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whereianonymouslypostfics · 6 months ago

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In The Night

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~3.3k

Summary: Late night out

A/N: Another risk assessment

Warnings: stalking, violence, blood, hurt/comfort

The years you’ve spent with your wife have only heighted your already healthy paranoia. You didn’t go anywhere alone after dark if you could help it, and if you did, you tried to at least have your dog with you.

Tonight, you only had yourself to blame. It was nearly 10 o’clock and you’d watched as night fell from where you sat with some of your friends and Boone at a brewery near work. You didn’t drink much because you never do, but you’ve eaten enough to become pleasantly full and a little sleepy. You reach out to pet your dog and smile when he sniffs your hand for any morsel of food. You haven’t given him anything but his treats under the table, and you know he’s not very happy about this.

“It’s getting late.”

You say this despite it being way earlier than the last night you’d spent out with your friends. However, this time you have your dog, and you also want to get home to your wife. She’s texted a couple of times, and seeing a picture of her on the couch with Fletcher makes you want to get home sooner so you can join her.

You hug your friends goodbye before they leave you and Boone to head back to your car only a couple of blocks away.

You’re only a little on edge as you leave the bright lights of the brewery behind you for the dimly lit streets. You figure Bucky is nearby, but you try to walk as quickly as you can without seeming like you’re running. Boone’s walking beside you and you’re holding his leash in a white knuckled grip as you turn the corner down the road where your car is parked.

The sound of her phone ringing from the coffee table jolts Wanda back to consciousness. She hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep until she sees that the show she’d been watching has stopped playing, and Fletcher was nowhere in sight. She sighs as she reaches for her phone and answers it almost before it’s to her ear when she sees it’s Bucky. As usual, he was following you around since you were away from home. Hopefully he was calling to tell her that you were on your way back.

“Hey Bucky.”

“Wanda, I need you to meet me downtown. Now.”

Wanda’s already off the couch and running to the garage before Bucky’s finished speaking. She asks what’s wrong, but she doesn’t wait for a response as she slams her hand against the garage door opener just outside the door as she steps into a pair of boots before running for her car. Wanda jumps inside and the engine roars to life before she backs the car out almost before the garage door is all the way opened.

“We’re going to meet whoever’s been tailing you for the past couple of weeks.”

Your car is only about 100 feet away, and at this point it’s one of the only ones on the street given the late hour. You pick up the pace a bit before reaching into your pocket for the key fob to start the car. You’re still 50 feet away when the engine cuts on and you breathe a sigh of relief. You’re almost to your car when you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You smile when you see it’s Wanda and you’re opening the passenger door to let Boone jump in when you hear your wife’s voice come through your car speakers.

“Hey Wands.”

You’re fiddling with your phone so you can still hear your wife as you shut the door and step off the sidewalk.

“Y/n, where are you? Are you safe?”

You stop in your tracks at Wanda’s frantic voice, and you’re about to tell her that you’re fine when you hear something behind you. You don’t get a chance to turn around when something is thrown over your head and pulled tight against your throat. You gasp and drop your phone as your hands go to grab at the cord that’s quickly tightening around your neck. You can’t see much through the hood over your head, but you see shadows moving around you as you’re dragged back onto the sidewalk. You hear Boone’s muffled bark from inside the car and realize that you should have gotten in first. Or at the very least not shut the door on him.

You’re kicking and trying to regain your footing as you gasp for breath, but when you feel someone try to grab your legs, you realize you’re running out of time. You hiss out a curse as you reach to your right side where you have a hunting knife stashed under your jacket.

Your brother-in-law had gotten it for you as a gag gift because he knew how much you hated the idea of hunting. After seeing your wide-eyed, confused expression, he’d told you and Wanda that it was something you could use to protect yourself. He’d even suggested putting it in Boone’s harness pouch of weapons.

You’re extremely grateful that you’d chosen not to do this tonight as you feel the handle against your fingers and quickly yank the knife out from under your jacket. You bring it down behind you as hard as you can, and you hear a satisfying scream when you bury your knife into the man’s thigh. You gasp when you’re dropped and air floods into your lungs as you rip the hood off your head and breathe in deeply. You look up from where you’re on your knees to see that the person who’d been trying to help cart you off to who knows where was about to grab you again. You don’t have time to think about it, and you raise the knife that you luckily held onto.

“You bitch!”

You blink when you realize that you sliced open his cheek, but he’s still coming after you. You curse as you try to catch your breath enough to stand up, but movement out of the corner of your eye makes you pause. You open your mouth to curse again, but you don’t make it in time.

You can only watch as Boone jumps out the now open window and lunges at the bleeding man in front of you. You’re barely on your feet when you feel someone grab your hair and yank you backwards. Your world spins and you’re shoved against brick, your hand that’s holding the knife stuck between you and the wall.

“Fuck-.”

You don’t know what would have happened next, but the feeling of more hands on you tells you enough to be grateful for the rescue. You hear tires squealing and multiple gun shots that make you flinch in anticipation. You hear your dog snarling and you decide you need to figure out what’s going on, so you push back as hard as you can against the body that’s at least a hundred pounds heavier than you. He stumbles but doesn’t fall, but it’s enough for you to have time to turn around and kick him to the ground.

You look around frantically for the next threat, and can’t help the way you fall against the wall breathless. Now that you’re able to think, you realize that you hurt all over, and each ragged breath you take burns.

“Y/n!”

You finally notice the car parked behind your own, and see that Wanda is running toward you. You glance down when you see that Boone is still mauling the guy who choked you and you barely even flinch when Wanda hits him in the head with the gun that you just realized she’s holding.

“Y/n, we need to go. Can you give Bucky your keys?”

You flinch violently when Bucky appears out of nowhere and comes to stand by you. You see that he has a cut above his brow and a couple of bruises on his face. You don’t have time to ask what happened and you’re reaching for your keys without a word. You’re too dazed to say anything as Bucky gets in your car and starts it up again before he takes off.

You let Wanda lead you to her car that’s still running, and she opens the door for you before hurrying to the driver’s side. Boone jumps into the open back window and Wanda raises it before she takes off after Bucky. You don’t hear the sirens in the distance, but Wanda does and she takes a deep breath before speeding to catch up with Bucky.

“Are you okay, detka? Where are you hurt?”

Only then, do you realize that you’d been holding your breath since your wife arrived, and you gasp again before you double over and start coughing. You’re shaking by the time you drop the bloodied knife at your feet, and you struggle to catch your breath as your head throbs.

You squeeze your eyes shut and try to focus on breathing as Wanda speaks up. You don’t realize that she’s on the phone, until you look up and see that she’s hanging up on them. You sigh and lean back in your seat with a shake of your head.

“It’s okay. I don-no doctors, okay?”

Wanda frowns and turns to you briefly before she looks back to the road with a sigh. It’s just light enough in the car for her to see that you’re bleeding, but other than a small scratch on your face, she can’t tell where it’s coming from. She’s also not sure why you’re coughing which is worrying her, but she’s already made arrangements to have a doctor waiting at the house by the time you get back. Instead of arguing with you about this right now, she decides to figure out what she can about what happened.

“Y/n, where are you hurt? I’ll drive us to the hospital right now unless you tell me.”

This gets your attention and you take a moment to focus on your aching body. Your head hurts probably from being slammed into a brick wall, or maybe the brief oxygen deprivation, and your knees and stomach hurt. It’s not until you mention your stomach that you look down and see that you’re bleeding.

You’re not sure how that happened, but you can’t be bothered by this right now. You’d rather figure out what the hell happened tonight.

“What-who were those people?”

What did they want?

You don’t bother asking this question because Wanda understands without it. You watch as her grip on the steering wheel tightens as she drives away from town and up toward the mountain road that will lead to your house. You aren’t going to tell Wanda this now because you hope she’ll offer an explanation, but you had a feeling as soon as you sat down for dinner tonight, that something would happen.

You’re paranoid, for sure, but as soon as you’d reached town and parked, you felt eyes on you. This was confirmed when you noticed the same nondescript car drive by the brewery at least three times. It wasn’t a weekend; parking shouldn’t have been that difficult to find. Then the second hint had been the fact that Bucky had left the restaurant about an hour before you did, and then he never came back.

You had figured that he was going to wait somewhere else, somewhere still in sight, but apparently he’d been searching for the same tail you noticed.

“Bucky thinks they were trying to take you for ransom. He tried to track them down when he called me, and they ended up running him off the road.”

Your eyes widen at this and you realize now why Bucky looked so beat up. You make a mental note to check on him tomorrow, but for now you’re just grateful he was able to call Wanda before it was too late.

You groan under your breath when Wanda pulls into the driveway beside an unfamiliar car. She turns off the car once you’re in the garage, and she comes to your side as soon as you open the door to help you out. You don’t complain or argue because you’re suddenly exhausted, and you just barely remember to retrieve your dog from the backseat.

“Good evening, Mrs. Maximoff, Dr. Maximoff.”

You turn so quickly that your neck protests, but the sound of an unfamiliar voice immediately puts you on edge. Wanda turns much slower, and makes sure to keep Boone back when you notice the doctor she’d called to come look at you. You try not to sigh in defeat when you see a woman in a white coat holding a small black bag at her side. You don’t want to be rude, but you really just wanted to lie down on the couch for a minute before falling into bed.

“Dr. Blackwood. I hope we haven’t kept you waiting long. Please come in.”

As you are led inside, you see Bucky pull your car up beside the doctor’s. You want to talk to him now, but you have a feeling Wanda won’t let you, and it would also be rude to make the doctor that had already been waiting on you wait any longer.

You tamp down your urge to go sit on the couch, and instead head to one of the chairs at the dining room table. You sigh heavily as you sit down and watch as Wanda plays the role of a host and anxious partner at the same time.

Finally, after returning with a glass of water for you, despite your desire for something stronger, she sits down in the chair beside you and waits for the doctor to finish setting up. It’s only then that you notice her outfit. She hadn’t changed from what you’d seen from the picture she sent you hours ago. She was still wearing sweatpants, and a flannel shirt that you easily recognized. You reach out for her with a smile and tug at the hem as you meet your wife’s gaze.

“This is mine.”

Wanda just smiles at you before reaching up to wipe some of the dried blood from your cheek. Now that she can see you better, she immediately notices your bruised jaw and the dark angry marks around your neck. She regrets not shooting everyone when she realizes what some of the sounds she’d heard through the phone meant. She glances down at your bloodied shirt just as Dr. Blackwood finishes setting out everything she’ll need.

“Dr. Maximoff, would you mind removing your jacket so I can examine you?”

You tell her that she doesn’t have to call you that, but the look on her face although appropriately polite tells you she’s not going to drop the formality. Not in front of Wanda. You decide it’s not worth arguing about, and you shift slightly as Wanda reaches out to help you take off your coat. You smile appreciatively before you sit up and move to the edge of your chair.

The next few minutes are silent as the other doctor in the room listens to your heart and lungs and looks at your injuries. The scratch on your face isn’t serious, just annoying, and Wanda helps clean this one up as you hold up your shirt for the blonde to look at where you accidentally cut yourself. It’s deep enough to need a couple of stitches, and you try not to sigh in annoyance at the fact that you basically did this to yourself.

You’re trying to distract yourself from the sting of alcohol when you hear the garage door close. You look up just in time to hear the mudroom door open and Boone jump to his feet. There’s no growling though and Wanda doesn’t seem concerned so you aren’t either. You figure it’s Bucky or Steve, but when no one makes an appearance, you figure they’re waiting until you’re fixed up to discuss what happened. You listen to Boone pant for a bit before he comes back into the room to lie down on the rug in front of you. He’s able to watch you and the doctor from here, and you watch as he rolls onto his back with a yawn.

You focus on your dog and do your best to check for any injuries from a few feet away. You grimace a little when the first stich is put in and you try to focus on the feeling of your wife’s hand running up and down your back. You jump in surprise and then curse when Fletcher suddenly appears in front of you, and it takes all of your self-restraint not to curse her out. She just looks at you expectantly before flicking her tail in your face as she walks by you to get to Wanda.

“Do that again and I’m going to take you in for your annual visit early, Fletcher.”

Your wife’s cat just ignores you and Wanda shakes her head and does her best to ignore her cat so as not to encourage her bad behavior. Eventually the tabby gets bored and leaves, and luckily by this time you’re all stitched up.

“Those can come out in a couple of weeks. I’ll leave you something for the pain. It will help with your neck too. Other than a sore throat for a couple of days, there shouldn’t be any lasting, physical damage.”

You oddly appreciate the blonde’s precise wording and you just nod in response as you lower your shirt over the bandage. You see Bucky appear in the doorway and you smile before turning your attention back to your doctor. You can’t wait to get something to eat and then take some pain medication that will hopefully help you fall asleep.

“Thank you, Dr. Blackwood.”

The blonde nods before asking if you or Wanda have any questions. When you both shake your heads, she packs up and stands to leave. She half nods, half bows to Wanda and you can’t help but find it ridiculous. Bucky escorts the doctor out and Boone jumps to his feet when you stand up with a sigh.

You turn to your wife with an apologetic look before you reach for her hand and bring it to your lips.

“I’m sorry. I’m extremely rude. Thank you for saving my ass out there.”

Wanda can’t help but roll her eyes at you before she leans in to kiss your uninjured cheek. She doesn’t blame you for the delayed thanks. She figures you’re still a little rattled and just wanted to get you taken care of. She hates that you were hurt because of her, but she couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t proud of you for holding your own. She’s just grateful that your kidnappers were relying on stealth and didn’t shoot you.

“Of course, detka. I’m always up for saving your ass.”

This time you roll your eyes and Wanda laughs as you mutter something under your breath. She simply watches as you greet your dog before kneeling so you can get a good look at him. She glances over your shoulder when Bucky reappears and she can’t help but smile when she realizes that he had taken the time to get a couple of stitches too.

She knew they had to talk about what happened tonight, and how she was going to respond. She had learned a long time ago that incidents like these were inevitable, and the best she could do was prepare everyone for them. Maybe you needed to train a little more when you were healed. She’d ask you about it later. For now, she just wanted a few minutes to ignore the sense of impending doom, and watch you play with your beloved dog.

Masterlist

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x female reader #wanda maximoff fanfiction #wanda x reader #silver springs drabble #silver springs #mob au

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impishtubist · 1 year ago

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trick or treat

(this is painfully American and no I'm not taking any criticism about that because frankly I don't care)

---

“Daddy, when is Harry coming?”

Sirius glanced at the clock. “In one hour, bug.”

“How long is that?”

“That’s as long as one nap.”

Teddy pouted. “That’s a long time.”

Sirius grinned. “It’s not that long, I promise. Do you have your costume laid out?”

“Yes!”

“And you’ve got your bucket?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Where are your shoes?”

Teddy pointed at the door, where he had carefully placed his shoes.

Sirius wiped his hands on a towel. “Do you want to go to the park while we wait?”

“Yeah!”

The least Sirius could do, he figured, was to try to run off some of Teddy’s energy before letting Harry take him for the night. He bundled Teddy into his coat and whistled for the dogs. They came running, and Sirius clipped on their leashes.

“I wanna walk Bowie!” Teddy demanded, and Sirius handed over the red leash. He had had several stern talks with the dogs as Padfoot when Teddy was a baby, telling them how fragile a human child could be and how they weren’t ever to jump on, pull, or knock Teddy over. The lectures were probably unnecessary, as all his dogs were intelligent and well-behaved, but it made him feel better about the whole thing. Bowie was larger than Teddy, but he walked calmly down the street, not even running after a squirrel when it darted in front of him.

They played for half an hour in the park before walking back. Well, Sirius and the dogs walked, while Teddy ran ahead of them. So much for burning off his energy.

Harry was already waiting for them at the house when they returned, and Teddy shouted in excitement.

“Harry!”

“Hi, Teds.” Harry dropped into a crouch as Teddy ran at him, catching the boy in a hug. “Are you ready to go?”

“No! I need my costume!”

“Let’s go put it on then, shall we?” Harry straightened. “Hi, Sirius.”

“Hi, love. Thanks for doing this.”

“It’s no problem.”

Teddy dragged Harry off to his room, chattering at him a mile a minute. Sirius’s heart swelled as he listened to his kids, to Harry’s questions and Teddy’s excited answers. He fed the dogs while Harry helped Teddy with his costume, and then finished cleaning up the kitchen from dinner.

The doorbell rang, and he went to answer it.

“‘Lo, you two,” he said, standing back to let Ron and Hermione in. “Teddy’s already got Harry captive.”

Feet pounded down the hallway, and Teddy ran into the room. Or, rather, a pteranodon with Teddy’s face ran into the room.

“Ron!” he cheered. “Hermy!”

“My goodness,” Hermione said, taking in the elaborate costume that Sirius had spent hours magicking into existence using some clothes Teddy had grown out of. “What kind of dinosaur are you?”

“Not a dinosaur,” Teddy said, sounding offended. “‘s a flying reptile, Hermy.”

“And what’s it called, Teds?” Sirius prompted.

“A ter-an-don.”

“Pteranodon,” Sirius said.

“That’s what I said!”

They went outside so Teddy could stretch out the wings of his costume and Sirius could take pictures.

“Alright, Tedster.” Sirius knelt in front of the little boy. “You have fun tonight, okay?”

“I will.”

“Good. Can I give you a hug?”

Teddy allowed a hug and a kiss, and then he ran to Harry, taking his hand and tugging him down the street.

***

Sirius never visited James and Lily’s graves on Halloween.

He visited the cottage instead.

He knelt in the entryway where he had found James’s body. He climbed the stairs to the nursery where he had found Lily’s, where he had scooped a bleeding and sobbing Harry from the wreckage of his crib. He sat in the kitchen, where he’d spent countless afternoons having Sunday lunch with his best friends. He lingered in the living room, where he’d played with Harry on hands and knees while James watched fondly from the sofa.

He wandered the cottage like a ghost, haunted by the lives that had never unfolded here, by all the futures they could have had.

After, he returned home, lit a fire in the fireplace, and sat on the sofa with a glass of wine. The dogs joined him--Bowie draped across his lap, Sasha and Zephyr curled up on either side. Demeter wandered out of Teddy’s room and leaped on the back of the sofa, purring as she rubbed her head against Sirius’s cheek. It was the only day of the year she ever paid him any attention.

By the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned with Teddy, Sirius had had a good cry, finished his wine, and made a batch of hot cocoa for everyone. Teddy was only wearing half his costume, and Harry carried the other half while Ron carried his candy bucket.

“Daddy, look what I got!” Teddy exclaimed, running up to Sirius. Sirius hoisted him onto his hip and inspected the bucket.

“Very nice, Teddy,” he said. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I wanna go again.”

“Next year, bug.” Sirius kissed his cheek and set him down again. "Let's get you some hot cocoa, you're freezing."

The kids then settled on the floor in the living room in a circle, Teddy on Harry’s lap.

“Okay, Teds, let’s see what you got.”

Teddy upended the bucket on the floor, and sweets scattered everywhere. The dogs all lifted their heads, eyeing the sweets curiously. Sirius flicked his wand, and the candy all gathered in a neat pile.

“Three pieces only tonight, Teddy,” Sirius said.

“Five?”

“Three.”

“Four?”

Sirius dragged a hand down his face, trying to suppress a laugh. “Teddy.”

“We can choose three,” Harry said. “Come on, Teds, we’ll help you pick out your three favorites. Then we’ll put the rest away for other special occasions. You remember how sick you got last year? That wasn’t any fun, was it?”

“No,” Teddy said sullenly. He heaved a great sigh. “Fine.”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the next half hour sorting through Teddy’s candy with him, separating out the toys and trinkets that some houses had handed out instead, and discarding the candy Teddy wouldn’t eat. Sirius retreated to his study but left the door open, warmed by the joy emanating from the other room.

“Teddy, where did you get all this licorice?” Ron asked at one point, laughing. “You hate licorice. Here, we’ll throw them out--”

“No, Ron! Those are for Daddy.”

“Sirius does like licorice,” Hermione said, and Sirius could hear the shrug in her voice.

“Yeah, an’ Daddy’s sad. So he gets licorice.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Harry said, “You think Daddy’s sad?”

“Yeah, Halloween makes ‘im sad,” Teddy said. He lowered his voice and added, “I think it’s ‘cause he’s scared of the costumes.”

“Maybe you’re right, Teds. Why don’t you go give him his candy to make him feel better?”

“Okay!” Teddy scampered into the study, holding a handful of licorice. “Daddy, I have presents for you.”

“Thank you, Teddy.” Sirius absolutely was not going to cry again. He pressed a kiss to the crown of Teddy’s head. “I feel better already. Why don’t you go eat your treats, and then have Harry help brush your teeth? It’s almost time for bed.”

In the end, Ron helped Teddy with his bath, Harry brushed his teeth, and Hermione read him a bedtime story. Sirius almost felt guilty about letting the kids take over so much tonight, but Harry had given him a stern talking-to two years ago when Teddy first started trick or treating. For one night, he and his partners could handle Teddy while Sirius gave over to his grief.

Teddy was half-asleep when Sirius went to say goodnight to him. Demeter was curled up at his side. She flicked her tail lazily when Sirius came into the room, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge him.

“Good night, Teddy,” he whispered, drawing the dinosaur-patterned blankets up to Teddy’s shoulders. “I hope you had a good Halloween.”

“Daddy,” Teddy said sleepily, “will you come next year?”

Sirius stroked Teddy’s curls. “You want me to come with you?”

“Mmhmm.” Teddy snuggled into his pillow. “You can dress up.”

“Oh? And what would I dress up as?”

Teddy blinked open his eyes and gave him a perfectly innocent look. “Stubby Boardman?”

Sirius huffed. “Your big brother has been putting ideas into your head again, I see.”

He leaned down and kissed Teddy’s cheek. “Sure, baby. I’ll go with you next year.”

---

(Remus isn't in this because I didn't feel like writing him. He's probably dead, but you can imagine they're divorced and this is Sirius's week with Teddy if that makes you feel better. Also Harry is definitely dating both Ron and Hermione okay bye).

#sirius black #harry potter #teddy lupin #imp is writing #good godfather sirius black #good dad sirius black

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sailorsenshishitposter · 5 months ago

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Get in loser, we're going vessel shopping!

Yuji and the gang were exhausted, having just finished exercising a group of curses. It was getting late so they then went to catch a ride back to Jujutsu Tech with Ijichi.

"Man, I'm beat! I had to hit those little fuckers harder than King Dedede's Jet Hammer!"

"Language Kugisaki."

"C'mon Fushiguro, I know you want to hit Gojo sensei as much as I do!"

Before they could continue their conversation, Yuji spoke.

"Is anyone else hearing music?"

Megumi and Nobara stopped. A faint jingle could be heard. Almost as if there was an ice cream truck nearby. But that was impossible. Before Yuji could speak, Kugisaki stopped him.

"No! Do you really think an ice cream truck would be here? In this time of year (fall)? At this time of day? In this part of Tokyo? Localised entirely within the woods?"

"Okay but when you put it like that it sounds bad!"

Suddenly a white van pulled up in the distance. Fushiguro gave a double take and then stated "There's no way I'm going near that thing."

Kugisaki then turned towards Itadori.

"Shouldn't you be going "jinkies!" or is this is the part where your spidey senses forget to activate? Yuji?"

The boy was no longer standing next to her for he had begun running faster than Todo at a Takada chan signing.

"What should we do?"

"I don't know but I'm calling sensei and telling him to bring a dog leash and some Jennifer Laurence magazines."

___________

"Lucky me, I can't believe you guys are open! Anyway I'll take one fudgicle please!"

After paying, an arm reached out and handed him the frozen treat.

"Thank you!"

Yuji was going to peel off the wrapper only to find that there wasn't one.

"That's odd. Oh well, down the hatch!"

It was dark so he couldn't see very well but something was off about his popsicle. After swallowing, he then began to wonder if there was a recall that he should know about because ice cream isn't supposed to be spiky right?

An extra set of eyes then peeled open.

"Fool."

What a moron of a vessel. Sukuna couldn't wait to be free of him. It was then that the window opened.

"I should have figured you had something to do with this."

Inside was totally not Geto, aka Kenjaku, wearing a milk man uniform.

"Hop in Sukuna, let's go to the mall."

"What is your game here?"

"Don't be like that! I figured you would want to join me for some shopping. You know as well as I do that we could use a change of vessels, hm?"

Sukuna grinned and then jumped through the passengers side like in Dukes of Hazard, only the window was rolled up so now he was coated in shards of glass."

Are you feeling alright?"

"Couldn't be better! After all, I'm not the one who's body will be paying for the damage."

Kenjaku then began to drive to the nearest mall. Unfortunately they were now stuck in traffic.

"The sidewalk is wide enough. Go."

"You really haven't changed after a thousand years, huh? All right, just let me put on my mixtape first."

Before Sukuna could ask what that was, he began to hear loud music. It was too loud to hear what the other was saying but he was giving a look that said "Want to watch a massacre unfold?" Sukuna gave a nod and then Kenjaku put the vehicle into to overdrive. Tokyo's poor citizens tried to run for their lives while all one could hear was "Gas, Gas, Gas" by Manuel. They both began to cackle maniacally.

___________

Eventually they made it to the parking lot after leading the police on a wild goose chase.

"So we'll go our separate ways and meet back here in a hour. Don't be late!"

"Fine with me! And it's not exactly like I have all the time in the world, this brats body is on a time limit!"

Sukuna then realized he didn't know where to start.

"Where am I supposed to find the strongest among a crowd of ants? This will prove to be more difficult than I initially thought!"

___________

The first thing Kenjaku did was buy a new set of clothes.

"That last guy had no fashion sense! I'll need to choose more wisely this time."

He looked around until he saw a familiar face.

"No way! Tengen's here too? Alright, change of plans. I'm going to steal her intended vessel before she can make the switch!"

___________

Sukuna was approaching a fitness store when he felt two arms place themselves snuggly around his stomach. He then prayed to Gege and hoped that it better not be who he thought it was. The king of curses then turned his head around to find the culprit. Shit. Why did he always have the worst luck?

"Yorozu... I see the restraining order failed to keep you away..."

"Oh Sukuna, we both know a piece of paper could never get in between the way of our love!"

It took all his willpower to not kill her on the spot.

"...So what are you doing here?""Kenjaku texted me and told me you would be here! It's almost like we're on a date!"

Before he could tell her that no, it was not like a date, she took his arm and began to drag him.

"Unhand me! What are you doing!?"

"What does it look like silly? I'm taking you to Build-a-Bear! It's what all the cute couples are doing!"

"Stop. One, if you were the last woman on earth, I would rather split myself into fingers then and two, I already have plans and I don't need you interfering with them!"

"Aww! Can't I come with you?"

"No! I'm shopping for a new vessel and I don't have time to-"

Yorozu then cut him off

"Wow! Like, you're going to be renting a new body? Let me help! I can help find the perfect choice for you!"

The king of curses scoffed.

"Yeah right! You can't even get your poetry right. How am I supposed to trust you when it comes to good taste?"

"Because if you let me help than I'll stop taking pictures of you when you're not looking."

Yorozu had a massive shrine dedicated to her love with so many creeper shots that her collection put other stalkers to shame.

"Fine. But you're also going to be burning the ones you already took."

"Sure!"

What Sukuna didn't know was that the girl had figured out how to navigate technology far quicker than him, already having stored her files on a two terribyte hard drive.

___________

Kenjaku watched his targets from behind a small potted tree. Once the two had met and started arangments, he knew he had to put his plan into action. Suddenly the speakers could be heard.

"Would Tengen please arrive to the head office - Your powers are being requested by management and there is an emergency - Thank you for your consideration -"

"I'm sorry but you'll need to wait a little longer before assimilating. Just know that your sacrifice won't be in vain."

Kenjaku watched her walk off and then nonchalantly came up beside them.

"Nothing personal kid."

He then twisted their neck causing instant death. Kenny began to drag the corpse with him to the bathroom stall so no one would interrupt him.

"Time to get to work."

___________

Yorozu had taken Sukuna to the food court and was now arguing with the staff.

"Whadda mean you don't serve monkey brains! I'm calling corporate to file a complaint! Let's go dear!"

Sukuna and the worker then shot each other a look of pity. Yorozu was angrily babbling when she bumped into someone.

"Oh, hey Kenjaku. I see you're already finished."

He took off his hat, revealing fresh stitches on his forehead.

"KENJAKU, YOU BASTARD!"

"Gross, what is that! A thumb thumb!?"

"Yo, granny!"

It turns out that it wasn't grandmother willow but Tengen. Or at least it used to be.

"Don't you "hey granny" me! Do you realize what you have done!?"

"Don't look at me like that, can't you just get a new one?"

"You know damn well that that's not how it works! I'm now stuck as this creature for all of eternity!"

Kenjaku waived his hand dismissively.

"Being immortal sounds pretty cool to me. Besides, do you know how irritating it is to constantly hop from one body to another?"

"Didn't ask, plus I don't care!"

Tengen then pulled a glock from underneath her robe and shot Kenjaku at point blank range. He was still alive so she would have to move fast. Tengen then began to unscrew the heads top lid and revealed a brain with teeth. It was hissing and citizens started to take notice. Panic ensued and while the crowd was screaming, Tengen pulled out a jar and plopped the brain into it.

Kenjaku's rabbit teeth tried to chomp through the glass but she quickly sealed it up in a layer of talismans, followed up by flex tape. Tengen was now leaving and Sukuna looked towards his side to find a missing Yorozu.

"Where did she go?! I mean, I'm glad she's gone but what can she be plotting."

He didn't know it but she leapt outside and was laying face first in the grass to study the bugs.

"Well there goes my ride."

Suddenly sirens began to blare."

Shit, it's the cops!"

Sukuna took the chance to switch places with Itadori. When Yuji woke up, he was at the police station and locked in handcuffs.

"Not again! I guess I'll have to use my one phone call on Gojo sensei and ask him to bail me out."

Panic began to set in.

"What was his number again?"

Yuji tried to ask Sukuna but he refused to answer, too amused in the boys misery."

Looks like I'm never eating ice cream again!"

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fruitless-vain · 16 days ago

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hey! asking for a bit of advice here. this is my first time raising a puppy and it’s to raise her as my sdit- i’m having a hard time figuring out the balance between letting her Be A Puppy and focusing on letting her experience things in a fun stressless way to build confidence, but i keep feeling pressure and judgement from people around me when she’s having a day where focusing on me is hard and she’s acting wild/pulling on lead/jumping/barking from excitement/leash frustration. so i have the conflicting ideas of- you can’t expect a puppy to focus for very long because it’s a puppy, but i’m being told that puppies need to be well mannered, and since i have no previous experience idk how to join the two 🫣 i’m not taking her to non-pet friendly places yet (with the exception of my therapist’s office when i know she’ll be able to settle + chew for most of the session that day. she’s done rly well there) since she does need more consistent manners to start PA. do you have any guidance 🥲

Everyone's going to be different in how they handle these transitions and what works best for you two as a team, for me, I found that whenever I felt like I was expecting more than what was fair because of the public's expectations I would simply take her vest off. (training in pet friendly places at this stage of course).

You can still work on the things that need to be worked on but the simple act of taking off the vest removes a TON of that pressure that the public tends to put on you and your dog. I find it allowed me to feel less Watched and Criticized in the moment which in turn helped me be able to properly focus on the training and being fair.

Before heading on a training outing I'd be sure to set a goal for that day. "We're going to the busy park today, I'm not going to be worried about her heel because I know it's a busy environment for her. My main goal is just going to be rewarding offered focus when she sees things she finds distracting. If she's struggling to offer focus we will move to the field where we can get more distance and find success"

That helps ME feel confident before going out on a session. If I'm confident in what my goals are for the day then it matters a lot less what other people are thinking, I'm not worried about that anymore because I am hyper focused on what I have set up for us to do for the day. This also helps me feel less worried about those 'mistakes', those behaviours aren't my focus point today, they're allowed to be sloppy, my focus is xyz exclusively. we can work on those things tomorrow!

For building attention spans I just worked on things in bursts. We're going for our neighbourhood walk, she can sniff and explore and be a puppy! during our walk I'm going to cue a heel and walk 10 paces (or whatever is your dogs current capability) then release her. I'll do that 3x at most spread throughout the walk so she can still learn to focus in those environments without it taking up So Much of her brain power and she can still enjoy her time and be a chaotic puppy. Working on training doesn't always have to be a full on outing extravaganza. Doing those micro sessions throughout the day meshed in to your regular routine really did the bulk of the work for myself and Yo.

When you do have those moments where things aren't working out try your best to take a moment to pause, evaluate if the expectations are fair, what can be changed to help them succeed, and take breaks as needed. Sometimes training is walking straight to your goal, sometimes it's going in and out of the entrance because they're struggling with the doorway they've seen 100x. Do your best to meet them where they're at.

On the people side of things, to be quite honest here, if you can, just talking to people (or talking to your dog loud enough for other people to perceive) can go a long way to curbing judgements. Sometimes I enter a store and Yoshi drifts forwards out of her heel so I'll just say "whoops let's try that again, you shouldn't be so far ahead!" and then loop back around to try the entrance again. That makes it so that the people around me Hear that we're actively working on fixing something. This can help people get a better understanding of the full picture here and instead of going "oh that dog made a mistake ugh, obviously not ready for PA" they might go "oh they're in training still! I hope that pup improves!". Just adding that bit of info in to context can help people be less abrasive and judgemental.

Super obvious signage, of course, is a huge help there as well.

It's a rough balance to find but as your journey goes along you'll start to work out what routines work best for the two of you, I hope this at least somewhat helps!

#sd asks

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enkays-den · 3 months ago

Text

Skizz Week 2, Day 7: Free Day!

Thank you @skizzlemanweek for hosting this, I wasn't writing for the fandom when the first one happened, so I'm glad I was able to participate this time! Spending this week writing has been really good to stretch my writing chops, and to write characters and dynamics I haven't reached yet in Bid Me, Do Anything For Thee

Speaking of.... since this is a free day, I'm giving you an excerpt of Chapter 10!

1.3k words, warning: Imp and Skizz are not friends :(

Here's the AO3 link if you want to leave kudos and comments or read my other stuff!

There was a knock on the door, startling Impulse.

“Uh, you can come in.”

Skizz cracked open the door. “Do you want to walk dogs with me?”

“Uh, all of them?”

“Yeah, I figured you should take Mickey and Peanut since they like you the most. I can take the hellions.”

“Umm… Okay. I’m okay to leave now if you are, I guess.”

“Cool beans.”

Impulse followed him downstairs, where Skizz handed him two leashes. Then, he called out, “Bubbas! Time for a walk!” His voice dipped up and down comically, startling Impulse a bit.

Huh, even this guy has a dog voice.

The impending stampede of dogs was preceded by the sound of paws scrabbling, then they started filing into the mudroom. Skizz started to manhandle Buster so he could get his harness on, struggling with the large dog. Impulse put a hand on the dog’s back to hold him steady.

“Thanks,” Skizz said, fastening the buckles around his chest.

One by one, they got dogs attached to their person. Mickey was not breaking tradition as the most polite of the dogs, sitting calmly by the door leading back to the hallway. Peanut was sniffing his shoes, but otherwise fine. Skizz on the other hand, seemed resigned to keeping the three most hyper of the dogs under his care.

Finally, Impulse summoned Deckard with the usual whistle. The weeks at the MDI had conditioned Deckard well, the dog standing alert and patient as Impulse got his leash on.

Skizz was already outside, Vivi, Bubba, and Buster circling around him and determined to get their leashes tangled before they’d even left the property.

Without a word, Skizz led the way around the house and onto the sidewalk, Buster taking the lead.

Impulse trailed behind, Mickey on one hand, Deckard and Peanut on the other. The three-legged dog skipped happily alongside Deckard, who was walking in stride with Impulse. Mickey walked at a slow pace, easily keeping up with her long legs.

A few feet ahead, Skizz had gotten a decent amount of control over his dogs. Buster and Bubba were trying their best to lead he tall man around, but were held tight by their leashes. Vivi was at their heels, bouncing from side to side and undecided whether she wanted to follow one or the other.

“How long will we be walking them for?” Impulse asked.

“I usually take them out for half an hour, there’s an off-leash park about ten minutes past my usual loop point that I can show you tomorrow.” Skizz talked over his shoulder, not looking back at Impulse.

“Okay. Do you walk them in groups or all at once?”

Skizz scoffed. “No, I either have someone that’ll come and help me walk, or I just let them run around the yard until they pass out. All they need is a ball and they just tire themselves out after a while. That’s my routine most days, but I will take advantage of having an experienced dog owner around very gladly.”

“It’s no problem.” God, I hate small talk.

They continued walking around the neighborhood in silence. At least the evening weather was nice, and the dogs he had were behaving.

Just as they approached a four-way stop, a deep-ish voice called out. “Yo, Skizz!”

From the front porch of a bungalow duplex, a large man was waving. He seemed like he was a few inches taller than Impulse, with a similar frame. He had a light brown beard and short, curly hair with a flash of bright blue running along the top.

He walked over to meet Skizz at the gate. “Haven’t seen you in a while man, how are you?”

“‘Sup, man! Work’s been a bit crazy lately, I’ve mainly been at work playing catch-up.” Skizz smiled bashfully.

Impulse did his best not to stare. The man had taken on an entirely different persona to the one Impulse had known so far. His shoulders were slumped slightly downwards and he was slouching so he looked a little shorter.

“I know that feeling, dude,” they replied. “And who’s that walking the rest of the pack?”

“Oh, that’s Impulse. He’s my new housemate! Just showing him around the area, letting the dogs relax around him.” One would almost think from his tone of voice that the other man was genuinely happy he was there instead of completely apathetic.

Impulse looked up, putting a smile on. “Hi. I’d wave, but I kind of have my hands full.”

The man laughed. “No problem, I’ve seen this bunch tear down the street, so you keep doing that. My name’s Jevin.”

“Nice to meet you.” Impulse gave the man a nod before busying himself with Vivi and Bubba’s leashes, which the two dogs had gotten into quite the mess. It gave him a reason to not stumble through more dialogue with the man while also being able to listen to the conversation him and Skizz were having.

“Work’s doing well for me too, although in a few weeks painting season will be over and gutter season begins. Can’t complain, though, it’s good money.”

“If you’re only working one job, it must be good money,” Skizz said amiably.

Is this the real guy or is the agent the real person?

They spoke for a little longer, Impulse dissociating until he heard Skizz wrapping up the conversation. “Alright, man. I need to talk to you about the door on my garage, but we should get home and eat, it’s been a long-ass day.”

“No prob, man. You can always just slip a note under my door and I’ll ring you up.”

“Alright buddy, see you later.”

Skizz pulled the dogs’ leashes and started walking back the way they came.

Impulse followed in his footsteps, thinking about how different a personality Skizz had donned in front of someone else. He hadn’t known Skizz that long, but the change had seemed startlingly radical and fast. He was no stranger to code-switching, as his therapist called it, but never such an obvious switch with no idea who the real identity was. For Impulse, that act took time to trigger and exhausted him.

Now, Agent Skizz had returned. Impulse couldn’t see his face, but he could envision that analytic stare in his mind, sweeping the area.

”How do you describe your job to other people?" He asked, trying to not say anything outright.

Skizz luckily caught his meaning and didn’t skip a beat. “Corporate event planning. Charity balls, expos, parties.” He slowed his walking pace and spoke at a lower volume. “By the way, you should keep whatever story you tell others straight and let me know what’s what.”

“I don’t think I’ll be talking to many people,” Impulse muttered.

“You’ve already spoken to Jevin,” the man pointed out. “It’s easier to get those lying ducks in a row right off the bat instead of consolidating a bunch of mismatched statements. You never know who’s talking to who.”

Easier said than done. Impulse was a bad liar and he knew it. Perhaps it came hand in hand with his candid nature, perhaps it was just another way his anxiety reared its ugly head.

He chose to stay silent for the rest of the walk, not having a single clue what he could talk to the other man about. Did he even want to build a rapport with him? Probably not. Agent Skizz put the civilian face on for the sake of maintaining cover, but didn’t seem bothered to say friendly at work. Joe, Zed, and Tango showed that the MDI wasn’t strict about employee etiquette, so if Skizz wanted to be friendly, he could be.

They arrived back at the house, and Skizz handed him Vivi, placing the dog directly into Impulse’s arms. “You can let the others loose in the house, I’m gonna stay outside and let the B-Boys tucker themselves out.”

Impulse nodded, slightly relieved they wouldn’t be entering the house at the same time. Something about Skizz just didn’t sit right with him, and he wasn’t willing to observe him long enough to figure out what it was.

#bmdaft #enkay writes #skizz week 2 #skizzleman #impulsesv #writing prompts #fanfiction #hermitcraft #hermitblr #sorry about the HELLA delay I was really busy and knew this wouldn't be on time

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hellenhighwater · 2 years ago

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Have you ever successfully harness/leash trained a cat? And if so, how?

This is gonna get a little long.

Malice is, to some degree, harness trained, but I don't really take her on walks or anything like that? Usually if she's on a harness and leash it's because she's going somewhere and probably 90% of the time I'm going to be carrying her. She's actually decent at following on the leash, she's just remarkably lazy.

Before you even touch a harness (and do make sure you're getting one that fits properly, you can find lots of articles on how to do that) you need to make sure you have really, really gotten a good "come here" command drilled into your cat's head. We'll touch on that again later.

I started harness training her when she was so little that her first 'harness" was actually the ankle section of a tube sock with holes cut into it, just to get her used to the feeling. You start by getting the cat used to just the existence of the harness, with rewards for interacting with it; and then move up to trying the harness on (without leash) in a safe indoor space for short periods, and then work up to longer times, rewarding for everything as you go. Then you start adding the leash on--still indoors, mind you!--and from there work on brief outdoor visits. Every step needs to last until the cat is more or less fully comfortable at that stage, and once you have the cat on a harness you need to work on habituating that cat to all the chaos of the outdoors in general. As you go through this process, keep working on that return command! You want your cat, on and off leash, in and out of harness, to know when you need them to come back to you.

The thing with harnesses is that there simply isn't one that's escape proof, and having a leash attached to the harness just gives the cat leverage. Cats, anatomically, are almost impossible to contain because of the extreme flexibility of their bodies. So if you have your cat on a harness and they get scared and try to bolt, and you aren't ready for it, odds are that they're going to be able to wrench out of the harness and run. As you train, you need to be making sure that you're really solid in the work you're doing with your cat, so you don't get those sudden shocks. Take your time; do the training slowly and correctly.

Even then, stay alert. I had Malice on my lap, on my own dang front porch, on a leash and harness just a few months ago, and a literal monster truck whipped around the corner of my (usually very quiet!) street. In a fraction of a second, Mal had gotten out of the harness and was trying to bolt, and clutching onto her long enough to open the door and get inside meant that she did serious damage to both my arms, my shoulder, and even managed to scratch my face badly enough that I was bleeding in two places. The dress I was wearing was so clawed up in the bodice that I'm still trying to figure out how to patch it. And that was a good outcome, because Malice didn't wind up loose in traffic and I healed with only a couple minor scars.

And this is why you need a very strong recall command if you want to start harness training a cat. If they do get loose somehow, you want to make sure they recognize when you're calling them back. It's not going to work if they're in a dead panic, but once they calm down (and possibly realize they have no idea where they are) you have a shot at getting them home.

I do think harnesses are a great option for indoor cats to get outside time, but I think it's important to be really careful about where you go and what you do once you have a cat on a leash. It's not like dogs, where a properly fitted collar and harness will take some real work to get out of--cats are fast, and they're contortionists; even a really good harness will only slow them down. If you're travelling and your cat gets off-harness in a national park, you are very likely to never see that cat again. So just...be careful! I'm not saying don't do it, just do it mindfully.

#every time i see some Adventure Cat on a harness somewhere in the wilderness #i am like Buddy I Hope You Have Done So Much Recall Training With That Cat #because if they squirm out that is SO much unfettered wilderness to search for them

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stargazing15 · 2 years ago

Text

What a timing

Bob x Fem! reader

Summary: Your friendship with Bob was going in the right direction and then the call came.

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, some innuendo's, but nothing's happening here, protective Hangman

Previous: Hello again - Next: Worth the wait

Enjoy!

It's been a week since Bob stayed over for dinner and things have been wonderful. You were currently on your way to the Hard Deck with your coworker, who was still going strong with Phoenix.

"Sometimes I start to doubt who Nat is dating, me or you? Because all she talks about is you." Your coworker/friend joked, even though it was mostly truth. In a world dominated by man, she was extremely happy you were back, she liked the guys, but talking with you was different, gossiping on a ... higher level.

"What can I say? I found my mojo back and no one is safe now." You joked back.

"That's my girl, so," he interrupted his question for you to quickly park his car, "where was I? Right! Do you think you and Bob could ever, you know?"

"I miss him so much." Your eyes started to water.

"Oh sweetheart, I didn't mean to to make you sad."

"No, it's not that, ever since we started to talk again, he's been getting a place in my heart again. I really like, no love having him around. And sometimes I want to jump him, he might look cute underneath those glasses, but the thins that man did with me. I'm just so scared he is going to hurt me again."

"You two will figure things out, I'm sure of it. I'm so happy you gave him a second chance. You two are so perfect together."

"Thank you, come here, big hug and we can crash their clubhouse." You winked at your friend.

"Look who is here! Sunshine, we missed you, A LOT! Damn you look fine as hell." Hangman and Coyote picked you up and threw you in the air. Okay, maybe you missed these two goofballs too.

"Don't let her fall on the ground, morons."

"Calm your tits mother hen, she's safe with us, have you seen our muscles?" Both men flexed their arms at Rooster once they put you back on the ground.

"Missed you too guys, by the way, apparently I have to thank you Jake, for smacking some sense in Bob."

"My pleasure and if he's ever doing something stupid again or bothering you, give me a call."

"I guess you will have to wait your turn, Nat is going to eject him first."

"Well Phoenix, I don't say this a lot but apparently we're on the same team."

"Don't try anything funny."

You ignored their little bickering contest and went to greet Payback. "Hi Rueben, how are you and the kids?"

"Everything good, both still the smartest and goofiest of class and the oldest, you know him, wrapping everyone around his fingers, he's going to be a heartbreaker."

Your conversation with Payback got interrupted by Hangman noticing Bob entering. "How dare he show up here? You need us to escort him out?"

"Jeez Jake, YOU calm your tits, I'm on good terms with Bob. Do I need to put a leash on you, or can you be a good boy?" Everyone almost fell on the ground by your answer from laughing. Hangman growled and resumed his darts game with Coyote.

Bob quietly joined the group, still a bit scared of the them when you're around.

"Hi Bob", you started, letting everyone know it was alright for Bob to join, "the guard dogs won't bite, put a leash on them." You joked while pointing at the darting duo.

"H-hi." Bob was lost, completely lost in his world where only you and him were at the Hard Deck, admiring your soft features and your beautiful smile. "How are you? You look really beautiful." He was again as nervous as the day he met you. His mind started to wander off as he finally noticed the dress you were wearing. He had to snap out of his thoughts or he would have lock himself in the bathroom to take care of some business. That dress was perfect on you, accenting your features on the right places, but more importantly, he remembered the last time you were wearing it with him, or rather how soon it ended up on the ground.

You noticed Bob's thoughts wander off and secretly you were happy your little sneaky plan was working. He still likes the dress.

Phoenix pulled you away from the group for a little interrogation, actually saving Bob from getting hard in front of everyone.

"You are so wearing this on purpose!"

"Maybe I am." You tried to look as innocent as possible at her.

"Oh my god, you want him back, don't you? Are you sure you're going to make it this easy for him?"

"I never said I was just going to take him back. The man has got sweat to get me. And to make sure he really wants me."

"And I always thought you were a innocent one. Under that cute smile of yours hides a woman I like a lot! Make 'em sweat, if you need any help, give the sign. And I sure think some others like to help too." She high fives you at your plans and made you way back to the group. Phoenix of course keeping your friend up to date with your plans. He send you a wink to let you know he was on board with your plan. But you didn't expect him to go to guard dog number 2 and whisper something in his ear after send you a smirk. They already started something.

After getting a drink, you joined again, positioning yourself across Bob. After a couple sips, letting the alcohol work, you were still feeling a bit uneasy about making Bob sweat. It all was unlike you, but he had to learn his lesson.

Suddenly you felt Coyote's breath on your neck. You stiffened, counted to three and took another sip, finally relaxing on the inside, you turned your body to Coyote. He had made himself comfortable on a barstool, spreading his legs wide for you to join by sending you a wink. You had barely joined him and you felt already a bunch of stares burning on the back of your head, but Bob's stare burning the most as the others stares turned in to smirks knowing what was going on.

"I'm so nervous Javy, what if he backs out?" You whispered in Coyote's ear, still trying to be convincing by your act.

"It will all be okay, the guys will make sure of that. Now let's make that idiot jealous, giggle after this." Your body made a half turn so Bob could see you better as you giggled. That was what you were doing for the next hour, whisper in Coyote's ear and giggling when he whispered something back. Eventually you and Coyote were talking about his massive sneaker collection, most importantly his newest additions, the man was proud of his babies.

And Bob, sweet Bob was sweating, what was happening? You two were finally on good terms, he thought you were still single, so something in him believed he still might have a chance. And just like that Coyote was glued to you, making your smile. Was that why you called him one of your guard dogs, of course Hangman being the second one as he was Coyote's best friend. Did you call him that because he was guarding your heart now? He wanted to sink in the deepest, darkest hole. Wait, was this how you must have been feeling?

"Now watch this." Coyote whispered in your ear with a hinting smile and gently put his warm hands on your hips so you could face Bob again completely.

Rooster and Hangman were talking to him and he looked flushed, but still adorable. You weren't able to hear them, but you could definitely read 'come on' on their lips, right before Bob stood up and made his way over to you.

"H-hi do you think we could talk for, for a second beautiful angel?"

"Of course, let's go for a walk." While making your way to the door you turned your head to mouth a 'thank you' to Coyote.

It was not cold outside but it felt a bit chilly, probably your nerves taking over. Bob made a little o with his arm signalling you could link your arm in his, what you gladly did.

"Uh, so, you and, you and Coyote. Are you happy? I didn't know you two..."

"He's nice and caring."

"I'm sorry if I have overstepped."

"I can't do this anymore, Bob," you came to a halt and faced him, "there is nothing going on with Javy, he was helping out, getting back at you."

"Wait, so you're not-, they all knew, oh" Suddenly it clicked in his head and he took you in his embrace. You nuzzled you nose immediately in his chest, letting yourself go for a moment, forgetting everything and enjoying the moment. When the embrace ended, you both stayed silent and looked each other in the eye, it felt comfortable and neither wanted to move or say anything. It felt like everything around you paused. It was just you and Bob, Bob and you. And what was it hard not to give in just like this, but the look in Bob's eyes made you relax, it said that it was okay like this, don't rush, enjoy. And you did, your heart and mind relaxed and found happiness in this moment.

Until his phone went off, it was not the ringtone you were used to hear.

"No no no, it's work," he saw you raising your eyebrow, "the ringtone is different. This is Lieutenant Floyd."

After the call ended, Bob's expression softened again, but the tension in his jaw was still visible. "We have to go to base." Everyone got the call he explained, he made sure you were able to go home safe with your coworker before leaving with the rest. They looked like they had a competition going on for the grumpiest face.

"Do you think they have to go?" You coworker asked worriedly.

"I'm afraid so."

"Did you patch things up with Bob? I liked the show to be honest, don't break your head over it, I know you. He still deserved a little payback."

"Almost, the call came at worst timing possible. I'm a little scared."

"Me too, come on let's go home."

That night you couldn't find much sleep, tossing and turning in your bed. What if this was a dangerous mission? What if the Navy didn't let them say goodbye?

The next morning you got a text from Bob asking if you could join him on the parking lot of the Hard Deck asap. Never in your life you have been able to get yourself ready this quickly.

You've seen him a dozen times in his khakis and still je managed to take your breath away. The moment he saw you he came running towards you, making your bodies collide in a hug.

"I'm so so sorry beautiful angel, we have to leave today. It's an urgent mission. They don't give us much time to say goodbye. Normally family and partners are allowed on base to say goodbye, but you're not on my list because we're not dating and-"

"It's okay Bob, when do you have to leave?"

He looked at his watch and panic hit him, "f-fifteen minutes."

"Do you remember when we talked about you job? And that I might want to curse at the Navy sometimes?" Bob smiled a little at the memory. "Let's do that together."

You both turned yourself facing the sea and counted down, "one, two, three ... stupid dipshit!" "horseshitting fuckface!" You fell on the sand of laughter at Bob's choice of curse words. When you recovered from laughter a couple of minutes later, Bob stuck out his hand to help you up. When you reached his hand with yours, he accidentally used more force to help you up than expected. Your face was now so close to his, you could feel his breath on your lips. Having the thought in the back of his mind that with any mission the possibility existed he might not come back, he leaned in and kissed you. Feeling the train of thought spooking in Bob's head through his lips, you kissed back.

"Beautiful angel. Sorry, I-"

"No sorry, I know Robby, I know, be safe. Come back and we'll talk further. Say hi from me to everyone."

Bob took you in his embrace for the last time before leaving. This time he had to make it back, 100%. He was going to fight for you and win back. The kiss and you calling him Robby again just confirmed him it was all going to be worth it .

Taglist: @mrsjaderogers @cycbaby @bradleybeachbabe @mavrellover91 @rhirhikingston @luckyladycreator2 @iamdannyday @callsignwidow

Tagform

#robert bob floyd #robert bob floyd x you #robert bob floyd x reader #robert bob floyd x y/n #robert bob floyd imagine #robert bob floyd fanfic #bob floyd #bob floyd x y/n #bob floyd x you #bob floyd x reader #bob floyd imagine #bob floyd fanfic #robert floyd #top gun #tgm #top gun: maverick #top gun fanfic

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coloursofaparadox · 1 year ago

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i am very very proud of my chronic fatigued ass slowly building up to an average of like 15-20k steps or like. 3x 1.5 hour hikes/dog walks a week over the last few months. part of my whole messed up body shtick (P.O.T.S.) means one of the best ways to reduce the impact is to exercise, with the fun catch 22 of it makes DOING that exercise feel much, much, much worse 🙃 but now that im finally on a combo of meds that more or less works for both physical and mental health, ive been really really enjoying getting outside and doing things with my dog, even despite feeling like shit a lot of the time lmao. over the last like....4 months? I've slowly built up from the bare minimum for him (slow half hour walk 3x a week + off leash time where I can more or less stand still) to now where we go on a medium intensity hike almost every week, plus 1.5hr walks to the local community centre park to weave our way through and find fun little obstacles to do agility on, and run around in the field.

and it hasnt been easy!! like the half hour walks at the beginning were really, really iffy a lot of the time on whether or not i felt like just sitting tf down and giving up at some point. but im finally where i need to be w/ mental health and meds where i can keep slowly improving and not do a massive burnout backslide, in very large part due to figuring out how to eat intuitively in a way that works for me for the fuckin first time in my life, and managing to actually eat consistently enough that i have energy throughout the day. unless i go a bit too hard and get hit with the Super Fun Post-Exertional Malaise, I think I've actually been consistent with this level of activity for a while now.

anyways i am proud of me even tho i did it mostly for Lucas's sake. he is so, so much happier and more content now that he's getting enough exercise and going out to do new things with me. on my end i am very very happy that i can walk that long and go on hikes and feel good after, even tho I'm not totally confident yet on how much it helps day-to-day with POTS stuff like standing too long, etc. I feel better though with daily stuff like grocery store trips and standing in line. same with some household chores that always used to really spike symptoms.

anyways. being gaslit by doctors and passing out on a skytrain at 16 -> diagnosed, properly medicated and eating healthily pipeline only took 12 years and a dog i would die for 🤝 lets go me

#tldr im slowly building up exercise tolerance and its working and i am very happy #and very lucky to have made it to this point

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brownieboui · 2 years ago

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The Black Phone: Before His Streak

This is a fanfic of The Black Phone, I got bored one day and decided to write this based on such an amazing Horror Short story and movie. Fair warning: This story may be a bit disturbing, and reader discretion is advised (I sound like a robot :’))

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I shifted back onto the mattress, blinded and frightened as a figure stood in front of me with a long smiling mask.

“W-What do you want from me?” I tried to ask through my sore throat, my vision slowly coming into focus.

The figure had just stood there, watching as my elbows weakly held me up, watching at how vulnerable and dazed I was.

Then, it moved. The figure leaned forward, a soft touch pressed against my head, and moved the hair that stuck to my sweaty forehead.

“I don’t want anything from you,” I heard the muffled voice say. “I just want to keep you safe is all.” The warmth from the touch had slipped down my cheek, and underneath my chin.

As I looked up, the smiling mask was in my line of sight. The figure was a tall man. He wore a strange outfit of a red turtleneck with a golfing shirt. His arms were big, along with his hands.

We sat in minor silence, but it was then broken by a quiet sigh.

“What am I going to do with you, little boy?” He asked. I couldn’t find myself to ask what he had meant, for my mind was clouded with fear and my throat was in its most painful state. “I reckon you aren’t such a snobby twat to your parents.”

My parents.

Where were they?

My parents had left me home alone with Ernie while they went and ran errands. Ernie was barking peculiarly at the door as I was in my room, working on a project for school. I had thought he wanted to go for a walk, and so I took him outside.

On the way back home, something was off. We walked by an empty street, a very quiet one. It wasn’t like such a town in Denver for a street, in broad daylight, to be as silent as a night.

Even so, Ernie wasn’t so pleased about the turn I had taken as a way to get home quicker. Almost down the block, I couldn’t help but notice the black van that was weirdly parked in the middle of the road.

Ernie being the nosy dog he’s always been, almost runs out onto the street to the van. I heeled him back, jogging distantly to pass the van’s side.

Right before I could walk away to turn the block, I heard a few things crashing together along with a small groan of annoyance.

I turned around, the van’s back doors were open, and a pair of legs could be seen sticking out from inside.

“God…dammit!” The voice raised, I tilted my head.

“Need some help?” I said loud enough to hear.

The person had gotten startled, thrashing everything that was in front of them. They crawled out of the van’s trunk, and brushed off their clothes.

I looked up at the man, he wore lots of white face paint with big glasses that were 10 times the size of his eyes.

He looks at me with a narrowed stare. It was as if he was observing me.

“Yeah, I, uh,” He stammers. The man clears his throat, his hands on his waist. “I just so happen to lose my hat somewhere in this catastrophe of a trunk. I have to be at a birthday party in a little, and I just can’t show up without it.”

I stepped towards the street, taking a small peek into the van. There were party supplies everywhere. This guy was most likely a clown, or even a magician.

But, what caught my eye the most was the bunch of black balloons sitting right in the front of the trunk. How could he see with all the supplies and balloons in the way?

“Well, maybe I could try to find it-“

“Oh, no,” He shakes his head. “No, you mustn’t. I wouldn’t want you hurting yourself in there with all those party favors.”

The tone in his voice had made me feel guilty, I couldn’t just keep walking.

“I insist, mister. Ernie, sit.” I say. Ernie does what he’s told to, and I ask the man to hold his leash.

“You know, I have a dog of my own,” I heard him say as I climbed and crawled inside the van. “I call him Samson.”

He was telling me the story of how he found Samson and took care of him, but I barely listened. I searched the corners of the van, seeing the black top hat he must've been talking about. It wasn’t far, how come he couldn’t find it while it was right in the corner? I grab it, and crawl out of the van.

“Ah, so it wasn’t far,” he says cheerfully as he takes it from my hand. The sun slightly blinded me, but what worried me most was that Ernie’s leash was on the ground. “Eyesight around my age just happens to disappear.”

I smile softly at him. But, Ernie began to lightly whimper, that wasn’t usually a good sign.

“Hey, how’s about I show you a magic trick?” He asked, an ear-to-ear grin on his pale face. “As a treat.”

I frowned approvingly, “Yeah, sure!”

Gleefully, he turns around, pushing his head through the bunch of black balloons with a grunt. He pulls his head back out, holding a can of what I thought had been silly string before he shakes it vigorously.

Ernie then began to growl, he didn’t like strangers. But, if only I had known that this time Ernie was trying to tell me something.

As I was more focused on Ernie, I hadn’t realized that the man was looking at me, waiting for me.

I looked up at him, and my vision was soon blurred.

My throat had released a loud and high screech, and Ernie’s barking only made things worse.

I dropped the leash, trying to rub the stinging sensation in my eyes out. But, nothing worked.

A strong grip on my arm yanked me, and all I could do was scream. A hand covered my mouth, pulling me away as Ernie’s barking turned into pained whimpers again.

“Keep screaming and I’ll snap your fucking neck.” I heard the man say slowly in my ear. His voice was deep, it didn’t sound like the friendly stranger I had met.

My body was picked up by my waist, and thrown into what had felt like the balloons. They were pulled from behind me, and the last thing I heard were the doors of the van slamming shut.

***

“You must be scared,” The man says quietly. “I know you want to go home. I'll take you back home soon. But, I just need you to stay here for a little while.”

My mind couldn’t process what to say, I felt so lightheaded and tired. I could barely move, I was drugged.

“Hey, how’s about I get you a soda?” He says, his voice filled with delight. “You like soda, yeah?”

I didn’t respond, I couldn’t find the words to respond.

“Well, I’ll go and- wait!” He says with caution, his head turns around to face the door behind him. “Do you hear that?”

There was a small silence after he said that. And then, I could hear the faint sound of a phone ringing.

It sounded like it was coming from behind the door, but so quiet. Was I imagining it?

“That must be the phone. I’ll go see who it is, get you that soda, come back, and explain everything!” He smiles with his eyes, patting my head before sighing heavily.

He turns around and opens the door to leave. But, he stops, turning to his right as he slowly says, “Don’t you go anywhere.”

The door closes with a hard creak, and slams shut. The locks behind it are switched up, and then footsteps up a set of stairs linger in my ear before fading away.

When I knew for sure that it was only me in the room, I lifted myself to sit up. The room I was held up in was cold, and dark. It smelled of smoke, and there was dust almost everywhere.

I got up from the bed, feeling slightly dizzy. It felt like I had woken up from a coma, but this wasn’t a hospital. I walked along the gray concrete, my eyes desperately trying to find a way out.

There was a window above in the corner, about 3 feet above me. An iron bar was covering it, the sunlight shadowing lines into the room’s wall. The window wasn’t an option.

I made my way to the door that was seemingly the only way out. My hand reaches out for the handle, and tugs on it as if it weren’t locked. It doesn’t budge.

To my right was a smaller room. There was a toilet, and tubes of rugs stacked next to it. It was as if this place was meant for someone to stay in, someone to be locked up and hidden away.

How long was I going to be kept here? What was going to happen to me?

I felt so scared, I felt weak. I paced around the room, it was like the walls were closing in.

My parents. My dog. God, if only I could imagine how scared they must be knowing I had disappeared.

Before any further hope was lost, I noticed a telephone built into the wall next to the mattress.

Why would a kidnapper keep a phone down here?

The closer I stepped to it, the lighter I felt. Maybe there was a bit of hope after all.

At least, that’s what I figured.

My hand reaches for its handle, and I bring the speaker to my ear. Nothing.

I trail my eyes to the bunched up wires underneath the box itself, they were cut.

So much for hope.

I sat myself down on the bare mattress, it creaked eerily. My quiet gasps for air turned into choked wails, and then into sobs.

I was going to die, I knew it would’ve happened sometime as my life goes on, but not so sudden.

My body falls backwards into the mattress with a silenced whmph. I watch the ceiling through watery eyes, practically hugging myself for comfort.

I couldn’t help but to think about how much I wished I was a better son, a better owner to Ernie. A better kid.

***

RIINGGG…

My eyes slowly opened, I blinked myself awake. I stare at the first thing I see: the phone, determining whether I was dreaming.

It doesn’t ring.

I could have sworn I heard it ring, though.

I lifted myself, rubbing my eyes as I remembered that I was still trapped in that basement. The sunlight looked fairly dimmer as a sunrise, it must’ve been the next day.

“Why can’t this be a dream? Why can’t I just wake up?” I groaned.

“I wish the same thing.” I heard a light voice say.

My face lifts from my hands, getting startled as the man sits upon the floor, his hand resting underneath his face.

He wears the same mask from before, only this time the top half of his face is shown.

“How…long have you been there?” I ask.

“Just for a few minutes,” He says calmly. His head leans to the side, not laying an eye off me. “I wanted to look at you.”

Then, there it was. The familiar silence between us.

As much as I wanted to look away, my eyes only focused on him. His eyes had this narrow to them, and the way his brows knit together which left me to believe: he was distressed, shameful for what he had done.

He clicks his tongue, "I think I should go. I'm… I'm sorry."

He gets up, and slowly walks to the door. Before he could open it, I spoke without thinking.

“Wait!” I called. He stops in his tracks, I shallowly gulp. The words are forced through my lips, “Can I get something to eat?”

He stands there for a second. Without a word, he continues to open the door, and disappears behind a loud slam.

I watched the door, hoping he would bring what I had asked for. But, a part of me thought otherwise.

It wasn’t a distraction, I was starving. But, I did use it as one. I hopped off the mattress, trying to ignore that dizzy feeling you get when you get up too fast.

I looked around everywhere for something, anything that I could use to my advantage. But, nothing clicked.

I sat upon the floor, leaning my head to the ceiling. Once again, there wasn’t any hope for me.

Tears were beginning to form in my eyes, I was a real crybaby when it came to little things. But, this wasn’t little.

My eyes then land on the black phone across the room from me. I lean my head to the side, looking closely. It was as if it was watching me, calling for me.

If it was a person, I’d be given the most sourest of all glares by it.

Before tears fell, I shifted in a scare. The locks on the door are getting unlocked, and the door slowly opens.

I could only see the shadow of the man, standing at the stairs while holding a tray. He slowly comes into the light of the room, and the top half of his face is covered.

He walks towards me, and crouches down to set the tray on the floor in front of my feet. His eyes were focused on me again, they didn’t look the same as before.

I avoid his gaze as much as possible, lowering my attention to the plate of scrambled eggs and glass bottle of Sprite.

Before I could reach for the fork to eat, he grabs my face, and forces me to look at him.

“You better not have anything foolish in mind,” He says in a threatening voice. My cheeks begin to hurt from his grip, I try not to make a sound. “You don’t wanna make me upset, do you?”

I shake my head.

The grip on my face releases, and his hand moves to my head before lightly patting it. “Good boy.”

I picked up the fork, and ate quietly. He just stares at me, and heavily sighs. He stands up, and walks to the door to leave.

The routine would be the door closing, and the locks heavily being tugged on, and the sounds of his footsteps going up the stairs.

But, something was missing.

The door was only closed behind him, and then he went up the flight of stairs. I look at the door.

Have I heard wrong? Was I so used to hearing those locks being switched up that I had ignored it that time?

I set my fork down and stood up, slowly walking to the door. My hand meets the handle, I pull it towards me. And, with a small creak, it opens.

With all the eagerness and hope I had felt once more, I wanted to rip the door open fully and rush up the stairs to escape.

But, what if it was a trap? What if he had left it open on purpose?

The feel of anxiety builds up in me, there could be so many possibilities as to why the door wasn’t locked.

Hesitantly, I closed the door.

Not yet. Wait for the right moment.

I sit back on the floor, finishing the rest of my food. Maybe it was a trap. But, what if he had forgotten if I wasn’t snared into it the time he’d wanted me to?

My eyes drift to the barricaded window, it was daytime.

I decided to wait, wait for the right time in which I knew he wouldn’t remember keeping the door unlocked.

As I drank the rest of the soda, I thought about protection. If getting attacked was the first thing that would happen when I reach the top of those stairs, I needed something to fight back with.

I hold the empty bottle by its neck, gripping it tight. My eyes look around the room, finally landing on the wall’s corner that stuck out next to me.

With the bottle hugged tight between my fist, and my arm covering my face, I bring the bottle across the edge, hearing the glass shatter before me.

Bits of glass spray everywhere on the floor, almost the entire bottle was broken. But, the edges were sharp enough. I was at least glad for that.

I walk to the front of the mattress and sit, keeping my eyes on the door.

I wait.

***

The sun slowly sets, and before I knew it, it was about nighttime.

My nose is cold, and my hand hurts from holding the bottle in the same position for too long. But, nothing stopped me from the plan.

The door was still open, he hasn’t come downstairs ever since this morning. That was my chance, I was finally getting out of here.

I stand up, and walk to the door. My hand reaches for the handle, and I pull it with force. It creaks open once again, and I’m greeted by the flight of wooden stairs.

One by one, trying my best to be quiet, I go up the stairs. I felt heavier after each step, but I pushed through it.

On the final step, another door blocks my path. It was also open, and the moonlight behind it peeks through its crack.

I push it open, a loud and eerie creak follows the door as it opens slowly. I bite my lip, and nails dig into my palms, hoping that that wasn’t heard by anybody.

I was upstairs. God, I was almost free.

My eyes desperately looked for the door to leave. I was in what looked like the kitchen. I take a few steps out, peeking around slowly.

I was left to believe he wasn’t home as the place looked empty, and too quiet.

Then, there it was. The front door.

Eagerly, I jog to it, peaking through its grid-covered window. I couldn’t recognize the street, considering it was dark and the street lights weren’t as much help.

I place my hand on the door knob, my stomach hurling in delight.

But, my blood runs cold, and the

goosebumps begin to appear on my skin as the growling sound of a dog lingers in my left ear.

Even if I didn't want to, even if my instincts still told me to open the door and run, I turned my head to the source of the sound, and I’m frozen in place.

The man sits upon the couch, his foot taps the floor while he holds a leather belt in his lap. The mask he wore looked different. Instead of a smile, it was a deceiving frown.

“Did I say you could come upstairs?” He says in a low, muffled voice.

The Cane Corso next to his leg slowly approached me, his teeth were wide, and his growls were angry-like.

Samson.

I knew I was screwed, but I wasn’t empty-handed.

I raise the bottle to his direction as he gets up from his seat, “Stay away from me.”

Of course, he ignores what I say. But, I hold my weapon tighter.

“You’ve really made me upset now,” He says, raising the belt up as if to strike me. “I was just thinking about letting you go.”

Before he hits me, I run past him. When he wasn’t looking, I drove the end of the bottle deep into his shoulder. He lets out a rasped and pained scream.

With that, I tried to run away. But, I too began to holler as I fell face-first onto the ground. Samson had bit me, and he continued to bite and shake my leg as I began to cry out in pain.

The man slowly stood up straight, struggling to pull the bottle out of his back. When he was successful, he turned and stumbled over to me.

“You fucking brat.” He groaned, whistling for Samson to let go. As he does, I was grabbed by my hair, and was dragged along the floor. “You got blood all over my goddamn floor.”

I continued to scream, begging for him to let me go. But, my voice is once again ignored. I tried to kick, but the pain in my leg was unbearable.

“Boys like you,” He says, practically ripping my scalp off. I was dragged back to the door that led to the basement, I could see his head staring down at me in the corner of my eye. “Need to be taught a good fucking lesson.”

With that, my body feels like I’m flying. His figure began to look smaller, and the next thing I heard was the sound of a bone cracking. A sharp pain shoots up my arm, before I could scream even more, everything goes dark.

My eyes slowly opened, I was seeing doubled. The man came down the stairs, I tried to get up before he got to me.

But, I couldn’t. I tried to move, but I only felt pain with every struggle I made.

And then, my leg starts to sting. I cried out, everything was hurting way too much.

The man was stepping on my wound, holding me down in place like an animal. I winced in agony, hoping someone would come and help me.

But, no one did.

“It’s sad. I was really beginning to like you,” He says. My eyes struggled to stay open. “You brought this upon yourself.”

The man releases his foot on my leg, and he sits himself over me. I was beginning to feel numb, his weight didn’t bother me.

I heard the buckle of the belt coming closer to me, it got wrapped around my neck before fastened, and tightened around my throat.

The cold metal pressed into my skin, and the man held the belt tight and pulled me tighter, as if I were a dog on a leash.

The room begins to blur, and it gets harder and harder to breathe. The man continued to pull on the belt while holding me down, I couldn’t stop him.

“Night night, naughty boy.” I hear his voice say. Everything went dark again, and pretty soon I had stopped breathing.

The last thing I remember seeing was his masked face.

***

I gasp out loud, my hands moving to my throat before coughing hard. I was on the basement floor, the same spot I remembered seeing that man’s face.

Was it a dream? Had I dreamed that he hurt me?

I looked around, everything looked the same. The mattress, the window, everything was in its place.

But, why did it feel…different?

I looked at the window, it was bright as day. My eyes then trail down to the black phone, it was as if something had changed.

Slowly, I pick myself up. I felt fine, walking n' all.

My hand reaches for the handle, and I feel a slight shock between the connection. I pull my hand back, narrowing my eyes at the phone.

What the hell?

I tried again, I reached for the handle, and nothing happened. I brought the speaker to my ear, and there it was.

The humming sound of the other line, the phone was working!

I lightly smiled, trailing my eyes down to the bunch of wires. But, I stopped smiling, seeing that the wires were still cut.

That’s impossible. How can the phone be working with the wires cut?

Before I could think further, the door unlocked. Startled, I turned around, dropping the phone.

There he was. The man who was keeping me down there. But, he wasn’t alone. Over his shoulder, he carried someone. A boy.

The mask he wore was different, it had nothing on it except for a nose. He slowly brings the boy to the mattress, laying him down gently.

All I could do was stare, why did he bring someone else?

The boy looked unconscious, he was probably drugged. The man sits on the mattress next to his body, watching him closely.

“That blow to the head must’ve really knocked you out, huh?” He asked, as if the boy was awake. “That’ll teach you to respect your elders, you little shit.”

The man doesn’t move. Instead, he plays with his hair, heavily sighing. He doesn’t look at me, as if I wasn’t there.

And then, he lifts his head up. He notices the phone wasn’t in its place. He lifts himself up, and walks over to it. The man passes me, and picks up the phone by its handle.

He brings the speaker up to his ear, I only watched him. Anger begins to build up inside me, he takes me away from my family, locks me up in his basement, and doesn’t even look at me!

My hands balled into fists, and my breathing speeds up.

“I hope you burn in hell, you monster.” I say.

The man frantically slams the phone back into its holder. Confused, I tilt my head.

“No, no, NO!” He yells, his hands on his head before he shakes it side to side. He takes a few deep breaths, repeating over and over that he wasn’t a monster. He then turns around to leave.

The door shuts, and the locks are switched up.

I continued to look at the door, trying to process what had happened. My eyes are then turned to the phone again, and I think.

Did he…hear me?

No, that's impossible. The phone’s wires are cut, and I’m standing right here!

I look down at my body, my eyes widening. My leg was covered in blood, and the bite wound Samson made was even bloodier. My arm was broken, snapped in half as a bone sticks out halfway. But, I didn’t feel any pain, why couldn’t I feel anything?

If what happened wasn’t a dream, then what was happening?

I look over at the recently picked up boy. He looked familiar, almost someone I knew. Then, it struck me. His hair and light blue shirt gave it away. Bruce Yamada.

“No, not you too,” I whisper.

Bruce and I were close, we’d ride our bikes down the street at night, laughing until our stomachs hurt. He was always praised by his baseball team for being the team’s best batter. Maybe that was the only thing I could remember.

The more I looked at him, the more I felt the urge to cry. But, I didn’t.

I sat on the floor against the wall, hugging my knees before leaning my forehead against them.

I felt hopeless again, I felt alone and weak. There was nothing I could do.

In that same spot, time passes. Occasionally, I’d look up, but other times I’m silent in that one spot. Bruce had woken up that day, but ever since then, he wasn’t the boy I used to know.

The man would bring him food, and Bruce threw the tray against the wall. Sometimes he would even scream at the top of his lungs for someone to save him.

Why hadn’t I thought of that?

“Keep screaming, little boy. Down here, nobody can hear you with the door shut.” The man once told him as he held his wrist so tight he almost broke it. For the first time in a while, I had seen Bruce cry.

One night, Bruce was laying down on the bed. He wasn’t asleep yet, he just watched the ceiling, probably thinking about what was going to happen to him.

Then, he turns over, facing the phone. Before I knew it, he lifted himself, and stood in front of the phone.

He gets that same feeling I had gotten when I looked at it too. The feeling that there was someone on the line, waiting for you to pick up.

And then, he does.

He brings the speaker to his ear, and just listens. I could hear it too, the crackling static on the line.

His hand finds itself holding the phone’s wires, he too sees that they were cut.

“Impossible.” He must’ve been thinking.

I stand up, not laying an eye off him. I walked and stood next to him, he didn't see me either.

“Hello?” He manages to say.

If what I said earlier to the man was heard, then…maybe…

“You need to get out of there.” I say quietly.

His eyes widened, he heard me.

“You…can hear me?” He says, looking around the room in a panic.

“I could ask the same.”

There was a small silence between us, and then I sighed.

“That man will hurt you if you try to escape, you need to find a way to distract him.” I say.

“But, how? He locks the door.” Bruce says.

Maybe there was something in the room that I had missed. But, I couldn’t think.

“Next time he brings you food, try to use something as a weapon. And then, wait for the right moment to strike.” I say.

I won’t let him make the mistake I made. Bruce had to be smarter than I was with this.

“Okay,” He says, looking around the room. He sounded scared, frightened by both being kidnapped and getting advice from someone he couldn’t see. “Okay, I-I think I can do that.”

I smile, “I know you can, Bruce.”

“You know me?” He asked, I could see that he was getting goosebumps.

“Of course I do, it’s me man.”

“Who are you?” He asks bluntly.

As I was about to tell him, I stopped myself. No matter how hard I tried to think, nothing came to mind.

With my eyes still on his, narrowed in defeat, I say, “I don’t remember my name.”

#the black phone #the grabber #fanfic #disturbing #gory #child abduction #child abuse #horror #suspense #short fiction #short story

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icemankazansky · 1 year ago

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Also:

"My dog is friendly!" does not mean your dog is properly off-leash trained.

This is a whole, extensive skillset that you have to TEACH YOUR DOG before it should be trusted off-leash anywhere but your fenced yard. (This includes your unfenced yard. And an electric/Invisible fence does not count as a fence for these purposes, but while I'm on the subject, YOU ALSO HAVE TO TEACH A DOG WHAT THE ELECTRIC FENCE MEANS. They do not come with this knowledge preprogrammed! The number of people who install an electric fence and then become super fucking confused/angry when their dog "escapes" is so large it makes me wanted to scream.)

If you let your dog off-leash even at an off-leash dog park and your dog is not properly off-leash trained, it is potentially dangerous to every other dog and every other human being in that park. And even if it is properly off-leash trained, you as a responsible owner need to be watching it every second it's off-leash. Unexpected shit happens. I cannot count the number of times I've seen people treat the dog park like a daycare for their wild animal. They let it in, remove its leash, and then immediately go talk to other owners or have a smoke, etc., while their dog terrorizes other dogs and people in the park. It only takes seconds for a bad meeting with a dog to scar someone permanently—either figuratively or literally. If the thought of your dog, say, permanently disfiguring a child doesn't hit you where you live, just know that if your dog does any sort of damage to a person or an animal, you're legally responsible for the financial fallout. A trip to the emergency vet after your dog decides another dog at the park is its squeaky toy could easily run thousands of dollars, and that's if no one gets lawyers or the law involved.

I love dogs. I am a dog person; I have dogs, and I volunteer for a number of dog rescues. I love going places with my dogs. I love meeting new dogs. But I will be the first person to tell you that not all dogs should be out meeting people, and that as a responsible dog owner, it is your responsibility to both your dog and your community to ensure that you understand your dog's limits, and respect them. Your dog should never become another person's problem, and that includes a stranger at the park who doesn't want to interact with your animal for ANY reason. It's none of your business why someone doesn't want to be near your dog. It is your responsibility to make sure that your dog doesn't get near them. This keeps your community and your dog safe.

Everyone else talked about outdoor cats, it's time for me to talk about offleash dogs

#Dogs #I get hot about this y'all #There's no such thing as a bad dog but good lord are there a lot of bad dog owners #long post

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harrison-abbott · 6 months ago

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little terrier

My neighbour Phil asked me to sit his dog for him. Because my neighbour wanted to go to a big football game and he had nobody else to mind the dog for a day. The dog’s name was Willie, and he was a little terrier. My neighbour was a nice man and had helped me out a lot in the past, so I said, Yeah Sure, I’ll sit Willie for a day.

Phil brought Willie around to me about eleven a.m. Then he was let alone in my flat. And, the first thing he did when his master left was to bark incessantly for about five minutes. My neighbour had given me some bones and some snack treats for Willie. So I gave one to Willie, and he finally shut up. Until, about twenty minutes later, he started whining. Phil had told me that it was important not to give him too many treats, because he went hyper if you did that. So I decided to take Willie out for a walk.

I put him on the leash and we went down to the park and Willie peed a couple of times. He didn’t really seem interested in much. Although there was one point when he saw a squirrel scurry up a tree, and the fur on his back went AWOL and he snarled and thrashed and I had to pull him back. He was pretty tough despite being a small animal. Anyway, we went back home.

Throughout our time in the park, I had needed a pee. But I couldn’t do it anywhere in the park because there were lots of people around. So, the first thing I did when I got home was to put Willie in the kitchen, and then I went to the bathroom and relieved myself.

When I got back, Willie had taken a shit on the kitchen floor.

He was wagging his tail and looking up at me, with this steaming clump of faeces right there in front of him.

Phil had given me poop bags as well. I gagged when I caught a whiff of the shit. And, the gag followed on with another gag, and meddled with my stomach. And, I threw up some of the coffee I’d had earlier in the sink. I went out into the street and put the shit bag in the street bin. Then I returned to the kitchen and used bleach to mop up that spot where Willie had shat. Willie himself had gone into the living room and he was sleeping, and I thought, phew, he could be left alone for a while.

So I shut the living room door quietly, hoping that he would kip for a few hours and I wouldn’t have to deal with him.

I went back a couple of hours later to check if he was alive. Yes. He was indeed alive and he was awake and chewing one of my pillows. He had taken it off the couch and ripped its sleeve apart … and there were white feathers everywhere. Willie blinked up at me. And his tail wagged again. I couldn’t figure out whether the wagging was sarcastic or not, as if he enjoyed his behaviour.

It all made me wonder why people kept pets in the first place? All I’d known about dogs previously was from movies, or adverts for dog food, with these handsome golden retrievers.

I didn’t get what all the hype was about.

#writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #prose #stories #tumblr writers #short fiction #spilled ink #fiction #short story

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harleyyjackson · 2 years ago

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The Winter Wraith: Chapter 37

Summary: The Winter Soldier battles the Winter Wraith

Word count: < 2.5k

Warnings: n/a

previous | next

The gun was steady in Bucky's hand, no trace of the doubt and confusion eating his insides evident in his stance. The woman slowly turned around, raising her arms in a sarcastic surrender. Her face was obscured by a dark mask, her bloodstained blouse and modest heels at odds with the fighting gear adorning her figure. "Take off the mask."

She made no move to do so. "Why?"

It would remove any advantages hidden in the mask's technology, that was why. Not because it would humanize whatever lay beneath, turn her expressionless disguise into something he could empathise with. He had to be sure this woman was worth saving. With a shrug, she tossed back her (h/c) hair and removed the mask shrouding her features, letting it clatter to the ground. Through the veiling shadows of the underground car park, piercing (e/c) eyes found his. The room was devoid of oxygen, but he didn't need to breathe. The corner of her mouth lifted like she knew exactly what he was thinking. "So," she drawled, "what now?"

He noted the perfect accent, trained to perfection. "Drop your weapons"

"Sure, right after you drop yours."

They were at a stalemate, each watching the other, though neither knew who was the predator and who was the prey. Everything about her was familiar, from the way her (h/c) hair fell about her face, to the shape of her hands as they gripped the gun at her side. He wanted to hold those hands, but at the same time, he wanted them in handcuffs and behind bars, out of his life and out of his head. Who are you?

"What?"

Her voice took him by surprise, drawing him out of his thoughts. Had he said that aloud? He hadn't thought so, but he must have. "Who are you?" he repeated.

Her head cocked to the side, confusion morphing into something else, something she tried to hide. 'Your worst nightmare."

"Hilarious," he deadpanned, but it was all he needed. He saw the surprise at his question, chased away by the doubt, the hesitation, the inability to answer. Like a flare in the darkness of night, a spark of relief lit up his chest; maybe she was like him. "You don't know, do you?"

Then, the Hydra mentality rose to the surface: the best defence is a good offence. "I could ask you the same question." She took a small step closer to him. "The infamous Winter Soldier. First Hydra, now Shield, absolutely no loyalty," she tsked.

"What, like a dog to its owner? Guess your leash is a bit tighter than mine," he quipped back. There was no real venom in their words, but he could sense the dangerous undercurrent of hurt and the desire to hurt, mingling together and giving the jokes some extra weight.

She scoffed. "Do you see a collar around my neck?" She gesturing to the open car park around them, the open space, the possibility of escape. "It's a little thing called trust. Not all of us have to wear muzzles."

He knew that was a jab at the mask Hydra had forced him into, effectively a muzzle to keep him silent and obedient. "You're right, I suppose domesticated dogs have no need for-" He cut himself off at the realisation she had moved another three steps closer to him, and he hadn't even noticed. "Stay where you are."

She ignored, stepping forwards again. "Of course, you were always the favourite mutt. And after you, the witchling and her brother. Apparently, I bite a bit too hard." He couldn't tell if she smiled at him, or if she was baring her teeth. Both options were equally disconcerting.

He shot at the ground, directly in front of her feet, the deafening crack echoing around them. "I said stay where you are."

She quirked an eyebrow, seemingly undeterred. "Keep firing warning shots and you'll run out of bullets."

Not seeing this as a battle worth fighting, he relented a backwards step of his own. "You're not getting out of here."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't think that's your decision to make."

Bucky glanced down at the gun in his hand, partly to maintain the illusion of control he had over the situation, and partly to avoid searching her face for the answers he wasn't sure were there. "Seeing as I'm the one pointing a gun at your head, I think it is."

She was right in front of him now, her forefinger lightly tapping the barrel of his pistol. "Think one bullet will stop me?"

He wasn't quite sure what was happening right now. Were they playing some kind of game? Neither seemed to feel particularly threatened by the other, he wasn't even worried about the gun in her hand. He told himself he was stalling, waiting for the others to get here. But he didn't want them here. He wanted to be alone. With her. Which was exactly the reason he forced himself to inch his hand towards his earpiece.

It was never going to work, the Wraith's eyes tracking his every movement, but at least it would get them out of this back-and-forth banter that felt way too natural. Anyone could see it was a trap, forcing her to make a move. His hand was now bare inches from his ear, and for a moment he wondered whether she would actually let him call for backup.

Nope.

She lunged. The obvious move would have been to go for his arm, so in true Hydra fashion, she went for his legs. He jumped to the side, avoiding her low kick, backing up to put more distance between them. He had to remember was goal was to stall her until the others caught up. He could fight her himself, but he wasn't too prideful to admit some backup would be nice. For every punch he threw, she had a countermove prepared. For every kick she made, he responded flawlessly. It was like this was all some dance, one they had practised to perfection. This only fed his theory that he had worked closely with her, close enough to know every move she would make, and vice versa.

He had to admit, she wasn't all that hard of an opponent. It was like her mind was somewhere else, not entirely focused on what was right in front of her. Which was why, when he aimed a kick directly at her head, he was surprised to catch her off guard. Unable to find the time to dodge, her arms came up to take the brunt of the attack, his shin slamming into her forearms – if it didn't break her arms, it would leave a killer bruise. The force made her stumble backwards, and her right shoulder slammed into the wall of the car park. Before she could recover, he had his metal hand gripping her throat, shoving her against the wall and dragging her high enough that her feet just scraped the ground. He found it hard to believe she had bested Nat in a fight.

They stood there. Or rather, he stood there, and she struggled to breathe against the pressure on her throat. She didn't try to pull his arm away; if she somehow had missed the memo that he had a metal arm, she would be able to feel it against her skin. Trying to loosen his grip would be useless. Her gaze met his, and he became aware of the (f/c) mist clouding her gaze. Instinctively, he knew it meant she was using her abilities, whatever those were. But, seeing as they clearly weren't helping her win this fight, it meant she was probably still in Wanda's head. Seeing the realisation on his face, the Wraith winked and, in his moment of distraction, threw her elbow up towards his face. He leant his head away, and the knee sailing towards his crotch had him fully releasing his grip and taking a step back. Using the wall to add to her momentum, she used his retreat to advance, landing a kick on his stomach with enough force to leave him winded.

Just as Bucky was about to epically recover and win the fight, something totally out of his control happened: he tripped on a car park speed bump. Between one second and the next, he found himself flat on his back. Now, this was a new experience for him, and he swore he heard the ghost of a laugh on the Wraith's lips as she chased his movement, instantly pinning him to the ground. Where his left arm lay splayed to the side, the Wraith stepped on it. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been a problem. However, she had managed to wedge the heel of her shoe between one metal plate and the next, meaning that moving his arm too far would risk damaging the circuits. It wasn't luck, she must have been told how to do that. Or maybe she had discovered it herself because he was now certain they had fought before.

With her left foot pinning down his left arm, her right leg knelt on his right side. She smirked as she crouched over him, voice slightly hoarse from having been suffocated moments before. "Come on, Sold-" she cut herself off, smile vanishing in place of a grim line. "Winter Soldier. Is that the best you can do?" She looked confused, shaken.

"What did you just call me?" His voice was barely a whisper. It was as if that one word was a lifeline in a merciless ocean, keeping him afloat when the waves threatened to pull him under.

Her gaze flickered around the room. "Winter Soldier. Or have you found yourself a new little nickname?"

Silence filled the air around him, and he could have sworn her breathing was uneven as her eyes continued to dance from one thing to the next, unwilling to settle. Like stopping the motion would force her to face her thoughts. He figured it was now or never. Maybe it would all be in vain, maybe he couldn't be to her what Steve had been to him. But he had to try. "I know you."

She rolled her eyes. "My reputation precedes me."

Off to a great start. What had Steve said to him? "You know me." That sounded better.

"Mmmm," she hummed, "pretty sure I don't." He felt her weight as it shifted around him, noted her fidgeting.

"Yes, you do. You remember me, but you don't know why." She still didn't look convinced, so he changed tactics. "Why are you fighting for Hydra?"

"I'm not fighting for Hydra; I'm fighting for a better world."

"That's bullshit and you know it. You just murdered an innocent man." It came out harsher than intended, and he could practically see the Wraith's walls slamming up.

Her voice was as cool as her gaze as she looked down on him. "Sacrifices have to be made. It's for a good cause, something you people wouldn't understand."

"Hydra is evil. We're the good guys." Not his most poetic moment.

At that, she let out a sharp laugh. "Right. Sounds like something the bad guys would say."

"No-" How had Steve had the patience? What did you even say to someone so unwilling to believe you? "I used to be Hydra."

"A defector, I know." The accusation rang clear in her tone.

"No, well yes, but I used to be your partner." It was a gamble, he wasn't even sure if it was true, but it was the only explanation for all his memories of her. He knew he had struck a chord when she didn't respond immediately, doubt crawling into her thoughts.

She tried to sound confident, but she couldn't hide the hesitation in her voice. "I don't have a partner. I never have, and I never will."

"Yes, you did." He hated the way every word he spoke tore into whatever uncertainties she had, how everything he said had to make her doubt herself, doubt Hydra. It was a horrible thing to experience, and now that he was the one causing it, he couldn't help but feel guilty. But it had to be done. He also made a mental note that apparently, since him, she hadn't had any more partners. "You remember me, don't you?"

Amidst the confusion clouding her thoughts, Bucky's stomach sank at the flash of relief. "Of course I know you. I've read your case file."

It was then that he realised this approach wasn't going to work, not when she could blame any familiarity on whatever she had read about him. She could lie to herself all she wanted and the only proof he had was the fact that she hadn't even tried to kill him, let alone really hurt him. He tried to quell the frustration. He wasn't really annoyed at her, more angry at himself for being so incompetent with words. He didn't know what to say to convince her. What was he thinking, pretending he could be anything like Steve.

It didn't matter, the Wraith was all too eager to change the subject. "Tell you what, how about you come back with me."

The confusion was instant. "To Hydra?"

"Yeah. I'll show you around the place, introduce you to the higher-ups. I'll prove that Hydra is actually pretty decent." She seemed to have regained control of herself, gaze steady as it challenged his.

"You want me to be your hostage?"

"Hostage, guest, same same," she shrugged.

"They're really not." He almost laughed at her brazen proposal.

She opened her mouth to reply, but her gaze caught on his wrist, on the watch perched there. Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Not that this hasn't been a wonderful conversation, but I gotta bounce." She said it so casually, it took him a second to realise what she meant. The gun was suddenly against his temple. "Stay down." She finally released his left arm – his greatest weapon – but was seemingly entirely unconcerned. When he didn't move, she gave his head a mocking pat. "Good dog."

She started to pull away, and Bucky would later struggle to explain what happened next. He panicked. He didn't know what to say, how to communicate what he felt. He was finally united with her, but she'd never felt so far away. He was desperate, and she was leaving. So, before she could rise, he grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the gun, pulling her towards him. Then, he kissed her.

#wintersoldierxreader #winter soldier #buckyxreader #reader x bucky barnes #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader

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pittieandpoodle · 2 years ago

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nighttime walk, 2/1/23

lizzie and i took Denver on a neighborhood walk at like 8:45 ish. we live in an apartment complex that’s right next to a lovely neighborhood, to get to it we have to walk down our looooong parking lot/driveway

which is tough, because Denver has become pretty car reactive in the last few months, especially when the car passes very close to us, is making a weird noise, going fast, etc. i think it started when she’d react to dogs in the cars, then kinda went from there. she lunges and barks at the cars but can be pretty easily redirected with a treat scatter, which is nice. so my protocol for cars in the parking lot is to just pull off to the side as much as possible and give her something to do other than worry.

so we got through the parking lot and into the neighborhood. she was on her wide cobra buckle tactical collar instead of a harness because i wanted to try it out and be able to have more control of her in case of a reaction, and she hates putting her harness on. the downside to this is that she pulls like crazy and the harness is better for that and doesn’t disrupt our LLW training, but i pick my battles, so she got to pull on the collar and i did a little bit of “stop and start” leash walking to encourage her to just chill the fuck out. she had 10 ft of leash, she doesn’t need to pull so much, lol.

usually when we walk in the neighborhood we go to this field behind the houses where she can frolic and sniff and dig, but tonight we didn’t want to walk that far. Denver didn’t know this, of course, and as long as we were on the route to the field she was pulling and excited and trying to get there ASAP. however, as soon as we turned a different way that never gets us to the field, she chilled out and started sniffing for longer, walking slower, being generally less frantic and actually enjoying herself. the street was quiet and we only saw a couple cars, no dogs. at one point a car went past and she stiffened up, moved like she was going to lunge at it, and then looked away and shook off!

i’ve been marking and rewarding every single shake off she does on walks and i think it’s really starting to pay off. she does it more after stressful things, like cars and dogs, and even does it more when she plays with the puppy. very exciting to see it in action tonight after a stressful car sighting.

the walk back home was good, she got more tense and frantic and twitchy the closer we got to the main road that would take us back to the complex and i had to stop and do a little mental puzzle to figure out the best course of action. i brought a tug toy with us and tried to play with her in the neighborhood before the main road, but she wasn’t feeling it and it didn’t feel safe to play so close to the (not main) road, so i decided we’d try again closer to home.

going back through the parking lot she was still tense and scanning, but i took us off the pavement and onto the grass and such near the buildings and that helped quite a bit. she sniffed, i tossed some treats, she marked (so much marking. she pees and scratches.). at one point a car parked nearby and she decided she HATED that car, and the people inside, and she wanted to make it and them Go Away. so i did a magnet hand of treats and kinda jogged out of there and then she was fine.

outside our apartment i had lizzie hold Denver’s leash and just brace herself so i could have both hands to play tug. it took about 30 seconds of teasing with the toy to get Denver into it, but when she did she LOVED it. we played for a couple of minutes, the high energy tug that she loves, full of conflict (me whacking her sides and stealing the toy and making her chase it) and then she stopped to eat a stick. so. there’s that 😂

when we got back inside i made her a shred box, which is just a cardboard box full of treats and paper bags all taped up for her to destroy, since shredding is her favorite thing, and she did that in the loft while we made a late dinner. then she slept for a couple of hours and was very satisfied.

overall a really good little nighttime excursion! i definitely will be making this a priority as much as i can because it’s so good for her. also like writing up a little journal entry after, i think it’ll be helpful to look back on as our journey progresses.

#mine #my dogs #denver #dogblr #dogs of tumblr #apbt #apbt mix #boxer #boxer mix #training log

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pierceintyre-hunnihawk · 2 years ago

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(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?

It was after high school graduation. I decided to take a couple of years off from going to college. I had friends, and such, but I was bored of just being by myself. I’m a bachelor for god's sake. I’m young and desperate for love. Klinger had Soon Lee, Margaret had Frank, and everyone else had somebody. I’m growing tired of wishing on stars, and hoping for someone to just magically fall in love with me. I decided to get a dog. One that I could use to either keep me company, or find me a man. I picked out this tan and white cocker spaniel puppy. He was very cute, sitting in the window with his paws on the glass, and I just couldn’t let him go to someone else. I bought him a nice black leather collar with a dark blue leash, and a golden shamrock collar charm that tells the world his address and owner. We walked back to my home, and I read the given instruction manual on how to care for him. He needed a name, so I went through a list. He loved the name “Archie” and so that’s what we picked. I followed everything in the book, and then some. Months went by, and I decided to take him to the local dog park. We played a good couple of hours worth of fetch, and I even met Klinger, Soon Lee, Margaret, Frank, Charles, Trapper (my best friend), and my former teacher, Mr. Blake. We talked about how everything’s been, and then some. They all saw Archie, and fell in love with him. He enjoyed the attention, but enjoyed Trapper’s attention more. Just then, some guy from out of town came to the dog park with his cocker spaniel. Everyone started cracking jokes that we would end up together, and so I decided to let fate be my guide while also secretly hoping for more. The man sauntered over to me, and noticed Archie.

“Hello there, little fella.”

Archie looked up at him, and then back at me.

“Nice dog you’ve got there. What’s their name?”

“Archie. His name’s Archie.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Archie.”

Archie got very excited, and so he sat down, and waved his paw, waiting for the man to shake his paw. The man did, and Archie licked his hand.

“He’s very well trained!”

“Thank you. I took my time with him.”

“I’m BJ.”

“I’m Benjamin, but everyone calls me Hawkeye.” We exchanged handshakes, and moved on from there. BJ was a very interesting person.

“Say, where are you from, stranger?”

“Me? I’m from San Francisco, California.”

“I hear it doesn't get above 55 there.”

“That’s right!”

“Well then, what brings you to Crabapple Cove, Maine?”

“I’m looking for love and a new start. You see, my ex-girlfriend, Peg, and I split up a while back, and I just need something or someone to ease my mind. So, I figured getting out of California would do me good.”

“You’re in need of a new start?”

“Yes.”

“I can help with that.”

“Wonderful!”

I wrote down my address on a slip of paper, and handed it to BJ. He took the slip, and handed me his hotel phone number, and his current hotel room number. Everyone around me wolf whistled, and I blushed a very bright pink.

“See you soon, Hawkeye.”

“Likewise, BJ.”

“Before I go, Hawk,would you like to meet, Lady?”

“Absolutely!”

BJ brought Lady to my attention, and let me pet her. She was a very beautiful cinnamon color.

“She’s very sweet!”

“Thank you! I’ve been training her for a while now. She’s still got a long way to go.”

She was very patient, but very loving. BJ and I bid our “goodbyes” and then I turned to face my friends group, and Frank, followed by Mr. Blake.

“All right, crack as many jokes as you guys want, but just know that I still remember all of your secrets.”

“Hawkeye, everyone remembers when you dated me. Nobody freaked out then, no one’s going to freak out now.”

“I freaked out!”

“Frank, nobody cares. Also, thank you, Trapper. Even though you were a star player on the football team.”

“Of course! Just, try and get to know the guy before you jump.”

“Again, thank you, Trapper. Before I leave, does anyone else have any unsolicited advice?” Just then, everyone started talking all at once.

“Okay! One at a time, people.”

“Figure out his likes and dislikes!”

“Thank you, Klinger.”

“Margaret?”

“Find some common interests.”

“Mr. Blake?”

“Try to find a sport that you two can talk about. Sure, you both like different teams, but you can still talk about sports.”

“Thank you, Mr. Blake. Frank?”

“Try finding someone who isn’t such a sissy.”

“Margaret, control your dog. Anyone else? No? Okay then.” I decided to leave, go home, and make myself something to eat. I made myself a sandwich. Just as I was finishing up making it, BJ called.

“Is this Hawkeye?”

“Yes it is, BJ?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hey!”

“Hi! What are you up to?”

“Just made myself a sandwich. What about you?”

“Ordered room service. Say, are you free tonight?”

“I am, yeah. Why?”

“Wear something fancy, I’m taking you out to dinner.”

I blushed so hard that my ears turned red.

“Really?”

“Really. See you at eight, and wear some dancing shoes.”

With that, he hung up. I grabbed my sandwich, and started eating it. Thoughts swirled my brain, and scenarios ran through my head. Before I knew it, I was getting dressed, and putting on my dancing shoes that I used for prom. BJ showed up at my place with a bouquet of flowers, and a smile.<br />

“Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You look great.”

“Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself.”

“Thank you.”

We walked to dinner. It was at a really fancy restaurant. We both sat down, and ordered what we wanted. I ordered a steak with a loaded baked potato, and BJ ordered the beef tenderloin with fresh herb risotto. I was amazed at how he could order that without a care about prices.

“Everything okay, Hawk?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. Just admiring you from afar.”

“Well, if I may say so myself, I have a very handsome date.”

I smiled at BJ, and continued eating. Just then, Mr. Flagg came in.

“Don’t look now, but that was one of the rudest teachers that I’ve ever had.”

“What did he teach?”

“He taught physical education, and history. Used to make Charles, Margaret, Klinger, Trapper, Frank, and I run ten miles. I hated it since I had him first period. Then again in second. He was a nightmare.”

“Oh waiter!”

BJ ordered a whole pie, and walked over to Mr. Flagg. Just before you could blink, and miss it, BJ pied him in the face. I busted out into a fit of laughter, and BJ followed after. We paid everything off, and ran out of there.<br />

“I’ve never seen him so surprised! I’ve been wanting to do that since I got out of high school!”

“Really?”

“I hated that man. Still do.”

“I’m glad that I could help.”

“Thank you.”

I don’t know what overtook me, but I decided to kiss BJ's cheek. I, of course, then apologized a million times, until he kissed me softly.

“Thank you for shutting me up.”

“I don’t mind hearing you ramble. It’s very cute.”

I smiled, and noticed that we had arrived at the dance hall. I paid for the entrance ticket. We started off with the Harlem Shuffle, then the Bristol Stomp, then the Jerk. I had never had so much fun in my life. It was like I was actually experiencing the thrill of first love all over again. Just as the night was about to close, the band played a song that we could waltz to.

“Care for a waltz, Hawk?”

“I accept.” I took BJ’s hand in mine, and led him.

“My, Hawkeye. You sure know how to dance.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mulcahy taught me.”

“Oh yeah, what did he teach?”

“Choir. He also led the church choir on Sundays.”

“A songbird?”

“No, I just played in a couple of shows. Nothing fancy.”

“I learn more about you every minute.”

“If you’d like, we can talk about you.”

“My story’s a little more… obscure.”

“How so?”

“Well, my family’s a little more distant, my ex-girlfriend Peg left me for my then best friend, and now I’m just with you. I’m as happy as I could be. What about you? What’s your family like?”

“My story’s a bit darker. My mother passed away when I was a child. It’s mainly been my dad and I. Then, I decided to adopt Archie. He’s being watched by Margaret tonight.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear about your mother. I’m sure your dad’s and her are very proud of who you have become. You’re a very smart and handsome man, Hawkeye.”

I smiled, and thanked BJ.

“You wanna get outta here? Everyone’s starting to wind down, and or leaving.”

“Sure! Where to?”

“How about my place?”

“Sure!”

We walked out of the dance hall, and into the cold night. I was freezing, and BJ noticed.

“Here, take my coat.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course! You look great in it.”

I blushed an even brighter shade of red, and continued walking. We walked to BJ’s hotel room, and curled up on the bed. I called Margaret to check up on Archie, and the little guy was fast asleep on the couch. I took it as a sign to get some sleep. I undid my shoes, kicked them off, and laid on top of BJ’s chest. Lady was asleep on the foot of the bed.

“Goodnight, my dear.”

“Goodnight, my darling.”

With that, we both fell asleep in each other’s arms.

#beejhawk #bj hunnicutt #bj x hawkeye #hunnihawk

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