#might need to go to the doctor either today or tomorrow. try and get some antibiotic

[cantheykillmacbeth]

((Sorry about the general inactivity here recently by the way! I've been coughing up my lungs all week, my throat hurts like hell, my voice is an octave lower, and I am in constant agony and suffering. Hope this helps!))

[breadbrobin]

“doc”

luke castellan x reader — percy jackson and the olympians

[child of apollo reader, should be gender neutral]

i tried to write a summary but it sucked so: reader is a child of apollo and luke is always hanging around the infirmary with a new injury. you hate it (do you really?)

(this got so out of hand but im so obsessed with luke castellan rn it’s not even funny. like. help.)

warning: like one or two swear words, mentions of injuries and illness, fluff i think

word count: 1.2k

____________________

you’d never been a fan of luke castellan. you knew it, he knew it—hell, everyone at camp knew it.

but a little unfriendliness never stopped him.

children of apollo were meant to be warm and kind all the time, but you’d rather die before being happy-go-lucky all the time like your siblings. you’d rather do your job: healing the campers who injured themselves throughout the days at camp. you’d also rather those campers not include luke castellan for once, but not all wishes can come true.

scarcely a day could pass by without luke coming into the infirmary, or coming up to you elsewhere in camp if you weren’t there, with a minor injury that he insisted needed healing immediately.

“i just don’t think i can continue kayaking with a sprained ankle, y/n.”

“what if it was your knees you skinned? wouldn’t you want to get them healed so you could get back to arts and crafts?”

“if my cut finger isn’t healed as soon as possible i’ll have to sit capture the flag out tomorrow! yes, i know it’s a paper cut. that’s not the point!”

he really was ridiculous.

either way, you had to heal him, technically. at your heart, you were a good person. on the surface, you wanted to punch him. give him something to really cry about.

“y/n, your boyfriend’s here again.” one of your sisters, cassidy, called out to you as you checked the stock of bandaids.

you rolled your eyes, not even bothering to correct her. “what this time?”

“i just have the worst headache, doc. it’s killing me.” luke said dramatically, holding his forehead. the small grin on his face didn’t support his statement at all.

you turned around, eyes wide and face serious, but trying not to smirk. “oh no, you might have meningitis! if it’s the worst headache of your life, we should get to you a hospital so they can do a spinal tap and run some tests.”

the grin on his face faltered as you pulled him to a seat. “uh—“

“lie down. don’t move. i’m going to get chiron.”

he gripped your arm. “no, wait, i think—“

“you’ll be fine?” you turned around with raised brows. “yeah, thought so. drink some water, castellan.”

“but—“

“what? you won’t be able to do sword fighting practise with a headache? big deal.”

“y/n—“

“you need to stop coming in here every time you get bored. we’re not an entertainment space.”

“but, i really do have a headache. like. a migraine.”

you stopped and turned back around, dropping the bandages you had been organising. “oh. shit, i’m sorry. hold on.”

cursing yourself internally, you rushed off to get nectar to hopefully help, along with some painkillers and a bottle of chilled water. when you came back, luke was lying on the bed, eyes closed.

“you okay, soldier?” you patted his shoulder gently.

he cracked one eye open and nodded. “kind of.”

you gently pulled him to sit up. “come on. gotta get some meds in you. eat any food today? drink enough water?”

he shook his head as he sipped the nectar, his eyes squinted. “got busy.”

you shot him a disapproving look and he smiled guiltily. “you need to eat or you’ll die. do you want to die?”

he looked up at you with furrowed brows. “you don’t have a very good bedside manner, you know?”

“then why do you keep coming back here?” you went back to organising bandages, busying your hands.

“i like my doctors prettier than they are kind, honestly.”

you froze your movements and looked over at him. luke was smiling slightly. your cheeks weren’t turning red, you told yourself. they weren’t allowed to. “whatever,” you finally said. “take your meds, drink all of that water—sip it, don’t chug—then get some sleep, alright?”

he nodded, taking a sip of the water. “yes, doc. got it.”

you nodded at him firmly and walked off once he’d taken the painkillers, hoping he couldn’t see right through you.

luke hadn’t been to the infirmary in a week, and you were genuinely starting to get concerned.

every free moment you got, you were staring at the door, or out the window, waiting for him to come in with some stupid injury and even more stupid excuse. but he didn’t.

after watching you pace for the seventh time in one morning, cassidy groaned. “just go find him.”

“i’m sure he’s fine.” you said, wringing your hands. “i mean, he’s probably just busy.”

“just go. you’re stressing me out. i can’t get anything done with you filling the room with your nervous energy. go find your boyfriend.”

“luke’s not my boyfriend.”

“i never said who it was.”

“well, it was pretty obvious—“

“just go!” she threw a bandage at your head, effectively forcing you out the door.

you didn’t even know where he was.

camp was huge, so it took you around twenty minutes to find him, he sun glaring into your eyes and likely burning your cheeks. regardless, you were on a mission. finally, you spotted him in the arena. of course.

you watched for a while until he noticed you, standing in the shade with your eyes squinted in the sun and your arms crossed over your chest. he grinned and jogged over.

“hey, doc. what brings you here?” he asked, sheathing his sword.

your eyes followed the precise movement. “why haven’t you been to the infirmary?”

he shrugged. “i haven’t been injured.”

“didn’t stop you before.”

there was a silence.

then he smiled again. “did you miss me?”

your cheeks burned. “no!” you cleared your through awkwardly. “i just… i get… bored. and you… keep the monotony away.”

“you missed me.”

“i did not miss you.”

he leaned closer, rocking back and forth on his feet. “you missed me.”

you glared up at him, but couldn’t fight the tiny smile that forced itself on your lips. you shook your head, pressing your lips together tightly. “nope. didn’t miss you.”

“well,” he shrugged. “guess i don’t need to tell you that i did actually just hurt my hand while training, huh?”

you frowned. “are you aware that consuming as much nectar and ambrosia as you seem to want to will cause you to burn to a crisp?”

“i don’t need godly food if i have you as my doctor.” he smiled cheekily, clenching his fist then wincing. “seriously, though. it hurts.”

“aw, poor baby.” you pouted, leaning forward and placing your hand on his and trying to feel if there was any injury present.

before you could do anything, his fingers had interlocked with yours and he was stepping closer to you.

you looked up at him, heart pounding and cheeks burning. “what are you—“

“i don’t know what we can do for a date around here, but i’d love to take you on one, doc.” he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

you froze, heart fluttering. butterflies danced in your stomach. you found yourself nodding before you could stop yourself, smiling. “okay. yeah. take me on a date, soldier.”

“yeah?” he smiled, squeezing your hand. “great! i’ve been trying to work up the guts to ask you for weeks now. also, can i kiss you?”

“i’ve been trying to pretend i didn’t want you to ask me for weeks.” you said, stepping slightly closer to him. “also… yes.”

his free hand cupped your cheek and his lips pressed to yours, soft and sweet.

you wondered why you ever said you didn’t like him.

[nerdieforpedro]

VIII - Have we put all the pieces together?

Only Parts of you Mr. Morales Series

This fic and my blog over all is 18+ MDNI

Frankie Morales x Belinda (plus size OFC)

Word Count: about 3.4k (Longer than all the other pieces 😑 Endings are rough.)

Summary: Frankie and Belinda have a conversation that truly is better in the morning. Things are moving and shaking while Belinda is stir-crazy. After things settle down, pieces are in place where they should be.

Warnings: angst, intoxication (mild), medical jargon, pregnancy and complications (Nerdie may have taken liberties with this - Mother & Baby was not my best class), birth control discussions, food mention & cooking, Benny and Frankie bear the brunt of the bad jokes, Pope and Carmen and the MVPs, we have more desserts and fluff

Notes: The finale for Frankie and Belinda. I’ve enjoyed writing their story. It had its’s fair bit of mess but at the core were two people who loved each other. I may do a follow up or two because they’re beginning a new chapter. Thank you so much for reading this far. 💕 Happy Frankie Friday everyone! 🥰

Main Masterlist/ Frankie “Catfish” Morales Masterlist/ Only Parts of you Mr. Morales Series

It’s not like Belinda hadn’t pictured herself in this position over the years. She just thought there would be a few steps in a different order. It’s supposed to be a happy moment where she gives Frankie the wonderful news, they celebrate because they’ve talked about it, agreed to it and were doing the whole trying thing. Frankie looks a bit drunk, mostly panicked and like she’s going to float away. His eyes are trained on her and his hands have his cap and his hair in their grips.

“Mi bizcochito (My little cake) please. Don’t say it. Just…I know.”

“You know? What do you know Frankie?” Her eyebrows are halfway up her forehead. She thought she was hiding it well. Of course he knows. He’s Francisco ‘Catfish’ Morales. He still notices when she uses different oils in her hair or changes her fingernail polish. The superb attention to detail that made it impossible to hide how she felt about him for the longest, even when Belinda wanted to pretend like she didn’t or worse when they were trying whatever casual mess they had been doing before. He still knew and that’s why he’d pull away sometimes, though they still ended up coming back together eventually.

“Cariño (sweetheart), you don’t have to worry though. You’ve been changing your clothes. I’m not the same as I once was either. It’s a good thing though. Since we’ve been together, we’ve both become softer, taking care of each other.” He’s explaining, or trying to, that he thinks she is beautiful even if she puts on a few pounds. He has too, Frankie’s aware he has a bit more to grab in the middle.

Belinda covers her face. This is not the right time to have this conversation with him, he is either in denial or really thinks she’s concerned about weight gain, which she isn’t. She just went back to her comfy clothes that she could hide in while she waited for her doctor’s appointment. Which had been today. Standing up and embracing him, she was able to stifle her laugh and kiss his cheek. “You’re right Frankie, we have become softer together. Let’s get you some water, a shower and off to bed.”

Morales allows himself to be taken care of by his bizcochito. He needs to keep the act up until tomorrow morning. It will be Saturday and neither of them have work unless Frankie gets called in. After Belinda falls asleep, he turns off his phone. Might lead to a stern talking to on Monday, but he’d need to ask her what he’d been beside himself to really ask her. Morales is many things but not a fool. He’s staring at the ceiling with the woman he loves laying on his chest, the very same that’s likely carrying his child. ‘Maybe I should have wrapped it up but she said she enjoyed the feeling. I did too.’ He did have to remind Belinda occasionally to take her birth control meds and they did discuss an implant in her arm or an IUD but she was squeamish about anything being surgically put in or being classified as a procedure. Frankie did poke a bit of fun at her considering what she has in her most nights and she told him he was a bad man after slapping his arm.

Maybe he should have pushed harder for it or gotten the snip himself, but neither of them ever mentioned it. Frankie pictured himself with children at one point, early in his service. Before the real combat started before he saw the horrors, it was enough many times just to take care of himself. He couldn’t imagine caring for someone fully dependent on him. Not then. But now? Belinda wrapped an arm around his torso, nuzzling her face into his chest.

“Maybe it will be fine. Maybe I can do it. We’ll be raising the kid together after all. Doesn’t mean I’m not scared shitless. Fuck…” His eyes close and he drifts off to sleep curious how exactly to talk about it with her.

Despite the hangover, Morales is up first, peeling Belinda off of him. Bathroom then coffee. He’s always on coffee duty, so he decided to fix breakfast too. The excuse would be that it’s a Saturday, and she wanted to talk to him about something but he wasn’t aware enough to register anything. The aroma of the coffee calls Belinda. It smells delicious but her stomach turns, she felt like it was a little early for that. She’s at two months according to the doctor and there was a major caveat with that. She googled most of the evening yesterday but didn’t retain a thing. Slipping on a white and navy blue striped t-shirt dress, she made her way to the kitchen.

There stands Francisco, a messy mop of dark curls bouncing on the back of his neck, his gray t-shirt struggling to contain his biceps and shoulders. He was wearing tan cargo shorts that cupped the curve of his ass just right. He’s finishing up the eggs, the bacon is to the side, pancakes are keeping warm in a metal baking pan covered with foil. The table is set with orange juice and syrup already out. If she wasn’t apprehensive about what conversation they were going to have, she’d tell him to cover all the food and head back to the bedroom. This is by far one of the sexiest and sweetest things he does for her: letting her not worry about anything. She’s waiting for his usual line of “breakfast is served mi amor (my love).” That’s not what he turns and says.

Frankie turns to see Belinda watching him with a soft smile. She looks a little tired still, but otherwise fine. He’s happy to cook on days where they stay in and spend time together. It looks like there will be more of these days with a small high chair at one of the sides of the table. It’s out before he can really think about what he said, what it means. “Buenos dias mamá oso (Good morning mama bear)! Breakfast is served!” He has a genuine smile on his face. He was dead serious. Belinda’s hands were on her hips. She knows I knew, welp Fish. Whatever happens, happens. Dammit.

“Good morning Francisco Miguel Valesquez Morales.” She has used his entire name. Frankie is concerned as she walks toward him, the smile gone from her face. “How long have you known? Tell me.”

Frankie sighs and places both palms on the counter behind him, leaning back. “The last few weeks. You’re wearing different clothes I haven’t seen you wear for a while and are a bit more round in the middle.”

“Why didn’t you say anything last night? Why go with that whole ‘we’re both softer’ thing?”

“I mean, I wasn’t wrong. We are both softer. Just for different reasons and not just physically. I’m not cooking breakfast for just any woman I know. Te amo Belinda (I love you Belinda).” Her hands pinch his cheeks while her lips peck his.

“You’d best not Frankie. Te amo mi amor.” She assist and dishing up the plates and the air across from each other, eating breakfast. During a pause, she decides to ask, “Did you know I went to the doctor yesterday?”

“No but are there any issues?” Frankie crosses his arms, there couldn’t be something wrong already right?

Belinda clears her throat and sets her elbows on the table, her chin is on top of her interlocked fingers. “Apparently, and I don’t believe I have any that run in my family, the reason I’m showing earlier than normal. Whatever normal looks like, is because we’re having twins.”

Morales is frozen. He doesn't remember there being any cases of twins that he knows of. His mouth moves but nothing comes out. It’s amazing but doesn’t that mean double everything?! Belinda wonders if the man’s stopped working. It was a shock to her too yesterday. She thought maybe there was a weird shadow or something on the ultrasound but the doctor and nurse pointed out two heartbeats and two babies. It was part of why she’d been sitting to tell Frankie. It was still processing for her too.

“So…but is that okay? For you cariño?” The pilot asked. Pregnancy can be difficult when you’re having one baby. Belinda is carrying two.

“It kinda has to be Fish. I can’t move either baby anywhere else.” She chuckled, understanding his concern. What was her pregnancy going to look like? Everyone’s always different.

“When’s your next appointment? I’m coming with you. I know you won’t remember everything.”

Belinda had fake outrage on her face, gasping and covered her mouth with her hands, “Is that so? How could you! I have my notes from my last appointment. Thank you! Not everything stuck though to be fair.” The smirk on her face as Frankie stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I told them I can call next week after checking with you, plus I needed to actually tell you.”

“Well now I know. I’ll let my manager know and it will be fine.” He kisses her forehead, “I’ve got to show up with you to let them know who’s got some strong swimmers. I’m not called ‘Fish’ for nothing.” Belinda pinched his nose, then ruffled his hair.

“Such a horrible man. Who even says that Frankie?” They both laughed while they cleaned up breakfast. Her cheek rested in the middle of Frankie’s back as he washed the dishes. For just a moment before she dried and put them away.

Sunday afternoon at Will and Benny’s, everyone is gathered. All their close friends. Belinda and Frankie had done a video call with her parents who were shocked, ecstatic and wanted to know when they could fly down and visit. Frankie was all for it, Belinda said that she would need to set up the guest room, she didn’t want them coming quite yet. Her Frankie had moved in not too long ago.

Will wasn’t surprised and happy that they actually talked it out.

Benny had to be told not to pick Belinda up and squeeze her. Frankie gave him a death glare.

Pope and Carmen both squealed, gave hugs and started an argument that lead to an intense game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who would be the godparents. In a major upset, Will was knocked out early. Pope and Benny did five rounds before Benny danced away victorious. Was a rendition of the running man necessary? To Benjamin Miller it was.

The joy in sharing the news with everyone eased both of their anxieties for a time.

It was when Belinda was six months along and Frankie was at one of her follow up appointments with the OBGYN. They’d seen the PCP last week. Her blood pressure was high, but not concerning yet according to the MD so she opted to work from home. It helped at first but her blood pressure crept back up. Frankie made her a fluffy spot in their bed surrounding her with pillows, water and snacks. He told her to stay put. Don’t go anywhere except the bathroom and the bed. He’d call to check in on her as she did reports and such from her laptop.

This system worked until month eight. She hated it. She can’t move around, she’s stuck to this bed, concerned about how worried Frankie is about her. Belinda finished her reports early, she was banking all her time to use after her maternity leave. “I need to get out…it’s the same four walls. Just walking down the street should be okay right?” She was just going to walk out in her slides and a simple dress. It was warm but not hot thankfully. Belinda called Carmen to let her know where she was going, she thought about texting Frankie but she didn’t want him worrying anymore than he already was. “Just down the street. Just down the street.” Letting out a long breath, Belinda felt a few kicks as she made it to the end of the driveway. “I know, momma just wanted to move around. Let’s move around together and we can have a little secret from daddy. Until he’s eaten dinner. The truth is best on a full belly.” She chuckled while waddling down the street. Saying hello to a few neighbors in addition to feeling the wind around her body instead of just near a window was something she didn’t realize she missed.

Belinda ended up at the park at the end of the street and sat on a bench. She rested her feet and watched a few children play, curious when she’d be able to bring these two here to play.

Carmen stopped by with groceries l. She thought Belinda would be back by now but she wasn’t. It was an hour and a half since she’d called her to tell her she went for a walk. She called and texted her but she didn’t answer. “Ahh…Belinda. I swear…” She put the groceries away and Belinda returned her call. She’s sobbing and frightened.

“C-Carmen. There’s a bag next to my bed. Pick me up from the park, please. I think…my water broke. I just wanted a walk…to get out. It’s early right? Too early…What if I did something wrong? How will I explain to Frankie that I didn’t listen…?” She paused and it sounds like she’s moving.

“Belinda you’re not still walking are you? Honey don’t worry about any of that, there’s nothing to be done. Just get somewhere you can sit and wait for me. You’re still near the park right?” Carmen hurried to the bedroom and found a black duffel back at the foot of the bed. She grabbed it, made sure she had her purse and locked the front door. She tossed the back in the passenger seat, texted Pope to get Frankie to the hospital immediately and sped toward the park. “Linda you’re still on the line right?!”

“Yes. I found a bench. It hurts to sit. I’m standing and leaning over.” She feels a little woozy but stays on the line. Carmen hops out of the car and ushers her to the backseat laying her down. “I’m sorry. Does Frankie know? Is he coming? I should…” Belinda is dozing a bit, Carmen is yelling at her to stay awake. Within ten minutes, they’re at the hospital.

Frankie is checking gauges in one of the helicopters. Finally off probation, he’s back to flying. Santiago calls three times while he’s trying to focus. “What hermano (brother)? Where’s the fire?” His tone is peppered with a smile.

“Dammit Fish! Answer the first time! Carmen is taking Belinda to the hospital! Her water broke. I’m on my way to get you, Will and Benny will bring your truck over. Grab your shit and meet me out front!” Frankie hopped out of the helicopter, grabbed his bag from his text and told his manager that he was leaving. His twins are coming. Pope was indeed waiting outside. “Look man.” Hopping in his truck, the men took off toward the hospital. “Carmen said that Belinda had trouble staying awake, but it looks like they’re replacing some fluids she said.”

“She’s a month early! Is that bad for her? Is she going to be okay?” Frankie wants his children to be okay, but what is he going to do if she’s not okay, if Belinda isn’t okay. “I should have just told her to be on bed rest. Not even work from home. Pope, what am I gonna do if…”

“Shut up Frankie. Don’t you dare. She’s going to be fine. Your kids are going to be fine. You’re going to see them in the next few minutes and be there with her. Our kids are going to have play dates and I’m going to beat your ass for actually allowing Benny to be your kids’ godfather.”

“He won fair and square Pope. Your bionic ass couldn’t win.” The pilot laughed nervously, he appreciated him trying to calm him.

“My hair and ass are the only things that aren’t bionic, you jerk.” Pope’s smirk lingered on his face as they rounded the corner and pulled up at the ER doors. “I’m still kicking your ass once your girl and your kids are home safe. I’m parking the truck.”

Frankie nodded and ran to the front desk, asked where Belinda’s room and a staff member took him to her room. There was a flourish of noises, Morales couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. He knocked and opened the door.

He was too late.

In each arm, Belinda held a baby boy with dark curls, round cheeks and noses that had a slope to them. His bizcochito (little cake) had two pudíns (puddings). She looked exhausted and was covered in a sheen of sweat, but glowed under the fluorescent lights. He kissed each of his sons and then cupped Belinda’s face, kicking his shoes off and hopping in the hospital bed with her. The nurse warned that since she’s just given birth it’s best to be gentle with her. Frankie nodded. “Gracias mi amor (Thank you my love). You make me whole mi vida (my life). Can I give you and my sons my last name? I’m not going anywhere Belinda. You’re home to me.”

There’s no more anxiety or distress in his face. The lines on his face are from how wide Francisco Morales is smiling, even his eyes look like there might be glimmers in them. She wants to reach for his hair, his nose, run a thumb over his lips. Her sons busy her hands and arms. “I’ve given you two children Morales and heart. I’d better be getting your last name Francisco.” They both laughed, with Carmen hugging Santiago before Will and Benny walked in.

“There’s just so much love in this room. I have one question for you two, which kid is which? Am I the godfather to them both? Do I get to pick one?” Benny stands at the foot of the bed. All the adults in the room groaned and a pillow hit Benny in the face courtesy of Frankie.

Belinda and the babies remained in the hospital as did Frankie except to go home and get changes of clothes. Finally, after a week, they were able to go home. Their little village of friends had set up the cribs, bought pampers, bibs, onsies, toys, blankets, booties, and the newly engaged couple wasn’t sure what the rest was, but they would figure it out.

The night they came home with their sons, Frankie tested out each crib just in case, despite them being put together by Santiago and Will. They were fine. Eventually, both Rafael and Raúl were put down to sleep. Belinda was able to shower finally with Frankie’s help. Laying down in their bed, they watched their sons sleep.

“Everything’s finally fit together for us. It was pretty disjointed for a while there Belinda.”

“Yeah, we should have actually talked about it a lot sooner.”

“Before or after you asked me to move in while you were full?” She pinched Frankie’s nose.

“You’re lucky I’m not supposed to exert myself. Our timing is-“

“Impeccable. Given we’ve got dos pudíns velludos (two hairy puddings).” Frankie kisses her cheek and she tries to hold in her laughter, it makes her stomach and pelvis hurt.

“Do not call our sons hairy puddings. Also, all that hair is from both of us, though it looks like you spat them out.”

“I love them already so they have their nicknames like you do mi bizcochito. You’ll just have to live with it.”

��That’s all I’ve wanted Frankie it wasn’t quite in the order I thought but we’re in this together. I have all of you like you have all of me.”

A night like many to come where they dose off to sleep in each others’ arms and are awakened by one or both of their son’s crying. It’s alright because they work as a team to change, feed and burp them before reading various books. From Dr. Seuss to flight manuals they would impart pieces of themselves onto their children.

There were turns, trips, stumbles and misunderstandings but Frankie and Belinda proved that in spite of their differences and fears, the pieces could be put together to make them a family. Plus two.

VII - Eyes

Fans of the hairy puddings (Code name: R&R) 🍼🍼

@yorksgirl @megamindsecretlair @soft-persephone @soft-girl-musings @guelyury

@bitchwitch1981 @katw474 @rosecentaur1916 @mysterious-moonstruck-musings @trulybetty

@maggiemayhemnj @schnarfer @rav3n-pascal22 @bishtrouille @alltheotps

@pedroshotwifey @readingiskeepingmegoing

[mymoodwriting]

Request for Anon (Yandere Mafia Baekhyun) 3.7k, mafia, yandere, pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse, accusations of cheating

“I’m pregnant!”

“No you’re not.”

    You were dumbfounded by Baekhyun’s words. The news was definitely life changing, and you knew that when you confessed this he might not take it well, but you weren’t expecting such a cold response. As Baekhyun got up from his desk and approached you, his eyes fixated on the pregnancy test you were fiddling with in your hands. He took it from you, looking it over.

“Take another one.”

“I have… that’s the third one… they’re all positive.”

“How long?”

“It’s been two days since I’ve missed… and I don’t know how far along I am. Maybe a week or two… we can go to the doctor and-”

“Get rid of it.”

“Wa… what?”

“I’ll cover all the expenses. Just let me know.”

“We need to talk about this. Are you sure-”

“You wanna keep it?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“Then think about it.” Baekhyun leaned over to kiss your head. “I have a meeting to get to, and I’ll probably be home late. So don’t wait up.”

“Okay…”

“Love you.”

“Me too.”

    Baekhyun handed you back the pregnancy test and grabbed his jacket on the way out of the office. You stayed in place, trying to understand exactly how that all went down. Eventually you looked back at the pregnancy test. You did need to think things through, you just thought you’d do that with Baekhyun. You returned to your bedroom, going over to the window and staring up at the sky. Truth was the two of you had always been careful. You were on the pill, and most of the time he’d wear a condom too. Of course that wasn’t always the case, but the fact that you were pregnant now brought up a lot.

    You two have been together for years now but you had never talked about the possibility of having kids. It never really came up, and perhaps you weren’t at that point in your life to talk about it either, but now here you were. Even if this decision would ultimately come down to your choice, you still wanted Baekhyun’s input. He seemed to be busy now, and you honestly didn’t have all the information. The first thing you needed to do was go to the doctor and get some answers. So you made a call, and luckily enough scheduled an appointment for tomorrow morning. You thought to tell Baekhyun about it, but given how he took the news, it was probably best to leave him out of it for the time being.

    You ate dinner alone, sitting in the silence of the dining room. It wasn’t the first time you had done this, but given the circumstances things felt far more lonely. You thought to stay up, wait up to see him and make sure he got home okay, but you’d probably just worry him if he found you passed out on the couch. Besides, you had an appointment tomorrow, so you should probably get to bed. You didn’t how late it was when you heard the shower, but you did manage to vaguely stay up until you felt the bed dip. Arms wrapped around you and pulled you close.

“… rough… night…”

“Hm… sleep well…”

“… ye…”

    In the morning you found yourself alone. It wasn’t the first time, but it certainly hit differently today. There was a note on the nightstand, Baekhyun explaining that something came up and he needed to go. You knew what type of work he did, so you understood these things happened, although you found it sweet he always took the time to leave you a message. He even pressed a kiss to the paper as his signature, and you softly kissed it back.

    You had a proper breakfast after you showered and dressed for the day, opting for a simple shirt and jacket with a skirt, and comfortable shoes. As you made your way down to the front entrance you noticed two guards. They weren’t usually there but you didn’t dwell on it, grabbing your car and house keys from the desk in the entrance hall. When you approached the door they got in your way, making it so you couldn’t leave.

“Could you move, please.”

“We’re under orders to keep you in the house, ma’am.”

“Excuse me? You must be mistaken, now move. I have an appointment and I don’t want to be late.”

“I’m sorry, but those are our orders.”

You scoffed. “Baekhyun would not keep me in this house. So move, or I will have you killed.”

“…”

“You may work for my husband, but don’t think I’m powerless.”

“No offense ma’am, but if we don’t follow orders, we are dead. So you’re staying here.”

“For fucks sake, your orders are to protect me. It’s just easier to do that when I’m contained in an enclosed space. So follow me out into town for all I care, but if you lay a finger on me, you’re dead.”

    You pushed them aside and walked out the front door. Soon enough you heard footsteps behind you. Baekhyun didn’t always put security on you, the people around here weren’t stupid enough to try anything, but he’d get paranoid every now and then. This was one of those times. Before either of those guards got any ideas you told them to get their own car and follow you like that if they wanted too.

    You started up your vehicle, checking the directions and getting on the road. It was a smooth ride, and you made it to your appointment, checking in early and waiting for a bit. You hadn’t seen a gynecologist in a while, and you were certainly overdue for things too. They’d probably mention all that while you were here, but this was about the pregnancy first and foremost. When you were called up you took a deep breath to calm your nerves.

    While you waited around in the exam room your eyes wandered to all the posters around. All talking about pregnancy and other things related to your reproductive organs, and their health. It was a bit nerve wracking seeing it all, but this was important. Once your doctor came in you went through the usual questions, and you began the examination. You found out you were three weeks pregnant, thinking back to a handful of nights that could have been the one. As far as the doctor was concerned you were healthy, and so was the baby. They began to go over what you’d need to do to take care of yourself, but there was a burning question in your mind.

“So… uh… how long do I have before… I can’t… not have the baby…”

“You have until late in your second trimester, which is about 22 weeks from conception. In simple terms, you have about five months.”

“I see.”

“If you intend to terminate the baby it would be best to do it during the earlier stages. You should speak to your partner about this and make a decision.”

“Yeah…”

    You were still going back and forth on the idea, but set up future appointments to keep up with your health and the development of the baby. You probably would have gone home, but there was a lot on your mind and you didn’t think driving would be the best idea now. So instead you walked down the street, looking at what was around until you found a good place for some snacks. The two guards that had followed you went in with you, but sat away from you, giving you space. Things didn’t feel so uncertain now, in regards to what was going on with your body, everything else was still shaky.

    You wanted nothing more than to talk to Baekhyun, to figure this out together, but you were scared how he’d react. It felt like it was too soon, and you did have some time to wait around.  Once you felt better you returned home, telling the guards you wouldn’t say anything about your outing if they didn’t wish to report it to your husband. Regardless of what they’d say, you were sure they were just relieved you were back home. You went to your room, wanting to soak in a warm bath, kinda wishing you could have a glass of wine, but it wouldn’t be good for the baby.

    When Baekhyun got home later you said nothing about your doctors visit, and he didn’t seem to know either. He was happy to see you though, and things felt like nothing had changed. He told you about his day, being vague and not giving details, but the way he spoke kept your interest. Even if his work was dangerous, you understood that at its core this was all just business, and it kept you safe. You had dinner together, followed by a couples shower. Things might have gone further but you were both quite tired, and settled for snuggling in bed. For a while things were like before between you, but at some point you’d have to address the elephant in the room.

“Not this again…”

    You were planning to go out for some minor errands when you noticed two guards at the door. Baekhyun was home in his office today, but he never had guards posted at the door because of that. So clearly this was about you, and you rolled your eyes as you went over to his office. Usually you’d knock, he could be on an important call, but you didn’t care to do it this time around, just bursting in.

“What’s with the lockdown protocol?”

“Huh?”

“The guards posted at the door. Why can’t I leave?”

“Who said you can’t leave?”

“You did this last time! The guards wouldn’t let me leave cause they had orders to keep me in the house! What gives?!” “Oh, that was different. They’re meant to accompany you.”

“Accompany me?”

“Aren’t you going to the doctors today?”

“Huh? Why would I go to the doctors? And why would I need an escort!”

“Well I figured you’d want an escort for the procedure. So you’re not alone afterwards.”

“Procedure? Wait, you think I’m getting an abortion?”’

“Aren’t you?”

“No. Why would-”

“We’ve talked about this. We already-”

“No, we didn’t talk. You yelled at me.”

“So you want to keep it?”

“I don’t know, but I’d really like to talk to you about it.”

“Fine, let’s talk then.” Baekhyun stood up. “I don’t want a kid. Do you have any idea how dangerous having a kid in this line of work is?”

“Obviously, but you are well respected in this world. No one would dare touch me, and-”

“A kid is a different story. I know you can handle yourself, but a child can’t.”

“So what? You wouldn’t protect it out in the world? You-”

“I can’t possibly trust anyone in a school environment. Too many variables, too many dangers, too many situations a child can get hurt in.”

“There’s always home schooling and-”

“Why are we talking as if you’re keeping it?”

“I just… I…”

“Do you want to keep it?”

“I… I don’t know, alright. I already went to the doctors before. I’m three weeks along, and I have a few months before things would be dangerous. I know I shouldn’t drag this out but I really wanted to talk to you, and this isn’t how I thought this would go down, but…” You took a moment. “You’ve made up your mind then, you don’t want to have a kid?”

“No. I don’t want you going through all that shit. You’re all I need.”

    Baekhyun came over to you and pulled you into his arms. He rocked you to the sides and rubbed your back, humming a soft melody. Even if this wasn’t how you thought the conversation would go, you at least had an answer from him. It was a much easier decision for him to make, whereas for you there was a lot more involved than a yes or no. Still, now you knew where Baekhyun stood in all this.

“Do you want me to take you to the doctors then?”

“No. I have a lot to think about…”

“What else is there?”

“A lot for me.”

“Then what’s the point of asking me?”

“I didn’t get myself pregnant here, Baekhyun. I wanted to know where you stood in all this, but it’s still my body, my choice.”

“If I don’t want it then what does it matter?”

“Ya! I’m the one who would-”

“Is it really mine?”

    You were stunned into silence, staring at Baekhyun in disbelief. Soon enough anger bubbled to the surface and you attempted to slap him. He caught your arm with ease, smirking at the attempt.

“Did I hit a nerve?”

“How dare you insinuate I’d ever cheat on you! After all these years! Does this marriage mean nothing to you?!”

“I’m just checking all my bases here. You’ve been strange lately.”

“Cause I found out I’m pregnant! And if it’s not yours then you need to find whoever assaulted me!” You couldn’t help the tears building up. “I can’t believe you…”

    You yanked your arm away and quickly left the office before the tears started to fall. This whole situation was stressing you out and instead of being a comfort he was being the worst person ever. For a moment you questioned why you married him in the first place, but you took a breath and calmed yourself down. You couldn’t stay in the house, so you grabbed your things and stormed out, ignoring the guards trying to follow. You knew you shouldn’t be driving so you got a cab and blurted out the address of a friend.

    When you got to Mark’s place you let yourself in, having a key he gave you a long time. You knew he wouldn’t be home for a while so you went through his snack cabinet, getting yourself something and collapsed on the couch. You put on some TV to help you take your mind off things. Of course Baekhyun tried to call you, but you didn’t want to hear his apologies or whatever right now. Eventually Mark came home. He was surprised to see you, but mostly concerned.

“What brings you by? Usually you call.”

“Just thought to surprise you.”

“If that was true you wouldn’t have been laid out on my couch.”

    You didn’t tell Mark you were pregnant, especially so early on when you hadn’t made a decision yet. So you just told him the two of you fought and he practically accused you of cheating on him. You broke down in tears then, saying this out loud making it real and not something you can just bury. Mark comforted you through your tears, wanting to assure you that everything was going to be alright.

“Couples fighting is normal. You're bound to disagree on things and get upset over it. I guess this is your first major fight."

“You could say that."

“He loves you, you know that. I'm sure once you both cool down you'll make up and be okay."

“I hope so."

    You stayed with Mark for a while, but you knew you had to go home before it got late. Baekhyun was surely worried when you left, and if you didn't come home soon he'd send out all his men to find you. Mark didn't need to get caught up in all that, so you thanked him for being your shoulder to cry on. He saw you out and got you a cab, telling you everything was going to be alright. The sun had already gone down as you were on your way home. You stared out the window, seeing what the world had to offer. It was what you’d expect to see, people on their way home or going out, but one thing in particular caught your attention.

    A couple had parked their car on the street side, one of them holding a baby while the other was getting the stroller out of the back. You watched for as long as you could, seeing the smiles they shared with each other, and with their baby. A hand trailed down to your stomach as you watched before you drove off. You never really thought about having a kid before, but there was no one else you’d rather have a family with than Baekhyun. You knew he was against it, and you understood the dangers, and his line of work, but you wanted to try, you wanted to be a mother, you wanted to have this kid. When you got home Baekhyun rushed to embrace you, relieved you were back.

“I’ve been so worried.”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, that’s on me. I shouldn’t have said something so stupid. I know you wouldn’t do such a thing. Please, forgive me.”

“I know you didn’t mean it, but it still hurt.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m gonna be pouty about it for a while longer.”

Baekhyun sighed. “That’s fine. Just promise to let me know when you want to take care of this.”

“About that…”

“What?”

“I’ve made a decision.”

“About what?”

“I… I want to keep the baby…”

“Y/n, we-”

“I know what you said, but it’s my body, and ultimately my choice.”

“Y/n-”

“I know… but I want a family… with you.”

“No.”

“You say that now, but I’m sure you’ll come around and-”

“If I don’t?”

“What?”

“What if I don’t come around? What will you do with a child I don’t want?”

“I… does no part of you want to be a father? At all?”

“No. Not in this line of work.”

“Think outside that for a second and just-”

“I’ve heard enough of this discussion. Tomorrow you are going to the doctors and getting rid of this idea, okay?”

“… no…”

“Y/n-”

“I said no! I want a family, Baekhyun! I want to have a kid running around these halls. I want to see you smile as you look at your child. I want more than this…”

“Y/n…” Baekhyun took your hands. “I’m sorry. This is my fault for not being more careful with you. I didn’t mean to get these ideas in your head-”

“Shut up!” You stepped back. “What about me? Doesn’t my happiness matter here? All you care about is yourself, and how this would affect you, but what about me?”

“I’ve told you how I feel about this. What are you going to do then? Raise it on your own? Cause I am not giving-”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I’ve made up my mind. I’m having this baby, with or without you.” You took a moment. “I’ll grab some things of mine and leave. Tomorrow I’ll go see a divorce lawyer.”

“You can’t be serious y/n. After-”

    You ignored his words and walked past him, heading upstairs. He kept calling out to you, but you didn’t pay attention. He didn’t like this side of you, chasing after you and grabbing your arm. This conversation was just going in circles so you didn’t have any intentions to start it again. Although Baekhyun was getting more frustrated with your actions, and the two of you wound up arguing.

“Let me go!”

“Talk to me! You can’t just-”

“I’ve said my peace, now let go!”

“Not until you talk!”

    Despite your attempts to free yourself, Baekhyun’s grip was firm, and because of that you lost your footing. You collapsed down the steps, feeling every bit of pain from where you got hit, only getting relief when you finally reached the floor. Your vision was still spinning, and the edges of your vision were getting dark. For a moment you noticed Baekhyun reaching out to you, his voice muffled and distant. You felt a tear slide down your face as everything went black, not from the pain, but fear that you had lost something.

🖤

    The world slowly started to fade in from the darkness. You heard the soft sounds of machines, feeling warmth surround you, a hand holding yours, and muffled sniffling. It was a bit of a struggle but you managed to open your eyes, taking in your surroundings. You were in the hospital, Baekhyun at your side and holding your hand. His head was down and he was mumbling to himself.

“Baekhyun…”

“Y/n!”

    The boy immediately jumped up, and you could see that his eyes were red from tears. He was relieved to be able to look into your eyes, and then the tears started flowing again. He fell to his knees but kept a hold of your hand.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry y/n. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“Baekhyun…”

“Yes, what is it? Does it hurt? I’ll call the nurse so-”

“Baekhyun…”

    You squeezed his hand with what little strength you had. Now you were the one with tears in your eyes. You were afraid to ask, but you had to.

“… the baby…”

    Baekhyun looked away from you, and you feared the worst. You were already starting to choke on your tears when he leaned down to kiss your head.

“The baby is alright… I’m sorry I did this…”

    The tears still flowed and you squeezed his hand again. All you could feel was relief despite everything that had happened.

“I’m sorry I was so hard on you about this. Something like this never should have happened.” Baekhyun took a moment. “I was afraid to lose you over the news… and then I almost really lost you… I’m sorry…”

“Don’t cry… I’ll be okay… we both will…”

“What you said before, about leaving. You can’t, please.”

“Baekhyun…”

“I was wrong, okay, about what I said. I’m just afraid…”

“Of what?”

“What if I’m not a good father… what if I can’t protect our child? What if I can’t protect you?”

“You think I don’t feel that same… all parents worry about that… but we have each other… and we’ll give everything we have…”

“I’m sorry. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“We’ll figure this out… together… okay?”

“Yes. Yes, I promise. I won’t leave you, or our kid.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[thotsforvillainrights]

(Draft Release)

~Sleep Deprived Parents~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up|drabble

“Please Tomoko, I’m begging you here.” Skeptic’s raspy voice rang out over your daughter’s nonstop crying reign. She’d been like this for about 3 days now and the both of you were near the edge of passing out. Unfortunately she’d contracted some sort of inner ear infection which the doctor warned would throw her way off her zone. Also unfortunate that the 3 year old was able to scream as loudly as she did. It was painful to know your baby was hurting so bad, but you didn’t felt too much remorse in being able to say you just wanted 5 minutes of sleep. Skeptic recommended melatonin gummies for kids but you quickly shut that down saying how you didn’t want to resort to drugging her no matter how badly you needed the rest. No one in the MLA could take Tomoko off your hands either! Geten simply refused as he of course didn’t want to be stuck with a fussy toddler, Chitose was wrapped up with interview until the next week, Hanabata was out of town for some sort of political conference, and ReDestro would be drowning in work for Detnerat’s new products until the next month! It was lucky enough Skeptic was able to use vacation time to stay home with you but he secretly wished he was at work instead of getting his eardrums blasted for the fifteenth time today. It was worse on him since his little girl gravitated toward him naturally. Something she was doing right now...

“No way, you get back around that corner Y/N!” Skeptic shouted as you tried to creep away toward the bedroom while Tomoko was focused on her father. “I hate to admit it but I think I might go lay down in traffic soon.” You groaned before taking a seat next to him on the couch. Was this life now? Sure being a parent wasn’t going to be all cute moments with your child. Obviously times like these were also a part of it but still drove both of you up the wall. You were 2 minutes from a panic attack when the phone suddenly rang. You ignored Skeptic’s complaints when you jumped up to answer it first. This was your excuse to leave the room and have a break from the shrill screaming. Tomoyasu made a mental note to be quicker answering the phone next time as he began trying (but failing again) to shush your baby girl. In the other room you heard a familiar voice over the line. “Hello, Y/N?” The soft tone of a woman spoke out. You sighed in relief and laughed lightly. “H-hi! To what do I owe the pleasure?” The voice over the line chuckled. “Well I was just calling to check in on you two but judging by the screaming in the next room I can tell things might not be going so well. Am I correct?” You frowned at your mother in law’s words. “Yeah...unfortunately you’re right. Tomoko is going through an ear ache and it’s killing both of us too. I don’t want my baby to hurt like this and the medicine hasn’t kicked in yet. I feel bad for being annoyed by the crying but it’s driving the both of us insane. I don’t know what to do.” You were sniffling just a bit at the thought of possibly failing with the whole parenthood thing until you heard Skeptic’s mom laugh quietly. “Oh dear, this reminds me of something. Tomoyasu was such a fussy little man when he was younger. He hated falling asleep and try as we might, his father and I were starting to lose our minds when he went though that phase. Do you know what helped us? Driving.”

“Driving?” You slightly tilt your head to the side. “Mhmm, driving indeed helped. We put Tomoyasu in his carseat and drove him around the neighborhood 2 or 3 times until he’d fallen asleep. It may sound silly but it got us through the next few months until he’d turned 4. I don’t doubt it’ll help you both. Go give it a try and call me back tomorrow after the two of you have caught up on sleep.” You thanked her and bid a goodbye before heading into the living room and staring at the sight in front of you. It was rare when you saw real tears in Skeptic’s eyes like this. Without a word, you opened your arms and grabbed the toddler as she continued sobbing out. You nodded at Skeptic to follow you before passing the key holder and grabbing your keys off the wall. He was too tired and worn out to question anything so he followed along without a complaint. To say the two of you were relieved would be an understatement. About 2 circles around the neighborhood led to your baby slowly silencing herself from sobbing to sniffles to snores. Skeptic looked at you incredulously and you smiled widely back at him. “Thank your mom, not me. Now let’s get her inside before she realizes what just happened.” He nodded quickly and carefully navigated his daughter out of the carseat when the two of you pulled back into your own driveway. The hack was successful for the amount of time you needed before the medicine finally played it’s role. 

[harmonyckrs]

DAY 11 of Twisted Strangetown: One Step Towards Summer

THE PREVIOUS DAY

Chloe: So there's a weather machine inside of Circe's house that's responsible for Strangetown's eternal winter. I don't know how it works, but if we're able to get someone with Loki's skillset to cooperate with us, we should be able to reverse the effects!

Chloe: It's no mind control clue, but Circe did also give me access to Loki's other documents in exchange for not letting her rot in prison, so he might have some information about whatever tech was being made that Harper mentioned to us.

Ajay: Your determination is admirable, Chloe, but who are we going to find that'll know how to use that machine?

Lola: Yeah. We're agents, not scientists.

Chloe: ...But there's people in town who are.

Ajay: You're probably wondering why I gathered you four here today. As some of you know, Loki is dead.

Vidcund: Loki DIED?

Ajay: Yes...we can't disclose what happened, however.

Pascal: Erin killed him and tried to frame Olive and I, and then Circe killed Erin in retaliation.

Lazlo: !!!

Crystal: Wait, for real? Wow. I wish she succeeded on that so we wouldn't have to see your face anymore.

Pascal: And I wish she went after you instead!

Ajay: ANYWAY, we also have reason to believe that he's responsible for Strangetown's eternal winter, as a result of a weird weather machine he has on the roof of his house. None of us know how to operate it, which is why we're coming to you. Whichever one of you four are able to reverse whatever it was he caused will be given one million dollars.

Pascal: We could work together and split the money?

Crystal: No, absolutely not. That million is mine!

Vidcund: I agree with Crystal. Whoever gets the machine to work should get the full million.

Pascal: Fine. Then if I win, I won't share the money with any of you either. I'm saving it for Hecate's college fund and my future wedding with Nervous.

Lazlo: ...

Ajay: Are we all in agreement over this deal?

Pascal/Vidcund/Crystal: Yes.

Ajay: Wonderful. Does anyone have any questions or comments?

Vidcund: Well...this is to Pascal and Lazlo, specifically, but I'm moving out tomorrow.

Lazlo: ?!

Pascal: Huh? What brought this on all of a sudden?

Vidcund: Found a nice place for myself with enough room for all of my plants. Hecate can take my room so you don't have to sleep on the sofa anymore.

Pascal: Oh...kay...well, as long as you're happy.

Vidcund: Thanks.

Ajay: Any actual questions or comments?...no? Alright. Meeting dismissed.

While Ajay was busy negotiating with the remaining Strangetown scientists, Chloe and I decided to return back to our original housing spot. There were some signs of someone squatting in our house, judging by the mess they left behind and an apology note written by someone named "Ginger Newson" that mentioned them needing a place to stay, so it was a good thing we cleared out all of our personal stuff or else our identities may have been exposed. I do hope that Ginger and whoever else they were with are okay now.

The General came by to help us move some stuff. We told him about everything that happened and he suggested we could try to spy on the man who reversed Vidcund's mind control and see if he has other associates who know how to reverse it. He then proceeded to build a little tower on our lawn so that the three of us could spy on him.

It took a while to find him, but what we found was much more surprising...

Vidcund: The doctor said it was going to be twins. We barely have enough room in our house for Hecate, and I don't want to make my brothers' lives harder than they need to be.

Aktu: Is it not too late to abort it?

Vidcund: No, but I do want to keep them...that's not selfish of me, is it?

Aktu: No, of course not! It's your choice, and I'm happy to support you in any way possible. This house should have enough room for them both, but I'll have to make some rearrangements.

Vidcund: Thanks, Aktu. And sorry about the rearrangements.

Aktu: Don't worry about it! This is your house too now, after all! I want you and the babies to feel comfortable. Have you told Pascal or Lazlo yet?

Vidcund: Not yet. I was going to wait until after I gave birth.

Aktu: Well, you should probably tell them soon...knowing them, they'll find out themselves later. But enough about that! There's something else that I've been wanting to ask you for a while...

We may be agents, but I don't think this was information we should be knowing about. But as long as we don't talk to Pascal or Lazlo, it should be easy to dodge (lol what's Lazlo going to do? Tell someone? He can't even speak lmao). Ajay has them all occupied so I doubt we'd have any encounters with them soon.

General Buzz then told us that he was going to return home, since he was feeling tired. I noticed he seemed to be twitching a lot, as if someone was trying to take control of his mind, but he left before anything bad happened. Even if he is an ally, we do need to remember that he's still affected by the town-wide mind control.

Also while we were talking, Pascal dropped by and put something in our mailbox. When we went to check what it was, we realized it was some kind of invitation:

"Dear Lola and Chloe Singles,

You are invited to the wedding of Pascal Curious and Nervous Subject, on the 24th of Winter at 3:00 pm at 13 Dead End Lane. Please RSVP by the 14th of Winter if you are able to make it, and check off the boxes here for your meal preferences.

We hope to see you there."

I suppose they are thanking us for helping free Nervous from Circe. I also have no clue when the 24th of Winter is, since it's been winter for practically forever. I guess I can ask him about it later...

THE NEXT DAY

---

BONUS:

Pascal: Now that we don't have to worry about the Beakers anymore, what do you want to do?

Nervous: I want to marry you...would you like to marry me?

Pascal: Of course I'll marry you!

Olive: (So this is what I'm going to have to be dealing with now, huh? To kill or not to kill...)

[dlnj]

So after waking up at the end of wetting my diaper (which would have been my bed , he he ) it was already time for me to just about be getting up to go to work 3:30 am wake up to start at 5:30 kind of a bummer but it’s all good, anyway after I was finished wetting my diaper I took it off cause it was soaked and it was get out of bed time, I was just chilling sitting in bed trying to shake the sleep off and a few minutes later I notice I’m leaking on myself and then a few minutes after that again and I could feel that this was going to be one of those days that I’m either going to wear a diaper and assume no one is going to notice (which folks never really notice anything like that , I wear diapers and am part of the ABDL community so I’ve always wondered who around me might be wearing a diaper for what ever reason and I’ve never noticed anyone ever wearing a diaper and I’m sure I’ve had to have been talking to or right near someone who needed to or just liked wearing diapers and I’ve never noticed so most likely no one will notice me wearing my “proper attire” anyway . I’ve been nervous about wearing diapers to work though , since I got my diagnosis and being diaper dependent medically I have made sure to stay diapers ALWAYS at night and then any time I’m not working I’m in diaper . Today I figured it was either wear a diaper and know no one is going to notice or a slight chance someone might or I can leak on my self all day and most likely have a huge accident where everyone around me will notice my pants get all wet in the front then down my leg and forming a puddle in the floor , (it’s happened before, actually a bunch of times ) for all to see , I feel like today was the right day to start wearing diapers 24/7 and accepting that I have pretty much every form of incontinence across the board getting worse as time goes by (yay!! Diapers for me always). I wasn’t quite brave enough to wear my regular everyday diaper but I am wearing a pull up which I hate but if you need diapers and want to be as discreet as possible and aren’t going to wet heavy then a pull-up will work for now, til I’m brave enough to just wear a diaper , not much of a difference if someone notices anyway, no one is going to say “oh that’s not a diaper , it’s a pull-up lol it’ll be the same thing to them lmfao) and I hope I don’t do anything more than just leak cause if I have s full on accident I’ll probably still end up wetting my pants , just probably wouldn’t be as horrible but still embarrassing, wet pants and wet pull-up yup sound like a fun day. Maybe if that happens it’ll be so embarrassing I’ll never want to take the chance of that ever again and then that’s it , 100% total urinary incontinence 100% completely diaper dependency . Either way I’m headed towards being completely diaper dependent, 2.5 more weeks til I see my doctor again and when I do I’m going to have her alter my diagnosis to include complete permanent day time incontinence along with the bedwetting and she already knew some days I need diapers during the day and some days I didn’t so it’s not going to be much of a jump for her to rewrite my diaper order to include a whole bunch more diapers in the mail covered by insurance which I’m still yet to receive but that’s because I have to fix the insurance . I’m hoping to go from potentially getting the hundred plus DIAPERS every month to maxing me out at I think 254 diapers delivered to my door every month in the same day. I think that should be enough diapers every month to wear diapers full time for the rest of my life. Anyway wish me luck everyone . Hopefully no one notices then maybe I’ll be brave enough to change into a diaper instead of the pull up at 9:00 break or maybe at the very least come in tomorrow in a diaper like I should be wearing right now. Really was one of the best thing I could have done for myself was get my incontinence “problem” (I don’t look at it as a problem , I look at it as about damn time I loose control lmfao) diagnosed and having her declare me diaper dependent. Anyway update to come……..

[timeoverload]

I didn't really do anything exciting this weekend so that's why I haven't said much the past couple days. Today was alright for a Monday. I had a tough time waking up this morning. I felt great for the first 2 hours I was at work but then I started hurting again so that was annoying. I also had a pile of instruments to redo at my station when I got there but I was so busy that I didn't even get to it and I'm not sure when I will have time. I had 30 cases again and I had to run a lot. I finally got my adjustable table for my station after waiting like 10 months and that made me happy. I had to spend most of my afternoon setting it up in between my other tasks. It's still a mess because I don't have enough storage space now but I will just figure that out tomorrow morning. I stayed a little late but I still got out of there before 6 so that was ok. It could have been worse. It made me feel good to hear some people say they missed me at least. Everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

I requested the 17th off so I hope that gets approved. I said I had a doctors appointment. I can take more time off if I need to but I might just go to work the next day. I guess we'll see how things go. I wish we didn't have to wait 3 more weeks but there's nothing I can do about it unfortunately. I really hope we can talk this time without confusion but we need to work together. It would be helpful if you could avoid sending me mixed messages when you are talking to me because it is confusing and makes me anxious. I will do my best to communicate more clearly about what I'm thinking and how I feel. I will say something since you aren't able to. I think I might explode and have an episode if I don't say something. I'm not sure how but it's actually going to happen this time. I don't want to feel crazy and sad anymore and I don't want you to feel that way either. I really want things to work out. I remember saying I didn't want to wait until October to be with you but here we are. I'm still going to keep trying and hoping for the best. I've stepped out of my comfort zone a lot just to come see you and spend time with you. I'm committed and I'm not giving up on you. I know that there's no one else that I would rather be with and I'm always thinking of you. There have been times that you have upset me but I always forgive you. It's difficult for me to stay mad at you for very long. I love you no matter what. It's pretty obvious to me that we're meant to be together. We've spent a long time chasing each other and we deserve to be happy. 💖

Anyway, I'm getting tired already. I'm not that hungry but I'm going to make myself eat a bagel or something. I should have gone to the store after work to get more food but my back hurt too much. I will have enough food for tonight at least. I'm going to relax the rest of the night and try not think about tomorrow. I will try to make it a good day. Thanks everyone for listening and I hope you all have a good day tomorrow too.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Backlogs and IT Issues

Well, if this is the setting for the next two weeks, I'm in deep shit.

Scruffman, our office manager, is on leave for the next two weeks. I had a feeling that things were going to get a little ... problematic. Goblin has a "when the cat's away, the mice will play" mentality and has a habit of chatting in her usual "I Hate Everything" way whenever she gets the change - read: "when Scruffman isn't at his desk". This monopolises the time and attention of everyone in the office, so less work gets done. That's not even counting the whole thing where Temp will dodge all the longer work - with Violet on long-term medical leave, that still leaves me to do the lion's share of it, because Milady tends to take over Scruffman's duties when she's away and so she's busier than usual for the next two weeks (when not sucked into Goblin's Grumble Vortex)

In addition to this, we had some changes to our transcription software recently and it has not been particularly well implemented. Having to tag our typing with our initials is bad enough, but the window on which we have to do so is slow to come up at the best of times, so that's a fair chunk of time wasted. Again, that's under the best of circumstances right now.

Logged in today and the queue was at 375 and climbing. We were backlogged as far back as Saturday (because of course the various doctors and techs are still coming in on the weekends), and all the ones left from Saturday were - you guessed it - the long and complicated bullshit that Temp doesn't want to touch. But yesterday's typing was effectively untouched when I logged in.

The queue when I logged out for the day was approaching 400. Barely anything got typed unless I typed it (except for seeing Milady take one fifteen minute long monstrosity, for which I am very grateful because I got something like three 10+ minute bits of dictation on top of the ones that don't take long to speak but do take long to type because of having to deal with the formatting - it's a thing). Most of the urgent cases got done - but not all; the longer ones of those were left behind as well when I logged out. I just hadn't noticed because I was busy with all the long dictation and the stuff from the more difficult doctors and techs. I barely saw anything taken out of the queue, and when I did, it was in bits and snatches of shorter pieces of work between the longer, complicated stuff. And like I said - not that much of that got done either.

Of course, some of this might have something to do with the transcription software, which was at its worst today. It crashed seven times, and hung for at least five minutes a dozen more times over the course of the day, at least for me. It's possible that people got slowed down because they were having the same problem, but I don't know because no one keeps me updated when Scruffman's not around. I'd bet good money that they didn't try to talk to IT about it and just used it as an excuse to relax and futz about all day, but at least it's sort of an excuse. Ish. Kind of. I mean, I was slowed up, but I wasn't slowed up that much...

If we're still in this mess when I log in tomorrow (and I honestly expect it to be much worse tomorrow), I may actually have to pull some overtime. I have spoken to Scruffman about doing so if it becomes necessary, because at least I don't have to commute, but I'm honestly not sure I have the spoons for that kind of thing. Thing is, we need to at least get partway caught up. This reflects badly on all of us, but the others don't seem to fucking care. Scruffman's away, so they can do what they want, apparently. And it's leaving us massively behind.

So tomorrow is going to be a day. If our transcription software is still a mess of hiccups and crashes, I'll be emailing IT and asking what the hell is going on. If the queue is still obscenely long (and I would wager, knowing the doctors' work patterns as I do, that it'll be approaching 500 cases when I log in, if my colleagues in the office keep on the way they're going), I'm going to have to log some overtime to at least get us so that we're only one day behind and not two. I'll obviously keep a record and email Scruffman about it, but I can't just let this stay like this. And I can't make Goblin and Temp get a fucking move on - hell, I couldn't do that even if I was in the office.

Fuck. Just ... fuck. Two whole weeks of this bullshit? Are you kidding me?!? Scruffman is obviously entitled to use his annual leave, but we're already massively understaffed because no one hired a replacement for Sunshine and Sid, so if Goblin and Temp refused to pull their respective fingers out, we're going to end up so deep in backlog that we'll end up with calls from clients asking what the fuck is going on. Most of this stuff is fairly urgent. It's histology. It's people being investigated for potential cancer in a lot of cases! I don't necessarily expect miracles, but I expect at least the kind of work ethic that doesn't involve turning the office into a chat-and-coffee corner the minute the managers' backs are turned. If I have to keep the whole place afloat for two weeks, I WANT A FUCKING RAISE. Or at the very least overtime pay.

Thankfully my own week's holiday comes pretty much as soon as Scruffman comes back from his fortnight. I'm going to need it. Especially if I have to pull overtime.

*flashes back to typing queue when I logged out before*

...When. Especially when I have to pull overtime. UGH.

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

By the way, for the record, you ARE an excellent writer. I see a lot of you out there falling through the cracks and it really sucks. You guys deserve better recognition. I just write and post occasionally on here to amuse myself, but you guys actually go all out. So, I have to commend you for it. As for feeling rejected…I totally get that. Almost every day, I get another stupid rejection letter from a job position I applied to and it’s been over a year. Gods, I’ve been frustrated, but eh…I kinda got used to it. It still ticks me off occasionally, but ended up learning to take it in stride. Stay strong, okay? Do what you need to do and keep doing what you love on the side. I’m still in your corner cheering.

(Sorry for taking so long to reply! You know my situation, but with some breathing room today and tomorrow, I'm finally trying to catch up on my Asks.)

I must thank you for your unfailing positivity and your support of my work (including many reblogs❣️). The struggle for readers remains very demoralizing, and of course, still being in shadowban prison, my fics don't even show up in a tag search (I have to try reblogging them to my sideblogs and see if tagging them there as 'doctor strange fan fiction', etc will work; if it does, other people reblogging with said tags might help too). I've worked hard to maintain my particular style, and those that like it, find it lush in detail and emotionally evocative (and it's not just all about the smut, either!)--but it seems most of the popular DS writers on tumblr are giving their fans a steady, unadulterated diet of porn. I have a Mutual who writes for several MCU characters, and she's done fantastic work with Doctor Strange stories--but like me, her DS fics have been met with minimal interaction (while her others get lots & lots of love), so that she's basically sworn off writing Stephen. So, I know I'm not alone in my frustration. Although I don't hold much hope that many people will ever read my works, when My Muse visits, I shall do my best to be true to my vision, my stories, and my style.

And now it's my turn to cheer you on. I'm so sorry for the difficulties that you're experiencing in your job search. Those employers that passed you along have no idea what they're missing out on! A lifetime of unique experiences have given you a hard won wisdom, the ability to think out of the box in search of practical solutions to difficult challenges, and a tenacity for more than just survival--

--a tenacity for success, and for doing the most good that you can for others. You may be met with disappointments, but the ability you have to believe in yourself and what you have to offer, will land you the position that you're meant to fill. Hopefully soon!

I value all the advice and tips for coping with my homelessness, which you've sent recently. Please know that I see them--and you--and I deeply appreciate every wise word and your kind reminders that better things lay ahead for me.

[miracleweaponhunt]

Miracle Weapon Hunt Chapter 70: Yeah, He Should Be Killed

Xander took a second to look at the blocky houses, each styled in a different colour. His memories came flooding back of just…existing here as a child. Before everything involving Chelic happened. He suddenly felt free. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to just lay down under the setting sun and let the remaining warmth wash over him, before it retreats and he gtt dinner and a rest in his comfy bed. He looked around to see the surrounding housing ships, wondering if he could recognize his old one from the distance. But before he could sink fully into the pool of nostalgia, Julian knocked him over by rushing past, carrying Cassandra's cold body in his arms.

The layout of the streets was eerily familiar to Julian. He had only stopped here a couple of times with the Battlestorms, but that was only odd jobs with missing person cases in either the capital city or a small housing ship, and probably not the one he grew up in. But winding through the narrow streets was all too familiar to him, from the days of him and Xander playing tag and hide and seek. Memories he never really put much stock in, but the comfort was the closest distraction from what was currently going on. He was able to get to the main city. Past the main street shops was what looked like the red cross of a hospital sign.

He ran to it and opened the door. The mood was gloomy, even by hospital standards. But that didn't matter. He ran up the reception, slamming the small bell to notify the staff.

"Yes, hello?! I got a dying girl here who needs medical attention, right now!"

The receptionist barely moved before Julian was screaming at her to hurry up. Cassandra was eventually put on a stretcher and carried to another room. The room was almost impossible to Julian to get into, due to whatever was happening one door to the left that required dozens of people to wait outside the door, some with camera equipment for some reason. Maybe some celebrity got drunk and punched above his weight level before paying the price, it didn't really matter.

Julian stood by as some nurses watched over Cassandra.

"What happened leading up to this, sir?" A nurse asked after taking him aside and trying his best to avert Julian's gaze from Cassandra.

"Well, she was pumped full of blood to help her fight off threats better, but we might have overdone it, and now I don't know what's going on with her!"

A doctor approached Julian just as he was about to burst into tears.

"Sir? Sir? Your friend is fine."

"What?" Julian asked.

"She just seems unconscious from a mild shock. I'm assuming some wielder messed with her blood levels before they stabilised. We'll let her sleep and run a test on her tomorrow morning, and we'll let her go if nothing's up."

"So we're all good?" A young looking nurse asked, smiling at Cassandra's body. "At least something good came out of today."

As the other three ran through the hallway to Cassandra's room, they scooted past some cameras, before instantly being shoved back and directed to Cassandra. Once all the stress built up in Roxanne's body left in the form of the longest sigh she had ever pulled off, her phone rang, and she retreated around the corner until the sound died down to answer it.

The call was from Willow, her voice piercing through the hallways as soon as the phone was answered.

"Roxanne? This you?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you at the Roperia medical centre?"

"Think so?"

"Is Nuria dead?"

"Is Nuria what?!" Roxanne asked. She stood waiting for Willow to clarify the statement she misheard. She surely misheard that.

"Dead!" She repeated, more aggressively. "Look, you're on the floor, just push past them until they kick you out!"

Roxanne closed her phone, running in the direction of the crowd, sneaking past the camera man and shoving past the people at the door, coming face to face with Nuria's body.

What was left of her face lay in one last agonized expression. Her previously tanned skin was replaced by the whites of her skull peering out over it. And above that was a perfect small circle for a hole, right above her head where the attack landed. Roxanne was pulled out of the room by a guard as she opened up her phone.

"How is it?" Willow asked.

"There's…there's a hole in her skull, Willow. She's dead."

A suppressed moan was heard from the other end.

"Willow, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I was off the ships yesterday. Did I miss anything?"

There was a pause.

"Wait, shit! The news was reporting you dead!" She yelled out after a brief second. "How'd you get back?"

"We used the person inside the shield. Look, I'll explain it the next time we meet up, what'd I miss?"

"Well…Zach died."

"Wait, Zach…how?"

Roxanne stood in place trying to wrap her head around all this. Nothing about it felt real to her. Two leaders were dead and she was only gone a day.

"Look, Javier's here on the phone. you're in charge until he gets back tomorrow. Let him speak to the media people."

"Roxanne, was it?" Said the voice. It sounded like Javier, only the voice was heavier, trying it's best not to waver.

"It's me." Roxanne whispered back.

"Cool. Can you show me the media people?"

Roxanne moved to the room holding Nuria.

"We're here." Roxanne whispered.

"Hello?" Javier asked. "Am I clear?"

The media people stopped crowding the door and moved on to Roxanne. A few eyes were focused on her, enough to make her uncomfortable, but most eyes were unblinkingly staring at her phone.

"Prince Javier?" A woman with a microphone asked, unflinchingly staring into the flip phone. "How do you feel about your mother's death?"

There was a brief silence.

"Take a fucking guess!" He eventually screamed over the line. "Look, I know this is a major event, but can you have an ounce of fucking respect for her?"

Microphone lady turned her nose up at Javier, going back to the door. But in front of it was Julian, Xander, and Cecilia."

"You heard the ruler." Xander said. "Get lost."

Microphone lady tried pushing past him, but Cecilia delivered one open palm strike to the gut, leaving her on the floor. She scowled at them, but left the room. All the other news stations followed.

"Did I go too far?" Cecilia asked, turning her head to Julian with an expression of second hand pain.

"Eh, I reckon you hit it just right." Julian replied with a casual hand wave.

"Now then, are the doctors still with you? Because I'd like to speak to them."

"Yeah, They're here." Roxanne nodded, handing the phone to the doctor in the room.

"Look." Javier sighed. "I know I'm asking a lot, but please let my friends stay in your hospital if you have a spare room. After what I've heard they've gone through, I'm sure they can be spared at least that."

"I'm sure we have more rooms." The doctor nodded, glancing around the room to check.

"Excellent. And also…thanks for preserving my mother. I'll be back tomorrow."

The phone hung up, and the others were directed to their rooms. Roxanne and Julian stayed with Cassandra while Xander and Cecilia got their own rooms.

Night time.

Xander lay awake in his hospital room. He somehow couldn't sleep. He wandered through the hallways staffed by nobody but a few nurses, none of which tried stopping him. He stepped outside, watching the night time streets. Nobody knew who he was. At this moment, nobody was expecting him to do anything. If he felt like it he could take advantage of the current situation and just run somewhere. Anywhere. Get a job in some cybersecurity business and go from there.

"Nice place you got here." He whispered to himself.

"It really is." Cecilia replied.

Xander jumped slightly at her voice.

"Honestly, as much as I wanna hate this place, it looks pretty." She continued, looking up at a streetlight. It was pretty. Metal with some fancy spirals covering the circular bulb. "So, what's keeping you up?"

"Just thinking too hard. You?"

"Probably the same." She nodded. "What you thinking about?"

"I guess…helping the rulers."

"Ah. Still not used to heroism, I take it?"

"Blocking a door isn't the most heroic thing ever, but sure, we'll go with that. It's also just…I was told what happened to Nuria."

"Well, you probably know who did it to her, right?"

"I can guess. Legion number three, guy named Levin. Never seen him in person. From what I know he just kind of appears and leaves whenever he feels like it. Don't know the guys exact powers, but they always leave the victims with a perfect hole on their bodies."

"So are you gonna release this information?" She asked.

"How am I meant to do that?" He asked with a pained expression overcoming him. "What would that even be like!? 'Hey, I have real important information on the highest ranking Legion members. Please don't question how I got any of it' Like what am I meant to do?"

He looks towards an unimpressed Cecilia.

"Do you not remember our conversation on the ground?"

"About my redemption?" Xander asked.

"Correct. If you have anything to say, anything at all. You need to tell them."

"Okay, but-"

Cecilia put a finger to Xander's lips with her left hand, and snapped her fingers with her right.

"No buts. Tell me, why are you doing this?"

"To kill Chelic." Xander replied.

"Is that it?"

"Look, all I wanted was to get out of there and live a good life with my girlfriend and my teammate. My girlfriends dead, my teammate is probably dying as we speak, and all I want is to kill the bastard who did it."

"So you don't care about your brother?"

"I mean, I'd prefer him alive, clearly. But he still doesn't feel like my brother in much besides names. Not like we had the time to do much brotherly stuff anyway. So if I have to let him die to kill Chelic, I'm fine with that."

"Hey, I get it. Did I mention I had a brother?"

"Nope."

"Well, I did. He was the one who killed me. Don't recall a moment of hesitation as he slashed my head off. But he's probably dead now, so I'm not really worrying about it."

"I see."

"But anyway, I appreciate the honesty. Too many people would say some drivel about the greater good or honour, but you? I can respect you. So if you don't mind me asking, I would like your permission to pursue vengeance."

"Okay? Why?"

"I imagine the heroes can do their honourable thing while we get to kill those responsible. We got a deal?"

"Sure lady. We got a deal."

[trail-mx]

Today, I drew a picture.

Well, no — that’s not true. I drew the picture yesterday, but I made some edits to the picture today… so I suppose that counts.

I’ve been drawing a lot lately. Mostly art for this silly little series that has grown legs and keeps running away from me that I’ve been writing when I’m not drawing, but sometimes other things when the mood strikes. And it’s been good for me, I think, to be writing and drawing again; I certainly feel better for it.

But today/yesterday’s art was special because, for the first time, I felt like I had drawn something that teenage me would have admired; a picture that she would have saved on a flash-drive to stash in a desk drawer for safekeeping after making it her desktop picture.

I’ve drawn other things over the past year; objectively good things that the people in my life have loved and gushed over, but this was — is — different. This is different because, for the first time, I felt like an artist worth looking up to — worth admiring. The last few years have been… a challenge… and I lost myself along the way for a while. I was too focused on keeping one foot in front of the other; too focused on survival as everything around me found new and exciting ways to fall apart. I didn’t have the energy to devote to what I felt was a waste of my time — after all, if it wasn’t “good enough” from the get-go, what was the point?

But about a year ago, I was in crisis — actually, I had been in crisis for a while at that point — and knew that something had to give. It was simple: either I needed to find a way to wring even the smallest amount of joy out of this miserable existence or I was going to collapse in on myself and explode in such a way I might never recover from.

So, I downloaded an app that allowed me to draw on my phone, spent a few bucks to get myself a stylus to draw on said phone more precisely — and got to work.

I haven’t loved every picture I’ve drawn — actually, there’s a fair few that I’ve found myself asking, “Why did I spend hours working on this???” when all was said and done — but I try to find at least one thing about each picture I like. Maybe it’s the way I colored something or maybe it’s the way I was willing to try something new… even if that thing was the reason I’m frustrated with how it turned out — but I always end up liking something about it.

And that line of thinking changed everything — now I do it all the time. Bad social interaction? Well, at least it’s over now. Fucked up day at work? Well, I got more than I expected to accomplished — so that’s something. Took an absurdly long time to finally call the doctor to set up a badly needed appointment? Hey, the receptionist liked my joke about my last name and I’m already off the day they have available — no need to ask for time off.

My mom calls this type of thinking Positives in Everything and, until very recently, I was very bad at it. If you wanted someone to come up with the absolute most screwed up way for something to go, I was your guy; if there was an award for catastrophizing, I would have won it every year since I was old enough to consider the world beyond my own nose. I have a vivid memory of a minor earthquake rocking the classroom when I was in elementary school and my first thought was, “A volcano is going to appear in the middle of the playground and we’re going to die a fiery death” — and when I voiced this super logical conclusion based on the current state of the world according to 8-year old me to my teacher, she actually facepalmed. 

Unfortunately for everyone I’ve ever known and loved, I did not get better with age. 

But — just like drawing — the more you practice at it, the better you get.   

So, I drew a picture yesterday.

And tomorrow, maybe I’ll draw another one.

And I’m sure there will be something to like in both of them.

[squids-comics]

I've come up with a way to make sure I write everyday!! I've had an idea floating around for a while of a sci-fi cosmic horror series loosely inspired by Star Trek. I started it yesterday and just finished the first chapter today!! The story is told from the perspective of the crew, through the logs they record, each one making up one chapter and being around 500 words long. I'm going to try to write one log every day!! Here's the cover of the series I made for Wattpad, as well as the first chapter if you're interested!

Log One: Departure

Peregrination Ships Log One, Captain Hudson speaking. 

There are two reasons to be listening to this log; either our mission was a success and you're a scholar studying our story years later, or we have failed and humanity is doomed. I sincerely hope for the former over the latter.

Our planet died. The temperature rose higher and higher over the course of decades, as the sun slowly expanded. We're not sure what caused it, we're not sure how it could have been avoided. But out planet, our home, all our culture and history burned to the ground, lost in a sea of flame. The Peregrination is one of 50 ships that survived that day. The governments of the world had just enough time to load 50 ships full of people and supplies, rocketing them out into the void of space before the fires turned everything to ash. We have one mission, find a new, habitable zone out in the universe and rebuild. 

The Peregrination is a large cruiser, possessing exactly 5321 crew members and all the necessary supplies to keep them alive. We have engineers and doctors, scientists and lawyers, teachers and farmers, everything needed to get civilization started again. We were one of the larger ships in the fleet. The smaller ships had crews closer to 800, with the smallest at a crew of 509. The largest is at a population of just over 20,000. 

We were barely out of the solar system when the sun engulfed the planet. We were outside the fire, but still close enough to watch it all burn. The crew gathered by the windows of the ship to stop and stare. It was mesmerizing. A giant wave of fire, swallowing all we knew. The world burned to a crisp, like a marshmallow held too close to a campfire. Everything we had ever done had been on that planet. Every memory had been formed down there. But now we all had a new memory, one we shared with each other. Watching our home burn in silence, wishing we didn't have to leave. We left behind so much. My father was down there. And now- Well... I don't really want to think about it.

We have individual and family quarters in our ship, as well as farms and leisure areas, giving our crew comfortable spaces to live and work. We are self sufficient. We could survive on this ship for generations if we needed to. I hope it doesn't come to that, but at least we'll be ready. 

We are plotting a course for a nearby galaxy, travelling alone. Some of the smaller ships grouped together to keep each other company on the voyage, but The Peregrination is making a lone journey. But we have each other's company to keep us sane. That should be enough. 

I must return to my duties now, I have to help the crew settle into their quarters. Mr. Smith in particular has complained about his quarters. He says he feels dizzy. Might just be the stress of the exodus we have all undergone. I will update the logs when next I get a chance.

End of log.

Thank you for reading through!! I hope you enjoyed! Follow me on here or over on Wattpad (@SquidsComics) if you want chapter two, which will hopefully be up tomorrow!!

[timeoverload]

I guess today was ok but it was busier than yesterday. Nothing significant happened and it was pretty boring. I forgot to set alarms last night so I only had 10 minutes to wake up before I had to get ready this morning. I think that threw off my entire day and I felt weird. I still feel weird and I don't know what to do about it. I'm not sure what my problem is but I feel like something is off but I don't know what it is.

I am feeling very frustrated about my diet. I feel like my body keeps telling me I need to eat better and I'm getting a little concerned about it. I don't know how to change that on my own. I need to start cooking again but it has been a long time. The last time I tried to cook an actual meal was when I lived in the apartment. I'm definitely not a great cook but I can usually follow a recipe without any issues. I try to buy fruits and veggies but a lot of the time they go bad before I get to eat them. I have been eating more but it's mostly junk. I made sure to eat breakfast and lunch today even though the food wasn't very good. I need to stop buying food there every day because it makes me feel gross every time I eat it. They have a salad bar at lunch but it made me sick once so I have been afraid to get that since then. I know my blood work was normal for the most part but I don't feel right. I've been getting lots of weird bruises but I am pretty clumsy so maybe it's from that. I will admit that I haven't been very good about taking my vitamins, probiotics, and my cranberry supplement either so I need to start doing that again. I don't drink enough water during the week when I'm working because I'm not allowed to have any water or food in the department and I don't always have time to stop when I'm thirsty. I'm sure I would have more energy if I ate more healthy things and drank more water. I hope that I will get back on track eventually.

The eye doctor's office finally called to tell me that my third pair of glasses are ready. It has been almost 2 months. I'm not very happy with them so I don't think I will be going back there after I pick those up. When I sent them an email, I waited days for them to call me but they never did so I called them again and had to leave a message on their answering machine. I was very polite every time I had to contact them. The manager finally reached out to me like a week later and wanted me to call her to discuss the concerns I shared in my email. I'm not going to do that and I don't have time during the week to talk to someone on the phone as it is. I also don't want to do that if they are going to take that long to get back to me. I shouldn't have had to contact them so many times. It's not worth my time to complain because they obviously do not care. The lady that called me this morning to tell me that my glasses were ready wasn't very friendly either. I suppose I should start looking around for a new place to go.

I'm also going to run out of medication soon and I don't know if I will be able to refill it until next month so that doesn't help me. I am having a hard time getting around without it. I tried to avoid taking it this morning but I gave up around 10am because I started feeling really bad. I just need to get through 2 more days.

I'm not sure if I am going to be able to take the 28th off so I might have to reschedule. I'm going to try to avoid doing that if possible. I didn't think you worked Wednesdays but maybe I'm wrong. I'm sure things change all the time.

I wish I could shut my brain off. I guess I should try to relax now. I'm going to make myself some food and get ready for bed. Hopefully tomorrow isn't too crazy.

I hope everyone else has a good day tomorrow too!!! Thank you for sending me cat pictures. They made me smile. :) 💖💖💖

[wonderlandleighleigh]

One missing scene in Fashionable People I've wondered about was the first time Lenny visited post accident. He said that Midge thanked him for the flowers before, so I assume he came by before she showed up at his gig.

Rose picks up when the phone rings. “Hello?” 

“Hi, Rose.” 

“Lenny, hello. How are you feeling?” 

“Not too terrible,” he admits. “It’s getting better, little by little…I uh…I was wondering if maybe I could come by and see Midge tomorrow.” 

“Have you picked up more product?” Rose asks, lifting her eyebrows.

“No.” 

“Do you plan to?” 

“No.” 

“Then, yes, it’s perfectly fine that you come and visit Miriam.” She pauses for a moment. “The doctors have her on some very strong medication, so she’s a little fuzzy from it…and I’ll be stowing the bottles away while you’re here.” 

She hears him start to protest and then stop. “Yeah. That’s fair, actually.” 

“Yes, I know.”

“Did she get the flowers I sent?” he asks.

“Yes, she did,” Rose replies, finding herself smiling gently at the note of hopefulness in Lenny’s voice. It makes him sound young; not as world-weary. “She liked them very much.”  

“Good.” 

“If you get here by six o’clock, Abe and I will be heading out to dinner,” Rose tells him. “Zelda will be keeping an eye on Miriam, and Joel will have picked up the children earlier in the day, so the two of you will have some time to chat in private. As I said before, she is fuzzy from her medication, and it plays havoc on her memory, so do try to keep things light. She is mostly keeping to her bedroom at present, but is perfectly able to sit up, and early evening usually finds her quite with it, as it were. When we return from dinner, I expect to find her happy to have seen you, and not the opposite. Am I making myself clear, Leonard?” 

“I’m not going to upset her, Rose.” 

“It’s a yes or no question.” 

He sighs heavily. “Yes.” 

“Good. We’ll see you around six o’clock then.” 

***** 

It hits him as he stands at the Weissmans’ door that he hasn’t seen her since before she left the hospital. That he doesn’t know what to expect. 

He’d picked up something for her. It’s Hanukkah, after all, so he’d stopped off and…promptly had no idea what to get her. She wasn’t his girlfriend or his wife. She’s also limited in what she can actually do right now, so he settles on a book, because that’s what he would want if he were laid up after having his ribs surgically resituated and was waiting for a broken arm to heal and some brain trauma to let up. 

But if her memory isn’t great right now a book isn’t the right thing, either, because how is she supposed to keep reading if-

He tells his brain to shut the fuck up and knocks on the door. 

“Lenny!” Abe cries good-naturedly as he opens the door. “Good to see you, come in, come in.” 

He does, seeing that even Abe looks tired; that things here have been hard, and if Lenny hadn’t been battling his own idiot demons maybe he could have helped more instead of dragging Midge’s mother away to help him.

“Miriam is very excited to see you,” Abe says conversationally. “Rose! Lenny is here!” 

Rose floats by him as she puts on her coat to go out. “Hello, Lenny.” 

He nods, gripping the little paper parcel in his hands. 

“Did you bring Miriam a gift?” Rose asks, looking pleased. “That’s very nice.” 

“Well, it’s Hanukkah…” 

“Yes it is,” Rose nods. “I’m sorry I was short with you on the phone yesterday. The last time Joel was here to visit her, they got into an argument, and Miriam’s health faltered a little, so we’re trying to be more careful.” 

Lenny frowns deeply. Not generally prone to violence, he’s a little surprised at how much he wants to strangle Midge’s ex. 

“Until she’s back on her feet, Joel is only allowed supervised visits,” Rose explains. “We should be home in a few hours. Miriam is back in her room. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask Zelda.” 

“Just as long as she doesn’t ask for my pants again,” Lenny jokes. 

“They seem fine today,” Rose assures him, almost playfully. “She might even compliment you on them.” She pats his arm gently. “Abe? Are you ready?” 

Abe walks up and nods. “We’ll be home later,” he tells Lenny. 

Lenny nods as they leave and stands in the front hall, feeling a little unsure, but he slowly starts walking down the hall, past the kitchen, where Zelda eyes him a little suspiciously, and towards the master bedroom at the end, where a lamp provides soft illumination for whomever is inside.

When he leans into the doorway, he finds Midge settled in bed with the pillows helping to prop her up. The scar on her forehead has faded, and she looks good for someone who nearly died a month ago. 

“Thank god,” she groans, looking up from her magazine. “I am so bored.” 

He can’t help chuckling. “Don’t look at me, I’m not here to bust you out. I’m afraid Zelda might make a play for my clothes again.” 

Midge laughs softly - much softer than Lenny is used to hearing, and then uses her unbroken arm to reach out for him. “You can at least talk to me.” 

Lenny steps into the room, and pulls the door partly shut behind him before walking over and sitting next to her on the edge of the bed. 

She smiles at him, and he gets a really good look at her now. Certainly, the drugs are doing their job in keeping her painless, but also a little dazed, he can tell. She’s dropped a little weight too, making her seem much more fragile than he normally associates with her. 

“Thank you for the flowers,” she tells him with warmth in her voice. “They were really beautiful. And thank you for sending some for Mama, that was very thoughtful.” 

“Well, everybody’s been through a lot,” Lenny concedes heeding Rose's warning to keep things light and not dive into his swan dive into getting clean. “You look good. I like this, you sitting up in bed, with your eyes open, lookin’ at me like you know what day it is.” 

She laughs a little and reaches for his hand. “You and me both.” 

The feeling of her fingers against his triggers unexpected relief to flood through his chest. She’s awake and smiling and here, and sure, she’s looked better, but also, she looks amazing just by virtue of having her beautiful eyes open. 

“Hey,” she says gently. “You look tired.” 

He shrugs. “I’ve been working a lot. I got arrested again. You know how it goes.” 

“I’m sorry,” she says sincerely. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to bail you out.” 

Without thinking about it, he leans in and kisses her forehead. “It’s okay. Alan and Larry covered for you.” 

“Tell them I owe them a brisket,” she mutters. 

He wonders, at her tone of voice, if she’s getting tired already, but one look down at her says quite the opposite. 

“I’m not supposed to do or say anything to upset you,” Lenny tells her, as his eyes drift to her lips. 

“I’m not upset,” she tells him. 

“You’re also high as a fucking kite on painkillers,’ he points out softly. 

“So you’re not going to kiss me, is what you’re saying.” 

He clenches his jaw. “It’s probably not a great idea.” 

“Neither is shooting your mouth off about race relations in America, you do that and you get arrested, but kissing me is a worse idea?” she points out. 

He nods slowly, thinking her words over. “The drugs make you honest. That’s good to know.” 

“I cannot believe you’re going to make me negotiate a kiss out of you,” Midge complains. “I’m very injured, and it would make me feel much better. And a month ago, you were practically begging to take my dress off-” 

He doesn’t let her finish, leaning in and kissing her gently, his hand sliding up to hold her elbow, rubbing his thumb against her skin slowly as she reaches up to hold onto his neck. 

She pulls away for air and leans back against the pillows slowly, breathing a little harder than she would have, if she hadn’t been injured. 

“Happy now?” he asks, playfully annoyed. 

“Very,” she says primly.  

“Good,” he grins, before lifting up the little parcel. “I got you something.” 

Midge gasps teasingly. “Me, you got me a gift? I’m so spoiled, what is it, what’d you get me?” 

“I’m gonna recommend to your mother that she cut back on your painkillers,” Lenny teases. 

“Gift, please.” 

He shakes his head and hands it over, and she unwraps it carefully, uncovering a copy of William Makepeace Thakeray’s Vanity Fair. 

And he automatically feels stupid. 

“You got me the book Vanity Fair,” she states. 

“I can return it.” 

“Don’t you dare,” Midge tells him, lifting the book and hugging it to her chest with her good arm. “You got me the Vanity Fair book because you know I read the magazines.” 

“I didn’t know what else to get you. It’s a bad gift.” 

“It’s a great gift,” she says softly. “I read part of it in college and absolutely loved it, but I lost my copy when I moved out of my dorm room. I didn’t think about it again.”

“Well, now you have a brand new copy.” 

Midge beams and leans in, kissing him again, more enthusiastically. 

“Midge,” he mutters against her lips. “I appreciate the gratitude, but…” 

She sighs and sits back again, still holding the book. “Can you stay?” 

He gazes at her, nodding his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I uh…I don’t have a gig tonight, so I have all the time in the world.” 

She smiles at him happily, and then holds the book out to him, and Lenny narrows his eyes.

“My vision swims a little,” she explains sheepishly. “It’s hard to read sometimes. But since you’re here, maybe you could read it to me.” 

He grins fondly and takes the book, before climbing over her to sit next to her on the other side of the bed, allowing her to adjust and rest her head on his shoulder. 

Lenny opens to the preface, clearing his throat, and starts to read. “‘As the manager of the Performance sits before the curtain on the boards and looks into the Fair, a feeling of profound melancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place…’” 

***** 

When Rose and Abe come home, everything is quiet. Zelda has left for the evening, and when Rose goes to check on Midge, she finds both she and Lenny, fast asleep, a book open between them.  

She leaves them to it.

[sunlightbabe]

hey, I've seen you're doing secret prompts 🙂

can I ask you for Thomas x 2 (fluff)

❤️

you absolutely can my dear!!! i hope you enjoy it 💛

Thomas is definitely sunburnt. His cheeks and the bridge of his nose are a bright pink- you’re sure that his collarbones are the same color, from where they peek out from his open collared shirt- and yet he looks perfectly content.

The two of you are sitting on the edge of a fountain, ice cream cones in hand. Thomas went with strawberry, the pink of the ice cream nearly matching the color of his cheeks. You went with something plainer- vanilla with a drizzle of chocolate. It’s simple but it just tastes so good, especially after a long day on the beach.

It was supposed to be a day trip for the five of you. At the last minute, Damiano said he was feeling unwell, Victoria had a doctor’s appointment she forgot about, and Ethan had lunch reservations with his aunt. So here you were, just you and Thomas- not that you minded.

You and Thomas frequently ended up going on little adventures together. Whether it was grocery shopping trips (that truthfully ended up in both of you buying too much junk food) or late night walks or impromptu trips downtown that resulted in thrift finds you didn’t need and vinyls you had never heard of, you two always ended up being the only people wanting to explore. The two of you shared a restlessness that suited you both just fine.

It wasn’t uncommon for either of you to show up at the other’s doorstep unannounced, claiming boredom and a desire to do something. 

Today it was ice cream. Tomorrow? Who knows! But you were excited to see what would come of your outing.

From across the plaza, you can hear a group of children playing. It’s tag or some variation of it you think as they chase each other around, filling the air with the sound of their laugher. It’s a gorgeous day and it feels like everyone is out and about.

You turn to look over at Thomas and find that he’s already looking at you.

“Hmm?” you hum in question, quirking an eyebrow and getting another mouthful of ice cream.

“It’s- it’s nothing,” he says, voice a little off. You wonder if the sun has gotten to his head. Before you can ask, before you can suggest moving into the shade so he doesn’t get anymore burnt or the sun doesn’t scramble his brains, Thomas clears his throat and continues, “Happy with your choice?”

It takes a moment for you to understand what he’s asking. “Oh! Yeah, I mean. Can’t go wrong with a classic, right?” You smile and shrug your shoulders before leaning in for another lick. “You happy with yours?”

Thomas’s ice cream is melting, dribbles of pink cascading down the cone and onto his hand. He doesn’t seem to notice- or if he does, he doesn’t care.

“It’s good, yeah,” he nods. A drip of ice cream falls onto the ground. “.. you want a bite?”

Of course you do. You shift forward and offer your own in turn. Thomas smiles and the two of you try to hold out your ice cream for the other, but the angle is awkward. Thomas has to dip his head to get at yours and his ice cream nearly collides into your forehead but somehow, you make it work. You two always make everything work.

Like the time your car broke down and Thomas swore he could fix it, even though he barely knew how to change a tire. A youtube video and the help of a generous passerby had gotten you through that ordeal that had taken up the better half of your afternoon- you had missed the movie you were driving to, but you both managed to stumble upon an arts and crafts fair tucked into the backside of town, down by the docks. You both still had the matching rope bracelets you bought.

Or the time you both tried to prepare snacks for Victoria’s birthdays and nearly set his apartment on fire. Or when he tried to help you paint your bedroom and you both splattered paint all along the ceiling and floors. 

It was always an adventure and dear god, you loved that about your time with Thomas.

You lean back and lick your lips- he might have picked the better flavor. The taste of strawberries is sharp and sweet and you want to ask for another bite. You almost do, the words on the tip of your tongue, but Thomas starts to giggle.

“Dare I ask?” you smirk. Perhaps it was too late, perhaps all that time in the sun had gotten to his brain. You weren’t sure how to explain to the others that you had finally broken him.

“You-” Thomas takes a moment to collect himself, laughter dying out, face pinker than before. “You have a little...”

“Hmm?”

Thomas brings his free hand up and lightly taps the end of his own nose. “You have a little ice cream on your nose."

You go a little cross eyed trying to see it but lo and behold, he’s right. A small dab of pink rests on your nose. You try to lick it, face screwing up as you struggle, but you can’t manage to snag it-

“Stay still, doofus.”

“Hey! Who are you calling-”

You’re voice catches in your chest as Thomas leans forward. You expect him to maybe wipe it away with his fingers, or perhaps a napkin that had been tucked into his pocket if you’re lucky. What you aren’t expecting is for Thomas to lick it off your nose, as gentle as a kitten.

It’s absurd. It’s weird. The sun exposure has rattled his mind beyond all repair, clearly.

“... Your nose tastes weird,” Thomas says, still lingering close by, his own face scrunching up in distaste. “Sunscreen? I think I can taste it.”

You can’t help yourself. Before Thomas can say anything or pull back, you turn your head and kiss him.

It’s clumsy. It’s quick and chaste, your mouth slanted against his, which goes a little slack, caught off guard by it. But his lips feels warm against yours and you feel something settle in your chest, like a puzzle piece sliding into place.

The ice cream cone falls from Thomas’s hand, landing on the ground between you with a splat.

Thomas moves back and stares at you owlishly. From this close, you can see the freckles splattered against the bride of his nose.

“You taste weird,” you tease and you’re close enough to see his eyelashes flutter as he scoffs, shakes his head in amusement... and lean in to give you another kiss. A proper one this time.