#one (1) carm. yay :]

[trainingdummyrabbit]

yippee!!

[keyofjetwolf]

BUT WE KNOW WHAT I’M HERE FOR

I THINK this is a list of goals, broken down by year, with gold stars or red xes awarded accordingly.

Year 1! Or, what I think I can make out for Year 1, anyway.

⭐ Donate (?cookies?) to homeless shelter for youth

⭐ Buffy (???) marathon with Carmilla

⭐ Finish (?writing?) Harry Potter fan fiction [overlap with Year 2]

⭐ Go to Comic Con with Carmilla

❌ Eat a vegetable

⭐ Go to Women’s March!

Year 2

⭐ Road trip to see favorite band live with Carmilla [no mention of the band WHO SAYS “FAVOURITE BAND” BUT NOT WHO THEY ARE LAURA YOU WEIRDO]

⭐ Finish DIY books project

⭐ (?? ? ??) an Article a DAY (??) DO IT

⭐ (Something about penguins? I see a little blue construction paper shirt? Were they making shirts for penguins? I APPROVE)

Year 3

⭐ Graduation YAY!

⭐ Meet Christiane Amanpour

❌ Read all Harry Potter books for the (?5th?) time

⭐ First job as a reporter!

⭐ (?) Donate first pay cheque to charity!

⭐ Dad’s 60th birthday!

Year 4

⭐ Get Junior Editor position!

❌ Save the bees

⭐ (?Help make? ?Make more?) QPOC comics!

⭐ Go to (?World?) ?? ? ??

❌ Track down identity of ???

❌ Save oppressed neighborhood

Year 5

Buckle Up Creampuff

❌ Win National ???

❌ Knit a sweater for EVERY PERSON in the world!

❌ Rewatch Murphy Brown [overlap with Year 4]

⭐ 200 hours volunteering ?? ??

❌ Thwart evil (congress)man

❌ [Can’t tell what it says, but RED X]

❌ Finish knitting ???

Definitely a trend of less and less gold stars as the years have ticked by. Goals set a bit too high? “Real life” getting in the way? Or maybe even an indication of Laura beginning to burn out? “Knit a sweater for every person in the world”, okay so at least a TOUCH of setting unreasonable goals.

There’s still some weird shit going on, too! I mean, “evil congressman” could just be legit, no need to bring in a supernatural element there If it’s even “congressman”. Do they have congress in Canada? I actually have no fucking idea. Maybe it’s “businessman”, that works too, and also doesn’t require a supernatural bent. But “save oppressed neighborhood”? “Track down identity of [whoever they’re trying to identify]”? At the least, Laura (and possibly Carm) BELIEVE there’s shenanigans about.

I’ll otherwise leave this by saying, You couldn’t eat a single vegetable in Year 1 Laura? Seriously, not even one? CARROTS AT LEAST COME ON

[bxttxrflybxddie]

|Red Crackle Headcanons|

a/n: this was edited july 6th, 2022! this was also my first time ever doing headcanons lol (i still dk if you should spell it with one n or two) please enjoy!

pairing: carmen sandiego x graham (crackle) calloway

requested: yes! by @thefireflyparadox

warnings: none but if i missed any please lmk!!

post type: hc's with some dialogue

when graham first meets carmen he plays his usual flirty charm

he honestly just likes seeing peoples reactions when he does flirt with them

but then

oh but then

she's mysterious

first shes backstage of a play, then she banters back n fourth with him, and how she's talking to him like an old friend

he genuinely wants to get to know her better so he asks her on a date

the australian is actually sad when she doesn't show up :( poor meow meow

tries not to think about it too hard, shes just a random girl

that is until he sees her again

she explains why she left and how sorry she is, work is work-he gets it

then she asks him to help with an upcoming show

"anything for you, the kiddos"

graham wont say it but he's pretty taken aback about how spies are real, he's only seen them in movies!

even though hes scared, he decides to help her

not just for the money but like cmon its her

the next mission carmen is this (👌) close from losing their current caper and having the vile operative le chévre get away

que graham ready to beatdown anybody

"crackle?" Asks the French man.

"who?" Asks the Australian one.

graham got pretty beaten but in his own words: "you shouldve seen the other guy"

vile-0 carmen-109 and 1

after a few more successful missions, graham tells carm that hed like to join her crew for real

you better BELIEVE carmen is hesitant

but she has to admit that graham does help her a lot

and she does love seeing him

carmen agrees and promises him thatd hed get a fat bank account

its a win-win situation in grahams eyes

the first time he goes to carmens h.q. its a little awkward

but then he opens his mouth and plays the charm, and everything is fine lol

zack absolutely adores hearing about all the delicious foods they have in australia

shadowsan is really distant, not even looking in gray's direction when he talks

but soon enough the cold act dissolved

they're bonding, shadowsan isnt as close to him as he is with the rest of the 'children'

but theyre bonding (yay!)

ivy is a mechanic. graham is a electrician. they become good buds very quickly

he wants to check out all of the gadgets ivy has made/makes but carmen tells him no

she doesnt want him to get hurt from any type of invention again

hes whiny

"carmennn, you're gonna show all these amazin' doohickeys and have me not look at em'? carm I am an electrician! Its what i do!!"

but then she smiles reassuringly

"im sorry gray, maybe after we've laid low for long enough."

"fffffine. :("

as the days pass, gray just cant get that french dude out of his head

he asks carmen about him.

she takes the deepest sigh shes ever took, and everything opens up like a cracked dam

he freaks OUT

he worked for them?????

he hurt carmen?????

black sheep???????!

nice to hear he kept his charm though

after processing all the new information, he calms down

he trusts carmen, and she trusts him. she wouldnt lie about this

his caramel eyes meet her own silver ones

"carm," he starts "I didn't kill anyone, did i?"

his voice is so desperate

she wants to say no and conceal him of all the bad in the world

but he deserves the truth

"not that I know of." she answers.

"but, im sure you wouldn't." her smile is a memory he wouldn't ever want to forget. not again.

"thats enough for me, thank you carm"

he says with his dimples raised from his-oh so genuine-grin

after approx a year of pining, graham asks carmen to officially be her boyfriend

he does it at such a romantic place

the two were watching a sunset at tuscany, italy

wants to ask her out with a pun

but he just settles on something that gets straight to the point

"carm?" "yes, gray?"

he is so nervous but she's prepared

"can...can i call you mine?"

her smile glows brighter than any sun-filled sky

"i'd love that."

© BXTTXRFLYBXDDIE

[heymich]

My unlikely pro-life, pro-science, pro-God views, Part 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

I often feel I have more questions than I have answers. But these are my current thoughts on these questions on my mind. I would love to hear your thoughts, if you care to share. May the Lord grant us wisdom to discern through these difficult questions. The reason why I want to write is just to simply organize my thoughts. You are welcome to read. Please don’t feel pressured that my way is the only way you should think. These are simply my thoughts. Ultimately my “opinion” does not matter but God’s word is the only thing that really matters. Let’s keep seeking His will. Search it for yourself! I have a growing list of questions and concerns to work through so thank you to anyone willing to read this so far.

What if you feel called by God to do a certain ministry that requires you to have fewer children?  - I was reading recently in 2 Chronicles 26 how King Uzziah (v 16-21) decides to burn incense on the incense altar even though only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron have the right to offer incense. My CSB describes Uzziah as “he grew arrogant... acted unfaithfully against the LORD his God...” I find that this is a good story to see that God wants to be approached on His terms, as great as humans might have ideas on what it means to serve God may be. Not everyone can be called to the same tasks, even ones that they desire for “sense” God calling them to do. Also if God clearly calls you to a certain task (e.g. becoming a parent for example), you might have to adjust your expectations and sacrifice other seemingly godly desires to fulfill your calling. Though I think it sounds like a really great calling to be in ministry, I don’t think God would call someone to enter in to a certain ministry if it required them to compromise His other instructions. So perhaps missionary callings that involve a level of risk to children might be more suitable to singles, or families who don’t have children for whatever reasons that God ordains. And perhaps for the young family that has intentions to grow their family and be open to the Lord’s will for their fertility... it seems to make sense to consider ministries that your family can fully participate in for that season and to be faithful with the calling of raising your family for the glory of Christ and seeing the family as ministry as well. For some families, the husband feels called to include their family in dangerous missionary journeys, and for some families, the couple agree to separate for the sake of God’s calling for the husband’s life. I’ve also heard of stories where the woman leaves the husband for missionary work. Though I may not agree with some of these decisions, I have not probed enough to understand the reasonings for their decisions. It’s not up for me to judge, but I would will like to seek understanding for how they discerned the see what the fruit of those decisions are. For those ministries that prefer “smaller” families... well I don’t have enough experience to speak into that but I definitely have a lot of probing questions. I also have tons of questions about how others families function in ministry, and how they decide their family planning with their ministry callings, but I’ll have to pick on those families brains when I meet them... there’s really a lot I don’t understand about the missionaries I’ve read about, where they have denied or sacrificed what I consider family responsibilities for the sake of furthering the Gospel to unreached areas. I’m willing to learn but right now my mind is fixed on how do I be faithful in the ministry of family.

If you do choose to reduce the amount of potential children in your family, how do you go about doing that in a way that honours the Lord and does not compromise God’s other commands and intentions for your life? - See here is where my brain is really puzzled. How exactly do families choose to limit their children? Because in my mind I’m walking through a minefield of compromise. I mean if you don’t see any mines in this field I’m looking at, or you see them and you are able to successfully avoid them... great, good for you. I just am troubled and don’t think I can cross this field. - Barrier Methods like condoms and diaphragms- in a pro-life stance, yes you aren’t killing anyone. Great. It is not 100% effective, so... are you saying you are still going to protect that life if life is formed (against your original intentions to not have more children?). Also at the end, I share my attitude concern * - Birth control Pill or IUD- abortafacients are against my Christian conscience, I don’t think any Christian should use any of these methods but I understand there is a level of ignorance people are willing to carry to continue on with their personal decisions. More info here  - Abortion, or morning after pill- I don’t think I have to explain this, but for those Christians who are “pro-choice”... I’ll have to save that for another discussion. But yeah, the 6th commandment is do not kill. Science affirms that life begins at conception. Abortion is the termination of the life of the unborn baby.   - Natural family planning, abstinence- see this is where the “natural” folk and pro-lifers might consider this as a good option. However I do have a concern again about the heart attitude*. In The Birth Control Movie Project, one of the speakers, who I have come to love, Nancy Campbell explains well (I paraphrase from the top of my head) that during the women’s fertile time when she is going to ovulate, it is when her sexual desires are increased. It’s like God designed it to be that way because He wants increase! This is fascinating to me, as I have noticed in the past during my single years, how my emotions, longings and desires would change during my cycle and I would feel such a relief after my period came (I know, TMI, gross period talk, sorry). But to learn this is part of God’s amazing design... I can’t help but think... yay God you are all-wise!! Okay back to my concern about NFP... so if a couple (or either partners in that couple) decides to AVOID sex during a time where the woman is most fertile... it could result in denying either spouse intimacy which is also contrary to Scripture (1 Corinthians 7:1-5). I once was looking up NFP and learned a couple from a blog I used to follow wrote a book about the benefits of NFP. I learned later that they ended up divorcing. One might consider the dangers of NFP and what impact that has on a marriage if at certain seasons you are having to deprive one another... and for what reason? I hope it’s a godly reason! And for those who might consider long-term abstinence as a married couple (does that actually happen?) I guess I don’t fully understand why that couple would get married in light of 1 Corinthians 7 but perhaps there are single for Christ minded people who want to get married and have a partner for Gospel ministry and are willing to live like they are “single”? As long as they don’t forget that when they covenanted with God and their spouse in marriage... there will be marriage responsibilities. Not everyone should get married if they aren’t open or ready for the responsibility of being a husband/wife and father/mother.  - Vasectomy, tubal ligation, hysterectomy- for normal, healthy, functioning body parts... why “fix” something that isn’t broken? I haven’t read too much on the ethics of these procedures but... from what I know some couples experience hormonal changes that can impact mood and intimacy, sometimes the procedures are irreversible and the couple later on wants to have more children and can’t. God gave these body parts to be used for His purposes! 

- Sure you can pull out the “stewardship” argument, but then I would want to ask, what was the thing God gave to us intended for? Voddie Baucham has mentioned frequently “If you don’t know the purpose of the thing, you’re doing to abuse it” (sorry if I misquoted it). What are these reproductive body parts intended by God for? What are my arms and legs meant for? It would be ridiculous for me to purposefully disable myself by cutting off my arms or legs and be physically handicapped but I could say it is for the sake of stewardship (I don’t know, I serve in the handicap ministry and people might get jealous I have functional arms and legs? That sound stupid I know. Or maybe I work in an area where my arms and legs might cause me to stumble... I mean Jesus would support it right?). But yeah it sounds crazy because it is. Yet for some reason if we alter our reproductive parts so they no longer work the way it was intended for, it might be in some minds, be considered “good stewardship”. Because you know, we are living for the kingdom... I have more questions and thoughts about “stewardship” later (e.g. financial, mental, emotional, etc.)

* And ultimately it is the heart attitude is what I am more concerned about. Separating sex from procreation seems to me, to be very unnatural and against God design for sex (which includes "glorify God, bring forth children, express intimacy, provide comfort, and bless the spouse.”- CARM). Seeing children being in the way of the plans you have for your life (or the plans you think God has for your life) doesn’t seem right to me... is this really okay with God? I mean if God was wanting a married couple/family to participate ministry and children would be detrimental to that ministry, God in His wisdom could just make the couple infertile right? I would love to see someone bring up Scriptures that can help me see that this is something exemplary to do. I am boggled by the amount of choices available to people today and the ethics that follow these decisions. 

I understand I know it’s not a simple journey for some people and families who are trying to obey God in other areas of their lives and don’t see the issue I am talking about as being a “primary” one to consider, or may think this compromise is not worth spending so much time on... for me though, if God has brought this concern to light in my life, sometimes when I see others choosing to “compromise” with out much thought, I find it discouraging and tempting that maybe I can just throw my own convictions out of the window. Is it fair to say... brother or sister, please consider that you don’t cause me to stumble? I can imagine a response like “oh, you just follow what God wants you to do, and I’ll follow what God wants me to do”. I can see that happening regarding many decisions in life but regarding the creation of life... I don’t know, it just would be nice if we were all on the same page about what attitude to have about this. I mean think about it, are you aware that in the States, in the late 1800′s contraception was considered illegal? Doesn’t that say something? And apparently in Canada we didn’t have divorce laws until 1968... I would have to research more. I’m just saying... just because something becomes normal for a culture doesn’t mean it was always normal. And if it wasn’t normal before, I would like to know... how did we get here? Was it moral upgrade or downgrade that led us to this kind of normalization?

Inquisitive Michelle

[sickficprompts]

Madness and Blood (or lack thereof)

A Carmilla sickfic! YAY! My FIRST Carmilla fic!!!!! I hope you guys like it! I’ve been working on it for like a month...

Okay, so spoilers for seasions 1, 2, and 3 starting NOW.

This story takes place after season 3, but if Carm was still a vampire. (Cause sick humans aren’t nearly as interesting. Let’s face it.) So basically, they decide to move to the US. And turns out LaF hasn’t secured a source of blood for Carmilla yet... How long can she last without telling Laura the truth?

“Carm! Hey, Carm! Check this out!”

Camilla turned her attention to the little blonde sitting in an office chair. She motioned widely to the computer, now lit with a home screen. Carm didn’t even blink.

After a moment of this, Laura pouted. “Don’t you see? I got it working.”

“Oh, right.” Carm looked down at her book again. She suppressed a yawn in her fist and blinked at the pages. As much as she loved ancient philosophy, the words were going straight through her today.

Laura started playing around with the computer again and Carmilla sat staring at the seemingly wordless pages. She couldn’t think of a reason why she’d be so tired…

“Hey, Carm?” Laura said. The vampire looked up again. “Do you really like this place? I know it’s not as fancy as your mom could have afforded…”

She forced a smile. “It’s great, cupcake. Now play with your technology.”

“Are you sure, though? You’re acting broody.”

Carm closed the book and directed her eyes at it’s beautiful old cover. “Just tired is all.”

“You must be! I am too. It’s been a long week. First packing everything up, then traveling, then having to receive all our stuff from the mail, because for some reason it’s more expensive to check bags in than to just mail them to yourself, and finally moving them all in and unpacking them. And I haven’t even found my Austrian snack-cakes yet! I stored them away so I wouldn’t have to import them.”

As Laura rambled, Carmilla had thought of something, though. Had she fed at all in this crazy week? For the first time in… ever? she might have forgotten. That would explain the exhausted and even slightly sick feeling she had.

But they hadn’t heard back from LaF yet about their connection with a local blood bank -god only knows why she has a connection with a blood bank in America. Had she packed any? LaF usually took care of blood bags, and Carm was used to just feeding off whatever -or whoever- was in the area when they were needed. Except this time, she had promised Laura. No more live prey.

“Carm?”

“Huh?”

“You’re doing it again. Brooding. What’s wrong?” Laura crawled onto the cheap mattress on the floor and placed her TARDIS mug on the box which held the Ikea bed frame. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Nah.” Carm pulled Laura into her chest and closed her eyes.

“Hey, guess what.”

Carm smirked. “Oh no. What surprise could you possibly have?”

“Wanna know why we had to move so quickly?”

“Because there was a portal to hell at school?”

Laura pouted.

“Okay, fine. What is it?”

“There’s a meteor shower tomorrow night, and this is the best spot in the country to watch.”

Carm blinked. “You really did your research, Creampuff.”

“Of course I did! I heard there was a meteor shower, and I knew you’d love to see it.”

Camilla laid her head on Laura’s. “You’re amazing.”

They sat like this for a long time. Carm lost track of how long exactly. Laura, on the other hand, knew the exact time.

“It’s almost two in the morning. We should sleep.”

Carm hummed an agreement, her eyes closed. A lock of wavy brown-black hair fell from behind her jawbone and tickled her nose. Laura brushed it back. “Carm?”

Camilla opened her eyes. Laura was staring at her worriedly. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

She sat up. “Tired. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, okay.”

A loud clatter of pots and pans woke Carmilla from her deep sleep. She groaned and looked at the clock, thinking it must be way too early for Laura to be getting into any trouble.

The clock read three PM. Carm mumbled a swear. She’d been doing well at waking up at human times for Laura, but she was just too exhausted for it today.

She forced herself out of bed and to the kitchen where Laura was fumbling about with cookware.

“Morning, cupcake.”

Laura muttered something about cooking not being her job and how could Perry handle this stuff as a response.

Carm almost sat heavily in the kitchen chair, but she remembered the not-so-skillful job she’d done at putting it together and thought better of it. She sat gingerly on it, testing if it would hold her weight. Luckily, it did.

She watched Laura skittering about the kitchen. The movement was dizzying, but Carmilla loved watching Laura doing her human things.

It took a while, but Laura managed to make something that looked somewhat edible before sitting at the table and digging in. She stabbed the french toast covered in sweet syrup and sugar with her fork and held out a piece to her girlfriend.

“I’m fine,” Carmilla said.

Laura shrugged and shoved the big piece in her mouth.

Camilla texted LaF about getting ahold of the blood bank, but the only reply she got was, “I’ll call when they open.”

“Hey Carm?” Laura called from the kitchen. “Can you help me out?”

Camilla heard the call but didn’t move initially. She was curled up in a corner of the couch holding a book of poems, nearly asleep.

“Carm, C’mon!”

She blinked blearily and pushed herself up. A wave of dizziness nearly knocked her back again, but she managed to right herself and shuffle into the kitchen.

Laura was pushing all her weight against the fridge, apparently trying to move it?

Camilla sighed and leaned against the doorframe. “Cupcake, what on earth are you doing?”

“Moving the fridge! Perry said we should do a deep clean when we got here to make sure there wasn’t anything nasty, especially since it’s a pretty cheap place.”

“So you want to clean behind the fridge.”

“Yeah!”

Carm stood straight again. The slight change in angle gave her a sense of vertigo, but nothing too bad. She wasn’t sure if she’d have the strength to move the fridge though… The only times she’d ever been without blood this long, she’d also been captive and didn’t have to move much.

But Laura continued to try and move the giant appliance on her own, and Carm wasn’t about to let the poor human hurt herself. So she braced against the fridge and helped.

By some miracle, it actually moved.

The got it moved so that Laura could slip behind it with her cleaning products, and Carm slowly moved away from the fridge.

Her head was spinning at this point, trying and failing to find a grounding point. There was a flash in her vision, and she grasped for the counter, only grabbing air.

Carm collapsed to the kitchen tiles, the air coming out of her in one whoosh. There was a strange sensation of water all around her and a loud noise. She blinked, trying to see, but it wasn’t registering. She felt her heart pound in panic, trying to understand what was happening.

She had to be okay for Laura. Laura had gone through all this trouble of setting up a special night tonight. A stupid packing error shouldn’t ruin it.

Her vision finally began to clear and she felt that she was laying limply against the counters. Her head hurt. How did she get against the counters?

“Carm!”

Laura was frantically squeezing herself through the thin gap between the fridge and a neighboring counter. She looked like she was struggling.

Though there was still a general numbness about her whole body, Carm grabbed the countertop and started to pull herself up.

Laura finally broke through, ran over, and pulled Carm back into a sitting position. “No, no, no! Sit down. What happened? Are you okay? I didn’t even know vampires could faint.”

“I didn’t faint,” Carm sneered. Her voice sounded like it wasn’t hers, but at least she was back in control of her body.

“Then what was that?! Are you sick?” Laura felt for a fever. “What’s going on?”

Carm shrugged her way out of Laura’s grip and leaned against the cabinets again. “Nothing.”

“Something. What is it?”

She shrugged and looked down at her hands. She was surprised to see them shaking a bit. She did feel shaky, she noticed now as the numbness was fading. Sitting felt so much better…

“Carm?”

Right. The question. She had a question. What was it? She wanted to say nothing, because she knew that’s how she answered the first time. But Laura wouldn’t accept that again.

“What?”

Laura looked really worried now. She leaned in to look Carm in the eyes. Carm found it difficult to keep her eyes focused on Laura’s.

“Are you high or something?”

Carm raised her eyebrows.

“Right. Not high. Can vampires even get high? Okay, never mind. Question for another day. You look like you’re either high or have a major fever, and you don’t feel like you have a fever.”

Another dizzy spell hit then. Carm licked her dry lips and squeezed her eyes shut. She just had to keep this going until LaF called back, but she had no idea when that would be.

They heard her phone chime. Carm went to grab it from her pocket, but found it missing. She opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. Laura was already picking it up off the floor. It must have fallen at some point.

“Laura-“

Laura looked at the screen, her eyes concentrated. She frowned and looked up again. In her mother voice, she said, “Have you fed?”

Carm looked down.

“Carmilla! Are you insane?! When was the last time you fed? Why would you do this to yourself?!”

“Laura, it’s not that big of-“

“You could have died! Where’s the blood bags?” She leapt to her feet and opened the fridge. After a moment, her mouth opened a little and then she pursed her lips together. She closed the fridge and closed her eyes. With hand motions for emphasis, Laura said, “Tell me there are blood bags in the fridge.”

“Laura…”

“Tell me that you’re not that stupid.”

Camilla said nothing.

Laura sat on the floor where she was. Carm considered going over to her but decided moving was not her best option. Instead, she grabbed her phone off the floor and looked at the text.

“Bbank closes @ 5 nd friend drop off blood at 6 ok?”

If her phone’s time was right, that meant almost six more hours…

Her chest felt tight now, like something heavy rested over her ribs, crushing her lungs so they couldn’t take in enough air. She heard her breathing pick up and tried to stop it before Laura noticed, but when she looked up, Laura was already watching her with wide eyes.

“What can I do?”

Carm took a few deep breaths before answering. Laura crawled over and wrapped her arms around the vampire. She placed and hand on Carm’s head and gently guided it to her shoulder. Carm leaned her weight into Laura.

“I’m sorry,” Carm said.

“I know. i just wish you’d said something. We could’ve figured something out before it got this bad!”

“What else could we do? LaF’s the only one with a connection around here.”

Laura hesitated, but answered. “There is one person here who’d be willing-“

“Laura, no. Don’t.”

“But if you need-“

Carm pulled away. “Not that badly. I’m not going to keel over in the next couple hours.”

“But you did it before!”

“When will you get it through your thick skull? That was for you. This? This would be for me.”

“It’d make me happy to make you feel better.”

“Don’t pull that crap on me.”

Laura stood and left the room. Carm blinked, surprised, and crawled over to a chair. She pulled herself up into it and sat heavily. It felt a little less secure up there, but she didn’t feel like collapsing.

Then Laura came back. Camilla opened her eyes to see that she was holding a pink disposable razor, clear cover still over the blades.

“Laura, I said no.”

“Just a little. I’m not going to let you be miserable all day.”

“Laura.”

“If you don’t take it yourself, I’ll- do it myself.”

Carm closed her eyes tightly. She bit her lip so hard she could feel the skin beneath her teeth pulling and ripping.

Laura came over to Carm. She sat on her girlfriend’s lap and waited for her to open her eyes.

When Carm did, Laura was staring at her.

“Please, Laura. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want you to hurt either. I love you.”

Carm leaned in and kissed Laura’s neck. She felt the pulse under her lips. She let her tongue trace Laura’s collarbone and the girl shivered. Carm looked up, waiting for a cue to stop.

“Go ahead. It’s okay.”

Carm slowly put her lips against Laura’s neck again, spread them, and began to bare her teeth. They brushed against Laura’s soft skin lightly at first.

“It’s okay,” Laura said again. The vibration beneath her teeth felt familiar…

She bit down as softly as she could while still piercing the skin. The puncture was small but bled well, and Carm drank.

“You tired, Creampuff?”

Laura nodded and cuddled against Carmilla. She felt exhausted actually, but that was okay. They were finally seeing the stars together.

“Pass me a soda. I want to be awake when the shower starts,” Laura said.

Carm handed her a bottle, and Laura glared at her. Carm laughed and uncapped the bottle herself. “What? You don’t like blood?”

“Laura leaned over Carm’s lap and grabbed a soda herself.

They would both be okay.