#ik they drink so much caffeine

[vollerey]

darlin the type of person to be the big bad wolf but also shift and start running in the fucking snow like a dog💀💀

they also the typa person to take pics of the sunrise/sunset for sam bc he cant see it himself…🫶

[girlboyburger]

do you like coffee

i used to have a rlly bad caffeine addiction, so i think coffee is Just Okay now, but i do enjoy a good tea with honey

[crucifixionstream]

what the fuck is bloom, what kind of drink is that… any bloom enjoyers in chat

[hldjpg]

[Racer/ Biker AU]

It’s eating my brain up so I had to draw more

This AU mainly revolves around Craig so that’s why it’s called Racer, but in general it’s just their adult ver I did for fun🫡 (Tolkien, Craig and Clyde ride sport bikes)

(Some extras)

- Tweek tries to avoid drinking too much coffee so now he lacks caffeine and sleepy all the time

- Craig is the cause of road rages but drives away before people get out of their car and beat him up

- Kyle plays basketball, football and hockey (because he wants to play with Ike)

- Kyle & Stan often hangout together at a cafe where Tweek works

- Butters is an automotive technician

- Kenny is a mechanic

^They meet Craig all the time bc he won’t stop crashing his vehicle

[anonymous-rendezvous]

Take A Break, Won’t You?

💙 Ike Eveland x GN!Reader

✦ — Written by Mod S 👿. Beta Read and Edited by Mod I ✨. ⏌

✧ — Contains: Established Relationship, NSFW 🔞, oral (male reciving), Dom!Ike, slightly bratty Reader, teasing, & hair pulling

✦ — Word count: 5k+ | Ao3

The novelist is in the middle of writing one of his greatest stories yet. Except, he’s been so engrossed in writing that he hasn’t paid much attention to you as of late. Luckily for you though, you know just how to push his buttons to gain his attention.

Part 2 of Under-The-Desk Shenanigans

<< Previous | | next >>

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Ike is a very brilliant man. His mind can conjure up some of the most creative and enthralling ideas you’ve ever heard. Ranging between the most fantastical of fantasy to the more mundane and down-to-earth slices of life. Truly, he is one of the most hard-working people you know.

The only downside to such a person is that he gets completely enraptured by his work. Often forgetting to eat or sleep; and on rare occasions, even forgetting to bathe. Running merely on willpower and caffeinated drinks. Today was one such day, but instead of forgetting to eat or sleep, he’s kinda forgotten that you’re his partner. You know he doesn’t do it purposefully. But even with your godly amount of patience – you too have a limit.

Currently, you are making him a cup of tea. Waiting beside the cup as it steeps, enjoying the smell as you stand in your shared kitchen. ‘Maybe this’ll convince him to take a break,’ you think to yourself. Knowing Ike though, he’ll most likely promise to take one, but just keep on working. Sighing at the thought, you remove the tea bag from the cup and discard it. You pause for a moment before deciding to grab him a muffin as well. “Here’s hoping I can convince him with this.”

Walking down the hall, tea and muffin in hand, you can hear his working playlist before you even approach the office door. Setting the small plate containing the muffin over the top of the tea, you raise your free hand to knock lightly before opening the door an inch. Calling out in a soft voice to your boyfriend, “My love, I’ve brought you some tea and a little snack.”

Ike looks up, hazel eyes landing on you as he adjusts his glasses. He sits up straighter and gives you a soft smile as he locks eyes with you. “Oh, thank you, sweetie. I was just thinking about getting myself a drink.” The novelist makes a beckoning motion with his hand, urging you inside as he says, “Go ahead, come in.”

Following his motion, you step in and nudge the door shut behind you. “Making good progress?” you inquire as you approach his desk, setting down the plate.

He nods while gesturing to his work, showing you the latest page. “Actually, yes, I’ve been on a roll since this morning. Even made it to page one hundred and twenty-five, which is past the goal I had for today.”

Your entire demeanor perks up at his words, excitedly asking, “Does this mean you’re done for the day?”

He freezes for a moment before looking at you sheepishly. “Uhhh, well…” He looks to the side, fidgeting with the chain on his glasses. “I was gonna keep going, honestly. My brain is still moving a million miles a minute, and I feel really motivated.”

You pout at him, visibly disappointed by the news as your shoulders sag. He’s been working like this ever since he woke up; you’re worried he’ll overexert himself. Hell, he’s already showing some signs of it. His eyes look tired from staring at the screen and his posture has gotten worse since you’ve last been in here. You refuse to leave him like this. He watches you in confusion as you turn to grab a chair from the other side of the room.

“Darling, what are you doing?” Ike turns in his chair, following your movements as you drag your chair next to his.

“I’m staying here with you to make sure you at least drink all that tea and eat the muffin. You’ve been working all day. So if I can’t convince you to take a break, I’m staying here. Lord knows when you’ll be done.” When you sit in your chair and look back into his eyes, you can see how apologetic he is. He truly feels bad for making you worry over him, and he wishes he could fight this habit, but it’s just so ingrained in him.

With a sigh, he nods and scoots back into his desk. “Okay. I have no problem with you staying either way, but I appreciate your worry for me. I wouldn’t wanna make you any more upset than you are with me, too.”

You cross your arms over your chest, and with an exaggerated pout, you turn your head. “That’s right, you owe me big time.” His melodic laugh fills the room as you peek back at him, watching as Ike picks up his tea to take a sip.

“Of course, darling, you’ll have me all to yourself after I’m done.” His tone is much softer and you can hear the apology laced in those words. Uncrossing your arms, you get comfortable in your chair, pulling your phone out to busy yourself while he continues his novel. Letting a few moments pass, he slowly gets completely re-engrossed in his work. All the while, you decided it was time to switch tactics. After all, your presence and tea offering failed to convince him to take a break.

Time for Plan B; a more physical distraction. 

Moving a bit closer, your chair's armrest bumps into his. You let out a small ‘sorry’, causing him to peek at you instead of your hands. He gives you a quick nod and returns to typing, while you wait another moment before slowly pulling up the armrests of both your chairs, granting you new access to his body. He lets out a startled noise as he feels your head suddenly rest on his shoulder, hazel eyes looking down at you. You return his gaze with an innocent expression, honey-coated words dripping from your lips. “Sorry darling, just resting my head on your shoulder. Didn’t mean to startle you, you're just so… warm.”

Ike blushes a bit at your words, physically pausing for a moment. For a second, he could have sworn he heard something else in your tone. Yet when you just stay there on his shoulder, his suspicions tamp down as quickly as they came. Clearing his throat, he returns his gaze to the screen, adjusting his glasses in embarrassment. “W–well, it’s no problem. Stay there as long as you like.” He wasted no time in returning to his work, but this time, thoroughly flustered. 

‘Good, all according to plan.’ you think, fighting down a smirk. You make yourself comfortable, nuzzling and cuddling into Ike’s side. The novelist, on the other hand, was completely still aside from his hands diligently working. Yet what was happening within his thoughts was another story.

He was in a state of frenzy, his thoughts spiraling out of control. It wasn't until this moment that he genuinely grasped how much he had missed having you next to him. He feels even worse as he realizes how much time– the sheer amount of weeks this has gone on for and realizes that this is probably how you’ve felt within that time. He swore then he’d only finish a few more pages so he could then properly give you attention. Except Ike is jolted from his thoughts when he suddenly feels one of your hands on his chest, the heat of your skin sinking into the fabric. One of your fingers lightly traced the buttons on his shirt. He tries to pay no mind to it at first – that is until your hand starts trailing lower and lower. “Sweetie,” he keeps his tone even, looking down at you, “what are you doing?”

You look back at him with the same innocent eyes as before, but he swears he sees a hint of mischievousness in them. “Don’t mind me; just preoccupying myself until you're done. Am I being distracting?” Your last question has a slightly smokey tone to it, and you can’t help but giggle as you watch Ike’s cheeks get brighter as he grows more flustered.

“U–uh not at all…” He pauses as he averts his eyes back to his computer. Taking a breath before speaking again, “I’ll only be doing a couple more pages, so this won’t take too long.” 

You let out a drawn-out ‘Mhmmm’ as you circle the lower buttons on his shirt. With how you were currently positioned, you could hear the way he swallowed hard. He’s almost there, you can feel it. Just a bit more teasing – a few more sweet words – and then you’ll have his full attention.

The realization was slowly dawning on the novelist. There was no way this couldn’t have been a formulated plan. All the honeyed words, the soft touches– a plan to distract him. And if he was honest with himself, at any other time, he likely would’ve given in already. If only he wasn't in the middle of writing an integral part of his story. He hopes by telling you that he’s almost done, that you won’t take the teasing any further. That’s what he hopes at least. Ike, however, knows you. He’s spent more than enough time with you to pick out your tells, just as you’ve learned to pick up on his. He just prays you’re not in a particularly devilish mood today.

Settling back in, a good half hour passes with you just resting against him – occasionally messing with his buttons from time to time. You didn’t wanna rush your plan. That wouldn’t be fun. And honestly, you want him to welcome the distraction. A frustrated Ike Eveland was attractive, but you didn’t want to frustrate him to the point of actually being upset. Peeking back up at him, you note that he’s no longer tense from your earlier actions. Hazel eyes glazed with focus and his lips pursed in concentration. It’s honestly adorable and if you weren’t feeling so touch-starved you wouldn’t have minded staying like this. Alas, you wanted some harmless payback.

Wetting your lips, you slowly take in the skin on his neck before lightly kissing it as you nuzzle your face into him. Immediately his attention is returned to you, head tipped down to look at you, lips parted as your action had surprised him. However, you just giggle and continue to pepper his neck with soft kisses. Ike makes a noise and you can feel the vibrations of it with the way your lips are pressed against his neck. Sliding your gaze up, you find his face is a mix of flustered and pouty, his eyebrows furrowed to match his emotions. 

His eyes search yours as he speaks, a slight franticness to his voice, “Hun, please, I promise I’m almost done. No teasing, okay?” 

You wet your lips again in response, catching the way his eyes flicker down for a second before he returns his gaze to yours. “Teasing? Me? I’m just giving you some kisses. It’s been so long–” you draw the word out, intentionally pouting your lips so they continue to brush against his neck– “since I’ve gotten one from you.” 

Ike furrows his eyebrows, a slight pout forming on his soft lips. “And I will give you all the kisses you want when I’m done.” His tone is firm but gentle as he makes his point. One of his hands accentuated his words as he spoke. Sighing, he turns his attention back to his computer. “No more teasing, sweetie.” With that, he gets back to typing, determined to not be distracted anymore; keeping his focus on the novel. 

Yet the second his eyes return to the screen, a smirk curls against your lips. ‘Perfect, he’s getting frustrated. Time for the finale.’ As you nuzzle into his neck once more, you continue to pepper light kisses on his neck. Letting your lips linger on a few, the hand on his chest moves to unbutton his top shirt button. Your eyes stay locked on his expression, watching him the entire time as he tries to refrain from letting you distract him further. Yet by the pink of his ears, you can tell your touch is working.

Keeping an excruciatingly slow pace, you unbutton another button. Fingers playing with the fabric on his shirt, the skin of your hand just lightly grazing his bare chest. Ike closes his eyes tightly for a second, attempting to calm his breathing. He can’t let you win. He's stubborn. But he knows that you are, too. In the process of him trying to control his breathing, it suddenly catches in his throat – feeling your tongue lick at his neck, causing his body to tense and shiver.

“Hmm?” You chuckle as you bring your hand up, using a finger to turn his head towards you. “What’s wrong? Something bothering you?” You bring yourself closer, noses barely touching, as you say in a hushed voice, “I thought you were gonna continue working?” As you observe, his eye twitches and his face becomes increasingly red from frustration and embarrassment. You slide your hand into the newfound opening you had made in his shirt, sliding it down to undo a few more buttons, your eyes following the path of your hand. Before you can fully get down to his stomach, you feel a firm hand wrap around your wrist. Looking back up at your boyfriend through your lashes; continuing to act innocent even if he doesn’t buy it anymore.

The novelist lets out a deep breath as he continues to watch you. The look in his hazel eyes is intense. He’s figured out the game you're playing and as much as he doesn’t want to let you win, he’s just as touch-starved as you. His frustration mixes with his bottled-up affection. He just wants you; wants to touch and tease you back. Ike pulls you closer by your captured wrist, wanting to kiss you.

Except he’s left you wanting for so long; you can’t just give him what he wants so easily. Tilting your head away slightly, his lips press against your cheek instead. When he pulls away, he’s met with your half-lidded expression. “Uh-uh, come on Ikey. Did you think I’d give you what you want after you’ve deprived me of what I’ve wanted for days?” With a breathy tone, you lean closer to his ear, “I know you’re frustrated, but whose fault is that?” With how close you are, you can hear the sound of his teeth clenching in vexation as your warm breath brushes against his ear.

He lets out a huff, and you chuckle as you pull away. Feeling quite pleased with yourself as you’ve successfully gotten him frustrated and aroused. Removing your wrist out of his hold, you grab his as you stand from your chair, pushing it aside as it’s completed its purpose. With a little shove, Ike’s desk chair easily rolls back as you make space to scoot in between him and his desk. Using your knees to knock his legs further apart to make room for yourself. Lifting a knee to place on the open space on his chair, right in between his thighs, you use your free hand to brace yourself on the back of the chair as you hover over him. “You can keep working, babe. But I think I should help with your growing problem down there.” You both simultaneously look at the ever-growing bulge in Ike’s pants and then back at each other. Ike’s gaze seemed to grow more intense behind his frames – but also a splash of excitement. “Plus, it’ll give me what I want, win-win.” You say with a smile.

Ike gives no resistance to what you’re implying, keeping still in your grasp. Only his piercing hazel eyes tell you everything you need to know. There’s a pause before he finally speaks, his tone deeper – almost exasperated – as he talks. “Fine. I’ll let you do what you want. But–" he gives you a sharp look "I am going to get you back for this. Expect a punishment following this; I won’t be going easy on you.” He feels your hands tremble a bit at the thought. However, you stay firm as you move closer to his face.

Lips grazing his as you speak, “Likewise.” You lean forward and finally connect your lips properly. Ike nearly catches you off guard with how quickly he pushes his tongue in your mouth. You're not complaining though, you want it just as much as he does. He leans his head forward, tongue swirling with yours as he tries to gain the upper hand on you; his glasses bumping against your face lightly. Opening your eyes, you pull back from his lips, his head jerking forward a bit from the sudden action. Your laugh is breathy. “Aww, so pent-up.” He pants as he looks up at you through his eyelashes, eyes conveying annoyance and unhidden lust. "Don’t worry, I’ll help you with that, but we’re gonna do it my way.”

The novelist raises an eyebrow at you, curious about what you have in store for him. Your hands separate from his wrist and he has to hold himself back from pulling you against him – knowing you’d stop if he was too rash. He feels your hand on his chest and he follows it as it trails down, continuing your earlier actions of unbuttoning his shirt as you make your way lower. Ike jolts a bit when you make it to the hem of his pants. The lust clouding his mind enhances his senses, causing your touch to feel like jolts of electricity throughout his body. He looks back up when he hears that infuriatingly teasing, yet alluring tone from you.

“Since you’re so adamant about working, I’ll let you do it. But, I’m going to take what I want from you…” trailing off with a breathy chuckle, you lean closer, lips nearly brushing his ear, “and what I want is your cock in my mouth.” Your voice is a low whisper, and you smirk as you feel him shiver from the vulgarity of your words.

Pulling back, you remove your knee from his chair, kneeling in front of him as you pull him closer by the armrest. He watches as you undo his belt and pants, hands, then gently pulling his half-hard cock out of his boxers. Licking your lips, you slowly start to pump him in your hand, looking up to watch his face scrunch in pleasure. “Mmm, already so close to being hard, that desperate for my lips, aren’t you?”

He scowls at you, composing himself before scooting in closer – startling you a bit. Ike reaches up to adjust his glasses, giving you a small smirk of his own, making it feel as though your stomach was doing flips. “How about you stop talking and get to work? You’re the one who seems eager for it, darling.” Ike wasn’t gonna let you humiliate him completely. He might be sexually frustrated right now, but he could still make you a mess. A precursor to the punishment he’s going to give you later. And quite frankly, you were looking forward to it.

With a huff, you get to work immediately. Building up the saliva in your mouth before spitting in your hand, pumping him with a firmer grip than before. Ike hisses in pleasure, yet is quick to straighten himself out as he consciously returns his attention to his work, continuing to type away at his novel. He lets out a few sighs, his breathing heavy as he works, biting at his lip to keep himself somewhat composed. ‘How the hell am I gonna concentrate with their hand on me like that–ugh, I won’t be able to hold back for very long.’

His little noises only pushed you to continue, enjoying being able to finally touch him, and soon, taste him. Your hand works meticulously and with practice ease, as you feel him grow harder, the wetness of your saliva helping your hand glide across him. When he is fully hard, you pull your hand away, using your other hand to push any hair out of your face before giving his cock a long lick from the base to the tip. Giving it a little kiss and giggling when you hear yet another sharp inhale of breath. Returning your hand to hold him as you lean forward to lick up and down his cock repeatedly, your hand massaging his tip; urging his pre-cum to leak out. 

His cock throbs in your hand, feeling the wetness of the pre-cum cover your thumb as you rubbed the underside of his tip. Collecting it, you use it to lube his cock more, stroking it a few more times before you lean your head forward. Your lips give the tip of his cock another kiss before taking him into your mouth, letting your tongue swipe across it slowly.

Ike lets out a low grunt, his thighs twitching from the pleasurable strokes of your tongue. He risks taking a peek down at you; watching as you engulf half of him, feeling it slide down your throat. ‘Fuck, that feels good…’ Biting his lip, Ike’s fist clench on his desk, his breath shaky and voice getting caught in his throat from holding back his noises. His eyes follow your movements, watching you bob your head up and down, feeling your hands move to rest on his legs. The moans and sighs you were making against him weren’t helping, as he felt himself start to throb more into your mouth.

He's surprised when you suddenly lock eyes with him, a whine almost slipping past his lips when you suddenly pull off his cock. Smirking up at him with an intentional licking of your lips – his eyes tracking the movement. “What’s the matter? I thought you were working on your novel, babe?”

Ike lets out a guttural noise before looking back at his screen. His eyes quickly scan the contents before looking back down at you, seeming to contemplate his next move. The novelist weighs between two invisible options before letting out a deep breath, settling his intense lust-clouded hazel eyes on you. “To hell with it…” He sees your eyes widen as he scoots his chair away from the desk, your hands landing on the floor as they fall from his legs. “I can’t take it anymore–just, come on. Please, finish me off. Your mouth feels… exquisite.” His voice was demanding and breathy, and he watched as your expression grew just a bit more flustered; his lips twitching upward briefly in a smirk.

Swallowing hard, you collect yourself before looking up at him with half-lidded excitement. You leaned your body forward, crawling towards him as you held his burning gaze. When you get back in between his legs, your eyes glance down at his cock before looking back to him. “Don’t hold back, baby. I want all that cum in my mouth.” And with that, your mouth took him in again, bobbing your head with just as much vigor as before.

The office is filled with the sounds of both your moans; yours muffled and his quiet with a mix of lustful sighs. Ike watches intently as you suck him off, the wet sounds only driving him closer to the edge. He wanted more–no; he needed more. All he wanted right now was to cum in your mouth. To watch you swallow it slowly, tasting and milking all of him. He watched on, one of his hands tangled in his hair, pushing his bangs back to make sure he could take in the sight of you when an idea struck him. The novelist's free hand trailed its way down to rest on the top of your head, causing you to look up at him from your ministrations.

“Darling,” the pet name dripped from his lips like honey, “how about you take a bit more?” You were about to nod when you felt his hand slip to the back of your head. It took you a moment to register, but he was a bit quicker than your thoughts. “Here, let me help you…” Ike twists his fingers into a good portion of your hair before pulling at it to make you take more of his cock in your mouth. You let out a long moan as your eyelids flutter. This type of desperation from your boyfriend is rare; yet whenever it does happen, it never fails to make you feel heat flaring throughout your body. Your lips and tongue move faster against him, happily taking every inch as his moaning picks up in frequency. His glasses have started to fog around the edges thanks to the heat radiating off his breath. It took every last shred of will not to close his eyes from the immense pleasure.

You could feel his hips starting to softly buck into your mouth, and every time he’d pull your hair it would only spur you on to take more of him – causing you to deep throat his length. His moans were getting more unashamed as you made sure your mouth left no inch of him untouched; getting louder as he chased his orgasm. You feel saliva start to form more and drip down his cock, trying to keep up with his hips; tongue swirling around to give him more friction. 

Ike’s heartbeat was heavy in his ears and he felt his whole body tense. He has to swallow hard to keep his voice from giving out as he moans. “Come on darling, so close. I’m almost there…” He reaches the other hand in his hair down to your head, both hands now firmly on your head. The sweat that had begun to form on his forehead, drips down the side of his face; a side effect of your current activity, filling the room with tangible heat.

You feel Ike pull your hair back, making you look him in the eyes; moaning in response to how hot he looked. Keeping eye contact with him, you feel him twitch even more in your mouth. Reaching down to rub in-between your legs to give yourself some relief, wanting to cum along with him; needing the sought-after friction since this began. His eyes widen a bit as he watches your hand frantically rub against yourself, then fully slipping beneath the hem of your clothes, causing him to bite his lip as he pushes your head into him deeper. 

“Oh fuck, baby, I’m cumming! I’m– Ah! Come on… be good–hah–swallow it all..” Ike's eyes instinctively close as he cums, cock throbbing and feeling bliss as it all pours down your throat. His back arches in his chair from the pleasure before collapsing back down, sweat-coated chest heaving with his labored breaths. 

It’s to the feeling of his warm cum filling your mouth that draws you to orgasm as well, body trembling as you try to keep your mouth closed around him to swallow; your own hand slowing to draw out the pleasure. Your eyes roll back as you drink him in slowly, free hand reaching up to softly massage his balls, wanting every last drop; Ike lets out a cute gasp as you do.

The novelist watches you with breathless wonder, feeling as though he could go again with how debauched you looked. So eager to drink down every drop of him. He swallows hard as you release him from your mouth only to start licking him clean, letting out a soft sigh when you finally pull your mouth away from his softening cock - but not without leaving one last kiss on it as you do. He leans his head back as he tries to steady his breathing, untangling his hands from your hair to wipe away the sweat from his face.

You chuckle as you watch him, slipping your hand out of your pants. As your eyes wander up his body to look up at his face, you wet your swollen lips, speaking up to tease him. “I’m glad I finally got your attention away from your book.” Your voice is somewhat raspy after the act you’d just done. “Maybe I should do this more often when you're overworking yourself, hmm?” You laugh as his head lifts to look at you, a pouty expression on his flushed face.

“You better not…” Hazel eyes squint at you.

“Hehe, well maybe you should learn to take proper breaks then, Ikey.” You stick your tongue out at him playfully and he huffs, defeated.

He shakes his head, a fond look in his eyes. “Fine, but only because you’re not asking. You’re honestly demanding me more than anything, sweetie…” You giggle and carefully stand up, legs a bit wobbly from sitting on them for so long. Ike notices this and scoots forward, grabbing your wrist gently to steady you. “Careful there, darling.”

Nodding in appreciation, you steady your stance, looking down to make sure you're not wobbling anymore. Meeting his eyes, you smile sweetly. “We should go get cleaned up. I’m insisting that we take a shower together, then I’ll leave you alone again so you can finish those last few pages.”

He lets go of you and nods in agreement, tucking himself back in his pants as he does. “Well, how could I refuse, dear? I’ll also give you cuddles and attention, like I said earlier after I’m done. You deserve it after my negligence.” Ike stands up and gives you one of his beautiful soft smiles, making your gaze soften.

“Well, I just hope you learned your lesson. Come on now, I’m sure you don’t like being sweaty either.” You walk happily towards the door, hearing your boyfriend’s footsteps follow behind you.

Just as you're about to leave the room, you feel his hand softly rest on your shoulder, before feeling his soft breath on your ear; his voice has an almost sinister tone as he whispers, “And since I’m recalling things,” a shiver racks through your body, “don’t think I forgot about your… punishment, that I mentioned earlier.” Your eyes widen as you tense and you’re about to look at him. However, he just continues moving past you, making his way to your shared bathroom.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Mod S 👿: Here I am fighting the Bottom!Ike agenda. Not that it’s shown too much here, but I really tried to mimic his kinda ‘assertive’ nature here (idk how to explain it). I was very heavily going off of how he acts in the Voice-packs and some character mannerisms he’s done on stream too. Anyway, first time writing Ike with smut, I hope I did okay!

───

Likes are nice and we do appreciate them. However, comments/feedback is what really motivates us to continue writing. Even just a keyboard smash or emojis are a joy to see!

We do not allow our stories to be translated or reposted/shared anywhere. The only places our stories should be found are on Ao3 or Tumblr. Nowhere else.

[lem0nl-me]

Pines Twins HC time

Caffeine consumption is as follows: Dipper takes his time a drinks caffeinated tea in the morning and Mable just downs an energy drink as soon as she wakes up. (or has a few shots of Mable juice if she has any on hand)

For Dipper, he REFUSES to admit he's a tea drinker. Grunkle Stan caught him making some one time and just hasn't let it go. He's started to call it "coffee" to try to get Grunkle Stan off his back, he's tired of getting called a tree hugger old lady. He's not fooling anyone tho as on multiple different occasions in the past he has openly admitted to hating coffee.

(ik i spelt coffee wrong- it's 3:30 am cut me some slack 😭🙏)

For Mable, i'd like to think she picked up a Monster one day cuz she liked the name then got HOOKED. She's definitely moved on from monster and is probably on Bang atm. Dipper isn't to fond of her energy drink consumption, even though she only has one a day he'd rather her drink a full quart of Mable juice. He's convinced she's going to die of heart failure within the next few years. (he's probably right, all the candy along with Bang energy every day isn't too great for her health)

prepare yourselves im boutta drop so much stuff for my future AU 😼

[the-crystal-femmes]

I'm going a little bonkers thankfully it's dying down but urgh people urghhh

Anyways morning hi

Idk what to do right now

Might get Peri it's energy drink, we found a brand with mini cans that doesn't have as much caffeine than monster [100mg ik that still a lot bit there's not a lot of peach flavored energy drinks with low caffeine so I can handle the awful taste while Peridot gets their drink]

That's so real of you. I'm trying to make sure Pearl doesn't prosecute at the moment because of some unwelcome guests /nbh, they've been blocked

If you do, hopefully Peridot likes it. Energy drink scouting for us is hard, some of us like Monster while Pearl likes Red Bull. We haven't ever tried anything else but tbh we should maybe?

[tatertotsafterdark]

Marking - Scott Howl x Reader

18+ MDNI. READ “CONTAINS” SECTION BEFORE READING.

|| Being a struggling college student sucks. Luckily, your werewolf boyfriend doesn't mind helping you de-stress - even if he gets a little too into it.

CONTAINS: AFAB READER, GIVING!SCOTT, RECEIVING!READER, BITING, MARKING, HICKEYS, OVER THE CLOTHES, NO AFTERCARE, MENTIONS OF MIDTERMS

Word count: 1k

Author’s note: IK I switched this fic from what was planned at the last minute but shhhhh... tried to put some characteristics of the Monster Prom writing style but I don't know how successful that was. Based mainly off the first Monster Prom game. (Ignore how the gif is monster roadtrip okay byeeee have fun reading or don't)

Midterms, midterms, midterms. Jesus fucking Christ. That’s all your life has been for the last few weeks, working on gradually revising your notes and studying for those God forsaken tests, worth a part of your grade that’s way too big. You slam your flat palms onto the desk in your small apartment, giving it a good couple of smacks. You’re frustrated, unable to grasp the topic you’re reading through. Why the hell did you have to take a math class? You hated math. Your major didn’t really use math, either. 

You groan as you hear a knock at the door, lifting yourself on to tired legs. Who visits this late at night, especially when you have a giant sign on your apartment door labeled “DON’T DEAD OPEN INSIDE?” You’d think by now people would catch on to your witty ideas of decoration and lack of availability. Maybe studying for midterms wouldn’t be so hard if you’d stop making interior design into your impromptu passion. 

Your hand quickly twists the knob, without giving much thought to check if there was some kind of evil monster or a serial killer or a Jehovah Witness outside of your door. Luckily, it’s none of those - it’s Scott! You manage a smile as his tail wags, and step aside, nonverbally inviting him inside. You can do that since he’s not a vampire. He quickly enters, wrapping his muscular arms around you.

“Dude, where have you been?!” He yells out, a large and toothy smile plastered on his face. You can practically hear his tail wagging, and you can definitely hear it hitting into his backside as it wags. 

“Studying.” You reply, returning the hug weakly and shuffling back over to the living room, lit only by a singular lamp (setting the aesthetic is an important part of studying, after all). You didn’t realize it until now, but your desk was piled with sticky notes, flashcards, notebooks, highlighters, pens in every color under the sun, and empty energy drink cans.

“Studying? Who even studies anymore?” Scott cocks his head, making that stupid-yet-so-damn-cute face at you like he always did when he was questioning your totally normal decisions. 

“I mean, c’mon, when was the last time you got some sun, bro? Your curtains are never open.” Scott says, a small pout on his lips as he looks down at you. You opt to ignore the comment about your currents, and instead huff and walk over to your desk.

“It doesn’t matter when I last left my apartment or opened the windows or anything like that. What’s important right now is that I teach myself everything my professor has been trying to teach us for the past few weeks.” Your ass hits the office chair a bit hard, which sends it backwards. The back of your chair hits Scott’s front, stopping it in its place. 

“You haven’t even showed up to the gym recently! You’re not getting any exercise.”

“I’m not interested in exercising. I want to pass these dumbass exams, Scott. Plus, there isn’t an exercise in the world that I actually like.” 

“Yes there is, bro, you know that.” 

“Great, Scott, then go ahead and tell me because you definitely know me better than I know myself.” You roll your eyes, and the action could probably be heard just off of the nasty tone you dip down into using. Swapping sleep for caffeine isn’t good for your mood, note to self. 

“Well, Polly says that sex burns calories, so therefore, it’s exercise.” 

You freeze up for a moment, thinking about the implications of the sentence that just slipped out of Scott’s lips. Was he implying that you two-? 

Before you can think much longer, one of Scott’s large hands is slowly massaging your chest, and the other is in between your thighs. He may be a bit academically challenged, but at least he wouldn’t be totally lost in an anatomy class. You can’t help but lean into the touch. It’d been ages since you’d gotten any action, even before you started obsessing over getting good grades on your midterms. Scott’s large fingers rubbing slow circles over your clit is enough to melt your brain, getting it off of finding derivatives, even if it was only for a temporary amount of time. 

“Shit- don’t stop- please.” You manage to get your voice to work in between pathetic squeaks and whimpers, and Scott simply speeds up in response to your words. You close your eyes, soaking in the much needed feeling of human contact. Two of Scott’s fingers find their way to the hard bud that’s developed under your shirt, gently twisting and pinching it as your moans get louder.

He buries his head into the crook of your neck, and before long, you feel fangs on the tender flesh. Love bites are completely welcome, of course, so you don’t complain. You run your fingers through his hair as he finishes you off, giving you much needed release without so much as undressing you.

“There, bro! Now you’ve got your daily workout in. Your studying is going to be way easier now.” Scott says with a proud smile, turning your office chair around to face him. The way his face drops, you can tell he’s totally marked up your entire neck to the point even a turtleneck wouldn’t be enough to hide it. Oh, shit. 

“Well… a workout is exactly what I needed. Thanks, bro.”

“Anytime, dude! Just, uh, make sure you have that color corrector stuff you were talking about the one time.” Scott laughs, turning on his heel and walking to your kitchen. You rub your fingers over the bite marks, and the fact that they’re indented into your skin is enough to tell you that any amount of color corrector wouldn’t be enough anyway. They trail up to just below your ear, so you’ll just have to hide away in your room and study for a few more days until they fade. 

You take a deep breath, turning away from Scott as he opens your fridge, and picking up one of your colorful pens for the umpteenth time that evening. 

[paracosmicparadox]

So, I'm falling back into the FFXV kick, and I have decided that I disapprove of how little complex character development Square Enix has given the guys?? Like where is the emotional depth beyond surface-level cutscene angst?? So I took matters into my own hands and have compiled a handy little list of headcanons / expanded canons that I think make sense.

Noctis: Has clinical insomnia and frequent lucid dreams (sorta a given, but bear w me bear w me)

Feels the weight of having to take so much on from such a young age much, much more than he lets on

Loves to argue

Would've been happier if he and Luna stayed as childhood best-buds rather than betrothed fiancés (controversial, ik, but it just didn't seem like he cared that much for her romantically to me?? Like he obviously cared about her, but it seemed like a really strong penpal vibe rather than a "We're-gonna-get-married-and-be-the-next-hotshot-couple" vibe. If you disagree, coolio, I'm not gonna debate w you on this one)

Has a natural sadness to his eyes regardless of what he's feeling

Went through an anime phase (possibly still in his anime phase, idk)

Social anxiety for the win

Severe RBF

Prefers tea over coffee (black tea is best---particularly lavender earl grey)

Can play the cello (practicing tho?? Don't know her)

Writes the most beautiful poetry when The Motivation™ strikes him (usually when he's home sick and half-delirious)

Prompto: Has ADHD and clinical anxiety, but is undiagnosed and doesn't take any meds for either of them.

Is legit like SO SMART, but can never focus, so not many people take any notice

Wears contact lenses (he had glasses as a child and I refuse to believe he had some high-tech corrective surgery to eliminate the need for them when lenses are cheaper and less risky)

Doesn't drink caffeine because it makes him jittery

Doesn't drive the Regalia when the guys are around because having other people in the car distracts him from the road. Also he tends to drive like a speed demon, which worries Ignis to no end.

Sunburns insanely easily

Could legit become a hitman if he wanted to with the amount of gun-knowledge he has. It doesn't matter what firearm you put in this boy's hand---pistol, SMG, sniper, rocket launcher, you name it. He can and will hit the target every single time.

Addicted to adrenaline

Pansexual

Has a lot of self-loathing (we see a bit of this in Ep. Prompto) and talks with an online therapist about it via text whenever his lows hit him. He's making great progress in learning how to heal and how to accept himself for who he is beyond the mask he wears for others

Ignis: More than a little bit of a control freak, and works very hard not to be too overbearing or critical about his friends' misgivings

Hypochondriac

Wants to protect everyone all the time and mentally kicks himself when he doesn't get there fast enough

Is SO PROUD of Noctis's journey and felt a stronger hatred towards Ardyn than anyone else in the group for what he forced Noct to go through (he stayed up at night sick to his stomach with hollow rage and baked nonstop to take his mind off of it)

Can verbally obliterate a man, but only rarely chooses to do so bc he's classy like that

After losing his eyes, he notices so much more beauty in the world than he used to (the sound of rain on the Regalia's roof, the specific gait of each of his friends, the smell of salt on the wind in Galdin Quay, the flawless feel of one specific silk tie he has in his repertoire, etc)

His internal compass is never wrong

Regularly takes antacids for his stomach

Has the straightest teeth you've ever seen

Demiromantic

Gladio: Hates being wrong: it's his way or the highway

Actually so much smarter than the musclehead jock front he puts up

A little vain and easily jealous (this man has a Jealous Face like no other)

Thunderstorms are his favorite; his ideal place to be is at a campsite, during a storm, with a well-worn book and a mug of Irish coffee in hand

Would throw himself in front of a bus for any one of his friends

Would beat up kids for the folks he cared about in middle school and spent the time he wasn't training to be a Crownsguard sitting in detention with the most unrepentant, smug, and-I'd-do-it-again look scrawled across his face

Can make a better smoothie than anyone (except maybe Iggy)

Spotify junkie

Had a dinosaur phase as a kid and can still name random facts about them whenever the opportunity presents itself

Avid technology-hater and only has a phone to make calls and join the others in playing King's Knight since they begged him so profoundly (he's sure the thing's going to be his downfall)

Gets most of Prompto's pop culture references

[sugarsnappeases]

tag game

okay showing up so late and likely with a lot of rambling but thank you so much for the tags @fxreflyes and @static-radio-ao3 love seeing little insights into ur lives <333

fave colour: red/pink!!

last song: i've had chappell roan's album, the rise and fall of a midwest princess, on repeat all day to try and somehow magically imbue myself with the strength to write my essay (which i've done now! mostly! gonna look it over tomorrow but it's basically done!!) but the specific song that's playing as i hit post is femininomenon!! a classic and a banger

last film: i rewatched pirates of the caribbean 2 w one of my friends (who had never seen it before can you guys believe that?!?!) and it's still as brilliant as ever, four and a half stars on letterboxd (there's no rhyme or reason behind my star system on letterboxd like i do it on the vibe in the moment and am now wondering why i didn't give it five stars??)

currently reading: okay so boring answer is 'the decameron' by boccaccio, i'm studying him for the second part of this term and really shot myself in the foot bc i didn't realise how fucking long it was (nearly 700 pages) and i have NO time ever so it's gonna be a little miserable over here in roughly two weeks when my first essay on him is due.... seems interesting tho i've read like 40 pages so far.... more exciting answer is anna karenina!! started reading it in the holidays (when i should've been reading the decameron lol) and have only read like one part and a bit so far bc i never have the time for fun reading during uni :(.... gimme like three months tho and i'll get back to you guys, i really enjoyed the bits i have read and will absolutely have some marauders-related thoughts once i have the full picture (incapable of not linking all media to them)

currently watching: i just finally started watching the sex lives of college girls, which was soooooo long overdue, i've watched two eps so far and am loving it a lot, think it's gonna be slow going tho bc. busy :(... i also rewatched the first two eps of new girl a couple days ago bc sude and i were talking about it and i felt it had to be done... wanna do a full rewatch bc it's been so long but alas, again, time is of the essence, and also i'm always very slow at tv shows... anyway

currently craving: like. spare time. ig?? no more essays?? that's the main thing that i think would make my life exponentially better.... we're at 3/8 now tho so like... slowly crawling through them.... also every time i've gone to tesco recently i've been eyeing up the raspberries, just waiting for them to go on some kind of clubcard deal so i can pounce, raspberries are my fave fruit but they're always so fucking expensive the world is so cruel to me

coffee or tea: tea!!! always!!! can't stand the taste of coffee and i think that much caffeine would send me into like cardiac arrest or something. but also i'm not huuuuuge on tea either (not very british of me ik) like i only ever drink it when i'm w other people who are drinking it or when i'm writing an essay and need some willpower/energy/to procrastinate a little... like i'm not a cup of tea at all times of day kinda gal at all

not sure who's been tagged so soz if u've already done it but no pressure tags for @quillkiller @themuseoftheviolets @stillagoodwitch @inevitablestars @sixlane and whoever else wants to <33

[distressedchinchilla]

Modern!genshin Dainsleif & Traveler au headcanons

READ TOP TEXT

K so I've been having a bit of a modern!genshin au brainrot where u have ReaderxSingleFather!Dain whos adopted the Lumi + Aether that are in high school so here are some headcanons for that :)

P.S. many ofsome of these aren't ReaderxDain they're just modern!au headcanons that would be a part of this universe :)

TW: Mentions of a car crash, parental neglect(not to reader, Dain, Aether, or Lumine tho)

*also its kinda longgg*

So lets pretend that you work in a cafe(yes ik another cafe au- very original but hang in there) across the street from where lumine and Aether go to school and you meet Dain when him and Aether come to pick up Lumine from her part time job at your place

You've already kinda started to look after Lumi in a little sister/niece kinda way then one day some v e r y attractive man come in with Aether and is introduced as their adoptive dad.....

.....H o l y S h i t

When I say the adrenaline/endorphin rush you had from the eye contact almost made you pop a circuit like a toaster in a bathtub I mean it-

He's V polite the entire encounter if a little dry-humored but you guys left off on a good note

He eventually starts "Visiting Lumine" at her job and picking her up at the end of her shifts to drive home even though their house is a short walking distance away

You also notice that even though he seems to have his adoptive daughters work schedule memorized he also always seems to come just a bit too early to chat(but he only talks w/you when there's little to no customers bc he knows you have a job to do)

The siblings lowkey ship after the first interaction....

And eventually....

Aether is gets a job at your place as well but strangely enough some "outside forces" in the siblings own personal schedules have conspired to give him staggered work times with Lumine rather than have them work at the same time...

This makes it so that Dain has to visit the cafe 2x as often to pick up his tiny cupid gremlins

You learn that Aether has a tiny yet loud all white corgi with a peach collar named Paimon that has a fear of water after she fell in a lake as a puppy

Some of the other hs students that also work at you cafe are Xiangling, a favorite of the customers, Diona, who you once caught trying to spit in drink order(It didn't work bc the spit kept falling back onto her lip or shirt), and Gaming who you're pretty sure has at least 2 other jobs than yours and does community service

All your tiny employees get along :)

You learn a lot more about Lumine and Aether's school life as well as the others as time goes on

Some of the most popular teachers and adults on campus seem to be:

Math teacher "Madam" Faruzan, who's a bit too strict on rules

AP World History Teacher Zhongli(who has infamously deadly long and boring lectures yet all his students pass with a B or higher)

Biology Teacher Alhaitham, who keeps 2 Giant Sulawesi snails in his classroom named Aranara and Ararycan, named by his preschool age adopted daughter Nahida, who he took in after his friend, Nahida's adult older sister died in a car crash.

He's also that one teacher that intentionally edits wiki pages so he knows when his students bs their papers....

Graphic Design Teacher Kaveh, that's engaged to Bio teacher Alhaitham and is considerably more laid back than his Fiance

They clearly love each other very much despite how much they bicker

The 2 gym teachers Kayea and Diluc who seem to have formed a rivalry and regularly pit their classes against each other in dodgeball matches(A boy named Bennett always seems to be tagged out first, and always headshot no less)

Principal Ningguang and Vice Principal Jean(who always seems to be overworked)

The only person more overworked than VP Jean is the school counselor Katheryne

Carpentry Teacher Xianyun who has two daughters of her own, Ganyu- who always sleeps in class no matter how much caffeine she drinks before hand, and Shenhe who has the highest max in weight lifting

AP Gov. teacher Neuvillette, who is apparently very popular despite the fact he gives the most detentions out of all the other teachers

Substitute drama teacher Furina who's a long term sub for the official Drama and Dance teacher Ms. Focalors

Nilou, the long term substitute for the Dance Team

Security guards Wriothesly and Dehya, who both once got an earful from Principal Ningguag for holding an arm-wresting tournament among students...

AP Music Theory teacher Venti, who's that one teacher that grades solely off how well he vibes with the students and not actual assignments

Librarian Lisa, who has amassed a collection of romance genre books more than any other in her workspace

Cyno, the English teacher with allllllll the dad jokes in the book(and has probably written his own pun book that he tells to the class)

Chemistry teacher Tighnari who has to constantly knock on the doors of other teachers classrooms to keep the noise level down since everyone knows the walls of school building are paper thin and he may just be slowly going deaf bc of it

Some of their peers include:

Amber, who was the first to befriend Lumine and Aether when they first started high school, despite being a grade higher than the siblings and having exactly 0 classes with them

Razor, a foreign exchange student that doesnt talk much but is best friends with Bennett(the dodgeball loser than manges to trip over anything, even the things that aren't there), and Fishcl, who's real name is Amy but hasn't let go of her imaginary childhood world yet(and good for her tbh)

Hu Tao, that one goth kid that used to tell all the others that "Ring-Around-the-Rosy" was about the black death during recess back in elementary school

Kunikuzushi, who has lesbian moms, Ei and Yae, as well as a younger sister, Raiden, who's still in middle school. He was neglected as a kid bc his biological mother, Ei favored his sister over him. He's very edgy but surprisingly doesn't get along with the other goths, Hu Tao, and a kid named Xiao

Xiao, who's a teachers pet to no one but Mr. Zhongli who fostered him as a child

Lyney and Lynette, who's favorite class is Drama, despite their frequent terrorizing of the substitute teacher, Furina, at their insistence that it's all because they want Ms. Focalors to return sooner

Albedo, who's highly introverted except in his debate club with a sole soft spot for his sister Klee(in kindergarten) and their mother Alice, a flight attendant who's not around much but calls every(and yes I do mean every night) night to check in via facetime to ask see if Albedo's making friends and to read ebook children's stories to Klee :)

Yoimiya, who was once given detention for an entire school quarter bc she set off a whole mess of fireworks on the football field

The ever rich Kamisato siblings who made the choice to go to a public school, rather than Snezhnaya, the rich Northern school across the way that has a principal even stricter than Ningguang, Faruzan, and Neuvillette combined, so harsh that her students have given her the name "Tsaritsa"........

please give me constructive criticisms on my hcs :) id love to know if you want a follow up for only school life or only romantic headcanons but it might take me a bit to get back on it :) (but please no nsfw)

[j3ss13xcx]

About me + Tips (I'm just a girl)

Hi, I'm Jessie x.

TW

So I've been struggling with body image for many years (I'm 18 now), and every time I've started an @n@ journey, I end up binging and giving up because I already have a small build (in the eyes of society). But I'm ready to go all out. I'm tired of being depressed. I'm tired of looking in the mirror and being disgusted. I'm tired of showering and running my hands over my skinny fat body. I definitely have too much fat. I just want to look good :( and feel pretty.

I also continue to struggle with s/h and my solution to binging has always been purging (im lazy i dont like to exercise as much as some of u gym girlies). But I know purging isn't good for me so I'm just going to restrict as much as I can without falling into a binge ep. I also count calories and do those at-home youtube ab workouts lol.

My tips for suppressing hunger:

⋆ drink water or zero sugar drinks (gives u the illusion of actual sugar)

⋆ caffeine is an appetite suppressant

⋆ n1cot1ne (I don't encourage this though, only if u are already 4ddict3d like me)

⋆ distractions like watching movies, scrolling pinterest, drawing, chores, listening to music, studying (if u are in school), visualising success, call a friend, go for a walk, have a looong bath

side note: I got my mum to make pumpkin soup for tomorrow's dinner while typing this! (71 calories per bowl). I'm so happy cause she always makes something with meat in it (fear food) and I tend to just put my dinner in plastic bags that I keep in my room and put them in random bins when I go out of the house. I'm lucky that she doesn't care if I "eat" in my room.

Anyways, back into it.

Ik I'm heavy asf but bear with me this journey has only been going for a week 😭. Good news is I'm starting to get dizzy when I stand up after sitting for a while. Also I've been wearing like baggy clothes for a long time now so when I need to hide my body when it gets skinny enough for people to notice, i can wear the baggiest stuff and no one will notice.

Sorry, this post is so all over the place haha I'm honestly just rambling. Feel free to give or ask for any tips please!

Thats all - Jessie

[i-call-me-clarence]

Thank you so so so much for the advice on how to deal with fibro!!! I really appreciate it!!! I am going to try out as much of that as I can asap. Um last question, if that's okay, should I be worried about any of the things you listed interacting badly?? Ik there can be outside stuff but just from that list?

Good question! I didn’t even think about that but I should’ve included it.

Okay so Benadryl and Kratom together could make you more tired. I’ve found one post just now that suggested it may even be fatal (I have no idea the doses of each they were taking but they had a serious drug problem, and as people take insane amounts of Kratom and Benadryl to get off other drugs I’m betting it was a lot of both. Also I can’t verify whether this post was genuine or not). I’ve personally taken benedryl and Kratom many many times and been fine, but I have a very high tolerance for Benadryl due to allergies (and now using it to numb my stomach) and I am very used to my level of Kratom. So mix at your own risk.

Don’t use arnicare or tigers balm or lidocaine patches with the TENS machine. You don’t want to numb an area and then electrocute it. Also you need the area your placing the electrodes on to be dry, tigers balm leaves a greasy gel film over the skin for a long while. Here is a site about the dos and don’t of TENS machines: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/transcutaneous-electrical-nerve-stimulation-tens/

Don’t use a heating pad on an area you have numbed. Though I suggest a cloth heating pad filled with rice or whatever and different herbs that you microwave to get warm, both that and an electric heating pad can cause burns, even if you can’t feel them right away. If you’re numb then the chances of being burned are greater. Make sure to check your skin at least every fifteen minutes and consider disuse after 10-30 min. Using the heating pad for longer (30 min) tends to help more with chronic pain.

Green tea mixed with a stimulate dose of Kratom can have adverse effects. Both stimulate you which can lead to heart palpitations, excessive sweating, restlessness, paranoia, sense of doom. You would have to drink a lot of caffeine (green tea) to have this effect with the small stimulate dose of Kratom. Make sure you know how green tea and the stimulate dose of Kratom will affect you and mix in small doses and at your own risk. Personally I have never had any adverse side effects even after several cups of green tea and then adding Kratom (helps with fatigue quite a bit actually). Just know your body and take it slow.

Don’t mix arnicare, tigers balm, and lidocaine. I’ve never done it but I know mixing topical gels can irritate the skin.

Cannabis and Kratom can interact by increasing the sedating effects and a ‘high’ feeling. I wouldn’t suggest edibles and Kratom unless you really know how it affects you and start at low doses of each. Kratom in high doses (higher than pain relief dose) can cause a high feeling. Mixing with Cannabis can be crazy. Personally I do this because my fibro is out of control. Just used it (edibles and Kratom) an hour ago to kill the flare up that happened due to the eclipse (idk why I’m guessing it has something to do with sundowning and my body being confused. How are you doing btw? Did you flare up too?) ALSO edibles can cause you to trip. Like an acid trip. I did not know this until my QPR partner experienced it first hand (he did take 200mg second time ever doing edibles, (and the first ones were weak)and fourth time ever using cannabis products, before had been flower and he was fine. So perhaps the dose played a part).

Benadryl and cannabis products can increase the drowsy effect of both products. Unless you’re one of the unlucky ones where cannabis causes paranoia, and the Benadryl does the weird thing where it stimulates you instead of puts you to sleep (rare but happens, very annoying happened to me last night and caused horrible restless legs) (btw Benadryl can cause restless legs), then the paranoia will be much worse.

Don’t exercise with a lidocaine patch on or while you’re still feeling the effects of it. You could easily injure yourself.

I don’t know if various mushrooms interact with Kratom, Benadryl, cannabis or even green tea. I bet it’s a case by case basis. Make sure to do your research before combining.

All that said this is only the advice from a dude on the internet who also deals with chronic pain. My experiences may not hold true for you. Make sure to do your research before combining or using any of the things I have suggested. I can only do my best in trying to warn you of things, but I may very well have missed something. If you want to talk more you can send another ask or say hi in my dms. Always ready to give another spoonie advice or an ear to listen.

[tomcriuse]

gosh that caffeine head hurty thing is SO real.. I promise it’s just the withdrawals tho, I’ve been cutting way back on caffeine the past few months and I’ve gotten down to two frappes per week and it gets SO much better!! I recommend trying to find another drink to replace your normal caffeinated ones with to like, placebo your brain into thinking “it’s caffeine time, this must be the normal caffeine dosage woohoo yippee !” ik you weren’t like asking for advice or anything but I think we’re sharing a similar experience lol so I just wanted to share smth that helped me a bit <3 happy lent to you!

there is SUCH solidarity in suffering <3 I'm trying tea which ok has caffeine but one would argue less than an entire french press of coffee so it's something

I hope to be like u soon fr <3 thank u for the advice!! happy lent to you :))))

[isaacapatow]

. . with @nickitxrres & @orioncarnell | the raiders : a routine jaunt once ike starts doing scavenging jobs goes awry; the raiders have a come to jesus about the aftermath of ike's head injury and how it was incurred

"I guess the big question," Ike said as they walked along the cracked-up road, "is what the hell we're gonna do when we finally do run out of caffeine sources. Make a big trip down to Atlanta to the Coca-Cola headquarters? Hope they've got..." He trailed off, attention caught by a slow susurrus of movement behind a stack of broken roadwork barriers on the side of the road. "Y'know, I'm not even sure how they caffeinate drinks. Orion, have you ever had a Coke?"

Ike paused for a moment to stick out his leg, tapping the inside of his boot sole with his bat. It was an old habit but one he hadn't done in a while -- things had gotten so serious in the past few months that he hadn't much felt in the mood for a cocky little signature move. But he did it now, right before he lope-hopped to the edge of those barriers and swung his bat with a two-handed flourish, clear taking off the juicily rotted head of the lone groaner who'd dragged its disintegrating self out. Ike gave a whoop, sticking his arms up in the air and then turning back to the other two with a grin. "Even better than the real thing! God DAMN!"

He hadn't felt good about going back out on the job, but he had to admit that having Nicki and Orion with him -- that compensated for a lot of the rot in his own brain, the hitch and the pause, the crumbly edges. He felt okay. He felt strong. Optimistic, even, as he smiled at his two beloved raiders. Faces that Ike felt he could look at forever and on into the afterlife and be completely happy. "It's in a converted garage," Ike said. "This coffee roasting place. I guess I can't ride 'em for being hipsters, since their little boutique operation being invite-only is the whole reason no other humps have found and plundered it yet. Can you imagine how the town's gonna go apeshit when we come back with real honest-to-god coffee?"

Nicki laughed to herself as she trailed behind Ike down the road. It felt good to be out on a raid again. Maybe she should have taken the extra week and checked with Val but she was itching for a proper raid. Plus, she was with Ike and Orion, things couldn't go too bad, right? There was three of them and if shit did hit the fan, they could handle it. There was no doubt about that, especially as she watched the old Ike and his signature move before taking the head clean off a walker. 

Ike's joy brought a smile to her face and she applauded him. "Very nicely done, Papi." Her hands dropped to adjust the sling of her bag on her shoulders. She was glad to see him out again. Fighting and enjoying himself. Being stuck in the town had done a number on him as much as it had her and she was starting to get a little worried about him. It was like a dark cloud overhead but now with him smiling and jammering on, everything seemed brighter. 

"Wait, they converted an old garage to make coffee? What a waste of good space." But at least the place had coffee. In theory. "I still think we should make a greenhouse or something to grow coffee beans. There's bound to be some way to grow them, right? But I think with this score the town should throw us a fucking parade."

"I haven't had a coke. That is a drink, right? I have seen some of the cans lying around or in stores." In contrast to their open, unbridled joy Orion was much more calm as he regarded his surroundings. Of course, he was glad Isaac and Nicki had been appearantly cleared again and were ready to go out. Between him and Ares the workload had been stretched. Of course, they did their duty and picked up the extra burden without complaining, but there was simply only so much two people could do. 

Despite that, Orion couldn't quite shake that sense of worry gnawing at him. He knew Isaac was usually responsible enough to not go out when he hadn't been cleared, but his injury had affected him more than most realized. It was good to see him back to his old habits, but there was still the sense that something with the other man had become brittle. And he knew well enough that Nicki would go out without even being cleared. But everything seemed to at least be alright, so Orion just reminded himself to stay vigilant.

"I believe somebody mentioned building a greenhouse. But there are more useful and viable crops than coffee. At least for now. If we find enough coffee, we won't need to grow them for now." He was already making his way off in the direction they had discussed, casting a glance back at both Isaac and Nicki. "Let's keep going. It should be close by, right? It's best if we can return quickly."

"It is a drink, it's the very best drink, and the next time I find a Coke you're the one getting it." Ike pointed finger guns at Orion -- pew pew -- but nodded and picked up their stride again when the younger raider prompted them to keep moving. He could tell Orion was being watchful; he normally was, but this time he was taking both Ike and Nicki into consideration. Ike wasn't quite sure if he found this darling or annoying, so he just let it lie. "It's just a long block or two this way." 

It was a sort of isolated industrial area, without a major road, so when they found the block with the warehouses and garages it was somewhat overgrown. "Right this way," Ike said, with a flourish of his arm. There weren't any groaners around, he knew that much; nothing there for them to be interested in. And no living people would find this place of much worth as either a stop or a stay.

So maybe that was why Ike was thinking of other things, scattershot and distracted, as they went past a wall with arcing, abstract spray paint symbols on it. The same sorts of motifs, the same kind of spray paint, as he and Orion had seen in that mall parking lot, that he and Nicki had seen in the Home Depot. He didn't notice the slight whiff of toluene that meant it was relatively fresh. He just kept moving.

"I think he needs more than a Coke, Papi. And Coke isn't even the best drink. Not unless you're adding rum to it. No, best drink is still coquito and I swear the day I find all of those ingredients, this town is getting a whole batch of it and we're celebrating." Of course, best drink was debatable, depending on who you asked but Nicki would always argue for some coquito, especially since winter was around the corner and so were the holidays. "Yo quiero coquito..."

Orion's urging picked up her pace just a bit and she made sure to keep up with the long legs of the two giants she was with. She was fast when she needed to be so she wasn't worried about falling behind. Plus, she knew they would never do that to her. At least, no on purpose. Maybe accidentally or to mess with her....

She was just falling into step with Ike when she caught a whiff of fresh paint that made her noise twitch. "Ay dios what is that smell?" She looked up to find the source and her brow furrowed a bit as she saw the weird painted symbols on the wall. "Uh.....boys.....does this look like fresh paint to you?"

Nicki's banging on about coquito was another Nicki-thing, always poo-pooing what was available and talking about some bigger, wilder thing to shoot for. Ike shook his head with a smile, not wanting to dampen her enthusiasm. You had to let her run wild and sniff everything she could sniff, sometimes, or she'd gnaw her own leg off just to get out her frenzies. Besides, it was sweet, and nostalgic; he could taste the coquito they used to have at the furniture place he'd worked at, the coconut luxuriousness of it.

When she slowed down to mention fresh paint, though, Ike was already looking ahead. "Fresh paint, no big deal," he said, not stopping. "C'mon. We got better things to be concerned with."

Nicki was studying the paint. Something was bugging her about it but she couldn't quite figure out what. Maybe it was just the fact that it was fresh paint which meant someone could have been nearby, but then again there was three of them and the three of them were deadly by themselves. All three of them? Not a person or a group said a chance. Still, though, something wasn't right but if Ike wasn't bothered by it then she wouldn't dwell on it. She wafted the air in front of her face to spell the smell of the paint and simply not it so she could focus on following the two men to the old renovated garage.

"Thank you. I would like to try it, then." Orion responded to Isaac's offer, though his mind quickly turned back onto the mission at hand. It had gotten easier, relaxing and talking to Isaac, and Nicki, while on the job. But with a sense of slight unease settling over him, sticking inside his ribcage, he didn't want to lose focus. Old training kicking in easily. Even though he listened to Nicki talking about something called coquito, and instead looked ahead. 

He only noticed the fresh paint when Nicki pointed it out. Just like her, he stopped for a moment, eyes trailing over the bright markings. Paint markings were not too uncommon - Orion had seen them, people marking up property, but something about them once more pulled at something inside his head. Way back when, he'd been taught to always listen to his gut. If something felt off, it was likely off. And now, Orion sensed that something was not quite right. That he was missing something. Still - not enough reason to suggest heading back. Isaac seemed unbothered. After a short moment of contemplation, the raider turned away. Isaac knew what he was doing. He had been head raider for long enough.

"Isaac is right. We should keep going." Orion added, though Nicki already seemed to shake off her own confusion and follow them down the road. It wasn't long before the garage appeared. At least, Orion assumed it was the garage they were looking for. Small, easily overlooked, if it hadn't been for a coffee cup, painted on the door in sun-bleached colors. "There should be a back entrance. Otherwise we will have to figure out a way to open the garage door." Which wasn't ideal. They were heavy. "Should we split up?"

"We should split up," Ike agreed easily. "Round back sounds most likely, I'll take there. Nicki, you check that place for a way through--" he pointed at the small warehouse on one side of the coffee garage, stocked with what seemed to be Korean beauty products from the faded posters in the one window, "--and Orion, you take the other one." A place that had equipment for people who gave massages, on the garage's other side. They'd both take a cursory look through, Ike was sure. He was still the best when it came to seeing the long-range possible potential of anything they came across, but these two were gradually starting to learn the ropes on that. Orion slightly better because of his fucked-up prepper parents who scavenged and repurposed as a way of life, but when Nicki wasn't preoccupied with finding biters to kill, she was beginning to take more notice of unusual items to include in their hauls.

God, they were both so good at this. Ike could hardly even decide which one of them be was more proud of. 

They all knew the whistle that the raiders used to alert each other of danger or call for help, so Ike didn't bother telling them anything else before he set into a long-legged lope around the side of the building. The massage equipment place was on the end, so he had to lap that first and then go past it at the back. Which was a little more jumbled than the front; clearly in the last days of this industrial park's function, people had dumped stuff back here, abandoned their cars, overflowed the dumpsters. Ike had seen this in scores of places. 

He approached the backdoor cautiously, bat at the ready, past a dumpster that had a high, dusty rotten smell that caught in his sinuses. "Fuck," Ike muttered, crinkling his nose and then pressing his gloved thumb against his upper lip. He didn't want to sneeze. It always gave him a rip roaring headache these days, like he'd torn his wound open on the inside, right against his skull. Fortunately, that seemed to do the trick; he got up to the back door, inspected it for possible tripwires or triggers, found it lacking them. He'd jimmy it open and then--

The dusty smell got up in his nose again and Ike sneezed, hard. Pain shot through his skull and he slapped his hand against the door, and then he felt his head ... expand? Lift into the air? No his -- his whole fucking body was lifted in the air and Ike shouted in startled alarm, hands and the toes of his boots getting tangled in the webbing of a net that had scooped him up wholesale. He'd missed it, buried under the debris, like he'd missed that fresh spray paint smell. He could see it, though, from this vantage point caught uncomfortably tight against the building over the backdoor: those same arcing abstract marks, painted onto the lid of the dumpster. 

A teenage girl sauntered below the net, looking up at him. Familiar-looking, and it took Ike a minute to realize she was the teenager from the Home Depot he and Nicki had raided, the one who'd trapped Nicki and then gotten away. "Oh, fucking hell," he groaned, "You're a damn--"

"Watch it, Ike," the girl said. "You might not want to piss off the girl whose whole group you slaughtered. She might decide to kill you much more slowly." She smiled, her pointed-filed teeth gleaming. 

Honestly, Nicki didn't like the idea of splitting up. At all. The last time she had split up was with Ares and the wound, while mostly healed, still fucking hurt. She didn't like it at all but Ike was the one in charge. If he was making the call, who was she to doubt it? She didn't know why but this just felt like a bad idea and she cast a glance over to Orion to see if he was sensing it as well or if it was just her. Nicki wanted to vocalize her concerns but Ike had to know what he was doing. "Just be careful, okay?" she said before darting off to the small warehouse.

The door didn't take much to jimmy open and even with the squeak of the hinges, Nicki was able to slip through without too much noise. But what she saw wasn't exactly all that reassuring. There were bedrolls - multiple bedrolls. Someone was camping out here. A few look like they had been slept in recently, which meant whoever was staying there was probably nearby. Shit. She pulled out her machete and gave it a twirl as she cautiously walked through the warehouse towards the entrance to the garage. There was an entrance and it looked somewhat propped open. But that wasn't what caught her eye.

It was a piece of paper stuck to the wall with a knife and two names etched on it - NICKI, IKE. Well that wasn't good. Who the fuck....? 

There was a sound of something being propelled up and Ike's voice crying out in surprise. Any caution was gone and Nicki ran towards the sound. She rounded the corner and came skidding to a halt behind some cabinets when she saw what the commotion was - Ike, suspended in a net with a teenage girl under him. Not just any teenage girl - the same one from the Home Depot. Doubt shit. She thinks for a moment and blows the high pitched whistle so Orion can hear. Of course, the teenager hears her as well and turns her head to see Nicki. "Come on, chica, you and I have a score to settle." Nicki wasn't about to let her get away a second time so she took her stance and waved at the girl to come at her. 

The girl growled a little through her sharpened teeth and ran at Nicki and when she did, Nicki turned and ran away from Ike. Orion could get him down while Nicki took care of this. She could fend of a teenager, after all.

Orion accepted the order to split up. They were all capable fighters in their own regard and, if danger arose, they could call on each other. With the same practical precision, Orion started following his route of the building. His eyes searching his surroundings, ears open for any unusual sound or signal coming from his fellow raiders. The door to what appeared to be a massage equipment store, opened on the first try. Dust billowed up, and shining his flashlight into the dark interior, Orion could see a few rats turning their head his way before scurrying off into the shadows. 

Orion didn't mind the dark so he stepped in without much hesitation, only giving a careful glance to make sure that nothing and nobody was hiding. It seemed that not really anybody had visited this place since the beginning of the apocalypse, A layer of dust seemed to coat everything, only a few products seemed to be thrown around. Which was why the footprints caught his eye. Fresh. Too fresh, like somebody had been here not too long ago.

The sharp whistle caught his attention.instantaneously. Raider instincts working, Orion remained calm, trailing back to the entrance. Focused on his surroundings, intent on catching any potential threat, the raider made his way towards the sound quickly but carefully. Rounding the corner, she could see Nicki running and what looked to be a teenage girl chasing after her with surprising speed. And Isaac - hung up by his foot. Trapped. 

Orion didn't waste any time - casting a quick glance around to make sure that there were no threats he made his way over to Ike. "Are you hurt? Can you walk?" Orion asked, slipping the knife out of his belt and began working on the rope. It was a quick affair, the more tough part of it being catching Ike as the rope snapped so the raider's body didn't slam into the ground. He did manage, and soon enough Ike was down and on the ground, helped back up by Orion. The younger man gave Ike a quick once-over. "Let's go. We'll have to check up on Nicki and retreat." 

The coffee would have to wait for now. They needed to retreat and recuperate to figure out their next steps. It was then that Orion noticed movement. Small figured snaking out from around the corner. Teenagers. Five, all armed. All hostile looking. The teeth. Filed down into pointy ends that gleamed in the sun. Orion didn't say anything. He gave Ike one quick, signaling glance before he grabbed the other man by his jacket and started running.

Anger at himself and frustration and embarrassment at the whole situation were snapping inside Ike's chest even as he felt the relief of Orion appearing, assessing the situation swiftly like any of his raiders would do. "Just my fuckin' pride on the line," Ike answered sourly. "I can walk once you get me down. The problem is me needing getting-down in the first fuckin' place." 

But at least it was just Orion, who wasn't reading him the riot act for getting himself caught or for missing any of the (now glaringly obvious) signs that the Sunface kids had set up shop here, were using it as some kind of base, or at least somewhere they could booby-trap for unsuspecting people they considered enemies. "She remembered me from the Home Depot run," Ike said, once Orion got him down and he tested out his ankle, finding it usable. Thank god.  "She called me by name. This is getting concerning."

He didn't argue with Orion's quick decision on what their next move should be, especially when those other Sunface teenagers showed up. Sharp teeth and weapons, all glaring with the same hatred and intensity as the original girl. "Yeah," Ike said, hopping backwards a few staggered steps before Orion manhandled him into pace. Ike didn't ask questions. Orion was moving with a sureness and determination that telegraphed that he knew exactly which direction Nicki had gone in, so all Ike did was give their signal whistle, hoping that Nicki would hear it and would forget evening the score with the Sunface girl. They weren't ready for this. Ike knew he was healed up enough, that there was no danger of his head wound breaking open, but still -- as they ran, he could swear he started to smell that distinct oily stench of scorched flesh and hair, cooked blood as Renee had cauterized his scalp shut.

"Nicki! Oh, Nicki! I'm coming to get you, Nicki!" Nicki could hear the teenage girl singing her little song as she chased after her and honestly, it was disquieting. But Nicki didn't let it bother her too much. All she needed to do was get her far enough away so that Orion could get Ike down and they could regroup and figure out their plan of attack. Things obviously were much more precarious now with the Sunfaced Wannabe teenager hanging around and knowing Ike and her. After all, they had left quite a bloodbath back at the Home Depot and as much as Nicki wanted to stop running, turn and fight the little bitch, she had made a promise to Ares to avoid getting hurt. If Nicki was fully healed she'd think it would be no problem but she was just getting back out and she didn't want to take any unnecessary chances.

Nicki led the girl into the side building that Nicki had come in. Sure, the girl probably knew the layout better than her but Nicki had a few tricks up her own sleeves. The girl liked traps so why not put her in one of her own? When Nicki ran through the door quickly hid behind some of the old shelves. The girl came in and when she didn't spot Nicki right away her paced slow. "Nicki....come out to playyyyy.....we've been looking forward to seeing you and Ike again." Nicki kept her breath even as she watched the girl walk further and further in. When it was clear Nicki sprung out and ran back into the coffee house. She closed the door behind her and shoved a bookcase in front of the door to block the entrance.

There was a victorious, smug grin on her face as she heard the door rattle and the girl growl in frustration. "Yeah, that's right. HOW DOES IT FEEL?" Her victory was short lived as she heard the whistle and she turned her head to look in the direction. Crap, why were they whistling her? Her machete was out of it's sheath and she ran in the direction, almost plowing directly into Orion and Ike. "What....." but she stopped as she saw the five teens chasing after them. God damn, this just got a whole lot worse. And she had just blocked one of the entrances. "This way is no good. Out the back," she said, nodding towards the back of the garage. So she grabbed Ike with her free hand to turn them in the direction. He knew where that entrance was - her and Orion could watch his six.

By the time they reached Nicki -- bringing a lurch of relief to his chest -- Ike felt almost entirely turned-around. All he could focus on was the phantom smell and pain of his head wound, a weird throb that didn't hurt enough to incapacitate him but sure as fuck was doing a lot to disorient him. And actively on the run from a bunch of murderous fang-faced teenagers was not the time for him to be able to take a breath and focus and work through it.

So he didn't protest when Nicki gave him a shove towards whatever exit she'd clocked, simply run-hopping towards it as his net-hung ankle got the feeling back into it properly.  They'd be right behind him. Of that, Ike had no doubt. 

Nicki was literally right behind Ike, urging him towards the back entrance while she watched as the five teenagers were running full speed towards them. Ike seemed to be hobbling - they needed to move faster or they were gonna be overrun. Oh, Ike was not gonna be happy with her....

She gave him a shove before turning and pulling out her crowbar. It would be less lethal than the machete and all she needed was to buy them time. "Orion, get him out of here," she yelled at him as she gave her crowbar a couple twirls  and stood her ground. "I'll be right behind you, just go!" 

The five teenagers came to a halt and she restributed her weight while she gave them a snarl. "You want them? You'll have to go through me." She was pretty sure she could hold her own until they were outside. All she would have to do was wait for the whistle and she could run to them. No harm, no foul.

= = = 

It had been a fairly quiet, grim hike back to town, but at least Ike felt that his ankle had sorted itself out on the way. He wasn't hobbling anymore and it was a dull ache but mostly from net-burn, and they all three of them stopped at Nicki's to take a breather before they went their own ways. "Fuckin shame that was a bust," Ike said, flopping down on her couch. He lifted his foot to unlace his boot but didn't have the energy to even bother taking it off, letting it drop again. "Those goddamn Sunface kids. I didn't think that one from the Home Depot got away. Or I didn't think she'd drum up her own damn children's crusade. Just our luck we pissed off the overachiever in the bunch."

He could hear himself rabbiting on, and maybe that was normal, or maybe it was a cover. His skin was burning, itching, at the thought of a bunch of teenagers getting the drop on them. If it had been one of his raiders missing something that badly, Ike would be going over the replay in his head to pinpoint where it went wrong. But he couldn't do it, for himself. Everything was a big mass of jumble, unsortable, tangled up and perplexing.

Something hadn't quite let go of Orion during their entire trip back to Redwood. They'd been mostly quiet on the way back, none of them in the mood for jokes or banter after their failed raid. The majority of their hike back to town, Orion had turned what had happened over in his mind. It was what he'd been taught. Where there was failure, there was a reason. They'd clearly messed up badly enough to the point that a bunch of youths had gotten the drop on them. 

So, when Isaac spoke, sprawled out on the couch, Orion turned to look at the head raiders tired out face. "It could have been a successful raid." That was what he'd been working on the entire way back. The reason for their failure. And that was a problem - they shouldn't have failed. "We should have known there were people in the area once we saw the fresh paint. We should have been more cautious." That was a mistake all of them had made - all of them had dismissed the freshly sprayed wall as nothing, even if Orion had felt uneasy about it, and Nicki had clearly been bothered by it as well. Only Ike hadn't. 

"You didn't suspect anything about the paint, Isaac."

Ike blinked. He felt like he should get up, or even sit up more, but he didn't; half slumped out on Nicki's sofa, trying to glare at Orion but just managing to grimace, screwing his eyes shut tight. "What? I dunno. I mean you guys didn't stop for it either. It's not like I'm perfect, for fucksake. I'm allowed a flub here and there."

The thing was ... no, he wasn't. There were situations that were unplannable-for, there was shit that caught them by surprise that nobody could've seen coming. The fresh paint, the symbol motifs, they'd been enough that both Nicki and Orion had remarked on them. They were the basics of raiding. Ike would never have a raider who'd blow off something that evident a tip-off.

But still, he resisted. And in the worst, most kneejerk, juvenile way: "I didn't do anything wrong."

Orion blinked at Isaac, noticing the other man's resistance, which only made the raider furrow his brows in turn. It was normal for raiders to work out what had gone wrong during a mission. Admittedly, most of the time they did so quietly, drawing what they needed to learn from their experiences for the next raid, so it wouldn't happen again. But something was off about Isaac's response. He was upset. Maybe about the failed job, maybe about something else. 

"Nicki and I were bothered by it. We shouldn't have dismissed it, though." Orion had to look down at Isaac from where he was standing, the wall pressed up against his back. He could feel some of the exhaustion tugging at his own muscles. "You didn't stop to think about it. You normally don't miss that something is off." Orion's gaze held no accusation, his demeanor shifting from unaffected to gently worried. "Has something happened?"

Nicki had, for the most part, stayed pretty quiet during this whole thing. Ike had taken up residence on her couch and she was in the process of changing into her lounge clothes. She didn't mind that the two men were in there - they had both seen her naked before.

After hearing Ike's response to Orion, she couldn't stay quiet for much longer. "Arbolito is right." The oversized t-shirt was practically hanging off of her shoulder at this point but she didn't bother to fix it as she sat down next to Ike on her couch. "You don't miss things. Not signs of people in the area and definitely not a net trap."

As Orion posed his question she ran her fingers through his hair to massage his scalp. "We're just worried about you, Papi." 

Ike shied away from Nicki's touch like a skittish horse, scooting to the edge of the sofa where he shoved himself into the corner, glaring daggers at them both. "You don't need to be worried about me," he said, his voice just a little too loud, abrasive at the edges. "I'm fine. It's fine. I'm always fucking--"

But the protest dried up in his throat. They were quietly looking at him, two of his dearest people in the world, in his whole entire life, with soft concern in their eyes; these two who'd been with him on so many raids, forging through danger and looking to him to protect them, to listen to them, to sort through and make decisions, to support them through whatever came. They deserved him to do the same, now that his turn had come to be supported. They wanted to help. 

"I'm not," Ike said, "I haven't ... felt the same. Since it happened." He gestured at the scar on his head, mostly healed, his cropped-down hair starting to grow back enough that it wasn't so visible and livid anymore. "I know that's normal. I know it's normal even to keep thinking I can smell the fucking thing, that everyone can smell it, god it fucking stank when Renee was burning it shut, it was..." Ike trailed off, blinking wetly at the ceiling. 

"You two know me better than almost anyone," Ike said. "You know it doesn't bother me if people don't like me, or understand why I do what I do. But this is the first time since Redwood that somebody..." He sat up a little, looking at them again. "She lied to me about what she was looking for," Ike said. "She maybe did want the flu vaccines, but what she was really after was asthma inhalers." He gave a huffing, incredulous laugh. "Can you believe it? I spent three weeks running my ass off trying to find a clinic or a medical centre that might have viable vaccines, you know how rare that shit is now. We coulda hit up five grade schools easy and carted her back two hundred abandoned inhalers without breaking a sweat."

Nicki's hand froze in midair when Ike pulled away and she masked the hurt in her gut when he did. But it only further proved her point - something was wrong with Ike. So his insistence that he was fine was the loudest, most obvious lie she had ever heard from him. And she wasn't buying it. That much was obvious in the look she gave him. It was much like the look he gave her when he saw through her when she wasn't okay, even when she insisted she was fine.

But finally and thankfully, Ike stops trying to pretend like he's okay. He gives in and starts to talk and Nicki sits back, pulling one of her legs under her while the other dangled off the edge of the couch. She remained silent, only pulling her gaze away from Ike to check on Orion. Orion would probably be better suited to say something more soothing and sensical than she could. Comforting was - well, she was bad at it, but she was trying. "Was it the lying that got to you, Ike? If so, I can go give her a piece of my mind and don't think I won't."

"No. I don't think Renee understands much about what raiding's about and how much work it takes and how dangerous it is. And that's fine, I don't want the normies knowing what we do, because they wouldn't be able to live with it." Ike shook his head, pleating his fingers over his midsection and tapping them as he spoke. "Her lying to me is because she doesn't respect me enough to know that I wouldn't, I dunno, make fun of her for needing something to keep her kid healthy." He waved that aside. "It's not even that she ran into that clinic without me clearing it first. She's not used to being out past the wire. Whenever I take a normie out there, that's a possibility, that they'll do something boneheaded by accident. Although Renee did it because I hurt her fee-fees by saying she was rich and privileged."

Orion had been listening quietly and carefully to Isaac, the low rumble of his sometimes stumbling voice. While Nicki had scooted close to the head raider, Orion had remained where he was, near the door, standing awkwardly with the wall almost pressed up against his back. Watching, carefully, as Isaac's face shifted from defensive anger to vulnerability, anger and a somewhat frustrated, yet resigned sadness. Orion found something in his chest tug, the muscles constricting to the point that it felt painful beyond the physical. "You're hurt." Orion states before finally putting himself into motion. Stepping through the room towards the couch and, in lack of space, settling himself down beside of it, on the floor. 

"Renee is a doctor. So she knows how accessible inhalers are and how hard it is to find vaccines. She should have considered that. What she did was careless and thoughtless. And you almost died." Orion's brows were furrowed as he speaks, his eyes warm and full of concern, now shown unhindered as he reached up to grasp Isaac's hand. Thin bones pressed up against his palms. "Is that one of the situations you were trying to get away from?"

Nicki glances to Orion as he moves toward Ike. He speaks what is pretty obvious and Ike could try to deny it all he wanted, but he was. Any person could see that. Well, any person who knew Ike. She thinks to reach out and give Ike's hand a squeeze but considering how he pulled away from her she thinks against it. Besides, Orion and Ike were more of a thing than the two of them and that was fine. But still, she couldn't help but feel slightly disheartened when Ike had pulled away or how far away he was from her on the couch. Orion could be his rock to ground him. He seemed to get through to Ike much better than she ever could.

"Yeah," Ike said to Orion's question. "Well, it's a bunch of things, but that's one of 'em." Orion's hand holding his was nice, comfortable, so Ike reached blindly out for Nicki's, too. "I'm not ... I'm not hurt like, feelings-wise. Renee's never liked me, even though I haven't really done anything bad to her, but that's just how it is. I don't take that shit on board. I'm ... rattled." Ike drew a breath, his grip on them both tightening. "She lied about what she needed. She ran in to the clinic without me clearing it. Both of those things I could chalk up to her not knowing what raiding entails and what we do out there."

Ike fixed his stare on a spot on Nicki's wall, a little divot where she'd maybe swung something too hard and accidentally dinged it, or maybe it had been there when she moved it. "She hurt her leg," he said. "I asked her to patch it up and she wouldn't listen. When we were getting out of there I gave her crutches to use so we could escape faster and she wouldn't use them. I'm ready to buy it, any day that I'm out there; that's what we all make peace with, us raiders. But I never expected somebody from Redwood would willingly, insistently, put me in danger on purpose." Ike looked from one to the other, his expression faintly lost. "She's the town doctor. Her entire thing is about caring for everyone, caring and caring. But not me." He shook his head, cold fingertips digging into their hands. "Me, she told to do the town a favour and go back to work outside the gates."

The second Ike's free hand reached for her she took it and smiled. His hand was infinitely bigger than hers but she could still rub her thumb along his knuckles. She was bad at comforting but she was trying. And if she didn't know what to say, she could at least provide physical comfort. 

But Ike was opening up and that was important. She was taking in everything he was saying. But his admission had left a bad taste in her mouth. "Hija de puta....I'm gonna give her more than a piece of my mind now. Who does she think she is?"

He gave one of his single-shoulder shrugs, squeezing Nicki's hand. "Down, girl. I know you both care but there's not really any point, is there? Renee already acts like I'm looking to tear a strip off her at any moment -- which I'm not -- but she's insistent that I give her some how-to manual about how she can square things with me." Ike shook his head. "She doesn't get it. She didn't like me this whole time and I worked with her just fine, I took her out to a store to get things for her kids, I stumped for her to be on the Council. The only reason she's so obsessed about it now is because she knows she fucked up." He harumphed a little. "Though she kept it under her hat till prom night, so she didn't feel that guilty, I guess."

Orion listened, quietly, as Isaac talked. Continued to be quiet and contemplating as Nicki bristled up with anger and growled a threat. Watched as Isaac called her down with that rough voice. Inside Orion's chest, something clenched, hard and painful to the point that it ached, making Orion squeeze the other man's hand in gentle assurance, his gaze fixed on the older man's hollowed out, exhausted face. "You didn't deserve that." Orion muttered, his voice gentle as his thumb caresses the age-spotted, thin skin of Isaac's hand. Of course, the head raider knew that he didn't, but it was what came to Orion's mind. 

He took in a long breath, letting the air escape through his knows as he regarded the head raider with furrowed brows, before he spoke up again. "It was irresponsible of her. She endangered you. And it does not sound like it matters to her that she hurt you. She made you feel unsafe. Be unsafe." There was something else there, something that bothered him. "Isaac, did you go out because she told you to go out?" Orion's inquisitive gaze rested on Isaac's face. Normally, the head raider was responsible when it came to being injured, resting up when he needed to. And the headwound looked healed, the skin still pinkish and fresh. But Orion was not a doctor. "Were you cleared before you went out?"

Another single-shoulder shrug, and Ike answered in the short staccato way that he had when he didn't want to make a big deal out of something. "Not in so many words. Not by Val. But Renee's a doctor too and she made it pretty clear where I belong for the good of the town, so on a technicality, yeah." 

Orion's brows furrowed in worry. That wasn't like Isaac, either. "She shouldn't have said that. That was irresponsible, too." Orion pulled Isaac hands towards him, letting his fingers trace the outlines of his knuckles before pressing a kiss to them. He wasn't somebody who got angry easily. Even now he was calm, but it was there. An undercurrent, settling down beside the ache of sympathy. It showed in his eyes as he searched the older man's gaze, even as his demeanor was as calm as ever. "She was supposed to care for you. She sent you out when you were not fit to go out." Orion shook his head, softly. "Are you worried she is going to hurt you again?"

"No, I'm not worried about that. She didn't intend to hurt me in the first place, she just didn't really care if I did get hurt." Ike shut his eyes; their concerned faces were too much to take, for a minute.

"That's good." Orion quiets down after that, watching Isaac close his eyes and leaning back. Taking in the tired furrow of his brows, the way some of the energy seems to have been taken out of him, like someone had reached in and taken out a handful. The raider leaned forward, the tip of his nose brushing against Isaac's beard, a gentle moment of affection. "You look tired."

"I am tired. C'mere, the both of you." Ike held both his arms out to his sides, wanting Orion and Nicki bookending him on her sofa. "Look, I for sure don't want you taking Renee out anywhere, but I'm not saying you guys can't do whatever with her. Be her friends or have her as your doctor or anything. It's only out there on the job that I'm worried she might put you in danger without a second thought."

As Ike drew her in she curled into him and wrapped her arms around his shoulder. "Don't worry about us, Papi. We're gonna do what we need to always come back to you."

"All right." Ike drew them in close -- almost uncomfortably so, resulting in them all leaned up against and overlapping each other. "I guess I have been fucked up in the head over this. I should never have missed all that shit, all those warning signs. But I don't think I'm fucked for good." He mulled this over for a minute, then nodded decisively. "Yeah. I need to get back into the mix and it ... helped, telling you about what's screwing with me."

Nicki had to slide her arm between Ike and Orion as Ike pulled them in. The other arm was tracing thin, soft lines down his side. With her new position basically sandwiched between the men Ike couldn't see it but she was smiling. "I'm glad we could help. We're both here for you, whatever you need."

Orion followed Ike's pull. The couch was not quite big enough for them, so they were piled up against each other. The raider closed his eyes, letting his body relax into it as he nestled against Ike and Nicki. "That's good." He agreed, voice slightly muffled. "We want to help you. Always."

[sassypotatoe1]

In the same vein because annoying and wrong about things usually go hand in hand anyway you're also allowed to be wrong my loves. I once lost a scavenger hunt for my group because they put me up for the speed quiz and I answered silver when asked which of the two elements between it and gold were heavier. You want to know my sleep deprived hopped up on too much caffeine reasoning? Silver is harder so it must be heavier. Besties I knew it was gold, I had high school chemistry, but I was wrong and it cost us the prize.

I felt physically ill for 3 days and incredibly annoyed that you weren't allowed to change answers in the speed quiz and my friends were out drinking and going to art galleries while I was so angry at myself and a no-stakes scavenger hunt where the prize was a mass produced small plastic trophy with a sticky note on it. Told my therapist about it the next week and she actually laughed. She thought I was joking.

Ik especially schools and bullies don't allow you to be wrong about things, I had a bully constantly harassing me for years over the fact that I didn't know what hi-fi meant at 9 years old and according to him this meant that I was the dumbest motherfucker on the planet in spite of the fact that I was outperforming most of my grade for my entire school career with unmedicated severe adhd as well as autism.

Teachers mock you in front of your peers for getting an answer wrong and shame you for failing tests or assignments and parents punish you for less than perfect grades and you grow up seeking groups that fight for human rights because yours get invalidated constantly and even in those spaces being wrong about something is a death sentence, so being wrong, and being annoying, become like cardinal sins and the shame attached cause crises.

My therapist laughed before working through my rejection sensitive dysphoria with me about the quiz because it wasn't that deep, and it almost never is. My mother's incessant need to always be busy because someone somewhere is currently busy and it's not fair to them if we're not is annoying. It's not a big deal. I can just say no and let her at it on her own and remind her gently that other people's activity levels are their business, and the human body but especially the human brain requires frequent and adequate rest.

People who mispronounce big words, including me, because they spent their formative years reading more than talking to people and never actually heard the words are both annoying and wrong. People understand us anyway, so it literally doesn't matter.

You can be annoying, and you can be wrong, and it's not inherently a moral failing, and hardly ever actually that deep. If you're talking to your coworker about toe socks and they say they don't like things between their toes and don't even wear thong sandals and you go on to say you used to wear them when you were younger but you were constantly picking them out of your crack so you stopped and they have to go "oh I meant the shoes lol" you don't have to feel physically ill about it for the entire day. (this one wasn't me) you can just laugh it off and move on.

You're allowed to be annoying, you're allowed to be wrong, you're allowed to be annoying about being wrong. You're not omniscient literally everyone on earth is annoying to someone and everyone on earth is wrong about something often. You're just fine I promise you.

At some point in your life, you were taught that being slightly annoying is an unforgivable sin. Maybe it was by your parents or a teacher or a friend or a bully or an older sibling. But someone taught you that being slightly annoying is a crime punishable by death.

You must unlearn this.

You must accept that all people will be annoying at some point or another in their lives, maybe all of their lives, and that this is okay. It is okay for strangers on the bus, it is okay for children in the grocery store, it is okay for people on social media, and it is okay for you.

If you ever want to truly love your fellow humans, if you ever want to truly love yourself, you must have forgiveness for being annoying.