#maybe it will last through my vacation next week and I can get some writing done if I have more than an hour to reread and plan

[filet-o-feelings]

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[5sospenguinqueen]

Bedtime Stories Pt 2 | Daniel Ricciardo x Author! Reader

Summary: Daniel made a silly little comment that lost him everything. Over a year later, he tries his hardest to fix his mistakes.

Warnings: Swearing. A tiny smidge of angst but mainly fluff. Redemption for Daniel.

Female reader with various faceclaims (pics found on pinterest). Takes place in 2023. For the purpose of this, Daniel has been with AlphaTauri the whole time.

Main Masterlist

prev.

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28•05•2023

danielricciardo just posted

liked by redbullracing, YourUserName and others

danielricciardo monaco, always a delight. P11. so close to the points but racing through your streets feels like being on a podium

4,337 comments

landonorris and whose attention are we trying to grab with that sexy last pic 👀

→ danielricciardo only yours, mate 

→ User1 don’t act like you’re not dying inside because y/n liked this 

→ User2 relax, they never unfollowed each other 🙄

maxverstappen1 you’ll get them next time, mate

→ danielricciardo fancy giving me a tow?

→ maxverstappen1 never

→ User3 i love their friendship so much

User4 um, did anyone see that y/n liked and then unliked this post 

→ User5 omg yes! sis was caught stalking and we love her for it 

→ User6 i too would thirst over my ex if he looked like that 

kellypiquet we were watching the whole time

liked by danielricciardo

→ User7 what a weird comment to make?

→ User8 who’s we, kelly? 

→ User9 what does this mean? 

 

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04•06•2023

Tweet 1

User10 @ kikiki babe did you hit your head? is that why you were in the ER? they broke up

User11 @ kikiki maybe ask them to do a head scan whilst you're there 'cause ain't no way you saw here there

→ User12 literally. like why would she even be in spain right now?

Tweet 2

User11 i think we might have to apologise to @ kikiki

→ User10 can we really trust the wag page though? They did report that Lando was having a secret love child the other week..?

Tweet 3

User13 asking the real questions because she's not even hinted that she’s been writing so it’s not like she’s on a book tour or anything?

→ User14 some people are saying she could be on vacation but please, why would mother choose a holiday destination during a time that she knows is a GP?

User15 guys, guys, I think our sacrifice circle worked 

→ User16 please, please, 🕯️🕯️

User 17 how poetic would it be though if they got back together  during the spanish GP when they broke up at the spanish GP a year ago 

User18 shouldn’t you know these answers, and that she was in spain, if you're her so-called updates page

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22•08•2023

YourUserName just posted

liked by maxverstappen1, charles_leclerc and others

YourUserName some big news approaching 

6,349 comments

kellypiquet i can’t wait, my beautiful girl 

→ YourUserName thank you for being my #1 support

→ kellypiquet thank you for letting me help plan

→ User1 what does this mean? 

→ User2 miss piquet stop being so cryptic on socials 

maxverstappen1 i’m very excited 

→ YourUserName did kelly force you to write that because i could feel the excitement oozing through the screen

→ maxverstappen1 i wanted to say something worse 

→ YourUserName i hope she leaves you

→ kellypiquet behave, you two! 

→ User3 i live for max and y/n terrorising each other, even without danny ric being around to encourage it

bloomsburypublishing we look forward to the end result

User4 i’m sorry but is this a soft launch?

User5 who is that in the last slide, miss y/n?

→ User6 the inspiration behind a new romance we hope

User7 don’t be shy. tag him 

User8 soft launches have recently become my least favourite thing

charles_leclerc are you perhaps writing my next plane read

→ YourUserName depends how long the flight is 

→ User9 confirmation of a new book ya’ll!! everyone say thank you charles

User10 i like to be edged by her books, not by her hiding her man

User11 don't try and distract us with news of a new book, we wanna know who the feet belong to!

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01•09•2023

danielricciardo just posted

liked by maxverstapen1, yukitsunoda0511 and others

danielricciardo ciao a tutti. lovely sightseeing in beautiful Italy

6,445 comments

User12 you’re telling me that i’m currently in the same country as THE daniel ricciardo?

kellypiquet i’m still trying to recover from that hike

→ User13 kelly and max went on a double date with daniel and the new girl?!

→ User14 omg please be y/n. i can’t imagine kelly agreeing to it otherwise

User15 i know he's trying to distract us with his beauty but we see the last slide, daniel. we see it

pierregasly so you’re telling me that you were in milan and didn’t bother to come and see me? that’s it. i'm ending our friendship

→ danielricciardo i’m sorry, mate. i was doing more important things

→ pierregasly clearly ;)

User16 someone check on y/n, please

→ User17 babe is clearly having the time of her life in italy (yes, i'm delusional)

User18 does nobody find it odd that he’s posting a soft launch not long after y/n posted a soft launch

→ User19 i know! it’s only been three weeks since hers and he’s posting one

→ User20 i can’t decide whether they’re soft launching each other or he’s trying to make her jealous by flaunting a new relationship as well

→ User21 it HAS to be each other or i will die

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15•10•2023

lando.jpg just posted

liked by YourUserName, danielricciardo and others

lando.jpg so i attended this event… and no, it’s not mine before you all freak out

8,223 comments

charles_leclerc it was a beautiful day ❤️

alexandrasaintmleux i’m so thankful to have been a part of such wonderful memories

kellypiquet the most beautiful bride i have ever seen

maxverstappen1 this was a nicer caption than i expected from you

→ danielricciardo agreed

→ landonorris i take offence to that

User1 guys do we think kelly and max got married? they’ve both comments on this?

→ User2 yes but so did charles and alex so…

→ User3 plus, i know kelly is stunning but do we really think she would call herself the most beautiful bride in 3rd person?

georgerussell63 i’m surprised you remember much after the state you were in

→ landonorris excuse you but most of that was just pure happiness

hulkhulkenberg an amazing day

estebanocon so happy to have been a part of this

alex_albon how’s the hangover, mate

→ landonorris i didn’t drink that much!

→ georgerussell63 tell that to the bouquet that you puked on

→ landonorris i caught it so it was mine anyway

carlossainz55 beautiful photos. she’ll love those

→ User4 who’s she?!

lewishamilton🤍🩵

fernandoalo_official congratulations to the happy couple

User5 the entire grid are commenting on this post, clearly having been in attendance. who IS IT?

pierregasly c’était une belle mariée

liked by YourUserName

User6 guys, y/n’s name on socials just changed from y/l/n to ricciardo

liked by danielricciardo

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03•04•2024

YourUserName just posted with danielricciardo

liked by kellypiquet, maxverstappen1 and others

YourUserName my husband helped with this project. baby ric coming aug 2024

9,550 comments

kellypiquet you will be the most beautiful mother. i’m so honoured to be part of this with you 💕

→ YourUserName stop you’re going to make me cry. you’ll be the most perfect godmother

→ kellypiquet i still think you should've married me instead

maxverstappen1 i call godfather

→ landonorris no you don’t get to call godfather! you already got to be a groomsman

→ maxverstappen1 yeah because who helped get them back together

→ YourUserName kelly

→ danielricciardo me

→ YourUserName no, babe

danielricciardo and before you all ask, no I haven’t stopped crying since she told me

→ kellypiquet me too, dan, me too

maxverstappen1 on a serious note, i am very happy for the two of you. y/n will be a wonderful mother, and daniel, he’ll be there also

charles_leclerc i am so excited. alex keeps telling me to stop buying baby things for you guys but i just don’t listen

→ YourUserName well at least you can safely say that uncle charl bought little mcqueen’s love

→ User7 uncle charl!!!!

lewishamilton congratulations, you two. y/n looks amazing

fernandoalo_official how lovely 💚

User8 omg it WAS their wedding lando attended!!!!!

hulkhulkenberg baby ricciardo!!

pierregasly congratulations. i can’t wait to be uncle GASSLYYYYYY

alex_albon welcome baby ricciardo

→ lilymhe it’s not an alien, alex. you don’t have to greet it so formally

redbullracing we’re all so excited for the upcoming grid baby. working on a racer stroller right this minute

→ mclaren you stole our gift idea!

→ redbullracing you stole our driver!

carlossainz55 congratulations y/n and daniel 😄

mercedesamgf1 what wonderful news 🍼

landonorris i’m just so glad i can go back to calling you mum and dad without daniel wanting to drive his car into the barrier

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Please don’t hate me for this! I did say from the beginning that Part 2s would be redemption.

I’ve had this planned and written since before Part 1 was published so when half of you then asked for her to get with another driver/move on, I was like noooooo I’ve already planned their baby 😂

As always. Requests welcome. If you have requested, I promise I’m not ignoring it, it’s been added to my queue

Baby Fever Angst Series

Tag list

@bibissparkles @barcelonaloverf1life @rlalliehayes @dullypully @softtina @callsignwidow @lav3nder-haze @minkyungseokie @luvrrish @fall-bambi @evans-dejong @sadsierra2 @justdreamersdream @spookystitchery @dark-night-sky-99 @majusialikesfastcars @luckyladycreator2 @bborra @mrosales16 @reguluscrystals @tvdtw4ever @alwaysclassyeagle @gigicisneros @spanishcorndogs @thecubanator2 @goldenharrysworld @awritingtree @jxnellat @sbrn0905 @hc-dutch @buckybarnessweetheart @ironmaiden1313 @dreamercrowd @yourbane @reguluscrystals @peachiicherries @g-l-o-b-e-w-h-o-r-e @weekendlusting @leclercsluvs @hannannannannannah @lifeless-firefly @sinofwriting @exotic-iris13 @imperfect-paragon @dan3avocado @barcelonaloverf1life @avillagesperson @hard4ndsoft @justzluv @laneyspaulding19 @danielshoe @chocolatefanunknown @redcrescentmoons

Sorry if I missed anyone!

[pinkcaraz]

obsessed - c. alcaraz

c. alcaraz x f!reader

summary: you really don't want carlos to get a haircut.

wc: 1.3k

tags/warnings: suggestive, fluff, implied oral sex, making out.

a/n: posting this to cope with the fact that we're probs gonna lose fluffy hair pinkcaraz 😔. as you can probably tell, i don't speak spanish, so please feel free to correct me. as always, likes, reblogs, feedback, etc. are always appreciated! if you want to be tagged in any future writing, please lmk. i might make an official taglist form later if enough people want to be tagged. thanks and hope you enjoy!

it’s one of his days off. thankfully, you and carlos have been enjoying a relaxing vacation at home after several long weeks of traveling and tournaments. for the past few days, the two of you have been making the most of his time off by sleeping in and lounging around at home for most of the day. today, however, the absence of your personal heater next to you rouses you from your comfortable sleep early. you blindly pat his side of the bed just to be sure, and when you don’t find him, you lazily crack your eyes open to look for him. sitting up in bed, you find him half dressed, just starting to get ready for the day. 

“lo siento, did i wake you?” he asks apologetically while fondly watching you rub your eyes from sleep. you look so cute with your sleepy expression and wild bed hair, it makes his heart flutter. he stops what he’s doing to sit next to you on the bed and places a soft good morning kiss on your forehead. 

you yawn and shake your head smiling. “it’s okay. what are you doing? where are you going?” you ask, trying to smooth down your unruly hair. carlos laughs softly and brushes back a few strands that fall into your face.

“i thought i would go run some errands, maybe go get a haircu-”

“no!”

“‘no?’ what do you mean ‘no?’”

shit, did you just say that out loud? you’re still a little hazy from sleep, and clearly, your brain-to-mouth filter isn’t working at full capacity yet. 

when you don’t answer him right away, carlos presses on. “do you not want me to get a haircut? do my haircuts not look good?” he asks with his pretty brown puppy-dog eyes and signature pout.

you’ve really dug yourself into a hole here. “no, charlie, you always look good,” you respond quickly. and it’s true, he does always look good to you, even when he comes home with his goofy ass fade and you’re forced to mourn his soft, fluffy hair. at just the mere mention of a haircut, you’re already lamenting the loss of his current look. he’s been overseas for a few weeks now, so it’s been a while since he last went to see his barber. his hair has grown out a bit on the sides and especially in the front, where it curls and falls just above his eyes. he looks so good like this, it drives you insane sometimes. 

you distinctly remember an incident just last week where you couldn’t take it anymore and basically jumped his bones as soon as he wrapped up his post-match press conference. he had played so well that day. watching him absolutely glowing, dashing back and forth on court, had you so incredibly worked up. his hair was also slightly ruffled from a vigorous match and him occasionally brushing it out of his eyes. despite that, it still looked perfectly soft. you didn’t care that he was still sweaty from the match, you had to have him close so you could run your hands through his hair and ruffle it up even more. 

with unwavering determination, the second carlos stepped out of the press room, you were leading him down an empty hallway of the stadium. once the two of you were away from prying eyes, you had pulled him in by the collar for a searing kiss. as much as he was surprised, he knew better than to interrupt you when you were like this, so he played along, backing you up and caging you against the wall. your resulting gasp allowed him to lick past your lips, into your mouth, teasing you. with one hand still clinging to the collar of his shirt, your other hand reached up to tangle itself in carlos’ hair, bringing him impossibly closer to you. completely engrossed in you, he continued licking and nipping at your bottom lip until you were panting hard. when you gently pulled him back by his hair so you could catch your breath, he let out a soft moan, sending a shiver down your spine. your eyes met, both dark with want, and he dove back in, assertively pressing his soft lips to yours before moving to bury his face in your neck. when he tentatively nibbled at your pulse point, you gasped, tightening your grip on his hair ever so slightly. this had him increasing the intensity of his attention to your neck with a satisfied smirk on his face. you were running your fingers through his hair in appreciation when you heard voices down at the end of the hall, forcing you to drag him off of you. 

you were dreamily reminiscing about how you had quickly pulled him somewhere else more private to finish what you started when carlos’ voice interrupted your thoughts, bringing you back to the present. “then, por qué no?” he asks, referring back to you not wanting him to get a haircut.

“um…well…it’s just- uh-,” you stutter in response. you clearly have an answer – you’re a little obsessed with his hair grown out – but you don’t want to tell him that outright. feeling embarrassed from being in this position and also still slightly flustered from the memory, your cheeks burn. you get that look on your face that says you’re thinking unsavory thoughts about him, and ever-observant carlos starts to pick up on how you’re feeling at the moment.

with a mischievous grin and a teasing tone, he keeps pushing you to answer. “dime, amor. you can tell me anything.” at this point, he’s leaning in so close to you, practically crawling up your body, so you’re forced to lay back on the bed while he hovers over you.

“i just, uh, really like your hair like this is all.”

“oh, de verdad? is that really all you were thinking about? you weren’t thinking about yesterday?” he questions deviously while holding himself up on top of you, slotted in between your legs. 

yesterday. yesterday, as in, when the both of you were in the same position in bed. except, then, he was lower down, attentively nipping and sucking a path from your inner thighs upwards. your hands were tangled in his hair, pulling groans from him and directing him closer to the burning ache between your legs. that yesterday. 

uh oh, he’s caught you. he’s probably known this whole time that you’re obsessed – not that you were really trying to hide it or anything – and when you finally realize, you whine and cover your face from embarrassment. 

“well, no i wasn’t thinking about yesterday, but i am now,” you grumble out. thinking back, you subconsciously try to squeeze your thighs together at the memory, but because carlos is still positioned with an evil little smile between your legs, you can’t. you can hear him trying to hold back his laughter, so from behind your arms, you mumble, with no venom behind it, “you’re the worst.”

“ok, well if i’m the worst, then i guess i should get up so i can go get a haircut then,” he teases while moving to get up off of you. 

before he can get anywhere, you pull him back so that he’s plopped on top of you and wrap yourself around him like a koala. “nooooo, don’t go,” you whine into the crook of his neck and snuggle even closer to him. “please.” 

the way you hold him close has him melting. he can’t deny you when you’re this adorable. “ok, fine,” he mumbles endearingly into your hair as he presses a sweet kiss to the top of your head. carlos then wraps his own arms around you in a bear hug and rolls over so that you’re the one laying on top of him. pulling the blankets back up, he settles the both of you back into bed so the two of you can cuddle the rest of the day away. 

taglist: @yungbludz

[judeswhore]

can u write spencer angst about maybe a break up or going on a break because he’s never home? it’s okay if not i just really like ur writing and i’m in love with spencer!!

thank u!! i’m really glad u like my silly little ramblings, it means a lot <3

"hey, your suitcase is in the hallway? you didn't say you had a trip planned, are you going to see your mom?"

spencer sounded a little confused when he appeared in the kitchen, his fingers already working to tug his tie loose, the buttons on his dark cardigan already undone. he looked tired, dark circles evident beneath his eyes and a shadow of stubble starting to dust across his jaw and as much as your heart tugged you couldn't go to him, only set the keys you'd been gripping down on the counter top that separated you.

"i can't do this anymore."

"you can't- can't do what?" you swallowed through the rising lump in your throat and willed yourself to remember at least one of the things you'd planned to say. despite the evening hour the air was quiet, only making the usual soft ticking of the clock hanging on the wall sharper, each second passing pressing a heavier weight on your chest. spencer had come to a stop in the doorway, his hand lowering from his tie now hanging limp around his neck.

"this. us. i'm tired, spence." you shook your head, dropped your gaze from his to stare at a spot just over his shoulder, unable to say the next words while he was looking at you the way he was. "we need to break up."

"break up?" he echoed, his tone soft, higher in pitch than usual and again confused, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. "i don't understand." it was his turn to shake his head and you watched as he made his way closer, walking around the kitchen island and ignoring the keys you'd pushed his way.

"this isn't a relationship anymore, spencer. you're never here and when you are it's like i'm a second thought. you're either reading up on new things or going back over cases and by the time you remember i'm here you're already packing up to leave again."

"that's not-"

"i love you, so much but this isn't working anymore and it hurts." spencer reached out, his fingers brushing yours before tangling together, tugging you a little closer despite the look in your eyes and the shake of your head. his gaze cut into you, pressed even harder against your chest and it was almost as though you could feel the crack forming in your heart. "i can't be with someone who feels like a ghost."

"i don't.. you knew how my job worked, when we first started dating i told you it was time consuming, i told you i'd be away a lot and you said it was okay. you said we could handle it, we could make it work. i thought we were making it work."

"how can we make something work when it barely exists?"

"i-"

"when was the last time you kissed me? i mean really kissed me, spence. when was the last time we went on a date? or even spent the night in watching one of those ridiculous animal documentaries? i go to bed and you're gone, sometimes you don't even text or call, i wake up and you're still not here and i have to call jj to make sure i didn't lose you while you were halfway across the country." you drew in a breath past the lump of tears clogged at the back of your throat, gently untangled your fingers and took a step back. nausea was rolling over you in waves, spencer's eyes shining beneath the dimmed lights, soft and open, more attentive than you'd seen in months. "i knew what i was getting myself into, i thought i was okay with only having half of you but i'm not."

"i can take some time off, i have some days left over. we can-we can go away, wherever you want to go we'll go."

"spencer."

"i know i've been busier than usual these past few weeks, we've had so much going on and then hotch left and we had to figure things out. but i can call emily now and we can take a vacation."

"spencer, stop. it's more than just these past few weeks. i feel like you've been pushing me away from the start, letting me in just enough to make me happy but never enough that i was completely yours." he'd been reaching for you again, ready to cup your cheek in his hand but he stopped halfway there, his mouth twisting into a frown.

"that's not true. i love you."

"i know that but sometimes i feel like you don't love me enough. your job always comes first and that's okay, you save so many people, change so many lives and i'm so proud of you but i can't be in a relationship with someone who's never really here." you wrapped your arms around yourself, a protective gesture to stop yourself from reaching for spencer. he was watching you through lowered lashes, his brows drawn in tight, a downward curve to his mouth and the tears that were gathering in your eyes were mirrored in his. "being together like this isn't fair to either of us and maybe one day we can figure it out again but right now, it hurts more than it ever should."

"don't. i- please don't go."

"we need a break."

"i can be here more, we can fix this."

"that's not a promise you can keep, spence. i need time and space and i need you to give me that."

"but-"

"please." spencer's throat bobbed on a swallow, a tear slipping down his cheek that he swiped away the sleeve of his cardigan and you felt the sob bubbling in your chest.

"i can't lose you."

[yelenabelovasbxtch]

Crush On An Archer PT.1

a/n: Hey! Omg long time no see! I kinda maybe lost interest in writing for a bit there but tbh I think I'm back. No promises because I don't want to promise and then break your hearts but also I realllyyyy enjoyed writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it! Will def be making a part two in coming days so stay tuned. LMK if you want to be added to the taglist, I am going to put some tags of past taglists below just in case they are interested in reading :) ALSO! Special shout out to @scmg11 because their writing is honestly what made me wanna get back into it. So,,I hope you enjoy!

Kate X Fem!Reader

Concept: Reader has a crush on Kate (school/Uni setting) and she doesn't know how to tell her.

Warning: Cussing, mentions of smut, IM TRYING TO WRITE SLOW BURN BUT BEAR WITH ME ITS NEW!

Word Count: 2.7k

You’re a month into your summer vacation and things couldn’t be more…boring. You love and appreciate your parents dearly for putting out the money so that you could attend a prestigious school in New York with a kick ass archery team but does it ever suck to be this far from all your friends for four months. To make the situation work, your dad had to transfer jobs to another state that pulls in a little more money annually with slightly more affordable housing but that means you aren’t even near the people you grew up around. Rural Mississippi is a fairly big step from living in Boston. Boston at least had people, out here it’s like you’re lucky if you get to meet a neighbour because the land has us all so far apart. In all honesty, although it’s boring, you really have one specific reason for being so bummed out. Towards the end of your last semester, you got started getting closer with one of the girls a year younger on your team, Kate. Typically the older girls competed and practised together and the younger girls did the same. Although you two were only a year apart it’s just how things worked out, so you didn’t cross paths very often. However, one day you were walking home from class, stopped to get coffee and basically bumped into her. The meeting was really brief but it was enough to make you catch feelings almost instantly. 

Your interest in her grew as you followed her on Instagram and she followed back. Obviously you took a peak at her page and scrolled to the bottom laughing at the really cringey posts from 2015 she had still up. All you wanted to do was talk to her again but you didn’t know how, although she was a year younger than you she intimidated you so much. Her deep blue eyes were honestly enough to make you stutter whenever you had the chance to talk to her. A month had gone by already and you could not wait to get back to school so you could see her again. Luckily, coach has yearly “team-building” days before the season starts and they’re about half way through the summer so hopefully you can talk to her before then and maybe convince her to hang out when you come back to school. 

Over the next week or so you liked a few story posts that she’d upload every now and again but the day finally came where you felt like you could swipe up and respond to it…y’know…maybe spark a little conversation. 

“Damn Bishop, is this a new bow?” In response to a story post of her showing off some of her off season training. 

“Haha yeah it is, flips out and everything…it's really freakin’ cool.” She replied almost instantly and that made a giant warm smile come across your face. 

Shit– what do you say back? Your main goal was honestly to keep the convo going so you could subtly mention down the line hanging out with her. 

“Yeah that’s sick, wow I’d kill to try something like that out.”

“Well next time I see you, please by all means give it a shot” She replies back.

“Might just have to take you up on that. How’s your summer going anyways?”

“It’s alright, kind of boring though. All my friends from school move back home and I am working for my mom’s company over the summer so it all is just kind of dull. I miss going out and having fun. Wbu?”

“Yeah, I hear that. I am SO bored here. I would kill to fast forward to the fall, I miss being at school honestly. There’s only so much I can do by myself here during the summer.”

“Ugh right! I want it to be school again too but don’t get me wrong, I love the summer, the weather is great here recently and the nightlife is amazing too. I just have nobody to go with, you know.”

“Yeah I get it. Trust me, if I could be there to go out with you I would, there is definitely no nightlife here haha.”

Shit. That wasn’t too forward was it? She is taking a while to respond to you. She hasn’t even opened the message yet. 

*4 minutes later*

“Well, you’re going to be around for that team-building thing coach has us doing in a couple of weeks right?”

“Yeah, I should be.”

“Well, we can go out then if you want? Me and a few friends had plans but they’re all on the team and I’m sure they’d love to have you there too.”

“Yeah, that sounds great I’d love to!”

The conversation pretty much ended there and your contact with her was fairly limited, just a small comment here or there until you finally got to fly back to school for summer training. You settle back into the apartment you left a couple months ago, everything is still a mess where you left it but the kitchen and living room are even filthier since you are not around to clean up much after your roommates. You decided to wait until your team practice to talk to Kate about hanging out again. You didn’t want to come on too strong but also a small part of you feels like she forgot what she said months ago and you won’t end up seeing her, not outside of team stuff at least. 

You grabbed your gear and headed to the field where practice was being held. You saw some of your friends from last year and decided to catch up with them before coach pulled you all in to start practice. You were trying your best not to make it obvious but your eyes were tracking all around you looking for Kate but she was nowhere to be seen. 

*Whistle* “Okay team! Let’s bring it in. First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for making the effort to come back to campus for this, meeting I–”

“SORRY SORRY SORRY!” You hear the coach interrupted as footsteps are fast approaching the circle of archers. 

“Hi Kate.” Says coach.

“I am SO sorry. My driver was running late and then there was traffic because of a giant accident, I think there was some battle in the streets again, I don’t know, either way, my bad coach, won’t happen again…I promise.” She says with the most adorable grin that is absolutely saying she will be late again. 

“It’s alright Kate, it happens, I was just telling the team how thankful I am that everyone could make the trip back to campus for this.” Coach went on to talk about the drills you were doing for the day and man was it hard to not be in awe watching her. You tried your best not to stare all day because the last thing you wanted to do was make it obvious but fuck it felt impossible. The day came to an end and you packed up your gear, Kate was talking with the other seniors on the team as they were gathering their things and started to head out. You could feel your window closing to talk to her but interrupting her conversation with her friends and “inviting” yourself out with them just felt too weird and uncomfortable. If it wasn’t meant to be then it wasn’t meant to be but you would kill to be able to just spend an hour with her. 

You watched as she started to walk away towards the parking lot with her friends when all of a sudden she motioned for them to hold on a minute and she turned around and jogged over to you. 

“Hey y/n! Sorry we didn’t get to catch up much during practice, I saw your shooting though it’s looking good.” 

Yeah…your face is bright red. Control your shit. 

“Anyways, me and a couple friends are going out later tonight to a party that one of their friends is hosting. It’s like a Hawaiian beach summer nights themed type of party so if you have something like that to wear, that would be great.”

“Yeah, I might have something, I’ll take a look when I get home.” 

“Cool! I’ll text you the address once I get it off my friend and I’ll see you there?”

“Yeah, sounds good!” 

“Here, why don’t you put your number into my phone, I don’t like using DM’s that much.”

You take Kate’s phone out of her hand and fill out a contact for yourself, praying that she can’t hear your heart beating out of your chest. 

“Cool, thanks, I’ll send you a text in a bit.” She says with a smile and then runs off to re-join her friends. 

It seems silly sitting by your phone and literally watching the minutes tick by waiting for her to text you but that’s all  you could do. The anticipation felt like it was killing you. 

Your phone finally buzzed with a mystery number attached, “Hey y/n! It’s Kate. So…slight change of plans.”

Fuck. Is she bailing? Your eyes were glued on the three dots as she typed and you watched as they disappeared and reappeared. 

“Turns out the party is actually around the corner from my place so if you wanted to just come here first, we could pre-game and shit and then walk over together? My friends said they were going out to get their hair done so they’ll be running late.”

“Hey Kate, yeah no problem that works for me just send me your address and lmk what time you want me there.”

Kate dropped a pin of her location to you with the text attached telling you to come over at 7pm. 

7pm rolled around and you were already there outside but you kind of felt like you should wait another minute or two so you weren’t RIGHT on time. Or is it weird to be a minute late? But wouldn’t being on time be weirder? Whatever, you decided to just wait a minute and then knock on her door. 

Knocking on her door was the most nerve wracking thing you ever did, you were genuinely shitting bricks. 

“HEY! Come in come in!” Kate eagerly yells at you as she swings the door open. She’s wearing shorts with a bright purple bikini top and a button down Hawaiian shirt over top that doesn’t have a single button done up. Are you starring? Yes. Probably? Absolutely you are. 

“Make yourself at home, feel free to grab a drink from the fridge, my roommates are out of town and left all their alcohol so help yourself.” She said with a laugh. 

You heard that right? Her roommates are out of town. Just the two of you…you never know. 

You grabbed a drink from the fridge and took a seat on the couch next to her and yeah…the drink started going down faster than usual because of all the nerves in your stomach. The two of you made small talk for awhile but the conversation started flowing a little more naturally about 2 drinks in. Were you still kind of awkward as hell? Yeah…a little. But at least you warmed up to her a bit and weren’t acting so weird. About an hour later, her friends showed up and grabbed you guys to head over to the party. Honestly, things were going so well with just the two of you that you didn’t even want to go to this party but if it meant you got to spend more time with her then there you were. You got to the party and you honestly knew practically nobody. You weren’t exactly a social butterfly but Kate clearly was. She was talking to EVERYBODY. The boys at the party especially loved her. There was lots of laughing and flirting going on, you could feel the jealousy building but acting out was definitely not an option. You ended up socialising with a few of the other people at the party but for most of the night you stuck by Kate’s side, the two of you got pretty drunk together, pouring shots for one another and dancing in the pit of people to extremely loud music. There was a point where it felt like it was just you and her and nobody else was there while the music was blasting into your ears and the two of you were jumping together to the beat and singing out the lyrics to whatever song was on at the time. Kate got really close to you until some guy would come and pull her away in an attempt to make a move on her. Although, it never actually happened. Kate always ended up finding her way back to you. At one point she grabbed your hand and pulled you into the middle of the crowd as the two of you sang (screamed) the lyrics to “love story” into each other's faces. The party, as all do, started to simmer down. You guys actually ended up being some of the last people at the party, you stuck around to the point where the music was gone and most people were just sitting around chatting halfway sober. 

“Hey, I think I’m going to go home, I am super tired right now.” Kate says to you. 

“Okay, I’ll walk with you, I left my bag at your place anyways so I have to grab it.” 

“Right, sounds good.” 

Although the two of you had been singing and dancing for hours, she looked just as perfect as when you left and you were trying your hardest not to stare at her while the two of you were walking side-by-side. 

The walk back to her place was pretty quick, when the two of you got inside you went to grab your bag and get your things together. You were desperately trying to figure out what to say to her while you were organising your stuff. You didn’t want to come on too strong but you also want to make sure that she knows you had a good time…I guess just tell her exactly that?

“I had a really good time tonight, thanks again for inviting me.” You say as you’re leaning against the wall in her hallway. 

“Of course, anytime. And I did too. We should really hang out more when we come back to school.” She replies. 

Kate walks towards you and stops about a foot away leaning up against the doorframe to her bedroom. The hallway is super narrow and all you can think about is pinning her against the wall while you kiss down her neck and pull her tight by her waist. 

“Yeah I think so too. I guess I should probably head out.” You say as she looks at you with the softest eyes that you swore said “please stay”. You lingered for a second longer as the two of you were looking at each other, tired, kind of tipsy and on the verge of ripping each other's clothing off. All you wanted was for her to actually ask you to stay a little longer but before she had the chance you were already walking towards the door. 

“Have a good night y/n.” She says. “Text me when you get home safe.”

“I will. Sleep well Kate.” You reply as you turn to look at her with a smile and step out the front door. 

That goodbye felt different. It felt like there were still feelings in the air and lots that wanted to be said that wasn't. It felt like the perfect opportunity with nobody around after an amazing night together has passed but you regret none of it. Although you weren’t able to get a confirmation on whether or not Kate even likes women like you do, you knew there was definitely a type of tension between the two of you that she definitely noticed.

-- END OF PT 1 --

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[theglamorousferal]

Cryptid of Smallville Chapter 3

Hey ya'll, this has been a long time coming.

First off, I want to thank everybody who liked and shared! I'm not great at talking to people but know that everything has made me so happy and warms my heart so much that I can barely put together words.

Secondly, I will be writing more, but I definitely won't be able to keep any sort of schedule. I already have a good part of the next chapter started and though it's definitely going to be a shorter one, it will still be good.

Finally, this beast of a chapter. I wrote the first 3/4 of this chapter about a week after I finished the first chapter and then began to second-guess myself about whether people would want an entire chapter dedicated to a lore dump. I fought with myself for literal months before I finally sat down and was like, "You won't be able to do the rest of it until you get this one done, it's important". Finally this morning I sat down and plugged out the last bit of the chapter and after looking everything over again I decided to just post it before I lost my nerve.

Please let me know any critiques you may have, I barely edited this. Thank you so much for the support!! <3 Here's the AO3 link

For as long as he can remember, Danny has always been fascinated by space. Something about the fact that each star out there being home to other planets and all the different things on those planets just tugs at his curiosity. To make it better, it’s infinite, so he can just keep learning about new places for as long as he’ll live. Which might be forever, but he’s trying to not think too hard about that right now. 

He wonders what the members of his Fright are up to right now. Jazz it probably trying to psycho-analyze Vlad who claims that his days of evil are over with and that he plans to just be the chill uncle to both the Fenton children. Tucker’s probably hacking into the GIW again just to mess with them. Sam’s probably planning a protest to try and get some of the anti-ecto acts repealed while Mom and Dad help with the research to back her up. Ellie is probably still hanging out with Pandora learning how to fight ancient style. Danny sighed, most of that sounded really fun, and he really wished that he could learn to fight alongside Ellie. He missed his totally-not-twin.

Right now, Danny is basically on vacation until his body is back to being 16. He basically can do whatever he wants, but he does have to go to school to keep up appearances. He’s allowed to use his powers whenever, but not where anybody can see. Which typically means he’s not allowed to go into low orbit to look at the stars because that’s just a bit far for the Kent parents' tastes.

They compromised with the roof.

So here he was, at the highest point of the Kent family home staring up at the night sky with little to no light pollution and not a cloud in the sky. The Milky Way was on full display as the stars all twinkled above. One thing he noticed pretty early on is that despite this not being his planet Earth and dimension, the constellations are the same. He tracked his way through all of the astrological signs, pausing a moment on Libra as he pictured himself as the balance with morbid humor, and then through the popular ones like Orion and the Big Dipper. He glances next to him a moment later when someone settles down on the roof with him.

“Hey Clark, what’s got you up?” Danny asked, turning back to face the sky. It’s been about five months since he started staying with the Kent’s and he’s forever grateful that they’ve been so kind and understanding with him.

“Not much, was finishing up studying for this new unit in science when I noticed you were up here. Heard you sighing, what’s got you worked up?” Clark sat with an arm braced on his knee and the other behind him staring up at the sky as well. 

“Just thinking about what my Fri- family is up to. I know time works differently here and it’s probably just been a couple days or maybe even hours for them, but I miss them a lot. They’re a crazy mess, but they’re my crazy mess, ya’know?” 

Clark glanced down at Danny, the kid looking a bit lost. He shifted so he was leaning back on both of his hands. “Actually no, I mean, it’s just been me and Ma and Pa out here before you came along. I don’t really have friends at school that I’m close with.” He paused for a moment, staring straight out across the fields. “Mind telling me about them?”

Danny whipped his head toward Clark, scanning his face. “Are you sure? You don’t have to listen to me ramble, I know I can go on and on, and I don’t want to bore you or anything.”  

Clark chuckled, “Nah, go right on ahead and tell me about your family and friends, it’d be nice to hear about the people who helped make you, well you.”

Danny paused looking at Clark’s face for a moment before he blew out a breath and turned away to look at the sky. 

“My parents are mad scientists,” Danny started. “Not in the ‘we’re building a thing to take over the world’ way, but in the ‘this sounds insane but it’s somehow real’ way. They’re the leading scientists in Ecto-biology and Ecto-engineering, also known as the study of ghostly behavior, biology and the properties of ectoplasm. Ectoplasm is both an energy source and the material that ghosts are made of. They make all kinds of things from weaponry to shield generators to tracking devices all based on ectoplasm. Their crowning achievement however was the portal.” Danny paused here, debating how much to say. “They built a portal to the afterlife in the basement of my childhood home, and it’s the reason I have ghost powers.” He decided to not get into the fact that he walked in and had a whole dimension pulled through him as the portal opened, no need to scare poor Clark. 

“Lab safety has always been a thing that was more like guidelines than actual rules in the house, so since growing up in that environment, it led to myself and my family getting contaminated with ectoplasm. I definitely have it worse off than my family members, but each of them has something that’s just a bit off about them. Like my dad lifting things he probably shouldn’t, my mom moving just a little too fast, and my sister does this thing where she’s looking at you and it feels like she’s looking at your soul and it takes her just a little too long to actually blink and then she’s psychoanalyzed you and knows all your secrets. It’s unsettling, but we just live with it. I had a bit of an accident so I got more contaminated which is why I can fly and do other ghostly things.”

“Must be great having people around who’ve studied ghosts and everything when you have ghost powers. If you have them, why were you left with us? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have you stay with your parents who can handle it if your powers get out of control?”

Danny winced at this, “It’s kinda complicated. So I have some responsibilities in my dimension that I kinda need to be bigger for. I have all my power, and who knows maybe going through puberty a second time will make them grow more, but for now it shouldn’t be much. I’m mostly here to get something of a ‘normal’ childhood and to wait it out until I’m my full size again. It’ll be weird because by that point I’ll technically be 26 but hey I’m not gonna have to go through all the ‘adult’ things I need to do, just need to lay low and do some fun kid stuff, maybe do better in school this time around, maybe I’ll be able to pass high school when I get back. Maybe I’ll work on learning some stuff that could be useful like karate, that could be fun, we could do it together! Since we’re both strong we wouldn’t have to hold back against each other!” Danny excitedly looked over at Clark. It was hard to see in the light of the full moon, but it almost seemed like the freckles on Danny’s face were glowing green in his excitement. Clark smiled at his excitement.

“Yeah that sounds like fun, we can ask Ma and Pa together tomorrow.” 

“Yeah! It’ll be great, maybe when I get back I can show off that I’m a black belt just like mom. I can show Ellie all my new moves while she shows me what she learned from Pandora.” Danny smiled to himself and yes, those were certainly glowing freckles. 

“Who’re Ellie and Pandora?” Danny stilled for a moment, the freckles dimming a bit. Should he tell Clark about the whole clone thing? Should he mention that he’s friends with what basically amounts to gods? 

“So Ellie’s like my younger sister/cousin, we are very close and everyone says we could be twins, she’s a bit of a free spirit and is traveling a lot of the time. Right now she’s spending some time with Lady Pandora. Does your dimension have the myth of Pandora’s box?” at Clark’s nod Danny continues. “That’s her, she keeps the horrors in a box that she keeps locked down pretty tightly in the GZ, there’s a whole labyrinth and everything. I did have to help her one time when someone got a hold of it, not a fun time, but hey it was one of the first positive experiences my parents ever had when dealing with ghosts so there is that. Pandora has become something of a doting awesome aunt who can and will teach you how to fight if given the opportunity.”

They lapsed into silence for a bit, Clark content to just sit there while Danny gathered his thoughts.

“Let’s see, I talked about my parents, Ellie, Pandora and a little bit about my sister. So Jazz is the most amazing and overbearing sister known to all kind. She has her heart in the right place, but Ancients if she puts me in soup-time one more time, I’m gonna figure out a way to do it to her and see if she likes it.”

“Excuse me, ‘soup time’?” Clark was baffled. “Actually a few things you’ve mentioned have me confused, what is the ‘GZ’ and why say ‘Ancients’ like it’s a curse word?” 

Danny looked sheepish at that. “Right yeah, I forgot, I’m just so used to talking to people who know. So the GZ is also known as the Ghost Zone, the Infinite Realms or the afterlife. Basically it’s a dimension connected to all other dimensions and houses the ecto-entities of the worlds. It’s where all the afterlives are connected together and there are also, like, gods or god-like beings, which are the Ancients I mentioned, there as well as monsters. Basically anything that gives off a whiff of ‘spooky’ is probably connected to the GZ in some way.”

“So your friends in the corn fields?” Clark trailed off giving a dubious look at the fields.

“Yeah, they’re technically ecto-entities. There are places that the veil between thins and sometimes things crossover. Like, I saw in one of the aerospace books that you also have the Bermuda Triangle as a thing, a lot of those incidents are from the veil thinning there and some natural portals opening up into the Infinite Realms. Sometimes they come back out, but it’s likely going to be a different time period than they first went in.”

“So, ‘soup time’?” Clark asked, getting Danny back on track. 

“Right! So, you know how I mentioned that my parents make some crazy things? Well some of those things are containment devices, but there’s one that works the best out of all of them, and that is the Fenton Thermos. Basically it’s bigger on the inside and can suck in and hold an ecto-entity until it is released, usually through the portal. It’s very cramped and not a great feeling and my sister is rather clumsy so when she first started helping me, she accidentally sucked me into the thermos six times. Six times! Like I get it, sometimes somebody’s aim can be a bit off, but she kept getting me and not the ghost that was attacking! She’s gotten better and can and will join us on patrol if need be, but she’s more like a backup and also our field medic. She’s going into psychology and stuff for school, but she also wants to be a certified emt, it really couldn’t hurt in our town and with what I do.” Danny paused here, seeming to think about the fact he wasn’t home patrolling his Haunt. “Hey Clark, would you mind going for a short fly around the property with me? I need to move a bit.”

“Yeah, sure we can do that.” Clark got up and waited for Danny before making his way down towards the ground. “So you mentioned patrol? What’s up with that? Also do you have any friends you hang out with?” 

Danny started flying in a set route and Clark followed along, curious. “So, you know how I have powers and whatnot, kind of obvious now that we’re actually flying.” Danny and Clark both snorted at this. “So not all things that come through the portal in my basement are good things. I fight whatever comes through and send it back where it came from. Most of the time it’s just animal ghosts that don’t know any better, but there are also ones that know full well what they’re doing and seem to just want to make my life worse. I mean, can’t Skulker lay off me for long enough for me to finish an essay? Honestly.” 

“So, you’re a hero, is what you’re telling me? A vigilante?”  Clark asked, and watched as Danny scanned the horizon for anything weird. Well, at least weird for Danny, which, on second thought, Clark decided he would just pay attention to the child-teen next to him. No need to see things not meant to be seen.

Danny glanced over at Clark, “Yes, though it took a while and some misunderstandings for the town to accept that I’m there to do good. There was an issue with mind control and then the mayor was possessed, it was a whole thing, I’ll go into it later. Anyway,” Danny turned down a path between fields. “So I talked about my parents, a bit about my sister and the basics of ghost stuff, how’s about I talk about my best friends in the whole world?” He smiled at this, a fond wistful thing. 

“So my best friends are Sam and Tucker, and Valerie is getting there. We had a bit of a rough time before she realized I was the ghost boy she wanted to fight. It was a whole thing, but we’ve figured it out. We’ve got a truce going and she’s starting to hang out with us more and trains with us when she can. She’s this badass hunter in a red power suit with a flying surfboard, it’s really awesome. I mean, it wasn’t when she was unknowingly working with my nemesis, but the suit is now tied into her own ecto-signature so he can’t take it back from her now.” 

“So I guess that brings me to my best friends in the whole world, they’ve been with me since before all of this and have stood by me and kept my secret before I told my parents. Tucker is the best hacker that I’ve ever met, and I know a ghost who literally can become electricity. He’s a self-proclaimed carnivore and will not eat veggies unless they’re with an almost equal portion of meat. He’s also the reincarnation of an ancient Pharaoh and will inherit a domain in the GZ when he passes on. He’s been helping out my parents with some of the tech they make and also keeps all our data safe. He also has been working with some people in the GZ to update our tech, specifically stuff for tracking and also medical stuff for ecto-entities. He may hate hospitals, but that doesn’t mean he won’t help when it’s needed.” He paused for a breath here before he basically sighed out, “And then there’s Sam.” His freckles started to glow again when he said her name. 

“Sam is awesome. She’s a vegan and a goth and can and will absolutely beat the afterlife into anyone who messes with any of us. She has some level of powers following an incident that had her possessed for several days, but mostly it’s stuff like enhanced strength and speed, nothing too alarming, and juuuust a touch outside of normal for an athletic human, but she also can take and recover from hits almost on my level. She can talk to plants and grow them very quickly and when needed during a fight she can sprout out vines from the ground to help take out enemies. She’s set to take control of a part of the GZ as well when she dies, just as a princess, but still. She’s really smart and knows all this stuff about mythology and the kinds of things that we end up fighting a lot before the rest of us realize what it is and she’s a great shot too.” Danny seemed more content now than when Clark first came out, and while Danny had been right to warn him about the rambling, he found he really liked it when Danny was talking about the people he loves and things he knows about. 

“So, what other things do you want to do before you go back? You already mentioned karate, did you want to learn anything else?” Clark asked. They started to make their way back to the house since they found nothing along the edges of the property. 

Danny thinks for a moment. Learning new other combat techniques wouldn’t be a bad idea, but he can always learn from masters in the Zone. On one hand, learning politics wouldn’t be a bad  idea, but he has a feeling that it’s probably different in the Zone than in the living world. On the other hand, he was told to treat this time like a vacation, meaning he can just enjoy himself and pursue his hobbies here. 

“Well, I haven’t really had the time to do my hobbies or major interests in the last couple of years, so I guess I could do that. I’m not sure where you are with video games, but I’m sure they’re nowhere near what I’m used to, but building model spaceships and maybe I can try out flight simulators at museums. I’d love to learn to pilot, but right now I have the body of a six year old, so that’s gonna have to wait until I’m bigger. I’ve been a bit interested in the mechanics of things too, my dad’s shown me how to solder computer parts together, so I wouldn’t mind learning about how electronics and engines work. I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut, so I’d have to learn some of that stuff anyway.”

“Oh, one of our neighbors has a small plane he uses for crop dusting and sometimes for fires or rescue things if the police or firefighters need his help. We can see if he’d be willing to take us up sometime! I think there’s an aerospace museum in Metropolis that has a flight simulator, but it’s pretty far away, we’d have to go in winter when we can leave the farm for a day, but I’m sure Ma an’ Pa would take us. I’m sure Pa would be happy to teach you about the engines of the truck and the tractor too, though he might not let you do anything except hand him things until you’re older. As far as video games go, I’m not sure what they’re like there, but we only really have an arcade with some fighting games that are pretty cool. I mean, the Mayor’s kid has a home gaming system, but they’re hard to get around here.” 

“Aw man, I’m gonna end up spending all my allowance at the arcade aren’t I?” Danny groaned as they made their way up the stairs of the house. Clark chuckled, swinging the door open. “But yeah, all that sounds awesome! I hope we can convince your parents to let us do all that stuff.” Danny yawned. “I think it’s time I actually head to bed though. Tiny baby body needs sleep.” Danny floated his way up the stairs, too tired to use his legs and not wanting to wake the Kent parents with the creaky stairs. “Hey, Clark?” Danny asked.

Clark turned back to Danny, about to head to his own room. “Yeah Danny?”

Danny smiled a small smile. “Thanks for listening to me, I think it helped with me being homesick. To, you know, talk about them all. I do wish I could see them and hang out with them all, but I’m glad that I’m here too. For the first time in a while I’m not responsible for anything, I can actually be a kid.”

Clark smiled back at Danny, “Of course, I’ll listen anytime.” He thought for a moment. “You mentioned before about responsibility, you mean the hero thing right?”

Danny nods at first, then tilts his head to the side for a moment. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, it’s not just that. I’m also to be the King of the GZ when I’m old enough.”

Clark’s face drained and he landed hard on his feet. Breathlessly he asked. “King of the GZ? You mean the dimension that connects all the dimensions? You’re going to be King of it all?” 

Danny just nods then sits criss-cross in the air. “Yeah, gimmie a sec, I can make the royal getup appear, you might want to shield your eyes, it’s a bit bright.” Danny called forth his newest transformation, the one that came to be when he agreed to become Crown Prince of the Realms. A bright white light similar to an aurora with static on the edges appeared at his middle and hoarfrost seemed to spiral outwards as the light passed over his body. Left in its wake is medieval looking armor. 

Chainmail that seemed to be made from frost under a breastplate of black metal with his logo etched in silver. A cloak that started as a slippery black faded on the edges to look like the galaxy itself was trailing after him. His bracers were a pale silver and the clothes beneath his armor were a black leather-like material. He had white leather boots that went up to his knees and had the same pale silver metal tipping the toes. Above his head an aurora circled and little flakes of snow would drop into his hair like falling stars. Danny himself changed also, he stayed a six-year-old, but his skin faded to a light blue, his freckles began to glow a bright green as they had earlier. His eyes changed and glowed with a similar green light, and his hair turned white as snow and seemed to float as if in water. His fingertips were a deep navy and clawed, his canines elongated and his ears became pointed. On his finger there appeared to be a ring made of onyx with a gem so bright a blue that it almost hurt to look at, though it didn’t seem to light up the place more than Danny himself.

The most startling thing to Clark however, was not his appearance. “Danny, why don’t you have a heartbeat?” he asked, projecting as much outward calm as he could muster while being twelve and internally freaking out.

Danny seemed confused for a bit before he seemed to realize something. “Oh, right, so right now I’m a ghost, and as a ghost I don’t have a heartbeat, you should be able to hear some sort of almost rhythmic buzzing though, that’s my core, it’s similar to a heart and brain for ghosts.” Clark listened closer and relaxed once he found the buzzing sound. It reminded him of the sounds of a plane engine in the distance.

 “I also completely forgot that I never showed you my ghost form, so one sec, this one’s a lot brighter, I definitely don’t advise looking at this one.” Clark decided to listen this time, as the last time hurt his eyes. 

In a flash of bright white light, Danny appeared once again differently than before. He kept the green eyes, snow-white hair and glowing freckles, but the rest of him looked more like his human form, albeit wearing a black and white full bodysuit. The suit itself was black with the stylized DP logo, white boots, white gloves and a white belt. Danny’s skin was a more healthy tan, though still a bit paler than his human form. 

“So this is my usual ghost form, I’ve been able to change into it since I got my powers and it’s why my parents didn’t know I was who I was at first. It led to a lot of miscommunication and getting grounded even though I was out saving the day. Things have gotten much better since they learned about me and then looked at their research and realized a lot of it was wrong. I’m really proud of them, they looked at all their biased papers they had written over the years and instead of doubling down or letting it ruin them, they instead found a renewed vigor and are learning all they can. They’re releasing paper after paper correcting all the assumptions they had made now that they aren’t blinded by their prejudices.” Danny had a soft smile on his face as his eyes and freckles glowed brighter thinking about his parents. He yawned again. “I think I’ve dropped enough info on you for tonight though, so I’m gonna head to bed. You should too.” Another bright flash and Danny was back to being human, feet firmly on the floor. 

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Sleep well Danny.” Clark appeared to have reached his limit for processing things as he put some dots together. As he lay awake in his bed he realized that Danny is going to be a king to literal gods.

And he thought his math final was stressful.

Part 1 Part 2

[imzadi-caskett-huddy]

It Started With a Kiss (8/?)

Thanks so much, everyone for your reviews on the last chapter! I’m so glad you all enjoyed my take on the Alex Conrad situation. And now for one of my favorite episodes of the show, To Love and Die in LA. Seriously, this episode is in my top 5…maybe even top 3 depending on my mood that day.

Date wise, the last chapter took place around April 11, and this one takes place around May 2. So that’s a 3 week time gap. Wonder what our favorite couple got up to after the way Kate kissed him in the last chapter, hmm?

Again, I want to remind you that this will be the last update on this story until after I return from vacation on June 15…and Hell Hath No Fury will be due for an update first. So enjoy this one, because it will most likely be several weeks before I get around to writing the next chapter. I promise I’ll get it up as soon as I can though!

Also…there is a section rated M in this chapter. It is clearly marked where you will want to stop reading, and then when it ends. It’s sex heavy, but not smut heavy. Still, read at your own peril, lol!

I still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

Castle had barely seen Beckett since that night 3 weeks ago when she’d kissed him. The first week she’d been tied up prepping with an ADA for a trial, which worked out with him needing to finish a couple of chapters for the next Heat book, as well as some edits. And then Gina and Paula had worked together to ambush him with some promotional book signings and appearances in an effort to drum up more presales for his newest novel, not to mention the graphic novel for Storm that was being put together.

He’d seen her exactly twice…both times at the precinct when he’d brought her coffee. Neither time for very long, so they hadn’t been able to discuss their relationship or if the kiss she’d given him was a sign she was ready to move forward, but she had made time to spend several minutes with him in the break room since he had come all the way to the precinct just to bring her coffee. They would spend those ten minutes or so in the break room together, innocently flirting and occasionally standing just close enough to brush up against each other. And it always ended with the most brilliant smile from her, thanking him for the coffee. Castle knew he would go out of his way to bring her coffee every day for the rest of his life if she continued to smile at him the way she had those two days.

They had, of course, chatted via text and twice over the phone, but neither of them seemed to want to discuss the kiss or their relationship over the phone or text messages, and rightfully so. It was a big step for them; when it happened, it needed to be in person. She had known he was returning to the city that afternoon, so when his phone rang, he didn’t bother to look at the caller

ID, simply assuming it was her. No one else usually called him after 9 anymore.

“Did a body drop, or did you just miss me so much you couldn’t wait another day to see me?” he asked with a grin.

“Castle, I’m going to send you an address, and you need to get down here,” Lanie said simply.

“Lanie? What’s wrong?” he asked, the smile falling from his lips. Lanie never called him. Kate was the one who called him about a body drop.

“A body was found…”

He swallowed hard. “Kate? Did something happen to her?” he had to ask, interrupting before Lanie could finish her sentence. He felt his heart sink. Was Lanie calling to tell him something had happened to Kate?

Hearing the worry in his tone, Lanie realized what he must have thought. “The body we found is Mike Royce. Espo is just now calling her, so she’s not here yet, but you need to hurry. I doubt she’ll admit it, but she’s going to need you on this one.”

“I’m on my way,” he said, already out the door. He’d watched her go through hell several months ago when she’d realized Royce was part of their investigation and she’d had to arrest her former training officer. He could only imagine how his murder was going to hit her.

xxxxx

Castle’s eyes were on her the moment she got out of her unit. He could tell, just in the way she carried herself…the tension in her shoulders, the firm set of her jaw...she was torn up and doing everything she could to not appear that way.

“Where is he?” Beckett asked as she approached.

Montgomery stood beside Castle, shaking his head. “Turn around, go back home, and let me handle this.”

“Sir, I’ve seen dead bodies before,” she insisted.

The captain studied her for a moment but knew it was better for everyone if he just let her through. He nodded toward the back of the alley where Lanie was standing.

Castle was immediately at her side as she headed in that direction. “Come on, Kate…you don’t want to remember him like this,” he tried to get through to her.

“Castle, if it were me lying there, would you just walk away?” she turned to look at him.

Just the thought of that possibility sent a chill through his body and made him nauseous. He didn’t have to answer her question; the look he was giving her was answer enough–hell no, he wouldn’t just walk away. He would find whoever had hurt her, and then no one would ever find the body.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Lanie offered her condolences.

Beckett clenched her jaw and blinked, but Castle could tell she was struggling to hold onto her composure. “Tell me what happened.”

“He was shot in the leg. Judging from the blood trail, I’d say the bullet broke the bone. He tried to hide, but…” she trailed off with a shake of her head. “I found this in his pocket,” she handed Beckett an airplane ticket stub. “He flew in from LA this afternoon.”

Castle took a step closer to Beckett then. “What was he doing in LA?” he asked curiously.

“I heard he moved there after he lost his bounty hunter’s license. I guess he was trying to make a fresh start,” Beckett answered, looking over the ticket stub.

“When was the last time you spoke with him?” he asked her softly.

She swallowed hard, staring at the ticket stub before folding it back. “When I arrested him.” She took a deep breath. “Lanie, could I?”

“Sure,” Lanie answered, stepping out of the way and exchanging a look with Castle as Beckett approached Royce’s body.

Castle watched intently as she crouched down near the body and took a few minutes. He watched as her shoulders tensed a little more. He watched as she touched Royce’s hair and either sniffled or inhaled deeply…he couldn’t tell. He was ready to move to her side the minute she stood and headed back in his direction.

“Royce had something else in his pocket. It’s addressed to you,” Lanie handed her a note.

“Is it about the case?” Castle asked her as she opened it.

After reading for a few moments, Beckett folded the note and put it in her pocket. “No.”

Esposito approached them, carrying a gun. “I think we got the murder weapon. Found it in the garbage around the corner.”

“Gun was definitely fired recently,” Ryan added as he joined them. “Shooter took the time to empty the ammo before he dumped it.”

“Worried we’d find fingerprints on the bullets?” Castle raised the question.

Beckett took the gun and examined it. “This is a cheap street gun. It’s a throw away.” She studied the gun a little more. “There’s threading on the barrel.”

“Silencer?” Castle suggested.

Esposito nodded. “Yeah.”

“Allowing our killer to shoot Royce in broad daylight,” Beckett stated, handing the gun back to Esposito to bag as evidence.

“Listen, Beckett…we’re gonna get this guy,” Ryan assured her. “We got uniforms heading to every store and apartment within a 5-block radius.”

“This is New York. Somebody had to have seen something,” Esposito added.

Castle turned to her, placing his hand on her shoulder lightly after the boys walked away. “Kate…”

“Castle, I’m fine,” she insisted.

“You’re not fine,” he said softly. “Royce was your friend. It’s okay to take a few minutes to grieve,” he added. After a minute, he let his hand fall from her shoulder. “Why don’t you let me take you home? There’s nothing else you can do tonight. You can get some sleep and start fresh on the case in the morning,” he suggested.

Beckett was about to protest when Montgomery walked over to join them. “Alright, you’ve seen him. You paid your respects. Now go home, Beckett.”

“Sir,” she started to protest.

“There’s nothing else you can do here tonight. Dr. Parish won’t have anything for you until she does an exam. Uniforms are canvassing everywhere. Ryan and Esposito will handle anything else. They’ll call you if anything pops. Go home, Beckett. That’s an order.”

She looked between her captain and her partner and finally relented, wordlessly stepping away from them to go back to her unit. Castle was quick to follow her.

“Castle, you go home too,” she told him, stopping him as he went to get into her car. “You just got back from a book tour. I know you’re tired.”

“I’m okay. I can just sit with you. You shouldn’t be alone…you don’t have to be alone,” he offered.

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

“Kate…”

“Rick, please,” she said. She needed to be alone. She was going to fall apart when she got home, and the last thing she wanted was for him to see her break like that.

The way she said his name, coupled with the look in her eyes had him nodding. “Okay. I’ll go home. But if you need anything…you call me. Even if all you need is me to sit on the phone with you in silence, ok?”

“Do you even know how to be silent?” she teased lightly, trying to show him that she was okay.

“I do, actually, when it matters. And I’m serious. Call me,” he insisted.

She nodded. “Okay.”

xxxxx

“Beckett, I’m not sending you to LA. You have no solid evidence linking Neal McCauley to this murder,” Montgomery insisted.

“He came to New York for 6 hours. Who flies in for that short a stay?” Castle pointed out.

“Businessmen do it all the time,” Montgomery countered.

“Businessmen don’t use fake IDs,” Castle countered back.

“Or pack silencers,” Beckett added.

Montgomery shook his head. “That’s supposition. I need a lot more than that to justify flying a detective across the country.”

Beckett shook her head as well. “You and I both know the longer I wait to go out there, the colder this trail gets.”

“Take a day to shore this up. And then if there’s sufficient evidence, I’ll contact the LAPD.”

“You’ll contact the LAPD?” Beckett asked incredulously. “This is my case! This happened in our jurisdiction. You think the LAPD is gonna lift a finger?”

“Kate, you’re too close to this!” Montgomery insisted.

“No, Sir, I am committed. I am not compromised.”

“You’re torn up,” he interrupted her. “Kate, things between you and Royce ended badly. I get it. But that emotion is exactly why I need to assign this to someone else.”

Beckett paused then, taking a step back. “You know what? You’re right. I am too close to this. I have some vacation days coming up. I think now would be a good time,” she stated, turning to head out of the office.

“Kate,” he called, stopping her. “I hope you’re not thinking about doing something reckless.”

She turned to face him, meeting his eyes for a long moment. “No, Sir,” she stated, leaving the office.

Castle’s eyes met Montgomery’s and both men seemed to understand each other. Montgomery’s look told Castle to follow her…something he would have done anyway…because neither man believed she was stepping back and doing nothing.

“Where are you going?” Castle called after her.

“Home,” she insisted.

“The hell you are. I know you better than that,” he tried to stop her with a hand on her arm.

“Castle, please,” she pulled it away. “He was my training officer…my friend. I just…I really need to be alone right now,” she told him, making her way to the elevator.

Castle watched helplessly as the doors closed. Why did it always feel like they’d take one step forward and then something happened to make them take two steps back? He was really beginning to hate that dance.

“You know she’s going to LA,” Espo said, coming up behind him.

“I know,” Castle sighed.

“You really think she’s going to just willingly let you go with her?” Ryan asked as he joined them.

“She won’t have much of a choice if she doesn’t find out until the plane is already in the air,” Castle stated simply, already pulling out his phone to check for the next flight to LA, knowing she’d be on it. “Whether she likes it or not, someone’s got to have her back…and I’m her partner.” He headed for the elevator himself; he had a couple of hours to pack a bag and get to the airport, already calling to arrange a hotel suite for them.

xxxxx

Kate Beckett hated the middle seats in airplanes. Unfortunately, that was all that was available to her last minute. She knew she was lucky to have gotten on the flight at all considering she’d been on standby status. Still, being squished between two larger men was going to make for a very uncomfortable flight across the country…especially if the baby screaming in the cabin didn’t eventually tire itself out and fall asleep.

“Excuse me, Detective Beckett?” one of the flight attendants approached her.

“Yes?” she answered.

“You’ve been upgraded to first class.”

Beckett didn’t even question the reason. “Thank you,” she smiled, standing quickly. “I’m sorry…excuse me,” she said to the man, climbing over him to get out of the cramped row. She followed the flight attendant to the first-class cabin.

“Seat 3C,” the attendant told her.

“Thank you,” she smiled her relief. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the man she’d be sitting next to.

“Champagne?” he asked innocently with a smile.

She took the seat beside him, fastening her seatbelt. “Castle, what are you doing?”

He shrugged with a grin. “The studio’s been after me for weeks to fly down and do a set visit for the Heat Wave movie. Imagine my surprise when I saw your name on the standby list,” he took a sip of the champagne.

“You cannot be a part of what I’m gonna do out there,” she told him simply.

“I thought you were on vacation,” he pointed out.

“Castle,” she shook her head. “Look, it’s one thing for you to follow me when we’re in New York, but I’m not a cop in LA. I don’t have any authority or backup,” she told him.

“I’ll be your backup,” he insisted. Seeing her roll her eyes, he continued. “I’m your partner. Besides, going rogue is kind of my specialty.”

“Yeah, but subtlety isn’t,” she countered with a small smile. “I’m not going to get rid of you am I?” she asked him. Seeing him shake his head, she sighed. “Okay, if we do this together you have to promise me that we’re gonna fly under the radar.”

“Of course,” he smiled, offering her the extra glass of champagne.

She studied him for a moment before taking it with another roll of her eyes. She took a sip, offering him a small smile. “Thank you for upgrading me. I was kind of miserable back there.”

“You mean, you didn’t enjoy your seat sandwiched between two of the linemen for the Giants?” he asked with a chuckle.

“No,” she smirked. “The screaming baby didn’t help either.”

He laughed softly. “You’re welcome. Besides, how are we supposed to talk strategy with you in the back of the plane and me in the front?”

“We weren’t supposed to talk strategy at all,” she laughed, nudging his shoulder playfully.

“We have a 6-hour flight, Beckett. It’s going to be a long 6 hours if we don’t talk.”

She smiled and took another sip of her champagne. “Some people sleep on a flight.”

“Are you one of those people?” he asked with a smile.

She shrugged. “Sometimes. Probably not this flight. I’ve got too much on my mind.”

He nodded, placing a hand over hers. “I’m here for whatever you want to talk about,” he offered her a smile. “Or we could just drink,” he joked.

“I think one glass will suffice,” she chuckled, stretching her legs out.

He smiled and squeezed her hand before releasing it. The surprise was evident on his face when she took his hand back in hers a moment later.

“Thanks for coming with me, Castle,” she said softly, offering him a smile and pulling their joined

hands back into her lap.

“Always,” he smiled, stretching his legs out to get comfortable as well.

xxxxx

“Is this what you call under the radar?” Beckett asked, gesturing to the red Ferrari they were currently in.

“In LA, this baby fits right in,” Castle insisted. “So what’s our first stop?”

“My hotel. It’s on Ventura Blvd.”

Castle shot her a look. “That’s all the way in the Valley. How are we supposed to work together if you’re an hour away?”

“Castle, we weren’t supposed to work together at all,” she reminded him.

He shrugged. “Okay, well the studio comped me a two-bedroom suite at a 4-star hotel. You just stay with me,” he stated as though it were a no-brainer.

She snorted a laugh. “Yeah right!”

“What?” he asked, turning to look at her. “You’ll have your own room.”

“No! I am not staying with you!” she insisted, biting back another laugh.

He raised an eyebrow, almost in a challenge. “Worried you can’t control yourself when we’re alone together?”

Her smile faltered only slightly. It was a legitimate concern of hers, yes, considering the current state of their relationship and how close they currently were to crossing the line between friends and lovers…but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. “Actually, it’s not me that I’m worried about,” she replied.

“I assure you, Detective, my intentions are pure,” he insisted as the light they were stopped at turned green. He paused a moment before continuing. “Need I remind you that the last two times we were alone together, you were the one who kissed me,” he commented nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on the road.

She tugged her lower lip between her teeth. She couldn’t even deny that. Even though it had been months ago and she hadn’t ended her relationship with Josh at the time, she’d still been the one to kiss him on Valentine’s Day over wine in his loft. And now that they were both single,

she hadn’t been able to resist kissing him when they’d gone out 3 weeks ago after he’d been so jealous of Alex Conrad.

Yes, they were here to work…at least she was…but she also couldn’t deny the attraction and connection that pulled them together, couldn’t deny that they were one “Yes” from her away from becoming romantic partners in addition to professional ones. Here to work or not, she knew it was a very real possibility that when they were alone together she would give into the temptation that was her desire to be with him. Simply having her own bedroom didn’t guarantee she wouldn’t seek him out in the middle of the night without anything holding her back anymore.

“Fine, I’ll stay with you,” she finally agreed. She knew herself well enough to know there was a very real possibility she would find herself in his bed…or invite him into hers…before they left LA. She only hoped she was ready for everything that entailed. Because once they crossed that last line between them, she knew there would be no going back. If she messed it all up, if they crashed and burned, she would lose him forever…and she wasn’t sure that was a loss from which she’d recover.

xxxxx

“We’re so happy to have you back, Mr. Castle,” Maurice the concierge smiled. “I’ve taken the liberty of setting up the suite just the way you like it.”

“Thank you,” Castle returned the man’s smile.

“And I’ve scheduled a couple’s massage at 7,” Maurice added.

Beckett paused looking around the suite for a moment to cut Castle a look. “Pure, huh?”

Castle’s eyes widened slightly. “Uh, Maurice, you can cancel the couple’s massage. We’re actually here to work, so we won’t be needing that tonight.” He didn’t ask for the champagne or flowers to be removed, however.

Maurice nodded. “Very good, Sir.”

Castle handed the bellhop who handled their luggage a tip and offered Maurice one as well. “Thank you, Maurice.” He followed the men out and closed the double doors behind them. “The last time I was here, I brought this Parisian supermodel, so he…” he trailed off when he caught the look Beckett shot him and he realized bringing up the fact that he’d been with other women here was probably not the best idea considering they were working toward a relationship with each other. “You know, that is not important. Would you like to choose your bedroom?”

She rolled her eyes and went to her carry-on to get her jacket. “No, I would like to start the investigation.”

“But we haven’t even ordered room service yet,” Castle pointed out.

“Castle, I’m not here for room service, I’m here for justice,” she stated, heading for the doors.

“Can’t we have both?” Castle called as he followed her. “Wow. In LA for all of a minute and already she’s spouting cheesy movie dialogue. Must be something in the air.”

xxxxx

“Picture this: a gullible young actress, desperate to make a name for herself. She meets our mastermind at a club. He needs a pretty girl to help him get the voice code. He tells Violet he’s a producer, promises to make her famous if she helps him play a practical joke on a friend,” Castle theorizes. He turns to face Beckett on the couch in the living room area of their suite.

Beckett turns a little more facing him, her elbow resting on the back of the couch with her head resting on her hand. The bottle of champagne from earlier is opened and mostly empty on the coffee table in front of them. “She doesn’t even realize that she’s participating in a crime until afterwards. She can’t call the cops, so she contacts Royce.”

“But then, our Mr. McCauley finds out,” Castle continues to build theory with her.

“And Royce tries to change the game. He goes to New York; home-field advantage. Classic. Classic Royce,” Beckett smiled slightly. “I was so in awe of him, Castle when I first met him. I just hung on his every word. And then later, I realized he was just making up stories to mess with me,” she gave a soft laugh, but her smile faded. “I can’t believe that I’m never gonna see him again.”

He studied her for a moment, shifting just a little closer. “You know what I first thought when I met you?” he asked her.

She turned her attention back to him. “Mm?” she hummed the question.

“That you were a mystery I was never gonna solve. Even now, after spending all this time with you, I’m still amazed at the depths of your strength…your heart…” he trailed off as the faintest smile teased his lips, “and your hotness.”

She looked down for a moment and then met his smile with one of her own. “You’re not so bad yourself, Castle.”

Their eyes locked and they held each other’s gaze. He wanted to kiss her…so badly. Under any other circumstance, he would have. But she was vulnerable now. She was dealing with her grief over the loss of her friend whom he knew she cared for deeply. He wouldn’t be the guy who took

advantage of that. He cared too much about her to be the guy who did that to her. If there was a move to be made, she was going to have to be the one to initiate it.

“I should go. It’s late,” Beckett stood, finally breaking the moment between them as she headed for her bedroom door.

“Kate…”

“Goodnight, Castle,” she stated, stepping inside and closing the door. She leaned against it, running her hands over her face and through her hair. A hundred thoughts were running through her mind: She should have kissed him. Why was she running? How badly she wanted to kiss him. How badly she wanted to lose herself in his arms tonight, let him make her forget everything else but him and the way she knew he would make her feel. But was that fair to him to do it this way? Was it fair to either of them to spend their first night together under these circumstances? Was she ready to fully embrace the depth of her feelings for him? Was she ready to embrace the depth of his feelings for her?

Her hand lingered over the door handle for another moment as she hesitated. The words from Royce’s letter echoed in her mind: And now for the hard part, kid. It’s clear that you and Castle have something real. And you’re fighting it. But trust me, putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we’re alive. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only. A moment later, she’d made her decision. She wanted the comfort he would provide. She wanted to touch him, to taste him, to feel him. She just wanted him. She opened the door and met his eyes as he stood from the couch. “Castle…” she breathed from her doorway.

He wordlessly approached her, coming to stand in front of her in her doorway. In her bare feet, she was a good 5 or 6 inches shorter than him, and his eyes were soft as he looked at her. “Kate…” he murmured, unable to resist reaching out to run his fingers gently across her cheek.

Her hands moved to his chest and her eyes closed as she leaned into his touch. Her fingers tightened in his shirt and she pulled him closer against her, opening her eyes to look at his lips.

He leaned down, his lips stopping just before they touched hers. Swallowing hard, he had to make sure. “Kate, I don’t want to take advantage of you,” he murmured in a whisper.

Her nose nuzzled his, her lips moving the tiniest bit closer until they were only a hair’s width apart and she could feel his breath tickling her lips. “You’re not…” she breathed, her lips barely brushing his as she spoke. “If we hadn’t been so busy the past few weeks, this would have already happened…”

He swallowed hard again. She was making it so damn hard to think straight, to try to be the

gentleman. “I thought you wanted to wait…”

The last words from Royce played over again in her head. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only. “I’m done waiting,” she told him.

“You won’t regret this in the morning?” he had to ask her. Because he wouldn’t be able to handle it if she did.

“No regrets,” she promised, unable to take it anymore and closing the almost invisible distance between their lips with a slow kiss. She stepped back from him into her room a few moments later, her lower lip tugged between her teeth and the look in her eyes inviting, imploring him to follow her.

He was powerless to resist her now, and he knew it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them a second later, he followed her into her bedroom and closed the door behind him.

xxxxx

IT’S ABOUT TO GET STEAMY

SKIP THIS PART IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ SEXY TIMES

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Her eyes never left his as he approached her. She took the final step toward him necessary to close the distance between them again and took his face in her hands. This time when she kissed him, the dam broke; her feelings for him, their physical attraction to each other, the past two+ years…everything poured into her kiss. She was drowning in his kiss, in him, and for once she didn’t care.

Her tongue ravaged his mouth, and he let her take what she needed, what she wanted from him while his hands gripped her hips and pulled her closer. One hand slowly ran up her back and curled into her hair, deepening the kiss until both needed some oxygen. His mouth ran along her jaw to her neck and finally along her throat, grazing her skin lightly with his teeth as he tasted her.

Her hands moved to his plaid button-up shirt and shoved it over his shoulders, causing him to release his hold on her long enough to yank his arms free from it. She grabbed his t-shirt and tugged it over his head as well, her eyes and fingers traveling the lines of muscle across and down his now bare chest appreciatively. Her lips grazed against the hollow of his neck where it met his chest, her tongue darting out to taste his skin. Her arms moved around him, her fingers sliding up the muscles of his back as she pressed an open-mouth kiss to his chest, smiling against his skin at the low groan that escaped his throat.

When he felt her fingers at his belt before he’d even had the chance to get her shirt off her, he

caught her wrists and brought them to his lips for a gentle kiss. “Not so fast,” he murmured with a smile. He caught her playful look and returned it with one of his own before grabbing the hem of her shirt and bringing it up and over her head. His eyes darkened at the exposed skin, the black lace of her bra a stark contrast against her tanned skin. His fingers gently traced along the length of her bra strap at her shoulder as he circled behind her.

The feel of his lips on her shoulder and then her neck as he pushed her hair aside drew a gasp from her lips. His mouth lightly danced along the curve of her neck as his fingers unclasped her bra. She leaned back against him as his hands slowly slid the straps down her arms until the piece fell from her body to the floor. Her head fell back against his shoulder and her eyes closed as his lips slid to her shoulder, one hand flattening against her stomach to hold her against him, the other moving to her breast, eliciting a soft moan from her lips.

He bit her shoulder gently as he squeezed her breast. One of her hands moved to cover his on her breast, and her other moved to his head, pulling him into a smoldering kiss. As she tugged his lip between her teeth and bit gently, the hand on her stomach slid lower, dipping inside her pants, his fingers lightly tracing along her underwear. She moaned her approval into his mouth and released her grip on his hand to guide the hand in her pants lower until she could press his fingers into the heat between her legs.

Even through her panties, he could feel her arousal, causing him to groan against her lips. “Kate…” he breathed, his mouth moving to her neck as his fingers slipped past the barrier of her underwear to slide between her legs. The feel of his touch where she was already so ready for him caused her hips to buck against his hand and nearly sent her spiraling. The hand still joined with his on her breast flexed and squeezed, while her hand that had guided his into her pants gripped his hip, her fingers curling in his belt loops.

He continued to work her up with his fingers at her core, his lips gently sucking and nipping at her skin, and his other hand on her breast, alternating between massaging and rolling her nipple between his fingers. It wasn’t long before he had her a whimpering mess, his name escaping her lips in a breathless moan as she crashed over the edge. His fingers continued to work her through her orgasm until she couldn’t take it anymore and gripped his forearm, tugging his hand away. He smirked against her skin, moving his hand to her stomach to hold her against him as she recovered, his lips softly caressing her skin.

Once she regained her senses, she turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and meeting his smile with one of her own. “Hi,” she murmured, kissing him slowly.

“Hi,” he returned, resting his forehead against hers. He slowly walked her back toward the bed, easing her back and lowering her down on it when her legs hit the edge. He moved over her, capturing her mouth with his in a passionate kiss, his tongue slowly stroking hers. This time when he felt her fingers slide down his chest to his belt, he didn’t stop her.

She easily unfastened his belt and the button on his pants, and then slowly slid the zipper down. Her fingers teased just underneath the waistband of his boxers before her hands moved to his hips. She pushed both his jeans and boxers over his hips, her hands sliding around to grab his ass, squeezing the ample flesh as she pulled him into the cradle of her thighs. “Get them off…” she murmured, her lips brushing against his jaw as she pushed them as far down as she could.

He did as he was told, standing and removing his last remaining clothing. She pushed up to her elbows to watch, her eyes darkening as she took in the sight of him for the first time. She sat up, her hands moving to his hips as she pulled him to stand in front of her.

“Kate…you don’t have to…” he started.

“I know,” she met his eyes with a smile. She knew he would never expect or even ask her to do what she was about to do. But she wanted him, wanted all of him; she had for awhile. “I want to taste you.”

Her lips pressed a soft kiss to his stomach, glancing up at him as one hand moved to his length, her slender fingers stroking him slowly. She smirked against his skin at the low groan and moved her mouth to his hip, nipping playfully before blazing a trail of open mouth kisses across his skin as she worked her mouth further down. She looked up at him watching her and saw his eyes close as she ran her tongue the length of him before taking him in her mouth and sucking gently.

It took all of his willpower not to buck his hips into her mouth, but he somehow managed. He forced himself to keep his eyes open, watching her, one hand tangling in her hair…not to guide her movement, but to simply caress her. After a few moments, he hand to stop her. “Kate…” he managed to choke out her name on a strangled moan, his hand gently caressing her cheek. “I can’t…you’ve got to stop…or it’s going to be over to soon…” he managed to get out, trying to force his breathing to return to normal.

She raised an eyebrow, slightly amused as she leaned back on her elbows. He moved with her, leaning down to kiss her again, moaning against her lips as her tongue sensually tangoed with his. His hands gripped her leggings and pulled them down her legs slowly, standing to toss them aside as she shifted to push herself up on the bed, resting her head on the pillows.

He crawled up the bed to her with a grin, dropping soft kisses to the inside of her knee and trailing his tongue along the skin of her thigh. When he reached her underwear, he paused and looked up at her. “You’re sure?” he asked her again.

She pushed up on her elbows so she could gently caress his face. “Make love to me, Rick…” she told him softly, pulling him to her for a slow, deep kiss as she slid her body against his.

He groaned, wrapping her in his arms as he deepened the kiss. When he finally broke away, he pushed up to his knees and hooked his fingers in her panties, drawing them down her legs slowly before dropping them to the floor to the side of the bed. He swallowed hard as his eyes traveled over her body slowly. “You’re beautiful, Kate…” he murmured in awe. His hand slowly, lightly ran up her thigh as he settled between her legs.

He trailed kisses across her stomach before getting sidetracked by the tattoo on her hip, which she’d fully expected, tracing the outline with his tongue. His mouth continued it’s path, until his tongue dipped inside her, finally tasting her, and he knew at that moment he was addicted. Each touch of his fingers to her skin, each press of his lips, each stroke of his tongue was reverent, as though her body was a temple at which he was worshiping. He took his time as he worked her up, enjoying the taste of her, enjoying the soft moans and whimpers of pleasure as he explored her body, learning the way she liked to be touched so intimately.

It wasn’t long before she was moaning his name as she came, her fingers clenching in the comforter on the bed. He gently but firmly held her hips in place as mouth continued to work her through her orgasm, and then suck on her bundle of nerves until she quickly came undone again, his name falling from her lips in a strangled scream. Only when her fingers curled in his hair and pulled him away slightly did he move his mouth to her hip, biting enough to leave a mark and soothing it with his tongue.

His kisses were slow and gentle as they moved back up her body, giving her time to recover. It wasn’t until he was settled in the cradle of her thighs with her hips rocking against his as they kissed passionately that he realized–he didn’t have protection on him. “Kate…” he pulled away breathlessly. “I didn’t bring…I mean, I didn’t expect that we would…I don’t have condoms…”

“Neither do I…You don’t carry one in your wallet?”

“Not if I don’t think I’m going to need it…which I didn’t…because we weren’t together…and I did not come out here with the intention of sleeping with you…” he murmured, moving to shift off her.

She gently stopped him, her fingertips lightly caressing his jaw. “Castle, it’s okay,” she assured him softly, pressing a kiss to his chin. “I’m clean. And I’m on birth control. So I’m good without one if you are.” He was the only man she would ever consider doing this with, and only because she trusted him implicitly. She'd never even had unprotected sex with Josh. There was no one she trusted the way she trusted Castle.

He stared at her for a moment, because he knew the level of trust that she was putting in him with that statement, with that action. “I’m clean…” he promised. “You’re…you’re really sure about this, Kate? Because I can’t promise you I’ll be able to pull out before I…”

She interrupted him with a kiss. “I’m sure. I trust you completely, Rick…”

This time it was him who cut off her words with a deep kiss. I love you, was right on the tip of his tongue to say, but he didn’t dare say it now. He’d told her before…on more than one occasion, admittedly not always at the best moment. The last thing he wanted was to send her running now if she wasn’t ready to hear those words from him again. Instead, he’d show her.

One of his hands found hers and he laced their fingers, pushing their joined hands above her head. His other hand lightly caressed her thigh and shifted, meeting her eyes as he slowly slid inside her. She gasped softly, and his forehead rested against hers as they both took a moment to savor the connection.

Her hand squeezed his and her free hand caressed his cheek as her lips met his again in a tender kiss. One of her legs hooked over his hip, pulling him in closer, and a soft moan escaped her throat. Another moan escaped, this time from each of them, as she rocked her hips against his to get him to move.

They exchanged breathless kisses, gentle caresses, soft moans as their bodies moved together almost seamlessly, meeting each other perfectly, each knowing what the other needed or wanted as though they were in a well-choreographed dance and not coming together for the first time.

As he felt his climax approaching, he released her hand and shifted so that he had a deeper angle. “Kate…I’m close…” he warned dropping his mouth to her neck.

Her lips moved to his ear as her hands slid down his back, her nails raking across his skin. “Let go with me…inside me…” she panted breathlessly, tugging on his ear with her teeth as her legs pulled him in closer to reinforce her words.

Her breathless moans and the way she moved her body with his, the way her legs tightened around his waist, was enough to push him over the edge and pull her with him. He thrust a few more times until he was completely spent, and dropped down, rolling them so she was on top of him.

xxxxx

SEXY TIMES IS OVER

IT IS SAFE TO READ AGAIN

EVERYTHING BELOW IS RATED T

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms silently, both catching their breath. He caught her hand drawing patterns on his chest after a few minutes and brought it to his lips for a gentle kiss.

“You were right…I had no idea,” he admitted with a grin.

She laughed softly and pushed herself up on his chest to look at him. “You still don’t,” she grinned. Seeing his look, she kissed him as she laughed again. “That was just a preview,” she murmured against his lips before pushing herself up off the bed. “Be right back,” she promised, pressing one last kiss to his lips before disappearing into the bathroom.

When she returned, he’d gotten under the covers and made no attempt to hide his enjoyment in the fact that she hadn’t bothered to put any of her clothes…or his…back on to cover up. She met his gaze with an amused arch of her eyebrow, turning the lights off on her way back to bed. “Staring is still creepy, bud.”

He chuckled as she slipped back into bed beside him. “Can’t help it,” he shrugged, turning on his side to look at her. “I told you before…I’m still amazed at your hotness.” He couldn’t help but reach out and let his fingers trace along her curves.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she echoed her own words from earlier, sliding closer to kiss him. She grinned against his lips as he deepened the kiss and threw her leg over his hips, quickly straddling him, running her hands over his chest as she stared down at him. “You wanna find out what you really had no idea about?” she asked in a husky tone, already sliding her body sinfully against his as she bit her lower lip.

He swallowed hard, his hands moving to her thighs. “Yes, please,” he managed to choke out. The way she was moving her body against his was similar to every fantasy and wet dream he’d had about her since that undercover date in the club back in February. Only now it was real…she was really here, it was really her body moving against his, and it was better than any fantasy.

She leaned down to kiss him with a wicked grin. “Your safe word still apples?” she purred against his lips.

All he could do was nod.

xxxxx

Okay, I am aware this is only the first half of the LA episode. I went a little crazy here…I told you guys it was a favorite of mine! And I am sorry, but you will have to wait until I return from vacation to get the chapter dealing with the second half of the episode. But I did make this a long one to tide you over in the meantime!

I really hope you enjoyed this one! And I look forward to reading all your comments for those who leave them!

[vilevenom]

hurt comfort for fem branch please 😭

I hc her as autistic so maybe male poppy reassuring her

Ik u don't really care ABT the genders, but I'm heavy projecting on branch cause I kin him and I am DYING today

Thank you SO SO SO much for writing it if you decide to

HELLO ANON!

I am SO sorry that you sent this ask around a week ago and I'm only able to give you something now. I also hope I'm not posting this too late for you 😕 (This is the first night on my vacation I've managed to dig my laptop out) I wrote this pretty quick, and I didn't give it a good read over to properly edit it, but I hope you like it, and that you're doing okay ❤️❤️❤️ P.S-I'm not well verse in regards to austism, so I'm not super comfy writing it. I used my own experiences with overstimulation and sensory overload to write this

It had been…a day. An overwhelming, awful day. And it wasn't even close to being over yet.

Branch had woken up feeling like today wasn't necessarily going to be a bad day, but she knew it wasn't necessarily going to be a good day, either. Of course, that had been before she'd even gotten out of bed. Once she'd pushed herself up and threw her legs over the side, she'd near instantly knew the day was going to be a struggle. The floor was too cold under her feet, none of her clothes felt like they fit on her body quite right, every light was either too bright or too dark, and none of the food in her bunker was appetizing.

Things only got worse when Poppy showed up to drag her out for the morning music routine. She'd gone, of course. She couldn't let Poppy down. However, stepping outside had proven to be the worst decision she'd made yet. The sun was far too bright, and everyone in the village was so loud. And there were just so many trolls participating in the music number, it made her feel like she was in a teeny, tiny room, instead of out doors.

Thankfully, once the song was done and over with, she managed to sneak away quickly to catch her breath and recenter herself somewhat, before Poppy found her once again. She was invited to breakfast with the Snack Pack, which she felt obligated to accept, despite her negligible appetite. She thought, perhaps, she could get away with picking at a muffin while sitting next to Poppy so the King of Pop could direct and hold conversation without needing much, if any, input from her. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case, as Poppy kept prompting Branch to speak. It was exhausting.

Finally, once breakfast was over Branch thought she was at last free and clear. She bid farewell to the snack pack and tried to sneak away, but Poppy wasn't having any of it. He appeared in front of Branch just as she thought she had made it to safety.

"CUPCAKES! Poppy," Branch wheezed, patting at her chest as her heart felt like it was trying to escape her chest. To say that the surprise had also caused her irritation and irritability to spike was also an understatement. She scowled without thought at the pink troll, a low growl escaping her. "What is it?!"

Poppy looked distraught at Branch's anger, shrinking in on himself a little. "Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to know if you wanted to come with me while I go take care of some errands around the village before lunch with Nova Swift to talk about an upcoming fashion show."|

Branch immediately deflated at Poppy's apology, though she still felt like she might explode if prodded just the wrong way. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap," she sighed, rubbing at her forehead, "You know I would normally love to join you around town, but today I just-" She groaned and waved her hands through the air. "I don't know how to describe it. Today everything just feels like too much. I don't think I can handle any more…anyone."

Poppy blinked, obviously a bit surprised by Branch's response. Which was to be expected, really. What troll didn't like to socialize and make plans for big events? Branch knew, even after all the work she'd put in to being a better troll, she was still very much an odd one out.

"Oh," Poppy hummed, rubbing his hands together for a moment, before giving a little nod. "Okay."

It was Branch's turn to blink in surprise, not having expected Poppy to take her at face value so easily or quickly. "Wait…really? You're okay if I skip out on today?"

Poppy's face melted into a warm smile, offering a quick nod. "Of course, Branch. You've been doing so much around the village lately, you deserve a day to relax."

"Oh, thank you," Branch felt her shoulders slump as her chin fell to her chest. She heard Poppy chuckle and only jumped slightly when she felt his hand land on her shoulder.

"Of course! You know I just want you to be comfortable and happy."

"Thanks, Poppy," Branch hummed, offering Poppy a strained smile.

"Any time. Now, let's get you back to the bunker," Poppy said as he moved behind Branch to gently take her by the shoulders and direct her towards her bunker.

Everything seemed like it was going relatively well after that, and Branch shuffled towards her bunker with Poppy following shortly behind. That was, of course, until a random troll suddenly jumped from the bushes in front of them screaming about an impromptu dance party. Branch bristled as Poppy froze behind her and music erupted from every direction, while trolls hurried into the area to start dancing and singing along to the music.

Branch felt like her head was going to explode, quickly lifting her hands to her ears to try and block out some of the sound. She squeezed her eyes shut, a quiet whimper leaving her even as he breathing began to quicken, along with her heart beat. The world felt like it was closing in around her as she curled in on herself, crouching down and just barely resisting the urge to wrap herself protectively in her hair.

It took a solid minute for Branch to register hands on her shoulders again, let alone the fact that someone was even talking to her. She blinked a few times, feeling like she was clearing her vision of static until she could see Poppy crouched in front of her.

"Poppy?"

"There you are! C'mon, Branch. I'm going to get you out of here," Poppy said over the din of the other trolls in the area partying.

Branch simply nodded, watching in mild confusion as Poppy turned and gestured towards his back. "Up you get, come on," Poppy urged, finally making Branch realize that the King was offering her a piggy back ride. Sluggishly she moved, struggling to get her limbs to cooperate.

Once Branch was settled over Poppy's back with her face buried in bright pink hair, the King began to move quickly through the crowd, easily and effectively dodging around anyone that tried to get him to dance. Somehow, he managed to get away from the spontaneous party and got Branch back to the bunker. He didn't let her down, however, until the two were down the elevator and in Branch's living room. Carefully, he deposited her on her couch, quickly whisking away to fetch a glass of water, pressing it into her slightly shaky hands when he returned to her.

"You okay?"

Branch shook her head, feeling like her voice was stuck in her throat, unable to verbally respond.

"Okay. What would you like to help make you feel better?"

A quiet whine escaped Branch, her shoulders shifting up to her ears, eyes downcast, wishing she could force her voice to work, but nothing was forthcoming. She would love nothing more than to respond to Poppy, who was being so kind and caring, only to receive silence back.

After a beat Poppy snapped his fingers, causing Branch to jump and stare at him with wide eyes. "Oops," he laughed awkwardly, "Sorry. But, uh, how about we stick to yes or no questions? That way you can just nod or shake your head?"

Branch perked up and gave a little nod, a wobbly little smile making its way onto her face.

"Okay, perfect! Would you like a blanket?"

Branch thought for a moment, before giving a short nod. Poppy grinned and was off like a shot, returning not a minute later to carefully drape a thick, cozy blanket around Branch's shoulders. It took her a moment to recognize it was one of her favorites to snuggle up with. Poppy must have noticed one of the times he was over to hang out.

"All right! Now, you've got water already. And it's nice and quiet down here. Would you like company? And by company, I do just mean me," Poppy said with a little grin. Branch let out a near silent laugh, before nodding slightly, thought she frowned after a beat, opening her mouth, only to snap it shut again a moment later with a little look of concern on her face.

Poppy frowned, only to chuckled and move to sit next to Branch on the couch. "Oh, don't worry about the village. I'm sure they'll be fine without me."

Branch let out a breath, humming quietly with a nod, forever grateful that somehow Poppy could read her like an open book. She took a few tentative sips of her water before setting the glass aside, then turned a mild look of trepidation towards Poppy. It lasted for only a moment before she let out a huff of breath, a mild scowl of determination settling itself on her face. Poppy offered a lopsided, confused smile as Branch shifted around on the couch, tossing half of the blanket over Poppy's shoulders, before curling up next to his side.

"Oh," Poppy breathed, a slow grin working its way across his face, before he settled his arm around Branch's shoulders and tugged her more firmly into his side. "Yeah, you know I'm always good for cuddles," he sighed, resting his cheek against Branch's hair, more than pleased to feel her breathing even out where she was pressed against his side.

[bomberqueen17]

quick turnaround

The first chicken processing day is this coming tuesday. so we got back into town around 7pm last night, and I immediately put a load of laundry in.

This is mostly me wittering about chores and medical stuff, so, cut for boring, LOL.

it's cold and rainy here so I hung last night's laundry up on drying racks in the guest room, so mostly it is dry this morning-- delicates, so they didn't need to dry in the sun really-- and now this morning i've put in a second load and it's already on drying racks and some is on the line, it's not raining but it's cloudy so it'll dry slow, but like, trousers and t-shirts do better on the line than on racks. Yes I do own a dryer-- a gas dryer actually-- but it beats the fuck out of my clothes and I don't like to use it if I can in any way avoid it. (Mostly I use it to tumble towels and dress shirts for fifteen minutes, and then I hang them out once they're steaming and hot, and they dry without wrinkles that way. Yes I'm on the OCD spectrum, yes it mostly manifests about laundry. Hilariously, my farm BIL is also on the OCD spectrum, farther along it toward where it's actually a problem [mine is SO mild I don't claim it as a disorder at all, i just have things i Care About for Reasons], and has done tons of work on himself and tries to mask it, but once I understood that about him I understood that most of our lil workplace quarrels were our compulsions clashing, so I started making more concerted efforts to decide when to bow to his compulsions and when to advocate for mine, which in many cases are informed by superior knowledge as I've worked in food service more than him. I bow to him more on cleaning now because he does have prior janitorial experience. Unless I can prove he's wrong, LOL.)

I went off Ritalin mostly while on vacation-- I took it the morning I went fabric shopping because I thought it might help me actually make decisions, and that went well so maybe it worked. But that means I have extra pills, so I'm going to try to today take a morning and midday dose, while I have So Much To Do to prepare for the coming couple of weeks, and see if that plus the structure of this massive to-do list help me get anywhere. I just feel like if I can have this data before my next $300 3-minute psych consult I'll make more progress. Ritalin is better than Adderall (less brutal comedown, less getting "stuck")-- I *think*, but it's hard to tell. Vyvanse was also very hard to evaluate, is the problem, because that one I never did have any spare pills so I could never try an effective dose.

I do get it, i do get not giving me high doses when I'm so unsupervised, but-- for all of the medications, the first couple of days were weird and I had trouble hydrating and I was jittery and stuff, but it went away so quickly, I would have been fine with "take half dose two days, then ramp up to effective dose and see how it works" type directions, instead of "take what we know absolutely will be too little for you for two weeks and then come back and try to guess whether it helped", which has just meant I don't really have much data to on on here.

But. I've spent almost forty years needing this kind of medication and not able to access it at all, so I'm reminding myself that this is very rapid progress really.

So I figure I'll do a double dose today, a single tomorrow while I'm driving (maybe I will take that sole dose at midday, since driving is easy and boring but then I have work I need to get done all afternoon), and then I'll try either single or double dosing for the week of farm work until I can get my next appointment, depending how many pills I have. I want to be consistent but lol. It's not in my nature and it's not in my circumstances, so it can be a goal.

I also should write down what I realized about my sciatic nerve. I was joking that my knee caught a haunting in New Orleans somehow. Because it went from being a classic sciatic nerve pain situation-- starting in hip, through back of leg, ending at back of knee-- and wound up just being this horrible pinching pain right inside my knee, like not in the joint but somehow manifesting in a dimension extending from the back of my patella into Hell somehow-- and it was keeping me awake both when trying to nap during the day and also at night when trying to sleep. So I gave up on sleeping and sat on the couch to bitch about it in the complaints channel on the Discord where I'm mostly at home (it was a witcher server and over the last two or three years has mutated into just this ragtag group of us bitching about unrelated things and occasionally dumping fanworks on each other, sometimes about unrelated media)--

but here I'm gonna let you in on a secret, which is that complaining works sometimes. What? Yes. So in order to elicit maximal sympathy from my pocket friends by describing the problem really well (they're very good pocket friends, and many of them know things so describing stuff well sometimes means they have good advice, but even if not, I take satisfaction in communicating well, so I at least feel better about having done that), I really started paying attention to the pain, and I realized that what was happening was that it was sort of slowly throbbing on a cycle. I always knew where it was, but then it would get painful enough that I felt I had to move and change position, and it would stay at that level of pain for three or four seconds, and then taper off until I only just was aware of it, and then it would repeat-- and it was on a thirteen-to-fifteen-second cycle, and this is the crucial thing, it was unaffected by movement. I had been tossing and turning because what would happen was that it hurt badly enough that I felt I had to move it, and I would move and the pain would ease, and I would try to settle into a position, and then the pain would come back, and my half-asleep exhausted self thought that it was something I was doing. So it meant I was constantly moving, which meant I could not sleep. I had finally gotten out of bed and was alternating stretching and pacing, which seemed to be helping but then it was coming back, and the pacing sure as fuck wasn't helping me sleep, and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, until finally I stood still and timed it, and then moved and timed it, and realized it was the same.

Realizing that it was happening regardless of movement made me able to hold still while it hurt most acutely, and then sure enough it faded away. And once I knew that moving wouldn't help, I could ride out the urge to move. And once I wasn't constantly trying to find a comfortable position, I could rest. And once I was resting, I could fall asleep. Because this is the annoying thing-- the pain wasn't that bad, even. It's not the agony it has been in the past. I could move through it, easily. It was just too much to hold still through, until I realized that was what I needed to be doing.

So anyway-- traveling home it was mostly fine, it does not like standing in lines, and mostly i sat as much as possible, which isn't good for me long-term but i know over the next couple of weeks i will be doing a shitton of walking and standing so. we'll figure out tactics then.

so along with the ritalin i will be working out my ideal regimens of ibuprofen, aleve, and weed, LOL. Routine! I can make a routine. I can hinge my routine off other people's, which is what works well for me at the farm, and i can see if i can master the art of the amphetamines and maybe get some of my shit done.

Unfortunately all I want to do this week is sew, I watched all of the tourists and locals in NOLA and looked at what they were wearing and now know exactly what I want to make.

and i don't have time to do any of it. but. if i think about it and make concrete plans, i already own much of the fabric and most of the patterns i need. so i can do this. But I'll post separately about the Fashion Lewks I want to do, LOL.

I won't see my physical therapist again until like maybe early June. I counted it out and I've been doing physical therapy for about sixteen weeks at this point. My sister graduated from her physical therapy program and is out on her own now, having hugely improved. I can tell the bad hip is much improved but not healed-- sitting on the plane yesterday someone walked by and bumped my knee and it absolutely did make the cartilage flap go "pop" so that's not healed, but it hurt a lot less than that sort of thing used to. At the last appointment I had, the PT said I should just keep doing the exercises as my circumstances allow, and if they're too easy just increase reps etc., and we'd re-evaluate when I finally saw her again, because obviously I've had all these underlying cascading problems that can only be slowly solved by getting slowly stronger, so who knows.

I don't have concrete goals for that but I would really just. Like to be not-disabled, mostly. Every person has limits, every person is going to have to sit down sometimes, every person is going to have to think hard and make choices about what they do with their bodies-- it's just part of getting into your mid-forties, really-- so I can't just set my goal as being able to do whatever whenever. But I would like to be able to walk for longer distances, I would like to be able to wait in a line without paying for it for days, I would like to just generally be in better shape. So I guess I'll try to work toward that.

idk. and sometime in july my doctor wants me to re-test my fasting blood glucose because the only thing she cares about of my health is that i'm fat and she thinks putting me on metformin will make me not-fat. you'd think she'd have had some interest in diagnosing the pain that was making me unable to exercise but that was not on her radar i guess.

anyway. that's what i'm going to do to get me to june. it's all farm time for the rest of the month and i'm going to do physical therapy and take meth. we'll see how that goes.

[topaz-witch-tea]

Yanqing’s Happy Family AU: Yingxing’s Parenting

It’s been a while since I last posted something for Yanqing’s Happy Family AU. I took a much needed vacation from work so now I am a lot more energized and ready to write. Work and the fact that my free time is 9 PM - 12 PM makes it hard to write, which is why my work has a lot of typos. I try my best to catch all of them but some do slip through.

Please enjoy my head canons on Yingxing’s parenting. Please feel free to send me asks and messages, you can also send them anonymously if you wish. You can ask about head canons, current, or future works and anything that strikes your fancy. I am opening to answering most things. I hope to have a proper writing schedule set up for me so I can write more. My brain keeps cooking food but I can’t plate and serve them efficiently. 😂

1. Yingxing makes all of the swords Yanqing uses. From his main sword to the spares on his back and even the daggers he hides on his body, Yingxing forged all of them. This was his child after all, how could he let anyone else but the best make his son’s weapons and he was the Furnace Master, and therefore, the best. Improperly made weapons could decide life and death in the battlefield and he would be damned if the reason his child was buried before him was because of poorly made weaponry. He poured countless hours and funds into creating these weapons all to ensure that it was the best. Yanqing, in turn, shared his father’s love for swords and loved collecting them, especially ones his father made. Private auctions or competitions were the only way to get non-custom swords made by the Furnace Master and Yanqing competed in them constantly. Sure, he would spend his entire allowance for the next two weeks just to get his hand on a sword his father crafted completely out of jade, but it was absolutely stunning from a collector’s point-of-view and he simply could not let the opportunity pass him by.

2. Yanqing would collect the swords of other master’s as well, but he would never use them on the battlefield. Until one day, when a new craftsman who had transferred from the Yaoqing arrived on the Luofu. He was an expert in daggers infused with qi and Yanqing was absolutely smitten with them. So much so that he replaced the daggers Yingxing gave him with the qi-infused ones during an minor expedition. The expedition was successful and Yanqing was more than happy with his purchase. Yingxing, however, was not happy to hear he was been replaced with someone else. To him, swords were his and Yanqing’s thing, so to hear that Yanqing no longer carried his daggers but those of another craftsmen was a strike to his heart. He fretted over whether it was due to his skill as a craftsman or maybe the designs were not in style. He took this matter so personally that he had suddenly burst into tears right as he and his husbands were going to sleep. Of course, Yanqing got tired of the daggers in a week or so and returned to using the ones his father crafted for him. They just felt more comfortable and far more suited to his fighting style then anything else he could buy at the market.

3. Yingxing, out of the three, is by far the strictest. His success in life was due to self-discipline and perseverance, something he hopes to impart upon Yanqing. However, “strict” should be taken with a grain of salt. Yingxing will say no to Yanqing when it comes to certain purchases but a successful sword lesson or an excellent exam score is enough to make Yingxing open his wallet. He does try his best to teach Yanqing financial responsibility, but it’s hard for him to preach that when he was doing the same thing at Yanqing’s age.

4. Before every mission, Yingxing checks every weapon Yanqing is bringing with him to the battlefield. It doesn’t matter if Yanqing has polished and inspected each item the night before, Yingxing has to look at it. The sharpness and sturdiness of the blade, the quality of the sheath, even the way it is attached to Yanqing- everything has to be checked. While Yingxing will tell his son that it is for his safety, it is more for Yingxing’s own anxiety. There are times he is unable to follow his child onto the battlefield, and in those moments, his mind spins a thousand horrible scenarios of his child’s fate. To know that all of Yanqing’s weapons are in order is the only thing he can do as he waits for his child to return home.

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia! You said that you need another vacation after this vacation, so I am not sure, how puppy situation, even if it partual custudy, affecting you ( may be you in panic when he is there and then recovering when he is not, and then round and round? ), but really, If you need another vacation, I hope you know we will be here to support you for it!

It's been nearly 4 weeks now since we got Toby so I feel like I can talk about this with a bit of a clear head.

(Talk of like an actual PTSD meltdown beneath the read-more, including self-harm mention - nothing graphic. There's zero obligation for anyone to read this, especially for folks who don't think authors should ever be honest about being people with issues):

So, I've been kind of quiet about aspects of this, but I have like severe treatment-resistant PTSD and C-PTSD, and puppies specifically are one of my triggers (especially if I'm responsible for them). The reason for that is kind of awful, and I don't really want to talk about some of the things I've experienced/been through that led to that, so let's just move onto the next part. You're kind of right anon, there has been panic while he is here lol.

As a result, I had a severe meltdown the first time I tried to adopt a dog many years ago now. Could not last 24 hours, needed weeks/months to recover.

But I've always wanted to share my life with a dog and I've been in a somewhat better space over the past year or so, and I thought I could maybe handle it better. I told myself 'if I can just get through that 24 hours I'll realise it's okay and it will all work out.' Anon I cannot tell you where this thinking came from, but it was wrong. Idk why past me was kind of naive enough to think this way but here we are.

No, after that 24 hours, it got temporarily better, and then I slammed into consecutive meltdowns, each one worse than the next, until the people around me were afraid for my life. I am still recovering from some of the harm I inflicted on myself during the last three weeks and likely will be for some time to come. The combination of a really intense PTSD relapse, as well as not being able to handle (as an AuDHD person) intense changes to my schedule basically compounded and I broke.

I made the decision to rehome Toby, and first contacted the people around me. Glen's mum said she wanted a dog, and had been specifically looking into dogs like Toby anyway, and so we decided this would be best because then I could still be involved (I love Toby to pieces).

After getting some space, I finally started to adjust, and have gone back to having Toby about 4~ days a week, with a view to going to about 6 days, with one day spent with my mum, or Glen's mum.

Today is the first day I was able to handle having him on my own for around 9.5 hours. And I'm here and able to write about it, so that's progress. He'll be here all day Sunday, and then Tues-Weds-Thurs-Friday. And from there a decision will be made as to where I'm at with my mental health etc.

I'm a bit more hopeful now that I might be able to keep him, but my PTSD is still very very bad. I'm having some nights where I'm simply not sleeping until 7.30am (even if he's not here), and my hypervigilance is crazy. Like, I am having so many auditory flashbacks it's stupid. So this is why I've been saying this break hasn't been very restful or productive. Because my mental health tanked like I detonated a landmine inside myself.

I didn't actually plan the two week break for Toby! That was just a coincidence honestly.

Unfortunately I have a lot of health conditions that respond very poorly to stress, so I'm dealing with those now too. And then additionally, in all of this, I had a breast scan / mammogram / ultrasound that has confirmed a suspicious lump I found a couple of months ago (breast cancer runs in the family), and I suspect I'm going to need a biopsy. I'll find out on Monday if that's the case. That's been in the background and hasn't been helping.

There's some other stuff going on that's not really worth talking about because these are the main things, but that's a good picture I think. It turns out 'just getting through the first 24 hours' doesn't magically make a severe PTSD trigger go away. And that forced exposure is not 'exposure therapy' - that's just reinforcing a trigger.

Anyway! I feel like I'm through the worst of it, and I am seeing glimpses of how my life could be richer if I keep getting through this. But...that's why I think another break. *smiles tiredly.* I have to wait a bit now for the PTSD / C-PTSD symptoms to settle down, and I also need to see what's kind of worsened after this. Realistically, with a relapse to this degree, it could take between 3-6 months to really start recovering, or to at least get back to where I was before December.

I hope with all my heart I can get there with Toby by my side. I love him so much.

(I want to add that Toby has never ever been in a position of harm at any point, and in fact I probably put myself in harm's way for his sake, because I wanted to provide solid continuity of care - in case anyone was worried about that).

Er so yeah! But I've picked up my writing again this week and have been able to do some like...things I'd been neglecting, and I feel more human again, I just hope I get some sleep tonight

[anderwhohn]

Semi-hiatus continues...

I've been having to play caregiver for my mom 24/7 for the last couple of weeks when the rest of my immediate family came down with COVID again. Mom's still non-weightbearing, and her next appointment with orthopaedics is still a bit over a week away, and with no one available to relieve me for a break at all, I can't go home (despite only living next door), and I struggle to type on mobile due to hyperhidrosis and touchscreens not really playing well together.

Once I'm where I can get back to my desktop more regularly again, I'm going to work on the end of the year stuff that got disrupted by mom breaking her ankle and needing surgery and whatnot, if I can manage to get enough time to actually rest properly as well while I'm there (I need at least a month vacation at this point, as it's been a daily thing since December 1st and has been extremely stressful for reasons I don't want to go into right now.)

So while I can't really reply to things, you ARE welcome to send things to my inbox and/or request interactions through the form (linked in the pinned post). It'll at least give me things to think about and daydream over, maybe do some plotting via discord (albeit very slowly between difficulty typing & random interruptions from mom and such). In other words, I'm bored as hell and I miss being here, but I can't handle writing on a tablet for long enough to actually rp via mobile (not to mention my tags are a bitch to handle on mobile).

[darthhopereblogs]

Public emeto/sickfic prompts

I just thought I’d make this list. Enjoy! (Hope you like commentary along with your Whump prompts)

You don’t need to credit me if you use these prompts, but I’d love to read whatever you write!

Warnings! Mentions of emeto/vomiting and likely a lot of embarrassment. (These are non-kink)

Character A has to give a presentation/speech/whatever your imagination can think up but they wake up with laryngitis or a sore throat and can’t speak. So, they take some meds for it. However, they neglected to read the label which states that side effects can include nausea and vomiting. It doesn’t hit them until they are standing in front of a whole crowd of people. Use your imagination as to whether they make it through or not.

Character A goes to work/school feeling bad. As the day goes on they start to feel worse. Then, during a quite session (silent reading/work time, etc) their stomach starts to make all sorts of sick noises. Bonus points if the character is normally really introverted and never makes much noise.

Character A and B are doing something for B’s birthday. Character A woke up feeling ill but doesn’t want to miss B’s birthday, they also don’t want their other friends to worry. So, when the friends start to eat, A forces themself to eat as well. This only makes them feel worse.

Character A has an office job where they have to work long hours, maybe something really important is going on or maybe they have a deadline to reach, I don’t know, it’s you’re story. They have been overworking themselves for days (or weeks) and have definitely caught something. Or maybe it’s just from eating and drinking nothing but coffee. But they come to work anyway because they don’t have time to call in sick (why did Ian just suddenly pop into my mind?) However, that probably wasn’t the best call. Use your imagination as to whether they get sick in front of someone else (hence the name “Public”) or somewhere else.

Going off of the last one: maybe A is preparing for a presentation which they can’t call in sick from. This leads to the presentation getting interrupted by the great puking show of 2023.

(Idol AU) Character A is a singer/actor who has to put on a live show. They wake up feeling terrible but go to work (or rehearsal, whatever you do before a show) however… I think you can deduce what happens next. A starts the show. A gets sick in front of an entire live crowd.

Character A has a rather important job, but, unlike our previous characters, they decide to take the day off. Unfortunately for them, it seems that their team cannot function without them! They get called in by their boss halfway though the day, saying that they absolutely must come into work that day. Maybe the team underestimated how sick A was, or maybe they just didn’t care, or just really needed their help. Either way, they realize their mistake when A can’t make it through the day without being sick.

Character A and their friends are going to an amusement park. From here I have multiple prompts:

A reluctantly goes on a ride with their friends but gets extremely motion sick. Unfortunately, due to a malfunction (or some other reason), they are stuck at the top of the ride. Maybe the ride is rocking slightly in the wind, or maybe the height is just to much, either way, A proceeds to get sick all over either themselves or their friends. Much to their shock.

A eats a bit to much junk food before going on a ride. No farther explanation required.

A desides to sit out a ride, maybe they’re already feeling a little sick or maybe they just don’t want to go one it. Either way, their friends go on the ride, leaving them sitting on a bench (or wherever) when they suddenly start feeling sick. Perhaps they got food poisoning from the ridiculous amount of junk food we eat on vacation or perhaps they caught a stomach bug from the ridiculous amount of people who neglect to was their hands! Either way, (I really need to find synonyms for “either way”) A is sick so suddenly they don’t have time to find a restroom, much to their friend’s surprise.

Okay, last one for amusement parks. Maybe the group is a group of kids or maybe they’re just younger adults, either way, *cough cough* AT ANY RATE, they are off running around the amusement park on their own, no parents in sight (or older adults, but I see this one more for kids) when A starts of feel sick. Either they decide against telling their friends or, you know, they decide to. AT ANY RATE, (so sorry) the friends have no idea what to do, they look for their parents but can’t find them. The situation gets even worse when A gets sick before they can find a restroom.

Character A is going on a vacation with a friend and their family. Unfortunately, they end up getting extremely motion sick (maybe their driving through the mountains or something). However, they don’t want to bother their friend and so decide to just try and sit it out. This doesn’t work and they end up being sick all over their friend’s car. Bonus points if A doesn’t really know their friend’s parents and isn’t that comfortable around them. Bonus, bonus points if A remains sick even after getting out of the car and has to deal with being sick in an unfamiliar environment with adults they barely know. (Also makes for a good fluff prompt between the friends.)

Thank you for staying with me to the end!

If you want me to write one of these send me a number (or multiple) and I’ll write it for one of my OCs!

[kalevalakryze]

College of Geonosis (Repost)

Reposting this one for @barrissday ! It's definitely high up on my list of things to get back into once Whumptober, Ahsoka week, wolfwren week, sabine week, and Sabine Bingo have passed; I have some great ideas for this and I love everything so much

Pairings: Barriss Offee & Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, Ahsoka Tano & Anakin Skywalker

Characters: Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker

Tags: Modern AU - Human, Modern AU - College, Slow Burn, Eventual Fluff, Barriss Offee-centric, Muslim Characters, Good Parent Luminara Unduli, Anxiety, References to depression, everyone is neurodivergent, no real hurt (yet)

Notes: This is one I'm actually pretty excited about, but I do have a few things to point out just so any inaccuracies are purely my own lack of expertise over ignorance.

I'm cis, nonreligious, and white. This has typically prevented me from writing or portraying any characters in any other category for fear of misrepresenting. However, when I picture a humanized version of both Barriss and Ahsoka, I cannot see women in my demographic. I'm putting in the work to try to be as accurate and learn as much as possible, however, if I mess anything up, please correct me, the last thing I'd like to do is butcher a representation and do them any less than the full justice they deserve.

I do not know much about any religion truthfully, so I'm learning with each piece I write, and I don't doubt that I will need to revise the more I learn.

I am also completely oblivious to the college experience, so if this works a little too much in the movies or cliche television, that's why. (personally, fingers crossed that one day I'll be able to get a degree, but with the way things have been working, it won't be doable for a while, so I'm just living my college dreams through these two).

Summary: Barriss was half excited and half full of dread as Luminara pulled up to the drop off at last. The dorm building was tall, the Tribunal building would be her home for the next few years, “I’m scared,” She found herself whispering against the window. Her hands were squeezing Luminara’s, and her mother lovingly squeezed back in a heartbeat pattern. “Fear can be a good thing, Barriss,” The wisened woman started, voice soft, even with all the noise of unruly undergrads outside. “Do it because you’re scared, and when you graduate, you’ll feel better about taking that step, the next ones won’t be as scary,” She pulled Barriss's hand until she could offer a gentle tug, leaning across the center console until Barriss’s head fell into her shoulder. “And, even if this doesn’t work out, I’m still proud of you for everything you’ve done to get here,”

Barriss used to believe things would be easier once she graduated high school. Maybe the pressure would stop, after all, she wouldn’t have to pile on her graduation requirements to her early college assignments, she could actually devote her focus on her pre-med track, where she’d earned enough credits during high school. If she could just stack as many classes into each available slot over the course of the year, including holidays and summer vacation, she could be heading for her Masters and her PhD in no time! At least, those were the hopes and dreams.

Her mother had never expressed any kind of expectation on her, not once, but Barriss had always felt… strange. Luminara Unduli was a healer, and so was her mother before her. Like with her own father, Luminara hadn’t known her own, and while the absence never felt large in her life, her mother’s attempts at pulling her away from her work to bond were a greater stressor. Realistically, the young woman knew that her mother hadn’t wanted to pass on the workaholic trait, but she’d been exposed ever since she was little, and if her mom was so perfect and put together, she could be to, if only she could rush through these classes and get a jump on this ‘stable adult life’ she’d been dreaming about since she was young.

Of course, the world worked in mysterious ways. Barriss Offee was moving halfway across the world to the states, where she would, apparently, be rooming with another undergrad in a mechanical engineering track, with minor lessons in law and politics. It seemed a rather… interesting tuition, but then, from the letters the two had exchanged over the summer since the College of Geonosis connected them, this Ahsoka Tano was an interesting character. The girl had apparently graduated high school early, and was going to be attending the same school as her older brother she only lovingly referred to as ‘skyguy’, who was a senior in the mechanical engineering program.

Ahsoka’s letters often rambled on and on, about her summer, and her excitement for the year, or to meet Barriss, or to tell her about ‘skyguy’ and his wife, or her apparently many brothers, she promised Barriss if she’s seen even one of them anywhere in the galaxy, she would know, apparently, for as many as she’d remembered to list off in the letters, they all looked quite similar. Those letters were the longest, and while exhausting to read, she hadn’t wanted to seem impolite.

Her own letters to Ahsoka were typically short, commenting on something she’d picked from pages of rambling to show she’d been paying attention, and filling in her own information whenever asked. Every time her mother retrieved the mail and dropped one of those orange envelopes at her desk, she would smile in a way that confused Barriss, would make her cheeks heat until she would sink further into her chair, pulling an end of her hijab just free enough that she could hide her burning face from her mothers’ knowing gaze.

This was a posture Barriss took for the majority of the trip away from Coruscant, and along the fifteen hour drive to the Geonosian capital, where her new university, new life, and new roommate would be waiting for her. The traffic to get into the school was jam packed, and Barriss considered herself lucky that the school had allowed her to get her assignments, keys, and badges delivered to her home prior to the semester’s start, one of her final tastes of the perks of having a parent much more extroverted than herself.

Luminara’s hand came to rest on her knee, and with a slow, measured breath, both of Barriss’s moved to cover her mother’s hand with her own. Anxiety thrummed in her veins, as they watched the line of cars into the dorms inch forward, and students taking ages to bid their farewells. “I’ve arranged some work, for the first couple of days,” Luminara started slowly, once Barriss’s fidgeting was directly to playing with her fingers, smoothing over the neat black polish on each fingernail, or the brass metal bracelets that adorned her mothers wrists.

The young woman was unable to hide her relief at this knowledge. If it became too much, she wouldn’t be inconveniencing her too much to ask to come home. This was her first trip more than two hours from home, after all, and she was more than a little scared, something her mother had always been keen at keeping an eye out for, and coming up with a solution that wouldn’t further damage her nerves. “Thank you,” She breathed, barely audible from the thumping of a nearby bass. Four young men pulled up in the car beside them, the driver… with a tattoo on his face? Was identical to every other passenger in the car, in a way that made her look twice, but no. The others did not share the goatee and forehead tattoo as the driver banged his head to a song she would never be able to make out.

She hadn’t realized she’d been squeezing her mother’s hand until Luminara had to reach across her seat, to brush her fingertips over the back of Barriss’s knuckles, to remind her that if she started squeezing any harder it would begin to hurt. Her cheeks burned as she released her hold on Luminara’s hand, but the woman did not move her hand away, simply rested her now free hand back on the steering wheel and inched just a bit closer in line. “You’re going to do perfect here, and you won’t be alone, you’ll have Ahsoka, and I’m sure Professor Vos wouldn’t mind checking in every now and then,” She promised, and Barriss felt some of the tension in her shoulders relax.

“I will do my best to utilize the resources offered,” Barriss promised, missing the frown that tugged on Luminara’s lips as her head turned back to the driveway. Enough cars were starting to clear now, that she was able to make a substantial jump in line.

“The temporary office is only ten minutes away, but I’ll only be here for a week, Master Tholme has requested that I return to the home office to work on one of our newer developed strands and vaccines,” She spoke about her work freely and often with Barriss, part of why she’d fallen in love with the pre-med track in the first place. Her mother’s passion for her career helped Barriss fall in love with the world in a way she didn’t think possible, and while she had many obstacles to overcome, she had to stay positive that she would succeed thanks to her hard work and the resources available.

She was half excited and half full of dread as Luminara pulled up to the drop off at last. The dorm building was tall, the Tribunal building would be her home for the next few years, “I’m scared,” She found herself whispering against the window. Her hands were squeezing Luminara’s once more, but this time, she squeezed back in a heartbeat pattern.

“Fear can be a good thing, Barriss,” Her mother started, voice soft, even with all the noise of unruly undergrads outside. “Do it because you’re scared, and when you graduate, you’ll feel better about taking that step, the next ones won’t be as scary,” She pulled the younger woman's hand until she could give a gentle tug, leaning across the center console until Barriss’s head fell into her shoulder. “And, even if this doesn’t work out, I’m still proud of you for everything you’ve done to get here,”

She inhaled slowly, eyes sliding shut as she cherished her last moment of peace. “I’ll take these ones with you,” Luminara promised, before unbuckling and sliding out of her seat. In just a few long strides, Barriss’s door was opened, and her mother’s hand reached to help her out. Another slow, controlled breath, before she grabbed her hand and rose out of the car.

The sounds hit her like a wall of bricks, but the young woman swallowed, squeezing her mothers' hand once more before she moved to gather her two bags from the back seat. It wasn’t much, but she’d practiced packing light. The heaviest things were most likely the books she’d brought, though if it had been up to her, the entire Unduli home's library would be packed into that car, so the dozen or so thick tomes she stashed was a lesson in self-control.

Luminara took one of the bags before Barriss could sling it over her shoulder, and then nodded her way towards the building. “I’ll follow you,” She promised, offering a reassuring smile. The lobby was crowded full of students collecting keys, complaining to the resident assistants, and students saying lengthy and teary eyed goodbyes. She’d studied every map, and had planned for every single scenario that could alter her course to her new home. It was a big step, but Barriss led the way through the winding mazes odd bodies, up until she came to room 332.

There was music playing through a speaker inside the room, Barriss paused at the sight of two figures that occupied the side closest to the heavy wooden door. And older man, long hair, sharp jawline, blue eyes enunciated with a scar that cut across his right eye. His arms were crossed against his chest as he seemed to be caught in an argument with his companion. The woman was young, younger than Barriss even, with dark skin offset by clean stripes of near white skin, she had wanted to guess tattoos, though it seemed highly improbable, most likely an intricate case of vitiligo that cast diamonds and sweeping lines across her face. White and Blue dyed dreads sat piled on top of her head, and her eyebrows furrowed as he spoke.

“If you didn’t interrupt me, every time I tried-“

“I wasn’t interrupting, I was trying to help you,” Which, Barriss believed, threw off whatever intention he was attempting to convey, considering he’d interrupted the younger woman.

The woman’s hands went up in the air as she shook her head. “Which I’d appreciate, if you didn’t interrupt me to do it! I just think maybe you don’t trust that I can handle this on my own,”

“It’s not about trust, it’s about making sure everything’s right,” He pushed himself off the desk then, and a gentle hand on Barriss shoulder had her stepping into the fray, her brows furrowing as she listened to them go back and forth.

“Oh! So you don’t trust me to do it right!” The woman accused, her finger poking into his bicep, which he batted out of the way with an exasperated sigh. “I knew it!’

His posture relaxed, seemingly defeated. “Snips, I never said-“

Her arms crossed defensively over her own chest, now, mirroring his habit of interruption. “No, no. It’s okay, I understand. I’m the freshman, you’re the aide,”The woman turned away from him, going back to angrily folding a sweatshirt that must have been tossed on the made ben when they started their spat.

Their conversation dropped to whispers neither woman could make out, but as Barriss stepped forward, to make their presence known,’snips’ started back up. “If you don’t trust me, why don’t you just send me back,” She snarked, the shirt tossed once again down onto the bed as she spun to face him once more.

“Don’t tempt me, Snips,” He warned, when his hand pulled into a fist, Barriss took note of the rigidness of his hand, it wasn’t hard to see the mechanics of a prosthetic through the black glove he’d placed over it.

“If you’re both finished…?” Luminara started, growing weary of standing in the entryway. Boredom outwore politeness and she stepped past her daughter, into the room, to set the small duffel bag onto the foot of the unclaimed bed. “Well, Barriss, aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” She guided, once she’d finally entered and shut the door behind her.

She caught the man bumping the younger woman’s shoulder, until she’d turned to acknowledge the newcomers. Barriss stepped forward then, cheeks darkening as she dipped her head and curtseyed. “Kinesiology major, Barriss Offer, at your service,” She greeted, her lips quirking immediately at the way the woman she assumed to be her roommate beamed at her.

Ahsoka and the man shared a look, and she shook her head at him. The younger woman’s hand reached towards Barriss. “Glad to meet you, I’m Ahsoka, and this,” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, to the man at the desk, who’d rolled his eyes. “Is my brother, Anakin,”

When Barriss took Ahsoka’s hand, both woman offered near hesitant smiles simultaneously, and Barriss caught the way her mother’s lips quirked as she stepped closer to Anakin, and the way the two bowed their heads together and seemed to be passing on a quiet conversation. “Your majoring in mechanical engineering, correct?”

Ahsoka nodded, her hand squeezing Barriss before dropping her hand to turn and grab a notebook. “Yeah of course! I know you mentioned your pre med track, and I have a brother who did medical engineering too, he wouldn’t shut up about it when I asked,” Ahsoka grabbed a messy notebook from a spilled open duffel bag, messy notes scrawled across designs all across the sheets of paper, almost impossible to decipher as she peered over them.

“She’s been up Kix’s rear getting him to teach her everything he knew pre-med, since she learned her track,” Barriss heard Anakin mention to her mother. She paused, hand reaching to grab the corner of the notebook. Ahsoka had obviously put a great deal of time into learning about the stranger’s interests, so the least Barriss could do was pay attention.

“these are…” The woman blinked, her lips pulling into a smile. “Most of these designs aren’t used until more than halfway through the course, and you’ve already figured out their uses,” She was truly stunned, there were instruction diagrams and equipment notes for pieces she’d only ever hoped to use in the practice one day.

“I watched a lot of Grey’s anatomy,” The woman informed with a big grin and a nod of her head. The notebook was shut and sat back on the already cluttered desk. “It’s actually really interesting, the subject, not the show,” And then a half nervous laugh, Barriss turned her face, her hand raising to her lips to cover the smile that pulled at her own.

It was Luminara who finally stepped in, her hand on Barriss’s shoulder. “Perhaps you two would like to join us for a quick lunch, then? I’m sure Barriss would love to hear all about what you’ve learned,” Barriss’s cheeks darkened, but she did not her head and focus her gaze on Ahsoka, who was looking at her older brother for permission.

“Hey, snips, you’re the adult here,” He defended, his hands raised in surrender and a smirk pulling at his lips. The young woman stuck her tongue out at him cruelly, before nodding her head up at both Barriss and Luminara.

“I think that’d be great!” Ahsoka’s enthusiasm was starting to rub off on Barriss, who’d set her bags down with the intent of unpacking later. They’d been in the car for quite some time now, and she’d be lying to say she wasn’t starved.

Together, the four of them exited the dorm, Barriss and Luminara piling into their car once more, overheated with the summer, while Anakin and Ashoka dispersed into the student parking lot.

With the air conditioning cranked, and their car rolling down the road, the sight of a black helmet and a white and blue helmet further up along the busy roadways was enough for Luminara to speak. “How do you feel about your arrangements?” She prompted, eyes flickering from the road for only a moment.

“I… I do truly believe it will be an enlightening experience,” The young woman frowned in thought. “Ahsoka took an interest in what I told her, and learned more about it, it is quite an admirable feat,” A pregnant pause, as their car pulled to a stoplight. “Do you know her brother, Anakin?” Because really, the way she’d caught the two conversing was not entirely unusual for her mother, but she’d never taken politeness to a friendly level before.

“Do you remember Professor Kenobi? From the Criminal Justice department?”

“You two attended university together, correct?”

“We had, on Coruscant. Anakin and Ahsoka were his charges since they were young. When you mentioned that the university had put you with Ahsoka, I assumed it as a good thing, I’m glad to see that so far, it seems I was correct,”

Barriss cheeks heated, so she reached to turn the air conditioners vent to point at her face. “She is quite thoughtful, and this does ease some of my fears about being put with someone I would not grow to like… I hope the rest of the year turns out to be as fruitful.”

Poggle’s diner was surprisingly slow as they pulled into the parking lot, their sedan pulling into the empty spot between two sport bikes, one black and blue, with the other in a variety of orange, white, and blue. Barriss took immediate notice that the white designs on the helmet and gas tank vaguely resembled her new roommates vitiligo.

“The mosque is nearby as well, I wish to visit with you this afternoon, and help you get acquainted,” Luminara mentioned as the two women exited the vehicle, the car beeping to acknowledge its locked status.

“That would be lovely, I had a difficult time printing the directions at the library before we left,” Because, if there was one person who still used Mapquest, it was Barriss Offee, with an excuse of simplicity, and being able to draw her route along the map to help her stay oriented.

The inside of the dinner was a little dirty, just as spare as the outside, making it easy to see the two young adults, who kept sliding the paper to their straws back on and shooting them at each other. When Ahsoka’s paper projectile hit the floor, Anakin had shot up and declared her the loser, a sheepish smile on his face as the two women approached. “You made it! Hope traffic wasn’t too bad, I refuse to drive a car anywhere in the city this time of year,” He explained as he crumpled up the paper into a ball, dropping it next to Ashoka’s, before reaching into her hair to retrieve his own white paper that had been lost to white dye.

“He is a menace,” Ahsoka deadpanned, taking a sip from the water in front of her. The woman’s legs were tucked up onto the booth with her, childish, but… Barriss couldn’t help but find it endearing, as she slid herself to the inside of the booth across from her new friend. “Anakin said you were an early grad too, right?”

“Oh, yes, actually. I took my classes during holiday, and received credit from the local community college to aid in my enrollment here,” Barriss explained, her hands folding together on the table in front of her. “You graduated early as well?”

“Yeah! Well, kind of! Turns out, with my last placement, I was taking more classes than I needed to, and getting the credits I needed, so when Obi-Wan took me in, everything fell into place, but I did kind of gap it so I could work in Skyguy’s shop. The customer service is trash, but he can get anything working again,” She pointed out, grinning widely at the nudge of her brothers’ elbow into her ribs.

“That is interesting, and I have to say I am quite intrigued on your perspectives, more so education wise, I have not met anyone outside of my desired study who has taken the time to learn about it,”

Ahsoka’s cheeks darkened, and her shoulders shrugged. The waiter came and went, the two girls left alone in their little world. They continued to pass knowledge and stories back to each other, with Luminara or Anakin only chiming in so often to point out an embarrassing discrepancy in the story. Their meals came and went, and by the time they were all getting ready to depart once more, it would have been impossible to believe that the pair had only met that day.

“It was lovely to meet both of you, Anakin, Ahsoka. I will be in town for the next few days for some work, if either of you needs anything, and please, do pass on my well wishes to Professor Kenobi.” Luminara dismissed, her hand on Barriss shoulder as she nodded to the two young adults. “I am going to cool down the car,” And then her mother was walking away, but Ahsoka was stepping up, her hand extended.

“Guess I’ll see you tonight then, roomie?” She questioned with a smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Barriss took her hand, much more confident than she had been upon their first meeting.

“Of course, I look forward to it. It was nice to meet you as well, Anakin,” The man in question raised two fingers to the corner of a split eyebrow in a friendly mock of a salute, before Barriss took her leave back to the cooling vehicle.

“They certainly are different, but.. not in a bad way,” She confided to Luminara as she sat in the passenger seat and secured her safety belt. “I think I will like it here, to an extent,” She didn’t want to promise that she would love the place, but she was now more willing to give it a chance than she’d been before.

“It makes me glad to hear this, Barriss. I’m proud of the steps you’ve taken today,” Her mothers hand did not leave her own the entire short trip to the Mosque, filling with folks all across the city

Even prayer felt more comfortable than it had in the Core. There were less people, she felt like she could breathe, and as the session came to a close, many stayed to converse, to check in. It was certainly more a community than the closed off life she’d come to know.

Barriss would not get to meet the imam, but she did get her name settled so they would know to expect her, if not every day, than at least four times a week. Prayer at home never came as easy to her, especially not as enlightening as it had been that day, and she quite looked forward to seeing if she would fit in to their community.

The return to the dorm was quieter than their first trip, and Barriss had to take a moment to prepare herself for her first true night away from her mother. “I will miss you,” She spoke into Luminara’s sweater as her face buried in her shoulder.

“I’ll only be a phone call away, little one,” The woman promised, her thumb brushing across Barriss’s cheek with her own sorrow painted on her features. “And I will be nearby as well, as you settle. You need only call,”

In the end Luminara did not walk up with Barriss, had guided her to make the hardest steps herself, and she had. The dorm room was dark, and mostly quiet when she entered. Ahsoka was sprawled haphazardly on her bed, with her phone settled by her head and quietly playing music too low for the older woman to make out.

Her belongings were unpacked quietly and carefully. Computer and books organized on the desk, clothes settled into the provided dresser. Her dead phone removed from her bag and plugged in, settled on the corner of the desk as well. When everything was just as she wanted it, and she could complete Maghrib, it was clear two very separate people occupied the space, with her neat organization, and color coded notebooks, and Ahsoka’s mess of books and notebooks opened and sprawled out with diagrams already across the desk.

It was mildly endearing, though Barriss had to wonder if it would ever come to grind on her. She had to hope it would not, as she quite enjoyed her current arrangement. She had many thoughts about the woman occupying the other space, as she retreated once more to the space provided for her fifth and final vesper of the night. She wasn’t necessarily distracted, but she did find herself pondering questions she’d never had before.

Sleep came that night with a new fear, one she had never entertained before, because no one else had ever held such meaning to her life, especially not in such a short time. The fear that perhaps Ahsoka did not like her at all? As sleep found her, Barriss promised, either to the sleeping Ahsoka, or to the ceiling, she was not certain, that she would wish to learn about the types of different engineering as well.

[e350tb]

Gravity Falls - The Matchmabel - Chapter I

Chapter I: Summer Again

Gravity Falls, Oregon - June 2017

It was a warm summer’s morning. The sun was shining, the birds sang, and a gentle breeze danced through the pine trees. It was one of the nicest days the town of Gravity Falls had had all year - and Dipper Pines was in his attic bedroom with the blinds drawn and the lights out, sitting on a laptop.

It wasn’t that Dipper was avoiding being outside today, nor that he wanted to avoid company. He was just busy, trying to write a college application that simply wasn’t coming together.

“I can offer the University… um… geez, I dunno, does experience with the supernatural count?” he asked himself. “They probably won’t believe that. Maybe if I write it as ‘ability to think outside the box…’”

He glanced down at the example questionnaire he’d printed out, reading the next question.

“What I want out of college is…” He frowned. “What I want out of college is…”

He clicked his tongue.

“...a diploma?” He shrugged. “Ugh, I’m getting nowhere with this.”

He heard the sound of steps on the ladder, and looked over to see Mabel climbing up.

“Are you still working on that thing?”

Mabel was carrying a large photo album under her arm, already covered in glitter and stickers.

“Yeah,” sighed Dipper.

“You were on that laptop the whole drive up!” exclaimed Mabel, setting the photo album down on her bed and walking over. “What’s the point in a summer vacation if you spend the whole time up here thinking about…”

She glanced at the questionnaire.

“...wow, that’s a lot of questions.”

“Yeah, and I’ve gotta answer them in three pages or less,” replied Dipper. “And it’s gotta be double-spaced. Maybe they’re recycling some kind of medieval torture method for this.”

“Well maybe you can take a break?” suggested Mabel.

“Mom says she wants this done by the end of the week.”

“Mom’s not here!” Mabel put her arm over his shoulder. “Besides, I’ve got something even more important for you to do!”

“I doubt it, but hit me.”

Mabel walked back over to her bed and picked up the photo album.

“This is the last time we’re in Gravity Falls before we turn 18,” said Mabel. “And I thought we could celebrate that by making a photo album!”

“Haven’t you already made, like, seventeen scrapbooks?” asked Dipper, tilting his head.

“This one’s different!” exclaimed Mabel. “It’s not for me. It’s for Grunkle Stan, and Grunkle Ford, and Soos and Wendy! I wanna give them a big album full of all our adventures!”

“...are we including Weirdmaggeddon?”

“No.”

“...or that time Soos let that slime monster into the gift shop?”

“That’s not as bad as Weirdmaggedon.”

“Ugh. Easy for you to say. You didn’t have to clean it up.”

“No, Dipper.” Mabel tapped the cover. “It’s the Good Times Album. It’s only for good times.”

Dipper shrugged.

“You know what? I could use some time away from this essay,” he replied. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just find some old pictures to put in here,” replied Mabel. “Like on your phone and stuff! Stroll down my favourite street…”

She put her arm over Dipper’s shoulder again and extended her hand.

“Memory Lane!”

“Mabel, your favourite street’s Chapman Street,” said Dipper flatly. “Cause it sells those cola lollipops.”

“Oh yeah, that place is amazing,” Mabel nodded. “But you get my point!”

Dipper chuckled.

“Sure,” he said. “I bet I can dig something out.”

“Yes!” Mabel jumped up, grinning. “Alright, I’m gonna go through my polaroids!”

“That’s what was in the giant box you put in the car?” asked Dipper. “The reason I had to carry Waddles on my lap because it filled up the backseat?”

“See you soon!”

Mabel practically leapt down the stairs.

Dipper closed his laptop and let out a long hmmm. He knew he could check his phone - there were plenty of old photos on it - but he also remembered that he had some printed photos lying around somewhere, and wondered for a moment if it was worth looking through them.

“Hmm… oh wait, I remember!”

He climbed off his bed and leaned down, pulling a large cardboard box out from underneath. With some effort, he lifted it onto the bed and opened the flaps on top.

This was the fabled ‘Wendy box’ - Stan had told him to keep it five years ago, and despite being a source of some embarrassment in hindsight, he was glad he had. The box had a lot of pictures of events that he had no other photographic record of, like that night at the Dusk 2 Dawn (although he had gone through it a few years ago and thrown out some of the candid ones he’d taken at the start of that summer - those were a bit creepy, he had to admit.) Maybe, he thought, he could find some good pictures for the album in it.

He was about to start looking when he heard a call.

“Dipper! The fate of the universe depends upon you!”

Dipper smiled.

“Coming!”

He didn’t really believe that the fate of the universe depended on him - he just knew that this was Ford’s way of getting him to come downstairs quickly.

He found Ford pacing in front of the dining table. The old scientist was wearing large boots - larger than his normal ones - and rubber gloves, and he was carrying several large sacks over his shoulder. He grinned as Dipper entered the room.

“Dipper!” he said. “Glad you’re here, I need your help! It’s Strangeshroom Season!”

“Strangeshroom Season?”

“Not one of my most creative names, I’ll admit,” said Ford. “At the start of every summer, the strangeshrooms bloom in the deep forest, but only for two days - today and tomorrow. Then they vanish, just as mysteriously as they appeared. Which means we only have two days to harvest as many as possible.”

“What’s a strangeshroom?”

“Well, it’s a mushroom, but… well, strange.” Ford shrugged. “Each type of strangeshroom has a different property. There’s a kind that explodes in your mouth, a kind that regresses you into a monkey, and a kind that tastes a bit like a lemon drop - and there could be hundreds more! I used to look for them every year and I’d always find new ones. I haven’t been able to for a while, but this is the first time I’ve been in town when they’ve bloomed since I returned to this dimension.”

“So we’re gonna go pick mushrooms?”

“Strangeshrooms, my boy, strangeshrooms!” Ford grinned. “And we won’t just pick them - we’ll test them!”

Dipper nodded.

“Alright,” he declared. “I’m in.”

“Excellent!” Ford clapped his hands together, the rubber slapping together loudly. “Let me just grab you some strange gloves - they’re regular rubber gloves, but the patent office doesn’t need to know that…”

He walked out of the room - revealing Pacifica Northwest, sitting at the dining table behind him, holding a large manila envelope.

“Oh,” said Dipper. “Hey Pacifica.”

“Dipper.”

Dipper sat down at the table.

“What’s with the envelope?” he asked.

“I borrowed some magazines off of your sister last summer,” replied Pacifica. “Dad thinks these are too low-class, so I’m not allowed to buy them.”

“Oh. Uh… that’s unfortunate.”

They sat quietly for a moment or so, Dipper rapping his fingers on the table.

“Heard your dad bought a new mansion,” he said at last.

“Yeah, up on the hill near the old railroad line,” Pacifica nodded. “It’s pretty nice.”

“This one’s not haunted?”

Pacifica rolled her eyes.

“No,” she replied. “Dad hired an exorcist.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna trust those guys,” Dipper snorted. “Most of ‘em are frauds.”

“Well, maybe you can take a look then…”

Unbeknownst to them, Mabel had been walking to the dining room from the kitchen. She had just heard Pacifica’s words, and had quickly hidden herself behind the doorframe, listening in.

“Yeah, alright.” Dipper shrugged. “I’ll come by on Saturday?”

“Sounds good to me,” replied Pacifica. “Call it a date?”

Mabel gasped, covering her mouth.

“Sure,” said Dipper. “A ghost-hunting date.”

Mabel’s eyes widened, and she darted back into the kitchen. This, of course, meant she wasn’t there to hear the rest of the discussion.

“How much do you want for this, then?” asked Pacifica.

“Hmm… $20 sound good?”

“Done. I’ll make it $40 if it actually ends up being haunted.”

“Deal.”

“Found ‘em!”

Ford strolled back into the room, passing a pair of rubber gloves to Dipper.

“Had to make sure it was the right pair,” he said. “I made you your own shock gloves… which were meant to be a birthday present, so pretend to be surprised when you get them.”

“Gotcha.” Dipper nodded.

“Oh, one more thing,” said Ford. “I’ve invited Wendy along. A third set of hands is always good, and I trust her in the forest more than I trust Soos.”

“Good call.”

“Thank you.” Ford looked over her shoulder. “I told her to meet up outside, so we should probably head out.”

“Yep, sounds like a plan,” said Dipper. “See you around, Pacifica.”

“Yep,” said Pacifica.

Dipper and Ford walked out of the house, leaving Pacifica alone. Neither had any idea that Mabel, her photo album forgotten, was already pulling her thoughts together as she sprinted up to the attic.

It was time to bring her matchmaking skills out of retirement.

[ikatako38]

Hey all, I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news

is that TPWCH is going on an emergency (unplanned) hiatus. This means I won’t be making any effort to work on the fic or any related work such as art and side projects, whicle I try to get myself back on my feet. This means we might miss the 2nd Anniversary Special, but I will post it eventually even if it’s late. I’m really excited to share it with you! I don’t know how long this emergency hiatus is going to be, but I think somewhere around a month would be a reasonable estimate. Keep in mind that this is when I’ll start working on things again, so it might be a few more weeks after that before you start seeing content again.

The good news

is that I’m going to be emptying out all my WIPs, notes, and any other content I can easily throw at you guys to help hold you over throughout the break! So anyone following me here should be getting a bunch of exclusive content over the next several weeks.

Also,

since everything’s getting pushed back, I think now would be a good a time as any to start Ship Wars! I’m not going to put an exact start date on it yet, because it will take a bit of work to kickstart, and I don’t know when I’ll get around to that, but once I do get it started it should mostly run itself!

So…

I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but thank you guys so much for sticking around with me through all of this. I’m painfully aware that I’ve only uploaded one and a half official chapters since April, and I know that I’ve lost a lot of readers because of that. So again, thank you so much for staying. It really means the world to me.

I’m sure the question a lot of you probably have on your mind right now is, Is Tako ever actually going to finish TPWCH? And with how things have been going lately, that’s a very valid question. To be 100% honest with how I’m feeling another the fic right now, I kind of wish it could just be done already. Or that it could just somehow write itself. But the reason for that is that I’m so excited to share with you all other parts of the TPWCH universe that are just waiting to be written! I really don’t see myself dropping the TPWCH universe anytime soon, and I really don’t see myself dropping TPWCH itself anytime soon, either. And an important reason for that is simply that… I don’t have any other ideas to write. Even for other fandoms. It’s a bit crazy just how strong of a hold TPWCH has had on me for three years now.

By the way, that’s not normal for me. Back on my FFN and Wattpad days (don’t bother going to look for my accounts, they don’t exist… yet 👀), I was usually working on 3-5 fics at once and was constantly having ideas for new ones, to where it was a struggle to keep up and I to make hard decisions about priority. I don’t know if I’ve gotten less creative with ideas as I’ve gotten older or whether TPWCH is just the first universe to be so interesting to me that I don’t have any need or desire to come up with new things outside of it.

Either way, if I have no desire to work on other things, the only way TPWCH would ever stop is if I stopped writing altogether, and that’s just not going to happen. Writing has been a huge part of my life since I was ten, and maybe even younger. It’s my most important hobby and makes me happy. If I don’t do it for too long, it’ll actually make my mental state worse.

So I really don’t want you guys to think that this is like a vacation for me, or some sort of respite from the… AWFUL chore of writing. (　ﾟдﾟ) Really it’s more like I’m grounded from writing until I can get my grades up. (;_;) The grades in this case, yes being my university grades but also my life in general because it’s been kind of a mess lately. Within the last two weeks, I fell out with two of the closest people I’ve ever been to and pretty much the only irl friends I have at this point (the Discord server will know who these people are). One of them going very badly and increasing my conviction that everyone secretly hates me. （╹◡╹）On top of that my room is slowly becoming uninhabitable, I’m not sleeping, and I’m just constantly stressed and anxious. But I’m gonna be okay. The fallings-out are very fresh and will fade with time, and just two days ago I finally got a consultation for ADHD. I now have initial diagnoses of ADHD and Social Anxiety Disorder, which I should be starting treatment for in about a month, so I’m really hoping that will help me somewhat to get back on track. And all the support from everyone between Discord, here and AO3 has always helped, and I’m sure it will continue to help. Many of the people I’ve met online through the fic have ironically been far more supportive and trustworthy than the people I’ve met irl. You’re all so real for that ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

Wow, that got really long! Thank for reading this far!