#i researched how to fix pipes for this

[arolesbianism]

We did it boys we got our first game crash in oni 🎉

[zeondraws]

Ok, Fellas, so today was wild

I'm at Gamescom atm and a week before this I tried to make a small plan for myself. Mostly because I had gotten such a big interest for the game, I wanted to see if I can meet anyone at the event.

After having had a big hurdle while trying to reenter the business area, I was able to go back and meet someone from the Chinese Room (I met two today). Which was wild for me, didn't think with this sudden interest in the game that I was able to meet someone from the team who worked on the game so soon.

I told them how I struggle to find interests in most games since those usually don't speak to me, but Still Wakes The Deep suddenly caught my attention. Where I ended up researching a bunch to find hidden details or eastereggs, looking through the game files and replaying the game to further understand the story.

I only had a small window to ask a bunch of questions, I sadly couldn't ask silly questions like "Does Muir look like a Bagpipe?" or ask some Questions about Caz.

Before the meeting I asked people on the discord server if they wanted to know anything. So I tried to take the questions I had for the moment and get through them XD

I did tell them how there is a small community on tumblr/discord where we gather. And that I asked some folk for questions I should ask.

Ok these are big spoilers, at least some suprised me, quite a bunch if them are of course about Muir and Innes.

I hope I remember everything properly that he told me, I immediately wrote everything down on discord for the others to read, but figured making a tumblr post will be good as well.

Innes:

Quite a lot of people asked about the VA of Innes, apparently they forgot to include him in the credits which made them feel extremely bad, even apologising to them. I can definitely understand how that must feel, I think I'd melt away. They'd fix it in the next patch, I can't check if it's already fixed atm.

At the very end of our chat, while shaking hands, I asked if Innes is bald. And the answer was "*laughs* yes".

Now I clearly asked this one as a joke, because I found it funny to tell the others on discord, however I very much support luscious hair Innes that many are drawing.

Muir:

I explained to them how I've been researching some stuff in the game. And figured out, that Muir must've died around the time when Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon in Marine Control. So I asked if that's possible to be the time when it actually happend- and they did confirm this! I was surprised that I got that on point.

But I got some further details about this, apparently they wanted to showcase how Muir would've died there.

Basically, once Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon, you would've seen Muir outside loosing his grip out in the deck and getting crushed under debris.

Which was so painful for me to imagine, to see Muir outside, walking on his tendrils and suddenly not being able to keep his balance.

I tried illustrating how I roughly imagine this scene, it ain't perfect, but maybe it helps everyone to visualise it.

The Flooding shifted the entire rig and debris fell onto him.

To have some sense where everything is, Accommodation Roof (where you find Roy) is on the left side, if you look at the rig from the Derrick entrance. And Marine Control should be on the right side.

The thing is Marine Control is facing the ocean (if I remember correctly, I hope I do, I'm currently not home to check), so you couldn't take a look at the derick while Caz does the thing. Which basically made them remove this and hid Muir nearby the Derrick for players to find. And I told him how I replayed the game and saw Muir lay there with Innes, it was 6AM and I just sat there like O-O

Muir & Innes:

A burning question for many was, what their relationship is. And they told me it's more like a father son relationship, saying how Innes is very strict to Muir.

Muir is the younger one of the two and also likes to tease Innes a bunch (so the pipe thing is one of his many shenanigans he'd do)

Here we see a wild Muir in his natural habitat about to prank his friend (caught in 4k) (I almost died) (look at him plotting).

Now, I could not forget to mention that the fandom decided to ship Muir and Innes and wanted to see their reaction. They took it with a smile and just talked about their complex relationship again. Which I found cool to hear.

I sadly don't remember every small detail of the convo, since I wanted to make sure that I was able to ask all the questions people wrote on discord.

Brodie & Raffs:

This was a surprise to hear, which also made me very sad. Brodie was also like a father for Raffs, he knew his mother too.

And apparently Brodie was supposed to tell Raffs mother incase anything happened to him. So that she can feel better knowing Raffs died quickly and without much pain. Which is just... I'm in shambles. sobbing

Gibbo:

Some folk wanted to know if he had an actual model, to which the person answered with yes. They planned to show him at some point, but decided that the player should see Trots firstly.

I also randomly asked if the Gibbo model ingame was a part of Addairs model (judging by the game files), if I remember correctly he nodded.

I hope we get to see it in the artbook, I preordered it but forgor to tell him that. But it's okay.

I sadly don't remember everything here, I had to check discord for the questions (I hope I don't say anything wrong), but with Gibbo they focused more on the sound design and the mystery. And I think in the end it worked out perfectly.

Other:

They implanted a bunch of eastern eggs into the game, the art director even said he's still finding new ones to this day.

He mentioned the pictures shown in various areas and mentioned that he inserted pictures of his family and cousins etc.

Also the Kid inside the TV in the Crew Lounge? That's the Art Director as a kid! Whaaaaaaaa- Didn't know this one for sure.

And another random thing, I showed him the meme that @cazrig made. Because I inserted it inside my piece of fanart. I sadly couldn't show him more memes of the community because I forgor/no time. The memes Robin made are also comedy gold.

It was this one (I keep dying of laughter)

He found it very funny, so did the other person I showed it to.

But he also talked about how worried he was how the game would be perceived in the end. Since it came out extremely close to the release date of the new Elden Ring DLC. And having worked on it for so long they didn't know how the reactions would be.

But were positively surprised how well it was perceived, people playing the game, tears being shed and so on.

Okay that took me ages to write, I just wanted to have it all inside a tumblr post. Otherwise I may forget stuff if it's scattered on discord.

The event day turned out well for me today. I was so worried, that my tiny plan wouldn't work yesterday. But somehow I had some luck on my side.

After I got home I added his signature to my physical copy. I also made myself a small card with my artwork for it. I also gave them a small card and a big printed version of the fanart as well.

Thank you John!

I go sleep now, tomorrow is another gamescom day

[azullumi]

“and they were roommates” ; albedo & diluc

summary — what is he like as your roommate? in correlation, how does he often act around his home shared with you?

includes — albedo and diluc (w/ gender-neutral reader) ; separate

tags — fluff, domestic fluff if you squint so hard, no established relationship, some sprinkle of smau ; headcanons

note — surprise, there is no note ; masterlist

albedo, the helpful and kind roommate, also an artist and somewhat a friend

a genius, a roommate, and a friend (maybe). minds his own business and does his own things but he is willing to help you at most times, he wouldn’t mind tutoring you if you’re a student who needs guidance or wouldn’t mind fixing the pipes if ever it gets broken—i mean, that would affect him also if it breaks down as you two share the same home. he’ll figure things out on his own even if he doesn’t have that much experience with such tasks.

he’s an artist and you’ve seen some of his artworks when you pass by his open room. however, he never talked about it, his art, so if he didn’t leave his door open and if you hadn’t taken a peek inside, you wouldn’t have seen him painting—if you didn’t ask him about it, you’ll never know of it.

probably loves fruits, unsure since he never said it out loud but will always bring some home whenever he goes out—there’s always a basket of it on the table or a container in the fridge—and will even slice or peel it for you, sending you a photo and a message if you want some. you honestly don’t know how that string began but it just happened, peeling oranges for you and sharing just became a normal thing on a hot—perhaps summer—day.

he’s quiet most of the time, doesn’t talk a lot and texts from him first are not a common thing, but that doesn’t mean he’s not willing to engage in a conversation with you and you get along with him just fine. he’s not some emotionless stuck up jerk, he’s very much the opposite of that. he’s caring, gentle, and attentive. he doesn’t leave a mess around unless it’s in his room and he does his own fair share of chores.

his room is somewhat divided into two spaces: rest and work area and the latter space is always messy. cleaning it up is just futile effort as it only gets untidy afterwards. there are all kinds of items and things inside, materials for his art and work or research, expensive equipment lying around his room, and a shelf with different kinds of books. along with some of his paintings that he put up, there are also papers that he taped on the wall, ideas and reminders that he can’t afford to forget.

diluc, just your simple and average thoughtful roommate, a bartender and an old soul

god, he’s just so sweet, attentive, and caring, and if you two aren’t dating, you wish you were. he lets you borrow one of his shirts (even if you have some in your closet but his j ust smells so good and it’s also so comfortable and soft to wear), he doesn’t mind it at all as long as you don’t go digging deeper into his room—not just the clothes—and invading his personal space and overstepping your boundaries. he lets you borrow some of his things also as long as you’ll ask for permission.

he’s not much of a morning person, getting out of his bed when it’s nearly afternoon already. if ever he wakes up early, he’ll stay inside his room probably just laying on his bed and catching to more sleep or cherishing his alone time and making the most out of it, he wallows in the warmth of the sunlight that seeps into his room and lays at his floor and the silence that engulfs him—it’s just peaceful and comforting.

speaking of his room, he has a simple one, adorned with small decorations and a few framed photos, and everything is always neat and tidy. all of his things are stored where they should be. there’s nothing much to describe here except it’s clean and organized with a faint smell of his cologne. he does have a collection of vintage and old items placed around his room such as a phonograph on his table and an antique vase on the corner.

he works part-time as a bartender—from afternoon until night. that’s why he’s often out late but he tells you in advance, either through a call or text message, whatever his mood is. although it’s not everyday that he works since he’s at home on some days. during those times, he’ll be the one to cook and would do chores around the house, letting you rest instead.

he lets you try some of the drinks he made, non-alcoholic if you don’t want alcohol, and would ask for your opinion. he’ll prefer it if you’re honest—lying wouldn’t be beneficial here. but then all of the ones he makes are all good so there’s no need to fabricate and sugarcoat your words to please him.

© azullumi — do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor translate any of my works.

[rosamariaa]

I've been thinking a lot about a remus/sirius Ministry of Magic office AU..

Often I see ppl talking about what would Sirius work with if there wasn't a war going on and he could just live his life in peace and one of my favorite headcanons is that he would be an 'Unspeakable'. Those are the ppl that work in the department of mysteries, that by itself is one of coolest things in the wizarding world, according to me. The department of mysteries is responsible for confidential studies of death, love, time etc (A lot of crazy things that honestly no one should have to mess with but obvs they do anyways...) It's high-level security place, no one besides the researchers are allowed in those chambers. No one even knows who are those researchers and what they do, actually.

Buut, its sirius we are talking about and the guy is a genius but also can be pretty reckless and, in this specific scenario, I think he would be a borderline "crazy scientist" so. He fucks up down the line. I don't know what he does, exactly, but it's something that put his and others researchers' lives at risk. Bc of that, he is sent to work in a waaay more mundane department: Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. It's a cool department!! Remember that first poa scene where harry turns aunt marge into a balloon etc? well those are the guys who they call to fix that. They even have a Obliviators division, responsible for changing Muggles' memory in case they are exposed to accidental magic. Those guys are full of themselves and annoying as hell, btw.

and I see Sirius being sent there, after The Accident. It's cool in theory, but most of the time it's puuuure paperwork and it bores sirius to no end.

well, guess who works there as well. Our guy, Remus j. lupin.

Remus isn't one to do field work so he mostly works in the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee division (god I love those long ass names). Basically he comes up with stuff to excuse magic happening in the muggle world etc. like when peter killed a bunch of muggles and the muggle paper said it was a "big gas explosion". Pure paperwork. Boring as hell.

Anyway, Sirius turns up there out of nowhere and he is the office sweetheart. It fucking boggles remus mind, like. Sirius always goes to the office parties and seems to be friends with everyone but no one knows anything about this guy. He just gets there, a almost 30 yo with a bunch of obscure work experience and no one knows what he did before that, who his family is, where he is from and how the hell does he knows the stuff that he knows.

Sirius is great at field work, he mostly works directly in the Obliviators division and remus is really great with the paperwork stuff sooo they get paired up a lot. At first, they are a bit annoyed by each other (my fav wolfstar flavor). It's funny because they actually agree with almost everything but they just approach things veeery differently and so they are bickering all the damn time. And Sirius is a Certified Little Shit™ and is constantly doing things that drives remus a bit crazy. Once they had a case of a water fountain exploding bc two wizards were fighting in a public park and instead of obliviating the muggles into believing it was only a piping problem or whatever, he went out of his way to turn it into a sort of elaborate flash mob that went viral on tiktok. Remus spent the night awake documenting everything. He wanted to strangle sirius that day.

between late nights working and lots of crazy field work (thanks to sirius) those two end up getting closer and closer. Remus still thinks Sirius is a bit insane, but now in a I-want-you-to-fuck-me-into-this-desk type way. Sirius, on the other hand, doesn't let go of his previous research. I think that back then he would, specifically, study and experiment a lot with Love, in special familial love (yep.) The thing about those confidential dept. of mysteries' experiments is that they can be pretty... unethical. And that's the break point of their story: Remus finding out about Sirius research and finally wondering at what lengths did sirius went to understand something as complicated as Love and what the fuck he did to get banished from the department back then, and worse: if he ever used remus in those experiments. and even more worse: The fact that remus doesn't stop loving him even if he did.

A last fun fact is that they, at one point, would have an inside joke about that "MIB: man in black" movie, they watched it together one late night and sirius kept referencing it when he went to obliviate muggles and remus thought it was the funniest silliest thing ever

[artycomicfangirl]

Do you have some headcanons of Daisy's and Luigi's love languages they display in the relationship?

Oh man, you know what? You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for an ask like this since…well, Ever! I LOVE these kind of things! I had to do a quick research to brush up on what Love Languages are again. So I took inspiration from some templates I found online. Sprinkled in with a little bit of the Movie-Verse Headcanons.

I guess this is a potential Part 1 of Luaisy headcanons? All because I’m unfortunately not able to list them all as of now!

But, Here we go! Hope you enjoy. Sorry if this ends up being a super long one though, haha.

- Acts of Service -

💚 Luigi would be more than happy and willing to tend to any Plumbing relate problems Daisy has. This is one of the only few times where even if he doesn’t even know the full situation of the problem, he never says no to her needing help, and dives head first without hesitation…

• Even if it means literally diving into that now rising flooding castle basement of hers, just to locate and fix that pesky broken pipe system!

🌼 💚 Cooking for each other. Unlike when I think Peach lovingly does most, if not all of the cooking for Mario. Cooking seems to become a thing divided equally between Luigi and Daisy.

• Luigi is known to be the best at Dinners. Some of his experience gained from helping his Mama back in Brooklyn growing up. And helping Mario cook too. One of his favorite meals he always loves to share with Daisy on occasion, is his mother’s classic Pasta recipes!

🌼 Plumbing can be real exhausting work sometimes! So Daisy is usually the one to fix up some either some real ice-cool drinks to personably bring to him in sweltering heat. Or Make him some hot cocoa or coffee for the really cold days. She’ll even bring some snacks, or even lunch if it’s almost time for a break.

🌼 Whenever she can be there, Daisy would always sit around and keep Luigi company while he worked. Also for the fact so she can pass him tools that he might need during work. Or even better, hold the fort as best as she can to prevent little mishaps that may occur. Need someone to hit a pipe to get it working? Need an extra set of strength to turn that creaky faucet? Trust Daisy to help out too!

- Physical Touch -

💚 Luigi is so, so, SO gentle with Daisy. Not in a way where he believes that she is perceived to be ‘Delicate’. He has faith that she can handle herself of course! But that’s just simply in his nature with everyone else too. Very little to no aggressive or intimidating body language. And with her? It’s just extra sweet.

• He knows she’s strong. But he can’t help but be the one to look out for her and be worried for her sometimes. When he sees her all scuffed up from fights, he offers to bring her water, ointment, bandages, whatever she requests. At first he allows her to try and heal herself. But If Daisy needs more help, he would step in to help tend to her wounds as much as possible.

💚 Luigi was is the most nervous and hesitant in initiating any form of touch at first. He didn’t want to make the wrong moves or anything! But upon the first hug and some vocal encouragement, it was a sign for him that he is on the right track.

He slowly gets more confident in holding hands with her, having an arm around her waist (Although, he can’t help but melt a little at the fact that he could be THIS close to someone he loves!)

💚 Kisses on his nose get’s him all smiley right away! Daisy ends up doing these out of surprise, and it just gets him so much. Kiss him on the cheek? Instantly giddy. She kisses him on the lips? Immediate knockout. He’s giving the Heart-eyes vibe. This is Something he shares in common with his bro too!

💚 When Luigi sees Daisy on the verge of lashing out at someone. He’s the first to quietly take her hand in his to gently squeeze it. This either gets her to look at him, which he gives a nod and look of reassurance for her to think things through. Or it’s almost like an instant touch that needs no words nor looks. But it has an instant affect on her. She rarely gets directly angry at him ever. How can she be mad at someone just so sweet to her? She knows he genuinely wants to help her.

• Sometimes he chooses to gently rub her hands instead. Also an equally effective calming effect.

💚 If Daisy ever feels down or at her worst, he more than welcomes her with open arms, and does not ever judge her for crying (something she rarely ever shows in public. Always putting a strong face.) It matters very little to him in the moment that his hat or clothes would be tear-soaked.

💚 Speaking on the note of a Sad Daisy. There are a few trigger moments which if you end up hurting Daisy, can make this sweet and timid Greed Plumber, decide that enough is enough. There is a reason why his Trope is known as a ‘Cowardly Lion’!

💚 He will try to place himself in front of her always. Whether it is him jumping in front of her to take whatever brunt of force was directed at her without thinking. Or steeling himself up to give stare down (albeit with quaking knees) in front of his enemy.

He starts of with a slight quiver in his voice. But if you continue to mock him or her a second time, the shakiness in his tone fades. Becoming a bit more determined. A quiet strength. At that point, he will not allow you to push him around and insult Daisy like that. Even if he might get knocked around a bit, he keeps getting back up, just to stand up for her.

💚 He’ll even try to use his hat at some points if he needs to cover her face more for protection.

💚 For some reason I feel like instead of usually carrying a Princess Bridal-style like Mario does. Luigi tends to carry Daisy on his back more. This often leads to escaping from some very comical situations!

🌼 Daisy is DEFINITELY the one who is not shy in expressing her affections naturally. But also really straightforward in her actions.

🌼 Ever experienced one of those surprise Run-at-top-speed Jump hugs? That’s Daisy for you! She often forgets to tone herself down sometimes.

🌼 Pulling him by the suspenders of his overalls gently just to kiss him.

🌼 She’s the one ending up carrying him like a bride instead HA

🌼 Like Luigi, Daisy is always one to step in front of her beloved to shield them from any potential danger. She is usually the one to Yank him out of the way with top speed (Apologizing immediately to him afterwards!) and pull him close to her body to try and cover and protect him as much as possible.

🌼 You would not be able to live it down if Daisy sees you harming or insulting Luigi. She is super quick on to you, ready to throw hands (And weapons, if in a fight)

🌼 She and Mario share the same kind of sentiments when it comes to standing up for Luigi.

“Say that again about my Boyfriend…And you’re gonna regret it!”

- Words of Affirmation -

🌼 Daisy is the one with the vast supply of pet names and complements!

🌼 The Iconic “Hey Sweetie!”

🌼 Buttercup, Honey-Bee, Weegie, Squeegie ect

🌼 If you don’t stop her, she may resort to floral Puns!

🌼 When it comes to support, she is like a really passionate cheerleader. You would definitely see her yelling her heart out at the sidelines of any event/competition/Kart race

🌼 When she writes notes or letters, Daisy tends to be the one who draws little doodles at the end of each letter, or just as little decorations here and there. Mario may or may not have accidentally revealed that he had caught Luigi chuckling at a letter he received from Daisy. Only to be told by his younger Bro that he found her drawings adorable and it made him smile. So she’s been doing that ever since!

💚 Luigi is a bit more reserved with this type of thing. But in fact, he is secretly the more poetic one! Surprisingly The type who’s words of love end up being a natural Cupid’s arrow.

💚 I see ‘Desert Flower’ as a popular head canon compliment he might say, and I also agree with that!

💚 Why do I feel like he would totally be the one to call her “My Dynamite Gal”??? When he’s mustered up so much confidence??

• Because Luigi is known to be more shy and timid, he does have more struggles with confidence in some parts. Leading to this possible little interaction:

—————————————————

💚 “ Face it…How can I even do this? I’m such a loser! I mean, look! I literally got a huge L on my head!”

🌼 “…Does It really have to mean Loser?”

💚 “H-huh? I-I…well what else can it be?”

🌼 “Well…put it this way. You’re kinda like a Clover!”

💚 “A…Clover?”

🌼 “Yeah! You ward off evil. You’re green all over. So How about…Lucky?”

—————————————————

- Quality Time -

💚 Luigi ends up loving taking strolls around the castle with Daisy. Whether it is in the Palace Gardens, or by lakes and rivers. Even Flower fields, where he’ll even attentively listen to her pointing out the new things.

💚 Luigi May end up getting challenged when he goes out on hiking trips with Daisy. The first few trips, he ends up faltering behind a little (He has bad knees everyone!), But Daisy would often slow her pace down a little so he can keep up. She doesn’t mind one bit. But overtime, he pushes to improve himself, in which he now is actually able to keep up by her side. She’s extremely proud of him

💚🌼 The Camping trips together are always fun though! Well, excluding some Minor scares and freak outs from the local wildlife at night. Luigi Teaching Daisy the classic treat of making a S’more. While Daisy would do something shared from her own land sometimes!

🌼 Daisy loves whenever she and Luigi get to go on one of their ‘Sports dates’, and is usually the one initiating these meetups (Knows all the good places!) while Luigi throws in suggestions. Usually consisting of Golfing especially. She is more knowledgeable in the technique, which she ends up teaching Luigi what she already knows. She likes to jokingly say that he’s “Learning from the best!”

🌼 If they end up moving in together and sharing the same bed, Daisy would be the type to wake up a bit earlier than Luigi does. Then goes back again to get some extra sleep hours. She has this little habit where she can’t help but give a little kiss on his cheek by then. If he continues to sleep, she lets him be. But if he ends up wanting to be woken up by this, she starts to go in for more kisses. Some of them are quick ticklish to him!

All until she’s gazing back at sleepy half-open eyes, A lopsided smile, and a very happy green Plumber who’s morning has just been made even better!

💚 On Luigi’s part, he’s the one who sleeps the last. Letting Daisy sleep first before him, as he sometimes has a bit of work he needs to attend to. Or just simply reading a few pages of his favourite book beside her.

• When he notices a lock of her hair astray on her face, he ends up brushing it aside for her. In that moment, he seriously cannot believe that this beautiful fiery woman is his beloved, and is right next to him.

- Receiving Gifts -

💚 It is a popular head canon going around that Daisy is very into gardening. So, Luigi would even go out of his way to brush up on said topics about Gardening and nature just for Daisy. Same thing that he would do when it comes to her other interests, just so he knows what to get her!

💚 He has really great callback memory, in which he is able to remember most of the conversations he would have with Daisy when she talks about various plants. Including seeds and flora she wishes she could obtain to grow in her castle Garden. So! Every often, he would visit the local markets or shops in the town, where he would check up all the latest imports/exports to see if he can find some uncommon, or even rare seeds for him to collect for her. If it’s something from Brooklyn, he most likely tries to buy seeds of flowers for her smaller pot plants!

If he goes on adventures with Mario, he does something similar where he collects various trinkets or souvenirs for him to take home for her, or send to her by mail.

🌼 Daisy is definitely more extravagant, and a bit more ‘flashy’ when it comes to gift giving. She does not do this to show off. She 100% fully believes that her believed deserves the best he can get…Even if it ends up giving him the biggest of blushes. And just so happens she can’t stop gushing about it either in her own way!

🌼 Actually at first, she might have been giving him ‘Weird’ gifts for the first few times when they became a couple. They’re not offensive gifts! But they were a result of her having misunderstood some of his hobbies and likes at the beginning. But never in bad faith, as she genuinely tried to guess what would make Luigi happy. But luckily with help from Peach and Mario, she got good results. And long the way, she started getting better at gift-giving.

🌼 I mean, have you seen that Golden statue of her and Luigi in her own Mario Kart Course? If she was the one who commissioned that, she would totally go THAT far.

🌼 She would go on a secret calling spree, prepare a huge birthday with all of his favorite foods, invite literally all of his friends and family as a complete surprise. Making the Green man crying out of happiness.

🌼 Well, not exactly a traditional kind of gift. But just for him, Daisy would end up wearing cute dresses or other outfits. Something he likes. But that’s because we all can’t deny, Daisy is still Daisy. She still loves to tease Luigi one way or another.

Green Bro may have been staring a little too long, as the Princess walks by in a tank-top and shorts combo!

[grub-xd]

Old New West

Ectoberhaunt 2024 - Day 1: Present

Danny and Vlad somehow ended up stuck in an alternate dimension where different times and eras seem to mesh together. Danny and Vlad have a lead as to how they can get home however.

Somewhere, in the Old New West, is a facility that has been researching inter-dimensional travel. It is an ancient facility in this world. Despite their attempts to sneak in, the walls are lined with some type of anti-ectoplasmic material, making it impossible for Vlad and Danny to just sneak in.

They need a key, and what better place to find a key to an ancient facility than a museum?

Ye Olde Village, the sign reads, welcoming would be travelers to its town.

A hover car then passes it by, kicking up dirt as it passes by a wheat field with a robot tending it.

The man driving the hover-car, with a lit tobacco pipe hanging on the side of his mouth, fixes his cowboy hat and the red tie hanging from his plain white dress shirt, complete with a vest.

As he approaches the main street, a bunch of the villagers shopping along the businesses camped along the main street stare at their newcomer.

To his left, a group of greaser boys loiter in front of the saloon with their hover-bikes. As he passes them by, the greasy haired boys give the stranger a side-eyed stare as a welcoming present. A couple of them, holding spiked bats and 6-shot revolver pistols glare at the newcomer.

The driver, feeling a bit of sweat form around his brow, wipes his face. His breath shutters, wondering what exactly he has gotten himself into.

Peaking back into the back seat of the vehicle, he asks, "You sure this is the place?"

The boy sitting in the back seat, his face hidden under his own hat, with snow white hair spiking out from it answers, "I'm sure."

"Daniel, I'm really not too sure about this."

Danny's glares at the driver and asks, "You got a better idea, Vlad!?"

Vlad shouts back, "Well, it certainly wouldn't have started with driving the Fenton Hovercraft into the one town controlled by one of the most notorious biker gangs of the Old New West! Brilliant planner!"

"We needed a distraction!"

"And we could have done that by blowing up their hoverbikes with a sneak attack! But you didn't think about that, did you!?"

"Pssh-What do you mean!? Of course I did!"

"Then why didn't we do it!?"

"That's easy! Because-" Danny begins, "...we -uh, well...there was...a need, to ensure, that the...uh...paint?"

Vlad slams his head into the dashboard, and speaks, "Brilliant, Daniel, just brilliant. While I have tried to figure out for weeks how we can get home from the Old New West, and finally found a lead on the key to getting into the facility that holds the way home, at least I can count on you to ensure that we don't hurt this dimension's property values!"

"Hey!" Danny shoots back "We have a duty to not do any more harm than needed!"

"Like that has stopped you ever, back in Amity Park?"

Danny folds his arms and sits back, "It's different when I can be around to help pick up the damage."

"And foot the bill on me..."

"Hey, you wanted to be mayor."

"Until I remembered that kids can still use the first amendment." Vlad looks so defeated from back where Danny is sitting.

Danny laughs a little, feeling a bit of triumph. "Heh...maybe consider not shooting kids."

Vlad corrects him, "I shot the limo."

"Right, and the laser went through the doors and into me, not before hitting the fuel line which set off the explosion."

"We're getting off topic," Vlad says.

Danny, not letting it go, adds, "You really got to look before you shoot. That's like, first rule of shooting guns. Remember what happened to Dick Cheney's friend?"

"Daniel!"

The loudness of his voice shocks Danny, freezing his words.

Vlad is really pissed now. His face is visibly red. Vlad is now looking back at Danny at Danny, hollering, yelling, and pointing at him and then outside, trying to prove some point.

It's lost on Danny, because..."Um, Vlad?"

"No! Shut up! I'm talking!"

"Vlad?"

The little brat then raises his finger. Vlad smacks his hand and continues his screaming session, "Why can't you just listen while I'm talking to you!?"

"Vlad!" Danny shouts!

"What!?"

Danny doesn't speak. Just pointing, with eyes full of fear.

Vlad turns and his face drops. He sees a wall, only feet in front of him, and they are still moving.

"Cream puf-" Vlad doesn't finish his curse.

The hovercraft crashes into the building at the end of the main street, tearing a gigantic hole in the wall.

Thankfully, this is the building they needed to be in.

From the driver's seat, Vlad looks out the windshield. Dozens of statues, paintings, and pieces of pottery are displayed throughout the hallway.

Vlad is frozen, shocked that he had let this happen. "Shit," he says.

Danny floats to the front seat and sits himself on it, "Well, if we needed a distraction, we have it now."

"Don't speak anymore, Daniel."

Danny then notices the display of artifacts in the building. "Hey, hey," he exclaims, "We made it to the museum!"

"Yes, Daniel. We did," Vlad concedes.

Danny floats up from his seat, "Well, if you need me, I'll be off grabbing that key." He then points towards where they came from, "Can you handle the cavalry?"

Vlad is confusion . "Cavalry?"

"Yeah," Danny says, approaching and pointing to one of the mirrors, "Those gangsters look pretty pissed." Through the reflection in the mirror, they can see a group of those bikers approaching, with pistols and bats drawn.

"Daniel, I must really ask that yo-"

"See ya!" Danny disappears from his seat.

Vlad mutters "That little shit, can't believe he would leave me to fend off these lunatics by myself."

Peaking through the mirror at the spiked bat waving gangsters approaching the Fenton Hovercraft, Vlad takes a breath and remembers that most of these guys that they encountered before haven't been ghost hybrids.

Opening the door, Vlad steps out of the hovercraft with his two 6-shot revolvers drawn. He announces, "Alright, you heathens!" He twirls one of the pistols, "Stand down! Or prepare to face the wrath of Vlad Master-!"

They start shooting at him.

A bullet hits Vlad's hat, knocking it off of his head. Another bullet whizzes by his ear, followed by another, and another until dozens of bullets are raining past him!

"Oh, fudge biscuits!" Vlad jumps into cover behind the wall next to the hole.

As he catches his breath, the footsteps from the gang outside grow louder. The clanging of their metal spiked bats ringed past the hole, echoing throughout the whole room.

He fires back a couple of shots, blindly. Hopefully that stalls them.

"Get them," he hears one of the brutes shout.

"Good luck, imbeciles!"

Backing up from the wall, Vlad prepares to fall back deeper into the museum, but still has his pistol pointed towards the entrance next to the hovercraft.

Seconds pass, and then one of the gangsters pushes through into the building.

Vlad fires, hitting one of the gangsters in the leg.

"So sorry, my bad," with a sly smile.

"AAAAAHH!" He screams.

Seeing that there is no way he can hold them all off from here, Vlad retreats deeper into the building. He runs into a hallway and dives around a corner.

Despite his efforts to evade, one of the gangsters saw him turn the corner. The leader of the chase squad signals to his minions and tells them, "Come on!"

More of the gangsters soon flood into the museum. They swarm all the surrounding hallways in an effort to cut off Vlad and Danny from escaping.

As the squad chasing Vlad approaches the corner that Vlad had hid behind just moments before, they prepare their weapons. They turn and find that Vlad is nowhere to be seen.

That can't be right, they think.

"They couldn't have gotten far! They must still be here! Find them!"

They scatter.

What they don't know however is that Danny is watching them, from just above. He is hovering along the top of the ceiling watching them make their moves.

"Daniel?" He hears through his earpiece. Great...

He responds with a whisper, careful to not alert the guards below. "Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Vlad asks.

"Where those idiots last saw you."

"How do you know where the last place they saw me was?"

"Meh...I was watching."

"And you didn't think to help!? Or steal the key!?"

"What key?" Danny tries to hold back his laughter holding his hand to his face. He pictures the way Vlad must be having a stroke over that.

"This isn't funny, Daniel!"

"For you, clearly. Me? I'm having a great time."

"It isn't going to be funny for you when I have my hands around your neck!"

Danny imitates static, "psssh- bzzz- sssssssh-"

"Vlad?" He then asks, "I-eeeek, think I'm lo-ing you."

"Don't pull that shit with me again! I can hear you fine!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you back. These guys are offering to file your taxes at a discount," Danny then yeets the earpiece smackdown on top of one of the heads of the gangsters.

The brute looks up and glares at Danny. Fury burns in his eyes.

It doesn't phase Danny though. "Hey asswipe," he shouts, before blasting an ectobeam at the man's feet.

It hits the ground. The blast explodes, sending a shockwave throughout the room, hurling the gangster against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

This is just too easy Danny thinks.

"Over there!" He hears someone shout. More gangsters flood in with their guns drawn.

"Would love to stay and chat, but gotta' run!" He phases out of the room.

"Find him!"

...

Just on the outside of the building, Danny emerges from the roof and hovers above it, holding the purple skeleton key in hand. "Finally got you," he says.

All of that had gone much better than expected. And then, just a few feet from Danny, a purple ectobeam blasts out straight up out of the roof

Staring at the new hole the museum had collected, Danny hovers back toward it and peaks inside. He sees a bunch of commotion going on down there, with Vlad in the center of it.

He needs some encouragement , Danny thinks. "Keep it up, old man! I'm sure you'll be alright," 

He backs away and turns around, only to see Plasmius standing right in front of him. "Oh, hey," he laughs nervously, “Welcome back!”

Danny attempts to break the ice, "So...uh-...did you win?"

"Are you serious!? 'Did I win!?'"

"Sheesh," Danny says, "No need to be so rude about it."

Vlad's hands begin to glow pink.

Danny backs up just a wee bit and asks, "Little mad?"

"A little!?"

"Okay...? So," he continues, "a lot then?"

Vlad blasts another ectobeam. It barely misses Danny whizzing just past him before he turns to see it hit one of the gangsters who had just climbed onto the roof. It blasts him off and down onto the street.

As Danny begins to look back at Vlad, the old man begins his lecture: "Daniel, you really need to work on being more aware of your surroundings. Now, come on!"

Danny can't argue with that and followed. Thankfully that was the shortest lecture ever.

As they begin moving towards the edge of the roof, Vlad continues, "We have to get back to the hovercraft and get to the facility!"

They run back towards the front of the building, and then, an explosion.

They see fire erupt from where they had left the Fenton Hovercraft, just before the shockwave hits them. It blasts the two of them backward. The explosion tears through the front of the building, shredding and throwing the wood from it and scattering the debris everywhere.

Bits and pieces of shrapnel from the hovercraft begin falling from the sky. They start small, like nothing more than pebble size pieces hitting their bodies, before the larger ones come hurdling in.

As Danny lies on top of the roof, a sharp hunk of metal from the ship is hurdling right toward him!

"Oh, shit," Danny shouts. He rolls, and he feels the wind of it whoosh by his face as it impales the roof.

"Man, that was too close," he says.

Crash

Another piece crashes.

"Shit!" He covers his head

Other large pieces of the hovercraft crash into the building.

Danny keeps his head covered while Vlad goes intangible instead.

After the rain of debris stops, they look up, surveying the damage -- one of the pieces containing the green ghost logo.

"So much getting back to the hovercraft," Danny says.

As Danny walks towards the edge of the roof, thinking about what to do next, he catches a side eye of Vlad.

"What?" Danny asks, oh so innocently.

"Happy now? We lost our vehicle and all of our equipment!"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to go all Texas Ranger or Revolver Ocelot on those guys."

Vlad counters, "Revolver Ocelot is the coolest cowboy in existence and you, a little shit, will never convince me otherwise!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get out of here. We got what we need," he says, looking down at the key in his hand.

The direction of the facility is just out in the mountains in the distance.

"Let's get moving and get back to the present," Danny says, before adding, "Wherever that is."

"Technically, dear boy, we are already in the present."

"Yeah?" He turns his head back at Vlad, "In what era?" Danny points at the village below, "None of what appears around us gives us an exact hint of where the hell we are on the timeline! Hover bikes mixed with old time western towns!? The greaser looking biker gang ripped from the 1950s!? Or how about the use of old Shakespearean English!?"

"Well, obviously we are in the future," Vlad says.

"Then why did we run across a calendar that said it was the year of 896!? And why was it using the French Revolution calendar!? It was the ninth day of the week when we read it! Furthermore, why the hell was it named 'UNIX Time!?'

"I don't ask questions I can't know the answers to, Daniel."

"Liar."

"Am I? Or am I just not wasting my time, along with yours?"

"Whatever."

"Consider asking yourself that next time."

As the two idiots bicker, they begin hearing more of the gangsters clamoring to get onto the roof.

They go intangible, so as to hide themselves. Danny says, "If you were so committed to not wasting my time, you wouldn't be trying to convince me this is the future." He looks down again at the village, "Because I really have no idea where we are," he says solemnly, "and I don't think you do either."

Instead of the argument Danny anticipates, he hears nothing. Vlad stands there in silence.

"Daniel...I-" He tries to find the words, "You're not wrong. I just didn't want to let on that I don't know either, because...I think it's more terrifying if we don't."

"You're not sparing me by keeping me in the dark from your thoughts."

"I know, but I still feel as if I should. Wouldn't you do the same for Danielle?"

That catches Danny by surprise. "I-" he begins, but is interrupted by Vlad.

"Let's get moving."

Vlad floats up off of the roof and begins flying in the direction of the mountains. Danny follows.

Hopefully the way back home is there.

[13as07]

Cats and Dogs #2

(Kiba Inuzuka)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to inochisart]

Requested by: Anonymous

Word Count: 4,112

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

[Reader] is a Neko (or as close as I could get with my rushed research and to go with the story line) per request

Name Calling: Dog, Mutt, Kitty

Man-Handling

Hand Restriction

Forced Collaring

Scratching/Biting

Mentions of Blood

There will be a part three :)

———————————————————————

Eagerness waves off of Sensei, Tenten, and Lee while the remaining of us - Neji and me - sulk. After Kiba and I got into our 'physical' fight, Gai-Sensei and Kurenai have been planning another hangout under the statement 'if you guys are around each other enough, you'll learn to get along'.

So, Sensei is excited about that, Tenten is excited to see Hinata, and Lee is just excited about life. I don't want to see Kiba and Neji is stressed out when both his girls are around. That has to do with his want to protect everyone all the time though, so it can't be helped.

For our forced exposure to each other, our Senseis decided to take one of the training fields for the day. Gai says he doesn't care what any of us do as long as we stay on the training field.

Probably not the best way to get the outcome they want, but it works out for me. I'll just avoid Kiba the whole time and then when we go to leave I'll pretend that he shits silver. As long as it's good enough for our Senseis, I won't have to deal with him again.

"Are you going to tell me why he bit you?" Neji asks for the hundredth time. He's sat next to me in the grass, crisscrossed and hunched over as he twirls a strand or two around his finger.

"Are you going to drop it if I tell you?" I counter, following the rhythm of how this conversation has been going. Of course, Neji was the first one to notice deep and dark puncture wounds in my neck. He's also the only one aside from Sensei that has pieced together who they're from. The joys of having Neji as a squad leader.

"I'll either drop the question or drop him," he mutters, sparing me a glance before he checks on the other half of our squad. "Did you get him back?"

This is the third day in a row he's asked, the third day in a row that we've had this conversation, and it's easily the hundredth time we have over that short period. "I didn't get him back." I got him first, technically.

"Your ears look nice today."

"You're just stressed."

"So I have to be stressed to be nice?"

"Ya." A soft huff comes from him, eyes on me for a second before they're fixed on Tenten again. I don't mind the silence; not with Neji anyway. Silence with him is nice. Silence with Lee is filled with anxiety. Silence with Tenten is filled with awkwardness. Silence with Gai is... unheard of.

"Well look what the cat dragged in!" Of course, it has to be Kiba that disturbs my peace. "Hey, Pretty Kitty," he greets from behind me, his hands on my shoulders as he hunches over, his face dangling upside-down in front of mine.

I can feel the bitch stare settling in my face, just as much as I can feel the hatred brewing in my stomach. I hate dogs and Kiba is at the top of that list. "Don't touch me," I grumble, rolling my shoulders to try and shake his touch away.

"That's no fun," he chuckles, tightening his hold on me. "We had so much fun last time, do you not want to have fun again?"

"Scaring my teammate isn't fun," Neji pipes up, a glare pointed at the dog. His eyes do shift occasionally, catching glimpses of the healing scratches on Kiba's face.

"It's going to scar?" The mutt asks, a hand jumping up so he can rub his thumb across the mark he so eagerly left last time I saw him.

Neji's mouth snaps open to respond, but he gets cut off by Hinata calling for him. Slowly, his mouth closes and his eyes slide over to me. A silent 'Are you going to alright?' is stamped into them. I nod towards Hinata in response, certain that I'll be able to handle Kiba if need be.

Not a single word is spoken between the three of us as Neji gets up to leave. The whole time he shoots the dog a glare, the dog who doesn't notice because he is too busy gushing over the permit change he's responsible for.

"You got yourself a little watch dog I see," Kiba teases once Neji is far enough away not to hear. "Did I scare you that much, Kitty?"

"You didn't scare me," I grumble, shoving his hands off and quickly climbing to my feet before he has a chance to latch on again. "Neji is just a protective guy. It's how he is. You should know that. Hinata is on your squad after all."

Kiba chuckles, eyes stuck on me like a predator sizing up their prey, but only for a moment. The look melts away as he starts walking further into the long grass field. "Come along, Kitty. Let's go play nice so Kurenai-Sensei stops stressing out."

"I have no interest in - " I'm cut off by Kiba's dog snapping at my ankles, making me jump and hiss at the mutt in response.

Kiba freezes, turning around slightly so I can hear him better. "I'm not interested in spending time with you either but my Sensei is to the point in her pregnancy where stress is as bad as an illness. So, we're going to play nice today for her to feel better. You can come willingly or Akamaru can bully you along. The choice is yours." With that, he turns back around and starts walking to wherever in the field he's headed.

I shoot his dog a glare, paired with another hiss for good measure before I wander around after him. Despite his master easily being five steps ahead, the pony-sized dog sticks by my side, making sure I don't sneak off to find someone else to spend my confined afternoon with.

The grass tickles, the length falling just below my knees. It's one of the few long grass training fields the village has; the rest cut short to be better training grounds. I will admit it's a nice area, the long grass and wildflowers mixed to make a pretty sight and a beautiful smell. Nice and open with nothing but the green and blue of nature... but Gai-Sensei said this is where Squad Eight trains so I won't enjoy it too much.

"Sit," Kiba grumbles, plopping on the ground himself. His mutt instantly shoots forward, settling into a stretched-out lying position next to his master. I ignore him, keeping our five-step distance as I focus back on the random spouts of wildflowers curled into the grass. "I was talking to you," he adds, tilting his head backward to look at me.

"I don't take commands from you. Nice try though," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. Our Senseis just had to choose the most boring place imaginable for this, didn't they?

Kiba pushes himself onto his feet, crouching on the ground as he turns to look at me. His head tilts up, an elbow on his knee, and his head in his hand. "So you're just going to stand there the whole time."

"Yep."

"Your legs are going to get tired."

"Is that a fat joke?" I hiss, taking a step back when he starts waddling forward.

"No, it was a fact. I don't know what your Sensei told you, but mine told me she's planning to keep us trapped out here for a few hours, but fine. Go ahead. Stand for a few hours if that's what you want to do." With that he lets out a sigh, falling back into a seating position before letting himself lay down.

I eye him carefully, watching as he soaks in the sun, lying in the soft grass with his dog's muzzle resting on his chest. Slowly, I lower myself into a crisscross on the ground again, keeping my eyes on his mutt and my distance from both of them.

"He's not going to bite you," Kiba mutters, shaking his dog's head like I wouldn't have been able to put the pieces together.

"Ya, but his master will," I grumble, my hand instantly jumping up to press against the slowly healing bite mark. "His master that bites hard enough that Neji is convinced there'll still be a scar once it heals. I bet that strokes your ego."

"It does," he admits with a chuckle. "Though," he starts, sitting upright again, that predator-like look in his eyes again. "I got something else of mine I'd like you to have."

My heart thumps against my chest, eyes slit as I start leaning backward. I pick up on every single one of Kiba's movements. His slight lean forward, the heeling of his dog, the way his eyes are slit too as he scans me. My eyes flick to the side, scanning for one of our squad mates. "Don't do that," he husks, squatting back on the edge of his feet.

"You're being weird," I mutter, my breath picking up as the want-to-run burns in my veins.

"How is me getting you a gift weird?" He chuckles, daring to take a step forward. His cocky smile is resting on his lips, his canines poking out in his smile.

"It just is," I whisper, sliding backward a bit.

Kiba takes two steps forward this time, close enough to reach out and grab me if he wanted to. "Come here, Pretty Kitty," he chuckles, lunging forward. I shriek, turning to climb to my feet. He continues giggling, snatching my ankle and using it to pull me back down.

"Kiba," I hiss, squirming around and attempting to kick him off of me.

His laughter continues to fill the empty field, snatching my other ankle. This time he uses his hold to push my knees to my chest, leaning over me to use his body weight to keep me pressed to the ground. "Stop squirming so much," he tells me, leaning down so his face is hovering over mine. "I'm trying to give you a gift and this is how you react?"

"All you've gotten me is a bout of man-handling and being pressed to the ground," I yelp, reaching up to scratch at him.

Kiba beats me to it, his hand jumping up to snatch my wrist. He wraps up the other one too, shoving both of my wrists to the ground and keeping his hand on top so I can't wiggle them out. "Oh hush, Kitty," he whispers, shifting around so his torso keeps my legs folded up. His free hand wanders up too, dancing over my neck for a moment before untying my headband, letting it slip off and fall to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, trying to thrust up and knock Kiba off of me.

"Giving you a gift, duh," he attempts to tease. The teasing and his cocky smile pisses me off even more. On the other hand, the heat rolling off Kiba's body and the feeling of him pressed against me makes my veins fill with electricity.

His fingers dance over my throat again, eyes bouncing around my body as he paws at me. "Get off me," I grumble, trying to shift my legs enough to use them to kick him off of me.

"In a second," he mutters, tugging his burning touch away from my neck. Kiba shoves his hand in his pocket, searching around for something. The sparkle of the thing snags my sight, the metal catching every ray of sun that falls on it. "It's pretty, isn't it?" He hums, admiring me for a second before he focuses on me again.

"What is it?" I ask, looking over the object again. It looks like a linked chain, silver and shiny with a small lock on the end. The lock is open, dangling on the end of the links, and pressed into a heart shape. Only the keyhole disrupts the smooth material of it.

It takes a second, but I manage to click into place what it is on my own. "No. Kiba, no," I hiss, squirming under him again. "You are not putting that on me. I refuse."

"I am and you can't refuse," He chuckles, wiggling around on top of me. He struggles to keep me pinned and to sling the collar around my neck. He struggles even more to snag the lock around both ends of the chain and click it closed. "See? Pretty," Kiba mutters, tugging on the chain. "A pretty collar for a pretty kitty." He leans down, brushing his lips over the bite mark before letting me go.

"You're insane!" I yelp, jumping to my feet. "Take it off," I demand, tugging on the lock in hopes it's one of the cheap ones that snaps easily. "I'm not wearing this damn thing."

"Hate to break it to you, but you are wearing it. Like, actively wearing it." More chuckles and an active smirk cover his face as he climbs to his feet, dusting himself off as he stands up.

"I hate you," I hiss, bending down to pick my village headband off the ground. I grumble to myself, fixing my headband back around my neck, and using it to cover the collar as I walk away from the cackling mutt. I hate dogs, I hate Kiba, and I hate this collar.

I hate that I don't hate the collar. It's a pretty necklace and the weight of it feels good against my chest, but Kiba will have to torture that information out of me. He trudges behind me, occasionally reaching forward to tug in the collar. "My pretty kitty."

"I'm not your cat," I hiss at him, sending him a glare.

"You're an Izuno and you're wearing my collar. You're my cat."

"And you're a dick," I growl, snapping my head around the field in search of literally anyone else. Lee falls into my view, my body shifting to beeline towards him. "Go screw yourself Kiba."

————————————

I smell Kiba and his dumb dog before I see them. I've been ticked at him - more than usual - since the little grass field incident yesterday. Neji noticed something was off, because he always does, and promised to look into how to get the stupid collar off of me. Seeing how Kiba is close by, I'm guessing news of that got back to him. The only question is how.

     "I know you can smell me, Kitty. Don't try running away or I'll send Akamaru after you," his voice rings out from around the corner, followed by his barking laugh. I wonder if murdering him would be worth being labeled as a rouge.

     Before I can settle on an answer, his dog rounds the corner, instantly setting me as a target for his growl and the baring of his teeth. Dumb dog. Kiba follows, the grin on his face only growing when his eyes land on me. Dumb dog number two. "There's my pretty kitty."

     "I'm not your cat," I fizzle, my anger quickly growing.

     "Yes you are," he says, taking quick steps forward. I take a step back for every step he takes, which only seems to make him more excited. "Guess who paid me a visit today."

     "Your sanity?" I ask, my back tapping against a wall of one of the buildings, making me jump.

     I bump into Kiba because of my shock, his hands locking on my shoulders before gently pressing me against the wall. "Your little friend stopped by. Neji. He was pretty mad," he mutters, pressing his hips against mine to keep me pinned to the wall. "Want to know what we talked about?"

     "Not really. I do want you to get off me though."

     "In a second," he grumbles, sidelining my request. "Neji and I talked about your pretty collar," Kiba mutters, a hand sliding up, dipping under my headband, and twirling the chain of my collar around his fingers. "He seems to think you want it off," he continues, his free hand jumping up to toy with the ears buried in my hair.

     "I do want it off." I jerk my head away from him, trying to get his hand out of my hair.

     I don't get that, all Kiba does is bury his hand deeper into my hair, his fingers massaging my scalp as his thumb rubs against my ears. "You're keeping it. Even if Neji cuts it off you, I'll just buy another one and snap it back on around your throat."

     "Who decided you had the right to do that?"

    "Me," he mutters, head dipping down. His lips brush against my neck, his hand tightening in my hair and around my collar, as he stamps kisses against my throat. "You cats always play hard to get. Would it kill you to give in a bit?"

"I'm not playing hard to get. I just don't want you," I hiss, my hands falling to his hips and attempting to push him off of me. "I don't see why you're all of a sudden obsessing over me."

"Because you taste sweet," he chuckles, his tongue sliding out and over my neck to send his point home. "Oh, so sweet," he repeats before sinking his teeth into my throat, right back into the same spot from earlier this week.

"Nyaa," the sound spills from me before I can stop, hands tightening around the hem of his shirt, and my nails digging in, threatening to tear through the material.

"See? Just playing hard to get," he teases, rubbing his tongue over the reopened wounds. Kiba's words hang in the air as his nose slides over my skin, haunting down another spot to toy with. When he finds it, his teeth sink back into my skin, softly this time to toy with me like he did outside the restaurant.

They're light, with barely any pressure. Then he lets go. Just as I'm about to let out a sigh, he clamps back onto me, his teeth baring down and starting their assault on my skin. "Kiba," I try to hiss, the sound coming out more as a mew. "Why won't you knock it off?"

His jaw ticks for a second, teeth rougher for a moment before he pulls away. His eyes stay locked on the spot, looking it over in silence before sliding onto my face. "You're pissing me off."

"I'm pissing you off?!" I spat out, my anger sliding across my jaw, baring my teeth as I glare at the mutt. "You pinned me down and collared me yesterday, and now you have me pinned against the wall, but I'm pissing you off."

"Ya," he grumbles, releasing my hair finally. His hand drops down, tugging our village's headband off my throat just like yesterday. This time he shoves it into his pocket instead of disregarding it on the ground. "I give you a pretty bite mark," he starts, fingertips dancing over it. "And you go and have Neji look it over and heal it. Then, I give you a pretty collar," he tugs on the metal, twisting it to tighten it around my neck a bit. "And you go and hide it from the world with your dumb headband."

"I only let you bite me because I felt bad about scratching you. That doesn't give you the right to put a collar on me and prance around declaring I'm yours."

Again, I'm ignored. Kiba is off in his little world, toying with the metal around my neck and letting his fingertips dance over the two bite marks he's 'gifted' me. "I wasn't pinning you that bad yesterday, you just didn't fight me off. I'm pinning you now and you're not even attempting to fake fight me."

"You're stronger than me," I hiss, slowly climbing my hands up his shirt that I'm clinging to.

"Ya?" He asks, flicking his eyes up so they lock with mine. "Is that what you tell enemies you come across during missions too? 'Sorry Mr. Bad Guy but you're stronger than me so I can't fight you'." He cackles at his joke, head falling and tongue sliding out so he can lap at the newer marking.

"Of course not."

"Of course not," he echos, his nose back sliding across my neck, looking for the next chunk of flesh to sink his canines into. "You know, if you're thinking about scratching me again, I'll let you."

"What?" I spill out, the sentence catching me off guard and making my hands still in their place halfway up his shirt.

"You heard me," he whispers into my skin, his nose pushing up my collar and letting it rest across the bridge of it. Like the dog he is, Kiba goes back to licking me. The feeling of his tongue is quickly starting to ignite the electric feeling in my veins again; electricity that swirls down my neck, over my torso, and straight between my legs. "I'll let you scratch me. It was hot, the feeling made me horny. It's all I've thought about the past few nights. Hand around my dick, pumping myself to the feeling of your pretty little claws digging into my flesh."

"You're being weird again," I whisper, debating whether to scratch him or not. If he's being honest, it'll just please him. Or maybe he's lying to make me second-guess my defense. Maybe dogs aren't as dumb as I thought they were.

"I'm not being weird. I'm just being honest about something you're still lying about."

"I don't get off on scratching you."

"No, you don't, but you get off to me licking you, to me nibbling on your neck, to the pretty proof of me marking my territory."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not your cat." Kiba's jaw snaps down on my throat again, no teasing this time, just straight into forcing his teeth into my neck until my skin gives in and lets him leave prints behind. "Nyaa," the sound spills out again, this time long and high-pitched. I hate dogs. I hate this dog. I swear I'm going to scratch his eyes out, regardless of whether or not he's into it.

My hands slide backward, nails digging in between his shoulder blades once I get a good enough grip. My fingers move slowly, tearing as deep into Kiba's shirt and skin as they can. It doesn't take long for my nails to rip his shirt, letting my fingertips press into his skin before it's torn to shred by my nails.

"Wan," Kiba's sound spills out, muffled a bit from his still-present latch to my throat. The hand not tied up in my collar shoots up, clinging to the dip in my elbow, but he doesn't tug my arm off of him. The mutt was telling the truth, he's into this shit, and he's right. I am too.

My hands fall off the edges of his sides, droplets of his blood dripping from my nails and colliding with the ground of the alley. Why did I leave Ino's flower shop using the side door? If I used the front door I wouldn't have ended up in this position.

Finally, Kiba releases me too, but not before running his tongue over his newest artwork. "See? I was right. You're into me."

"I hate you."

"You hate that your pussy gets wet for a dog," he counters, a completely correct counter, but I'll die on my hill yelling that he's wrong. Slowly, he pulls back, the chain of my collar tumbling from his nose and lying against the bite mark. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He asks, toying with the collar so it slides back and forth over the open wound.

"No," I lie through my - bared with pain - teeth. He's right, I do hurt. The three marks sting, mixing with the pain from the others to coat around my whole neck. Having the chain sitting on top of one of them makes it hurt more than the rest. Having it slide back and forth shoots new stabs of pain into my neck, leading to the pain attack filling my veins.

"Sure it doesn't, Kitty," he sighs, dropping his hold on the collar before releasing me from being trapped under him. "Hate to cut our play time short, but I got to go sit with Kurenai-Sensei. See you tomorrow, my pretty kitty."

"No, you won't!" I yell after him, watching him and his dumb mutt leave the alley. Dumb dogs. Dumb collar. Dumb bite marks. Dumb Kiba being correct.

———————————————————————

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[adrianasunderworld]

Random Beauty at the Beast thought, specifically the live action one, maybe someone has brought this up before, idk. But I don't mind the live action making Belle and inventor, I really don't. Based on the animated movie, I think it's a fair interpretation of the character. We are shown she knows Maurices tools and stuff, it's not unreasonable to think she knows how to fix and operate machines and maybe make her own stuff. That's all great!

I just don't like that they had to take that characteristic from Maurice to give to Belle, and that's not even a big faucet of her character. Her main characteristic is still Local Bookworm, and people think that's weird. Yes there's that scene where she makes a washing machine and the town is up in arms about it, but then we don't really see her do much with that beyond. Like we don't see her making upgrades to the castle and stuff to make the staff and beasts life better. And I think that's a shame.

And considering the themes in beauty and the beast about sexism in their community and how they think women and girls should not be well read and educated, and think it would fit better if Belle was an unappreciated inventor.

Maurice still wants to be a great inventor, he still wants to make all these great things. Maybe he runs a repair shop to fund his research fixing clocks and stuff. And Belle is right beside him, doing just as much work, making just as many gadgets and fixing things. She still loves to read, but now it's not only a source of escapism, it's a source of inspiration. We see her reading novels with all these mechanical wonders and Belle goes "I wonder if I can make that". And does makes cool stuff and repairs things better than they ever were before. And no one thinks it's her. Maurice tries and tries and tries again to explain his daughter made all these wonderful things, Belle deserves all the credit and praise. None of the townsfolk believe him, and certainly not Gaston. And that's Belles life in town. Until she gets to the Beasts castle. She sees this place in desperate need of upgrades, the servants struggling to get around in their small forms and Belle gets to work. She upgrades the castle. Fixing pipes, making lifts and pulley systems that span the entire property to help the Servants get around. (Maybe make it all steampunk-y if we really want to go fantastical with it, because it's fun.) and to contrast the townsfolk And Gaston, the staff and Beast praise Belle. They see how brilliant she is. Beast wants to watch her tinker away and hear her talk about what she's doing and the story she read that inspired it, as opposed to Gaston who said she wouldn't have to do any of this when they're married and she can put her tools away to give to their son's later. And when the spell is broken, Belle is still making the castle a fantastical place where her and her father and the prince gather like minded people to share it all with

Anyway inventor! Belle would have been cool as hell if they actually committed to it.

[queersolarpunk]

aanyone got some advice for how to save a house from damage from cold rooms?

Soo, I live in a house with my sister and her husband in Germany (it's their house) and we haven't had consistent heating for weeks now. By now, I think it's been two weeks without any heating. So far we were lucky and the temperatures stayed very high for this time of year and we're going to the gym for warm showers (I got so sick of cold showers, they suck and the water feels seriously icy).

Anyway now we got to the situation that the heating likely can't be repaired (even though we paid so much already to try and get it fixed) getting a new one will take at least a month, likely longer. Temperatures are gone drop next week. All three of us work a lot so we haven't had the time to do the research we should've done but I just realised the risks there are for the house apart from our discomfort (which I would've been fine with). But I read that with low temps inside below 15°C there's a risk of condensation and mold and of course with lower temperatures where the water can freeze the pipes can get fucked. We're probably gonna get an electric heater for at least one room, but there's barely used (not fully renovated) rooms. We're gonna be so insanely broke if we put heaters in every room (and we're gone need that money to get the new heating installed).

Anyway, I just had the hope with the type of people around on Tumblr (weirdly specific interests etc) anyone might have some advice/ reblog with the tags to bring it to the people that might have advice

[gatsby-system-folks]

Hi besties

I didn't feel like deleting this commission post. Thankfully, the friend who I opened commissions to help has stable housing now. I'm not saying commissions closed, I'm just busy lol.

Illustration:

Some examples of my work

I'll also do relatively short comics. This is a snippet from my webcomic. A sketch is $10, colored sketch is $15, lineart is $10, colored lineart is $15. Shading or lighting on anything will add $10. I'm not separating character art and landscape art, both have the same rate, but something with more than 5 characters or something set in a city (or otherwise densely populated/elaborate area) will be a little more ($5 for every character above 5, and an extra $10 for an elaborate scene). Comics are the same, each page (not each panel) will be treated as a piece.

Writing:

I'll write for ocs, and from:

Homestar Runner

Rise of the tmnt

The Usagi Chronicles

Gorillaz

Good Omens

Undertale/Deltarune

Homestuck (and its affiliates, such as pesterquest or friendsim)

Venom

Moon Knight

Treasure Planet

Hellboy

Doctor Who

Our Flag Means Death

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

The original 6 Star Wars movies

The Spiderverse series, itsv and atsv

The Davina skit from Rab C Nesbitt. (I see yall shipping Davina with Mrs. Robinson and I love yall)

If something's not on this list, you can still ask, and if I've seen whatever the media is I'll probably write it. On the other hand, if i haven't seen all of the content for the medias listed above, I'll have to do some research so it might not be the best work (ie the only reason I'm limiting this to the first 6 star wars movies is because I haven't seen any more than that)

I'll do ships between canon characters or between ocs, I'm not comfortable doing x reader content at this point. Also.. they don't have to be ships lol I also do just. Fics.

Some examples of my work:

I'm gonna keep it simple and do $20 per thousand words, but there's not a minimum word count. That's $0.02 per word lol. When you describe the fic ill give you an estimate of how many words I can do it in, and we can adjust. If the fic goes more than 150 words over the final estimate then it's flat-rate (as in the price doesn't continue to climb)

Poetry

Any subject really. I'll add examples of my work when the website I post on is fixed. Poetry is twice the price of fic

Editing:

Keep it under 5,000 words for now. $8 per hour. I'll edit fic, essays, etc.

Worldbuilding:

If you need help figuring out a magic system, how pipes connect your city, weird biological facts about your aliens, or even just where to put the castle parking lot, I can help. Same rules of fic writing and editing: if we chat worldbuilding for an hour, it'll be $8. If you want a 500 word summary of your new worlbuilding, that'll be $10. The text of the chat of course is free, you can pause your time of course, and whatever time I spend writing the summary isn't double charged. So an hour of chatting+ a 500 word summary would be $18

What I won't work with, in any format

Heavy nsfw- light is ok

Incest, pedophilia, noncon etc

Hate, bigotry, overly political work, bullying

Torture

Glorification of not good things. Depiction does not equal glorification

Case by case: real, living people. Context below.

What I won't draw, specifically:

Gore

abuse (such as beating, verbal, emotional)

Self harm

Everything is case-by-case, if something makes me uncomfortable I'm not going to do it. You may not put my work into an ai scraper of any kind. Also I'll say it again, depiction does not equal glorification.

Context on real people: I mean if you want me to just draw a picture of Margot Robbie that's most likely fine, or write about the wacky secret society that Laura Ingals and St. Patrick were running that's probably fine, or if a real living person appears in the background that's probably fine (I see you good omens fans having Crowley and Hozier hang out at a bar), but I won't write shipping for real, currently living people, nor will i make them the mc of a story. I'd prefer not for dead people either, but that's not a hard rule. Once again, case by case.

[streetkid-named-desire]

Post-canon AU: What happened to Vincent Guerra and Bea's video game meta

It was about time to make an actual post to reference as I play the game through with Bea more. If you have other questions about their lore feel free to ask!

Bea is not a V

Bea is playing through a video game BD that Judy helped V create to deal with the trauma of All Of That. She uses a custom BD rig so V can jack in sometimes and see what she does, add commentary, etc. it also allows him to occasionally pipe in Johnny live so Bea can yell at him.

Military doll chip

These are different than the ones Judy makes in that they completely overwrite the individual's personality. This was based on Dr. Kenji Yamamoto's (OC) early research of the Relic. It doesn't just give them combat prowess, it turns them into mindless soldiers at the flip of a switch. This has implications for the Fifth Corpo War because Militech and Arasaka could build a paramilitary fighting force of civilians and trained soldiers alike.

Relic fix-it

The chip became dormant for two years.

PL happened but none of the canon endings happened. At some point before he was supposed to meet Hanako at Embers he just woke up and Johnny was...gone. He woke up feeling a strange emptiness with a very quiet head. He went to Viktor who found that the Relic overwriting process had just...stopped.

This lasted for two years until 2079 when the fic starts.

Johnny is reactivated the first time V jacks into Bea's brain to save her from the initial effects of the corpo monitoring soft Arasaka installed in her. He saves V's life by forcing V out of his interface.

At the end of the fic (spoilers? I'll put it under a cut in case you want to read the fic lol)

Dr. Kenji Yamamoto was an Arasaka researcher Frederick kidnapped to help him with his own attempt at finishing Militech's version to earn his spot back as head of R&D at Militech.

Dr. Yamamoto worked on the military doll chips for Arasaka and was one of the early researchers developing the Relic. His research set the groundwork for the military doll chips.

Bea and V rescue Dr. Yamamoto and free him from Frederick's basement. Bea is near death and they go to Dr. Yamamoto's private research hospital. While Bea is in surgery, he does an experiment with V and Johnny in a special interface.

While he's inside the interface he asks V to raise his right hand which he does in realspace and the interface. Then he asks Johnny to raise his right hand, which V does in realspace but only Johnny does in the interface.

He explains that the Relic has stopped overwriting because their neural maps have merged/overlapped. Because all of the basic body functions are covered, the Relic only needed to overwrite/add new neurons and shit for Johnny. And all the omega blockers helped, similar to how taking certain psychiatric medications take a while to build up to work.

Now their neural maps and synaptic connections and shit overlap. Johnny could control various limbs whenever the fuck he wanted and even take full control if he wanted to. Dr. Yamamoto gives V an option of tweaking the Relic and adding a modification to control the omega blocking effect (omega blockers are a real thing used to treat schizophrenia). He doesn't have the meds but it tweaked the natural imbalance.

What that means is V is primarily in control most often, but it is less effective in times of heightened emotion or if he's under the influence of something. He can talk to Johnny and he can still make commentary and pop up from time to time, but it is less often.

Their dreams can also intersect because their brains and subconscious overlap. V essentially has one and a half brains.

But it's not killing him anymore! Johnny has made peace with it and he and V are very close and very close friends so he's happy to be along for the ride. It does get frustrating sometimes and he will state his displeasure and make fun of V for shit, but that's just Johnny being Johnny.

[xiaq]

(this can be answered publicly) Hey X, pardon me if you’ve answered this before, but I was just curious on how you ended up transitioning from academia to tech and what role you started with in tech? Also, so you have any advice for someone looking to break into tech from a non-STEM background? Thank you!

Hey! I haven't answered it publicly but it's a popular question, so I will now (warning, long answer is long).

So I was so fed up with academia for sundry reasons I won't get into here but I wanted a career that would allow me to A. retire some day (something that paid generally well), B. would allow me some measure of work/life balance without high stress, and C. Would ideally let me use my communication/writing/speaking/presenting skills in some way.

My parents and my partner all work in tech and were like, "did you know that we desperately need people with your skillsets in the tech world?" and my partner, who works in technical sales was like, "You would kill at my job, I am not lying." And I was like, every job listing in technical sales that I see requires either a degree I don't have or past experience I don't have, or both, and my mother was like "Do you know how many mediocre resumes from unqualified men come across my desk? Apply for the damn positions anyway." So I reworked my resume to focus on applicable skills/experiences and wrote a cover letter for each position I applied to saying "hey, I know I'm an odd candidate but let me tell you why that's a good thing." And I got a lot of positive responses!

I was interviewing at 2 different tech places when I accepted the offer for my job now. I had an initial screening call interview with HR, then a zoom interview with the hiring manager, and then I was given access to a limited demo environment and had a week to teach myself the software and put together a demo for a fake customer which I did for the hiring manager (my future boss), one of my current peers, and the VP of the org. I was offered the job the same night I did my fake demo. So in total it was a 2 week interview process, and I started working 2 weeks later. **

I'm a pre-sales solutions consultant, which basically means I'm paired with a sales guy who does all the money and business value talk with customers, while I get to learn about a customer's data problems and then demo for them how our products can address those problems.

The learning curve was (and still is) steep. But it was basically like going back to school, and I've always loved learning new things. The job is super fun. It fulfills all of my wants I listed above with the added bonus of being completely remote (aside from occasional travel to meet with customers for in-person demos). The people I work with are supportive, management is communicative and constantly giving me feedback/talking about my trajectory. I've won internal awards, already received two raises and one promotion and I haven't even been there a year. I'm making more than double what I did as a professor and the concept of retirement doesn't feel like a laughable pipe dream anymore. I miss teaching a lot, but I'm healthier, happier, and better prepared for the future now. And my work is genuinely fulfiling because I'm showing people how they can fix problems. Also, playing with data management software and putting together custom demos is neat. It's like all the best parts of a college project--research, making a preso, knocking everyone's socks off while giving the preso, but I'm getting paid for it. I'm glad I followed my mom's advice.

So I guess my advice is the same as hers: even if you're not "qualified," apply for the position anyway. Make custom cover letters for each position and if there's not a way to include the letter with the app, do some googling and find the hiring manager on LinkedIn and message/email them. The person who hired me said that my cover letter was what got me the initial interview. So that shit works. If you have friends or family working somewhere with open positions, use those connections. Having an internal referral will go a long way to getting your resume looked at. I know we're all like, boo nepo babies, but networking is a huge part of any industry. Use it to your advantage if you have the advantage (no, I'm not working for my parent's companies, but if there'd been an open position I was interested in, I would have applied for it. No shame).

**I also, on the side, applied for the Austin Fire Department because why not. After a whole lot of mental and physical prep, I was accepted to the academy (in the first class, no less, holla) right before I was offered my current job. But I had to be realistic and say that probably wasn't a good long-term career option for someone who is 110lbs and was barely meeting the physical testing requirements who also has issues with getting overwhelmed in high-input sensory situations. So. Into the tech world I went. This side note just to say, I was keeping my options very open and there's nothing wrong with that either, lol.

I hope this helps!

[metamatar]

I'm actually curious about what you think about 'space colonization.' I don't think much of it, bec A) we haven't even settled Antarctica yet, how will we settle Mars? B) unless you are imbibed with the spirit of malthus himself, what utility does living horrid lives on mars hold for anyone?

Usually this discussion is super annoying to have with people, especially space nerds. They start frothing at the mouth and the whole affair becomes very off-putting.

There's two questions in this, one is about what the term colonization invokes and what space colonization really means when rhetoric hinges on that, esp on notions of justice. I used to not think much of this in the past, bc aliens are not real yet for the impact of colonization on subject populations that is most relevant to real world colonization discussion to come in play. But the critique is imo able to draw out interesting things. Including impacts on humans. This is useful (stuff about curiosity and the moon missile are still iffy to me, see notes for why.)

The second question is, should we devote resources to help humans start living off earth? Other people have written more eloquently abt the way the extremely high risk pipe dream for the benefit of the few being sold by Musk et al is presented in direct obstruction of attempts to fix climate change. Really dangerous distraction when presented as a meaningful alternative to climate mitigation. So, um most future astronaut missions are a waste of people's time. Asteroids and pandemics and aliens and all the other thought experiments that suggest urgent intervention to colonise Maars will always need us to address that most people live on Earth.

Now rambling below.

Tbh I'm skeptical of space exploration itself, forget colonisation, when people sell it as AMAZING FOR ALL RESEARCH FOREVER in general bc most of the useful material science stuff we got out of it you could have got if you just gave material scientists money? Nobody really wanted to give material scientists money before they could put a flag on the moon with it. So yeah, I completely understand the sentiments of the anti space exploration crowd bc of the long role NASA, SSSR/Roscosmos have played in functioning as the prettier face of Defence Budgets. Rocket science is barely science, it is engineering.

Should space exploration be abandoned because it serves little use to human wellbeing in the same way as a new generic antibiotic that bacteria can't resist? No. It may serve some use, and plenty of people derive use from the joy of abstract mathematics and poetry and other things that are not saving the world as well as antibiotics. I don't think its inseparable from the military industrial complex, but for now its so wrapped up in it that I don't see much point in being mad at the minority of people who hate space exploration and think we should not do any of it till we fix the world. I am an engineer who finds kerbal space program fun and dog-eared my biography of kalpana chawla obsessively. So I am not a very fair observer, etc.

[lycomorpha]

My board while I was drawing a beautiful crayfish last year - timelapse here (1 min version) and here (full drawing.) It was a commission for a research group in Aotearoa/NZ.

The reference images they supplied are on the board, along with the test sheet and an early sketch. I mark out two identical outlines for each commission on exactly the same Stonehenge fine art paper. I test everything on one sheet, and the other becomes the shiny finished piece. Detailed drawings take many hours... So as well as trying methods before I commit, test sheets are a thing I can keep in order to retain what I learn. I return to them often to remember how I did things or find new ways to draw something based on past work.

You can also see how my easel is set up...

I've got a drawing board held in a painting easel, which allows me to work vertically. I can't draw over a flat desk or angled drawing board, so this is my adaption. (It works really well as long as non-disabled people don't try to "fix" it... Petition to stop ppl "helping" without asking first, because whyyyyaaaarg.)

I have pencils blue-tacked to the board (over tape strips to prevent the tack leaving greasy marks.) I don't need to change them too often... But you can just peel off whole tape strips with the pencils still attached to move them around. I have more than one board that I can swap around, and I can move strips of pencils between them depending what I'm drawing on each one.

(& yes, Studio Cat did instantly steal my chair there. I swear that cat can fcking teleport.)

The shelf on the easel is full of erasers, pencil extenders, sandpaper for cleaning/filing blending stumps and hard erasers, etc. That and and random crap that I don't clear out often enough! The bits of grey foam are pipe lagging that I cut up to use as pencil holders. The easel is also on wheels. All my art supplies are on a trolley, so I can shift them. Wheels on all the things, basically.

[workingforitallthetime]

drawn arrows unseen

part 20 / previous installments/tags

Mason assumes he’ll go into rut, just like when he last spent any amount of time basking in Connor’s scent. He’s braced for it to be about a million times worse, too, now that he knows what Connor smells like wanting him.

Instead, everything just… shuts down.

Mason passes through the days numb, going through the motions of practice and gameday routines, forcing himself to heat up the little plastic boxes of his meal plan on their prescribed schedule. He doubts he could get it up to jerk off, if the idea even sounded appealing, which it doesn’t. It’s like his body’s protecting itself, cutting off every nonessential function so it can do what it has to do to keep his heart beating and his lungs breathing.

And, unfortunately, elite hockey appears to be nonessential. His reaction time slows. He gets winded after every shift. He misses obvious plays. The coaches show him his advanced stats, processed into easily digestible bar graphs and line charts. The lines all plunge downhill after the Arizona game.

The medical staff runs all kinds of tests, scans and blood panels and stress tests. Nothing’s wrong. He just sucks.

They finally send him to UC-Irvine to see a dynamic specialist. She has thin braids neatly coiled at the base of her neck and a button nose that barely shows she’s assessing Mason’s scent. The trainer who drove him to the appointment waits in the lobby while the doctor shows Mason back to her office, which looks more like a professor works there than a doctor.

She asks him all the usual dynamic questions, raising her eyebrows a little when Mason counts backward and tells her it’s been close to two years since he went through a rut. She asks him about whether there was anything that precipitated his current condition, and Mason lies. No, nothing that I can think of. Got back from a road trip and everything fell off a cliff.

 It hurts to talk about. It can’t be fixed. He doesn’t want his medical records, wide open to his team and to the NHLPA and to any team that ever acquires him, to say Connor Bedard.

The doctor asks him the same questions several different ways, like she knows perfectly well Mason’s lying. When Mason doesn’t crack, she pauses. She presses her lips together. “It’s strange that you can’t recall a precipitating event. Your symptoms are consistent with a faulty bond.”

“A faulty bond?” Mason tests the phrase in his mouth, It makes it sound like he and Connor are a medical condition. A deformity.

“It can happen if you bond with someone but things aren’t… in order,” the doctor says delicately.

Mason’s barely seen Connor in years. He’s barely even kissed him. It doesn’t make any sense that they’ve bonded, but the phrase feels right. “How does that even work?”.

“The research in this area isn’t where we’d like it to be, ethical issues and all that.” The doctor puts down her notepad, clearly warming up to a preferred topic. “But it suggests that when you have a bond with someone, both partners benefit from your shared energy. It’s a crude analogy, but you can think of the bond as like a pipeline. When the bond’s frayed, the pipe leaks. Water gets diverted through holes. Energy’s wasted. You expend more energy than you’re gaining, so you’re not at peak capacity in other areas of performance.”

“What’s the treatment?” Please, god, let there be a cure, some way to stop hurting.

The doctor quirks her mouth ruefully. “It’s like any other pulled muscle. Just takes time to heal. Unless you’re able to straighten out the bond?”

“Get things in order,” Mason says, echoing her earlier phrase. “With my…”

The doctor nods. “With your partner.”

Mason looks up Connor’s stats. It’s hard to tell from what’s available publicly, and he’s absolutely not going to ask Anaheim’s data team how Connor’s performance over the last month compares to what he was doing before the Arizona game. But Connor definitely hasn’t been lighting it up. Maybe he’s feeling the effects on his end too.

Mason tries to call him to talk it over. But when he gets Connor’s voicemail, it sounds so presumptuous to say it. We’re bonded. We have to fix it. What right does Mason have?

“Everything’s so hard,” Mason finally blurts out after a long silence. Connor probably won’t listen to the end of the voice message anyway. “This could be easy. Please, just let it be easy.”

He doesn’t hear anything back.

(next)

[missmoodring]

Andraya Cloud

for Becoming Mrs. BlackBurn 2

"She like to argue so I sent that b to law school"

Windenburg Native, currently living in San Myshuno

Lawyer, hates her job.

Middle child between two boys

Her last break up was with the plumber from her apartment. They dated for a four months and she then realized he was fixing the pipes of the woman who lived on floor 3.

Has never been snowboarding. It's on her bucket list

Favorite song right now Victoria Monet - on my mama

Doesn't like animals or flowers.

Does not believe in wearing flats, unless it's a dope pair of sneakers.

Learning how to play guitar is also on her bucket list

Can barely cook. Spends a lot of money on takeout and delivery

Has a collection of expensive wines that she refuses to open or sell unless it's a special occasion

Don't call her Draya unless you ask for permission first

Andraya was raised by two uptight parents who encouraged her to be the best that she could be. That meant soccer, scouts meetings and church every Sunday. College was a whole new world for her. Boys galore. Parties. Eating whatever she wanted! This new freedom introduced Andraya to a side of her that she never seen before. Thankfully she still graduated top of her class. After law school, Draya spent most of her time partying with girlfriends and jumping from fling to fling. But now as her friends slowly transition from that young, single lifestyle into married with kids, Draya is finding herself craving the same.

Whoever invented that phrase "your career won't keep you warm at night", was so right. Instead of these little boyfriends that she keeps going through, Draya is ready to find the love of her life.

Skills

Charisma - 4 Cooking - 1 Dancing - 3 Fitness - 2 Logic - 6 Research and Debate - 2 Singing - 2

@therichantsim