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deathworlders-of-e24 · 25 days ago

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Liz, Biotechnician

Part 3

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The Vending Machine whirred softly as it produced the 5th candy bar in a row. It’d been a week since the science division had turned into a chocolate factory, but Liz wasn’t that worried. Coco didn’t have a chemical makeup that could be affected by diabetic amounts of sugar. The opposite, in fact, the little Sprygan was doing better than ever, and wasn’t so little anymore. Just like plants on Earth, botanical lifeforms needed glucose to grow, and apparently when given daily supplements of the stuff, their growth rate accelerated at frightening speeds.

Liz walked back to the lab, with a hearty Halloween’s worth of candy bars in her hands and pockets. Some crewmen gave her odd looks as she passed, but she paid them little mind. The door to the lab opened with a quick hiss.

“So we got milk, dark, white with macadamia nuts, and… what are you doing?”

Coco was standing in the center of the room, their new fuller branches seemingly vibrating. Liz thought they looked excited. The same Coco, who at the time when the mission began, was at best maybe 3 feet tall, now stood almost 5 1/2 feet in height and had a significantly thicker trunk. They were about as big as Liz was herself now, with a thicker canopy in the beginnings of bloom. They leaned in Liz’s direction, vines trembling.

“I just got a message from the bridge. There’s a uncharted planetoid in this system with a moon that might have breathable atmosphere, and they want a full ecological report written up.”

“So we’re going down there?”

“Correct! It’ll take 2 cycles to get there, but then it’s all ours!”

Liz was overjoyed! Finally, some actual field work instead of editing someone else’s papers all day. A whole new ecosystem with god knows how many new species… if it had atmosphere, of course.

Can’t get too excited yet girl, Liz thought.

“Does the moon have water?” She asked.

“Indeed.”

That’s a real good sign though, she figured.

“Can I have my chocolate now please?” Coco asked.

“Oh right, yeah, here you go,” Liz said, setting the bars on the table. Coco’s vines reached out and snatched them, taking them back into their canopy to be the plant equivalent of ‘digested’. The usual humming started up as they enjoyed their snacks. Liz wasn’t sure, but she thought she could see bark physically forming on their trunk now, or perhaps it was simply a discoloration.

“You’re sure this much sugar is good for you hon?” Liz asked, concern slowly winning out over scientific curiosity.

“The thing you call cocoa seeds are not plentiful on my planet, so I’m unsure if any Sprygan has ever had this much in such a short period of time, but I’ve never had so much energy before. My growth rate is miraculous, I’m almost completely out of my juvenile sapling stage now.”

“And that’s a… good thing?”

“Very. Saplings on my planet are the easier targets for predators. With a harder outer layer I’ll be much safer now. I’ve been composing a paper on this for days, it’ll be of great significance to Spryga.” Coco continued humming, ‘munching’ away on her candy bars.

“Well alright then, so long as you’re okay,” Liz said. “So tell me more about this moon.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the Antares System, hidden from scanners by the solar radiation of the tertiary star, was a desolate little rock burnt to a crisp by stellar winds during a flare eons ago. Its moon, however, was protected from the fire while in the shadow of the planet. And so it continued to turn, with barely a few degrees changed, undisturbed.

Until now.

The Noah entered the system from WARP, keeping a safe distance from the tertiary star in case of solar flares, and settled into a comfortable orbit around the planetoid to scout the surface of the nearby moon, now being called MX13.

From the Bridge, Liz and Coco read the initial scans from various probes launched when they’d arrived.

“Gravity reads…damn, big moon,” Liz said, surprised, “9.1, just a little under galactic and Earth standard.”

“Gas spectrometer reads as breathable atmosphere to 70% of known intelligent lifeforms,” Coco read on, “but not humans. You’ll have to wear a mask Human Liz.”

“What’s the chemical makeup like?” Liz asked.

“95% methane… similar to what you call Titan in your Terran home system. Without a mask you’d have a few minutes at best before you suffocated.”

“So yeah, rebreathers are fashionable this time of year,” Liz laughed. Even the idea of suffocating in a potentially hostile ecosystem wasn’t enough to bring her spirits down. It had been ages since she’d set foot on extraterrestrial soil.

“Ahem,” grunted Skitch, as much as a bipedal bug man could go ‘ahem’ with mandibles.

“What does fashionable mean?” Coco asked quietly.

“I’ll tell you later,” Liz whispered.

Captain Skitch had been waiting off to the side for a while now while they geeked out over the moon.

“Now then,” he said, arms behind his thorax stoically, “in six rels[?] [GAIL standard term: 1 rel approximately 1 earth hour(s)] we’re sending a shuttle down to the moon to conduct the requested ecological report. Our main objective is to see if there are any lifeforms, intelligent or otherwise, living there. If it is deemed uninhabited, we’re to declare whether or not it could become a potential colony for GAIL member races.”

Liz was almost painfully excited. Uncharted habitats, potentially establishing a colony, this is what she worked 6 years in the academy for, what she lived for.

“Sir, what are we supposed to do if we do come across any lifeforms down there?” She asked.

“You know the rules. On the off chance you come across anyone intelligent, you do not get involved, you do not get seen. We’re here to record the natural evolution of the universe, nothing more.”

“There’s very little chance of that,” Coco chimed in, “the first scans of the surface are being analyzed, there doesn’t seem to be any structure of any kind on the surface, so it’s unlikely we’ll come across any sentient species.”

“On the off chance you do have an encounter, I’m assigning commander Koatil to the landing party. She’ll be in charge of everything, and has my full authority to make any judgment call she sees fit.”

As if on cue, First officer Koatil made the bridge, her thermal suit fitted with extra armor for the expedition, hiding her powder blue fur. It seemed to Liz she’d freshly sharpened the horns on top of her head as well. She’d always figured they looked like rams horns, and thought how interesting it was that Doun women were the only ones with horns in their species.

“Good to meet you both,” Koatil said. “I’m sure this’ll go smoothly for all of us, just stick with the group and everything will be fine. Permission to depart, Captain?”

“Granted.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Noah’s shuttle bay was about the size of Liz’s old high school gymnasium, vaulted ceiling and wide open space, plenty of room for the three docked shuttles. Commander Koatil stood nearby, doing her final check as bay staff loaded the shuttle with cases of the scientific instruments they’d use to analyze the moon’s ecosystem.

Liz and Coco, along with the shuttle pilot and 2 other security personnel, stood ready to board at the commander’s say. She inspected the crew going down to the moon with them. The pilot seemed fine, even had two more arms to steer, so that was reassuring, but it was the security personnel that caught her attention. If Liz was seeing it right, the two were not on friendly terms with each other. The first one, an Indoprime, was standing at an awkward distance from the other guard, a Sed man. Neither spoke to the other, the Indoprime even slightly leaning away from the Sed, who stared straight ahead and said nothing. Both had plasma pistols on their belts, as well as upper armor over their uniforms. Liz was going to be severely disheartened if they messed up the ‘roadtrip’ she’d been waiting for.

Commander Koatil handed the pad to one of the crewmen and made her way to them at the shuttle.

“All aboard to MX13,” she said, resting her big paw on the pistol on her hip as she climbed in the door. The rest of them, Liz and Coco, the pilot, and the security personnel followed behind her. The door sealed shut behind them.

Liz took her seat, helping to secure Coco in theirs. The buckles weren’t well suited to thumbless species. She’d made sure the belts didn’t dislodge their own pistols from their holsters. Having a rogue plasma shot in here wouldn’t end well.

Buttons were pressed, dials turned, something that looked like a cup holder was pulled out of the dash, and the shuttle came to life.

“Shuttle Alpha, you are clear for departure.”

“Acknowledged,” replied the pilot.

The hangar doors opened, leaving behind the gas mesh, a thin blue wall of light to keep the air in the room from exploding into the void. Their shuttle passed through it easily, heading into open space.

“Haven’t seen this view for a while,” Liz said. Sure, of course there were windows on the ship, but it felt different in a shuttle. Like the void was just a hair’s width away from her now, waiting for her.

“My sensory receptors can’t make out anything but the shuttle,” Coco said, “could you describe it to me?” Coco’s leaves were shaking slightly, so Liz reached out and put a hand on their branch. The shaking calmed.

“Well first it’s just the sheer amount of stars,” Liz said quietly, “like a million points of light. There’s a nebula about 12,000 light years away off the port side that looks like butterfly wings if you squint… if you look at it right. Coco, I can’t express it right, the moon looks beautiful.”

“Human Liz, I’m jealous of you. Seeing in the visible spectrum must been so interesting.”

“Well what does the world around you look like? What do you perceive?”

“Well as you know, my branches have a sensory function to detect my surroundings, vibrations, light, even sensations in a way. But I don’t know how one would compare our two sensory experiences.”

“Your communicator is built into your brain isn’t it?” Liz asked. “Couldn’t it be adjusted to send sensory signals to your mind as well?”

“It’s possible, but the technology isn’t developed yet,” Coco explained. Liz looked at her a moment.

“Think we could fix that? I’d hate for my best friend to miss this view for their whole life.”

Coco didn’t say anything to that. She just listened as Liz described the universe around them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boosters fired.

Air brakes deployed.

Shuttle Alpha landed safely on the moon MX13.

The landing party filed out, and except for Coco, everyone decided against the worst case scenario and wore respirators. It wasn’t as bulky as Liz first thought, just a face mask with a line to a small air cleaner on her belt. Coco was the only one who didn’t need to breathe, so they were totally fine.

Stepping off the shuttle onto the moon’s surface, Liz was surprised at the vegetation around them. Muddy purple grass bed the ground, surrounded by rocky patches across the valley where they’d landed. Off in the distance were what appeared to be trees, thick branchless trunks growing straight up, splitting into angular canopies. Liz brought her camera up and snapped a photo.

“Alright, spread out but try to stay in sight of the shuttle,” Koatil said over their radios. “I know we’re setting g sensors pretty far out, so if anyone gets into trouble out there, launch a flare and we’ll come get you. Grite! You’re with the science team, go with them.”

The Sed man, Grite, looked almost pained at the idea of tagging along with Liz and the Sprygan.

“Aye, commander.”

“Think you can help us carry the sensors?” Liz asked, hoping to break the ice. She already had 2 bags strapped to her back and another slung over her shoulder. Coco was too small to carry anything.

“You can carry your own supplies,” growled Grite, keeping his distance from them.

What a dick, Liz thought, shouldering another bag on her other arm. The sensors she was carrying were heavy, but she was still in high spirits. Field work! Hurray!

They must’ve walked for over a mile, planting sensors every few hundred feet in ‘places of interest’, namely places Liz and Coco thought looked cool or had neat vegetation or rock formations. They’d made their way into a swampy area, heading towards a line of hills in the distance.

Coco went off a ways to plant a sensor by a small marshy cove they’d detected. Grite followed behind Liz, glaring every time she looked back. She didn’t know what she’d done to annoy him so much, she’d just met the guy, but maybe she’d done something or said something offensive by alien standards.

Whatever, don’t need him for this, Liz thought. This is a brain mission, not a buff rock guy mission.

“Human Liz,” Coco called over the radio, “there’s a rocky area here, with a subterranean tunnel system.”

“Cool, moon caves,” Liz laughed. “I’ll be right there with the another sensor, just wait for me, okay?”

“There are these round stones here half buried in the soil, at the entrance,” they continued.

That made Liz pause a moment.

“Just one or two, or are they in a kind of a pile?”

Static.

“Coco? Talk to me hon, pile or no pile?”

Static still. A few pips and pops, followed by a squeal of feedback noise. Liz’s blood ran cold.

“-uman Liz-… predator-… help-…”

“Grite launch the flare now!” Liz yelled, dropping the bags to the ground before breaking out in a sprint. She stomped and lunged through a few hundred yards of marsh, quick as she could, hitting solid earth at a dead run. The Sed was either behind her or he wasn’t, Liz couldn’t think about that in the moment. She had a pistol herself, and while she may have been the science geek on the ship, her dad had made sure she knew how to use it.

She cleared the marsh and crested a small ridge line, following the trudging trail of the little Sprygan. There she saw the scene, Coco on their side, massive claw marks raked up their trunk, and what looked like a cross between a mountain lion and a gator, long snout and mouth with jagged teeth and a ‘feline’ body, muscled and lithe with a forked tail. The thing’s back was covered in ridged scales, while its limbs were bare, wrapped in fur and old battle scars.

FUCK, Liz thought. She pulled her pistol and shot energized plasma directly at its head, but it barely even burned it. Whatever this thing was made of, its skin was fire proof. Her translator crackled in her ear.

“-human Liz…-?”

Liz didn’t hesitate any further. She leapt from the ridge, landing on the creature’s back. She took the butt of her pistol and started slamming it on the back of the thing’s head, over and over again, before the creature bucked her off.

Liz fell hard, hitting her head and mask on the ground with a sickening crack. Gas started venting fast, there was an inch long crack in her visor now, a whole chuck of it missing, falling somewhere in the dirt. Somewhere above her hair line she must’ve been cut on the rocks, because blood was dripping down into her left eye.

Dimly she was aware that she was already dead, if her mask was broken then there was no way to get back to the shuttle before she suffocated. But that being said, she was going to fuck up this monster trying to eat her best friend before making her grand exit.

What a way to go, huh Liz? she imagined in her father’s voice. He’d be smiling in a situation like this. Liz grabbed the side of her broken mask and ripped it off, throwing it at the creature as it crouched in front of her. She took in a deep breath of ‘air’, filling her lungs, and screamed. Her legs bent into a crouch, her back tensed, she tasted blood in her mouth. Adrenaline poured into her veins, dulling the pain, giving her strength and funneling rage into the center of her brain. She had one job now.

“COME ON THEN YOU FUCKER, LETS FUCKING GO!”

Liz charged the creature, firing bolts of burning plasma as she went, praying that dick Grite was somewhere nearby ready to get Coco out of there while it was busy mauling her to death.

The creature shrugged off the pistol fire, pouncing on her, pinning her to the rocky ground. Stones and the alien’s claws dug into her sides and back. It opened its jaws wide, and Liz realized it meant to eat her head. Fuck this thing.

“You hungry you big bastard?! EAT THIS!”

Liz worked her arm free, the one still holding a death grip on her plasma pistol, and shoved it down the creature’s throat. Its teeth tore into her arm, screaming pain ripped up her side, and Liz never stopped pulling the trigger. The smell of burning filled the air as the creature squealed and whined, its body going limp as bodily fluid poured out its mouth. She didn’t stop, emptying the clip into its blown out organs. Finally the thing was quiet.

Liz didn’t even bother trying to pull her arm out of the alien’s mouth, the thing was ruined, and she was dying anyway. Between blood loss and asphyxiation, her vision was already fading to little pin pricks. With the last shred of consciousness, she let out one more howl, screaming into the air, before everything went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth Collins didn’t remember what happened after that. All she knew was she was sore all over and weirdly cold, which would make sense if she was just a corpse, but why did she hear… was that ABBA?

Please not an eternity of pop music, she thought sluggishly. Anything but that.

She struggled, oddly weightless, and tried to open her eyes but found they’d been bandaged shut.

Oh good, I’m alive, people hardly ever bandage dead people.

What about mummies?

Shut up, me.

She reached a hand out and touched something smooth and solid. She tried to tap her knuckles against it, but only got one good rap at it before her hand hurt too much. Thankfully it seemed that’s all she needed.

“Human Liz, are you conscious? How do you feel? Are you in discomfort?”

Oh good, Coco was alive too.

“Wait, no, don’t try to speak right now, you’re in the regeneration pod right now, in nano surgery. I’ll be right here when it’s over, return to being unconscious please.”

Oh, okay, sleep sounded good anyway. Night night, Coco.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s gonna be twitchy for a few cycles until it adjusts to your neural pathways, but it should feel just like the old one soon.”

One of the other humans, a woman named Jane Shaw who worked in med bay, had sat down with her earlier that morning to go over her… condition.

“We had to replace the lining of your lungs with a prosthetic mesh to keep them working,” she’d said, “you were out in that methane air for a while. If it hadn’t been for your Sprygan friend feeding you oxygen from their branches, you never would’ve made it.”

“I don’t think even they knew they could do that,” Liz had forced a laugh, coughing a bit. “Now, about my arm?”

“Completely scrapped. Whatever stomach acid that creature had, it melted your arm down to the bone. Can’t repair what isn’t there, I’m afraid.”

“I understand. Thanks, Doc.”

Well ain’t that something? Liz was effectively 15, maybe 20, percent cybernetic now. She told herself she’d trick out her new arm with all sorts of cool gadgets, making every effort to distract herself from the fact that she lost her right fucking arm.

“On the plus side,” she said quietly to herself as she walked toward the lab, “got another new project too.”

The door hissed open. And there was Coco, still as a tree, which she guessed made sense. She could barely see the claw marks on their trunk now, but wished she couldn’t at all. She should’ve been faster.

“Human Liz?”

“What’s up hon, you miss me?”

It’d been three days since the landing party had come back with her bleeding out in the shuttle, three days since she’d gotten to relax in their shared lab. She tapped the new glass enclosure where the eggs they’d gathered were incubating, the sign on the side saying ‘these eggs cost an arm and a leg!’ Apparently Chief Ducane had gone down there to gather what equipment could be salvaged and decided they’d be worth something to the science team. Maybe he thought he was being funny, Liz didn’t know. She did chuckle a little. Just a little.

“Human Liz, you are… okay now, yes? The reconstruction…” Coco’s leaves were shaking.

“Come on Coco, you know me, I’m totally fine! See?” Liz held up her new chrome arm, the new metallic fingers twitching at odd angles.

“That’ll stop in a few cycles, Doctor Shaw said so.”

“Human Liz, why did you do that?” Coco stood stock still in the center of the lab.

“Do what hon?”

“Why did you risk your existence[?] [life] to help me? That is not what we do on Spryga.”

Liz blinked a few times.

“Well that sucks, you all just let people get knocked off there?”

“Yes, in order to maintain the bulk of the colony.”

“Well this isn’t Spryga, Coco, and you’re my friend, of course I was gonna come get you, you asked for my help!”

“I should not have!”

Liz sat down and took a breath. This would be weird and awkward for everyone in the room who wasn’t an egg.

“You asked for my help, and I’m sorry, but I give a shit about you, and yeah, it cost me an arm and some lungs, but I was going to save you. So can you relax about it now? I mean damn, you’re my best friend, I wasn’t gonna leave you out there!”

“I don’t know what that means!”

“Yeah you do. It means exactly what you think it does. That I’m coming to get you, whether you like it or not. We’ve only known each other three weeks on this boat, but you got yourself a very attached human who’ll make sure you live, got it?”

Coco was quiet a moment. Their branches started shaking again.

“I’m very very sorry you lost a branch[?] [limb] because of me,” they said quietly.

“It’s okay hon, I wasn’t mad at you about that. I’m just glad that Grite guy launched the flare so the shuttle could come get us.”

“Grite did not set off any flares,” Coco said, confused. “After you had killed the predator, I fired one into the sky before giving you oxygen from my leaves.”

Oh I’m gonna kill that guy with my new robo arm, Liz thought.

Back burner that for now.

“So yeah, hugs and kisses, make ups all around, love you too Coco,” Liz said, using her flesh hand to brush away the stale air between them. “You wanna help me trick out my arm? I was thinking a laser pointer and a universal remote control, what do you think?”

“I think you should be focused more on rehabilitation. From my research on lifeforms like humans, you require an extensive amount of time to recover from injuries this severe. It’s actually amazing, any other race would’ve been permanently incapacitated in similar situations.”

“Yeah, humans are weird huh? Perks of evolution on a deathworld like Earth.” She tried laughing again, dissolving into a coughing fit. Coco stood watching her. Liz could feel concern mixed with just a hint of judgment.

“Okay, yeah, I got rehab scheduled every other cycle after the shift is over,” Liz admitted.

“Good,” they said, content. “If my… best friend, is not functioning properly, I would be distressed.”

Liz smiled.

“And yes, I would most enjoy retrofitting your new branch[?] [limb]. We could make it… fashionable is the word, yes?”

#deathworlders of e24 #humans are deathworlders #humans are space oddities #humans are space orcs #humans are strange #humans are space australians #humans are weird #earth is space australia #humans are insane #humans are terrifying

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msbigredmachine · 6 months ago

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New To This - Chapter 7

MASTERLIST

Parking her bike next to the sidewalk, Delilah pulled out her phone and dialed his number via the FaceTime app. She couldn’t help but smile a little when his bearded face popped up on her screen, a hoodie over his head and sunglasses covering his eyes. He had to be out in public which explained the attempted disguise.

“Ayyyy, wassup baby girl?” Josh smiled brightly at her through the phone. “I was just about to call y-”

“Are you back in town?” she asked.

“Yeah, got back last night. Why? Ya miss me?” he teased.

“Can you meet me? I need y-...need to talk to you.”

His brows furrowed with concern. “Ay, you good?”

She didn’t mean to sound impatient but she craved his presence right now. “I’m headed to President’s Park. Can you meet me there?”

“Yeah, let me finish up with grocery shopping. I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Okay.” Twenty wasn’t too bad. There wouldn’t be too much time to wrangle with her angry thoughts, which seemed to be the only thoughts she harbored lately thanks to her infuriating fiancé.

Josh pulled up in a Cadillac Escalade. His car collection was the stuff of dreams. WWE was definitely paying him well. When he stepped out, she found her heart racing a little bit. Man, he looked really good. Only he could make a simple tank top and joggers look fire. “Nice ride,” she greeted, ensuring her hug was strictly sideways. If he noticed, he said nothing. Thank goodness.

“Nice bike, ah-yeet!” he quipped back, making her laugh. He opened up the back of the truck and pulled out a bag filled with groceries. “I brought snacks,” he offered, bringing out a bottle of beer and handing it to her, helping her inside the back of his spacious trunk.

“Thanks.” They sat shoulder to shoulder, basking in the quiet of the empty parking lot overlooking the vast park. Delilah was reminded of all the tailgate parties from back in high school, all of which had involved Andre, when things had been so much less complicated.

Inwardly, Josh admitted that he missed Delilah. This was their first face-to-face meeting in two months thanks to his constant traveling, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t look forward to her phone calls and FaceTime chats, answering her whenever he could. Her enthusiasm was infectious and he was glad to be there for her when she needed him.

“So…you wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?” He finally broke the silence, looking her way. “Cuz you do not look fine.” He paused, smiling cheekily at her. “I mean, you fine, but-”

“Stop.” Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, she presented him with the letter that had caused all this chaos. She told him what happened, leaving out the condom part of course. It should have been weird talking to him about her personal life, but they’d been conversing for a few months now and he always seemed happy to let her talk his ear off about wrestling and more. Having the guidance of a man of his influence was exactly what she needed to help her stay positive about her new career shift.

“So long story short, you keep expectin’ him to come around and he ain’t?" Josh asked, knowing the emotions she was dealing with all too well.

Delilah shook her head, tossing a macadamia nut into her mouth. “No, and I’m tired! I swear to God I just wanna throttle his ass sometimes,” she griped, “Or hit him with a Spear or something. Drive my shoulder right into his gut, ya know?”

"Why you still with him, then?" Josh said pointedly, almost regretting the eagerness in his tone when she cast a questioning glance at him. He played it off with a shrug of his tattooed shoulders. "I mean, if he’s so unsupportive, why put up with his ass? Why not just leave?"

Because it was unfathomable to her. Despite the fact that she complained about him almost constantly these days, she never considered leaving him. At least not seriously. But the offer from WWE had compelled her, for the first time since embarking on this journey, to understand that choosing her career could possibly mean leaving Andre behind. She felt he was starting to realize it too and didn’t know how to handle it.

Swinging her legs absently underneath her, she shielded her eyes against the sun. "He wasn’t always like this," she defended her man. Which was the truth. It hurt that things had changed so much.

Josh stared at the woman next to him. She was twenty-four years old, which was way too young to be worrying over a miserable relationship in which she wasn’t even married yet. "How long have y’all been together?" he asked, pretending that he cared.

"Since I was fifteen, so nine years," she answered. "Engaged for almost two years now."

Josh swallowed another long gulp of his beer. "Why you wanna get married?"

Delilah thought about her answer. Because it was the logical next step for any woman to take, according to her mother and aunties at least. Because it was the easy choice. “Because I love Andre and I wanna be his wife," she finally said, shrugging her shoulders and staring at the crisp Jordans on Josh’s feet. She understood that her reasoning was naive, but at the time she accepted Andre’s proposal, she was young and bright-eyed and believed in fairytales.

"Why you wanna be a wrestler?" Josh asked next.

She didn’t have to think too hard. "For years, I wondered if I could cut it. My late dad and I watched Raw every Monday night.” She smiled at the memories. She missed him. She could have done with his advice right now. “My friends at school were obsessed. There was no Tuesday when we weren’t talking about it. Because I was so athletic, I had the best chance out of all of us to make it if we really wanted to. I took one step further because I had to know for certain."

Josh nodded slowly, processing the information she had just given him. "Well, the higher-ups think you got somethin’," he gestured with the letter in his hand. "So whatchu gon’ do about it?"

Delilah snatched the letter back and rolled her eyes at his question. “Um, that’s why you’re here, you’re supposed to tell me.”

“Advise you? Yeah. Tell you what to do? Naw,” he clarified, leaning back in his seated position to observe her. “No matter what I say, the decision is ultimately up to you, which is something you gotta seriously think about when WWE hires you. What Tank say?”

“He’s waiting for my decision on the flight tickets.”

“Meaning he’s on board. So that leaves Andre.”

Shaking her head slowly, Delilah stared at her hands, using the brightness of the sun as an excuse to avoid his gaze while she fought to keep her composure. "To be fair," she whispered, "I'm asking him to drop everything for me."

Tossing his empty beer bottle into a bag of trash on the ground in front of them, he reached across her lap to grab the bag of trail mix. It would have been easier to ask her to pass it, but for some weird reason he wanted to get a little closer to her. "If it were the other way around, would you do the same for him?" he asked.

It really shouldn’t have been this easy baring her soul to Josh, but it was. For some absurd reason, she felt that she could trust him. "Yes, I would. At least that would have been my answer before I started training," she confessed. "Part of the reason Andre let me enroll in Tank’s school was because he thought I would get it out of my system. And I knew that. I knew that he wasn't expecting it to become what it is now.” She swallowed, tears stubbornly piercing through the corners of her eyes. “You shoulda seen the look on his face when he opened that letter. It was like I unleashed some kind of hell that we could never return from. Like I ruined his life. Maybe I have.”

The complete lack of support from her future husband, to the point that she was doubting herself, made the Samoan angrier than he should have been. Her relationship was none of his business, but since getting to know her, he felt like Delilah Parrish had now become his business. He wanted to protect her, encourage her, make sure that she realized her full potential. And if her fiancé was the problem, then that was a problem for Josh.

Wanting to shift some of the focus off of herself, Delilah cleared her throat and looked at the big man with wide apprehensive eyes. "Please be honest with me, Josh. This whole wrestling thing…is it worth it? Is it worth sacrificing everything I know? Should I rip up that letter and return to the stability of a normal life?"

Pursing his lips, Josh rolled his shoulders. In his opinion, she was not ready to hear the truth. And as open as she had been with him, he wasn't exactly ready to reciprocate. But he did owe her a candid response. And judging from the way her fists gripped the edges of her seat, she was expecting nothing less from him. She was looking to him for answers that nobody else could really give her, and he wanted to be the one she could lean on.

"For me, it was," he admitted. It was his turn to gaze at his palms. "I know the hell I went through to get to where I was in the business before I got married. I worked too fuckin’ hard for too many years to watch it go down the drain. Especially to be with someone who wanted me to give it all up."

Delilah wasn’t sure why her heart sank, but it did. “So you are married.”

“Separated,” he corrected, “The longer I was away from home, the more our marriage suffered. We tried to make it work for our sons, but it wasn’t happening. This business takes a lot outta you, uce. You gotta figure out for yourself if the sacrifices are all worth it.”

Delilah expelled a long breath and placed a comforting hand on his bicep. "I’m sorry," was all she could say.

Acutely aware of her touch, Josh struggled to reconstruct the wall he had built around his private life. He didn't like letting people in, and the fact that he’d easily done so just now, unsettled him. "But that's me though. Don't let my decisions affect yours," he added quickly, scooting out of the truck and landing on his feet, breathing in the outdoor air. He turned to face her fully, smoothing his hands over his pants. "Go to Orlando. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if nothing comes out of it, it’s an experience you’ll carry with you forever."

Suddenly overwhelmed, all Delilah could do was nod, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. So many thoughts were running through her mind like a malfunctioning treadmill. Making the mchoice seemed so simple before, but now she was more torn than ever.

Josh saw right through her trepidation. "Hey, come here," he said, stepping between her open legs to wrap her up in a warm embrace. It was a bold move on his part, and he waited to be pushed away but it didn’t happen. He heard her soft sigh, felt her chin on his shoulder and her arms tighten around his back. Fighting the urge to dip his face into the crook of her neck, he held her loosely, one hand resting just above the curve of her backside.

"I been watching, baby girl,” he whispered in her ear. “You got so much potential, a chance to be great in this business. Plus, you sexy as fuck," he added, chuckling when she smacked his arm. “Homie, I’m engaged. To another man. You cannot be saying stuff like that to me,” she warned.

He merely shrugged. “Just cuz you engaged don’t make it any less true.” When she gazed up at him, he caressed her chin with his fingers. "All I’m saying is, the only thing holding you back right now, Delilah, is you."

This was way too intimate. Her skin prickled from his touch, both on her chin and on the small of her back. Her loins tingled from the lustful twinkle in his eyes, the drag of his teeth over his bottom lip. The erotic fantasies she'd been keeping at bay for months resurfaced, causing her heart to pound. He was getting too close. She had to stop it before she went too far, before she did something she couldn't take back. Gently but deliberately, she peeled herself out of his grasp and made a point of snatching the bag of trail mix to keep her hands busy. Thankfully, Josh read the room and took a step back, tucking his hands into the pockets of his joggers. She was grateful for the space.

"So what’s it gonna be?" he inquired, “To go or not to go?”

Delilah chewed pensively as she pondered her decision. It was safe to say that she was convinced to take this chance she may never get again. With a shrug, she looked him in the eye, hers glinting with steely determination.

“Yeah,” she said. “I think I’ll go.”

-----------------

Thoughts?

Credit to the owners of the pics and gifs.

🏷️: @jxtina-86 @wrestlingprincess80 @fame-ass-ers @southerngirl41 @harmshake @alyyaanna @squishyguishy @jstarr86 @murrylove @thewarlordsworld @mzv11 @cozyaliensuperstar7 @nayys-world @hunnidmilly @cyberdejos2 @papireigns-05 @harmshake @niknakbucks92 @captainwithoutmakingitlove @sovereigngoth @aisharmi @kennedi0818 @alichesmi @thesamoanqueen @herwickedlittlesins @questionable-behaviour @tribalchiefreigns @2-muchsauce @thatbxtchsblog @raya-hunter01 @marchi36753 @lovelysuccess @christinabae @wooahmiri @thatonecarebear @tabletheofhead @rheaanddamianfan @vebner37 @hanley1577 @princessesareforsuckers @-naturally @joannasteez @bbygirlky18 @lilucey @theninthwonder @melaninsugababy @chocovibesonly @msbluehaz3 @scarlettnoir01 @heerah34 @empressdede @tbmotw @darkangelchronicles @visionarymode @marasdeathnote @aintnorainbows @meggylynnloves @shantinextdoor @harlemblipster @trc-punzel @afterdarkprincess @nbanenefrmdao @sassginaswanmills @purplehairgawdess @holisticcoach @girlwhogaf @royalkay23 @heyitsnajabrinee @stoner2k @reci1996 @catxo @iamimanim @lookmais @ts1mp0ne @lizzyd1ish @m3llowww @skyesthebomb @final1miya @kia1996 @randomuser0711 @yourtribalqueen @caramelcleopatraa @katymae12344 @that-one-anxious-mango @yana3sworld @ajenae @truefant4sy @thetribalqueen @bhjszsdxc @paigereeder @christinabae @justazzi @maknaehyucks @mindairy @headoftheetable @truefant4sy @mscarter213 @ariiaeltheedonn

#jey uso #main event jey uso #jey uso smut #jey uso fanfiction #jey uso imagines #jey uso fanfic #jey uso imagine #jey uso x black reader #jey uso x oc

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fullcravings · 7 months ago

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Homemade Chocolate Macadamia Nut Butter

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morethansalad · 7 months ago

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Vegan Vanilla Macadamia Cream with Warm Apricots & Summer Fruits

#vegan #breakfast #snacks #fruit salad #macadamia nuts #vanilla #maple syrup #apricots #cherries #strawberries #blueberries #raspberiies #orange #pistachios #coconut oil #eat the rainbow

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inoreuct · 11 months ago

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okay okay yes chef sanji is wonderful but baker sanji. confectioner sanji. think about it.

sanji kneading dough on a saturday morning with his shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbow. he has flour on his cheeks and one of those cute canvas aprons the colour of a brown paper bag with a million pockets and he keeps getting pissed off because strands of his bangs are constantly falling into his face. he makes sourdough and cheesecake and strawberry pavlova and tangerine tarts and dried mango nougat and carrot cupcakes that everybody eyed suspiciously before they actually tried them and now they're a friend group favourite.

he makes monthly batches of those agar-agar edible crystals for vivi's entire family and ships them by the crate to alabasta. he bakes robin and franky's blue raspberry black forest wedding cake. all of the straw hats have multiple packets of his dark chocolate dried fruit and nut and oat yoghurt brittle in their bags at any one time because they're the perfect snack and they're delicious. he makes red bean matcha mochi for zoro because the mosshead can't tolerate anything too sweet.

he has jar upon jar of aromatic infusions on the shelf: vanilla, black pepper, florals, all steeped in liquor to make high-quality extracts that he has gotten MULTIPLE offers to start a business out of, but he always declines because hello. he's busy cooking for straw hats and co.. luffy and fam. he has no time he is a busy busy man and would you look at that chopper's upside-down apple crumble is ready.

usopp makes him all sorts of contraptions, a high-speed blender, a state-of-the-art stand mixer, an ice-cream machine; sometimes if he's feeling lazy he'll go equipment shopping with sanji and just modify whatever they buy. sanji has a toffee hook on the wall of the galley and a very formidable collection of cookie cutters and piping tips. he's managed to make fondant that doesn't taste like utter trash and it's legendary. his salted caramel cashew macadamia popcorn has and will continue to make grown men cry.

but sometimes, he just chucks some charcoal in a pot and plops it in the middle of the dining table with a bowl of chocolate on top and brings out the fruit skewers, or the marshmallows and graham crackers. sometimes they eat rice krispy treats out of the packaging as they huddle together on the lawn and stargaze just because they can. sometimes the almond and dried cranberry combo just can't be beat and sometimes plain toast with butter makes you see god. but you'd best believe the next day he's up and at it again; his sourdough starter's looking more and more like a sentient life form by the hour and he has seven different things going on at once with two more bowls cooling off in the fridge and the oven preheating. i love baker confectioner sanji.

#black leg sanji #sanji #one piece sanji #one piece #strawhat pirates #straw hat pirates #straw hat crew #mugiwara pirates #op sanji #look he's just a silly little candy man okay #he's sweet let him make sweet things #ino writes #more of a braindump than anything else but i love sanji and i want to squish him into a waffle maker.

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qiutls · 1 year ago

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TNGDH 006

Contrary to my concern, Kyle didn't kill anyone.

When I saw the blade of the knife flash so menacingly, I really thought he was going to kill those three people, but instead he just subdued the thieves.

No, to be honest, it's a bit lacking to say subdued.

― Eek [ H-hello? ]

Kyle actually overpowered the three guys easily. Two of them fainted in an instant and the last one stood trembling like an aspen tree.

As for the last man, it wasn't that Kyle couldn't knock him out, he just controlled his strength, and kept throwing punches, seemingly venting his anger.

"Who sent you?"

Kyle asked while placing the knife near the thief's neck.

"If you tell me the truth, then your life will be spared."

"U-uh, w-we were just l-looking for something worth some money, t-that's all!"

"Something you can sell?"

It wasn't completely wrong, but it was a bit of a reach.

Didn't you say you were going to kidnap or kill the woman hidden by him. Now, just because you're in front of Kyle, you became a weak person. Obviously if the person you're in front of was a weak person, you guys wouldn't hesitate to rob.

Not to mention, these insignificant guys didn't even have a plan and were just impulsively taking stuff. Compared to other nobles, the study of the Northern Grand Duke is not heavily guarded, so it would have been easy to enter.

"No one told you to kidnap the demonic beast?"

Kyle said grimly.

"This is the last question."

"T-that, u-hm, i-it."

The trembling thief somehow raised his head and looked me in the eye. Why? What? Why are you looking at me you hamster kidnapper!

"It was because of the demonic beast." basically the thief is saying they were trying to take out Soohyun out of the cage, because Soohyun manipulated them.

That's right, you went into this study thinking you'd find a woman who was hidden by the duke, but instead you found me, an ordinary hamster eating almonds, you must be embarrassed.

Kyle's gaze quickly scanned the study. Some of the papers related to the Blake's estate administration were disorganized on top of the desk, along with a few macadamia... My snacks.

Kyle raised his sword roughly and unevenly, making the thief nervous at the fact that the sword would cut his throat at any moment.

"That, t-that, Grand Duke-"

Thump.

The masked man who still standing up until a second ago, collapsed to the floor. The way he fell in front of me, shocked me into jumping away and causing me to be stuck at the corner of the house.

You scared me to death. Why would you fall right in front of me! You even made eye contact while collapsing!

"Cashew Nut."

Kyle reached into the hamster house and lifted me carefully.

"Are you alright? You must have been very surprised."

�� Eek... [ Listen here.. ]

"Don't worry now, the festival is just around the corner and these people didn't seem like trained assassins, so I'll just lock them in the underground prison instead of killing them. As for the guests from the Imperial City..."

Kyle nodded briefly.

"Yes, there should be no noise, it won't do if you're bothered again."

― Squeak [ That's not it. ]

"When the important things are done, I'll take you to play out on the fields."

― Eek [ I get it now, it's okay. ]

Can't you put down the knife first before telling me? Please move the fallen people away as well.

With what mind are you thinking, talking to the hamster first before alleviating this hideous atmosphere. No matter how, those people on the floor still tried to kidnap me okay.

―.....

Maybe it's because I became a mouse, my liver seems to have become as small as a mouse. It seems like my heart will flutter at the slightest sound.

When you look at it, in fact in this fantasy world, everything was all about swords and knifes.

The sense of intimidation from a blade that is used to cut down people and demonic beast is indeed different. If you can withstand that intimidation, then you must have a strong heart.

I'm not a coward though, originally all office workers have weak courage, it's normal.

"Your Highness!"

― Squeak! [ Ah! You scared me! ]

Suddenly the door burst open and a bunch of armed people rushed inside. It seemed that the guards rushed in at the sound of intruders.

Are people in the north usually this bold?! What if the door breaks.

The loud noise made my whole-body shiver, and I slipped out of Kyle's palm quickly as a reflex action. My body was moving freely before I knew it, as if I was actually a hamster.

Anyway, I wanted to avoid loud noises and situations where a lot of people are looking at me. What can I do, my MBTI, starts with I.

"Cashew Nut!"

While Kyle pushed away the fallen men at his feet, I stepped over the desk and jumped down. After running on the wheel for about 700 laps, doing this was as easy as stepping on stone.

I went down to the floor in an instant and went into the bottom of the bookshelf.

Since I'm small, I can even go into places like this. I felt comfortable once I was freed from the gaze of people who seemed to be frighteningly large. That's right, if you didn't know, you can hide in the ceiling or behind the walls, if you need space like me.

"Everyone get out!"

Ack! His voice is so loud. It almost made me shiver all the way down again.

I crawled more and more towards the shadows, until I finally reached a place that's hard to clean, and a few lumps of dust hit my face.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"Everyone leave."

Kyle's voice was cold and sharp like a blade. If they didn't leave in 10 seconds, I'm afraid they'll be meeting with Kyle's sword.

The soldiers squeezed out their strength and dragged the fallen bodies and went out of the door in a blink of an eye. It suddenly became quiet after the door was closed.

Kyle who had been staying still for a while came close to me.

"Come out, Cashew Nut. It's dangerous there."

No, think about it. Isn't it more dangerous in the hamster house. The thieves came in and were about to take me just an hour ago.

"Please come out."

He whispered in a desperate voice.

His arm reached under the bookshelf, but it wasn't able to reach me. I picked out the fur on my front foot why looking at his outstretched hand.

The five fingers groping the floor looked very pathetic. He was fumbling around till he reached an ink lid that had fallen down at the corner... But why am I so at ease here?

[ Hamsters like dark places! ]

A system window popped up in front of me. Right, hamsters were nocturnal animals.

I looked at Kyle's hand with subtle acceptance, but he retrieved it back and was silent for a moment. This time something else came rushing in.

― Squeak! Squeak! [ What the! This crazy bastard! ]

The thing that suddenly went under the bookshelf was none other than his sword. Of course, the blade was covered, but it was still naturally scary if you knew what's underneath the cover.

I shivered and hid deeper in the corner. I was already becoming one with the lump of dust as it clung to my fur.

"Please come out here, Cashew Nut, It's my fault."

Is the Northern Grand Duke crazy? Why are you that desperate?

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight? I'll have to wash you first then you can do whatever you like. I won't leave you alone again."

―.....

That last sentence is a bit severe.

But to be honest, I did feel lonely. I spent my days in a hamster house as big as a playground, inside a study that's bigger than the studio I used to live in. Even humans would've felt this place was spacious, especially for hamsters...

Above all, once I learned that you were bound to die, I truly felt uncomfortable.

I only lived with you for a few days, but I sincerely want to save you, not just for the miracle value. I believe that people who love and are kind to animals are not bad people.

I carefully stepped out under the bookshelf, trying to avoid Kyle's sword. Once Kyle saw me, he threw his sword away, and held me dearly.

"You did the right thing."

Looking at this face, it's really sharpened by the northern air. Towards others it will look cold however to his beloved hamster it would be warm...

Kyle dusted my fur then headed to the bathroom, and washed my body with warm water from the sink.

That feels nice...

It felt like I was in a hot spring and had to put a towel on my head. By the way, can I really wash like this? I thought rodents shouldn't be bathed in water. I don't think there's anything wrong with my body right now though.

[ The northern field mouse loves water! ]

I see. That's a relief.

Afterwards, Kyle rubbed my fur several times and laid me on a cozy towel. It was such a skillful touch that it made me wonder if he had done this many times before.

I just kept laying still. It felt like a full body massage. Ah, a hamster's fate is indeed nice.

"You must be sleepy."

What a fiendish man. I forced my eyes to open even though my consciousness was slowly fading away.

I want to relax like this a bit more. Kyle picked me up, kissed me on the belly and made his way to his bedroom. I lay down at his bedside, enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in a towel.

Is this heaven?

I was rolling on the fluffy sheet when he suddenly put down a wheel beside me. What's this, did he bring it here because he thought I liked it?

I looked at Kyle once, then at the wheel, and with a look of amazement, kicked the wheel with my foot.

This pink Ferris wheel worked well as if it had been greased... What's this? Maybe because I'm used to running, I felt relaxed.

"I'll be back after a while, so just relax here, Cashew Nut."

He petted me with his index finger and left the bedroom. Seems like there's quite a lot of work to finish after the fiasco earlier.

Not everyone can be the Northern Grand Duke.

Working overtime like this is not for everyone.

As I was turning the wheel with my feet, a thought popped up in my mind. This is a great opportunity, isn't it?

I quickly called up the system and checked the number of laps left.

[ 787/1000 ]

This should be finished pretty quickly.

It's only about 200 times. I can even do this while eating almonds. I quickly got on the wheel and started running.

Whiz. Whiz.

How stable. This is the best spin I've done on a wheel. It's much smoother than the other one.

I was excited at this development and ran quickly.

[ 864/1000 ] …… [ 958/1000 ] …… [ 990/1000 ]

And by the time only 10 laps were left.

"Cashew Nut."

The door opened and Kyle entered the room.

I quickly jumped over to the towel-covered sheet and pretended as if nothing happened. I abandoned my dignity and pretended as if I were a hamster who was addicted.

Fortunately, Kyle confirmed with his eyes that I was okay didn't care about the moving wheel, went to the bathroom after leaving a message that he was going to wash up.

I sighed deeply and looked at the spinning wheel.

I need to wait for it to stop before I can go up and run again.

I sat absentmindedly and watched it spin. Once it stopped completely, I got on it carefully.

[999/1000] [1000/1000]

When the thousand laps were finally completed, a strange fanfare sounded out at the same time the system window popped up.

Well, what now?

[ You have learned "Summon" ! ]

[ Miracle value has risen! ]

[ Miracle value 5% ]

[ Do you want to use "Summon" ? ]

Right now? In here? Can I use it? ...?

I pressed the [ YES ] button with my little front paw.