#no they made me go to the lab and then wait until the results came back

[shinysteph]

Cannot sleep because kidneys hurt so bad!!!

[fallingdownhell]

I absolutely love your works!

Can you make hurt/comfort with kazuha, albedo, alhaitham, cyno?

Where we're on a heated arguments about them too focusing on their job and completely forgot about reader

In the middle of the argument, the reader said

"Was i really nothing to you? Was i just some kind of object that you can just forget that easily?"

Thank you

Thank you so much!<3

And of course I can! I am always down to write some pretty, delicious angst!

Characters Included: Albedo; Cyno; Alhaitham; Kazuha

Content: Gender neutral reader; pre sumeru archon quest for Cyno's part; hurt/comfort; arguments; shouting; slight cursing;

Word count: 6k words

Thanks so much for the request. Hope you enjoy the end result!<3

Albedo

It was rare for Albedo to come down from his lab all the way up in Dragonspine to the City of Mondstadt. You never really minded it, knowing that you could go there to see him at any time, while he also paid regular visits to your home.

Yet, for some time now.. those visits have stopped. He never came by anymore, far too consumed on some discovery he apparently made a few weeks ago.

Even when you travelled all the way to his laboratory on the mountain, in the icy colds of Dragonspine, Albedo had given you no attention whatsoever.

He had acknowledged your arrival, then went back to his work, while you were sitting in some corner by the fire, trying to warm up again. Even your attempts at conversation were flat out ignored, seeing as he never bothered to give an answer. You weren't even sure if he had noticed your departure a few hours after you had initially arrived.

You tried again two more times, but as you got the same result every time, you eventually stopped trying and didn't go back to Dragonspine.

Then, two weeks ago, you heard that Albedo was back in the city for a supply run.

Hoping that you would run into him to finally talk to him you spend your day in Mondstadt, but you never laid eyes upon him. When you asked Sucrose about it, she told you that he had already left again.

You went home to see if he made a trip there and you just so happened to miss him. But upon your return, you didn't find any note from him or any other indication that he had ever been here in the first place.

The same thing happened again a week after that, and by now you finally had enough. You went to the Acting Grand Master and she told you that Albedo would be back today again, to drop of some reports.

Which is why you were waiting for him outside of the Knights of Favonius headquarters, though still in some respectable distance.

When you finally saw him again after a few weeks, it felt like you haven't seen him for a lifetime.

So, without hesitation, you made your way over to him before he could enter the building. Yet, he seemed to be so deep into his own head that Albedo didn't even notice your approach.

Only when you were directly behind him and firmly said "Albedo.", did he stop and turn around, looking at you.

You could see the expression in his eyes once his gaze landed on you, like he had a sudden realization that you still existed and he had forgotten about that until that very moment. It honestly hurt.

"Hey. Where have you been all this time? I missed you..", you said, hoping to get some kind of positive reaction out of him.

"You know where I was, (name). I was busy.", he said and then turned around to leave again. You were honestly astounded that he simply wanted to let things stand as they are. Well, not today and most definitely not with you.

"You wanna leave? Just like that? Seriously?"

That seemed to have at least some kind of effect on him, as he stopped once again and turned in your direction. Except for this time, he wore an annoyed expression.

"What else do you want from me? I said that I'm busy."

After that, an argument broke out between the two of you in the middle of the street, but neither of you cared. No matter how much attention you drew upon you, it was too late now. You were both to heated and too caught up in it to stop now.

Things were said in the heat of the argument, you were sure both of you regretted ever saying out loud, yet neither of you could care less right now. Everything seemed to be fair game at this point.

Until Albedo said one specific thing.

"Archons, you're impossible sometimes, (name). Insufferable. I've better things to do right now, you know!"

Immediatly after he said that, Albedo knew he had crossed a line. The way you went silent, no comeback falling from your lips. You were just staring at him in shock, like you couldn't believe that he had just actually said that. He wanted to retract his statement, but his pride prevented him from doing so.

So, instead, you both just stood there for some time, silently staring at one another. When no reply came from you, Albedo dropped his head, then turned around once again. But before he could take a step, he heard your voice again, though this time, it sounded broken, silent sobs being held back.

"So, that's it? Was I nothing to you?", you whispered, your voice slowly starting to break from the tears forming within you, but Albedo was still able to hear you. "Just some kind of experiment or plaything that you can toss aside and simply forget about? Do I mean nothing to you?"

Upon hearing how broken you sounded, and what you actually said to him, he instantly turned around again, the sight of tears rolling down your face feeling like a knive had been thrust straight into his heart. And what's worst was that he was the cause for your tears.

You stood there, waiting for an answer from him. Yet, when nothing seemed to come out off his opening and closing mouth, you just nodded at him.

"I see..", you said, your voice now entirely void of any emotion whatsoever. That, and the fact that you were the one now turning around to leave him like that, was the twist of the imaginary knive in his chest.

Finally being able to break free of his frozen state, he rushed towards you, stopping you in your tracks as he pulled you into his chest, caging your arms around you, burying his face against your shoulder.

"I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..", he whispered over and over into your ear, which only made the tears fall from your eyes even harder. You were shaking against him, struggling to breath. You wanted to break free from him, but at the same time, you never wanted to leave his embrace again.

"I'm so sorry, (name). You're wrong. You mean everything to me. I'm sorry I made you feel like that wasn't the case. And I apologize for the horrible things I said to you."

You stood there for a few more seconds, basking in his arms, then decided to slip free. Albedo let you, almost certain that you would be walking away from him now.

But you didn't.

Instead, you turned around to look at him, allowing him to see your tear stained face that he was the cause of.

"I think... we have a lot to talk about..", you mumbled, not being able to look him in the eyes entirely. But Albedo still saw it as what it was supposed to be.

A chance. A second chance to talk things out with you, make it better between you two.

And he gladly took that chance.

From now on, he would do anything to put a smile on your face every day, never wanting to be the cause for your tears ever again.

Cyno

Two months.

That was how long it has been since you had your boyfriend to yourself for more than a few hours.

Every day, he came back from his work much more later than he usually would, sometimes even not coming home for days on end. He didn't even leave a note or something to inform you of his absence, making you even more worried about him.

And now, even when he was at home with you, he was so cold and distant towards you. Sometimes, he went straight to take a shower and then to bed, not even sparing you a second. Other times, he did spend time with you, but you could tell that his mind was somewhere else, giving only short answers to your questions and statements.

Seeing all this, you couldn't help the doubt starting to well up inside you.

Did he fall out of love with you?

Did you do something wrong? Was he mad at you?

Was he... cheating on you?

You didn't want to think any of these possibilities true, but it was hard to ignore them when Cyno was behaving like this.

You tried to talk to him about this, how you felt, a few times, but he never really listened to you, keeping the conversation short so you couldn't bring your point across.

And now, you began to not only doubt him and the relationship as a whole, you doubted everything.

Did he ever even love you?

Was he only doing this out of convenience?

Were you just.. something expandable to him?

All of these questions and doubts plagued your mind day in and day out, not being able to find any answers to them whatsoever. The only one being able to give you the answers you so desperately wanted and needed, refused to give them to you.

It was driving you insane.

And now, you hit your breaking point. You weren't able to take it anymore. The constant doubt had turned itself into a depressive episode. You wanted to break free from it, but you also wanted to give Cyno one final chance. One chance to explain himself to you, to tell you the truth.

If he refused again, you would not hesitate to leave. Your mind was made up, everything was arranged. You had a small bag prepared, filled with clothing and other stuff you needed.

Tighnari had offered you to stay for a few days at Gandharva Ville where you could sort yourself out if you were not able to talk things through with Cyno. You were so grateful to him, though a small part in you still hoped that it wouldn't come down to this.

That evening, you waited and waited for Cyno to return home from work, but with every passing hour that he didn't show up, you lost more and more hope that he would come home at all today.

You sighed and were about to get up from your spot in the living room to go to bed, when the sound of the front door opening caught your attention. After all, it could only be one person that has the other key to the apartement.

"Welcome back!", you greeted him as you went out to the hallway, seeing your boyfriend standing there. He looked at you with a tired expression but didn't say anything in return.

Instead, he walked right past you, not sparing you another glance. You were baffled, to say the least. That blatant ignorance from him was what gave you the last push you had needed.

"Seriously?", you just said, turning around to face him again, this time though, wearing a stone cold expression.

"(Name), please. Not right now. I'm tired in case you didn't notice."

"Oh, I did notice. But I don't care anymore, Cyno. We have to talk."

"Please, (name). We can talk tomorrow, okay? I just want to go to bed now, not argue about something trivial."

Oh, he really dealt the final blow with that one.

"So, that's it? Do I even mean nothing to you? Was I just some kind of object you can forget about? Does this relationship even mean anything to you anymore?", you threw all of that towards him, not caring that you got more and more worked up with every word you said.

When you were met with nothing but silence from him, you took that as his answer to your questions.

"Okay..", was all you said, turning around and grabbing your packed bag before you went out the door, not even sparing Cyno one last glance. You just wanted to get out of there.

Cyno just stood there for a few minutes, still looking at the spot were you were standing before. Only now did the events catch up to his tired mind, yet he still didn't move.

He saw the defeated look on your face, the way your shoulders slumped at his dismissiveness, but he shrugged it off. Instead of running after you and trying to mend this misunderstanding, he went to the bathroom, took a shower and then made himself comfortable in the bed.

He was sure you would have returned by tomorrow and then you could talk about it.

....

Two days.

Two days have gone by and you still hadn't returned home. By this point, Cyno was beyond worried about you. After all, it was dark when you went out and he hasn't heard from you since then and no one in the city seemed to have seen you, either.

Thinking back to your last words towards him made him want to beat his past self up for not sitting down and talking to you then and there. For not running after you and bringing you back. Back to him where you belonged to.

He knew that he was neglecting you these past two months. It's not like he wanted to do so. Work has been increasing for him, the sages at the Academiya were up to something, and not of the good kind.

It put a lot of pressure on him, yet at the same time, he had to try and keep a low profile, for his sake as well as yours. But in doing so, he didn't even notice how much he had distanced himself from you. He really wanted to punch himself in the face for that, but it's not like that would bring you back to him, so he refrained from it.

He had been searching for you almost the entire day when you hadn't returned yet again. But his search seemed to not be granted success today either.

Not knowing what else to do, he decided to head over to Gandharva Ville. Maybe Tighnari would be willing to listen to him and maybe have a suggestion on how he could find you and apologize to you.

Once he arrived, he immediately made his way over to his friends hut, not caring for all the looks other people gave him. He was used to it at this point anyways.

As expected, he found Tighnari sitting at his table, scrunched over some research report. Upon his entry, his ear twitched and he looked at his friend. Cyno did find it odd however, that his friend looked at him with such a surprised expression. After all, it wasn't unusual for him to arrive unannounced.

"Cyno? What are you doing here?"

"What, can't visit a friend anymore?", he said jokingly, though it didn't sound convincing at all, judging by the look on Tighnari's face.

"You're right..", Cyno sighed instead, grabbing an empty chair and sitting beside his friend. "I need your help. It's about (name).."

"Oh, that situation? Yeah, I've heard about it from them already."

"You did? From who? And when?", Cyno asked, suddenly gaining new hope. If you were here, he might still have a chance at finding you.

"From them. I offered them a place to stay for a few days. Though after everything they told me, I didn't think you would actually search for them."

So you were here... and his best friend knew about the situation and was severly judging him. Cyno knew he deserved it, but he still wanted to try and make things right again.

"Tighnari, please tell me where they are. I need to talk to them. Please."

Tighnari looked at him long and hard, most likely trying to assess his intentions.

With a sigh, he then turned back around, focusing his attention back to his research. "I gave them the open cottage on the other side of the village. They should be in there, seeing as they haven't left it since they arrived here."

"Thanks.", Cyno mumbled, scrambling to get up from the chair to rush to where you are. He was almost out the door, when Tighnari's voice caught his attention again, calling his name.

Cyno turned around, facing his friend again. "Don't fuck it up again.", he advised, to which Cyno nodded his head. He wouldn't, he would make sure of that.

When he arrived at your temporary residence, he immediately went to knock on the door. He waited outside for a few seconds, but no reply.

So he knocked again, more urgent this time.

Still no reply.

"(Name)!", he exclaimed this time, knocking on your door again, but still to no avail.

Getting desperate, he decided to just try and see if the door was unlocked or not.

It was. The door slid open soundlessly, inviting him inside. Carefully, he walked inside, letting his eyes take in the interior. Since the door and most of the windows have been shut, it was almost dark in here, and to top it off, he didn't hear a sound.

He was almost panicing again, thinking that you might have actually left this place, until his eyes fell on the bed, and on it, he saw your sleeping figure.

Relief flooded over him, finally being able to see you again and to actually have the knowledge that you were safe and sound.

He then walked closer to you, only to take in your state. You may have looked peaceful sleeping like this, but your eyes were red and swollen, telling him that you had cried before falling asleep. And he knew that the reason for your sadness had been him.

The need to punch himself rose again, for making you feel this way when he had promised to do everything in his power to never do that.

Instead, he decided to crouch down on the floor, next to the bed, gently taking your hand into his, placing a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

He would wait here until you woke up again, no matter how many hours from now that would be. He would wait for you and ask you to please consider talking to him.

He wanted to properly explain himself and apologize to you. Whatever you decided on doing afterwards, he would comply by it. If you wanted to break up with him, he would understand that. If you decided to give him a second chance, he would thank you on his hands and knees.

But that decision would be yours to make and he was prepared to accept whatever would be thrown his way. But for now, he was content with simply holding your hand, quietly enjoying your presence which he had missed so much...

Alhaitham

The Scribe of the Academiya has been getting more and more busy these days. Well, for now, it's best to say "former" Scribe, since he has been temporarely promoted to Acting Grand Sage.

You knew that your boyfriend had absolutely zero intention of keeping that position, even if he was more than befitting for it, seeing how knowledgeable he was.

But he much rather prefered a simple life, and you couldn't argue with that logic. Who wouldn't like that, especially when pay and work hours weren't really affected either way.

Still, for now, both you and him had to live with the changed circumstances, even though neither of you were happy with them.

Alhaitham was working even more now, trying to sort out certain matters until a new Grand Sage has been chosen. You haven't really seen or talked to him in days, yet you brushed it off, telling yourself that it would change again once he got his old position back again.

Sure, he may have cancelled a few dates and had to call off a get together with your parents, but that was perfectly understandable.

You continued to give yourself excuse after excuse, hoping that soon enough, things would get back to the way they were before all of this had happened.

Couldn't take too long...right?

...

Three hours..

You had waited for him, at Puspa Café, where you were supposed to meet for your first ever date in ages again.

And he didn't show up... Again.

You wanted to give Alhaitham the benefit of the doubt, but it was getting increasingly more difficult for you.

When you got to the home you shared with him, you were greeted by an eerie silence, telling you, that he wasn't even home to begin with.

Probably still at the Academiya, working.

You sigh, adding yet another dissapointment to the list, as you went into the bathroom to get changed into more comfortable clothes. To think that you dressed up for the occaison, only to experience heartbreak again.

It's really starting to get difficult for you to forgive him for all this stuff.

....

Yet another date cancelled by him, thanks to not showing up... Again..

But this time, he didn't even come home in the evening.

It had you worried about him beyond anything, not knowing what was going on since he always came back.

You didn't sleep that night at all, only for him to angrily walk through the front door at three in the morning, mumbling something about the incompetence of the people he was forced to work with.

He only spared a glance in your direction before he went straight into the bedroom. By the time you got in there as well, he was already fast asleep in the bed. And when you woke up in the morning, he was already gone, not even leaving you with a note or anything like he usually would.

Somehow, this was your last straw.

You endured the exact same scenario so many times before. Yet, somehow, this time was just one too many times.

Next time, you promised yourself, next time you see him, you would talk to him about it, no matter if he wanted or not. Because if you didn't then there was no reason in your eyes to continue this dying relationship.

....

Turns out, the next time you would see him would once again be in the dead of the night, thanks to Alhaitham not coming home again any earlier.

When he walked through the door, he was surprised to see you still awake. Normally, you would already be asleep and he would just silently slip under the covers next to you, enjoying what little he was able to get from being close to you again gave him, before he was also knocked out cold.

But with you standing there in front of him, expression cold and hard, he knew something was up with you. And yet, he just didn't have the energy to deal with that right now. He just wanted to sleep.

"We need to talk, Alhaitham."

No greeting, no nicknames, no nothing. You were definitely upset, yet he still tried to get out off talking right now.

"Can we do this tomorrow, (name)? I'm tired."

"You mean like all the other times you promised me something and then stood me up? No, I think not. We talk about this now."

Oh, so that's what got you so upset?

"Look, I told you I would be busy for some time until things at the Academiya get sorted out. You can't tell me you didn't know about this.", he tried to reason with you, but it only seemed to upset you even more.

"You did say that.. but it's been weeks since I've last actually talked to you. It feels more like I'm your housekeeper right now, not your partner."

"This is absurd. Now you're just thinking too much into things, (name)."

After that statement, an argument broke out between you two, right here in the hallway where you "greeted" Alhaitham. You weren't full on shouting at each other, but you were talking pretty loudly. If people were to walk by outside, they could probably hear every word you guys were throwing at each other.

But neither of you cared right now.

At some point, Alhaitham walked past you, into the living room, trying to escape the argument. But you insisted on continuing it, following him into the room and at this point, he was getting fed up with the situation.

"Archons, (name)! Can you just shut up and leave me be? I don't have time for trivial things right now!"

Immediately after he said that, you went silent and his words caught up with him as well.

He looked at you, saw how tears started to form in your eyes and instantly regretted ever letting those words fall out of his mouth. Nothing was more important than you in his eyes, and yet, he still said that to you. Like you didn't mean the world to him, which you did.

"(Name)-!"

"So, what? Was i really nothing to you? Was i just some kind of object that you can just forget about that easily? To toss aside when you don't want it anymore?"

You hated how your voice cracked halfway through, how tears started to escape your eyes. And despite how much his words had hurt you, you still didn't want to run from the situation. You had to see it through.

"If that is how you truly feel about me, maybe we should end-!"

Before you were able to end your sentence, you were suddenly pushed against a strong chest, warm arms keeping you in an embrace you had longed so much for, yet right now, it wasn't comforting at all.

"Let go off me..", you stated weakly, giving no indication that you planned to reciprocate his sign of affection.

"Never..", he whispered, and with the way he sounded right now, you could almost think that he was starting to cry as well. Almost..

"I'm so sorry, (name). I truly didn't mean to say that. Please, you have to believe me, I don't mean it. You are not trivial to me, nor is our relationship.

I.. I love you. I truly do. Though I don't openly say it that often, that doesn't mean my words hold any less truth in them. You have to believe me."

"I want to... I really want to believe you, Alhaitham. But with the way things are and have been for those weeks... I don't think I can.."

By now, the tears are streaming freely from your face and you weakly put your hands against his chest, needing some kind of stability.

"Then let me prove it to you. Let me prove to you that I still love you like the first day, that I never stopped loving you, even if my words and actions made you think otherwise."

You were silent after that for some time, thinking it over. You had no idea what the best course of action for you would be, but in the end, you decided to go with what your heart was telling you. Wether or not you would regret that decision, you had to find that out in the future.

"...One more chance. You better don't fuck up again or I'm leaving for good.", you mumbled against his chest, his shirt already stained with your tears, but neither you nor Alhaitham cared about that in the slightest.

All he could focus on, was you in his arms and the fact you granted him with another chance. And he intended to use it the best he could.

Kazuha

Between travelling around the different nations and helping out Beidou on board of the Alchor from time to time, Kazuha never really had much time.

You love Kazuha. You really do...

But sometimes, you just can't help but wonder if you even have a relationship with him at this point.

When he's gone again, for weeks or sometimes even months on end, and the only form of communication with him stems from a few letters sprinkled in between here and there, how could you not doubt?

In the beginning, you used to travel around with him. And while you enjoyed the time spent with your boyfriend, getting to see all those different places and creating wonderful memories with him, you eventually grew tired of it.

That's not to say that you didn't enjoy wandering around the nations with Kazuha by your side, but you just couldn't imagine spending your entire life like this. Never being provided with a place of your own, to call your home, constantly on the go.

It just wasn't your way of living.

Kazuha understood that and would never force you to accompany him, just like you would never force him to stay with you, even when sometimes the loneliness just got more to you than on other days.

He always came back to you, but he never stayed for more than a few days before he was out the door again, not to be seen for an unknown amount of time.

It was difficult, living like this. You tried to live off the memories and happy moments you had with him when he was here with you, but it wasn't enough anymore. You wanted him by your side again, but you also knew that he would suffer in the long run if you were to ask him to stay here with you.

However, in your mind, it also wasn't an option to just leave thing unmentioned.

Which is why you made the desicion, that the next time he would come home to you, you needed to talk to him about your thoughts and feelings, in hopes you could come to a solution together.

.....

Turns out, the next time he's home again would be three months later. And like always, only letters could have been exchanged throughout this entire time.

Kazuha already had a sneaking suspicion that something wasn't right with you. He couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but the way you were writing in these letters sounded off from your usual way, which is also why he tried to make it back to you as soon as he could. He felt bad that it still took him this long, but there was nothing he could have done about it.

The city he resided in when he got that particular letter from you underwent a strict lockdown only hours later, due to a prisoner escaping. The entire city had been shut down to find him as quickly as possible, all forms of communication had also been cut short.

It took them three weeks to apprehend the convict again, and as soon as the city doors opened again, Kazuha was out of them and on his way back to you.

...

When Kazuha arrived back at the little cottage the two of you shared, it was in the late afternoon.

Already, when he opened the door, he was absolutely certain now that something was wrong. Usually, you would come running to greet him at the first noise or hint that he had come back.

But now? Nothing.

"(Name)? I'm back!", he yelled, in hopes of getting your attention this way, but still, no reaction. Maybe you were out buying groceries or something?

Still, Kazuha decided to wander through the different rooms, just to make sure he wouldn't miss anything. And now, he's glad that he did as he saw you sitting on the patio, wrapped up in a comfortable blanket.

As he approached you, he noticed that you must be deep in your thoughts, just staring ahead of you. He gently opened the door and when that also didn't seem to catch your attention, he decided to speak up.

"Darling?", he asked, cautiously, not wanting to spook you.

You flinched a little at the unexpected sound coming from behind you, but just as quickly, you relaxed again, realizing who that voice belonged to.

"Kazuha. You're back.", you stated, grazing him with a small smile as you turned around to look at him, but nothing more. Normally, you would jump up into his arms, almost taking his breath away.

But Kazuha didn't say anything about it, instead, he grabbed one of the other chairs and sat right beside you. He gently took one of your hands into his, holding it like that. He missed this, missed this physical contact with you.

"Please.. Tell me what's been bothering you, darling."

"....was I that obvious?", you asked, causing a small smile to appear on Kazuha's lips. But he didn't answer, instead waited for you to continue on.

You sighed, fixing your gaze away from him and ahead of you again, thinking about how to best approach this. It was silent for a few minutes until you spoke up again.

"It's just... You're always gone for so long that I-!"

Before you could actually finish your sentence, Kazuha began to groan beside you, making you look at him in confusion.

"(Name).. you know that I don't like being bound to one place."

"I know that, but-!"

"No but's! You knew what you were involving yourself in by being with me. Why are we even having this conversation now?"

You were shocked, not expecting Kazuha to immediately get so defensive about this. All you wanted was to talk to him and maybe propose an idea you had got when he was away. But the way he was acting right now made you feel bitter.

"Can you just listen to me? I'm not trying to confine you, I just-!"

"Yes, you are, (name). What else could you possibly want to achieve by beginning the conversation like that?"

Fed up from being interrupted by him a third time now, you've had enough. An argument started to ensue, when you didn't even intend for this to happen.

You've never experienced something like this with Kazuha, he was always level-headed, calm and collected. So why was he suddenly getting so defensive over this topic. It really wasn't like you were trying to hold him here.

But, with each thing said, both you and him grew more and more heated, the shouting starting to get louder and louder, until Kazuha suddenly stood up.

"If I knew you would get like that, maybe I shouldn't have returned at all."

As you heard him say that, you instantly went silent, looking at him with your eyes wide open.

No.. he couldn't mean that, right?

It also now seemed to catch up to Kazuha what he just said, as he also turned to look at you, shock written all over his face.

"(Name), I...", he began to stay, but trailed off, not knowing what he even wanted to say in the first place. He knew he had fucked up with that statement.

"So, that's it? I wasn't anything to you? Just something you can toy with when you get bored, only to be thrown away when you don't want me anymore?"

A single tear escaped you, running down your cheek and Kazuha immediately had the instinct to wipe it away from your beautiful face, to pull you into his arms and tell you how sorry he was.

So he did just that, pulling you into him, holding your face against his chest as he held your head secure with his hand, your tears now starting to come out freely.

"I'm so sorry, darling. I didn't mean to say such horrible things. No words can express how much I regret ever letting them out of my mouth."

You weren't able to answer him, your breathing being erratic, trying to choke down your sobs and crys. It positively broke Kazuha's heart that he was the immediate cause for this.

He just let you cry in his arms until you calmed down again, all the while he kept apologizing to you over and over, telling you how much he loved you and how much you meant to him.

The two of you would have to continue this conversation, but not today. Not when both of you were this wound up from everything that had happened.

The talking could be done tomorrow. Now was the time for healing...

[mj-iza-writer]

Masochist whumpee who messes up simple tasks to get hurt by their master. When whumper notices this they get very angry and decide to show whumpee what real pain feels like

Warning: lab whump. Inclusion of detailed amputation.

"Whumpee, you're going to get into trouble if Whumper catches on that you are messing up their experiments purposely", Test Subject 2, watched from their cell.

"I can't help it... It's the only way we get attention is when they test us", Whumpee held onto their side as the stinging went away, "I just want attention. I don't care how I get it."

"We are test subjects for this lab, we don't get things like that", Test Subject 3 sighed, "just behave before you get in a lot of trouble."

Whumper came in and opened Whumpee's cell.

"Come on. Let's try this over again", Whumper sighed as they lifted Whumpee into their arms.

Whumpee laid their head against Whumper's chest as they were carried to the room.

"Don't get too comfortable", Whumper scolded, "I'm not exactly happy with how your results are going. You've been causing a lot of unnecessary issues. I know it's not my test either, as the others are doing just fine."

Whumpee gulped.

"Wow, it's almost like night and day, you did that perfectly", Whumper frowned, "almost too perfectly considering earlier you barely understood what I was asking from you."

Whumpee nodded and looked down.

"You aren't purposely screwing up are you?", Whumper glared.

"N-no Master, I just thought a little more about what you wanted and was able to complete it now", Whumpee smiled weakly, "I-I'm sorry."

"Ymhmm", Whumper leaned on the table and pulled out their phone, "how about this video. I decided to place a camera in Test Subject 4's cell for a different a test and was upset to learn this behavior."

Whumpee gulped again as their conversation was played in front of them.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?", Whumper grew angrier, "you have no rights in this lab. You have no rights to having wants for attention. You are a pitiful rat. My rat. I do not like that you played me as a fool."

Whumpee held their head down, "I-I'm sorry, I-I just want to be loved. I miss...."

Whumper backhanded Whumpee, sending them off the lab table and to the floor.

"You don't get to have wants", Whumper yelled and stomped toward them.

Whumpee crawled backward until they ran into the wall.

"Please... please", Whumpee pleaded.

Whumper grabbed them by the neck and pulled them up.

Whumpee stammered and choked as they were pushed against the wall.

"You want attention so much.... you just signed up for my newest experiment", Whumper grinned evilly, "I've been waiting to do this to somebody, but I didn't know who. It will be rather painful you see."

"No please", Whumpee whispered.

"You want my attention so much. Well, here you go", Whumper dropped Whumpee and watched them fall to the floor.

"Prepare them", Whumper stomped out of the room.

Whumpee was strapped down to a table and dressed in surgerical drapes.

Whumper came in dressed in surgical dress.

"Please Master, forgive me", Whumpee pleaded, "I won't do it again. I won't ask for anything. No wants, nothing. I won't even talk unless you want me to."

"I know you won't... not after this", Whumper sighed.

A team came in, also dressed for surgery.

"This test it to study how much pain the human body can be in. The test subject will be getting amputated at their wrist on their right arm. They will have to meet a certain predetermined threshold before anesthesia is offered", Whumper looked over the team, "this will also prepare this subject for future planned test. This subject is right-handed, so I will be able to study the effects of losing that hand."

"Please", Whumpee yelled, "don't do this... please."

"To late", Whumper didn't look at them, "everything is prepped, I'm not stopping now."

The first slice was made.

Whumpee's scream was blood curdling.

Whumper continued, ignoring Whumpee.

"We will leave some skin here for me to sew the stitches", Whumper sighed.

Whumpee continued to scream.

"Place something in their mouth for them to bite down on", Whumper continued to cut, "prepare the bone saw. I've already cut the arteries and veins, we are tying them off now. Nurse hold that."

"Whumper, they are reaching a very high rate. May I recommend anesthesia now", a different person showed them the screen, "they don't look like they are doing alright."

Whumper looked at the screen, then at Whumpee.

Whumpee was pale and shaking, sweat glistened from their skin.

"No, not yet. I want to see what happens once we hit bone", Whumper grinned.

Whumpee whimpered. They were in too much pain to even attempt yelling now. Their vision blurred and everything sounded muffled.

"Whumper in my professional advice may I...", they tried again.

"No you may not", Whumper sighed calmly.

Whumpee whimpered as they heard the saw start.

"Please", Whumpee whispered quietly.

Their back arched as the saw hit bone.

"You may give anesthesia", Whumper watched.

Whumpee was taken to their cell and laid down on the floor.

The other test subjects watched sadly as the nurses walked away.

"Ar-are you okay?", Test Subjest 2 broke the ice.

"N-no", Whumpee rolled over to look away from them. They cuddled what bit of their arm was left.

Whumper removed more than what was originally planned. After the anesthesia was given, Whumpee fell unconscious. Whumper decided to take more.

"What happened... what did they do?", Test Subject 3 asked curiously.

"They uhm", Whumpee couldn't say it. With tears in their eyes they showed the left over part of their arm.

"No", Test Subject 1 gasped.

"I wasn't given anesthesia until they cut into the bone. I felt it all", Whumpee sobbed, "I just wanted attention", they whispered, "is that bad of me? ""

After a few days Whumpee was taken back into the room so Whumper could examine the wound and make sure it was healing properly.

"How are you feeling?", Whumper talked absent mildly.

"Ok", Whumpee whispered, they made a small whine when the bandages were removed.

"What nothing else to say. You know you can talk right", Whumper moved the stump around.

"No Master", Whumpee kept their head low.

"Hmm, I guess that's fair. The surgery took a lot out of you, I bet. Your recovery seems to be doing well. You're eating and progressing. No signs of infection either", Whumper started to put new bandages on, "looking back, I believe I may have gone a bit too far by doing this to you... at least without the proper anesthesia for you. I'm sorry about that. You just made me so mad. I couldn't help myself."

Whumpee let a few tears fall. They splashed onto their uniform.

Whumper reached up and lifted Whumpee's face.

Whumpee's eyes were sunken in and dark. Their color was much paler than before the amputation. Their lip quivered as Whumper studied them.

"I understand that I shouldn't have messed with your results, bu...", Whumpee sniffled, "but what was so wrong about wanting attention. It's not like I was asking for much, I was happy with you beating me up. I just craved human touch.... wa-was that wrong?"

More tears fell from Whumpee's eyes as Whumper studied them.

"I have no answer for you besides the fact you ruined my research. In that, you irritated me to which I didn't care what you wanted", Whumper frowned, "I..."

"I know", Whumpee whispered in frustration.

"Hmm, alright back to your cell with you", Whumper frowned, "I'll consider if I want to give you any gifts for an apology."

"Don't bother, in the end you got what you wanted. You wanted an amputated test subject, you got one", Whumpee sighed.

"Watch your tongue", Whumper warned, "you can be upset, I understand that, but you may not speak freely."

Whumper sat at their desk studying some notes.

A nurse entered.

"How can I help?", Whumper frowned.

"Whumpee is refusing to eat, they denied breakfast and lunch", the nurse sat down, "they are dangerously close to getting sick if they don't eat. After that procedure."

"Tie them down and tube feed them then", Whumper frowned.

"No I'm not doing that", the nurse crossed their arms.

"Excuse me?", Whumper looked a bit shocked.

"After what you did to them, and what you do to those test subjects, you owe them all an apology", the nurse frowned, "they are all severely touch starved, you need to do something before they all die of broken hearts."

"I do, do I?", Whumper grinned, "tell me... since your the professional, what should I do to make a bunch of test subjects happy?"

"They're test subjects, but they're also people... can't you agree on that?", the nurse frowned.

"Fine if you are so concerned you can be the one to ask each one if there is something that can be provided to make them comfortable. I guess I should make it up to Whumpee, and it wouldn't hurt to boost their morals. Whumpee can't have anything until they eat though, got it?"

The nurse came back and handed a paper to Whumper, "everyone has spoken."

"Let's see what the idiots want", Whumper looked at the paper.

"Test Subject 1 wants some books... approved. Test Subjest 2 wants thicker blankets... approved. Test Subject 3 wants me to die or a coloring book and markers. Coloring book is approved, but they get crayons, I don't want marker everywhere. Test Subject 4 wants to die... makes since they are going through a bad experiment right now. They would like softer blankets... approved", Whumper frowned, "Whumpee wants attention and cuddles... they get a weighted blanket and a weighted teddy bear", Whumper went through the rest of the list. "Everything else is approved."

Whumper went down the corridor where the test subjects were kept. All of them huddled into the corner of their cell.

Whumpee turned away when they saw Whumper walk by.

"I thought I'd let all of you know your request were approved, at least most of them I don't plan on dying or killing any of you", Whumper sighed and started to leave.

The nurse entered minutes later with a cart.

"I come bringing gifts", they announced.

Every one came close to their cell doors to look.

Everything was handed out, but Whumpee still sat in the corner of their cell... they watched.

"Pss.. Whumpee, come here", the nurse finally came by, "Whumper approved for you to have a weighted blanket and weighted toy so I hope you like these, but you can also ask me for a hug whenever you like. That goes for all of you."

Whumpee took the gifts and nodded, "thankyou so much", they tenderly walked back to where they were sitting. Covered up with the blanket and cuddled the stuffie.

It wasn't enough, they needed more. They were thankful to the nurse for getting these things for them.... but one thing they had learned was not to voice their wants or desires too loudly. These items would have to do for now.

Probably a different type of story, I hope it's okay and that you enjoyed it. Thankyou for the ask.

[sophios-draws]

lego dimensions portal dialogue!!

i compiled some of the silly ones (see end for notes)

GLaDOS

I always thought it would be wonderful to have a deep, emotional connection to someone… until I met YOU. (to chell) (gayass line #1)

Well, well, well, look who’s back. You must love science almost as much as me. (to chell) (gayass line #2)

Oh well, if it isn't the grand return of King Moron and his Mute Princess. (to chell and wheatley)

Well done. It seems you have mastered the graceful and noble art of ‘bouncing’. (to chell re: repulsion gel)

Very good. With the accelerative power of Propulsion Gel at your disposal, you need only worry about your wits being slow. (to chell re: propulsion gel)

What’s wrong? You look tired. Would you like a break or a nap? Maybe I could get an associate to rub your feet for you if I’m not boring you too much. (to batman et al.)

Did I mention I had a cake made JUST for YOU? Unfortunately none of the typical ingredients were available, so it consists mostly of sawdust and leftover propulsion gel. If anything, I think that just gives it even more of a personal touch. (to chell)

Wheatley

Oh dear. Someone booted up on the wrong side of the BIOS this morning, if I’m not mistaken. (to chell re: glados)

Ugh. Uh, I must have forgotten to, to carry the zero… And ummm… Let me try again, let me try again. I don’t suppose you know what, what’s Pi? Is it three something? (to batman et al.)

Seriously, where do you learn that stuff? What is it? Textbooks? Is it, um, online courses? Um, I mean, do you have to go to some kind of y’know, retreat, where you wear robes and things? And there’s some chap with long hair and a guitar? (to chell)

You want to say, “I TOLD you, Wheatley. I SAID you were too hard on those poor little mutant boxes, whose only ever crime was trying to make their daddy proud. And now they’ve run away from home, each of ‘em hiding GLaD-knows-where, scared and alone in some dark, dingy corner of the lab.” (to chell re: frankenturrets) ("glad" instead of "god"... checks out)

Keep it up! Although no mad rush, ‘cause I’m actually working on an apology speech… which I think is… is… quite beautiful. (to chell re: frankenturrets)

Ah! You all came back! I never thought I’d be so happy to see your little improvised-robotic faces! But I am, I am! And… what I want to say is… *throat clearing* if you don’t want to step on buttons, then DON’T step on buttons! Alright? Don’t step on a single one! Not even if an orphanage is burning down and the only way to activate the sprinkler system is to step on a button, don’t do it! Don’t… Well, you probably SHOULD do it in that case, but other than that, you know, do what you wanna do. You’re strong, independent mutant boxes! Think for yourselves, be yourselves! (to frankenturrets)

Cave Johnson

Caroline… I think I’ll have extra cheese on my ‘four cheese burrito’ today… throw in a side of coleslaw too. Oh wait, is this thing on?

Caroline, hold my calls. I need to go see a man about a mule. What was that? Alright. Good. Mule. Gonna go see him in the bathroom. Back in ten. (??? sir what is this about ???)

You might have noticed some safety warnings on the walls. Just ignore ‘em. I keep telling the Bean Counters danger’s just a natural part of science, but boy they don’t want to hear it. Like telling a paradox to a robot – makes their heads explode.

Now, the lab boys were adamant that I do not give you any hints on these tests. To be honest, they think I’m spoiling the results just by talking to you. Hizenstein Uncertainty Principles and so forth. I’ll give ‘em something more practical to be uncertain about. Their next paycheck. Anyway, overruled. If you think I’m affecting your decisions in any way, don’t be afraid to speak up. I’m not made of glass. That reminds me: Caroline, do we have a wing made out of glass yet? Let’s get on that, Caroline. (we know what became of that...)

Rick

And luckily for you, Rick the Adventure Sphere – just call me Rick – is here to show you how it’s done! You best get your ointment ready, sweetie, because with this assault course right here, you are going to FEEL THE BURN! (to chell) (no amount of context can save this line)

i watched playthroughs of the lego portal content and its pretty neat. there are three chunks of portal content: the starter pack aperture science level, the portal 2 level pack, and the portal 2 adventure world. downloadable voicelines are only available for the first of those three, afaik. the lines i included here are a mix of all three, transcribed directly from the youtube playthroughs. there are a lot of really good lines that i didnt include so if people are interested ill post more

[sailorsenshishitposter]

Liquid Snake x Reader

Warning for language but it's part of the copypasta. Also British stereotypes in case that offends you.

Liquid Snake

You have a thing for bad boys, are attracted to English accents or you just have a massive inferiority complex.

First Date:

You are a soldier working on Shadow Moses Island. Your partner has just taken Solid Snake to a locked cell after bring tortured by Ocelot, now leaving you and the blonde alone together. He turns your way and you try not to shit your pants Johnny style. He looks at you, then places a palm on your shoulder. "Oi mate, I think ell be outta it fo' a while. Care fo' a spot o' tea?" You're not really left with much of a choice so you follow your boss.

You eventually reach a cafeteria for the staff. Liquid dumps all the coffee out of the pot and begins to fill it with earl grey tea. "You hungry?" You shake your head. You couldn't possibly eat after seeing what the man had for himself on a tray. "Nothing like good ol' beans an marmite!" He then grabbed the pot and drank it all, scalding his throat. "That was bloody good, that it was!" Was your superior some kind of freak?

He then went on a long speech about french infants or something? You didn't really care and started to zone out. You didn't realize you had fallen asleep until you woke up to liquids final words. "And next thing I no, the bloke is ripping out me vocal cords. That's wot I get for workin' with a red head who got his fashion sense from a BDSM club." Just then you heard a noise. !

It was none other than Solid Snake, having made his escape. Liquid was furious. "BRUV, HOW DID YOU ESCAPE!" His twin walked closer. "That's not important. I just came by to tell you that you're wrong. You can't download UNO for Xbox." Liquid then felt his veins begin to twitch. "Everyone has UNO dipshit. It came fo' free with your fucking Xbox!" His twin then gave him a smirk. "I didn't get it, I have the oldest Xbox known to man."

"No you don't, I bought mine on day one you fucking tard."

.....

"Well, mine didn't have it." He was determined to prove Solid wrong. The two men soon ended up in a screaming match, various swears tossed back and forth. "I DON'T FUCKING HAVE UNO MOTHERFUCKER!"

"GO TO IT IN THE ARCADE AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD IT FO' FREE, YOU DUMB WANKER! IT'S A FUCKING CARD GAME, THEY DON'T EVEN CHARGE PEOPLE FO' IT!"

"I DON'T HAVE TWO, I DON'T HAVE THREE, I DON'T HAVE FUCKING FOUR, I DON'T HAVE SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN, OR ELEVEN!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW A GODDAMN BLOODY THING, IT'S FUCKING UNO, IT'S FREE-" Suddenly Liquid stopped. He raised his hand to his chest and gave out a weak cough. He then toppled over, a result from the FOXDIE. "Damn. Never seen someone get so angry that they straight up had a heart attack. Colonel, the plan worked. I'm bringing Meryl back and then we're going to pound town. Just don't expect me to call her afterwards." You couldn't hear the other voice on the codec call but you had a hunch that it was something along the lines of "Wait, what?-"

Shit. Well now you were out of a job. You went to the lab and found a computer already logged in. It was time to start looking for shady jobs on Craigslist again.

[simmerdowndee]

GROVE-ING TOGETHER MINI EPISODE TWO PART FOUR

Theo and TJ2 come back from pizza. They seem to have had a blast because he came back with all kinds of toys and gifts. 

Theo: We had a blast didn't we bud? TJ2: Yeah dad, we did! Dakota: Glad you guys had fun.  Theo: His mom is on her way to get him, and then I wanted to talk to you babe.  Dakota: That’s actually perfect, because I wanted to talk to the both of you! 

Jessica knocks on the door and comes in.

Jessica: Did you have a good time with your dad?  TJ2: Mom, we had so much fun! Dakota: TJ, why don't you go play with miso, she is very friendly.  TJ2: I got a dog too!  TJ2 goes and plays with Miso in the kitchen while the adults talk in the living room. Jessica: The lab says it may be another 24 hours, sorry for the delay.  Dakota: Oh that is fine.  Theo: It is? Dakota: Yes babe, it is. We don’t even need the result, he isn't yours.  Theo: Dakota, please. We talked about this. 

Dakota: No babe, this isn't me in denial. I KNOW he isn't yours for sure.  Jessica: How without the results? Dakota: Your son started to look around and saw pictures of our daughters. He asked if they were his sisters, and made the comment that “they look older than him.” I asked him how old he was and he said that you told him he had to be 7 while you were here.

Theo: What is she talking about Jessica?  Jessica: He’s just a kid, he doesn’t know what he’s saying. 

Dakota: Kids, they are very honest.  Dakota: So I did some digging, because I couldn't wait for the results.  Dakota: Did Theo ever tell you I was a lawyer?  Jessica: Uh… no. He didn't… 

Dakota: Well unfortunately for you, I still have plenty of contacts at my former firm. I had them look into his birth certificate. I bet you could imagine my surprise, when it stated he’s only FIVE.  Dakota: So Theo, unless you cheated on me while we were in college, he’s not your son.  Jessica: She’s making that up.  Dakota: And now you have the audacity to say I'm lying in my own house? Here Theo, here’s his birth certificate.  Theo looks at the document Theo: There’s also another man's signature on it. Jessica, is this true? Jessica: I… uh…uh Dakota: How did you plan to get around the DNA results? We sent them to an official lab?

TJ2 comes back in. 

TJ2: We went to a lab before we got here. It was fun. My uncle Charlie works there! 

TJ2 runs back out again.

Dakota: Wow…  Dakota: You planned to give him tainted results? Dakota: Once again, I am a lawyer?  Theo: Jessica, why would you lie about something as serious as this? Jessica: He needed a father that would provide for him. I knew you would step up if you thought you had a kid….. Theo: You come here and cause tension between my pregnant wife and I because of your poor choices??  Jessica: I’m sorry Theo.  Theo: And you put your innocent kid in the middle of this?  Theo: HE THINKS I'M HIS DAD, JESSICA. 

Wow, Theo never really gets this mad.. He must be disappointed at the results…. 

Theo to Dakota: What are you doing? Dakota: Calling the lab and telling them the results are tainted.  Jessica: Wait, please. I don’t want my brother to get fired. Please.  Dakota: And how is that my problem?  Jessica: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I will take my son and go.  Theo: Not before you explain to him what is happening. 

Jessica calls TJ2 into the living room. 

Jessica to TJ2: We have to leave now sweetie.  TJ2: Am I coming back tomorrow dad? Jessica: Unfortunately baby, no. The lab results said Theo isn't your dad.  TJ2: But I wanted him to be my dad…. Jessica: I know baby, me too…

*Theo kneels down to TJ2*

Theo: Hey bud, if you ever need anything, or just want to talk about computers, just give me a call, okay.

Jessica: We’ll be going now. Theo: I meant what I said to him.  Jessica: *nods her head*

Jessica and TJ2 leave and Theo walks in the kitchen. I follow behind him. He puts his head in his palms. 

Dakota: Are you upset with me? Dakota: I’m sorry I didn't wait until the results but -  Theo: I am so happy you decided to be nosy. 

Was not expecting that reaction……

Dakota: Really? Theo: I honestly don't know what I would've done if he turned out to be mine. All I could think about is how it's going to change our family dynamic. 

Theo: I was very afraid I would lose you…

Dakota: I would never leave you, Theo.

Dakota: I would just have to accept our new reality at that point… Dakota: But at least we know the truth now.. Dakota: Theo… Theo: Yeah babe? Dakota: Are you upset he isn't yours? You seemed very disappointed… Dakota: You can be honest.  Theo: When I spent the day with him, I knew he’d fit right in with our family… he likes a lot of the things I did when I was his age.  Dakota: Mhm.  Theo: But, I still wouldn't want to change what we have right now if I didn’t have to.  Dakota: *Nods* Theo: Hey, look at me.

Theo: I love you. I love our kids. I love OUR family. You guys are all I need. I promise.

Theo: I’m so sorry you had to deal with this. Dakota: I love you too. It’s fine… it’s over now, right?

Theo: Yes. I don’t think anyone else will pop up from the past.

Theo: If they do, we will not answer the fucking door.

Dakota: *Laughs* Theo: Oh I meant to ask, what did the lab say? Dakota: Oh! When I called to inform them of what was going on, they let me know that her brother had been fired earlier yesterday morning, so he wouldn't have been able to taint the results as they had planned.  Theo: So, do you still want them? Dakota: Absolutely. I’m gonna put them on the fridge like a school drawing.  Theo: Babe… *Laughs* Dakota: Fine, I won't do that… but we will keep them for security purposes.  Theo: Sounds good.  Theo: I kinda want to go get our kids now.  Dakota: Yeah, let's go get them. I miss them.  Theo: We can all stop for pizza.  Dakota: Oh our kids get pizza seconds huh… Theo: See, everything is back to normal. You are back to being dramatic as hell.  Dakota *Laughs* Theo: I love you babe. 

Dakota: I love you too. 

I’m glad this is all over with. I don't think I could handle waiting another day for results. I know Theo would have done the right thing, he’s always been responsible. 

I’m just quite frankly glad he didn't have to….

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I sort of work in healthcare (not medically certified but I have a position in a nursing home) and idk what code this would be for a hospital (if there even is one) but how would the healthcare boys handle a code being called for a missing patient?

(@hermitdrabbles56)

Legend sighed, blowing some stray hair out of his face as he tapped his fingers on the desk. It was a fairly slow night in the ED, a pleasant surprise, though it made time practically crawl.

Legend had helped the tech restock all the supply carts in his pod, had reread all the notes in his patient’s charts, and still found himself with four hours of his shift left. He had two patients, one of whom was just waiting on lab results and the other was getting admitted and was waiting on a bed. He had absolutely nothing to do.

So when an alert popped up on the computer screen, he perked up with interest. He wondered if there was a fire alarm in a nearby building that has been activated. Instead, he saw security walking briskly, and he looked back at the screen with a little unease.

“Elopement?” He read out loud.

“Looks like,” Warriors commented as he came up beside him. “Came from 6 central, male in his twenties, brown hair, facial tattoos—”

Warriors stopped mid sentence, frowning. The realization dawned on him just as Legend jumped to his feet.

“That’s Twilight!”

The pair nearly tore out of the ED, asking a fellow nurse to watch their patients and making their way to the elevators. Legend was texting Twilight furiously while Wars updated everyone else who was at work.

Wild answered first. Wait the elopement is Twi?? Wth??? I’ll search the basement

“What is he thinking? It’s three in the damn morning!” Legend muttered to himself before yelping as he rounded a corner and slammed right into someone.

Twilight stumbled back unsteadily, throwing a hand out to catch himself. Warriors hastily jumped forward, catching their friend by the hand and guiding him to the floor. Legend reoriented and immmediately opened his mouth to snap at the tech-turned-patient when he got a good look at him.

Twilight was in a pair of pajama bottoms and his hospital gown, eyes glazed with confusion and bags sitting heavily underneath them. Legend knew his friend hadn’t been sleeping well during his hospital stay after his emergent appendectomy, but—

“Need to go home,” Twilight muttered.

“He’s freaking delirious,” the travel nurse groaned as Warriors put a steadying hand on Twi’s shoulder.

“We’ll help you, okay?” the war veteran said gently with a smile. “Let’s get up.”

As Warriors tried to help Twilight to stand, the tech jerked all of a sudden, landing a solid punch right to the nurse’s jaw. Warriors grunted, falling backwards as Legend yelled.

“What the hell Twi, calm down! It’s us!”

Twilight’s eyes were crazed now, and his breathing picked up exponentially before he stood and started to back away. Legend crouched by Warriors to check on him, and the latter waved him off with a groan.

“I’m okay,” he slurred as he rubbed his jaw. “Good grief he can throw a punch.”

“Twilight, you’re safe,” Legend tried to appease their friend as he hovered near Warriors protectively. “It’s us, Legend and Wars, your friends. You’re in the hospital.”

“Need to go home,” Twilight insisted.

“Twilight?”

Legend and Warriors looked behind their confused brother to see Time paused by the elevator.

“He’s delirious,” Warriors said before flinching.

“Shut your trap until I can get some ice on it,” Legend hushed him before continuing, “He’s confused and ran out of his unit and he hit Wars.”

Time stared at Twilight for a moment as the latter started to stumble in another direction, not noticing them anymore. The surgeon slipped easily into his path without touching him.

“Hey Link,” he greeted gently. “You want to go home?”

“Home,” Twilight insisted anxiously.

“Okay,” Time appeased. “Let’s take you home. Can you follow me home?”

When Legend rose to help, Time shook his head. “Look after Warriors.”

Warriors rolled his eyes. “He only punched me once. I’m fine.”

“How is it we get abused so much that we say stuff like that?” Legend moaned, rubbing his face in frustration. “I’ll take care of him, old man. Just don’t let Twi land a hit on you.”

As Legend helped Warriors stand, Time coaxed Twilight into an elevator. The young man paced the confined space uneasily, sometimes rounding on Time as if he had just noticed him. Time gave a reassuring smile and a gentle reminder each time. When they reached the sixth floor, the surgeon carefully guided the younger man down the hallway.

Twilight stopped just short of the doors. “I need to go home.”

“I’ll take you there,” Time reminded him for the eighth time. “It’s okay. You’re safe, Link.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably before he looked at Time closely.

And then he randomly burst into tears, catching the surgeon off guard.

“Twilight—”

“Pa,” Twilight called pathetically, his voice shaking. “I—home—they said—where—”

Time stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to do. He was nervous to get too close given what had happened to Warriors, and his interactions with patients was never when they were so delirious.

Maybe he should have let the nurses come along. They were better suited to handle this.

The surgeon shook his head. He could handle a delirious patient, especially Twilight.

Most especially because of the title he’d just called him.

Taking a breath and feeling his heart flutter with both warmth and anxiety, he stepped forward and held out a hand. “It’s okay, Link, I’m here.”

Twilight sniffled, stumbling into Time and disregarding his hand entirely. Time caught the boy with sharp reflexes and a surprised grunt before settling into a hug, whispering, “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here.”

They stood there together a moment, Time gently rocking them both as he spoke reassurances into his boy’s hair. Then, Twilight abruptly stumbled away, his tear stained face and puffy cheeks twisting in fright.

“There’s—he said to—someone’s in the corner—”

“Nobody’s in the corner, Link,” Time assured him. “It’s just you and me.”

After pointing out that no one else was nearby, and reminding him that they were going to bed at least twice, Time finally managed to convince Twilight to enter into the unit where his room was. His nurse immediately came forward alongside the charge nurse.

“I think he could use a sedative,” Time said with a smile.

“No kidding,” the frazzled looking nurse muttered. “LIP already put in for one. We’re working on getting a sitter but nobody’s available.”

Time shrugged as everyone coaxed Twilight back to bed. “I can stay with him.”

As the nurse brought him some supplies to keep himself occupied, he watched Twilight attempt to get out of bed again, setting off the bed’s alarm. He stood quickly as the nurse rushed in after having just left, and he coaxed the young man to settle once more.

After finally getting some ramelteon and seroquel, Time watched Twilight twist and turn in the bed and gently redirected his hands when he picked precariously at an IV.

Twilight glanced at him, and for a moment he looked like he recognized him. Then he reached out towards the surgeon, about to get up and set off the alarm again. Time stepped forward hastily, taking Twilight's outstretched hands in his own.

“You’re okay,” he said softly, stroking his boy’s fingers with his thumbs.

“W’nna go home,” Twilight whined sleepily.

Time watched him a moment longer and then sighed, bringing down the side rail of the bed so he could slip into it. Twilight moved over for a moment and then dazedly settled halfway on top of the surgeon, making him chuckle. After raising the railing once more, Time wrapped them both in blankets, holding Twilight close.

To think the kid could have gotten worse, to think his appendix could have burst, he could have gotten septic and died, all because he was too stubborn to come in until Wild called for help because he couldn’t carry him to a car.

Couldn’t carry him out of that hell hole the pair currently lived in.

“W’nna… home…” Twilight muttered sleepily, his breath tickling Time’s neck.

“Don’t worry,” Time soothed, rubbing his back. “I’ll take you home.”

To a real home, one without roaches, one without safety concerns, one with warm soft beds and food and animals that he loved so dearly. Twilight and Wild and their puppy were never going back to that motel.

“I’ll take you home,” he repeated as Twilight finally settled to sleep.

[sugarmapl]

Prompt time!

Scara being a brat cuz he wants negative attention and Kazuha not falling for it

Kazuha hugs him and scara cries

The end

Do with this what you will, but I'd like scara to have a little angst, as a treat

(No pressure though I know you got stuff going on! Have a fantastic day and remember to drink water and do your stretches!)

Awww thank you so much!! I hope you have a great day as well <3 and I gotta say, this prompt was awesome! I really liked writing it so much that I jotted this down ASAP! I really really hope you like it!! (p.s. i love scara angst!)

kazuscara drabble ~800 words; angst with a happy ending :)

a name

Scara was bored. Kazuha had been busy all morning with “sword maintenance” and asked that the puppet not disturb him for a little while. But what was he supposed to do? Wait around like some pathetic housewife? So, of course, he had to bother the samurai.

The entire scenario reminded him of his time in the Fatui, spending long hours with Dottore in his lab. Scara would wait what felt like an eternity while The Doctor was busy with an experiment, or pouring over results of a test they had just run. Inevitably, the puppet would grow restless in his boredom and end up pestering Dottore one way or another until the fellow harbinger had enough and snapped at him.

He would “punish” Scara by hitting him, or cutting him open, or calling him a series of colorful and degrading names. But Scara never minded those “punishments”. Secretly, he craved them. In those moments, he always had The Doctor’s full attention. No matter what insulting words and names were thrown at him, he loved them all. Because they were his. Scara had never gotten a proper name, so he would take anything he could get.

The puppet wondered if the same method would work on Kazuha. If he bothered him enough, would the samurai ���punish” him too? He decided it was worth a shot. It had been a while since he craved such strong attention, and it had already been hours since Kazuha went into the other room to polish and sharpen his blade. Apparently, it had some kind of spirit trapped inside of it, so it required special attention. But Scara required special attention, too!

Without further hesitation, he pushed open the wooden door to their little makeshift blacksmithy. Instantly, Kazuha’s head whipped around at the intrusion.

“Scara, I thought I asked you not to disturb me,” the samurai said calmly. He wouldn’t be an easy one to break.

“Yeah, so what? You expect me to listen? I’m bored,” Scara whined. He started fiddling with the smithing tools on the workbench, picking them up and playing with them before putting them back down in a different place.

Kazuha was very orderly when it came to the tools, so the puppet knew that the action would get on the samurai’s nerves. However, Kazuha surprisingly remained unflinching, merely letting out a light sigh.

“Please don’t touch those. I’m almost done, so just wait outside,” he said in his usual gentle tone.

Scara was unsatisfied. Shouldn’t he be getting annoyed by now? Dottore always hated when he messed with his stuff, he assumed most humans would be no different. That would have been more than enough to set The Doctor off by now. Maybe Kazuha just needed an extra little push.

The puppet walked over, draping himself across Kazuha’s body and leaning into him. The samurai sat with his sword in his hand, and from the added pressure was forced to double over at the waist. He merely grunted, but made no move to push Scara off or smack him like the puppet expected.

“I’m not gonna leave until you play with me. Haven’t you given the stupid sword enough attention already?” he grumbled from on top of him. As he spoke, he increased the pressure on the other’s back.

“I only need a few more minutes, I promise,” Kazuha told him gently.

Now Scara was the one getting annoyed. Why wasn’t Kazuha getting angry? Why wasn’t he caving? Was Scara so inconsequential in the samurai’s eyes that he wasn’t even worth getting upset over? Frustrated, he reached down and yanked the red blade out of Kazuha’s hands before chucking it across the room.

“No, I want you to be done now,” he spat bitterly. He didn’t know why he was getting so angry. He was supposed to be the one pissing Kazuha off, but the samurai’s indifference stung even more.

“Scara!” Kazuha finally cried in exasperation once his sword had been tossed away. But he still didn’t sound irritated, more like surprised. Just how much patience could one person have?

“What’s the matter with you?” Scara couldn’t help but ask.

Kazuha looked back at him in confusion. He finally stood up so that they were facing each other. “With me?”

“Yes! Why don’t you push me off? Or call me names, or smack me, or-”

“Is that what you want?” Kazuha asked, still perplexed.

“I just want you to do something, anything, but you won’t even acknowledge me! I-”

He stopped talking, because in an instant Kazuha had wrapped him into a hug. It was tight, but not suffocating. Soon after, Scara felt a soothing hand running up and down his back.

“What-”

“I’m sorry,” Kazuha interrupted him in a whisper. The words brushed the puppet’s ear, making their way to his non-existent heart where they settled like an anchor.

Scara couldn’t even reply because he was too busy choking back a sob. Subconsciously, his own arms raised to wrap around Kazuha and return the hug just as the first tear slipped free. From there, it was like the floodgates had opened, and suddenly the samurai’s shoulder was drenched.

“It’s okay,” Kazuha said softly, “I see you, darling.”

And that only made Scara cry harder. He had just received his first precious name.

[totowlff]

chapter eight — as if i could ever keep a promise

➝ we don't always get what we want.

➝ word count: 3,9k

➝ warnings: none

➝ author’s notes: i apologize for the delay in bringing you a new chapter. these last few weeks have been a little complicated for me, as they culminated in me being fired from work. i'm not upset, as it was a job i wasn't a huge fan of, but coming full circle is always hard. i hope you enjoy this chapter and would love to hear your feedback.

Two agonizing, painfully slow weeks after Cassie’s embryo transfer, she was at her desk at work, trying to get something — anything — done, but her eyes kept sliding over to the clock in the corner of her computer, counting down the minutes until 3pm.

She was leaving work early today to go to the fertility clinic to find out the results of a blood test she’d provided a sample for earlier that morning, on her way into the office.

Cassie was nervous, but excited. The possibility that the cycle would not take had briefly occurred to her, but there were so many more reasons to believe that she was pregnant. The embryologist had confirmed that both her and Toto’s samples were of excellent quality. Both of them were in perfect health. She’d read the statistics and the failure rates, but even those numbers weren’t enough to dash her optimism.

The only thing that weighed on her at the moment was that Toto was not in the country at the moment. He was in China for a Grand Prix, and would be in Bahrain next weekend, and would not be returning to the UK between the two races. Toto had told her to call and give him the results as soon as she found out, but she didn’t really want to tell him that he’d be a father over the phone. 

Instead, Cassie was going to tell him in person when he got home the next weekend. She planned to surprise him with a gift that she’d ordered online the day after her embryo transfer that had recently arrived. 

It was an infant onesie with a gray-and-teal F1 car on the front, and text underneath the car that said “Future Mercedes Driver”. It certainly wasn’t produced by the team, and she knew she should probably forward it to the legal team so they could issue a cease and desist, but she bought it anyway. 

“It’s perfect,” she thought, when it arrived in her post a few days later. She put it in a gift box with teal tissue paper and tied it with an elegant bow with teal ribbon. 

As soon as 3pm came around, Cassie was out of the building like a shot. She barely noticed the scenery passing as she made the half-hour drive from Brackley to Oxford on the M40. 

By the time she was in the waiting room of the fertility clinic, she felt like she was about to jump out of her own skin from the nerves. 

When the receptionist called her name, Cassie bolted to her feet. She sat in the exam room, her leg bouncing incessantly as she waited. After a few minutes, Dr. Hodges, the clinic’s fertility specialist, came in with a laptop in hand.

— Good afternoon, Miss Aldersey. How are you today? — she said, taking a seat in the stool across from Cassie. She had a polite smile on her face. Cassie watched as she opened the laptop and logged in. 

— Hello. I’m… Good, but a bit nervous.

— Understandable — the doctor said — So, let’s just take a look at the results of your bloodwork and then we’ll discuss your next steps. Does that sound okay?

— Yes — Cassie said.

Dr. Hodges took a moment to look at the chart on the computer, and turned the screen toward Cassie.

— Unfortunately, it looks like this round didn’t take. See — she said, pointing to a line on the lab results — You tested negative for any presence of beta hGC, which is a hormone that your body starts producing when a fertilized egg implants. We start seeing it on blood tests around eleven days after conception, which is why you wait two weeks from the date of your transfer. Now, there is a chance this is a false negative, and we can re-test again in a week if you’d like, but…

Cassie felt strange all of a sudden, not really paying attention after she heard the words “didn’t take”. Or maybe it was that everything sounded muffled and distant. She felt like the blood had drained completely from her body, and like a giant pit had opened in her stomach. 

— S-so, I’m n-not pregnant? — Cassie stammered. 

— No, unfortunately not this time — Dr. Hodges said, giving Cassie a sympathetic glance — But, it’s not unusual for the first round to fail, it happens more often than not.

— I… I just thought… I… The embryologist said the samples were both good, and that we are both healthy, and…

— I know, I’m sorry. This is my least favorite part of this job, but, don’t worry, Miss Aldersey. It will happen, and it will all be worth it once you get there.

— I… Yeah — Cassie said, trying to get her bearings again. She glanced briefly around the exam room, looking at the posters on the wall. Most of them were colorful medical diagrams, one with the stages of embryonic development, one with a cross-section of a womb with a baby inside. Seeing the posters in that moment sort of stung, because it was not what her body would look like. Not now, at least — So, um… What now? How… I guess, what do I do now?

— Well, the first step is to stop taking your progesterone — Dr. Hodges said — It will induce a menstrual cycle, and then we wait four to six weeks before performing another embryo transfer. You have quite a few fertilized eggs, so we don’t have to have you go through the full stimulation cycle.

— We can’t… We can’t try again right away? — Cassie asked. She was starting to feel stressed now, she could feel her pulse pounding against her chest.

— Well — Dr. Hodges said — No. It’s possible, medically, but all of the hormones used for the ovarian stimulation are fairly intense, and can cause some inflammation, or ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which isn’t pleasant. The standard protocol is to let your body take a break from the hormones for at least one cycle. Plus, in my experience, it lets you take an emotional break, as well. IVF is stressful and tiring, and so much stress is going to do more harm than good.

— I… I guess that makes sense — Cassie said. 

— If you want, I can schedule you an exam, just a blood test and an ultrasound, once you’ve had your next period — Dr. Hodges said, trying to sound cheerful, doubtlessly for Cassie’s benefit — That way, we can check to make sure everything looks good before we proceed with a second transfer.

— I — Cassie hesitated. She’d budgeted the costs of the treatment carefully, but Toto joining her on the venture added some extra fees she hadn’t been considering; the costs of his exams and the fees to the solicitor. She knew Toto would gladly pay for his share if she asked. Hell, he’d probably pay for the entire process without prompting, but Cassie didn’t want to ask that of him. This was something she wanted, and she didn’t want anyone else to have to foot the bill for her dreams. However, she had a feeling that the money from her grandmother’s estate that she’d set aside was gone now — I will have to think about it. I also want to… You know… Talk to, um…

— Oh, yes, of course, you’ll be wanting to discuss things with Mr. Wolff. Well — Dr. Hodges said, closing her laptop — Go ahead and schedule an appointment after your period, if you’d like, and we can proceed from there.

The doctor extended her hand to shake Cassie’s before she opened the door and left.

Cassie sat in the empty, quiet exam room for a moment. She felt like she was going through some sort of strange, accelerated grieving process, with her emotions changing every few seconds as her thoughts raced. She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself down before she left. She feebly waved goodbye to the receptionist as she walked out. 

Cassie needed to stop for a few groceries on her way home to her flat. She felt numb during the entire drive, like she was simply repeating an automated process, a route she’d gone so many times now, from the clinic, to the Sainsburys by her flat, to her flat. As she parked her car, she thought about calling Toto, but she realized, when she pulled her phone out of her purse and unlocked the screen, that it would be well past midnight in Shanghai by then. Toto would — or should, rather, be asleep. She couldn’t bring herself to bother him at this time of night.

She sighed heavily and put her phone back in her bag. 

As Cassie walked around Sainsbury’s, she felt like there was a massive weight on her shoulders, and like her shoes had been replaced with paving stones. She trudged aisle to aisle, barely paying attention to the things she was putting in her trolley. 

She kept catching sight of mothers and fathers with small children in their trolleys or holding their hands, which compounded her sadness. It wasn’t like anything was out of the ordinary in the shop that day, but the lack of possibility of her having children now made her see them everywhere. 

The universe saw fit to rub extra salt in her wounds, though, as she was absentmindedly looking at jars of jam, trying to decide which one she wanted. She’d just picked up a jar of apricot marmalade when she felt a tug on the leg of her trousers.

She turned around to see a small girl brandishing a box of Weetos cereal at her.

— Mummy, I want this one… Oh, sorry — she said, when Cassie turned around to reveal that she was, not, in fact, the girl’s mother. A woman came scrambling up behind Cassie, grabbing one of the girl’s hands. 

— Right here, sweetheart. Sorry about that — she said, nodding her head at Cassie and leading the child away toward her own trolley. 

They were gone before Cassie could even say anything.

She stood, anchored to the floor, between the jams and breads, her shoulders starting to shake from the effort of trying to not cry. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths to try to calm herself down. When she felt like she could move again, she went to the beer & wine section and grabbed three bottles of the first sauvignon blanc she laid eyes on without a second thought. 

Cassie managed to avoid crying on the rest of her drive home, but as soon as she was in her apartment, there was no reason to hold back any longer. She haphazardly jammed things in the refrigerator and freezer as tears streaked down her face. 

She uncorked a bottle of wine and took a swig, not even bothering to pour it into a glass, which she realized would probably make her mother faint. All the less reason to care, she thought, as she sat down on her sofa. She wailed into one of her throw pillows. It was the kind of full-body wracking sobs that toddlers did, too. 

Cassie knew she was quite the sight with her hair disheveled, her mascara and eyeliner making tracks down her cheeks, drinking directly from a cheap bottle of wine, but she didn’t care. It had been a while since she’d had both a good cry and anything to drink, so she felt entitled to both. 

It was a cycle — she would calm down, but she would remember the way her doctor looked at her, or the word “negative” on the line for bHCG on her chart, or she would imagine telling Toto that she wasn’t pregnant, and she would start crying all over again.

Eventually, she cried herself to sleep, just like a toddler would.

Cassie woke up on her sofa hours later, sweaty and disoriented. The lights in her flat were still on, she was still wearing her clothes from work that day. She even still had one shoe on. Her television was on, displaying the Netflix “Are you still there?” message, and there was an empty wine bottle and a bag of open chocolate candies spilling out on her coffee table.

She got up and turned her lights and television off. She stripped her clothes off and flung them into a haphazard pile in the corner of her bedroom, not even bothering to put on pajamas before she plugged her phone into the charger on her nightstand and went back to sleep.

Cassie hadn’t set an alarm, but a buzzing noise woke her up the next morning at around 8h30. She pawed at her table, hand searching for the device before she picked it up and squinted at the screen. Her heart sank when she saw Toto’s name. It was about 16h30 in Shanghai, so qualifying had likely just finished. 

She wanted to talk to him, but she didn’t know what to say. He was doubtlessly calling to find out how Cassie’s blood tests went, to find out if they were going to be parents. He was as excited as she was, which meant he was going to be as devastated as she was, too. It would be cruel to disappoint him so much now, when he was halfway around the world, with races to focus on. 

Cassie set her phone back down and let it ring until it stopped. 

She would figure out how to break the news later. 

Toto had left her a voicemail, which Cassie listened to when she had woken up a bit more.

— Hi Cassie — he said. His voice sounded soft and gentle, even happy — I know it’s only about 8 in the morning in Oxford, so you might not be awake yet, but I was just calling to say hello and to see how things went at the doctor yesterday. We just finished up qualifying, I don’t know if you were up and watching. Lewis got pole, and Valtteri got P3, so that’s good. Anyway, I’m going to go get dinner with Niki here shortly. Give me a call later when you’re awake, okay? Talk to you soon.

Fifteen minutes later, he tried calling again.

Cassie answered this time, but couldn’t think of what to say. Even “hello” wouldn’t come out of her mouth, for some reason.

— Hello? Cassie? Are you there? — she heard him say, before she panicked, and hung up.

She started crying again. It was all too much.

Cassie watched the race the next morning after a night of poor sleep. She’d been up for hours, thinking about all the plans she’d already made for the child she and Toto wouldn’t be having. 

During the race, she poured over her finances, her heart sinking when she realized that the addition of Toto’s tests and procedures, and the solicitor’s fees for their known donor agreement, had eaten the entirety of what she’d budgeted from her share of her grandmother’s estate, and then some. Her doctor had brought up the possibility of trying again, but there’d be no way to do that now. The process had gone hundreds of pounds over what she’d already set aside, and she couldn’t live with the thought of asking anyone else — not even Toto — to cover the costs of another round.

Not even watching Lewis claim victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, or Mercedes move ahead in the constructor’s standings over Ferrari, could lift her spirits. 

By the time she went back to work on Monday, Cassie felt numb. She wasn’t sleeping well. She barely had an appetite. She’d consumed more wine than anything else over that weekend, and was dealing with a persistent hangover as a result. She continued to ignore Toto’s phone calls and messages. She still didn’t know how to tell him. 

Tuesday was worse.

Stopping the progesterone brought on an intense, monstrous period, the likes of which she hadn’t had in years.

Cassie’s head was pounding. Her mood was worse than before, which she would have thought was impressive if she didn’t feel so awful. On the upside, she had an appetite again, but it was insatiable, making her feel worse with the arrival of bloating that made it impossible to put her pants on. A patch of fresh acne on her jawline was the cherry on top, but the worst was when the bleeding actually started. Before, the slim possibility of a false negative was something she was hanging onto, a small ray of light in the darkness.

But now, she had the final confirmation: she wasn’t pregnant.

She called in sick on Wednesday and stayed in bed, both from the pain of the more-intense cramping and from the feeling like she was drowning.

By that point, Toto had called at least once per day, and sent several WhatsApp messages. She’d read them, and she’d typed a few responses, but couldn’t actually gather the courage to press “send” on any of them.

She didn’t listen to every voicemail he’d left, but the one she did listen to crushed her.

— Cassie, please, I don’t know what’s wrong, or what I did, but please let me know you’re okay — he said — I’m in Sakhir now, and it’s only three hours ahead, so, please, give me a call and let me know what’s going on. I’m worried about you, I haven’t heard from you in almost a week and… I just don’t know what’s going on. I lo… I miss… Okay. Give me a call. Please. Goodbye.

By the time Friday came — a week since Cassie found out that she wasn’t pregnant, she’d at least stopped crying out of the blue. It was like she physically wasn’t able to any longer. She felt as empty and hollow as her womb was.

She still felt horrid about never responding to Toto, and kept making excuses for herself. 

“This is something he needs to hear in person”, she thought. “I’ve acted so awful this week he probably doesn’t want to have a child with me any more anyway.” 

Still, though, she missed him terribly. She would pay any price for him to be back in Oxford with her, because surely, he would be able to take away the deep, constant pain she’d been feeling for a week now. She felt like she’d failed herself, and her own ambitions, but she’d let Toto down as well. 

Somewhere, in the more rational side of her brain, Cassie knew that it was a possibility that the first round wouldn’t work, but she thought it was because of cases where couples had to utilize IVF because of other factors that drove infertility — medical issues on the part of either party that made it so those couples had difficulty conceiving naturally — things that didn’t apply to Cassie and Toto. They were only doing it this way because they weren’t together like a traditional couple, which meant that they weren’t really in a position to try to do things the old-fashioned way.

Cassie’s failure tortured her so much that the only way she’d been able to get any sleep was to imagine that he was there with her as she laid down, imagining herself laying in his arms, like when he’d offered to hold her after her embryo transfer. If she tried hard enough, she could remember the solid warmth of his chest against her back, the fresh, clean scent of his cologne, and how gentle his hands were, in spite of how big they were. Her imagination could only offer her a pale imitation of the real thing, but it was the only way she was able to relax enough to let herself sleep.

As she watched television coverage of the race in Bahrain, her heart squeezed every time one of the television cameras panned to him. Maybe it was Cassie’s imagination, but he didn’t look all that well, either. His hair was in varying states of sticking up in odd places, which Cassie knew was from him running his hand through it whenever he got stressed. His brow seemed to be furrowed constantly, like he was worried about something. 

She wanted to see him again, to talk to him, but now, she thought she didn’t deserve to.

His phone calls became less and less frequent as his trip came to an end.

Given the result of the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel winning the race and Ferrari retaking the lead of the Constructors Championship, Cassie thought Toto would have other things to worry about after he got back. 

Cassie realized at some point that she needed to talk to somebody about what she was going through, even if she’d missed her chance to talk to Toto about it. Not for the first time, she wished that her and her mother had the kind of relationship that most mothers and daughters had, because this seemed like the sort of thing one would talk to their mother about. 

However, she did have an eccentric, but kind, aunt. While Sybil had never wanted to have children, she would probably be sympathetic to Cassie’s plight, so she called her aunt after she got home on Monday.

— I’m sorry, ma étoile, that sounds awful. If it helps, I know your sister didn’t have an easy time when she was trying to get pregnant. Your father, of course, was a real knob about it, and it didn’t help that your brother and his wife got pregnant right away. I remember him saying, “it’s always the mare and not the stallion”, as if you can compare horses to people — Sybil said — Your father gave Helena such a hard time about it, but it happened eventually, and it will for you, too.

Cassie sighed. She hadn’t known about that, because she had already stopped talking to her parents around the time Helena got married. 

Actually, it was a fight at Helena’s wedding that made Cassie realize that it was probably better for all involved if she didn’t speak to her parents any more. She had to do some mental subtraction to figure out how long ago that was — eight years now, when Cassie was twenty-seven.

— I remember that — Cassie said — That thing about mares and stallions. I never understood that, because even his reproductive veterinarian told him that wasn’t always the case.

Talking about horses, though, made something clear to Cassie, something she didn’t like about the IVF process.

She remembered that her father’s barn switched from live covering — the process of two horses physically mating to produce a foal — to IVF, sometime in the nineties, when Cassie was young. It was easier and more cost-effective, her dad said, to manage breeding so many horses that way. Plus, they could buy sperm from stallions from other farms to produce, saving the cost of having to transport stallions and mares around. But the whole process that Cassie was going through reminded her of that, and made her feel like a broodmare — and not a prized one, either. 

She was hoping to be done with it, especially when she imagined her father talking to her like a mare that wasn’t successfully bred. 

“Well, there must be something wrong with this one,” he’d say. “Bad blood will out, you know”.

— And what did Toto say when you told him it didn’t take? — Sybil said. It caught Cassie off-guard, though she supposed she should have been expecting that question.

— I… Uh… he doesn’t know yet — Cassie said, shyly. 

— What do you mean? Surely you had to have told him. He’s supposed to be the father!

— Well, he was out of the country for a doubleheader, and I — Cassie said. She sighed — I didn’t want to tell him over the phone, and… I wasn’t sure what to say anyway. He’ll be back in the office tomorrow, I think, so I guess I will talk to him then…

She didn’t.

[whumpflash]

Ashes, Ashes 6: Not Okay, Actually

(for Angstpril, Day 16: "You Have to Let Me Go")

cw: lab whump, knife whump, death mention

prev ///// masterlist ///// next

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January 7th, 20XX, 6:45PM

Subject: Adult Male Dragon (polymorphed: humanoid form)

Researcher: Eimaan Khanh

Subject transferred to table; restrained.

Presents no physical reaction to Firebreak (heretoafter referred to as 'FB'), when placed, without wounding, against the left thigh, upper and lower torso, and throat.

Following approx. fifteen minutes of skin contact with no change, a small cut (approx. 1.5" in length) was made in subject's left thigh with FB. Reaction near-instantaneous, bubbling and discoloration at the site akin to an acid or chemical burn and spreading approx. 2" beyond the cut on all sides.

Healing factor still enabled, but noticeably slower; muscle fibers don't begin visibly reconnecting until 3 min 49 seconds. Five minutes after cut is made, burned area recedes by 0.23".

Process repeated on a larger scale; cuts of approx. 3" made on left calf, lower left abdomen, lower left ribcage, left forearm, and parallel to left clavicle. Results scalable to first cut.

Subject distressed.

(Note: healing factor seems to slow further when multiple wounds are made in quick succession. Second and third cuts did not visibly begin to close until approx 5 min after they were made, and fourth, fifth, and sixth cuts were halted until approx 7.5 min.)

Following this, FB will be studied to determine exact properties, and more attempts will be made to slow healing factor by applying multiple wounds.

Subject returned to resting place; restrained.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

The cries coming from the basement were muffled, but Nyra put on headphones anyway, to fully drown out the sound while she waited. Eimaan had told her to 'sneak' downstairs and talk to Rhys once she was done with today's experiment, and she hadn't figured out what she was going to say.

By the time her sister came to get her, she was still drawing a blank.

Nyra crept down the stairs, trying to mimic the quiet caution she'd shown two nights ago. Ei had cleaned up her lab, but the faint smell of blood still lingered under the sharper odor of disinfectant. Rhys wasn't strapped to the table anymore, but Eimaan had already warned her about that. A quick scan of the area and Nyra found him, curled up on the far side of the room, arms locked in place behind his back, legs tucked up to his chest.

She wondered if he was cold. Even if he was, she couldn't do much to help him. Her sisters would want to err on the side of caution and not give him anything he might be able to use against them, even something as simple as a blanket.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she noticed the cuts running up and down the side of his body that wasn't in contact with the ground. Already healing, but she could tell they'd been nasty.

"Hi," she began as she crossed the room.

Rhys took a moment to respond, his breathing shifting like he was trying to compose himself. "Gun girl," he said at last, raising his head and fixing golden eyes on her.

"...Nyra," she corrected gently.

Rhys struggled to a seated position with a grunt. "Didn't think you'd be coming back, Nyra. Did you miss me?"

"No, I…" Shoot, what should she say? What was the best way to draw him in? "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

He snorted. "Oh I'm great. Nothing like having a psychopath cut you up before bed."

"She's not a psychopath," Nyra said, unable to hold back a scowl.

"Could've fooled me."

She shrugged, turning away. "If you're well enough to insult my sister, I can't find a reason to worry—"

"Wait."

Nyra hid her smile as she glanced back over her shoulder. "What?"

"I'm…" his shoulders slumped. "I'm not okay, actually."

Interesting turn. Eimaan had guessed he'd try using pity against her now that his threats had been proven hollow. Nyra turned back around, waiting for him to continue.

Rhys scoffed. "What? That wasn't obvious? I've been kidnapped. I'm being held here against my will, and I'm being tortured to satisfy human curiosity."

There was that word again. Nyra buried her unease. "It's not—"

"Yeah, you've already said. It's 'research'. Doesn't make a difference to me." He shrugged. "You and your stab-happy sister were right. I can't break out. I can't turn into a dragon, and I can't breathe fire. I'm useless."

It could've been a trick of the light, but she swore she saw the shine of tears in his eyes. He blinked it away before she could be certain.

"I want you to tell me something, Nyra."

"Yeah?"

He met her eyes. At the surface level, his expression was neutral, but there was something deeper there; a thinly veiled desperation. 

For all I know, it's a practiced one. He could still be playing at manipulation.

"What happens when your sister's done with her research? What happens to me?"

"I…" She didn't know. She wasn't sure if even Eimaan had planned that far ahead. What would they do? Letting him go was too big of a risk. Even if he was powerless, that wouldn't stop him from seeking revenge in other ways. Handing him off to a Guild was an option, but that seemed far too cruel. Who knew what those hunters would do? And while rehab programs existed, those were geared towards newly-made vampires and werebeasts. A dragon would have no place there.

Did that mean… were they going to kill him when this was all over?

"Please," Rhys said when she didn't answer. "I can comply with the experiments. I'll be a model prisoner. Just please tell me you'll let me go. When it's over."

Nyra hadn't anticipated that, either. Offering to go along with Ei's plan? Maybe the desperation wasn't being faked.

"What happens if we do?"

"I leave you alone forever."

As much as she wanted to believe that, she couldn't. The last dragon attack had been two decades ago and it had destroyed an entire town, burning it to the ground and taking its occupants with it. If setting Rhys free meant even the smallest chance of that happening again, the Khanhs couldn't allow it.

But Nyra didn't say that. Instead, she said, "I'll see what I can do."

And she left, without another glance back.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

@kira-the-whump-enthusiast @hold-back-on-the-comfort

[ladydragonkiller]

A prompt: i would love to hear the tea party gossip 👀👀👀

“And That Is Why The Dining Room Is Currently In A State Of Disarray!” The Toy Soldier finished. It reached up to adjust its hat, which had begun to tilt from its rather enthusiastic storytelling.

Raphaella eyed the splotch on the tablecloth where Ashes’ teacup had spilled due to a particularly vigorous gesture. All her time in her lab, not to mention in the whistle-clean archives, made her itch to clean it up. The Toy Soldier didn’t seem to mind it, though, and it would probably be rude to reach over Ashes in order to get at it.

Probably. 

“I had wondered about that,” Brian replied. “Mostly figured it was because of some food fight I just hadn’t heard about.” He paused. “I mean, I suppose it was. Just not the sort I was picturing.”

Ashes leaned back, a wise look on their face. “A hint for you. If Tim is ever asking around about fancy pastries and the like, something’s up. Any day he isn’t waxing poetic ‘bout the glories of military rations is a day to note.”

“There Were Rations At The Dinner, Too! I Was Able To Find Some In The Rubble Afterwards.”

Raphaella tilted her head. “Wait, Ashes, how did you know Tim was asking about fancy pastries? No offense, but you’re not the first person I think of when I think of desserts.”

Ashes smirked. “The stove was malfunctioning, so he came to me for help with. . .alternative solutions.”

Well, that was just rude. Raphaella had bunsen burners aplenty in her lab, it would hardly have been a trial to let him use one of them. She’d not exactly been busy, just some routine tinkering around.

Then again, last time Marius had tried to heat up a snack in her lab, the results had been. . .long-lasting. And well-publicized. Look, she hadn’t known for sure that Marius would mutate quite so efficiently.

Anyways, she supposed it made sense. Ashes was unbeatable if you needed something heated up, as long as you could stop them from burning the object in question. Unless Tim wanted it burned. Unlikely, but not impossible.

“Why were you looking for rations in the rubble?” Brian asked, elbow creaking as he picked up his teacup. He went to take a sip, then frowned and set the cup back. 

“Do You Need A Refill?” The Toy Soldier didn’t wait for an answer before standing up and pouring Brian a new cup of tea.

“I mean, yeah, but-”

“I Also Heard The Spiders Have Been Quite Rowdy Recently!”

“Oh, is it nearly time for the negotiation?” Ashes asked. They were fiddling with something under the table. Probably their lighter. Raphaella could only hope the tablecloth wouldn’t be set ablaze, though the tea spill from earlier might help in that case. 

“Negotiation?”

“You haven’t been around for one of them yet.”

“The Spiders And Aurora Sing A Song To Each Other, A Song Of Wires And Nerves And Skittering Feet. A Song Of Building And Growing And Infinitesimal Change! And Every So Often Jonny Hears The Song And Wants To Sing Along, But He Doesn’t Know The Tune As Only A Spider Can, Sunk Deep Within Their Skeletons Like Love And Life And Instinct And Fear. So Their Queen Yells At Him Until He Goes Away!”

“I-huh. Okay?” Raphaella was going to have to think about that one. Maybe see if Ivy had more information about those spiders, or if she could arrange an interview with one of them. “Wait, if only a spider can know the tune, how come Aurora is able to sing the song back?”

Ashes shrugged. “You are what you eat.”

“What?”

“Anyone want the last sandwich?” Brian gestured to the nearly empty platter, lone sandwich resting on the very edge of it. “Don’t think it’d store well.”

“You May Have It, Dear Drumbot! I Would Be A Terrible Host If I Allowed A Guest To Walk Away Hungry!”

He leaned forward to take it, hat shifting forward as he did. Unfortunately, it shifted right into Ashes’ hat. Raphaella wasn’t clear on the ensuing order of events, but when the proverbial dust cleared, Ashes was face down on the table, bowed under the weight of two hats. All three remaining teacups had been knocked over, and the last sandwich was safe and secure under Brian’s cupped hand. At least the splotches were symmetrical now.

“And That Concludes Our Show! Thank You Very Much For Coming, Darlings! You May Keep The Hats,” The Toy Soldier said, gently plucking Brian’s hat off of Ashes’ head and handing it back to him. “They Are Gifts!”

Ashes slowly sat up, eyes bleary. “What just happened?”

Raphaella could only shrug.

[twitchystitchwitch]

In the US Nationwide even offers insurance for pets besides dogs or cats. Out of my 5 animals that would be eligible for an insurance plan by species alone, 3 of them are on insurance. My two cats and my ball python are all on very basic "illness and injury" plans. The price of vet visits (the exam itself) and routine vaccines is not covered, but any medication, testing, or procedures are covered under a similar plan to the one above (cheaper deductible for younger animals, though)

My two animals that aren't on pet insurance are my rescue bearded dragons. Both have very extensive pre-existing conditions that an insurance could easily attribute to all health issues they have (one had severe metabolic bone disease for years, the other has at least one brain aneurysm and has spent the last few years battling a very antibiotic resistant infection), and so even if I could get them covered it would never really pay out because any testing or treatment could be marked as a pre-existing condition and written off

There is a remarkable difference in the emotional toll of needing to do testing for my covered animals vs my not covered animals. My ball python needed a panel of senior blood work done earlier this year to get a healthy baseline for her, and because of a lab mix up and a clerical error I was told that her values were concerningly abnormal (this was thankfully not true, but for 4 days I thought it was true). While I waited for the vet to get back to me about the results my only concern was whether or not she would be okay. The blood work itself brought her to her yearly deductible, and any treatment after that would be 90% covered. All my attention was able to go into monitoring her and looking for any signs anything was wrong

One of my rescue bearded dragons (the one with the aneurysms and infection) needed a CT scan. We had done every conservative treatment we could to determine what was causing the strange swelling behind his eyes (diet adjusted for the possibility of certain deficiencies, eye based antibiotic treatment, injectable antibiotic treatment, and after an eye culture a specialized antibiotic course that the bacteria weren't resistant to), so if we wanted to determine the cause and if it was treatable he would need to do a scan. For lizards this involves a pre-scan work up, anesthesia, contrast, and the cost to cover the machine and the staff, as well as recovery ICU time because anesthesia is rough on reptiles. It came out to about a thousand dollars, just to determine if he had something treatable or not. If it had been an abscess in his eye socket then he would have needed surgery under CT guidance to drain it. I wasn't given an estimate for the price, but from the look on the vet's face if things had gone that way I imagine it would have been a LOT more money. Since he wasn't on pet insurance, I had to not just worry about if he would make it through the CT and about what we would find, but also worry about being out a minimum of $1000. I had to determine if I could actually afford that, on top of weighing the pros and cons to his health. It made the whole thing a lot worse and I was physically ill from the stress for weeks. If I could get Scout and Stanley covered I would in an instant, because when my cats or my python run into issues it is the stress of a sick animal and covering the initial charge until I am reimbursed, but nothing else after that. With Scout and Stanley (and before he passed away earlier this year Spike) I also have to figure out the logistics of covering treatment as a whole

I've been following what's been going on with Belphie the kitten and his person, Greer Stothers, has just mentioned pet insurance in a tag on a post and I wanted to give an example from my life backing up why pet insurance can be a good idea and why I think it is worthwhile.

Two years ago my sister's dog had bloat while she was on vacation. The kennel he was staying at recognized symptoms and called my sister to clear them to take him to the emergency vet. My sister is very financially secure and this dog is an enormous part of her life, so she said yes with barely a moment of hesitation. That ended up being about twelve thousand dollars of emergency surgery.

Large Bastard and I got pet insurance for Tiny Bastard the same week because we realized that if someone had presented that option to us, we would have had no choice but to have Tiny Bastard put down, and we didn't want to be put in that position.

I did a lot of research about different kinds of pet insurance and different levels of coverage and annual maximums and deductibles and so on and so forth. Tiny Bastard is a senior dog, so this was going to be expensive no matter what options we went with, so I chose a moderately priced plan with a $500 annual deductible, unlimited annual coverage, that pays 80% of the bills incurred annually below the maximum. What that means is that we pay the first $500 of care totally out of pocket, after which point we are reimbursed 80% of any vet bills for care covered by the plan.

The first year we had this plan I was kind of iffy about it. It's a noticeable monthly expense and we didn't even spend the deductible in vet bills the first year. Except that a month before the policy was set to renew, Tiny Bastard got diagnosed with diabetes. We now have monthly insulin costs and syringe costs; there are tests she has to have regularly to monitor her overall condition and we need to do more frequent vet visits to track symptoms.

Suddenly the insulin alone means that the insurance is break-even within six months and the additional visits and tests are something we can afford instead of something we'd have to put on credit.

Our plan (through ManyPets) covers medication, surgery, diagnostics, medical equipment, and euthanasia and cremation. It doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, joint conditions for dogs who were signed up over a certain age, dental care, spay/neuter, vaccinations, or prescription food but honestly all of that makes me just kind of wish we'd signed her up earlier - her knee problems *would* be covered if we'd had her signed up as a puppy, and the monthly cost would have been lower if we'd signed her up then. And there are at least a few emergency vet bills that I wouldn't still be paying off on my credit card. Hell, I've probably paid more in interest on some bruising she got in a fight three years ago than I have for this policy as a whole.

I am glad that Greer is able to take care of Belphie. I am glad that my sister was able to take care of her dog. But I'm also really, really glad that for a relatively low cost, I would be able to take care of Tiny Bastard if she were catastrophically injured, or if she needed emergency surgery. I'm glad that I'm able to take care of her now with her medications and her additional vet visits.

There are a lot of people who say that pet insurance isn't worth it, especially not for young animals. But if your young animal gets very sick, or gets badly injured, or eats a hairband and needs an emergency endoscopy, then it will probably be VERY worth it. It's a risk/reward question. You feel like you're wasting money if you're paying for a policy that you never use, but honestly that just means you're lucky to have a healthy pet.

I'm lucky that Tiny Bastard was relatively healthy before I got the insurance; I'm also lucky that she was insured when she was diagnosed with a chronic illness that will need lifelong care. This enables me to provide care for her that would otherwise be financially unmanageable, and that makes the insurance *extremely worth it* from my perspective.

And Belphie is a good example of why it's a good idea to get coverage even for very young pets. Greer is recommending it because this kitten has required a tremendous amount of care during a period in his life when it's generally taken for granted that a cat will be healthy. (And Greer is not stupid for forgoing pet insurance - pet insurance is still a relatively new concept and there are lots of people who are leery of it for a number of good reasons)

So I'd say that if you've got a pet or are getting a pet it is very worthwhile to find a pet insurance plan that fits in your budget. There are a variety of plans out there and some are very inexpensive. Check coverage levels (you can even get some with wellness plans that include dental care and vaccinations) and see if there's something that works for you.

I personally don't think I'm ever going to own another pet without having pet insurance. It's ridiculous how much easier it is for me to say yes to diagnostic tests or different treatments than it was before because I know I'm going to be able to fit Tiny Bastard's care into our budget.

[themonaproject]

Update!!! I repeat, this is not a drill..

Okay so... last night? yeah, last night. So remember I told you I had a crush? Yes, the Chinese boy. BOIIIIII last night was a doosey lmfaoooooooo i cant stop laughing i swear.

Okay so... timeline from when i met him up until last night

I happened to meet him in the lab that I have classes in here at the school. Two girls in my class were having a issue where they had bought something online and...it just so happened that it went to the collection place on the other side of the campus instead of to the one right outside our dorm. They had told one of our teachers about this, so she, the teacher, went to one of her students on the other side of campus and brought him, the boy, to show them where to go where the collection placed was concerned. Anyhow, when the teacher and him came to the lab, the girls had stepped out to the bathroom so the teacher told us to introduce ourselves to the boy and yadda yadda yadda so i, obviously taking an interest in him, started talking to him and asking him questions and such.

...sigh

So i happened to see his nails and that they were painted and i was like, in my mind, "ugh, i hate that i keep finding out that everyone is gay by their nails [and i will clarify this statement in another post lmaoooooo], is no one straight anymore, Jesus, all the hot guys are gay asf" but anyhoos.... At the time, his hair was all black and in the usual asian boy bowl cut, nerdy looking skinny guy right?.... So this was either in April or so.

CUT TO!!!!! the Tuesday, when my class went on a tour on this rainy ass day to pingjiang road. We were in and out of stores and I had seen something and made mention of my upcoming birthday right, so the 2 other girls in my class were like "your birthday?? omg" but i just told them i wont celebrate because it was deadlines time and we had class and so on so i wont be able to rlly enjoy it blah blah blah right

WE ENDED UP HAVING A MEETING ON THE THURSDAY before my birthday with the principal from my country, he came to hang out with us, the international students and invited us out to dinner with him and yadda yadda yadda. Now, I got there first and then the 2 girls came to the room and saw only me there so they ended up inviting me to the club. I would say the club is where my delusions began. Oh yes, definitely the club. We ended p going on he Saturday night to the private event and... when we got to the club, we met up with him and he took us inside. Now... he took us to our seats, played games with our table and, obviously because he's working, he was walking all over the club, making sure all was well, taking smoke breaks outside, hovering some more and yadda yadda. Now... *deep inhale* I hate that... everything happened and turned out the way it is today, but you know what they say, a crush is the result of a lack of information. When I saw him, he had his hair looking like something you would see on a model or pop idol, blonde to the from and rest of the hair black and shaped nicely and ladida... jewelry and all, he was looking fine 99. Now, he took us to the bathroom, obviously because we aint know nun bout the place. While we were in the bathroom, he waited for us to come out and i came out first and was just washing my hands, checking my makeup and yadda yadda, he came to me and sometimes, even tho im speaking english, my mandarin slips out and he almost leapt over the moon because he heard me speaking mandarin. He asked for my wechat and i gave him.

So now the party is happening, he came to check on us and asked me if i was having a good time.

...why just me tho? Was he just taking care of me because im foreign and in his work place? hmm. Anyway... while the night went on, i hadn't seen him for a lil bit so i messaged him to see where he was and he replied immediately.

...where i come from.. that is very green-flaggy. So obviously i liked that. A hot guy, texting back immediately? 10s across the board, right?

Okay, so he told me where he was... and then proceeded to ask me where we [me and the girls] were. Obviously i told him we were still at the table and dancing and blah blah blah. He even sent me a video of where he was...

...the delusions were being feddddddddd, hear what i say to youuu. lmaoooooo THE DELUSIONS WERE BEING FEDDDDDD!!!

Ok now soooo... cut to a few weeks after, exams for him were coming up, my exams were literally in the week right after my birthday. I ended up asking him to recommend some places to eat, right? Responding immediately, he offered a whole lot. I... <.< THE DELUSIONS ARE BEING FEDDDD he recommended so many lawdddd imma eat for the rest of my life clearly. I was grateful. Now, I liked him and so other ppl [my ppls] knew and was cheering for me and him obviously.

Now here is where he started to have me fked up lmaoooo I realised he would never text me first or interact with my posts on wechat. Now On WC, you can determine who can see your posts and who you can block your posts from and whose posts you dont wanna see and such like, right?

I had a thought that he couldnt see my stuff UNTIL i made a particular post about wanting to go outside but the rain was keeping me inside and i wanted it to stop. Now, I'm not a chicken head, when i see some shit, i stay peeping it, yk... so every time we spoke, i started the conversation.... he he did the bare minimum yk. He started our convo ONCE. And it was in the morning, he woke up hella early. 7:47 am. I'm lookin at the msgs rn because i wanna give facts. HE HADNT EVEN GOTTEN OUT OF HIS BED YET! He messaged me to ask if i wanna come to a party at the club. He never got back to me with the price or anything.... !? I was supposed to message him and beg for the price or something? Anyway, I had asked him if there was a event and he had to end up contacting the club to find out info. That... went south, we ended up doing a movie night instead at the dorm so.. that was a bust. Plus, he wasnt even gonna be at the club because he was visiting his family back in his hometown, so i had lost interest from the time he told me he woiuldnt be there. I was wondering if he wasnt keen on telling me because he didnt want me at the club WITHOUT him. idk... delusions were eating this idea upppp tho.

And this is the thing, our convos were always longgg and I realised we had alot in common and could be good friends, if not even in a relationship right? I realised, he was doing basically nada while I was making all the moves, starting convos first 99% of the time and reaching out first.

Now me messaging him about the club came after i had decided not to msg him or interact with his stuff until he put in work where I was concerned. Now atp I was starting to think yhhh this is a one-sided thing... there was so much going on in my head, i literally felt like screaming and couldnt even sleep. My mind was going insane bruh... over this man... AND HE WAS SLEEPING VERY GOOD AT NIGHT TOO YK!?

So now, last night... i mean there was so much he did that had me confused but if it's one thing i know for sure, I aint letting a man tell me more than once that he dont want me. that's fs. Cut to last night, now... I go on wechat moments to see the pics and videos from the graduation event that happened during the afternoon... and... I see that he had posted. So i opened the moments to see what he posted and... he posted a video of his hand grabbing different girls bo0bs in the club and I was--... i was shooketh-- I WAS SO SHOOK I LEAPT ACORSS MY BEDDDDDDDDDD i was too shocked bruh. I was literally like "SINCE WHEN DID THIS BECOME A WHORE HOUSE!!!" mans was on some hoe tactics bruh.... and it all started to make sense to me. he is a WHORE. I--...

Safe to say, that mf crush is done. Yeah, I might srtill think about him and stuff but idk if i still feel the same i felt before that video... He officially killed off my feelings for him bruh... idk wth is going on but I'm not a part of nun.

AND HE HAD THE AUDACITY to be telling me he wants to live a simple and quiet peaceful life... fkin liar. peaceful my ass.

I gone tho lmao

madness

[savingwaterinter]

Project

DEFINITIONS

Story: a description, either true or imagined, of a connected series of events Tales: a story, especially one that might be invented or difficult to believe Science Fiction: books, films, or cartoons about an imagined future, especially about space travel or other planets

STORY

During the summer of 2045 the people of Ecuador and all around the world started making use of water without thinking, causing concern about water scarcity. Moreover, I was aware of that problem years before people started fighting for water. As a result, In 2050, I made a portal gun which helped me to time travel. The gun went through several tests and didnt work so I made changes adding a Tesseract. 

My plan wasn't going alone. For this reason, I went in search of friends who could help me in the mission of preventing water scarcity. Ultimately, The only friends that I found were Juan and Annia. These two friends helped me go to the past and for it they came to my laboratory. When they arrive they have doubts about the time portal gun but I solve them. 

-“Do you understand the plan?” I said

-“I have some doubts about it. How do we know that we will be good at the other side of the portal?” Asked Annia 

-“I already tested it. I took the risk and travelled through the portal gun to the past.” I said 

-“I also have a question. You said that you need someone who stays here in the present to keep the portal open?” Asked Juan with fear

-“Yeah, I need you to keep the portal open, I will go to 2023.” I said euphorically

We went inside the wormhole with our backpack. Due to this, we arrived in the past. We went to my college in which I studied and I had a deja vu. However, we talked with the director about what was going to happen but he thought that we were crazy, so he kicked us out. We waited until the bell rang. We stopped them and talked to them, making them aware of what was going to happen. At first they didn't take it seriously but after some minutes they noticed that We were from the future but we almost caused a butterfly effect. Eventually,  We went back to the lab and travelled back to the present. In our first look we saw that everything changed, however,  we didn't see Juan. 

-”Do you think that Juan never escaped the other timeline?” I said sadly 

-”I hope he escaped.” Annia said doubtful

-”Hello! I thought you would never come back.” Said Juan-”Thank god! I thought you got lost in the different timelines.” I said euphorically.

REFERENCES

Science fiction. (s/f). Cambridge.org. Recuperado el 12 de octubre de 2023, de https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/science-fiction

Story. (s/f). Cambridge.org. Recuperado el 12 de octubre de 2023, de https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/story?q=Story

Tale. (s/f). Cambridge.org. Recuperado el 12 de octubre de 2023, de https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/tale

PICTURE

I made this image generate from AI with a website called DALL-E. In this website i decribed the picture and what i wanted it to be like.

VIDEO

SLIDES

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFw3o27flw/ZGPGnZFepsd9Q4iPT6bt5A/viewutm_content=DAFw3o27flw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2 in Limerick

Hey everyone, it's Katie again. I'm posting late because I got a really nasty case of food poisoning that I've had to deal with, which unfortunately also means I don't have as much to talk about from this past week in Limerick, but I'll cover what I did do so you can still get a feel for my time here.

Monday: Last Monday was the only day last week I felt healthy enough to go to lab. In the morning, my mentor, Nina, showed me some modifications she made to the set up steps for the hydrothermal carbonizer, since it seemed to be having issues with heating and cooling. Basically, I was told to increase the temperature gradually and watch the data to make sure the internal temperature did not exceed 200 Celsius. In the afternoon, Nina and I tried to run the HTC with a water sample, but the device was still having issues, so she had to call her supervisor and another lab technician for help. They were all speaking Polish, so I had no idea what was going on until Nina took me to another building to find another HTC. Unfortunately, those were all broken or missing parts, which leaves her device as the only HTC we can use. It's a little frustrating, but I'm fine with working together with Nina instead of on a separate experiment since it's still a great learning experience for me. After work, I did some laundry, then went to the second half of the Mario movie (I missed the first part finishing my laundry and then trying to find the place it was at).

Saturday: I was feeling better (or so I thought), so the Arcadia group and I tried to go to Galway, but we needed to buy tickets in advance, so that was a bust. Instead, we got a quick lunch and took the bus to Killaloe, a small lakeside town in Clare. We walked around a bit, then lay in the grass by the river for a little while to enjoy the sun. I guess I enjoyed the sun too much, because I ended up very dehydrated and had to take a pit stop at cafe to rehydrate. The rest of the group got a quick snack before the bus came, and then we went back to UL. It sucked that I was feeling sick towards the end, but Killaloe was such a cute little town with a very pretty view, so I'm glad I got to see it.

Monday: After literally sleeping all day Sunday to recover from Saturday, I decided I ought to get my stomach issues checked out, so I went to the University Hospital Limerick Monday afternoon. Once I was checked in, their nurses came to take my vitals and get blood tests done, and then gave me vials to, delicately put, "collect my own samples." A fun thing about sleeping all day is you often forget to drink water, so I had a needle in my left hand the whole time I was there so that they could administer rehydration fluid through an IV. If you've never had one before, it's interesting because you can feel the coldness in your veins nearest the injection site, but it definitely gets the job done and made me feel so much better. Afterwards, I was discharged with a new appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning to get my test results back.

I'll leave you with a few notes from today: The doctor's appointment went fine, they determined that the issues were caused by campylobacter, but my blood test that morning showed lower infection markers and I was clearly feeling better, so I should be getting back to my regular study abroad life soon. Can't wait to update you about the (rest of) this week, I promise it'll be really cool and won't involve needles in my hands.

[mirandacarewjones]

No 431

 

My son had a mole on his back which he thought had changed in size and colour.  He mentioned this to me whilst we were both in Sri Lanka. 

 

When I checked the photograph of this same mole (a picture that I had taken two years previously) I saw he was absolutely right.  It was now much darker and considerably bigger. 

 

I rang our friendly Sri Lankan doctor who told us to go straight to the hospital to see his ‘go to’ dermatologist, whom he would inform of our imminent arrival. 

 

We waited for ages outside the doctor’s door and after witnessing countless brazen queue-barging episodes, we were called in.  

 

The Sri Lankan’s do not really understand our silent English queue system, and when I see how much quicker they are in getting access to the doctor, I completely understand why they wouldn’t. 

 

One man leaned over to look at our numbered entry ticket, number 13.  He then showed me his number 15 ticket and smiled warmly.

 

As soon as the door opened and a nurse came out, number 15 shot past at the speed of light and darted into the doctor’s inner circle.  When he came out he whispered to me, “I’ve told the doctor a foreigner was outside waiting to see her.” 

 

Thank you so much Mr Queue Barger.

 

The dermatologist agreed that my son’s mole needed closer investigation but declared that she’d left her special diagnosing ‘dodgy mole’ tool behind.  My son and I thought this was turning into a bit of a fiasco until she offered to remove the offending mole and then have it analysed, as opposed to the other way round, analyse then make an informed decision on removing it or not. 

 

The son and I are of the same thinking .... cut it out and be done with it! 

Marvellous decision we all thought, as we were led out to go and wait upstairs outside another door. There we sat on a bench and clutched more paperwork. 

 

A smiley Sri Lankan lady approached us and, with the universal signal to hand over our medical information papers, thoroughly scrutinised the content and what procedures we were waiting for. 

 

She informed us we were in the right corridor outside the correct surgical room of the dermatologist we should be seeing. 

 

She then sat down beside us and fussed over an old man in a wheelchair. 

I looked at my son and then back at the Sri Lankan lady.  “Excuse me, are you a nurse or doctor working in this hospital?”

 

“No,” she replied. “I just come and bring my father for his weekly treatment.”  “Ok, fair enough,” I thought. 

 

The dermatologist from downstairs had finished with her Outpatients Surgery and was now approaching us. She signalled to follow her into the operation room. 

 

Our nosey neighbour on the bench decided she should come and loiter in the room too. Her father was asleep in his chair. Why be bored outside when you can be entertained inside? Exactly ... you shouldn’t. 

 

My son proceeded to strip off his shirt and lie down on a chilly stainless steel gurney.  After a numbing injection in his back, the whole mole was to be removed and stitched up. 

 

I motioned with my head the presence of our extra voyeur standing in the doorway, which made my son convulse in giggles.  The dermatologist had to stop cutting whilst the patient controlled his heaving shoulder blades. 

Fifteen minutes later we delivered the mole in a specimen bottle to pathology in a separate wing of the hospital. 

 

A week later the pathology unit emailed to say the mole was benign and no further treatment was necessary. 

 

I can't remember exact figures but I think the total bill came roughly to about £45:

 

The consultation with the dermatologist was £3.75

The operation/surgery was £15-£17

The biopsy and lab test results were £22.50

 

Bish, bash, bosh! That’s the way to do it.