#it has to do with the wireless driver

[sleep1ng-w1llow]

guys how am i gonna explain to my prof that in the process of trying to get the power to download apps onto my laptop so i could download excel, my laptop became unusable and now needs to be completely wiped, therefore it is not ready for class today

[sirfrogsworth]

Froggie's Guide to Budget Headphones

@nimrella I am more well versed in traditional audio and home theater with big honking speakers, so I don't have much personal experience with headphones and headphone accessories. But I can tell you what I've learned from other people who are in the headphone world. And since you are starting more within the "budget" range I think I am somewhat qualified to guide you at this level.

You have three paths to choose from...

Wireless, low impedance wired (no amplification required), and high impedance wired (amplification required).

Basically... easy, medium, and hard.

But also... good, better, best.

Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones have come a long way. Audiophiles used to scoff at them but now there are options that really do sound fantastic and the Bluetooth data rates are good enough to deliver high resolution audio. They also have noise cancellation options which may be desirable. If you do not have a quiet, dedicated space for listening to music you might find high end noise cancellation a godsend. People love them especially for planes, trains, and automobiles.

I don't know if everyone knows how noise cancellation works or not, but basically the headphones have microphones that listen to the world around you. They measure the incoming sound and then generate an opposite sound that just about kills ambient noise. If you play the same sound 180 degrees out of phase it basically nullifies those sound waves. The tech works best between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz. For reference we hear between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (lower if you are old). So anything super high or super low pitched can still get through.

In any case, if that sounds appealing, wireless headphones should be a consideration.

The other advantage of wireless headphones would be the ease of use. They pair to your phone, your laptop, your TV. They have controls to help you pause and skip songs and change volume. Some allow you to take phone calls.

But the big downside is the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. As I said, the bluetooth standards have actually gotten very very good. (Though there are audiophiles who will swear it still sounds like a 1990s MP3.) So streaming the actual media files are not really an issue. But trying to cram all of that tech into lightweight headphones you can wear around town all day requires compromises and added expense. Not to mention the battery has a limited lifespan. You may have more limited or inconsistent frequency response, poor dynamic range, distortion problems, weak output, and a high noise floor. Wireless options still can't match wired headphone systems in the same price range. And the wireless options that come close are quite spendy.

Wireless Headphones Suggestions

In your price range the two wireless options that I hear mentioned over and over again are the Sony WH-1000 series and the Bose QuietComfort. They are both well regarded for having a good mix of sound quality and noise cancellation while also being a decent value. You might be able to visit a Best Buy and demo them to see if you prefer the sound and comfort of one over the other.

The Apple AirPods Max are said to work really well within the Apple ecosystem. They have some interesting spatial sound modes and very good audio quality. I've heard the noise cancellation is some of the best currently available. But they seem too expensive and a lot of people feel they are too heavy. I also suspect they are due for an update. That said, if you wait for the new ones to come out and buy used, they could come into your price range. I'd really only suggest these if you have multiple Apple products that you will be streaming sound from.

Before we move into wired headphones, let's go over some terms that you might see pop up when doing research and reading reviews.

Froggie's Glossary of Audiophile Terminology

Driver A speaker is made up of drivers. Some speakers have a woofer, a midrange, and a tweeter. Each individual thing is a driver. And with headphones you will often hear "headphone driver" instead of speaker because it is more specific. Headphones typically have an all-in-one driver that does all frequencies. A woofymidteet.

That's not a thing.

I made that up.

Frequency Response This is the range of frequencies produced by the drivers from low to high. You want to make sure your headphones have good, deep bass. That will make more of a difference than anything else. It's the foundation of all sound and what is sorely lacking in devices with small/cheap speakers.

Music typically doesn't go much below 40 Hz in the bass range. So if you are only interested in music listening, that is plenty deep. Movies can go down to 20 Hz, but this isn't necessary for a good immersive experience unless you have giant subwoofers. So if you find something that can play ~40 Hz with decent output, you should be all good. Every speaker has a frequency response curve. It looks something like this.

The X-axis represents the frequency and the Y-axis represents the volume in decibels. We are most concerned with the 40 to 10K Hz section, as most sound happens there.

I'm not going to go super in-depth and overwhelm everyone, but typically you want this graph to look fairly flat in that range. A flat-ish line will give you a "neutral" response.

The above graph gets a little bumpy in the high frequencies. That means those frequencies will have a higher volume than the lower frequencies. If a higher frequency has a big peak, that could make your sound seem too bright or tinny.

Or you could have the opposite problem. You could have a null in the bass where the output dips below everything else. This can make your sound a bit anemic and lacking punch.

Whereas a more flat speaker will output all frequencies at about the same volume and sound much more balanced and smooth.

Equalization or EQ A flat response is good because it will accept EQ well. Equalization is where you add peaks and dips in volume deliberately to taste.

This can be as simple as 3 knobs.

Or it can be a more complicated parametric EQ.

A lot of digital EQ methods have presets to help get you started. I promise it isn't as intimidating as it looks.

Some people like to buy speakers/headphones that are EQ'd how they prefer out of the box. (Or if you get Beats by Dre they just turn the bass all the way up and say "Fuck them other frequencies!") But this is often a bit of a crapshoot because it is hard to EQ a speaker that sounds good in every room or every environment or just to varying individual preferences.

By making the speaker more neutral, it can be much easier to equalize specifically to your needs and enjoyment.

So if you like the bass a little bassier and the mids a little quieter, you have the power to dial that in with great specificity on a neutral speaker. You can apply any EQ you wish and you won't be fighting the speaker's predetermined response.

Basically if you are reading reviews and the headphones are described as "flat" or "neutral" that's a good thing (in my opinion). Just remember nothing is going to be perfectly flat. We're shooting for flat-ish.

If you do decide to get a neutral sounding pair of headphones you may find them a little bland out of the box. Do not panic. You just need to learn a bit about how to apply EQ, but thankfully YouTube is plentiful with tutorials.

The Harman Curve was researched to be most liked by the most people, so you might start there. (Also, SoundSource is a very popular EQ app for Mac.)

Dynamic Range This is the spectrum of how quiet to loud something can get. If you have speakers that can render both a pin drop and a big explosion with great fidelity and proper intensity, you will be in audio heaven. There is so much emotion and drama that can be expressed by expansive dynamic range and most cheap speakers compress it to an inch of its life. When the soft and the loud sounds are the same you miss out on so much audio information intended by the composer.

Distortion This is just how loud a speaker can go without breaking up. Low distortion is good. While every driver distorts at some point, usually that is at a much higher volume than you will use. This typically only plagues cheap, tiny drivers.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) This is a measurement of how loud a speaker can get. While you don't want to listen to anything louder than a sustained average decibel level of 80 to 85, you do want peaks over 100, especially in the bass. Bass is less damaging to ears and hearing damage is all about sustained volume rather than quick peaks here and there. Most headphones can comfortably do an SPL between 90 and 110 dB. The ability to go louder is good, but only because that expands headroom, not because you should actually listen to them that loud. So if the headphones can get super loud, that means they will have a much easier time delivering normal levels.

Noise Floor Every sound system has background noise. You know that static you hear when you turn a radio up really loud when there is no sound playing? That is your noise floor. You want that to be as quiet as possible because if you turn up the volume, you don't just turn up the volume of the sounds you want to hear, you also turn up the volume of that background noise.

If you can find a headphone system with a decent low noise floor and you can also find a very quiet space to listen in, you could have a religious experience. I don't think people realize how much the room you are in matters, even when listening to headphones. When you are in a quiet room, you can play at lower volumes. And that can mitigate a lot of the problems associated with cranking the volume. You won't damage your ears for one thing. But the speakers won't have to work as hard so you'll have less distortion and better clarity.

Noise mostly comes from the amplifier, which I will talk about later on.

Froggie Pro Tip: If you want cheap speakers to perform better, go to a quiet room and move them as close as possible. This allows you to play them at a lower output while maintaining your desired perceived volume.

Okay, now we can finally talk about...

Wired Headphones

You have open back and closed back styles.

Open back tends to have a more natural sound and feels more comfortable. Like listening to regular speakers. People generally feel they are able to listen to them longer because they don't create a seal and cause pressure on your ear drum. However, if sound can get out, it can also get in. So with open back headphones people nearby will be able to hear what you are listening to. And if you are not in a quiet room, all of that sound will leak in. Meaning you have to increase the volume and the noise floor and the distortion.

Closed back seals off your ears and gives you a quiet and immersive experience. You can be in a noisier room without having to crank the volume as much. Some prefer this style just because it helps them feel like they are going into their own personal dimension of sound. These are great for ASMR too. But ear fatigue can become an issue and you may need to take little breaks to let your ears breathe and your ear drums rest.

And the last thing we need to discuss is impedance.

The impedance of headphones mostly determines how hard they are to amplify. Impedance is measured in ohms which is this little horseshoe symbol... Ω.

Lower ohms means less electrical resistance and easier to amplify.

Higher ohms means more electrical resistance and difficult to amplify.

If you get headphones rated below 100 ohms, they can typically be driven by smartphones and laptops just by plugging into a standard headphone jack. Though depending on the device, 100 may sound a little quiet so you may want to go lower. 30 ohms is fairly typical if you plan to drive your headphones with everyday electronics.

Above 100 ohms you are going to need some sort of amplification—usually a DAC with a headphone amplifier. (There are DACs without amplification so be sure to check that.)

A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is already built into your phone and laptop. But those are very small, don't have a lot of power, and might have a higher noise floor due to interference from other components and heat and just a lot of electrical signals nearby.

By getting an external DAC w/amplifier you separate out the components, make them larger and more powerful, and typically improve the sound quality. Because it is more isolated, the amplification can be much quieter despite being more powerful.

If you plan to stay in a static location and you have high impedance headphones, you can get a little box DAC that sits on your desk. It works like an external sound card for your computer. If you record music or stream, a digital audio interface works great as well (remember to check the Ω).

But if you need to be more mobile with your headphones you can get a little USB dongle DAC, though you will probably not get the same sound quality and power.

Both will be superior to the internal DAC built into your computing devices.

So, low impedance headphones are easier if you need to move around.

High impedance headphones are better for staying put in a single location unless you get a dongle DAC.

Just remember, high and low impedance doesn't necessarily indicate quality. It's just that in order to drive high impedance headphones you need the larger amplifier with the nicer components and, by necessity, you automatically get that quality bump.

You can get very good low impedance headphones. However, if you power them *only* with a smartphone, you may not use them to their full potential. Which is why getting an external DAC is a good idea regardless.

But the nice thing about low impedance is you can get the headphones and still use them until you save up for the DAC. Or you can use them as normal while out and about and have a special listening spot at home with the DAC.

To review...

Low impedance and high impedance can both be high quality.

Low impedance (less than 100 ohms) works with anything.

High impedance (more than 100 ohms) requires amplification.

Both will be used to their full potential with a DAC/headphone amplifier of some kind.

Wired Headphones Suggestions

Again, I have not personally listened to any of these. I am just relaying what experts I trust have mentioned as being nice quality in your price range.

The beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones are some of the most well-regarded budget headphones I've heard of. They come in low and high impedance versions.

The Sennheiser HD 560 high impedance headphones are also praised for their value and performance.

If you can go a little pricier...

The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have low impedance and can be driven easily by all your devices.

And the HIFIMAN Edition XS are even lower impedance and about the same price.

And if you want to try a DAC, I've heard good things about both Fosi and Schiit (yes, like the poopies), though there are many different brands. Just make sure the DAC has a headphone amplifier rated for the ohms you need.

The FOSI K5 Pro is a cheap "beginner" DAC that will power anything up to 300 ohms. This is the kind that sits on your desk.

And if you want a more portable dongle DAC, you can get something like the iFi Go Link.

I've also heard good things about the AudioQuest Dragonfly, though I hate recommending AudioQuest products due to them claiming they can do magical things. They use scientific gobbledygook to scam customers most of the time. That said, the DragonFly might be their only valid product.

Note from Future Froggie: AudioQuest just can't help themselves. While the Dragonfly itself is a good product and not a scam, they developed the "DragonTail", which is a scam.

It's just a USB A to C Adapter for the Dragonfly. But they have to find a way to justify 30 fucking dollars so they came up with this bullshit.

Definitely need to stabilize my geometry. If I have unstable geometry that could lead to quixotic trigonometry. And we all know that could introduce vertices into dodecahedrons. Which leads straight to accelerated cosmotic entropy catalyzing the heat death of the universe.

Fucking AudioQuest.

ANYWAY...

An inexpensive DAC may be all you ever need but DACs can get crazy expensive—just like headphones. And if you are really fancy you can get a DAC and a headphone amplifier as separate items. Audiophiles claim when you simplify components to a singular function you increase quality. While I think there is some small truth to that, I suspect they just think the tubes look neat.

Froggie's Disclaimer: I am not telling you to get these specific things, but I do think you'll probably be happy with anything I've suggested. But sound is a subjective experience and it is always best to test things out before you buy them, if possible. Or make sure there is a return policy. You might see if there is a brick-and-mortar store nearby that allows you to demo headphones. Remember that comfort can be just as crucial as sound quality for long listening sessions.

Final Thoughts

Good sound has been life changing for me. And I am excited when anyone goes down this journey. While the stuff mentioned is considered "budget" by audiophiles, this can give you a good starting point if you want to upgrade down the road. You'll get to know your preferences and get a better understanding of how this all works and choose your own adventure from there.

Though it is very possible you'll be quite content with "budget" and the sound quality is more than enough.

Personally, while I am very happy with my current home theater setup, I am hopeful one day I can upgrade one budget tier above where I currently am and that will be my endgame. I've heard $10,000 speakers and it is mostly a land of diminishing returns once you reach that level.

I'm fine in "budget" land.

Further Research

I didn't mention the different types of headphone drivers because I didn't want to put too much data in everyone's head. But if you want to do additional research you can learn about the 4 main types... dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, and balanced armature.

[vurelly]

Hi! I got sent over here by Bamsara to ask your opinions on a good starter/durable drawing tablet! Honestly probably woulda come over here anyways ‘cause I follow you both!

yEAAAAAAAAAAS I got so many starter tablets under my belt. (Note, these are all pen tablets, not DISPLAY tablets so if you'd like any info on those I'd be happy to help!)

I personally started with a Wacom Intuos (kept it for about 12 years before I threw it), and honestly there's a lot of positives and negatives with it. On the upside, it is ASTOUNDINGLY durable, it's a great size for transportation, and Wacom is a well-known and otherwise trustworthy brand. On the downside, Wacom has been notorious for not updating drivers on older products, the pen pressure leaves a lot to be desired, and Wacom's pricing is usually on the upper end.

A good follow-up for a similar price is the Huion HS610 series, it's also one of my personal favorites. It's got quite a larger capture area than the Intuos, they're extremely lightweight, the drivers update frequently (even for out of date models), the pen pressure is utterly divine, and the amount of accessories included makes up for the slightly steeper price. On the downside, because of it's larger size, it is a bit more difficult to travel with, but if you draw primarily from home it's a very good fit.

And if neither of these brands do it for you, the XP-Pen's 01 V2 might be a good fit (and on sale for $47.99 right now!). While I haven't personally owned this one, it was one I did quite a bit of research on when looking for a replacement when my Intuos started giving me trouble a while back. The Deco series comes in multiple sizes, colors, and wired/wireless settings (look for the series on the website, I've only linked the 01 V2), they come with multiple accessories and adapters for both PC and mobile phone use, the pen pressure has been relatively well reviewed, and the price beats out both Wacom and Huion. Unfortunately, because I haven't personally owned this one I can't speak on the drawbacks of the tablet, but from what I see they're a well reviewed brand overall.

Hope this helps!

[boxboxblog]

How Do F1 Cars Work?: Braking, Cooling, Sensors

I never know how to start these posts. Let's dive in.

Braking and Cooling

Brakes are an incredibly important part of any car, but most especially in F1. With the speed and power the cars have a sensitive, sturdy, and strong braking system must exist. In the case of modern cars, F1 uses an extremely efficient and durable carbon-carbon disc brake system. This allows the car to screech to a halt in a split-second, and allows drivers to use their speedy reaction times to the best of their ability. When the driver steps on the brake pedal, it compresses two master brake cylinders, one for the front wheels and one for the rear, which generate fluid pressure.

For the front tires, the fluid pressure is delivered directly to the front brake calipers (part that houses brake pads and pistons). Inside each caliper, six pistons clamp pads against the disc and it is this friction that slows the car down. For the rear tires it is a bit different.

At the rear, the car can brake by three separate sources: friction from the brakes, resistance from the spinning engine (engine braking) and electrical braking that results from harvesting energy from the MGU-K . Although the driver can adjust each of these on his steering wheel, when he presses the brake pedal, the three systems work together via the Brake By Wire (BBW) system.

When the driver presses the pedal, the fluid pressure generated in the rear braking circuit is picked up by an electronic pressure sensor. The signal from this sensor represents the overall rear braking demand from the driver and is passed to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) where it is turned into a series of commands to brake the rear of the car. The ECU distributes its efforts to the three systems according to the the set up of the car and this is altered by the way that the driver has adjusted the switch settings on the steering wheel. This is what teams mean when they say changing the setting on the car.

Going hand-in-hand with braking, cooling is another important part of the car, especially for brakes. Basically, there is a series of systems that cools the power unit, brakes, and electronics. If the car overheats, it can lead to damage and lack of performance. There are a few ways to cool. Radiators cool the engine and hybrid system. Intercooler cools the air that the turbocharger compresses before it enters the engine. Brake cooling ducts bring air to the brakes in order to stop them from overheating.

2. Electronics and Sensors

So i'm sure many of you have looked at the steering wheel and been baffled that this thing that looks like a Nintendo Switch steers that car. The F1 steering wheel is incredibly complex and has a variety of buttons, screens, and knobs. For example, on the steering wheel is an area for strat settings, where their plans for all eventualities are mapped out. There is also a rotary knob for MGU-K settings, where drivers can switch around when faced with possible failures. The menu allows drivers control over every setting in the car. Beyond that there is the pit lane speed button, gear change buttons, race start button, energy recovery button, and brake balance knob, among others. It really tells you how much drivers do in a race beyond racing.

Other than the steering wheel, there is also the telemetry, over 300 sensors which gathers race data and sends it back to engineers on the pit wall. This way, engineers can either remotely alter settings and strat, or advise the driver on what to do.  F1 uses a customized mesh wireless network system based on WiMax 802.16 at each racetrack. The sensors record data, which is then temporarily stored in the Electronic Control Unit (ECU), which controls functions like engine performance and power steering. That sensor data then travels wirelessly to a centralized location managed by F1. F1 then sends the data to the relevant team, of course very securely. Teams then use a system called Advanced Telemetry Linked Acquisition System (ATLAS) to view and analyze sensor data.

The final pretty important electronic devices on an F1 car is the many many cameras. The most recognizable camera is found in the "T" structure that sits atop of every F1 car. It gives viewers that top-down, forward facing view used often by broadcasters. this is also how viewers often distinguish between cars of the same team. One driver will have a yellow camera, the other has black. The two nose cameras provides a view of the front wing and low circuit. The 360 camera is on top of the chassis and provides a wide view of the race track, and everything else around the car. The driver facing camera is pointed directly at the driver and helps keep track of how they are doing, and in the event of the crash helps marshals and rescuers figure out the best way to help. The two rear cameras are settled on a rear facing structure, and allows the pit wall to see what is going on directly behind the driver and advise. Beyond these ones, drivers also have cameras inside their helmets, showing exactly what they see. Can't get away with much in an F1 car.

3. How They Work Together

So, we now know the basics of most parts of the car. But these parts all must work together before that car will go anywhere. How do they do it?

One of the more obvious relationships is between aerodynamics and power. The better the aerodynamics, the more usable the power is. They also work in tandem around different parts of the track. On corners the aerodynamics keep the car stable while the power peters off. On straights the power keeps the car boosted. Suspension and tires are also very connected. It is the suspension that keeps the tires on the ground. A good suspension will also mean that the tires are easier to manage, something any driver knows is highly important. Brakes and ERS are also connected because the brakes help recover ERS, pretty simply. Also the cooling system works with most of teh car, cooling engine, tires, and brakes. The biggest connection is probably between all the sensors on the car. They are connected to every single part, and even a small bit of damage can destroy them. The non-sensor components have to accommodate for the sensors and work perfectly with them in order for proper data to be sent back.

The ultimate goal of engineers is to create a car that works in harmony all together. The integration of the engine to the chassis is highly important. There have been cars that the parts were fantastic on their own, but the minute they were put together stopped working completely. Its why teams that produce their own engines have such a leg up over non-manufacturers. Its also why sometimes you will see a car that is running poorly until one small thing is changed, and then suddenly its brand new. Car harmony really is terribly important.

Alright, done! While I covered most of the important stuff, as always if there is any particular part of the car anyone wants me to dive deeper into, please let me know.

Cheers,

-B

[sionisjaune]

Post Australia emotionally fraught brocedes phone sex set loosely in the dirty valentine verse for @blorbocedes who has been bothering me about teasing brocedes and not following through:

“Hey,” Lewis gasped into the phone. He felt the way his throat was raw, chafed-at by his own breath. “I didn’t think you’d pick up.”

Nico snorted. Lewis imagined him combing his fingers through his hair, holding his phone between ear and shoulder and rolling his eyes. “I have the broadcast on,” Nico said. “What a shit show. Where are you?”

Lewis glanced side to side, as if he should verify where he was. The cold walls of his driver’s room greeted him.

“Driver’s room,” said Lewis. He could still hear the sound of his engine failing. He’d had a bad premonition since free practice.

Nico clicked his tongue. “Good,” he said. “I want you to touch yourself.”

Lewis pulled the phone away from his ear, shocked. He replaced it, cupping it gently with one hand against his ear. “We’re not—“ said Lewis. He and Nico hadn’t spoken in a handful of weeks, Lewis busy with the foundation and the team and next year’s team and Nico jetting across Europe doing whatever he did.

“We can,” said Nico. “If I were there, I would fuck you right now. Let’s pretend I’m there. Do you remember Qatar?” Nico’s voice twisted slyly. Of course Lewis remembered Qatar. He remembered his leg draped over Nico’s shoulder, splayed open on the massage table inside the hospitality, Nico rushing to dress afterwards so he could run back to the Sky box in time for the post-race press.

“You do,” said Nico. “Lewis, touch yourself.”

Lewis slipped a shaky hand down his body and cupped himself through the thin material of his fireproofs.

“Are you doing it?” said Nico. “I think you are.” He was nearly purring through the phone now. Lewis performed a mental calculation and ascertained that, in Ibiza, Nico must be awake at an absurd hour in order to take Lewis’s call. Lewis pictured him standing on the back porch, leaning against a bleached wood rail and gazing onto the beach, his phone glowing beside him.

“Slowly, at first,” Nico instructed, and Lewis listened despite himself, his eyes fluttering shut and the white walls of his driver’s room melting away as he massaged his dick through his fireproofs. He heard the sharp intake of breath when Nico paused. “You’re trying to deny yourself,” said Nico. He laughed flatly. “Take your clothes off. I know you don’t want to enjoy this, but I’m going to make you. Sit up.” Lewis shifted his phone to the other side and lifted himself off his back. He shimmied his fireproofs down his hips and pulled them off. “Shirt too,” said Nico through the phone, as if he could see Lewis. “Now lie back down,” Nico insisted.

Lewis flattened himself back on top of the sofa, completely naked, his thighs splaying. His hard cock flopped against his thigh, thick with blood. He wrapped a hand around it and bit down on a groan.

“Good,” said Nico. “At least you’ll get something good out of today. At least you won’t—“ Nico paused. Lewis knew that pause—the diabolical silence when Nico was planning some scheme to catch Lewis off guard. “At least you can’t fuck this up.”

Lewis’s lungs seized, and simultaneously, a disorienting wave of arousal coursed through him. He squeezed the base of his dick instinctually, his hips arching off the bed.

“No,” he pleaded.

Nico seemed to hesitate before speaking. “Oh, I think so. I think you’ve been underperforming. But you can perform for me right here, right now. I want to hear you get yourself off.”

“Fuck you,” said Lewis, stripping his dick, eyes squeezed shut.

“You wish I would,” said Nico, bored. If he had a landline, he’d be twisting the cord around his phone. Instead he was probably sleek and wireless and holding a giant iPhone to his ear, expressionless. “You want someone else to take charge. You want your life to stop being on you. But you have to do it yourself now. Come on, Lewis.”

Lewis rubbed his thumb under the head, teetering on the precipice of a toe-curling orgasm.

“Do this for me,” Nico murmured. “Make up for the boring fucking race I had to watch. I pay to see Lewis fucking Hamilton, but I didn’t see him on track today.”

“Not my—“ Lewis groaned, jerking himself ruthlessly. “Fault—“ he said. His back arched when he came all over his stomach, ropes of come painting his abdomen. Silence followed over the phone while Lewis panted. He didn’t think Nico was ever trying to get off, was probably just high-handedly directing Lewis’s orgasm before breakfast. Lewis tried to imagine a younger Nico that Lewis would have actually listened to. At that time, he would have been more inclined to throw Nico around himself and make him follow Lewis’s commands.

“Was that,” said Nico, “okay?”

A thick exhale escapes Lewis’s mouth. “That was fucked,” he said.

“No kidding,” said Nico. Lewis noticed that he grew laconic when he was unsure of himself.

“You know it was just a mechanical error,” said Lewis.

Nico clicked his tongue again. Lewis could picture him rolling his eyes. “Of course I fucking know. But it doesn’t fit with the ‘you fuck yourself to make up for your shit performance on track’ narrative I was building.”

“Of course not,” said Lewis, growing aware that he was completely naked in his driver’s room, his own come all over his stomach, and Nico’s voice on speakerphone while the race still raged outside. “Hey. Are you going to be staying in Ibiza for a few more days?”

“I can,” said Nico slowly.

“I’ll… stop by,” said Lewis.

“I’m working in China,” said Nico.

“China,” said Lewis.

“I’ll be there,” Nico clarified, sounding impatient.

“That’s not for—“ said Lewis.

“Four weeks,” Nico finished.

“I’m booking a flight for tomorrow,” said Lewis. He was already swiping through his phone, messaging one of the assistants to find him a flight to Ibiza that worked with his schedule at the factory.

Nico sighed. “Should I prepare to get back what I gave today? You might have to warm me up first. I haven’t—”

“See you,” said Lewis

[silvervioletvalentine]

❣️!Theres a thin line between love and hate!❣️

Pairing : max verstappen X (single mom!Cherrie!)

Word count : 10k

Summary: in which there’s a very thin line between love and ‘hate’.

Max couldn't stop side eyeing the biggest pain in his ass, the sharpest thorn in his side , the mould to a perfectly good piece of bread - the most annoying woman who ever lived .. narrowing his eyes at her in confusion as he watched her move her body from side to side , looking down at her feet as she mumbled something to herself , seeming to be in her own little world .

Taking a deep breath to control the urge to snap at her to keep still, he glanced around at the track to see every other driver stood politely and still as each one of their national anthems played, they were all apart of a new ceremony to kick off the start of the season again.

Each driver was lined up neatly and had their hands either on their chest or crossed behind their back or front in respect . The host took turns introducing each and everyone of them, their faces appearing on the large screen that was hung up on the railings for everyone to see.

Placing his hand over his own chest too and pursing his lips when it got to his turn to be introduced , his national anthem playing as everyone went silent in respect.

Only His eyes started twitching as through the silence he heard Cherrie start to hum to herself, turning his head slightly as he watched her start to Bob her head and sway side to side as though she was dancing along to some kind of music that he couldn't hear.

Then his eyes zoomed in on her long wavy hair that was blew slightly back in the breeze and then he saw it .

She had in Wireless headphones.

Unable to stop the way his eyes widened in disbelief , as he watched her start to sing to the music that only she could hear . Seeming to not care that everyone else was respectfully standing still as they were presented to the excited crowd around them.

"And I'm crazy, but you like it ..Loca, loca, loca...You like that it ain't easy...Loca, loca, loca" she started singing to herself . Shaking her hips a little, not even noticing her teammates disbelieving stare.

His mouth opening and closing several times as he looked around him to see if anybody else was noticing this shit too.

But everyone else was too busy listening to the national anthem and doing their duties, smiling and nodding at the cameras screening them.

Everyone but Cherrie.

He really should have known that she would do something like this. She never took anything seriously! Feeling the familiar creeping of annoyance and anger drive him up the wall just at the sight of her next to him.

It was absolutely no secret that the two teammates didn't exactly see eye to eye... or wheel to wheel for that matter .

Max didn't know what it was about her that dug so deeply underneath his skin, but he just couldn't stand her .

And every time that they were near each other he felt a need to snap at her or run the fuck away. Usually a heavy mixture of the two.

She was just so fucking obnoxious and arrogant . She spent half of her time bossing everybody around and demanding that it was her way or absolutely no way.

She just didn't seem to care about the rules or about what was wrong or right, she just went right ahead and did whatever the fuck she wanted without caring about the consequences of her usually stupid actions.

The amount of times that he and Cherrie had gotten into a argument because of how stubborn and careless she was.

It Was slighty insane and no matter how many times max told himself to be the bigger person and not to retaliate , it was like all of his rationality and common sense just left him whenever she looked at him with her smug little smile, her eyes shining at him like 'ha! Fuck you!'.

It drove him crazy and no amount of forced team bonding or scoldings from their team could make them get along.

I mean , how could he get along with the same woman who had cut a large hole in the backside of his racing suit after he had told her that he was going to be the leading car on the track?

If it hadn't been for his laughing assistant pointing out the giant hole in his jumpsuit that showcased his ass, he might have had the most embarrassing moment of his career because of her .

And to make it all even worse, Cherrie had whizzed past him in her car and mockingly wiggled her fingers at him as she did so.

Max had never wanted to hurt a woman bedore. But In that moment he could have strangled her.

He turned to look at Charles besides him instead , wondering why no one else was noticing the infatuating woman dancing next to him.

"Do you see this?" He whispered underneath his breath to the Ferrari driver , a scowl on his face as he saw Cherrie wiggle her hips some more out of the corner of his eye.

Charles peered at him curiously, still keeping his hand pressed against his chest as another drivers national anthem played out.

"See what?" He whispered back to him confused to why he looked like he was about to blow a fuse.

Max nodded his head jerkily to his left , motioning rudely towards his teammate.

"She's listening to Shakira! She's got headphones in! Look!" He hissed at him.

The both of them turning their heads just in time to see Cherrie shake her ass to the music that was playing through her headphones , bobbing her head along obliviously .

"I guess she doesn't know the things that I'd do to please you ...I take you to the malecón por el caminito

They saw your girlfriend looking for me with a rifle

'Cause, we're dancin' Mambo, oh, what she don't allow it?" She sang along passionately , flicking her hair and trying hard not to start dropping low like she would at the club.

Charles just giggled quietly, shaking his head as he warily eyed max who looked like he wanted to throttle her

"She's a good singer." Was all he said to him, immediately looking away once max shot him a disbelieving look in return.

"Un-fucking-believable." He mutteeed to himself bedore glancing up at the screen and nearly jumping out of skin once he noticed that Cherrie was being presented , the cameras zooming in on her dancing beside him withoit a care in the world.

"Cherrie!" He hissed at her , kicking her ankle with his foot to get her attention.

She just lazily tilted her head at him, popping out one headphone and raising her eyebrow at him uncaringly.

"What?" She innocently mumbled bedore spotting herself on the big screen and immediately giving the camera a wave . Winking at it too even though she had no idea what the hell was going on, too busy in her own little world to care.

Max just blankly stared at her, not amused in the slightest.

"Turn your music off now! You're being rude. You're gonna make the whole team look bad!" He snapped at her before inhaling sharply when she just continued to wiggle her butt to the music she was listening to.

"And stop shaking your ass for fucks sake!" He almost shouted at her. Forcefully Tearing his eyes away from said shaking ass to glare at her.

He tried to ignore the way Charles and lando were snickering at them , Charles having nudged the other driver to get him to notice what was going on too.

Cherrie just glared back at him, smugly smirking to herself as she continued to shake her hips, even going as far as offering him one of the headphones for him to listen to.

"And I'm crazy, but you like it

'Cause the kinda girl like me, they're running out of in the market." She sang winking at him, dodging the incoming kick to her ass that he tried to give her.

"There's something wrong with you. You're an absolute rude asshole!" He insulted her , sighing in relief once the presentation was over. The drivers now being aloud to disperse and head over to greet the fans if they wanted to.

Max started walking back to where the redbull garage was, not wanting to be around her for another second. Unfortunately for him, she was his teammate and they both had to get ready for their race.

Skipping over to him so that they were walking side by side , she nudged his side over and over again just to annoy him so more.

Enjoy the way that he was stubbornly refusing to look at her , his face set and eyes staring straight ahead as he tried to ignore her.

Though she could see the angry flush creeping up his cheeks and the flaring of his nostrils the more she poked and prodded at him like a child.

The worst thing being that she actually had a child of her own too .

Max couldn't believe that this childish maniac was a mother and he grew more and more worried by the day. Wondering if little juniper was going to grow up and become batshit insane too.

He felt sorry for the poor kid if this was the bullshit that the three year old had to put up with at home.

"You need to lighten up Mad Max! When was the last time you got laid?! You're so tense!" She taunted him , trying and failing to hold back her grin when he gave up on trying to ignore her and instead shot her a look that to warn her that she was walking on very thin line with him.

But Cherrie had always had great balance on a tightrope so she just kept pushing.

Like always. Annoying max was her favourite thing to do. No doubt about it.

"Never mind I can already guess the answer. Judging by the giant stick lodged up your ass! No girl wants to deal with that. You're so boring!" She groaned loudly as she followed him into the garage , waving at a few of the mechanics that they passed.

Max felt red hot anger pass through him, shoving her in her side a little too hard and causing her to go flying into the shelf. Scowling at her in frustration when she just let out a loud laugh and straightened herself back up, picking up a spanner that she had knocked over during the fall and waving it at him with a grin.

"Maybe this will help loosen that stick up! Maybe we can asked Jerry to help-" she went to call one of their engineers over.

Max quickly leaping over to her side and pressing his hand against her big mouth, dragging her around the corner with him so that she couldn't embarrass him in front of anymore people.

"You need to shut the hell up! It's absolutely no wonder that Matt left you . No man wants to put up with someone this fucking irritating!" He snapped at her. Feeling a pang of instant remorse the moment he said it as she paused in his grasp.

He was expecting her to get upset , mabye curse him out and hit him. But he should have known better than wasting any guilt on her.

Because she just snorted out a laugh and grinned up at him, patting his arm like he was the stupid one.

"I'll have you know that I dumped his ass . Not the other way around! And where still great friends!" She informed him proudly , continuing to trail after him to the redbull hospitality room so that they could get ready for the race .

Max scoffed as he placed his hand on her head and gave her another little shove so that she didn't beat him to the door. Childishly nudging her away with his hip when she tried to push past him to get to the door again.

"If juniper wasn't his child there would be no way that he would willingly hang around you! I'm pretty sure that he's balding because of you Cherrie. That's how fucking annoying you are!" He snapped at her as they both stumbled through the door, neither willing to let the other one go first.

Both of their assistants looked up from the table that they were sat at with matching looks of exasperation as they watched the two champions continue to bicker with each other and shove at eachother like little kids .

Cherrie huffed at him, giving him a particularly hard shove back that sent him falling down onto the couch in the room.

"He was already balding! It's in his family genes! You however , what's your excuse asshole?! It's a god job that you wear that hat so I don't have to see your stupid face!" She shouted at him, picking up a throw pillow and throwing it at said stupid face.

He just stuck out his foot and tripped her , Cherrie yelling as she went flying over his lap. Her face smushing into the cushion as her legs hung off his lap at a weird angle.

Max snickering as he smacked the back of her thighs with the palm of his hand bedore pushing her off of him so that she rolled onto the floor into a heap of limbs instead .

"Fuck you!" He snapped back at her. Placing his foot on-top her back so that she couldn't get back up.

Smirking to himself as he watched her try to wiggle away from him, slapping her hand against his other leg with a pissed off huff.

Neither paying any mind to the disapproving looks that their team was giving them.

"There isn't a hat big enough to cover your hideous face!" He insulted her . Finally lifting his foot so that she could stagger back to her feet with a glare.

Placing her hands firmly on her hips as she stood right in front of him, squinting her eyes at him in disbelief .

"Hideous?! I was voted hottest woman of the year!" She reminded him arrogantly. Flicking her hair at him as she stomped over to where her bag was left, pulling out of her phone .

Max just scoffed , leaning back against the couch and placing his hands behind his head as he watched her .

"Yeah by blind people! Trust me if they knew what you were like they wouldn't be saying that!" He wasn't stupid enough to deny that she was in fact one of the hottest women that he had ever seen.

It was just her big mouth that put him off. There had been many a times that he had catched Himself gazing at her from across the room, in awe by how fucking beautiful she was.

Only for her to spot him looking at her , then she would swear at him and call him some creative insult till he remembered that it didn't matter how pretty she was, she was a fucking asshole. And she loved to make his life a misery!

Cherrie just ignored him as she focused on something on her phone, sitting down on the couch opposite him instead .

There was silence for a few minutes as max just continued to stare at her , wondering who she was texting as he saw a little smile creep on her lips making a weird sensation fill his stomach at the sight.

Unable to take his curiosity anymore , he broke the silence again.

"Which flavour of the week are you texting now?" He took a jab at the way that she seemed to go through men like they were candy. Spitting out the ones that she didn't like the taste of and only keeping around the best ones till she had enough of her fill of sugar.

Max was pretty sure that her newest fling had been some big shot footballer in france .

He had seen photographs of the two of them at a club together, dancing and kissing till they left together in the early mornings. He had stopped reading the article after that. Not wanting to know anymore.

Cherrie merely gave him a unimpressed glance before turning back to her phone.

"Matt just sent me some pictures of juniper in the new merch." She found herself telling him. The mothers pride in her making her want to arrogantly show of how cute her daughter was to anybody that would listen.

Max rose his brows, getting up off the couch and walking over to her . Plopping himself on the seat beside her , he bent his head so that he could see the screen of her phone as well.

"They do tiny versions?" He said surprised as he recalled just how small juniper was. Even for a three year old she was smaller than most of them.

But then again , he thought to himself as he took a glance at the 5,3 woman beside him, so was her mother.

Cherrie hummed and tilted her phone to show him a picture of juniper wearing a redbull top with her signature and car number on.

"I had them make it. She has a few now. The other drivers keep sending us their merch as well. She looks a little odd cause she loves to wear Charles Ferrari cap and Lewis's Mercedes shirt!" She mused with a grin as she flicked through the pictures to show him.

Max smiled , his eyes softening as he looked at the picture of a grinning juniper on the screen. With a hat far too big for her tiny head, her long curls a mess all around her face, her chubby cheeks pink and eyes as big as bambi's. Barely any teeth in her mouth as she grinned at the camera cheekily.

"She's got the wrong redbull shirt on. She needs the champions one." He said with a smirk , already reminding himself to get her a mini version of his own merch for juniper to wear.

There was absolutely no way that he was going to let the three year old wander around in Ferrari and Mercedes clothes. No fucking way!

Cherrie just rolled her eyes, nudging him for his cheek. "She had for the champions one. The champion is her mommy. She doesn't need a cap to prove that." She muttered smugly , locking her phone after she had finished showing him all the latest photos of her daughter.

A lot of people thought it was strange how she and max were permanently at each other's throats yet her daughter was Max's favourite person in the whole world.

As soon as max had seen the baby in her arms when she was just one years old, barely able to speak and just gargling strange noises at him, something inside him had melted .

Forgetting what they had been arguing about almost immediately as he held out his arms to hold her baby with a grin, juniper shrieking happily when Cherrie reluctantly passed her over to him.

A shocked look on her pretty face when she watched max casually walk away with her baby, talking down to her in a cute baby voice as he went around the paddock to show her off like he was the proud father and not the enemie of her mother .

Cherrie hadn’t been able to separate them after that , and whenever she brought juniper to the races with her , max would come over to spend some time with her one on one. Claiming that it was because he didn't trust Matt , her baby daddy, to actually teach the kid some 'manly' things .

Cherrie had merely laughed . Watching max let her baby put a tiara on his head as they had a pretend tea party in the paddock. Even letting her put blush on his face.

No one had believed a word that he said but she wasn't going to complain.

Max may have been an absolute pain in her ass but her daughter loved him and without him saying it, she knew that max adored juniper to pieces too.

"Is she at matt's tonight?" He asked her as he walked over to his side of the room to grab his racing suit, a wall dividing them so they could get changed .

Seeing her assistant motion for her to ger ready as well, she put down her phone and grabbed her own gear as well. Taking the racing suit off the hanger , she spoke around the fabric that covered her face as she pulled off her shirt.

"Yes and No. She's with him right now but the babysitter is looking after her tonight until I get back.." she informed him as she nearly fell over trying to get her fireproofs on.

Max hummed to himself as he put his arms through the jumpsuit , grinning to himself as he heard Cherrie let out a loud curse as she banged into something, a small 'ow' escaping her making him

Chuckle at how clumsy she was.

"Get back from where?" He asked her confusedly. Assuming that she would just be going straight home from the track once they were done racing.

Cherrie huffed "from the club. We go to them after every race . Well, you don't but I do.." she said.

Reminding him of the fact that his teammate was an absolute party animal, if there was a party then she was going to be there no matter what.

It was how she had gotten juniper after all. Though max hoped that she had leaned her lesson from that one, they really didn't need another mini Cherrie running around.

Juniper was already a handful. Turning into an exact replica of Cherrie with her sarcasm and little attitude. They even shared the same judgmental expression on their pretty faces. Max had almost had a stroke when the three year old had looked him up and down with a scrunch or her face as she asked him

"Why are you dressed like a ugly golfer?" When he had shown up in a polo neck and chinos.

She had made him go back to his dressing room and put on something else instead until she approved, all the while Cherrie just cackled proudly at what a menace her daughter was.

"You're gonna go even when you lose the race?" He said to her. Hiding his own smirk as he waited for her to snap at him.

He didn't have to wait long. Walking out from behind the changing wall to see Cherrie already glaring at him with her racing suit tied loosely around her hips.

"You mean when I win? And you lose right? I'll have a drink on you!" She told him arrogantly as she walked over to pick up her balaclava and helmet.

Their assistants ushering them along and to their cars.

Max just scoffed as he looked down at her with a glare . "I'm the leading driver Cherrie. You make space for me. How many times do I have to say it?" He bickered at her .

Cherrie, like usual, was having none of it. Shaking her head at him and giving him a little shove as they rounded the corner, aware of a cameraman now following them to get their pre-race reactions.

She pulled on her balaclava as she spoke "it doesn't matter who's the number one driver dickhead. It's matters who's faster. Which I am. You have to give me room then! Don't be a selfish moron max!" She snapped at him , ignoring the squeeze to her shoulder that her Assistant was giving her, telling her to behave .

But it wasn't the first time that the cameras had caught them arguing and it wouldn't be the last.

Max was scowling at her as his team started leading him away to his own car.

"I've already told you this a hundred times, I'm not doing it again. Just watch my back and do as you’re told!" That was completely the wrong thing to say to a woman who did the exact opposite of what he said.

Pulling a face at his back , she scoffed to herself at his cheek .

“Fucking bastard! He forgets that I’m a fucking world champion too! I didn't become that by being his bitch!" She muttered bitterly as she pulled on her helmet and lowered herself into her car.

Ignoring everyone around her as she tried to get herself into the zone. Ignoring the anger that Max's stubbornness had left her with.

She was going to win whether he liked it or not. She didn't pull back for anyone . Certainly not max.

They were nearing the end of the race when Cherrie finally managed to go from p6 to p3 in seconds , passing by the cars smoothly as she came wheel to wheel with Max's car.

Feeling excitement run through her as she realised thag she could do this. That she could push her car even further , she was the fastest one out of the two of them and she told her team so as she flicked on her radio.

"Max needs to let me pass! I can push! I'm faster than him!" She told them loudly , keeping her eye on the gap that was quickly getting closer and closer between her and her teammate .

Heart racing in her chest with adrenaline as they flew down the track, eyes widening as she realised that they were about to come into a sharp corner again. One that was only big enough for one car at a time.

"We have told him to make space. He's refusing to Cherrie. Just stay calm while we try to sort this out!"

She couldn't believe it. Fury flushing through her as she saw the distant close between their wheels. He was putting both of them in Danger as he refused to make a gap for her, instead closing it and nearly righting her off the track all together .

Managing to yank her wheel to keep her pace, the two cars racing side by side as the corner grew dangerously close.

She pressed the radio button that was linked between both of their cars so that max could hear her snap at him.

"I'm faster max! If you don't let me pass I'm gonna push the both of us off this fucking track!" She screamed at him. Struggling to stop their wheels from colliding as he moved his car even closer instead of letting her through.

She could hear their team frantically telling him to listen and pull back.

Then Max's pissed off voice reached her ears "I've fucking told you already! I'm not doing it! You need to pull back Cherrie!" He shouted back at her stubbornly .

Cherrie glanced behind her to see herself boxed in by two other cars. She couldn't have pulled back even if she tried otherwise she would end up causing them all to crash into a pile up.

Her heart was racing as she panicked "max I'm fucking serious! Let me pass now! There's two Ferrari's behind me!" She warned him.

Max wouldn't listen . Then the sharp corner approached and Cherrie inhaled deeply as she turned her car to try and take the wider line, hoping that max would realise what would happen if he didn't give her any space .

Praying that he would do the right thing.

He didn't.

Instead Cherrie could only yell out angry "fuck!" As she watched in almost slow motion as her front wheels hit the back of his own, sparks flying off the rubber as both of their cars were then flung at a ridiculous speed off the track.

Squeezing her eyes shut as she felt their cars hit against each other , flipping in the air a few times as she tried to keep her body safe.

Max's car went flying over her head as she ducked her head and pressed it against her wheel, thanking god for the halo above her as she felt his large wheel hit off the top of her car before crashing in front of her.

Her own car skidding until it hit the wall with a horrible crash, jostling her body as she tried to catch back her breath.

Staring in disbelief at Max's crashed car in front of her , quickly reassuring her team that she was alright over the radio. Before Turning off her engine and quickly removing the wheel as she hoisted her aching body up and out of the car.

"Fucking shit!" She snarled as she jumped down onto the grass, gritting her teeth in fury as she looked over at the other crashed redbull in front of her .

Watching with anger as max slowly pulled himself out as well, his head turning to look at her . Backing away a little , already knowing what was going to happen.

She completely lost her shit.

Yanking off her helmet furiously , she stalked towards him with a snarl. "What the fuck is wrong with you , you selfish bastard! You could have killed the both of us!" She screamed at him, eyes wide in disbelief at how stupid he had been.

Max lifted up his vistor and glared back at her as the safety car was deployed , glancing over the track to see pieces of their cars scattering the tarmac .

His chest tightening as it sunk in what he had just done, gritting his teeth as he looked back over at Cherrie and saw her holding her side in pain.

Shit.

"Cherrie-" he was quickly cut off before he could even attempt to make any excuses or apologise.

Rage was over taking her and all she saw was red "you stupid fucking idiot! We're both out now! God I could kill you!" She screamed at him before lifting up her helmet and throwing it at him at full force.

Hearing the Marshall's and the medics run over to them , trying to calm her down. She roughly shrugged off one of her hands from her shoulder , instead watching max flinch as he ducked to the side to avoid her helmet flying at him.

Watching it crash at his feet with a wince, he inhaled deeply . Guilt sinking low in his stomach as he watched her blink away tears of anger , being held back by two men as she tried to throw herself at him.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" He blurted out honestly. Ashamed of himself for being so selfish and wanting to win. That he put both of their lives at risk.

Not knowing why he couldn't just let his pride go and let her pass him. He knew that she was faster then, that she could have pushed and easy won the race. Yet he had froze up and her screaming at him to move had went in one ear and out the other.

So certain that he could have got around that sharp corner and been p1 if he just kept her car behind him to defend off the other drivers.

How wrong he was.

Cherrie pulled off her gloves and hauled them at his head as well. Slapping the multiple peoples hands off her as she yanked herself from their grip, ignoring them shouting at her to calm down.

Instead she stomped over to max and shoved him so hard that he went flying down to the ground with a startled huff.

Looking down at him with a furious glare, feeling utterly betrayed by her own teammate who was supposed to have her back.

"Fuck you max!" She spat at him . Shaking her head at him in disappointment as she backed herself away from him before she actually did some damage and attacked him.

"I hope you're very happy with yourself! You fucked over not only me winning but you as well! We could have been on that podium together! We're supposed to be a fucking team remember?!" She shouted at him , this time letting herself be pulled away.

Not caring that the scene between them was playing out on the screen for all to see.

She couldn't give a shit.

Instead all she could think about was the fact that her daughter had no doubt just watched her and max crash badly . That if it wasn't for that halo above her head, her daughter would have lost her mother within seconds. Because of Max's stubbornness to win.

Max seemed to be realising the same thing as he pulled himself back to his feet and said her name remorsefully .

"Cherrie please-"

She just shook her head at him , muttering another quiet. "Fuck you." Before turning her back on him completely and letting herself be took to the medics to be checked out.

Leaving max to stare at where she had been stood with his shaking hands on his hips, pulling his visor back down over his eyes so that nobody could see him cry .

Hating himself for what he had stupidly done without thinking .

By the time he was about to go to bed and try to forget this terrible day that he had, his phone rang loudly making him curse out loud in annoyance.

Picking up his phone from his bedside table and checking the time, his frown deepening as he realised it was one o'clock in the morning , looking at the caller ID with confusion.

Wondering why Charles was calling him at such a ridiculous hour. Especially when the rest of the drivers knew better than to disturb him once he had entered the peace of his own home.

Answering the call and Putting the phone up to his ear with a huff .

“What do you want?" He snapped down the line impatiently .

Wanting nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep this whole mess he had created away. Unable to get the look of disappointment and betrayal that cherrie had given him out of his mind.

He was convinced that the guilt was going to haunt him forever at this rate.

Charles voice was clearly slurring as he answered him loudly over the music playing.

"'Max! I can't believe that you did that you naughty boy!" Charles tried to scold him in his drunken state , having re watched the shit show on his phone after it has been sent around the group chat.

Everybody talking about how max had fucked over his teammate again.

Max pinched the bridge of his nose , trying to push down his anger as he told himself that charles wouldn't dare to speak to him like this if he was sober.

In fact , none of them would.

Except Cherrie. She would argue with him wether she was completely smashed or not.

"Is that it? You've called to make me feel even worse about it than I already do?" He shot back to him , rubbing the tiredness from his eyes and glancing down at the photo frame on his nightstand.

Feeling his heart squeeze painfully in his chest as he looked at the photo of him, Cherrie and juniper on a teacup ride that they had hired for her birthday. It was a rare day that Cherrie had actually been smiling at him, her eyes bright and amused as he clung onto her with a laugh, little juniper in his lap squealing the whole ride.

It had been one of the best days in a long time and he couldn't have been more thankful for lando capturing the moment for him to keep forever.

Charles scoffed " yesssss mate. I just wanted to tell you what an idiot you are! You're lucky that pierre had been filling her up with vodka all night bedore she looked ready to plan your murder when she met up with us!" He rambled onto him, hiccuping occasionally .

Max scowled "pierre is with her?" He almost spat in distaste.

Knowing how close that the two were, even more so when they were drunk, it only made him hate it even more.

Not understanding why she could be the best of friends with every other driver but him.

He hated to admit it but he felt a slither of envy whenever the two were around each other. He hated how flirty and comfortable they were, he had often wondered to himself if they had something going on between them.

Having seen pierre over at her house far too many times for his liking.

Max had pettishly made sure that juniper knew that he was the better race driver out of the two. Having had a great laugh to himself when juniper had relayed what he told her right to pierre's  shocked face.

"You're a loser with a shit car." Juniper had told him confidently when he waved at her with a smile, a smile that quickly dropped at her words.

The three year old looking up at max for approval after she had said it. Getting a proud pat on the head from him while Cherrie scolded him for being so childish.

"Yes! They are dancing together! They are soooo drunk mate!" Charles giggled to him, unaware of the fury that he was making max feel .

Swinging his feet over the edge of his bed, he put his phone on loud speaker as he hurriedly pulled on some sweatpants and a old shirt , shoving crocs onto his feet quickly.

"Where the fuck are you guys? Don't let her do anything stupid!" He told Charles firmly as he ran down his stairs and picked up his car keys, bolting straight to his car.

Charles sounded amused "like run you off the track you mean? She can't do anything more stupid than you! And pierre-" he hiccuped again "is making her happy! You made her sad max! That's not nice!" His drunk ness made him barely make any sense as his voice kept cutting in and out.

"Is it club blue?" He demanded , ignoring everything he said as he sped down the highway With his lips pursed . Trying not to think of Cherrie and pierre together in any way.

Charles gasped "how did you know? Are you here too?!"

Max just rolled his eyes as he turned his car around and sped in the direction of the popular club with a huff.

"I'm going to be! What is she doing now?" He wanted to know. Knowing how she behaved whenever vodka was involved.

He just hoped that she hadn't had any tequila yet.

Tequila was the very reason that she had gotten pregnant with juniper in the first place.

The thought of her , pierre and a bottle of tequila between them almost made him gag in panic.

He heard Charles laughing loudly just as he pulled up outside the club. Quickly getting out the car and easily being let into the club once they recognised who he was.

"She's on the table dancing! Oh wow!" Charles gasped in amazement . "She's a really good dancer mate! Look at her hips .." he trailed off in awe.

Max ended the call and quickly shoved through the crowd as the voice of Ricky Martin assaulted his ears.

It not taking him long to spot Cherrie, he just had to follow every mans gaping mouth to the direction of the left .

His eyes going wide as he froze in his spot for a moment, watching as Cherrie pulled off her shirt and waved It in the air with a cheeky smirk on her face as she spun her hips around seductively , tilting her back till her hair cascaded down her back messily .

"I'll let her rough me up

'Til she knocks me out

'Cause she walks like she talks

And she talks like she walks

She bangs, she bangs" he just about heard her sing along : dropping down to her knees as she bounced her hip on the stage. The crowd cheering her on loudly.

Max swallowed thickly and quickly pushed through the crowd till he reached the group of drivers that were also watching her seduce the club.

Running her hands down her bare stomach , rolling her stomach and pushing out her breasts in the tiny bra she was wearing, pushing her already tiny skirt low on her hips as she danced like a stripper.

He gave the nearest driver a shove, it just fortunately happened to be pierre who looked over at him with a frown once he noticed it was him.

"Why the fuck did you let her get up there?!" He snapped at him. His annoyance only growing once how noticed Charles and lando were also staring open mouthed at Cherrie as she turned around, lifted up her skirt so that they could see her ass that was barely covered by lace panties . Dropping down and shaking her ass at them without a care in the world.

"Oh my god." Max muttered , eyes stuck to her ass for a moment before he snapped out of it. Pushing his way through the crowd till he got to the edge of the stage.

Glaring up at her as he shouted her name "Cherrie! Get down now!" He yelled up at her, taking a hold of her ankle before she could start twerking some more.

Her head snapped down to him in surprise , bedore she took one look at him and rolled her eyes.

"Nooooo! Go away you backstabber!" She whined bedore containing to sing along to the music blaring around the club. "I love this song!"

"She bangs, she bangs

Oh baby, when she moves, she moves

I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower

But she stings like a bee

Like every girl in history!" She sang down to him with a smirk, putting her arms above her head and winding her body like Shakira.

He was reminded then of just why Cherrie was one of the most wanted women in the world.

Max felt like he was going to have a stroke when she suddenly dropped down to her knees in front of him, winking at him once she noticed that he couldn't take his eyes away from her .

Taking a deep breath , he shook his head rapidly to try and clear any dirty thoughts away.

Reminding himself that if he was getting turned on by her dancing like this , then so was everyone else in the club watching her .

Grimacing to himself at the reminder , he leant over the stage and locked his arms around her waist, pulling her down and off of it Before she could even blink.

"We're going home!" He declared to her . Ignoring the way that she was hitting at his arms as she struggled to get out of his hold.

Max just held onto her tighter as he began to carry her towards the exit. Ignoring the other drivers booing at him for ruining the show.

Cherrie slapped at his head , whining . "Nooo! I was having fun! Why did you have to ruin it!"

He huffed as he spun her around so that he was carrying on his hip like a child , giving a casual nod to the bouncer that was watching them in disbelief.

No doubt he hasn't seen a f1 driver being carried out by another f1 driver who has crashed them

Both off the track and got a helmet thrown at him by said woman on life tv before.

"If they wanted to watch porn then they could watch it on their phone! You didn't have to give them it for free!" He snapped at her as he placed her down in front of his car. Pulling the edge of her skirt down as far as it could go over her ass. Which wasn't very far at all.

Cherrie just groaned as he opened the passenger side down and placed his hand on top of her head , not so gently pushing her into the seat.

"You're just jealous that I can shake my hips! Your about as flexible as a table!" She threw back at him, crossing her arms over her chest with a annoyed pout as he slammed her door shut and got into the drivers seat.

Quickly starting up the car and getting them back on the highway, he sent her a unimpressed glance.

"Shut up. There's going to be videos of your ass all over the internet tomorrow now!" He told her unhappily as he took the lane that led back to her house instead of his.

Recalling what she had said about juniper being with a babysitter till she got back.

He wondered how the three year old felt after seeing her mother crash because of him on tv. The guilt nearly made him sick as he sped up the car, wanting to see her and reassure the kid that they were okay.

Cherrie huffed "there's going to be videos of you betraying me as well! I don't even want to look at you!" She then muttered some curse words under her breath at him. "You bastard!"

Max groaned as he glanced over at her , frowning in frustration.

"I know! I know! I said I was sorry! It was stupid of me to do that. I don't know why I did!" He told her , pissed off with himself for doing it.

Cherrie pulled her knees up to her chest, kicking off her heels and holding them in her hands instead.

Glancing over to her teammate and seeing the way his jaw was clenched , his cheeks red with shame and eyes so fucking sad as he looked back at her.

Feeling a little bit of her anger chip away once she noticed just as remorseful he looked.

"Cause you didn't want me to win. That was such a asshole move max." She sighed tiredly , body still aching despite the vodka numbing her a little.

He pulled into her driveway and turned off the car , not getting out just yet.

Instead he gently placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed to her her to look at him again , looking at her earnestly.

"Cherrie, I mean this with every part of me. I am sorry okay? I fucked up and you're right I did want to win. I took our competitiveness too far . And I am so fucking sorry. I wish I could change what I did and just let you pass instead , but I can't ." He sighed , swallowing thickly .

His eyes  scanning her pretty face for a reaction. Just needing her to believe him when he told her that he was sorry.

Cherrie looked back at him silently for a moment before rolling her eyes and admitting silent defeat.

"Okay." Was all she muttered before opening up the car door and sliding out.

Hearing max quickly do the same thing as he jogged back over to her side. Carefully taking her heels from her fingers and holding them in his hand instead.

Wrapping his other arm around her waist as she stumbled into his side , letting him guide her up to her door, seeing the lights still on.

"You forgive me?" He whispered to her hopefully as he pushed open the door and stepped in, pulling her into the hallway with him Bedore closing the door behind them with his foot.

Cherrie just leant her head against his arm with a tired yawn, nodding her head .

"Only if you let me pass next time. Otherwise I'll be the one to push you off the track. And I'll make sure it's worse this time." She threatened him sleepily just as her babysitter came down the hall.

Smiling at them as she put her coat on, nodding her head respectfully at them.

"She's not long nodded off in her bed. She was a little  worried but settled down after a while." She informed Cherrie quietly .

Making max wince with shame at the thought of juniper watching their crash like that. God knows what the poor kid had been thinking.

After Cherrie had paid her babysitter, max carefully lead her up the stairs to her room. His hands hovering over her incase she stumbled again.

"Max?" She called over to him quietly once she had thrown herself down on her bed, max putting her heels back in her closet before walking back over to her with a raise or his brow.

Humming to let her know he was listening as he picked up a packet of makeup wipes and sat down beside her .

Lifting the wipe up to her face , he almost froze as she whispered  a "why do you hate me so much?" To him.

Sounding genuinely upset at the thought of him hating her.

He swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and started wiping her makeup from her face, gently sweeping the wipe against her skin as he wondered just how honest he should be with her.

But then he saw her sad eyes and down turned lips as she sagged against him, trusting him to take off her makeup and help her into bed in such a state.

He decided just tell the truth for once . "I pretended to hate you because I thought you hated me." He muttered quietly .

Pushing her messy hair from her face and pulling back the covers so he could tuck her in, his hand lingered by her cheek as he gently stroked her cheekbone with his fingertips .

Watching her eyes flutter tiredly as she gazed up at him with a frown , yawning again.

"But I never hated you. I just liked annoying you." She told him innocently as though the years of fighting between them was no big deal.

Max blinked down at her in mild amusement , shaking his head in disbelief .

"Fantastic. So all this time I thought you hated me you were just at winding  me up for your own amusement?" He stated. Pursing his lips at the infuriating woman in front of him.

She just smiled , nodded her head and let out a small giggle . Snugging her face into her pillow as she picked up his hand and kissed his knuckles like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Max felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

Inhaling sharply as her lips made contact with his skin, his face softening as she lifted up her other hand for him to do it back .

Maybe it was because she was drunk and being so uncharacteristically affectionate with him.

Or maybe it was because he loved her. But he gently took her hand and kissed each knuckle softly , letting out a sigh.

"You're such a pain in the ass." He muttered with a chuckle. Unbelievable. "You know that right?"

Cherrie just hummed , smiling up at him. "I know. But you love me though don't you?"

He didn't know how she knew it but she did. Her eyes told him the exact same thing.

Feeling his face heat up as he jokingly dropped her hand onto the bed and pinched her cheek, chuckling as he pushed himself up from the bed before he did something as stupid as kiss her.

"You're crazy cherrie." He just whispered to her as he pulled the blanket over her and flicked off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness so she couldn't see the smile that was taking over his face.

Walking over to the door, he paused as he heard her speak up again.

"You can make it up to me ya know.. might help me forgive you quicker." She told him quietly  , already half asleep.

He smiled , shaking his head fondly.

“Yeah? How can I make it up to you?" He wanted to know .

Already planning on making it up to her as soon as she was sober again.

"You can take me on a date and kiss it better." She told him in a whisper .

Max blushed. Laughing underneath his breath as he pulled open her bedroom door to leave.

"Sounds good. " was all he answered to her, smiling to himself contently .

“Sweet dreams Cherrie." He said before closing the door behind him.

Letting himself breathe again for a moment as he rubbed his hands over his face to try and sort himself out before he walked over to the room opposite Cherrie, smiling at the hand drawn picture of a castle that juniper had drawn being stuck on her door.

Gently pushing open the door he made his way inside , smiling once he made eye contact with the three year old that was already wide awake , seemingly waiting for someone to talk to her.

"Hey." He breathed out happily as he knelt down beside her bed, giving her his hand . "Hi."

Juniper grabbed ahold of his fingers and giggled , pulling at his hand happily.

"Maxi.." she cooed at him , wiggling on her back as she pulled at her blanket with her other hand so it covered her properly .

"You went vrooommmm!" She mimicked two cars crashing together with her hands, looking up at him with wide eyes. Clearly worried.

Max sighed and smiled at her sadly . "I know. Looked bad huh?" He muttered as he grabbed the beanie chair from the corner of her room and dragged it over to the side of her bed so he could still reach her.

Laying down on it and getting comfortable , he gave her back his hand to hold through the gaps of her bed. Juniper quickly latching on as her tiny hand clung onto him again.

"Hurt?" She asked him cutely, concerned.

Max let out a small laugh when she suddenly picked up one of her teddy's and threw it at his face.

Picking up the bright pink fuzzy bear and tucking it underneath his arm to make her happy . He gently squeezed her fingers three times.

"No. We're okay juney. Mommy is okay too." He comforted her quietly . Turning on his side so that he could see her cute little face properly .

She was an exact copy of Cherrie , that he glad for. They had the same soft button nose and long lashes, the same pouty lips and big judgey eyes.

It was too much for his heart to handle.

How was he supposed to just not fall in love with the two of them? Cherrie made him feel alive , she made his heart sing.

And juniper made him happy. The way she toddled around after him and looked up to him. Always repeating whatever words he said and looking up to him for approval afterwords .

He had watched her grow up from a barely one year old who cried at every little noise , to a stubborn three year old girl who was as sassy and sarcastic as her mother. The both of them not letting anyone get anyway with anything.

And now he couldn't imagine a life without them in it.

"I'm gonna marry your mommy one day." He found himself telling the toddler honestly .

Already planning out their future together. Smiling to himself at the thought of Cherrie in a wedding dress, no doubt complaining that it wasn't fair that he got a suit with pockets while she had to shove everything in her bra.

Maybe they'd have a baby like juniper one day too. One that was biologically his. One that juniper could be a big sister to.

That would be the dream. He sighed longingly .

Juniper just giggled "like prince and princess?"

Max laughed "like king and queen. You'll be the princess juney. You can wear that big tiara you like. Or maybe I'll get you a real one." He mused.

The three year old gasped excitedly . "Yay! Are you gonna marry mommy tomorrow?" She asked him impatiently. blinking her big eyes at him happily.

Max smiled , his chest warming . "I'm gonna take your mommy on a date tomorrow. Maybe after the third date. If it goes well." He joked , smiling at her in amusement .

Despite not knowing why he was laughing, juniper just squeezed his hand, happy because he was happy.

"Ok. Can I come?"

"On the date?" He grinned.

She nodded her tiny head. "Yup."

He chuckled "sure. Where should we take mommy?"

She lit up "Disneyland!"

Max smirked . Eyeing the toddler in amusement.

"Maybe. I was thinking maybe a picnic date or something more romantic." He replied. His mind racing with ideas.

There was a pause before "and Disneyland. We could have a picnic at Disneyland." She insisted having been bugging the two of them to go for ages.

Max just smiled , his heart so full of love for the two of them. "And Disneyland." He agreed , laughing when she clapped her hands excitedly .

Knowing that Cherrie was probably going to kill him for agreeing . Having told him once that Disneyland was a place of her nightmares.

But how was he supposed to say no to that cute little face? He wasn't that cruel.

Already planning on getting them a day pass at the Paris park. Then he could let his assistant babysit juniper on the night while he took Cherrie out for a romantic dinner in the city of love.

It was a solid plan.

He had to start making it up to her somehow and what better place to do that than in Paris?

[scryarchives]

𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 - 𝐣𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬

it's been almost a month since the whole "Victoria Kord Blue Beetle Fiasco", and Jaime has loads to sort out, especially since the new neighbour might not be what she says she is...

masterlist | next !

– pairings: jaime reyes x oc

– warning: fluff, canon divergent, blue beetle movie spoilers

– author's note: after watching the blue beetle movie, I've been so down bad for jaime reyes i had to make a one-shot series for him. disclaimer: i'm not of Hispanic descent and i have don't know casual terms spoken, so do correct me if im wrong!

The sun's heat beat down on the hot sand, heat waves radiating off the ground from the high temperature. A winding tarmac road lay between the plains, and a little vehicle sped down it, emptiness surrounding them.

“Mama, how much longer until we get to… Palmera City?” The woman drawled, picking up a pamphlet in her right hand, and pulling her wireless headphones down with the other.

“We're pretty much there, Drea,” A woman replied, hands on the steering while and eyes trained on the road. “We’re almost there.”

“Why can’t I just fly there myself? You and Amma can take the car. I’m twenty Ma, not five,” Drea huffed, neatening out her ruffled ebony waves. “You taught me how to fly when I was ten, anyways.”

“Kanna, you don’t even know where Palmera City is,” Another woman turned her head in the passenger’s seat to face her daughter in the back. “And you don’t know where the house is.”

“I do know where it is, El Paso Street, Palmera City.”

“Which house then? And you only knew Palmera City from the pamphlet,” The woman driving chuckled. “Besides, don’t you like spending time with your mamas?”

Drea said nothing in return, grumbling and pulling her headphones back over her ears, blasting her music at almost full volume.

“She grew up too fast,” The other passenger sighed, her hand on her forehead. “When did she become twenty? Remind me, please.”

“She turned twenty almost two days ago, aṉpu,” The driver grinned. “Did you forget that she almost set the house on fire when we told her about the move?”

“Please, don’t remind me, Zara,” Anika sighed at her wife’s entertainment. “I’m still drained from all of the mess I had to clean up after.”

“Nika, we’re moving, new people, new sights to see, and new opportunities for a good life for you and me. For our family,” Zara, the driver, smiled softly. One of her hands slipped off the driver’s wheel, encasing itself around Anika’s smaller hand.

“Besides, Drea needs a job, something that can keep her steady until she finds out what she wants to do,” She shrugged. “And Palmera City might have everything she needs.”

“‘Might have’ are the keywords.” Anika’s worried eyes met Zara’s calm ones. “If it doesn’t? Then what? She’ll just, what, fly alone to a new place?”

“Probably. But that’s okay, I was her age when I came here, and I needed something new. Something different. And then I met you, and I felt love for the first time,” She winked, her wife flushing.

“Oh stop it you, focus on driving!”

“Alright, alright. But you get my point, right?”

“Yeah… I do."

“Until that happens, if that ever happens, we’ll be just fine.”

“Hermano,” Milagro huffed, her hands forearm deep in water as she held a plate in her hands, holding it up to her brother, who was staring out the window in curiosity.

“Jaime,” She called out once more, her brother still unresponsive, the girl’s patience snapping. “Earth to Jaime Reyes!”

Jaime jumped slightly, taking the plate, gaze focused back on the window while muttering apologies to his younger sister.

“Sorry, sorry,” He wrapped the plate with the cloth in his hands hurriedly.

“What’s got you so distracted?” Milagro frowned, peering over his shoulder to see a moving truck parked outside their house. More accurately, in front of the empty house across the road from them.

“Oh, new neighbours,” She nodded, taking another soapy plate to rinse off from her mother. 

“I wonder what they’ll be like,” Bianca Reyes hummed, handing Milagro another plate.

“It’s about time someone moved in that house,” Milagro chirped. “That house has been empty for as long as I can remember."

"That's not true," Jaime glanced at his sister. "Mrs. Diaz lived there for a while before her son moved out."

"Oh yeah… But that was still ages ago. So my statement still counts."

Jaime playfully rolled his eyes, a smile faint on his face. Glancing over, Milagro questioned her brother teasingly.

"Why are you staring there so much, anyways? Did you see Jenny?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"What? No, no. We're just friends," He huffed.

"Sure you are."

"No, look. Khaji-Da scanned their moving stuff—"

"Woah! Boundaries, hermano!"

"Exactly! But she did it somehow and she warned me about them."

"What? Is she saying that they're villains? Like Jenny's crazy aunt?" The girl beside Jaime placed a hand on her hip. "C'mon, they're new neighbours, how bad can they be?"

"Pretty bad," Khaji-Da chimed in Jaime's head, her host glaring.

The rest of the day proceeded to be uneventful. After dishwashing and tidying up after lunch, Jaime hadn't done much other than trying to find work or helping his mother around the house.

Occasionally, Nana would come around for a drink while taking a break from her sewing, and Milagro soon joined Jaime in his room, the two job-hunting together. Uncle Rudy was… well, somewhere working on "an upgrade for the truck Jenny had gifted", according to him.

If he could, Jaime would have described the atmosphere as "chill and somewhat productive".

His mind drifted from the list of temporary jobs he could apply for on the site he sat on to the whole "Blue Beetle Fiasco" over a month ago. To the friend he hoped would be something more, until she, in the nicest way possible, tried to turn him down.

"Jaime, you're thinking about Jennifer again."

Instantly, he shook his head, trying to refocus his attention.

"Nope, nope. I'm completely focused. See? I can qualify for a…" He narrowed his eyes, reading the word his pointer was aimed at. "Chiropractor? What, no—"

"You need to move on, Jaime. The positive is that Jennifer is still your friend. You have more responsibilities."

"Yeah, and I'm doing it with Mili," Jaime then looked around him, wondering why his sister's questioning and prying hadn't begun.

"Milagro had left to get a drink, while you were busy 'looking for jobs'," Khaji-Da chimed in, rubbing in her point before her host could ask.

"Thank you, Khaji," Jaime huffed sarcastically. "How long has she been gone for?"

"Ten minutes."

"That long?"

"You were deep in thought."

"Got it," He grumbled, pushing himself off of his bed to find his job-hunting partner. "Mili!"

He called out his sister's name, hoping to find her peering around a corner in response, but was returned with nothing, not even a single quip.

"Mili?" Jaime frowned at the lack of noise in his home.

"Nana? Uncle Rudy?"

Seeing that no one was responding, Jaime narrowed his eyes, his mind darting to the worst-case scenario.

"Khaji, can you scan or locate where my family is?"

"Your mother—"

"Jaime! There you are!" Bianca cut Jaime off, her son relieved to see that she was alright.

"—is right here."

"Thank you for the… status, Khaji," He whispered before smiling, letting out a sigh. "Mama, where's everyone?"

"They're outside, greeting the new neighbours!" She furrowed her brows, a smile still gracing her lips. "I thought Mili told you? Oh, I'll talk to her about it later, come come! Let's meet the neighbours, yes?"

She grabbed Jaime's upper arm, rushing out to meet up with the rest of the family.

"Jaime, meet Mrs Tlatilpa, and her daughter, Alejandra!" Bianca smiled.

Jaime smiled over at who he assumed was Alejandra, as she did look quite a bit younger than the woman beside her.

Taking in her appearance, he noticed that she almost looked Hispanic, like him, though her skin was slightly darker. Her hair remained wavy and was a dark shade of brown, pretty much black if he hadn't noticed it against the sunlight. If he looked close enough, he noticed that she had a few strands of braids tied together here and there.

She tilted her head as her wireless headphones covered in vibrant stickers were plastered all over, covering the brand's logo, and it seemed like stars — he noticed a few hand-sewn ones on her baggy jeans — seemed to be her favourite pattern.

Triangle earrings glinted in the light as her dark brown eyes watched him in curiosity. If he looked close enough, he could almost see sparks of red—

"You're staring, Jaime."

He flinched from Khaji-Da's comment, holding his hand out to shake hands, the woman across from him doing the same.

"Reyes, my name's Jaime Reyes," He nodded, putting on his best smile.

"Alejandra Tlatilpa. But you can call me Drea," She nodded respectfully before switching her glance to his shoes. "Cool shoes."

"Ah, uhm thanks. Not my favourite pair, but they serve their purpose," He chuckled, almost sadly as he remembered the fate of his now-incinerated favoured shoes.

"She's dangerous," Khaji-Da pointed out, Jaime's brows furrowing.

"What? No way," Jaime muttered, Drea, blinking in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" She questioned for clarification.

"No, sorry, I uhm… just a habit of mine, I talk. To myself," He quickly responded, his smile turning awkward.

"Right," She pointed a finger, nodding once more. "Got it. Don't worry about it, we all have our habits."

"Look at the two of you getting along!" Mrs Tlatilpa grinned. "Kanna, why don't you go get Mama? I'm sure she'd love to meet new people."

"Yeah, sure," Drea chirped, smiling one last time at Jaime. "See you around."

"So, your wife?" Bianca questioned, her eyes curious.

"Ah yes, it's a long story," Anika laughed nervously.

"No, no worries! In fact, would your family like to join us for tea?"

gif by @rob-pattinson

taglist: @mooncleaver < comment/dm me if you'd like to be on the taglist! >

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 8/20/2024

a little light this week bc i had a fairly wretched week, medically speaking

listening

hozier's nobody's soldier would have been on every 8tracks mix for every character. THEEEEE blorbo song of all time to the point i am already annoyed at the thought of seeing it on every spotify mix. fuckin owns tho. very fun mod sixties heist taste to the horn arrangement

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reading

thank you philip.

polished off the Marauders (2019-2022) comics. i liked the first volume way more than these three-- they didn't quite deliver the same quality of art or swashbuckles-per-minute. also this was probably not a great choice for someone who has forgotten what little she once knew about the xmen, even though they came at the beginning of a reboot.

why did i read these? mostly bc they were readily available or with short wait times at my library and my bestie is making me watch all the xmen movies. a girl gets curious about comic books sometimes

surprisingly, i came across this one from the Pocket integration on the firefox new tabs

McDonald likens the functions of Spotify to Google Maps. “Google Maps doesn’t do the exploration for me, but it’s helpful if I go somewhere,” he says. Rather than taking us on guided tours, it provides the tools for us to navigate somewhere new. Much as it shows us what’s nearby and how to get there, and flags notable landmarks others have visited, Spotify helps us access most music, lists global listening trends, and introduces us to artists similar to those we already know. But it’s communities that help us home in on a destination Spotify can help us explore.

part two of breaking down infamous academic paper mill Hindawi and why it was bought by Wiley anyway bc they did seemingly no due diligence, bc as a whole they do very little actual work in the publishing process.

i have included a very long quote bc it is one of only two things that made me genuinely laugh out loud this week (the other was phil unsticking a claw from the couch by backflipping herself out)

One issue of Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing from 2022, edited mostly by Hamurabi Gamboa Rosales, took an average of about 20 days to go from initial submission to revision submission. This is not unlikely, it’s impossible. The easiest way to explain this is with an analogy. Say there’s a pothole outside your house, and you call the council. You tell them ‘there’s a big hole in the road outside my house!’ The person at the other end, rather than tiredly telling you to fill out a form - which is what councils do all over the world, in my experience - instead yells ‘MOTHER OF GOD! WE’RE RIGHT ON IT!’ Twenty minutes later, a bitumen truck comes HURTLING around the corner of your street at full send, with the road workers hanging out the back of it, the driver leaning on the horn and yelling ‘GET OUT OF THE WAY! POTHOLE!’ They pull up outside your house, and you see the brakes go hot. But the guys don’t even wait for it to stop, they jump off while it’s slowing down, and they grab pry bars and a burner and a kettle of bitumen, and they start hammering out the edges, pour the bitumen and start slamming it with hammers almost at the same time. In about six minutes, the hole is filled and flattened, and they admire their work for about four hundred milliseconds and SCREAM off the way they came. No sooner has the truck disappeared, then your phone rings - and it’s the council worker from before. ‘POTHOLE! *pant* *pant* FIXED! Happy to be of service!’ *click* That’s how likely the entire editorial process taking 20 days is.

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watching

i don't understand why the third xmen movie isn't named x cubed. it extremely is not their last stand there are like a dozen more movies to go. gun to my head i could not tell you what happened in this one. whatsherface did look good as hell though

and now for the movie i actually want to talk about, Monkey Man (2024, dir. Patel). imdb says:

An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systematically victimize the poor and powerless.

i am so so so lucky that my favorite kind of fight scene — fast, brutal, right spaces with improvised weapons-- is fashionable. pour it DIRECTLY into my open mouth

i think i generally agree with a broad sweep of reviewers here when i tell you that this movie is gorgeous and grossnasty at the same time, there are a lot of ideas that aren't all quite resolved, and i am much more interested in why it has a hell of a lot of ideas (part of why they don't all get resolved).

patel's first movie, it feels very much like a movie of someone who isn't sure they'll be able to do another one, so throw everything you've got in here. a sort of famously rocky production and shoestring budget, but you would not know it. the club scenes are especially dripping in glitz and, like many stage productions, have a lot of clever editing and strategic deployment of mirrors and repeats. there's a fight scene with hanging mirrors near the end where the mirrors can't have been more than fifty bucks each but it looks SO fucking sick.

i am much more willing to go to bat for this movie and ignore some of the rough edges bc it is so refreshingly earnest, and despite the style references, is very focused on being its own thing. at some points it's going to feel like The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis) bc every movie made in a post- The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis) world is going to feel a little bit like The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis). or like when the above gif happened in the movie it did not make me want to turn it off and go watch the first john wick.

people who live in india or are part of the diaspora are a little cranky about the political parties of the film, which had to be neutered for release. while i don't think i would have grasped all the nuances even if we did have the original cut, i think it's likely some of the characters would have resolved a little cleaner if that original intent was still there.

why did i watch this? i think patel is easily as hot as tumblr darling mifune. while drafting this post i got distracted sooooooo many times trying to pick the perfect gif. some of them are too hot!!!

-

playing

fallow week

-

making

just stayin alive! just livin the fuckin dream!!!

[probably-not-a-rutabaga]

I'm sure you have been asked this before if not... wow-

What do you use to draw? Like, what device.

I need an upgrade and want to ask my favorite artists what they use as a base for what I will get...

to preface, i use a laptop (asus zenbook flip,, if you're interested in that too) to draw,, so if you have windows or mac, yippee !!! my tablet should work !!!!!

i use a ugee m708 tablet !!

i've used this style of tablet for as long as i've been drawing on pc,, so like 5 years?? i've replaced it once with the newer version,, not even bc the old tablet broke or anything, it was bc the pen broke and they no longer sold the old style of pen

anyways it's a pretty good tablet !!! lemme do pros n cons bc this has turned into a review

pros

it has a large surface area (10x6)

8 buttons you can set with keybord short cuts !!!! so slay !?!?!? (trust me,, having a tablet with essentially a built in undo button is incredible)

LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF IT COMES WITH !!!! ALL OF THOSE NIBS????? THE DRAWING GLOVE THING?????? DELIGHTFUL !!!!

the pen is wireless and doesn't need to be charged !!

it's fairly inexpensive ($30-60 according to google)

cons

the driver lowkey sucks ass 💀 (i've had to redownload it to fix an issue so many times and reset all my keys bc it's weird about saving them,,, hasn't happened in a while tho, fingers crossed)

the tablet itself isn't wireless- not a huge deal for me personally

if you encounter an issue,, it's not as big as a brand as wacom or smth,, so it's a little harder to search for fixes !! not impossible tho !! as a last resort, usually the issue can be resolved by redownloading the driver,,, if not it may be a issue with the art program being used

hope this helps!!! :D

[ralfmaximus]

Logitech must be going through some things right about now.

For most of a week photos of their G F710 Wireless Gamepad have been embedded in news articles about the doomed OceanGate submersible, its Amazon reviews are full of trolls, and it's currently on fire sale.

...Free Returns ha!

So either:

Logitech lays low and waits for the storm to pass and people to forget, because it always does and they always do, or

Logitech leans into this and creates a special edition TITAN controller with OceanGate logo & theme, possibly with the names of the OceanGate Lost Five inscribed on the back, the perfect collectors item, coveted by Stockton Rush simps and "guaranteed to appreciate in value", or

Logitech leans into it differently, biting the bullet and becoming a legitimate manufacturer of certified submersible control devices, and also (well obviously) charging $15,000 each for controllers guaranteed to function correctly in a Trimix/Heliox atmosphere and certified 1-milliion clicks reliable etc

Which dya reckon it'll be? I have no idea what kind of culture Logitech operates on internally, whether they're all depraved gamerbros or decent blokettes. No idea.

But ever since about 2005 or so I have avoided their products completely because their drivers are (were?) buggy unstable invasive garbage.

[lanatusnebula]

Windows forcing auto updates and not allowing customers to disable the shit is the stupidest fucking thing in the world. I would rather manually update on my own time, not on a set schedule; it nuked my art because the programs I have don't auto save, and god forbid I go take a fucking nap and put the bitch on sleep mode.

Every website I've used to turn off auto updates doesn't work. It still forces the updates, which then in turn renders my drivers null and void for a lot of my hardware. My hardware varies from new to old as dirt, and I shouldn't be forced to change the way I do things just because Windows came up with a new way to fuck my experience over.

My wireless mouse has been on the fritz since the recent update and so have many of my bluetooth devices. This didn't need to fucking happen. I'm not buying another mouse just because they wanted to put some unnecessary shit on my computer!!!

I'm so MAD I'M SO FUCKING PISSED. LET ME UPDATE THEM MANUALLY INSTEAD OF JUMP SCARING ME EVERY NIGHT.

Put this bitch on sleep mode and then it's no longer alseep when I wake up in the morning? Like what the shit is that?

[irradiate-space]

Tuesday Typings

I came back from the North American Science Fiction Convention with so many books. Notes on costume stuff, one giant costume todo list, and recent reads/watches as well.

Books acquired recently

The Archive Undying, Emma Mieko Candon, 2023, bought

This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, 2020, bought — finished and enjoyed

The Sng of Achilles, Madeline Miller, 2012, bought

Translation State,, Ann Leckie, 2023, bought

Francis: The People's Pope, Ted Rall, allegedly autographed, 2018, bought

The Stars Like Dust, Isaac Asimov, 1996 paperback printing, gifted

The Courier, Gerald Brandt, 2016, free pile

Alliance Rising, C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher, 2019, free pile

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett, 2019 Broadway promo printing, free pile

Mica, fille de Transyl, Michèle Laframboise, 2012, free pile — I do not read the French; this is going on a gift pile for a Francophone friend

To Climb a Flat Mountain, G. David Nordley, 2009?, bought after the author gave me an answer to a worldbuilding problem

Burning Days, Glenn Grant, 2011, free

This Virtual Night, C.S. Friedman, 2021, free

To Each This World, Julie Czerneda, 2022, free and signed

The Complete Smoke Trilogy, Tanya Huff, 2019, free

She Who Became The Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan, 2021, free

All of the free books are from Pemmi-Con; half are from DAW Publishers who were really, really generous.

Recent Reading and Watching

This is How You Lose the Time War surprised me with the identity of the Seeker; mid-book I thought there might be another operative tailing them, or a Purple child, or a third side to this war. That last prediction was quite close!

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn - Bande Dessinee Episode: 0 wasn't particularly thrilling, but I value it because it fills out the characters of Full Frontal and Angelo Sauper, and how the Zeonist public sees things before the initiation of the Third Neo Zeon War, aka The Laplace Incident.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been good through season 7; I ned to track down season 8 to see if they later appearance of Ashoka in Star Wars Rebels makes any sense.

Legend of Galactic Heroes: I have finally finished this. RIP to a legend, but we all knew that the death flag for the last person to die was waved at the end of the third season. Rubinsky's end was also fitting: reflecting of how he was no longer part of the plot, he was also no longer part of politics. His last gasp felt irrelevant, and really was.

Pacific Rim: The Black is a 3dcg film that's reminiscent of RWBY and Dragon Prince in style, but with the same Ramin Djiwadi soundtrack, and some neat twists that really delve into the fridge horror of the setting. But this is a kids' show, so there's little blood, the decapitations happen out of frame, and the heads don't roll too far. Episode 7 has a nice "it's dangerous to go alone; take this" moment.

Computing

A 2.1A powerbank is not enough to stably power a Pi 1 B+ with a 4.0" square Hyperpixel Touch display and a wireless keyboard. Big Sad. Next question is if a PiSugar 3 battery controller will work with a Pi 1 B+ or if I should splurge $75 on a Pi 4 for this device.

I'd like to have a mobile compute terminal that's smaller than a 13" laptop, but still has USB ports. Scrollwheel and a button to toggle the OSK would also be nice.

Primary nonwork laptop's keyboard continues to degrade; It's becoming a desk item. Its degradation is the primary driver of the new palmtop development.

Actually, wait, I have a spare CM4 from a StereoPi 2 device. I could use that, with a compatible breakout board maybe. Or I could test the Hyperpixel screen on the Stereopi board directly. Then I'd have a 4" touchscreen mated to a … 5" wide board? Well, it'll at least let me test some things, like whether the CM4 works for this use case. Bonus dual cameras is a questionable bonus.

Crafting

KInda burnt out on crafting, tbh. Last two weeks were full of crunch before Pemmi-Con/NASFiC, which netted me a "Judge's Choice in Novice Class" award and "Best Use of Modern Tech" in the Masquerade competition.

Next up, over @glowingskull, I plan to post rundowns of the stuff I made, and maybe some shapefiles, but there's a lot of work left in this costume and I plan to redo large parts of the headgear.

Because, let's be honest, the post-con todo list for that costume is basically:

Better photographs?

Write up the project

Print off a holder for these parts, because I'm retiring them to mount on the wall

Redesign snout, again, to remove grilles and double-thicken all the parts

Resculpt temples and ears of skull

Put a visor in the eye holes

Eye-lights in visor?

Enclose head: back of skull, ventilation, neck sock

Redo the flame staff's camera monopod mount attachment point for durability (may require welding?)

Sculpt a model for the chestpiece, so it's plastic instead of foam

Sculpt a model for arm bracers

And then on top of that I also want to:

Document the Servicer outfit

Sew on a Masonic patch for the Servicer outfit

Build some DIY NVGs for use in costume projects like this one

Write up the Baba Yaga's Hut costume which won Best In Show

I think my next costume goal, after the revised Turaga Vakama, will be an Earth Federation Space Forces officer uniform, so I can give the planned "WTF is Zeon" lectures in character.

The next head goal will be a Deinonychus head with articulated jaw, which requires advancements in augmented reality. Need to get the StereoPi working, or ditch/sell it and switch to paired NVG monocles.

Music

I think it's time for Pacific Rim soundtracks. Pacific Rim: The Black sounds somewhere between the Pacific Rim movies' soundtracks and the tense violin work from the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie with RDJ and Jude Law, soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Not particularly Australian, unfortunately.

Lego Stuff

Gotta merge the two submarine kits, and build the Emperor's Throne Room that I won at pinball at Pemmi-Con.

[human-blob-nessie]

Today I am reminded of why I ditched windows in favour of Linux.

My mom's computer is having problems with wifi. Specifically, it either cannot connect to wifi, or shows a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) when doing so. Ethernet works, but the PC's usual location is basically unreachable with it so we use a portable USB wifi receptor.

Window's interfaces are dogshit when it comes to solving such a problem. Problem resolution thingy cannot search for problems with wireless network unless you are currently connected to one. And if you aren't, it detects one problem : you don't have a favourite one (that will auto-connect if detected). Fuck you that's not an issue, if I let it auto-connect I risk a BSOD on boot.

Maybe it's a driver issue ? Well it's basically impossible to reach the core driver for wifi. The USB thingy driver has already been reinstalled and it basically changed nothing. I have the latest version for the correct version of the correct device so it's either doing a very bad job, or not the cause of the issue and it's situated deeper.

System scans ? No issue detected.

Device manager ? No indication of basically anything driver related that's not easily accessible somewhere else. All the UI is either unhelpful, unpractical, hidden or a combination of the 3.

I've spent 2 and a half hours on that today and have made basically zero progress.

Oh and half the advice you find online is "reset your system". Everything works, chances are there's one single file or driver that doesn't work as intended but it's deep enough to cause problems. But error codes are useless, problem resolution is useless, most online advice is useless, system or driver updates have been useless.

Maybe this would work, it's very likely in fact. But seriously if it is the ONLY viable way to solve the problem "I can't use wifi but cabled internet is fine" then it's yet another indication of how crap this all is.

Anyway I'm giving up for today.

[mikebarrellcollections]

Wireless Keyboards are good?

In today's fast-paced digital world, efficiency and convenience are paramount. As technology continues to evolve, so do the tools we use to interact with it. One such tool that has seen significant advancements in recent years is the humble keyboard. While traditional wired keyboards have been the standard for decades, wireless keyboards are gaining popularity for their flexibility, mobility, and overall user experience.

Wireless keyboards, as the name suggests, operate without the need for physical cables connecting them to a computer or other devices. Instead, they utilize wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or RF (radio frequency) to communicate with the device they are paired with. This simple yet powerful innovation has revolutionized the way we interact with our computers, tablets, and even smartphones. Here are several reasons why wireless keyboards are a good choice for modern users:

Enhanced Mobility:

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of wireless keyboards is their freedom of movement. Without being tethered to a device by a cable, users can position their keyboard wherever they find most comfortable, whether it's on a desk, in their lap, or even across the room. This flexibility is especially beneficial for those who frequently switch between devices or work in unconventional settings.

Clean and Clutter-Free Setup:

Say goodbye to tangled cables cluttering your workspace. Wireless keyboards eliminate the need for unsightly wires, creating a cleaner and more organized environment. This not only improves the aesthetic appeal of your workspace but also reduces the risk of accidents such as tripping over cables or inadvertently pulling devices off the desk.

Versatility:

Wireless keyboards are compatible with a wide range of devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This versatility allows users to easily switch between devices without having to invest in multiple keyboards or adapters. Whether you're typing up a document on your computer or responding to emails on your tablet, a wireless keyboard provides a seamless typing experience across all your devices.

Easy Setup and Installation:

Setting up a wireless keyboard is a breeze. Most modern devices feature plug-and-play functionality, meaning they can be paired with your device with just the push of a button. There's no need to fuss with drivers or software installations—simply turn on your keyboard, pair it with your device, and you're ready to start typing. A few keyboards accompany extra elements or adjustable settings. If you lost a dongle you can check how to do pairing without a dongle.

Compact and Portable:

Many wireless keyboards are designed to be slim and lightweight, making them ideal for users on the go. Whether you're a frequent traveler or simply prefer to work in different locations throughout the day, a wireless keyboard can easily slip into your bag or backpack, allowing you to take your productivity with you wherever you go.

Improved Ergonomics:

Some wireless keyboards are ergonomically designed to provide greater comfort during extended typing sessions. Features such as split key layouts, adjustable tilt angles, and wrist rests can help reduce strain and fatigue, promoting healthier typing habits in the long run.

Customization Options:

Many wireless keyboards offer customizable features such as programmable keys, backlighting, and multimedia controls, allowing users to tailor their typing experience to suit their individual preferences and workflow.

While wireless keyboards offer numerous advantages, it's important to consider potential drawbacks as well. Battery life, connectivity issues, and compatibility concerns are factors that users should be mindful of when choosing a wireless keyboard. Additionally, some users may prefer the tactile feedback and reliability of traditional mechanical keyboards.

In conclusion, wireless keyboards are an excellent choice for users seeking convenience, flexibility, and enhanced productivity in their computing experience. With their wireless connectivity, sleek design, and versatile functionality, wireless keyboards are well-suited to meet the demands of today's modern lifestyles. Whether you're a busy professional, a student on the go, or simply someone who values simplicity and ease of use, a wireless keyboard is sure to enhance your typing experience.

[ama2024]

https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/8760-global-coding-bootcamps-market-1

Advance Market Analytics released a new market study on Global Coding Bootcamps Market Research report which presents a complete assessment of the Market and contains a future trend, current growth factors, attentive opinions, facts, and industry validated market data. The research study provides estimates for Global Coding Bootcamps Forecast till 2028*.

Coding bootcamps is refer as the bootcamps which enable students with little coding proficiency so that they can focus on the most important aspects of coding and can immediately apply their new coding skills to solve problems of real-world. The goal of the many attendees of coding bootcamps is of transition into a career in web development. They do this by normally learning to build applications at a professional level, which basically provides the foundation, that they need primarily to build production-ready applications and demonstrate the skills they have to add real value to a potential employer

Key Players included in the Research Coverage of Coding Bootcamps Market are:

App Academy (United States), Bloc (United States), General Assembly (United States), Hack Reactor (United States), Makers Academy (England), 4Geeks Academy (United States), Academia de Cdigo (Portugal), AcadGild (India), Barcelona Code School (Spain), Big Sky Code Academy (United States)

What's Trending in Market: Growing ready-to-work coding bootcamps

Rising in the adoption of online learning

Challenges: Growing in the demand for software engineers in both developed and developing economies

Opportunities: APAC market to register high growth

Increasing availability of various flexible shift in the Coding Bootcamps

Market Growth Drivers: Short duration of training complemented with low-cost options ensure the cost-effectiveness of coding bootcamps

Rising in the use of mobile devices among individual consumers, as the use of wireless networks such as 2G and 3G has increased

The Global Coding Bootcamps Market segments and Market Data Break Down by Type (Full-time bootcamps, Part-time bootcamps), Application (Job seekers, Students, Professionals, Others), Industry (Individual learners, Institutional learners)

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To comprehend Global Coding Bootcamps market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Coding Bootcamps market is analyzed across major global regions. AMA also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas.

• North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico.

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• Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.

• Europe: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and Russia.

• Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.

[agapovheir]

[A drabble I wrote a few days ago]

When Nikolai wakes, it's still dark out. Or… not. When he goes to rub the sleep out of his eyes, last night's eyeliner staining his knuckles, he finds his face engulfed in curls. It's daylight. He forgot to tie his hair back last night and now it's going to look like shit until he washes it again. He grabs for a scrunchie and pulls it back into a low ponytail, then grabs for his cell phone to respond to Ken.

Nothing to respond to. Their text history is a series of increasingly threatening text messages sent by Nikolai between 1 am and 6 am. No response back from Ken. Goddammit. He considers, briefly, texting an apology. He decides Ken doesn't deserve one if he can't even send a simple text back. He considers, also briefly, throwing his phone against the wall as hard as he can. He tosses it down on the bed instead and collapses back onto his pillow. It's too goddamn early for this. He still doesn't know what time it is. He didn't check.

He blindly grabs half a joint out of the ashtray beside his bed and a diamond encrusted lighter. Inhaling smoke, he decides maybe he's not mad at Ken anymore. He grabs his phone. Doesn't apologize. Texts "good morning, heart emoji." Sends a selfie with a glowing smile, cropped close enough to keep his flat on one side hair a secret.

Only when he reaches the end of the joint does he drag himself from bed. He uses the bathroom, brushes his teeth, and applies lip gloss before setting his sights on his hair. The curls aren't going to behave after the way he slept on it, there's no point in trying. Instead he detangles as much as he can with his fingers, runs gel through it, and styles it into two tight french braids. Presentable, until he can find time to wash it.

He returns to his bed and his phone. Still no text from Ken. He rolls a fresh joint in pastel pink paper and lights it before he can really get angry. Ken's phone is probably dead. Or he's out with someone else.

Nikolai pops in a wireless earbud and makes a phone call, to the part time cashier at the coffee shop across the street from Ken's apartment. They partied together once or twice; Nikolai has a taped confession of the lengths he's gone to to avoid paying taxes and child support. Real low stakes shit. Still high stakes enough for him to be willing to commit some real crimes to keep it hush hush.

"Is he home? Did he bring anyone home with him last night? What- yeah, hi, hello, how are you? Fuck. Is he home or not?" He takes another drag of smoke to avoid hanging up on his informant and pulls open a food delivery app on his phone. He's way too hung over to cook breakfast right now. He loads up his cart with an inordinate amount of eggs, pancakes, and sausages from a cheap chain restaurant.

"Call me immediately if there's any updates. Keep an eye on it." He doubles the order in his cart. Enough to share, just in case Ken drops by.

"Then work late! I don't want you going home at all! Keep a fucking eye on it!" He hangs up without a goodbye, assuming his instructions were clear enough. Fuck, the 'hang up' button is unsatisfying. He misses his old flip phone. This thing doesn't even have a place to clip charms.

He adds a big enough tip to his order to get priority over anything else the potential delivery driver might be doing. He's starving. Texts are open again. "Hey, come over! I made breakfast! Heart emoji."