#like the roach that flies

[spymeister]

Small headcanon:

Jazz is mostly bipedal, but if his t-cog gets damaged- he can absolutely reorient his hip gimbals so that he can go full quadruped.

He's also scary fast on all fours.

[boag]

My bug phobia has actually gotten sooo much worse in adulthood like I used to LOVE moths and butterflies but now even seeing a close up picture of a butterfly on a screen has the capacity to cause me distress if I see its little legs and stuff…… maybe it’s bc I moved to the city when I turned 18 and I’m not surrounded by all kinds of bugs 24/7 anymore

[namazunomegami]

Lord of the Flies, Gluttonous Queen, Prince of Filth, Prince of Decay, Goddess of Ekron, Lord of Slander, Queen of Pestilence and Famine, The Rotting One

I Solomon said unto him: “Beelzeboul what is thy employment?” And (s)he answered me: “I destroy kings. I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on to men, in order that the latter may believe in them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests, and faithful men, I excite unto desires for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with envy, and desire for murder, and for wars, and sodomy, and other evil things. And I will destroy the world.” - The Testament of Solomon

[gideonisms]

the apartment is a creature and she hates me

[gaycompilation]

the one bug i feel really bad in retrospect for killing was a spider that was just hanging out on the ceiling above our bed- i had lost my wallet and was freaking out and wanted to search the bed but it was right above and i was so scared of it falling on me and then getting scared and biting. i really need to learn to be better about bugs : (( it makes me sad that there’s a whole class of animal i cant interact with

[mayspicer]

I got my dream roaches today ;A;

There is 6 of them and they are tiny babies (apart from that one big one) and I'm so paranoid about their survival in my care ;-;

[himemeika]

Johann literally is just letting his corpse rot in his own home

[bulimulus-bonariensis]

Vegetarian + mold phobia = suffering

[em0-snail]

seen fucking BEDBUGS crawling on shit in the break-room today at work. Fucking nasty and I had to change clothes at work when I got off because I was so damn paranoid about bringing one home

[c4tbr4t]

i spent an hour after i woke up looking at /whatbugisthis on reddit and honestly i can say that one forum is singlehandedly justifying the rest of that garbage hole

[obsesssedblerd]

“SATORU!!!” 

Your white-haired boyfriend pops around the corner. “Yes? Why on earth are you screaming?” 

You fearfully point at the roach scampering up the living room wall, nervously hiding behind him. “That.” 

“Uh...What am I looking at here?” 

“Oh, don’t act— the bug, Toru!” You yell. “You mean to tell me that you can’t see that thing with your Six Eyes?!” 

Satoru lifts his blindfold, then looks back and forth between you and the insect. A wide, incredulous smile spreads across his face. “No way,” he snickers, then bursts into loud laughter. “That tiny little thing?! Baby, you exorcize curses daily, but this is what you’re afraid of?!” You stare at him blankly as he leans against the wall, breathless from laughing. Oh, my god, this is too funny.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can you just kill it, please?”

He sighs dramatically, then pokes your cheek. “Sure, I’ll take care of the big scary bug,” he mocks, and you curse underneath your breath as he walks closer to the wall. 

“Satoru—you better not do anything stupid,” you warn him. You know that he enjoys playing jokes, and you would be stupid to think that he wouldn’t bring the insect to you to scare you even more.

“Oh, relax. Why don’t you go to the room since you’re so scared?” 

You bite back any insults, and then go all the way down the hall. There, you find your other boyfriend, Suguru, who had rushed out of the bathroom, his hair wet from the shower. “Heard you scream. Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, I saw a bug in the living room, but Satoru’s taking care of it.” You reach up to push a wet strand of hair out of his face. “You can head back and finish up. By the way, for dinner, I was thinking—” 

“HOLY SHIT!!!” 

You and Suguru see the burst of crimson light from the living room before the loud explosion fills your ears. The house shakes, and both of you stumble to the ground. When everything settles, Suguru helps you up, then you both rush to the living room. 

What’s left of the living room. 

The wall is completely gone, and where there isn’t rubble from the house, there are bits and pieces of your furniture. From where you’re standing, you can see some of the neighbors begin to poke their heads out of their doors and windows, wondering what the explosion was. Then, you see Satoru, who is wide-eyed, and slightly trembling. 

Suguru is the first to break the silence. “What the hell just happened?!” 

Satoru’s chest rises and falls with each breath. He then turns to you, pointing at where the wall used to be. “You didn’t tell me that it flies.” 

“...Huh?!” You ask.

“What- Don’t ‘huh’ me!” He sputters, flailing his hands around. “The roach! You didn’t tell me that it flies! It scared the shit out of me! It was so unexpected!!” 

Finally, the only thing that could’ve happened clicks in your head. The light you saw, the blast. “Did you just fire Red?!” 

He crosses his arms. “Yes, I fired Red!! Didn’t you just hear me say that—” 

“Okay, both of you, just stop!” Suguru shouts, putting his hands up. “Just…” He then faces his boyfriend, disbelief and disappointment evident in his features. “You mean to tell me, that you blew a massive hole in our damn house all because of a roach?! Satoru, what the hell!!” 

“Suguru, it was flying!!” 

“So that’s a good reason to destroy our house?!” 

“Hey! At least it’s not the whole house,” he says, then laughs nervously when Suguru glares at him. “Like yeah, our TV is definitely gone, but, uh… at least the roach is dead?” 

“You fucking idiot!!” Suguru snaps. 

Satoru snaps right back at him. “You weren’t there to see how it was flying!” 

As they go back and forth with their yelling, you groan, burying your face into your hands. You definitely should’ve just found the strength to kill it with a shoe earlier.

----

a/n: got inspired by that post about spiders that i made lmaooooo

[archangeldyke-all]

jinx teasing sev and saying that she wouldn’t be able to survive a week without kissing r bc she’s “whipped”

sev takes that to heart and in fact does try to prove jinx wrong, but the second she sees r’s sweet and confused face at her dodging the kiss she breaks and apologizes and promises to make it up to her bc lets be honest sev wouldn’t be able to go even a day without kissing her precious gf

GOD i'm gonna make this roach verse.

i'll give a vague explanation below the cut so people who aren't familiar with that fic and still want to read this blurb can have context

men and minors dni

ok all u need to know is that sevika and reader had a whole enemies to lovers thing when reader got hired as jinx's (age 11ish in this blurb) nanny. they're madly in love now, and sevika has learned to tolerate (love) jinx too.

what sevika doesn't know is that you've been in on it from the start.

jinx was teasing you, about the kisses you're always pressing on sevika's cheeks and the way you're always tucking her loose hairs behind her ears, and you got flustered and blurted "at least i'm not as bad as sevika!"

jinx, of course, cackled and agreed with you, then she asked, "you think you can get her to buy us jericho's tonight?"

you giggled and ruffled her hair. "probably. you wanna have some fun with it though?" you asked.

which is how you're here.

jinx made a bet with sevika that she couldn't last more than a day without kissing you. sevika, of course, took the bait-- desperate to prove jinx wrong without thinking through the consequences.

consequences being, of course, your pout when she dodges your kiss at lunch. (jinx is hiding her giggles behind her hand. sevika is hiding her own pout behind hers.)

you try again when she helps you and lock clear the plates after the gang eats. (jinx tags along, carrying a singular fork as her version of 'helping'-- just to see if sevika fails on her bet) sevika ignores your attempted forehead kiss, making a u-turn and practically running back out into the bar.

and then, you bring out the puppy eyes.

standing just outside of jinx's room while she 'reads her books' you confront sevika. she cringes the moment she sees you, and you just sigh. "sev..."

"baby, c'mere." she sighs, wrapping her arms around you, folding immediately. if you focus, you think you can hear jinx hyperventilating from holding her laughs in her room. "i made this dumbass bet with jinx that i could go the whole day without kissing you, and i didn't get the chance to let you in on it without the brat around." she pouts. you blink up at her, trying to make your eyes as big as possible.

before you can speak, sevika darts down to kiss you. you can't help but giggle against her lips. when she pulls away, you finally sigh.

"i guess that's alright."

"it's not." she kisses you again. "i felt like i was stubbing my toe each time i dodged you." she pecks you once more. you start to giggle. "what can i do to make it up to you?" she asks.

in her room, you hear jinx's muffled "fuck yes!"

you just bat your eyes at sevika. "wanna take me to jericho's for dinner tonight?"

sevika nods. "do we have to bring the brat?"

you chuckle. "duh. it's her favorite, she'd kill us if we went without her."

"fine." sevika sighs, kissing you one last time before turning around and marching away-- off to do whatever job silco's got her on today.

jinx's door flies open, and the girl comes flying out, cackling manically. "we did it!"

"i told you we could." you say, ruffling her bangs. you pull her to your side and start walking the pair of you toward the stairs. "c'mon. dinner's not 'til late and i'm hungry. wanna share some flamers?" you ask. jinx nods, giving you a quick hug before darting off and scrambling down the stairs toward the kitchen.

taglist!

@fyeahnix @lavendersgirl @half-of-a-gay @thesevi0lentdelights @sexysapphicshopowner

@shimtarofstupidity @chuucanchuucan @badbye666 @femme-historian @lia-winther

@sevikaspillowprincess @emiliabby @sevikasbeloved @hellorai

@glass-apothecary @macaroni676 @artinvain @k3n-dyll @sevsdollette

@ellieslob @xayn-xd @keikuahh @maneskinwh0re @raphaellearp

@iamastar @sevikitty @mascdom @nhaaauyen

@mirconreadzztuff22 @veoomvroom @lushh-s3vik4s @katyawooga @lesbodietcoke

[crevicedwelling]

Hello! I've been around A LOT of crickets in my life and this is the only time I've seen a white-eyed one. Have you seen anything like this before or is it just very rare?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

very rare! but known to science, where mutants like these have been bred for research.

white-eye mutations seem to be a simple recessive in crickets, cockroaches, and fruit flies although I’m not sure if they operate under the same mechanism (esp. the flies, there’s so many well-studied strains and I don’t know enough about them to say if there’s multiple different mutations resulting in white eyes).

I’m most familiar with white-eyed roaches, bred as hobby pets. apparently they’re much less reactive to light and visual stimulus than wildtype roaches.

in crickets, oddballs are most commonly noted in house crickets (Acheta domestica) bred for feeding to pets. there’s multiple posts on Arachnoboards about people who’ve found mutants in their feeders.

there’s also this cool red-eyed Acheta on BugGuide, also from feeder stock I think

the same species, as well as similar mutants of Gryllus bimaculatus, have been bred in the lab to study their physiology and behavior.

but your find was quite rare, and probably the coolest thing anyone’s sent me all year! I would love to see more photos of the little critter if you’ve got any.

[owlcomics101]

Bug hybrid!Task force 141 x Human!reader

Bug hybrid AU LETS GOOOOO-

Warning: Bugs/insects/arachnids, sfw (I am a minor), fluff, bug shenanigans,

Let’s bug out y’all (I’m sorry please stay-)

Moth Hybrid Price:

-One of his moth antenna‘s are damaged leaving him unable to fly (He can glide though)

-Sometimes he eats your sweaters if you accidentally leave them in his office or quarters (He immediately apologizes repeatedly and tries to buy you a new one)

-During mating season he gets all fluffy like a moth (he’s gonna need help with shaving…)

-And yes, he can’t resist any form of light but only at night (Price is obsessed with Reader because their eyes shine bright from any light’s reflection)

Funfact: Moths are actually pollinators and feed off of nectar just like their cousin the butterfly.

Tarantula hybrid Gaz:

-Has the lower half of a Tarantula (Like a centaur but spider)

-Large Tarantula pinchers that can poke out of his mouth (Eating is messy for him. Poor Gaz)

-His bunk is completely covered in webs

-Has the urge to constantly make small webs to impress the reader

-During mating season he fluffs up like Price and also does a little mating dance (He’s only done it once on accident in front of the reader)

-Has Venom but it is weak when inflicted on humans (Some can have serious reactions depending)

-Likes to wrap the Reader in webs like a burrito (Blink twice if your endanger reader)

Funfact: Tarantulas can get severely injured if they fall from great heights (Be careful with your eight-legged friends)

(Centipedes honestly terrify me-)

Centipede Hybrid Ghost:

-Cury antennas (They twitch and move around)

-Lower half of a centipede (Like a centaur but centipede)

-His legs make little click sounds when he walks (Sends shivers down the spines of anyone who hears it)

-Disgusted of himself. Ever since the team’s transformation he’s honest to god disgusted and horrified of his appearance (Reader sees through that and helps him through it)

-Coils his lower half around the reader. Being the only remaining human of the task force he’s very protective of them like the others are.

-During mating season he gives off a foul Oder and makes webs to impress the Reader like Gaz does (They get very competitive with each other)

Funfact: Centipedes are not harmful to humans. In fact they help keep the pests away like cockroaches, moths, flies, silverfish and termites. They also do not make webs or nests indoors. (As much as they terrify me they do take care of the pests)

Praying Mantis Hybrid Soap:

-Has the mantis arms under his normal arms at his sides and cute antennas on his head. (And he has the Mantis tail. I believe it’s called a Metathorax?)

-Hunts like crazy (His urges constantly puts him in hunting mode)

-He’s always bringing back everything he hunts to the Reader (Makes him even happier if you eat what he gives you in front or him-or pretend to)

-Able to fly/glide for a short distance

-For mating season….uh….lets just say mantises are very horny

Funfact: Mantises can turn their heads a Full 180 Degrees. They have very flexible a joint between the head and prothorax that allows them to swivel their heads.

Bonus:

(Roach is Roach)

Cockroach Hybrid Roach:

-He has the Roach antennas, and roach arms/legs under his normal arms (He has the roach tail as well)

-Fucking indestructible. (Can literally survive radiation)

-Can literally eat anything (that’s from a living organism

-Cuddles. He’s clingy and always wants a cuddle from the reader after a long mission. (I honestly don’t blame him with the shit the task force goes through on a daily basis)

-Reader is very worried about Roach despite his indestructibility and always panics if he gets hurt during a mission. (He enjoys the attention)

Funfact: Cockroaches like to cuddle. Cockroaches like feeling something solid against their bodies. That’s why they hide in cracks and crevices or even your stacked towels and linens.

[sunnebeam]

"this is our territory."

A 'PERKS OF BEING A HOUSEHUSBAND' DRABBLE.

pairing: min yoongi x reader

plot: the (mis)adventures of retired gangster min yoongi as he leaves behind the life of the mafia and navigates the way of the househusband.

warnings: the way of the househusband au, marriage au, crack, domesticity, there's only one (1) bastard that can defeat yoongi 😟

masterlist + disclaimers.

note: the fact that my top 2 fics on this blog w the most notes/engagements are both yoongi fics,,,, the power he holds!! 😤 as always, hope yous enjoy this cute drabble and let me know ur thoughts!

You love the weekends.

No work. No stress. No bosses nagging at you to work overtime. No files waiting for you to sort through.

Just you, your poodle, and your husband.

There's absolutely nothing that can ruin your weekend. Nothing except—

"YOU BASTARD!"

You jolt upright from your bed, eyes wide in alarm when you hear your husband's normally calm voice shouting profanities from the other room. Luckily, Holly remains deep in slumber on Yoongi's side of the bed even as you're scrambling to the kitchen.

You almost trip on your own two feet when you see Yoongi on the kitchen floor – shirtless, sweaty, and looking absolutely defeated.

"Yoonie?! What happened?"

He's wearing a pained expression.

"I didn't see him coming."

"Who?!"

"I'm sorry, darling," he says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I let him get away."

What? Is there a burglar in the apartment?!

"Yoonie, what are you—"

"He's in the living room."

With anxious heartbeats, you and Yoongi head to the living room area. Fortunately, your apartment is tiny enough that every room is next to each other so it only takes a couple of steps for you to near the entryway to the living room. Craning your head, you take a peak to find...

"There he is."

...a cockroach.

Wait—

A cockroach?

You scream, clutching your husband as you hide behind him.

"There are roaches in this building?!" you screech, disgusted when you remember how the landlord conveniently left this little detail when you both first moved in.

"Stay behind me, darling," your husband orders and you look down to see him holding a pest repellent spray in his hand. "I'll handle this."

Your knees quiver when he takes slow steps toward the roach.

"You bastard," he continues, "you think you can just come breaking and entering?"

He's a few steps away.

"This is our territory," he growls as he positions the repellent and his finger hovers over the nozzle. "Die, you bastard!"

He sprays.

Nothing comes out.

"Shit," Yoongi mumbles. "I'm out of ammo."

And then the unthinkable happens.

"Yoonie, it's fucking flying!"

The cockroach flies. Higher. And higher. Then it descends.

"No," you whisper, horrified. "Please, no."

It lands on Yoongi's bare chest.

"Darling," your husband calls out to you, his body frozen but his voice shaky. "I need you to kill it. Even if you get me, too."

"No, no, no. This can't be happening."

You're hysterical.

"You can do it, darling," he assures you, his head jerking to gesture to a spare newspaper laying on the floor. "I know you can."

"But—"

"We have to protect our turf! Do it!"

A tear falls down your cheek. Without any other choice, you take a deep breath before getting the newspaper and folding it in a fan-like pattern.

Once it's all folded, you straighten up. You look your husband in the eye, and all you see is love, pride, and acceptance.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

And with the newspaper in your hand, you scream, swinging your arm back and running towards your husband, before you whip the newspaper forward and slam it on his skin.

You miss.

"I'm sorry, Yoonie," you mumble, head down as you eye the reddening mark on his forehead where you accidentally hit him.

The cockroach is long gone now, having flown out the opened window when you tragically missed it and ended up hitting your husband instead.

"Don't worry about it," he tells you, chuckling.

Yoongi shakes his head at you, endeared. He reaches out a hand and caresses your cheek lovingly.

"You did well, darling."

COPYRIGHT 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

[nyarumie]

Brains to Brawn. (Chapter 3)

narumi gen x f!reader — 2.2k words, co-workers to lovers, slowburn, multiple parts, semi canon compliant, they're both in denial (later on).

STATUS: Ongoing. Chapter links: 1, 2, 3

Author's Note: Please send some feedback about the pacing and characterization! I unintentionally turned this into a slowburn series 😭

Cross-posted on ao3. — Likes, Reblogs, and Comments are also appreciated; Happy reading ♡ Ask box is open!

Feeling oddly good about yourself today, joyful hums are heard coming from you while brewing your favorite daily dose of iced coffee. You made your way to your work table, co-workers staring inquisitively at you—was it weird to have little skips on your steps as you prepare to work for the day?

To say that you were happy is an understatement. You were practically glowing.

"Ahem." one of your friends tried catching your attention.

"Hmm?"

"Did something happen after the test yesterday? You're awfully… flowery today." Your small friend group was surrounding you, waiting to hear you spill some juicy details.

"Oh!" you started. As if to show you were proud, you crossed your arms and held your head high. "I'm going to be a millionaire!" you declared.

A chorus of 'Huh?' was heard, your declaration earning the attention of a few of your co-workers.

"Scratch that, I'm going to be a billionaire!" you said, determination exuding off you.

Just as they were about to ask if you're in your right mind, a stack of papers hit your head.

You turned towards your 'attacker', glaring playfully at him. "Wha— That hurts! Was that necessary, Kurusu?!"

He sighed, "Go back to your stations. And you—What were you thinking?" he sounded exasperated.

You tilted your head, confused.

He sat beside you and whispered, "What happened to rejecting the proposal?"

"Oh. Didn't you want me to accept it? I have my own good reason for it too, you know?" He raised his eyebrow at you, curious to hear your reason.

"... Salary Adjustments?"

And he smacked you with the papers once more.

"Hitting me again?! You said the same thing last night! How many people in the defense force are offered such an amount? It's too good to miss out on that!" you argued.

Waving his hand in dismissal, he handed you important documents for you to fill out. "I told you to think it over for three days, not overnight. Just answer these forms within the day and return it to me."

One of these forms is the application for new recruits. Staring blankly at it, you totally forgot it'll be held only 2 days from now… and you have no idea how to prepare for it! It's not like you've held a gun before, nor fought any Kaiju? Hell, you even bawl your eyes out at the sight of a roach and it flies off before you can even hit it! Oh, you're definitely gonna die now.

Kurusu snorted beside you, snapping you out from your thoughts. "It's too late to regret your decision now. I should've clarified it's more than just the salary adjustments I told you about." Is he a mind reader?

"It's not too late if I don't sign these forms, right…?" you asked, a mix of nervousness and hope evident in your tone.

"Good plan. But you shouldn't have addressed Captain Shinomiya in your email. He'll be expecting you."

You groaned, your head thumping down on your table.

"I'm gonna die… Don't wanna die… I'm gonna die… Don't wanna…"

You earned highly concerned looks from your co-workers, hearing you mumble repeatedly and mood significantly plummeting.

Feeling bad, Kurusu offered you a two-day paid leave for your preparation, but you're sure he's just pulling some strings to make it happen.

"No thanks. I'll work as normally as I can. I hope." You opened your work-issued laptop, timidly starting one of your few remaining normal work days.

Morning session passed by like a breeze. You were too cooped up in your work, one of your friends had to drag you all the way to the Cafeteria to get some lunch. Instead of lining up for a perfectly balanced meal, you went to grab an instant cup noodle in their snack station and filled it with hot water. Your realization from this morning took away your appetite, so it seems. You weren't in the mood to mingle with them either.

Bidding farewell to your friends, you made your way to the long-range training room observatory, deciding to watch fledgling recruits; you might pick up a few pieces of advice from the senior officers training them too. Not that you'd ask them directly, though. You're basically just eavesdropping, albeit obviously.

Upon entering the room, you nod in acknowledgement at your co-workers stationed there. One of them pointed at your cup noodles, then made an 'X' with their arms. You simply returned a mindless shrug, knowing you can chug this thing down within 5 minutes.

You made yourself comfortable on a seat, enjoying the view and your 'meal'. Seems like the shooting training has yet to start, you're just right in time then. From below, Platoon Leader Hasegawa can be seen going through final checks and reminders as the recruits gather behind him, bearing their standard long-range weapon.

"Listen up! You all have been on this line of job for a year now. We'll be going back to the basics from your very first training—one of them is reaction time. According to the memo, punishment is due to those who fail to at least show two times the better result than the record they had from a year ago. Are we all clear?"

A chorused 'Yes, sir!' resounded from the recruits, them obviously thinking it would be a piece of cake. What Hasegawa didn't mention, however, is that the shooting targets pop out much faster and they're moving in random directions at the same time. And the number of targets is significantly multiplied.

The first few officers who volunteered were found sulking at the very back of the pack. Not only did they fail to beat their amateur records, they weren't even able to find the locations of the other targets! As a result of this, the remaining officers were visibly anxious and discouraged, subtly pushing each other to go first.

"What are they? High Schoolers?" you mumbled. Though, you find yourself pitying them. A year of service in the Defense Force and the level of training is upped by this much—it does seem cruel. But that's the harsh reality. If they can't deal with these wooden shooting targets, what more if it's a real Kaiju jumping out to attack them at the same time from different directions?

You slurp down the rest of your meal, giving your now undivided attention to the training. You noted that the wooden targets have a specific echoing sound upon popping up due to the strain held by the metal holding them, and their volume determines which area they're located in. This observation allowed you to guess their number, treating it like some kind of minigame.

"Commencing in 3…"

You close your eyes as you hear the countdown, trying to focus your senses on your hearing. If you recognize the distinct sound and volume resounding from the dummies, you might be able to tell just how many of them there are.

"2…"

Suddenly, you feel stupid for doing this. You haven't even learned anything from watching them. How could you know better than they do? They're the ones on the field.

"1… begin."

'Ah… three dummies for Ground A this time?' you thought.

"25 seconds—Ground A clear!"

"4 on B and 3 on C," you mumbled. The echoes from Ground B and C aren't as loud as A's, so you expected Ground D's sound to be even softer.

"4 minutes and 12 seconds—Ground B and C clear! Officer now heading towards Ground D."

"5 on D… No, it's 6. Sixteen targets overall?"

"18 seconds on Ground D—all clear! Total record: 4 minutes and 55 seconds, 2 minutes slower than the previous record."

Before you can even hear your co-worker announce the total targets cleared, you abruptly open your eyes at the sound of someone talking to you, catching you by surprise. A pair of pink-reddish hues meet your own eyes.

"Bravo. How'd you guess that?"

Leaning right at your face is Platoon Leader Narumi. He's too close to your face, too close for your comfort! Is he shameless?! How long has he been observing you and your stupidly mindless action?

You put some distance from him, subtly pushing your chair backwards.

"Just some quick observations, I guess…?" you answered briefly, unsure whether he'd like to hear you ramble.

"Tell me more."

How do you even start this? He might not follow your line of thought. But here goes nothing. "Um, the dummies pop out with a distinct sound. I've heard what one pop sounds like in each area, so imagination is key to assuming how loud it'd sound if multiple of them appear at the same time." you paused, checking to see if he's still listening.

He, in fact, seems absorbed in your explanation. With newfound confidence, you continued, "As for which area, the farther they are, the softer they sound. I believe no further explanation is required here. Bottomline is, hearing one pop in each Ground is the key."

Still intently observing you, you spoke up again. "Is there something wrong?"

He pointed at the recruits below, now being lectured by Hasegawa.

"These dimwits who already had an experience of one year got outsmarted by you. That's what's wrong."

He stood up straight and continued, "Not only do they fail to showcase their improvement, their senses and heads weren't working at all. Makes you wonder how they're still alive after all those attacks."

'Well, you probably soloed most of the Kaiju…' you thought.

"You're making it seem like a big deal that I guessed the numbers. I work in the Operations, isn't it normal for us to be more observant than most people?"

You hear a co-worker chuckle. "Ah, well, the thing is, you're the most detail-oriented out of all of us. Remarkably good hearing too. That's why you're our designated eavesdropper—or gossiper, rather." they joked.

Narumi snickered. "Why're you here anyways? Desperate for advice?" he taunted, wiggling his eyebrows. "My word comes with a price, just saying."

You stood up and crossed your arms, wanting to appear grumpy. "Whatever price it is, I'm not paying it. I don't need any help at all."

"The price is helping me with my training. Right now. What do you say?"

…Were you hearing things? Help with his training? So many officers would beg and die to be offered this opportunity.

"I have work to do."

"Nahh, I'll have Kurusu deal with that." He grabbed your wrist without warning and led you away, earning worried stares from the people stationed behind.

"...Pray tell, how is this exactly training?"

"Mhm? I'm showing you my shooting skills, and you get to assist me with that. And— Hey, watch out! They're attacking you from the back!" he screamed, his focus still on the huge TV display in front of you.

That's right. The training he offered you is playing a 2-player shooting game. You seemed like you needed advice, and luckily (for him), he needed a player 2 to get the reward locked behind co-op. Fair trade, he'd say. It's not like you have any other choice again, so you quickly pushed away the disbelief you initially felt when he led you to his game room office. Two separate blankets were draped over your heads, sitting cross-legged with a pillow to support your arms.

You hear him sigh out in relief as you both finish the current level, as if he was holding his breath for the entire fight. "6:43 PM. We'll finish at exactly 7 for your dinner."

Oh, so he wasn't totally inconsiderate. You've been cooped up here for the entire afternoon, hoping that Kurusu wasn't hosting a search party for you. It was also kinda your fault for incorporating his gaming habits into his training schedule recommendations.

You played wordlessly, following along his instructions. You got the grasp of the game after an hour of playing, but leave it to the expert to take charge. He wasn't lying when he said you'd finish at exactly 7, the huge golden "Congratulations" banner displayed on the screen.

"Meh. That was too fast."

Looking at him incredulously, you said, "You call that fast? My ass hurts from sitting here for the entire afternoon!"

"But you stayed anyway, though?"

Ah, well… that was true. He never said you couldn't leave. But somehow, you felt like you can't.

"Can I now, then? I'm hungry." Standing up and going straight to his door, you didn't fail to notice how serious his expression has gotten.

"How do you feel now? What are you thinking of?" he asked.

"I feel… hungry? I can't think of anything to think of." Not knowing why he asked those out of the blue, but it was a harmless question to begin with.

He turned his back to you, moving to turn off his gaming console. "Good. Remember that."

"What?"

"Don't think of anything. Just do what you can in the moment. You'll know once you're there. That's my piece of advice."

Oh. He's right—you totally forgot about the recruitment. But it didn't stress you out as it did before. Did he also feel this way when he took the tests? Probably not. But you're sure he does whatever he can at all times.

A soft smile adorned your face, thinking that he wasn't such an ass after all. "Thank you, Platoon Leader Narumi. I'll make sure to remember it. I'll be on my way now, then."

Once he heard the door close, he lightly scratched his nape. Truth be told, he only did this to slightly repay you for looking over him as his personal manager. Still, this was so unlike him. Maybe he was the one feeling restless?

He'll definitely watch you on your examination.