#my little space heater is working very hard

[slippery-minghus]

i look forward to the future when i have a home that can be heated adequately in winter... i love the season and i love the snow so much, but it's not something my body can handle well. i don't think i'd mind it so much if i could be warm for at least a few hours a day during these long cold months >_<

[foldingfittedsheets]

I am a little creature largely made up of anxieties. There have been times in my life when it was worse. It’s currently significantly better. This story takes place at a time when it was pretty bad.

Food was a prison for me. I moved out early with very little idea of how to feed or care for myself. Every meal was a question mark. For three years I had Brendan doing most of the cooking but when things ended between us I moved in with some other friends. I suddenly had no way to feed myself again.

I was working at the sex shop and living with all my coworkers; a premise that would make sitcom writers weep. In that house, at the age of 24, I learned how to fry an egg. It was the only thing I knew how to do but by god, I mastered egg frying. I was so proud. I could now have one stress free meal a day of an egg on toast.

The problem was my roommates. Living with three other people is already tough but messes pile up alarmingly fast, especially in the kitchen. No one sees the whole mess as their responsibility but the one person who’s responsibility it absolutely wasn’t was mine, as I only ever cooked eggs. Glaciers moved quicker than the dishes got done, mountains of greasy unwashed dish ware were fixtures across the counters.

My friends occasionally cooked for me and each time I happily cleaned all the resulting dishes. This seemed fair.

But on my own I only used three implements for my egg. When I finished with my spatula, pan, and plate, I carefully washed them and set them to dry. Every time I came back to the kitchen there was nothing clean.

Crusted on ketchup, dried food, and unsavory residues plagued everything I needed to touch. So I ended up doing all the dishes twice, once to use my three implements and again once I was done.

I started to realize I’d come home, see the filthy pile of dishes, then go to bed without eating because I didn’t have the energy to wash it all. So I finally addressed my roommates about it. Please, I beseeched them, can these three things always be clean. I cannot function like this, and eating is already hard for me.

The answer returned: no. My request was deemed unreasonable and a counteroffer was made to turn off the small space heater I ran in my room in exchange for them magnanimously cleaning up after themselves. I declined, as my bones ached with cold everywhere except my room since no one else wanted the heat on. The impasse continued. I went to be hungry.

I noodled on it. I schemed. I plotted. And on my day off I went to a thrift shop and acquired a nice little pan and spatula. I squirreled them away into my closet. The plan was just to wash and dry it after meals and keep it in my room.

This is not how it went down. On day one of my pan coming home one of my roommates popped into my room to chat, glanced into my three quarters shut closet and immediately said, “What is that?”

I sighed and admitted my plan. All three roommates roundly condemned my plan as extremely passive aggressive. I tried once again to explain that I wasn’t eating, but my secret pan was now a source of contention, a precious resource held back from the collective.

Their discontent reached a fever pitch and I finally declared, “Fine! I will put my pan in the kitchen. On one condition. If I ever find this pan dirty, ever, I will scrape whatever is left on it into your bedding. I swear to god, if I ever come home to it being dirty there will be a reckoning.”

Terms were agreed.

The first month or two went okay. On the third month I awoke to eat breakfast and found my precious pan sullied. I grabbed it and marched upstairs. Betty was named as the culprit. I strode into Betty’s room and stood over her sleeping form like the vengeful ghost of dishes past.

“If you don’t get up and clean this right now I’m going to dump it on your bed.”

Betty groggily regarded me. “Seriously?”

“I have never been more serious.”

“It’s one time, can’t you just clean it yourself?”

“No. You promised.”

With much huffing and grousing Betty arose from bed and tromped downstairs, hastily cleaning my pan while I watched. “Happy?” She demanded.

I was. I made my egg, cheerfully cleaning the pan afterward, leaving it to dry.

[fairestwriting]

Hey, hello, would it be possible to request the first years with a crush or s/o who's constantly very warm so they can basically act as a human heating pad but despite this they're very touch starved and basically melt into hugs and cuddles, gender neutral pronouns would be great, thank you very much and merry (probably late) Christmas if you do this and same to you even if you don't!

another oldie (Visibly. im so sorry anon. i hope an awesome holiday season) i just had to take...... in the name of all my fellow human space heaters

Ace Trappola

One day, his hands got cold, and you were nearby, neck fully exposed, and Ace did what he would obviously do in this situation. Except it turned out he was the one shocked by how warm you are, even though he did make you jump a bit.

He's a fan of the physical affection. He doesn't fluster easily and likes showing you off all smug, linking your arms together or putting his over your shoulder while you're with your friends. The warmth is a great bonus.

When you cuddle up in a hot day, he whines about how you're gonna cook him alive and will jokingly "attempt" to push you off while giggling, then turning on the AC of his room or dragging you both somewhere cooler.

Deuce Spade

The first time you hug, Deuce gets spooked because he thinks you have a fever. He fusses over you for a few good minutes before you can explain anything. Then gets embarrassed of his reaction.

Being Deuce, he'll randomly revisit this worry, but mostly he just eases into it rather easily. He's a little shy, whether you're in public or not, but you can tell he feels comfortable with the way he leans into you.

Feels so bad if you're holding hands and his gets sweaty. Apologizes a billion times while wiping it clean on his shirt. Nevermind that it'd happen even if you weren't so warm, he just doesn't want you to ever feel awkward when touching him.

Jack Howl

Also really warm because of his wolf beastman genes, also surprisingly touchy. It's hard to tell which one of you is warmer, actually? Which in the end just means you end up comfortably cuddled up very oftwn.

...whenever you're away from others, of course. It's not that Jack hates the thought of PDA, but he "prefers to take it slow" (Read: Makes him blush way too easy)

Commiserates in the summer and celebrates in the winter if you're not very tolerant to heat like him. Sometimes he talks about his family's trips to the north with a voice softer than usual, hinting just a little bit that he'd really love it if you came along one day.

Epel Felmier

He's also on the warmer side temperature wise, but he's small, so he ends up getting cold surprisingly easily.

At first he's a bit spooked with the touchyness, really just because it's his first relationship, but it grows on him. A lot.

Epel thinks him getting cold easy-ish is embarrassing, so he really feels like he won the lottery here. Now he gets to put his arm around your waist to stay warm and look cool with you by his side, boy's on top of the world.

Sebek Zigvolt

Runs very cold. The first time your hand is anywhere on him he jumps a bit. The situation's like the inverse of someone who gets startled by their friend's cold hands pressed to their neck.

He briefly questions if you're really human, stammering something about how only beastmen are so warm. He's too distracted by how nice your warmth feels to make much sense.

He's so easily flustered every time you get cuddly, but if he even tries to push you off (Which he mostly just does if you're in public) it comes out all feeble. Even if he's trying to keep up with etiquette and you two actually have to step away from each other, it's all over his face that he misses the coziness.

if you wanna support my work, you can buy me a ko-fi or commission me!

[showf4lls]

ɞ ― make a home in you; chuckle sandwich

cw + info! fluff, headcanons / no CWs

includes! ted nivison + charlie slimecicle + jschlatt

dedication! @ivyinnit

notes! i’m currently trying to get over a breakup and am kind of struggling w yearning atmo so this request (while old) was kind of perfect thank you for dropping into my askbox, ivy!! little update: it’s been so long since i’ve received this request, i know. it should’ve been easy to get it out quickly, but school absolutely melted me this semester. i know that ivy’s deactivated now, but in the case that she comes across it, i hope you enjoy beloved <3

TED

⎼ y’all schedule out laundry days together. it’s cute as fuck okok

⎼ forehead and cheek kisses while you’re on your way out the door

⎼ if he wakes up before you, he makes your morning drink of choice just the way you like it! though, he prefers to sleep in with you

⎼ if you don’t have any important plans for the day and you’ve set alarms just for the sake of waking up at a certain time, he turns them all off before you wake up. he wants to give you an opportunity to rest as much as you need to; your body will wake up when it’s ready

⎼ brunch dates! while you guys prefer to sleep in together, you alternate between sleeping in and waking up at a reasonable hour depending on your plans. ted really likes taking you out to brunch and just walking around window shopping with you after

⎼ if either of you are going somewhere important, the other will help them get ready and run through a mental checklist with them before they go in order to make sure the person leaving has absolutely everything they need

⎼ y’all are constantly doing bits. it’s kind of confusing for your friends, but neither of you care much because you’re just having a great time

⎼ ted is an absolute gentleman always, not just in the honeymoon phase. constantly opening doors for you, helping you put your sweater on when you’re leaving the house, opening the car door for you. stuff like that

⎼ he rubber ducks for you a lot. just sits down near you and listens, letting you work out your issues by talking it out without feeling awkward about it

⎼ he’s just overall a great listener and very in-tune with your needs. only gives advice and input when you ask for it, but he always makes an effort to validate your feelings. holds you when you need him to and steps back when he senses that you need space. also really good at problem solving and helping out when you get overwhelmed or have sensory overload

– when you have bad days, he has a tendency to go above and beyond. he cooks dinner for you, makes sure your comfy clothes are all washed and clean, and generally just makes sure you have to do as little as possible so that you have the proper space to calm down

CHARLIE

– you guys have rapid fire joke contests together, usually late at night when you’re sitting on kitchen counters, snacking. you go back and forth until either the two of you are laughing so hard that it would be physically impossible to keep going, or someone can’t come up with a joke fast enough

– you try to stay on the sleep cycle but you both tend to get a little out of whack every once in a while, so you have these phases of going to sleep at a decent hour and then going to sleep when the sun is about to come up

– as such, you guys have these phases of making spontaneous runs to the grocery store or gas station to get snacks, usually cereal for some reason. you get whatever you want and charlie never lets you pay for any of it. on the later nights, you guys sometimes experiment with new flavors of things or weird snack combinations

– he has a thing about always making sure you’re warm enough. you’re a little chilly? he’s pulling his sweater off and pulling it over your head. once you’re all comfy and settled, he’s on his way to turn on the heater. your feet are cold? he’s running to get you a pair of fuzzy socks and a blanket in case your legs are cold too. even when you’re about to leave the house -- it’s colder than 50 outside? he’s scrambling around the house, gathering gloves and scarves and beanies for you to take with you in case you get cold, even if they don’t match. no other options but you’re still cold? mans is wrapping himself around you, trying to use his body heat to warm you up himself. he hates when you’re chilly and uncomfortable :[

– brings you home little presents all the time. literally anything that remind him of you. you have a collection of buttons and keychains that he’s seen while walking through shops. he also steals cool props from videos and projects to give to you. you have a little collection going

– loves pda all the time, but not always cuddling (which can sound confusing, but let me explain). he likes casual pda with you around the house, whether it be you resting your feet in his lap while you both lounge across the couch, sitting on the floor and leaning back on his legs while you watch a movie, him putting a hand on the small of your back while he moves around/behind you, holding onto your hand until you’ve walked out of reach, gently pressing his knuckles into your back while you’re laying on the other side of the bed and facing away from him. likes to be touching you when he can be but in little ways that aren’t super overwhelming (mostly because i feel like you’d both be too fidgety to just cuddle)

– some of your most domestic moments are spent in the kitchen, usually cooking dinner together. it’s light and warm and it feels so much like home that you sometimes find yourself questioning if it’s all real. he’s right there to tell you it is. but back to dinner. he loves cooking for you, and you love cooking for him. it’s all laughter and winding down from work days and gentle hugs and swaying together as he hums for you

SCHLATT

– it’s a little hard to find domestic moments with schlatt off the top of your head, but they’re there when you look for them. they’re quiet, but they’re ever present

– he sleeps a lot, meaning that you usually wake up before him. if he’s sleeping light enough to hear you get up, he’ll roll over, half asleep, wrap his arms around your middle, and pull you back into his chest, mumbling a groggy “ten more minutes, babe. i’ll be up then, jus’ ten more minutes.” it’s never just ten more minutes

– he picks you up and carries you around a lot. not in the typical way. if he thinks you’re working yourself too hard, he’ll grab you from your desk and throw you over his shoulder, dropping you onto the couch and forcing you to watch a movie with him. or you’ll be sleepily making yourself a snack in the kitchen and he’ll grab you from behind, just wrapping his arms around your middle and picking you up. he carries you, complaining and squirming, the whole way to your room and tells you it’s nap time

– you guys have a lot of nap dates. it’s an easy, sweet block of time for you guys to spend together, hazy and together while napping on and off. if one of you wakes up, you get to fondly watch the other nap until you fall asleep again. watch the easy rise and fall of their chest, run a hand through their hair, trace gentle patterns on their skin, play with their fingers, listen to the beating of your heart

– you do the dishes together. you wash and schlatt dries. sometimes you get into towel fights or start flicking water at each other with your fingers

– schlatt follows you out of bed when you get up in the middle of the night. he’d never admit it, but he has a hard time sleeping without you. he hates waking up to a cold bed. so when the clock blinks 3:17 and he feels around to find nothing beside him, even if your side of the bed is still warm, he huffs and gets up. pads through the house with puffy, tired eyes until he finds you. wraps his arms around you from behind and rests his chin on your head. “what are you doin’ outta bed?” he never waits for your response, just starts ushering you back to your room

– really likes seeing you in his clothes, again, not that he would ever admit it. he’ll purposely “forget” to do your laundry so that you have to start wearing his hoodies, tee shirts, sweats, etc. it just gives him the warm fuzzies, seeing you be so comfortable and cozy in his clothes

– hangs on you a lot on days when there’s nothing to do. he’s pretty idle about it, too, kind of like a character accessory. sometimes you just have to go around the house doing your stuff with this big man hanging off of you because you don’t have the heart to tell him to leave you alone for an hour or two to get your work done

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 92)

N landed on the nest in a panic, vision blurry with tears as he stripped his mate of her frozen clothes and wrapped them both in as many blankets as possible, using himself as a space heater against her. Tera staring curiously at the flurry of movement, growing worried.

She was so cold that it brought his own internal temperature down before he began to warm her up, her body shivering and breaths coming out in shallow pants, her eyes were knitted shut, and gripping desperately onto him.

“N…?” She asked eye creaking open and voice filled with static, He shushed her gently.

“You're okay… I'm here.” He murmurs, wrapping around her tightly, his eyelights blinking back worried tears as he runs his fingers through her hair.

“T-the baby…” She croaks, tears filling her eyes as well, his core drops and shatters into a thousand peices.

“L-let me see, maybe they're okay.”

He backs away slowly, just enough to see her core resting in her chest, it's still white… but it's dimming, purple beginning to bleed through, as the white glow grows dimmer and dimmer.

“No… nonono…” He whines, he's lost on what to do, is there anything he could do? His hand grazes across the glass covering, resting on it, trying to feel the little one's corebeat along with Uzi's, Uzi's was slower then normal already, and he struggled to find any sign of their child's corebeat… until he did; it was faint and much too slow, wavering in and out of being nothing at all.

Uzi's gaze was locked on N's expression, watching as his eyelights hollowed and his body shook, tears hit her harder, sobs working their way put of her throat.

“Oh my god…” She chokes out, and N is forced to watch helplessly as the white light dies out and the tiny little corebeat peeters out into nothing, tears stream down N's visor as he closes his eyes, it feels like his very soul gets ripped in half.

“Uzi… I-I” He can't finish the sentence, emotion clogging his throat as She throws herself deeper into his arms, full body sobs wracking her body as they both lie there, N says nothing more, only lets her cry as he does the same into her shoulder.

“I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…” He weeps unfettered, body trembling like a leaf, they lost them… they lost their baby…

Uzi can't reply, she only buries herself deeper into his shoulder like she wants to dissappear there, He's felt pain before, but nothing compared to this, nothing at all.

He rests his hands over her midsection, forehead resting on hers as everything around them seems to completely dissappear into shadows.

Tera is… confused. Mama and Papa are crying, and she's never seen either of them so upset before, she crawls up to her mother, hands resting near her father's hands.

She chirps softly, cocking her head up at both of them, but neither seems to notice. She lays her head down on her mother's midsection, eyes closing in an attempt at comfort.

…

Until something kicks her head gently, causing her to yelp. She startles, blinking.

She's hit again, something is moving around in her mom's midsection and is doing its danmdest to knock her off it. She growls, eyelights coming to glare angrily.

“T-Tera… come on sweet pea, it's n-not playtime…” Her father comes to try and pick her up, but she just keeps growling, staring at where the movement was with great vitriol.

“What's got you… so…” He trails off, moving his hand.

Kick

Kick

Kick

His face breaks into a relived smile, overjoyed at feeling the baby kicking, he nearly screams.

“Uziii!” He yelps, grabbing her hands and placing them where his was, she's confused at first, but then she feels it, the gentle movement underneath her hand and the sporadic tiny kicks that follows.

She can barely breathe she's so happy, she turns and kisses her boyfriend as hard as she can, which he returns with just as much fervor and the rapid wagging of his tail.

When they part they're both smiling, tears still running down both their visors but now out of pure relief, N leans down into her stomach.

“Oh you had us so worried!” He says, which causes Uzi to laugh through tears, and laugh even harder when he places a flurry of kisses there.

“N! That tickles!” She yelps, lightly shoving his face away, which only causes them to embrace again.

“We're all okay…” He mumbles, and he feels her nod rapidly in response, he exhales, like he was holding his breath the entire time.

“Mama! Papa!” Tera squeals in indignation, not liking being confused or left out, she's immediately picked up and hugged tightly by both of their parents. She grumbles still, but is much happier with this arrangement.

“We should tell her now… she can feel them.” Uzi mutters, still recovering from the rollercoaster of emotions she was just sent on, she grabs N's hand.

“Yeah…”

He takes his daughters hands and places them on her mother, making Tera cock her head and look up at him. A force kicks her hand.

“You feel that Jellybean?” He asks, and she nods, eyelights wide.

“That's your little sibling, you're gonna be a big sister.” He smiles, and she looks back down, tilting her head in both directions like a confused puppy.

“Sib-ling?” She mouths, having no understanding of the word to know what that means.

“That's right, they'll call us Mama and Papa too, they're just… not quite ready to see us yet.” Uzi tries to help explain, but once she noticed… the kicking was a little uncomfortable.

Tera takes a moment to think.

“Shy?” She asks, looking up at her mom. And Uzi smiles back.

“Yeah… you could say that.” She chuckled, leaning back against her boyfriends arm.

Tera nods softly, eyelights furrowing in deep thought, her tongue sticking out.

“Brother.” She says suddenly, catching them both off gaurd.

“What?”

“Sibling, Brother.” She said again, and the parents both looked at each other in surprise.

“How do you know that Jellybean?” N asks, but all the ten month old responded with was a shrug.

“Her guess is as good as ours.” Uzi hums with a shrug of her own, and the couple relaxed into their nest with a moment of silence.

“I'm gonna kill J if I see her again.” Uzi says abruptly, and N doesn't even move in response, just shakes his head.

“Not if I get to her first…”

Next ->

[00ops1e]

taskforce 141 + könig x sick! reader

warnings: emetophobia trigger warning, mentions of puking/being sick, fluff, hurt/comfort maybe??, not proofread a/n: omg here it is. the first cod thing ive written! but not actually theres some filth hiding in my documents. this is totally lowkey a self insert. geared towards female! reader but if you squint at the petnames could be gn. i've been so so sick lately and tbh scares me a lil but what cant be fixed by fictional men?? nothing.

Ghost

 A little bit of a germaphobe

Will take off his mask, but replace it with a medical mask

Only so he can still hold you, just with a peace of mind

He does NOT want to get sick too

Because then how could he take care of you?

Always has a puke bowl at the ready

Orders your favorite takeout, even if you don’t feel like eating

Because hes a firm believer in leftovers.

Which may just be the cause of this

But you'd never tell him. poor man would get so guilty he had forgotten to throw it away.

Puts on a movie and lets you fall asleep on his chest

I feel like he’s a cold-blooded type of person, doesn’t generate much heat

but makes up for it in comfort

so many blankets

so so many. 

Checks your temperature in your sleep

Lowkey counts respirations just to be sure

Makes sure you keep hydrated

Will bring you to urgent care if he’s really worried

No matter how much you protest!

Soap

Squeamish when it comes to throwing up

Will try his very best to stay with you, but sometimes ends up running from the room

Because the last thing he'd wanna do is gag at you

While hes ran away he gets a cold rag to press on your forehead, and clean you up a bit in the process

"yer hidin? awh bonnie i wasnt meanin' to embarrass ye" he says while taking your chin in his hand, forcing you to meet his eyes

"sickness and health yeah? i wanna take care of you"

Insists on rubbing vicks/ vaporub on you

Not because hes a little perv (he is)

But because he loves you and the sniffles break his little heart

peppers kisses across your collarbones, vicks smell clogging his nose

but he’s too focused on the goosebumps that rise on your skin, your little shivers

“Awh, my poor sick lass,”

Constantly checking for a fever

Forcing you to stay in bed, even after you feel better, “not takin chances, rest up.”

this man on the other hand is a human space heater

throwing a blanket on and off the two of you, getting too hot and then shortly after too cold. 

not as convenient when it’s hot out lol

head rubs 

head rubs

Gaz

Tries to bring you to a doctor/ urgent care immediatley

Will try to call an ambulance over a slight fever

Stocks up on pedialyte/makes sure youre hydrated

Cuddles constantly, does not care if he catches anything

loves being the big spoon so he can lay in the crook of your neck and still hold onto you tight 

Has extra blankets on deck

entertains you with silly little jokes

but then apologizes while giggling because you laughed so hard it hurt a little. 

Will feed you cold medicine/tums

teases you when you complain about taking them

“i don’t need you gettin any grumpier love”

Will hold back your hair/ stroke your back while youre getting sick

gets offended when you get embarrassed about it

“are you judging my girl?” he teases you

Tries his best to cook, but lowkey fails miserably

Resorts to cup of noodles and lipton packets. 

Price

Such dad vibes

Will make soup or other comfort foods from scratch

And his cooking skills are unmatched

Runs you a shower/bath and washes your hair for you

back rubs and massages

pressing small kisses to your shoulders as he works

also a human heater but not too hot, just the perfect temperature 

also just the perfect shape to spoon you, cradling every inch of your body

“I hate it when my baby’s sick,” he says, rubbing soft circles into your side

Doesnt even have to make a pharmacy run because hes so well prepared

Feeds you medicine, on the dot, every few hours after it wears off

(he totally sets reminders in his phone. [typing like an old person with reading glasses on])

Will stay in bed all day with you, quietly typing and mumbling to himself while you nap at his side

occasionally leaning down to kiss your forehead while he works

the computer goes away as soon as you wake up

"how're you feeling princess?"

loves having you in his arms, pulled close to his chest

Carries you to bed if you fall asleep on the couch (bridal style ofc)

Will hold your hair back, refuses to leave your side

“Of course youre not gross darling, we all get sick,”

Konig

rubs your back as you're hunched over the toilet

will sit down with you on the floor, back up against the bathtub when its too much of a risk to leave the bathroom

just wants to keep you company :(

"take as long as you need, liebling"

fills up the tub while still convincing you to get in

he promises you'll feel better after

caves and offers to join you as a last resort to get you cleaned up

Long baths, cuddling in the warm water

Letting the steam clear your sinus

Brushes and braids your hair

when you start feeling better but are still running a fever, hes worried.

but youre dealing with a burst of energy and simply must start with the housework

konig will put you over his shoulder and escort you back to bed

will paint your nails in bed to entertain you, anything to keep you still and in bed

Lets you put your cold feet on him, but only when you dont feel good

totally unprepared because i feel like this man has an immune system of steel

makes a quick pharmacy run, but has to call you for the shopping list bc oops he forgot 

depending on how sick you are, lets you come along for the ride

“promise you’ll stay in the car ja?”

always returns with a sweet little treat or small gift/toy for you

“gesundheit!” as he chuckles at your sneeze 

jokes that maybe he should put a mask on you

[solomon-revisited]

my copy has finally arrived... sixteen old songs from my earnest friends

THE CORONER'S GAMBIT LINER NOTES

TRANSCRIPT:

HE was a guy from California who'd fallen in love with a woman from Iowa. She was working at a water testing lab. They lived in a very small house whose pipes froze every winter. The landlord would come by and put space heaters under the sink. Years later, they retained the memory of the water coming back on - the sudden sound of the shower, the rush from the sink. They slept on a foam mattress in the bedroom in the summer, and on the couch in the living room in the winter, since the house did not have central heating, rendering the bedroom essentially uninhabitable from December through March.

They were not really the kind of people to plan things: they had fun when and where they could on an austere budget. The ice skates they bought used from Play It Again Sports made for fun Christmas mornings on West Indian Creek in Nevada, one town over from where they lived. He learned to cook, and to bake: they didn't go out to eat, because there really wasn't any place to go out and eat, though on occasion they would get a pizza from Casey's, because their town had a Casey's. Under the right circumstances a gas station pizza can be just the thing, and they sometimes found themselves in those circumstances.

He made music which was slowly reaching a wider audience. If he played in New York or Chicago as many as a hundred people might show up. He was idly entertaining the idea of becoming ambitious about it: as a child, he'd been pretty pretentious, and although he was working hard to shake most of that off, a little pretension isn't a bad thing in an artist. Just as a seasoning, as a little extra flavor here or there.

One summer he took a job as a harvest help at the Farmers Cooperative Exchange down the street from the very small house where the pipes froze in winter: getting the corn and soybeans into the grain elevator and into a big Morton building where the beans formed giant mountains, which he sometimes had to climb to knock down the peaks. If you don't knock down the peaks the beans get too hot and might rot. The job didn't pay much, and he wasn't good at it, but during slow stretches he would write song lyrics on scraps of paper or in a small notebook, and when he got home from work and washed off the crop dust, he'd set the lyrics to music. "Elijah" was written like this. So was "The Alphonse Mambo."

He took a Greyhound bus to Omaha to record some of the songs, so that the album would have a nice varied feel to it, but he got very sick, which is not an uncommon thing to have happen after a Greyhound ride, and only a few songs came out the way he wanted. He kept those, and then they got married and moved to Ames because the City of Colo had purchased their home from that landlord and intended to knock it down, which they did do, he affirmed years later: and in Ames he put the album together, and then later they moved to North Carolina and a whole lot of other things happened, too, but the main thing is that this album is a document of a time when two young people in love hadn't yet located the spot on the current that would carry them to their destination, twenty-five years later, parents of two beautiful children, worlds away from Colo, the place where, for better or worse, as the saying goes, all this really began.

Dedicated to my wife, Lalitree, and to the City of Colo, Iowa.

This is the original text of the paper bag that housed the first edition of this album. I am leaving it intact rather than revising it. Stage Bidet's moment comes ever closer: let the people tremble in fear.

Elijah, Baboon, Horseradish Road, Onions, and the Alphonse Mambo recorded in Omaha with Simon Joyner, Chris Deden, Lonnie Methe, Brad Smith, John Kotchen, Steve Micek, and Pat Oakes. All of them are owed money and are to be treated with deference and respect. Five of the remaining songs were recorded at Main St. in Colo, which is a small town in Iowa, and the rest were recorded two blocks north of Emma McCarthy Lee Park in Ames, which is a considerably larger town half and hour west of Colo. Though happy circumstances currently have the Mountain Goats claiming Ames, we continue to straight up represent Colo and will put the slap down on anyone who disrespects it. Transfer and levels by Bob Durkee at FBE in Pomona, California, with Joel Huschle attending. As a result of some regrettable but inevitable conversations that took place during the transfer, Bob, Joel, and the Mountain Goats have formed a new, super-powerful punk rock machine called Stage Bidet, and we urge you to watch for us and clear us a wide berth whenever we're in your town. Instead of thanking all the people I always thank to whom I say, collectively and with no less sincerity: thanks. I am just going to spend the time left us here addressing an absent friend. Rozz: I wish you hadn't've gone and killed yourself. Though I hadn't seen or spoken with you in eight years since that night when, as far as I can tell from the reports I was later able to piece together, you tried, not without reason, to strangle the life out of me out there on the landing of Damien's apartment and I probably never would have ever seen you again anyway, it was still hard to hear that you were gone. All your friends had been predicting your death since the early eighties, and no-one could bear the thought of you growing old, but none of that did anything to soften the blow when I heard. I don't really believe that the dead see or hear what we do out here in the realm of corruptible things and I don't imagine that the anyone reads the scribblings on the backs of album jackets to them, either, so I am really only addressing a memory. To that memory I say: I thought of you now and then when I was writing these songs. I don't suppose they'd do much for you, but I thought of you all the same. All your friends miss you in some way, a little or a lot. The rumors about your final hours are dismal and tawdry: I am sure they would please you immensely. For your sake, I hope that the Christians were wrong and that you were right about whether the faithless are destined for eternal torment. In the event that you are a ghost and are wandering the earth moaning and rattling chains, I moved to Iowa from California four or five years ago, stop by any time. Have a seat on the couch until I get home from work. Help yourself to anything in the refrigerator, or to the whiskey and sake on top of it. Make yourself right at home.

Album cover design by Tom Hart

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

m6 with an mc who gets really cuddly when tired but also gets too tired to speak so they kinda just follow them around and lean against them/snuggle them until they either fall asleep or the other takes the hint and cuddles them?

The Arcana Mini-HCs: When MC gets cuddly when they're tired

Julian: delighted and distracted. delighted because he adores you and he craves affection and you're covering him with it even though you're too sleepy to speak - and distracted because he has a brain that rarely stops running and it keeps bouncing between you and his other three trains of thought (help)

Asra: oh, you are their kind of person! snuggles are a number one priority in his space, so he's dropping whatever he was working on to find an ideal napping spot for the two of you to curl up in. They do this too, by the way, so be prepared for early morning breakfasts to involve a fluffy head on your shoulder

Nadia: knows that she's ultimately going to have to choose between you and the thing that she's working on and hates it. loves being reminded that you love her, but her sense of duty is so strong that she's not going to cave very easily. Ends up making a spot for you to nap nearby while she works

Muriel: so. very. flustered. he can't blame you, he knows he's a walking space heater and apparently the kind of presence that attracts all manner of small creatures to nap on him. But it's also physical affection from the world's most lovable person and it's making his brain malfunction

Portia: oh my gosh, you're adorable. someone stop her before her cuteness aggression gets out of hand and she squeezes you too hard. this habit of yours is actually very good for her, because she's a tiny bit of a workaholic and this is hands-down one of the most effective ways to help her relax

Lucio: heck yeah, he's down to cuddle. at least for a little bit, because it's the middle of the day and he's not tired yet and he gets restless if he has to sit still for too long. likes watching your sleepy blinks especially, something about those tired eyes trusting him with your safety while you doze is precious

[destinygoldenstar]

I LOVE seeing headcanons related to Kai's powers. Like in the show he uses his power as a light source and that's cool, but people online go beyond that and come up with cool ideas of variety he could do as an elemental.

My favorites include:

The flame shield we saw with his True Potential. With how destructive fire is, you'd think his would be offensive like Zane's is, but no it's the opposite. I think that's poetic with how True Potential functions with the master's discovery of themselves. Zane's is raw power from his heart and soul because of his acceptance of his identity. Cole's is strength from his strong will to stand up for who he is no matter the weight and pressure. Jay's is teleportation and flight because... faith trust and pixie dust? Idk that one confuses me a little, someone help me there. Kai's is a shield because he is a brother at his core. That's his fighting purpose. It's to protect his family, blood or surrogate. His fire is a protection barrier for the people he loves.

Speaking of family, the idea that he has a higher body temperature than the others, and it doesn't affect him negatively. Maybe it causes heat strokes in intense environments, but idk for sure if that's a problem for him. So he's just a space heater half the time. Especially for his siblings like Nya and Lloyd. You're cold? You're sick? You're cuddling with Kai and staying warm, and he ain't letting you go. Unless you're Jay, then he might tell you 'can't wait to go to your funeral knowing I could've changed that outcome'. (Lloyd goes limp cause he's part dragon)

The flames change colors when in certain sources like the crystals from Elemental. I never knew I needed that. But I think Kai would just like to play with it around Lloyd to cheer up the angsty child, and Lloyd likes it because ooo pretty lights. Imagine using this for like a bedtime story for someone. He also would do it to frame other people for pranks. 'Oh the ashes are green well clearly Lloyd did it' 'Oh its rocks it's gotta be Cole'. It almost never works.

He's afraid of water because he can't swim. That's how I interpret it. So when you splash him with water, he's just frowning. And it depends on who does it. If it's Nya, he goes, "...ok." If it's someone else, he goes, "What'd you say to me?!" If it's someone like Jay, he goes, "So you have chosen death." My point is that despite the water paranoia, he likes taking baths, especially before bed. He'll tell you he hates them, because they make him do it before bed. They do it to calm him down because if he goes to bed mad, or has a panic attack, or has a nightmare, his powers could go off the fritz and he burns the bedsheets. He likes it as a calming thing, away from stress of the day. He also likes the bath salts, again his flames changing colors with that stuff. Half of the time it's ingredients from that Sereni-tea from that Wu's Tea shorts. It's a therapy medicine for him.

BLUE FLAMES. YUS. This is one that I wish we actually saw in the show because that would be awesome. He doesn't use it very often because it's hard to control and maybe damaging, but that's why he only uses it when he's just... out of control of himself. Imagine a nightmare of a situation where an enemy just takes it too far. Severely injures one of his siblings, for example. Then you just see the fire turn blue... you'd run for the hills if you were them. That man is angry. ANGRY angry

These aren't mine. I did not come up with these. I've just seen these scattered online everywhere, and I love it, and I love art of it.

[character-of-all-time]

Tibby FACTS:

Tibby is cuddliest at BEDTIME, when she arrives on my bed, yells until i am under the covers and excitedly climbs over me to snuggle on my chest.

Tibby is very small, but she stomps very LOUDLY. You can hear her Stomping across the hall in other rooms of the house.

Tibby YELLS if you touch her when she's trying to take a nap, even if it's accidentally. This includes if she decides to sit on YOU and you breathe on her because she is sat BASICALLY ON YOUR FACE.

Tibby weighs BASICALLY NOTHING, but she stomps so hard with her little feet that she hurts if she stomps on your chest.

Tibby is VERY FLUFFY, meaning her fur picks up ANY STATIC CHARGE and thus CLINGS TO LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Once Tibby has touched an object her fur WILL stay on that object.

Tibby is also known by: Tibbs, Tibitha, Bibbitha, Bibby, Bibblet, Bibbs, Tibblet, Tibby-Wibby, Princess, and Little Baby Bibblet.

Tibby STEALS unattended packets of dreamies. We know this because she SHREDS THE PACKETS TO GET AT THE DREAMIES and then DRAGS THEM BACK INTO HER FAVOURITE CARDBOARD BOX. She is not subtle about her crimes, and is UTTERLY UNREPETANT.

Tibby has METAL in her skeleton. She could not make it through an airport.

Tibby is SPOILT ROTTEN and sometimes will refuse to eat food simply because SHE IS IN THE MOOD FOR SOMETHING ELSE. This usually ends with EVERYONE TRYING TO HELP HER FIND WHAT SHE IS IN THE MOOD FOR.

Once the vets thought Tibby was in a life or death situation. She was okay. She was simply PROTESTING BEING LEFT AT THE VETS.

Tibby expresses opinions by YELLING. She has been known to yell about BASICALLY ANYTHING.

Things tibby has Yelled about: the air temperature. Someone Touched me and i didn't expect it. Someone Touched me and i did expect it but i didn't like it. Someone asked me a question. Someone wiggled a toy at Me. Someone isn't lying down Right. There was a Noise. There is a Smell. It is Cold. It is Hot. It is Windy. I want to Sleep. I Slept but i had a Bad dream and want Reassurance. I am hungry. I am hungry but Not That Food. I am hungry (for treats specifically). My human has not Gone to bed yet and i want to lie on them. Someone made a noise. There was a fly. There is a rat outside and i am letting you know i have seen A Rat Outside. There is a Mouse. I have killed The Mouse. There is a Slug. I have not killed the slug: I smelt it and it was Wet On My Nose and i Didn't Like it. There is a Beetle. There is a Spider. I want you to Wake Up so i can sleep where you're Sleeping. A dog Touched me. There is Mail. I am Scared. I am Bored. I have figured out you are controlling the toy and am Unimpressed. My toy has stopped moving. Someone turned off the toy i was Not paying attention to. There is a beetle (again) I stretched and i want you to know that. I have noticed there is a fishtank. (There has been a fishtank for years) Something in the room has Moved. I am Under the Blanket (generic). I am under the blanket and something Touched Me. I am under the blanket and do not Want to be. I want to be Under the Blanket Again. The floor is Wet. The floor is Cold. Someone has Picked me Up (necessary). I want my Yoghurt. Someone has eaten my food. I ate my food but i want More. My food is the wrong Type. Frankenstein (the other Cat) will not play with me. Frankenstein is on a lap i want to be on. I am on a lap but frankenstein is sizing it up anyway. There are two cats on this lap: i don't like it. I saw a Bug Outside. Someone said my Name.

Tibby is very small for a cat, but puts out A LOT OF HEAT. Once she settles down on you she will MAKE YOU PERSPIRATE WILDLY just to cool down. She is basically a mobile space heater and has caused me to REMOVE LAYERS OF CLOTHING when THE HEATING WAS NOT WORKING.

Tibby has VERY HOT BEANS.

Tibby SNORES in her sleep.

Tibby is EIGHT YEARS OLD. we only found this out RECENTLY; Not because we didn't know when she was BORN, she simply looks so SMALL AND BABY that EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE GENUINELY FORGOT ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF AGING IN RELATION TO HER and for YEARS had simply assumed SHE WAS STILL A LITTLE BABY KITTY CAT OF TWO YEARS OLD. Her babyface is ETERNAL.

Tibby has been on a BOAT. she did not like BEING ON A BOAT.

Tibby is ASLEEP ON MY BED RIGHT NOW.

Vote tibby for more Tibbyfacts™

ty for Many Tibby Facts

[carboardserpent]

More Chick headcanons

(Because I can't help myself, I'm obsessed)

Relationship edition

(Humanised, of course)

Definitely giving closeted bi vibes. Probably with a good amount of internalised homophobia. As if he needs any more reasons to hate himself.

He walks that knife edge between hot-confident flirting and being too arrogant and often falls on the wrong side.

He's really not very good at the flirting thing - when people recognise him, they don't often want to give him the time of day, and when they don't, his false bravado is often enough of a red flag to scare people away.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; gift-giving is his love language.

This guy is sitting on at LEAST eight figures in his bank account. Whatever his Baby wants, they get.

Takes them on shopping sprees literally any excuse he gets. He just wants to see them happy!

The kind of guy to fall hopelessly in love fast and hard, and make all kinds of cheesy, cliche declarations of adoration.

Gives people who watch his show little updates. "It's our anniversary soon, been thinking about what to get." "It's date night tonight, and you know what that means ;) ...dinner. It means dinner." "My other half said the funniest thing today..." etc.

'Baby' is his favourite pet name. Will occasionally fall back on 'Sugar' or 'Gorgeous'.

The sweetest guy behind closed doors. He will bend over backwards to see his SO smile. Never in public, he has an image to uphold, but in private? You are not prepared for the tooth-rotting sweetness of this man.

...because he's absolutely terrified that his partner is going to leave him. As far as he's concerned, he's not good enough for them, and he definitely doesn't deserve to be happy.

So selfless in his relationship that he needs to be reminded to think about what HE needs occasionally.

A break up or a divorce is just another kind of loss, and that isn't "winning at all costs". It doesn't matter if he's not happy, as long as his SO is.

Yeah, he has a lot of emotional baggage and really needs someone who can help support him through some much-needed therapy.

Wants to have kids but absolutely crippled with fear at the idea that he might turn into his father.

There are lots of nasty rumours circulating on the internet about how he probably treats his partner poorly. He tries not to let them get to him, but if anything, it makes him even sweeter and all the more caring in private.

Can and will space out frequently while staring into his (massive) tropical fish tank. He often gets upset about what's running through his head in those moments and needs to be reminded that he's loved and appreciated.

Cuddle bug. Cannot sleep unless he's practically smothering his SO in a full-body hug at all times. Get this man a body pillow. No, not a weird one.

Runs so hot. Human heater. Combined with the cuddling, if his partner doesn't run cold, there's gonna be issues.

Messy guy. Dirty laundry all over the floor, chaotic work spaces, probably the kind of guy to leave a mug somewhere and forget about it for months and end up having to throw it away. But it's okay because he pays a maid to take care of all that.

Definitely no gourmet chef, but he can cook some surprisingly decent (and healthy) home style meals. Just don't look at the kitchen after he's done.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Asbod!! (This is my name for you when i refer to you in my discord servers lol) can you talk about Brothers? I love it!! I want any thoughts you have abt it! All of the thoughts you have about it!

first of all i love the name Asbod please feel free to call me that (that goes for everyone)

SECOND oh my god Brothers was such a fun thing to write especially considering there's a strange thing that happens with the twins where Roman gets comforted by Remus a lot (I'm guilty of this I know shush) but Remus doesn't really have a whole lot of people he can actually go to for things

(under the cut because wow)

one of the things i associate the most with remus is my tenuous relationship with reality. this might be tmi but I have these...episodes? hallucinations? delusions? somethings where it's really hard for me to stay in my body where i am at the point in time that i should be, and most often how this manifests (or how i realize it's happening to me and i would like it to No Longer Happen) is I get really fucking cold. Now, normally, I'm a goddamn space heater so that's an unfamiliar sensation. so i wanted to give remus that same kind of panic where it's cold, who knows why, and then you slowly have that feeling that something is Wrong. Not in that there's something outright coming to get you, or that you can see how things are going to spiral out of control, but that feeling of being in a sterile, bland, completely emotionless room and hearing the buzzing of the fluorescent lights just a little too loudly. and of course because it's remus, we take it to the extreme

the wolf...look, i blame puss in boots the last wish and dimension 20's neverafter for reigniting my love for wolf death deities, especially benevolent ones. (yeah yeah Death from puss in boots isn't really benevolent until the very end but you get what i mean, he's reasonable, he's not just mindlessly evil or malicious.) The wolf for me is such a symbol of the end of a story, or at the very least an irrevocable turning point. within the context of the twins specifically, the wolf serves as an interesting bridge between the two; the wolf as a fairytale figure fits very nicely into Roman's more traditional 'storied' Imagination, whereas the fear and uncertainly the figure of the wolf connotes slots very well into Remus's side. there's something incredibly soothing for me, a very brain-spicy person, about having a being who is kind for no other reason than it chooses to be. I dunno if you caught remus referencing Emily Dickinson's work as he was carried.

and then for roman! we all know i'm a full time station master for the roman angst train, but it works both ways. roman is deeply connected to the imagination, to creativity, to his brother, and as much as remus and he butt heads about things, there's an element of roman's creativity that remus finds safe. i think roman perhaps out of all the sides is truly the embodiment of the hurt/comfort genre, the desire to see something fall so far, yes, but land on something soft. that's the sort of thing his brother makes, and so the imagination/remus/the wolf takes him to roman because that's the soft landing he needs. and then with the hypothermia specifically--look, okay, i'm not an exception to the lure of that trope, even if i never take it the sexy route. bringing someone out of that state requires patience, gentle and constant attention, because you have to warm them up slowly and carefully. how could i not want to portray that? especially for these two, who are such obvious mirrors yet at the same time are exactly the same.

[swordsmans]

hi!! for your books - can i ask if you use a guillotine? or how you're able to print to the edge of the pages? :) tysm!! <3

hi!!! im using a guillotine right now, but i used to sand down my edges with a drywall hand-sanding kit (and using three different grits of sandpaper). i still sand occasionally, especially if something needs touching up. i talked a little bit about my sanding technique in this post, but basically i clamp the textblocks between two scrap boards and go to town. its labor-intensive (you WILL work up a sweat if you do multiple books lmao) but not overly difficult. i have an enemies-to-lovers relationship with my guillotine, personally, so i cant 100% endorse it when a cheap, easy option like sandpaper is available.

as for... edging, i keep my book in the board-clamp setup and lightly sand the edges (if i havent already) to help with paint adhesion, then:

for the speckled edges, mix acrylic paint and water (about 50/50 or 60/40), then dip a medium-firm toothbrush in the diluted paint and flick the bristles with my thumb. the less water you use, the thicker your paint will be. thicker paint will give you more "dark stringy splatters"--and the thinner your paint, the more uniform (and lighter) your spray, mostly in a dot shape. with thicker/undiluted acrylic, the splatter will be rougher to the touch; hard to explain, but trust me.

for painted edges, i use matte or metallic acrylic paint (either with no water or a VERY very small amount of water) and a paintbrush as wide as the approximate thickness of the textblock. and i just, like, paint it--trying to maintain a steady wrist the whole time and covering as much of the edge as possible with a single stroke. it often takes a coat or two to get a good color, but ive done as many as four coats. the more you paint, the stiffer your edges will be. ive heard good things about acrylic inks, but i havent tried those yet.

you want to fan your edges fairly quickly if youre using acrylic, so i usually paint, wait 1-3 minutes, poke a corner until it's dry to the touch, then remove it from the clamps and flip through the book. rotate, re-clamp, paint the next edge, etc.

if im using matte acrylic, i also seal the edges with beeswax. i have a block i use for waxing my thread, so i soften it up a little in front of my space heater or over a candle and gently but quickly run it over the edges. then optional step: i warm the book again (im not advocating for fire hazard behavior here please do not warm your book over a candle) and smooth the edges with my fingers. sealing the edges dulls the color a little, but it prevents the paint from scuffing if you breathe wrong and reduces the rough flaking that can happen.

im sorry i dont have any pictures, but hope this explanation helps!!!

[alittlextrathatway]

So don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

The fire house.

Now I have to say, this was difficult because I rarely listen to Swift and I didn't know who the other was either... So if this just comes across as a weird choice, please feel free to ignore it. (just wanted to give you another to choose from because I really like your writings)

Fourth entry for the Sylvie works at FH 40 series.

You can find the previous parts at the following links: part 1, part 2, part 3

***

Three weeks and many dates later, Sylvie wakes up in Matt's bed. He's not in the room and his side of the bed is still rumpled and messy. She runs a hand over the sheets finding them still warm. He hasn't been out of bed long. Getting out of bed, she borrows a pair of Matt's boxers -- rolling them at the waist so they fit -- and puts on her t-shirt from the night before.

She starts to head to the bedroom door but then her feet leave Matt's rug and land on the cold concrete floors. With a grimace she scampers over to Matt's dresser and steals a pair of socks. Why is this loft always so cold? Do Severide and Matt really run that hot?

Well, okay, she knows Matt does. Thank god. He's like her very own personal space heater.

Padding her way into the open concept living room and kitchen, she finds Matt and Severide making breakfast. She's assuming Stella's still asleep.

Matt looks up as she approaches the kitchen island. He scoops the scrambled eggs into a bowl and then rounds the island to meet her halfway, greeting her with a quick and casual peck to her lips. "Good morning."

"Morning," she replies, winding her arms around his waist.

"How'd you sleep?" He asks, mimicking her stance and holding her in return.

"Wonderful. I had you to keep me nice and toasty all night. That's always my favorite."

Severide's face pinches as he fixes his breakfast plate. "Alright, take it back to his room. I don't need to hear the bed sharing specifics."

Sylvie narrows her eyes at him and sticks out her tongue, leaning into the bratty little sister role she's found herself playing when it comes to her boyfriend's best friend. "Why do we have to take it somewhere else? You have a room too."

"Yeah, but my name is on the lease so..."

"Alright, that's enough of this weird sibling act," Matt says cutting Severide off with a laugh. "Go wake up Stella before breakfast gets cold. We need to leave for the firehouse soon anyway."

"He's only interrupting me because he knows I'm right. For the record," Severide says as he turns and leaves the kitchen.

"You guys leave for the firehouse together?" Sylvie asks Matt. She's never slept over the night before a shift before, but today was different. Today, it made sense.

"We take separate cars but yeah we leave together. Are you ready for a shift at 51?" He asks, leading her to the kitchen so they can both make a plate.

"As I'll ever be. I'm excited to work with Mikami. Shay raves about her. Says she really knows her stuff. I just hope everything goes well for Shay today. If anyone deserves a promotion it's her." Since that first shift Shay covered for her, the two of them have become fast friends. Today, Sylvie's repaying Shay's initial favor and covering 61.

"Have you thought about what she suggested at Molly's last night?"

"What? You mean me filling her PIC spot if she gets promoted to AC?" Sylvie bites her bottom lip and then shakes her head. "I have a little but...do you think that's a good idea? Us being in a relationship and working together? You don't think anyone will have an issue with the optics of that?"

"Optics of what?" Matt asks, following her to the kitchen table to eat. "You wouldn't be directly under my command. You've got an AC and Paramedic Field Chief for that."

"In my experience, the actual chain of command doesn't really matter," Sylvie mutters as they sit.

"Okay, I hear you," Matt reluctantly admits. "I know Kidd's had some weird run ins with a couple of guys even though she and Severide are on different rigs. If people are gonna be ignorant and rude logic hardly ever stops them. If you decide you don't want to, I'd understand, but keep an open mind. See how today feels. Deal?"

"Deal," she agrees, leaning over and kissing Matt's cheek. "For you."

Later, with 12 hours of a shift at 51 under her belt, Sylvie can admit Matt's house is exceptional. The team at 40 is full of good people, but they're not as close knit as 51. Violet is a great partner. A little green but extremely knowledgable. And, most importantly, Chief Boden nor anyone else at 51 cares that she's dating Matt. It doesn't affect how she does her job so it had no bearing on what they think of her.

During a quiet moment, she's sitting with Matt in his quarters and watching everyone else at 51 go about their day. None of them pay her a bit of attention as she lounges on Matt's cot while he finishes up his paperwork. When she was dating Greg at 40, everyone seemed to stare at her constantly. They watched her every move as if waiting for any sign Grainger might favor her over anyone else.

She assumed that was normal. That every house would be that way. It's odd knowing that assumption was wrong. Is this house the exception or the rule? She's never worked anywhere but 51 or 40 so it's hard for her to say.

"I can hear you thinking," Matt says before he turns in his chair to look at her. "What's going on over there?"

"My last experience dating an officer was...uncomfortable. Not because of Grainger. He was fine. But the people around us watching us like a hawk. I braced myself for an uninvited opinion every day," she confesses. "And I thought that was normal."

Matt nods, listening intently. "Thought? Past tense?"

"Your house hasn't asked me a single question about you or batted an eye when we interacted or touched. They only care about our relationship as much as they need to in order to make sure you're happy. That's...mind blowing, honestly."

The grin he points at her is slow and full of understanding. "Yeah, 51 has that effect on people, a lot."

"I was worried working together and dating would put added pressure on us and burst our little honeymoon phase bubble. I've had relationships fall apart over less, you know?" She idly plays with her watch band as she debates continuing.

Is she on the verge of too much, too soon? Should she quit while she's ahead? No, she's done softening her feelings for the sake of a man she's dating. She did that with Greg and ended up staying with him too long passed their expiration date. If anything is ever going to work out for her, it'll take her being honest to make it happen.

"And I really don't want this to fall apart. I haven't been this crazy about a person in a very long time." She takes a deep steadying breath as she finishes telling her truths and impatiently waits for Matt's reaction.

She doesn't have to wait long. He relocates from his chair to the bunk next to her and takes both of her hands in his, smiling so warmly his eyes wrinkle at the corners. "I haven't been this crazy about a person in a long time either, and we're not going to fall apart. Especially not because of any outside opinions. We're the only ones that really know how we are together and how we feel about each other. I'm not gonna let anyone, at 51 or otherwise, take that from us. Trust me on that one."

His certainty and determination send thrilling little shocks coursing through her bloodstream. She feels buzzy. Almost as if she's had a double shot of espresso, but she hasn't. No, she's got something much better: private doses of Matt Casey that she has access to whenever she wants. The more time she spends with him, the harder and faster she falls.

"Oddly enough, I do trust you. Completely."

"Good," he says, lifting the back of her hand to his lips for a quick and subtle kiss. He's aware people could be watching and he's sensitive to her worries. Most guys wouldn't be. But Matt Casey is the best of the best. Of course, he remembers and acts accordingly.

God, she's in big trouble. This man is going to own her heart before too long and, once he has it, she knows she won't be getting it back.

[killkaramazov]

tonight my toilet overflowed RIGHT as I was about to step out the door to go to work (it didn’t look clogged at all I had literally no idea ((it’s a 100 year old building it just does that sometimes)) and I had to throw like every towel I own on the floor unclog it and then just leave it like that and then while I was driving to work I had to slam my brakes extremely hard because I somehow in the dark misjudged how near a red light was coming up and all my shit went flying everywhere inside the car and people were staring at me and when I GOT to work someone stole my employee parking spot so I had to park in the very very back lot and carry all my shit all the way around the building in the snow in like 15 degree wind and then the outside double door broke so it’s fucking freezing in here and someone took the big space heater and left me with this little boo-boo ass one. Ok that’s it I just wanted to complain

[kalpasio]

Two Times You Abused Kalpas' Bodyheat

An actual Kalpas x Reader one shot I think

Working as a comms officer in Fire Moth was hardly your dream job. It was originally temp work. Your previous office had been blown up during a Fire Moth mission, so as compensation (and to keep your boss from blabbing) they had offered you all positions. When you took the job, it had only been because you needed a job for money, and this was all you could get. Now, it was one of the only jobs anyone could get, and it paid nicer than anything else on the market, so you put up with the weirdos you had to deal with on the daily in exchange for a nice paycheck.

One of these weirdos was your boyfriend, Kalpas. How you started dating was a mystery to nearly everyone, yourself included. You had been assigned as his comms for a mission, and from the safety of your desk, you had maybe gotten a little heated in telling him off. Other agents had stared at you in fear, but you were convinced it was fine. There was no way some random MANTIS would know who you were, or even care by the time he came back to base; and the fact that your yelling had saved the mission only made your more confident.

Oh you were so very mistaken.

Not only did Kalpas find out who you were, he marched straight into the comms office and right to your desk. The normally very loud room fell silent as everyone watched with morbid curiosity. You were dragged from the room, still shouting—you refused to go peacefully—much to the horror of all your new coworkers. None of them expected you to return, but the next day, there you were, sitting in your chair like nothing had happened with an especially warm cup of coffee. It became standard for the fiery MANTIS to visit you when he was bored, and everyone quickly learned not to stare to hard, lest they be on the receiving end of his glare.

All in all, working at Fire Moth wasn't that bad. Except for when the base was attacked and something broke. Which happened...once a week?

“You've been in the shower for an hour,” Kalpas called from your room. He had invited himself into your room—something that happened quite frequently—a while ago, and you had told him you'd be out in a minute.

“Hour and a half!” you called back.

“Get the fuck out!” was the response you chose to ignore. Or at least, you tried to ignore. After a minute, Kalpas grew impatient and walked into the bathroom to yell at you better. Unfortunately, telling you to “stop yelling and get out,” only made you throw water in his face and yell louder while holding the shower curtain closed.

“This is the most heat I've had all day!” you complained. The latest attack had knocked out heat to the base, and the backup generators couldn't produce enough energy to keep everyone warm. “Those stupid space heaters don't do any more than blow cold air on my feet.” Suddenly you froze and popped your head back around the curtain. “You're warm.”

“What?” Kalpas stood leaning against the wall beside your shower with his arms crossed so he could brood more efficiently. Without answering his question, you turned off the water and grabbed your towel from the hook nearby. As soon as you were dried off and the towel was secured around you, you stepped out of the shower and grabbed on to your boyfriend.

“What are you doing?” he growled.

Refusing to look up, you said, “It's cold and you're warm.” You said this like it was a fact—and it was—but Kalpas wasn't outwardly pleased by your words. Inwardly, however, he was undeniably happy to have you clinging to him. Of course, you couldn't tell with him growling at you, but you also didn't seem to care, because you didn't let go. In fact, you stepped onto his feet to keep your toes warm. It seemed as though you had no plans of moving any time soon, which was fine by Kalpas.

One of his arms wrapped around your back to hold you closer to him, but before you could appreciate the warmth, he was stepping forward. Then he was stepping out of the warm steam in your bathroom, and bringing you into the chilly air of your room What had once been your personal heater was now a train leading you to a very cold death, and it seemed as though he had no intentions of letting you off. As much as you struggled, Kalpas held on, carrying you all the way to your bed.

For a second, you thought your attempts to get out of his hold had paid off; you were released, only to be pushed backwards onto the bed, and immediately followed by a very heavy blanket. After a lot of grumbling and shifting from both parties, you eventually found a comfortable position laying down half on top of Kalpas, with several blankets—that you made him go get—covering you. For about five hours, you were the happiest person on the base.

Then the heat came back on. And Kalpas refused to budge. And you were boiling for the rest of the night.

One of the biggest issues with having one coffee machine for about thirty people was that said coffee machine was almost always broken. Sometimes you could convince Emile to buy you a drink when he grabbed his own and Kalpas would be kind enough to deliver it with minimal complaining. Sometimes you would actually go to your desk at the time your meant to instead of being called in for an emergency, and you could make the coffee in your little apartment.

Today, however, you were called in early and since Kalpas had just come back from a mission and it was the middle of the night, you couldn't ask him to bring you anything. The poor agent you were working with got some very nasty comments thrown his way, and you were sure his report on your work would be less than kind, but you got the job done. Once he was on his way back to base, you took your headset off, and looked around the office.

It seemed like you were one of the only agents called in, which wasn't very surprising given the early hour. Only a handful of desks were occupied, and half the screens were turned off. The place looked a little eerie when it was so empty, but it was nice to have a little quiet for a minute. Like most of the comms officers, you were scheduled to come in to work in another hour, so you figured you may was well stay up and get some paperwork squared away before your normal duties started. In the meantime, there was no harm in trying the old coffee pot, right?

Everything seemed to go smoothly; you put in the grounds and the water, and the sweet sweet caffeine came out. The smile on your face was evident as you poured yourself a cup, and fixed it to your tastes. The scowl that immediately followed your first sip was evident as well. The coffee was cold. Not cold like iced coffee, but that horrible not-quite-iced, not-quite-hot temperature that made you gag. Before you could fix the issue by going to the microwave down the hall, the screen on your desk flashed, and you were called back over to lead another job. Whoever got assigned to you was about to have a very successful, very miserable mission.

Luckily, Elysia seemed to think your irritation was amusing and let it slide, but that still didn't fix your lack of coffee. Having another call come in right after only made you more frustrated, and poor Su didn't deserve to have you snapping at him. You finally got a break long after everyone else had come into work, and word had spread to leave you alone for the day. Word spread so far as to reach outside the office, and find your boyfriend.

Reaching for a data pad only to find someone sitting on it had you fuming, and looking up to find Kalpas glaring down at you didn't help your anger. Just as you opened your mouth to start shouting, your horrible, terrible, cruel, infuriating boyfriend reached over and grabbed the mug of extremely cold coffee you brewed this morning. Then, your wonderful, perfect, amazing, brilliant boyfriend placed the mug in your hand with the coffee now steaming and ready to be enjoyed.

Instantly, your scowl became a beaming smile sent his way, and Kalpas was chuckling as he stood from your desk. All he said was a gruff 'you're welcome,' and he was on his way. For about two hours, you thought you had the best partner in the world. Then you opened a mission briefing, only to find that it was his mission you were going to be working on, and really he just hadn't wanted to deal with you screaming at him because you were tired.

Oh well. At least you got your coffee.

Uhhhh here. Have something I wrote because I have my first quiz today and am stressed ahahahah throws glitter and runs away These are both scenarios I kinda mentioned in other stories, so it's nothing new, but it's here.

Also as someone who drinks a lot of coffee and tea, let me tell you, lukewarm coffee/tea is the worst possible thing ever. I would rather step on legos than drink a cup of tea that has gone cold. Also have I ever told you how much I love Su? Um. A lot. I should write a story for him (no i should not i need to finish these requests)