hole.

2. Placement Matters: Place birdhouses in locations that mimic the natural habitats of your target bird species. Ensure they are safe from predators and positioned at the correct height. For example, bluebird houses should be mounted 4-6 feet off the ground in open areas, while wren houses can be placed 6-10 feet high in more sheltered spots.

3. Keep It Clean: Maintain your birdhouses by cleaning them out after each nesting season. This helps prevent the spread of disease and parasites, ensuring a healthy environment for the birds.

4. Provide Fresh Water: Birds need water for drinking and bathing. Installing a birdbath or a small water feature can make your garden even more attractive to birds.

The Benefits of Birdhouses in Your Garden

1. Enhanced Pest Control: With birds regularly visiting your garden, you’ll notice a significant reduction in the population of harmful insects. This natural pest control means fewer chemicals and pesticides are needed, keeping your garden truly organic.

2. Increased Biodiversity: Birds add to the biodiversity of your garden. Their presence creates a more balanced ecosystem, where natural checks and balances can thrive. This biodiversity is crucial for the resilience and health of your garden.

3. Educational Opportunities: Birdwatching can be a delightful and educational activity for the whole family. Observing birds up close provides opportunities to learn about different species, their behaviors, and their roles in the ecosystem.

4. Aesthetic and Auditory Delight: Birds bring beauty and joy to any garden. Their vibrant colors, songs, and playful behaviors enhance the garden’s atmosphere, making it a peaceful and enchanting place to spend time.

Bringing It Home

As homemakers and gardeners, we have the power to create beautiful, sustainable environments that nourish both our families and the planet. By incorporating birdhouses into your organic gardening practices, you’re not only inviting charming avian visitors into your garden but also harnessing their natural abilities to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

Hanging birdhouses is a simple yet impactful step toward a thriving organic garden. The benefits are numerous, from natural pest control to increased biodiversity and the sheer joy of birdwatching. So, take a moment to add a few birdhouses to your garden. You’ll be rewarded with a vibrant, pest-free garden and the delightful presence of your new feathered friends.

Happy gardening, and may your garden be filled with the sweet songs of birds!

With green thumbs and warm hearts,

Kimmi

#homemaking #homemaker #homesweethome #selfimprovement #housewife tips #gardening #gardentips #backyard garden #organic gardening #backyard birds #homemakers

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dearmahiru-archive · 1 year ago

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YOUR COMFORT CHARACTERS ARE SO SWEET snow white.. thats so lovely im gonna cry. im forever going to have bluebirds and apples come to mind when i think of you beloved mutual cinnamon

this was around midnight for me and you must understand my sleep-deprived attempts to coherently explain why snow white is the best character ever to exist. because she is. i love her!! (and therefore i went to sleep before answering this because it's what she would've wanted).

snow white gets so much flack for being a "bad role model" but like... she's not! she's absolutely not! i can't believe how much the narrative was rewritten because, at its core, the story of snow white is an abused child who's protected by the love she gives to the world.

snow white, on her way to the forest, hums the love song the prince sang to her as she picks wild flowers. when she expresses kindness to a baby bird that can't fly, the huntsman is filled with so much guilt that he warns her to run away.

snow white, sheltered and fourteen, is running through a large forest terrified of being killed. when she inevitably breaks down crying, she apologizes to the nearby animals for scaring them! after singing a song about learning how to smile, this is what compels them to help her find the dwarves cottage.

snow white finds the cottage in dissaray and is initially taken aback... but then she realized this house could belong to orphaned children without a mother. because she's an orphaned child. it's not out of a gender obligation that snow white cleans the house—she feels awful for the "children" and these are skills learnt from being a scullery maid.

and then the dwarves come home and a bunch of shenanigans occur. when the dwarves meet snow white, she's the sweetest little thing and offers to earn her keep. once again, there's no gender obligation, it's a bargaining chip for letting her stay!

and i could go on such a large ramble about snow white's relationship with the dwarves—the BEST part of the entire movie—but it'd be way too long to note everything. one thing i'll say though, i'm one of the few people who likes snow white's prince but it's the dwarves who saved snow white!

when snow white is poisoned by the evil queen, who scoffed at the idea of true loves kiss, it's the dwarves who refuse to bury her. that's the child they've come to adopt and they spend many seasons creating a glass coffin for her. the coffin is carved with her own name (like the dwarve's bed) and angels which bashful dotingly called her.

and it's this act of love that ultimately allows the prince to wake her up. and say what you will about the kiss (it was a good-bye kiss) but isn't this ending just perfect for snow white? snow white who's saved again and again and again from nearly dying by expressing her love, to be saved from literal death by love itself? cursed by her step mother and saved by her newfound family?

like how cinderella has been acknowledged as an abuse victim story (we love cindy in this house), i hope snow white manages re-emerges in the public eye in a more flattering light. there's so much to her character and film and i wished people would stop reducing her to a six-minute scene at the very end of the movie!

#there was so much i had to take out #like how it's perfect for a fairytale adaptation to have its main character believe in wishes and have all her wishes come true #and how the evil queen wanted nothing more than to kill snow white but ended up being the catalyst for her true happiness #SNOW WHITE AND THE DWARVES RELATIONSHIP I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH ITS BEAUTIFUL #i could make my entire seperate post about how a lack of understanding the dwarves will always result in a weak adaptation of snow white #because then you'll get stories where the dwarves don't build the coffin themselves #and just have a pristine human-shaped glass coffin lying around....? c'mon atleast try #✎ cinnamon answers

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videojoeshows · 3 years ago

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How to Clean Out Blue Bird House for Dummies/Things to Know

#bluebirdhouse #howtobuildbluebirdhouse #bluebirdthingstoknow #bluebirdhousethingstoknow #bluebirdfacts #bluebirds #bluebirdnest #cleaningoutabirdhouse #cleaningoutabluebirdhouse #cleaningoutbluebirdbirdhouse How to clean out a blue bird house for dummies/things to know is what this DIY howto video is about. VideoJoe is at Motha's house still. Still? Still. She wants him to go out & check the blue bird bird house. You see I hear that every year you are suppose to go out & clean out the old blue bird nest & get everything out of there each year. What's the big deal? Why can't a blue bird use the same nest each year? Well each year a blue bird is going to build a new nest no matter what even if there is an old nest in the blue bird house already. You don't want that as the nest gets higher & higher to the hole where the blue bird comes in & out of. I hear that's a no no. Did you also know that it matters what size the bird house is & how high up you should make the hole for the blue bird to go in & out of the bird house? Did you know too that the hole should be a certain size as well? Who knew?!! All for a blue bird? Yes! Watch & learn as VideoJoeShows you what VideoJoeKnows...how to clean out a blue bird house for dummies/things to know. Nice!

#blue bird house #how to clean out bluebird house

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jrvanfleet · 2 years ago

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Angel | SFK

NSFW 18+ Minors, please DNI!

Word Count: 6.2k (I'm so sorry)

Part 2 of ??

[Content warnings: language, SMUT, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it, friends), multiple orgasms, oral (m receiving), praise kink, masturbation, dom! reader, sex toys, calling Sam a slut??, heavy FLUFF at the beginning (I'm so sorry I'm so emotional), this is FILTHY...and there's so much ahhh? Ahh I'm terrible at these haha]

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x f!reader

The day after your’s and Sam’s beach shenanigans, everyone began to arrive. The goal for everyone was to get there before 2 pm. You and Sam had gotten up around 9 am. You ate your breakfast, showered, and got the house ready for everyone’s arrival.

While you were prepping the food and drinks, you connected your phone to the portable speaker and shuffled your liked songs. It was always funny when you and Sam listened to your liked songs because you knew that Sam would make fun of you for at least a few of them. The first song to play was ‘Bluebird Revisited’ by Stephen Stills, so it had received Sam’s little nod of approval as the two of you were cutting up fruit, vegetables, and cheese. You thought it would be fun for you and Sam to make a few platters and charcuterie boards for everyone’s arrival.

Sam rummaged through the cabinets to find various platters and plates, placing them on the large island. You were always a little nervous when songs ended and shuffled to another, but it was always funny to see Sam’s reactions to some of your guilty pleasure music.

Anyway… It’s bad bitch o’clock, yeah, it’s thick:30. I’ve been through a lot, but I’m still flirty (okay). Is everybody back up in the building? It’s been a minute, tell me how you’re healing. Cause I’m about to get into my feelings. How you feeling? How you feeling right now? Oh, I’ve been so down and under pressure –

Sam’s ears perked up at the new song that played while he concentrated, his eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed while he tried to figure out what he was listening to.

You sang along and swayed your hips to the music while you continued to wash and cut the food in front of you.

It’s about damn time. In a minute, I’ma need a sentimental man or woman to pump me up. Feeling fussy, walking in my Balenci-ussies tryna bring out the fabulous. Cause I give a fuck way too much. I’ma need, like, two shots in my cup. Wanna get up, wanna get down. Mmh, that’s how I feel right now.

You continued to sing along as you tried to do what you could remember of the viral TikTok dance, earning a laugh from Sam. He watched you intently as you continued to move along to the music.

“Y/N, what is this song? Who’s singing it?” he chuckled. You put your knife and food down and danced over to him, grabbing his hands and starting to move them back and forth. He moved with you, dancing in the kitchen…or at least Sam’s version of dancing. He was always funny to watch when he danced…he was so tall and lanky and looked incredibly goofy with the way he moved.

“This, Samuel is the queen herself…Lizzo. The song, ‘About Damn Time’!” you replied, continuing to dance with your boyfriend, “Just dance, baby!” Sam obliged and danced with you through the rest of the song.

“You know I don’t like that pop music right?” he asked. You nodded in response as ‘From Eden’ by Hozier began playing.

“Well, that was kind of fun…I think I like Lizzo?” he added, causing you to laugh a little.

“I love Lizzo! Bad bitches love Lizzo, Sammy,” you replied, “So that means…”

“I’m a bad bitch?” he questioned.

“Yes, Samuel. You, my love, are in fact a bad bitch!” the two of you laughed together as the music continued to play and you went back to preparing the food.

When you were finished cleaning and cutting all of the food, Sam made a pitcher of margaritas. In all of the times you two had hosted people, Sam always made margaritas because he insisted that he makes the best margaritas. While Sam was very confident in his margarita-making skills, they were basically just tequila, and could get you drunk pretty quickly…but they were ‘Sam’s Margaritas��. Sometimes when he’s not looking, you or Danny will just have premade margarita mix and you’ll switch it out…in an attempt to save the people who were drinking it. He hasn’t noticed it yet, he just thinks he makes a mean margarita.

Once you two were finished with putting all of the food and drinks together, it was around 12:45 pm, and knowing the parents, they’d probably be showing up soon. So, you and Sam went through and made sure everything was nice and clean before they arrived.

By the time you were done with that, you and Sam laid out on the large couch in the main family room. You cuddled into one another and sighed.

“Hmm, this is the last time we’ll be alone alone for the next two weeks,” he stated, kissing your forehead. You looked up at him and pulled him in to kiss your lips.

“I know, but it will be so great to spend time with your family and the Wagners. My family will be down next week which is exciting. We’ll be with the people we love the most,” you smiled.

“We will, but I’m already with the person I love more than anyone and anything. I love how much you love my family and how much they love you...I really do, but I also really love having you all to myself. I’m a little selfish when it comes to spending time with you, especially when I don’t get to be with you when we tour. I miss having you around me…you just..." he paused, a few tears rolling down his face, "you make me better, Y/N."

While Sam wasn’t normally overly emotional or vulnerable with most people, he was always completely open and honest with you. You could feel your heart hurting as Sam opened up about how much he missed you. You of course missed him too and wished you could always be with him, but having a job and responsibilities made it incredibly difficult to always be there when he’s traveling all over the world and living his dream.

You moved from your spot and adjusted yourself so you were now straddling him. His hands were quick to find your waist, and your hands cupped his cheeks. You wiped the few tears that ran down his face, kissing where the tears had been.

“Sam, honey, I know it’s not easy. We’ve been doing this for years, and it’s hard...but we always make it work. I’ll be there, okay? I-I'll see what I can do. I’ll be there,” you replied. He looked up at you with a soft smile, his hands gently rubbing up and down your sides. You returned his smile and kissed his lips sweetly.

“I love you, Y/N,” he said, bringing his hands to your cheeks.

“And I love you most, Sammy,” you reply, kissing him again. You kept your hands on his cheeks while his hands moved to back to your sides. He pulled you closer to him, deepening the kiss. After a few minutes, you pulled apart, and you wrapped your arms around each other, relaxing in each other’s arms before everyone arrived.

~~~

The first people to arrive were the parents; who showed up at 1:15 pm, then Jake and Jita around 1:30 pm (she truly was the reason why Jake showed up on time for things), Danny and Josie came around 1:45 pm, and Josh pulled up just after 3 pm with a very irritated Ronnie. When they had shown up, everyone else had been chatting amongst themselves in the kitchen or living area. Josh cheerfully mozied his way into the home, but Ronnie definitely was not as happy as Josh.

“I swear…every single time I’m stuck going somewhere with Josh, we’re always SO late,” she huffed, giving her mom a hug and accepting a drink from Sam. She hugged her dad, you, Jita, and her brothers, then she took a sip of the margarita Sam had made her. She made a little face, pursing her lips before saying, “Shit. This is strong! Sam? You made this?”

“Well yes, dear sister. I did. I know, I know…best damn margarita you’ve ever had! Right?” Sam replied, taking a sip of his own drink before letting out a satisfied, “Ahh!” You couldn’t help but giggle at the interaction.

“Oh baby brother, if I hadn’t just traveled all that way with Josh, I would say that your margaritas are terrible…but given the circumstances, I’d say that’s a pretty good drink,” she said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Thank you! I think?” Sam questioned, taking another sip of his drink and turning to you. “You like the drinks I make? Right? You think they’re good?” he whispered, looking in your eyes.

“You know me, I love a Sammy cock….tail,” you whispered back, trying not to laugh too hard while you said it. His eyes widened and he choked a bit on his drink.

“Wow! Thank you, that was the perfect answer, and you, my darling are the perfect woman. That was hilarious and I love you.” he laughed, putting his drink down on the counter and hugging you from behind, planting a few soft kisses on your neck.

“Gross,” Josh said as he walked over to the two of you, salty dog in hand. You swore this man brought his own 'accommodations' wherever he went.

“Hey, fuck you,” Sam fired back, tensing a bit around you.

“Whoa! ‘Twas a joke, little brother. You know how much I adore Y/N,” Josh said, motioning towards you.

“It’s always great to see you, Josh! Are you excited to relax for the next two weeks?” you asked.

“Of course, Y/N! What a wonderful thing…being able to spend time in such a relaxing place with the people we love. I’m looking forward to taking the time to refresh and prepare for the next shows. Will you be joining us for those, Y/N?” he asked.

“I don’t know yet? I’d like to, but it all depends on work and how much they’ll allow me to take off,” you reply. Of course, you’d love to see them play, especially after your conversation with Sam, so you’ll be making lots of calls and sending lots of emails on this vacation to try to get some leeway. Hopefully, you can see them play sooner rather than later.

“Maybe we can go old school and play a little show while we’re here on vacation? We can have Dad come up and play with us? Something really small?” Sam suggested, moving to look at you with a big smile.

“Oooh, now that’s a great idea, Samuel. We’ll have a band meeting to talk about it. Maybe we can reach out to a venue around here and we can keep it really small? Like we did with the Troubadour a few months ago…but smaller?” Josh added. You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he took a sip of his drink. “We’ll talk, brother. We’ll talk,” he added as he walked over to Karen, giving her a big hug and a kiss on her cheek.

Sam turned you around to look at him, his hands on your hips, “Wouldn’t that be cool though, honey? If we have a little show while we’re here? Then you would be here for it and I just feel so much better when you’re there. I want to play for you, Y/N,” he rambled excitedly.

“Of course, I’d love to see you guys play! And your fans would freak if you decided to do a pop-up show!” you giggled, practically melting at his wanting to play for you, and excited about the opportunity to see them play.

After everyone said their hellos and caught up a bit, everyone took some time to get settled in their rooms. Karen and Kelly are staying in the master bedroom on the first floor, and Lori and Dan are in the master bedroom on the second floor. Josh and Danny are sharing a room with two double beds on the second floor that is connected by a bathroom to Ronnie and Josies’ room with two double beds. On the third floor, you and Sam were in a room with its own bathroom, and Jake and Jita were in another room with its own bathroom.

The remainder of the evening was pretty laid back, consisting of ordering take-out from a local Thai restaurant, and going out to the beach to swim and watch the sunset. The kids were all splashing around in the calm waves, trying to dunk one another or trying to finish the evening ‘undunked’. Of course, Sam was practically attached to you the entire time you were in the water, trying to steal your warmth away, and occasionally trying to dunk you. After a good amount of time, the sun was beginning to set, so you all trickled out of the water, wrapping up in towels and sitting down to watch the sun say goodnight.

Sam sat down on the same beach blanket you had used yesterday for your…beachside adventure.

“Come here, baby…lay with me,” he said, motioning for you to sit in front of and lay back on him. You settled yourself between his legs, his long arms wrapping around your torso, pulling you close to him as memories were flooding back from the day prior. Sam nuzzled his face into your neck, kissing you gently. You sat there together, drinking in the sunset and one another. You couldn’t help but think back to your conversations earlier, talking about how much he loved having you with him on tour. You loved him so much and didn’t want him to think that you were choosing your job over him and your relationship. You’ll definitely be making some calls during your free time to rearrange your schedule, perhaps even start working remotely. But like you told Sam yesterday, you had some plans for him this trip…and you’re certain that he will absolutely love them.

~~~

It was a shorter night for the Kiszkas and Wagners due to everyone spending the entirety of the day traveling. By 9:30 pm, everyone was back at the house. Once mostly everyone said goodnight, it was just you, Sam, Jita, Karen, and Lori left in the kitchen. You were sitting around the kitchen island, with Sam standing behind you, his lanky arms wrapped around you.

“You coming up, sweetheart?” Sam asked, pulling away and beginning to walk towards the stairs.

“Yeah, I’ll be up in a bit! We’re just going to finish the plan for tomorrow!” you replied.

“Okie dokie! I’m going to quickly jump in the shower! Goodnight, beautiful ladies! I love you all!” he said, giving his mom a hug and a kiss on the forehead, and hugging Lori and Jita.

Once Sam was up the stairs, you finished up the plans for tomorrow within 10 minutes and decided to start heading up to bed.

“I’m glad we have a plan for tomorrow! Aw I’m so happy to be here,” Karen said, giving you a big hug, “Goodnight, honey,” she said kissing your forehead, “Goodnight, sweetie,” she said, doing the same to Jita. “Oh and Lori, we’re so glad you’re all here,” she said hugging her.

“Thank you for including us! We love you all so much,” she replied.

After a bit more conversation, you all made your way to your bedrooms. You walked up the steps with Jita, said goodnight once again, hugged, and then went your separate ways to your rooms.

When you walked into the room, Sam had a towel wrapped around his waist and he had a pair of briefs laid out, ready to change into them.

“Hey baby, I just quickly rinsed off my body and I’m about to get into bed. Do you think you’ll shower tonight? Or tomorrow?” he asked.

“Hmm, I think I’ll just rinse off my body tonight and put on pajamas. Maybe we can actually shower tomorrow after the beach, and before we go out to dinner?” you suggested.

“Sounds like a great plan to me!” he replied as you walked towards your suitcase, looking through your belongings.

Once you found what you were looking for, you walked to the bathroom saying, “Okay, Sammy, I’ll be quick!”

“Hurry back, pretty girl! I want some cuddles before we go to sleep!” he called out as you giggled your way into the bathroom.

Once you were in the bathroom, you quickly got in the shower, rinsed off your body, and dried yourself off. You brushed your teeth, combed through your hair, and put on some deodorant and perfume…then the finishing touch…your ‘pajamas’ for the evening.

What Sam didn’t realize about this trip was that you had planned out your bedtime outfits ahead of time. Tonight, you were wearing a brand new mostly sheer black babydoll number. When you wear lingerie, you tend to gravitate more towards lighter colors which Sam loves, but sometimes you find yourself in the mood for a change. So tonight, it should be interesting to see Sam’s reaction to your barely-there black lingerie.

Tonight, you’re wanting to take charge a bit, and switch things up. While you and Sam could both be classified as “switches” in the bedroom, you definitely tend to be submissive most of the time…but not tonight. You were excited to spice things up a bit and reverse the roles you typically fell into. You’re also both very vocal, so it should be fun to see him struggle to stay quiet with his family and the Wagners in the same house.

“How are you doing in there, honey? Almost ready for bed?” he asked, knocking lightly on the bathroom door.

“Yup! I’ll be out in a minute!” you replied, adjusting your outfit and looking at the marks Sam strategically placed on you over the past few days…all different shades. You trailed your fingers along them as Sam called out again, “okay sweetheart! I put your book on your bedside table! Are you still connected to the speaker? Can you put some music on?” you took your phone and played your ‘laundry room’ playlist (an: lol this is my seggsy/steamy playlist), the first song coming on being George Harrison’s ‘I’d Have You Anytime.'

“Oooh great song, Y/N! God, this is such a great album!” he said, his voice fading a bit as he was probably walking towards the bed. You scanned yourself in the mirror one last time and take a deep breath. You slowly opened the door and walked out to see Sam reading his book, hair pulled up into a bun, legs crossed, and his back against the headboard. The warm-toned lamps on either side of the bed moodily light the room.

You smile a bit as you notice his toes tapping along with the song's beat, and a look of concentration graces his face...eyebrows furrowed slightly and lightly biting his bottom lip. He was wearing his MeUndies Stranger Things briefs that matched a bra and pair of panties you had.

“Thank you for getting my book out, Sammy…but I don’t think we’ll be reading very much tonight,” you said, causing his gaze to move from his book to you. His eyes widened, and the book fell out of his hands, right onto the ground…his jaw practically on the floor with it.

Whenever Sam looks at you, you swore it was as if he was looking at you for the very first time. He always seems to be in complete awe of you despite how long you’ve been together or how long you’ve known each other. So, when he sees you wearing something special…especially if that something is new…his reaction is priceless.

“Y/N…you look…oh my god? You-uh that’s um new? Is it? When did you? Wow!” he rambled, scanning your body and his eyes landing on your chest that was practically exposed beneath the extremely sheer material.

“Do you mind if I join you, Sammy?” you asked, batting your eyelashes and beginning to slowly walk towards him.

“Oh, please do,” he replied, scanning the hickeys littered along your chest and torso…his hand now on top of his obvious and growing erection.

You walked over to his side of the bed, taking his hands in yours and getting onto the bed. You adjusted so you were now straddling him and moved his large hands to your chest. You guided them over your chest, breasts, and along your sides…feeling the soft, extremely thin fabric and your body until you let them rest on your hips.

You reach out to cup his face with your hands as he continues to move along your sides and your back. You kiss his lips softly several times, grinding your hips against his erection.

“Nice underwear, baby,” you say, giggling in between kisses.

“I could say the same to you, Y/N. Good god,” he laughed, pulling you back into him. His hands traced your skin underneath your lingerie while his lips began placing open-mouth kisses along your jaw, neck, and chest.

You brought his mouth back to yours, kissing them once more before you began trailing kisses along his jaw, neck, chest, and stomach until your lips met just above the waistband of his underwear.

“Mmm can I touch you, Sammy?” you asked, settling between his legs and looking up at him.

“Oh please…please do, baby…shit,” he replied, breathing heavily and watching you intently as you placed a kiss on his erection first through his underwear, and then again once he helped you pull them off. You continue planting kisses on his body, sucking on his skin and leaving marks as you near his cock. Your hands found his erection, gently wrapping around the length of it. You began lightly swirling the tip of your tongue around the tip of his dick, causing his body to tense slightly and a low groan to escape his mouth.

“Mmm please, Y/N…stop teasing me, please. I-I need you,” he rambled, not bothering to control his volume as he was too busy focusing on you and your tongue.

“Uh uh uh,” you tut, “we’re not alone in this house, Sammy. We don’t want them to hear how desperate you are. Do we?”

“Desperate? Only for you, angel,” he chuckled breathily, “But you better be careful with what you say because I might just have to grab you and fuck you so hard that everyone in the state knows how desperate YOU are for ME,” he added.

You remove your hands and tongue from his cock and move towards him. You bring your hands to his face, cupping his cheeks as you straddle him, your clothed heat grazing his hard-on.

“Aw, Sammy…you think you’re running the show tonight? Honey, that’s so cute,” you say, causing his dick to twitch against you, “Mmm do you like it when I’m in charge? I can feel how much you like it,” you added, barely grinding yourself against him, causing him to moan.

“Ooh so someone doesn’t want to stay quiet? Maybe I should just leave you here like this? I could just go into the bathroom and get myself off…ooh or maybe I should just finish myself off right here in front of you? I can tie up your hands so you can’t do anything about it?” you suggest, resulting in him shaking his head in response.

“Are you going to be nice and quiet for me, Sammy? Or are you going to be a needy little slut? Moaning and groaning at every minuscule thing I do? With every hand movement, and flick or a swirl of my tongue…are you going to control yourself for me, baby?” you taunted, Sam’s eyes going wide at the dirty words coming from the mouth that is normally letting out praises and moans when the roles are reversed. He nodded his head in agreement, bringing his hand to his mouth, ‘locking’ it shut and ‘placing the key’ on the bedside table.

“Good,” you reply, resuming your previous position between his legs, your hands, and mouth finding his dick. You lick a slow stripe along his length and bring him into your mouth, setting a steady pace. You knew this was difficult for Sam, since you are both very vocal in any other place or situation, but seeing him try to control himself and pretty much fail at it was one of the hottest things you’ve ever seen.

To contain himself, Sam bites down hard on his bottom lip, watching as you bring him closer and closer to finishing. He begins to twitch inside of you, threatening to spill into your mouth. You moan around his cock, quickening your pace. He’s quickly approaching his orgasm, you feel the arousal between your legs puddle in your panties. Sam is completely under your control, and you couldn’t get enough.

You feel him twitch inside your mouth again and begin to let out a moan before trying to catch himself, reaching for the pillow next to him and bringing it to his mouth to bite down on. He releases into your mouth as he groans into the pillow, panting and thrusting himself into you.

Once he completely finished, you swallowed and removed him from your mouth. He looked down at you and reached out for you, wanting to pull you close to him…wanting to return the favor and make you feel good. You looked up at him as you moved away from him, walking towards your suitcase and rummaging through the contents. He looked at you as you bent over, your arousal clearly dripping down the top of your thighs and he let out a low, “fuck me.”

“You’re lucky I let you finish, Sammy. You were making quite a bit of noise even after I told you not to,” you say, finally finding what you were looking for. You pulled out a bright pink vibrator wand and a pair of handcuffs and slowly walked toward the comfortable chair in the corner. You turned on the lamp so he could see what you were about to do and placed the toy and handcuffs on the chair, then slowly removing your panties.

“Since you were so naughty and couldn’t contain yourself, I’m going to get myself off right in front of you and you don’t get to touch me or yourself…just like I warned you,” you said taking the handcuffs and walking towards him.

“Oh my god,” he whispered, eyes wide as he voluntarily gave you his hands. He leaned forward and you guided his hands behind his back, placing the handcuffs on his wrists and planting a kiss on his forehead before you walked back to the chair, picked up the toy, and settled yourself on the chair.

You spread your legs, your right leg hanging over one of the chair’s armrests. You held the toy in your right hand and started running it and your left hand lightly along your chest, torso, and thighs. Your left hand found your nipple through the light fabric and played with it gently. Sam was so laser-focused on you that he quite literally had no idea where he should look. Here you were, practically displaying yourself in front of him with your legs spread, your cunt dripping, toy in one hand, and touching your body with the other. His cock was already back up, ready to go and throbbing for you.

“Hmm it sure is fun having the roles reversed, isn’t it, Sammy?” you asked, loving the control you held, and loving the effect it had on him. You turned the vibrator on to the second-lowest setting and brought it to your clit, letting out a sigh and then turning it up one level.

“ Fuck, that’s so hot. Y/N, please….this is torture, baby. Please let me touch you…I promise I’ll be so good,” he pleaded, painfully hard at the sight of you.

“Aw honey, I gave you the opportunity to prove to me that you could be good, but here we are. You’re handcuffed and throbbing, watching me make myself feel good. This could have been you, Sammy,” you reply, turning up the speed once more and continuing to use your left hand to touch your breasts.

You knew how focused Sam was on you, but you decided not to pay him any mind. Instead, you closed your eyes and focused purely on your own pleasure...how you would when Sam is away and you’re left thinking about him or you’re on the phone with him.

You feel a knot begin to form in your stomach, so you turn up the speed three more times, bucking your hips slightly, wanting more pressure against your swollen clit. You let out soft moans as you begin to hear quiet moans and shallow breathing coming from Sam’s direction. You ignore it and continue to chase your own high, pushing your boobs together and squeezing your nipples until you bite down on your lip, letting out a strangled moan.

With eyes closed as you’re coming down from your high, you hear a stifled groan and heavy breathing. You turn off the toy and open your eyes just in time to see Sam…panting, his forehead sweaty, and his stomach being covered by his cum.

“Oh my g-” you start, eyes wide and looking at him. “Sam, did you just…without…touching?” you asked, utterly shocked.

“Y/N, you were just so….I’m so sorry…I couldn’t help it…” he said, slightly embarrassed at the situation. You got up from the chair, literally threw the vibrator behind you, and rushed over to Sam. You cupped his face and brought him in for a passionate kiss.

“Sam, don’t apologize. That was one of the hottest things I have ever seen in my entire life,” you reply kissing him again and quickly moving to release him from the handcuffs. Once they’re off, he’s pulling you on top of him, kissing you all across your chest and along your neck.

You kiss each other and roam each other’s bodies as if you haven’t touched in years. You could feel his erection grow as you kissed him. Sam’s stamina always impressed you…he was always ready to get right back into it after cumming as hard as he just did…twice.

He continued to move his hands all over your body, feeling every inch of you. You pulled your lips away from his and said, “Mm well since you were so pretty cumming without me even touching you, I’m going to let you fuck me. How does that sound?” He nodded his head quickly in response and brought his hand to your dripping core, finding your swollen clit with ease and rubbing it.

“You’re absolutely soaked, Y/N. Oh my god, I can feel it dripping down your thighs too” he whispered, looking at you with a smirk. He continues to circle your clit as you're practically grinding yourself against his lower stomach, the cum from his past orgasm mixing with yours.

“You dirty girl, fucking yourself against my cum-covered stomach. Dirty, dirty, dirty,” he groans, quickening his hand movements against your extremely sensitive clit. You pull him in for another kiss in an attempt to stifle both of your moans. It’s so easy to give him control when he knows exactly what to do and what to say, but you snap out it and pull your mouth away from his.

“I think you forgot who’s in charge tonight, Sammy. You’re going to put your cock inside of me, and then I’m going to use you to fuck myself. You aren’t allowed to cum until I tell you so. Understood?” you ask, bringing your hand to grip his chin.

“Anything for you, baby,” he replies, still slightly in shock at your continued dominance. At his words, you lift yourself off of him just enough to line his hard cock with your entrance. You drag his tip through your wet folds, causing his breath to hitch. Once you finally sink down on his cock, he let out a low groan, not bothering to control his volume. You quickly cover his mouth with your hands as you’re sitting on his cock, your pussy clenching and throbbing around him.

“Shh…you still have to be quiet, baby. We don’t want to wake up your entire family. Do we?” you say, looking him in the eyes as you continue to grind down his cock. “Can you be quiet while I fuck myself on your cock, angel?” you ask. ‘Angel’ has been a pet name Sam used for you for as long as you can remember, especially while you’re having sex, and he is absolutely destroying you. So, when the name left your mouth, he was surprised at first then practically became complete putty in your hands.

You continued to move on his cock, rapidly picking up the pace. You looked at Sam who was biting his bottom lip, trying so desperately not to cum or make a noise. What a sight it was…this beautiful man you love so much, writhing beneath you…hanging on your every word and movement, waiting to cum until you told him.

“Fuck, you look so pretty Sammy…you’re just the prettiest thing in the whole world…and you’re all mine,” you say to him breathlessly, causing his cock to twitch inside you.

“Do you like that, baby? Do you like it when I tell you how pretty you are? You like it when I tell you that you’re all mine?” you pant, quickening your pace as you near your second orgasm and bring him even closer to his third of the evening.

“I fucking love it! I love when you tell me I’m pretty and when, mmm shit, when you say I’m yours – fuck… I am, baby…I’m yours! Fucking hell, can I please cum…I’m so so close…please, please, please,” he breathed, barely able to hold on to any sort of control. Your dominance, his words, his face, his hands, his cock, everything about him was bringing you closer and closer to an impending release. At this point, you were so close to finishing that you decided it was time for Sam to finish too.

“Mm okay, Sammy. Since you were so good, cum for me. Right now, baby. Fuck, fill me up, Sam. Cum with me, right now” you instruct, speeding up your movements, your pussy clenching around him. At your words, Sam pulled you in to kiss him…knowing he would let out a moan loud enough that the entire house would surely hear. Together you both came, bodies practically convulsing as you were moaning into each other’s mouths.

You continued your movements on top of him as you both came down from your eyes, his swollen lips lazily planting kisses along your face and jaw.

“That sure was something, Y/N. I think you’re going to have to take charge more often. That was….wow,” Sam chuckled, “I really like this too, it’s very pretty,” he added, his hands trailing and feeling the fabric of lingerie that still covered the top half of your body. You smile a little at his comment and pull him close, kissing his lips again.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun with it,” you reply, getting up from his lap and walking towards the bathroom. “But right now, I would love to take a nice, hot shower…would you like to join me, angel?” you ask. He gets up and runs over to you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Angel? Hmm, I like it when you call me that,” he said, kissing your shoulder, “but, just you wait until you see what I have in store for you these next two weeks.”

You giggled at his comment and walked into the bathroom, Sam’s lanky arms still wrapped around your waist as he walked behind you. Sam released you briefly to get the warm water running. He helped you take off your lingerie, kissing your lips once more before testing the water and helping you in. He first washed your body, taking his time to care for each and every part of you. While you washed him, he couldn’t help but stare at you with adoration.

“I love you so much, Y/N,” he said, breaking the silence.

“I love you more, Sammy,” you reply as you finish rinsing the soap off of your bodies. The two of you got out of the shower, changed into pajamas, turned out the lights, and got into bed. Sam was quick to pull you into him, nose lightly nudging your forehead before he placed a kiss on it.

“I love you most,” Sam said, you hummed sweetly in response, pulling yourself closer to him as you both trailed off to sleep.

To be continued…

#sam kiszka smut #sam kiszka #sammy kiszka #sammy kiszka smut #greta van fleet smut #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet #smut #gvf #sammy gvf

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godofsexdrugsandrocknroll · 4 years ago

Note

Kali took Blake's hentai out of her room and is now openly watching it in the living room, with Blake and other people still in the house.

The point where Kali should feel ashamed of what she’d done? Come and past - probably right around the time that the animated wolf faunus with the light gray hair, gray wolf ears and large, equally light gray eyes tried to speak around the length of cock pistoning in her mouth with little regard to the fact that this was the woman’s mouth and not, in fact, the pussy, that the human male was pounding relentlessly with spit flying everywhere.

“Iff shfo glurff muffar!” Indeed.

But truly, who could blame her? After years of dealing with her daughters absence, suddenly having Blake willing to live with them was a new experience and one she probably wasn’t dealing the best with. After all, most mothers wouldn’t dream of snooping the way she did. But for all that Blake Belladonna, one of the eight 24 year old “Heroes of Remnant”, inspired awe and hope in the people of Remnant and even more in the faunus community, well...Kali remembered the little girl who’d once seen a package of fruit snacks with red gummy fish, promptly ripped it open and devoured the bag before rolling on the floor, spitting chunks of the fruity treat while disgustedly proclaiming “cherry flavored!” over and over again.

Charismatic, impassioned leader of the Faunus Civil Rights Coalition or not, there was a distance between mother and daughter created by the latter’s 12 year absence in her mothers life.

They tried of course, but Blake was used to her freedom and Kali was a creature of habit, perpetually uncaring of what many called “the line” but still desperately trying to reconnect with her daughter.

So the fact that Kali scoped out the usual spots for teenage contraband when she cleaned her daughters room really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ghira certainly hadn’t been when Kali had, giggly as she approached, revealed the contents of a lock box Blake hid under piles of increasingly tiny and intricate undergarments. Granted it was just old photos of them together, a cheap plastic ring with a cartoonish lion heard stretching down to the knuckle and pieces of fabric that smelled of the two of them rather than anything else, but it was the thought that mattered.

She of course neglected to mention to Ghira where she had found it, amidst of a sea of panties, thongs and even a g-string or two. Where she was curious, Ghira would have been ill.

So she’d kept snooping, impressed not just at the collection of underthings her daughter owned (and very amused that her own predilection for the sexier, the better had been passed onto Blake), but at the false bottom that had been discovered and...well, novelty might be the right word for things like the crotchless panties she found there.

Then she’d found other things. A collection of muscle magazines hidden carefully behind a dresser that had seen use judging by the crinkled paper, but not recently given the finger shaped spots on the otherwise dusty covers. Lube carefully stacked behind her books.

A chest full of devices, from dildos to wands to toys and more than a few strap ons. And while Kali was surprised at the amount, she was less so when she remembered that her daughter was in a relationship with a rather...well, the polite term would be ‘generously well endowed’ blonde who was openly vulgar about what the two of them got up to behind doors; when it was just Yang (said blonde) and Blake, in what they thought was the privacy of an empty room.

The collection of nearly three dozen cases advertising Mistralian hentai hidden in a crawl space however had thrown Kali for a loop. And, well, you know what they say about curiosity and cats.

And so Kali stared wide eyed at the covers depicting cutesy anime girls, most of them faunus, in various poses and stages of undress. There was Faunus Fuck Frenzy, vol. 32 - where apparently three faunus best friends were captured in a jungle and fucked into full blown ahegao faces by tribal looking, human natives if the cover was anything to go by.

Watashi no kōkō no tōnamentoāku - a dog faunus with short brown hair, floppy bloodhound ears and breasts the size of beach balls in nothing but a pair of spandex shorts and biceps, abs that were intimidating in their intensity...but was covered forehead to navel in semen, the bodies of unconscious teenage boys and their cocks of varying size left defeated on the ground in the cover’s background.

Others, too. One where the blue haired bluebird faunus was a loli and surrounded by leering men. Another where a golden haired, golden eyed snake faunus had her faunus feature, her exceptionally long forked tongue, wrapped around a penis that was closer to the size of arm and was bulging with veins with her curvaceous body on all fours. A bushy tailed squirrel faunus bound, gagged in a contortionist’s nightmare with the shadow of a grinning man behind her.

By the time Kali saw it - it being what she was watching now, a lonely single faunus mother checking out a sex club while her children were being babysat - it was too late. Blake had arrived with her girlfriend Yang, Kali’s personal assistant, the ex-terrorist Ilia, Yang’s sister Ruby and her not-a-boyfriend Oscar Pine and the blonde, suit clad boyfriend of the Schnee heiress, Jaune Arc.

So Kali had used the kind of speed that made her a popular choice for stealth missions back when she was in the White Fang and put every single case back in the crawlspace and had all but teleported into the living room, smiling and nodding as Blake mentioned that the group was going to go discuss something-something-faunus-something-something-SDC-something-something-if-you’d-make-us-some-dinner-that-would-be-lovely-thank-you-love-you-bye.

Kali’s breathing had returned to normal even if her heart still pounded and she’d pulled Amongst Sheep from behind her back and stared at the lonely MILF, stunned at her daughter’s kinkiness. There’d been exactly 41 films in the crawlspace and aside from the muscular bloodhound faunus who’d apparently fucked her way through at least 11 different teenage boys to claim some sort of victory, each and every cover seemed to depict faunus getting dicked down by human males. Or the occasional female, sometimes simply female and other times with a dick dangling between their thighs. The faunus in question seemed to love it and almost seemed subservient to the ones doing the fucking.

While Kali was amused at her daughters apparent kink especially in light of her place as a faunus rights spokeswoman of great fame, there was a much larger problem. Staring at them all had made her unquestionably horny to the point of wetness. But Blake, her girlfriend and her friends were home. Ghira was in the kitchen just two rooms away, making a large meal for their guests happily after she asked him to do so. There were workers in the back of the house, rebuilding their back wall after Ghira had hip tossed an assassin of the rapidly dwindling White Fang remnants through it last week.

A reasonable, sane woman would have hid it and enjoyed it in the privacy of her own room later that night. Maybe give Ghira a ride while she watched it after convincing him she rented it over the scrollnet for added fun. But the idea of watching it in her living room, a living room that was open to all of the house with no doors, her husband far enough away to know she was watching something but not what and her daughter, her friends only a single floor up? With her room right above the living room?

The disc was in, Kali’s legs were spread after removing her hakama and her modest breasts were exposed to the warm air, her fingers immediately tracing her slick folds.

The plot had gone from 0 to 60 in what seemed like record time (but was probably only 20 minutes or so), the mother surrounded by horny human men while her fellow faunus were in various poses of submission. The mother partaking in the orgy and rapidly spiraling from a stereotypically sweet woman with the kind of body only art could give, to a sex crazed lunatic thanking her “master” for fucking her mouth even as her makeup ran, her dump truck of a rear was being molested by a faceless human behind her and her gargantuan tits bounced from the force of the careless facefucking all while she squealed, even as the humans made crude and rather disparaging remarks about faunus women.

Ghira: [From the kitchen] Enjoying yourself, dear?

Kali’s breath hitched as her fingers pushed in deep and she grinned, curling them as a jolt ran up her spine as the wolf faunus - Lupa, she remembered - squealed once more, her cheeks puffing out like a chipmunks at the deluge of jizz firing impossibly from the human.

Kali: Oh of course, darling! There’s a program about human-faunus interactions that’s just fascinating!

She heard no response but could practically hear her husbands indulgent chuckle. As Lupa now hoarsely begged for the man who’d been fucking her mouth to “shut his stupid dog right back up!” the floor creaked and someone moved around a bit. Kali bit her lip, eyes catching the closed window and the worker carrying tools by. Her left hand had since been massaging her right tit for some time now and she tweaked the brownish nipple on her olive skinned titty, moaning harshly as Lupa suddenly screeched! The man who’d been squeezing her cheeks had pushed her face down into a puddle of spit and spunk and forced himself in an ass that not even she could compete with! She watched as the warbling moans of the anime MILF grew in intensity.

Kali: [Sputtering] And now we’re even getting to see a faunus tribe and how they survived in the Grimmlands!

Ghira: [From the kitchen] That’s nice dear.

Kali: So nice! Really Ghira, you would not believe some of their customs!

Or her own, at this point throwing any concern of being caught out of her mind. The floor had creaked as if someone had tossed themselves on Blake’s bed, likely Blake herself after hashing out a particularly tough point. The thought of Ghira finding her was exciting, of her husband’s disbelief that she’d be so bold. One of the workers? Well, Ghira would likely punish her for giving them such a show but the idea of teasing them so cruelly, knowing that they would remember this for quite some time but never be able to do more than furiously jack their cocks off to the memory of it and just how hard Ghira would give it to her, pushing her face in a pillow as he flattened her exceptional cheeks with his angry downstrokes. Blake and her friends? As a third finger entered her lightly squelching pussy - as Lupa followed an order and lapped up at the puddle as her nearly yoga ball sized cheeks rippled in constant motion - and her palm started slapping against her clit, she squealed at the sudden increase in pleasure.

Blake would be beyond humiliated. At her shameless mother, at her own filthy little secret being discovered by anyone other than perhaps Yang. Not to mention that both Oscar and Jaune would commit this site to their memory banks, perhaps even as their flush faced friends lambasted them for their obvious erections!

The floor creaked more, as if they were moving and Kali twisted her nipple, watching as the MILF on screen started wailing from the anal assault, the man having both hands in her grey hair and pulling her head back. As the animation gave way to the light grey eyes rolling towards her nose as her tongue flopped out, Lupa’s face got steadily redder. In return Kali gasped at the mixture of pleasure and pain coming from her right tit, using her left hand to awkwardly do the same to her left and moaning as a shadow passed the window behind their television.

Ghira: [From the kitchen] Dear? Is something wrong?

Kali couldn’t help it. The thought of being caught was too good, the knowledge that this was what her daughter liked - something so disrespectful, base and diametrically opposed to her own beliefs - and the way she was handling her own body made her let out a louder groan.

Lupa: [Television] “...myself that day, lost the woman who put her children first... to big. Fat. Yummy. Human. COCK!!!! AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”

Kali: Oh no, Ghira! Just a quote from another bigot!

Kali’s fingers were now a blur, an eye on the window where no worker stood and an ear on her husbands response, the sound of a load of cum being pumped into an animated faunus whose face showed no signs of intellgence as a faceless human filled her anus with his release, squeezing each asscheek so aggressively he was clearly holding booty fat between his hands.

Ghira: [From the kitchen] You know how it is, freedom of speech. Is it at least handled...

She knew what he meant. Is the documentary at least attacking the negative opinion, showing how wrong it is?

Lupa: [Television] “--aaauuuuuwwwwsho good~” [giggling drunkenly]

She was close. Her heels clunked lightly against the table in front of her couch as she adjusted her legs, opening them wider as she now alternated between full thrusts and thumbing the clit, beneath her thick patch of black pubic hair. The scene changed several times, to Lupa’s ankles and wrists bound as a man pumped her full of cum. Another where a group of university aged humans were busily raining down an amount of cum only possible in hentai as Lupa serviced two cocks, one with her mouth and the other with her hand. A married couple sandwiching Lupa between them with Lupa’s cheeks being squished by the human taking her in doggy, excess ass fat bunching up as Lupa screamed into the man’s wife, her hairy human cunt. Another where Lupa sat on the counter of a sandwhich shop as an older, balding man stood between her legs as her eyes fluttered and the slick sound of her sex, of unexpected squirting. One final scene showing Lupa lying upon her shoulders, legs spread in a perfect split as a muscled man fucked down into her as she screamed “Master!” over and over.

To a final scene where a school bus pulled away and Lupa, in a white turtleneck and nothing more, leaned around a corner and had a warm, motherly smile on her face.

Kali: [Strained] Absolutely, Ghira!

Her palm made heavy clopping noises as she fingerblasted herself to that warm motherly smile staying in place...but only because it had frozen there, drool leaking from the corners of Lupa’s mouth as her eyes were all but rolled back in her skull as a random human steadily slammed into her from behind, the only sounds being the wolf’s cheeks clapping and the wet plap! of semen pouring from her currently-being-fucked pussy.

Human: [Television] Take it all, Ms. Lupa!

And then the abnornal sound of jizz being pumped into the drooling faunus and her dripping pussy, Lupa’s eyes gone pure white as they rolled back into her skull and an overlay of the action inside her happening; a sea of thick white swirling inside her and then a flash of light from an egg indicating pregnancy.

Between the two workers clearly arguing over tools outside their window but clearly not seeing her, being in conversation with Ghira and the threat of being found out, Kali felt it build.

Several things happened at once. Lupa showed up on the screen staring down at a human baby with brown hair and her eyes, before turning away smiling softly. She entered a room where an unfamiliar human sat on her bed, a member that nearly reached his own chest pointing towards the ceiling. Lupa dropped to all fours and fastened a chain to a black leather collar she was wearing, muttering “master” over and over again as she crawled forth.

Kali scraped three fingers against her g-spot and ground her palm against her clit and exploded in release.

Kali: No doubt, it’s marvelously done!

Her pitch considerably higher as she lost her fingers to the repeatedly clenching hole, knees shaking as her orgasm crashed through her like waves upon the beach.

Blake: [Shocked] Mo-ther! [Strangled] No Yang, don’t look!

Ruby: [Stammering] Y-y-y-you either, O-oscar!

Ilia: Why must the world be so cruel!?

Jaune: Mad that another hot cat faunus is taken?

Blake: [Squeals] Jaune!

Ilia: Yes!

Blake: [Squeaks] Ilia!

Yang: I mean, can you blame ‘em? I can see where you got it from, babe.

Blake: [Squeaks, chokes, growls] Stopitstopitstopit!

Jaune: [To Ilia] Same.

Blake: Butwhatno--NO! You have Weiss!

Jaune: Appreciating the view is not cheating.

Ruby: Yes it is!

Jaune: I am happy in my relationship with my fiancée. I will never cheat on my fiancée but I have no control over Blake’s mom fingerbanging herself to...whoa.

Yang: [To Blake] Heh, told you it was a bad idea to keep those here! Ooh, is that Amongst Sheep!? [Respectfully] She’s got good taste.

Oscar: Blake watches hentai?

Ruby: A-ack! Y-y-you saw!? Dammit Oscar!

Ilia: [Fumbling]

Blake: Wha-no-it’snot--

Kali breathed heavily, removing her digits from her pussy and feeling much better and with a glance at her sticky fingers, cleaned them with a quick schlup! of a noise.

Blake: AAAHH! Mother, no!

Kali: [Exhausted] Sorry sweetheart. But that collection of yours, oh my.

Jaune: [To Ruby] Okay, now I’m feeling a little guilty.

Ruby: You should!

Ilia: [Stops fumbling] Collection? She has more?

Blake: Moth--

Kali: Over forty.

Ilia: And they’re all... [gestures]

Kali: Except for one with a female dog faunus.

Yang: That’s mine. [Blake screeches in horror] Blake wanted me to ‘expand my horizons’ or something. I think Blakey just wanted me to be a perv too.

Oscar: Wait. Dog faunus? Watashi no kōkō no tōnamentoāku with Tawni Bumpus as Rei-chan’s seiyuu?

Yang: Heh. Yeah, you’ve seen it?

Ruby: Wha--

Oscar: Have you seen Tawni Bumpus?

Jaune: And now I’m uncomfortable.

Yang: Chow-Chow faunus, right?

Oscar: Yup. She’s -- a-ah... [trails off in embarassment and fear for his life at Ruby’s glare]

Yang: [Snorts] Has an ass that makes the Bellabooty look like Weiss in comparison?

Jaune: [Eyes narrow] I’m letting her know you said that, top heavy.

Yang: [Flinches, irritated] I’m sending you a picture of her. She’s got cake for days, Arc.

Oscar: Well, a-ah, the point is Tawni is very p-pretty [panics] b-b-but not as pretty as Ruby and she really does have a captivating voice.

Jaune: [Staring squintily at Yang, speaks at Oscar] Riii~iight.

Blake: Alright, stop! No more talking about my porn!

Ruby: Ah, so the degenerate admits it!

Ilia: Huh. I mean I can see Yang, maybe. But Blake?

Yang: One, rude. Two, it’s a power dynamic thing. She doesn’t really want to be treated like an animal and collared by humans all the time, but sometimes she’s in the mood and I’ll put on the strap and the things that’llmmmphh!!!

Blake: [Hands on Yang’s mouth, panting, red faced] No. More.

Kali: [Covering her chest back up, crosses legs] Dear, it’s perfectly understandable. You’re a powerful young woman with not just skill unmatched in the sword but your Shadow Clones were key in your final battle with Salem! It’s perfectly understandable wanting to surrender yourself to a strong girl like Yang! You trust her and really, Lupa’s descent into a plaything was as masterfully done as it was--

Blake then ran away screaming, hands over her face and seconds later a door slammed. Yang winces.

Kali: Perhaps that was a bit too much for her.

Ruby: [Eyes narrowed] She just discovered her mom’s a superfreak.

Kali opened her mouth, saw that despite the time passed that both Oscar and Jaune were not looking directly at her and were both at full mast. Ilia was quietly cursing at her scroll phone, which the chameleon had been aiming in her direction prior to making herself decent. Clearly cursing her poor reaction time and missing a photo op.

Kali: Hmm. I suppose that might be a fair assessment.

Ruby: [Angles her body to hide Oscar’s boner] You got problems, lady.

Kali gave a nonchalant shrug, still feeling too good to give 100% to caring.

Jaune: [Claps hands] Well, not that this hasn’t been just a blast, but I think I should go tell Weiss exactly what happened here before somebody [glares at Ruby who glares back] texts her.

Yang: [Scratching her head, staring at the stairs] Heh, you just want Weiss to “punish” you. Never met a guy so ready for a girl standing five foot nothing to take him to poundtown in the Amazon position.

Jaune: [Reddens] Then clearly you have no idea how hot Weiss is when she’s mad.

Yang: [Blinks] Huh. All that time spent around Nora and me’s doing you good, Jaune.

Jaune said nothing and turned away. Oscar was trying to engage a depressed Ilia in conversation while avoiding Ruby’s death glare, the reaper herself irritated at her “not-a-boyfriend” being a pervert. Yang stood contemplating how to handle Blake and Kali just sighed, uncrossing her legs and wincing at the stickiness and the slight sound of it as she stood. As she clapped her hands lightly, intending to try and make this better, it happened. A platter of spaghetti and meatballs hit the floor.

Ghira: What in the garlic-oregano-noodley fuck is going on here!?

The room froze. Kali gave her husband a sheepish little smile, standing with her kimono top done up poorly and missing her hakama pants, shapely legs on display. Ilia had reaimed her phone at Kali’s legs even as Oscar had a hand up to block the view, his other over his stiffy. Yang’s mouth hung open in shock and Jaune had frozen, his own hands dropping to hide evidence of his own hard on. His daughter was conspicuously absent.

The most damning thing was the menu screen on the teleivsion, showing clips of Mistralian hentai that wasn’t exactly kind to faunus. Jaune spoke first.

Jaune: [Urgently] Yeet me out the house Xiao Long and I won’t tell Weiss about the crack you made on her ass!

A flash of white aura protecting the Arc occurred and Yang grabbed him by the arm and threw him through the wall. Ruby grabbed Oscar’s hand at the same time and the two disappeared into a swirl of roses out the same hole, a distant “ouch” being heard as they likely collided with Jaune. Yang was halfway up the stairs and Ilia stood frozen, scroll aimed at Kali’s legs. Ghira glared and Ilia eeped. She glanced at Kali who gave a smirk that was unapologetic and much to Ilia’s dismay, sexy.

Kali: It’s exactly what it looks like, darling. [Purrs] Is my big strong husband going to spank his naughty wife?

Ilia’s scream of terror was muffled as Ghira’s hand clasped around her face and then faded into the distance as she was chucked from the Belladonna household.

Jaune: [Barely audible] Dammit, stop running into me! Respect the healer!

Ilia: [Barely audible groaning]

Ghira: You will explain yourself, wife.

Kali: [Flutters eyelashes, purposely ignores him] Will you promise to spank me if I don’t?

Ghira growled, angry at the situation but knowing he’d get nothing out of her now and with a grunt, threw his laughing wife over his shoulder and stomped grumpily to his room. Really, he loved this woman to pieces but why did she find it so enjoyable to test his every last nerve!? He ignored the frantic sound of what sounded like his daughter opening her secound floor window and muttering something about “not again” and threw his smirking wife on the bed, growling as he ripped his armor, his clothing off.

On the ground floor, a rhino faunus and his crocodile faunus friend gaped at the hole in the front of the house.

Rhino Faunus: Oh, what in the actual shit is this!?

Crocodile Faunus: Rich people, man. Rich people.

#rwby #smut #kali belladonna #ghira belladonna #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #ruby rose #oscar pine #ilia amitola #jaune arc #this is what happens when you let a drunk type #what's crack-a-lackin'#idek #a christmas story

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carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory · 4 years ago

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Spring Birds in Your Backyard

by Annie Lindsay

On spring mornings that I’m not banding birds, I like to sit on my back porch with my binoculars, watching for movement at the edge of the woods behind my house, keeping my ears tuned in to songs and short, usually high-pitched, chip and contact notes. On mornings following a night of heavy migration, small flocks of mixed species often move through the trees, feeding on insects as they refuel for the next stage of migration. These flocks often have warblers, thrushes, tanagers, grosbeaks, or sparrows foraging in their own niches: warblers tend to be in mid- to high-canopy, whereas thrushes stay low and sparrows are often on the ground.

Occasionally, I’ll stand outside in a quiet, dark spot just before dawn and listen for the soft, high-pitched flight calls of migrants settling into habitat after a night of flying. I’m an avid birder: I love to see both new and familiar birds, and watch the species that use my yard and favorite birding patches.

Baltimore Orioles arrive in southwest PA by mid-to late-April. Providing fresh orange halves on spikes can bring them to your feeders from spring through fall migration.

Last year, many people discovered birding. We spent much of the spring working from home, perhaps gazing out of our windows at our bird feeders or backyard plants, and for the first time noticed birds that we didn’t know existed or didn’t realize visited our yards. The opportunity to learn about the diversity of birds in our area and develop a passion for watching them was a bright spot (both literally and metaphorically!) in an otherwise difficult year. The seasons progressed, and now we once again eagerly anticipate the arrival of beautiful and colorful migratory songbirds. Let’s explore common spring backyard birds in southwest Pennsylvania and how to attract and find them!

Dark-eyed Juncos are a species we usually associate with winter in southwest PA. They start singing in March, then do an elevational migration up the nearby mountains.

Each year, as the temperature warms, migratory birds move through our area in search of their breeding grounds. Although arrival timing is a bit variable between years due to annual variation in weather patterns, there is a predictable progression of species, so we know what to expect next relative to what we’ve already seen. The first, and often most conspicuous, to arrive are Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, usually in late February. They are followed by “peenting” American Woodcocks in early March, Eastern Phoebes in mid-March, and kinglets peaking in late-March. Keep your eyes to the sky any time you’re outdoors during these early spring weeks to watch for migrating waterfowl and raptors.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks readily visit feeders with black oil sunflower seeds or safflower seeds usually in early- to mid-May before moving off into the forest to set up breeding territories.

By April, more songbirds, including vireos, swallows, early warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (a tiny bird with a wheezy song), House Wren, and the fan favorite, Gray Catbird make their way through our region, many remaining here to set up their breeding territories. In May, the migration floodgates open and some of the most brilliantly plumaged birds we’ve ever seen, like Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, and several warblers, may visit our yards and feeders, along with the less flashy, but equally beautiful, sparrows and thrushes.

Orioles readily come to feeders with orange halves, especially during migration, and seed-eating species like grosbeaks, buntings, and sparrows often visit feeders with sunflower or other seeds (or, in the case of many sparrows, clean up seeds on the ground under feeders!). Hummingbirds come to feeders with nectar (four parts water to one part white sugar, please avoid using food dyes or commercial nectar that has been dyed red). Most of these species are insectivorous, especially during spring migration, and are often observed picking things like caterpillars, midges, and spiders from foliage.

Yellow Warblers are often recognized by their signature “sweet sweet I’m so sweet!” song. You may see them flitting through small woody plants like dogwoods as they forage for caterpillars.

In addition to the migratory species that we see and hear in the spring, many birds that are year-round residents also frequent our yards. Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Carolina Wrens, five species of woodpeckers (Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, Pileated, and Northern Flicker, plus two more if we’re lucky – Red-headed Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker), and the colorful American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, and Eastern Bluebird mix with migratory birds. Most of these species visit bird feeders filled with sunflower or safflower seeds (chickadees, titmice, cardinals, nuthatches, woodpeckers), suet (woodpeckers, wrens), nyjer seed (finches), and mealworms (bluebirds, titmice, chickadees).

Gray-cheeked Thrushes are cryptic and secretive, but can be found skulking on the forest floor in mid- to late-May before they continue northward migration. They have a beautiful, flutey song and a distinctive call note.

One of the best ways to attract birds to your yard is planting native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and other plants. Native plants are hosts for a high diversity of insects, especially during their larval stages, and provide nutritious seeds and fruit, all of which are important food resources for birds. These plants are also valuable as cover for safety and nest sites. Although often overlooked, a source of clean, fresh water, as simple as a bird bath or as complex as a pond with a bubbler or waterfall, can make your yard especially attractive to birds. And one of the easiest and most popular ways to attract birds for close viewing is providing bird food in clean, safe feeders. I recommend visiting your local bird feeding specialty store.

You may see all of the birds mentioned in this blog in your yard, but this is a non-exhaustive list and you may even see something unexpected. Visiting a local birding hotspot with complex and diverse habitats is certainly worth the effort as well. Birding these spots several times throughout the season will reward you with an impressive list and will boost your knowledge of natural history. The combination of a good pair of binoculars and a field guide with identification tips, range maps, and text about habitat is one of the best ways to maximize your birding, whether at home or in the field.

Please visit CMNH’s blog page to find bird ID tips and field guide recommendations.

The Audubon Society put together a great guide to the best binoculars at various price ranges.

You can put your bird observation skills to good use (or further develop those skills) by participating this spring in a broad survey of local wildlife and plants called the City Nature Challenge. The observation portion of this event is April 30 – May 3.

Annie Lindsay is the Bird Banding Program Manager at Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Powdermill Nature Reserve. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

#Carnegie Museum of Natural History #Powdermill Nature Reserve #Birding #Bird banding #Migration #Spring migration #Migratory birds

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hauntedbythefanficsofmypast · 5 years ago

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Betrothal Pt. 2

When Marinette receives Tikki she is freaked out at first but quickly has her explain what she can do as Ladybug, before transforming and taking the Akuma out easily without Chats help.

She still does the speech to Paris after taking out Hawkmoth's butterfly face thingy.

Alix and Nathaniel are already in her bedroom by the time she gets back, both immediately knowing that Ladybug was their Marinette.

The next day Marinette has Alya claiming they were best friends, she decides to give the girl a chance but doesn't actually bring her into her personal friend group. Plus she really doesnt like that Alya 100% believes that she has a crush on Adrien, all because she had a picture from his recent shoot that she was going to put on her inspiration board.

Alya ignores that and gets all the girls except Alix in on trying to get them together. Marinette continuously tries to get them to stop but after a while she gives up.

Marinette also goes over footage of her fights pointing out to Tikki how under trained Chat Noir is.

"Tikki I'm not doing this because I want a new partner. I'm doing this because I don't want him to die, which he will if we don't train him properly! Stop thinking about this so-called Guardian and think about Chat Noir's life!"

Tikki relents and the next night she and Chat have a heart to heart. She explains to him that she isnt in love with him and won't be, she tells him she's been betrothed since birth. At first Chat points out that the holders are supposed to be soulmates, but Ladybug points out that if anything they are platonic soulmates. She tells him that she wants them to know each other's identities because they are partners and they need to trust each other with their lives. She tells him she'll only allow it if he agrees to begin training with her. Chat Noir agrees and they reveal themselves both a little shocked.

The next day Adrien quits Fencing without telling his father or Nathalie and goes to Marinette's house to begin training with her, Alix, and Nathaniel.

Adrien realizes after a month that he only thinks of Marinette as a sister. He starts to get annoyed when the boys, except Nathaniel, try pushing him to ask her out.

When it's almost summer Marinette tells Tikki that she is going to Gotham for the summer. Tikki goes to the Guardian and Fu gives her Kaalki in order for Marinette to travel back and forth for attacks.

When the school year ends Marinette's mother is waiting in the car with Marinette's bags on the last day. She kisses Alix Adrien and Nathaniel's cheeks telling them to keep training while she is gone, and promises to be safe. The rest of the class quickly surrounds her asking where she's going and why she isn't spending the summer with them.

"I'm going to Gotham. I go every other year, this is nothing new. I've been doing this for years."

Alya makes a big stink about her 'bestie' leaving and the class tries to convince her to stay. This upsets Alix and Nathaniel, both know the class never cared before, they didn't even help stand up to bullies. Adrien himself wants her to stay but he can see how much she wants to see Damian, so he just kisses her cheeks gently and wishes her a safe trip before opening the door for her. Marinette thanks him as she gets in waving goodbye to her friends before they drive away.

During the school year Damian meets and befriends Jon Kent. At first they dont get along but Damian warms up to him. Damian is proud of Marinette when she becomes a hero, and that their friends are training hard to be ones as well. He even gets permission from Bruce to allow Marinette to train and patrol with them.

Dick and Damian pick Marinette up from the airport and soon everyone in Gotham is talking about Marinette being back. What's even more talked about over the summer is the small dates the two begin to go on.

Halfway through the summer Damian admits to Marinette that he is in love with her and that even if they weren't betrothed he'd still want to marry her. Marinette kisses him softly telling him that she feels exactly the same.

Marinette is excited when she first patrols Gotham with Damian and Dick by her side taking the name Bluebird.

Bluebird mainly patrols with Nightwing, they both take on Bludhaven side by side. Bluebird patrols with Robin and Batman every Sunday. Her mandatory night off is on Friday with Robin both of them labeling it their date nights.

Soon after making her debut as Bluebird Marinette discovers Tiktok, and a treasure trove of videos featuring the Wayne family and the Batfamily. She immediately creates two Tiktoks after getting a second phone under a fake identification. This phone is strictly for Bluebird, and so is the Tiktok.

Marinette's favorite Tiktoks are the ones saying that Bruce Wayne is Batman because the butts match. Her Tiktok blows up when her first video is posted.

It starts off with Marinette smiling at the camera with Damian and Bruce standing behind her. When Bruce turns around she gasps opening her eyes widely and whispers to the camera. "Omg...the butts match!"

Marinette continues to make videos of the entire family without any of them noticing, both as Marinette and Bluebird. Both accounts are verified within a week. She posts multiple videos a day all featuring a different member.

The most popular video of Dick is him hanging upside down from a chandelier all smiles while Damian is a few feet away looking up at him.

Damian-It's going to fall.

Dick-No after the first couple times Dad got this one reinforced so it wouldn't.

Tim walked past literally drinking from a coffee pot-No he got the one near the West sitting room reinforced.

Dick looks up when the ceil creaks and a second layer he and the chandelier are falling

Dick-Shi-!!

The video then cuts off.

Jason's most popular video is him blindfolded as he puts a gun back together in seconds not knowing Bruce is behind him.

Jason- Impressive right?

Bruce- I thought I said no guns in the manor

Jason screams before calming down- Oh its you I thought it was Alfred.

Alfred- Master Jason

Jason screams and tries to run with the blindfold still on but runs into a wall.

Tim's popular video is multiple clips of Tim right as he passes out and falls with a loud thump. After three clips people here three voices yelling Timber in the background after he faints. The last video shows Tim knocking over a bookcase only to look at Marinette confused when he hears Timber screamed from three different parts of the manor.

( @daddybats-and-babybirds Hello! So I saw your headcanon a while back and really liked it. If you're seeing this I tried to find you on Tumblr to ask for permission but couldn't. If you don't want me using this please message me and I will remove it immediately! Thank you!)

Cass's popular video is very sweet. It's different clips of her taking care of and spending time with her family. The first clip is her slowly reading aloud curled up next to Bruce, the next is her pushing a chair underneath Dick as he goes to sit down after Jason pulled the other one out without him realizing. Third is her gently cleaning a cut Jason got after falling from a tree. Fourth is her covering Tim with a blanket and moving his work onto the table. Fifth is her painting Stephanie's nails while Barbara does Stephanie's hair for a date. Six is her carefully moving Damian to his room trying not to wake him up. Seven is her helping Alfred during spring cleaning, and eighth is her posing in some of Marinette's clothes as the boys help with lighting and Stephanie takes the pictures.

Bluebird's Tiktok features a lot of videos of her flipping around and laughing wildly as a few older villains run away yelling about the second coming of the first Robin. After every one of those videos another is posted of Nightwing bent over cackling at what the villains yelled. Everyone in Gotham is thrilled when it's confirmed that Nightwing is actually the first Robin, all recognizing the cackle. A few videos feature the Batfamily arguing through body gestures without saying anything, she'll flip the camera around to show her grinning and writing will pop up saying what they were arguing about. Most of the time is about getting food while on patrol, but one time Red Hood insulted Nightwings butt. The two most popular videos are one where she is a few feet behind Batman and all you see is his cape and head, and she has "Bruce Wayne???" written in. The second is Red Robin sitting in the back of an ambulance with a shock blanket around his shoulders.

Red Robin- What now? I'm in shock! Look I've got a blanket!

Batman- Red Robin!

Red Robin- And I just delivered twins while stuck in an elevator! Twins Batman!!

Batman turns and walks away silently while Red Robin looks at the paramedic.

Red Robin- Im going to regret that during training tomorrow.

The only time Bluebird makes noise during a Tiktok is when she is laughing wildly. She does this because both her Tiktoks are popular and she doesn't want to take the chance of someone recognizing her voice. She is not worried about the wild laughter because she is calmer as Marinette but as Bluebird she lets herself be wild and carefree. Batman enjoys having Bluebird on patrol with him, her hero persona reminds him of when he and the first Robin started.

Marinette announces that her and Damian are finally dating in a Tiktok showing them on a date at the parks with Barbara and Dick as their 'chaperones'. The video shows her holding his hand walking behind him before she flips the camera and winks at it, in the background walking behind them is Dick pushing Barbara's wheelchair, while looking down at her lovingly.

An hour later Marinette is recording a video where they had been pulled over by Commissioner Gordon himself. Dick is pale as he nods to everything Gordon says while Barbara is groaning refusing to even acknowledge her dad. Before the video cuts out she whispers, 'I forgot a lot of Gotham officers follow me, oops…'

The family also helped Marinette master the art of coming up with excuses and slip out without being noticed, for when she has to rush back to Paris.

The family celebrates their birthday together before having a Gala the night after celebrating it for the cameras. The family shows up wearing Marinette's own designs and she is buzzing with excitement when multiple people ask for the designer's information for commissions, they turn 14.

When summer is coming to an end Marinette really doesn't want to leave but she knows she must. Marinette promises to visit for Christmas.

When she returns she is excited to see Alix, Nathaniel and Adrien at the airport with Gorilla to pick her up. Adrien smiles mischievously, telling her that his father agreed after Adrien mentioned that his friend was a rising Fashion designer, MDC.

Marinette enjoys her first day back spending it with her friends. The next day she is slightly annoyed when Alya bursts into her room at 7 in the morning demanding details about her trip and if she met anyone famous.

Marinette decided in that moment that she was very thankful she never shared her Insta with Alya and that Alya doesn't know about Tiktok. She does however indulge the girl telling her she had a lot of fun and tells her some of what she did. Alya is quick to tell her all about what the class did together and what she did over the summer. However her tune changes when she sees a few pictures of Adrien pinned to a board, and suddenly she's once again trying to come up with ideas to get them together. At this point Marinette is thankful when her mother comes up, asking Alya to leave so that Marinette can help with chores.

The school year starts the same as always and Marinette decides to run for class president. She is surprised when she wins and names Nathaniel her vice president much to Alya's annoyance.

Marinette also meets Jagged Stone only a month into the school year after designing glasses and an album cover for him. At first Jagged doesn't realize the rockin' girl that made his glasses was MDC until at a party when someone excitedly points out the MDC signature on the side. He begins talking to her more with her parents permission and takes her in as his new niece. Soon he is only wearing clothes that she makes.

Half way through the year Lila shows up. The class sans Mari, Adrien, Alix, Nathaniel, and Chloe are all taken by her immediately. Marinette is not there the day she arrives.Lila attempts to lie her way into Adrien's graces using her Ladybug excuse. But Adrien quickly tells her that he doesn't want to hear it, because there is no way Ladybug would let her defenseless or possibly disabled friends know her Identity out of fear they'd get targeted.

Lila is outraged that her lie failed, but she wants Adrien under her thumb and starts devising a plan for it to happen.

The next day Lila tries to charm Marinette when she is upset over her desk being switched without even asking her. When everyone heads out for lunch she quickly snatches up Marinette apologizing and selling her sob story of Jagged's kitten. She is shocked when Marinette begins to laugh and tells her that it was a nice try but Jagged Stone has a crocodile named Fang because he is allergic to fur. Lila gets even madder and decides to just threaten Marinette telling her that she'd take away all of the class. Marinette just rolls her eyes and tells her good luck with that before walking away to join her friends.

When the four return from lunch they find Lila sitting and crying with the class surrounding her as Alya comforts her.

Lila is quick to claim that Marinette refused to listen to her when she tried to explain the seat switch and that instead she made fun of Lila's disabilities. Alya is upset at Marinette and tells her that she is disappointed that her best friend would act like this and that she needs to give Lila a chance.

Marinette just signs walking back to her new seat and sits down, Adrien follows her up and sits next to her while Alix and Nathaniel take the bench in front of them.

Alya huffs continuing to comfort Lila until she finally stops fake crying, the rest of the class sits down in their seats and starts talking again. However they don't talk to the four

As Lila is there she slowly learns more and more about Adrien and Marinette planning on getting Adrien under her thumb and to take Marinette out. She learns about Marinette's huge crush, Alya's words, on Adrien and that Adrien's dad is so strict that he won't even let him have a birthday party. She begins studying the two of them before making her final plans.

She attempts to get Marinette expelled but fails when the Principal insists that it must be a misunderstanding . Even when she starts crying and claiming Marinette is bullying her, the teachers do nothing. It isn't until Chloe confronts her that she finds out Marinette is the top student in the school and a certified genius. Chloe smirks, informing her that if the school even attempted to claim she was cheating they'd not only come under fire, but they'd lose their funding from having her there.

Lila decides to just make the class hate Marinette while still trying to get Adrien. She is unable to get a foothold even when she manages to get Gabriel's attention claiming Adrien is hanging with terrible people. However the moment she mentions Marinette's name she is shut out. Gabriel telling her that Marinette has a higher standing than the daughter of an ambassador any day.

Lila's anger gets her akumatized into Volpina, she goes after Marinette determined to hurt the girl in some way. She finds her at the skate park watching Alix practice. She creates an illusion of Adrien and has the illusion walk up to Marinette. The illusion begins to tear into Marinette claiming that she is a terrible person, and doesn't deserve anything that she has, before telling her that they were no longer friends. She gets angrier when Marinette asks the illusion what her nickname for him was and smirks when the illusion doesn't answer. Volpina gets so angry she just attacks Marinette swinging at her with her flute getting angrier when Marinette blocks each hit with her arms barely flinching until Chat Noir tackles Volpina away from her. Marinette is quick to run away, Alix following her. Soon after Ladybug joins them in the fight, once they defeat Volpina. Ladybug turns to find Lila crying claiming that she didn't want to hurt Marinette but the girl had been bullying her.

Chat Noir growls but Ladybug quickly stops him from doing anything.

'I know you're lying Lila. I suggest you stop lying, and have that video removed claiming to be my best friends. The only friend I have while in this mask is Chat Noir. You are putting yourself in danger by lying.'

Lila however just stops crying and galres at the heros huffing and storming away.

The next day everyone is talking about Lila taking another trip to Achu to visit Prince Ali. They get annoyed when Marinette asks Rose if she is going to email the Prince asking about her.

Eventually things return to slight normalcy and they only have to listen to Lila's lies when she video chats the class.

A few weeks after she has left Adrien finds the Miraculous grimoire, he immediately brings it to Marinette and shows her. Once Tikki sees it she insists that they bring it to the Guardian so she and Adrien set off together finally meeting Fu. Half way through their conversation Adrien is called back home by Gabriel. Gabriel demands the book back and is deeply upset when Adrien says he lost it. Gabriel dismisses him and he destroys his room before akumatizing himself.

Meanwhile Marinette is tearing into Fu for giving them the Miraculous without any proper training. Soon after she gets a message from Adrien saying that Gabriel had been akumatized. She quickly transforms meeting up with Chat Noir on the way once they defeat The Collector they return to Fu and take pictures of the book. Marinette then heads to the Agreste Mansion with the book in hand. When Gabriel comes to the door she quickly introduces herself before handing the book over.

"Adrien was really excited to share the book with me today while we had lunch at my home. However he forgot it in my room, sorry it took me so long to get the book here Mr. Agreste!"

Gabriel takes the book and thanks Marinette before questioning her and Adrien's relationship. Marinette laughs softly telling him that Adrien is like a brother to her. He then asks why brother and not best friend. Marinette grabs the ring around her necklace playing with it gently.

"Because my best friend is my boyfriend and my betrothed."

Gabriel then issues an invite for her to come over more, saying that she is clearly a good influence on Adrien. Marinette thanks him before saying goodbye and leaving.

That night they all meet in their wearhouse to talk about it. Even though Adrien is distressed he agrees that his father is still their biggest suspect.

Marinette pulls Oracle and Batgirl into a video call as they all sort through Gabriel's dealing since Emilie's disappearance. They determine that he wants Tikki and Plagg for a wish relating to Emilie. Marinette pulls Adrien aside and they have a heart to heart.

"Do I want my mom back? Yes, more than anything, but she-My mom would never want this. She'd be so incredibly disappointed in my father for terrorizing the city she loves. She'd be disappointed in me for thinking for even a second to help my dad."

Oracle looks into every dealing Gabriel has had while Batgirl focuses heavily on going through camera footage.

Oracle points out a few months before Hawkmoth started Gabriel paid the city to remove the camera from around his mansion. Batgirl shows them footage of the house before he paid the city off pointing out the window designed like a butterfly. Showing that the small middle section is designed to open. Oracle finds something big from a few months before Emilie disappeared. She found that Gabriel hired multiple workers to come and build an underground garden, paying them off so that they would never mention it. She also found he bought a pod specially designed for those in coma to keep them from dying.

They all start planning on how to take Gabriel down. The only reason they haven't acted is for fear of his company. They don't want it to fall and have millions lose their jobs. They also want more evidence to take to the police. Oracle hires someone to install a camera facing the window in order to get confirmation.

Adrien meets Kagami much the same way except Marinette confirms that she did win. She however gets akumatized when her mother brushes off her success. After being defeated, Adrien extends his friendship to her, and they slowly grow closer. Soon after Marinette meets Luka when he drops something off for Juleka. He helps her pick up the books she dropped and they are quick friends. Marinette can immediately tell that he is a meta and Luka is surprised but tells her that he can hear people's soul songs.

A few weeks later Gorilla is akumatized after Gabriel thinks he is Chat Noir. Ladybug is easily able to save Adrien getting him to safety before defeating Gorizilla she tells Hawkmoth to watch out because they are on to him.

After this Luka invites Marinette to his family's house boat during the music festival, when his mom gets akumatized Luka is quick to help Mari escape. Afterwards he tells her that he knows she was Ladybug and Adrien Chat Noir. Marinette brings him into their fold and when she does Adrien asks to bring Kagami.

Before the school year comes to the end the class meets Clara Nightingale. Clara becomes fast friends with Marinette and tries to get her to be Ladybug in her video. However Chloe has the shoot shut down and she is akumatized into Frightningale. After the fight Marinette encourages her to have everyone in the video wearing masks showing that they are all heros in their own way. Clara agrees and Marinette is very thankful that neither of her masks in her hero persona a black.

Adrien admits to Marinette that he has a slight crush on Kagami so Marinette enlists the help of Luka and together they go ice skating. While Kagami and Adrien are skating Luka and Marinette are calmly talking about the pair. Mari asks about their songs and Luka is silent for a second before smiling softly and telling her that their songs are beautiful together.

Two weeks before the end of the school year Lila returns to school. Once again the class is listening to everything she has to say.

She quickly convinces the class to exclude the four including Chloe from class plans over the summer. She is dumbfounded when the four don't care. Once the school year is over the class only sees the four in passing and every time there is an unknown boy with them.

Lila gets pissed when Gabriel stops having her do photoshoots with Adrien and gets even more pissed when Adrien announces on Twitter that he is dating Kagami.

Halfway through summer the classes are talking excitedly about Fashion week in Paris, excited to see Adrien and Lila modeling. They are surprised when they arrive and Marinette is sitting in the front row with Nathaniel, Alix and four unknown boys and three girls. One of them in a wheelchair. When Audrey arrives she is greatly upset at the seating until Marinette and Cass politely offer her and Chloe their seats. Audrey calms down but is still upset at the slight Gabriel has given her. She accepts the seats and both girls get up, Marinette moves and sits on Damian's lap leaning back against him as he wraps his arms around her waist. Cass goes to sit behind Jason but he gets up giving her his seat before sitting behind her. Marinette greets Chloe politely before introducing her group.

"You already know our classmates Chloe but this is my boyfriend Damian and his brothers and sisters. Richard, Jason, Cass, Tim, and Stephanie."

Chloe is polite in return introducing her mother, Marinette nods politely

"Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Bourgeois, I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Some of my designs are being shown today along with Mr.Agreste's"

Audrey sniffs slightly starring Marinette down before offering a curt greeting. She then attempts to call Gabriel only for her call to go straight to voicemail. She grows more and more angry as she sits in the stands. Half way through the show she gets up and storms out angry that a girl that is unknown got a front seat but not her. When she is akumatized she goes after Marinette, she is unable to fire her because Damian jumps in the way getting turned to gold instead. Marinette is quickly pulled away by Tim who gets her to a safe place encouraging her to transform. Adrien joins them a few minutes later. After they transform Chat Noir agrees to distract Style Queen while Ladybug gets four Miraculouses

Nathaniel- Trixx- Youkai

Alix- Fluff- Bunnyx

Kagami- Longg- Ryuko

Luka- Sass- Viperion

When the fives get back they discover that Chat Noir had to change back, and after he de-transformed Style Queen found him and fired him as a way to get back at Gabriel. They launch into action fighting her. Viperion and Bunnyx sit on the back burner watching the fight. Viperion periodically shifting back using second chance and Bunnyx jumping in to grab one of the others when he tells her. Once she is taken down Gabriel comes and apologizes to Audrey telling her he fired the person that gave her a second row seat. Gabriel then apologizes to Marinette and Damian for this mistake causing her to be attacked. Adrien hurries over quickly hugging the couple telling him that he is happy they're both safe now. Audrey takes note of his clothes and comments that it's far from Gabriel's usual designs.

"Because it's not this outfit that was designed by MDC herself. He and I did a collaboration. She designed all the male outfits and I the female."

Audrey immediately jumps on him, admitting to knowing MDC.

"You know MDC? You know the Wayne family, along with Jagged Stone, and Clara Nightingale's personal designer?"

Gabriel nods gesturing to Marinette who Adrien was still hugging. Tell Audrey that MDC had been standing right next to them along with the Wayne's. Audrey is silent when she realizes she didn't recognize the Wayne family while she was angry. She immediately extends the offer for Marinette to come to New York with her to grow her exceptional talent. She brushes Chloe off when her daughter is upset over her mother never taking her. Marinette however refuses to go before telling Audrey off for telling her own daughter she is not exceptional.

"She may be mean and a bit of a bully but Chloe is exceptional in her own way. I will never work with someone who treats their own family like dirt. Ya know I always thought she was just a mean person, but now that I see who her mother is, I can tell you raised her to act exactly like you."

Marinette then walks away with her friends and the Wayne family following her along with Adrien. The next day Chloe shows up at the bakery and apologizes then thanks Marinette. Tell her that Audrey actually took what she said to heart and decided to stay in Paris to get to know her daughter.This starts a shaky friendship between the two

"Also why haven't you told anyone you're dating a Wayne??."

"Alya is obsessed with famous people, how do you think she'd react to finding out I'm famous in America but also betrothed to the youngest Wayne."

"You have a point but wasn't she your best friend?"

"No she was a friend but honestly she never really listened to me. I mean she thought I was in love with Adrien."

For the rest of the summer Chloe joins the group of friends and even though she is still mean they can tell she does care for them. Much like how Damian acts to the others except Marinette. Damian and Chloe actually enjoy getting into little arguments over different things.

They celebrate their birthdays at Le Grand Pairs at Chloe's place Gabriel even allows Adrien to attend, while Marinette's parents cater the party, they turn 15.

When summer ends the entire group is at the airport saying goodbye to Damian.

The school years start rather calmly with random akumas popping up but none particularly dangerous. It isn't until halfway through the year when Heroes Day comes around and Hawkmoth akumatizes Lila allowing her to create the illusion of an akumatized Ladybug killing Chat Noir.

The fight gets so bad that Fu joins in desperation to help. However at the end of the fight he realizes that his time has been shortened. He proceeds to name Marinette and Adrien Guardians, telling them that he'll shortly lose his memories and a few weeks later die. He tells him that they will not lose theirs unless they recreate the potion he was given.

A few weeks later Marinette is visited by a lawyer, Fu leaves her everything in his will. Marinette has enough money to last a lifetime.

Hawkmoth's akumas are steadily getting stronger and it seems like Lila is getting akumatized every other month. The Miraculous Team begins to think that Lila is working for Hawkmoth, and after hacking her phone Oracle confirms that she has been.

Before the end of the year Lila convinces the class to kick Marinette as their class president. Marinette steps down without a care however in front of the class she tears apart her notebook that had everything in it for the class's end of the year trip. Telling them to have fun planning another trip, before turning to her friends.

"Chloe, Alix, Nathaniel, Adrien, you're coming to Gotham with me this year. We'll let Kagami and Luka know when they come over today. You're gonna love it Wayne Manor is beautiful, and we all get to stay there for the whole summer!"

Lila scuffs saying that her Damiboo would never let a bully like her into her house. She then tells the class that she was asked to keep it a secret for a while but her and Damian had been dating for three months.

They are startled when they hear Dick laughing from the doorway.

"My little brother is dating you, good one, especially since my brother has been betrothed since he was born."

Alya immediately jumps to Lila's defense demanding to know who Dick is. Causing him to roll his eyes before turning to Marinette. Telling her that he was taking them to the airport and that they'd be taking the jet to Gotham one their last day. Before he leaves Alya demands to know who he is.

"Richard Grayson-Wayne, now I'd appreciate it if you stopped telling lies about my family. Damian would never go out with you, he has been dating Marinette for almost two years now. Oh and Mari, I'll let dad know your six friends will be coming with us."

The class is stuned and Lila immediately starts crying, telling them that Damian must have lied to her. However Max, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, and Mylene no longer believe her.

When the class ends the group of friends leaving ignoring everyone excitedly talking about their trip.

Once back at Marinette's they all relax talking about what they are going to do while there. The group is upset that Marinette and Batman won't let them patrol Gotham but they don't put up much fuss. Marinette tells them they'll use Kaalki to get back and forth for fights and that while there they'll be finalizing plans to take out Gabriel with the help of Batman.

#marinette dupain cheng #miraculous marinette #marinette dupen chang #maribat #damian al ghul #damian wayne #damimari #daminette #miraculous ladybug #mlb x dc #dc comics #ml x dc #batfamily #batfam #batman #betrothal

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james-town · 3 years ago

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It’s 10:35 at night and I’m beat to hell metaphorically, so let’s get reviewing. No pics bc it’s dark out

Nevada is… weird. All the houses are really far apart from eachother or towns or both, and there were a bunch of billboards warning about how gunshots can cause wildfire.

Saw a bunch of wild horses, was very magical.

The state flower of Nevada is also coincidently the only flower in Nevada: big sage brush. The state bird is the mountain bluebird.

Lookin a little fruity there, mr Mountain Bluebird sir.

My traveling companions, especially passenger front and passenger back, love to prattle on. PF likes to make fun of the strange buildings we pass (mostly mines and prisons), and PB likes to pour deluges of information about a podcast she’s listening to into my unwilling ears.

I attempted to distract her with ICP, but even shaggy’s sweet sweet rhymes aren’t enough to distract her from her precious “bright sessions,” which is the podcast the book I gave her while I was cleaning out my room is based on. (I stole that book from a friend in middle school and immediately hated it so much I couldn’t bear to look at it again).

There’s a casino we passed called “Terrible’s Casino,” and the shithole holiday inn we’re staying in is connected to another Casino, which has a mesmerizing electronic billboard on its terracotta face.

The high desert is my favorite biome, so that alone endears the state to me.

Ranking: slightly below California, but not by much. I’m already a little homesick.

#jamestown road trip

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ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years ago

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Enough, For Now

CW: Sickfic, sick whumpee, feverish whumpee, shock collar, brief VERY vague emeto reference, child of whumpee POV, intimate/creepy whumper, noncon touching (nonsexual), noncon kiss (brief)

Jax Gallagher belongs to @comfy-whumpee and is used with their permission.

"Oh, honey."

The little girl watches around the doorframe as her mother lays a soft hand over her father’s forehead. Her mother’s hair is a waterfall of darkness, the air between the trees on a starless night in the woods behind the house. Her father's is more like tree bark in sunlight, when she doesn't need to worry about what might be hiding in the woods, when they are allowed outside and she can run her fingers over the roughened texture and smell the air.

Sometimes, her father’s necklace - the thick black band he wears that her mother uses to hurt him - is changed so they can go into the woods. He carries her little brother, who is still a baby, and she walks alongside him proud to help carry things, and the three of them are alone with the whisper of the woods around them.

She saw a bluebird, once, singing. Her father had smiled, just a little, at the flutter of wings when she got too close and it took flight.

He’s not smiling now.

Her father lays on his side on the bathroom floor, his cheek pressed to the impeccably clean black-and-white tiles. His face is flushed and there’s a thin film of sweat sticking his shirt to the curves of his shoulders and stomach. It makes him shine under the gentle warm light even as he shivers, compulsively. When her mother’s hand touches his head, he tenses, just a little, but he still can’t stop shivering. "Miss S-Savvie-"

“Look at you.” Her mother’s voice is simpering-sweet, syrupy, like the maple syrup that her father pours on pancakes when they are alone in the mornings when her mother is out of the house. “Poor thing. I suppose this is because I took you to that party last week, isn’t it? You must have picked something up while we were there.”

The little girl remembers - a swirl of colorful dresses and jewelry, too many adults in too small a space. Everyone wanted to congratulate her mother on getting out of the house just a few months after Jamie was born. A person with a thin smile, who was impossibly elegant, had said her mother’s dress was lovely in a voice that didn’t seem like they meant it. Then they’d looked down at her, and something in their severity had softened.

They’d asked to take the little girl to play with their own child, who was in her bedroom because grown-up parties are pretty boring.

It had been fun, although she had been nervous to be away from her father so long, leaving him without her in the throngs of people and all the perfumes in the air. He’d been nervous, too, happy to sweep her into his arms at the end of the night and carry her to the car with her head on his shoulder, her mother’s hand at the small of his back.

Like a family.

Now, though, her father is sick, and her mother’s eyes are brilliant and sparkling as she presses two fingers into the space just underneath his ear, just behind his jaw. In a real family, the little girl thinks, maybe the mom doesn’t look happy to see the dad is too sick to move. He makes a sound almost like a whine, barely escaping, and the little girl swallows. Her own heart races to see how hard he works to open his eyes.

“Swollen lymph nodes,” Her mother murmurs. “Jax, did you manage to get the flu from someone? Honestly, sweetie, the first time you’ve gone out with me in two months and you get sick immediately?”

He turns his head to look up at Savvie, and the little girl doesn’t understand it exactly, but she loves the profile of his face because it is her father’s profile, the line of his nose and neck. His hazel eyes are fogged-over and hazy as he moves, and he might nuzzle into her hand, or he might simply hold still and her mother’s hand was already there.

Then he jerks away, just as quickly, and the little girl goes still and her heart stops with fear - he isn’t allowed to pull away, he isn’t allowed to not smile at her touch, he’ll be in so much trouble. Just as her mother’s eyes go wide their sparkle changes to sunlight off the darkest, deepest ice, Jax begins to cough.

The coughs wrack his body, and he barely covers his mouth. By the time it stops, the first hints of anger have fled her mother’s expression and it has softened again. She sighs and rubs at his back, in soothing soft circles. He drops his hands and turns back to her, a slight half-smile playing on his face, gone, back again.

Wavering, like he’s struggling to remember how to make it.

“‘M sorry, Miss… Miss Savvie,” He says, voice rasping and hoarse. “I-I’m not exactly sure… when I started to feel like this, but…”

Two days ago, the little girl knows. For two sleeps straight, her father’s body has been strange - too hot to the touch, and his hugs have been timid, as though he hurt too much inside to hug as fiercely as he usually did.

She knows. And he knows.

They don’t tell her mother.

He’s been on the bathroom floor all night. The little girl had found him there when she woke up - not in the big bathroom, but this smaller one in the hall next to her room - and had run to get her mother in her grand bedroom.

She never ever went in her mother’s room unless she was allowed to or asked, but she’d been so scared when he barely moved at her shaking his shoulder that she had forgotten the rule. He had laid there so pale and listless, collapsed on the cold floor.

For once, Savvie had not been angry. Instead, she had followed the little girl and told her to wait outside. For a few moments, Savvie had held her hand the way her father usually did, and the little girl had felt… like this was her mother.

But then… then she’d seen Jax. As always, in the little girl's life, the second her mother saw her father, the girl herself was forgotten. Her hand was dropped and she was told to stay out. So the little girl is left on the outside looking in, fingers curled around the doorframe, watching them together.

Her mother's pale pink chemise has a white lace trim that lays across her bare thigh, and her rounded nails are a soft deep mauve as she sighs and moves to kneel, touching his face just at his cheekbone, brushing it with the backs of her knuckles. She smiles, sweet and soft and loving. "It's not your fault, Jax. My poor sweet husband."

Jax only looks up at her, his hazel eyes glimmering and barely focused. But he looks only at her.

Even sick, he knows not to look away.

"But... why did you come all the way out here, honey?" Both her hands are on him now, one cupping his face and the other slipping behind his head, to lift it gently off the floor. "Oh, you're so sweaty. Gross.” Savvie's nose wrinkles, a little, and the little girl wonders if her own nose looks like that.

She hopes not.

"Got… Got sick." Her father breathes and it sounds wrong, somehow, too much air or not enough. "Didn't w-want to wake you. You have… an interview today." He coughs again, and Savvie has to let go for him to roll onto his side again and get the awful sounds out.

Savvie's smile widens. Her blue eyes shine so bright. "How thoughtful," She says, and runs her fingers through the damp strands of his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp, again and again. It looks like petting an animal, not trying to be kind to a man.

If he likes the touch or not, she can't tell. She thinks sometimes he hates every single one.

“Thought I’d feel b-better afterward,” He says, rough-voiced, eyes closed tightly. “Don’t.”

"Oh, sweetie." Savvie smiles and leans down, presses a kiss to his hair. He holds perfectly still for it. He doesn't even breathe. "I don't deserve you," She whispers, just loud enough for the little girl to hear. "But I'll love you forever anyway. Forever, Jax.”

His eyes open again, turning to look over her face as she pulls away, as though he’s checking for something, searching there. Whatever he finds, he relaxes, just a little. "Love you too, Miss Savvie," He says, and the little girl hears that it is flat, compared to how sometimes he hugs the little girl and says nice things to her. "Need… I just need a minute."

“Of course, darling. We’ll move you downstairs once you think you can walk.” Savvie keeps her fingers moving through his hair, sweaty or not.

His gaze shifts a little, and he sees the little girl for the first time. He tenses, eyes widening only slightly. "Is-..." He clears his throat. Both of them freeze at how close he comes to the nickname neither of them wants her to know. "Isabella? Why are you-"

"She woke me up," Savvie says, and slides to her knees, slipping her arms around him and carefully helping him to sit up. He leans heavily against her, so heavily Savvie nearly loses her balance, but she manages not to land in an undignified heap. “She saw you and came to get me. She knew you needed my help.”

The girl would have gone to anyone else, if there were anyone. But they’re here alone, and she isn’t allowed to touch the medicine.

One day, when she’s big enough, she will get him medicine all by herself and she won’t tell her mom anything at all.

“Thank-... thank you, Isabella,” Her father says, in this new sick-voice he has, and when he looks at her, for just a second some of the haze in his eyes is clear. He’s looking at her. It’s only for a second, before he turns back to her mother, and the little girl stores up the way he looked right at her, to save for later times when she is alone. He turns back to Savvie and says, “And th-thank you for coming, Miss Savvie.”

“Of course, sweetie.” Savvie shifts, and the little girl watches as the two of them very slowly stand, Jax working to get his legs under him, standing finally in a way that seems tentative, ready to tip back over at the slightest nudge. His eyes close and his face greys, and the three of them are briefly silent, waiting it out, until the dizziness passes and his eyes open again. “You’re right, though. I do have that interview, and I can’t just be thinking about you, I need to plan… let’s get you downstairs for today. I’ll bring James down once you’re settled.”

There’s a pause, full of meaning and thought the girl doesn’t know how yet to read. “Can… can H-Hannah come to watch them with m-me, or Isaac’s steward, please?” He rarely speaks so many words all at once, unless they’re alone in the sunshine room, where he tells her all the stories about his own family, far far away across an ocean.

Those are the secret stories, the ones that the little girl knows to never let her mother know she’d heard of.

He’s not supposed to think about his other family anymore. Her mother says that she made that rule so he wouldn’t leave the little girl and her brother. He never wanted you, anyway. If I told him he could, he’d walk right out the door and leave us all heartbroken, Isabella. So we have to make sure he never thinks of them, so he can’t leave us.

The little girl is scared that her father might leave, if he could. That her mother’s words are true. But she loves the way he smiles when he tells his stories much, much more than she is scared - and he has promised her, over and over with his arms around her, that he would never leave her here alone.

Now, though, Savvie just rolls her eyes. “Honestly, Jax. How is my uncle’s household supposed to stay in order if you keep trying to steal away half his staff?”

They’re near the door and the girl backs away quickly to stay out of their way, not quite ignored but not needed, either. She watches them move, her mother’s arm around her father’s waist to help him stay upright, and the way he moves so carefully, so slowly, beside her.

The medicine is in the cabinet in the bathroom, but her mother doesn’t go back for it. Instead, she leads Jax away entirely, towards the grand curving staircase that moves down to the ground floor. The little girl watches, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before she realizes what’s happening.

An interview day.

That means her father will spend the day in the basement where no one can hear him - that must be where her mother is taking him, to be hidden away. The little girl licks nervously at her lips, and then flies back into the bathroom. There isn’t anything she can stand on in here, but when she climbs up on the side of the bathtub, she can grab the sink and hold, arms shaking with effort as she pulls herself up.

The cabinet opens for her easily, as she totters, barely balanced on the rounded, shining edge of the sink. Their voices are fading as they move downstairs, her mother’s voice mostly.

Almost entirely.

The little girl finds what she’s looking for - the last time her father was sick, he was allowed a packet of these little discs that come inside a box. The girl can’t read, but she knows the sun and moon signs on the packages, one for day and one for night. She grabs the whole thing, and then looks down, ready to climb-

Oh.

Oh, it’s farther down than she thought.

Her heart shivers in fear - but sometimes you have to do scary things, her father says it all the time when he tells her he is proud of her after her mother locks her in the dark for time out. This is a scary thing, but-

She jumps.

She crashes hard into the tile floor and lets out a high-pitched cry of pain, rolling along the ground. A bright ache flashes in her knee and arm from how she landed, and she presses her lips together to silence any further sounds. They’re swallowed into whimpers that don’t make it further than the door.

Still, she hears her father call, “Isabella?” He’s worried, he heard her, and the little girl stands back up, clutching the box of medicine with white knuckles on her small hands. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay!” She calls back, voice shaky, but she tries to sound fine. It will be much worse for her if her mother thinks she wants attention she’s not supposed to have.

“See? She’s fine,” Savvie says, and their steps fade again. The little girl moves with a focus rarely seen in small children to her room, where she picks up a soft little-kid backpack that is pink and lacey. Her mother picked it. She hates it. In the backpack she stashes some crackers and juice, and on top she puts her favorite stuffed animal, and some crayons. Finally, she forces in a coloring book. Then she moves out into the hall.

Her brother isn’t awake yet, no sound from his room, so she moves like a ghost down the staircase, following her parents to the closet with the hidden door. The door is already open, the wooden steps leading down and down and down. It’s scary, to take each step with the single light leaving so many shadows around, shadows that could have monsters hiding in them.

But sometimes, you have to do scary things.

She sets her jaw and lets her chin jut out, raised a little, and makes her slow and careful way down into the chilly basement, where the secret house is. The little place that her father has to hide, when people who aren’t ‘the right people’ come over, so that the ‘wrong people’ won’t know he’s here.

Her mother is already laying her father down in the little bedroom at the back of the basement place. It's so dark it feels like nighttime in there. She can hear them speaking, but not their words, and she tries to be very good and sits very quietly on the couch, out in what looks like a tiny little living room with a television in it, to wait.

"Thank you, Miss Savvie," She hears, low and rough. "I l-love you, Miss Savvie."

The little girl winces, gripping the little brightly colored cardboard box with sweaty fingers that start to dampen the ink. Love is a wrong word. It's a word of threats and anger, of making things better by being good.

Her mother's voice is low, and soft, heavy with something the little girl is too young to know. "I love you, too, sweetie. Feel better."

There's silence.

The seconds draw out, and every single one of them is awful.

Then, her mother murmurs, "I suppose we should stop. I'd hate for me to get sick, too. I'll bring James down once he's up and it'll be just you and the kids. That'll be restful."

He hums, and the silence draws out again, and then she sweeps past the little girl and away without even looking at her. Up the steps, up and up, and the little girl knows they are locked up down here, like always.

Once her mother is for real gone, the little girl moves, silent as any ghost, down the hall herself, leaving her backpack on the couch. In the bedroom her father lays on his side, coughing a little, mostly just shakes of his shoulders. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and coughs again. The room is all dark except for the light in the hallway that frames her when he catches the motion of her shadow and looks up.

He manages a slight, faint smile. "Izzy. Did you follow us?”

“Yes.” Izzy’s voice is soft and grave. “I didn’t want her to need to bring me and get mad.”

He closes his eyes, just for a second, and nods. “I get it. What've you got there?"

She moves up to the bed and shoves the box into one of his hands. The sweat from her hands has buckled the thin cardboard but the packages inside are still good. "Medicine for your sick."

He stares down at the box, blinking. "Alka-Seltzer Severe Flu," he reads, and then meets her eyes. Theirs nearly match - hazel brown for both. “Izzy, honey, you’re not allowed-” The next round of coughing hits and Izzy scrambles up onto the bed, pulling herself up and moving around behind him, rubbing at his back with her hand like he does when it’s her that’s sick. Her mother’s hands move in circles, like the snake’s eyes in The Jungle Book movie, but her father is a straight line down, lifts up, starts at her shoulder blades and down again.

Izzy presses her lips together in concentration and comforts him just the same way. She whispers, “It’s okay, Daddy, you can cough down here, it’s okay.”

There are tears running out of his eyes when he is finally able to stop, and he’s closed his hand so tightly on the box he crushed it in the middle. He jerks in a breath, then another, and gradually the tremors through his body fade. She keeps rubbing his back. “The-... sound. Was that… was that you getting the medicine?”

She licks at her lips, and whispers, “I’m sorry. You’re sick. I didn’t know what, um, what to do-”

“It’s okay. Hey, I’m not mad. I’m not. C’mere.” He rolls onto his back and holds one arm out in invitation, and she snuggles up to his side, skin burning hot through his clothes but still her father, through and through. “I’m not mad. You’re…” He coughs but this round is short and doesn’t seem to hurt him so much. “You’re a good kid, Iz. D’you know that? Not just a good kid, you’re a good fu-, uh… A good person, too.”

Izzy, who is told every day by her mother that she is not a good child, holds onto these soft loving words and buries them inside herself, a barrier against her mother’s sweet-voiced violence.

“I’ve got you, Daddy,” She says, an unconscious echo of his reassurances to her. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’ll take care of you, okay? You just lay down and do rest.”

He doesn’t answer. His chest moves, inhaling like he wants to speak, but then he only breathes out again and turns his head to kiss her over her curly brown hair.

In a minute, she’ll get up and get him a water cup, and watch with him as the little discs fizz and turn to nothing and make sure he drinks every single bit to feel better. Her mother will bring James down, and Izzy will be the best big sister and her father’s helper and keep Jamie quiet and happy while Jax sleeps, and feels bad for having to sleep, and then sleeps some more.

But for now, in the silence and chill of the little space in the basement where Savvie hides them when other people come who might take her father away from her, Izzy holds on to his shirt and his arm is tight around her shoulders.

If a tear soaks into her hair where his cheek rests on her scalp, she doesn’t notice.

All she knows is his heartbeat, against her ear, and the steady certainty of his love for her, and her love for him. In a house where they have nothing else, that’s enough.

For her, anyway.

For now.

---

@astrobly @finder-of-rings @burtlederp @wildfaewhump @whumpiary @whump-tr0pes @moose-teeth @orchidscript @sableflynn @pretty-face-breaker @raigash @vickytokio @eatyourdamnpears

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f0rever15elf · 4 years ago

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Twin Souls

Summary: Soulmates. Twin souls. They’re the stuff of legends, right? They aren’t real...Or are they? And if they are...can they really span universes?

Pairing: Pero/Whiskey/Oberyn/Din/Max/Maxwell/Dave/Catfish/Marcus/Ezra x fem!Reader (yes, ALL of those Pedro boys are in this fic at some point. I’m overly indulgent) Rating: M Warning: Harsh language, sexual innuendo, death mentions, violence, injured reader, a little bit of angst (for the spice), way too many pedro characters in one fic, no beta reading. Soulmates!AU Word count: 9,649 (lord help me)

a/n: This was inspired by a post that literally just mentioned our favorite soulmate trope that through any universe, two souls will find one another and I just think that’s really beautiful and NEEDED TO GET IT OUT OF MY BRAIN. So I hope you enjoy this!

Masterlist | Ao3

Twin Souls. Mirror souls. Soulmates. Twin flames. Almost every culture has their own rendition of this idea that each of us has another half that we are created with and separated from before we come into this life. Someone we are destined to find as surely as the river finds the sea. Some legends claim it was that we all originate with four arms, four legs, two heads, and one soul that shone brighter than the brightest of stars in the sky, and this drew jealousy from the gods who then wrent us in two. For others, it is destiny calling two individuals together, the universe declaring that two must become one. And even simpler still, some believe that it is no more than a chemical attraction. Something purely physical, biological, and nothing more. A perfect mate.

But what if?

What if it was more than that. So much more. What if two souls were always destined to find one another? Across time and space and universes? What if...

Lightning cracks the sky, momentarily illuminating the face of the man on horseback. His scowl, as always, is firmly in place, his brow creased in a mix of irritation and exasperation. The rain has his dark, curled hair slicked down against his skull and his tunic under his armor is soaked through, drawing the warmth rapidly from his skin. He had told William they should make camp, that the smell of rain on the wind meant for foul weather, and soon, but William had ignored the grumpy Spaniard, electing to press on. Not twenty minutes later, the heavens opened, drenching the small caravan as they continued on. William rode silently in front of Pero, and he could feel the glare from his companion boring holes into the back of his head. If looks could kill, he would be dead several times over.

"I see lights ahead!" Calls the lookout from up ahead, and a satisfied chatter rolls through the group of sellswords. Pero lifts his chin only slightly to look ahead, jaw clenched, eyes alert. He had seen enough in his days selling his sword to know what to look for, and a small village in the middle of nowhere was always a gamble.

As the small group rides up to the edge of the village, a few of the village's men wait to greet them, lanterns out to welcome them to the town. The group of sellswords dismount as William goes to speak with the man Pero can only assume is the village leader. After a few words, William turns with a smile, moving through the group to tell them they would be making camp here tonight, bunking with members of the small community. The welcoming committee leads each man off to a different house, and had it not been for the rain still steadily downpouring, a dull chatter would have filled the air as the guests were welcomed with more hospitality than many of them were used to.

"And you, my friend, will be staying with us!" The village leader approaches Pero with a smile. "Come, my daughter will help to get you dry. This cold will seep to your bones and you will fall ill. Come. Come." The friendly elder makes his way to a small, comfortable hut, a warm fire blazing in the center. The crackling of the logs is a welcome sound to Pero's ears, and the smell of something savory fills his nostrils. The men had been living on rations for days, and Pero Tovar was sick of the hardtack and salt pork he carried with him. The elder introduces him to his family; a wife, a young son, and you, his only daughter. As soon as his eyes land on you, Pero feels a warm sensation spread through his stomach, one he had never felt before, and he finds it difficult to tear his eyes from yours as the man of the house begins speaking again, telling him that their house is his for the night. He manages to utter out a word of gratitude before you approach him, taking his hand to lead him to get cleaned up.

"It is not often our village has visitors," you murmur softly as you help him to doff his armor. "Most pass us by without so much as a second glance." Your smile causes that heat in his stomach to spread upwards through his chest, and up his neck. Such a foreign feeling... "Perhaps it is fate that brought you here, to us. I must thank fate, if that is the case, for bringing such a handsome man to my home." You laugh softly and it is a sweeter sound than any music the Spaniard has ever heard, light and gentle as the bluebird's song on the spring breeze. Pero's heart throbs in his chest at the sound.

"Sí, señorita. A thanks to fate for bringing me here." His eyes never leave your face and the tips of your ears turn red from the attention. His gaze was steady, with a hard edge of a man who had seen too much. After finishing doffing his armor, you help to ease him out of his wet tunic, and your heart stutters in your chest. Your gaze drifts from his torso back to his face, and your hand moves as if with a mind of its own, lifting to rest on his face. The soft pads of your fingers gently trace the scar over his eye. There was...something so familiar about him, but you had no idea what it was. Like you had seen this man before, someone who was him...yet not him. The thought confused you and you shook it from your head. That was impossible.

---

Your eyes snap open from the strange dream and you sit up in bed, rubbing your face. A man who looked so much like your Jack had been haunting your dreams for days now, and you had absolutely no idea what it could mean. Jack stirs beside you, letting out a soft groan as he stretches.

"Darlin'? You alright? It's awful early for you to be up." He glances over at the clock on the nightstand. 3:30 am, early was an understatement. His hand finds the small of your back, rubbing gentle circles against the skin there. You hum and nod your head.

"Just...weird dreams Jack. That's all." You turn your head and smile down at him and he makes a concerned sound at the back of his throat.

"Wanna talk about it, sweetheart?" Your heart melted at the concern, and you ease yourself back down, laying in his arms.

"It doesn't make much sense, really. You'll probably think I'm crazy." His arm holds you a little closer to him and he chuckles.

"Try me." A smile tugs at the corners of your lips and you take a deep breath.

"Well...if you say so. I've been dreaming of a person. It's...this guy. He looks so much like you, and he has a scar right here." You delicately trace the line of the scar from the mystery man in your dreams. "And his face is weathered and serious. He's always scowling. I have no idea but it's like it's you but it isn't you. But it's more like... a faded memory than a dream. It's crazy, I know." Jack is quiet as he listens to you, his fingers still tracing delicate patterns on your skin.

"I...don't think you're crazy, sweetheart." You blink, honestly shocked as you look up at him. He's staring up at the ceiling, a contemplative look on his face. "I've had dreams like that too. Ones of you. Or, well, a girl who looks almost exactly like you." Propping yourself up on your elbow, you look down at him, that handsome, lopsided smile on his face.

"You're not pulling my leg to appease me, are you?"

"Now darlin', when have I ever done that to you?" He had a point. His silver tongue worked magic in many ways, but spinning lies to appease you was not one of those ways. Your brow creases as you lose yourself in your thoughts of what this could mean until a whip-calloused finger smooths the lines between your brows. "You ever heard 'a soulmates, sweetness?" The question strikes you as rather odd, something out of a fairy tale, but you nod. "I'm thinkin' that may be our answer." His arm wraps around you and he pulls you back against him. "Lovers truly meant to be." Gentle lips press light kisses to your forehead, his moustache tickling the skin and drawing a giggle from you.

"Do you really think that, Jack? That we've met before?"

"Well it would explain how we fell in with one another quicker than a jackrabbit with a fox on its tail. Now, I know my charm is absolutely irresistible, but I don't think I can take all the credit here." He grins and you can't help the laugh that bubbles from your throat, smacking his chest lightly. You had to admit...it made sense. In some weird, metaphysical sense that you weren't quite sure you completely believed. But Jack believed it, and that was enough for you. It also meant you could stop feeling guilty about these dreams of this mysterious Spaniard.

"So this dream girl. What's she like?" You ask, snuggling into Jack's embrace. He shakes his head and laughs.

"What, you jealous of yourself, gorgeous? C'mon now, you get to ride this cowboy any time you like, ain't no need to be jealous of a dream of you." You gasp and smack his chest, cheeks flushing red as you hide against his chest. He chuckles and lavishes a few gentle kisses to the top of your head, snuggling down in bed with you.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, doll. Now close those pretty eyes of yours and get some sleep."

And you did just that, slowly drifting off to dreamland.

---

"Hellloooooo!" Cara snapped her fingers in front of your face and you jumped, coming back to reality. "You know, you really freak me out when you do that." She leans back in her chair, a cup of spotchka in one hand, her lopsided smirk on her face. You cough, and scratch at the back of your neck.

"Yeah...sorry about that." She just shakes her head.

"Where do you go when you zone out like that? Takes me forever to bring you back around." You just shrug, staring down at your bowl of soup.

"Day dreams, I guess. I can't really describe them. I see faces though. Well, a couple of faces anyways. Two men who look shockingly similar and-" Cara cuts you off with a wave of her hand.

"Sweets, I don't need to hear about your depraved day dreams." Her coy grin in your direction causes your face to flush a bright red at the insinuation and you make a move to reply when she goes rigid in her chair, setting her cup down with a little more force than necessary. Your brow creases in confusion, even more so when she stands and grabs your hand, quickly and quietly leading you out back. "Stay here," she hisses, moving slowly around front, leaving you confused and alone. And hungry. You had been so busy day dreaming you didn't even get the chance to finish your soup. A frown pulls at the corners of your lips as you hop up on a box out back, kicking your legs as you wait for your friend.

The sounds of fighting reach your ears a few minutes later and you jump up, running towards the sound, skidding to a halt when you round the corner to see Cara fighting with a person decked out in some of the shiniest armor you had ever seen. You open your mouth to say something when a small green creature walks out of the cantina, a bowl of soup in his tiny hands. He looks up at you and tilts his head before turning to walk a little closer to your skirmishing friend. You follow as both the armored figure and Cara end up on the ground, a blaster pointed at Cara's head. You're about to run forward to try and yank the blaster away when the sound of slurping distracts you. Looking down, you see the little green thing slurping up his soup, watching with a borderline uninterested look. The helmeted figure and Cara turn to look at you both before looking back at each other.

"...Want some soup?" The helmeted man says through what was clearly a modulator.

That was your first encounter with Din Dajrin, and you had no clue that that one day would lead to you aboard the Razor Crest, babysitting the little green creature he had taken in, and fixing things around the ship as they broke. You had never seen his face, nor much of his skin save for when you were patching him up from a particularly rough hunt, but that was okay. Life on the Crest was comfortable, and even in the silence that Din preferred to keep, you felt at home. His presence was enough to calm you on your more anxious days. The two of you grew close quickly. Quicker than you or he had expected, and it wasn't long before he was gracing you with idle affections. Light caresses as he passes you, his hand lingering on yours for longer than necessary, gently tucking stray hairs back behind your ear as you talk to him. Each little thing never failed to bring heat to your cheeks.

It was at the anniversary of your first cycle together that Din asked you to marry him. He had taken the three of you to a peaceful, lush planet to ask you. Some place safe and reclusive, a place where neither of you had to worry about anything. He wanted you as a part of his little clan, and your heart nearly burst with affection as you rapidly shook your head, wiping away the tears. The tradition was simple, a marriage a sacred vow between the Mandolorian and their spouse. It was a promise to bind the two as one. A few simple words was all it took, and he was yours. He brought your hands to his helmet to let you lift it off, the moment unable to be any more perfect than this.

And that's when the blaster sounded. You freeze as your eyes go wide, slowly looking down to your chest where bright crimson starts to bleed through the material of your tunic. You look back up at him with glassy eyes and stumble forward into his grasp, only vaguely aware of more blaster fire, then total silence. Din lays you down on the soft grass, yanking his helmet off, and oh how you wish you could see his face clearly. You make out dark curls atop tan skin, dark eyes looking at you with such concern and fear, desperation...a look you couldn’t bring your eyes to focus enough to make out. Everything is fading so quickly. You can't hear his voice, only ringing. You were so sure he had a beautiful voice, it's a shame you wouldn't get to hear it free of modulation. Lifting your hand, you place it weakly against his cheek, sputtering out "I love you...find me in the next..." With that, the last of your strength leaves you, your hand dropping from his face as your head lolls to the side, eyes staring blankly off into the distance.

Din lets out a cry of anguish as he pulls your lifeless form against him, sobbing into your hair. How could fate be so cruel?

Ezra shoots up ramrod straight in bed, gasping for air like a man drowning. A cold sweat clings to his skin, an afterthought of the nightmare that disturbed his sleep once more. He rubs his face, taking a deep breath before looking over at his time keeper. Two standard hours before his alarm... The sigh that leaves his lips is deep and heavy as he swings his legs over the side of his cot. Might as well get an early start on the day. There was no going back after that awful dream, and he could use the couple extra hours anyways. Mining with only one hand, everything took twice as long and was done half as well, so the extra time would give him a little leg-up on the day. Heavens above, he could use another set of hands around here. With Cee off at school, he was all on his own, and it was getting damn lonely. Working his way into his suit with a little bit of difficulty, he made the resolution to put out an ad for help the next time he went to the Depot to drop off a shipment.

And so he spent the day, mining and singing and talking to himself. Anyone else who saw him would surely think this one-armed man was crazy, but little did they know that talking to himself is exactly what kept him sane. He could move up the Depot visit. Yeah, that's what he would do. He'd need to go in the next week anyways, so why not just do it now? He resolved to head on the next day to the Depot, and he'd put out that add for some help.

The next day's trek was blessedly uneventful. The cash-in post scoffed at what little aurelac he had accrued so far, and the tips of his ears turned pink in embarrassment. He mutters a thank you for the credits exchange, and makes his way to the bulletin board to put in his ad. A single figure is standing in front of the board, a pack slung over their shoulder, miner's tools hanging off their belt.

"Pardon me," he says softly, scooting by them without looking at their face to pin up his ad. He turns to head back to his buggy to return to work, hopeful he would hear something over his coms soon.

"Sir?" A gentle voice calls from behind him and he freezes in place, his heartbeat suddenly incredibly loud in his ears. He knew that voice. That was the voice that had been in his nightmares over and over again. Find me in the next... He slowly turns to look at who had called him to see you standing there, looking exactly as you did in his dreams. But alive...so much more alive. You smile up at him, gentle and warm, with a light of concern in your eyes, and he has to resist the urge to run to you and pull you into his arms. "I say...you look like you've seen a ghost! Are you alright?" Ezra's mouth opens and closes a few times, not unlike a fish before he's able to find his words again.

"Y..Yes, I'm alright. Not to worry, gem, it's just been a rather arduous day is all, and I'm beginning to feel the effects taking hold. Pardon my rudeness." A gentlemanly smile graces his lips as he extends his hand to you. "The name is Ezra. How might you be doing this fine day?" You chuckle and take his hand, shaking it firmly. What an odd fellow this was.

"It's a pleasure, Ezra. And the answer to this next question will set my mood for the day, I'm sure. You're in need of a helper at your dig site?" He nods enthusiastically.

"I most certainly am! What a matter of fortune that I happen to stumble upon someone ready and willing to assist me the very day I come to place my ad!"

"Ready and willing is right! I just arrived on the surface. Took a gamble someone would be needing my help, and it appears I've come out on top!" Your smile is infectious, and Ezra returns it, just as brilliantly. It lights up his eyes, you notice. Warm, chocolate brown eyes that glimmer with a playfulness that excites you.

"Perhaps you can impart some of that luck on to me as we begin this partnership." He leads you back to his buggy to take you back to camp, loading up on some extra supplies as well with his meager earnings that would be needed with an extra mouth to feed. "Might you be the lucky star that this poor man has been waiting for!" You can't help but chuckle at the eccentric miner. His manner of speaking was so strikingly different from anyone you had met before. Words rolled off his lips sweet as nectar, and the sound of his voice bordered on intoxicating.

"Make a wish, and we'll see." You laugh, flashing him a wink. The two of you spend the rest of the ride talking, swapping stories of your previous adventures. Ezra's charm has you instantly at ease. It felt comfortable and familiar to be near him, and you couldn't quite explain it.

As you return to his camp and make your way inside, helping to unload, you do your best to help ease some of Ezra's burden. It was clear he was trying to show that his lack of an arm was no deterrent for him, but you worried he would hurt himself in the process.

"Here, I've got it," You say softly, taking an oxygen tank from him as he stumbled a bit, nearly dropping the canister. He looks up at you with those soulful brown eyes and your heart stutters in your chest. He nods and lets you take it inside as he grabs the last few small things from the buggy, following you in. His helmet hisses as he takes it off, slowly peeling himself out of his suit, and you do the same, folding yours up in the corner before standing awkwardly in the center of the hab until he's done. Dropping the offending article in the middle of the tent, he sighs and plops down on his cot, patting next to him for you to join. Happily, you do so, crossing your legs under you.

"Forgive me, lucky star, for my lacking capabilities. I am not the man I once was..." He gestures to the stump of his right arm, a pained look in his eyes. You place your hand on his thigh and flash a reassuring smile.

"Ezra, there is nothing to forgive. I'm here to help in whatever way you may need me to. We're partners, and partners help each other." He glances at you sideways, a smile gracing his lips at the pain fades in his eyes.

"Lucky star, I feel you may be imparting some of your luck on to me already. What plans the universe may have for us is an adventure I'm eager to embark on." You laugh and nod, squeezing his thigh once before getting up to start making your side of the hab.

And so the days go on. Long days spent mining as much aurelac as possible while the light provided, before getting cleaned up for the night. Evenings were usually spent listening to one of Ezra's fantastic tales, or listening to him read a book from his small collection. More and more you found yourself leaning against him, your eyelids heavy with sleep as his honey rich voice drawled on. It reverberated in his chest in a way that soothed you more than anything else had in the galaxy. But the good days were over too soon as mining season came to a close on the Green, and you found yourself facing Ezra in the Depot, the two of you ready to depart for your next jobs. The ache in your heart was unlike anything you had ever felt, having grown so fond of the loquacious miner.

You opened your mouth to say goodbye, to just rip the band-aid off, when he spoke over you.

"Come with me." The sentence was near a plea as he reached out to take your hand. Your eyes opened wide at his words, your mouth falling slightly open.

"W..what?"

"Come with my, my lucky little star... I can't imagine a life without you at this point, the comfort you bring me is beyond anything even the most luxurious of lifestyles could bring me." He squeezes your hand again. "Come with me...please..." You knew you couldn't, you knew you needed to head to your next journey, but the thought of doing so felt so wrong, as though your heart might explode if you tried...so you nod, and Ezra's eyes light up with a joy the likes of which you had never seen. He tugs your hand and pulls you to him, embracing you as best he can with his one arm, and nuzzles into your hair. You wrap your own arms around him to return the hug, sinking into the embrace that could only be described as feeling...right. You almost missed it as he whispered against your hair, "I found you..." You lean back, confusion in your eyes as you look up at him.

"...Found me?" You whisper and he smiles, dropping the embrace to take your hand and lead you toward his shuttle.

"If you would indulge me in some time to tell you a story, I can explain everything, lucky little star."

---

Your bare feet hit the pavement with loud slaps, legs propelling you forwards as fast as you could. Your lungs burned in your chest as you panted for air, not daring to look back over your shoulder for who you knew was following you. How had you managed to be so stupid, so careless? How could you have managed to get yourself involved in this?

"Get back here!" He yelled, his deep voice causing another shot of adrenaline to course through your bloodstream. He was going to kill you. Oh God, he was going to kill you! Tears stream down your face as you run, ducking into every alleyway you could, trying to elude him, but he had been doing this too long. He was good at covering his tracks, and you were a loose end he couldn't afford. You being alive jeopardized his life with his family.

You turn down another alley and your heart plummets when you are met with a stone wall, skidding to a halt in front of it. You hear his heavy footfalls behind you and you turn, falling to your knees. Maybe...maybe if you beg, he'll spare you?

Dave rounds the corner, and you hear the soft click of the safety of his silenced handgun. He stalks forward like a lion stalks an antelope and you have never in your life felt so small.

"You're a fast little she-devil, I'll give you that. It was a good chase." He stands in front of you as you begin to beg, pleading for your life. You'd move away, you'd forget everything. You'd change your name and cut contact with everyone, please just don't pull the trigger. "No can do, sweetheart. Can't risk it." He brings the gun up level with your forehead as you look up into his eyes, begging still, trembling with terror. For a moment, you see a light of recognition in his eyes, a light that looks so familiar it makes your heart ache. Visions of a space suit, an angry scar, a metal suit, and a cowboy hat all flash through your mind in rapid succession as the light registered somewhere deep in your subconscious.

Then, with the sound of a gunshot, everything vanishes.

---

"NO PLEASE STOP!" You shriek in your sleep, thrashing around in your shared bed, waking the man beside you. He startles, sitting up and pulling you upright, shaking you gently to try and wake you from your night terror. You had been having them more and more recently, and he was starting to get really concerned. Terrified eyes snap open, tears starting to streak down your face as you caught his eyes and immediately begin trying to get away from him, your body still full of adrenaline. "Let me go!" You screamed, fighting to get away from those eyes. Those damn eyes were exactly the same.

"Shhh shhh, cariña, calm down it was just a night terror, you're safe." That voice...that voice wasn't the same. That voice was so much kinder and softer than the one in your dream and you grow still in his arms, nervously looking back at the one holding you. Your terrified stare was met with the warmest chocolate eyes you had ever seen, full of nothing but love and concern for you as he held you.

"F-Frankie...?" you ask, barely above a whisper, and he nods. You tremble in his hold as you choke out a sob, falling into his embrace. "I-I'm s-s-sorry Frank-kie! I-It was s-so b-bad this t-time," you managed to choke out between sobs. Frankie’s gentle fingers run through your hair in an attempt to soothe you as he coos gently to you, swaying back and forth with you. His sleep shirt was clutched in your fists as you sobbed against him.

"It's alright cariña, I'm here, I've got you and you're safe. Nothing is going to get you, I promise." His voice is deep and rich, sleep still painting the edges of it as he holds you and whispers soothing words to you. How lucky could you be to have a man like Francisco Morales to call your own? He was so patient with you, even when these night terrors plagued you seemingly non-stop.

As your sobs turn to sniffles, he carefully looks down at you. "Was it the same dream, amor?" he asks softly, nervous to startle you, and you nod weakly.

"Being chased and cornered by a man with a gun...who looked like a sleazy businessman version of you... But his eyes were hard and angry and his voice was so cold." You look up at him with still watery eyes and he delicately wipes your cheek of any errant tears. "I hate this."

"I know, sweetheart, I know. I'm sorry, I would do anything to help those dreams stop." His hold tightens around you. He was angry. Angry he couldn't protect you from this. Angry that for some reason your mind was using his face to torture you. Angry that you could get no respite from these horrible visions in your mind. With closed eyes, he nuzzles into your hair, placing a gentle kiss to the top of your head. Your eyes slip closed as you slowly relax into Frankie's hold, your heart rate slowing to a more normal rate as the flood of adrenaline clears your bloodstream, leaving exhaustion in its wake. Frankie coaxes you to bed again, holding you as close to him as he can, hoping his presence will somehow help to deter the nightmares.

In the morning, you wake to the smell of bacon and the feeling of an empty bed. You sit up and stretch before rubbing your eyes and yawning. Damn, your head and eyes hurt from the crying last night. Stupid nightmare... With a shake of your head, you move to get up to go get some medicine when you notice two Tylenol and a glass of water sitting on the nightstand. A smile tugs at the corners of your lips, knowing Frankie had left them out for you, and you take them, deciding to stay in bed a few more minutes and wait for Frankie. Your decision pays off when the door opens and Frankie walks in, a bed tray with pancakes, bacon, and a tall glass of chocolate milk in his hands.

"Morning amor. How are you feeling? I made your favorite blueberry pancakes." The smile that graces your lips he returns as he sets the tray across your lap before tucking a loose strand of hair back in place behind your ear, joining you on the bed.

"I'm alright as I can be. Tired of these stupid night terrors...I feel like I haven't slept in days." Leaning over, you press a quick kiss to his cheek before picking up a fork, digging in. The moan that leaves your lips borders on sinful as you taste the pancakes. Frankie's cooking always did amaze you. He chuckles as he leans back against the headboard, watching you.

"I'm glad you like the food." You nod with a smile and continue eating, content with the silence for now. That is, until a burning question bubbles to the forefront of your thoughts. "Frankie...have...have you ever had a dream...about a girl who looked like me?" The question comes softly from your lips, as if you are nervous to even ask it. It seemed so silly hearing it out loud.

"No, I can't say I have...but the day I met you, I could have sworn I had met you before. But there was no possible way that could have been." His voice is contemplative, and when you turn to look at him He's looking off to nowhere, lost in thought.

"What do you mean you could have sworn you've met me before?" He blinks a few times and looks back at you, shrugging.

"Everything about you was familiar. Your eyes, your laugh, your smile. Hell, even the way you stood, one hip cocked and your hand resting on it...It was all just so familiar, like I had met you a long time ago. Weird, I know."

"I'm the one having dreams about a guy who looks like a douche bag version of you trying to kill me, and you think familiarity is weird?" A pink tint creeps up his cheeks as he sputters out a reply.

"W-well when you put it that way..." You chuckle and shake your head, chasing a blueberry around your plate with your fork.

"Maybe...we have met before...just not...here." If he didn't think you were crazy before, he certainly would now.

"What, like a soulmate? A past life?" You nod, not looking up. You didn't want to see him looking at you like you were crazy. "Now that's an idea...it would explain a lot, wouldn't it?" Another nod, and his hand reaches around to lift your chin, turning your face to him. A gentle smile graces his beautiful face and you can't help but return it. "If that's the case, then I'm glad I found you again, soulmate." The giggle that escapes your lips only helps to widen his smile before he presses a chaste kiss to your lips.

You had heard great things of the Prince of Dorne. The Red Viper, Oberyn Martell. He was as fearsome as he was gentle. Ruthless as he was loving. His skills with poisons and fighting spears were unmatched, as was his sexual appetite. Or so you had heard. King's Landing was always full of whispers and rumors, so much so that it was hard to know just what was fact, and what was fiction. Not that it mattered, the rumors never affected you. You kept your head down, and did as you were told, assisting the Lanisters whenever need be. It was the best way to stay out of trouble, and to ensure your head stayed rightfully upon your shoulders.

But why all of the hubbub about Prince Oberyn all of a sudden? Have you missed an announcement? Cersei would have your head on a pike before the candles melted through if you embarrassed her by forgetting to outfit a chamber. A cold sweat breaks out over your skin and your heart races in your chest at the thought, your feet carrying you swiftly down the halls in search of Tyrion. He would know what was going on.

You find the man talking with his guard, and clear your throat softly as you approach, hands folded respectfully in front of you. Their conversation drops as Tyrion looks to you with a smile.

"Forgive my interruption, but I have heard many more whispers today than usual of The Red Viper of Dorne... Have...Have I missed a notice to prepare an extra chamber...?" Tyrion shakes his head and comes over to place a hand over your folded ones.

"Fear not, you've missed nothing. The chambers were already prepared for his visit." The tension melts from your shoulders and you nod, bowing your head before standing upright again.

"Thank you for informing me. I shall return to my duties then. Good day." You turn quickly as Tyrion bids you farewell, resuming your duties as needed.

The fight was the only thing anyone in the halls discussed. Oberyn was to champion for Tyrion in trial by combat with The Mountain. The whole of King's Landing was to attend to spectate, including the workers through the castle. It had been a long time since the walls buzzed with such energy, and you followed along quietly to the viewing stand reserved for the chambermaids. Perhaps you would now see if the words of the great Red Viper of Dorne were true. You watch with baited breath as he strides into the arena, his armor light, a fighting spear in his grip that he twirls with such grace it takes your breath away. His smile is confident, bordering on cocky, and you feel a twinge of fear for him. He was so small...The Mountain would crush him.

The fight was certainly something to behold, and for a moment, it seemed as though Oberyn's dexterity would win him the match. Till the tables turned... It was a gruesome sight, The Mountain was known well for his utter brutality. The cries of pain from the prince under his grip tore at your heart, and when his skull finally gave, painting the arena red, something inside you broke. Tears streamed down your cheeks, your hand covering your gaping mouth as your heart ached in your chest.

You had never met this man, and yet at the witnessing of his death, it felt as if you had lost a part of yourself.

"An intern? A FUCKING intern? What the fuck do I need with an intern?!" Maxwell stood from his desk, pacing behind it, a hand in his pocket while the other rubbed at his face. "I’m so close, SO CLOSE, to having the world in the palm of my hand, and you want me to take on AN INTERN?!" He snapped at the poor secretary who stood in the center of the room, trembling in her high heels.

"M-Mr. Lord...A-appearances are everything, sir, and I believe taking on an intern would brighten your appearance in the public eye even more so. She would be none the wiser, and you could use her to take care of your less important operations, sir." The secretary quivered under Maxwell's gaze as he stopped to stare at her, eyes hard as flint. Slowly, so slowly, a predatory smile works its way across his face, and he stalks forward, lifting the secretary's chin.

"You are an absolute genius, where would I be without you?" He shoves her head away and she stumbles back a step before catching herself. "Bring her on. Get her set up on payroll, benefits, whatever she needs, then send her here to talk with me." The secretary nods, scribbling down notes on a piece of paper before looking back up to her boss who has taken to looking out the window of his high rise office. "Well don't just stand there, chop chop!" She shoos her from the room and she leaves in a rush, heels clicking down the hall as she goes to find you.

The lobby of the Lord building was absolutely massive, and appropriately ornate for what you knew of Maxwell's image. Nervous fingers played across your pencil skirt, smoothing down the nonexistent wrinkles in the material as you waited for the secretary you had met to return with her answer. The sound of heels clicking down the hallway draws your attention and a cordial smile graces your lips as the secretary returns.

"Good news!" she claims in an overly excited tone. "Welcome to the company! Mr. Lord has agreed to take you on as his intern. I'll take your information and get you set up with payroll while you come to meet the man behind it all." You nod, fishing a manila envelope of all of your information out of your shoulder bag, handing it over. "Excellent. Now, follow me. A few pointers," she says matter of factly. "Speak only when spoken to and NEVER interrupt. Mr. Lord hates being interrupted. You'll refer to him as Mr. Lord or Sir unless instructed otherwise. Keep your answer short and to the point. Are we clear?" You swallow thickly, suddenly astronomically more nervous than you were just a moment ago.

"Crystal."

"Excellent." She takes you to a large set of double wooden doors, knocking with three quick raps before opening the door. "Mr. Lord, here she is." The secretary ushers you in, placing you in the center where she stood trembling only minutes before, stepping off to the side as Maxwell strides up to you, circling around you as he sizes you up.

"Not bad," he muses. "Not bad at all." His gaze was searing, causing your blood to race in your veins. You were pretty, he had to admit, and that would definitely be a bonus if you were going to be around him every damn day. Something familiar tugged at the back of his mind. Your eyes or your jawline, maybe, but he quickly chased that thought away. "So, you're going to be my new intern!" He claps his hands together. "Your work starts now. Follow me." He places a hand on your shoulder, leading you to what you assumed was where you were going to be sitting for the rest of this internship.

You blink and stumble for a moment, a firm yet chilling grip catching you to right you.

"Careful there doll. Can't have you ruining that pretty face of yours cause you tried to kiss the carpet." Max laughed that ultra-fake, condescending laugh he had, letting you go as you righted yourself. Adjusting your pencil skirt, you nod and take a deep breath. This was all way too familiar. The outfit, the internship, the guide through the office to a desk by your boss'. It was hands down the worst case of deja vu you have EVER had.

"Mr. Phillips-"

"Call me Max, doll. You're my new intern, and I'd like to think of you and I more as friends than as boss and employee." He grins at you and you shiver at the sight of his fangs.

"...Max. Uhm...does...does any of this seem a little too familiar to you? Like you've been here before?" His look back at you with a look that makes you wish you could just melt into the carpet and disappear.

"I'm here every day, what are you talking about?"

"N-no I mean like, do you ever get deja vu? Because I'm having it bad right now." That trademark grin spreads across Max's face again as he seats you at your desk, perching himself up on the front of it so he's looking down at you.

"My whole unlife is deja vu, dollface. It's round two for me." That damn smile never leaves his lips as he watches you put your papers in the drawers of your desk. "Any other silly little questions, or should I just let you get started on your first day?" The tips of your ears were on fire and you shook your head.

"Nothing else, Max. Thank you, I'll get to work." He claps and nods, hopping off your desk.

"Alright, doll. You'll have a set of reports for editing in your inbox. Have them formatted, printed, and on my desk before you head out today." You nod, starting up your desktop as he makes his way from your now shared office. This...was going to be a long internship.

Max makes his way down the hall, that fake, used car salesman smile falling from his lips as soon as he is out of eye-shot. He stalks down the hall to his own personal bathroom, shutting the door with a little more force than necessary.

"Fuck!" The acoustics of the tiled room cause his voice to reverberate, sharp in his ears. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" He white knuckles the edge of the sink, the porcelain cracking under his hands. It was her. It was FUCKING her! Of all the people who could come to intern at this company, it had to be his soulmate. Because of course it did! Why would the universe decide anything else?! The frustrated vampire closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. She didn't know, everything was going to be fine. Can't have a soulmate when you don't have a soul. Checkmate, universe. Yeah, that was what he would do, he’d ignore it. Problems always went away when you ignored them, right?

Wrong.

"I need to stop watching vamp movies before bed," Javier Peña groans, sitting up from his bed. "Fucking dreaming about them now.." He continues to grumble to himself as he gets ready for the day. It was going to be a long one. The DEA had caught a lead on Escobar, and were running a raid this afternoon. He needed to be on his game today, this could be the chance they needed to finally get that bastard. He slips his gun into the waistband of his jeans, grabs his leather jacket, and heads to work.

Hostages. Of course they had fucking hostages.

"This complicates things," Steve whispers from behind him.

"No shit," the exasperated DEA agent snaps back, eyes scanning the entrance to the building. They had no idea how many Escobar's men had in there, and they needed to get them all out. Javier was tired of seeing innocents die, caught up in something because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. "I'm going around back," Javi hisses, ducking around Steve to find the back entrance. "You stay here with the team. First gunshot, you move. Be smart, clear every room, move fast." Steve nods, taking Javi’s place as Javi slinks along the back perimeter.

He was right, there was a back entrance. He presses his ear to the door, trying to make out any sound and was met with only silence. Gun ready in one hand, he slowly opens the door, thanking whatever god existed that most of Escobar's men were idiots. They had forgotten to arm the back door. He moves along the wall to the hallway, noting two doors on the left, one on the right on the way to the main lobby. His heart pounds in his ears as he moves as quickly and quietly as possible, choosing the one door on the right first, seeing it open. He ducks in, gun sweeping over the room, but all he sees is you there, bound and gagged with duct tape. Your face was a mess, one eye blackened and dried blood from your nose crusted on the tape. Weary, broken eyes meet Javi's and his heart stutters. He had to get you out of here, and he was going to.

As you look at him, your eyes widened at the shadow moving down the hall. Noticing, Javi presses himself just to the side of the doorway, waiting for the man to make his way into the room before firing off two quick shots to his head. The man slumped to the ground, lifeless as the house descended into chaos. Javi grabs you, dragging you gracelessly to the corner where he can better protect you. The action draws a soft whimper from you, fresh tears running down your cheeks.

Gunfire, screaming in both Spanish and English, crashing and banging...it was all too much for you and you began sobbing, quaking in absolute terror. Javier held you to him gently, his large hand holding your head against his chest.

"Calma, calma. Estás segura. Soy aquí," he whispers softly against your hair, eyes trained on the door still.

"Peña! It's clear! We got them all, where are you?" Steve. Thank god.

"First room on your left. Bring me the first aid kit!" You look up at agent Peña with glassy eyes, bloodshot from crying and he starts to peel the duct tape away from your mouth as gently as he can. "It's alright, you're safe now." His voice is gruff, but he speaks so gently to you. You can't stop the trembling in your limbs, the adrenaline running its course.

"I got the ki- holy shit what did they do to her?!" Steve joins Javi by your side, helping to undo the tape binding your arms and legs.

"Beat the shit out of her it looks like," Javi pulls an alcohol swab from the kit, tearing it open to wipe off a nasty looking cut along your brow and you hiss, pulling back at the sting. "Easy, chica. I know it hurts, I'm sorry." The whimper that leaves your lips has Javi nearly seeing red. Those bastards...

"Let's get her out of here. We need to get her to a hospital." Steve is already standing up, pulling out his phone.

"No! No, please no hospitals!" The words come out as a rasp, your throat feeling like sandpaper.

"Lady, you're beat to hell, we need to get you some medical attention." He argues, but the look in your eyes is desperate as you turn your gaze back to the DEA agent who saved you.

"Please, please no hospitals...I can't do it."

"Peña..." Javier cuts him off with a shake of his head.

"I'll take her back to my place and take care of her. She can stay there for now. Her place probably isn't safe right now anyways if they managed to get her." No hospitals...they weren't going to take you to the hospital. Relief washes over you and your limbs suddenly felt so heavy.

"Thank you..." You barely make out before your body gives out and you slump against Javi. His arms wrap around you after checking for a pulse, and he stands, scooping you up bridal style in his arm. He carries you out to his car, sitting you in the front seat and strapping you in, Steve arguing the whole way.

"Look, she said no hospitals, so we aren't going to the hospital. If things get worse, I'll take her, but for now, I'm taking her back to mine. You stay here and get the paperwork done. I'll call if anything changes." Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Javi was already in the truck, taking you to his little apartment on the quiet side of town.

It was surely a strange sight, the DEA agent carrying in your battered body to his apartment, and it raises the eyebrow of Old Woman Angela who gracefully still decides to mind her own business. Safe within the confines of his home, Javi carries you to his bed, laying you down gently before ridding you of your shoes in an attempt to grant you at least a little comfort.

"Let's get you cleaned up, querida." His words are soft and gentle, more so than he's used with anyone in a long time. Delicately, he wipes your face with a clean, damp cloth to rid you of the grime and blood that had built up, using caution around your deeply blackened eye. The sight of you so battered made his heart ache. He was used to violence, he was used to death. It followed him everywhere in this line of work. So why, then, was this hitting him so much harder than any of the others. Why did he feel this overwhelming need to protect you, to keep you safe from all the world's atrocities? He shakes his head and mutters to himself in Spanish as he moves to sanitizing and dressing your wounds. Once you were as cared for as he could make you, he sits, watching your sleeping form. The subtle rise and fall of your chest as you sleep gives him at least a little comfort. His hand moves as if of its own will, taking yours gently. They're so soft, and they fit so perfectly in his, almost like your hands were made to be held in his. It felt so right, so natural. And that was something Javier Peña had never felt before, not like this. In your sleep, so gently he almost thinks he imagined it, you squeeze his hand tighter.

Javier Peña didn't even know your name, but in his heart he knew one thing.

You were home.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" you call from your place on the couch, head dangling off, your feet where your head should be.

"Absolutely," came the gentle voice from the kitchen.

"And what about soulmates?"

"Those too. Why do you ask?" Marcus peeks his head out and chuckles when he sees you once again refusing to use furniture correctly.

"I dunno, just a thought I've been having recently. Like, how do people know when they've found their soulmate? It's not like we have a countdown timer that tells us."

"Well," your boyfriend comes to join you on the couch and you immediately right yourself to lay with your head in his lap, his fingers moving to play with your hair. "It's one of those things you just know. Like, they walk into the room and all you can see is them. Their voice and laugh makes you feel like you're floating, and every time you see them a warmth spreads through you from the tip of your head all the way to your toes. And the feel of their skin is the most right thing in the world, like anywhere you go, so long as you're with them, you're home." His gentle smile down at you does just that, filling you with that warmth it always does. "Some people even say they have dreams of past lives where they've met their soulmates before."

"Have you?"

"I have." His voice is so assured, it takes you by surprise, and you must have worn that look on your face because Marcus laughs before tapping your nose.��

"...Tell me about her. Or him, I guess." Curiosity was eating you alive. Who was Marcus' soulmate? Were you keeping him from them? Your heart sank at the thought that maybe...maybe he belonged to someone else through some greater proclaimed destiny.

"She's been so many things and been on so many adventures, love. She's flown through the expanses of space so many times, fought monsters and mined for rare jewels. She's aided weary warriors who were passing through her tiny village. She's survived terrifying experiences with drug lords and she's worked as a top agent in intelligence organizations. She's wept for a lover she never knew, and she's been mourned by more than she will ever know." You watch his face with a child-like wonder, and when he finishes he looks at you, that glimmer you love so much still present in his eyes. "Have you ever had similar dreams?"

The question catches you by surprise and you find yourself contemplating. You had never really remembered dreams, but a few did stick out to you. "I remember...space. And the man I was with was cold and metal, but his voice was gentle. And I remember...I remember working in offices with men in suits I could never afford, but who bought me nice things to say the words they could never get to come out. And...a scar. I remember a scar." Wandering fingers reach up to trace over Marcus' eye. "I remember my first thought when I saw you was 'Didn't he have a scar?' But the thought was so out of place, I had no idea what to do with it. I had never met you before! So I...forgot it." All through your talking, Marcus' smile has just grown wider, as if he's waiting for you to catch one of his jokes.

When it all clicks into place, you sit up, your mouth slightly open as memories flood your mind's eyes. A wet and weary warrior, a charming cowboy, a fearsome hunter covered in metal, a talkative gentleman whose every sentence was poetry, a ruthless killer, a soft pilot with a heat of gold, a grand prince gone too soon, a pompous billionaire, a sarcastic frat boy, and a gentle DEA agent all flashing through your mind in rapid succession. Your eyes tear up with the memories that are yours but at the same time aren't, and you reach up to cup his face. Words die on the tip of your tongue as you struggle to force them out.

Marcus takes the burden from you, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to your lips. It's heavy, full of so many memories, so many moments, so many lifetimes. It's so magnificent it sucks the air from your lungs and you break away to gasp for breath as Marcus presses his forehead to yours.

"Y...You're my...soulmate..." The words are barely a breath, but he hears them all the same and nods, pecking your lips once more as he gathers you into his arms. You melt into the grasp, more comfortable here than anywhere else on earth.

"Yes, my love. And no matter the lifetime, no matter the universe, no matter the struggle...The forces that be will always bring me to you. Always wait for me."

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

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