#i need to at least not be sick for thursday and friday of this week . bc have to be at work

[july-19th-club]

so my brother has what's either a hideous flu or a hideous covid (probably the second option, because it's surging) and instead of staying home he came to christmas if we're not all miserably ill by this time next week it'll be a miracle

[carmenlire]

this has been a difficult, awful week only for it to end friday at 3pm with an invitation to interview for a management position next week.

[miley1442111]

protective- a.hotchner

summary: aaron (literally) fights for you

pairing: aaron hotchner x bau!fem! reader

warnings: angst, talk of abuse, violence, general cm topics, crying, reader is a victim of DV (not aaron), gross men (i think that's it?)

not entirely proofread

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Aaron Hotchner was a leader that you’d known from the beginning. He was your team leader, he was calm, collected, and calculated in everything. His lunch was the same everyday, he didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, didn’t swear all that often, and he wore the same sequence of shirts and suits every week. He was organised.��

Mondays was a blue shirt with a black suit, Tuesdays was a white shirt with a navy suit, Wednesdays was a white shirt with a black suit, Thursdays was a blue shirt with a grey suit, and Fridays was a white shirt with navy suit. Everything was fine and dandy, you trusted him, and you enjoyed his company. Everything was fine, until it wasn't. 

One stupid day, 8 whole months after you and your ex had broken up, he just so happens to be at the same bar you and the team are celebrating in, and he must’ve made it his personal mission to find you, to shout at you, to get you back. To piss you off. It hadn’t exactly been a good week, but then again, what week is when you’re dealing with murder cases? 

“Y/n,” Penelope sighed, looking out at the rest of the team on the ‘dance floor’. “I don’t understand,” she drew out the ‘understand’ to a ridiculous length, purely to annoy you. “How are you two so perfect?”

“Keep your voice down!” you hissed, turning back to her again. “We may not be at work but this is a work dinner.”

Did I mention he was your boyfriend too? 

“Have you seen yourself?” she gawked. “You’re gorgeous! He’s gorgeous! You two would make perfect babies” 

You chuckled. “I thank you for the flattery, but we can be honest here, he’s fucking gorgeous, and yeah, I’m alright,” you laughed when she hit you lovingly. “And, we’ve been together for 6 months, not 6 years. No babies for like… a while at least.”

“Y/n!” Charles’ voice rang out in the bar, meaning everyone around you turned to your group. “You fucking blocked me?!”He came up behind you, placing a tense hand on your shoulder, gripping the skin there until it hurt. “What kind of bitch does that?”

“Me, I guess,” you answered simply, staring straight down at your drink. Charles hadn’t been a very good boyfriend, nor a good person, and you didn’t really understand why you’d stayed for so long. Something about watching women get killed by their partners kind of snapped you into reality. Not that he was that bad but, he wasn’t good.

“Yeah right, you bitch. Unblock me, we need to talk about this!” 

“About what?” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “We broke up 8 months ago, let it die Charles.”

“Baby, I miss you,” he leaned in closer, his breath heavy with alcohol. “I miss that pretty pussy too.”

You shuttered with disgust. “Get the fuck off of me,” you punctuated each word carefully and spoke slowly, making sure he heard you.

“Don’t be like that baby,” he smirked, tightening his grip. “Or it won’t end well.”   

You felt it. The gun in his holster. He wasn’t past killing you, you knew that. You knew he wasn’t safe. He never had been. He just wanted to get you home and into his bed, and you’d rather that than dead. 

“Get off of her,” Penelope demanded. He turned his attention to her, and you instinctively reached for your gun, only to remember that you left it at home. You weren’t about to let him hurt Pen. “And who may you be?” he asked. “Don’t,” you gritted out. “You’re here for me, not her.”

He turned his attention back to you. “I know that sweetheart, I don’t see why I can’t chat, do you?” 

“Let’s just go,” you told him. He nodded, a smug smirk on his face. You got up, his hand stayed on your shoulder the whole time, his other hand on his hip. 

“Good girl,” his laugh was dirty. Everything about him was dirty and sleazy and it made you sick. But again, better you than Penlope. 

Penelope’s eyes searched for someone, anyone to see you. He needed Morgan, o-or Hotch, or just anyone. “Hotch!” she called when she finally caught his eye. He rushed over to her. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, searching her for injury or signs of upset. 

“Y/n a-and this tall guy, he was talking to her and then she just got up a-and left. She looked scared. I-I didn’t know what to do,” she stuttered through her sentence, tears building in her eyes. 

You. Scared. You. Scared. You. Scared. You. Scared. You. Scared. You. Scared. You. Scared. You. Scared. 

It played in his head like a sick mantra until he finally did something. He rushed out of there as fast as he could. He had to find you. He needed to find you. 

He ran down the alley beside the bar, nothing. Ran down the road with Morgan on his tail, nothing. Cars weren’t even moving, it was just a regular night. 

“Y/n!” Spencer called out to you. 

There you were. Leaning against a car with him standing over you. 

The three of them rushed over, ready to just take you back inside. They didn’t know how dangerous Charles was, how obsessed he was. 

“Stop!” you warned them. “Go back inside, I’m alright, I promise.” 

“We’re not leaving you here,” Derek argued. “Man, get off of her-”

Charles scoffed. “She wants this, she’s into it. It’s just some harmless fun!” 

Aaron almost recoiled out of disgust. He knew what you were into, and he knew it wasn’t this. It had taken you almost the full 6 months you’d been with him to even be comfortable enough to kiss or touch him in public. You didn’t talk about it but… it did come with the territory of being a behavioural analyst. He noticed how you shied away from the way he touched you sometimes, he noticed how you refused to drink a drop of alcohol, he noticed how you flinched at big noises, he noticed how you held his hand during sex. All of these little things, it led him to one conclusion, you’d been abused. 

He promised himself if he ever got to meet the fucker, he’d hurt him, if not kill him. 

Then in came Charles, and thus began the night Aaron Hotchner ended up in jail for aggravated assault. 

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You sat in the police station, your head hung low. This was all your fault, none of this would’ve happened if you’d just-

“It’s not your fault,” Aaron whispered as he sat beside you, putting his cufflinks back on. Of course, you’d bailed him out and he’d gotten off with a warning and a fine, which was pretty good considering what he did to the guy. “Please don’t blame yourself.” 

You shook your head, willing yourself not to cry. “Aaron you got in a fight because of-”

“A choice I made to provoke a dangerous person,” he finished. “A choice I made.”

You nodded. “Aaron, your lip,” you placed a gentle hand on his cheek which he leaned into. His lip was split, he had a bruise forming on his head, and you knew his back was sore from the fight. You knew how hard Charles could hit. 

“My lip is fine, I promise. The paramedics gave me some painkillers. Are you alright?”

The dreaded question. No, you were hilariously, awfully, un-alright. You had to see Charles again, he touched you again, he talked to you again. You shook your head, tearing up.  Aaron didn’t shy away. He held you as you sobbed in that police precinct. He didn’t care about anyone staring, he didn’t care that the team was waiting outside, he didn’t care. He cared about you. You were all that mattered in that moment, and every moment after it.

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criminal minds masterlist :)

navigation for my blog :) (criminal minds, obx, the bear, marvel, top gun, the hunger games :)

[hornyfor-redacted-onmain]

Secret Secret Chapter 5

OT8 Straykids x reader, ABO AU

Masterlist | Next Part

Sooyoung realized it immediately when she walked in.

“Oh wow, someone’s in preheat.”

You sighed. “Is it that noticeable?”

She dropped her bag on the counter. “Honey, it smells like you took a shower in unicorn pee.”

“Unicorn pee?”

“I can’t imagine anything else smelling so good and yet so overwhelmingly bad,” she said with a shrug, turning to rummage around the cabinets. “You going to take the day off when your heat hits?”

“Oh, um.” You shrunk down in your seat on the couch. “Not exactly.”

The alpha paused, turning around slowly with narrowed eyes. “What did you do?”

“Look, hear me out,” You started. “It’s only Monday. My heat will probably hit on Thursday, and then I’ll have to call in sick for two days.”

“Wow, two days off work. How tragic,” Sooyoung said sarcastically, still standing with her arms crossed.

You gave her a look. “However, if I can hold off my heat until after work on Friday, I can ride my heat out during the weekend. No need to call in sick at all!”

“Right. And go back to work immediately after your heat?”

You could tell that her alpha wasn’t pleased with the idea of you working after such a harsh experience. Most omegas took at least a few days off after their heat to recover, but it wasn’t impossible for you to function the day after.

Betas wouldn’t need a day off to recover.

“It’s only my second week at this job, Youngie. I can’t afford to be using up my sick days so soon!”

“And yet I know for a fact that you’ll use some other excuse the next time your heat comes up.” She paused, narrowing her eyes as she realized something. “Wait. The only way you’ll manage to delay your heat is with suppressants.”

You looked down.

“You know how badly those affect you!”

“It’s only two days!”

Sooyoung threw her hands up into the air. “Fine, you know what? Do what you like. You’re a grown adult capable of making her own stupid decisions. But don’t come crying to me at the end of the day when those symptoms wreak havoc on you.”

You watched through silent fury as your roommate practically stomped to her room. The door slammed loudly behind her, and you were tempted to comment on it just to get the last word in, but you held your tongue.

In reality, you knew she had every right to be worried. Heat suppressants were normally only used for emergencies, not because they had any negative consequences on the body itself, but because the symptoms were so horrible that no normal person would willingly subject themselves to them unless they absolutely had to.

Headaches, fatigue, heightened senses, heat flashes, brain fog, stomach cramps. Heat suppressants forced the production of pre-heat hormones and suppressed the actual heat from happening for a short period of time, but, as an unfortunate side effect, it enhanced all the pre-heat symptoms and dialed them up to a 100.

Compared to the milder heat symptoms (slick production and high libido) it seemed odd to want to endure two days of all that. But your heat would make your scent so strong, to the point that your scent blockers wouldn’t work anymore, so it was a necessity.

At least that’s what you told yourself.

-0-0-

You weren’t sure what to expect from the Alpha you were bringing home. The entire ride in his car, besides giving out directions, nothing was said between the both of you. Even now, awkwardly standing in your kitchen, he looked like he was losing the motivation he originally had, and you wondered if you would end up being left high and dry.

“Do you want some water? Or something else to drink?” You leaned against your counter, hoping that a simple conversation would help him relax.

He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“You sure? You look like your seconds away from bolting.”

“Ah, am I that obvious?” He let out a chuckle, reaching up to scratch at his forehead. “I’ve never really done something like this before.”

You tilted your head in interest. “Oh? What makes me so special?”

He didn’t say anything at first, instead choosing to move forward until he was leaning against the other side of the counter. The two of you were close enough that you could reach out and touch him if you wanted, but part of you was curious to see if he would make the first move.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully.

“You sure it’s not my charmingly good looks?” You said it jokingly, but he rested his chin against his hand.

“No, it’s something else. Something … special.”

You felt your omega perk up at the compliment, and you could smell your scent begin to grow. You pulled back from the counter to stand up straight. If things were going to progress any further, you needed to take this back to your room. You didn’t want Sooyoung to have to deal with the scent of arousal lingering in the communal areas.

“Well then, mr. charmer. How about we take this to my room?” You held out your hand, and he took it.

His hand was warm and heavy in yours.

You opened up your bedroom door, and you found yourself staring at his ass as he passed. “What’s your real name anyways?”

“My real name?” The alpha looked around your room with a thoughtful look. “It’s not that important.”

You raised your eyebrows” What do I call you, then?”

“Hmmm.” You couldn’t see his face through his mask, but the way he gazed at you made you feel like you were being stripped apart to your bare bones, and you could imagine the curl of his lips. “You can call me Alpha.”

His scent began to come out stronger, like a breeze on a hot day, and you found yourself hoping it would linger long after he was gone.

You shut the door.

“Well, alpha,” You said, deliberately drawing the word out. “You going to wear that mask all night?”

He seemed to grow almost … shy. “I- actually, I think I’d prefer to keep it on.”

“It’s okay,” You assure him, not wanting him to feel insecure.

“I mean, I do want to kiss you,” He started, taking a step towards you. You could see the moment he hesitated to reach out to you, his hand dropping down to his side in a clenched fist. “If you want, that is.”

You let out a bark of laughter. “Oh sweetie, I’m pretty sure inviting you over was an invitation for much more than just a little kiss.”

This time he didn’t stop himself from reaching out to you, his hands lingering on your waist as his eyes flittered across your space. You reached up for his mask, the idea of kissing him the only thing you can think of. You wanted to know what he looked like. How soft his lips would be.

He grabbed your wrist. “I can’t let you see my face.” He sounded almost regretful.

“It’s okay,” You reassured him once more. “I can close my eyes.”

And you did. You stood there, eyes closed, and let your smile grow as he dropped your wrist, the sound of fabric shifting in front of you. For a second, he left you waiting. You didn’t open your eyes, but you did reach out to place your hand against his bare jaw.

His lips were as soft as you hoped they would be.

Your hands roamed down from his face to his neck, using your grip on his to pull him closer. It felt like he was inhaling your very essence, His scent covered you, and you moaned against his lips as his body pressed against yours. He smiled, lips still pressed against yours.

You pulled away from the kiss, but immediately pushed your face into his shoulder to keep yourself from the temptation of opening your eyes.

“You good?”

“I think it’s going to be a little hard to remember to keep my eyes close if you keep kissing me dumb like that.”

His chest rumbled as he laughed, grip on your waist tightening. “Sorry?”

“Hmmm, it’s not a complaint. Just an observation.” You pulled out of his hold completely, waving your hand in his direction. “Turn around for a second.”

You didn’t wait to see if he did as you asked, moving towards your closet with a goal in mind. It took a little bit of rummaging in the farthest corner of one of your drawers, but eventually you managed to find what you were looking for. You pulled it out with a shout of triumph.

“Is that a blindfold?”

“Yup!” You slapped a hand over your eyes and turned around, wiggling the cloth out in front of you. “Genius, right?”

“You just happened to have that lying around?”

The cloth was pulled out of your hands, and you turned around. “What can I say, I’m full of surprises.”

Warm arms wrapped around your waist. The heat of his body was hot against your back, and as his hands began to trace up and down your sides, you felt something in you shifting. You shuddered, body responding by releasing a wave of your scent, and he responded with his own scent of arousal that made your body feel almost pliant.

“So you are.” The blindfold was pulled over your eyes, and you shut them instinctively. The cloth brushed over your eyelids as he began to form a knot at the base of your head. “Tell me if it’s too tight.”

Your mind began to grow heavy as your omega pushed forward, the smell of alpha heavy on your tongue. When he finished tying off the blindfold, he leaned against your back, his mouth pressing a soft kiss to the juncture of your neck. You tilted your head to the side, an ache to feel his teeth pressing against the skin running through you and causing slick to drip down your thighs.

You let out a whine.

“Easy baby girl. I got you.”

His warmth disappeared, and you opened your eyes. The blindfold made it so that you could make out the shadows of the dark room, a vague shape of a person as they removed their clothes. You reached down to grab the hem of your own shirt.

“No, don’t,” He said, voice thick. “Let me.”

You grabbed his hands, using your newfound sight to reach out wrap your hands around his neck. This time, you were the one to initiate the kiss, eyes falling closed not out of necessity but on instinct.

“You okay?” He asked you again when your knees suddenly buckled.

“Like I said. Those kisses of yours are dangerous,” you breathed out.

He decided to take it as an invitation to pull you back in for another kiss, although this one was quicker and sweeter.

It almost felt like love.

His lips pressed against yours once, twice, and then a third time before he trailed them down to your jaw, sliding them slowly down to your neck. When he began to suck against the skin there, you pulled away with a whine.

"No marks, please. I have work."

He moved his hands under your shirt and began to pull it up. You could only barely see his figure as he leaned down, his lips reappearing against the tops of your now exposed breasts.

"I assume you mean no marks where they can be seen?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm." He pressed a kiss to your skin, tongue darting out to glide from the tops of your breast towards your nipples. He teasingly pulled against them as he passed, moving to press another kiss just to the side. "Is this okay?"

"Yes," You said, voice breathless.

He pulled your shirt off completely, pressing a kiss to your shoulder. He began to lead you towards the bed. Even without your sight, the mattress was familiar under your body, and you instinctively relaxed into the sheets.

You made grabby hands at him. He laughed, kneeling on the bed next to you and allowing your hands to roam across his skin. He still had on his boxers, and when you moved to pull them down, he grabbed your hands and pressed them gently down against the bed.

“Patience,” He told you, his voice rumbling.

You pouted, and he kissed your lips with another laugh. He continued where he had left off, his mouth on your breasts as his hands grabbed your thighs, pulling them apart so he could slot himself in between them. The motion pressed his clothed cock against your center, and you moaned at the feeling.

“Please,” you found yourself breathing out.

His mouth trailed kisses down your body, hands swiftly pulling both your pants and underwear down in one go. “Got to get you ready first, sweetheart.”

“Awfully confident in yourself, huh?” You joked.

“Hmm, something like that,” He drawled.

You expected him to get straight to it, but he took his sweet time. Laying kisses along your inner thigh, caressing your legs up to your hips. You wiggled your hips impatiently, but he just smiled against your skin.

“You’re doing a really good job at getting under my skin,” You told him, running your fingers through his hair. “If you don’t hurry up, I might just have to get myself off.”

He nosed your center, and your body flared up with want. “Good things come to those who wait.”

“Alpha, please.”

“That’s it.” He rewarded you by finally mouthing at your core, licking a stripe up to your clit where he sucked gently.

You were already wet with slick from all the teasing and foreplay, but his mouth on you made you gush, your core clenching around nothing, When he pressed a finger into you, you bucked your hips, and he laid a hand across your stomach to keep you from moving.

You let out a moan, fingers gripping his hair tightly as he ate you out. He added another finger, and the sound was filled with wet squelching sounds as he fingered you gently, softly crooking his fingers to press against your spongey insides as he sucked against your clit.

Your orgasm built up slowly, but it hit you quicker than you expected, your body writhing under him as you whined. He pulled away, his other hand reaching up towards his face, and you could only imagine the sight he made.

“Fuck, you taste so sweet,” he said, finger rubbing small circles against your clit. “Could stay here forever.”

“Please, alpha,” You whined.

“Please what?”

“I need you.”

He moved up your body. “Need me to what?”

“I want you to fuck me,” You said impatiently.

He grabbed your body and flipped you over so quickly that it made your head spin, and you pressed you forehead to your pillow with a gasp, “Ask and you shall receive,” He told you, and you could feel him moving around behind you.

You lifted your hips and presented for the alpha, your omega instincts taking over. His scent intoxicated you, filling your senses and making you feel dizzy, wanting nothing more than to submit to him in every way possible.

He took his sweet time once again, rubbing his member through your folds before he slowly pressed into you. He was right to have prepared you because he was thick, stretching you and filling you up completely. You couldn’t even moan, like your breath had been stolen. Your fingers dug into your blankets, eyes shutting behind the blindfold.

“Fuck.”

The alpha gave you a second to adjust once he had bottomed out, rubbing against your sides gently. “You good, omega?”

“So good,” You mumbled.

When he started to move, it made you whine. He thrust into you slowly at first, but his hips began to speed up slowly, the sound of skin slapping filling the room. You let out a moan as his fingers gripped your thighs, sure to leave marks. You pressed your knees against the mattress and moved to sit up, hands reaching behind you in an attempt to feel his skin against yours. He pressed himself to your back without having to be asked.

His warm breath against your shoulder, mouth teasingly close to your scent gland, had you reaching your release quickly.

You let out a whine.

“Shh, I got you,” he whispered into your ear. His hands roamed from your thighs up your chest and towards your neck, fingers gently pressing against your throat. “God, you’re so tight.”

You whined. “Alpha, please!”

“Just a little longer. You can hold on just a little longer, cant you? Hmm? Don’t you want to be good for your Alpha?”

You were so close. Your body felt like it was on fire and your head spun, the darkness that seemed to engulf you left your nerve endings so sensitive, and you couldn’t see him, could think, couldn’t do anything more than accept the pleasure he was giving you. He seemed to know that you were at your breaking point, because as a whine began to build in your throat, he pulled away.

His fingers pressed right where you needed them most, and you found yourself spiraling.

“Cum for me, Omega.”

You woke up with a start, your mind still heavy with lust and sleep. It took you a moment to realize that you had been dreaming, and then you were falling back to your bed with a groan, swiping a hand down your face.

It was your memories from that night with Chan.

It seemed like your pre-heat sex dreams were making their appearance. Usually they were some random fantasies, but you supposed it made sense that you would be hit with a memory this time around.

Your thoughts wandered to the shirt still in your drawer. It almost seemed to be calling for you.

You let out another groan.

This was going to be a long week.

-0-0-

You were convinced that heat suppressants had to have been created as a form of torture.

The headache made every noise feel like a punch to the brain, not helped by the fact that your hearing was so sensitive that everything above a cough sounded like an airhorn to your brain. Even the painkillers you took that morning were doing little to dull the hammering in your head.

And yet, you tried your best to keep a smile on your face, made ever difficult from having to deal with the managers.

You had been thrown for a loop when you found out on Tuesday morning that Felix had gone into heat. It was all the staff members were talking about. You hoped that the idol’s heat and rut cycles weren’t normally a topic of interest for the company, but you understood why this time they all were freaking out about it.

Stray Kids’ comeback was scheduled for next week.

It would be hard for you to have to go back to work the day after your heat ended, but finding out that Felix was expected to be on stage and promoting less than a week after his almost made you feral.

“What do you mean the comeback will continue as planned?”

Jeonhui gave you a hard look. You knew that as a new employee, and only a translator who was in the meeting to be kept up to date with the upcoming schedule, the idea of speaking out was unheard of. But when the news that the comeback would still be happening on the expected date, your mouth opened before your brain could catch up.

The head manager, Soojin, gave you a puzzled look. “Is there a reason we shouldn’t?”

The entire room was looking at you, but you forced yourself to focus only on the manager. “Felix finished his heat less than a day ago.”

“Yes?”

“Even for a normal person, a comeback is stressful. Long nights, early mornings, practices and schedules and stage performances and interviews … do you really think that’s the best thing for an omega who just had their heat to deal with?”

There was a moment where Soojin looked almost understanding, his eyes soft and a small smile on his face. You thought that you might have actually gotten through to him. You thought for a second that maybe you could make an impact on this company, give them some knowledge of the artists they were supposed to be managing and caring for, and that you could actually change the way the industry worked.

But it shattered with his next words.

“I appreciate the concern, but I assure you our omega’s can handle the load just fine. We’ve had both omegas and alphas going back to work right after heats and ruts, and there’s never been a complaint in the past.” The other staff managers nodded along as if what he was saying was common knowledge. “If they needed more time to recover, they would have said something.”

You thought about the pressure building in your head, the way your skin felt like it was crawling, the constant cramped pain your stomach was enduring, all so that you wouldn’t go into heat. All so you could keep pretending to a room full of betas.

All so that those same betas could make decisions about omega’s and alphas they knew nothing about.

It made you want to scream.

“Maybe,” You managed through clenched teeth. “They never say anything because they know that if they do, the company would use it as proof that omegas are more trouble than their worth.”

Soojin and the other managers gave you a surprised look. From the corner of the room, Maya was given you a proud smile, but the other stylists around her looked confused and even annoyed.

“Why do you care so much about this anyways? What are you, an omega expert?” One of them said.

And his words felt like a bucket of water had been dumped over your slightly overheated body. You immediately bowed your head, realizing that you had brought more attention on your head than was necessary, and it was obvious you were fighting a losing battle.

“I’m just … worried. Just seems like those boys could use some rest,” You mumbled in excuse.

Stupid. How could you be so stupid.

Now everyone would know you as that one translator who argued about an omegas needs. At best they would think you were out of line, but at worst …

“It’s quite alright,” Soojin assured you, although the look Jeonhui gave you told you that the two of you would be talking later. “But like you said, comeback is stressful for all of us, including the staff. This is why we put in all the hard work! I want to take a moment to thank all of the staff for helping make this a possibility-“

And just like that, your little outburst seemed to be forgotten.

It didn’t make you feel any better to know that your words were so easily dismissed. As Thursday turned into Friday, you made the conscious decision to not take your heat suppressants that morning, knowing you would need your heat to start either than night or early Saturday morning if you wanted your heat to end by Sunday night.

You ignored the looks Sooyoung gave you as you left for work.

Just as promised, you had been avoiding her all week. When the cramps hit you late at night and you cried out, you muffled the sound with your pillow to avoid waking her. She didn’t mention the quickly dwindling supply of pain medication (you reminded yourself to pick some up after work).

It made a part of you ache to know you had disappointed your friend. But it also made you feel proud to know that you were still doing what you had dreamed of doing for so long.

You just had to keep moving forward.

Friday went by normally, and almost easier than the past three days. The suppressants started to flush out of your system around noon, and the symptoms you had been dealing with started to fade, making it easier for you to work. The heat symptoms would come around soon, but you weren’t too worried about it hitting you fully until you were back home.

You were just finishing up your last assignment of the day when you caught the scent of a familiar smell.

“Oh no.”

Minho appeared at your doorway within seconds, and you secretly cursed the enhanced sense of smell that had yet to wear off, because the strong scent of alpha had your omega perking their metaphorical ears up instantly.

He had probably just finished dance practice judging by the sweat covered shirt he had yet to change out of.

You forced your eyes away from him and back to your screen. “Can I help you?”

“I’m sorry.”

You paused your typing, risking a glance to look at his face. He looked straight faced, almost bored at first, but you could smell the shame that was hidden beneath the rest of his scent, and you turned to face him completely.

“What are you sorry for?” You asked him.

He looked away. “I yelled at you when we first met. It was … inappropriate.”

“You were protecting your pack,” You corrected him, turning back to your work. “You did what you thought was right.”

Minho continued to stare at you from the doorway, not saying anything. You finished what you were working on and began to wrap everything up so you could leave. In the few minutes it took you to do that, he didn’t say anything.

You grabbed the files you had to drop off to your manager before you left. “I’m serious, Minho. It’s fine.”

When you stood up, a few papers that had been caught under your files fluttered to the ground. Before you could move to grab them, Minho was there, picking up the papers and tapping them on the ground so that they would be stacked up together, lifting his head up to look at you.

And you immediately felt something in your stomach twist, and your head spun.

He stood back up, unaware of your internal freak out, and handed you the papers. You took them with shaking hands.

“Thanks,” You breathed out.

Minho frowned. “Are you okay?”

No, you wanted to scream at him. I’m going into heat and a stupidly handsome alpha was on his knees looking up at me and now I’m losing my goddamn mind.

But instead, you forced a smile on your face. “Fine.” It came out squeaky, and you winced. “I, uh. Gotta go!”

You rushed out of there as quickly as you could.

As if your day couldn’t get any worse, you completely missed an equally sweaty and tired looking Chan as he was walking out of the elevator, and he had to grab your shoulders to keep you from running him over. His scent, equally as strong, only made your chest ache more.

Chan smiled. “Ah, just who I was looking for!”

You eyed him curiously. “Wow, I’m really popular these days, huh?”

“What?”

“What did you need?” You asked him as you walked into the elevator. He followed you in.

“I wanted to let you know that I talked with Felix.”

“Oh, how is he, by the way? I heard about what happened.”

Chan gave you a soft smile. “Ah, he’s fine. He …. He wants to meet with you.”

The elevator opened, and someone stepped in. It was a random staff member you didn’t recognize, probably not even a stray kid’s staff member, but both you and Chan remained silent until she left. You turned to Chan as the elevator made its way up to your manager’s floor.

“I think we should wait until after your comeback,” You told him.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Chan sighed. “We’ll have enough on our shoulders this week.”

You scowled. “Ugh, don’t even remind me.”

He let out a laugh. “Ah, I heard about what you did yesterday.”

You covered your face in embarrassment as the elevator door opened. “Uh, I’m just going to go before I say anything even worse.”

Chan was still laughing as you left, but he called out for you before the doors closed. His smile was one of the last things you saw as his words reached you.

“Thank you.”

[barbwritesstuff]

I wanted to talk quickly about my writing schedule because I've had a few questions about it (mostly because I was sick a couple of days ago but also just in general). My schedule isn't fixed in stone but it usually looks something like this:

Monday - Prose writing

Tuesday - Prose writing

Wednesday - IF writing (Thicker Than)

Thursday - IF writing (Thicker Than)

Friday - IF writing (Thicker Than)

Saturday - Relax (write if you want, but no pressure)

Sunday - Relax (write if you want, but no pressure)

I try to write roughly 1k words a day.

This means, every week, I should get a couple of thousand words at least on whatever prose project I'm working on, and also on Thicker Than.

Sometimes this schedule changes because of how I'm feeling on the day.

Sometimes, I'm just not feeling creative and can't write very much.

Sometimes, I feel awesome and write a whole bunch in one day.

Sometimes I'm feeling inspired by a particular project, and end up working on that and not what I'm meant to.

It's all very artsy fartsy.

The reason why I didn't update this week is because on Wednesday I had to do a bunch of stuff outdoors and couldn't work on Thicker Than. To add insult to injury, I gave myself heat stroke and was puking all Thursday. I couldn't get much done on Friday either because I was still in recovery mode.

I also wasn't very productive in my prose project because I've been hunting for new writing software (because I can't figure out how to get the AI out of MS Word) and that's taken up way more time than it should've.

I hope all that makes sense.

I wanted to share this because:

I like sharing things, it makes me feel more connected and more human.

I feel like some people are worried I'm going to abandon Thicker Than and I need everyone to know, that's not the plan.

This list looked empty with two things on it, so here's a third.

Anyway.

I'm not sure how to end this now. I know there's a lot of nonsense in the world right now. I hope everyone is staying safe. I also hope you haven't forgotten to hope.

Suck blood, fuck the moon, and don't forget to defrag.

Peace.

💙

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 9

Fic Summary: Steve 'the Hair' Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you'll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

Chapter Summary: You and Eddie go on your first date, but the past always lingers. 6.5 words

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8)

Note: Y'all get to be a little horny in this one. As a treat <3 Also the poll results said you don't mind small details of what you all are wearing, and that you wanted to dress moderately slutty so I tried to keep that in mind. Enjoy!

Eddie kept his promise. For the next few days the two of you found yourself talking on the phone a lot between work shifts, band practice, and school. Late night talks became the norm, the two of you spending your evenings opening up to each other bit by bit. 

You told him about Family Video and gave him the scoop of which of his peers were renting from the back rooms, and he told you about his own shifts at the Hideout and about the weird things his drunk usuals would say. Bev had been giving him shifts again, which was at least a small steady income compared to his usual dealings.

The next Tuesday you had gone to the Hideout with Eddie, this time with him picking you up and dropping you off after. It wasn’t a date, not exactly. It was just two people who had an interest in each other hanging out with other people. Eddie had said the main reason it wasn’t a date was because he was technically working, and he didn’t want your first official date to have his band mates tagging along. Of course, that didn’t stop them from giving him knowing looks and giving him shit whenever your back was turned. Eddie would carefully keep tabs on how often they would do it, and would make them pay later during their campaign. 

That was fine with you, you were still more than happy to just spend time with Eddie and learn more about him. Watching him play guitar was mesmerizing and it was nice to be able to gawk at him in peace during his set without Steve telling you to close your mouth and stop drooling. 

After the set and dropping everyone else at home, the two of you had spent another two hours in his van just talking. Now that everything was out in the open, that awkwardness that had been between the two of you had faded into nothing. You found that talking to Eddie was as easy as talking to Steve, and you loved hearing about all of his stories from Hellfire and hearing him talk about his music. 

The only reason the two of you didn’t stay up until morning parked in front of your apartment building was because Eddie was reminded by you that he was still in school and needed to get some sleep for class the next day. When you kissed his cheek again before sliding out of his van he made a mental note to beg Bev to go on with Corroded Coffin on a Friday or Saturday for once. 

Halloween was on a Thursday this year, and you had made it very clear to Keith that you were not going to be working that night, or the next day. You had saved up all your bartering chips of overtime and days where you came in when anyone else couldn’t. You had put in your time off request three months in advance. 

Work could have you any other day of the week, but Halloween was yours and yours alone. You’d work Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Arbor Day, and Groundhog Day. You’d forgo Easter Sunday, New Years Eve and Day, and you wouldn’t bat an eye at Valentines day. But Halloween? That was yours and yours alone. 

It was the one day out of the year that you felt like you could be you. Even after the monster that is Hawkins High tried to strip you of being yourself, you pushed through and came out the other side of graduation with a new determination to never water yourself down again. You worked your ass off to save for your own run down apartment, to find clothing that you loved and not just what your peers told you to wear to blend in. 

If you wanted to show up to a shift on Halloween dressed as Han Solo with a Teddy Bear, you damn well could and no one could stop you. Not even Keith. 

But lucky for you, when the schedule for the week was posted that Monday, your name was thankfully cleared for Thursday and Friday. Keith could handle himself for those two morning shifts, and Robin and Steve could handle the evenings. It’s not like Family Video was really busy or open late on Thursday nights and you trusted Steve and Robin to handle the Friday rush. 

You woke up that Thursday feeling like it was your own personal Christmas. You took your time to wake up, have breakfast and get ready for the day. You almost called Eddie before you remembered that it was still a weekday and he would be in school. Besides, it would be weird to call him before your first date, right? 

Steve had given you a crash course on first dates over your shared shifts. His advice was a mixed bag to say the least. Every time he gave you insight into the male mind on how to act or dress or talk on a first date he would then backtrack when he remembered who he was talking to and who this first date was with. 

“Listen, you got this far by being a weirdo.” Steve had finally said after the conversation had basically gone nowhere. “I guess keep talking about eating bats and fake being drunk and you’ll get the guy.”

“You know, when you put it like that I’m starting to see why maybe this whole casual dating thing hasn’t worked for me in the past.” you had replied. 

Most of your Halloween was spent by yourself, but that wasn’t a bad thing. You started off with a nice slow morning of carving your annual jack o'lantern, having learned the hard way to not put it out early, lest it rot or be smashed by asshole kids in the neighborhood. The afternoon was spent around town, just taking in the crisp fall air and the decorations set up by all of the shops.. 

The hypocrisy in this town was stunning sometimes. Every other day of the year you had been followed by whispers of the Satanic Panic and any idea that something other than the norm might be related to something more nefarious was ostracized. Sometimes you could understand where the fear was coming from, after all the Byers kid had disappeared, presumed dead, and then had come back all within a week a few years ago. Barbara Holland had been killed by chemicals in the Hawkins Lab. There was even the fire at the mall that had killed the police chief, as well as the local lifeguard. It seemed like every single year some new tragedy would strike the small town. 

You couldn’t wait to run away to somewhere else. 

But for now, the day was yours and the night was Eddie’s. Your stomach flipped every time you thought about meeting up with him tonight. You had built up this production a lot over the past few days. You had seen the shadow cast about once a month since you were old enough to go at 18, give or take a few times where you had other plans. 

Each time you had gone, you had checked the board hoping to see the announcement that they would be opening auditions to be part of the cast or crew. But the show was tight knit, and that rarely happened. 

But at least that meant that tonight you could share something with Eddie other than your origami. Not that you were embarrassed by your hobby, but compared to running a D&D campaign and being in a band, it didn’t feel like much. 

You never seemed to run out of things to talk about with Eddie though, during your late night talks on the phone. When you weren’t captivated by his tales of running Hellfire or the inspiration for his music, you two would talk about everything else. Music, movies, the occasional small town gossip, anything you two could think of. You had already compiled a small list of movies that only one of you had seen, because all new relationships always start with “What do you mean you haven’t seen this movie?!”

That’s how you and Steve and Robin had bonded over those first few months. It probably wouldn’t be that much different with Eddie. 

After a long stroll through the town, a quick stop in to your favorite coffee shop for a treat, and a bout of window shopping in the Halloween aisles of local stores, you made your way home. You considered dropping by the high school to see Eddie as the afternoon came to a close, but you didn’t want to seem desperate. You’d see him soon enough anyway. 

As the evening went on, you popped in a few thematically appropriate movies that you watched between doing your hair and make up and passing out candy to kids who came up to your door. You may or may not have saved some of the best candy for yourself. And Eddie. He liked Snickers right? You hoped he did. 

You were ready a good two hours before you needed to meet him at the theater at midnight. You were starting to wish that you had invited him over to pre-game before the movie, but unfortunately you had listened to some of Steve’s advice and were left sitting around in your fishnets and dark lipstick for your first date with Eddie. The only thing you weren’t wearing yet were your tall boots which you only broke out for this showing because they were too uncomfortable to wear anywhere else. 

Steve had relented that you were going to dress weird for the date, considering the day and the nature of what you and Eddie were doing, but he said it’d be too weird to get ready with him. 

You decided that next time would be different. Next year, you’d have Eddie over all day, and the two of you would spend the day carving pumpkins and listening to music and arguing over what movie to watch as you passed out candy. Eddie would probably be stingy with the candy so that there would be leftovers for the two of you at the end of the night, and you’d be giving bars out by the handfuls. Maybe the two of you would cough up the dough for some full sized candy bars for kids with really fun costumes and-

What were you doing? You weren’t even officially dating yet, the first date hadn’t even happened! You were getting ahead of yourself, and thinking way too far ahead. You didn’t need to be thinking these domestic thoughts about a guy you barely knew. 

Get your shit together. You scolded yourself. Let’s try and go on one date first, then maybe have dirty thoughts about him and then I can have mushy domestic thoughts about him if things go well.

You were really hoping things went well. 

After around 10 pm the trick-or-treaters tapered off and you dumped the remaining candy in your bag for the movie. Your hand itched for the phone around 10:30, your brain telling you that it was getting late and that you should call Eddie now if you wanted to talk to him before bed, and you reminded yourself that you’ll see him in an hour. 

The hour could not go any slower. 

“Steve, I’m freaking out.” you said into the phone the second he picked up. “What the fuck am I doing?!”

“You’re going on a date with Eddie Munson to a midnight showing of a movie that has no plot.” he yawned. 

You resisted the urge to hang up on him and instead paced around your living room, holding onto the phone. 

“Steve, I’m serious!” 

“So am I, the more you talk about the movie the less sense it makes.” 

You lightly smacked your head against the wall. “How do you do this every week with different girls?! I’m going on one date and I feel too damn antsy.”

The chord to your phone stretched to its limit as you walked towards your bookshelf and pulled out your senior year yearbook, flipping through it. 

“Dating is like any other skill, you have to practice and actually do it to be any good.” Steve sighed into the phone. 

“I hate that.” you said, looking through the Ms. Maddison... Morrison.... Munson. 

No photo available, what the actual fuck? You flipped through the book, to the club section but there was no trace or whisper of the Hellfire Club at all in the 1984 Hawkins High yearbook. 

“This was your idea.” Steve reminded you as you pushed the book away and reached for 1983’s yearbook. 

“And? I have a lot of ideas and not all of them are good.” You flipped through the book, trying to find Eddie’s name and photo. Why hadn’t you thought of this before?

“So... are you chickening out, again?” You could hear the mild annoyance in his voice. 

“No! I’m just... I’m just nervous, alright? I haven’t been on a date since Junior year. Wait no, there was that horrible study date in Senior year. It’s been a while okay?” you groaned. 

You scanned the Ms again, stopping for a split second to snicker at Chris Morrison’s horrible yearbook photo. His hair was an unfortunate overgrown sandy haircut that looked like a bad mix of a mullet and a bowl cut, with a fringe that fell in his gray eyes. His face was stoic and he looked like he wanted to kill whoever was in charge of the camera. 

A few photos later was Eddie Munson’s Junior year photo. Somehow seeing his face in your yearbook made your shoulders relax a little bit. You at least could confirm that you had indeed gone to school with him. His face was softer looking, and his hair fell just below his jawline.You saw a peak of his Hellfire shirt, the same one in Chris’s photo. He was smiling, well as best as a teenage boy who doesn’t want to get his photo taken would smile. It was endearing, and something in the back of your mind started nagging at you that this Eddie looked more familiar. 

“Hello? Anyone home?” 

You snapped back to reality, remembering that you were on the phone with Steve. “Yeah, sorry I got distracted. What was that?” 

“I said you shouldn’t be nervous.” Steve repeated. “You like him. He likes you. It’s not that complicated. He wouldn’t have shown up that night if he didn’t have an interest in you.”

“Oh, but what if it is that complicated, Stevie?” You sighed dramatically. “After all, the three of us seem to be horribly unlucky in love.”

“You’re telling me.” Steve admitted. “Three dozen dates later and I’m still looking for that spark.” 

Steve had been head over heels for Nancy Wheeler, and had his heart crushed. You hadn’t had any luck in love ever, with only a few failed dates under your belt from high school, and two one-night stands. Robin... you couldn’t get a read on her. She seemed to have a crush on someone, and Steve definitely knew who it was but they weren’t telling you. It hurt a little, but you knew that the two had a bond that you wouldn’t be able to touch. If Robin wanted to tell you, she would. 

Okay, you did ask and make sure that the person she was crushing on wasn’t Eddie. The last thing you wanted was to date someone who your friend had feelings for. Thankfully, Robin had quickly cleared up that she didn’t even know Eddie and therefore can confidently say that she had absolutely no feelings for the guy, romantic or otherwise. 

Steve spent the next half hour calming you down and talking to you as you flipped through your high school yearbooks, picking out Eddie’s photo in each one. There was even a small blurb about the Hellfire Club in your freshman yearbook. As you delved deeper in time, his hair got shorter and shorter, and he looked more and more familiar. 

Where did you know this guy from? 

When the clock struck 11 pm, you said your goodbye to Steve, checked yourself out in the mirror one last time, and made your way to the theater. 

It was twenty minutes until show time when you parked your car and made your way into the lobby. The yellow lights illuminated the crowd of people who had shown up for the annual midnight screening, and you took a deep breath as you scanned the crowd. 

Just for tonight, you felt like you could breathe. 

Freaks and weirdos from all over had come together for a night of sex jokes, aliens, music, and yelling at a screen. The room was filled with people covered in leather, and lingerie and costumes from both the show and other media. There were a few familiar faces, and you spotted two people that you recognized from the shadow cast in the corner. They looked... upset. Not at each other, you recognized the way they were talking to each other. You and Steve and Robin had given each other the same looks before when Keith had fucked up the schedule or a customer pissed one of you off. 

Whatever was the matter, the two quickly finished their bitch session and made their way back into the theater. You wondered what that was about, but didn’t have time to think about it too hard because a hand fell on your shoulder. 

Your breath caught in your throat when you turned around to see your date. Eddie’s hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, which really showed his jawline and really long neck you wondered what the square of his jaw would feel like against your lips. He hadn’t ditched his battle vest or leather jacket you weren’t complaining and he was wearing a cropped shirt . You had to force yourself to not look at his exposed midriff you’ve never wanted to bite someone’s hips before holy shit, or note the fine trail of hair just below his belly button that dipped into his dark ripped jeans where a peak of blue boxers were peaking out. Did he taste as good as he looked?!  He had swapped out a few of his rings, but the obsidian one on his right hand stayed, and the chains on his jacket, bracelet and wallet made a noise with every movement he made. What would that sound like if he was on top of you? 

A small voice in the back of your mind told you that Dustin Henderson could rent any movie he ever wanted ever forever as long as you worked Family Video. 

You pushed those sudden X rated feelings down, and smiled up at him. “Hey, I’m glad you made it.” you managed to say, tongue tied as you thought about what you’d rather your tongue suddenly be doing- 

Eddie’s eyes drifted down your outfit in the same way that you were sure you had just looked at him. The idea that he might also be thinking similar thoughts about you made your heart race before he turned away. He was now looking around the lobby with wide eyes, taking in all the different people his expression was somewhere between elation and disbelief. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many freaks in person.” he said, his eyes darting around to the crowds of people. 

“You aren’t at Hawkins High and these aren’t children.” you said, watching his expression. “It’s why I like coming here each month. I get to meet people who are more like me.”

Eddie took in the scene, and you took in Eddie. Horny thoughts aside, you wondered how often he got to see people who weren’t cut from the standard Hawkins cookie cutter. From what he’d told you during your late night calls, his social circle was tiny. His only friends were in Hawkins, except for one Ronnie Ecker. 

You had escaped the monster that was Hawkins High School, even if you were still stuck in the beast of a town. You didn’t have much room to judge his smaller group when Steve and Robin were the only ones who you reliably hung out with on a regular basis. Even then, you knew that the two of them had a connection that went deeper than just coworkers and people who went to school together. 

Did Eddie have someone that he connected with the same way Robin and Steve did? There were so many things about him that you still wanted to know about him. 

A voice called your name, and your eyes lit up as you saw Robin and Steve walking over to the two of you. Excitement then shifted to confusion, wait, what were they doing here? Did they come here to crash your date? That didn’t seem right, not after Steve had put in so much effort into making sure that this date actually happened. 

You and Robin hugged and Steve gave a slightly awkward hello. Eddie was looking between you and your two friends, looking just as confused as you felt. 

“Hey, Robin!” you said, trying to figure out what was going on. “What are you guys doing here?”

“You invited us a month ago, remember?” Robin asked. “You made a big deal about dragging us to the Halloween showing this year and Steve and I got tickets. But don’t worry! We know this is a date so me and Steve are going to sit at the opposite side of the theater and make sure that we don’t bother you. Of course, Steve said that we shouldn’t come but we had already bought the tickets and I wanted to come and see this again.”

Oh... oh shit. Right. You had done that, hadn’t you? Before you and Steve had even started this whole thing, you had been bugging him to come see it with you. Robin had come and done it once with you earlier at the end of Summer, but Steve hadn’t been able to make it. 

In a sea of lingerie, leather, and sequins, Steve stood out like a sore thumb in his yellow sweater and tall hair. For once, he looked like the odd one out. Robin had always had a slightly edgier style, and with her sharpied black nails and chain necklaces, she fit right in. 

You were going to give Steve so much shit for it later. 

“Look, I didn’t expect us to actually come out tonight until Robin called and demanded I pick her up.” Steve said, apologetically. 

“I see what’s going on.” Eddie spoke up, looking between the three of you. “Mom and Dad are here to chaperone your first date.” 

You threw your head back and cackled at the joke, laughing unabashedly. 

“Steve’s the single mom with six kids.” Robin said. “But I’m not Dad, I’m more like the cool weird aunt.” 

“‘Why am I always the mom?!” Steve demanded. 

“Because you have six kids, Steve, keep up.” you pointed out. “But we all know Dustin’s your favorite.” 

“I’m telling Wheeler.” Eddie chimed in. 

“I’m not the mom, I’m the babysitter!” 

“You literally gave Max lunch money two weeks ago.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“Oh look! They’re starting to tag the Virgins!” You suddenly said excitedly. 

Steve and Eddie stopped and stared at you, as your eyes darted to the two cast members that you had seen earlier. Whatever they had been bitching about was now put aside, and they were now walking around, each holding a bright red tube of lipstick. They had approached some guy and drew a giant V on their forehead. 

“Right, I didn’t really tell you about this.” you explained. “So at each showing, if you’ve never seen the movie in theaters you’re called a ‘virgin’. So, there’s a bit of a hazing ritual for newcomers. They call it the Virgin Sacrifice here. Basically, they draw a V on your forehead, and then before the show starts they’ll have the Virgins come up on stage, do some sort of dare or task, and then the movie starts.”

“How bad is it?” Steve asked as Robin grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the cast members. 

“It’s usually not that bad.” You said. “When I was a Virgin Sacrifice a few years ago they had me ‘Pledge Allegiance to the Lips’ and taught me how to do the Time Warp on stage while the sprayed me with silly string.” 

“When I went they had all of us blow up a bunch of red balloons and then hit them with thumb tacks when they were still in our mouths.” Robin laughed. “They called it ‘The Great Cherry Popping’.”

“Oh my God, I remember that one guy had crazy lung capacity and blew up like, ten in a row!” you cackled. 

“What do you think they’ll have us do?” Eddie asked, and for a second your brain froze as you felt his hand wrap around yours as you started to approach the cast members. You could feel the metal of his rings, warmed by his skin, pressing into yours. 

“They always mix it up every month so it’s hard to say.” you said. “But they always go crazy for the Virgin Sacrifices on Halloween.” 

“Got a fresh Virgin for you!” Robin says, shoving Steve in front of the Columbia actress who looked Steve up and down as if she were going to eat him. 

“Aww, a cute little Virgin just for me?!” she squealed. “You shouldn’t have! Come here, Big Boy.”

Steve didn’t have much time to react as a large V was placed on his forehead with the lipstick. He didn’t seem to mind, however, when Columbia leaned over and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, leaving a large lipstick stain. 

“You know, maybe I’m seeing the appeal of this.” He said as you pushed Eddie up next. 

“A two for one deal for ya, Columbia!” you said proudly. 

“Two?!” Her eyes lit up, and you could tell that she was having the time of her life. “Is it my birthday?!” 

She looked at Eddie and pushed his bangs back as she drew the V on his forehead and gave him a smooch on the cheek as well. You could already tell what Steve was thinking when he looked at you. Probably something like It’s not normal to let another girl kiss your date or something like that. And okay, fine, you were planning on wiping the lipstick off of Eddie’s face before you went in for the kiss tonight, but you didn’t see any reason to be jealous. You knew exactly what was going to happen tonight. Hell, when you first came you ended the night with three different lipstick marksI Really, Steve and Eddie were getting stiffed tonight. Besides, Eddie hadn’t given you any reason to not trust him, and why start anything if you didn’t trust a guy?

“His name is Eddie.” you offered up and Steve gave you another look that you translated to Are you wing manning your own date?! You ignored it. 

“What a coincidence! My boyfriend’s name is Eddie!” Columbia said excitedly. “You two even have the same leather jacket! Do you also ride a motorcycle?”

To your delight, Eddie didn’t miss a beat. “Not yet, but I might one day. Just a van for now.”

“Ohh, I bet a lot of fun happens in the back of your van.” she winked, and you could see a slight blush spread across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “You should come join me and my Eddie for dinner next week, we’re having Meat Loaf!” 

You and Robin burst into a fit of giggles at the joke, as Eddie and Steve made eye contact for a moment and just shrugged at each other. Columbia gave Robin a wink and sauntered off to another group with their own Virgin to sacrifice.

With your Virgins freshly marked, snacks in hand,  and the doors to the theater opening, you parted ways with Steve and Robin as they made their way to the front row and you made your way to the back with Eddie. 

“The back row has my favorite call and response.” you explained as the two of you made your way to an open pair of seats. “And there are a lot of lines that are standard with every show, but if you can think of a good one, don’t even hesitate. Just call it out, okay? I’ll also warn you when people are about to start throwing things.”

“So, this is a bad movie where we are encouraged to yell and throw things?” Eddie asked, a wide grin on his face. “And where we sit depends on what we say?”

“Yes, it’s complete chaos.” you said. “I love it. Every show is always a little different because of the audience participation. Keeps it fresh, you know? Also, if you sit in the back you won’t get popcorn on your hair.” 

“Jeff dumped a bucket of popcorn in my hair once.” Eddie said. “It took me a week to get all the kernels out.”

“How the hell did that happen?!”

“I was sitting down, he was walking over with popcorn to bribe me for some roll, and then there was popcorn and butter everywhere.”

“I take it you didn’t give him the advantage he wanted?” you giggled. 

“No, he desiccated a snack in front of the Dungeon Master. He’s lucky I didn’t kill his character off when that happened.”

“The more I hear you talk about Hellfire, the more I wish I had been able to join in school.” you sighed. “You always sound like you have so much fun.”

“You... sometimes I do run some one-shots.” Eddie said, messing with one of his rings. “I haven’t done a game for beginners in a while but I could get the others to suck it up and run one for you.”

A warmth burned in your cheeks and you smiled at him. “Really? You’d run a game for me just so I could play?”

“Oh yeah, but just so you know, your movie isn’t the only thing that has its own hazing ritual.” Eddie smiled at you. “I tend to go extra hard on new players, just to make sure that they’re really up for the challenge of being in Hellfire.” 

You can go extra hard on me. You just barely managed to keep that as an inside thought with the way he was looking at you with those intense doe eyes. You definitely didn’t miss the subtle way his eyes darted to your lips for just a split second. 

Oh, you were so going to kiss him tonight. Not yet, not right now. If you went in for the kiss now, you just knew that you wouldn’t want to stop kissing him. And as much as you wouldn’t mind that, you also really wanted to share this experience with him. 

“So, is that a Hellfire thing, or a you thing?” you asked. “Did any former Dungeon Masters have hazing rituals, or are you just that sadistic?” 

“Chris didn’t need to haze anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.” Eddie said. “Hard to haze new players if he never let anyone new play.”

“Touche.” 

“He was actually in the theater program the last semester he was with Hellfire.” Eddie said suddenly, as if he had just remembered. “He got roped into doing backstage work for the Spring play and ran Hellfire into the ground. He’d always change the schedule of when we could meet up, and then get pissed with everyone when he couldn’t keep up.”

“I heard that doing tech for the shows is always a lot of work.” you said. “But it really sucks that he got pissed.”

“He ended up fully quitting Hellfire halfway through the semester, and that’s when I took over.” Eddie explained. “I had already been running the club anyway, but that just made it more official.” 

The lights in the theater flickered on and off, signaling the start of the show. 

“They’ll probably call you up to be part of the Virgin Sacrifice.” you said. “If you want to back out, no judgment. Your hair covers your shame, so you could probably duck out”

“I’ll do it.” Eddie said. “It’s only fair, if I run a one-shot for you and refuse to go easy on you, the least I can do is get on stage for your interest.” 

Had anyone ever shown this much interest in something you cared about? Robin had come with you before, and Steve had to be dragged here but this felt different somehow. Shit, the more you talked to him, the more you were tempted to ask him to leave the theater right now and show you the back of his van. 

“You know, I really always wanted to be part of the shadow cast.” you explained. “I’d love to be on stage as Columbia or Janet, hell I’d even love to be Riff Raff.”

“You want to be on stage in your underwear once a month?” Eddie raised an eyebrow. 

“It looks fun, but they never have auditions. It’s a pretty tight community, so you really have to know someone to get in. The most I’ve been able to do is sign up for clean up duty after the show. They give you tickets to the next show if you do that.”

The house lights went down, and you waited for the stage lights to come on and for the cast to come up and introduce the show and start the Virgin Sacrifice. The idea of seeing Steve and Eddie up there made you so giddy, and you couldn’t wait to tell Eddie more about the cast. 

But the stage lights never came on. Instead the movie just went and started and soon a bright red pair of lips were on screen, singing to everyone. 

They were skipping the Virgin Sacrifice? You had been going to this show for years and they never skipped the Virgin Sacrifice. And on Halloween? What was going on?

You were disappointed, but there was no use letting it ruin your evening. You shook it off and focused on singing along and teaching Eddie the important things to shout and when. How could you be too disappointed when Eddie was having so much fun? He was a natural, and witty and was quick to pick up on the jokes. 

It helped even more that he was still holding your hand. 

But something felt off during the whole show. There were a few members of the cast that you didn’t recognize, and they were giving a less than stellar performance. Choreography was wrong, the lip syncing was off, and Janet’s bra and slip were too... sexy. You also felt the man with the long sandy hair playing Rocky would have better been suited for Riff Raff.

Whoever coordinated this show, didn’t do a very good job. You felt bad that Steve and Eddie’s first time at the show wasn’t the best, especially after you had talked it up so much. 

If Eddie noticed the lackluster performance, he didn’t say anything. Maybe you were being too nitpicky, he was having a blast after all. Eddie was cracking jokes, and his voice carried through the theater so well even the front row fuck the front row! could hear him. 

As the credits rolled, and everyone made their way out to the lobby, you met back up with Steve and Robin. 

“That movie made even less sense than when you told us about it.” Steve said and you just shrugged. 

“I never said it made sense, I just said it was fun.” 

“I wouldn’t mind coming back.” Eddie said. “I wonder if they’d consider a live band to go with the stage actors.” 

You had to stop yourself from dropping down to your knees. One knee or two, you hadn’t decided yet. 

Robin yawned and you caught a glimpse of a lipstick mark on her jaw. You made a note to ask about that later. “If I’m out any later, my parents are gonna kill me. I still have school in the morning.” 

“Alright, let’s get you home.” Steve said. “See you two around.” His eyes darted down to where your hand and Eddie’s were still clasped together before pushing Robin out of the lobby and towards the parking lot. 

You and Eddie followed behind, but didn’t head straight for your cars. The two of you moved to stand below the yellow lighting of the yellow marquis. You watched as Eddie leaned against the brick wall and lit a cigarette, blowing smoke that disappeared under the clear sky. 

Under this lighting, you had a familiar feeling. There was something in the back of your mind, like a picture that was made of the same smoke coming from between his lips. Every time you reached out and almost had it, it disappeared in an instant. Something about the way he looked right now gave you a faint memory of being nervous, but not in a bad way. 

“That might be the first time I’ve ever felt normal.” Eddie said, looking at you. “I didn’t realize how many freaks there really were in Indiana.” 

“There are freaks and weirdos everywhere, if you know where to look.” you said. Eddie pocketed his lighter and took another drag. “Most people hide it though. I’m glad you don’t.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s nice to see someone really being themselves in this town. You’re a breath of fresh air.” you looked out at the street, watching as people got in their cars and drove out of the parking lot. You caught a glimpse of the Columbia, only catching her by her hair and make up as she rushed out of the theater towards the parking lot. “I... even if this doesn’t go anywhere, I like you.” you admitted. “I want to keep being friends.”

Eddie frowned and faced you. He had dropped your hand to light his cigarette, and you noticed his hand move towards yours before stopping and falling back to his side. 

“Is this your way of letting me down easy?” he asked, and your heart broke seeing the confusion in his big brown doe eyes. 

“No!” you said quickly. “No, not even a little. No. I want to see you again. A lot.” 

Eddie’s face relaxed and this time he did take your hand. He dropped his cigarette and snuffed out the butt with his sneaker. You took the hint and moved closer to him as well. 

“You like me?” he asked, and you liked the way his dimples showed when he smiled. 

That was the high sign. You didn’t even care that he still had a lipstick mark on his cheek, when all you could focus on were those warm brown eyes. You started to lean in, and you felt Eddie’s free hand move to your arm and up towards your shoulder. When he got close enough to count his unfairly long eyelashes, you closed your eyes-

“Eddie? Eddie Munson?”

Reality snapped back into place as you two heard a voice. You looked at Eddie’s face first, and there was an intense look in his eyes. His hand fell from your arm, while you tried to decipher what his expression meant. 

You turned around to see who he was looking at, ready to kill whoever had interrupted the moment. 

You hadn’t recognized him on stage as Rocky. The man's long sandy hair was now tied back and his overgrown fringe still fell into his gray eyes. He had filled out since high school, and he wasn’t wearing that stony scowl that had been his staple all through the years you’d seen him. 

“Chris Morrison?!”

ALSO I think I might have run out of blogs to tag? It won't let me tag anymore blogs for the tag list but you can also find this story on AO3 and sub there as well!

Next Chapter

a/n: This chapter turned out way longer than expected and I still didn't fit everything into it! I had a whole other scene planned out, but that just means I have the motivation to start on the next part!

Dividers by @strangergraphics

Tag List: @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1803 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirl320 @perpetualmessmachine @thebook-hobbit @mistonk @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated @sortagaysortahigh @halialex1119 @bakugouswhOr3 @siriuslysmoking @pookiesnatcher @sky-full-0f-fl0wers @takemetoneverlandbabe @killjoynotes @maelibo @themunsonator5000 @wheels-of-despair @woodlandsubshrub @ghcstpyre @pedroschka

[emeraldoodles]

The Master Post from Serizawa Week 2024

I had lots of fun participating! Mine are little snapshots from the week, linking one day to the next.

If you would like more story read below.

Thanks @ygodmyy20 & @acermp100 for letting me bound ideas off you the whole week. Also, @yu-artist for sharing the Seriweek prompts!

Monday, March 25th - Friends

Serizawa made going back to school look so fun Minegishi decided to join. Sometimes Dimple/Yoshioka likes to stop by and say hello. Today he was a distraction to Serizawa, so he had trouble paying attention and listening to the homework assignment.

Tuesday, March 26th - School

Poor Serizawa, having to stay up late to finish an assignment. At least he's not alone. The cat's name is Gizmo! Thanks @acermp100 for the cat name suggestion. @secretagent9 I really love the idea of a Gundam name, but not being a fan I didn't know what to choose.

Wednesday, March 27th - Outfit

Reigen and Serizawa were hired to exorcise mischievous spirits that kept harassing the maids at a cafe. Serizawa was very tired from yesterday's school assignment and not on his A-game today.

Reigen volunteered to lure out the ghost by wearing a maid's outfit, but maybe he just wanted to wear it. Serizawa is wearing his cute butler outfit! The maids were very excited to dress him up, not so much Reigen

Reigen: Those brats! Wont even help me tie my apron. Grumble. *struggles to reach behind*

Serizawa: Here, let me. *zips up and hooks Reigen's dress and ties the apron*

Reigen: *many hand gestures* Competition, that's what is is Serizawa! I'm competition because of how good I look.

Serizawa: *chuckles* You do look good sir. Very pretty, very cute.

Reigen: R-really? *blush* I-I er, I mean of course! Now! Let's get to work!

Poor Reigen, he got ice water dumped on him several times that day. He wasn't feel great before the exorcism, but was wiped out by the end the assignment.

Thursday, March 28th - Food

Mrs. Serizawa is teaching Kastuya how to cook, so he can stop living off instant noodles. Today is a hearty beef & leak stew!

Mrs. Serizawa: Remember, the leaks need to be thoroughly washed.

Kastuya: Nods, Nods!

Mrs. Serizawa: Also, the more passion and enjoyment you put into your cooking will reflect in the final dish. So, relax and take it slow and your love will shine through.

Serizawa is learning how to make tonjiru soup. He wants to make it for someone "special" this week.

Friday, March 29th - Spring

Dimple: I don't get it. If you're worried about Reigen go check up on him.

Serizawa: I don't want to intrude on his privacy.

Dimple: Ugh, you two are impossible.

It was an unusual day. Reigen didn't show up for work and Serizawa just got a message from him saying "I n68 sick".

Saturday, March 30th - Comfort/Bravery

Serizawa: Reigen, please eat a little more.

Reigen: No, I feel so sick.

Serizawa: But you've not eaten since Thursday. Here, let me get you just some broth.

Reigen: Kastuya...

Serizawa: Y-Yes?

Reigen: I.... I... Bucket. I need the bucket.

Reigen proceeded to dry heave into the bucket while saliva and tears fell in. Serizawa rubbed his back while he continued to convulse for several minutes.

Sunday, March 31st - Birthday

Serizawa went over to check on Reigen, who surprised him by throwing a little birthday celebration. It was just the two of them, but Reigen originally had planned something bigger. Luckily, the present, a multiplayer game, arrived on time, so they could play together.

Reigen was still sick, and drugged up, and making bad decisions. But Serizawa didn't mind. A love confession from Reigen made this the best birthday.

[studentbyday]

so the week is half over and i'm kind of feeling low on energy and needing lots of sleep, which is the perfect opportunity to (sort of) try out einstein's daily routine (which is tbh the most personally palatable daily routine of a famous person i've ever chanced across)! i've been waking up at nearly 9 anyway since lately my head spins and i feel sick if i don't sleep like 9-10 hours.

So yeah, wake up at 9.

Between 9 and 10, eat breakfast and read the newspapers fiction

I know after breakfast he was said to often walk to Princeton and arrive by 10:30 or smth but (a) I don't go to Princeton, and (b) these days I study at home, so instead I'm just going to do some form of exercise.

~10:30 to 1pm: work study

have lunch (i read somewhere that he spends 1.5h on lunch and tea? i wish i could have a lunch and tea that leisurely but i do not have the time. so i won't.)

afternoons: receive visitors and work study

also afternoons: naps if needed (tho thankfully i seem to have enough energy to last me through the day if i get 9-10h of sleep... also i just don't think i'll have much time for naps. 🙁)

~6:30pm: have dinner [and clean up]

after dinner: more work study if needed (most likely needed)

sleeeeeeeepppppppp [be ready for or in bed by 9 or 10]

i'll update this post later to let you know how it goesss~

i hope you're feeling better than i am this week 💗🤒

~the aforementioned update~

ahahaha i don't think i did a very good job of following any routine this week. on wednesday i slept a little later than usual and ended up waking up at 10am (i didn't set an alarm for some reason). on thursday i set my alarm for 7 and then 8 and then 10 because i had to finish reviewing the last of the microbiology for the midterm and actually woke up at 9:30. and on friday i want to actually wake up somewhere within the hour of 7am so i can hopefullyyyy finish all my schoolwork for this week?? despite the seeming slowness of einstein's routine, i always feel like i'm rushing when i wake up when the sun is already up and most everyone else i live with is already awake, so i'm going to try this again over reading week but change the wake-up time and stick to it dammit— 😤

also i feel like if i'm gonna be posting on tumblr again, i should post my screen time stats for accountability because for some reason whenever i start making stuff for social media, my screen time goes through the roof bc i get so distracted and like oh wait there was this thing i want to add no wait where was i— (as i got lost in a scroll.) and this happens multiple times. but sometimes i do feel very much like yapping and when i'm in this mood, i could yap for days on end so i gotta find a solution...

just LOOK at this horrendousness!!!

also. there was so much material to cover for the microbio midterm it was insane. i feel like i need to follow the 80/20 rule. like...just prioritize the big topics, don't care so much about the extraneous, minor details so i only expend energy for and fill my brain with what i really need to know. and i'm not sure how good flashcards are for that because it just seems kinda random, the order in which cards are thrown at you in anki, and i'm the kind of person who, at least during the first pass, compulsively desires to cover everything, and so what do you think happens? i end up with a massive “stack” of flashcards, including cards about minor/extraneous details. every. single. time. i'm not entirely sure how i want to navigate this yet, but i'm definitely gonna try that 80/20 rule...bc this was just too stressful 🥲

[bsotted]

Ben afleck smoking meme I’m so sick of myself adhd is fun sometimes I’ll be honest but let’s be real acquiring a new hyperfixation and then accidentally sinking 12 consecutive hours in, spiraling at max velocity down the rabbit hole, and not starting until 8pm is…. I’m getting TOO! OLD! for this!

tearing my hair out

I’m not in high school anymore but there I am Sunday morning watching the sun come up.. meanwhile I had shit to DO this weekend…!!

But instead, you know, at least I taught myself how to format a screenplay and transcribed 60 FUCKING PAGES of dialogue.

Did I so much as take a pee break in that time? Thank you for asking, exactly once.

Anyway if anyone needed, for some godforsaken reason, a line-by-line play through and transcript of the COD MW2 Alone mission, including a complete tree of all the dialogue options for every instance, I watched like five different full walkthroughs to catch everything I could, and I’ve got a fat google doc to show for it, now. I guess! I guess.

But then, could a fanfic author in need even now use my doc to outline a fic using the canonical dialogue, though? Questionable! Because of the way I chose to format it, (and went way out of my way at great effort! and expense of time! taught myself how to do for the express purpose of such!) …. Honestly in practice it would now be a huge pain to now line-by-line re-format it back into narrative dialogue.

Foresight; not exactly a virtue of hyper focus, unfortunately

Anyway. I’m at work now I slept like 8 hours combined all weekend and I really needed like a t least 20 after the week I had last week, and now I’m back at work, and I’m so fucking tired. I’m an idiot.

Prayer circle for my sleep schedule and the SLEEP STUDY IM LITERALLY SUPPSOED TO DO FRIDAY…. god I’m so glad we’re not open Thursday. I’m going to sleep for 14 hours.

[atinylittlepain]

Part Two

climbing expeditionist!steve harrington x f!oc

series masterlist

Past, present, and future dance and daunt in the shadows of Mount Everest. He just wants to get home. She just wants him home.

chapter warnings | 18+ angst, pregnancy, commentary on eco-tourism, steve is a little depresso at 17,000 feet, non-invasive descriptions of altitude sickness and the injection of medicine to treat it, tispy steve is a menace and requires a warning

word count | 3.8K

.....................................................

April, 1996 - Boulder, Colorado

Time starts to warp and reel in on itself, she finds. Somehow, it’s already been a month since he left. And even though the days seem to stretch and thin, interminable, the nights too, she can’t fully account for the last four weeks. 

Somehow, April, the middle of it. Somehow, spring, the snow starting to melt, flowers pushing up from dark, damp earth, life bursting and buoying forth in Colorado. She takes her students outside for class as much as she can, they go for walks around the school while asking and answering questions about book reports and vocab quizzes. They’re reading The Little Prince as a class, she asks them what they think about the fox and the pilot while they meander in the cool air. The other teachers say that it’s a brilliant idea, but she knows that she needs that time uncloistered just as much as the students do. And because it makes her the cool teacher, of course the kids know what she does, what Steve does, and is doing. Mrs. Harrington climbs mountains and her husband is on top of the world. 

Teaching had seemed like the most efficient job to accommodate what she loves, weekends and summers off, and a handy deal worked out with the principal to take off at the end of March, what she had done for the past two years years. Not needed this year though. Instead, the kids ask her where her husband is, when he’s coming home. It had nearly knocked the wind out of her when one of them, a boy in all his young earnestness, had asked her can he breathe up there? 

At the very least, work eats up the weekdays, grading tests and lesson plans and rushed lunch hours in her classroom. Phone calls come fewer and farther in between, and she knows that they have to because he’s getting ready for the push off from base. And then, well, there won’t be any phone calls for at least three weeks, just updates from Robin still at base, a roundabout game of radio relay. So for now, she’s grateful for the lost sleep, for the phone ringing in the middle of the night, him telling her about the shifting Icefall, the strange new crush of crowds around the ladders over the crevasses. She asks if Eddie’s using oxygen this year and he tells her he is. Getting older, he says, getting smarter, she replies. 

Steve has been keeping meticulous track of the weeks, and she knows him, knows that when he asks after how she’s feeling, what she did that week, that he’s writing it down somewhere, a habit of his she learned early on. Not wanting to miss anything, trying to pin down time with pen and paper. Before she can even tell him that her 24-week scan is on Thursday, he’s already asking after it, my Friday, right?

“Yeah, in the morning, I’ll fax the scans over soon as I get home.”

“I know we’re not supposed to, but I’ve been keeping the ones you sent in my jacket pocket when we’re climbing. Been showing them to anyone who will give me the chance to whip them out. They’re perfect, honey.” And then almost as an afterthought, he breathes out thank you. When she asks him what for he laughs, just once, just thank you, that’s all. 

“Are you pushing off soon?”

“It’s looking like this Saturday is gonna be it.” Quick catch, quick drop of her heart into her stomach before it slings taut and tight up into her throat. She swallows hard before she responds.

“Oh, that’s early isn’t it?”

“We’re trying to get a jump on the crowd here. It’s gonna be a jam if we don’t, Josie, a total mess.” She doesn’t like it, not at all. Mid-May, there’s a reason everyone aims for mid-May, and even the difference of a handful of days can spell a quick-weaving fabric of disaster, of weather that would make even the best of them turn around, or die trying to persist. But she knows she can’t say that to him, knows that he needs her confidence right now. So she says okay twice, okay, okay, takes a deep breath before saying any more so that her voice is steady when she speaks again. 

“Well, it sounds like early is best then. Just a few days shouldn’t snarl anything too bad, right?”

“That’s the hope, a nice clean send to finish things off here.” He sighs, he’s tired, she knows, she can hear it. The push before the push, packing out oxygen tanks and checking ladders and ropes, and making sure the clients are keeping their own packing light and aren’t getting sick, coordinating with the other guides. Of course he’s tired, starting to wear thin around the edges, so she makes her voice light as air alright, baby, better let you go, and yes, send the scans over and yes, love you, love you so much, call before Saturday, before you leave. The phone clicks and she’s suspended into silence again, the darkness of her bedroom. Hand on her stomach, little life answers with a kick.

“That was your dad on the phone.”

…

May, 1990 - Camp Four

At first it was pain, and getting used to it. Weak and wan, cold all the time, a rattling cough that seems to get worse the further up they trek. Food became tedious somewhere along the way, trying to keep down instant noodles and peanut m and ms, about all he can stomach, and the errant thought that it’s because his body is quite literally shutting down the higher they climb. The nights are sleepless, wind whipping at the sides of their tents, fabric walls closing in around them, the only sound rising above the howls being the cacophony of hacking lungs in the night, deep pauses whenever someone takes a pull of oxygen from their mask. 

It’s no longer pain, it’s something past pain. It’s sheer endurance at this point, a numb sort of will to continue, to see this through. He didn’t think he had romantic notions about this climb, did plenty of reading about what happens to the body after reaching a certain altitude, reading about the bodies left behind, frozen into the face of the mountain, about ice blindness and hallucinations, vomiting blood and swelling brains, gone mad in the cold and the wind. But still, but still, there are some things not even the imagination can reach. 

If there is a perfect distillation of agony, he thinks it would be this, curled up in a tent, willing sleep while he coughs so hard he thinks he might start to puke, and knowing that the next morning, he will push himself even further, even higher. They all will.

There’s a shout of his name, and he’s nearly certain his mind is crafting it out of thin air, but then the flap of his tent is coming unzipped and it’s her, it’s her, ducking her head in and holding out a first aid kit. Past the point of pretenses, of any sort of peacocking, he simply shrugs over to the side of his tent to make room for her to crawl inside, breathing hard, ice in her eyelashes and around the neck of her jacket. 

“Do you want pills or a shot?”

“What?” She doesn’t look at him, just keeps rummaging through her kit, pulling out a box of pills and a syringe with shaking hands, her head lamp laying between them, casting strange shadows over her face, the walls of the tent.

“You sound awful, Steve.”

“We all sound awful.”

“Yeah, but your tent is next to mine and I can’t fucking sleep with you hacking up a lung. So, shot or pills?” He knows what it is, though he hasn’t had to take any yet. Dexamethasone, acetazolamide, nifedipine, take your pick, some kind of anti-inflammatory, considered cheating by some (Eddie) and a necessary evil by others. 

“The shot works faster, doesn’t it?” She nods, smiles just a little, one that doesn’t quite meet her eyes, too tired, too cold, too bloodshot, and he’s certain he looks the same. 

“Gonna have to pull your pants down for me, I need a thigh.” He doesn’t think twice about it, not with the near promise of even a little relief, fumbling to unzip his sleeping bag, tugging down one leg of his pants, enough that his ass is out and his thigh is too. And Jo works with a studied precision, uncapping the needle and leaning over him, her hand on his hip and okay, okay, he can’t hear it over the wind but he can see her mouth move around the words, quick pinch that he barely notices, taking simple pleasure in the brief closeness of her warmth, there and gone as she leans back to re-cap the needle. 

“That should kick in pretty fast.” Quick to tug and zip everything back up if for no other reason than the cold, what clarity is left in his mind kicks up with a halfway giddy thought of how close she is, shoulders hunched and sitting on her knees. He offers her his oxygen mask for a breath that she happily takes, leaning in again, so close he can see that freckle beneath her eye before she pulls away.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m dying. Par for the course, right?” He can’t argue with that, shrugging a little and trying for a smile that he’s pretty sure looks more like a grimace. 

“You take anything?”

“Two pills, dying less. You ready for tomorrow?” Tomorrow, right. The final ascent, the top of the world, the thing, the final thing that they have all been in this death march toward. 

“I don’t know, I hope so. Are you?” 

“Mmm, to be seen, I guess. I, uh, I like being near you when we’re moving though, it helps.”

“Helps?”

“You move very steady, very sure. I figure as long as you’re confident in where you’re stepping, I can keep my ass in gear.” She leans in for another breath, a murmured I owe you some inhales tomorrow that he shakes his head at. 

“I’ve been thinking the same thing about you, for the record. You’re impressive.” She shrugs, pauses for a cough that shakes her whole body, eyes scrunched closed, enough to make him wince and offer her his mask again. She shakes her head, wave of her hand, and he watches the rise and fall of her shoulders as she works another breath into her lungs. 

“Just trying to keep up with the mountain. Are you feeling a little better now?” He is, he tells her, cough simmering into something more manageable, the pain dulling into something more like a second heartbeat. 

There’s a beat, a breath, within which both of them stare at each other in the shared absurdity of where they are and what they are doing. He knows she needs to get back to her tent, back to her own oxygen tank, and he knows that he’s being selfish by asking her another question to keep her here for an answer longer. That trite question that essentially amounts to why are you here? Why did you decide to be here? Why, here? And she smiles, big and everything, really, tilts her head and doesn’t answer him, but asks him the same thing. And he says that thing, that thing that any self-respecting climber knows because it’s in the blood of their history, Patagonia t-shirts and North Face ad deals slinging it around like a mantra, like a prayer, like a war cry. The thing that George Mallory said, 1923, before he would try for Everest for the third time, and die doing it. Why, why, why? Because it is there. 

She grins even brighter, repeats it back to him with her hand held out, and he takes it for a moment.

“I’ll see you bright and early, Steve, get some sleep.”

…

April, 1996 - Base Camp

“At dawn tomorrow morning, you are going to begin your ascent toward the summit. We have this meeting the night before to make sure that everyone understands what is coming over the next two weeks.” Take no shit, no prisoners either, Nancy has always had a talent for this talk, he thinks, holding both the crew and the clients in rapt attention as she runs through her lecture with the efficiency and steel of a military commander, pacing at the front of their main tent with a map of the mountain behind her. She had gotten to base a week after them, Eddie wrapping her up in his arms, a smacking kiss to her cheek, her mouth, and doctor wife, so good to see you. Steve still has a hard time summing that equation up, but somehow they make it work. 

“You’ll begin your climb through the Khumbu Icefall, which I understand Ryan has been taking you through over the last two weeks. From there, you’ll set camp at about 19,500 feet, you’ll spend a lot of time at this camp, making acclimitzation trips further up the mountain and coming back down in between, before passing up through the western cwm to get to camp two at 21,350 feet. It is imperative as you continue to climb that you pay attention to how you’re feeling. Nausea and fatigue are expected to a certain degree, but if you’re feeling dizzy, or lethargic, you need to let one of the guides know as the risk for cerebral pulmonary edema increases with each altitude jump.”

“You’ll move over the Lhotse Face to get to camp three at 23,500 feet. You’re not going to want to eat or drink at this point, but it is imperative you continue to do so. Stick to simple carbs and small sips of water, as the digestive tract will begin to slow down with the rest of the body at this altitude.” Her rundown fades in and out of his focus, eyes glancing up from his journal every now and again to make sure the clients are listening. He’s heard this many times before, after all, knows it by heart.

“After you leave camp three, you will be in what is known as the death zone. Your bodies will begin to rapidly decline at this point. Everyone is going to need supplemental oxygen at this altitude–”

“I heard Munson did it without, twice!” One of the clients, American, trying to earn a few cheap laughs. Eddie looks sheepish across from Steve, and Nancy doesn’t smile. 

“Well, he does now if he wants to stay married. Everyone will be using supplemental oxygen and guides will have first aid kits if medication is needed. The push after camp three will be quick. A brief stop around the south col to camp, and then the summit. You’ve probably all heard this, but it bears repeating, the tricky part won’t be getting you up there, it’s coming back down that’s going to be difficult.” He’s heard this too, lived this too. By the time you get to the summit, you’re usually half-blind, half-suffocating, and half-human from the adrenaline coursing through your body. You’ve touched the top of the world and you’re nearly certain you’re going to die and also live forever because of it. You’re not thinking about the next step, the next rope you need to clip onto, the next hold of your ice ax, as you make your way down. You’re thinking about going home, about a warm bed, a warm meal, about never doing that again. That’s when mistakes happen, he knows. 

“We say all this not to scare you, but to make sure you know what you’re about to face. It’s our goal to make this experience as safe for you as possible. Steve and Eddie will be your lead guides with Ryan assisting. Robin and I will be here at base, coordinating and watching the weather.” There’s a glance, always a glance exchanged between him and Nancy and Robin and Eddie, and Ryan too this year. The new hire, and he likes him well enough. Young guy, capable, Robin says he looks a little like Matthew McConaghy. All Steve knows is he’s good at his job and friendly enough to want to suffer with. And so the team is set, eight clients and three guides, and one local sherpa that they work with every year, reliable. 

They dismiss the clients early, advising them to get as much sleep as they can, and when the last stragglers are out of the tent, Eddie drums his hands on the folding table, grinning wide. 

“Well, birdy bird told me you got a very important fax today, so let’s see the little dude.” They all circle around him, Nancy and Robin, Ryan too, who Steve learned has two little girls back at home. And it feels good to take the folded piece of paper out of the breast pocket of his fleece, good to spread it out on the table and have everyone fawn over what amounts to black and white smudges, something prideful feathering and fanning up in his chest because that’s their kid, that’s their kid. 

“Oh they’re perfect, Steve, look at that. How is Jo? Did you talk to her today?” Yes, he tells Nancy, on the phone that morning, told him to wish them all luck for the next morning. Eddie whistles a low sound, shaking his head. 

“Phew, have a feeling we’re gonna need it without her. Ryan, if you think Steve’s the boss, you should’ve seen those two working together. A thing of beauty, I tell you, and probably the reason we’re one of the only outfits that hasn’t lost a client.” That spurs a groan out of Robin, don’t even say that, Ed, don’t even like, put that into the air right now, seriously. Always the superstitious one, he already knows she’ll be wearing a particular pair of socks tomorrow to send them off. 

“I bet you’re ready to get home, Steve.” It’s quiet, Ryan says it with a smile that tilts into something sad, tired eyes that pull at the corners, a knowing. He nods, shares the same smile with him, he knows he feels it too. 

…

May 1990 - Base Camp

“What’re you doing out here? Party’s in there.”

“I can see you’ve been celebrating. How much have you had to drink?” He laughs a little, stumbles over his feet as he comes to sit down next to her camp chair, his legs sprawled out in front of him and his head lolling to the side, and that’s enough of an answer for her. Meanwhile, the sound of music filters out from the main tent, all the other climbers and crew inside, yawping and whooping in their merriment. They made it up, and mercy, they made it back down to base. Everyone all in one piece, and she knows that’s something of a miracle. 

“Just a little, warming myself up.”

“Uh-huh, right.” He grins, face cast in shadows from the camp lanterns, his eyes crinkled, shamelessly staring at her as he lets out a contented-sounding sigh. She isn’t sure what to make of him, him, with his long hair, and his silver hoop earring, and his bright blue Patagonia pull-over, and his pretty little smile that she admittedly thought about for large portions of their ascent. Pretty boy, wild boy, beautiful boy that she probably won’t ever see again.

“Is Jo short for something?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Steve is short for Steven.” His words are a little slurred, a little buoyant laugh on the end, giddy with lingering adrenaline and booze no doubt. Awful, she finds it endearing.

“You don’t say.”

“Jody? Joanne? Joanna? Jo–”

“It’s short for Josephine, if you’d really like to know.” He says it once, slow around a smile, leaning in toward her with his arms hooked over his knees, and she finds herself leaning closer too.

“Does anyone call you Josie?”

“Oh my god, no, my sister did when we were little, but not any more.” Too late, Steve is already humming a tune before warbling into a slurred rendition of the lyrics, Josie and the pussycats, long tails and ears for hats. She would like to hate him for it, him and his smug grin beneath his dark beard, him and the little laugh he lets out at the scrunch of her nose, him, singing that stupid song at 17,000 feet, tapping out the beat of it on her knee with his wind-bitten fingers, and making her laugh with it. 

“Can I call you Josie?”

“Hmm, maybe, but only sometimes.” She says it like they’ll see each other again after all this, after parting ways in Kathmandu, her going back to Colorado, and him returning to wherever he’s from. It’s easy to grant promises when you’ve just touched the top of the world. 

“Josie, how are you feeling after checking that one off your list?”

“I think I feel a lot of things. Mostly calm, grateful for JIF peanut butter, I feel tired, but in a good way. What about you, Steven, how are you feeling?”

“Lucky that I’m here with you.” And he says it so bluntly, so plainly, without hesitation, that it shocks a laugh out of her. But he just keeps looking at her, his smile slanting, and she knows he’s being earnest, honest, tongue loosened by whatever dark liquor Art packed out.

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“You can’t just say stuff like that.”

“Like what?”

“Stuff you’re going to regret saying when you’re not so drunk.”

“I’m not gonna regret it. I meant it.” He’s hooked his finger around one of hers, a simple sweet thing that she shouldn’t let him do. But she does, but it feels nice.

“What am I gonna do with you?”

“Keep me.” His eyes glittering and smile veritably impish, she scoffs at him, wow, as he shrugs, unabashed and unashamed. Meant it, meant it, meant it. She needs to change the subject before she does something stupid.

“When are you gonna shave this off?” A little dare and daunt, she tugs at his beard, his brows raising, she’s surprised him, and she likes it. 

“I don’t know, probably when we get back to Kathmandu, gonna be there for a few days before I fly out.” 

“I’m sticking around for a few days too.” His eyes light up at that, oh yeah? She nods, something bright unfurling in her chest.

“Maybe you and I can, you know, Kathman-do.” Waggle of his eyebrows, she has to laugh.

“I think you need to go to sleep.” Never admitting this, but she finds herself a little disappointed when he sighs and nods, unfolding himself and standing up with a groan, though he smiles at her again before shuffling off toward his tent.

“That wasn’t a no.”

“Goodnight, Steve.” He tips two fingers at his temple toward her, walking backwards with impressively minimal stumbling. And she knows that she likes him in a way that could be a problem. Awful, she really would like to keep him. 

“Goodnight, Josie.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Matt Gertz at MMFA:

The right-wing media strategy of branding President Joe Biden as senile has always suffered from the major flaw that his public performance in major moments bears no resemblance to his depiction on Fox News and other Trumpist outlets. But with the president’s first debate with Donald Trump of the cycle looming on Thursday, the network’s hosts are building a rhetorical escape hatch in case Biden’s presentation once again exceeds the low expectations they’ve set for him: They’re claiming that before the event, Biden may take performance-enhancing drugs that conceal his cognitive decline. The right has baselessly pushed this conspiracy theory — for which no evidence has ever emerged — since at least 2020, when Trump tweeted that “only drugs” could explain Biden’s energetic performances in the Democratic primary debates. The narrative escalated earlier this year when right-wing influencers needed to concoct an explanation for Biden’s strong delivery of his State of the Union address. And it has reemerged as one of their preferred narratives in the lead-up to Thursday’s debate.

“The Joe Biden we’re talking about tonight I don’t think will be the Joe Biden we’re going to see on debate night,” Sean Hannity, a Trump political operative who also hosts a prime-time Fox show, told Lara Trump, the Republican National Committee co-chair and daughter-in-law to the former president, on June 17. Hannity added that Biden would be “hyper-caffeinated” and said he supports the idea of drug-testing the candidates before the debate. Hannity returned to the narrative all week long. He claimed Biden would be “jacked up” on “a lot of Red Bull, a lot of caffeine pills, whatever” to hide the “cognitive decline” which he called “obvious and troubling.” Those substances, Hannity asserted, would explain why Biden would be “screaming” and aggressive at the debate rather than “mumbling, bumbling, stumbling, and fumbling” and confused, as he is in the out-of-context video clips the host regularly shows his audience.

Hannity isn’t alone. Last week, Fox contributors Tyrus and Newt Gingrich both pushed the notion that Biden is using drugs. So did Trump adviser Stephen Miller and Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo’s panel.  On Donald Trump Jr.’s show Triggered, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) suggested Biden would be on a “cocktail” before the debate which could include “amphetamine-type drugs like Adderall and things of that nature” as well as “things like Provigil, you know, that also just increase your alertness.” He reiterated his claims in a Fox Business interview over the weekend, demanding that the president “submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs.” (Notably, Jackson’s medical operation as White House physician reportedly functioned as a pill mill for Trump White House staffers). 

“Biden always performs better than expected on big nights,” Fox host Jesse Watters said on Friday. “It could be that he’s well-rested, studies hard. Or maybe it’s whatever’s in that orange drink. What is in that orange drink?” (Biden says his “favorite drink is orange Gatorade,” and numerous media outlets have reported that he drinks it regularly as president.) Trump himself has repeatedly gotten into the act on the campaign trail. “He’s gonna be so pumped up. He’s gonna be pumped up,” said the former president at a Wednesday rally, before suggesting that Biden uses cocaine. He claimed on Saturday that Biden would get “a shot in the ass” before the debate and come out all “jacked up.”

The right-wing have a sick fetish for pushing the “Joe Biden is senile” narrative to distract from the fact that their champion Donald Trump is far more senile.

See Also:

Daily Kos: The right can't decide if Biden is senile or superhuman

MMFA: Study: Top newspapers fixate on Biden's age while mostly downplaying Trump's age

[thisiswhereilosemymind]

first draft of the beginning of the book I'm writing

Before Krysa went into hiding, before Krysa started the war, she was just a scientist's creation. A hobby project. An experiment. An already borderline abnormal girl. But that was before. And this is now.

Before:

The loud whack of staff against staff filled Krysa’s ears. K.A. was not going easy on her today.

“Your form is wimpy.” K.A.’s monotone voice didn’t fit the current setting.

Krysa swiveled and blocked one of K.A.s blows. “We’ve been doing nothing but hitting sticks for hours. Sorry if my form is wimpy.” that earned her a painful smack to the knee, “I can’t work if you shatter my kneecap either, K.” K.A. smirked.

She crouched down and sent her stick along with her body back into the void

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Leaving the Dream Space in anger is frowned upon, Krys. Don’t take your lack of skill out on your soul.”

“Can we please not play with sticks today? I would much rather learn stupid history and stuff about planets.” She summoned a bed and flopped down onto the comforter. K.A. sent it back into the void and Krysa fell to the ground.

“I could care less about what you do with your free time in the physical realm but you are not dragging me down with you today.”

“Boo. You suck.” 

“We are working on your summoning today actually.” Krysa sat up.

“I was working on that this morning, like you asked.” Light Warping was the only thing Krysa was naturally good at. 

“I’m aware. Does not change the fact that you need practice with me.”

A ball of searing light busted through Krysa’s fingers. “Okay now absorb it.” K.A.’s tone was somewhat less harsh than usual. “Don't just cast it somewhere else, your body can take that little bit.”

Krysa looked horrified. “Stupid Face- I mean Dad says I can’t do that.”

“You can and you will. You’re an Ormskirk, Krys, even if it’s not in your name.”

Krysa’s Father was cast out of their family when he created her. Keiran threw him out of their family and wouldn't let REDACTED or his “sick creation” keep the family name.

Krysa swallowed her pride (and the light in her hand) and closed her fist. Her hand radiated a warm glow. It was gone a second later. 

She stared in shock. “I told you.” K.A. grinned. Krysa started laughing

“I just absorbed light! I just ignored everything everyone has ever told me!” Her face warmed with delight, “I can’t believe it!”

Over the course of a few hours, K.A. helped Krysa with Light Combat form and strategies and she complained not once.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When Krysa awoke in the physical realm she was smiling. K.A. wasn’t always completely unpleasant. She was a sort of mother figure for Krysa, though she would never say that out loud. 

Krysa was dragged from her thoughts of glowing hands and smiling mothers by the loud blaring of her alarm. She pulled herself out of bed and pressed the button on her wall that opened to show her closet. She grabbed her blue school uniform and distributed jacket. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays were blue and Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays were yellow. Krys definitely preferred the blue days.

The schooling system changed a lot over the course of a year. Oppakin and Addesolk were finally welcomed into the community and segregation walls fell. Krysa didn’t tell people she was an unloved lab rat or that she descended from the famous line of Blissidians. It wasn’t in her name and so it wasn’t a necessary detail to share. At least that’s what she told herself.

Once she was done dressing, Krysa skipped down the stairs and greeted the kitchen droid she had her friend Lily reprogram to have an actual personality. She pulled out a nutrition packet and threw it in the radiationbox. The community was supplied rations for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week every Sunday. They didn’t taste extraordinary but they got her through the week.

“Which did you pick for this morning?” Toaster asked. Lily thought she was hilarious coming up with that name.

“Just a mix of datogahn meat and frungal bark” Krysa pulled out her portscreen

“The algorithm warns me of flooding. I thought the ER project was more successful?” 

Krysa sighed. “We’ll get on that. The Water Monitors have fallen behind lately with the plague outbreak and all.” Finding the cure was the easy part. It was distributing the vaccines that took time. She pulled the packet out of the radiationbox and dug her fork in.

“Where has REDACTED been? He hasn’t been at the house in four weeks, six days, and 4 hours.” 

Krysa glared “Stupid Uggo is spending his time doing science and other things more important than family.” She took her anger out on her food and stabbed a greenish gray slob more violently than needed. Toaster looked uncomfortable.

Nothing more was said that morning.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“What are we doing today?” Krysa said as her body formed. K.A. jumped. 

“Why do you sound actually excited? What happened?” Curse eternally damned people and their ability to read people, Krysa thought. 

“It’s not a big deal. What are we doing today?” She repeated.

“Nuh uh you know the rules. We don’t train fueled on anger, regret, guilt, or sadness.” K.A. summoned two couches, “Let’s sit.”

Krys slumped into the couch cushions and groaned. “Okay so,” She told K.A. all about the struggles with her ‘father’, having to lie about her ancestry, her day at school. “My… teacher recognized me. Last year the schools started hiring people from Elranov, and my new astronomy teacher recognized my tattoo. I usually cover it! I wear the issued jackets that cover my neck, but I guess it slipped, and she called me out! In front of everyone!”

K.A. raised her eyebrows disinterestedly. “Why do you care so much that people might find out you're Oppakin? We all are in a sense.” 

“Well I mean yeah. But with all the restrictions? And hate? And biases? I wouldn’t have any freedom! But that’s not the point. She started rambling about the Ormskirk tattoo and everyone was looking at me and- It was just bad okay? I had to make up some lie about symbolism and stuff.” 

K.A. laughed. “Just embrace it! I’ve been stuck in here since 2366. I wasn’t there when Oppakin and Aldessolk actually got their rights. But I’ve known that they deserved them since I was old enough to form opinions. People will hate you, human or not.”

Those words seemed to give Krysa the confidence to do nothing at all. But they still felt good.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Krys. We need to talk.” K.A. summoned two chairs and they both sat down.

“Did I do something?” She couldn't think of anything that would trigger any anger but that didn’t mean she didn’t forget.

“You’re not in trouble.” K. fiddled with her fingers, “I haven’t been completely honest with you. You were not just created to create the Dream Space.”

“What does that mean?” Her creation was a touchy subject and both her and K.A. avoided it.

“You have other… abilities. Ones that I think you're ready for.”

“K. I still don’t know what that means.” Fear wasn’t something Krysa usually felt around K.A., and she didn’t really like it.

“I need you to trust me for a second okay?” She waited for Krys to nod “Cover your ears with your palms. Okay now say ‘quiet’.”

Krysa was confused but did as she was asked. She uncovered her ears and even though K.’s lips were moving, she could hear no sound. Not the faint buzzing of the Dream Space. Not her footsteps as she walked over to K.A. Not anything.

K.A. stood up and shook Krysa’s shoulders. Look, she mouthed, repeat it.

And when Krysa said quiet again, it wasn’t quiet. K. started to reach out to her but pulled back and put her hands at her sides. No one spoke.

“You should have warned me.” She didn’t look at K.A.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Krysa laid in bed, the need to know more and the sickening feeling that she wouldn’t like what she learned warred in her head. She could pull an all-nighter. It wouldn’t be that hard. But what if K. has something important to say? Krysa groaned and took her sedative.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“What else can I do?” K.A. jumped, obviously not expecting Krysa to show up.

“Krys I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would take it so hard.”

“I went deaf! For like- A whole minute! And I didn’t know how to reverse it!” 

“I’m sorry.” K.A. looked at the ground.

“Let’s just move on. What else can I do, K.?”

K.A. hesitated, “You can walk between worlds… Have you heard of Others?” Krysa shook her head. “They are a species found on Elranov. They mostly stick to the Other Realm but occasionally travel to the physical realm. Their forms aren't consistent and often change depending on the setting. Other Walkers are Others that can travel without assistance between both realms. There are other types too. Fire, water, wind, vision.”

Krysa was confused. 

“The team that helped create you… among other things, combined human-oppakin DNA with Other DNA. So if you were to travel to the Other Realm, you would be welcomed.”

“Wait so can I travel there like I can here?” Krysa was unreasonably excited.

“You are taking this better than I thought you would. It’s scary.”

“Well I mean it sounds kinda cool! Sure I’m probably in shock or whatever but this means I can travel to not only the physical realm and here, but a whole other cool place most people don’t know about!” Krysa beamed.

“We are very different people. Do you want to know how to travel?” K.A. looked reluctant but she offered anyway.

“Yes. Yes. Yes.”

“Okay. I’m going to tell you how to get back first.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Now:

Krysa slowed her breathing as the Monitors ran past her. She was here for Ardon Amber and she would be leaving with Ardon Amber. That monster is not getting away again. I will not allow it. 

She backed farther into the corner, convinced they couldn't see her there and then sent her soul into the Dream Space.

[awaitingfall]

07.22.24

136.4

Crazy how it only took me 3 days to gain back the same amount of weight that took me 2 weeks to lose 😮‍💨 I really shouldn’t have smoked yesterday cuz I instantly got the munchies and started eating too late into the afternoon. I also ate almost an entire package of Tate’s cookies on our picnic we went on yesterday, AND my bf talked me into getting gelato on Saturday and we both ate too much of that 😭 I gotta be better on my period. I even told myself I’d regret all these choices when the day to finally weigh again came, but then I told myself “it’s the last day before I start my routine again, I deserve a treat” 🥲 I wish I had thought harder about the consequences.

So now my goal for this week is to get back to 133, and then if that goal is reached, my next goal will be 131 by the end of next week. AND THEN HOPEFULLY by the end of August/beginning of September I’ll be somewhere in the mid-120’s 🤞🏻

I had called out sick from work this past Thursday and the other girls ended up having to leave early anyways because there wasn’t enough work to do, I’m hoping there will be something for us to do today. OH! Speaking of work, I went to the mall on Friday with my mom to help her pick out a new pair of glasses and I mentioned to the girl that was helping us that I used to be the lab tech at the other glasses place in the mall and she offered me part-time work there cuz she ended up being the sales manager. I thought at first she was just saying that to be nice, but then she said it again as we were leaving. So that’s really cool I have a back up/side gig option if I feel like money is getting a little tight. I do miss working closer to home, but if I quit my current job that I really wanted to get back, then I’d only be working part-time and that definitely wouldn’t be enough money coming in. Maybe I can see about working part-time in the winter? Friday-Sunday, especially since I don’t do anything on the weekends in the winter time. I’ll just hustle a little to save up for a house and a trip to Japan (finally) 😌

My bf and I have been considering moving to Japan temporarily, especially with the way the US been actin’ up lately. He at least has some sort of an in, though, cuz the company he works for is a Sake brewery with their main headquarters in Japan, so he could tell them he’s interested in working for the main brewery and spending time there and they’d probably send him in a heartbeat. They like that shit. One of their requirements for the job was to be interested in Japan and Japanese culture. So they’d probably be so excited to hear that one of the American employees wants to experience life over there. Only thing is, idk if they’d also send me. I highly doubt it, so I’d have to come up with my own visa. I could get a student visa. I’ve been trying to learn Japanese since 2016 when I took elementary Japanese in college, but it’s been a struggle trying to self study since then. I know basics, but the speaking part is difficult for me because I have no one to practice with so I stutter and take way too long to think of the sentences before I try to speak. Just doesn’t flow naturally. So studying in Japan would be a great opportunity to get better. Only problem is I wouldn’t be bringing in any money 🥲 so idk. Plus we have our cat that we need to consider cuz I also don’t want to put her under so much stress traveling so far and long like that. Plus they have that animal quarantine and all her documents have to be sent over super far in advance. So yeah, it’s just a lot to take care of. It wouldn’t be as stressful if we didn’t have her, but our life wouldn’t be the same without her so I’m, grateful for my Chichi baby 🥹💕

(I can hear my bf playing one of those YouTube live Coffee shop jazz videos upstairs while he’s drinking his morning coffee lol he used to make fun of me for playing that as background noise in the morning, but he’s come to enjoy it now)

Okay! Today will be a great day! I already started on the right path by waking up at 5, then meditating, exercising, showering, and journaling. Now I’ve gotta feed my cat, feed myself, and get ready for a good day at work 😤

[foggyfanfic]

Love and Fury

Chapter Preview: Bruno spent a little more time than was strictly necessary making a comfy spot for Reina and himself, something he knew he was going to be teased about later. But gosh darn it, he had a hard week. He wanted to be comfy next to his… friend, and enjoy the company of his sisters and their boyfriends (or almost boyfriends in Félix’s case).

Ch1 Prev Next Master List

Chapter 17 Letting Off Steam

Leandra sighed, staring into space while Bruno silently read beside her. It had been a long week. For everybody.

Cicero was getting handsy with her, and every time she saw him it felt like a sick game of tag where the penalty for losing was getting slobbered on by your least favorite person. She’d been able to avoid going anywhere private with him, so he hadn’t been too obnoxious, but even just the occasional pecks on the lips were too much for her taste.

On Monday, Bruno had given a farmer a vision that was supposed to be about crop wield, but ended up being a warning of an oncoming flash flood. Pepa had spent the rest of Monday and the first half of Tuesday trying to stave off the rain until the village was prepared, but the rain had just gathered at the mountain tops beyond her range of control. Instead of holding Tuesday market every spare hand was put to work opening the irrigation system up to absorb most of the excess water, and cleaning out the drains in the village streets, with Julieta standing by to heal any injuries incurred in the rush. When the flood hit, the village was thankfully prepared and Wednesday was spent at an impromptu party in Casita while everybody waited for the water to drain from the main road.

Leandra had done her best to help Bruno, Julieta, and Pepa as they in turn helped their mother host the unexpected event. She was vaguely aware that Agustín and Félix were also running around helping, but hadn’t had the spare time to see for herself, as she and Julieta had spent the entire time cooking.

Thursday morning was spent cleaning up the residual mud and debris left by the flood, then the market was opened and everybody rushed to pick up the groceries they hadn’t been able to buy before. Bruno hadn’t been able to join her at the stall since every farmer, gardener, and casual flower fan wanted to know how their plants would be affected by the flood.

The rush of customers had carried over into Friday morning, which was a mixed blessing as it meant Cicero only got snatches of conversation out of her before Bruno arrived, tired and grumpy and looking like he might kill Cicero just to make the world a slightly quieter place.

Exhausted as he was, Bruno hadn’t been able to muster up the embarrassment needed to prevent him from parking his chair close to hers, leaning his head on her shoulder and dozing through the late morning and early afternoon.

She had enjoyed the closeness, and especially the hope it gave her. When they both had more energy, she would try some light flirting and see how he responded.

Leandra was prepared to back off if he truly seemed uncomfortable with her flirting, but she was 80% sure he’d only rebuffed her in a misguided attempt at being loyal to Pepa.

Now, he was slumped in his chair, still leaning on her a little, reading his book. Well, she was pretty sure he was reading. His eyes were open and pointed at it, but he hadn’t turned a page in several minutes.

She sighed again.

“Tell me about it,” he muttered, then pinched the bridge of his nose, “ugh.”

“Ugh indeed,” she murmured, then yawned.

“Before I forget, Juli wants me to invite you to a picnic tomorrow,” Bruno closed the book and sat up straight to stretch. She winced sympathetically when his back popped in at least two different places.

“Picnic,” she also stretched, then pressed her arm against his to see if he would lean on her some more, “sounds great.”

“I said we should invite you guys over for a fun-filled afternoon of napping instead,” Bruno scratched at his chin, lazily, “but Pepa wants to play… a game. Of some sort. I forget. Whatever.”

“Picnic, game, nap,” she slowly leaned on him, “wonderful.”

“Ugh,” he said again, and when she leaned her head on his shoulder he wasted no time leaning his cheek on her.

“Very ugh.”

She wouldn’t mind going over to Casita and taking a nap in Bruno’s tent. That big pile of cushions he had was incredibly comfortable, throw in a blanket or two, maybe some light cuddling. She couldn’t think of a better way to spend her Saturday.

“At noon,” Bruno said, after they had been sitting in silence for ten minutes, “should have mentioned that.”

“Hmmm right,” she blinked lazily at the equally tired passerby, “where?”

“Um. The pools… what are they called…?” he waved a vague hand out in front of him.

“Starlit or Mirror?”

“Oh, right, Mirror Pools.”

“Mm-hm, Mirror Pools, noon, tomorrow.”

“Sí.”

Her eyelids were getting heavy. With a sigh she sat up straight and lightly patted her cheeks in an attempt to rid herself of her sleepiness. Bruno groaned at his new found lack of pillow and simply slumped over so he was draped across her lap. It didn’t look very comfortable, especially since his arms and head were dangling over the edge of her legs. Not to mention his hip was still resting in his chair and he was twisted at an odd angle so his chest lay on her thighs.

“You alright?”

“So. Many. Visions.”

“Aw, I’m sorry,” she began rubbing his back.

“It’s not like-! Every single one was the same, so I mean, th-they weren’t hard or anything, because they were the same, all of them,” Bruno groused, dangling arms gesturing sharply, “and I told people that, it would get to their turn and I’d be like ‘some crops will need to be harvested later than we thought, but everything will be fine’ a-and then they’d be like ‘but what about my crops’ and of course I can’t be like ‘what did I just say?!’ I have to be all like ‘I did not see any food shortages so it's safe to say they’ll be fine’ and then they’re always like ‘can you check anyways’ and I want to say ‘aren’t you a farmer, don’t you know what your plants look like when they’re in trouble’ but I have to say ‘oh sure, absolutely, gosh what was I thinking, I would love to use my unworldly and very draining powers to watch your plants grow’. Ugh!”

Leandra frowned sympathetically and continued to rub his back, “That sounds very frustrating.”

“Oh, it is,” he grumbled, arms going limp again.

He lay across her lap until his spine started complaining then reluctantly sat up. Bruno wondered if he could convince Reina to come back to his place for that aforementioned fun-filled nap time. Did that sound like a come on? That definitely sounded like a come on.

But could anyone blame him if he missed nap time? Oh, to be young again.

After a bit of thinking, Bruno had decided that at least a part of what made the past week so difficult was that he didn’t get to spend any time with people he actually liked. Not that there was anything wrong with the assorted farmers of Encanto, but they never laughed at his jokes.

They never even seemed to realize he made jokes.

He missed the days when a storm would come and he would curl up under a blanket with his sisters and listen to the rain fall. Now it was all vision, vision, vision. And what’s that?! More visions!

Truly the greatest tragedy of their age.

“Should I bring anything?” Leandra asked suddenly, then when Bruno just stared at her in confusion tacked on, “To the picnic.”

“Oh, uh, drinks? A-and cups,” Bruno answered.

She nodded, “Picnic, noon, Mirror Pools, drinks and cups. Bien.”

They settled back into exhausted silence.

Leandra groaned and grumbled when the market started closing down and she was forced to stand and pack up. After a moment’s hesitation, Bruno got up to help.

“Gracias gaupo- I mean, Bruno,” she murmured as he handed her the sample cheese to pack into the insulated crate. After sitting out half the day, it wouldn’t be good to sell on Tuesday, but she could throw it in some arepas for Sunday’s lunch.

He bit his lip to keep from asking her to call him “guapo” again.

Leandra took note of his lack of response and spent the rest of the day debating what it meant. Did it mean he didn’t mind the pet name? Or maybe he did mind but didn’t have the energy to make a stink?

If she was any less tired the question would have kept her awake that night, but as it was, she went to bed early, and woke up late. She had dreamed, she knew she had, but all she remembered was sitting naked in the pool in Bruno’s cave, asking a rat what he wanted to be called.

Bruno’s dreams were a bit more vivid, featuring Reina napping in his bed, waiting for him, while he was forced to watch moss grow. He grumbled about it to Julieta as he helped her prepare the picnic food, (except, he left out the Reina bit). She patted him on the back.

“Maybe you can take a nap while Pepa plays whatever game Félix was going on about,” she suggested.

“Oh, the game was Félix’s idea, that makes sense,” he nodded to himself, then frowned at his sister, “a-and it’s not that I’m even all that tired now. Really, I feel great, it-it’s just… the principle of the matter. I can’t even get some sleep while I’m sleeping.”

Julieta had fondly rolled her eyes at his complaining, then sent him to find a wagon to carry everything.

They packed up a blanket and some cushions from his tent, as well as the food, then set out. Naturally, Agustín was waiting for them right outside the door, a bag full of pastries under one arm.

They ran into Félix, who was carrying a bag full of hackysacks and two boards with a big hole cut in each, on their way through town. Leandra met them on the path to the pools, carrying a basket full of dishware, some cups and three thermoses.

“Coffee, lemonade, and tea, respectively,” she told Bruno when he asked.

The pools were still a lot more full than usual, but they had no problem finding some dry rock between one pool and another to set up on. 

Bruno spent a little more time than was strictly necessary making a comfy spot for Reina and himself, something he knew he was going to be teased about later. But gosh darn it, he had a hard week. He wanted to be comfy next to his… friend, and enjoy the company of his sisters and their boyfriends (or almost boyfriends in Félix’s case).

“Gracias,” Leandra said, as she handed him the plate full of food she’d prepared for him. He took it, and hers as well, as she lowered herself to the cushions he’d carefully arranged.

“Don’t mention it,” he handed her, her plate back, “I have spent way too much time on my feet this week to not be comfy.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Julieta grumbled, she was in Agustín’s lap, slumped against him as he poured some coffee for the both of them.

“Do you know how hard it is to hold back rain when your feet hurt so much you want to cry up a hurricane,” Pepa snapped, apparently lecturing the sky for giving her so much trouble.

“How would we possibly know that?” Julieta asked dryly, Pepa opened her mouth to retort, but Bruno cut her off. 

“Good thing Félix was able to keep you company,” Bruno said, hiding his grin behind his own cup.

She sent him a glare as her cheeks colored, then turned to Leandra, “Hm yes, but it’s a pity you couldn’t come soothe Bruno’s headache for him.”

Bruno blushed, glancing at Reina who was exchanging grins with Félix. It almost looked like they were about to shake hands, or pat each other on the back. He was about to ask her what that was about but didn’t get the chance.

“I only wish I could have been there to help you,” Agustín told Julieta in a voice that probably wasn’t meant to be heard by the entire group.

“From what I heard, you helped plenty,” Leandra said, “or was that someone else Felípe helped off the roof of Casita?”

“It better not have been,” Agustín joked.

“Dearest,” Julieta asked patiently, “what were you doing on the roof?”

“Your Mamá almost caught me when I was sneaking out,” he explained with a sheepish grin, “then I got stuck.”

“For three hours,” Félix supplied.

“Eh, could have been worse,” Agustín shrugged, “didn’t get caught.”

Julieta shook her head and smiled fondly, “The things you go through for me.”

“Worth it, all of it,” he reassured her.

The couple kissed and there was a chorus of ew’s and one “Get a room.” Julieta responded by kissing her boyfriend harder.

They happily stuffed their faces for a little while, before Félix asked, “Did any of you have to deal with Señor Florence?”

Four loud groans almost drowned out Agustín asking, “No, why?”

“He was the farmer whose vision started all this,” Bruno said.

“Which apparently, in his mind at least, means he’s in charge of the whole operation,” Pepa rolled her eyes while Félix patted her back, “he spent the whole time trying to tell people what to do instead of actually, oh I don’t know, helping?!”

“I’m impressed you didn’t hit him with lightning,” Félix grinned wryly at her, “I wanted to and I don’t even have magic weather powers.”

“Oh believe me, the thought of zapping him was key in keeping the sun shining,” she sniffed “I can’t believe he actually tried to tell me how to control the weather! As if he would know!”

“He kept checking on my line of people and trying to decide who did and didn’t need healing,” Julieta complained, she stuffed a forkful of food into her mouth and chewed on it angrily for a little, then said, “which of course just held up the line. And made everybody irritable by the time they got to me. I tried telling him to leave my patients alone but he just huffed something about layabouts taking advantage of me or something.”

“I had to help my Pá get the goats inside before I could come help, right? So I do, then I come down to see what work was needed, and the minute I reach town he’s lecturing me about lazing around when there’s work to be done,” Leandra made a noise of disgust, “so then I was like, ‘why are you standing around lecturing people when you could be doing something useful’ and he started going on about how he’s trying to keep things organized.”

“Tell me this story ends with you punching him,” Pepa interjected and Leandra chuckled wryly.

“No, sorry, I just pointed out that if he was actually in charge of organizing things, he would know that the village’s herdsmen had to get their livestock to safety before helping.”

“What did he say to that?”

“Something about being busy and having a lot of moving parts to take care of, he was walking away while he said it,” she shrugged, then turned to Bruno, “what’s your horror story?”

“Oh, I uh I was helping Mamá, you know, the person who was actually in charge of organizing everything,” Bruno said, “really he annoyed her more than me. She was trying to make sure the farms that were going to get hit the hardest got the most help, and he kept stopping in to ‘give advice’. Except- I mean, the advice he was giving? It was things that Mamá was already doing.”

There were various noises of disgust and second hand outrage.

“Yeah, I… I really thought I was going to have to help Mamá hide his body,” Bruno shook his head, chuckling ruefully, “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her that close to snapping.”

“I bet I can,” Agustín piped up, and both Julieta and Pepa broke out into giggles.

“I sense a story?” Félix leaned over and grabbed a pastry from the bag Agustín had set in the middle of the blanket.

“Alright, so, in case you don’t know, Señora Madrigal is… well, it’s not that she doesn’t like me, it’s just-.”

“I don’t know what Mamá’s problem is,” Julieta cut him off, sighing loudly, “you treat me well, we’re happy together, you come from a perfectly good family. What more could a mother ask for?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s the accident thing,” Pepa said, in the tone of somebody who had shared this opinion many times before, “Mamá is convinced that you’re just using our sweet, innocent Julieta to support your addiction to falling flat on your face.”

“Well, it is my favorite thing to do in the whole wide world,” Agustín replied dryly, before continuing, “so it was perhaps a year into our relationship, sí?”

“Sí.”

“Mamá was beginning to lose hope that Juli would come to her senses and dump him,” Pepa cut in.

Julieta cried, “I have come to my senses! Being with a man who treats me well is a very sensible thing to do.”

“You know what would be more sensible…?” Pepa exchanged a sly glance with Bruno while Julieta tried to shush the both of them.

“What about that nice Alejandro boy?” Pepa and Bruno said together, in what was clearly an impression of their mother, “He’s such a sturdy young man.”

“Uuuuuugh,” Julieta groaned loudly, “he’s fine, Alejandro is fine, but I don’t love Alejandro, I love Agustín. I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to say that before she accepts it.”

“Better say it once a day for the rest of your life,” Agustín suggested, then gave a little shrug, “just to be safe.”

Julieta and Agustín got sidetracked in each other’s eyes, so Pepa picked up the story, “So! Agustín and Julieta have been together for a year and Juli invites Agustín over for dinner. And it’s incredibly obvious that there’s more going on here than just dinner, she’s making all of Mamá’s favorites-.”

“Oh! This story,” Bruno suddenly interjected, then blushed when everyone looked his way. Leandra saw an opportunity to enact Operation Testing the Waters and drew him close so he could hide behind her. 

Félix raised an eyebrow at her and she raised one back, looking pointedly at his hand which was still on Pepa’s back. He shrugged as if to say “touché” and they both returned their attention to Agustín, who had reclaimed the narrative thread.

“The thing is, well, you know, Juli and I aren’t going to be young forever, and we’ve been together for two years now, and it’s not like we’ve never talked about the future,” Agustín said, “so of course, about a year in, I thought- we thought, ‘gee maybe we should start talking about marriage’.”

“Oooh,” Félix said, as he started to see where the story was going. Meanwhile Leandra turned to Bruno grinning and had to stifle her giggles when he winked at her conspiratorially.

“Sí, and you would think Mamá would be perfectly happy to see me married to the man of my dreams,” Julieta huffed, “so I make all her favorites, I spend the whole day buttering her up, AND talking up Agustín. Then dinner comes along, Agustín arrives, I’m ready for us all to sit and eat but Mamá is like ‘wait, there’s one more guest coming’.”

Bruno and Pepa snickered while Félix and Leandra made various noises of dread.

“There’s a knock at the door-,” Pepa rushed to say.

“Casita opens it with a loud ‘creeeeeeeaaak’,” Bruno jumped in, complete with sound effects.

“And guess who’s standing there with a bouquet of flowers?” Agustín finished.

“Alejandro,” Félix and Leandra said as one.

“So we proceed to have the worst, most awkward dinner in the entire history of food,” Julieta shook her head, cheeks turning red just at the memory, “Mamá spent the entire time talking up Alejandro while I was trying to do the same for Agustín. And well…”

“I just happened to notice that Alejandro was getting a bit self conscious,” Agustín rubbed at the back of his neck, “and I felt bad for the guy! None of this was his fault, right?!”

“I love you so much,” Julieta’s voice was filled to the brim with exasperation.

“So now both Mamá and Agustín are talking Alejandro up,” Pepa said.

“Which just made him confused,” Bruno pointed out.

“And finally Juli can’t take it anymore,” Pepa laughed and slapped her knee, “she gets up, turns to Agustín and yells-.”

Agustín, Bruno, and Pepa all said it at the same time while Julieta put her head in her hands, “Well if you like the man my mother chose so much, why don’t you marry him?!”

Félix and Leandra burst out laughing while the four who were there exchanged grins. When the laughter subsided, Agustín cleared his throat.

“But wait- it doesn’t end there,” he said, “Julieta rushed off and I knew I had messed up, so I went running after her. I apologized and explained myself, she forgave me and apologized for how the night had turned out. One thing led to another and…”

“And Mamá felt that she also owed Juli an apology,” Bruno deadpanned.

“Oh no,” Leandra gasped, putting a hand over her mouth while Félix sucked air in through his teeth.

“Oh yes,” Pepa said, “Mamá had finished out the dinner, apologized to Alejandro, gave Juli a bit of time to calm down, then went to talk to her.”

“Did she knock?”

“Sí, but only as a warning before she opened the door,” Julieta shook her head, “fortunately, by then we were just cuddling under the blankets but well, it wasn’t like we’d bothered to put our clothes back on. And of course, Agustín, love of my life, only made things worse by trying to be funny. What did you say, mi amor?”

“I-I was just trying to break the tension.”

“What did you say?”

Agustín grimaced, “I- and this was a joke, I wasn’t remotely serious, I asked her if she’d let me marry Juli if I got her pregnant first.”

Félix burst out laughing immediately but Leandra choked on her own spit and went into a coughing fit. Bruno rubbed her back until it settled. Agustín put his head in his hands, moving his glasses out of the way so he could rub at his eyes while he groaned loudly.

“Come to think of it, that would be the exact reason why we’re not married yet,” Julieta sighed, even as she twisted to pet Agustín’s hair.

“Well, now I know what not to do,” Leandra whispered to Bruno, although she was pretty sure Pepa heard her.

“Somehow, I don’t think Mamá would take you threatening to impregnate Julieta all that seriously,” Bruno retorted, apparently completely missing what Leandra was going for. She laughed anyway, because it was funny.

“So, your guys’ turn,” Agustín said.

“What? Our turn to tell an embarrassing story about you?” Leandra asked, grinning mischievously.

He rolled his eyes at her and said, “Actually I was thinking we might play Fuck, Marry, Kill.”

“I might take you up on that a little later,” Leandra told him, trying to communicate Operation Testing the Water to him through eye contact alone.

He must have picked something up because he glanced at Bruno then gave her a sympathetic look, “Just let me know.”

“I’ve never played that game before,” Bruno confessed.

“Agustín and I used to play it all the time. Of course, it stopped being fun when he kept picking Julieta for ‘marry’.”

“I like Julieta.”

“She wasn’t even an option half the time! He chose her even when we were doing fictional characters.”

“Details,” Agustín shrugged, then bent his head to kiss his girlfriend on the cheek. She blushed and giggled like a school girl.

“S-so it’s exactly what it sounds like, right?” Bruno asked her quietly, while Julieta and Agustín continued to flirt. Pepa turned to Félix and asked him about the game he’d brought and they were soon busy setting it up.

“Sí, you pick three people, preferably of equal attractiveness, like say… you, Agustín, and Félix. Then everybody has to decide who they would fuck, marry, or kill,” she turned more fully towards him, even though it meant sacrificing their physical contact, “if the three people you pick are equally attractive then it can actually get really hard to choose and people end up killing people for the weirdest reasons. Like with you three I have to kill Agustín because he’s already in a committed relationship.”

She was hoping he would take the bait and ask her whether that meant she would fuck him or marry him, which would give her the opening to list off a few of his more attractive qualities, but instead Bruno just nodded, “Makes sense. You can’t marry another woman’s boyfriend, but killing him is definitely ok.”

“Exactly,” she grinned, “so, you want to play?”

“Sí, Dracula, Victor Frankenstein, or the Wolfman,” he launched right into it.

“That ones easy,” Agustín interjected, “you marry Dracula. He’s rich.”

“But he also already has three wives,” Leandra argued back, “fuck Dracula, marry the wolf man. Sorry Victor.”

“You could marry and kill Dracula, for the inheritance,” Julieta pointed out.

Bruno nodded, “Frankenstein comes from a rich family so you could do the same to him.”

“The game isn’t called Pick The Most Lucrative Murder Victim, it’s called Fuck, Marry, Kill,” Leandra said.

“Sí, it is vitally important that you follow the rules, otherwise we’ll have nothing but anarchy,” Agustín gave them a faux serious face.

“Bien, marry Dracula, fuck the wolfman,” Bruno decided.

“Hmm, I’m going to go against the grain and marry Frankenstein, kill the Wolfman,” Julieta said, “I sort of want to know what effect my gift would have on the monster.”

They spent a while playing word games, frequently arguing over the rules. Pepa returned and Félix lured Bruno away to play a round of corn hole, which Agustín joined in on.

“Sooo,” Pepa said slyly, once the men folk were thoroughly distracted with their game, “Srta. Lopez, what exactly are your intentions with our sweet Brunito.”

“Oh good, I’m glad somebody noticed, I was beginning to think the constant physical contact was a bit too subtle,” Leandra sighed.

The two sisters giggled, Julieta glancing at the boys before saying, “Be patient with him, he’s not used to that sort of attention.”

“Really? I mean, I know he’s maybe not the most popular person in town, but… he’s just so pretty,” Leandra shook her head, “I have a hard time believing I’m the first to make a pass at him.”

“You’re not,” Pepa reassured her, “but it happens pretty rarely and he usually doesn’t notice when it does. As you can see.”

Leandra drummed her fingers on the blanket, “I was being a little more forward before, then he said something that might have been a rejection, might not. I’ve backed off a bit, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, but…”

“But it really seems like he’s into you too,” Julieta finished for her, “I had a similar problem with Agustín. I knew he had a crush on me, but I had a hard time convincing him that yes, I am flirting with you.”

“I remember that,” Leandra threw a wry grin at her friend’s back, “he was absolutely twisted up in knots trying to examine every little thing you said for hidden messages. Rosalie and I kept telling him you were flirting but then he’d be all ‘let’s not fall victim to wishful thinking’.”

Julieta laughed, putting a hand to her heart, “Aw my poor corazon. I’m glad I eventually got through to him.”

“Any advice?” 

“I eventually gave up and just kissed him,” Julieta shrugged, “so if you want to make sure Bruno is comfortable with you making a move before doing so… maybe don’t do what I did.”

“If this carries on for too long, I’ll probably just ask him to clarify where his boundaries are,” Leandra said, then grinned at Pepa, “anyways, how are things going with Félix?”

Pepa smiled brightly, then frowned, then smiled a little sadly, “We’re taking things slow. I don’t feel-. I need a little more time before I jump into anything.”

“He doesn’t seem bothered with waiting a little,” Leandra pointed out.

“No, no he doesn’t,” Pepa agreed, the sun shining a little bit brighter.

“I like Félix,” Julieta declared it like a judge declaring a ruling, “I like the way he treats you.”

“Well, if he has the Golden Child seal of approval,” Pepa teased.

“He does,” Julieta stuck her nose in the air earning a light shove from her sister.

They were interrupted by a couple of loud peels of laughter from Félix and Agustín, while Bruno looked pleasantly surprised. Leandra smiled fondly at him and his shy little grin, dios it made her want to go over there and plant one on him.

They watched the men play for a while. Félix won, at least Leandra was pretty sure Félix won. Unless the object of the game was to lose the most hacky sacks, then Agustín won. 

Either way, Bruno came in second.

“They do make a pretty picture,” Pepa said, eyeing Félix as he gave Bruno a friendly smack on the back.

“Oh definitely,” Julieta agreed, “not to brag, but I have definitely scooped up the most handsome man in the village.”

Pepa rolled her eyes, “Sure, sure, if you happen to be sexually attracted to twigs.”

“I’m going to win this argument,” Leandra said quietly, not bothering to repeat herself when Julieta accidentally spoke over her.

“He isn’t a twig, he’s just tall. Look at his shoulders, those are not twig shoulders,” she crossed her arms.

“No offense, he’s fine, perfectly fine, but Félix, well… he’s fine,” Pepa picked up a pastry and used it to gesture as she spoke.

“Bruno is obviously the most handsome,” Leandra said, peacefully, unbothered by the look the other two women gave her.

“Félix is a very handsome man, of course he is, but look at Agustín’s cheekbones,” Julieta poured herself some tea then sipped it primly.

“Bah, look at Félix’s arms, those are fantastic arms,” Pepa bit viciously into her pastry.

“Bruno is obviously the most handsome, because!” Leandra paused to throw her companions a winning grin, “Nobody in town can compete with the beauty of a Madrigal.”

Pepa and Julieta giggled, rolling their eyes at her and shaking their heads, but eventually Pepa tossed her red curls off her shoulder and haughtily said, “Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

“It is a fair point,” Julieta nodded, fixing her skirt.

“What’s a fair point?” Félix asked, suddenly appearing to grab the lemonade and three cups.

Pepa spoke loud enough for everybody to hear, “Srta. Lopez has pointed out that Bruno is the most handsome of you three, because there’s no competing with Madrigal beauty.”

“Oh come on hermana,” Agustín groused, “I walk away for ten minutes and you’re putting the moves on my girlfriend.”

“Watch out ami, I’ll take your girl, and your sock collection,” Leandra called back.

She heard Bruno quietly ask, “You have a sock collection?”

“I like colorful socks,” Agustín shrugged, then lifted the legs of his tailored trousers to show his mismatched, brightly dyed socks.

“Oh, very nice,” Bruno said.

“Now hold on, let’s not gloss over the fact that the girls are over here,” Félix put a hand to his chest in a big show of offense then hissed, “objectifying us.”

“Oh, you’re right,” Agustín put the back of his hand to his forehead, “I feel like a sack of meat.”

“I’m fine with it,” Bruno shrugged, “I-I think you guys are just bitter that I’m- that you’re not as pretty as I am.”

Félix let out a loud bark of laughter while Agustín faked a gasp, then pointed a finger at Bruno, “You take that back!”

“I’ll have you know I’m ten times as pretty as you are,” Félix fluttered his eyelashes.

“Hey, I didn’t make the call,” he held up his hands, “t-talk to them.”

“Sure, talk to us, tell us that I’m wrong about the Madrigals being the most beautiful people in town,” Leandra smirked. Pepa wiggled her fingers at the men while Julieta just rolled her eyes, chuckling.

Agustín pretended to wince while Félix shook his fist at Bruno, “You win this round hermano, but just you wait, I’ll be prettier than you yet.”

Agustín sat back down next to Julieta and whispered something in her ear that had her grinning happily at him, while Félix apparently gave up on continuing his game and rejoined Pepa. Bruno was the last to realize the game was over, he dropped the hacky sack he’d been holding and strolled over to his original spot by Leandra.

“Was it fun?” Leandra asked, while Félix and Agustín were busy flirting with Bruno’s sisters.

“Yeah,” Bruno shrugged, “got my hands all dusty though.”

Leandra saw an opportunity and jumped on it, “Let me see.”

“My… dusty hands?”

“Sí.”

“Alright?” Bruno drew the word out into a question, even as he offered her both of his hands. She took them in hers, pretending to examine them.

“Hm, which is your dominant hand?”

“Left, why?”

She dropped his right hand and turned her full attention on his left. Leandra bent over his palm, and traced a finger over the longest line, “Ok, so. This is your life line, and it tells me that… you’re going to have a career change soon.”

Bruno let out a surprised bark of laughter, drawing the attention of the other picnic goers, then sheepishly cleared his throat, “Oh really? I’m going to quit the Village Seer gig? In exchange for what, exactly?”

“Hey,” she looked at him through her lashes, pouting playfully, “Do you want to know your future or not?”

“Not really.”

“Hush, the magic is happening,” she turned her eyes back to his palm and traced a different line, “Hm, see this here is either your love line or your family line.”

“A real paragon of accuracy, aren’t you.”

“So! Either you’re going to get married five times-.”

“Five?! W-where exactly am I finding five wives?”

“I didn’t say you were marrying five different women, just that you’ll be married five times.”

“Why would I marry one woman five times?”

“Or. OR! It’s your family line and you will have, one, two… eleven babies.”

“Well then, those five wives will really come in handy,” he rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but laugh at her antics.

She smiled back, “I like your laugh.”

“O-oh?” he gulped, suddenly aware of how close she was, rather than giving him a verbal answer she just nodded, a gentle look in her eyes. A nervous giggle bubbled its way out of his throat and he fought the urge to grimace at how high pitched it was.

Slowly, she pulled her eyes back down to his hand, she turned it so that she could plant her palm against his, then went, “hmmmmmmm.”

“W-what is it?”

“You have really long fingers.”

“And?”

“That tells me you could probably play a musical instrument really well if you wanted to.”

He laughed again, “You’d be surprised. I mean, I’m fine at it, b-but I never spend enough time practicing.”

“Would you like to show me sometime?” Leandra asked, pitching her voice a little lower and leaning in a little closer, “I bet you’re better than you think.”

“Actually if you want to talk music, you should talk to Agustín,” Bruno said, then jumped when he heard Pepa break into a fit of laughter. 

Slowly, he turned to look at the others and found everybody was still watching him and Reina, except for Pepa who was giggling helplessly into her hands. Julieta had her lips pressed together and seemed to be trying to communicate something to him through pointed looks alone. Félix and Agustín were giving Reina a sympathetic look, Félix leaned over and muttered something to Reina that almost sounded like “It was a good try”, then patted her on the back.

Bruno looked back at Reina, whose smile looked a little like a grimace to him.

“I-I mean, if you really want to-, maybe the three of us-?” Bruno tried, Pepa laughed even harder. He looked to Julieta, hoping he would spontaneously develop telepathy, but he still had no clue what she was trying to tell him.

Reina sighed, then she rubbed his back, making him feel slightly better about apparently missing something that was obvious to everybody else. At least he hadn’t offended her. She quietly told him, “I’ll explain when we don’t have an audience.”

“Por favor,” Bruno said, emphatically.

“No, no, don’t. I want to see how long it takes him to figure it out,” Pepa finally recovered from her laughter.

Bruno grabbed an arepa and threw it at Pepa who gasped dramatically then frisbied a tortilla at his face. This, because they were very mature twenty-six year olds, meant war. Julieta shielded Agustín, and occasionally threw anything that strayed her way back at her siblings, but otherwise stayed out of it.

When the food fight eventually ended, the six friends made a game of figuring out where all the food ended up. Most of it had landed in one pond or another and was already being eaten by fish.

“Do you think that’s ok? L-like it won’t hurt the fish, right?” Bruno asked.

“Juli made most of it, so at worst it’ll balance out her healing powers,” Pepa answered.

“Let’s pick up what we can anyways,” Julieta pulled a tortilla off a tree branch, “if we feed the wildlife it might follow us home, then Bruno will want to keep it.”

“Hey!”

“Señor Hissy Fit?”

“Bien, fair point.”

“A snake?” Leandra asked, brushing some dirt off an arepa.

“No, no, snakes eat rats, I would never,” Bruno shook his head, “a very grumpy tapir.”

Félix frowned, “This wouldn’t happen to be the same tapir that went on a rampage through the market fifteen years ago?”

The triplets all exchanged a look, then as one said, “No, different tapir. Coincidence.”

“Tell me everything?” Agustín asked Julieta.

“Later,” she whispered back, with a wink.

Bruno looked up from the croissant that was wedged between two rocks and found Reina pouting at him, a pleading look in her large brown eyes. He set his jaw, but crumbled almost immediately, sighing and nodding.

“Wait, hey now, if you’re going to tell those two anyways, you might as well tell me,” Félix protested.

Pepa gave her siblings a harsh look, “Now look at what you’ve done.”

Bruno shrugged at her apologetically. Julieta was unaffected, and as soon as they’d finished picking up the food and had started on the path back to the village, she launched into the story.

“Alright, so, it all started when Bruno, Pepa, and I were having a picnic…”

[in-my-shifting-era]

Some Days Are Harder Then Others

Eddie Munson (Angst that ends with lots of Fluff)

Warning: talk of the death of a parent and grief. Some mature language.

Summery: Reader is having a hard time with some personal issues and is canceling plans with Eddie and he wants to get to the bottom of why that is.

Authors Note: As someone who has experienced parent loss this is a bit self indulgent.Also my messages are open to anyone who has lost a loved one and needs someone to talk to. I may have cried writing this so be warned.

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Grief is a bitch, that’s the easiest way to put it. They say it gets easier with time but after 7 years the wound still bleeds. Losing a parent at age 11 make’s grieving complicated and isolating. The loss becomes part of who you are and that means sharing the news with new friends and even partners that come into your life.

Eddie knew about your father’s passing from when it happened in middle school. Word traveled fast after administration was told and you where absent from school for 2 weeks only returning after the funeral service. He was one of the few kids that didn’t walk on egg shells around you when you came back.

You sat alone at lunch on your first day back. Eddie invited himself and sat with you. He immediately talked your ear off about the cool new pin you were wearing on your backpack. The pin belonged to your dad. It was from some band he liked and wore on a hat. Now it was one of the few things you had to remember him by. Eddie made a day that was destined to be hard and uncomfortable a day you met your best friend.

Eddie always let you grieve freely, he encouraged it actually. He’d ask you to tell him stories of your late father and he even gave you flowers on the anniversary of his death every year for you to put on his grave. You slowly fell for the metal head in your years of friendship leading up to a relationship your senior year.

Eddie likes to claim he repeated his senior year three times just so he could graduate with you. Now that you are finally graduating Eddie has stepped up his academic efforts to have at least a solid “C” in each class to pass. You study with him most nights and actually get him to do his homework with lots of breaks for cuddles and snacks.

So when you canceled your usual celebratory ice cream date for passing your math test on Wednesday with Eddie due to a headache he wasn’t hurt just concerned. Then you told him you had to watch your neighbors kid after school Thursday he was bummed but let it slide. His final straw was when you didn’t show up to school at all on Friday. He knew something was up and he was going to find out just what it was.

He completely ditched school after first period when he learned you had never shown up to class from Gareth. All the awful scenarios plagued his brain as to what could be happening with you. Did your car break down?Where you sick? Did you wanna break up with him and where avoiding him at all costs?

His mind raced until he made it to your house and seeing your moms car in the drive way. He put his van in park and practically ran to your front door knocking a little too eagerly. Your mom opened the door quickly and smiled softly when she saw Eddie with a worried expression on his face. He gave her a polite smile before he spoke. “Hello Miss y/ln, is y/n home? She never came to school today.”

Your mom actually really liked Eddie. Even before he was officially your boyfriend she always thought he was so polite and sweet. “Hi Eddie. She did stay home. She’s been having a rough few days and I told her to take a day off. She didn’t tell you she wouldn’t be coming in? You two are joined at the hip I figured you already knew.”

Eddie frowned at the thought of you not telling him something was wrong. Your mother caught on to this and spoke again. “She tells you everything doesn’t she? I actually had to pry this one out of her myself. She’s been missing her dad a lot lately. I think the thought of graduating without him around has finally sunk in.”

Eddie’s heart felt like it had completely shattered hearing that. He gave your mom a soft smile as he rocked on his feet gently. “I think I know where to find her now. Thank you.” She sent him off with a knowing nod and smile. She watched as Eddie walked back to his van and started on his way to find you.

Hawkins cemetery was a few miles from your house. Not an easy walk so he figured you drove. He was proven right when he could see your car from the entrance of the cemetery. He parks his car just outside the gate and walks in knowing how to get to your father’s grave from visiting with you before.

You sat by the grave marked with your father’s name. Tears stain your cheeks as you pick at grass that surrounds the garnet stone. “Graduating should be exciting right? All the bull shit of high school is almost over and all I can think about is that you won’t be in the crowd watching me walk across that stage. Ready to give me flowers like you always did when I accomplished something.” You wipe another fallen tear as you bring your knees to your chest.

Eddie finally makes it to where your sat, your shaky voice now clear as he approaches you. He goes to announce his presence but stops when you softly continue your talk. “Eddie’s going to be with me though. I know you never got to meet him but I think you’d really like him Dad. He makes me really happy and he treats me like a gentleman. Just like you always told me I deserve.”

A wide smile quickly finds its way to Eddie’edds face as he hears you talk about him to your father. He knows you like to catch him up on all the things going on, good and bad. His heart sores knowing he is something good in your life. Eddie steps closer and his feet meeting the grass close to where you’re sat. “Mr y/ln, I’ll do everything I can to get her those flowers for walking across that stage. She deserves it, for getting me there too.”

You look behind you quickly recognizing Eddie’s voice immediately. Seeing him makes all the confusing emotions flood over and your eyes fill with tears. “Eds .” You’re quickly enveloped in a huge as Eddie joins you where you’re sat in the grass letting you cry into his shoulder. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your time with him.” Eddie rubs your back gently as he speaks knowing how it calms you down.

You shake your head again his shoulder and attempt to steady your shaking breathing. “You’re not interrupting. I’m sorry I disappeared lately.” Eddie pulls you back a bit, only enough to be able to wipe your fallen tears. “You don’t have to apologize for anything princess. You are aloud to feel your emotions however you see fit. Just know I’ll be here for you. Even when the ugly grief clouds cast over head.”

You give your boyfriend a small smile and a nod laying your head against his chest gently. “I’m pretty sure you heard what I said about you to him. I ment it. He would have really liked you Eddie.” You take his calloused hand into yours and play with his rings gently. Something that has always soothed you.  Eddie pulls you closer to his chest. “I still aim for his approval you know. He may not be here to scare me straight into treating his daughter right but I still do everything I can to be a man he’d be happy to have stolen his daughters heart.”

You pull back gently and cup Eddie’s face with your hands and smile widely up at him. “ I don’t know how I get so lucky to find a guy like Eddie Munson but I’m not letting you go. Got it.” Before Eddie can even respond your crash your lips into his. He kisses you back instantly and pulls away after a short moment. “I’m not going anywhere princess. You’re kinda stuck with me.” Eddie tightens his grip around you gently and kisses all over your face making you giggle loudly.

Once he stops he lets you catch your breath and he smiles down at you. “I heard something about getting you flowers at graduation? Do I get a bouquet for myself as well?” You roll your eyes playfully at his comment and lay against him as you talk about graduation and make plans for what will happen that day. Your dad being involved in every step of the way.

[gloriousrunwayninja]

SPOILER ALERT: 2023 IS OUR YEAR ?!?

(Step by step challenge to FULLY live your dream life in 2023!)

cr to @pearloholic on IG

Since 2023 is SOON and December already started, I decided to make a challenge so we can ALL live our dream life FULLY in 2023 AND THE YEAR'S AFTER THAT. I am sick and tired people feel motivated during the beginning of the year and then slowly lose motivation RIGHT in the middle of February. So here on from this challenge I WILL keep pushing you all to NOT GIVE UP!

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CHALLENGE:

This challenge has MULTIPLE Section's. In order to be INCLUSIVE OF EVERYONE'S manifestation journey, there will be ONE WHOLE month dedicated to EACH section.

I will post 3-5 affirmation's for EACH section in the BEGINNING OF EVERY MONTH. I will ALSO post a subliminal on my subliminal channel at the beginning of every month for those WHO WOULD LIKE to use subliminal's, (Subliminal's in this challenge are recommended not required)

The topic for the month of December is SELF CONCEPT!

I understand that A LOT of you think self concept is NOT needed BUT it WILL help you 100%! Manifestation will be faster, easier and more effortless for you! HOWEVER, the MAIN REASON I am making you all spend the ENTIRE December working on self concept is because it will HELP shorten your list of desire's because self concept CAN HELP with self confidence! Due to the self confidence you achieve you may no longer feel THE NEED to fulfill a desire because you have come to appreciate what you already have at the moment!

IMPORTANT:

In order to stay consistent with affirming I DO NOT suggest burning yourself out from affirming every second of the day! You DO NOT need to affirm for the assigned amount of minutes in one sitting If you don't know WHEN YOU SHOULD AFFIRM to Fit YOUR OWN SCHEDULE, check my last post out!( create a manifestation routine with me )

Self concept affirmation's for December:

.I have a PERFECT self concept.

.I am a master manifestor.

.I am confident and Love myself!

Self concept subliminal for December: I did NOT have the time to make a self concept subliminal for you all on time so for THIS MONTH only, there is no subliminal FROM ME to listen to. HOWEVER, feel free to listen to a self concept subliminal from another subliminal maker!

here is a sc subliminal playlist

DECEMBER MANIFESTATION PLAN:

REPEAT EVERY WEEK FOR THE ENTIRE DECEMBER

Thursday (FIRST OF DECEMBER): Affirm AT LEAST 10-20 minute's Friday: Affirm AT LEAST 10-20 minute's Saturday: Affirm AT LEAST 20-30 minute's Sunday: Affirm AT LEAST 20-30 minute's Monday: Affirm AT LEAST 10-20 minute's Tuesday: Affirm AT LEAST 10-20 minute's Wednesday: BREAK DAY! (Affirm IF YOU WANT but alway's STICK TO THE NEW STORY)

none of this is mine all belong to @pearloholic on IG

OG POST

love, jade