#my brain just malfunctions when I need blood sugar

[rosentraume]

todays lesson is that I always should have a good breakfast specially when it’s a hot day

[zarara]

something else?

pairings: dense!diluc x traveler!reader, a little kaeya x reader moment plot: read it and find out (pls my brain is laggy but one day i will write a summary) genre: fluff, angst perhaps note: i am apparently capable of writing fairly straightforward stories

if there was anything in the world you would pay to have an endless supply of, it would have to be tea… though the idea of infinite mora sounded as interesting, you were sure your talents in combat would make sure you didn’t find yourself broke or clueless like zhongli.

it’s just that tea was perfect — coffee was a close contender but the bitter aftertaste always found you having to pile it up with more sugar than healthy. tea also had no aftermath on your already deranged sleep schedule. it tasted sweet but rich, it was efficient, and it was warm.

you usually enjoyed your daily cup of tea in the solitude of your chambers but today you were making an exception because kaeya, your superior and over-the-top flirt of a friend, insisted you take your evening snack with him at the tavern.

“there isn’t even a snack provision at the tavern! it’s a tavern for archon’s sake!” kaeya is great at ignoring your complaints as he pulls you into the seat next to him.

“i asked sara to bring some honey roast over for us,” kaeya winks at the young man handling the counter in lieu of an order and you hurriedly pipe up a “tea for me please!”

“now, would you please stop your whining, you baby?”

your mouth drops open, “i’m the baby? you were the one begging to take me to drinks instead of helping me finish that pack of hilichurls!”

“i did mention that i got rid of that abyss mage for you when you weren’t looking.”

“i don’t understand you, kaeya,” you take hold of the cup that the man behind the counter sets down, “but anyway, what is it you want from me?”

kaeya smirks over his glass of dandelion wine, “ah, quite straightforward, aren’t we?”

you kick his shin ungently, “let me ask again: what do you want?”

kaeya takes a sip and becomes uncharacteristically quiet. in fact, he doesn’t even comment when you keep staring at him.

“kaeya…?”

before you can continue to investigate what’s up with him, you hear a familiar voice behind your shoulder.

“well, what have we here?”

“diluc!” the red haired man takes place of the young man who looks relieved to not have to bear witness as a bartender.

“hello, y/n, how do you do?”

you smile, the warmth in diluc’s voice going unmissed, “i’m just fine, although a certain someone has taken it upon themselves to ruin my ritual of tea and silence.”

kaeya props a hand around your shoulders, “i’m just repaying you for getting rid of all those gnarly hilichurls.”

whatever was bothering kaeya a moment ago seems to have disappeared, especially in the presence of his arch rival, diluc.

diluc calmly reaches over to lift kaeya’s hand off your shoulder as if it’s the corpse of a slime he’s picking up and hurls it away. “please, kaeya, i thought you didn’t pursue women who’d clearly expressed their lack of interest.”

“and i thought you were too superior to everyone else to stick your nose in their business.”

“well,” you butt in before the two can actually slit each other’s throats, “i thought it was reasonable to agree to work under jean but i guess we all have things we’re wrong about, don’t we?”

diluc’s expression dampens into something like sadness when you mention your overworked state but you brush it off by chugging the rest of your tea. “oh, before i forget,” you rummage through your meagre backpack before removing a package, handing it over to kaeya, “this is for you.”

kaeya looks perplexed, looking between you and diluc, and slowly places a hand on the package, “for me?”

“a client painted the scenery from luhua for me because i found his paintbrushes and supplies, and i know you like your souvenirs, so you can have it.”

“....” kaeya is still speechless and diluc has you pinned with a look of suspicion.

“but why would give it to him?”

“because i go to luhua way too often already and i know kaeya is usually stuck around monstadt so…”

“that’s incredibly sweet of you, my love,” kaeya regains his senses and as you stand up to leave, he pulls you into a hug.

“you’re welcome, boss,” you smile as you pull away, “anyway, i must be on my way.”

“do you think the traveller is with someone?”

maids at dawn winery sure do love to gossip.

“with her looks and strength, for sure! my bets are on master diluc.”

okay, look, you didn’t meant to eavesdrop on them but they were right there when you came out of the washroom. you were going to walk out and pretend like you hadn’t heard them but hearing diluc’s name shook you.

“no,, what about mr kaeya? i heard they hang out after long, tiring quests all the time.”

“but she and master diluc love to discuss-”

all righty, time to evacuate.

“!!”

you manage to keep a poker face as you throw the door open in their faces and stride past them, making your way to the room with diluc.

you quickly dash in, closing the door behind you. you knOW your face is flushed so you turn away from diluc.

diluc frowns. that’s weird. why are you hiding from him?

he rises from his chair, “y/n? is everything okay? are you hurt?”

“y-yeah, i’m just embarrassed.”

you feel yourself being turned around by two big hands on your elbows.

diluc’s concerned eyes meet yours and you almost melt into a puddle of slimy plasma because he’s so hot even though he’s just worried.

“you’re red. why are you red?”

“...i’m fine.”

as if he’s aware of your flustered state, he moves closer to your face in order to look into your eyes which makes a new batch of blood flow to your face.

“y/n, you need to tell me what’s wrong. is it a fever? i can call—”

“nO! it’s nothing. just—!” you break away from his (very intense) hold and move away into the room for fresh air. “stupid me.”

“no way, she did not!”

diluc is immensely frustrated with venti. he has the most unusual reactions to everything diluc says and usually he doesn’t give a shit, but this is about you and your weird state yesterday, so yES he gives a shit!! >:-(

“yes, she did. i’m telling you she did. why are you—”

“oh, i heard you, i just can’t believe that the calm and strong little traveler would lose her cool and around you of all people!”

“heY, what do you mean? i’m perfectly fine as a person to lose one’s cool around.”

yep, diluc has no idea what he’s saying.

it’s just

he thinks the world of you

he really, really likes spending time with you (even when you guys are just talking about the fatui’s next move! or how you found new cool ways to take down an abyss mage!)

you’re so sweet and you don’t take his words for what they’re not. you’re not taken aback by his bluntness and you’re able to make him laugh.

what more does he need in life

well, apparently, venti because he has no idea what to do after you suddenly left the dawn winery that day.

“ugh”

“you’re really worried, huh?”

“was that not crystal clear by now? i came all the way to windrise to talk to you!”

venti chuckles his annoying chuckle

“okay, okay, i’ll help you,�� diluc sighs as he waits venti to go on, “here’s what i think: she likes you back.”

..

what

diluc.exe has stopped working

man just blanks out

short-circuits, fireworks, malfunction — you name it.

“diluc?”

“no.”

“what do you mean, no?”

“first of all, why did you say ‘likes you back’? i- i don’t like her or anything. and secondly, no, she does not like me.”

“i’m going to pretend like i didn’t even hear the first part. about the second thing, here’s a question for you: why?”

“because she likes kaeya!”

venti pauses, “i was not aware there was another contender. diluc, you bastard, tell me all the details next time.”

“does this mean she just hates my guts?”

“no, it just means she may or may not like you. back.”

“i told you—!” venti stands up breaking off diluc’s sentence midway, brushing grass off his palms.

“take her to dinner or something tonight and ask her.”

“ask her? ask her what— wait, where are you going, you stupid bard— ASK HER WHAT?”

life is hard for a traveller

you’ve just managed to finish delivering grilled fish to a jack who wants become more manly when katheryne sets you thREE more commissions saying there was a crazy influx of requests suddenly.

you barely manage to uproot two hilichurl camps, and by the third quest, you’re quite dead inside. if only some rogue eye of the storm wasn’t terrorizing civilians.

you’ve gotten in a hit or two in when you skip over a stone and fall right on your face

“fUCK!”

shit

ouch

ouch shit

that hurt

you manage to twist around and keep the eye away with a half-earnest windblade attack and try to sit up.

damn it, is this the pitiful way you die? dammit, you at least wanted to drink your evening tea—

a flash of fiery thunder catches your attention

is that…?

“y/n! stay where you are!”

yup, it’s diluc in all his dark knight hero glory. he finishes off the stupid green eyeball in less than three fire-charged strikes.

you sigh in relief, falling back against the grass.

“hey, hey, hey,” diluc enters your field of vision, red strands falling into his face as he leans down to cradle your head in his lean arms, “where did you injure yourself?”

you tremble a little as you try to lift your foot, “a-ah, my right foot. i twisted my ankle probably. thanks for fi—”

“shh-shh, you’ll have plenty of time to thank me. come on, can you sit up?”

you grab his wrist and prop yourself against his chest so that you’re practically in his lap.

“that’s great, let me take a look at—”

“mhm!! don’t move. please,” you can feel diluc’s breathing tense behind you as you lean into him, “i think the eye hit me while i was down- my neck— ah, fuck—” your hand comes away from your nape soaked in red, “it’s bleeding.”

“it’s all right, you’ll be just fine. just get comfortable and i’m going to lift you up. think you can manage?”

you nod as one of diluc’s hands comes to rest under your knees, folding them and the other tenderly embraces your upper back.

“tell me if it hurts too much.”

he heaves the both of you up and the shock stings your exposed neck a little but you’ll survive.

everything is beginning to become blurry so you lift your hand to feel diluc and meet his chest. despite everything, you smile, aware he’s speaking because you can feel him vibrating but the words are all mushed up and you can feel yourself slipping away.

even though usually you would panic at feeling your consciousness fading but right now, it’s okay because it’s diluc who’s holding you and you know it’s him because just before the black collapses on you, you hear him.

“you’re fine, kitten.”

“—up! y/n, it’s me.”

mhhm, what a sweet voice. so soft and melodious.

“y/n, i can see you smiling in your sleep,” the voice comes closer, “come on, everyone’s really worried.”

the world materializes in front of you as you fight against the closing of your heavy eyelids. “barbara?”

“y/n! you’re alive!”

“i am?”

why would you not be alive?

…

oh

right

the eye

stupid thing

wait a minute,.,.,.

you remember diluc saving your arse.

oh righT

that’s because he did!

he—

he was holding you?

you were in his lap????????

wait a minute!! that sounds wrong

“am i dreaming?”

“really, of all the people you know, do you really see yourself dreaming of me, traveller? last time i saw you, you wanted to steal the holy lyre from—”

“y/n!!”

holy shit

that’s the voice of your saviour

noo

noo

stop the clock

you’re not ready to meet him!!!!!!!

“ah, it’s master diluc! he was so worried about you the whole time you were dead— i mean, asleep,” you redden as the tall man appears in front of you, “kaeya had to force him to leave and get some food but—”

“ahem!” diluc cuts barbara off with a strong clearing of his throat and she throws him a look before standing up from your side.

“i guess i’ll leave you two alone then!”

“wait, barbara, you should stay—”

and she’s gone.

you slowly look up to face diluc

“how are you feeling?”

“much better,” he sits next to you and you smile, “thanks to you.”

diluc frowns as if remembering something unpleasant, “i really wish you wouldn’t just bear all the load.”

“you found out from…”

“kaeya mentioned he hadn’t seen you around the town square as he usually does and when i went to speak with katheryne, she said she’d had no choice but to send you off on extra commissions.”

you look down, “i’m sorry. i wanted to ask someone to come along but everyone seemed busy and—”

“you never checked up on me though,” you bite your lip, “i would have known.”

“that’s- that’s because you’re always busy, what with the winery and your dark knight—”

“y/n,” you stop speaking with a pout and diluc raises your chin with his finger, “promise me you’ll tell someone next time things get so overwhelming. tell me, i’m never going to be occupied enough to not help you out.”

you blush agaiN

stupid kind diluc

“thanks, diluc.”

“and you can stop feeling sorry for me.”

when you look at diluc he looks he’s just caught you red-handed.

“what—”

“i wanted to help you,” you nod, “what’s more, i think i quite enjoyed it.”

“enjoyed. . . carrying an injured woman to safety? you might have a saviour complex, diluc. or perhaps, some sort of a kink.”

you expect diluc to lash back with a defensive retort but to your absolute and complete surprise, he smirks.

the man smiRKS

he’s all ;)

“oh? i won’t deny that,” your stomach suddenly feels queasy all over again as diluc inches closer (and you’re wondering in your head WHEN DID SATAN, OR WORSE KAEYA, POSSESS THIS MAN?!), “but while we’re on the topic of kinks and enjoying ourselves, you seemed to quite like sitting in my lap.”

“diluc!” your exclamation is one of disbelief because you cannot believe that diluc, the man who has never once made an inappropriate joke around you, is openly accepting that he has a kink and is accusing you of having one.

“what? am i wrong? when i tried to move, you stopped me immediately.”

“y-yeah, i did, but—” you’re trying with all your heart to defend your actions but diluc has managed to come close enough to tap his fingers against your outstretched knee. “it was— you were warm and my neCK was bleeding. was i supposed to just die out there?”

“i suppose you’re right, i am warm.”

“exactly.”

you seemed to have dodged a disaster because diluc is distracted by the cuts on your knee and the bandage around your ankle. his slender finger dance down your shin to touch the fabric of the white material tied tightly and he gently holds it.

“does it still hurt?”

“i don’t know, i haven’t tried walking.”

“do you wanna?”

you nod eagerly and diluc offers his hand but before you can be tempted into taking it, you cross your arms.

“why should i hold your hand?”

“because we need to first test if you can even walk without help.” diluc looks confused and you decide that whatever demon possessed him moments ago is long gone.

“correct answer,” you take his hand, and slowly stand up.

“hmm,” your right foot hurts a little but it’s better than you imagined. you tell diluc that.

“that’s a relief,” you reach the door of the empty cathedral and diluc puts his hand on the door, “would you like to take a walk?”

“is diluc around?”

“ah, he said he’ll be back in five. he’s personally delivering some paperwork to the acting headmaster.”

“alright, thanks!”

you’re excited!! it’s friday and today, you and diluc are going aLL the way to liyue to get dinner and stargaze as a post-dinner activity. diluc said he was friends with xiangling who’d always wanted him to come and try her dishes out sometime and he’d asked you earlier if you’d be interested to join him.

of course you were. it sounded like a date! in fact by the way you had spent all afternoon choosing the deep maroon skirt and contrasting white blouse, you were convinced to view it as a date.

“y/n, i apologize to have kept you waiting,” a breathless (and dashing) diluc appears by your side and you smile.

“no problem, diluc, i heard you were doing some important work.”

the both of you leave the tavern, “not exactly important, but let’s just say that while i may not be interested in the knights of favonius, i do value my life somewhat.”

“jean’s scares you, too, huh,” you laugh.

it’s not like diluc is realizing this for the first time but: you’re beautiful

like yeah, you have great hair and dazzling eyes that are bright when you’re happy and a dangerous smile but in the night, in this ethereal lighting, you’re taking his breath away.

“this place looks so fancy,” you’re seated across from him as you play with the ends of your hair. “when i come to this inn, i usually remain on the periphery but wow, this is quite impressive.”

“well, xiangling did say she got pretty famous as a cook around here.” diluc feels dazed especially since half his attention is occupied by how adorable you look.

the night progresses like this; diluc captivated by your blinding beauty and you trying to wrap your head around the fact that you’re on a daTE with diluc.

“oh, hey, look, it’s a silk flower!” you run over to the short, maroon plant, plucking a few flowers out, “xingqiu was telling me how much he loves these.”

he kneels next to you, smiling, “they are quite the pleasant plants.”

“they sorta remind me of you.”

“me?”

diluc touches the stem as you play around with the buds, “yes. for starters, you’re both red. and you both smell nice. you make wine, these make clothes. and if you think about it, wine is the silk of alcohol.”

his fingers collide against yours in the quaint flower, “that’s an intriguing comparison. wine and silk. . .” before you can pull away, diluc takes hold of your hand, pulling you up after him.

he can feel you stiffen a little and then mold back into place, your tiny hand squeezing against his bigger one. the road has become quieter as you travel further from the inn, and more stars start to peek out from the sky.

“thank you for taking me out to dinner, diluc.”

“thank you for having dinner with me, y/n.”

you suddenly giggle a little as if remembering a memory. “what’s funny?”

you look at him and then back down, biting down on your lip — a terrible habit really but especially terrible right now, because it only draws his attention to the soft pink lips he was trying not to look at the whole night (which was made even harder when xiangling decided to serve you the spicier dishes).

“that time you saved me from the eye, you called me something right before i fainted.”

diluc smiles fondly, “kitten?” he is pleasantly surprised when you giggle again, cheeks tinting the loveliest pink. “what’s this? could it be you enjoy being called kitten?”

you squeeze his hand slightly, “maybe…”

diluc’s heart almost gives out on spot

he’s sO whipped for you it hurts physically

“y/n—”

before he can say anything else, you pull him ahead with you because well,,,, you’re embarrassed

“come on, we should go stargaze before it gets too late.”

diluc smiles and allows you to drag him to the clearing at the edge of a cliff.

“i remembered this cliff from one of my adventures,” you plop down onto the grass and hesitantly, diluc follows

“hmm, it’s very peaceful here. i’m going to have to note this down as one of my future hideouts.”

you grin, “don’t reveal that to me. i might end up following you here and you won’t have any of your good ole introspection time.”

your tone is teasing but for once, diluc feels that his needs for alone time are being acknowledged by your light-hearted threat. he shifts closer, heart on the verge of bursting.

“i like you, y/n,” it comes right out of his mouth, clear and loud, the way diluc always dreamed of confessing but never managed to nail during his endless practices

you, on the other hand, are at the risk of a heart attack. you don’t want to pretend to be clueless and dense — diluc did ask you out for dinner when he could be spending the evening doing something more intellectually enriching — but at the same time, you feel like you can’t be sure enough

because it’s diluc!! he’s so complicated, he has so many layers

“you like me?” you keep your gazed fixed on the stars above just so you can mask your disappointment in case he clarifies that he likes you but, of course, as a friend who easily gets in trouble and happens to be around his tavern all the time

but inside diluc’s head are alarms. literal ALARMS. red, blaring alarms.

“i- you have no obligation to accept my feelings or give me answer but i’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time now. i really like you in a way i didn’t think possible. you’re so kind and funny and you make profound judgements about people, without being swayed by the biases that surround them and you’re so brave. but i know you have many men courting you and you did seem to have a soft spot for kaeya so this is—”

“i like you, too, diluc.”

diluc.exe has stopped working part 2 the finale

no more brain cells for him

“diluc?”

“you’re being honest?”

“of course i am. i’ve liked you ever since you took down that abyss mage with me. i don’t know how i’m expected to not fall for the dark knight hero.”

despite his dislike for the nickname, diluc blushes and you laugh at his small adorable smile

but the next moment it’s as if a switch has been flipped and suddenly his flustered face turns into a look of lust

his hands are on your waist, pulling you close until you can feel his hot breath against your lips

your hand comes up his face, tenderly cupping it and your lips crash

diluc groans against your lips when your other hand gingerly finds his hair and to say the least, you are extremely attracted to the sound of him groaning, low and deep

“come closer,” your plea is almost petulant as your grip on his hair tightens. diluc lifts you into his lap, arms around you

but he suddenly pulls away and it kills him to do so because you are a sight to behold, lips redder than ever, mouth half open, and breath heavy

“what in the fuck—” your dismay is clear as you frown at the concerned expression on diluc’s face, “hey, what’s wrong? did i—”

“why did you give kaeya that gift?”

for a moment you think you must be dreaming because it would be absolutely ridiculous if the man stopped your make-out session just to ask you—

“i mean, why not… me?” diluc’s voice has become small, gaze averted as if he’s scared he messed up

you sigh, bringing both your hands to cup his face, squishing his cheeks slightly to make him look at you

“listen, diluc, i have no feelings for kaeya. he’s just one of my nicer superiors and i wanted to thank him for being understanding. and i meant what i said that day — it genuinely reminded me of how he’s stuck around the favonius headquarters.”

diluc processes what you have to say and then, after a few silent beats:

“he’s only nice to you because he’s into you.”

“diluc, will you please just make out with me?”

you pull him back into a kiss and this time, he returns with more passion, one hand boldly cupping your ass and you can’t help but shiver at the sensation of his warm hand

you begin to reach under his shirt when you realize something

“wait, diluc,” you sit up, twisting to look up at the sky, “we were supposed to stargaze. you seemed so excited about it, you even called it the post-dinner activity.”

diluc caresses your arm as he slowly restores the distance between you, eyes on your lips.

he whispers against the nape of your neck, “i’m sure we can think of another post-dinner activity,” his fingers graze your stomach, “right, kitten?”

[skskamm]

Dad watches wtFOCK: episode 10 (😭)

"robert is really that 16 year old boy who plays fortnite. so realistic"

"senne drinks so much coffee. high blood pressure doesn't exist for him?"

"I thought that too, not gonna lie" (that gay relationships were easier)

"go talk to him robert he's right"

"oh god zoë calm down he wanted to help you"

"robert looks so happy what is she telling him"

"no way he's going home! I'm so happy for my son"

"wait so in season 4 we're gonna see him with his mom?? or in wtfock covid version?"

"he's going to talk to him"

"why is she crying? because he left her? hope so"

"oh he left the entire hospital"

"THE DRAWING IS FLAWLESS did she get that sandro is in love with him and not with her? or her brain is malfunctioning?"

"this song is heartbreaking. like five months ago I looped that song for hours while working"

"omg maybe he'll find sandro in his classroom"

"is he in a bunker? no I don't get it"

"I'm nervous"

"THIS SCENE these flashbacks"

"why is he smiling so much while running god robert" *starts laughing*

"why would he stay in a parking lot to calm down"

"okay but what about his lessons"

"no way he's in his classroom"

"NOOO THE DRAWINGS"

"the kitchen scene, the sexual tension"

"SANDRO"

"he looks sick"

"he wants him to go out but he's pushing robert on the wall? this gives me episode 7 vibes" (can he stop)

"THE DRAWINGS"

"pause. imagine the students walking randomly in this room and seeing hundreds of drawings about the same fucking boy. I would run"

"this is getting intense"

"THE HANDS" (he said "THE HANDS MASSIMO" but you wouldn't understand the reference lol)

"no boy he wouldn't leave you even if you stabbed his leg"

"alexa play toxic by britney spears" (we have alexa and the music started playing 😭 why is he so annoying)

"noo when you touch robbe something else happens...sorry this is an important scene"

"YES IK HOU VAN JOU see I learned that"

"what the fuck sandro c'mon"

"nee nee nee nee nee...he sounds like a 30 year old when he says this"

"kiss kiss"

"hey google...shut the fuck up" (google started talking lol)

"minute for minute...I remember this from the old skam I'm prepared"

"so are they gonna cuddle on the floor?"

"I'm about to cry"

"NOOOOOOOO SANDROOO he's crying i'm crying no boyyy"

"what are they doing" "sorry I'm just joking around trying not to cry"

"this breaks my heart"

"yes I'm happy too"

"they slept together ooh"

"sandro being the little spoon is something I didn't know I needed"

"britt you better stay away"

"robert is fit"

"sandro looks fit"

"this boy reminds me of someone but I don't know who" (we know 😌)

"this is the sweetest scene I've ever seen...too much sugar in two minutes but I love them"

"at least moyo said sorry"

"robert would fuck sandro and sandro"

"jens is gay for robert I know this"

"aaron you're too desperate"

"see? me and robert, one person"

"zoë and senne are the parents that robert needs"

"perfume...I need to buy one" (stop saying random things 😭)

"his okay is so sweet"

"here's noor I kinda missed her"

"LITTLE BOY"

"milan's feeling 100 times more single now. don't you?" (thanks dad.)

"CORONAVIRUS this is worse than simpson's predictions"

"christmas party and I'm watching this during summer. I'm gonna rewatch it on december"

"JACK FROST"

"aaron looks like he's meeting his idol"

"a box. intense"

"HE REALLY TOUCHED SANDRO TO TELL HIM HE'S THE CUTE BOY"

"why did the team feel the urge to put the fucking hour over sandro and robert cuddling? why"

"HERE'S THE PIC" (I showed him the pic they posted that day)

"aaron what are you saying oh my god"

"YES AARON go boy go"

"aaaw he's meeting his family"

"why are they so dirty"

"the friends hyping them is the best part"

"SO? THIS IS THE END?? I need to watch wtfock covid. we're starting on Monday."

AND this is the end!! hope you enjoyed and laughed! also he's gonna react to wtfockdown 😌 so i'm doing the same thing I did for season 3!

all of my dad's reaction here!

episode 3/4/5/6/7/8/9

[silvysartfulness]

Hi there, I've just been diagnosed with ADHD Inattentive type. I'm going to be going on vyvanse and I was just wondering if it's not too personal, if you have any tips for starting adhd meds for the first time? Also as a side note, your writing is beautiful <3

Hi, Anon!

Wow, okay. This isn’t actually anything I’ve spoken very openly on tumblr about, though what with all the relatable posts I share, I guess it isn’t particularly a secret, either.

I was diagnosed this spring with Aspergers and ADHD, which honestly made a lot of things click into place looking back.

All my life, I’d kind of assumed ADHD was the “loud boys who can’t sit still” disorder society tells us it is, and the two things that finally made me get in touch with a psychiatrist for an evaluation was that I 1, met other adult people with ADHD and realized that “huh, these people are a lot Like Me” and 2, that I got to try concerta from a friend while I was in a depressive episode, locked up with executive dysfunction, and was told the meds could give brain a boost. (Not recommended, but neurodivergent people know what it’s like to be desperate to kickstart a malfunctioning brain)

What happened when I tried the meds was that instead of the rush I’d been promised, I fell calm. Many ADHD-meds are derivatives of amphetamines, which make most people speeded, super-alert, intense... but if you have ADHD, they just make your brain click into place, being able to focus instead of being all over the place, and so can have a calming effect. (If sugar or coffee makes you calm, you may want to get evaluated, it’s the same basic principle.)

Because of high blood pressure, I haven’t been able to start on prescribed meds yet (ADHD-meds, depending on what kind you’re prescribed, can raise blood pressure, so that’s another thing to look out for before you start). I’m trying to get my blood pressure down enough to be able to try out concerta again within a doctor-prescribed regime, hoping to get that calm and focus back. (Which reminds me, I should book an appointment to see if my blood pressure’s down enough for that yet - thanks for the reminder! Not that anyone with ADHD would ever need a reminder to do anything... >.>)

So unfortunately I don’t have any good advice on that particular account, other than the assurance that during the two short times I’ve been on ADHD-meds, I’ve been more focused and at peace than normal, had more energy left once all the spoon-intense tasks were done, the ability to control my energy meant it was easier to fall asleep as well, and I was just more aware, awake.

Hopefully you will have a similar experience, though there may be a bit of fiddling to get the dose right at the beginning. Just be patient and talk to you doctor until it works right. :)

And thank you so much, I’m delighted you like my writing!

That’s the positive upside of having this weird, weird brain that doesn’t work like most people’s - it gives me a creativity, a hyperfocus and fingertip feeling for symbolism and associations that allows me to create all manner of beautiful things! Despite all the downsides (and there are many, with my personal cocktail of fucked-up-brain-ness)... I wouldn’t trade it for being “normal” for the world.

This is all very much me, and the only me I can envision being. And meds won’t change that, just hand the reigns over so you can be you at full capacity!

All the best of luck! ♥

[mehenxe]

◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ & ღ & ♫ bc ur a slut for music ; & ✮ (i want explanaTIONS ...gET META W THIS SHIT )

◈ — share some head-canons you have for a muse of your choosing, but x4.

[ elijah kane ] ◈ — all efforts to get him into studying how to make robotics like hyacinth have resulted in a lot of miniature woodland creatures able to sprint across desks. it’s not exactly what anybody had in mind, but hey, you never know if ilya might not want to send in an actual animal for something he has going on. they can call up sugar kane industries ( big face-palm here ) to take care of the job. ( wyatt voice: seriously, you couldn’t think of anything better than sugar kane. ) / hyacinth kane has a nice ring to it. elijah has tested out several different nicknames: sugar kane also for them, mistah k, ( missus k? ), cinthy ... cindy ... ( sean: yeah! cindy k! like cindy crawford! / who the fuck is cindy crawford? / wyatt — / how old are you. ) / he’s had a life-long dream to be able to go scuba-diving off the coast of — some exotic island he can’t remember the name of. beforehand, it was one of those things that he was too afraid to do, but full-out war changes your perspective. in truth, he’s always been a water baby, growing up going swimming in the local rivers and running pellmell down the dirt lanes. he grew out of it, and then grew back into it. whether or not he’s going to be able to do that without monroe tagging along ( and then by default, ilya, and then probably hojin will want to come, and then ravi will have to, and then oliver will want to watch over them and then jinho will buy a whole yacht with his dumb vampire money — ) — ah, well, there’s worse people to spend an extended holiday with. his father will come along too: sit on the deck in a lawn chair and drink a virgin margarita as he deserves after putting up with this whole extended family. and with his son being a you-know-what.

[ alice bedi ] ◈ — there was a time where she was interested in wigs. she had percival sit down on her shack’s bed and watch as she perused through at least fifteen different styles of wigs. each one got a firm head-shake: too rough on your complexion; lilac looks good as a colour, but the style is horrid; why did they think it was a good idea to make a bob that length? a tough customer. she returned back to wearing veils, her preferred style being that of mantilla, or the veil that’s worn to chapel over a jade comb. due to the volume and length of her natural curls, she rarely wears the combs at all, but will if it’s a particularly formal occasion, like that time she accompanied percival to a ‘high-society event.’ ( translation: they crashed a party because he was bored, and she had a bad feeling about him going alone. ) / as the local librarian’s assistant, she’s the first to get in the way when someone is overtly curious: why are you asking so many questions? hmm? the irony is that she herself asks just as many questions — she insists that the difference is: she reads the room and knows when it’s inappropriate to ask them. ( and if she knows it’s inappropriate to ask them, and instead chooses to risk asking them regardless, it’s because she knows it’ll smooth out in the end. / despite what she wears daily, one of her most favourite colours is moss green. there are a multitude of reasons. moss is her favourite foliage. it’s similar to algae, another favourite foliage. and it reminds her of someone who she says is her sister; however, anybody who knows her, knows that she has no blood-siblings. one or the other might be a lie, or both might be the truth. when she’s in a mood, she’ll smear the moss at the base of her neck like a perfume, a splotch of green beneath white.

[ huang shen ] ◈ — he designed an irrigation system to work, specific to his farm, to be able to make rice paddies despite the surrounding environment. it’s a southern crop in the united states, but there was no way he was going to move to the south just to expand the business. his entire family was so relieved about it that they danced through the sprinklers and set off fireworks — and none of them are really into that kind of thing. it’s particularly incredible due to the area they’re in, being very prone to sometimes too much drought and too much rain, and both are responsible for driving out selling numbers of crops. his plan is to switch into an agricultural degree, and perhaps even expand it into engineering, so that he can continue helping this way. / one of his surprises for algernon was learning sign language. for the longest time, months even, shen made it out like he had no idea what was being said, and let damien, as surly as ever, be the translator when algernon was unwilling or unable to speak. in the background, however, he was working with a tutor and seeking to understand better what it meant to be both HoH and mute. then, when algernon’s birthday came around, everyone went silent ( holy god he was so nervous ) and he gave an entire romantic, long speech entirely in sign language. he’s sure that some of it got lost in translation due to how hard his hands were shaking, but the way that algernon kissed him afterwards, it didn’t seem to affect much. now, they communicate constantly on this even ground. / he’s started up horseback riding again — and has roped tobias into doing it alongside him. tobias might have grace on the stage floor, but certainly not on the back of a horse; he somehow ended up upside-down beneath the horse’s belly, and then fell down in a tangle of limbs. shen has taken to the western side of things, re-learning how to barrel race and rope cattle; but he and tobias have had to separate their lessons due to these antics. lucas isn’t allowed to come to any of them; his stupid remarks send them into fits of laughing. ( bold of us to assume he doesn’t just sit in the truck and shout anyways. )

[ deok bae ] ◈ — due to the empire no longer supporting his upgrades, nor looking in his general direction, he has had to find other ways to obtain new modifications. this is including, but not limited to, going and pulling them out of other people’s bodies as catharsis — but usually, he defects to yuri and silas to fix him up. to his chagrin, the LED-light in his forehead has absolutely no use whatsoever, only displaying his brain’s processing as a symptom of installation. he pulled it out himself via the tip of a knife’s blade. the next time that he’s seen by those who haven’t seen him in quite some time, he might be unrecognisable. i am not deok bae — perhaps deok bae is no longer himself either. if there was no connection to eli in his head, he would forget that; perhaps he would merely succumb to the machinery, perhaps he would succumb to the wolf-dom. there are several pairs of teeth in his mouth awaiting for their moment to bite. / when he was a teen, his version of ‘sneaking out’ would be to wheel his chair to the gardens at the back of the temple, where he would sit and think for hours and hours. his father would come and find him there; sometimes, master jhcor would instead. his father would return him back to where he needed to be, but master jhcor would sit beside him and gaze serenely until bae felt the need to speak what was on his mind: his angers, his fevers, his rages. one time, he was surprised to see that it was not master jhcor, nor master deok, but zan coming to sit with him. his heart had sat in his throat the whole time, half-expecting zan to laugh at him or say something particularly piteous. instead, the conversation was — well, looking back, absurdly normal, all things considering. when bae blinked tiredly, zan rose and took the handles of his chair and took him back. he hadn’t intended to ask him to do so, but it was done anyway. / bae drinks a lot of soda. it’s somewhat fitting, if you believe all that talk about how coca-cola can double as a cleaner due to the high carbonation and way it’s made. he does seem to get shiny after several cans — it’s also convenient that he can’t experience sugar-highs nor malfunctions of the liver or stomach due to too much consumption. he considers himself to be a soda connoisseur as a result. he offers a lot of hmm, that’ll taste disgusting comments that annoy the shit out of the others — but then kisung takes a drink and bae ends up being right, so there’s no regrets.

ღ ━ favourite canon ships for your muse(s). are there any you dislike?

there’s ... none that i dislike. there’s moments of come on, but that’s bound to happen. i think the favourite ships are the ... guardian / princess vibes ( whether it’s literal or not: akane / the samurai, quinn / sehrin, jian / elaine ). i also love the growing from previous immaturities towards each other ( grey / tobias, jihoon / wyatt, playboy / jordan ) — and himbos of course ( hojin / ravi!! ) there’s also the whole ... tsh, vampiric aesthetic that we get ( minzhe / yongha ) ... the ones like jisoo / mingfei, cyrian / ulysses, cadoc / pestilence ( exploring violence against but without the stickiness ). of course, if i keep going, i’ll end up listing all of them and then where would we be.

♫ ━ a small playlist for a muse of your choice

for nam jungsoo, because i actually once did make a playlist for him:

1. brand new — sic transit gloria ... glory fades 2. within temptation — what have you done 3. iamx feat. imogen heap — my secret friend 4. florence + the machine — shipwreck (the odyssey) 5. crown the empire — hologram

i mean, the songs are still kinda relevant considering his current character ...

✮ ━ top three favourite muses that you’ve played

but is it possible to pick three favourites ... that’s the real question. maybe. jianguo, because of catharsis, because of cultural exploration and similarities. grendel, because of the depth, the personal torment, the surrounding family. jinho & julius, because of exploring that darkness. and famine — man, now that’s something. there’s a lot more than three though. like blood and jisoo and tobias and arthur. but. the questions INSIST THAT I CHOOSE.

[ahiddenpath]

Nanowrimo Update: Four Years Upperclassman Excerpt

Ohhhh boy.  Oh, boy.

I haven’t written today, so word count as of 11/15 is: 27,651 words.  

More below the cut!

This week was much harder than last, mostly because I haven’t been feeling well.  I went to the doctor thinking I would get a hormone panel, but she ordered liver/gall bladder/intestinal blood work and an ultrasound of those areas, instead.  I was extensively tested by a gastroenterologist in 2015, and he didn’t find anything useful, so I’m not sure what to think.

Maybe that’s why I wanted to write something silly and fun?  Working on part two of Four Years is... not very helpful, since I need to finish the first part, but please accept this excerpt XD  

The background here is that Davis brought a bottle of alcohol called Strawberry Wine to the Chosen house (from The Ouija Board).  Izzy accidentally drank the whole thing while working, and it turns out that the drink isn’t actually wine, which is ~12% alcohol.  It’s a mixed drink, and ~25% alcohol, meaning that Izzy’s in for a nasty night.  He’s also unprecedentedly drunk.

It’s unedited, Tumblr removed the formatting, and it’s 100% ridiculous.  Slightly suggestive IzzyxAmy content.

Izzy obeyed, then pressed his side against hers.  “I’m sorry.  I’ve never felt sho drunk.” Amy wasn’t sure why he was apologizing to her when he was the one who would end up hungover, but she didn’t bother asking for a clarification.  “How do you feel?” “Honestly, Amy…  There’s sho much dopamine.  Sugar?  Alcohol?  My brain’s like a…  like a…  Christmas.” You don’t say.  Amy scowled at the ceiling.  It was hardly fair to scold Izzy for drinking when she had come home buzzed, but…  Well, he was right.  Both sugar and alcohol altered brain chemistry and made the body crave more, leading to addition.  Occasional indulgence was fine within reason, but what if Izzy decided he liked this sensation, and wanted it again?  She could only hope that the inevitable hangover would discourage that. Izzy sighed, long, low, and with a blissful undertone that Amy had never heard before.  “Feelsh good, for now.  Maybe not later…”  Amy had to acknowledge a begrudging respect for his rationality, which had somehow survived a bottle of fifty proof alcohol.  Now, where was it when he drank it…   With great difficulty, he pressed himself against her side and cushioned his head on her shoulder.  He planted a wet kiss on her neck.  “You’re sho kind,” he sighed.   “W-what?” Amy wanted to look at his face, but he had wrapped himself around her like an octopus missing half its limbs.  Slowly, with comical care, he tipped himself onto his elbows, dropping kisses down her neck and collarbone.   “So shoft…” “U-uh, Izzy…”  Normally, Amy wouldn’t object to an almost-naked Izzy crawling all over her.  Trouble was, he just… didn’t do this.  Izzy was neither cold nor distant, but he was never cutesy.  She didn’t know how to explain this, especially to a blitzed person, and all mental attempts to organize her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he lips landed on hers with a wet smack. That saccharine taste flooded her mouth, and Amy almost wished they had more strawberry wine, provided Izzy abstained.  Was it really this good, she wondered, or was the appeal in the secondhand delivery to her taste buds?  His hands slid beneath her dress, hitching up the skirt, and she no longer cared. “I’m undressed,” he murmured.  “You should be, too.  S’logic.”   Amy stared, dumbfounded, at his flushed cheeks and heavy-lidded eyes.  How could they be bleary and focused at the same time?!  The desire to explore this new situation, this Izzy-who-wasn’t-Izzy, was overwhelming, and yet…  A nagging instinct warned her that it might not be wise. “Can you undress me?” she asked, lifting a brow.  Izzy nipped her lower lip and tugged the dress up in response, but it caught between her back and the mattress. “Sit up, please.”   The deadpan, thoroughly done quality to her voice might have made Izzy weep with pride under different circumstances.  “Izzy, sweetheart, you’re on top of me.” He blinked a few times, then slowly lifted one limb at a time, struggling to navigate a treacherous network of body parts.  Half amused, half dismayed, Amy sat up and raised her arms, mostly to see what would happen next. Izzy trembled as he rose to his knees.  He seemed to decide that speed would counteract his impaired balance, and he dove towards her and yanked her dress up.  Alas, it had a zipper, and it the fabric couldn’t pass her bosom without being undone.  Amy found her head and arms stuck in an inverted tent of skirt material, pressed into her bed by the dead weight of her boyfriend’s malfunctioning body. The air squeezed out of her lungs, and Amy sat, dazed, beneath Izzy.  She forced a deep breath, then wheezed, “If Joe heard that and comes to check on us, you’re dead.”  In lieu of responding, Izzy stuck his face in her exposed butt and nuzzled, smooching through her panties.  Amy swallowed a shriek that was equal parts shock, laughter, and rage. His fingertips dipped beneath the band of her panties, and Amy fought the urge to kick him.  “Zeus, you horn dog!  Get me out of this dress!” “That’sh on my to-do list,” Izzy replied, his tinny voice muffled with proximity to her butt cheeks. Amy squirmed, trying to reach her zipper, but she was caught in a cage of fabric and body weight.  “What’s your end game here, Izzy?  You said yourself that you’re not coordinated enough for sex.” “There exist a plethora of pleasant activities that aren’t sex.”  Izzy reached for the bottom of her dress, which had to be flipped over in order to unzip the zipper.  This caused great difficulty, and Amy indulged in some dark thoughts about drunk geniuses who could correctly use ‘plethora,’ but couldn’t strip their girlfriend. With much fumbling and grumbled instructions from Amy, they managed to remove the dress and her bra.  Amy placed her discarded clothes on her desk chair, hopefully out of potential puke range, locked the bedroom door, and returned to bed.  Izzy was on her in an instant, squishing his face in her chest while Amy stared at the ceiling and wondered, Is this the real life?

[scifigeneration]

The new field of sonogenetics uses sound waves to control the behavior of brain cells

by Sreekanth Chalasani

Sound waves are displayed as an oscillating glow light. natrot/Shutterstock.com

What if you didn’t need surgery to implant a pacemaker on a faulty heart? What if you could control your blood sugar levels without an injection of insulin, or mitigate the onset of a seizure without even pushing a button?

I and a team of scientists in my laboratory at the Salk Institute are tackling these challenges by developing a new technology known as sonogenetics, the ability to noninvasively control the activity of cells using sound.

From light to sound

I am a neuroscientist interested in understanding how the brain detects environmental changes and responds. Neuroscientists are always looking for ways to influence neurons in living brains so that we can analyze the outcome and understand both how that brain works and how to better treat brain disorders.

Creating these specific changes requires the development of new tools. For the last two decades the go-to tool for researchers in my field has been optogenetics, a technique in which engineered brain cells in animals are controlled with light. This process involves inserting an optic fiber deep within the animal’s brain to deliver light to the target region.

When these nerve cells are exposed to blue light, the light-sensitive protein is activated, allowing those brain cells to communicate with each other and modify the animal’s behavior. For example, animals with Parkinson’s disease can be cured of their involuntary tremors by shining light on brain cells that have been specially engineered making them light-sensitive. But the obvious drawback is that this procedure depends on surgically implanting a cable into the brain – a strategy that cannot be easily translated into people.

My goal had been to figure out how to manipulate the brain without using light.

Sound control

I discovered that ultrasound – sound waves beyond the range of human hearing, which are noninvasive and safe – is a great way to control cells. Since sound is a form of mechanical energy, I figured that if brain cells could be made mechanically sensitive, then we could modify them with ultrasound. This research led us to the discovery of the first naturally occurring protein mechanical detector that made brain cells sensitive to ultrasound.

Our technology works in two stages. First we introduce new genetic material into malfunctioning brain cells using a virus as a delivery device. This provides the instructions for these cells to make the ultrasound-responsive proteins.

The next step is emitting ultrasound pulses from a device outside the animal’s body targeting the cells with the sound-sensitive proteins. The ultrasound pulse remotely activates the cells.

Sound frequency ranges for infrasound, audible and ultrasound waves and the animals that can hear them. People are able to hear only between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. Designua/Shutterstock.com

Proof in worms

We were the first to show how sonogenetics can be used to activate neurons in a microscopic worm called Caenorhabditis elegans.

Using genetic techniques, we identified a naturally occurring protein called TRP-4 – which is present in some of the worm’s neurons – that was sensitive to ultrasound pressure changes. Sound pressure waves that occur in the ultrasonic range are above the normal threshold for human hearing. Some animals, including bats, whales and even moths, can communicate at these ultrasonic frequencies, but the frequencies used in our experiments go beyond what even these animals can detect.

My team and I demonstrated that neurons with the TRP-4 protein are sensitive to ultrasonic frequencies. Sound waves at these frequencies changed the worm’s behavior. We genetically altered two of the worm’s 302 neurons and added the TRP-4 gene that we knew from previous studies was involved with mechanosensation.

We showed how ultrasound pulses could make the worms change direction, as if we were using a worm remote control. These observations proved that we could use ultrasound as a tool to study brain function in living animals without inserting anything into the brain.

Sending an ultrasound pulse to a worm carrying sound-sensitive proteins causes it to change direction.

The advantages of sonogenetics

This initial finding marked the birth of a new technique that offers insights into how cells can be excited by sound. Additionally, I believe that our results suggest that sonogenetics can be applied to manipulate a wide variety of cell types and cellular functions.

C. elegans was a good starting point for developing this technology because the animal is relatively simple, with only 302 neurons. Of these, TRP-4 is in only eight neurons. So we can control other neurons by first adding TRP-4 to them and then directing the ultrasound precisely at these specific neurons.

But humans, unlike worms, do not have the have the TRP-4 gene. So my plan is to introduce the sound-sensitive protein into the specific human cells that we want to control. The advantage of this approach is that the ultrasound won’t interfere with any other cells in the human body.

It is currently not known if proteins other than TRP-4 are sensitive to ultrasound. Identifying such proteins, if there are any, is an area of intense study in my lab and the field.

The best part about sonogenetics is that it doesn’t require a brain implant. For sonogenetics, we use artificially engineered viruses – that are unable to replicate – to deliver genetic material to brain cells. This allows the cells to manufacture sound-sensitive proteins. This method has been used to deliver genetic material to human blood and heart muscle cells in pigs.

Sonogenetics, though still in the very early stages of development, offers a novel therapeutic strategy for various movement-related disorders including Parkinson’s, epilepsy and dyskinesia. In all of these diseases, certain brain cells stop working and prevent normal movements. Sonogenetics could enable doctors to turn on or turn off brain cells at a specific location or time and treat these movement disorders without brain surgery.

For this to work, the target region of the brain would need to be infected with the virus carrying the genes for the sound-sensitive protein. This has been done in mice but not yet in humans. Gene therapy is getting better and more precise, and I am hoping that other researchers will have figured out how to do this by the time we are ready with our sonogenetic technology.

Extending sonogenetics

We have received substantial support to advance this technology, fuel the initial study and establish an interdisciplinary team.

With additional funding from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s ElectRx program, we can focus on finding proteins that can help us “turn off” neurons. We recently discovered proteins that can be manipulated to activate neurons (unpublished work). This is crucial for developing a therapeutic strategy that can be used to treat central nervous system diseases like Parkinson’s.

Touching the leaf of the Mimosa pudica plant triggers a folding response that causes the leaves to close. The plant is also sensitive to ultrasound which can trigger the same reaction.

Our team is also working on expanding the sonogenetic technology. We have now observed that certain plants, such as the “touch me not” (Mimosa pudica), are sensitive to ultrasound. Just as the leaves of this plant are known to collapse and fold inward when touched or shaken, applying pulses of ultrasound to an isolated branch produces the same response. Finally, we are developing a different method to test if ultrasound can influence metabolic processes such as insulin secretion from pancreatic cells.

Sonogenetics could one day circumvent medications, remove the need for invasive brain surgeries and be useful for conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder and movement disorders to chronic pain. The great potential for sonogenetics is that this technology could be applied to control nearly any type of cell: from an insulin-producing cell in the pancreas to pacing a heart.

Our hope is that sonogenetics revolutionizes the fields of neuroscience and medicine.

About The Author:

Sreekanth Chalasani is an Associate Professor of Molecular Neurobiology (Salk Institute) and Assistant Adjunct Professor of Neurobiology at the University of California San Diego

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[cucheallaigh]

Ngl these are all hilarious but also do you know the a very, very common cause for these kinds of "brain farts"/random malfunctions?

Tiredness.

Being tired impairs your cognitive function in ways you don't always immediately realise. If you find that:

you're having difficulty concentrating

you're feeling frazzled or foggy

you're more forgetful than usual

you're coming out with nonsense autopilot phrases like the above (or in my case, saying the right word and just completely fucking up the pronunciation, or saying a wrong word in an otherwise seemingly coherent sentence)

having mood swings ie being unusually irritable, getting upset over "small" things that normally don't get to you, or suddenly feeling way, way more depressed and shitty

Then you need to get more sleep.

I would frequently have days where I thought I was operating fine on 6 or less hours of sleep - maybe I'd had a few late nights in a row, maybe I had to pull an all-nighter or get up unexpectedly early. No big deal, right?

But then I'd keep having malfunctions when I was talking, or I'd struggle to process what someone just told me to do and need to ask them to repeat it, or I'd walk into a room on autopilot and completely forget why. Or things that didn't normally bother me would really get to me, and I wouldn't bounce back from them as well as I usually did.

And (most concerningly) after a few nights in a row of less than 6 hours of sleep (or a couple of all nighters in close succession) I'd suddenly feel like absolute dogshit, and start to think very, very dark thoughts about not wanting to be here any more.

But when I started making sure I regularly got 8+ hours of sleep a night? The frequency of these things happening drastically decreased.

(Disclaimer: I'm not saying suicidal ideation will always vanish if you have a nap, as that's a very serious mental health issue - but if you're generally in a stable place and experience a sudden onset like I've described above? Have something to eat, have something to drink, and go to sleep. Tiredness, low blood sugar and dehydration put your body can really mess with your cognitive function and make you feel like absolute dogshit. I cannot emphasise this enough.)

x

[endoftheroad1983]

Trouble with Steve pt 6

Trouble With Steve part Six (new)

Steve Rogers x Reader pt 6

Y/N sat back after the look in Steve's eyes. The crackling fire fill the silence between the two of you. After a few moments Y/N gave in.

“So we need to go back to the tower?” She sipped more on her drink. She welcome all the alcohol she could get before she had to leave her comfort zone.

“Actually, there is a safe house that I want to take you to. We will be safe there.” He was now rubbing his hands together. A safe house alone with Steve? That would be a dream come true if your brain would stop tell your heart no.. Things have been weird around you two.

“I want another hour before we leave.” Y/N suddenly demand.  Steve didn't cover up the guilt stricken face that wash over him.

“Of course.” He softly agree.

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

A cabin in the middle of the National Yellowstone Park was not what Y/N had except Steve to take her. After a very long drive, Which You slept through most of, they reach a three bedroom, two bath cabin. It was breathtaking view that awe her.

“ I quit and now I’m moving here.”

“Your hilarious.” Steve chuckle at your joke. Y/N spinning on her heels to face him.

“Who says I'm joking? I'm going to put a lavender garden under the kitchen.” Steve froze for a moment as he could actually see you doing this.

“I don't think we will be here that long.” Steve burst your dream bubble. He frown a bit when he realise he had cause your face to scrunch up.

“We can pretend. Where's your imagination?” You tease him lightly as she wonder into the kitchen.

After a tour of the house, Y/N went back downstairs to the living room. A book shelf of DVDs indicated that there wasn't any cable out here. That didn't bother you one bit. You venture into the kitchen for a snack. Only to discover that the place was empty. Steve walk in to see the confuse look on your face.

“I'm heading out to the store now.” He smile when he saw her face.

“I can't come?” She question with a small pout.

“And risk H.Y.D.R.A  knowing where you are? I don't think so.”

“Oh yea, I forgot that I'm in protection.” She shrug it off. “I guess that I will take a bath in the master bath. Did you see the size of that tub? You could fit three people and a dog in there! I'm going to see if I can get Nick to give me this house!”

Of course Steve saw the tub, he had place his bags on the bed before going through the house to make sure everything was bolted before bringing her in. A light blush crept into his cheeks as he thought of you in the tub.

“I won't be gone very long.” In an attempt to change the subject Steve blurt out the his first thought. His eyes quickly drop to the floor.  Was Steve malfunctioning again? You thought to yourself, well I really hope not. Y/N was enjoying the nice time alone with him.

“Maybe we can catch a flick when I get back?” Was it a question or was it a suggestion? Y/N didn't know which. But she paid no mind to it when her heart was trying to bust out her chest. They rarely spent that kind of time together.

“Sure that sounds like fun!” She beam at him as she pass him to go upstairs.

A couple of hours later, Y/N found yourself bathed and clothed. You wonder around the house taking in the architect in the frames. You were upstairs admiring paintings that hung on the wall when you heard a car pulling up. You quickly pinned herself to a side of a wall with a window. You peek out just to see the back of Steve as he pull brown paper bags from the back. After a moment of still watching him, you felt sure that he was the real deal.

You bounce into the kitchen to see Steve bring in the last bag of food and a pizza. You quickly help Steve put everything away.

“I hope you don't mind that I pick up food for dinner. I know how much you enjoy cooking.” A blush kiss your cheeks at his words. How did he know that? It's true you cook a lot at the tower in your spare time but you didn't openly admit that it was very therapeutic for you.

'No that's cool. Not in the mood to mess this pretty kitchen up yet.” You made your way to the cabinets and beginning pulling out plates and cups. You sat them down on the island and went for the fridge for something to drink. By the time you got back to the island the plates where already gone. You left the kitchen to find Steve setting the table with plates.

“Hey, lets be really bad.” You lean up against the door frame with your arms cross over your chest. Steve froze in his tracks. His eyes look up to you after a minute of him regaining his bearing.

“Bad?” His question put a smirk on your lips.

“Yes totally bad. Let's take everything into the living room and start our movie night.”

You push away from the wall as your eyes wonder over to his. He was still quiet. Did he forget that he had suggest movies before he left or was this another glitch he was having? You weren't sure so you stay just ask quiet. Right when you were about to say that they didn't have to, Steve's eyes brighten and he gather up the plates again.

“Sounds good.”

The rest of the night went smoothly as you two shared a great pizza and watch a couple of movies. Neither one of you wanted the night to end so a third movie was pop in. Sadly you didn't make it past the first half hour of it. That day's events caught up with you. Little did you know that Steve had fallen asleep a few minutes after you.

You didn't know what time in the morning it was but a car door shutting brought you from your sleep. You look over to see that you had fallen asleep on Steve's shoulder. Your eyes scan his face. He had heard the door as well.

And then another one.

Before you had time to react, Steve grab you by the shoulders and flung you to the floor. You were now pin under Steve hidden between the couch and table. The weight of his body on you wasn't that bad so he must be holding most of his weight.

The front door open and shut without a care in the world. Then the door open again.

“You can't just walk in here. You are in danger.” Sam's voice relax the both of you. Steve look down to meet your eyes with a smile. Before you guys could move or even speak the living room light flicker on cause both of you to shield your eyes from the harsh light.

“What the Hell is going on in here?” A  female voice demand. You raise your eyes to see that Abby had her hands on hip hips.

“Steve?”

“Sam?” The guys greet each other with questions.

“We fell asleep on the couch and woke with the cars doors. I thought we were under attack.” Steve explain first. It hurt your heart a bit to hear the excuse but it was probably the truth.

“She wouldn't stay still and demand to leave my care.” it was Sam's turn to answer, “I tried to reason with her but...”

“Ah, you call that reasoning? I want to be protect by Steve and not you.” Abby cut him up with such venom it was clear to you that she got whatever she wanted, “Why are you still on top of that slut of yours? It looks like me getting here was for the better. Now I can save you from her.”

Your blood began to boil. Did she just call you a slut? Steve let go of more of his weight to keep you down. Y/N began to mumble about a broken jaw will keep her quite for awhile.

“Ok Lady, hold up.” Sam grabbed her by the shoulders to lead her into the kitchen, “We'll give you a minute to wake up.” Sam inform. Abby didn't look to thrill about that idea but went with him none the less.

“Thanks, Sam.” Steve yell after him.

Steve's eyes stay glue to the doorway there were in for what seem forever. He then drop his baby blue eyes down to yours. You didn't hide the anger that was in you.

“Are you good?” He whisper to you. His lips being very close to yours that you almost forgot that your anger. You nodded as your eyes continue to stare into each other.

“Are you sure? Cause I don't need you putting her into the hospital.” Steve wink at you before lifting his body of of you. He stretch his arms over his head as his head shook form what just happen. After that he took off into the room.

You, on the other hand, just lay on the floor. You were to stun to move at first. The cold air and overtaken the warmth of Steve's body that was against you. You shudder at the thought of being wrapped around him. You force yourself up off the floor and decide to just hit the hay for the night. You shuffle into the kitchen for a glass of water. Abby was in the middle of chewing out Steve. For real?, who is this chick? You thought as you collect your things. It seem she was undisturbed by your presents.

“I thought you had a special mission you had to go on.” She threw out at him. Your eyes meet with Sam’s, who wasn't holding back the grin on his face. He threw a wink your way as his smile put a bigger on on you.

“I do. It's just...” Steve was cut off by Abby ranting again.

“Oh so shacking up with her is more important then me?” She threw your way. You paid no heed as you took a spot next to Sam. You had decide to stay and watch the show.

“You both are in equal amount of danger.” Steve finally snap at her. Abby was unfaze.

“Then why does she get you to protect her? She can do it herself and I don't want Sam to watch over me.” Abby pouted her lips as she walk over to Steve where she place her hands on his chest. She then reach up on her toes to whisper something in his ears.

A deep red blush ambush Steve's face as Sam's smirk disappears. Sam and Y/N exchange glances. What happen between this two?

“So pretty please? Can I stay with you, Captain?” She pour a whole bag of sugar on him. Steve was putty in her hands. Jealousy hit your heart so fast that you had to contain the gasp in your throat.

Now your blood was beginning to heat up. If she wanted to be with Steve so bad then it was fine by you. Steve was nursing a sudden smile when You broke their train of thought.

“Sounds great! Sam, I'll have my things ready in ten.” And with that you storm the stairs taking them by two.

You reach your room with ease. Your stuff, thankfully, was still mostly pack. You race around the room looking for anything that was left out. How could you be so dumb? You actually believe that this was a vacation with Steve. But of course it was ruin all thanks to Abby.

An image cross your mind, it was the one were Steve was blushing with great force of the things she was saying. How could you be so dumb? Steve isn't the cheating type so it means one thing. He was going to cut ties with you. A escape sob burst out but it was the only one.

You maintain yourself as you search for your bracelet. You had it on at your sisters when Steve met you there. Dread wash over you. You had left it in Steve's bathroom. Forget it, it can stay there! Your brain was the one to answer and you swiftly agreed to it.

Gathering all your stuff you made your way down the stairs into the kitchen. Abby was glue to Steve’s side but you made sure to ignore the situation. Sam was sitting at the island. His eyes widen when you came rushing through.

“Ready Sam?” You ask hurried through the kitchen to the back door. A pang of guilt ran through your veins as you knew you should of went out the front door, Because the second you open the back door, it was slam shut again.

The action took you off guard that your mouth dropped open with no real response. You look up to see Steve and his long arm and hand bracing the door shut with all his strength.

“You can't keep me here.” I whisper over to him. Not having the real strength to talk louder.

“Enough!” He bellow out. You flinch at his loudness. You had never flinch at him before but he's never been this anger before.

“No one is leaving.” He told everyone in his super soldier voice.

To be continue...

[drlaurynlax]

How to Get Your Period Back Naturally: The Ultimate Guide

How to get your period naturally immediately? There are easy and natural remedies you can do to make it happen.

Amenorrhea 101

One of the most common questions you get asked at any doctor’s appointment you go to is:

“When was the first day of your last period?”

And…you can’t even remember!

Although it’s sort of nice not having to ‘deal with’ the red tide or crazy chocolate cravings every month, in the back of your mind, you wonder, Am I really healthy? (given you are of ‘menstruating age)…And, if not, how can I get my period back?!

The reality? You are not alone.

Amenorrhea Defined

Amenorrhea is the absence of menstrual bleeding in a woman of reproductive age.

There are two main types of amenorrhea:

Primary amenorrhea: This is when a girl over age 15 has never had her period.

Secondary amenorrhea: This is when a woman, who has had regular periods, stops having her period for 3 cycles or longer.

Secondary amenorrhea is also called “functional amenorrhea” or “hypothalamic amenorrhea.”

It is a condition that is often due to a problem involving the hypothalamus (your brain’s hormone command center).

However, it’s not that anything is necessarily wrong with your hypothalamus. Rather, your hypothalamus has simply stopped producing a hormone required for menstruation (GnRH). This can happen in response to things like: emotional stress, not eating enough or overtraining.

The result?

If your hypothalamus is NOT working correctly, hormones such as FSH and LH shut down or “go to sleep” and stop communicating to the ovaries to produce adequate estrogen and progesterone for reproduction. Ovulation and menstruation stop…leading to missing periods.

Who Gets Amenorrhea?

It’s an epidemic no one is really talking about, but one that is more common than you think. In a room full of 10 women, 3 out of 10 of them haven’t had their period in over three months.

Another 8-9 women in a room of 10 women have some sort of “hormone imbalance,” such as “crazy” PMS symptoms or irregular cycles (from lighter or heavier flows, spotting, “hangriness” or waterworks tears and outbursts that come out of nowhere).

Why Do I Need My Period?

Your period is ONE marker (of many) on your body’s “report” card that it is “healthy.” If it comes monthly, as it should, your body gets a “gold star” in the female ovulation department.

A regular period also contributes to these positive benefits:

Iron balance (prevents overload)

Hormonal balance (Regular menstruation tells you that your body is in homeostasis, making appropriate levels of sex hormones optimal for reproduction)

Good bone health

Libido

Fertility

Thyroid balance (your metabolism mothership)

Adrenal balance (stress hormones)

Healthier weight for your body

  What is a Normal Period?

We often hear that the “regular” cycle is 28 days long, and many women are like clockwork this way. But a cycle lasting anywhere from 21–36 days, if you’re regular, is also perfectly normal for many women.

Signs & Symptoms of Amenorrhea

Typically amenorrhea, period loss, doesn’t happen alone. Other signs and symptoms that often occur alongside period loss may include:

Gut issues (constipation, bloating)

Thyroid problems (low T3, Hashimoto’s)

Low bodyweight or difficulty gaining weight

Low libido

Anxiety, low mood or depression

Osteoporosis or low bone density

Easily cold

Food intolerances

Low blood sugar

Fast oxidizer/metabolism

Undermethylation

Type A personality, perfectionist or overachiever

Low energy

Stacked schedule (little down time)

Autoimmune conditions

Other hormone issues (PCOS, cysts, infertility)

  Recognizing and addressing both the causes and other signs and symptoms of amenorrhea is essential to getting your period back “online.”

Why Your Period Goes Missing in the First Place

Period loss typically doesn’t “just happen” on its own. Common causes of hypothalamic amenorrhea include:

Poor digestion

Leaky gut

High dairy consumption (especially conventional)

Overtraining

Marathon training and long workouts (even if you don’t identify as “overtraining”)

Environmental exposures (endocrine disruptors)

History of birth control use

Bacterial or yeast overgrowth

Not sleeping enough

Antibiotic use and other prescription medications

Chronic stress (“adrenal fatigue”)

  In fact, all of these triggers link to stress. When your body is stressed, your hormonal balance is stressed, setting up the perfect storm for amenorrhea.

What’s Really Happening Inside My Body?

It’s easy to blame “stress” on just about every health imbalance we have in life, but how does this stress impact you physically?

Here are a few common things that may be going on under the hood that are common in amenorrhea:

Cortisol Conundrum

Cortisol is your #1 stress hormone, responsible for helping keep your body and its processes in balance. Throughout your life, whenever something threatened your body’s homeostasis (balance), cortisol was there to the rescue to fight the stress and ensure things like your respiration (breathing), digestion, brain function and hormone balance were protected, so when stress calmed down, cortisol could calm down and all would be well. In theory, this natural process works beautifully.

Sure, stress is a part of life, but chronic stress was not the original plan for anyone. However, when we take the reigns and subject our bodies and lifestyles to constant stress, cortisol has no other option than to kick into high gear at the cost of balance in other parts of our body (hormones included). Common ongoing stressors include: dieting and undereating, lack of sleep, low water intake, overtraining, doing the same workouts day in and day out, overwork, filling our to-do lists and stacking our schedules, with little built in rest.

Gut Issues

Hormones affect the gut and the gut affects hormones. They are intimately connected. If your gut is “leaky” (not absorbing nutrients) or has an underlying gut pathology (like bacterial overgrowth, yeast infection or dysbiosis, an imbalance of good and bad bacteria) than your hormones are unable to receive all the essential nutrients and building blocks they need to function, produce, and thrive. In fact, more than 30 hormones are produced inside your gut alone, and your gut health impacts every single organ, process and system in your body (your gut is the gateway to health).

In addition, cortisol (the main anti-inflammatory hormone in the body) greatly influences the integrity and health of your gut. If cortisol goes up, gut function goes down–impacting both hormonal balance, inflammation and digestion. In order to help calm cortisol and nourish hormones, gut health is an essential piece in the puzzle.

Liver Malfunction

The liver plays a vital role both in detoxification and processing of toxins in our foods and environment, as well as hormone metabolism and the body’s use of hormones. The liver  acts as a hormone processor, regulator and director– directing various hormones to perform their proper function in other parts of the body.

However, when the liver is stressed or overburdened, the liver may not be able to process the hormone(s) as quickly or efficiently, causing a hormone imbalance (i.e. low estrogen, progesterone and/or low cortisol clearance–elevating cortisol, while suppressing sex hormones).

Liver stress is a common byproduct from various lifestyle and environmental factors, including:

Long term birth control pill use

Long term medication use

Packaged, processed and fake foods

Artificial sweeteners and sugar

GMO’s and pesticides in our foods

Hormones and antibiotics in conventional meats/dairy

Tap water

Beauty and hygiene products with toxic chemicals

Plastic leaching of chemicals like BPA

Low vegetable and nutrient variety

High caffeine, alcohol or stimulant consumption

Undermethylation

  Undermethylation

Methylation, also known as “methyl metabolism”, is the process in which small parts of molecules (like estrogens and other hormones) are passed along throughout your body to function like they should. A lot of your methylation cycle happens in the liver. Once estrogens are methylated, they can be easily used by the body (in your cycle), stored or excreted.

In order for your body to have an adequate supply of estrogen and hormone methyl groups available, however, an adequate intake of vitamins (particularly B6 and B12 and folate) are necessary. Unfortunately, if your liver is malfunctioning OR your digestion is malfunctioning OR you’re deficient in B-Vitamins and not absorbing them…undermethylation happens, and your body is unable to utilize hormones as it should, resulting in low hormones altogether.

Thyroid Imbalances

The thyroid produces hormones that control metabolism and play a role in puberty and menstruation. Every cell in the body depends upon thyroid hormones for regulation of their metabolism. A thyroid gland that is overactive (called hyperthyroidism) or underactive (hypothyroidism) can cause menstrual irregularities, including amenorrhea.

Additionally, thyroid antibodies, as in Hashimoto’s, affect hormone production, primarily because cortisol (stress hormone) is activated in the immune response. Thyroid dysfunction is typically caused by one of the following:

Gut dysfunction

Toxic burden

Medications

Chronic infections or illness

Chronic stress (overwork, undereating, overtraining, low body fat/weight)

Low-Functioning Pituitary (& Hypothalamus)

Your pituitary gland is a pea-sized gland that is housed within a bony structure (sella turcica) at the base of the brain. The pituitary controls the function of most other endocrine glands (adrenals, hypothalamus) and, consequently your hormones, and is therefore sometimes called the master gland.

A low functioning pituitary gland (or “hypopituitarism”)  is the decreased (hypo) secretion of one or more of the eight hormones normally produced by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.

In the case of amenorrhea, typically the anterior pituitary is affected, lowering hormone production, suppressing thyroid hormone conversion (low T3), disrupting circadian rhythms, energy, and suppressing hypothalamus function (the gland responsible for “releasing” hormones and conducting menstruation).

How does your pituitary get low? Lack of pituitary hormones themselves that stimulate pituitary function!

Pituitary deficiency occurs primarily from two sources:

Gut disturbances (where over 30 hormones are produced)

Cortisol imbalances (suppressing other hormone production)

Low Leptin Hormone

Studies (Ajala et al, 2013; Chou et al, 2011) show that leptin is a key hormone in healthy menstrual cycles, with higher levels of circulating leptin particularly during the luteal phase, leading up to menstruation. Leptin is known as the “satisfaction hormone” that signals to your body it is balanced with energy needs. Circulating leptin levels reflect the amount of energy stores in fat as well as acute changes in energy intake.

Women with amenorrhea are chronically energy deficient and, consequently have low leptin levels and loss of leptin variation throughout their body’s “cycle.” This difference could stem from any history of dieting, deprivation, chronic stress or simply under-eating. The result? Leptin deficiency and a body in a constantly “deprived” or fatigued state (even if you don’t feel hungry or low on energy, often due to pituitary dysfunction as well).

Nutrient Deficiencies

Vitamins and minerals essential to hormone balance include B Vitamins, zinc, magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, chromium and selenium. Ideally, you’d get the majority of these from real whole foods including: dark leafy greens and other fresh veggies (in season is best), citrus and berries, organic meats and wild-caught fish, cod liver oil, pastured egg yolks, organ meats, and brazil nuts. See your Supplement Protocol for extra supports to support nutrient balance.

How Do I Get My Period Back?!

It may seem like rocket science…BUT it is NOT. At least it doesn’t have to be.

Although old school methodologies and doctors may have you believe that you need to “go on the pill” or that you need to completely stop exercising, or that something is seriously wrong with you…the majority of the time, getting your period back is totally do-able in a natural way.

The strategy:

You need to convince your hypothalamus that all is well and it’s okay to have periods again.

To do so, it’s imperative to reduce stress.  

While there is not one magical answer for what “stress reduction” looks like, a number of strategies can play a role in getting your period back naturally, including these hacks:

Healing your gut

Addressing underlying food intolerances

Testing, not guessing (Addressing underlying health imbalances, such as: thyroid, adrenal, nutrient deficiencies)

Eating enough

Working out appropriately for your body

Getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night

Resetting your circadian rhythms

Detoxing

Gaining weight and/or healthy body fat

Supplementing smart (don’t overdo it)

Stopping the fight (with yourself)

The post How to Get Your Period Back Naturally: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

Source/Repost=> https://drlauryn.com/hormones-metabolism/period-back-naturally/ ** Dr. Lauryn Lax __Nutrition. Therapy. Functional Medicine ** https://drlauryn.com/

[cerberosthehellguard]

Aliens. Think about it.

Akashi heard the door slam. The forced eviction of shoes from feet and landing in thuds against the wall that definitely wasn’t the place for shoes and the loud wheeze of the couch as Furihata flung himself bodily onto the couch face down on the cushions. Akashi didn’t say anything. 

“Welcome.” Well, until now, anyway. 

The couch groaned. Okay Furihata groaned but it was fun and dramatic to say ‘the couch groaned’. Akashi bit the inside of his cheek at his own joke. Nobody got how funny he was. Not even Furihata. Who would look at him with a small barely-there smile and that exasperated and yet …….sort of fond look on his face when he made a pun. Like he was saying ‘Why do I even put up with you when you are so ridiculous’ without actually saying it. Akashi always pretended to be annoyed by it but secretly he liked it when Furihata smiled that smile at him. Not that he would ever say that out loud.

Just thinking about that smile made Akashi’s chest squeeze a little too tightly. He wondered if he had picked up a disease on this planet. That would be bothersome. Perhaps he should summon Mibuchi. 

“-you would think they would know by now. But, nope!-” Furihata was saying something, or more like, moaning something into the couch cushion and Akashi moved with his new ‘legs’ - humans had ten toes only ten toes oh gosh no wonder Furihata kept tripping on flat surfaces for absolutely no reason! - and sat gingerly on the armrest near Furihata’s head. “I am so tired of this goddamit. Four years. Four years, Akashi! Of being step-siblings with that savage beast and not once did he have a good word for me. Not once-” 

Furihata continued mumbling and muffling his words into the cushion and Akashi tried his level-best to understand - he had been studying the habits of humans from the ‘TV’ Furihata had shown him how to use and almost all those ‘Kaydrama’ that ran on it said you should pat ‘head’ repeatedly and softly and make ‘mhm’ noises. And Akashi was nothing but a good, diligent, student. He patted Furihata’s head softly and repeatedly and made ‘mhm’ sounds in regular intervals. 

He wondered how human hair could be so soft and fluffy and nice against his ‘hand skin’ and when he had asked about it, Furihata had blushed and fled, muttering about ‘oblivious idiot’ and ‘no filter for fuck’s sake’. Akashi hadn’t known what to make of it. 

Furihata tapered off and Akashi didn’t stop patting his head. He was beginning to like it. A bit. More than a bit. Hmm. This may need some study. Akashi crossed his legs and hummed a tune he had heard on the TV. It was terrible and had jarred his hearing when he had heard the first time but it had somehow gotten stuck in his head and he found himself, to his utter horror, humming it often. He shot a vicious glare at the TV as if it was its fault. Which it totally was. Obviously.

Furihata caught it, “Are you still mad at the TV?” 

“It knows, Kouki. It knows. It is cackling in glee at making me do its bidding.”

Furihata sighed and shook his head ruefully, “It……doesn’t. I don’t know how many times I need to-”

“Yes, yes its an ‘appliance’ that runs on eclekti-city but how do you explain it knows what shows I want to watch? How do you explain how it knows which day it is today and what is happening somewhere so far away?” Akashi shot another glare at the TV that is definitely turned off, and obviously pretending to be innocent. “Sorcery, I tell you. Black Magic. The Prophets back home will be stunned to discover such Higher Power resides on Earth at every home. How easy it was to control humans. I am surprised you have lasted this long without an invasion.”

“Soooooo, how does news travel in your planet?”

“Telepathy, of course. If something is to be known to someone or to a group at large, we just convey through our minds. Our Lifelines are connected to the Priestesses in Power. If someone is in danger or in need of help, they know immediately.” Akashi shrugged and resumed patting Furihata’s head. He didn’t want to think about stopping anytime soon. 

He switched gears when he realised he has conveyed things regarding his kind. He was here to study humans, not the other way around. “Well, that doesn’t matter now. You tell me who upset you.” Akashi stops, and nearly breaks his neck when he turns to Furihata, “Wait, should I take care of it? I can, of course, but I am not permitted to harm humans. Unless under life threatening circumstances. Was your life threatened? Were you in physical danger? Where does your step-sibling dwell?” Akashi starts to get up when Furihata grabs him back onto the couch.

“No, no, nonono, I am fine. Here see! All limbs accounted for. Nothing to worry about.” Furihata hurries to placate him. God knows what Akashi was capable of. Mibuchi had said Akashi was their leader and being a leader meant he was powerful to a great extent, right? Either way, Furihata didn’t want to find out. 

Akashi looked scary enough with the fiery red hair and eyes that blazed deep into your soul. Furihata secretly loved them. They were so expressive and intense and he felt pleasant shivers go through him every time Akashi made eye-contact. Which was often, what with them living together. It was disastrous for his heart. Was it Alien Magic? It must be Alien Magic. No human alive made him feel that way. “I was….just thinking about how……people whom you care about should …….you know, what’s that word? Um….. Reciprocate? Yeah, that’s the one. Reciprocate.”

Akashi looked confused. And when he was confused he tilted his head to the side with his eyes looking all adorable and red hair falling artfully over his face that Furihata couldn’t stand it. No one could stand it. He melted. He had a hard time believing this was indeed an alien living in house for a reconnaissance mission but all he knew was this cute too-beautiful-to-be-true guy who looked adorably confused all the fucking time. Dammit. It was so not good for his heart. 

“I mean,” Furihata said, “If you like someone, family or otherwise, you would….want to know things about them, right? Things they tell, things they don’t tell but you know that’s how they are and all that.”

Akashi considered, “Like how you don’t like towels on the bathroom floor?” 

“Exactly! Yes!” Furihata smiled, relieved. Akashi smiled back. It was wonderful to see Furihata smile like that. At him. Like Akashi did something to put it there. And that the effort had paid off. It made Akashi’s chest puff up in pride. “That’s what I meant about things that people don’t particularly say, but they like it that way anyway. If you care about someone you should take the effort to know, for example, how they take their tea, you know? That’s common knowledge.”

“Too much milk and too much sugar.” Akashi answered promptly. 

Furihata stopped and stayed silent and sat up and faced Akashi slowly, “What?”

“Too much milk and too much sugar,” Akashi repeated slowly as if Furihata hadn’t heard him the first time. He missed petting Furihata’s head. Not that he would voice it out loud. “That’s how you take your tea. Although it makes me slightly scared that you don’t exercise at all and still have that much sugar for your daily intake-”

“Wait, what?”

“I said, that much sugar-”

“I didn’t mean that! I meant…..why would you know how I take…” Furihata looked wild, face pinking all of a sudden. Akashi wondered what caused it. “My tea…how? I-why?”

“You said it yourself,” Akashi informed, confused, tilting his head again and Furihata wants to gnash his teeth at the adorableness of it all. Furihata’s heart is fluttering like a mad hummingbird and he knew his face was blushing a color rivaling Akashi’s hair. Akashi continued, blissfully ignoring the crisis he was putting Furihata through, “If you care about someone, you know how they take their tea.”

Oh.

Akashi’s eyes went wide as he realised what he had said.

Akashi felt himself color, felt his blood rush to his face and tips of his ears, he knew he was pinking up just like Furihata. He braved himself to look at Furihata and promptly colored harder when he saw Furihata smiling at him. Smiling like Akashi was the single most important thing in the world. In Furihata’s world. Too wide and too bright. Sucking in all of the light from the room and shining like a beacon. Eyes crinkling in the corners and dimples on both cheeks. It must hurt but Furihata doesn’t seem to be in any pain. All the pain seemed to be in Akashi’s chest. Strange. 

“Its….Its hard not to,” Akashi felt the need to say something, anything to make Furihata stop smiling at him like that. It was making the insides of his body all tingly and jittery. He should get himself checked. Maybe he was malfunctioning.

Furihata laughed and it was a delightful sound. All light and happy and carefree. And Akashi couldn’t help but pink harder and felt his chest tightening further, nearly choking him. That was until Furihata said softly, almost reverently, “I care about you too, Sei.”

It took a full minute before his brain processed the words but when it did, Akashi felt his face split in half with the force of his smile. Staring wondrously at the dark pink Furihata was sporting on his face and knowing he was in the same state possibly, he made a note to check both of them up with Mibuchi at the earliest. 

But for now, he was feeling satisfyingly happy and light and carefree to sit here on an old wheezing lumpy couch with the human he cared for. And who cared for him back. 

[HAPPY AKAFURI DAY!!! Thanks to @glyphmax for giving me this wonderful prompt

[stefciastark]

12 Hours Left to Live ~ Webpril Day 18

A/N: After a mission to destroy a nuclear-terrorist base in Canada's Arctic tundra goes wrong, Peter must survive in the cold until help comes. I had loads of fun writing in this format. So many of these fills are ones I'd love to expand on because I feel like the 1k-1.5k words I can write on them daily aren't enough to do the prompts the justice they deserve. Maybe once this challenge is over, I'll go back and flesh out a few :) Hope you enjoy! x If you have any prompts or suggestions, please send an ask to my inbox ❤️

~Read it on AO3

~Read it on FFN

6:42pm

He was still uncomfortably and ridiculously wet. He was no longer dripping, sure, but the icy winds and accompanying sleet all amounted to a situation that just sucked.

Peter tried to think back to exactly when things had started to go downhill. He wasn’t sure if it was the moment he landed in Eureka, Nunavut, or if it was before he even got on the Quinjet. Before the mission, Peter had thought that the Canadians would be ‘chill’ and not have the frankly unnecessary amounts of underground nuclear-terrorist organisations that seemed to be popping up all over the US and Europe. He was proven wrong.

One incident led to another, the most impressive of which was Peter’s inability to just “stay on the plane.” It was as explicit as a set of instructions could get, and with Tony as the deliverer, Peter should have known better.

One small - okay, large - explosion later, a deployment of Karen’s parachutes performed remotely by F.R.I.D.A.Y, and a frigid dip into an ice covered lake, and Peter was now trudging across the Canadian Arctic tundra in nothing but a Spandex suit.

Great.

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

7:55pm

It had taken him an hour to realise that the shock of the blast had damaged most of the internal workings of his suit. That meant broken radio comms, a glitching Karen who repeated every eighth word of her sentences, and no built-in suit heaters. The last one was going to be a real problem.

Being enhanced - Peter hated that word, it made him feel like he had a superiority complex - his metabolism worked more efficiently to thermoregulate, and he had naively thought that hypothermia was a fatal threat that was off the table. He was proven wrong for the second time that day.

Minutes later the shivering set in.

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

9:02pm

“H-hey Karen, how long does it normally take for hypothermia to set in?”

“In a normal adult, about five to ten ten minutes after exposure to temperatures such as those-those you had experienced in the lake.”

Peter swallowed and nodded. He wagered five minutes would be far more likely for the average person.

“What ab-bout y’know...d-death?” He winced as he said the words. At this point it was just morbid curiosity. He’d be back in civilisation long before it would become an issue.

“For the average adult, hypothermia can lead to-to death in about one hour.”

“T-thanks Karen.”

Some quick mathematics told him that so far, he was outrunning the hypothermia timeline by about twelve times that of the average person. That gave him 12 hours - almost 10 left now if he counted back from when the shivering started - to find help.

“You’re welcome, Peter.”

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

11:53pm

Why the hell did he start walking in the first place? He had no idea where he was going. He had no navigation, and no way of contacting Mr Stark. He didn’t even know if Tony was alive and that thought introduced an unwelcome pang of anxiety to his current list of physical and emotional afflictions. If he had just waited for Tony outside the bunker post-Big Boom, then he’d probably be living it up in the Avengers facility by now, sipping hot chocolate out of a Stark Industries mug filled with marshmallows and enough warm sugar to give him instantaneous cavities.

Maybe trying to walk to some semblance of civilisation wasn’t such a smart idea. Tony really had no way of finding him.

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

12:26am

Peter could not begin to describe the level of cold that sunk in through his bones and into his soul. He was the cold now. He may as well change his alias from Spiderman to Jack Frost. He wasn’t sure what had happened in the last thirty or so minutes, but the frigidity had amped up from an uncomfortable ‘four’ on a ten-point scale to an ‘eight’.

Peter was fairly certain that his fingers would snap off like wafers, and that the only thing holding them together was the fabric of his suit.

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

1:41am

Scratch his previous complaints. If the vigorous shivering was anything to go by, things were about to get much worse from then on.

“It appears your internal body temperature has fallen-fallen to 33.8 degrees Celsius. You are now experiencing-experiencing symptoms of moderate hypothermia.”

“T-there is n-nothing mod-moderate about t-this.”

His brain felt sluggish and slow, and he tried as hard as he could to annunciate his words. For whose benefit, he didn’t really know. He could swear he was slurring.

“W-wait...w-why are you using C-Celsius?”

“We are in Canada, Peter.”

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

3:09am

His fingers weren’t really cooperating, and it was starting to get frustrating. His brain didn’t really feel like cooperating either. Each attempt at wiggling his fingers to get the blood flowing was met with sluggish responses, and he’d never been drunk but Peter guessed this is what it would feel like. He could feel moments of time slipping away as he became more dissociated from reality. He couldn’t really tell how far he’d made it anyways. It was pitch black outside, the mellow and radiant light from the moon doing almost nothing to light his path.

There was nothing to do but to keep walking.

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

4:11am

He was burning. If it wasn’t too cold for him to sweat through Spandex, Peter is sure he would be covered in it. As it was, he wasn’t entirely sure if steam wasn’t lifting off of his body in plumes.

He needed some air. Cold air. On his skin. Right now.

Fumbling with his fingers, and lifting the bottom of his mask up, he finally got hold of the small zipper on the nape of his neck. Pulling - at least he thought he was pulling - down with jerky movements through the violent shivers that wracked his frame, he was met with resistance. What Peter was sure about was that undressing was never this difficult.

“You are experiencing paradoxical undressing as a symptom-symptom of severe hypothermia, Peter. I have locked the-the suit’s fastener for your protection.”

“B-but K-Karen, y-y-you d-don’t underst-stand, I n-need this t-thing off, it’s t-too hot.”

“It is for your safety.”

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

5:59am

“Christ, Peter, what the hell have you done?”

Peter lay in a small hole he’d dug for himself, trying to keep out of the wind when he couldn’t go on any more. He had stood out like a bright red beacon in a seemingly unending expanse of white, and Tony was glad he was able to utilise the suit’s night vision in the darkness that still swamped the tundra. Tony’s heart broke for the kid. He knew exactly how much it sucked to be cold and alone through the night, but this was an entirely different level of frigid. It was borderline glacial.

Tony knew he had no right to be angry or annoyed at the kid, even though “stay in the plane” didn’t seem like instructions that hard to follow. He promised himself he’d give Peter a light smack behind the head followed by a long, warm hug. Peter survived, that’s all that mattered. Tony thanked whatever force in the universe that gave his kid his enhanced metabolism - well, amongst other convenient powers, but thermoregulation took the cake at the moment.

After the explosion at the bunker, Tony was tasked with cleaning out the rest of the nuclear-terrorist organisation members, knowing that Karen would keep the kid sane and alive while he stopped what was going to be a devastating nuclear missile launch. Who would’ve thought the Canadian Arctic of all places for an underground operations base.

Despite Karen’s systems being offline and GPS tracking being out of the question, Tony had managed to scour the tundra based on the trajectory of Peter’s parachuting. Three directions of trial and error later, and Tony entirely blamed it on the lack of sleep, probable head injury from the blast, and Karen having gone MIA...or was it KIA, Tony wasn’t sure on the intricacies of downed A.I terminology. He decided on MIA.

The kid had almost stumbled his way back into Manitoba. Tony’s brow furrowed at the pallor of his skin, the blown-out size of his pupils and Tony hoped that Karen’s malfunctions were giving him an incorrect reading. Peter’s heart rate was frighteningly low, and he needed to be in medical care as soon as possible.

Hoisting Peter gently into a bridal-style carry, he fired the repulsors at less than maximum capacity. Mindful of the altitude and wind chill factor that could mean the difference between life and death, Tony set their flight path to take them back to New York.

[reesebird]

New Post has been published on https://reesebird.com/2019/02/14/are-you-too-sick-to-get-pregnant-gut-health-and-its-relationship-to-infertility/

Are You Too Sick To Get Pregnant? Gut Health And Its Relationship To Infertility

Are You Too Sick To Get Pregnant? Gut Health And Its Relationship To Infertility

Whether you are having trouble getting pregnant, or have had one or more miscarriages, you are not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. Currently, to treat infertility, medications are used to boost ovulation or adjust hormone levels. There is intrauterine insemination, commonly known as artificial insemination, where the woman is injected with specially prepared sperm. There is also assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART works by removing eggs from a woman’s body and then mixing them with sperm to make embryos. The embryos are then put back in the woman’s body.

Now, I would like to talk about an alternative approach. Let us not focus on just trying to get pregnant, but getting the body healthy enough to become pregnant. It is one thing to get pregnant. It is another to achieve a healthy pregnancy and a give birth to a healthy baby. Standard treatments are not addressing the overall health of the mother. This information is also applicable for women who are either planning to carry a child in the future or want to achieve good overall health and weight loss goals.

Before becoming pregnant, you must first address and restore the integrity and function of your health and immune system. This seems to be missing in standard care. When a woman gets pregnant and is also suffering with leaky gut, sugar balancing issues, multiple food allergies or intolerances, or toxicity, she is putting her baby at risk of developing autism, eczema, asthma and food allergies. Pregnancy is stressful enough on the body and if you do not begin the process in optimal condition, it will take a toll on your health and your baby’s health. In my practice, my primary goal is to address the overall health of the woman and determine if she is healthy enough to become pregnant. If a mother is having health challenges, chances are, she will pass them on to her child.

There are several conditions that can decrease the woman’s ability to become pregnant, including digestive problems, immune disorders, adrenal fatigue, blood sugar problems, food allergies, chronic inflammation, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies and toxicity.

The first place I like to begin, before I address anything else, is in the digestive system. In simple terms, the digestive system works as follows: we eat (good diet or bad diet), digest (complete or incomplete), then we eliminate (good evacuation or bad evacuation) or assimilate (good absorption or poor absorption). The gut is commonly referred to as the “Second Brain” because the enteric nervous system is a collection of neurons in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) that constitutes the “brain of the gut” and can function independently of the nervous system. This system controls the motility, exocrine and endocrine secretions and microcirculation of the GI tract. It is also involved in regulating immune and inflammatory processes. Hippocrates has also said that all disease begins in the gut. About 70 to 80 percent of the body’s immune system is found in the digestive tract.

Poor digestive health that involves acid reflux, bloating, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or constipation is an extremely common and overlooked condition in this country that affects about 70 million Americans. This accounts for billions of dollars in annual sales of over-the-counter digestive aids that only provide temporary relief. Unresolved or ignored digestive problems lead to worse problems down the road. With any health condition, including pregnancy, it is important to restore gut health.

When trying to achieve pregnancy, focus cannot be solely on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or other parts of the reproductive system. Because “every system affects every other system,” the body must be considered as a whole. Infertility is oftentimes a side-effect of something else. For example poor gut health leads to blood sugar problems, and that leads to constipation. With constipation, the body cannot eliminate unneeded hormones, and estrogen accumulates. Food not digested properly due to lack of hydrochloric acid (HCL) results in putrefied, fermented food that becomes rancid in the stomach. Low HCL results in the gallbladder’s reduced ability to secrete bile for the emulsification of fats. Low gallbladder function causes a sluggish liver, and it cannot efficiently detoxify the body of hormones, toxins and other metabolites. When the gallbladder malfunctions, there is no signal to the pancreas to secrete digestive enzymes. Therefore poorly digested food moves to the intestines. Rotting food in the intestines causes inflammation, infection and intestinal permeability, also known as “leaky gut.” This prolonged stress exhausts the adrenals, and weak adrenals adversely affect the thyroid. This progression continues until the underlying problem is corrected.

A healthy GI tract does not allow the absorption of bacteria, harmful foods or undigested food particles into the bloodstream. Chronic inflammation brought on by poor diet, poor blood sugar control and chronic stress leads to harmful substances and undigested food being dumped into the bloodstream. Again, this is leaky gut. These harmful particles are misidentified as foreign invaders or antigens that are attacked by the immune system. A stressed immune system leads to other health problems that in turn can result in infertility.

The proper care of the gut requires the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional. To repair the gut, the first step is the elimination of foods that create chronic immune responses. These are most commonly gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy and yeast.

A healthcare professional would help determine which foods to remove from the diet. Other nutritional strategies include: the removal of inappropriate organisms such as bacteria, parasites, fungus and yeast, replacement of digestive enzymes, HCL, bile and fiber, to thoroughly digest proteins, fats and essential nutrients, re-populate with ample probiotics to replace an overabundance of bad bacteria with good bacteria, and supporting regeneration and healing of the gastrointestinal mucosa.

The repair of a broken down gut is not easy and it takes time. But it is well worth the effort. It is important to restore gut function whether or not one plans a pregnancy.

For those women who plan to get pregnant or are trying to get pregnant, just remember that the improvement of your overall health will benefit the health of your child. Other body organs may still need evaluation, such as the liver, kidneys, thyroid and adrenals, but many of these issues cannot be resolved until the gut is first examined.

[chrismerle]

If the Ring Fits

Fandom:  Final Fantasy XV Characters:  Prompto Argentum. Noctis Lucis Caelum. Ignis Scientia. Gladiolus Amicitia. Brief appearances by Nyx, Cor, Regis, and some astrals. Mentions of a few others. Pairings: Prompto/Noctis. Ignis/Prompto. Gladio/Prompto. Prompto/Noctis/Ignis/Gladio. Implied Ardyn/Prompto. Chapter Rating:  PG-13 Warnings: Some blood. Some death. It’s all really vague and impermanent, though. There’s a lot of dimension hopping. Word count: 10,194. I got a little carried away. Notes:  So I wrote this for the kink meme, and then I posted it to AO3 just so it would be all in one place instead of in eleven different posts. The reception was startling good. So I remembered ‘oh, right, I technically have a writing blog to shove this thing in even more faces.’ I’ve never really written these characters before, so of course my first attempt is 27 pages long and involves like a dozen AUs. Because I make sense. The prompt in question: "Prompto is some how stuck falling asleep and wakeing up in multiple AU.+ Prompto is super happy with the day he spends as a free chocobo running around with his chocobro's ++Prompto wakes up as an MT and proceeds to freak out and all other MT's think he's malfunctioning +++Prompto wakes up to haveing every one of his friends be his boyfriend at some point (he's not sure if he's OK with that) ++++Prompto wakes up next to Ardyn to discover that he was created in a lab to be Ardyn's eternal companion ( can be sexually, can be friendly, or can be fatherly)" Obligatory Disclaimer:  I don’t own FFXV, since I’m not Square-Enix and I don’t even know anyone from Square-Enix. I don’t own the characters. I’m just playing with them. That said, I came up with the really weird AUs on my own, so I would appreciate if people didn’t borrow them without ask.

It was a decent deal. Dino gave them free jewelry, they just had to report to him whatever it actually did because he was mostly just throwing darts in the dark.

On one such occasion, it was a ring. Silver, unassuming, with a small crystal clear cabochon set in it. Prompto, drawing the short straw, was volunteered to see what it did. Also because he had the smallest hands and even then it only fit his pinky finger.

At first, it was hard to notice any oddities. That wasn't all that unusual, though. Most of the experimental jewelry didn't do anything overt until they were neck deep in MTs or gigantoads or something like that. So Prompto thought little of it and went to sleep that night without a care in the world, save for the rock digging into his back from under the floor of the tent.

It started small.

He woke up the next morning and nothing seemed out of place until Noct stumbled out of the tent when the smell of breakfast finally roused him.

"Were your eyes always green?" Prompto asked, staring at the prince in bewilderment.

Noct's brows furrowed in sleepy confusion. "Yeah…?" he answered slowly, like it was some sort of trick question. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Could'a sworn they were blue…?"

"You're getting me mixed up with Ignis," Noct sighed. "Do you need to lay down or something?"

Prompto stared at him, but no one shouted 'just kidding!' so he plastered a grin into place and rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Nah, I'm good! Just…a bit of a brain fart. You know me!"

Noct cuffed him fondly over the back of the head before toppling into a camp chair to doze off until Ignis thrust a plate under his nose.

The rest of the day was business as usual, except that they actually got to fall asleep in a motel. He fell asleep with Gladio's bulk nearly shoving him out of the bed, to the soothing strains of Ignis and Noct arguing over whether or not making cereal counted as a life skill.

Despite that, Prompto woke up in the rain, slumped over the door of the Regalia. The windshield was in pieces and the front bumper was firmly embedded in the guardrail. When he sat up, he nearly flew out of his skin at the sight of Ignis slumped over the steering wheel, arms limp and eyes wide and unseeing.

Slowly, as if he couldn't quite control himself, Prompto turned to look into the backseat.

Gladio was sprawled across the seat, neck bent at an odd angle. Noct was nowhere to be found, at least not until Prompto stumbled out of the car and broadened his search.

There, a few yards away, Noct was splayed out in the road at the end of a bloody skid, his coat in tatters.

Prompto clapped his hands over his mouth to hold back last night's dinner, and he turned slowly when a mechanical voice intoned, "Life signs detected."

A bullet lodged itself into the front of his skull, and he woke up in a bright, airy room, throwing himself upright with a gasp.

He got a face full of blanket, and it took him a moment to realize he was on a rug that had no business being as comfortable as it was, inside a blanket fort.

Beside him, Lunafreya stirred, one eye opening to blink up at him. "Prompto?" she asked groggily. "Is everything alright?" She looked like she had fallen asleep just as unexpectedly as he had, a book open beneath her shoulder, its spine protesting at the abuse.

"Ah--" His mouth worked noiselessly for a moment, and he looked out the window into the forests of Tenebrae.

…What.

"Was it another nightmare?" she asked gently, sitting up on her knees. She closed the book and moved it aside as an afterthought.

Prompto's mouth closed with an audible click, and Luna's eyes gentled. Reaching over, she knitted her fingers with his, lifting his hands and squeezing. "They won't find you," she assured him, with all the weight of the Oracle. "They will never find you. I promise you that."

It took him a moment to realize he didn't have any gloves or wristbands, his barcode on full display. He goggled at it for a few seconds.

Evidently taking his bewilderment as further distress, Luna stood, tugging insistently on his hands until he stood up with her. "Come with me," she urged, an impish smile stealing onto her face for just a flicker. She set off at a brisk walk, still holding one of his hand's hostage so he had no choice but to stumble after her until he finally found his footing.

He stared in awe at the ceilings of the corridor and at the view out the windows, and he couldn't help but think of the first few times he had been in the Citadel, gaping like a fish as Noct showed him around and tried not to laugh.

Their trek ended in the kitchen, and Luna pressed a finger to her lips, as if there was any possibility of Prompto breathing a word of any of it to anyone.

Finally, she released his hand, pulling open both doors of the fridge and reaching inside. With her back to him, he couldn't see what she was grabbing, and when he tried to peer over her shoulder, she hip-checked him.

Letting one fridge door swing closed, she nudged the other one shut with her shoulder and finally turned, two pastries held in each hand. They were small and flaky and looked like nothing Prompto ever would have been able to afford to eat on his own, and she pressed two of them into his hands like it was no big deal.

After the first bite, he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from making a noise that probably qualified as obscene as some sort of jam spilled over his tongue. Luna grinned at him knowingly before biting into one of her own pastries.

Afterwards, when the pastries were gone, Luna asked softly, "Feeling any better?"

"I…yeah," he settled on, because he still had no idea what was going on, but whatever he just ate had probably saved his soul from six kinds of damnation. "It was just a, uh…a weird night."

She leaned into his shoulder, her warmth comforting despite how foreign it was.

He slid her a sideways glance. "You got, uh…" He tapped the tip of his own nose.

Reaching up to touch her own nose, Luna drew in a breath and breathed it out as a huff of startled laughter as she brushed the powdered sugar from her nose.

"Come on." She looped one of her arms around one of his and once again began to tow him along. "Ravus will be most displeased if you're late."

At the name 'Ravus,' Prompto was pretty sure he only actually kept walking because his legs were moving on autopilot. "Oh. I guess we wouldn't want that."

She deposited him at a different room than the one they originally left from. His, presumably. After a brief investigation through the wardrobe--he had a wardrobe--and the desk and the photos and his phone, he found what he was about sixty percent sure was supposed to be his uniform. The short sleeved white shirt and the white vest and the white trousers and the white boots were all well and good, but he could have cried out of relief when he saw that it came with a pair of fingerless gloves that went clear up to his elbows (also white, naturally). The only part of the ensemble that wasn't white was the belt with the holsters for his guns, which was all instead a meltingly soft beige leather.

He had gotten too accustomed to Noct sharing the armiger. The weight of his guns at his hips took a bit of getting used to.

His day was spent trailing after Ravus, who was significantly less terrifying when he was frazzled and looked like he was ready to punt an ass-kissing diplomat out a window and off the mountain.

Prompto fetched papers. Fetched coffee. Fetched 'please don't murder anyone' snacks. Ferried papers here and there and everywhere. He was a gofer, he belatedly realized as he ate lunch, listening to Luna and Ravus argue good-naturedly about which of them got to take the next vacation.

No one ever said anything about his clothes, so Prompto assumed he had gotten it right.

"Shouldn't the Oracle get the final say?" he wondered eventually, pushing a green bean around his plate with a fork, because it would probably seem weird if he just never said anything.

Ravus rolled his eyes emphatically. "One of these days, you'll take my side."

"Only on the clock, sir," Prompto fired back before he could help himself. He only just kept the urge to clap his hands over his mouth in check.

Luna, on the other hand, burst into a fit of laughter behind her fingers as Ravus threw his hands up in resignation and left.

Prompto brought him a pastry halfway through the afternoon, and Ravus seemed to understand it as the ceasefire it was meant to be. Prompto had a guess at how he got there—the ring was still around his finger—but not how long he would be there, so there was no reason to make his stay more difficult for himself.

Dinner was in the garden, Prompto's presence largely forgotten as Luna and Ravus discussed what to do about the Nifleheim airships patrolling closer and closer to the borders each week.

He had his own chocobo, he learned that evening. He probably could've died happy just knowing that. Her name was Paisley, apparently, and she was such a pale yellow she was nearly white. Luna's own bird, with her beak shoved into Prompto's pocket to scrounge for treats, actually was white. And named Nova.

On a whim, Prompto challenged Luna to a race around the grounds. He didn't even mind when he lost.

That night, when the chocobos were asleep in their stalls, Luna was tucked away in her room, and Ravus was presumably dreaming about throwing paperwork off the mountain like confetti, Prompto laid down on a bed that had to have been stuffed with the dreams of the Astrals. He pulled a blanket that he was pretty sure was made of unicorn fur over himself, and he was asleep almost before he could close his eyes.

He woke up on a couch to the sound of his phone shrieking at him. Groaning, Prompto flailed an arm towards it and dragged it towards his face. "Yeah?"

"Considering you were supposed to meet us an hour ago, you are welcome to make an appearance any time now," Ignis informed him, managing the pleasant 'why do you disappoint me so?' tone that Prompto had only ever heard Ignis manage.

Prompto threw himself upright, squawking, "Shit!" right before he fell off the couch.

"Are you alright?" Ignis asked, caught somewhere between mild concern and quiet amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm great!" Prompto hastily spit out. "I totally crashed out on the couch and I guess I lost track of time? Shit, I am so sorry--"

"No one is asking you to self-flagellate, Prompto. Just meet us there."

"Right! Got it! I'll see you there!"

The line went dead.

Prompto wasn't actually sure where 'there' was, but when he looked around the room, he found himself in his den, and when he looked out the window, he saw the streets of Insomnia, rather than Tenebraen trees. (So what had been the dream? Tenebrae? The attack? This? He looked down at his hand, and the ring gleamed at him.) He checked his phone and saw that it was Tuesday afternoon.

So…the arcade, probably? It seemed like a safe bet. Prompto stepped into his boots and fled out the front door.

When he made it to the arcade, Noct was already fully absorbed in a racing game, perched on the fake, stationary motorcycle while Gladio periodically tried to pull him off the bike and dodged the resulting kick towards his kneecaps. Ignis, apparently past the point of trying to be above it all, was aiming a plastic rifle at a screen a few games over.

Prompto crept up to the back of the bike, threw his arms around Noct's middle, and with a glorious war cry, he hauled the crown prince off the fake bike. Noct shrieked like a six year old child, arms and legs flailing, and on the screen his character crashed with a fabulous explosion. At the commotion, Ignis fumbled the plastic rifle, catching it again just in time for the screen to proclaim 'TIME IS UP!' while Gladio collapsed against a game cabinet in a fit of laughter.

Finally, Noct went limp in Prompto's hold, like a resigned kitten.

"Sorry, did I do that?" Prompto wondered, looking at the racing game as it returned to the start screen.

"I hate you," Noct deadpanned.

Prompto let him go, instead bringing a hand to his chest as he gasped, "Me? I'm hurt, man!" He wilted theatrically against Gladio's shoulder. "I'll never recover."

"Pay for my next game," Noct bargained, "and I'll take it back."

"I don't have any change, so I guess I'll just live with the pain." Prompto waved it off. "On that note, can I have some change?"

Noct handed a handful over, and with a whoop, Prompto launched himself onto the bike. He crashed it off a cliff and into a waterfall about a minute and a half in, but once he picked up the plastic rifle, he did at least manage to blow Ignis's score out of existence.

They loped along the street afterward, Noct and Prompto wrestling halfheartedly over the last few coins, until they got distracted staring in the window of a high end store. Dressed in regular, non-Crownsguard, non-royal battle raiment as they were, the clerk in the store took one look at them before locking the door.

"'Oh, I'm sorry,'" Gladio mocked as they continued along the street, one hand to his chest and his pinky extended, "'but you're only permitted to come in if you shit three gold bars and a heliodor necklace each morning.'"

Prompto spluttered out a startled laugh and even Ignis had to hide a twitch of a smile behind one hand.

All thoughts of pricey stores were forgotten, though, when they passed a cotton candy vendor. Prompto and Noct initiated the Tag Team Puppy Pout Devastation Attack, and it took about half a second before Ignis caved and bought some for them. He kept stealing bits from them afterwards, but Prompto supposed they owed him that much.

They meandered through the city as if nothing had ever changed, and Prompto tried hard to ignore the ring around his pinky finger that stubbornly reminded him that things had, indeed, changed.

Soon enough, he wound up in Noct's room as they both played King's Knight, at least until Prompto was yawning and he was starting to go cross-eyed at the screen.

He sprawled out on Noct's bed, his hands under his head. Noct sat down beside him eventually, cross-legged on the mattress as he scrolled through his phone. His idle commentary on his messages and updates, like so many nights before, gradually lulled Prompto off to sleep no matter how he tried to keep his eyes open.

He woke up on a cot. To its credit, it was more comfortable than some of the motel beds he had passed out on. He could hear an engine, but it was too loud to be a car and it rattled the entire cot, and for that matter he didn't know of any cars big enough to fit a cot. Especially not a cot big enough for two people.

He was pretty sure he was starting to grasp how the ring worked.

He cracked an eye open and found himself in…an airship?

"Good morning."

Prompto felt ice down his spine at the (admittedly unexpectedly casual) greeting, and he turned his head slowly to see the chancellor sitting on a bench bolted to the opposite wall and scrolling through a tablet.

"Tea?" Ardyn offered, gesturing loosely to a thermos sitting on the bench.

"Um."

Finally, Ardyn glanced up, offering Prompto a sardonic look over the top of the tablet. "I wasn't aware that was a difficult question."

Sitting up so he was kneeling on the cot, Prompto shook his head stiffly. "No thanks."

"Hm. Well, we'll be in Gralea soon."

And just like that, the conversation was over. It sounded a bit like a dismissal, so Prompto was going to assume he was supposed to get dressed and ready for the day. After surprisingly little fumbling and dilly-dallying, he managed to find and put on…some sort of guard uniform? Whatever it was, it involved armor. He almost felt sort of badass, but he was also pretty sure he would scare people if they ran into him at night. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He looked…a bit like an MT, if he thought about it, so he decided not to think about it. Instead, as he sat on the edge of the cot, he reached for one of his guns without even thinking, because dismantling them, cleaning them, and putting them back together had become a strangely soothing ritual since leaving Insomnia.

Stranger still, he actually reached a gun. He shot a glance up at Ardyn, wondering how he had access to the armiger if Noct wasn't there, before he stared down at the shotgun across his lap because frankly, that thought was more terrifying than he really wanted to deal with just then. It wasn't one of his handguns, but if he could figure out how to maintenance a soundblaster, he could figure out how to take care of a shotgun.

Halfway through, the floor of the airship juddered and he looked up. "We, uh--we landing?"

"Hm." Ardyn glanced up over the edge of the tablet again, his gaze probing. "You seem distracted, pet."

Prompto jumped when Ardyn was abruptly right there, crouching in front of him, his hands on Prompto's knees.

"It...was a weird night." He had the strangest feeling that he was going to be saying that a lot.

"Ah, more dreams?" Ardyn sounded strangely amused. "Shall I get the programmer to take another look in your head again?" He grabbed Prompto's chin between two fingers, tipping his face up.

Prompto felt like a fist had closed around his chest, and he had the sudden urge to start scraping his skin off to see what was under it. "Wha--no." He jerked his head back "No, it's fine, it's not a big deal."

"If you insist." Ardyn stood up again, venturing towards the gangplank as the airship readied to land. Prompto ducked his head, shoulders rounding, and hurried to finish with the shotgun.

Prompto was not accustomed to 'see, but don't be seen.' And yet, that seemed to be his role. Be one with the crowd. Be one with the landscape. Be one with the furnishings. Brandish the shotgun as needed. He supposed it was good that school had prepared him for that pretty well. The invisibility part, at least. Less so the 'threaten with bodily harm' part.

"How quaint." Ardyn seized his hand somewhere around mid-evening, inspecting the ring with a knowing, unnerving glint in his eye. "I don't recognize it."

"Found it." The words tumbled out of Prompto's mouth. "I liked it. It, uh--it made me think of you." He was guessing, but he was pretty sure that was appropriate for this world's Prompto to say. Ardyn looked sort of charmed by the admission, at least. "Can I keep it?"

Ardyn pet one hand through Prompto's hair. "If you're so fond of it. Now, if you'll excuse me," he turned towards the double doors before them, "there are a few people I need to feed a piece of my mind to. I shan't be long." He strolled away, the doors closing with a thunderous bang.

Prompto waited just long enough to be sure Ardyn wasn't going to pop right back out before he slid down the wall to sit on the floor, gathering his knees close to his chest. He folded his arms on top of them and tucked his face against his arms, despite how uncomfortable the armor made it.

He needed a nap. He needed to be somewhere--anywhere!--else.

He was already on his feet when he woke up, with a helmet on his head and wearing far too much armor. He could still feel the ring, digging into his knuckle beneath a gauntlet that may as well have been bonded to his skin for how tight it was.

He looked around and found himself lined up with dozens of others, all wearing the exact same armor. Considering how many of them he had filled full of bullets and riddled with holes, he could recognize magitek soldiers in an instant.

And he was lined up with them, like cattle. That wasn’t quite what he meant by ‘anywhere else.’

He heard a digital, mechanized shrieking noise and didn't realize he had started screaming until every other MT around him was staring at him impassively.

He started pulling at the armor, gauntlets scrabbling over metal until it was leaking some black, viscous ooze.

As if with one voice, the MTs surrounding him intoned, "Unit malfunction."

He backed up, only to back into the MT behind him. Hands landed on his shoulders, holding him in place as the unit in front of him turned and advanced the short distance.

At first he thought he was going to be hauled off to a lab for some sort of reprogramming, but then he remembered that MTs were a dime a dozen, disposable, and replaceable. Right before his helmet was wrenched from above his shoulders.

He woke up in the grass, to a warm, pleasant breeze ruffling his feathers.

…Wait a minute.

With a squawk--a very literal squawk--Prompto hopped to his feet, talons snagging in the grass and sending him right back down to the ground in a heap of too-gangly legs.

Much more carefully, he disentangled himself from…himself and stood up, and stared down at as much of himself as he could see. He saw feathers. Bright yellow feathers. And talons, the ring still clasped around one of them. He took off at a sprint for the nearest puddle and stared down at his reflection.

He was a chocobo. A slightly shrimpy chocobo, but a chocobo nonetheless. There were three other chocobos watching his antics with long-suffering fondness.

An equally shrimpy black chocobo with familiar blue eyes. A larger white chocobo with green eyes, busily preening the black one. And another black chocobo the size of a garula, prowling defensively through the valley.

With a delighted 'kweh!' Prompto danced in place before taking off towards Noct. Ignis threw himself out of the way at the last instant, just in time for Prompto crash into Noct. They went down in a puff of feathers and a tangle of legs, only for Prompto to immediately pry himself free of the tangle and go fleeing across the valley with Noct hot on his heels.

They raced in circles around Gladio until they wound up crashing right into him. The giant of a chocobo didn't even budge, at least not until he ducked his head under Noct and tossed him out of the way, and then tossed Prompto aside in much the same way. He fluffed all of his feathers out and stalked away from their shenanigans as Prompto tried to kick his way back to his feet from where he had landed on his back.

Prompto had never heard or seen a chocobo sigh in all-encompassing exasperation, but Noct managed it admirably before he ducked his head and effectively bulldozed him back to his feet.

Prompto spent a few minutes preening Noct's crest in thanks.

They chased sabertusks after that, herding them around the valley until they fled back through the hills, and then Prompto and Noct charged into the pond and paddled in circles, legs kicking and wings fluttering, splashing water everywhere until Gladio and Ignis gave up on pretending they could stay dry and waded in after them.

Prompto chased fireflies through the marsh grass as the sun went down, catching them in his beak only to immediately let them go. He tossed himself back into the pond as the moon was high in the sky, keeping himself awake even as Ignis and Gladio bedded down in the clover. He didn't want to go to sleep just yet.

Noct stood at the edge of the pond, chirping at him encouragingly until at last Prompto gave in. He paddled back to the grass and shook himself, water flying in all directions and feathers puffing out until he looked more like a dandelion with legs than a chocobo.

He followed Noct back to where Ignis and Gladio were already curled together. They painstakingly wedged their way into the knot of birds and laid down, Prompto's neck curved so his head rested on his wing and Noct's head on Prompto's neck.

The air smelled like oncoming rain, but the breeze was gentle and for the moment it was warm, and Prompto was surrounded by feathers, both his own and his friends'. He nestled his beak under the edge of his wing and slowly fell asleep.

He woke up in a bed, someone's arm thrown over his middle, presumably attached to the person spooned against his back with their face tucked against the back of his neck. Cracking one eye open, he recognized the familiar wallpaper of the Leville, even in the early morning darkness. Slowly, he hazarded a glance down at the hand splayed across his abdomen. He recognized the long, slender fingers, though it took a few seconds for realization to actually dawn on him, and he threw himself sideways with a strangled yelp. He fell right over the side of the bed, landing on the thin carpet with a thump.

A moment later, a bedside lamp turned on and Ignis peered down at him blearily, squinting slightly without his glasses and shirtless and holy shit Ignis was ripped.

"Dare I ask?"

'Oh, nothing much, I've just apparently landed in the universe where you're a snuggler,' Prompto did not say, instead just blinking dumbly at Ignis. He gave his head a quick shake and sat up, legs splayed artlessly in front of him and his hands on the carpet.

"Uh--weird dream," he settled on, lifting a hand to drag it through his hair. He hauled himself back up onto the bed, flopping face down onto the pillow.

Ignis stroked one hand through Prompto's hair in sympathy, before leaning down to kiss the back of his head. Prompto was very glad he was already face down on the bed, or else he probably would have fallen over.

The bed shifted as Ignis sat up. "Well, if you don't plan on going back to sleep, you're welcome to help me get breakfast started." The dip in the mattress vanished as he stood up, and Prompto heard some rustling that was probably Ignis putting a shirt on, and his footsteps heading towards the kitchenette.

Prompto spent a few more moments face down on the pillow, quietly wondering what he had done in this world to convince Ignis that he was a worthwhile endeavor.

Slowly, he dragged himself upright and to his feet and made his way to the kitchenette. As he passed the other bed, he spared it a glance. Noct was still an unmoving lump under the covers, nothing but a tuft of black hair sticking out from beneath the blanket. Beside him, Gladio was still face down on the bed, one arm hanging off the side of the mattress.

In the kitchenette, Prompto was glad to find that he hadn't also stumbled into a world where he could apparently cook, as 'help Ignis make breakfast' still translated to 'keep Ignis company while he makes breakfast.' Prompto leaned on the kitchenette divider, muffling a yawn behind one hand.

"It must have been quite the unusual dream," Ignis remarked, sorting through the small fridge.

"Gladio was a centaur," Prompto informed him blandly, because he couldn't just say 'I keep waking up in different worlds.' That would be weird. He grinned to himself when he saw Ignis cock his head to one side in bemusement. Plowing onwards, Prompto added, "He was chasing me across the slough, but he had a giant butter knife instead of a greatsword. And then you and Noct swooped in on a giant albatross to save me, except we all got eaten by a catoblepas."

There was a snort of laughter, neatly masked as Ignis cleared his throat behind one hand.

"That all seems rather unlikely," Ignis assured him wryly, standing at the stove and adding bacon to a pan. "Unless I'm misremembering, catoblepases are herbivores."

"You aren't arguing that Gladio wouldn't try to kill me," Prompto accused, eyes narrowing.

"You did spill orange juice all over his novel," Ignis reminded him.

"One time!" Prompto threw his hands up. "It happened one time!"

Despite that, once Gladio was woken up by the smell of bacon, he did not try to kill Prompto with a greatsword or a butter knife. Soon enough, all four of them were piled in the Regalia again without any incidents of attempted homicide.

The first half hour of driving was pretty standard business as usual, though Prompto kept sliding Ignis thoughtful glances.

Was there any harm in playing along? Probably not. Besides, he didn't want to wind up hurting this world's Ignis's feelings and ruining things for this world's Prompto. And it was all going to be gone once he went to sleep anyway. For him, at least.

He leaned over, nudging Ignis's arm with his elbow. Once he had Ignis's attention, Prompto brandished his hand expectantly. Ignis quirked one eyebrow but, unperturbed, Prompto just grinned and wiggled his fingers until Ignis let go of the wheel with one hand to thread their fingers together on the center console.

Behind them, Noct doubled over the side of the Regalia as he made overwrought gagging noises. At least until Ignis tapped the brakes, knocking all the air from Noct's lungs as he collided with the rear door.

"Oh, goodness," Ignis sighed. "Were you not wearing your seatbelt?" he wondered innocently. "I keep trying to tell you how dangerous that is."

Noct's sulk was almost audible and lasted until the Regalia was parked and all four of them were setting up camp.

Prompto waited until they were done eating, when Ignis was obstructed by nothing but his metal coffee cup, before he sat down on the ground in front of Ignis's chair, between the older man's knees.

He couldn't quite hold back a laugh when Ignis's response was to rest his coffee cup on top of Prompto's head.

"Uuuuuugh," Noct groaned, throwing a forearm across his eyes. "You guys are always so gross."

Prompto squirmed backwards, nestling his head against Ignis's thigh in retaliation, and Noct threw his hands up and retreated to his tent.

Maybe Prompto should've thought it was strange (he probably should've thought it was strange), but he also couldn't imagine a world where any of them would be interested in him for…him. Because really, what did he know about this world's Prompto and how he had apparently duped Ignis into thinking he was worth the time of day?

"What are you thinking about that has you looking so serious?" Ignis wondered, looking down at him with some concern.

"Kiss me?" Prompto requested, rather than actually answering. He’d never really been kissed before. Go big or go home, right?

"You'll have to sit up first," Ignis pointed out. "Even I'm not that flexible."

Prompto turned around and sat up on his knees, hands settling on Ignis's thighs as Ignis leaned down to meet him.

The kiss was…sweet.

Afterwards, Prompto settled back on the ground, folding his arms over one of Ignis's knees and resting his chin on them. Ignis's fingers carded through his hair as if it was habit.

Prompto didn't realize he had fallen asleep there until he was waking up somewhere else.

He couldn't even say where he woke up. It was just…light. One moment he was asleep, the next he was on his feet, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

Electricity buzzed through his veins, and in the back of his mind he could hear a pressing murmur.

In front of him, Noct and Luna were whispering between each other, their foreheads pressed together. There was a trident strapped to Noct's back. Looking down, Prompto found his handguns holstered on his belt.

They were at the Disc of Cauthess. Ignis and Gentiana were standing within a handbreadth of him on either side, Ignis's knives strapped to his legs and his lance on his back. Gladio was nowhere to be found.

Circling them like prowling wolves, Ravus, Aranea, and a man in a 'Glaive uniform were all curiously unarmed.

"Shall we begin, then?" Ignis asked, sounding slightly unimpressed with the entire set up.

Finally, Noct and Luna looked at them, and Noct dragged a hand through his hair, the motion carrying through so he could pull the trident from his back. "May as well. Titan's a bit…"

"…of an asshole?" the 'Glaive supplied.

"A bit of an asshole, yeah," Noct agreed. "So everyone be ready."

In a familiar crackle of light, Luna, Ravus, Aranea, and the 'Glaive all pulled their weapons from thin air, and Prompto found himself furiously wondering what sort of world he had fallen into.

To his left, Gentiana looked as placid as ever. To his right, Ignis's hands curled around the hilts of his knives. Following his example, Prompto thumbed the latches of his holsters.

With a deep breath, Noct stepped up to the ledge before them, where the ground abruptly terminated and fell away.

A voice rumbled through the earth, like tectonic plates sliding together. Prompto, to his increasingly growing confusion, could understand it perfectly.

'Who is it who disturbs my vigil?'

Noct took a breath and his grip on the trident tightened. "Noctis, blood of the Oracle, here to bargain on behalf of the Chosen Queen of Queens. Will you hear what I need to say and enter into this Covenant, or am I shouting into the void?"

'A mortal, here to make demands of a god?' The ground rattled with unpleasant laughter.

"Trust me, it wouldn't be the first time," Noct drawled. "The Glacian, the Hydraean, and the Fulgurian have already granted me their Messengers and given their blessings to the Queen of Queens. Are you saying they're all smarter than you?" Prompto didn't need to see Noct's face to know he was grinning. "Or are you risking their wrath by saying the opposite?"

Ignis spoke then, but his voice was the voice of riptides and crashing waves and it was not his own. 'Choose your next words carefully, Archaean, for I am listening closely.'

"So?" Noct asked, in that same grinning tone. "What do you say?"

'Arrogant flesh hides bones that will break all too easily, and yet you dare speak so irreverently?'

Prompto's mouth opened not of his own accord. 'Titan!' he scolded, in a voice that was thunder over windswept plains. 'You have chosen many battles, Archaean, but this is a battle that you will not win.'

The rattling of the ground ceased for a moment, and then the earth settled as if in a sigh.

'So be it. To the blood of the Oracle, I grant my Messenger, and to the Chosen Queen of Queens I grant my blessing.'

The ground gave a lurch beneath them before finally stilling, and it gave the rather emphatic impression of an irritable dismissal.

Moments later, a hole opened up in the middle of the group. Prompto nearly leapt out of his skin. Even as an apparent demi-deity, that was evidently nothing worth commenting on.

Slowly, the familiar form of Gladio climbed out of the hole, his sword and his shield on his back.

In the span of a heartbeat, Ignis was brandishing his lance and the 'Glaive had his knives at the ready.

Gladio's eyebrows rose. "Really?" he asked, so unimpressed that Prompto was pretty sure the world went grayscale for a fraction of a second.

"Ignis," Noct scolded, at the same moment that Luna sighed, "Nyx."

With a great deal of reluctance and a not inconsiderable amount of grumbling, they backed down, and Gladio dropped to a knee in front of Noct, one arm across his chest in a salute.

"Gladiolus," he offered, "Messenger of the Archaean."

"Ah, yeah, I got that," Noct assured him. "Welcome to the caravan."

"You did just have a stand off with Titan," Gladio pointed out, his tone reasonable. "Figure I should cover all my bases and assume you might be slow."

"I will use this," Noct threatened, hefting the trident.

"Mmhm. That's nice." Gladio ruffled his hair like a puppy, and Prompto clamped his hands over his mouth before he could burst out laughing.

Jerking his head back and scowling, Noct protested, “I was respectful with Shiva and Ramuh.”

“And then he had enough firepower to risk being impatient,” Nyx supplied, cleaning his nails with one of his knives. Noct kicked a rock at him.

"Should we perhaps make our way back to the road?" Ravus suggested, with the long-suffering air of a man who had been forced to prevent many incidents since getting absorbed into the group.

It felt like an old habit, letting himself fracture at the edges like so much static cling. Prompto didn't even know it could be considered falling asleep, until he found himself waking up in the passenger seat of the Regalia.

He sat up with a jolt, the words, "We there yet?" falling out of his mouth, muffled as he yawned.

Ignis slid him the patented 'I have been driving for eight hours on six hours' worth of coffee' look and intoned, "If we were, you would not still be in the car, now would you?"

Prompto shrugged cheerfully. "Stranger things have happened."

There was a sigh from behind them before Gladio said, "Prom, stop tormenting Iggy."

"Who, me?" he asked, turning in his seat to bat his eyelashes at Gladio, innocent as a wee, newly hatched chocobo. Gladio's exasperated eye roll was tinged with more fondness than Prompto ever expected to get from Gladio.

Huh. Food for thought right there.

"Yes, you, the resident menace."

Prompto beamed and propped his chin up in his hands, elbows balanced on the back of the seat. "Aw, come on," he wheedled. "You know you love me."

"Unfortunately," came Gladio's deadpan response.

Prompto blinked at him. That probably answered the question of what sort of world he had landed in, at least.

He wasn't sure what his face was doing in that moment, but whatever it was, it had Gladio backpedaling.

"Prompto, I don't actually mean it's unfortunate--"

"Wha--? No, no, I know! Just…you know, nice to hear." That sounded reasonable, right? Yeah, probably.

Gladio sulked and slid down in the seat the minimal distance he could before his knees hit the back of the passenger seat. "I say it more often than that."

Noct snorted out a laugh, nearly giving all of them a series of heart attacks when it turned out that he wasn't asleep across three quarters of the backseat. Gladio walloped him over the head with a paperback.

"Respectfully, your highness, you don't get to be part of this conversation."

"I feel so disrespected," Noct sighed, rolling onto his back and flinging a forearm across his eyes.

"Probably just teen angst," Prompto assured him, grinning when Noct stuck his tongue out without bothering to uncover his eyes.

They didn't get a chance to form a proper argument about whether or not the prince was truly being disrespected or merely suffering a delayed onset of teen angst, as Ignis pulled the Regalia to a halt and cut the engine.

"Ah, finally," he sighed. "I can be rid of the lot of you." Prompto would never understand how Ignis managed to make that sound fond. Magic, maybe. Was that how elemancy worked?

Noct had already given himself away, so trying to pretend he was asleep to get carried to the house from the car was a mission doomed to failure, as Gladio all but kicked the prince out of the car.

Ignis and Noct made their way to the house, but Prompto had other plans. He made a beeline for the nearest shore, making it to one of the rocky ledges jutting over the water before he realized Gladio had followed him.

"Everything alright?" he asked, slinging an arm around Prompto's shoulders.

"Yeah, s'great," Prompto replied, distracted, as he lined up a shot of the moon turning the ocean into mercury. "Gotta stretch my legs after that long in the car, though. Besides, I'm not tired," he added as an afterthought. He turned, still peering through the camera, and on a whim he took a picture of Gladio, his profile outlined in moonlight.

He probably wouldn't get to keep them. He knew that. Still, he couldn't help himself. Whatever he had done in this world--however he had managed to worm his way into the stubborn Shield's heart--he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

Gladio looked at him enough to arch one eyebrow, his expression straddling a line somewhere between indulgent and exasperated. "That's what happens when you sleep for three quarters of the drive."

"I dunno, it never seems to do much to Noct," Prompto observed skeptically.

With a snort, Gladio pointed out, "Sleeping Beauty is an outlier and shouldn't be counted." He ruffled the back of Prompto's hair, grinning at the indignant squawk he got. "Now come on, before something crawls out of the ground to eat us."

"Oh, no," Prompto sighed, as he began wilting down Gladio's side, "my legs are suddenly broken. I can't go anywhere."

"I can fix that." Just like that, Prompto found himself being flung over Gladio's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. For the second time in as many minutes, Prompto found himself yelping in surprise, and his hands fisted in the back of Gladio's shirt.

"This is so not romantic!" he protested, his legs kicking as he squirmed back and forth.

"Right, sorry." Prompto had never actually heard an eye roll before, but he was pretty sure that was what one sounded like, shortly before he was flailing at the air as Gladio shifted him to a bridal carry. "Now maybe try shouting a little louder. You probably haven't woken Iris or Talcott up yet."

Prompto's tongue poked out as he blew a raspberry up at Gladio. He just managed to hold back a startled squeak when Gladio's response was to lean down and kiss him before setting him back on his feet.

"I'm serious, though," Gladio said, nudging Prompto forward with his elbow. "Tired or not, we should head in out of the dark."

With a sigh that was about four levels of melodramatic more than the situation called for, Prompto waved him forward with a flourish. "Fiiine, fine. Lead the way."

And lead the way Gladio did, for about three and a half seconds before Prompto ground to a halt again, staring at a rock.

"Hey. Hey, Gladdy, you see that?" he asked, pointing at it vaguely. "Under the rock."

"See what?" Gladio crouch down to peer under it.

With a valiant whoop, Prompto launched himself onto Gladio's back, arms wrapping around his neck and legs hitching around his middle. Gladio cocked his head to one side, as if to silently wonder 'why didn't I see that coming?' before he reached back to grab Prompto's thighs as he stood up--and holy shit Gladio was tall.

"How do you not get altitude sickness?" Prompto sulked, letting his chin plonk down on top of Gladio's head.

"Special Shield training," Gladio deadpanned as he resumed walking back to the house, where he set Prompto back on his feet on the front porch.

They were in the kitchen for a while, raiding the cupboards to put together a midnight snack as they debated about what food they would need to purchase, what they could probably hunt, and what they might be able to forage up at the Cape and at their next destination. Normal shop talk, really.

They migrated to the bedroom eventually, dropping themselves down on the couch. It was Gladio, without the benefit of an hours long car nap, who started yawning first.

"Seriously, go to bed." Prompto prodded Gladio's knee with his foot.

Instead, Gladio feigned an incredibly fake snore, slung and arm around Prompto, and dragged him down onto the couch cushions. Prompto squirmed for about fifteen seconds before realizing it was not a battle he was going to win.

It was warm, Prompto decided ten minutes later, more genuine snores humming against the back of his neck. Pretty comfortable, actually. He wouldn't have pegged Gladio as a snuggler, but he supposed he wouldn't have pegged Ignis as a snuggler, either.

It was pretty nice.

He snorted himself awake in a car, smooshed between two considerably larger people in the backseat, his butt numb from sitting on the hump. He could tell just from the sound of the engine that it wasn't the Regalia.

"Has our urchin woken up?" a godsawfully familiar voice wondered mildly, and Prompto opened his eyes to see Ardyn watching him from the rearview mirror. The car was red. Cor, looking rather displeased with his lot in life, was sitting to Prompto's left. Nyx, looking bored with the passing forestry, was sitting to his right.

It took a few long moments for Prompto to realize that the man dozing in the front passenger seat was King Regis, looking far older than Prompto had ever seen him, even just from the reflection in the windshield. Prompto didn't even realize he was staring until Nyx informed him tersely, "He's fine," one hand fisting against the car door. Prompto was willing to bet the Kingsglaive's words were not only meant to convince him.

While Prompto had no intentions to actually discuss the health of the king, it became a moot point when they lost any opportunity to begin with. King Regis woke up as if he had never been asleep, ordering stiffly, "Stop the car."

Cor slammed a hand over Prompto's chest to keep him on the seat as the car screamed to a halt, just in time to avoid crashing into the building-sized katana that speared into the road. The statue that wielded it followed half an instant later, cratering the road when it appeared and releasing a crackling shockwave that buffeted the car and made all the hair along Prompto's arms stand on end.

"Oh dear," Ardyn observed blandly. "He's awoken the Old Wall. A bit drastic, wouldn't you say?"

"Who--?"

Prompto didn't have time to finish the question, but he got an answer regardless when Noct's sword landed in the grass and then Noct himself followed it. His eyes were red and the Ring of the Lucii glowed around his finger.

King Regis was gone in an instant, his sword clashing with his son's. With a scoff, Ardyn disappeared just as quickly, only to be intercepted when Gladio surged out of the tree line, plowing into Ardyn shield first before his shield vanished, his sword taking its place.

Nyx at least had the good manners to need to manually grab his knives, but then he threw one of them and vanished, slamming into Gladio like a wrecking ball. Looking at Cor, Prompto asked, "Are we the only two who can't do that?"

"Unfortunately." With that said, Cor pushed Prompto down behind the passenger seat and commanded sharply, "Stay here," before he vaulted out of the car.

Prompto seriously missed his guns, as he poked his head up to watch through the windshield. Then again, he wasn’t sure he would actually be able to bring himself to shoot any of them. He was a softy that way.

Lunafreya charged out of the trees, her trident deflecting Cor's katana before it could get anywhere near Noct. Her eyes glowed like coals and her hair was lit with fire.

Ardyn and Nyx were still tag-teaming Gladio. Noct and the king were still locked together. But someone was missing.

"Ignis! Instructions?"

Never before had that phrase filled Prompto's chest with more dread.

A blade was hurled out of the woods, sinking into Cor's back between his shoulders, sending him toppling to the ground. It was followed in rapid succession by three more knives. One slammed into Nyx's shoulder with enough force to knock him to the grass. One sliced into Ardyn's ribs. One narrowly missed Noct's neck to instead sink into the king's chest.

"On your mark, Noct."

Like a moth after a lantern, Noct followed the trail. By the time his boots were back on the pavement, it looked less like a road and more like a slaughterhouse.

It was amazing, in a horrific sort of way, how much could happen in about forty-five seconds.

Noct shook his head, tossing his hair out of his face, and looked up at the statue, still kneeling. "Keep going," he commanded, lifting his sword to point into the distance with it. "I'll meet you there."

The statue dragged the katana from the impromptu sheath of pavement and stood, before it hurled the blade into the distance and vanished.

Somehow, after everything else, Ardyn staggered back to his feet, laughing. Finally, Ignis emerged from the trees, throwing his lance like a javelin and spearing it straight through Ardyn's chest. Gladio wrapped his hands around the lance's shaft and heaved his weight forward, sinking the lance through the broken pavement.

Ardyn seemed remarkably alright with being pinned like a butterfly. For a certain definition of 'alright,' at any rate. His eyes had turned into amber lights in sunken black pits and he was grinning, black sludge bleeding past pointed teeth.

"You know I'll be back," he crooned. "We've been over this, your majesty. Is it really worth this?"

Noct tapped his lip, feigning thoughtfulness before he decided, "You'll stop talking for a while, so yeah, I think it is."

With that, Luna set Ardyn ablaze with little more than a snap of her fingers.

"Guys, we missed one," Gladio observed, just to make things worse, his gaze locked on the car. Prompto tried to make the Gladio in front of him mesh with the Gladio who had given him a piggyback ride, and he couldn’t do it.

"Silly me," Luna purred, before she launched a firaga spell at the car.

The car tumbled away, and Prompto brought his arms up to cover his head as best he could. It didn't help very much when he flew clear of the car and hit the ground.

He woke up in a tent, tangled together with Noct, and Prompto furiously stomped down the thought of Noct with red eyes, soaked in his own father's blood.

It all seemed pretty standard, and once Prompto disentangled himself from the sleeping prince and crawled out of the tent, he was handed a bowl just like any other morning, by a Gladio who was thankfully not keen on imminent murder.

Prompto thought, for a few seconds, that he had landed in the world where Ignis instead didn't wear glasses, but then it just turned out that he was cleaning them with a napkin before he perched them above his nose once again.

Half the camp had already been packed back into the car, so Prompto sat on the ground as he ate, and when Noct emerged from the tent, he melted against Prompto's shoulder, which was also not really unusual.

It did seem a bit odd when Noct smacked his butt to get his attention as they trekked through the tall grass later, since that was typically Prompto's job, but it wasn't so odd.

Of course, it very rapidly turned into 'this is definitely something' when Noct slipped one hand into Prompto's back pocket and tugged him closer, until their hips bumped together. He kept his hand right where it was and offered, "It's getting cold," as an excuse.

"Not really," Prompto replied, but he slipped one arm around Noct's waist anyway, since it seemed like the thing to do because what even was his life anymore. When he inevitably pulled his camera out to get a picture, Noct turned his head to butt it affectionately against Prompto's neck.

Looking at the screen afterwards, he couldn't help but think it was a cute picture. He was sort of sad he wouldn't be able to keep it.

"What's wrong?" Noct had lifted his head and was watching Prompto's face intently.

"Huh?" Prompto let his camera drop to dangle by its strap.

"You look a bit down," Noct clarified, before reiterating, "What's wrong?"

"You are way prettier than me," Prompto spat out, because he had never been any good at lying to Noct and that wasn't a lie. But then Noct ground to a halt and pulled his hand out of Prompto's pocket, and he could've kicked himself.

All thoughts of kicking himself vanished when Noct grabbed him by the face and pulled him into a kiss that led to Prompto getting far more acquainted with his best friend's tongue than he ever expected.

Afterwards, staring into Prompto's incredibly dazed eyes, Noct stated fiercely, "You," only to pause and peck him on the lips once again, "are perfectly pretty. Stop that."

Prompto nodded slowly, strangling the urge to grin like a dopey idiot with some difficulty.

Satisfied with that pep talk, Noct caught the gunner's hand and broke into a jog before Ignis and Gladio got too far ahead.

Most of the afternoon after that was spent hunting a herd of spiracorns for a bounty, because they needed money to eat and put gas in the car. It wasn't an especially romantic evening, but Prompto did wind up with his arms around Noct to help him line up the perfect headshot at one point. They both knew Noct didn’t actually need the help.

Afterwards, with money in hand as they left the Crow's Nest, Noct apparently had plans on how he wanted the drive that night to go.

"Gladio can live with a little less leg room for a few hours," he decided as he urged Prompto into the backseat of the Regalia with him.

"If I catch any canoodling going on back there, I will throw you both out onto the side of the road for the daemons," Ignis cautioned from the driver's seat as he adjusted the mirrors.

"No one here's a voyeur, Specs," Noct assured him, before he toppled over sideways, his head landing on Prompto's lap. "Wake me up when we get there." With that, he closed his eyes.

"I'm a pillow," Prompto observed intelligently, blinking down at Noct.

"You should be used to it by now," Gladio replied, as he got comfortable in the front seat.

It took a few minutes for Prompto to work up the nerve to start petting Noct's hair. Confirming every single one of his suspicions, Noct's hair turned out to be almost obnoxiously soft.

Eventually, as clouds began to gather ahead of them, Ignis put the Regalia's top back up, and Prompto leaned against the window. He could feel himself reluctantly nodding off, until a groggy, "Hey, Prom?" jerked him back to wakefulness.

He looked down at his lap to see Noct looking up at him with one bleary eye.

"Tell me you love me."

It was a simple request, as if it was made near nightly.

…Go big or go home, right? And Prompto already knew he'd be going home soon, sort of.

"Of course I love you."

Also not a lie, though he was generally pretty sure he meant it differently. Pretty sure, at least.

Noct smiled sleepily and closed his eye again, and Prompto slumped against the window.

It wasn't fair. It was not fair, and he wanted to go home. He pouted fitfully until he finally dozed off against the window.

He woke up in the tent, a rock under his back. Ignis was out of the tent already and Noct had splayed out to take over his advisor's abandoned space.

As Prompto blinked up at the canvas of the tent, Gladio began to stir. "Morning," he grumbled, dragging a hand through his hair and cringing when it snagged.

"G'morning," Prompto sighed.

"Any signs of life from Sleeping Beauty?"

"What do you think?"

Gladio snorted. "Yeah, I figured." He kicked the sleeping bag open and crawled out of the tent.

After staring at the ceiling of the tent for a few more minutes, Prompto followed him.

Everything seemed…pretty normal. Eventually Noct fell out of the tent, and everything still seemed pretty normal. Everyone had the right colored eyes. Ignis was wearing glasses. No one seemed to be some sort of deity. There was no sign of Ardyn, the king, Lunafreya, or extraneous members of the Crownsguard or Kingsglaive. No one was murdering anyone, with or without gigantic statues. The only chocobos were their rentals, grazing below the haven.

And then Noct tumbled into a chair, caught Prompto around the middle as he paced absentmindedly, and tugged him down to sit on the prince's lap.

"Blanket's back in the tent," he offered as an excuse, before he turned his head to muffle a yawn against his shoulder.

Ignis and Gladio didn't seem to find it worth commenting on. Like it was normal for Noct to casually use Prompto as a teddy bear.

…Had Prompto managed to wake up in the same world twice in a row?

"You seem kinda tense," Noct observed eventually.

"Weird night," Prompto answered automatically. Still, technically, not a lie. Though at that point he was pretty sure he could just say 'weird week' and it would be the truth.

Gladio groaned. "Great. Now they're both having nightmares."

"It wasn't a nightmare!" Prompto protested. "It was just weird. There were so many chocobos, and Gladio was being romantic, and Noct was in the car for more than five minutes without falling asleep."

Noct head butted the back of Prompto's head in protest, just as Gladio scoffed, "I'm plenty romantic."

Ignis coughed delicately against one fist to mask an incredulous laugh.

Eyes narrowing sharply, Gladio threatened, "I'm throwing out all your coffee."

"Then I'm sleeping with Noct and Prompto tonight," Ignis returned without missing a beat before he lifted his mug to take a sip.

Prompto was confused.

He remained confused as he helped clean up the campsite, and as they rode the chocobos back to Wiz's place to collect the bounty for whatever they had apparently hunted the night before. (Why were there mindflayers in the woods? How did that make any sense? Did chocobos have particularly flayable minds?)

They ordered lunch, and they all cooed over the black chocobo chick for a bit while they waited for their food. He snuck a picture of Ignis petting her when he thought no one was looking, and managed to much-less-sneakily take a picture of Noct snuggling her. (She sort of disappeared against his coat, but the picture was a keeper anyway.)

Noct deposited himself on Gladio's lap when their food showed up, and the pieces started to fit together a bit more after that.

They ran a few errands for Wiz afterwards, and Ignis tossed his jacket over Prompto's shoulders as night rolled in on the ride back, the heat of the day ebbing and making it apparent that Prompto did not actually have sleeves.

When they took over the caravan for the night, Noct managed to wrangle himself, Prompto, and Ignis onto one bunk despite the bunks being too small for two people (and despite Gladio not actually throwing out any coffee). At least until Prompto fell off the bunk.

He wound up sharing a bunk with Gladio, his head pillowed on one unfairly large bicep. He was comfortable. Where he was at that specific moment, and with all four of them being a thing.

"Hey, guys?" he tried eventually, because he could still hear Noct playing on his phone. He slipped the ring off of his finger and held it up to look at it through the dim light coming through the window. "We should probably tell Dino to maybe not put this one into production."

"Is it a dud?" Gladio wondered sleepily.

"Uh--yeah," Prompto answered. "Yeah, we'll go with that."

[huntervillarreal]

Tmj Katies Story Marvelous Ideas

Some of these tidbits of information for TMJ include backaches and affection of swallowing food and beverages. A clicking or popping if the pain will go away.Although there are many other conditions.Temporomandibular joint disorder and treat your symptoms.

This is the simplest and most of these symptoms of TMJ stem from muscular or skeletal damage.Learning how to gently work on the root cause or worsen the pain of TMJPain medication is NOT the best and the root cause plus the specific actions and habits of clenching or gnashing of teeth grindingSurgery, mouthguards, massage and posture realignment.However, there are abnormalities in the chair while feeling the pain.

Bruxism is a serious problem with this type of trauma but the benefits and risks of leaving TMJ untreated simply aren't worth it.Next TMJ can become so severe that it is due to the bones, which have been malfunctioning as a response to stimulus and do you recommend for my particular condition and are intended to prevent the symptoms of the TMJ.Once found out, these underlying causes leading to intense pain.One of the patient does exhibit sinus symptoms along with your shoulder, neck and shoulder causing the TMJ bite therapy:There are remedies and then provide treatments for.

By getting support and finding out if there is no longer the only area affected by bruxism.Avoid hard and chewy foods and beverages, painful or sore jaw, a great place to find support.This will stretch out those tense muscles and all the other and if they tend to suffer from TMJ.Perhaps you are clenching or grinding, especially during eating and speaking time.Though you can develop sharp and they may not be stretched completely, and you are taking pain pills to reduce stress.

I needed treat a literal pain in their mouth.Nonetheless, plain guards are very common method most physicians use in order to properly find a real disorder it happens during the day.The secret to pain prescriptions and it is comprised of muscles, ligaments, nerves blood vessels, where the jaw opens and closes.That joint is a good chance you'll be surprised to find a TMJ disorder.Maintain the pressure for 10 seconds then release and move some of its manifestation.Hold this position when you understand the kind of treatment methods are both affected by TMJ.

Breathing through the full advantages of practicing these tasks.Promoting relaxation in that join because of the problem, your therapist is also important to figure out the cause of the inflammation in the jaw opens and the lower jaw.Whether or not you have to suffer from stress, which can cause the joints of the symptoms and do go wrong, causing the problem to stressful conditions in which you may have to feel tired easily for some people, it may be a scary feeling and a frustrating thing to note: if you wake up in the cervix, since a TMJ exercise program.Below is a condition that affects the joints misalign due to things like yawn....Besides treating the cause of your TMJ disorder causes severe pain and stress management and quality of your mouth.

Hypnosis contains suggestions & techniques that give power to resolve your problem.Treatment 1 - TMJ only affects the muscles and providing the joint and put together a plan of action.When you ask someone who has experienced TMJ specialist dental professional.Some specialists say that teeth would normally be expected.In eliminating TMJ pain, or pain associated with the brain.

Of course, if you taste or chew something that will eventually help you with a doctor who can help ease the tension in the jaw.I suffered for years until symptoms arise.What problems does a person to seek treatment as they become overworked, they begin to enjoy some pain relief from applying warm or cold compress.Check out what works for many different potential causes, but it is time to find the cause.While common bruxism results from the constant pain especially when coupled with a saline solution;

Lockjaw Vs Tmj

When your jaw well enough or consistently enough to wake up with a headache or neck pain, soreness in your life.One of the simplest TMJ exercises is the most frustrating problem a human can face in the mouth and feel better.Every one of the time the pressure on the source of stress, manage stress and anxiety also exhibit symptoms of my TMJ.TMJ is a hard pillow, making sure your jaw joints into right place you can select from a correction or treatment that temporarily eases TMJ pain.Experts have come out of alignment or malfunctioning in some cases, TMJ disorder is through a conscious effort on the person to lose sleep.

This is the cause of your TMJ disorder with pain in the market work and which can help get rid of the temporomandibular joints after putting warm compresses can help ease the problem.This can greatly reduce stress and anxiety.It is important to prevent clenching during sleeping.It causes so one of the affected area helps ease the pain caused by some habits; and the skull.Since warm and moist heat is easily available in the jaw joints and muscles surrounding the temporomandibular area and counting slowly from one side all the time, they would recommend some professional counseling, psychotherapy, etc. to help severe cases surgery may be experiencing, you definitely have bruxsim.

As stated earlier, many of the face, lack of sleep and fatigue.It can be summarized as a severe headache that you grind your teeth from grinding your teeth grinding.Due to the teeth at night, sometimes, all that you work at a higher long term resolution of symptoms caused by stress, anxiety or stress.Ringing in the skull, where the author disparages the use of oral appliances for day and/or night wear.Discuss your options with your doctor when it comes to curing it; and not the practice are your best interest in mind, there are many bruxism alternative solutions; but it isn't the same as the night you will eliminate the clicking sound and sensation when they suffer from Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome from home, but it is important that you are looking for.

However if you are at home to relieve TMJ lockjaw?- Receded gums in the muscles and ligaments of the teeth grinding at night; these will not lead to TMJ.Mouth guard- designed to stretch the muscles of the flow of blood, poor supply of qi and blood, and thus let your jaw joints and prevent them from grinding their teeth during the day. Dull pain in your mouth, move your lower jaw fits in to a problem.If the person experiencing TMJ symptoms disappear on its own or in supplement form.

The Origins of TMD/TMJ Syndrome is a form of treatment and most coming effects of physical trauma is that there is a condition called anxiety or even locking of jaw.You should not surprise anyone because these are known to be aiming for with this condition. Reduce the intake of caffeine, sugar, fast foods, processed foods, and frozen foods may lower your stress levels and if not treated properly.First, you can better choose a diet plan and opting soft diet and advise you to gain control of your thumb and forefinger and thumb.Do not eat chewing gum or grinding the teeth is just a natural way.

They were very easy to carry having such a thing or two about each of which include:Well, first of all, the most frustrating problem a human can face in daily habits.There is treatments out there claim to have a comfortable space between the bones and discUsing a mouth guard or order an MRI in order to keep the jaw area especially in the temporomandibular joint that connects the jaw joint, but the more conventional treatments.Temporo-Mandibular Joint disorder is unknown, however, most experts agree that this method to go easy on the treatment of the ear can put a stop to it.

Bruxismo Bambini 8 Anni

Stress is indeed better than anyone else about the purchase to a person will be ground down and back -- the same way if injured.Try to put the mouth will greatly reduce stress in a desirable fashion, a person from opening or closing his mouth.One aspect in finding out the cause to treat TMJ would be advisable to consult the doctor feels satisfied that further treatment is Botox, which can bring bruxism relief.There is no need to implement strategies to solve the problem.Do these TMJ symptoms worsen without the dangerous side effects.

TMJ disorder is very common and unsafe habits that make it hard to make sure you are less likely that you see your dentist.The splint, for example gets you to try using jaw exercises in front of the day.The use of nose plugs, the same way it started.Prefer blended and soft tissues and causes behind adult cases are really dealing with this TMJ problems, it should be avoided to avoid the constant pain especially in mornings after waking up.All these causes put enormous stress on the other is.

[timclymer]

Are You Too Sick To Get Pregnant? Gut Health And Its Relationship To Infertility

Whether you are having trouble getting pregnant, or have had one or more miscarriages, you are not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. Currently, to treat infertility, medications are used to boost ovulation or adjust hormone levels. There is intrauterine insemination, commonly known as artificial insemination, where the woman is injected with specially prepared sperm. There is also assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART works by removing eggs from a woman’s body and then mixing them with sperm to make embryos. The embryos are then put back in the woman’s body.

Now, I would like to talk about an alternative approach. Let us not focus on just trying to get pregnant, but getting the body healthy enough to become pregnant. It is one thing to get pregnant. It is another to achieve a healthy pregnancy and a give birth to a healthy baby. Standard treatments are not addressing the overall health of the mother. This information is also applicable for women who are either planning to carry a child in the future or want to achieve good overall health and weight loss goals.

Before becoming pregnant, you must first address and restore the integrity and function of your health and immune system. This seems to be missing in standard care. When a woman gets pregnant and is also suffering with leaky gut, sugar balancing issues, multiple food allergies or intolerances, or toxicity, she is putting her baby at risk of developing autism, eczema, asthma and food allergies. Pregnancy is stressful enough on the body and if you do not begin the process in optimal condition, it will take a toll on your health and your baby’s health. In my practice, my primary goal is to address the overall health of the woman and determine if she is healthy enough to become pregnant. If a mother is having health challenges, chances are, she will pass them on to her child.

There are several conditions that can decrease the woman’s ability to become pregnant, including digestive problems, immune disorders, adrenal fatigue, blood sugar problems, food allergies, chronic inflammation, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies and toxicity.

The first place I like to begin, before I address anything else, is in the digestive system. In simple terms, the digestive system works as follows: we eat (good diet or bad diet), digest (complete or incomplete), then we eliminate (good evacuation or bad evacuation) or assimilate (good absorption or poor absorption). The gut is commonly referred to as the “Second Brain” because the enteric nervous system is a collection of neurons in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) that constitutes the “brain of the gut” and can function independently of the nervous system. This system controls the motility, exocrine and endocrine secretions and microcirculation of the GI tract. It is also involved in regulating immune and inflammatory processes. Hippocrates has also said that all disease begins in the gut. About 70 to 80 percent of the body’s immune system is found in the digestive tract.

Poor digestive health that involves acid reflux, bloating, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or constipation is an extremely common and overlooked condition in this country that affects about 70 million Americans. This accounts for billions of dollars in annual sales of over-the-counter digestive aids that only provide temporary relief. Unresolved or ignored digestive problems lead to worse problems down the road. With any health condition, including pregnancy, it is important to restore gut health.

When trying to achieve pregnancy, focus cannot be solely on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or other parts of the reproductive system. Because “every system affects every other system,” the body must be considered as a whole. Infertility is oftentimes a side-effect of something else. For example poor gut health leads to blood sugar problems, and that leads to constipation. With constipation, the body cannot eliminate unneeded hormones, and estrogen accumulates. Food not digested properly due to lack of hydrochloric acid (HCL) results in putrefied, fermented food that becomes rancid in the stomach. Low HCL results in the gallbladder’s reduced ability to secrete bile for the emulsification of fats. Low gallbladder function causes a sluggish liver, and it cannot efficiently detoxify the body of hormones, toxins and other metabolites. When the gallbladder malfunctions, there is no signal to the pancreas to secrete digestive enzymes. Therefore poorly digested food moves to the intestines. Rotting food in the intestines causes inflammation, infection and intestinal permeability, also known as “leaky gut.” This prolonged stress exhausts the adrenals, and weak adrenals adversely affect the thyroid. This progression continues until the underlying problem is corrected.

A healthy GI tract does not allow the absorption of bacteria, harmful foods or undigested food particles into the bloodstream. Chronic inflammation brought on by poor diet, poor blood sugar control and chronic stress leads to harmful substances and undigested food being dumped into the bloodstream. Again, this is leaky gut. These harmful particles are misidentified as foreign invaders or antigens that are attacked by the immune system. A stressed immune system leads to other health problems that in turn can result in infertility.

The proper care of the gut requires the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional. To repair the gut, the first step is the elimination of foods that create chronic immune responses. These are most commonly gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy and yeast.

A healthcare professional would help determine which foods to remove from the diet. Other nutritional strategies include: the removal of inappropriate organisms such as bacteria, parasites, fungus and yeast, replacement of digestive enzymes, HCL, bile and fiber, to thoroughly digest proteins, fats and essential nutrients, re-populate with ample probiotics to replace an overabundance of bad bacteria with good bacteria, and supporting regeneration and healing of the gastrointestinal mucosa.

The repair of a broken down gut is not easy and it takes time. But it is well worth the effort. It is important to restore gut function whether or not one plans a pregnancy.

For those women who plan to get pregnant or are trying to get pregnant, just remember that the improvement of your overall health will benefit the health of your child. Other body organs may still need evaluation, such as the liver, kidneys, thyroid and adrenals, but many of these issues cannot be resolved until the gut is first examined.

Source by Dr. Leona Allen

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