#or have the backing to make medical drones

[aresmarked]

why are the 4star medics so good i just read chestnut's profile and. this precious man. the wear and tear of being a doctor getting to him but then just. recentering himself, and still with doubt in heart, deciding to keep going. why are the 4star medics so good tumblr user aresmarked?

...y'know anon, i was thinking of a joking answer (they're all alters in waiting) but i think everyone has At Least one 4* medic they hold in their heart because they are real in a way most of the higher ranked ones cannot be. Real, in a, 'we could be doctors and scientists and paramedics and nurses like them' way. people who know well their limits and expertise, and hone themselves everyday to try helping just one more, one more person. Chestnut's attempt to come to terms with how much cannot be prevented, Sussurro's exhaustion in her operator record... all grounded.

[dontforgetukraine]

Ukraine Donation Guide Master Post

(Ver. 2 updated Aug 13th, 2024) I will be reformatting this and adding more in the future when I have time.

Also a quick note, all of the groups I have found through twitter have been around long enough for them to be vetted by each other and the brigades they work with. In fact, a lot of these groups collaborate with each other too. Those that are in the fight for Ukraine have been diligent in calling out those that are grifters. Word spreads around quickly if an organization doesn't show up with what they promised. They also use their social media (often Twitter) as a means of transparency for their work.

Remember: When considering on whether to donate, always use your best judgement and donate to those you trust if you do not see what is listed is up to your standards.

Multi-Purpose

United 24 has various fundraisers dedicated to defense and drones, medical aid, rebuilding Ukraine, humanitarian demining, and science and education. You can pick which one you want to contribute to under their various projects.

Liberty Ukraine uses funds for humanitarian aid, medical supplies, protective gear and equipment, and rehabilitation therapy. You can choose which campaign of theirs to donate to.

Come Back Alive is a charitable foundation that supports Ukraine's military with competent assistance while also focusing on security and defense. They also have projects that use sports to help veterans rehabilitate. You can choose which campaign to donate to.

Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation works to help both civilians and Ukraine's army. You can choose to donate to an active project or any of their general campaigns. Civilian aid campaigns cover temporary housing, supporting crisis and emergency responses, schools, demining, and healthcare. Military aid campaigns cover drones, optics units, communications equipment, and support of air defense teams.

Food Aid

World Central Kitchen works with local partners wherever they are providing food aid. They make sure meals and meal kits are what the local population eats. Even though there is no separate fundraising campaign for Ukraine (that I can see), they still do great work.

Animal Rescue

Hachiko Foundation works to help displaced pets and strays in frontline areas. They help with veterinary care, outdoor shelters, setting up feeding stations, and rehoming animals.

Medical Aid

Hospitallers (Website) is a volunteer organization of paramedics that was founded in 2014. They evacuate the wounded, provide medical aid on the frontlines, assist in rehabilitation, and transfer of the deceased to burial sites. They are also supported by Ukraine Charity. Visit Hospitallers' website to see how many they have evacuated, different methods you can donate, and more information about them.

Other

Saint Javelin (Twitter; Website) is a great place to get apparel, gear, and other cool loot to show your support for Ukraine. They don't take donations, but instead raise funds through their shop with a portion of their sales going towards humanitarian aid and critical items needed by the defenders (generators, pick-up trucks, medical supplies etc). Part of their shop has items made in Ukraine to support Ukrainian businesses. Overall, their products are high-quality. I include them due to their impactful presence in the Twitter community I follow and how they make Ukraine visible in an alternative way. Consider buying someone a gift from their shop.

The Kyiv Independent (Twitter; Website) is a great English language resource for news about Ukraine. I include them because I think supporting good journalism is incredibly important, especially now when the information space is fraught with Russian propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation. My followers have probably noticed I've pulled a lot of quotes from their stories in an effort to amplify Ukrainian voices and experiences. Look on their website for more information on different way to support them, such as their Patreon.

---

If you're on twitter, there are a number of groups and people that fundraise for Ukraine and for specific units fighting on the frontlines. If there is no official website, a PayPal for donations is listed in their profiles. When considering on whether to donate, always use your best judgement and donate to those you trust if you do not see what is listed is up to your standards.

@/Teoyaomiquu almost always has a fundraiser for Liberty Ukraine with a specified purpose. At the time of writing this, he is currently raising funds for engineering equipment such as excavators. One such excavator is already in Kursk. Follow him to stay up to date with what he's fundraising for.

Dyga's Paw (Twitter: @/dzygaspaw) is a smaller group that has recently raised funds for starlinks, drones, batteries, and Ecoflow generators. You can look at the fundraising campaigns they currently have on their website.

@/DefactoHumanity represents and founded Planet of the People with their website U(a)nited for Freedom. She frequently posts updates about their fundraisers and what their partners need. They are known for providing Frontline medical aid supplies, protective equipment and other military aid, technical equipment (starlinks, drones, scopes, etc), and infrastructure equipment (generators, vehicles, power stations, etc). They even have a merch store of the battalions they partner with if that's your jam. Here is their link tree if you wish to explore more. And in case you're curious, there is an article bout the founder here.

@/wilendhornets (Website) specialize in making high quality drones that have gotten a lot of praise from Ukraine's army. They have attracted a lot of media attention too. Check out their website for the list of articles that have been written about them. Their Twitter is very active with strike footage.

Ants Kitchen Hub (@/ants_kyiv) is a volunteer kitchen that makes dry rations for the Ukrainian army. They are more active on their other social media. To learn more about them, check out their link tree.

@/frontlinekit (Front Line Kitchen) is represented by Richard Woodruff. Originally they made shelf stable food for the Ukrainian army, but now their fundraising has branched out to other campaigns such as raising funds for medical supplies and drones. They are a well known group that many battalions have come to for help.

@/bekamaciorowski (Rebekah Maciorowski) is as combat medic and nurse who helps provide medical care to soldiers and civillians at the frontlines. She raises funds for medical supplies and other equipment, but also helps train soldiers in first aid. More of her social media that features her work can be found in her link tree.

@/UkraineAidOps (Website) is another organization battalions frequently go to for help. They fundraise for all sorts of equipment from medical supplies to drones. If you're interested, they also have a shop with patches from different brigades and flags signed by soldiers. Their shop also includes a separate section called the Victory Gallery where artifacts from the war are turned into art. This includes shells that are painted on, scrap metal from downed enemy planes are turned into keychains, and pieces of a rocket are turned into lamps.

Chris Garrett is the co-founder of Prevail. His organization deals with humanitarian demining as well as training for trauma care, training of bomb disposal, and education to the public. Prevail works with local agencies in Ukraine as well as the army.

Project Konstantin (Twitter; Website; Linktree) is still going strong after the death of their founder, British paramedic Peter Fouché. His digital ghost can be found here. They collaborate with the military, thus giving them an insight into what is dearly needed. They often raise funds for starlinks, personalized first aid kits (IFAKs), generators, portable power stations, and other nonlethal military equipment. I regret forgetting them the first time this post went around. Visit their website to see everything they have done and more. It has more information on what and how they do it than this post can cover.

One Team One Fight (Twitter; Website; Linktree) has some of the original members that worked for Ukraine Aid Ops. They formed their own group after differences with the previous one, and are still helping Ukraine. They are very visible on various social media showing what they have accomplished in their deliveries to various brigades. They're another group that seeks to bring starlinks, drones, medical supplies and protective gear to the battalions that come to them for help. Check out their website for more information on their current fundraisers, their achievements, and received recognition.

NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade (Twitter; Website) Another small group that focuses their funds on delivering drones, generators, vehicles, and saving the occasional furry companion. They are very diligent in their updates for their fundraising campaigns. Check out their website for more information and the articles written about them.

Postmaster General Boomer (Twitter; Website) focuses on humanitarian aid, animal aid, and logistics. Boomer is the beloved pet of one of the founders and the secret boss/mascot. They have many transparency reports and are diligent in reporting the various "tours" they do in getting supplies where they are needed to go. They are based in Germany but have built up many connections during their existence. They have also worked closely with Ukraine Aid Ops.

--

I am sure I have forgotten some, so please reply or comment with any more I should add to this master post. I will edit and update as I see and evaluate more.

Last updated: Aug. 13th, 2024

Version updates listed below

August 13th, 2024 Added:

Hospitallers

Saint Javelin

The Kyiv Independent

Project Konstantin

1 Team 1 Fight

NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade

Post Master General Boomer

[woso-dreamzzz]

Allergies II

Hardersson x Daughter!Reader

Natalia Guijarro (OC) x Hardersson!Reader

Part of The Big Adeventures Universe

Summary: You have another allergic reaction

In all honesty, you didn't really think it was that serious.

Nutrition meetings at Barcelona were a lot more in depth than what you were used to at Arsenal. They took ages and were full of information that would probably be interesting if you actually cared but, alas, nutrition had never been as interesting to you as other subjects so you tended to just zone out.

You were handed a new smoothie with some kind of new protein powder in or something you would have known if you actually listened.

You drank it.

That's when things start to get weird.

The nutritionist continues to drone on and you frown, scratching at your neck.

You stare down at your bottle for a moment as your throat goes all scratchy and intense.

You force yourself to swallow before glancing around.

Your throat gets a bit tighter.

No one else seems to be having such a reaction so you unscrew the top of your bottle to peer inside. You sniff the mixture before standing up.

You can feel people watch as you make your way over to the first aid kit at the front of the room. Your throat has fully closed up now and you know that you're turning alarmingly red and probably breaking out in hives.

Honestly, you feel a little bit shocked how you're even conscious right now but you grab your epipen and stab it into your leg.

"Banana," You say plainly," I can't eat that."

Even with the adrenaline now pumping through your system, you slide your way down the wall to sit on the floor, breathing in deeply.

The room erupts into chaos the moment you sit down.

The medical staff come in to check your blood pressure and your throat and the expiration date of your epipen. The nutritionist leading the session is going absolutely ballistic yelling at one of her assistants for not checking the allergy sheets before making and handing out the smoothies.

Talia looks close to tears as she forces her way towards you, practically shoving some of the medics away. "Are you okay? Is it bad? Do I need to call your mums?"

"No! Don't call my-"

Talia's already gone out into the hall, phone pressed up against her ear.

You wonder which one of your mothers she has in her contacts.

Surely not Morsa because she's still in that stage where she's pretending to hate your girlfriend but you can't remember your Momma and Talia interacting enough to have swapped numbers and you know for certain that you weren't one to hand out people's numbers without explicit permission.

As the medics fuss and the nutritionist yells, the team also gather around to check that you're alright but you just give them a gallant shrug.

"I'm fine," You say," The epipen did its work."

"I think I'd prefer if you take the day off," The head of the medical team says," Just to be safe. You can come back tomorrow."

You know better than to argue with him so you just nod with a little sigh of annoyance.

"I can take her home," Talia says as she re-enters the room," I've got her."

"I can take a taxi home," You insist.

You and Talia drive in together so only one car is used. If you go home in that car now then she'll have to get a taxi in the middle of rush hour.

"I'll take you home," Talia says," Coach can spare me at training today. Someone's got to make sure you actually follow medical advice."

You roll your eyes. "I swear you've been hanging out with my Momma behind my back." You take the hand she offers to help you stand. "You sound just like her."

You end up back home fairly quickly, curled up on the sofa and practically forced to take a nap.

Prins joins you, curled up in the bend of your knee. Reina settles on the top of the sofa behind your head, completely stretched out and at ease with herself while Kung manages to wiggle himself between your arms to nap there.

You don't know how long you nap for but it must be a while because the sun is setting when you wake up and you can smell Talia cooking up your favourite pasta dish in the world.

You sit up.

You've definitely been sleeping for a while because Reina has migrated to her cat tree, poking her head out of the cave to watch Kung bounce around the floor in outrage at not being allowed up there with her.

Prins has taken Kung's place between your arms and his tongue rolls out of his mouth in a semblance of a dopey smile when he notices you awake, his tail beginning to wag happily.

"Hi, little man," You say, gently scratching between his ears," Did you keep me company?"

Prins' tail wags even more fiercely than before.

"Didn't want to leave your side."

You jolt, shrieking and Prins whines a little.

"Morsa! What are you doing here?!"

"Talia called your Momma," Morsa says, tucking the blanket more firmly around your body," Your allergies acted up."

"I dealt with it," You insist," You didn't have to fly out."

"Yes, we did," Morsa replies," Because if we waited for you to tell us, it would take weeks!"

You puff out your cheeks. "I wouldn't want to worry you over something so silly."

"Are you calling your allergies silly again?" Momma says. She enters with two plates worth of food and you sit up.

Prins leaps down to wander over to his own dog bed. Seeing him lying there, Kung wanders over, jumping up onto Prins' back to finish napping there as Reina ducks her head back into her cave.

"No, Momma," You mumble, accepting your food as Morsa takes a seat on the armchair and Momma to the left of you, leaving an empty space for Talia, who also brings out food for herself and Morsa before taking her own seat.

"Are you feeling better, mi vida?" She asks," You look better."

You nod. "I feel fine. My leg aches a little but that's expected."

"We'll put an icepack on it once we've finished eating. Prins was very worried about you."

Prins raises his head at the mention of his name, tail wagging.

"He's good boy."

Morsa grins from across the room. "I knew getting you a dog was a good idea."

Momma scoffs. "You told me that we should have gotten her a fish."

Morsa coughs to clear her throat and mumbles," Don't lie, Pernille."

"You wanted to get me a fish?" You laugh in disbelief," And you say Rocky is the most disappointing pet in the world."

"Are you really saying your pet rock is more exciting than a fish?"

"Am I?" You pretend to think for a moment. "Yes. Yes, I am."

[angelpuns]

How did Leo diee in the L330N au?

I've talked about it a bit before, but here's a rough comic of what happened:

TW IMPLIED DEATH, DISCUSSION OF DEATH, FAMILY DEATH

So basically, Leo went out on a rescue/cargo mission to both save a bunch of people as well as bring back necessary medical supplieas and food.

His ninpo is weaking somewhat at this point, so he can't portal super long distances, so he takes one of Donnie's new ships. They're untested in the field, but Donnie's crunched the numbers and they should pull through.

However, the ship is shot down and Leo evacuates all the cvivilians, before going back for the necessary supplies. He goes down with the ship and it explodes on impact. So there's not really anything left :/

Donnie feels a lot of guilt for many reasons. He thinks he should have gone instead, but knows it had to be Leo so he could properly save the civilian. But he wishes he had been able to tes the ship better. That he had been able to at least keep it rom exploding.

When I was finding screenshots for the ships in the beginning of the ROTTMNT movie I noticed they DON'T explode on impact, so in this au, I like to think Donnie learned from his mistake and made them less likely to explode/catch fire/etc. He also made them controlled by AI/a drone situation so it isn't necessary for someone to be in the ship for it to work. That bit wouldn't have helped a smuch in this situation, but he wanted them to be as safe a spossible so that the worst thing would be an injury rather than death.

I eventually wanna make a more detailed comic of this, possibly as a L330-N chapter :)

L330-N Masterpost

[sarahscribbles]

A drabble where you’re trying to focus on a task but Loki can’t keep his hands off you.

fluffy, smutty, whatever inspires you! 🖤

𝐀 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐋𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐋𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐱 𝐟!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟖𝟖𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞: 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃

𝐋𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

“Loki…I can’t…stop,” you chide, albeit extremely half heartedly. 

A deep roll of laughter is your lovers only answer. His warm breath hitting your neck makes you shiver, which only makes him laugh more because he knows your defences are falling down brick by brick.

As they have been for the past few minutes. 

The drone of Tony’s medical technology conference continues on the laptop sitting in front of you, but you lost track of the discussion fifteen minutes ago when Loki decided to wrap himself around you. You should be focusing on the panel discussion on the newest advances coming out of Iran - you need to be focusing because Tony will quiz you - but the only thing you can focus on is the warm wetness of Loki’s tongue running along the column of your throat. 

“Fuck,” you whimper, balling your hands into fists at the same time your nipples harden. He knows exactly what he’s doing. 

“Mmm, you’re too ravishing, my darling. I can’t,” he teases, peppering your throat with gentle little nips. 

Almost instantly, your hips begin to rock against your chair. It’s your Achilles heel and he knows it. You swallow another groan when his hands slip beneath the hem of your shirt, inching over your stomach to knead your breasts through the lace of your bra. It feels so good, so blindingly good, that Tony quizzing you on the newest breakthrough in genetic engineering suddenly feels so very unimportant. 

“How much longer are you being forced to endure this, dove?” Loki murmurs, sinking his teeth into your earlobe. 

“An hour,” you tell him vaguely, letting your head fall back on the chair as he dips his fingers into your bra to toy with your nipples. “God, you’re such a menace.” 

He laughs quietly, but then unfolds himself from around you. You fight the childish urge to whine, but turn to look at him with betrayal etched across your face. “Hey!” 

Loki gives you that winning smile, the one that still makes your heart leap, and pushes a stray lock of hair back behind your ear. “Relax. I’m not going anywhere,” he assures you, and you breathe out a quiet “oh” when he falls to his knees and moves beneath the table. “Why don’t you let me make this a little more satisfying for you, dove?”

His palms fall on your knees and push your thighs apart, and with a casual flick of his wrist, your leggings and underwear are no longer an issue. 

“Yes! Please, Loki!” you plead. You’re thrumming for him, and the searing burn of arousal is already flowing through your blood. You can never get enough of this man. 

His answering smirk is wicked. “As you wish,” he purrs. 

He licks a long, slow stripe along the length of your aching cunt, savouring the taste of you on his tongue. The groan that tumbles from you is close to animalistic and you barely register how your hands are gripping the sides of your chair like a vice. 

Loki’s tongue is as skilled as it is sinful, and in no time he’s lapping at all the right spots that have waves of pleasure begin to roll blissfully over you. It’s as though someone has taken a match to a string, and when you glance down to see Loki’s head bobbing between your thighs and his fingers curled around your knees, that string only burns more swiftly. 

He’s like a man starved and with each roll of your hips, he only pulls you closer to his mouth, ensuring no part of you is neglected or forgotten. All you know - all you ever know with this man - is bliss. 

Never has someone been so attentive to your pleasure, or wanted to drown you in it as often as they can. He’s everything you ever wished for wrapped up in one beautiful man, and God knows you thank the universe for him every single day. 

Though, today, you’re maybe thanking it a little more for his tongue. 

Each swipe of it sends another wave of pleasure rippling through you, and when he decides to solely lavish your clit, your hand shoots to his hair with a string of colorful curses. 

“That! Keep doing that! Please!” you beg him, knowing that you’re seconds away from soaring off the edge.

Loki hums against you and swirls his tongue firmly over your clit. Once…twice…three times is all it takes for your orgasm to explode through you. It’s blinding and so forceful that the entire Milky Way explodes behind your eyes. You howl Loki’s name, you curse and writhe in your chair as pleasure rips through every inch and fibre of your being. 

Loki’s tongue doesn’t let up for even a second, guiding you skillfully through your climax. 

It’s intoxicating, he’s intoxicating, and when you finally come down from your high all fuzzy brained and glassy eyed, he’s gazing back up at you with a proud little smirk on his face. 

“I never tire of seeing you unravel, my darling,” he says, tracing little circles on the insides of your knees with his thumbs. “Though, I do wonder how many times I can make you do it before the hour is up.” 

You don’t object as he buries his face back between your thighs.

[dandylovesturtles]

this is a brain worm that spawned as soon as I read the second injury prompt, bad future timeline, from the prospective of someone outside the family (civilian, fellow resistance fighter, etc), where one of the brothers/april/or either of the casey’s are injured, “Someone get the medic. Get the medic!” and the medic is leo, unknowingly responding to a gravely injured loved one

shit this is a good prompt anon, thanks

credit to @promptsbytaurie for the injury ask meme!

cw: ROTTMNT bad timeline, mentions of blood and injury

———

He finds her leaned against some rubble, the carcasses of four krang hounds strewn around her. They don’t bleed like earth creatures, but the stringy bits of their mutilated bodies are strewn across the ground, and all he can think is, Good.

There is blood, though: her blood, gushing from a set of lacerations in her side. She’s so still that he thinks, for one awful minute, that she’s dead.

Then she shifts and groans and he stumbles quickly to her side, dropping to his knees and putting pressure on the wound, the way he was taught in ROTC a million years ago.

She sucks in a breath, gritting her teeth, and then her eyes open. They rove the battlefield with a dazed confusion, and he wonders if that’s a concussion or just the blood loss. Or both.

“Commander O’Neil,” he says urgently. “We need to move you.”

Her head turns and her searching eyes find his face. She blinks rapidly and squints at his face.

“Who…?”

He smiles, because it’s a kindness he can give her. Kids in school used to make fun of his buck teeth. Weird how an alien invasion makes some things easier. “Jake West. I joined your squad last week.”

“Oh, right.” She grunts and starts to shift. “New guy. Help me up, will you?”

Jake shakes his head. “I don’t think you can walk with that wound.”

“Well, I’m not letting you carry me out of here like some damsel in distress,” she says stubbornly. She slings an arm over his shoulders, gritting her teeth. Her brow is sweating, but she repeats, “Help me up.”

Jake’s only been part of this resistance colony for two weeks, since the tattered remnants of his last group was found by one of their scouting parties, but he already has a lot of respect for O’Neil. She’s a foot shorter than him, but she embodies toughness in the set of her shoulders and her refusal to back down. She’s more fearsome than most of the old military guys Jake’s ever met.

So he helps her up.

She stumbles when she’s on her feet, and he moves in to keep supporting her. The blood drips down her side, and she hisses when she sees it.

“Can’t believe I let those hounds get a piece of me. Dee’s gonna be insufferable.”

Jake wonders who “Dee” is, but doesn’t ask. They have to get out of here - the onslaught may have calmed for the moment, but the krang always come back.

O’Neil can’t move very quickly - Jake finds himself dragging her more than he helps her walk. He suggests carrying her again and she turns it down, though only with a shake of her head this time. They stumble through the rubble in mostly silence, making for the base’s hidden entrance.

Above their heads, there is a noise like a sonic boom, a streak of orange lighting up the sky as it goes past, latching onto an approaching krang drone ship and pulling it out of the sky.

“There goes Mikey,” says O’Neil, without even looking up.

Right; Master Michelangelo, one of the turtles. Jake had felt a little trepidation, when he had first learned this resistance group was full of - and even run by - inhuman mutants.

Then he’d seen what they could do, and that feeling faded fast.

He hasn’t actually met the turtles, only ever seen them in passing. He’s heard from those have been here longer that they’re actually really friendly, or at least all of them but Master Donatello are. More importantly, they put their lives on the line every day for what remains of the people of earth. Jake hasn’t needed to be here more than a few weeks to see that.

They fight like they have everything to lose. Jake respects that.

Master Michelangelo’s cover makes the trip back to the base easier, even as O’Neil flags more and more against his side. By the end he’s carrying her whether she wants it or not, draped half across his back in a fireman’s hold. She’s too out of it now to object. He hopes that doesn’t mean he’s too late. He’s so tired of losing people, even those he hasn’t known long. He likes Commander O’Neil.

He stumbles through the tunnel and into the bright synthetic lights of the entry checkpoint. Most combatants have already returned by now, but there are still people milling around, checking for any signs of krang infection in those coming back.

“Someone get the medic!” he hollers as he enters. “Get the medic!”

There’s a few echoing shouts, and then a door flings open and out walks Master Leonardo himself. He’s wearing a makeshift surgical apron, covered in blood, gloves, and a mask hanging loose around his neck. Jake’s never seen him this close, and now he’s a little taken aback, the way the turtle towers over everyone, moving so lithely despite the bulk of his shell, a commanding but easy air to his presence that seems to demand respect but also offer reassurance to everyone else in the room.

Every time Jake’s seen him from afar, he’s been grinning, laughing, smiling. He isn’t now.

“Don’t yell unless someone’s dying,” he says, eyes scanning the room until his gaze locks with Jake’s. He sees the body slumped across Jake’s back and grimaces. “I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.”

He crosses the room and directs Jake toward one of the cots. “Alright, put ‘em on the triage bed and let’s see what we’re working with.”

“Lacerations, sir,” says Jake, as he lowers O’Neil to the cot. “She was conscious when I found her, but she’s lost a lot of blood. Maybe a concussion.”

He trails off as he turns back and sees Master Leonardo’s state. His eyes are locked on O’Neil’s face, like he’s only just recognized who it is on the cot. His mouth hangs slightly open, and there’s an open, vulnerable devastation, a naked fear on his face. One Jake recognizes too well.

Even the mutants, with all their powers and all their strength, can be afraid.

Then, just like that, he pulls it together again for a fleeting glimpse Jake saw Leonardo, but now the Master is back, and barking orders.

“Marta!” he calls, turning his head to address a woman standing at the inspection line. “Prep OR now! And get us ready for a blood transfusion- B positive if we have it.”

“On it,” says Marta, and she’s gone just like that. Jake turns his attention back to Leonardo, who has taken O’Neil’s wrist in his, feeling for a pulse.

He’s quiet for several seconds, then he nods to himself and starts asking questions.

“Any idea what did this?”

“It was hounds, sir. I found her with several dead ones.”

“Sounds about right.” Master Leonardo sounds almost amused, though he doesn’t stop his work. “Any sign of infection?”

“No. She was talking and able to walk most of the way.”

Krang infections take over the host so quickly, they would know by now, with a wound like that.

“Hounds can only infect with their bites, and these look like scratches from claws.” Leonardo comes out again, as he reaches for O’Neil’s hand and gives it a squeeze. “Knew you wouldn’t let them get a bite in.”

The way he looks at O’Neil is so tender. They clearly know each other, and not just as fellow resistance commanders. Jake can’t help but wonder how they know each other; how a human and a mutant came to have a bond this close.

He doesn’t have time to ask, of course. Seconds later, O’Neil is being moved to OR, and Leonardo is making to follow them.

“Sir!” Jake calls after him. “Is there anything else I can do to help the commander?”

Master Leonardo barely pauses. “Get yourself checked for infection, and donate blood if you can. Then get some rest. You’ve done enough today.” He glances over his shoulder. “And stop calling me ‘sir’. Makes me feel so old.”

Then he’s gone.

Jake watches the door Leonardo just disappeared through for a second, then moves to do as he was told. He thinks about the way Master Leonardo looked at Commander O’Neil. Like she was part of what he was fighting not to lose.

And he thinks, maybe, that they’re lucky here. That this just might be the resistance that saves the world.

[sky-scribbles]

There are a lot of things to love about the SSV Normandy. It’s a symbol of cooperation between two species historically at odds. It’s a miracle of engineering, a technological masterpiece that could alter every pattern of space warfare. Its crew is the highest calibre that the Alliance has to offer, bolstered by multispecies allies: an emblem of flying hope.

It also has far, far too many flashing lights. Everywhere.

One hand pressed to the wall to keep himself steady, the other pressed against his forehead as if that’s going to do any good, Kaidan shuffles down the hall toward the med bay. Every light panel and display interface feels like a laser drill boring directly through his eyes, sounds reverberate against the inside of his skull, and his sense of balance is a distant, pleasant memory. Kaidan sucks in a tight breath between his teeth. It’s going to be okay. He can do this. He’s done it before.

He drags himself the last few feet, and the med bay doors slide open. Kaidan opens up his omni-tool – god, why are those so bright, too? – and does what he’s done a hundred times, scanning the medical interface so that the med system logs him. Doctor Chakwas isn’t here, which means she’s on her rest shift, but that’s fine. The med system will alert her if there’s a problem.  

Kaidan, turns, so ready to collapse into the nearest med bed – except he can’t. Because there’s someone already in it.

‘Oh,’ he says. ‘Hey, Tali.’

‘Hey, Lieutenant.’ She still seems shy about using his first name. Maybe it’s a habit from being raised on board ships, or maybe she’s just not sure if she’s allowed. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I will be once the pain meds kick in.’ Kaidan makes it to the next bed along and finally, finally lies down and shuts his eyes. ‘Doctor Chakwas is just… pretty strict about me coming here whenever a migraine kicks in. Just in case it’s a sign of something going wrong with my implant.’

Through the fog of everything hurts, it finally surfaces in his brain that Tali in the med bay is… that’s bad, right? ‘What about you? Are you, you know –?’

Okay, he’s not sure how to finish that sentence. There’s probably not a polite way to say hey, are you here because you’ve picked up a fatal illness?

He cracks one eye open, just enough to see her looking glumly at him. He’s not sure how he can tell that she’s glum when all he can see is her eyes, but yeah. She’s glum. ‘You know how I took a hit on Feros?’

‘Yeah.’

‘And how I disinfected it, and used my patch kit on the suit breach, and told Shepard I was fine?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I was not fine.’ She slumps down miserably. ‘My throat is full of painful slime, my sinuses are on fire, and my halesh –’ Okay, that’s obviously some piece of quarian anatomy – ‘is more gummed up than I can describe.’

Kaidan shuts his eyes again. ‘Well, my skull feels like it’s slowly contracting and crushing my brain, so… I sort of feel you.’

She laughs weakly. ‘I should have run an extra med scan once I got back to the Normandy. I just – I wanted to help with the engine maintenance today. And there’s this combat drone design I’m working on. And now…’ There’s a sound of movement; Kaidan gets the impression that she’s gesturing at the med bay in angry helplessness.

‘I feel that too.’ And he does. He really does. This isn’t the worst migraine he’s ever had – he can actually hold a conversation, which some days would be beyond him. But it’s… it’s not great. And he had things to do. Ash was running a drill and wanted him to look over her plans. He had a cleaning shift at fourteen hours. Shepard wanted to talk strategy for Noveria.  And yes, he knows he has a right to take time off for a medical issue. He knows he’s no use to Ash or Shepard or anyone when he can’t even walk in a straight line. But knowing that doesn’t quite get rid of the squirm in his belly, the one that feels like letting people down.

Tali’s quiet for a minute, aside from the ever-present, barely-audible hum of her suit systems, and the occasional sniff from behind her helmet. Then she says, unexpectedly, ‘I’m just… I’m so tired. You know what I mean?’

Kaidan’s head throbs. He swallows. ‘Oh, yeah.’

The constant vigilance. Always having to be careful about where he goes – is this room too bright? Is this one too loud? – in case something triggers another bad spell. Taking hits to the head in a fight that anyone else could just shrug off, but that for him mean another trip to the med bay to make sure his implant isn’t damaged. Trying to do his job and suddenly finding, no, he can’t, because his body has decided that today’s the day he just doesn’t get to function.

Tali… she must go through the same awful deal, just in a different flavour. Always being careful, so careful. Someone else’s minor injury being her okay, let’s get a med check to make sure I won’t die. It’s not the same, of course: Kaidan can eat food without filtering it, touch people without protective layers, see people’s faces without a tinted mask. Still… there’s a tone in her voice that he knows from his own.

There’s a heavy silence. Then Tali says, ‘You know what’s really stupid? I left my datapad in my cabin, so I can’t even watch vids.’

Kaidan smiles. He’s seen her down in Engineering, a few times, hands flying around over the machinery, rocking back and forth on her heels. Idleness obviously doesn’t suit her. ‘You can borrow mine, if you like.’

‘Really?’ Her voice is already brighter. ‘I mean – won’t the noise will make you feel worse?’

‘Nah, I’ll be good.’ He’s not just saying it; there’s a blissful numbness creeping through his head which means that his meds are finally getting to work. He fishes the datapad from his pocket, taps in his passcode, and hands it over. ‘What kind of vids do you like?’

Her whole being perks up – tone, body, everything. ‘Oh, all of them.Any genre, any species. I mean… asari vids can be a bit long. I mean, they’re made by people who can spend a decade making a vid and a whole day watching it. Turians… their vids can be a bit depressing. There’s a lot of ‘this war ended with almost everyone dead, but one turian is still standing, so it’s a victory!”

‘What about quarians? What kinds of stories do your people tell?’

A small laugh echoes inside the helmet. ‘Quarian vids are pretty limited by environment. We don’t have a lot of varied sets to work with. So we tell the best long-running dramas. There’s one ship in the Flotilla that’s been hosting the same series for over eighty standard years now. Following the crew as they change over time, that sort of thing.’ She taps the base of her helmet. ‘It’s pretty good, but… I think if you watched it, you’d think there were a lot more explosions, murders and shipwide romantic entanglements in the Flotilla than there actually are.’

‘Human dramas are like that too.’

Tali laughs. ‘Quarian dramas make human dramas look relaxed.’

Kaidan finds he’s actually able to grin. ‘So what do human vids tell you about us?’

Her helmet tilts as she considers. ‘That you’re very individualistic. I mean, not every human culture. But you put a lot of focus onto characters and personal journeys.’ She scrolls down the datapad screen – looking through vid lists, presumably – then stops. It’s hard to tell, but Kaidan thinks she might be frowning. ‘I did notice… in a lot of human media, the biotics are…’

Another insistent pulse of pain through his temples. Kaidan sighs. ‘Crazy extremists?’

‘Yes. Do you… do you mind if I ask why that is?’

‘No, it’s fine.’ Kaidan turns onto his back and stares up at the dim ceiling. ‘A lot of the early generation of biotics, the ones who got the same implants as me… let’s just say I got off lightly. Most ended up with much more serious medical conditions. And when people found out about the side effects of the L2 implants, the media got the bit between its teeth and –’ Yeah, no, that wasn’t going to translate. ‘Sorry. Human saying. They got a certain impression, and they ran with it.’

Tali’s quiet for several seconds. Kaidan twists his head to face her, and sees the pale eyes behind the mask giving him a long, steady look.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says. And then, after a moment, ‘They tell lies about us, too.’

Kaidan holds her gaze, and feels terribly, achingly sad. ‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘I bet they do.’

 The way people look at Tali as she walks through the Presidium… it’s familiar. Not quite the same. There’s a note of scorn in the looks they give to Tali – but there’s suspicion, too, and that’s something he knows. All the times back on Earth, after he got back from Jump Zero, when he shook someone’s hand or opened a door, and their eyes found the implants. They way they stared at him like he was a loaded gun. All the documents he had to fill out to do anything, the knowledge that any government he lived under would always be hovering a few steps away, keeping tabs, making sure.

Remembering Rahna – remembering that obvious, instinctive fear in her eyes – is an old memory now, the kind that’s a faded scar. But he remembers the shock of it, back when he was seventeen. When no one had looked at him like that before, and it was dizzying and new and felt like a hole in his gut.

He bets Tali has that hole in her gut all the time.

Kaidan pushes himself up a little – which makes his brain spin, but he manages it – and gives Tali a smile. ‘Well. Let’s look for something that gets us both right.’

‘Definitely.’ She flicks through the options for a minute more, then pauses. ‘Have you ever seen Fleet and Flotilla?’

‘I think I’ve heard of it.’ There’s a faint memory of seeing an ad for it, maybe, and thinking it was the kind of thing he’d have loved as a kid. Space exploration. Justice. Love. ‘The… war romance, right?’

‘Yes!’ Tali’s legs bounce. ‘It’s – keelah, it’s so good, it’s – it’s about this girl, Shalei, who’s on her pilgrimage. And she’s interested in the geth, because she’s got this dream of finding a way to defeat them and take back the Homeworld, right? And when she finds something, she goes to the Citadel for help, but no one will listen except this one turian called Bellicus –’

‘Hold up. Wasn’t that… exactly what you were doing when we met you? Minus the turian, I mean.’

Tali ducks her head, suddenly shy. ‘I… I really, really like the vid.’

No kidding. Kaidan smiles. ‘So let’s watch it.’

His head still feels like a bombsite, and when he thinks about all the things he wants to be doing for his crew and isn’t, the rest of him hurts too. But maybe he’s still doing something for his crew, sitting in the med bay with his sick squadmate – his sick friend – and sharing her favourite vid with her. Maybe he’s doing something for him, too. He doesn’t do that too often.

Tali props the datapad up on the table between their beds, her whole body one big smile. ‘You’re going to love this,’ she promises, and presses play.

[bowsellie]

we have chemistry

warnings: college!ellie x college!reader, stoner!ellie, chronically ill reader (not specific, just mentions of fatigue and a medical accommodation for a single room for plot reasons lol), weed usage (Ellie and reader), mild language, briefly proofread, no use of y/n minors dni! smut in 3rd section! top!ellie, some degradation, praise (reader called a good girl, pretty girl, etc., ellie told she's doing a good job), SO MUCH CONSENT WE <3 CONSENT, fingering (r! receiving), oral (r! receiving), aftercare.

💗💗💗

You didn't want to be taking organic chemistry. Nobody in that class did--not even the chemistry majors. But as finals season rolled around, you found yourself spending extra time to make sure that it would at least be worth your while. Needless to say, not everybody shared the same drive.

As the clock hit 8:49am on the last class before the exam, everybody started shoving their laptops away despite the professor's continuing drone. To your right there was an extra loud snap! as the student beside you--an auburn-haired girl you'd never seen before--shut the screen with finality. You shot her a glare, gently closing your notebook as people began to trickle out.

"You're smart, right?"

You angled your face towards the sound, assuming somebody was having a side conversation close by. Instead, you found yourself face to face with striking green eyes leaning to reach your line of sight.

"Hi. Yeah, you. You're using an actual notebook and have all the fancy pens and shit, so...are you smart?"

Your eyebrows drew together slightly as you shrugged with one shoulder. "I try, I guess. Um...why?"

One corner of the girl's mouth picked up. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I've literally never been to this class before. My grade sucks. But I really don't want to retake this shit. Do you think you could help me?"

You stared at her incredulously, mentally calculating the equation of audacity and arrogance it must take to expect a complete stranger to help despite a clear lack of effort.

You opened your mouth slightly to say some variation of hell fucking no, who do you think you are anyways?, maybe you should have considered that before skipping literally every other class meeting when she stuck out her hand. "I'm Ellie, by the way. I'll pay you for helping me." When you hesitated to shake it, she added a "please".

You rolled your eyes, shaking the girl--Ellie's--hand with slightly too much force. "Fine. Whatever. Give me your number." You slid your phone across the table, already open to the contacts app, and watched as she typed.

"You're a lifesaver! Thank you..." she asked, pausing for your name. You gave it. "Thank you."

💗💗💗

Getting back to your dorm and settling into bed for a nap, you briefly texted the number now in your phone as "Ellie" with the last name "Wehavechemistry".

hey

Almost immediately, three dots popped up.

hey there. do you like my contact? lmao

i mean, we do have chemistry together. so like...sure?

no no no. i meant like...we have chemistry. wink wink nudge nudge. and my last name starts with a w so it's funny. do you get it?

...

it's funny.

yeah yeah sure. very funny. hahaha. anyways.

when did you want to come over? i'm free all weekend, and the final's monday. sooooo

oh shit

didn't realize the final was monday

ummmmmmmm how does tomorrow at 8pm work? do you have a roommate or something we need to accommodate for?

no, no roommate. tomorrow at 8pm works fine for me. see you then, ellie.

:)

Turns out, texting with Ellie wasn't all that insufferable. She was friendlier than you expected, and every time you put your phone down to try and fall asleep you found your heart beating too fast at every notification to actually put it down.

Instead, you kept the conversation going until 8pm the next day rolled around, when instead of a text you got three loud raps at the door.

Opening it up, you saw Ellie in the same hoodie as yesterday. This time, her hair was slightly damp and she smelled like...old spice and something pungent and earthy. Did she shower already?

"Hey," you said, suddenly feeling awkward and over dressed in your jean shorts and crop top, hair still done from that afternoon. "You can come in."

Ellie grinned at you as she slid in the door. "We have a semester of schoolwork to cover. Hope you're prepared for a long night," she said.

"Trust me, I am. Did you bring anything?" You asked, looking for a bag as she climbed on to your bed.

"Nope. Not school stuff, anyways." Curious, you tossed your notebook towards her and watched as she pulled a pre-rolled joint and lighter from her hoodie pocket. "I'm assuming you don't smoke since you're like, a nerd, but do you mind if I do?"

You shook your head, dropping your jaw in false offense. "How lame do you think I am? Just because I actually go to class doesn't mean I'm a nerd."

Ellie shot you a disbelieving look, but handed you the joint anyways as you joined her on the bed. "Here, have the first hit. As a thank you for helping me out."

She lit it for you as you inhaled, passing her the weed and opening your notebook. "If this keeps you from retaining information that's not my fault. Just saying."

"Trust me, I'm so alert right now it's crazy. All of tonight is gonna be stuck in my memory for a while."

💗💗💗

The room gradually grew darker, lit only by your adjusting lamp and the last smoldering ashes of the joint as you reached halfway through the notebook.

You breathed heavily through your nose, looking at Ellie seriously. "It's so late. We're not going to finish this tonight."

As she looked up at you, you suddenly noticed how much closer you two had moved over the course of the night. Had your thighs been touching the whole time? Has her breath always been so close it's hitting your cheek? Why did she have to smell so good?

Your own breath caught in your throat as she leaned even closer to you, placing a hand so close to your leg you could feel the fabric of her sweatshirt against her bare thigh. Almost imperceptibly, her gaze flickered down to your chest, now rapidly rising and falling.

"How set do you think I am for this stupid final?" Ellie asked seriously, a rasp in her voice either from smoke or the lowered pitch.

"You picked up on everything really well, so at least the first half I think you'll do fine."

She grabbed your left hand in both of hers, causing your breath to catch again. Her eyes flickered down again, this time lingering longer. Following her gaze, you noticed the top of your bra peeking out.

"Sorry," you said, quickly adjusting your shirt to cover it as heat spread through your body.

"No, no, you're fine. Sorry for looking," she said. You looked at her face, watching as her eyes seemed to trace the shape of your shoulders and the line of your throat.

The air thickened with tension, but you found yourself not wanting Ellie to leave yet. "So, why did you take this class anyways? If you didn't want to go?"

Finally, she met your eyes. "I need a chemistry for my major. Astronomy. I thought I would like this one, but didn't realize it was a fucking 8am when I signed up. By the time I realized I wasn't going to make it up that early it was too late to drop." She shrugged. "What about you? Big chemistry fan?"

You snorted. "Not really, but I also needed a chemistry for my major. I like the 8ams, it lets me have afternoons free to sleep. That's why I don't have a roommate--medical accommodations for fatigue or whatever." She nodded along, genuinely listening.

"Well, hopefully I don't have to retake this class. Next time there probably won't be a pretty girl willing to help me out."

You smiled at her, breathing sharply out of your nose in a laugh. "We'll see what we can do."

A beat of silence washed over you before Ellie pointed towards the pride flag on your wall with her chin. "So...are you..." She began, causing you to laugh full out this time.

"Yeah. Obviously, I'd hope, but if you're feminine people tend to assume otherwise I guess." You smiled and looked at her. "Are you?"

Ellie placed a hand on her chest. "I'm hurt you had to ask. I've been trying to flirt with you since I got your number, babe."

Oh.

"Oh."

She leaned back a little. "I can cut it out, if you want. I couldn't tell if you were into it or not."

Without giving her time to continue doubting, you sprung forward and attached your lips to hers. Threading your fingers in her hair and breathing in as you pulled back.

"So...you are into it?"

"I'm a little dense, Ellie. Don't let the color-coded notes fool you. But yes. Now that I know...I'm into it."

She smiled at you with one side of her mouth again, this time leaning forward to kiss you first. Lips opening slightly, you felt her body around yours as her hands found the bed and pushed you on to your back.

Ellie pushed her tongue gently into your mouth, settling between your legs as they fell open. As you felt her weight between your hips, you groaned a little.

Whining a little as she pulled away, your eyes fluttered shut as Ellie threaded her fingers through the hair by your ear. "Is this supposed to be my payment?" you asked, leaning into her touch.

"Shut up," she said playfully, leaning in to kiss you again. This time it was more forceful, teeth bumping against teeth as your tongues chased each other. Too focused on the overwhelming sensation of Ellie's mouth on your own, you broke the kiss to moan in surprise when you felt her knee push against your core.

Using the opportunity to trail her mouth down your cheek, to your jaw, to your neck, Ellie asked "is this okay, baby?" between kisses. You nodded before remembering she couldn't see you, instead responding with a slightly choked "yes."

In response, her lips attached right behind your ear as her teeth sunk into you and she began to suck. You groaned, bucking your hips against her knee. Kindly, she began to push it back into you, laughing into your neck as you continued whimpering.

"What?" you asked. "Why are you laughing?"

Ellie pulled away from the spot she had been working into your collarbone, meeting your eyes. "You're just so pretty. Can't believe I have you falling apart for me and I've barely touched you."

Your mouth fell open at her words, groaning. Ellie's mouth found yours again, her hands reaching for your tits over your shirt. "Can't blame me for looking at these," she said between kisses, "You look so good in this shirt."

"Take it off, then," you said. You sounded braver than you felt, your stomach doing absolute flips as the girl over you quickly complied to reveal your lacy nude bra.

"I like this," she said softly. "I want it off, though. Is that okay, pretty?" You nodded. The bra was nothing special--just comfy and the right color. If Ellie liked it, though, it was now one of your favorites.

Her mouth moved down your chin and neck to attach to your left nipple, bringing a hand to your opposite hip as she sucked and licked lightly. Your hips continued to buck against her knee, which was now stationary as you essentially rode her thigh.

Chuckling a little, Ellie looked up at you and began unbuttoning your shorts. "Knew you'd be needy. What kind of thoughts are you hiding from me?" she asked, pulling off your bottoms and panties in one go when you lifted your hips to help.

You smiled a little watching her eyes attach themselves to the spot between your legs. "What can I say?" you said. "Maybe I'm a little slutty if the right girl has me under her."

This seemed to light something in Ellie, who watched your face as she brought your face down to your pussy. Close enough to feel her breath, her eyes gleamed as she moved away from your hips chasing her.

"Please," you asked, voice breaking. "Please, Ellie."

"Guess you are a slut, huh? Begging for me already." Whatever response you had was cut off by a screaming moan as her mouth attached itself to you, immediately lapping at your clit before interspersing it with longer licks. Your legs shut around her face as your hands grabbed into her hair, pulling a little as you noticed the groan she made at the pressure.

"That feels so good, Ellie." Her motions sped up at this, and you hurriedly repeated the phrase as she focused more attention on your clit. Feeling everything tighten, you wrapped your ankles around her back as your hips lifted almost completely off the bed. Still attached to you, Ellie fully moaned as you pulled her hair and came over her face.

Whimpering softly as she pulled away, you audibly groaned when she looked up at you and wiped her chin with the back of her hand. "You did so good, baby. Do you have another one in you?"

You quickly nodded, feeling words escape you. All you wanted was for her to say you did good again.

Ellie leaned into you, placing her head into the crook of your neck as her fingers ghosted lightly over your hips, stomach, and thighs. Finally, you felt them dip into the pool of wet that had collected in your cunt. Spreading the mix of saliva, cum, and arousal up to your clit and around your hole, she slowly pushed a slender finger into you. Your back arched off the bed when she began pumping it in and out, chuckling against your neck.

"Such a pretty girl. You're doing so good," she whispered. Your moans grew louder at her words and she pushed another finger in. "Good girl," she breathed, kissing your neck and jaw as she worked into you.

"Ellie," you gasped. "Ellie, please."

"What, baby?"

"Please, Ellie, please. Wanna cum."

You felt her lips quirk up against your collarbone as she added a thumb to your clit and a curl to her fingers. Quicker than you'd ever been able to get there yourself, you felt the tightening of your gut. She swallowed your moans with a sloppy kiss, gently catching your bottom lip between her teeth before soothing it with her tongue. She used her other hand to hold on to your hair at the scalp as you writhed, second orgasm shuddering through your body.

"Good girl," she said as she worked you through it. Sitting up, she wiped her fingers on your thighs before moving up up to let you rest your head on her chest. "You did so good, baby. My smart, pretty, good girl."

You whimpered a little, not prepared to speak just yet. Ellie seemed to understand and didn't push you, holding you and playing with your hair until you leaned back to smile at her.

"That was good. Thank you," you told her, leaning in for a kiss that tasted of your sweat and pussy.

Ellie broke away, moving the hand wrapped around your waist to grab something out of your back pocket. She placed it on your bare chest, tucking it between your tits.

"What do I look like, a prostitute?" you asked. "Much love to them, but..."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "I mean, you fuck like a professional, but this is for helping me study."

You grabbed the bill and pushed it back into her pocket. "Save it for next time. We need to finish that notebook if you want to actually pass this class."

Ellie kissed the top of your head. "How does tomorrow work?"

A/N this is basically a self insert...my bad. tried to make it as inclusive to different readers as possible. let me know if there's anything I can improve on!! <3

[vanya-evergreen]

How to Remember (Chapter 3)

Relationship: Batfam x reader (platonic)

Summary: At the age of 11, you woke up in an other world without any guidance and all the money you once lacked. You were left with only your memeories and your other memories.

You tired to remember, their life, but it seemed like they didn't want you too. So when trying to navigate the intricate sides of an elite school, but you always got in trouble when it came to faces and names.

Cw: Slight disassociation

No use of Y/n

Wc: 5.8k

Masterlist

<Prev Next>

VROOOOOM

The drive back to the manor was silent. The night is slowly moving on as they cruise along the tunnel leading back to the manor. This isn’t unusual for Bruce and Damian. They would always get in some type of fight with each other causing them to ignore each other, but this time is different. Bruce seems off. Damian knows that his father would never let his emotions show  easily. So picking up on something being off with him, even if only Damian could see a glimpse of it, is a rare moment.

Damian observes his father. Bruce didn’t move to speech, only blankly staring down the tunnel. Damian knows only one thing would make him so stuck, you. He isn’t sure why but it has to be you. From the photo on the wall to the way Bruce seemed far more concerned with your well being after tonight then he would for any normal civilian. You mean something to Bruce, and Damian hates that he doesn’t know why. Sure, you are very interesting to watch, and seem to have a decent head on your shoulders, for most things.

 But why you? 

What makes you the one to make Bruce Wayne, The Batman, lose his indifferent attitude? He always cares for the people they are saving but never in the way Bruce seems to be so concerned with you. When they pull into the Batcave, Bruce wastes no time getting out of the car and on to the Computer. Alfred stands idly by with medical equipment, and tea in hand.

 “Good evening to you too master Bruce.” Alfred says with an abundance of sarcasm, his eyes follow Bruce across the room. “What has you in such a hurry tonight?” Alfred was pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Damian as he approached him. Bruce doesn’t respond, he is pulling up all known social media sites looking for the same thing ‘Gotham drone fight’. The screen is flooded with videos of you early that night, of you. Alfred drops trays when he sees you, He stares at your face on the computer, the way you smile. “Is that…”

“___, Yes.” Bruce grabs his chins and leans bad in his chair. Alfred quickly starts to clean up the dropped tray and its content, he places them to the side as he walks closer to the computer. “They are different.”

“They are difficult.” Damian states matter-of-factly. He sets the empty tea cup aside as he walks over to the computer. He watches the video of you punching the man, you claimed you knew how to fight from martial arts but this seemed more like something someone would learn to survive, it was too inconsistent of material arts. Your kick is from material arts, it was clean and precise. “Father, how do you know them?”

“It doesn’t matter Damian” Bruce stares at the video for a while longer before he moves it to the side and brings up records for you. They all seem to be outdated as they only have a photo of you when you were younger. God, you looked depressed as a child. He starts clicking on other files bringing them, comparing and contrasting them to the video of today.

“I think it does matter when you can’t even think when they are in danger” Damian points out. He always knew how to get under his father's skin. Bruce stops, and slowly turns his chair towards Damian. “Don't think I didn’t see how you froze up when they had a knife against their throat.” 

“That was nothing," Bruce dismisses Damian's accusation as he turns back around to the computer, clicking on different files. For a few moments there is only the sound of typing and clicking in the room. Damian was trying to get a read on his father, what was he thinking at this very moment? He looks at the computer, most of this stuff was things he had found in his earlier research. Bruce reads the files so intently that it was almost like he was reading about someone from their family. Damian continues to watch his father, until a family portrait, or a photo of one.

It is a photo of a damaged portrait from both a fire and some type of tear, it looked like it was from a police investigation. Damian stares at it, there is a family of 3 in that portrait, only a mother and child are recognizably human, the father didn’t have and upper half. The mothers face is unrecognizable due to the damage, but the child has a bit more of a face then the mother. He moves closer to the computer. Bruce is too distracted by the other file and photos to notice Damian looking over his shoulder. Alfred, on the other hand, is watching Damian closely, he tensed up as Damian's eyes grew sharper.

 Damian looks closely and the child’s face, only half of their face is barely intact. The child’s looks as if they are staring into his soul, reading all of his secrets, they have a detached look in their eyes. Damian almost missed the familiarity because of the unsettling eyes. Damian feels Alfred's eye on him, but he has had enough of them avoiding his questions “Who is the-” Damian starts, but before he could get another word out Alfred pushes him toward the exit of the cave. “Alfred, what's going on?” He tries to dig his feet into the floor with little success.

“It is almost 8:00 am, Master Damian.” Alfred is rather abrupt, he is in a rush. “While master Bruce should also go to bed, he is an adult and I can't make that decision for him but I can for you.” Alfred ushered Damian to the exit even quicker. 

“Father, are you going to let him do this?” Damian holds back Alfred for a moment to see if he can get a reaction out of him.

“Alfred is right Damian, you should go to bed, we have a big day ahead of us.” Bruce nods as he continues to read over things. Alfred pushes Damian into the elevator and pushes the button to go up. 

“Master Damian, please don’t ask Master Bruce about this, at least not today.” Alfred states in a hushed tone, he gives Damian an earnest expression. Alfred hopes Damian could understand, maybe one day. Damian folds his arms as the doors close, leaving Alfred and Bruce in the Batcave to continue their work. 

Damian is furious. What make you so important to them? Damian is greeted by Titus waiting for him outside of the entrance. Damian pets his head quickly as he exits the elevator. He knows something is up now, and what his father and Alfred are hiding has something to do with you. He wants to know, no. He needs to know. He will know. Instead of walking to his room to sleep, he walks into the kitchen to feed his pets before he goes to sleep. When he walks into the kitchen, he meets 2 other people in there. One of them is grabbing food from the fridge as his laptop is resting on the countertop with his phone being right next to with articles pulled up on, and the other one is eating cereal while scrolling through his phone. 

“Good morning, Damian” Duke takes another bite of his cereal as his clicks on another video of last nights fight. “How was patrol last night?” Duke looks over his phone at Damian, smirking. Damian clenched his fist and grits his teeth. Duke, laughs at him . Damian takes a deep breathe and closes eyes, he doesn’t have the energy to deal with this. He walks over to a cabinet, opens it and takes out food for Titus, as well as his other pets.

“It was fine, Thomas, just busy.” Wow did he sound like his father with the vague answers. He picks up Titus’s bowl and pours some kibble in it. 

“Oh really, Nothing 

He stops and looks at Tim still standing in front of the fridge with the door wide open. “Drake, What are you doing?” He puts the bowl of food in front of Titus and walks over to Tim, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Tim jumps at the sudden contact, he quickly turns his head and holds his breathe. “Oh,” He lets out a sigh of relief and annoyance, because it was only Damian, and it was Damian. “I am grabbing food.” He pulls out an apple and a slice of cheese. Damian raises an eyebrow, Tim looks tired. Well he almost always is but he looks like he is trying to break the world record for the amount of time a human goes without sleep. Tim looks at his hands and puts back the slice of cheese and takes out the milk instead.  

“Drake, you should really think about something more nutritional than cereal.” Damian snaps at Tim as he walks out of the kitchen. Duke stop mid bite and looks down at his food. Duke turns to say something but Damian is already half down the hall.

Damian is getting really tired of this cat mouse game when it comes to information about you. He is going to find out the truth, even if that means going to you.

“Okay,” Percy clasps they hands together and exhales “ So you fought the man that held a knife to your throat, in front of Batman and Robin, and it went viral?” Percy says through their gritted teeth. You were looking through one of the multiple clothing rank of formal clothing that take up most of your foyer, which was already pretty large in itself. You sway back an forth, trying to avoid answering the question.

“Uh, I guess you could say that…” You slowly turn you back to them trying to act like you are looking at other clothes, 

“Of course.” Precy shout exacerbated, throwing their arms up into the air. 

“I can never understand how you change up so fast ___” Val laughs softly as he pats Percy’s shoulder, “I have never seen someone go from cry on my shoulder to being almost completely normal in less than 24 hours.”

“Maybe it’s because I have my therapy appointment on monday” You suggest “and we all that when I go longer then 3 week without talking to her I go completely off the rail, ” you gesture toward the rows and rows of clothes. 

“Then why are you going at all!” Percy screams gripping their hair and pulls on it. You giggle and and shrug you shoulders. “No thats bullshit. Tell me the real reason now.” 

“Fine-” you roll your eye, “I meet damian wayne yesterday at school, by running into him, we talked, and I want to mess with him” you look away from them. Their mouth drops wide open in utter horror. Val looks away the other, because his not sure if he might witness a crime tonight. You knew Percy wouldn't be happy with you but hey it fun, sort of. 

“You are utterly insane” they laugh, “Listen i know you aren't from this world, but everyone know that the wayne’s are the equivalent to royalty in Gotham” You look at them blankly. “Of course you didn’t know.” You nod your head. “Okay, we will come back to this.” They crack their knuckle nervously as their eyes dart around the room before landing on you. “Go put those on!” They wave their hand at you as you run off to the bathroom giggling. They fall down into a squat after you leave the room. 

“Percy, I will never know how you got everything together so fast.” Val sighs, he watches them as the are hunched over kneeling. “You do a lot for us.” 

“Tt- you don’t have to say that again.” they take a few deep breathes “But i would do anything for them” Val hums, agreeing with Percy. They were alway hopelessly devoted to you. They sit in silence for a while before finally Val break that tension.

“Do you really think we should let ___ go to their gala?” Val held a bit animosity in his voice when speaking of ‘them’.  Percy hold tightens their grip on their arms.

“They have no memories of them so it is a dangerous bet,” You were walking back as they are talking, you stop at the mention of you. You hide behind a wall to continue to listen “ but we might be able to play off because of how things ended with the original ___ but I have my doubts.” Percy furrows their eyebrows. Your heart tightens. You remain quite as you peak around the corner.  They walk over to a rack over on the far end of the rack and pick out two suit that didn’t look like they were meant for you.

“What are the suits for?” Val question walking over to them.

“Us,” Percy hands a suit Val “You didn’t think I was going to let them go on their own did you?” Val’s mouth drops, but then he smiles and takes the suit from them.

“You are just as attractive as the day I meet you” He teases. They roll their eye and smile. You take this chance to walk out, you were quick to put on a cheerful smile as you quickly walk out from behind the wall. They turn to look at you.

“Maybe you should save the flirting for later, lover boy.” Percy pats Val’s cheek and walk towards you. They looks over your outfit just making sure everything is in place. “Perfect, now don't forget your shoes, and to brush your teeth”

“Wow, can't you just compliment me?” You sigh, “you will never stop nagging you.” you laugh softly. Percy’s eyes soften as you laugh, they place a hand on you cheek and smile. It’s rare a genuine smile from them and not some strand laugh or tight smile when someone annoys them. It’s a real smile, not big or bright but a smile all the same.

“You look amazing.” they whisper to you,  they pat you cheek and  retract their hand  “now go up stair and brush your teeth. Your breath stinks” 

“Of course you would do that.” You shake your head “You two should get dressed, I wanna eat something before we go to the gala” 

“Of course” Val and Percy say in unison

Val and Percy go towards to separate bathrooms to change before you walk up to your room. You still feel the fresh air from you broken window, ‘replace within the next day my ass’. You walk in to your bathroom, everything was out of place thanks to Robin from the night before. You mentally note to take care of this later. You start brushing your teeth and let your mind wonder. It was about half past six in the evening now and you had only woken up maybe four hours ago, but really you got up with Percy arrived. You had never slept for over 12 hours, or not since you first came here. 

You think back to the conversation that you over heard between Percy and Val, you knew the Waynes at some point and it ended badly. So does that mean they might recognize you and if so, how would they react? You had no solid idea of how you are going to get the answers you want out of this party, but maybe you could at least figure were you stand with the prince of gotham himself, Bruce Wayne. That’s if you could close to him, maybe you shouldn’t shoot for the biggest target. You would go for Damian but he probably knows as much as you do, and you don’t really want to be interrogated again. So maybe you could try one of the older kids, if they show. You have read that it’s kind of a gamble of which Wayne siblings will show up, official and unofficial.

But, you have also read so of th gossip columns that say the entire Waynes family will be there for this one. You weren’t sure why.

You spit out the toothpaste and wipe you mouth on a hand towel discarded on the floor, while turing on the sink to wash it down the drain You look in the mirror fixing you outfit and hair. You alway wonder what it would’ve been like to see you mom here with you. 

What would she have said, done, and how she would’ve she looked at you. She probably would’ve come with you to the gala, she would be protective and scare of all the weird people that come near you two. Val and Percy would actually be able to enjoy the party. You always would want the impossible to be possible. This is only a far off dream of your, having to people you hold dear now and the person you have always held dear in the same world could never happen.

You let out a breathe you didn’t know you were holding. You exits your bathroom returning downstairs. Percy and Val still seem to be changing to so you take this as your que to grab a snack from the pantry, and scroll through social media. You, as you predicted, went viral, some love you, some hate you, and some are able to just admit they are jealous. It didn’t really matter what they thought, you are just having fun with it. You come across serval post about the Wayne gala to night, mostly from gothamites. They are mostly posting about the drama and fashion that comes from events like this, but a few did raise a good point about how even if it is of charity, there was no need for it to be so fancy and exclusive. You kind of agreed with them.

You turn off you phone, and place it down as you are finishing up the snack. You look over at the pile of mail on the table, still unsorted. The invitation is still where you left it, you didn’t really read it all, you leave your phone and snack on the counter and walk over to table and pick up the invitation

“___, Where are you?” Percy calls, from another room. “We need to get going soon.” Percy is  getting closer to you as they continue to talk.

“I am in the kitchen Percy, needed a snack,” You quickly slip the invite into a safe place, while you walk back over your snack. You finish eating and throw away the wrapper right as Percy enter the kitchen. They are a very elegant person, you honestly were in awe when first meeting them. You rarely seem them dress so formally, but it was nice. They were adjusting their earring when they walked in, you smile softly at them. “Wow, you look amazing.”

“Thank you,” They run their hand over their suit to flatten our wrinkles “now if Val could just hurry up.” They raise their voice so that Val could hear them, but val round the corner right as they finish.

“Calm down you cant rush perfect, now.” Val smirk at Percy, they roll their eyes and walk away from you and him. Val’s face falls and you laugh “What did i do wrong?” He turns to you with a defeated look. 

“You have an ego” you yell back as you walk past him following Percy towards the front door. He stands the for a moment before following after you as you are leaving the apartment. The three of you enter the elevator, Percy presses the button for the ground floor

“So how are we getting there?” Val asks “It doesn’t feel right taking the normal car.” he nervously adjust the sleeve of his suit, cars always made him nervous.

“You’re right about that,”Percy replies, as the grab his sleeve and re-adjusts it for him.  “___ was really excited to drive their Lambo” a cold sweat rolls down Val’s face after hearing that you would be driving. 

“Haha, don’t worry I wont drive fast” the elevator doors open you leave Val in utter shock while a stressed Percy drags him as they follow behind you into the lobby.

“We are joking.” Percy smirks as a reluctant Val is struggling to form words. “We are taking one of the Mercedes and I am driving.”

“Was it really necessary for you to do that?” Val pats his chest. 

“Sorry not sorry.” You stick out your tongue. “You probably would've been the same way if you heard I was driving on my own” You smile as he quickly try to regain his composure from your idiocy. Percy chuckles as they walks up to the  valet, leaving you and Val alone. Val takes a moment long to calm his hear, then he looks at you, concerned.

“Are you sure you want to go?” He looks at you in your eyes. For a moment you really consider if this is what you really want. You don’t really know why you are going in first place, you could easily have a simple weekend and do nothing but basking in your new social media fame while eating Batburger for the 3rd time this week. 

“Yes,” You stop, “mostly” Val’s stare really wears you down quickly “Not really but I feel like I am too far in.” 

“But are you really going to just annoy Damian? It seems like your doing to much for a guy you just meet.” he place a hand on your shoulder and give you a reassuring squeeze. 

You mentally want to hit yourself for lying to Val, but you (sort of) have a plan.

“I hate when you’re right.” You look at Percy who already seems to be losing hair, you feel bad but you feel like this is needed. “But i am already kinda committed to it you know?” Val’s face falls a bit. 

“Fine, but we can leave whenever you want.” Val let’s go of your shoulder as Percy returns with the keys. 

“Of course” You dig your finger nails in to your hand. Sometimes wish you be more honest with them, but you don’t want to get too close. 

“Well come on,” Percy interjects, “We have a car waiting for us.” Percy starts lightly pushing you and Val towards the door. “And the sooner we can be back here the better.”

“Okay okay” Val laughs he climb into the passenger seat, while Percy forces you are in back. Percy runs around the car, and hope in the driver’s seat and starts the car.

“Why are you in such a rush? It’s only like a five min drive.” You groan as you were basically thrown into the back seat.

“ it started a hour ago and, that means there going to be more people on the red carpet harder to avoid… people.” Percy fastens their seat belt and starts the car “Pull on you seat belts, please.” You are Val both put on your seat belts as they pull out on to the street. You can see Percy’s gaze had sharpened because of said people.

“Well, are you guys going to try to have a bit of fun?” You watch Percy carefully, “Like maybe, talk to some other people, or drink a little while I wonder around?”  they only seem to tense more when you suggest that.

“No, the alcohol they have their is too light me, and Percy hasn’t been much of a drinker” Val looks back at you “So we are probably just going hangout on the side, and keep an eye on you.” Val smiles. 

“I-” Percy clears their throat “I don’t think we should stand to the side, It can be very dangerous for them.” their eyes are now looking back at you. They have alway been a little weird about these type of events with you since you have no idea of how to navigate the social etiquette and traditions. Not that they tried to teach you.

“Percy,” you move closer to the drivers seat.. “I can handle this on my own!” You need them to back off, just for tonight. “I am old enough to drive and live on my own. I don’t need one of my assistants to stand behind me.”

“Are you old enough? Because if I remember correctly you were fighting for your life just last night.” Percy voice bubble with frustration. “You may think you know a lot, but I don’t want you to get in to something you can’t get out of.”

“Why must you always think that I need a guiding hand whenever you are with me? Is it because of what happen with your version of me?” Percy harshly stop the car at a red light and turn to you. They are shaking, as they continued to grip the wheel with one hand. The light turns green, they turn back to the road and continue to drive.

“You know nothing about that,” Percy is quieter now “and it doesn’t concern you. We have to focus and the here and the now.” You narrow your eyes at them before turning to face out the window.  Val look in between you and Percy. You and Percy don’t argue much, there are some disagreements, but they were always sorted out in the same conversation. So when you do argue, it’s always hard to mediate it, and the responsibility will always fall to Val

 “Percy, don’t you remember what it was like when you were their age?” Val normally takes a neutral stance but he feel like you need some room from them tonight. “You didn’t want someone older than you following you around.” Percy remains quiet. “And you probably learned a lot too, so maybe we should do that with you.”

“You’re right” they loosen their grip on the steering wheel as their eyes soften. “But let’s see how they deal with the red carpet first.” Percy stops and gets out of the car before you have the chance to ask what they mean. You and Val look at each other concerned before getting of the car.

The paparazzi lines the stair, lights flashing as you get out. The red carpet is busy with serval celebrities and business officials posing and taking interviews There already seems to be a commotion a bit further up, you try to look to see who it might be but the flashes blinds you.

“You would think they might not use the flash as much” you use your hand to cover you eyes as you turn away from the red carpet. Percy walks to you left side and leans in covering their mouth with their hand.

“Maybe you were here 15 minutes ago you wouldn’t have had to deal with this” they jest at you “You seem to be upstaged by a Wayne member who just arrived” You roll your eyes as you squint harder to try to make out which member it might be. Val approaches you on the right.

“I think you should start moving instead of acting like you are apart of the paparazzi” He gently pushes you forward a step in front of him and Percy “You can’t act too star struck now, you didn’t even know the wayne two days ago” Val laughs. 

“I am not star struck,” You start walk up the stairs moving around the people posing “just trying to see if it’s damian so I can annoy him faster” Percy and Val let out a heavy sigh trying to hide their laughter. You see a man in a suit a talking to a news anchor as you walk up the stairs, you can easily assume that is the mentioned Wayne. It wasn’t damian, he was too happy to be talking to someone, you almost immediately lose interest. You look toward the paparazzi, they were all focused on the Wayne. You start to feel pressure behind your eyes as they go in and out of focus. 

“At least we won’t have to deal with the media” Val lightly nudges you to the side, you blink a few times before you look up at him. He gives you a sly grin, “We wouldn't need theses sharks looking for fresh blood on out door step.” You are quick to get back in to moment.

“Hey!” you slap his arm “How dare you compare sharks to these people? At least shark are cute!” He let’s out a low laugh as percy was pinches their nose

“You really need to start moving rather then just stand here.” Percy whispers into your ear, you nod your head to acknowledge them, all while rolling your eyes as you starts walking up the stairs.   

You look straight forward for the most part. You know its better to keep a low profile rather then make your presents know, but of course you are meant to make a mistake. You look over for no more then ten seconds, and yet they recognize you. You almost immediately look forward again but it is already to late, someone recognizes you. It is a a domino effect after this. Slowly, each reporter and photographer are trying to get you to pay attention to them.

“Shit” you sneer out as Percy quickly guides you through the crowd avoiding the sides as best as possible while Val follows closely behind trying to shield you. But with your luck you run in to someone separating you and Percy. You try to find you way back to them however you are met with a wall of mics. 

Oh well isn’t this just perfect?

You don’t know what to do in front of camera when they have people behind them, so what’s better then giving them two thumbs up and a half assed smile? Anything. So that’s what you do as the cameras click away. 

“Who are you?”  a reporter loudly asks, you feel the panic start to set in.

“Uh…” You can feel your mind turn to mush. It alway decided to turn off when you actually need it.

“Don’t say anything.” Val and Percy simultaneously yell at you in a panic 

“ I am ___ ” Their words reach your brain a second too late. Instant regret fills your mind. They start call out your name being followed by serval variation of the same question. Your head is spinning from the crowd. You start to move up the stairs once again trying to avoid answering anymore questions. Val and Percy quickly follow after you. 

You bump into the wayne who was now paying more attention to the commotion you caused then then person interviewing him. Percy quickly guides you away from him as you barley see his eyes meet yours as you are being usher into the building. You feel sick. You quickly find a place to sit down. Val and percy talk a bit before, Percy takes out their phone and calls someone.

You are unable to walk from uneasiness that grows in your heart. You feel as if thousands of hands are crawling up your back, all while someone is forcefully keeping your eyes open to watch a fast moving filming . His eyes, you know them, you knew them. You always want to remember the life of the other you, but when you did it is always painful. The memories are never clear enough to understand, but the emotions are. You can’t even deal with your own issues to adding on someone else's makes it worst.

Fuck, this is going to bite you in the ass this week.

“Wow, that was something.” You play with your fingers staring at the floor as Percy is on the phone pacing while Val is trying to get you to say something. “Are you okay? They didn’t try to grab you right?” You nod your head, not looking up at him. Percy ends the call and sighs.

“Okay,” Percy claps their hands together “ we will have people to help us get out of here when you are ready to.” you don’t respond. They put their phone away in a pocket of their suit, then sit next you. “Are you..?” they gently and slowly wrap their arms around your back. You flinch away, before looking up at them and then to Val. 

“No, no. I am here. I am fine.” You shake out your hands, then wipe them on your clothes as you get up quickly. Pushing their arm off of you. “Thank you for getting people for after.” You smile at them, “sorry to cause so much concern”

“Its okay.” They stand up and pat your back. “We should have done this to begin with.” Val nods in agreement. You try to ignore the way the memories make your head throb. 

“We underestimated the impact of social media” Val looks towards the door. Many of them are still attempting to take photos of you in the lobby. You use your hand to shield your eyes from the flashes of the camera. 

“You wouldn’t say.” You look at Val from the side of your eyes before you look around the lobby. The receptionists have gone home and it was only a few rich people in far off corners of the room. Some of them are starting at all of you as you are in the middle of the lobby. “Let’s just get up stairs.”  

“I agree.” Percy grabs Val’s arm and walks him over to the elevator waiting for you. You give the lobby one last glance before you walk over to elevator. You press the button to call for the elevator. The elevator couldn’t have come at any later, the Wayne from earlier entered the lobby. You can feel the memories trying to rip away the fog put up by the other you, but it is easier to handle now. You take a glance at him just to try and figure out which Wayne it was. 

It was difficult to tell with most of the boys because majority of them are copies of Bruce with no biological relation, so it would be better to go off of age. He looks older than you, around 20-25, closer to 23. With process of elimination you safely assume that it is Tim Drake, famous for being just as smart as Bruce, maybe even smarter. He has his own personal fortune thanks to his parents, so he is familiar with the upper-class environment. Basically, avoid him because of the headache and having no experience in ‘high society’. He seems to be to more consumed by the crowd of rich people who had left their corners. They are like shiver of sharks coming at him as if he is fresh prey.  You grin and bite your inner lip as you recall the nature document you used to watch in public school.

“Percy, What do always you compare theses events to?” You turn your eyes away from Tim as you look at Percy. They look at you from the corner of their eyes.

“It is like toddlers and tiara, but it’s only the overbearing adults who couldn’t fill their need for attention.” Percy looks toward the crowd growing around Tim. You cover your face as you are giggling quietly. “But this seems to be more like the pageants and its the adults competing instead.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” You clear your throat like you have to cough trying to conceal your laughs. You look back over for a moment to try and get another visual of the crowd, but you are surprised to see Tim pushing his way to the elevators, towards you. 

Why did i decide to be so difficult for myself?

You drag your eyes away from him. Right on que, there was the blessed ding of the elevator. The doors open and you are quick to step in, while trying to get Percy and Val to get on so you could close the doors. As much as you would love to understand the connection, you don’t really want to have to deal with emotions of the memories, and the possibility that he might recognize you, if he knew the other you. 

You weren’t quick enough of course, he steps on right as the doors star closing. You hide your face as he turns back to all of you guys. “What flo-” he stops mid sentence. Shit. “Percy?” your eyes go wide, he recognizes percy? You turn your head slightly, only enough to see percy out of the side of your eye. They did not look happy in the slightest, they look almost hateful to him.

“What floor do you think?” they fold their arms and doesn’t even try to hide their annoyance behind their smile. “There’s really only one floor we could be going to.” They push him to the side as the press the button for the 72nd floor. 

“Yeah of course.” Tim awkwardly turns a back a round. You go back to staring at the wall of the elevator, it was surprisingly fun to look at, but the ride seems to be endlessly slow. Percy and Val move in front of you blocking his view of you. “I saw __ with you early,” you freeze up as the elevator grows more tense  “did they already go to the gala without you?”

“I don’t think you need to know.” Val speaks up. unlike Percy. he is trying to hide his emotions with a calmer tone. Why are they trying to hide you?

“Well I mean it kind of is, seeing as I am a ward of the hosting family.” TIm snaps back with a stranded smile. Val and percy are both about to respond as the elevator door open. A woman stands in front of elevator.

“Invitations please” she smiles.

Quick A/N- Just to clarify the ages of batfam, and reader + co. (i did age up and age down some for story purposes sorry if this bothers you)

Damian - 15

Duke - 17 (same grade as reader)

reader's friend group - 17-18

Reader - 18

Cass- 19

Steph- 20

Tim- 21 (i think tim is meant to be 6 to 7 years older than damian so he is finally not 17 )

Jason- 24

Barbara - 31

Dick- 30

Percy- 38

Val- 40

Bruce- 44

Alfred- 63.

Taglist: @problematicreblogger @mileskisser @hoeinthehouse @luminous011 @enjisthings @earth-to-mee @thereeallink @pasta-warlord @just-here-reading

[philistiniphagottini]

Helloo! Hope you are having an amazing day!

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Hi! Yes, I'm still taking requests for Domestic Bliss. Thanks for dropping by, I hope you like this.

cw. fluff, female reader

Domestic Bliss

You awoke in the middle of the night to a searing headache throbbing behind your eyes. With a soft groan falling from your parted lips you sat up in bed, the blankets falling off your shoulders and pooling into your lap. You slowly peeled your eyes open, squinting into the darkness as your headache grew worse, your pulse droning in your ears like the loud beat of a drum. You swallowed thickly, immediately regretting the decision as it felt like shards of broken glass were sliding down your throat, sticking like barbs as a horrible cough wracked your entire being. The bout made you groan again, head spinning as it felt like you were going to cough your lung up. Your stomach felt uneasy and the throb behind your eyes was telling you that you were going to throw up.

Your partner finally stirred beside you as a miserable whimper crawled out of your throat, nose starting to run and throat itching like you had been bitten by a thousand, angry fleas. Jing Yuan slowly sat up, hand blindly groping the night stand until the little bedside lamp flickered on. The light did little to soothe the terrible ache of your eyes, only making the strain worse as your eyes threatened to slip close. You felt the heat of his bare skin as his arm circled around your back, the palm of his hand coming to rest on your thigh as he rubbed along your leg.

“Dearest, what's wrong?” Jing Yuan asked, his voice raspy with sleep.

You sniffled, your nose already starting to clog up as your oncoming sickness started to get worse. The heat of Jing Yuan's body was almost stifling pressed against your side, your body heat coming to a slow simmer as your head continued to spin. You had to swallow the rising bile in your throat as it burned like Hell.

“I'm going to be sick” you said.

Jing Yuan yawned, blinking owlishly at you as a soft hum bubbled in his chest.

“Hm?”

You really needed to get to the bathroom. Without a second thought you threw the blankets off of you, untangling yourself from the sea of fluffy blankets as you stumbled your way to the bathroom. Jing Yuan was quick to jump to his feet when he realised that you were serious, his mind quickly turning and waking him up. You almost tripped over your own feet, managing to catch yourself on the door frame as you hung off of it. Jing Yuan was only a few steps behind you and you were quick to raise your hand and dismiss him.

“Don't come in” you warned.

You really didn't want Jing Yuan to witness what was about to occur. He held up his hands to placate you, a soft smile tugging on his lips.

“It's nothing I haven't seen before” he mentioned.

He had already seen many sides of you. This one would make no difference.

“You can check on me if I don't come back in a few minutes” you argued.

Jing Yuan didn't want to relent, but he yielded when he noticed the miserable look in your eyes and the way your nose scrunched up as you pleaded with him. A small sigh blew past his lips.

“Okay.”

You offered him a small smile as you thanked him, letting yourself into the bathroom and shutting yourself inside. While you were in there, Jing Yuan decided to busy himself with fetching the pain medications and a glass of water. He found them in the usual spot, in the small cabinet in the kitchen above the fridge. Once he had fetched them and a glass of water he made his way back to your shared bedroom. By the time he had arrived back from his small journey, you were fumbling your way out of the bathroom. You really didn't look any better and the dark circles under your eyes made you look even more sickly. With a weary sigh you trudged your way back to the bed, collapsing back into the nest of blankets as you crawled under the sheets. Jing Yuan placed the items he was carrying on the bedside table and helped tuck you back in, your voice scratching your throat as you thanked him again for his help.

“Do you feel any better?” he asked.

You shook your head. “No.”

Jing Yuan slid back into bed, coming to cuddle up to you as his strong body naturally curled protectively around you. Your sudden sickness had caught him by surprise. You were fine a few short hours ago when you both retired for the night. Perhaps a little more tired than you usually were, but nothing out of the ordinary. Jing Yuan made sure you had your medicine and that you were laying back down before he switched the lamp off. He settled in beside you, arm wrapped around your waist as he pulled you tight against him. The silence lasted for no more than ten seconds before you stirred again. You suddenly shot up in bed, a disgruntled noise rumbling in your chest as you shook your head.

“Nope, laying down hurts more” you said.

Jing Yuan rolled over and switched the lamp back on again. He slowly sat up as you started to rub your temples, eye struggling to stay open as the tips of your fingers grew numb.

“Does sitting up feel better?” Jing Yuan asked.

You nodded. “Yeah, a little.”

Without another word he started to stack the pillows behind you, moving himself until he was sitting directly behind you. You faintly heard the bedroom door creak as it was nudged open by a fluffy, white snout. Mimi’s nostrils twitched as she languidly strolled into the room, her bright eyes glowing in the dim light as she stalked closer to the bed. A soft meow stirred in her throat as Jing Yuan pulled your trembling body against his, wrapping both his arms around your waist as he held you close to his chest. You were now shaking like a wet leaf and you could just feel your flu symptoms getting worse. A soft smile tilted your lips aa Mimi decided to pounce onto the bed, the mattress creaking in protest from her sudden weight.

“Mimi” Jing Yuan cooed, “Have you come to check on our sweet girl?”

A noise akin to a purr rumbled in the hollow of her throat as Mimi flopped down in front of you, spreading herself over your lap as she lay her head on your torso. You appreciated the gesture. Mimi always knew when you were sick and the lion would always come and check on you to make sure you were okay. You wrapped your arms around her thick neck as you buried your face in her soft fur, placing a gentle kiss to her head as you nuzzled your face between her ears. She eagerly lapped up the attention, tail flicking idly as Jing Yuan threaded his fingers through her wild mane and petted her. Jing Yuan nudged his nose against the nape of your neck, squeezing you around the waist as he continued to soothe you.

“Looks like we'll both have to take care of her, won't we?”

You didn't have the strength to argue with Jing Yuan. If he decided that you were sick enough that he needed to be by your side, then you were terribly sick. You were crushed further under Mimi's weight as she snuggled up to you, bunting her head into the warm touch of your hands as you placed another lazy kiss between her ears. You could feel sleep tug at the edges of your mind again as your eyes slipped close. Despite the awful feeling of being sick, you could feel the affection that both held for you and it was very comforting.

“Thank you.”

[lostquinn]

I've got you, Sunshine

Simon Ghost Riley x gn!reader

Fluff, hurt comfort, minor character loss

Summary - after losing a patient, Sunshine (you) goes to tf141 for comfort, hugging Ghost and shocking everyone.

I love the sunshine character type with the big bad scary guy, please send requests 🙏🙏🙏

Word count - 706

You were a part of Task Force 141, their medic that stuck through hell with them no matter what. You were their little piece of sunshine, always working hard to cheer them up whenever possible.

"You've got this, Sunshine," Soap smiled nervously at you, patting you on the back as you followed Gaz and Ghost rushing a recruit to the infirmary. "You're better than any of us," he added.

Soon, you were left alone in the infirmary, the beeping of the heart rate monitor the only thing keeping you company. The recruit had slipped unconscious, his wounds too severe.

You were working hard to stabilise the recruit, panicking slightly as nothing seemed to be working. You had never lost someone before. You were always enough.

The constant beep of the heart rate machine slowed into a constant drone. A haunting sound. He didn't make it. The recruit had died under your care.

You pressed a button on your pager, silently calling for the pathologist so that they could perform the autopsy. You sat at your desk for a while, writing your report of what happened before saving it and sending it off.

It was hours later when you stumbled over to the common room. Your eyes were red and puffy, cheeks stained with tears that you couldn't stop from falling.

You stood in the door to the common room, and the idle conversation that the men had been having fell quiet. They each looked at you for a moment, taking in your defeated expression and your slumped posture.

"Oh, dear, come here," Soap muttered, opening his arms to take you into a hug.

Soap, Gaz, and Price were all sat together on the couches, mugs, and cups left on the coffee table. Ghost stood, his arms crossed over his chest as he leant against the wall behind them.

You stumbled forward, your head hung in defeat. Soap let out a little sigh, expecting you to collapse into his arms. The two of you were close friends, so it made sense to him.

However, you walked right past him and up to Ghost. You wrapped your arms tight around Ghost's waist and pressed your face into his chest, nuzzling into him.

In an instant, his arms dropped to his sides. He just stood there for a moment as you hugged him, his eyes wide and jaw dropped slightly. He looked between Soap, Gaz, and Price, almost in a panick. They each matched his expression.

After a moment, he hesitantly lifted a gloved hand to the back of your head, holding you close as his other hand raised to your back. He rubbed little soothing circles against your back.

"It's okay, love," he muttered, leaning his head down so he could whisper into your ear as you cried into him. "It happens, don't put the blame on yourself... I've got you little one,"

His arms were strong around you, protective. Your hands balled into little fists, grabbing onto his shirt. You sobbed softly against him, your shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

Behind his mask, Ghost had a smug smile on his face. Of everyone in the room, you had chosen him for comfort. You chose him. It made his heart swell, and butterflies explode in his stomach.

He hooked his arms under yours and lifted you up with ease. Your legs hooked around his waist, and his hands settled on your thighs as he carried you to the corner of the room.

Ghost sat down in an armchair, you on his lap and his arms tight around you. The room was quiet apart from the sound of everyone's breathing.

One of his hands briefly left your back as he whipped his mask off quickly. He pressed his now bare cheek against yours, his mouth by your ear.

"It's okay love, I'm here. It wasn't your fault," he muttered, his breath hot against your skin. "I've got you,"

His efforts helped you to calm down, feeling a little less upset now as you glanced over at him, his dirty blonde hair a surprise to see despite knowing his mask was off.

He let out a little hum and pressed a gentle kiss to your temple.

"I've got you sunshine,"

[whumblr]

Fade to bla--

We do love a good fade-to-black with Whumpee waking up in the hospital or some place safe among their loved ones. A nice happy ending. But what about that time in-between, where they are completely out, oblivious. But Caretaker isn't :)

- They have to be strong and smile and tell Whumpee that it's going to be alright. While they are shaking and not knowing at all if it will be.

- They see Whumpee go still, their eyes falling shut and they fear the worst for a few seconds.

- Caretakers who sit all alone in the midst of the carnage, surrounded by unconscious teammates, by blood. Everything depends on them now. And they don't know where to start or who to help first.

- They are hurt as well. But they limp on, bite the pain away, because they're the only one who can help right now.

- They can't stop shaking, can't stop the tears streaming down their cheeks.

- Or they cannot shed a tear until Whumpee finally comes back from the ER and they know it's going to be alright

- They have to watch and rely on the medic as they are completely helpless. Watching as Whumpee is lifted carefully onto a gurney. The only thing they can do is to drone on to 'please be careful, please help them!!'.

- Caretakers who try not to bombard the paramedics with questions. What happened? Will they wake? When will they wake? Will those wounds heal? Are they gonna make it?!

- They ride along in the ambulance, holding Whumpee's hand.

- They are a wound up ball of stress, knee tapping up and down, shaking, maybe still hurt themself, but refuse any sort of care when the paramedics ask. I'm fine. Don't bother with me, heal Whumpee first.

- And they wait. They wait next to the hospital bed. They pace up and down the corridors. They wait all night long without a wink of sleep.

[sinsatmidnight]

30 Years Later

Pairing – Kim Minji (JiU) x Male Reader

Words - 3101

Sins – Smut, oral, sumata, shower sex

So...it's been a while. I have not been keeping up with what goes on Tumblr, I have to admit, and nor have I read any (most? I may have read a couple during this period) of the many stories that people have started after I stopped. I'm inevitably rusty, but I had this draft I started a long while back that I somehow got into the mood to finish, so I figured I may as well post it, just for fun. Maybe someone will enjoy it. Hopefully you like it if you read it! And no, I don't expect a significant uptick in activity from me, but I may pay more attention to some of the other stories being written. Working on this was not quite the healthiest thing (because uh, I may have overused a certain part of my body the last couple of days) and let's just say one of the reasons I'm posting this is because it already had a significant bit written. But I kinda wanna subject myself to more of this...abuse(?) now. Ugh I'm rambling, but anyways, hope everyone has a good day (or night)!

(2130 hours, 20 September 2220, Eternity)

It started out muffled. The droning sound breaking into your consciousness, jolting it to life. You have no idea what it is. Or where you are, for that matter. Your eyes are closed. But your ears are sharper now that your mind is actively concentrating on listening.

A voice. Female. You can’t make out words but she sounds calm. And then your eyes slowly open, almost as though forced open by an outside force. That’s when you remember.

“Condition is stable, consciousness gained, cryo pods are opening.” That calm, droning female voice comes through clear to you now. There is a soft hiss as the transparent door of your cryo pod slides to the side. The light outside your pod is quite soft, and yet at the moment to your eyes, it is blinding. Disoriented by your awakening, you lay in the gel bed as you try to get your bearings.

“Eden? Status update…oh, and what is the current date and time?”

The ship’s AI, Eden, responds in the electronically generated calm tone that all shipboard Ais use. “Welcome back, Commander. All of the Eternity’s systems are currently running optimally. All crew members are in good health. It is currently 2130 hours, 20 September 2220.”

Your mind does the math easily despite just coming back from the induced cryo-sleep. Thirty years. Well, that would be right. Crew members were supposed to be woken up after thirty years to run manual checks on the ship’s condition and look over all data collected automatically by ship sensors and the AI. They stay up for two weeks and then go back into cryo-sleep. And after the first thirty years, this is repeated every five years.

Your mind remembers that crew members aren’t woken up alone, they’re normally woken up in pairs as an additional safety measure. One person who can handle technical or mechanical issues on the ship, which in this case is you, and one more person who is medically trained to check on the sleeping crew and in case of medical emergency.

Your gel bed is softening; rapidly melting as you defrost and becoming less of a gel and more of a slime. A marvel of human technological ingenuity; the clear gel froze quickly, was non-toxic in case of accidental ingestion, while also serving as a shock-absorbent and anti-bacterial bed for cryo-sleep.

You need to get out and check who else was awakened with you. As your hands reach and hold on to the sides of the pod, you realise that you have an erection. Your mind immediately jumps back thirty years prior, to the minutes right before the crew enter cryo-sleep. It might have been from thirty years ago, but those are your last waking memories and they feel like just minutes ago instead.

You remember undressing before you enter your cryo pod; cryo-sleep has to be done naked and trying to unpeel clothing frozen to a person for years is painful. And that was when your eyes caught sight of the occupant of the pod opposite you.

With long dark hair and incredibly kissable lips, combat medic Kim Minji drew attention wherever she went. She was tall, gorgeous and had a body that drew a reaction from your own. As you watched her unzip her white bodysuit and slip out of it, stripping off her underwear and getting naked, you felt the blood rush to your penis and you were glad that she was too preoccupied with her own cryo-sleep preparations to look over at you. You ended up getting frozen before your erection could soften.

Back in the present, another female voice that definitely wasn’t Eden’s cuts into your thoughts. “You’ve had that for thirty years, Commander?’

As you stumble out of the pod, the melting gel dripping all over the floor, your eyes immediately catch sight of Kim Minji’s naked body standing outside her pod, the clear slime dripping off her body and giving it a shimmering sheen under the soft white lights of the cryo chamber. You quickly realise two things: that Kim Minji is your medically trained partner that you’re going to be alone with for the next two weeks and that your erection won’t be going down anytime soon despite your embarrassment at getting caught. You technically outrank her, but that doesn’t matter when there’s just two people awake on the ship.

Minji’s gaze is fixed upon your groin and very obvious erection and a smirk plays on her red lips. “Oh, Minji, I-“

Before you can think of an excuse, Minji cuts in. “Thanks for the compliment, I guess. I’ve never had a guy have a boner for me for that long.”

You smile sheepishly and try to change the subject. “Let’s go wash up before we start work.” At the far end of the cryo chamber was the doorway to another smaller room. A shower chamber with a row of showerheads which to wash off the slime with warm water before you got dressed. There were no partitions, they didn’t bother with them, given that everyone is naked in the cryo chamber anyway. And anyone outside the showers can see into them, given that the walls and doors are made of transparent shatter-proof glass.

You drip clear slime onto the silvery metallic floor beneath your bare feet and the metal doesn’t feel cool to your touch, but given that you were completely frozen minutes ago, that’s understandable. The two of you make your way towards the shower chamber, walking past the other cryo pods which stand up at 45-degree angles, glancing at the naked bodies of other crew members stored in cryo-sleep within them. The water from the shower feels warm to you, a nice comfortable temperature. Minji is next to you, the water flowing over her naked and fit body. It's not helping your erection. Her voice cuts into your thoughts. "I can feel some slime on my back still, could you help me scrub it off?" You hesitate for a moment but then your hand reaches forward and runs over her smooth back, swiping the slime off. You feel Minji's body shiver at your touch, and she lets out a soft moan.

You are sure that your erection is pointing straight up now. Not that it wasn't before, but this situation is just prolonging it.

"Oh, that's nice. Can you do it a little lower, please?" She asks, and your hands move further down. Your hands are caressing her pert ass now, the soap lather coating it and making it feel smooth. Minji is letting out soft moans and you are enjoying touching her. As you wash her ass, your fingers stray between her legs, rubbing against her dripping vaginal folds. She is wet and it is not the water causing this.

"You're doing a great job, Commander. But there's a lot more I need you to wash for me." You turn her around so that she is facing you. You look into her eyes and she is biting her lower lip. Minji has a perfect pair of breasts, firm but soft and a nice handful. They are covered with soap lather now and you find your hands moving forward to massage her tits. You pinch her pink nipples, feeling her tremble as you touch her. Minji leans into you, her wet body pressing against yours. She feels hot to the touch, as though her temperature has gone up.

"Look, I really feel like I should help you with that boner of yours." Minji whispers breathily. "Can I do that for you, Commander?" She has already reached down and taken your hard length in her hand, her thumb rubbing the head of your cock, spreading the precum that had gathered. She gives your cock a gentle tug, and it takes all of your willpower to not cum on her right then and there.

"Fuck, Minji, that's- that's fine." You let out an odd mix of strangled gasp that ends in a muttered assurance, as her soft hand continues to firmly stroke your erection.

"Thanks, Commander. I appreciate it." Minji presses those incredibly kissable red lips up against yours, and her tongue hungrily comes out to play. You reciprocate, even as your hands are busy continuing to explore her body. Her hands, on the other hand, are one of the most pleasurable experiences you’ve ever had as your wet cock is deftly and smoothly pumped and stroked.

With a wink, Minji drops to her knees, the water from the showerhead splashing her face and wetting her long hair. She presses her tits together and wraps them around your throbbing shaft.

It feels good and your body instinctively thrusts forward, your hips rocking back and forth, fucking her breasts. Your balls are tensing up, and you can tell you aren't going to last long. It is smooth and slick between her breasts and the tip of your cock is rubbing up against her lips with her tongue comes out to tease the tip. Your eyes stare at her as she looks back at you and with a smirk, Minji parts her lips, taking the head of your cock into her mouth.

The tip of her tongue swirls around the sensitive head, licking up the precum that continues to leak. Then, she starts bobbing her head forward and back, taking more and more of your shaft into her mouth, eventually releasing your cock from between her tits. Minji hums contentedly as she sucks and swallows your cock, and her hand is wrapped around the base, pumping you in time with the movements of her head. Minji’s other hand has drifted between her legs, and she starts to furiously masturbate as she blows you. Her slender fingers plunge in and out of her leaking vagina as she keeps her thumb vigorously rubbing her engorged clit.

As you lock eyes with the gorgeous medic on her knees in front of you, she gives you a sultry look, her lustful eyes peering into yours as she sucks you off. Minji’s expert tongue swirling around your shaft and the vibrations of her moans as she takes your dick deep into her throat very quickly becomes too much for you. Your hands need to grab something, to get control.

Your fingers run through her long hair and roughly grab hold of her head, pulling her towards you as you thrust into her mouth hard. You hear her gag a little, but she doesn’t stop with her movement. You feel the pressure building up, and your hips are moving of their own accord. Your cock is hitting the back of her throat, and your balls are tightening.

With a moan, you cum in her mouth. Thick spurts of cum erupt from your dick and fill her throat. She swallows it all, and stands up, licking those red lips. "That was tasty. It’s not every day you get to taste cum stored up for thirty years."

You barely register her words, breathing heavily. That was the most intense orgasm of your life. Your cock is still hard, but Minji is seemingly satisfied. For now.

Or maybe not. She steps away from you, and turns around, bending over. Her shapely ass is facing you, and her pussy is glistening. She looks back at you and wiggles her hips. "Can you help me clean down here too, please?"

You can't refuse Minji’s request. You have to return the favour, after all. You move towards her and rub her pussy. It is dripping wet, and her juices are flowing freely. You stick a finger inside her and feel her walls clench around it. She lets out a gasp, and pushes her hips back, as if wanting more.

"Oh, I really need it, Commander." She pants, as you continue to finger her. You pull out, and she lets out a groan. "Why did you stop?"

"Just making sure you're ready for me." You reply as you give her pert ass a quick spank, drawing a low moan from the medic. You position your cock at her entrance and push inside her.

She gasps and whimpers as you enter, and you feel her pussy walls tighten around your shaft. You start to thrust into Minji’s soaked pussy, and she groans while pushing her hips back to meet your thrusts. You grab her hips and pull her closer, helping her out in an attempt to get ever deeper inside her. She cries out in pleasure, as you fuck her as hard and fast as you.

It doesn’t take long before you are getting close to climax, and she is too. You can feel her walls tightening around your shaft, and her breathing is getting faster. You grip her hips tightly and pound her harder.

"Commander!" She moans, as she orgasms. Her juices flow over your cock, and you can't hold back any longer. You pull out of her and explode all over her ass and back, creating a sticky mess there. And then you plop down on the ground, all this exertion so soon after coming out of cryo-sleep has taken a lot out of you.

You both pant, catching your breath. Minji crawls over and kisses you deeply. "Thanks, Commander. I can't wait to work with you for the next two weeks." You can only nod breathlessly in response, your tongue wrestling with hers. Minji breaks the kiss and stands up, with her back to you. “Well, going to need your help with this mess here. Your fault, so you clean it up, sir.” Your gaze goes over her cum-glazed skin and you stand up to grab a sponge from the side of the room, lathering it up with some body wash from a dispenser. You start to work on cleaning her up, using the sponge to get your semen off her skin. But Minji is inherently distracting. It is clear whenever you touch her that she is affected by it. You hear some sighs of pleasure, even the occasional whine when your hands leave her.

This inevitably affects you and you are somehow hardening again down below. You make a split-second decision and suddenly press Minji's wet body up against the wall. You swiftly follow that up by sliding your semi-erect dick in between her soaked creamy thighs. You start to thrust in between her thighs, making sure that you brush against her pussy fold throughout.

"Oh, you're naughty, sir." Minji pants lustfully. You can feel the warmth of her vagina radiating through your thrusting member. You are quickly erect once more. This feels even better than her sucking and giving you a titfuck. "How is this, Minji?" You whisper into her ear.

"Fuck, Commander. That's… that's really good. Really, really good." She whimpers breathily, her body pushed up against the transparent wall, tits first. Your cock continues to slide between her thighs, teasing her pussy. You are both covered in soapy suds, the water from the shower spraying and splashing on the both of you. Her skin feels silky smooth and slippery to the touch. With each thrust, her ass and thighs clap loudly. You reach forward and fondle her tits, her nipples hardening and her breathing quickening. You keep thrusting, enjoying the feeling of her soapy thighs wrapped around your shaft. Minji is moaning and gasping with each thrust, and her breathing is getting faster.

Her legs are trembling, and her juices are flowing freely, mixing with the soap suds and water. Your balls slap against her clit, and she cries out in pleasure, her whole body shaking. You reach forward and grab her wrists, pinning her to the glass wall. She lets out a moan and arches her back. You kiss her neck and shoulders and continue to fuck her soapy thighs. She is whimpering and moaning with every thrust, and her juices are flowing freely, making her inner thighs and your cock very slick and slippery.

Your thrusting becomes faster and more urgent. Minji is definitely close to climaxing; you hear her moans and whimpers are getting less coherent and more urgent; you’re sure you catch some lust fuelled whining and babbling about wanting your cum and something about being fucked hard. Your cock is slamming against her pussy, and her walls are clenching around it, her juices leaking out. She is breathing heavily, and her legs are trembling.

You release one of her hands and guide it down to her clit, prompting her to start rubbing it furiously. Her fingers are a blur, and her moans become louder and more urgent. You continue to fuck those soaped-up milky thighs of hers, and she is practically screaming in pleasure, her voice echoing off the walls of the shower room. Not that you had to care about anyone hearing you. You did have an odd sort of audience in the rest of the crew outside in cryo-sleep, just beyond the transparent wall you have pressed Minji against.

Your cock is twitching and pulsating, and you can feel the pressure building up. You are both close to that final edge, and the only sounds are your heavy breathing, the splashing water, and the loud clapping sound of her ass and thighs slapping against your cock and balls.

You thrust forcefully into her thighs a few more times, and then you erupt. Your thick, creamy load sprays onto her thighs and the transparent wall, coating them in your semen. Her body shudders, and she cries out, reaching her own climax. Her juices flow over your shaft, and she slumps down, exhausted. You follow suit and collapse next to her. You both lie there for a while, trying to catch your breath. You do catch out of the corner of your eye, that Minji takes a few licks of your cum from the wall.

The two of you eventually manage to finish your shower and dry up, with you eyeing Minji the whole time as she puts that white bodysuit back and zips it back up. She catches your eye, bites her lip, and then smirks naughtily. You’re both relieved and regretful that your cock is worn out and needs rest. That would have brought it back up. You and Minji are both very well aware that you don't actually have much to do over the next couple of weeks, other than the occasional diagnostic check of the ship’s systems and such. The ship’s AI, Eden was there to handle the heavy lifting. And so, you're very much looking forward to the next couple of weeks alone with Minji.

[urhoneycombwitch]

in sickness, to cherish

foreword: so excited to release this lil’ babe into the world. PTSD and trauma healing is of special interest to me, I hope you enjoy 💖 (p.s. from my limited research I don’t think they would have used a heart monitor for low-risk patients but it is literally integral to my plot so I’m breaking my anachronistic purity rule. soz)

wc: 3k

cw: descriptions of seizure, PTSD + hospital/medical trauma for the whole gang, brief mention of non-consensual drugging, R is referred to once as “Mrs” & “girlfriend”, angst w/ comfort

___

The mounted clock on the wall of the dingy Hawkins Memorial waiting room ticks over to nine PM, a brutal reminder that time (for everyone else, at least) has not, in fact, stopped.

Nine o’clock. As you pace from one end of the plastic chair-lined aisle to the other, you run the numbers in your head, fingers spastic at your sides- it’s nine right now, and Steve was admitted just after six, which means they’ve been running tests for three hours, even though the charge nurse said it should only take one…

”You wanna step outside for a smoke?”

Eddie speaks up from his seat at the end of the row, catching your bleary gaze before you’re turning on your heel again to complete your looping track.

His voice cuts smoothly over the buzzing fluorescents, the old television in the corner droning with last week’s news cycle; it’s enough to disrupt Robin from her half-sleep against Eddie’s shoulder, blinking into consciousness and stretching her stiff limbs as you respond.

“No, thanks.” Your hands slip to the inside of your elbows, squeezing through layers of soft cardigan in a near-bruise, feet continuing the rhythmic pacing. “You can go, though- I’ll make sure Robin comes to get you if anything happens.”

Eddie clears his throat, sinking back into the hard plastic, rings clicking at the armrests. “Nah, I’m good without one. Just thought you’d want a change of scenery, maybe some fresh air would calm-”

“I’m staying here.”

There’s a sharpness to your voice, a rarity- Robin winces, fingers in her lap twisting and fidgeting as she tries to change the subject. “God, Steve’s gonna be spitting mad when he wakes up. He’s the most doctor-adverse person I know.”

Eddie latches on to this with a humorless chuckle- “Stubborn bastard. Wouldn’t let those lab goons go near him, even after last year-”

“Fuck.” The swear comes from the bottom of your toes, even as you swivel on the balls of your feet to loop back in front of your friends; their faces snap to you, a blur of motion as you pass them again- “You’re right. Steve fucking hates doctors. I should’ve-”

Your next breath comes stilted, fingers a vice-grip on your own arms as you pace, pace, pace- “I should’ve treated this like taking a dog to a vet. Crushed up some pills in his food, or something- he never listens to me when I nag him about his hearing getting worse- do you know how many meals, how many glasses of water we share, every day?”

From the corner of your hazy vision, Robin’s gone still and pale, her voice tremulous- “I didn’t mean to imply- this isn’t your fault, you know-”

But you’re not ready to hear that, guilt surfacing like a sick wave, tears pooling, moments away from spilling over, voice trembling with anguish- “Could’ve been so easy, tell him we’re going for a ride, load him up into the passenger seat, he goes to sleep and I could’a passed him right off to a doctor, to someone who could have prevented this-”

Eddie rises from his seat to stand in the middle of your path, hands lifting to soothe and appease, but you’re still in flight mode, like a bird beating its wings against the confines of its cage.

You flinch away from his touch, standing with your back turned to them both, staring out the dark window, unseeing. “You know what Steve said to me? Right before he hit the ground? He said, ‘Don’t panic, I’m gonna pass out, try not to let my hair get too messed up.’”

An edge of misplaced humor draws a dry laugh from your throat. The dark window reflects your own face back- tear-streaked, red veins encroaching on the whites of your eyes- as you shake your head in disbelief. “He made a joke. To try and distract me from the fact that he was about to hit the ground and go all… all spastic-”

Unbidden flashes of memory surge to the forefront of your mind: victims of last spring. Twisted forms snapped at the bone, Max’s arms and legs bent at horrifying angles, plaster casts from head-to-toe, freckled face still and sallow against the starch-white hospital sheets-

A leather-jacketed form in the reflection behind you, Eddie’s hand solid on your back against the shuddering breaths wracking all the air from your lungs. You don’t flinch away this time.

Your beautiful boy. Steve. With his eye-crinkling smiles and sharp wit and gentle heart, stiff as a board in the middle of your living room, eyes rolled back in his skull like a downed deer, unreachable, just three hours ago.

“I thought it was Vecna. It’s been so long but I thought he’d come back, somehow, I was this close to running upstairs and grabbing our Walkman-”

”But you didn’t.” The hand at your back is joined by another at your arm as Eddie pulls you to face him, his gaze locking on your own, brown eyes full of grave compassion. “You heard the nurse. She said tipping him on his side was the best call you could’a made, sweetheart- you saved him.”

”But I didn’t know,” you insist, “I didn’t know that’s what would help, I just did it ‘cuz I was worried he was going to choke on his own tongue-”

“Semantics. You intuited it, then.” One of Eddie’s hands leaves your arm briefly to make a dismissive gesture through the air- “Which, in my book, is all the more impressive.”

Unconvinced, your voice small and tightening along with your chest- “What if this happens again, and he’s alone, this time? What if he’s working one of his three closing shifts a week, without Robin- what if he’s driving?”

You can’t help the spiraling of your thoughts, what-if scenarios jumping in line, each one more horrifying than the last.

Robin rises to stand beside Eddie, opens her mouth- to deny, to comfort, it’s unclear- but is interrupted by a new nurse who’s just appeared in the doorway.

“Mrs. Harrington?”

This snaps you back to earth, a bit, another watery laugh as Eddie takes a step back, allowing you to swipe at the mess of tears on your face before turning to the nurse- “Yeah. As good as, I guess. How’s he doing?”

With a last look at your friends, the nurse leads you down sickeningly-bright corridors while reading from a clipboard- most of it’s medical jargon, your foggy brain struggling to keep up as you stay on her heels.

What you gather, as you’re led to his room, is nothing new- Steve’s had a seizure, likely due to the trauma his brain incurred from the ‘earthquake’ of ‘86, and it’s unclear what triggered it, or if it’s likely to happen again.

“We’re going to keep him overnight, just to monitor his condition.” The nurse stops at a door labeled Room 202, hinges squeaking as she pushes it open. “He was really lucky, this time. Must’ve had a good guardian angel looking out for him.”

Heart thrumming thick in your throat, you almost ask the nurse to wait, to give you a second- maybe a quick bathroom break to splash some cold water against the tear-tracks, or even an extra few seconds to pretend at being stoic- but she’s already ushering you in with a kind smile.

The nurse pulls the door shut, and you’re left alone with the boy in the bed.

He looks exhausted, dark circles pulling at the soft skin below his eyes, which are full of relief, trained on you as you approach.

“Hey, there’s my girl.” There’s a scratchy quality to Steve’s voice, on its way to being lost.

You were doing really well, no crying or anything, before he spoke. But hearing him, paired with the awful sight of a medical cord wrapping around the width of his broad chest, has your face crumpling in an instant.

“Oh, shit. Aw, honey. C’mere-” Steve reaches for you, halfway to sitting up off his supporting pillows, and you quickly close the gap, sitting near his hip on the bed.

“No, hey- stay down,” you chide through the tears, pushing at the shoulder of his white hospital tee. “Don’t put any stress on your body.”

“Cut the stress, she says,” Steve grumbles, leaning back against the stack of pillows but compromising by pulling you in closer. “My baby’s crying, and she tells me no stress?”

His left palm slips over your cheek, thumb swiping away tears, while his right hand- IV taped flat over the back of it- slides to rest on your waist.

”Gonna tell me what’s wrong, hm?”

Under different circumstances, you’d laugh at his question- christ, where did he want you to start: but with that amber gaze so full of empathy, desperate to fix what’s making you sad, you’re stripped raw with sincerity.

”I was just- I was so scared, Steve-”

Steve pulls your face towards his, needily, a breath away from begging for a kiss before you lean in for one.

He tastes salty, like sweat and tears, lips plush and softly seeking against the seam of your own. Between the kisses, he’s mumbling apologies, “sorry, so sorry”, broken by the need to be as close to you as all the medical gear will allow.

There’s a soft noise from the back of his throat, and you pull away just enough to bump your nose into his, hands running up to push through the soft strands of his hair.

Steve practically purrs under your touch; you’re careful not to disturb the tubing wrapping around the length of his chest, leaning your weight into his shoulders instead.

A vein of hilarity spikes as you remember Steve’s last words before he went under: and here you were, fingers pulling at his dark roots, breaking his one request. When you start to giggle, Steve’s eyes pop open, baffled, hair sticking up at the ends when your fingers leave his hair. Both hands now squeezing at your hips, he feels left out of the joke- “What?”

“I just- nothing. Never mind. I’m really glad you’re okay.” It’s the truth. You frame his lovely face with your hands, kissing his forehead once before sitting up fully. “I don’t wanna fight about it here, okay? Let’s just focus on you feeling better, and then-”

“See, now, wait a minute-” Steve holds up a finger to interrupt. “You don’t get it. I’ve been hoping and praying for hours now that my pretty girlfriend would come in here just so we could have a good fight.”

He tweaks at the skin of your hips (with the IV-hand, so you can’t just smack it away, dammit), smiling up at you far too dreamily for someone reclining in a hospital bed.

Settling against the length of Steve’s torso, your arms cross over his stomach just under the tubing as you start, carefully- “You know, Max had one of these- when she was in the hospital?”

”Yeah, you’re right.” Steve’s hands worm their way under both your cardigan sleeves, seeking out the comfort of skin like a magnet- “Think it tracks heart rate. Or something.”

“Mm-hm. And… you know how she had to go to physical therapy three times a week? For, like, half the school year?”

Steve’s thumbs swipe absently at your wrists, a line pinched between his brows, trying to piece together your angle. “…yeah?”

“Takes a lot of time, to heal from something like that.” Your eyes drop to his chest, throat swelling with the effort of holding back a sob. “And I’m just- just thinking of all the times you might be alone, and how we could have prevented this, and-”

“Hey, hey, hey- shhh…” Steve soothes, shaking his head. “Honey, it was inevitable, okay? Nothing we could’a done. The doc told me this shit can happen, like, years after a big event. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

Fighting against the wall of emotion that makes speaking harder, you return his head shake, desperate for understanding- “But you can’t promise that, baby. You had a seizure- an actual, medical emergency, and… we don’t know if it’ll happen again.”

With a purposeful straightening of your spine, you state, resolutely: “I want a different promise.”

Steve presses the crown of his head back into the pillows, melodramatic, resurfacing with a tsk. “So stubborn. What promise you want, then, huh?”

”I want you to promise that you’ll see a doctor- a real one. A head guy. Not some… family medicine quack.”

Steve grins, charming even while unusually pale- “I love it when you talk medical, really gets me going-”

He decides to bail on the rest of that sentence when he sees the flare of irritation on its way to real anger in your face, raising both hands in appeasement- “Okay. Hey- I promise to see a real head doc. I don’t intend on putting you through this again.”

WIth a sigh, you surge forward again, mumbling “Thank you” into Steve’s lips, a kiss of relief and gratitude. Best news you’ve heard all day.

His groans vibrate through you, hands running down the length of your side, near the bottom of your cardigan; you squeak at the intrusion of his cold palms on the bare skin of your waist but they warm quickly, and you’re willingly distracted as his tongue presses against the seam of your lips.

Perhaps not exactly hospital-appropriate, but as it’s been an evening full of adrenaline-filled panic and heartache, you figure some making out might be a good cure for the both of you.

“Won’t scare you like that again,” Steve says, lips already pink and spit-slick, intense and breathless as he clings to you between kisses- “Gonna be okay. You saved me, angel. Love you s’much…”

Your hand, previously resting on Steve’s knee, automatically slides up at his words, notching into the soft expanse of his inner thigh over the thin sheets- “Love you too, so much…”

A bright, electronic noise jolts into frantic beeping- the monitor that Steve’s hooked up to is loud enough to startle you into sitting up.

There’s no time to process or even rearrange yourselves before the nurse from earlier bustles into the room to glare at the machine’s screen; best you can do is a swipe across your mouth, hopefully hiding any evidence of moments-ago spit-swappage as you stammer out, “Um, yeah, sorry- h-he was trying to sit up and that set it off, I guess…?”

Steve lies placid and amenable against his pillows, giving the nurse a gold-medal grin, which unfortunately does nothing to allay her suspicions.

“Uh-huh.” The monitor alarm is stopped short with the press of a few buttons, and she gives Steve a sideways look, clipboard tucked under her arm- “You ready for your other visitors, Mr. Harrington, or should I give you a few more minutes?”

“Bring forth the party, Patricia.” Steve folds his hands behind his head, wincing when his IV gets bumped but covering it with a wink.

Nurse Patricia leaves. You cover your heated face, mortified- “Oh my god. She probably thought I was giving you a handjob or something, jesus, Steve-”

He’s outright laughing at you now, unable to help it- “Come on, no she didn’t. And even if she did…”

Steve is momentarily distracted, frowning down at his chest, following the monitor’s line to the machine; you watch through cracked fingers, his face lighting up, triumphant. “See, I bet if we unplug it from the wall same time as disconnecting it from here, we might be able to fit a handy under the radar, after all!”

Robin and Eddie enter the room just as you’re swatting Steve’s shoulder; over your subdued and mildly horrified laughter, he groans in faux-pain: “God, you two got here just in time. She’s beating me up for no reason.”

As Eddie settles into the plastic chair under the opposing wall’s window, you scooch down the mattress, patting the side closest to Steve with an encouraging smile at Robin.

She takes the seat, appreciative, her clammy hand slipping into yours for support as she addresses Steve: “Y’know, if you did this to get out of doing inventory this weekend, you could just say so.”

“You caught me, Robs,” Steve says, thumbing over her knuckles fondly. “Finally gonna join my conspiracy to make Keith’s life hell?”

You’re about to cut in, emphasizing that no one else should be making any hospital visits, when a metallic screech has the three of you on the bed whipping around.

Eddie’s managed to crack the barred window- judging by the sound, it hasn’t been opened since the 70s. He freezes with all the attention, then speaks around the cigarette clenched between his lips, suave again- “Pardon the interruption. Anyone else care for a smoke?”

Everyone in the room blinks at him, in various stages of disbelief; Steve starts laughing, first, which gets Robin going, and eventually you, too, until Eddie’s grinning around the cigarette, lighter halfway to his mouth as he chuckles- “Well, can’t say I didn’t offer…”

Robin makes a comment about nicotine fumes, which quickly devolves into her and Eddie fiercely bickering.

The elevated chatter of your friends fades into the background as Steve takes your hand atop the sheets, head tilted to get you in his line of sight again- love you, he mouths.

Love you, too.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Israel has been preparing for the possibility of a direct strike from Iran. To that end, the IDF has been initiating GPS jamming, first in the south, and now in central Israel as well. On a personal note, I had to calm my mom down today (I could do this thanks to having heard about it on the news already), because it's a scary thing for people, and they don't know what to think, when they open Waze and find themselves "appearing" in enemy territory. Iran's attack options might also include drone attacks, or anti-Jewish terrorist attacks around the world. We've heard about Esther and Mordechai's Tomb being attacked tonight in Iran itself.

Speaking of the country that's the biggest funder of terrorism globally, tomorrow it's "Al-Quds Day" (Jerusalem Day) in Iran. It was established in 1979, after the Islamist revolution, as an antisemitic political measure, meant to help radicalize people against the Jewish state. Officially, it's a protest of Israel's sovereignity in Jerusalem, the city which has been the capital of the Jewish people, the place we pray to, for over 3,000 years, longer than Islam has existed. Some people worry that Iran will use this date specifically to strike against Israel or other Jewish targets around the world.

With or without connection, the chief of Israel's army intelligence is quoted as saying in private conversations, "I have told you time and time again that it is not certain that the worst is behind us and we are ahead of complex days."

Back in February, we heard that the niece of Hamas' overall leader, Ismail Haniyeh, gave birth in an Israeli hospital, and her baby, which was born prematurely, was treated in an Israeli hospital's NICU, the same hospital that had to have millions of shekels spent on, in order to make parts of it safe during Hamas' rocket attacks. While at it, we were reminded that several of Haniyeh's sisters live in Israel after marrying Israeli Bedouins, and that a few more of his relatives were allowed from Gaza into Israel for medical treatment. Just a small reminder that Haniyeh's personal wealth is estimated to be somewhere between 4 to 5 billion dollars (Taylor Swift's is only a little over 1 billion dollars), and if he wanted to, he could have flown his entire family out of there, to join him in Qatar, with the best facilities and care, rather than get medical care at a hospital subsidized by the "genocidal Zionist enemy."

Now we get the news that one of Haniyeh's sisters, a 57 years old woman, has been arrested for helping Hamas, including support for the Oct 7 massacre.

This is 34 years old Lidor Levi.

He was critically injured in the Palestinian terrorist attack in Gan Yavne. He was in a hospital, fighting for his life for 4 days. Today we got the news that he succumbed to his wounds. He leaves a pregnant wife and a daughter behind. May his memory be a blessing.

I will never understand how the accidental killing of 7 civilians in Gaza is making more headlines, and causes more rage, than the on going and intentional killing of so many Israeli civilians targeted in terrorist attacks along this entire war. I can't remember the world even addressing it, let alone raging about how unacceptable these killings are, and how they're proof that Palestinian terrorist organizations must be stopped. For that matter, I haven't come across anywhere as many headlines and world leaders' statements about an intentional drone attack that killed several rescue workers in Kharkiv, where a residential area was targeted. The hyperfocus on the one conflict where Jews can be demonized, is also leaving a lot less attention for, practical aid, and just general caring about other conflicts, which are in many ways far worse (just look at Tigray alone on the below map). It's harmful to so many more people than we come close to realizing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[wraithdance]

Good Boy [Part 2/?]

CW: Mentions of canon childhood trauma & abuse, ptsd depictions, awkwardness, Afab!Reader, I’m a dirty liar there will be more parts of this so enjoy the calm before the storm or whatever. This is apart of the Stray Dogs series

Simon is put on leave.

He’d received a nasty hairline break in his wrist after a fall out of a moving car during a recent op. (He’d been pushed out really but semantics didn't matter in the end because he'd gutted the man that had done it.) Price had nearly come to blows with him when he threatened the medic who signed off on his medical leave. Simon had been escorted off the property with strict orders to not return until he was cleared.

The cast is uncomfortable, the sensation of his bare fingers out while in public sends the talons of anxiety coursing through his body. So, he stays in his bare flat. The silence is loud and suffocating, not even the occasional echoes of his neighbors or the drone of a forgotten Manchester United game helps against the heavy weight of isolation.

After a week he’s spiraling in the dark of his own home. Stray lights bounce off the walls from between the cracks of his blinds, sending him into wide eyed paranoia. He had begun seeing things that weren’t there. Shadows moving to embrace him like a burial shroud, movement from the corner of his eyes. Nothing there when he points his pistol at the corners. He can’t sleep for long before the sound of the dull thunk of dirt on a coffin locks his body into paralysis.

When Johnny calls to check in Simon’s teeth are chattering uncontrollably from the chills that wrack his body. He manages to get through the call by grunting and humming when necessary. Johnny takes it as Simon still being upset about the forced medical leave.

‘No good to anyone wit’ yer hand like that LT.’ MacTavish says with sympathy. Simon is silent on the other end of the line.

No good to anyone without a gun in his hand because a dog that can’t be sicced, is not a dog.

He hangs up the phone when Johnny jokes that he thought Simon was invincible, an immortal surpassing the fragility of man.

“Fuck.”

Simon's eyes meet the business card in the mirror as he wipes sick from his mouth. It takes him more than once for his fingers to unclench at his will. The indents from his nails sting as blood rushes back to the digits. He stares at the card for too long before he brushes past the string of texts from Johnny and dials your number.

One ring, two and a third. He hangs up when the call connects. You’re calling back seconds later, he lets it go to voicemail. He’s watching his own eyes dilate in the mirror when you call again.

This time he picks up.

You’re silent and he listens to your breathing. There's a shuffle and he thinks he can make out the sounds of sheets shifting.

“Um? Hi… is this the guy from the pub?”

Simon grunts. “Don't give out your number a lot?”

You laugh despite his flat tone. “Nah, I don’t have anyone who calls me. Just my mum and dad really.” You’re hesitant, he can feel it through the phone like a tangible thing.

“Wasn’ gonna call.”

This makes you laugh again, he realizes you laugh a lot at things that weren’t funny.

“I figured you weren’t after the first week. I’m glad you did though, I still meant what I said.”

There's another lapse in silence before you must realize he won’t assist in driving the conversation.

“Listen, let me show you what I’m working on okay? I’m going to send you an address to a coffee shop and you can show up when you want. I won’t hound you if you don’t.”

“Didn’t give me a time.”

“Oh Yeah! I dog walk in the mornings before the shop opens. I’m there pretty much everyday stealing the free wifi and working on my manuscript, so you can show up anytime and I’ll probably be there.” You laugh again in self deprecation.

His fingers twitch around the phone. Simon thinks you’re too free with your joy. There's a part of him that wants to pluck the mirth from your throat and pocket it inside his own chest for warmth.

He doesn’t promise you anything but you still thank him profusely when he gruffly tells you he’s hanging up.

Your soft good night rings inside his ears for the rest of the evening, it’s louder than the endless quiet or the memories of being buried alive. In the morning when he wakes he squints at the bright light of his phone, clicking on the text thread of your unsaved number. An address and a reminder of your name followed by a smiling emoji.

You’re the fourth contact he saves to his phone.

He shows up after two days. He’d looked at your text for the umpteenth time and pocketed his keys into his jacket, commuting to the building on autopilot. It’s more of an outdoor food court that serves coffee than the coffee shop you described. Simon makes eye contact with you from the entrance of the outdoor patio. Your smile is dampened like you're afraid of scaring him off with your excitement. He’s nearly to the bench you sit on when you suddenly shoot up and throw your hands out to stop him.

“Wait!”

He stops in his tracks. The space in his mind where Ghost exists takes over him like a thick fog as he searches for a threat. His good hand spasms against the fabric of his jeans-covered thigh.

You must realize your error because you grimace.

“I’m so sorry I have a client's dog with me. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t scared or allergic before you saw him.”

Simon is taken aback. His knee jerk instinct is to lash out, ask you if you were an idiot or something else needlessly vitriolic, but he can’t bring himself to with the genuine worry you emote.

The fact that you were concerned enough to check in is an oddity. He’s unfamiliar with being on the other side of care from a woman that wasn’t related to him by marriage or water of the womb. It guts him how easily he wants to lean into it, desperate for the small connection not severed by death.

“Not ‘fraid of dogs,” He rolls his shoulders back, eyes taking in everything but your smile. “I don’ drink coffee either.”

That makes you laugh loudly, you smack a hand over your mouth to cover the giggles that escape. Simon stares down the flickering dance of your irises. You’re unbothered by his leering and instead offer him another grin.

“O-kay! Just let me introduce you to him and I’ll grab you whatever you want okay?” You’re moving before he can say anything.

Despite his objection to being afraid, he still braces himself to be met with a four legged behemoth. The long forgotten dog bite on his right calf sings with phantom pain like he’d received it yesterday and not twenty years ago. His father had let his drunken friends dangle Simon in front of his illegal Japanese Tosa. An eight year old Simon had kicked out in fear and had been mauled by the dog in return. Simon’s mother had sobbed inconsolably at the sight of the deep wounds.

You turn around after a moment of shuffling and he can’t help but to blurt, “Wot the steaming hell is that?”

You’re pouting and holding your free hand over the ear of the pint sized rodent trembling in your embrace. The small elderly chihuahua looked ready to leap from your arms in pursuit of the sweet relief of death.

“This is Sprinkles, he’s my neighbor's dog! Mr. Allens is in the hospital for a bit so I’ll just be taking care of Sprinkles for a few days in the meantime. Do you wanna say hello?”

He grunts, giving you a side eye as you inch closer, “Rather not.”

You huff turning to the mangy mutt with a sad smile. “It’s okay, he just doesn’t understand you like I do.” You tell Simon to sit down while you grab some tea. He’s thankful that you bring Sprinkles with you, uncomfortable with the imagery of the dog meeting its much needed end on his watch.

When you return you hand him his steaming cup of Earl Grey tea and launch into your pitch. Simon makes no plans to drink the beverage instead tapping the digits not in the cast on the paper cup. Sprinkles sits in your lap trembling in his tiny sweater.

Fockin’ hell.

Simon interrupts you mid sentence.

“You want me to pose for a bloody romance?”

You blink “Yep, that is what I’m writing so essentially that's the idea.”

Simon cuts you a look not liking the sass but you return it with a cheeky grin. “I know it's unconventional but when I saw you in the pub I couldn’t help but think you looked like a character of mine. I had to see if you’d be willing to model for me.”

“‘Haven’t even seen my face.” He huffs in disbelief.

Cocking your head you look at him in consideration, taking in the black balaclava and stroking Sprinkles as you do. “Yeah, I figured you were sensitive about it since you’re covered from head to toe. Technically you wouldn’t need to take anything off. I was more so interested in capturing your overall aura.”

Simon doesn’t say anything for a while. Just watches you with narrow eyes. You’re mid sip when he asks you to read the manuscript for himself.

“Ack!”

He’s mildly impressed that you manage not to sputter tea all over the dog. Your eyes burn with tears from the effort to not choke to death. “W-why would you want to read it?!” you’re squeaking with wide eyes.

He gives a half shrug, warmth pattering at his chest. “‘Didn’ hear you say anything about payment so thought I might see what’s the fuss. Got a reputation and all so I can’t just agree to anything.”

The look you give him is unimpressed. “Are you being funny? I can’t really tell and I’d rather you just say no rather than tease me.”

He leans back, raising his arm to rest near you on the top of the bench. You glance at the closeness of his gloved hand but he ignores the pointed look.

“Serious as a heart attack. I wanna read it before I give you an answer.”

There's a moment where he thinks you’ll say no, he’s expecting it, but you set your shoulders back and tip your chin up at him. “Fine. You can read it, I don’t mind whatsoever.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” you pop the ‘p’ in the word. “Absolutely fine with it. I encourage it actually, fair is fair and all.”

He snorts out a dark chuckle. “Right.”

You ask for his email address and Simon gives you an encrypted email containing a string of numbers. You make a joke about him secretly being a spy that he doesn’t laugh at. It doesn’t bother you any, you continue chuckling to yourself as you press send.

Simon watches you pause in hesitation as you gather the half dead dog and your belongings. You’re chewing on your bottom lip in thought stroking Sprinkles whose eyes are half lidded in your arms.

“Wot?” He asks gruffly, startling you.

“Sorry,” you smile sheepishly. “I was just wondering… can I sign your cast?”

Simon’s eye twitches.

“Why would you wanna do that?”

At his tone you squint your eyes at him. “Because that’s what friends do?”

Simon wants to say something snarky around the lump in his throat. Condemn you for assuming they were friends after meeting only once prior. The urge fizzles out when you give him a startled expression.

“Has no one ever signed your cast before?”

No.

He’d broken many bones in his life starting from the age of childhood. Tommy had tried to sign his leg cast once when they were teenagers, he’d earned a broken nose from their father before he’d been able to finish scrawling out the second ‘m’ in his name. He’d never been close enough to anyone else to be asked.

In his reverie you’ve rifled through the tote back at your arm, shifting sprinkles on your hip. You procure a sharpie and hold it up like a trophy.

You approach him cautiously waiting for his objection.

When you’re standing toe to toe with his army grade boots you flick your eyes to the cast and his covered face. “So… Can I sign?”

Simon shifts on the bench, neck tensed. After several beats he looks away and lets out a gruff ‘fine.’ You don’t give him a chance to change his mind.

When you’re finished you pop up with a satisfied smile, slipping the cap on to the marker. “There, all done!”

Simon says nothing. He lumbers to a stand that causes you to stumble back. He watches your flickering eyes and the waver of your smile.

“Okayyyy… I have to get this one home now so just let me know when you want to meet?”

You wave enthusiastically at him and walk away. You only get a few feet before you stop and turn around. Simon watched as you take Sprinkles or in hand and wave it as well. “Say bye to Sprinkles!”

He cuts his eyes at you. “I’m not sayin’ goodbye to the bloody dog.”

You pout and shrug, whispering something to the dog as you go. Simon stands in place for several minutes watching you retreat.

Bloody Hell.

At home on his couch he pops open a can of ale with one hand taking a long gulps. Simon opens the email attachment you sent him, momentarily distracted by your blocky letters on his cast and the lopsided smiley face drawn in sharpie. He squints at the pages before him in his lap trying to make sense of what he was reading.

His eyebrows twitch when he reaches fifty pages in and realizes you’d sent him written porn.

“Wot the bloody hell.”