#removal company kent

[hilogisticz12]

Hilogisticz Removals

Hi Everyone I'm HENRY IK owner of Hilogisticz Removals based in, London, United Kingdom. Hilogisticz is a reliable removal service, we provide House Removal, Office Removal, and House Removal services at an affordable rate in London, Essex, Kent, and Canterbury Areas. 

[vansandhands]

Top Moving Mistakes to Avoid | Tips for a Smooth Move

Website: www.vansandhands.com

Moving under stress can lead to common moving mistakes that cost money, time, and sanity. To avoid common moving mistakes, it's crucial to have a plan before starting any major tasks. Here are seven common mistakes to avoid:

Doing everything by yourself: DIYing your move can be more time-consuming and risky than hiring professionals. Be honest with yourself about your move and how much work you can put into it. Opt for professional help if you have heavy belongings.

Not packing early: Packing up a house is the most time-consuming task, so be realistic when allotting time. Decluttering your home before packing can result in higher transportation costs.

Not maintaining a moving checklist: A customised and prioritised checklist helps organize each stage of the move, prevents time loss, and motivates you.

Not getting the right insurance: Before hiring a moving company or office movers, ensure your belongings are covered in transit and your moving company is fully insured.

Not observing moving day safety: Be proactive and employ safety measures, such as proper moving equipment, clear exit paths, keeping children and pets away, and dressing appropriately for the day of the move. By following these checklists, you can ensure a smooth and stress-free moving experience.

A moving checklist is essential for a hassle-free move, avoiding mistakes like last-minute packing, lack of clear planning, and not packing essentials. Keep essentials in one place, underestimate packing boxes, and label boxes. Use local supermarkets or online for used ones, stock up on masking tape, and stock up on bubble wrap. Leave boxes unlabelled, measure doorways, and inform people about your new address. Use a checklist to ensure everything is organized and double-check before wrapping up. Contact a moving specialist for more moving advice.

Read The Top 7 Moving Mistakes to Avoid, to save yourself these common moving mistakes.

[superbat-love]

Clark stared miserably at his plate, seated across from his latest potential marriage prospect, the Omega son of Obs-Tinate, the CEO of Tinate, one of Krypton’s largest pharmaceutical companies.

"So, what do you do for fun?" the Omega asked Clark.

“I read a lot. Right now, I’m going through a book called ‘The Life and Death of Earth’. It’s fascinating—Earth’s culture and history really interest me. I also write under the pseudonym Clark Kent,” Clark replied.

"Oh, you’re a writer. Anyway, you’ll be inheriting your parents' research company, right?" the Omega said, clearly uninterested. Before Clark could respond, a waiter approached the table.

“Welcome to Gotham, esteemed Omega consorts and gentle Alphas. I’m Dick, your waiter for tonight,” the young man said with a playful smile. “First up, we have the hors d'oeuvre, a Gotham specialty.” He elegantly placed the dish on the table.

“Wait a minute, these snacks are cold. I want them reheated,” Obs-Tinate complained.

The waiter looked confused. “Sir, they’re meant to be served cold.”

“I don’t care, they should be hot!” Obs snapped.

Jor-El, Clark’s father, offered the waiter an apologetic smile. “Could you ask the chef if he can make an exception?”

Dick gave a small bow and removed the dish, taking it back to the kitchen.

A minute later, a large, imposing man stormed out of the kitchen. The occupants of the table shrank back as he stomped toward them, his expression furious.

“What do you mean, you want them reheated? Why should I change Alfred’s recipe to suit your unrefined Alpha palate?” the man growled into Obs-Tinate’s terrified face.

“B-Back off, you... you gargantuan Omega!” the CEO stammered, his voice shaking. His son whimpered, trying to hide behind his father.

“Mr. Butcher!” Clark cried out, recognizing the furious man.

The man’s glare shifted to Clark, his eyes narrowing. “You’re that Alpha who’s always loitering outside my butcher shop. Are you stalking me?”

“It’s Kal-El! I didn’t know you worked as a chef here,” Clark said, eyes wide. “Is this your night job?”

“It’s not. In fact, I was never here, and you never saw me.” The man turned, quickly making his way back toward the kitchen.

Clark stood up from the table, ignoring his parents' concerned glances, and hurried after him. “Wait! Can I at least get your name?”

“Damn persistent Alpha,” the man muttered. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Fine. If I tell you my name, Mr. Floppy Bow, will you leave me alone?”

Clark nodded eagerly, his heart racing. He yelped when the man suddenly grabbed his bowtie and tugged him close.

“Call me Bruce,” the man murmured in his ear, his breath warm against Clark’s skin. He released him with a wink and disappeared into the kitchen. Clark caught a glimpse of Dick giving Bruce two thumbs up just before the doors swung shut behind him.

The Ugly Omega AU

[stephensmithuk]

The Sign of Four: The Strange Story of Jonathan Small (Part One of Two)

I will split this in two parts as I've got a lot to cover here.

CW for discussions of nasty prison conditions.

The depth of the Thames is about 6.5 metres at low tide in Woolwich, near to the Plumstead Marshes as they were then. However, the river has strong currents and very little visibility, so it would be a risky operation even with 2024 diving technology for some rather small objects.

The rupee originally was a silver coin dating back to ancient times in India, becoming something of a standard currency during the Mughal period. The East India Company introduced paper rupees and while there was an attempt by the British to move their territory to the pound sterling, they soon gave up, minting their own rupees with the British monarch's head on. The currency was also non-decimal. India retained the currency post-independence and went decimal as well.

Mangrove trees are very common in equatorial coastline regions - they can remove salt from the water, which would kill many other trees.

Prisoners set to the Andaman Islands penal colony were forced to work nine to ten hours a day to construct the new settlement, while in chains. Cuts from poisonous plants and friction ulcers from the chains would often get infected, resulting in death.

The convict huts on Ross Island were two-storey affairs, with the bottom as a kitchen and took area, the prisoners sleeping on the upper floor. Designed this way as an anti-malaria measure, they however leaked and the prisoners themselves were constantly damp from the rainfall, offering them little protection from the mosquitoes in any event.

Ague is an obsolete term for malaria; adults experience chills and fever in cycles.

The British would conduct experiments with quinine as a malaria treatment by force-feeding it to the prisoners. This caused severe side effects.

The British would make use of locals as warders, who wore sashes and carried canes. I'd imagine they could probably be quite brutal.

Pershoe is a small town on the River Avon near Worcester. It has a railway station with an hourly service to London, taking just under two hours today.

"Chapel-going" in this context means that the people attended a non-conformist church i.e. not one part of the Church of England.

"Taking the Queen's/King's shilling" was a historical term for joining the armed forces - for the army this was officially voluntary, but sailors could be forcibly recruited, being known as "press-ganged" until 1815. You would be given the shilling upon initial enlistment or tricked into taking it via it being slipped into your opaque beer. You would return the shilling on your formal attestation and then receive a bounty which could be pretty substantial in terms of the average wage, although a good amount of that would then be spent on your uniform. Some enlisted, deserted and then reenlisted multiple times to get multiple payments. The practice officially stopped in 1879, but the slang term remains.

The 3rd Buffs refers to the latter 3rd Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment), a militia battalion that existed from 1760 to 1953, although it effectively was finished in 1919. However, in reality, they did not go to India to deal with the rebellion, instead staying in Great Britain to cover for the regular regiments who did.

The British never formally adopted the Prussian "goose step" instead going for the similar, but less high-kicking, slow march.

The musket would possibly have been the muzzle-loaded Enfield P53, a mass-produced weapon developed at the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield. It was itself was the trigger of the Indian Rebellion in 1857 due to the grease used in the cartridges. They would also be heavily used in the American Civil War on both sides, especially the Confederate one as they smuggled a lot of them, with only the Springfield Model 1861 being more widely used. As a result, they are highly sought after by re-enactors. The British used them until 1867, when they switched to the breech-loading Snider-Enfield, many of the P53s being converted.

The crocodile would likely have been a gharial, which mainly eat fish. Hunting and loss of habitat has reduced their numbers massively, with the species considered "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN.

"Coolie" is a term today considered offensive that was used to describe low-wage Indian or Chinese labourers who were sent around the world, basically to replace emancipated slaves. Indentured labourers, basically - something the US banned (except as a riminal punishment) along with slavery in 1865. In theory they were volunteers on a contract with rights and wages, however abuses were rife. Indentured labour would finally be banned in British colonies in 1917.

Indigo is a natural dark blue dye extracted from plants of the Indigofera genus; India produced a lot of it. Today, the dye (which makes blue jeans blue) is mostly produced synthetically.

I have covered the "Indian Mutiny" as the British called it here in my post on "The Crooked Man".

The Agra Fort dates back to 1530 and at 94 acres, it was pretty huge by any standards. Today, much of it is open to tourists (foreigners pay 650 rupees, Indians 50), although there are parts that remain in use by the Indian Army and are not for public access.

"Rajah" meaning king, referred to the many local Hindu monarchs in the Indian subcontinent; there were also Maharajahs or "great kings", who the British promoted loyal rajahs to the rank of. The Muslim equivalent was Nawab. However, a variety of other terms existed. The East India Company and the Raj that succeeded them used these local rulers to rule about a half their territory and a third of the population indirectly, albeit under quite a bit of influence from colonial officials. These rulers were vassals to the British monarch; they would collect taxes and enforce justice locally, although many of the states were pretty small (a handful of towns in some cases) and so they contracted this out to the British. As long as they remained loyal, they could get away with nearly anything.

562 of these rulers were present at the time of Indian independence in 1947. Effectively abandoned by the British (Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, sending out contradictory messages), nearly all of them were persuaded to accede to the new India, where the nationalists were not keen on them, with promises they could keep their autonomy if they joined, but if not, India would not help them with any rebellions. Hyderabad, the wealthiest of the states, resisted and was annexed by force. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir joined India in exchange for support against invading Pakistani forces, resulting in a war. A ceasefire agreement was reached at the beginning of 1949, with India controlling about two-thirds of the territory; the ceasefire line, with minor adjustments after two further wars in 1965 and 1971, would become known as the Line of Control, a dotted line on the map that is the de facto border and one of the tensest disputed frontiers on the planet.

India and Pakistan initially allowed the princely rulers to retain their autonomy, but this ended in 1956. In 1971 and 1972 respectively, their remaining powers and government funding were abolished.

Many of the former rulers ended up in a much humbler position, others retained strong local influence and a lot of wealth. The Nizam of Hyderbad, Mir Osman Ali Khan was allowed to keep his personal wealth and title after the annexation in 1948 - he had been the richest man in the world during his rule and used a 184-carat diamond as a paperweight, at least until he realised its actual value. The current "pretender", Azhmet Jah, has worked as a cameraman and filmmaker in Hollywood, including with Steven Spielberg.

[ettraxx]

Kara Kent Part 2

Kara’s day was not turning out as she had expected. Instead of getting herself caught up on Dr. Hamilton’s current projects, she is sitting in a conference room with her boss, the owner of the company, the owner’s assistant, and a lawyer in a three piece suit more expensive than Kara’s entire wardrobe. Checking her phone from this morning it was a message from Clark. He was informing her that his flight from Kansas City was delayed. 

She responds with a frowny face emoji, and a short message that her day was a mess. Lena covertly scans Kara’s phone from over her shoulder. The FBI agents who assumed command of the investigation decided to observe the quartet and interview each of them one by one. Lena’s assistant Jess is the first and the lawyer is right by her side. 

“This probably wasn’t what you expected on your first day.” States Lena as she sits down next to Kara. 

“No, but I’ve come to expect the unexpected since moving to National City.” Responds Kara swiftly pocketing her phone. 

“Boyfriend?” Asks Lena with a smile that suggests she’s fishing for information. 

“No, I don’t have one of those.” Responds Kara feeling entirely too at ease with the woman. “My, brother is coming to stay with me. Our folks are getting on in years, and everyone thought it would be better for him out here in National City than in rural Kansas.” 

“Oh.” Responds Lena her smile growing softer. “I didn’t expect that from you. Not that I know you well enough to expect much of anything beyond your work.”

“It’s okay, I’m mostly an open book.” Scoffs Kara side eyeing Amelia as she crosses her arms and looks away from the two. 

Her boss looks especially annoyed with all of this. In fact, if Kara didn’t know any better she would say Amelia looks downright upset. Then again if she was dead set on making medical miracles happen, and all of this interrupted, she might be frustrated too. Then again her eyes narrow whenever she looks at Lena specifically.

Looking back down at herself, Kara spots a singed hole in her suit jacket. Just barely hidden by her lapel, no one else has noticed it yet causing Kara to remove her jacket and fold it over her arm. Her sky blue blouse with its frilly material hides any additional holes much more easily. Her attention returns to Lena at her side. 

“How old is he?” She asks with a relaxed grin. “Your brother.”

“He just turned 14, but he’s probably smarter than all of the kids he’s about to go to school with.” Responds Kara hearing the approaching foot steps of Jess and the agents. 

“If he shares any traits with you, I’m sure he is.” Responds Lena with a faint twinkle in her eyes.

Jess is ushered back inside, and Kara is called out by name. She stands and walks confidently towards the waiting agent. Lena watches Kara leave and turns her attention to the chair she was just in. Sitting in the corner of the chair, she spots a glinting piece of metal. 

*****

Siting in the makeshift interrogation room, Kara has flashbacks to Monday night’s at the Kent farm. Sitting down after dinner and watching NCIS with Pa. She didn’t really understand Jonothan Kent’s interest in the police procedural, but the character interactions could be fun. And Danvers and Henshaw definitely have a DiNozo and Gibbs kind of vibe.

Agent Danvers doesn’t have the same kind of charm as DiNozo, but she was definitely the more friendly of the pair. She has more of a big sister kind of energy about her. Henshaw embodies the cold and stoic persona, and she’s sure he would make a great bad cop. The two ask all the big standard questions, and the lawyer only steps in when he needs to. 

 They beat around the idea that Kara might be behind the assassination attempt. The two are obviously fishing and trying to gauge her reactions. Unfortunately for them she is not as nervous as they want her to be. The pair are definitely hiding something, but Kara is not sure what it could be.

Do they know more about the would-be assassin? Do they know why Lena was targeted? Or perhaps they know about her? She keeps her cool and maintains her control, just like Ma helped her learn to do. 

After 42 minutes almost exactly, she is told she could leave. She is ushered back to the conference room, and Doctor Hamilton is requested next. Lena is immediately looking at Kara with a different air about her. She is still outwardly friendly, but her eyes are harder and more focused. 

It was the same kind of look Kara had when she was solving a puzzle. The CEO is now keeping her distance and observing everything that Kara does. Nervously Kara pours herself a glass of ice water and drinks the whole thing. Only after she was finished did it register that Jess was gone. 

“I sent her home for the day, with pay.” Responds Lena with a knowing smile. “You’re welcome to do the same, you wouldn’t want to miss your brother’s flight.”

“Uh, thank you mam.” Responds Kara now on edge.

“Please, call me Lena or Miss Luthor.” She responds though her voice has a slight edge to it. 

“Then please, call me Kara.” She responds standing and holding her hand out to Lena. 

The CEO hesitates momentarily, and her heart rate speeds up. Lena suspects something. Hopefully she only suspects that Kara is behind the assassination attempt. That one is at least easy enough to prove wrong. Lena herself applies much more force to her grip, and Kara instinctively matches the pressure. 

*****

Kara left work and made her way to her favorite comfort restaurant. Noonan’s makes the closest meatloaf to what Ma Kent makes, that she has ever tasted. She notices someone following her to the restaurant, and assumes it’s another fed. She sets about enjoying her lunch and leaves as much of a tip as she ever has. 

Instead of returning home and changing, she sets out for National City International Airport. The usual long and arduous wait is in store as Clark’s plane lands and sits for almost an hour. Clark practically looks like a sixteen year old already. His shaggy black hair and thick glasses were designed to help him to blend in. 

The hug they share is a long and warm one. Nothing like she would have ever shared with him back ‘home’. But then again almost everything is different on Earth than back on Krypton. The pair ride back to Kara’s apartment, well, their apartment in the back of a musky smelling taxi. 

Clark initially rolls his eyes at the idea of taking a taxi. He does, however, text a few times along the way. He’s not super impressed by her apartment, though that’s because he’s seen it before. He likes his new room, what with it last being cluttered with boxes, even if it’s a bit sparse now. 

With a burst of super speed, he unloads his suitcases. A flurry of flannel, jeans and T-shirts fly into his closet and drawers. He only packed enough clothes to last a couple weeks, as he didn’t want to overstuff his suitcase. He intended to quite literally run home to the Kent farm and gather anything else he needed over the weekend.

He and Pa had even built a fire-resistant chest for him to use just for the trip. Friction didn’t usually bother him and his clothes, but if he lugged anything else around at super speeds it could be disastrous. He even brought along a few photos and keepsakes, to make it really feel like home. Prominently he has two photos on display. 

The first from the beginning of summer is of Clark, Kara, Ma and Pa in front of the farmhouse. The second, from a few weeks later, is of Clark, and his best friends, Pete Ross and Lana Lang. The three of them were hanging out at the lake in between his and Lana’s houses. 

Clark steps out into the main floor after he hears the doorbell.

Kara had ordered a massive takeout dinner for the two. Pizza’s, potstickers, sliders, and dozens of appetizers. He shook his head with smiles as Kara scrunched up her face with a joyful smile. Clark couldn’t help but share the light hearted smile.

“Surprise!” Announces Kara as she sets up the spread. 

“You do still remember how to cook right?” Asks Clark with a smirk as he removes his glasses and glides over to join her. 

“Of course, but I wanted to celebrate you moving in.” Dismisses Kara with a forced shrug. “And after today I really wanted potstickers.”

“Good day or bad day?” Questions Clark with a raised eyebrow taking a seat upon a stool. 

“A bit of both.” Responds Kara thinking of the best way to gloss over what happened. “My new bosses both seem nice, but work was, interrupted.”

“Yeah, an assassination attempt can do that.” Retorts Clark with a knowing smirk. “News reported on it while I was waiting on the plane.”

Clark’s phone buzzes in his pocket and he instinctively answers it while shielding the screen from Kara’s sight. His soft chuckle and accelerated heartbeat are unmistakable to Kara’s ears. As soon as he’s finished with his response, he taps the power button and the screen goes black. He grabs three slices of meat lovers pizza and half of the fried cheese sticks. 

“So how’s Lana doing?” Asks Kara as she bites a potsticker in half.

“How did you… she’s fine. She misses me, but she’s looking forward to Smallville High.” Responds Clark trying desperately to hide his faint blush. 

“How do you feel about her being so far away?” Kara asks her smug grin warming into a genuine loving smile.

“It’s not like she’s actually, that, far away. It’s a five minute run or a two minute flight.” Responds Clark trying a little too hard to be cool. “But I miss her being able to visit me in the loft.” 

“You’ve got it bad Kal.” Teases Kara with a sparkle in her eyes. 

“It’s not like that, she’s my best friend. She was my only friend for so long.” Responds Clark continuing to blush.

“You two practically grew up together.” States Kara bluntly. “It’s like all those movies Ma loves to watch.”

“Shut up!” Defends Clark forcing anger to his face to hide his red cheeks. “It’s not like that, besides she likes Whitney Fordman.”

“She’s settling for Whitney. Wait, isn’t he the one whose dad owns the tractor supply store?” Asks Kara with a slice of pizza in hand. 

“Yeah, Pete’s been working there over the summer.” Responds Clark finishing off another plate of food.

“How is Pete, and I thought he was your best friend?” Asks Kara observing her brother as he responds. 

“I mean Pete’s cool and all, but I told Lana everything.” Clark silences himself after that admission. 

Kara catches his meaning, and she takes a few moments to respond. “You told her everything?”

“Yeah. She noticed me using my strength and trying to hide it.” Admits Clark with a half smile. “I told her everything, and eventually showed her our pods. To prove it all.”

“Our secret isn’t something we should share with anyone. It puts them in danger as much as us.” States Kara with a tone of authority and disappointment. 

“This is why I didn’t tell Pa.” Scoffs Clark all but inhaling a slice of pizza. “I mean you must have shared the secret with someone.”

“No. I’ve never told anyone.” Responds Kara with more than a little pain in her voice. 

She could tell Clark about Kenny. About how he found out her secrets, about how he died protecting those same secrets. Clark was too young to remember the boy, and that was for the best. Telling Clark would only hurt him, and she promised so long ago to protect him from harm. 

“Not even Bart?” Asks Clark getting her college friends name wrong on purpose.

“It’s Barry, and no I didn’t even tell him.” Responds Kara with a smile showing that she has no hard feelings. “

*****

Across National City, Lena Luthor is in her private lab. Long gone are the ineffective federal agents, and the equally ineffective police. She already reprogrammed the security system for the entire building, replacing all current security codes. Now she’s on to studying the spent round she recovered. It would be much easier if she had the deformed round recovered from the wall, but the police don’t need to know that she has a second round. The police still believe that the exploding alarm was struck by the second shot.

The agents were less than thrilled with her dismissal of the would-be assassin. The police couldn’t seem to care less. Lena knew that her resources would be able to find every bit of evidence leagues faster than the disinterested police, but she was limited in her ability to investigate. The first round was most likely destroyed after shattering the bullet resistant glass, and then hitting the reinforced lab wall. 

The recovered round is completely deformed. Having struck something that absorbed all of its kinetic energy and did not yield. It takes her a while before she recovers a couple of fibers from within the warped tip of the bullet. One dark blue and one sky blue, confirming Lena’s suspicion that Kara stopped the bullet. But that confirmation only raises questions. 

How did Kara Kent survive the gunshot? Does she have a hidden bulletproof vest? Does she have a personal forcefield device? Or is she what Lex’s notes call a Meta Human?

Lena lets out an involuntary yawn and decides she’s done enough for tonight. She seals her findings away on her private computer. She seals her lab behind her, and locks down her office. Frank is dutifully waiting for her with her black limo. The drive to her penthouse is as short as ever, and she refrains from drinking any of the scotch on the ride.

Entering her sparse penthouse she quickly double checks her personal security system, before stepping into her kitchen. She contemplates eating a quick salad before grabbing a bottle of her good scotch. She pours two fingers before looking at the blinking number on her answering machine. Taking a sip and then the bottle with her, she steps up to the machine. 

The first message is from her mother. “Lena, I heard there was an attempt on your life. You never should have gone off on your own. There is still time to accept your brother’s offer and rejoin the company...”

Lena has heard enough and erases the message. The second comes from Sam. “Lena, you need to call me. Why did I hear from your mother, that someone tried to kill you? Just call me, if for no reason other than for Ruby to hear from you.”

She swallows a gulp of her scotch and picks up the phone. “Hello Sam, I’m fine. Yes, I will talk to Ruby, But first you need to look into someone for me.”

So i was originally going to just wait until i was finished with part 1 of my story, but because so many seemed to like it hare's the next part while i hopefully finish the full chapter this weekend.

[mrmaybank]

Fandom: DC, MCU

Title: Did She Run Away?

Series: Wheres My Love (2/??)

Character(s): Peter Parker, The avengers, Talia Al Ghul, Connor Kent, Jon Kent

Request: No

Genre: Fluff, Angst

TW: None

A/N: Reader used to be superman’s sidekick . When I through New York in here, if y’all didn’t expect this to be a DC, Marvel cross over idk what to say

Key:

(Y/S/N) = Your superhero name

(N/N) = Nickname

(S/W) = signature weapon

Masterlist

December 1st, 2019

Almost two years that’s how long you had been here, in New York city. You were living with your friend Peter Parker and his aunt May. It had hit the news quickly that (Y/S/N) had moved from crime fighting in Gotham, Bludhaven, and Metropolis. To fighting crime in New York city, you hadn’t had a run in with the avengers, the rip off justice league as you called them, or heroes that were affiliated with them yet.

That would change tonight though. Since you decided to suit up about two months into your stay into New York, you had only gone after minor thugs. Which you found patrolling, which you were doing at the moment. When a familiar spider-boy who wore bright red decided you need company.

He swung down landing in front of you, before he could say anything you spoke. “What you want?” You asked.

“I thought you would like some company,” he replied, he stuck out his hand. “Spiderman,” he told you.

You rolled your eyes before taking his hand, “(Y/S/N),” You replied. You two began talking for awhile, getting to each other without revealing anything about your secret identities. You too had moved so you were sitting on the side of building with your legs dangling off the edge.

“So what’s it like working for superman?” He asked.

You shook your head, “I didn’t work for him, sure I was his sidekick but there no power dynamic. I would boss him around sometimes, he would do the same to me. He’s my mentor but he was also so much more then that,” You replied.

He placed a hand on your shoulder, “It must have been hard leaving. I don’t what I would do if I had to leave behind black widow or Iron man,” You gave him a sad smile, and nodded.

“Why’d you leave?” He asked. You froze, you hadn’t told anyone not Peter not May. The only people who knew were the ones back in Gotham and Metropolis. He must have noticed your reaction to the question because he quickly told you, that you didn’t have to tell him.

“No, I’ll tell you. It’s fine,” you replied.

“You sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,”

“It’s fine,” you assured him, you took a deep breathe. “My robin died,” you told him.

He tilted his head much like a confused puppy would, “Huh? Your bird died?” He asked.

You laughed and shook your head, “No, Batman’s sidekicks are called Robins. Mine died, he was killed by the Joker. It was couple of years ago but I never got over it, I spent months reviewing the footage from Batman’s suit from that night,” your voice cracked, “Trying to figure out if someway, somehow he wasn’t dead. But I just found myself watching my baby die, over and over again.

I did it until realized he was gone, that he wasn’t coming back. So I started visiting his grave, telling him everything that he was missing. I thought I was okay, I really did. Then one night I found myself fighting the joker. And were there, at the warehouse or what remained of it.

And he started things and I just remembered how mad, I was,” tears rolled down your face, “Mad that this sick son of a bitch was alive, but my baby bird was dead. Then I just snapped and I almost killed him and I just remember thinking that was I wanted to do it. I want him dead, I was gonna kill. If Nightwing and Orphan hadn’t shown up, I would have killed him,” You looked over at spiderman, “I’m not a murder,” you told him.

He shook his head, “Your not a murder (M/N).”

“How..?”

He removed his masking, revealing that he was Peter. “I figured it out, while you were talking,” the brunette explained.

“Can we go back your apartment?” You asked.

Peter nodded, “let’s go,”

March 2nd, 2020 (There is no COVID)

As the elevator went up heading to the top floor, where currently the Avengers resided, so did your nervous. Peter must have sense this because he placed a hand your shoulder, “Relax, everything is gonna be okay,” he told you.

You scoffed, “Telling people to relax doesn’t really make them relax,” You replied, “Besides this like meeting the Justice League all over again,”

“But it’s the avengers this time,”

You shook your head, “Still. Do you know how bad I embarrassed myself the first time, I met the Justice League?”

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Peter replied.

“It was that bad!” You exclaimed, “I fell into the fucking pool of Justice!” You looked over at Peter and noticed he was trying not to laugh, which earned him a small shove. “Asshole, don’t laugh!”

“I wasn’t laughing at you,” He replied, “Pool of Justice?”

You bit your lip trying to stop yourself from laughing as well because you knew if you laughed, Morpheus would strike you down then and there. “Yeah…the justice league isn’t the best at name things,”

“Then I feel really bad for there children,” Peter laughed.

You shook your head, “Surprisingly there kids have good names, well the ones who didn’t name themselves or had names before they got there,”

“Named themselves? Names before they got there?” Peter asked.

“Well sure the justice league treats there sidekicks and refers to them as there kids but most of them aren’t. Like my buddy Dick, he might be Bruce’s son but Bruce didn’t name him.

Dick’s parents did and so did my parents. And as for naming themselves, sometimes there sidekicks are manmade. Like my brother, Conner. He was made to be a clone of Clark and Lex Luther, he escaped the lab though and he needed clothes. So he stole them from one of the guards and the name on the outfit was Connor,” You explained.

Before Peter could respond the elevator door opened signaling you were on the avengers floor. “You ready?” Peter asked, you nodded. The two of you exited the elevator and walked down a small hallway that took you to living room.

Where a butch of people sat you recognized them all right off the bat. There was Black Widow or Natasha Romanoff, Iron Man or Tony Stark, The god of thunder or Thor, Hawkeye or Clit Barton, Bruce Banner or the Hulk, and Steve Rogers aka Captain America.

They all smiled at you, “You must be (M/N) Kent,” Tony smiled at you.

“I am indeed,” You smiled back.

Natasha patted the space next to her, “come sit down,” she told the two of you. You both did as you were told.

“We’ve heard a lot about you from Peter,” Clit told you.

“Good things, I hope you,” you replied.

“Really good things,” Steve assured you. You spent the next hour or so getting to know them all. It was nice, you laughed a lot this much since Jason died.

“How’d you end up with, Superman and superwomen?” Thor asked.

“My parents dropped me off outside, Superman’s house. Apparently they were work buddies with his Superwomen and they couldn’t take care of me. I was two, they left a note with my name and I haven’t seen them since. But it’s okay because Superman and Superwomen raised me as there kid. There my family,” You explained.

“So why’d you leave, Metropolis and Gotham? If all the family you’ve ever known was there?” Tony asked, “Get tired of the Justice League up your ass?”

You shook your head, “The love of my life died,” you told them. You felt the whole rooms atmosphere change.

“I’m so sorry, what happened? If you don’t mind me asking,” Natasha asked.

“It’s okay,” you replied, “He was murder by the Joker and years later I thought,” You shook your head, “I didn’t think, I knew I was okay. Then I’m back at what remained of the warehouse, he was killed, fighting the Joker and I almost killed him. I was lucky two of my friends were in the area because they pulled me off of him and at that moment I knew I couldn’t stay,” you explained.

“I’m so sorry,” Tony replied, “I wouldn’t know what to do if Pepper died, especially if I found myself fighting the person who did years later,”

“It was hard,” You replied.

“Well, on a happier note,” Bruce spoke up, “we don’t usually summon people to the Avengers tower, you’re aware of that correct?” Bruce asked, you nodded.

“Well were thinking about giving you an opportunity, to work with us. You know this business way better then a lot of us do, and we could use that,” He explained.

You lit up, “Really?”

Bruce nodded, “You could teach a lot of us some things and some of us have been in this game for years.”

“I’ll try my best,” You replied.

“So you in?” Peter asked.

“Of course,” you smiled.

August 23rd, 2021

You sighed as you unlocked the door to your apartment, yes your apartment. You moved out of May’s and Peter’s a couple moths ago. Finally having enough money to buy your own, which you were very happy about. You loved Peter but after a night a patrol all you wanted to do was go to sleep, which was with him that was not so easy.

As you entered the apartment you were quick to realize that the Tv and the light in the living room were on. This set you on alert, you pulled your (S/W) out and slowly made your way to living room. As you got closer you heard a laugh, one you had heard so much that you almost immediately knew who had broken into your apartment.

You rolled your eyes, as your entered the living room. “Con-” you cut yourself off. Curled up, asleep next to Connor on the couch looked like a mini-boy version of Louis Lane who couldn’t have been more then four years old. “Whose that?” You whispered.

“(M/N), meet our younger brother, Jon,” He smiled at you.

You were very skeptical, “Is this another clone?” You asked.

Connor shook his head. “So Clark and Louis…,” you didn’t finish the sentence.

Connor nodded once more, “Yep, they had sex. I wonder how that would work, I always-,” you grimaced and cut your brother off.

“Connor!” You exclaimed, “I don’t wanna think about my mother and father figure having sex!” Your shouting cause Jon to stir next to Connor, immediately opening his eyes.

He blinked a couple times before looking around eyes landing on you. “(M/N)?” He asked. You smiled and nodded, getting down on your knees in front of your baby brother.

“Hello, Honey,” you smiled.

Before Jon could respond Connor spoke up, “You know, Bruce had another kid,” Connor told you.

“Really?” You asked not taking your eyes off of Jon.

“Mhm, he’s an Al Ghul,” This caught you off guard, you turned Connor wide eyed.

“Yep, I know,” Connor replied.

“Holy shit!” You exclaimed.

“Hey! Watch your mouth in front of Jon!” Connor scolded you.

You put your hands up in surrender, “I’m sorry,” you replied.

“You better, do you know how much of a bad mouth Dick, Stephanie, and Tim have?” You watched as Jon visible lit up at those names and quickly looked around.

“Dick?” Jon asked, you shook your head.

“He’s not here buddy,” you turned Connor, “he can’t be more then four, when did Louis have him?” You asked.

“She was three months at the time you left.”

You couldn’t believe it, Clark and Louis probably knew but they didn’t tell you. Hell they didn’t even tell you he was born. You were anger but also hurt, Connor could tell. He could always, he placed a hand on your shoulder. “I’m really sorry (N/N),” he told you.

“How could they not tell me?” You asked.

“I don’t know, maybe they thought you’d come straight home,” Connor suggested, but you both knew it wasn’t true.

“I can’t believe it!” You exclaimed. “I’m just much as there kid your two are,” you gestured to Connor and Jon, “I didn’t know my parents, Clark and Louis were the only I had. How could they not tell me?” You felt tears burn your eyes and at this moment you didn’t care, you let them fall freely.

Connor weakly smiled at you, he moved off the couch and sat down on your right. He took your hand into his, you could tell he was fighting back tears. You two had always been close, doing everything together. So when one broke down, the other was very close to following because you didn’t like seeing each other like that.

You didn’t like seeing each other in pain, or sad, or sick. “(M/N), Clark and Louis aren’t good people. You always looked up to them, so I never wanted to tell you but there not. Heck once Jon’s old enough, and Clark doesn’t need me around to take care of his son. I’m gonna grandma and grandpa, I’m not gonna be welcome at home anymore.

I’m gonna be superboy, he is. Because he was kid Louis and Clark wanted,” You watched as the tears fell down your brother’s face, “Not some clone made of him and his arch enemy, not some random kid left on his door step. He’s gonna be the golden boy, the golden child and were gonna be left behind like we never exist,” Connor told you.

You didn’t wanna believe it but deep down, you knew it was true. There was no avoiding it. “Do you ever wish you lived with Lex, instead of Clark?” You asked.

Connor nodded, “Because he even the small times I see him because I have too. Because as much as Clark and Louis want to deny it i’m his kid too. He treats me better then either of them did, he might be asshole sometimes and supervillain but he’s good dad. You ever wonder, what it would be like if you parents kept you?”

You nodded, “Everyday. I wonder what it would like. If they take me back now, even with how fucked I am,” Connor squeezed your hand.

“You not fucked up,” He told you.

You shook your head, “I am! Connor, I am! I couldn’t take care of myself before Jason died, I can hardly do it now. Hell i tried to kill the Joker. I’m having nightmares about the Lazarus Pit and Jason crawling out of his grave. Even though I know it’s gone, and so is he. I’m fucked Connor,”

He shook his head, as he pulled you into a hug. “I love you so much,” he told you, “Your brother, and trust me your not fucked. Clark, Louis, the

joker, and everyone else is,” you felt an extra pair of arms wrap around you and looked to see Jon.

He smiled at you, “I love you too,” he told you.

You couldn’t help but smile as well, “I love you too, Jon. I love the both of you,” you told them.

“Now I have two awesome brothers!” Jon exclaimed. Your smile grew even wider at that.

February 1st, 2022

You, Peter, and Nat were building away from were the other avengers. There was group of people who had landed on Avengers and tower and Friday classified them as threat. The group of people, they brown robes and on the back of them was a symbol one you had seen before.

You knew it but you couldn’t remember where it was from. You remembered it being from a league of some sort, you watched as leader of the group, a women, looked around and as your eyes laid on her you realized who she was, Talia Al Ghul.

“Shit!” you exclaimed. You moved from the building you were on to the Avengers tower. Nat and Peter’s called your name but you didn’t care, as you cared about was making sure Tony, who blasted was currently pointed at Talia, didn’t do something that would cause a war behind the league and the avengers.

You landed in front of Talia seconds before Tony was about to shoot, “Stop!” You exclaimed.

“Good of you finally show up,” Talia told you, you just rolled your eyes

“(Y/S/N), what are you doing?” Tony asked.

“You can’t hurt her, you’ll start a war behind the league and the avengers and believe me that is the last thing y’all need,” You explained.

“A war?” Steve asked.

“The league is a very power power group,” you turned from your friend toward Talia, “What are you doing here?” You asked.

“Can’t I visit my son’s boyfriend?” She asked.

You cocked your eyebrow at her, “Huh?”

Talia just rolled her eyes, “Jason, my son?”

You couldn’t help but be more confused, “Since when is Jason your son?” You asked.

“Since a couple months ago,” she replied.

“Talia, Jason died. He’s been died for years,” you replied.

Talia just smiled at you, “Oh (M/N), he’s alive,” you froze, “And you know it. You’ve been having dreams of him and the Lazarus Pit,”

You shook your head, “No.” You simply said, “Jason died years ago, The Lazarus pit was destroyed years before that by the Justice League,” You exclaimed.

“Yes, but I rebuilt it. I need someone to take of Damien,” She replied.

“So you brought my boyfriend back to life?!” You screamed.

Talia frowned at you, “I thought you would be happy,”

“Oh i’m thrilled!” You stomped your foot, “So fucking thrilled, do you know how dangerous that is? Talia, sure he can protect Damian but he is gonna have urges cause by Lazarus. He’s gonna be so unbelievably anger at Bruce, the Joker, Dick! Everyone!” You exclaimed. Then you remembered, Damian was in Gotham, “Is he..,” You didn’t finish the sentence, you didn’t have too.

“He is,”

“Talia,“ you whispered.

“I didn’t know,” she replied, “You need to stop before he does,” she told you.

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“Your connected to him. You can stop him, you can help him,” Talia replied. One of the assassins whispered something to her and she frowned, “I have to go but you need to stop him.”

Before you could speak they were gone you just stared at where they once were. “(M/N)?” Tony asked.

You turned around and noticed Nat and Peter had now joined the other avengers, “I have to go home, I have to go back to Gotham,” you replied.

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯/Next

[zoeysdamn]

Bark, Bite & Break Bones - Tyler Galpin x Van Helsing!reader | Part.4

Summary: Things seem to go better between you and Tyler, as you both realize how alike you are. Maybe this could get you past the sarcastic weird friendship status? Ajax definitely thinks so. A tragic turn of events during the Poe cup lead to a yelling session, where some harsh words are not regretted. 

Warnings: angst, smut (characters are between 17 and 18), swearing, name-calling, physical assault (bullying), attempted drowning, mention of blood, implied removal of teeth

A/N: Let’s be honest, the whole plot of this long-ass chapter (8630 words, what the actual fuck) is to get to the smexy smoochie times. I regret absolutely nothing lmao. 

[Masterlist] [Prologue] [Part.1] [Part.2] [Part.3]

Two weeks after the nightly confrontation, Principal Weems called you in her office. For the briefest moment, you thought that someone had talked about what happened in the forest then in the school corridors, but then you remembered that none of them had any interest in doing that. Plus, Kent was a coward, and Divina was not smart enough to take such a risk without compromising herself. So this summons in the middle of your Outcasts history class maybe wasn’t such a big deal? Gathering your belongings you excused yourself to the teacher before making your way out of the classroom. You caught Tyler’s gaze on the way, shrugging lightly at him to say it was probably nothing. 

Ever since that attack and the unexpected heart to heart – another one – around a cup of coffee, you and Tyler had grown closer. The flirting and sarcasm was still here of course, you both enjoyed that too much to ever let it down, but there was beginning to have something…more. More glances to the other when no one looked, just to make sure that everything was okay; more attention from you during the therapy sessions, carefully listening to Tyler gradually opening up about how he felt, whether it be anger toward his dad and Laurel, sadness, regrets or no about what he had done, how he felt at Nevermore. You were secretly glad the shameless flirt didn’t change, it helped you keep some distance between the two of you. Because even if you started to actually appreciate Tyler’s company (aside from the fact he was the only company you had at Nevermore), you had to remind yourself that he was still a menace; he was capable of losing his shit and your job was precisely to make sure it won’t happen, no matter how friendly you were to each other. 

Tyler was right, you were using sarcasm and flirting to deflect every single one of your problems rather than facing them; this was no different, but you could feel your will falter more and more. Being both considered as monsters being outcasts had gotten you closer than you could have imagined. And it was kind of nice to have someone actually starting to care about you, even if you spent most of the time pushing it away.

Knocking on the office door, you entered after Weem’s invitation to come in. 

“You wanted to see me ma’am?” you asked flatly, internally glad there was no school board to welcome you this time. 

Twice a month or so, the school board called you to the principal’s office, requiring regular updates on the Hyde situation. Both your bitterness and their habit to be haughty never helped those meetings to have a semblance of civility, and it often ended up in half-hidden threats and snapping. 

Larissa Weems nodded – noting the lack of sarcastic greeting you were known for – and invited you to sit on one of the chairs in front of her desk. 

“Indeed, Miss Van Helsing. How are things going for you at Nevermore?”

The memory of the students and their baseball balls flashed behind your eyes – as did the lingering ache of the now almost faded bruise on your cheek – but you shrugged, “Not so different from last time,” you simply said. Calling those fuckers out would only bring you more problems. 

She nodded in understanding, “What about Mr Galpin? Any progress so far?” 

You frowned, “Shouldn’t you be asking Dr.Fern that?”

“I’d like to have your view on this situation.” 

For a moment, you were tempted to pour all of your sarcasm to that wonderful occasion to spit on that cocky asshole. But that’s what you would have done a few months ago; now, you weren’t so keen about that, much to your own surprise. 

“He’s trying,” you conceded in a softer tone than usual, “he only wants to graduate without much trouble, make amends and then go on his merry way. I truly think he’s genuine with that.” 

Principal Weems didn’t hide her surprise and her eyebrows rose high, “Is that the Van Helsing or the student talking here?”

“Does it matter?” you shrugged, “for once I can say something good about a creature I’m hunting, don’t make me look like the villain, Principal Weems.”

She cleared her throat, not gracing you with any other answer on the matter; which meant you were right. “That’s good news then. I assume you’re keeping a close eye on him still?” 

You nodded, “Ajax’s helping too. Although the two of them are now more at ease with each other, he’s still on alert.”. It was Weems’ turn to nod this time, then you raised an eyebrow, “Why are you asking, thought? I thought last week’s meeting with the board had reassured you enough.” 

It had been a vast joke, that meeting. At your bruise on cheek and knuckles, and the cut above your eyebrow, the board had been suspicious and had asked you for explanation; no doubt looking for every reason to point out one of your faults. Snarky as ever you had casually explained you had tripped on a root and fell during one of your morning runs; before daring them to prove that if they didn’t believe you. 

“It’s merely personal curiosity,” she acknowledged flatly, linking her hands over her desk, “now, about why I made you come here: you’re aware that the Poe cup is to take place in a few days, right?”. At the nod of your head, the principal carried on, “Due to some…daring behavior last year, we’ve decided to increase the security during the race.”

“I thought the point of this cup was to have no rules?” you pointed out. 

“Indeed, but the security of the students is a sensitive subject as you can imagine,” she said gravely, “some parents are more…concerned about it this year.”

There was no need to explain why; a murderous Hyde and a Van Helsing at the school had to make more than a parent worry. “Yet you keep the Poe cup this year. Why, for the sake of tradition?”

“This is not the subject here,” she brushed off casually, “I’m asking you to give a hand to the race’s security this year.” 

A dumbfounded scoffed left your lips, “In what honor would I do that?” 

Weems gave you a scowl, “It could help you look less menacing and more willing to redeem yourself, miss Van Helsing. It’s in your best interest to help us here.”

“I don’t want to look less menacing,” you snarled, “I’ve already agreed to help you with Tyler, that should be enough for the judge and the board.” 

“You’re not making things easier for you, Y/N.”

“Is that a threat?” you dared, cocking your head to the side. Weems glared at you for a second, but then shook her head. 

“It's advice,” she articulated, “and I truly think you should take it before I’m ordering you to do it.” 

Huffing in annoyance, you crossed your arms, “Fine, I’ll do your stupid security work. What am I tasked with?” 

Hiding her satisfied smile, the principal laid a map of the Nevermore lake on her desk, “You’ll have to patrol around the lake. Last year some other students had joined the race by the outer shores, we want to make sure nothing shady’s going on in those areas.” 

“Sounds simple enough,” you nodded, “what about Tyler? Should I bring him with me?” 

Weems leaned back in her seat, “Ajax Petropolus isn’t competing this year, he’ll be asked to watch over him in the crowd. Where the school board and I can keep an eye on him.” 

“Perfect,” you said sharply, getting up and grabbing your bag, “guess I’ll be free of him for a day, lucky me.”

Weems didn’t add anything as you exited her office. On your way to your next class, you received a text. 

Up for a coffee break? 

Without thinking, you grinned and typed back an answer. 

Look who’s asking me on a date now. Hope this isn’t your attempt to poison me, pretty boy 

Haven’t found something stronger than your sarcasm yet. 10 minutes in the quad? 

Make it 5 and I might even go easy on you at fencing practice 

Come to think of it, maybe you’d miss Tyler if you happened to leave him for a day in the end. 

The day of the Poe cup, you were glad to be allowed to dress in your civil clothes and not in the awful Nevermore uniform. Technically, everyone was allowed to, but you had never cherished the classical shirt/jeans combo this much. Arriving on the race grounds with Tyler, you gazed at the gathering teams this year.  The elaborate costumes were a sight to see, but it didn’t cover for the hateful looks thrown in your direction as soon as you both arrived at the tents area. 

“So you’re telling me you’re letting me in this while you go on a sunday walk? Any chances I can tag along?” 

You playfully rolled your eyes at Tyler’s words, “Ajax will be with you, relax.”

“How much do you think I have to bribe him to stone everyone?” he joked and you laughed lightly at that. 

On your right side, a group of teenagers exited a tent dressed as grim reapers, their black and white makeup making them look like deadly pandas. Among them, Ajax was there in his normal clothes, trading jokes and encouraging his friends. When they passed next to you, you recognized Xavier and other boys of his dorms; you simply nodded at him when his eyes met yours, before warily glancing at Tyler. The tension between the two of them hadn’t disappeared, but at the very least they seemed civil toward each other. Maybe their shared friendship with Ajax had something to do with it. 

“What are they?” you asked the Gorgon as he stayed with Tyler and you, giving one last cheer to his best friend’s team. 

“The reapers,” he pointed out proudly, “they drew The City in the Sea this year, something along the lines of Death sitting on a throne or something.” 

Glancing at Tyler, he shrugged in indication he had no clue either. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems weren’t something you were experts at. 

“Guess it’s my cue,” you mumbled, catching a glimpse of Principal Weems tapping on her watch while watching in your direction, “you boys are going to be fine?”

They both nodded, the awkwardness of their first interactions almost completely gone by now. Crossing past Tyler, you whispered in his ear: 

“Text me if the board decides to be a little too friendly with you, those guys are absolute shitheads.”

“Awww, you do care,” he cooed

Rolling your eyes in amusement you shoved him playfully, “Don’t make me regret this, pretty boy.” 

As you made your way away from the crowd, the two teenagers gazed at you until you disappeared from their gaze. Noticing the way Tyler’s eyes lingered a little bit longer, Ajax let out a low whistle. 

“So, what’s the deal between you two?”

A confused frown took place on Tyler’s face, who turned to his roommate, “What?”

“I mean,” he tried, awkwardly gesturing to where you had previously stood, “there’s a lot of sexual tension here, and you’re like, always flirting but aren’t you supposed to be enemies or something?”  

The Hyde shrugged, “Guess so. She’s also ready to bite my head off any moment.”

Instead of proving a point, the argument only seemed to go in Ajax’s direction, “See, exactly what I was saying. You’re bound to fuck, bro.” 

Tyler tried to repress a smirk. “Didn’t know my roommate was that much into gossip,” he chuckled, while the both of them tried to find a good spot to watch the race. 

“I’m not,” defended the Gorgon, "but Enid is.”

Following the direction Ajax pointed at, Tyler’s eyes switched to where the Ophelia team stood, dressed in sort of zombie brides, torn veils and fancily stained long sleeved white tops – except for Wednesday who sticked out in her black outfit. 

“She has a shit ton theories going on about you two,” chimed Ajax, waving at the werewolf when she gave him a smile. 

Tyler let out an almost nervous snort, “I’d be curious to hear them.”  

The teams started to gather near their respective canoe, meaning the race was about to start soon. As he and Ajax tried to get a good view of the lake, Tyler caught the sight of a familiar face among one of the teams. Dressed as a weird raven, Kent had a shifty gaze, almost looking nervous. The memory it brought back to his mind made Tyler frown slightly. 

“Hey,” he called out to Ajax, “do you know anything about what happened two years ago?” 

“ ‘bout what?” said the Gorgon mind-asbently, struggling to open the coke can he had brought with him. 

“About the accident with Y/N.” 

The Gorgon choked on his drink, coughing awkwardly a few times before clearing his throat. 

“W-well, I know what everyone else knows, nothing much.”

“It’ll be enough,” insisted Tyler, “so, what happened?” 

His roommate scratched his neck nervously, “Well, you see, when Y/N arrived at Nevermore she wasn’t uh– not many people like her y’know? Being a Van Helsing and all that. But to be honest, she didn’t make any fuss or anything really, like, she just laid low and all.”

Tyler frowned slightly, “So what’s the problem?”

Taking a look around them, Ajax lowered his voice, “There was that student, Jeremiah. A vampire guy, from a rich family, old blood and everything. Kind of a jerk, but never did anything that bad, he just played the tough guy.”

For some reason, Tyler doubted that. Still, he let Ajax continue the story. 

“Jeremiah and his friends tried to humiliate her, because well, pride I guess, but she never fought back to not get expelled, everyone knew she was ready to tear them apart tho.” 

“None of the teachers said anything?” 

Ajax shrugged, “There was no evidence technically, just a random student’s feud. Until…”

“Until?”

The beanie boy gulped slowly, “Well- there was a night, everyone was getting to their dorm just before the lights extinction, and then…then we heard a detonation and a scream coming from the quad–”, he took a deep breath before carrying on, “and when coach Vlad arrived well…that wasn’t really a pretty sight from what I’ve heard.”

The mere mention of it sent a cold chill down his spine; Ajax had never seen Jeremiah’s face after the attack clearly, but the rumors had made up for the missing pieces. 

“He- he had half of his face burned and…and he missed some teeth from what I’ve heard. Took quite the beat up, him and his buddies, but Jeremiah had it the worst, couldn’t leave the hospital for two whole months.” 

Tyler hummed pensively, “Okay, but has it to do with Y/N?” 

“Jeremiah’s buddy told everyone what happened before the attack, like how she harassed them because they were vampires and all, and besides, the corner of the quad they were attacked was booby-trapped.”

“Booby trapped?” repeated Tyler with a raise of his eyebrows. 

“An artisanal explosive device was put there, just for them,” explained the Gorgon. At his roommate’s still perplexed look, he insisted, “the bomb was concentrated with silver dust and hydrochloric acid according to the investigation, which is the most effective weapon against vampires, it has to be Y/N.”

“Okay but how can everyone be so sure?” 

Ajax gave him a surprisingly sympathetic smile – yeah, Tyler cared about you even if he didn’t admit it. “She confessed everything,” he said, making Tyler’s eyes widen even more, “admitted everything the second your dad suspected her, explained how she placed the bomb and lured Jeremiah and the other to the quad. Never confessed ripping out his teeth though.”

“What?” articulated Tyler. 

Drowning the last of his soda, Ajax coughed awkwardly again, “Jeremiah lost his canines, no one knows why. Heard that his family got a mage forging an amulet to dissimulate his scarred face, but I don’t think the teeth grew again. But hey,” he added hurriedly, “you can’t tell anyone I told you that okay? Those are kinda confidential information, officially it’s been an accident.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tyler, completely missing out Weem’s speech for the opening of the cup. 

Ajax scratched his neck nervously “Well, you see Jeremiah was an important member of the Nightshades and I kinda owe my place to his departure.”

“The Nightshades? What is that, a boy’s band?” snorted Tyler. 

“Nah bro, we’re a secret student society, but this stays between us okay?”. The Hyde gave him an amused nod. “His family unenrolled him from Nevermore after that, claiming he needed to be transferred into another hospital. The official announcement of the school mentioned an accident, but the Nightshades got word of the police report thanks to Yoko. Vampires solidarity or something.”

Suddenly, something clicked in Tyler’s mind, “Wait, Yoko’s a nightshade?”

A horn resonated loudly, cheers erupting at the beginning of the race. 

“Uh-uh, she and Bianca are kinda leading us now. Why?” 

Tyler’s eyes flickered to the canoe, clumsily getting on the lake under their team’s efforts. Neither the blue-eyed siren nor the vampire were anywhere to be seen. 

“Do they compete in the race this year?” he hurriedly asked the Gorgon. 

“Uh, don’t think so, why?”

Tyler couldn’t answer him. But something suddenly felt very, very wrong. 

Strolling on the lake’s surroundings, you were internally grateful for this gateway. You weren’t too fond of big crowds, if avoiding the wheering students was a possibility you were glad to take it. 

Scanning the shores with your eyes, you looked out for any suspicious object or presence. Usually you would have been impressed by any attempt of cheating, but given you were there as a security guard today, well guess you were the buzzkill. The echo of a foghorn made you whip around briefly in reflex, the boats starting to hurry on the water. 

That’s when it happened. 

A bubbling sound erupted from the lake and before you could turn your head in its direction, something sprung from the water, gripping your ankle and tugging harshly at it. The sudden attack made you lose your balance and you crashed on the muddy shore ground with a yelp. Your head hit the ground and dizziness overcame your senses for a few seconds; enough for the unknown gripping strength to tug on your leg, sending a shrill of pain through your muscles as they tried to pull you into the water. Violently kicking your legs, you tried to get yourself free of this grip, swearing loudly with everything you had. The sound of quick footsteps reached your ears, and through your blurry mind you thought that someone had heard you and came to help. Hands grasped your and your head shot up, ready to thank whoever had come. But at the sight of a familiar dark binocular and sour face, all your hopes vanished instantly. 

“Yok–”

A hard punch from the vampire sent you on the ground again, falling limply backwards at the border of the water. The same force that had tried to bring you into the lake broke from the surface again, and it was only when it pushed your head under the water you realized it was hands. The cold splash of the water against your face made the dizziness vanish on the spot, instead replaced by the struggling of your lungs trying to breathe. The unforgiving pressure of the grip on your neck didn’t allow you to move the slightest and you started to panic even more. Despite the muddy waters, you recognized the cerulean eyes glaring at you from the depths of the lake. Bianca. 

Lungs starting to burn, you trashed your limbs, trying to get out of here the quickest way possible. Plunging your left hand on the water you clumsily scrabbled out to the siren’s face, and as soon as you felt it you dug your nails into her cheek with all of your strength. Bianca let out a wail and the pain thankfully made her let go of your neck; emerging it from the water you took a loud breath, filling your aching lungs. But your relief was short-lived as a hit on your back made you fall inward again, and a new hand pushed your head under the water again. 

“What do you think you’re doing, bitch?” seethed Yoko, her hand gripping on your head and maintaining it immersed. When your left arm tried to reach for something again, she pressed one of her knees between your scapulas, eliciting a muffled wail from you as she gripped your rebellious arm. “Don’t fucking move,” she growled and twisted your arm painfully. 

Black dots started to fill your vision and it became harder to stay conscious. Water started to fill your lungs no matter how hard you tried to breathe, and the piercing pain on your arm wasn’t bearable anymore. Yoko vampire’s strength bent it so hard, you could feel your articulations almost popping under its pressure. 

Then without warning, your head was pulled out of the water again, making you gasp. 

“What are you doing?” you heard Yoko scream at the siren.

“The race had begun, someone could see us!” Bianca argued. Their voices sounded so far away from you.

“This is our best chance to make her pay,” assured the vampire, and their argument gave you the opportunity to try to snuggle out. “Where do you think you’re doing?” roared Yoko when she felt you move against her, and in her furious rage she didn’t notice pressing your left arm behind your back even harder. A snap echoed and a blood curdling wail left your mouth.

The echo of your cry resonated through the lake, getting to the intrigued participants on their boats. Hearing the shouts, a few of them turned their heads in your direction. The throbbing pain on your twisted shoulder and arm made your mind dizzy, everything around you happening in slow motion. You vaguely heard a splash – maybe Bianca fled? – and a curse from above you, then the pressure on your back suddenly disappeared. It took you a solid minute to realize both of your attackers were gone, and by the time you managed to recompose your spirits and look up, two of the canoes were now paddling in your direction, concerned and shouting voices calling out for you. At least, to whoever they thought you were, there was no way any Nevermore student would have come to help a Van Helsing. Although you did recognize Enid’s voice among the shouting. 

Struggling to get up, you managed to get into a sitting position clumsily and then the hardest part was done. Before any of the boats coasted a surge of adrenaline made you jump on your feet, and without looking back you ran away to the dorms. 

Hot tears rolled down your cheeks and you tried to clutch your left arm close to you to tune down the throbbing pain. Shouts echoed behind you but thankfully no one seemed to follow you. Leaving the Poe cup into a confused mess, you didn’t even think about the consequences. For now, all you needed was to run, and lay low. This was what a wounded animal usually did when they weren’t feeling safe anywhere; and you should know, because it was everything you were at that moment. So you ran. 

Less than twenty minutes later, after finally reaching your dorm, you had slammed the door of your room in anger. Good news was, no one seemed to have noticed your absence – or no action had been taken yet, either way you were glad of it. 

Hunched over on your desk you swore between gritted teeth, trying to reach the back of your shirt with your trembling right hand. The faintest move made a shot of pain rise immediately within all your left side, striking you like hot iron and making you swallow the pathetic whimpers that had dared to try to escape your throat. Internally you cringed for the hundredth time at your own stupidity; how could have you been so dumb and let yourself be cornered like that? God, you almost wanted to cry in shame. 

At the price of an incommensurable effort and weird contortions, you finally managed to tug your shirt over your head while carefully trying not to move your limp left arm and shoulder; the gesture still wrenched a muffled cry of pain out of you. Slumping on your desk, you let out a ragged breath with the ruined shirt in hand, exhausted by the mere action of pulling it out. 

A knock on the door suddenly echoed in your room, immediately bringing a snarl on your already wincing face, “Go the fuck away!” you shouted to the unknown intruder, but your voice came out more like a rasp than anything menacing. 

Indeed, the threat fell out empty because the door swung open anyway, revealing a panicked Tyler. He looked absolutely feral with panicked concern, his hair slightly disheveled and ragged breathing like he had run. He still looked in better shape than you did though, even if it wasn’t hard right now. With your left arm limp and the bruises scattering around your upper body to your hips, added to the scratch marks and mud the ground left on your right cheek, disheveled hair and fresh cuts all over your hands, you looked like you just had crawled yourself out of Hell. Maybe it would have been more pleasant. 

You didn’t even mind Tyler’s eyes checking you out for any injuries as you were only in your bra and dirty jeans – frankly you were too tired to care. 

“Wh’t ‘re you doing h’re?” you mumbled, trying to push down the throbbing pain coursing through your body. 

“Checking on you,” he answered, closing the door behind him before rushing to your side,  “fuck what happened out there, you disappeared and Enid told us something happened, are you alright?” 

A hand came to hold your arm but you hissed in pain as soon as he touched it and slapped his hand away.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” you barked, and despite you best judgement you cowered away by reflex. 

Tyler’s eyes widened, taken aback by the wounded animal behavior that definitely wasn’t yours. He took a step back, raising both of his hands in a peaceful gesture, “I’m not going to hurt you I promise,” he uttered softly; he caught your shifty gaze and the way you cradled your left arm close to you, “your arm?” he asked slowly. 

You held his gaze for a few seconds, eyes burning with anger and tortuous ache that poisoned your limbs. Swallowing down another threat, you finally nodded reluctantly. “Shoulder,” you muttered in defeat, “it’s dislocated.” 

Tyler almost choked on his own air, as the realization of how violent the fight must have been for you to end up in such a state sinked in him; before he could add something, you gestured him to help you with your good hand. 

“Help me up,” you breathed out weakly, and he rushed to support you without a word. Clumsily maneuvering the two of you to your bathroom, you tugged off him in front of the door. 

“Where’s your first aid kit?” he asked, eyes searching inside of the small room while you stood at the entrance. He didn’t notice you positioning yourself so that your bad shoulder faced the wall. 

“Won’t need it,” you grumbled and gripped the door frame for support. 

Tyler turned around to protest but he barely had time to open his mouth in horror with the realization of what happened; taking a deep breath you slammed your shoulder against the wall in one sharp, strong hit. A loud ‘plop’ echoed as your dislocated shoulder fell in place again and a strangled cry of pain escaped your lips, fingers gripping hard on the door frame. 

You let out a low moan. “Motherfucker,” you swore under your breath, rotating your shoulder articulations slowly, feeling it coming to life again. The ache still stung like a bitch, but at least it would wear off within the next few minutes. 

Tyler still looked slightly terrified by what just happened, “How- are you okay?” he urged, finally reconnecting to reality. 

“I’ll be fine,” you groaned. 

Brushing past him you grabbed a towel, wetting it before swiping it over your face to remove the mud and blood. At least nothing on your face seemed to be broken, but the marks would remain for at least a week. 

“Are you sure?” pressed Tyler from behind, and you huffed in annoyance, anger boiling in your veins once more. 

“Yes I’m sure! For fuck’s sake Tyler I had worse I can take care of myself, I don’t need your fucking pity!”

The anger lash out took him off-guard, and a flash of hurt even passed in his eyes. You hadn’t snapped at him like that for a long time, it was like you were back to the first time you both met. But since then things had gone better, smoother between the two of you – even with the occasional flirting and sarcastic comments. The sudden hatred directed toward him hurt Tyler. 

“I just want to help you,” he tried to explain calmly but you wouldn’t hear any of it and pushed him out of your bathroom forcefully. 

“I don’t want your bloody help, fuck! How many times do I have to tell you this?” you yelled at him, tears stinging the corners of your eyes. 

This time he scoffed and his eyes turned dark, “What? he sneered, “because I’m a monster? And I thought we were past this, sweetheart.”

“Get. The fuck. Out,” you snarled, trembling with anger. He didn’t listen to you. 

“Y/N Van Helsing needs no one, that’s true,” he taunted with a provocative smirk, approaching closer to you in the exact opposite of what you had asked him, “she’s all big and bad and doesn’t need anyone, right? How does that sound, doll?”

“Don’t,” you warned him between your teeth. 

“Funny, I thought all of this flirting would have been to use me. Guess you’re just a slut then, mmh?”

“Watch your fucking tone Tyler.”

It didn’t stop him. Now your back was almost touching the wall, trapped between it and the menacing looming figure of Tyler. He hovered over you, gazing intently with cold eyes; a mix of hurted anger, bitterness and playfulness in them. “You’re just a prideful cold-hearted bitch in the end,” he spat, “always pushing away help because you think you’re so fucking better than us, uh?”

“You know nothing about me,” you snarled bitterly, but he carried on anyway. 

“Thinking you can play smart with everyone but cowering that when anyone’s proposing their help,” he mused, “why that doll, uh?”

“BECAUSE I’VE NEVER HAD ANY,” you roared at him, the last string of self-control finally snapping. 

For a second, everything fell silent in the room. The tension that had been built up was so close to breaking, but none of you even dared to release the slightest breath, faces mere inches from each other’s. Like who would dare to tear apart the deafening silence and who would break under all of this unforgiving pressure that had been growing and growing for weeks. Tyler’s eyes had widened slightly at your outburst; when they glanced ever so slightly to your parted lips, you lost it. 

Grabbing his neck, you crashed his lips against yours, unable to hold it any longer. All the flirting and resulting tension had reached their breaking point as much as your self-control to his cocky comments, pretty face and soft heart. 

A groan immediately muffled by your lips escaped his, and the kiss turned into a heated clash of teeth, tongues and asserting dominance. Fuck the Poe cup, fuck Bianca and Yokok, fuck his pity; fuck him. Nothing else mattered but the rough pull of his lips against yours and the feeling of his body pinning you against the wall. Tyler’s hand roamed over your hips, gripping them tightly and pulling you flush against him. It didn’t take long for you to moan against his mouth and your hand got loose in his hair, giving a harsh tug on his curly strands. This elicited a grunt mixed with a laugh from him, as he pulled back from your lips ever so slightly. 

“Careful sweetheart,” he teased in a hushed tone, “you’re on thin ice there.” 

As an answer, you tugged on his roots again and a low moan of both pleasure and pain erupted from his mouth. Ghosting your lips over the column of his now exposed throat, you playfully licked a long stripe over his jugular, “Make me,” you taunted before sinking your teeth at the base of his throat. 

A soft whimper escaped and Tyler’s grip on your hips became even tighter. The rough surface of his calloused hands roamed over your naked back, kneading on every curve and scars. You didn’t stop sucking on the soft skin of his neck when you felt the claps of your bra getting loosened, pressing yourself harder against him instead and gasping softly when you instinctively rolled your hips against his. Burying his face against your neck, Tyler tried to refrain himself from moaning. But when you did that again, pressing your clothed core against his, one of his hands left your lips to grip the side of your face and harshly brought your lips back on his, muffling those pretty sounds. The delicious feeling of the hard swelling in his pants made you grin and you teasingly bit on his lower lip. Looking up at him from beneath your lashes, the sight of his flustered face, the faint blush on his cheeks bringing out his freckles and scars, and the animalistic hungry look in his eyes was the hottest thing you had seen for a long time, you almost moaned on the spot. The feeling of his hips bucking into you in reflex sent a thrill straight to your throbbing core, you could already feel yourself getting wet. Letting go of his abused lip, you captured his mouth into a quick heated kiss before trailing open-mouthed kisses on his jaw, knuckles turning white as your hands gripped his neck and back – which wasn’t so unpleasant to him, judging by the soft groans he let out. He tried to mirror your actions, hands caressing and gripping your bare back, roaming on every inch of skin under them. 

At the tracing of his fingertips on the rough and irregular surface on your right scapula, you groaned a little, slightly parting yourself away from him for a split of a second. But the immediate loss of contact elicited a frustrated grunt for Tyler and his hands roughly landed on your ass, bringing you back flush against him, grinding against your clothed heated core. Moaning under his touch, you couldn’t help but grin at the ever growing swell you felt against your thigh as his head was once again buried in your neck; his breath was ragged, febrile with raw desire. Gasping lightly at his grip on your ass, you leaned up to whisper in his ear: 

“Who’s a slut now, pretty boy?” 

The usual flirty nickname sent a rush of blood straight down his dick; it only made you grin even harder. A dark chuckle escaped his lips and he lifted his head up, lips teasingly brushing against yours. 

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, doll,” he grinned lazily, squeezing your butcheeks. 

Cocking your head to the side, you mirrored his expression and stuck your tongue out, licking your lips tantalizingly slowly, “Who said I didn’t want to finish you, tiger?”. 

A spark of desire flashed behind his blown out pupils at your words as your hand traveled down his chest, nails raking on his skin over the fabric. Then without a warning your hand disappeared between the two of you, and you popped open the button of his jeans eliciting a choked-on low moan from Tyler when you palmed his length through his boxers. 

“The question is,” you whispered in his ear, relishing how he shivered under your gripping touch, “can you finish me, lover boy?”

Out of the sudden your hand was ripped off his jeans and your back slammed against the wall, wrists pinned on each side of your head. Tyler’s gaze burned hungrily with desire, your words having pulled off all the restraints out of the window. He looked absolutely feral, and that sent a rush of excitement right down your spine – and to your core. 

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you sweetheart,” he chuckled darkly. 

You moaned shamelessly, rolling one of your shoulders to make one of the straps of your bra fall over your shoulder. Tyler’s eyes hungrily trailed down and followed as the previously unclipped fabric fell and revealed your naked breast. You couldn’t help but feel your lips stretch into a delighted grin, the previous events of the day long gone in your mind now. 

“Big words but no action so far,” you teased him, playfully eyeing his raging boner under his jeans, “need a hand with that?” 

Letting go of your wrists one after the other, Tyler chuckled and hooked his fingers on your hoop belts, tugging you flush against him, “I’d rather have you using  your mouth, doll.” 

Tossing your bra somewhere in the room you gave him a flirtatious smirk, “It’ll depend on how you’ll be using yours, lover boy.”

Tyler flashed you a feral grin before ducking to your chest and captured one of your nipples in his mouth. The sweet kisses of his tongue against your bundle made you sigh, head rolling against the wall. Your unused hands clumsily tried to fiddle with the zipper of his pants but a long moan escaped your throat when he cupped both of your breasts, one thumb circling the unattended nipple teasingly while he busied his tongue twirling around the other. You felt yourself getting even more wet in arousal, the sensation of his lips dancing over your chest being frustratingly pleasant. When you tried to roll your hips again to gain some friction, his hand grabbed them, steadying roughly. 

Tyler looked up from your chest, teasingly lapping on one of your erect nipples, “Eager now, doll?”

Glaring at him, you tried to not sound as needy as you were, “Stop teasing.”

With a grin he let go of your breasts and dropped on his knees, trailing kisses down your belly, nipping at the soft skin under your belly button. Helping him with the zipper of your jeans, both of your hands covered his, guiding him when he started to tug your pants down, his thumbs hooked on the side of your panties to pull them down at the same time. Your breath hitched a little when your pants fell on the floor, leaving you completely bare in front of Tyler. The sight of your pussy, so wet with arousal and so his to take was so fucking hot to him, and he felt his dick twitch painfully in his pants. He glanced up playfully at you, and you felt your cheeks heat a little at his silent question. 

Are you this wet for me sweetheart? 

Without breaking eye contact with you, he helped you pull your pants off completely, raising one of your legs then the other before tossing the piece of fabric away. His left hand stayed on your leg, caressing your inner thigh surprisingly softly before diving in and giving one hard, quick lick on your glistening cunt. A long moan erupted from your throat and your head rolled against the wall, back arching on the brick. It didn’t take more to Tyler to start ravishing your pussy, licking and nipping at it like a starved man. 

“Fu-uck!” you moaned hotly, not caring how loud you were, “just there– ah!” 

The sudden contact of his tongue around your clit cut the air from your lungs for an instant, before you let another long moan. Hands firmly gripping on your thighs, Tyler smirked to himself, thrusting his tongue deeper to your hot center, juices dripping down his chin. A strong stroke of his tongue made you buck your hips into his mouth, your right hand flying to his hair, grasping for your dear life through ragged breath. Your grip on the back of his head hardened, pushing him closer to your dripping cunt, his nose bumping against your clit and making your eyes flutter in pleasure. 

“Don’t anh– don’t stop,” you whimpered in a lust-filled wavering voice, “shit I’m coming, I’m–”

White flashed behind your eyelids as a wave of pleasure crashed within you, setting the blood in your veins on fire as you let out a loud high-pitched cry. The grinding of your hips didn’t slow down, chasing your own release at an erratic pace between greedy whines. Your other hand blindly searched for the door frame on your left, trying to get some grounding through the earth-shattering orgasm Tyler’s restless tongue was blessing you with. The strong grip on your shivering tights prevented your buckling knees from collapsing under you. 

With one final strangled cry, the high of your orgasm finally started to wear off, leaving you panting against the wall and legs quivering. But Tyler didn’t seem to be one doing things halfway, and he carried on his ministrations, kitten licks on your abused cunt to help you through the remainder of the orgasm. 

Loosening your grip on his head you ran your fingers through his hair as you tried to regain your breath, “Good boy,” you cooed, gently petting his hair, “you did so good, lover boy.” 

Tyler chuckled, dropping one last sloppy kiss on your pussy before trailing up, getting up slowly to capture your lips with his. You opened your lips to his, tasting your own juices as his tongue curled around yours. His hand snuck around your hips, keeping you close – and taking the opportunity to playfully squeeze your butcheek. An amused chuckle left your lips, wits returning as your mind became less lust-clouded. 

“Not bad, tiger,” you grinned, pressing another peck on his lips. “But you’re still awfully overdressed.”

That made him chuckle too, but before he could sass something back you were already tugging his shirt over his head, throwing it on the pile of your own clothes. Crashing your lips against Tyler’s in another heated kiss, you pushed him backward, maneuvering the two of you in your bed’s direction. Although it was a rather clumsy attempt, because you two became quickly entrapped into another surge of pleasure, your gestures became hurried again and fingers fumbling with Tyler’s pants. When the back of your knees hit your bed, you reluctantly let go of Tyler to lay down on your mattress. The freckled boy used this to shove down his pants, taking his boxer along. His cock sprung free, angry red and leaking with precum hitting against his stomach. Eyeing him shamelessly you bit your lip in appreciation. So there weren’t any more scars under his shirt, but what he got was definitely better.

“Like what you see?” teased Tyler, climbing on the bed, hovering above you. 

“Looks promising, lover boy,” you grinned, fisting the hair at the base of his neck to bring him down to a kiss. 

“Condoms?” he asked between lips biting and heated kisses. 

“I have an implant,” you breathed out, trying to fight the urge to slam his hips against yours, “you’re clean?”. He nodded and you gave him a roguish smile, “Then what are you waiting for, tiger?”

Tyler grinned and dove on your lips, ravishing them with the same passion he had sweetly tortured your cunt before. The tip of his cock nudged against your entrance, coating your juices. But the impatience and horniness grew stronger and without any warning you locked your legs with Tyler’s and flipped him over. His back crashed into the mattress and his eyes widened for a moment; but then he grinned at your naked figure straddling him, hovering him in a sensual vision. 

“Well, here we go again sweetheart,” he mused, “I’m starting to think you like to be on top of me.”

Sliding a hand between your bodies you gripped his hard cock, giving it a playful yet harsh enough stroke to elicit a pained moan from him, “Don’t worry lover boy, you’ll like me on top of you too,” you purred in his ear.

Lining yourself with his length you latched his lips between yours in a bruising kiss before lowering yourself on him, moaning loudly against his mouth at the delicious stretch. Tyler’s hand gripped your hips tightly, knuckles turning white as he threw his head back in pleasure, eyelids half closed. The feeling of your wet pussy sucking him made his eyes roll at the back of his head, a deep guttural moan breaking from his lips. Pressing your chest against his you spread your legs further, taking him even deeper until his pubic bone hit your clit, making you swore hotly in his ear. 

 “Fuck,” you whispered feverishly while gripping his shoulder, “you’re so big, filling me so well lover boy.” 

The praise made his cock twitch inside of you, and a low rumble echoed from his chest before he bucked his hips up, tearing up a high pitched whimper from you. That made the both of you snap. Circling your hips, you started to ride him at an unforgiving pace, clenching your walls around Tyler’s dick and moaning shamelessly in his ear. Under you Tyler was a trembling mess, bucking his hips upward to meet yours, his low moans vibrating and sending shivers to your nipples pressed his chest. His cock pressed deep inside you on that sweet spot that made you see stars and you let out a muffled cry in ecstasy. 

Tyler grinned between pants, “Getting enough of my cock now, sweetheart? Riding as if your life depends on it like the slut you are.” 

A merciless grind of your hips made him choke on his words. The hand that had been resting on the back of his neck slid on his throat and you squeezed, angling up his face to you. The pressure on his windpipe was enough to make his breath short, but not enough to be dangerous; the edging and power play sent a rush of blood directly to his dick and a pornographic moan left his lips. This, combined with his the utterly fucked up expression draped over his face, bruised lips parted and cheeks flushed, sent a shiver down your spine and you felt getting even wetter than you already possibly were, milking Tyler’s cock messily. 

A sharp buck of his hips slightly changed the angle and his length hit deep, sending a hot wave of pleasure in you again. Grounding your knees on the mattress you started to bounce on his cock, not even recognizing your own voice anymore in the mix of moans and groans filling the room. The hand around Tyler’s throat squeezed even harder, just as your pussy walls clenched around his throbbing length, feeling the familiar heat building in the pit of your stomach. 

“I’m close,” you moaned loudly, not caring if anyone heard, “I’m so fucking close, Tyler–”

“Come on doll,” he rasped seductively in your ear, “come all over my cock, give me that pretty pussy of yours.” 

Whimpering almost pathetically, you continued bouncing on his abused length, chasing after your release erratically. Tyler slid his thumb between your bodies, finding your clit and flicking it. Seconds later, you were bucking your hips on his cock brutally, milking it as your second orgasm crashed through you. Tyler held you close as you rode through your orgasm, kneading on your flesh – no doubt leaving marks. A soft cry broke through your lips, hips stilling for a second before bucking lazily against his still hard length. 

Two firm hands gripped your back and you suddenly found yourself flipped over again, hitting the mattress with force. Hand still around his throat you gazed at Tyler through your lashes, heavy with lusted haze. With a sharp thrust of his hip he entered back into you, eliciting a raw moan from you. 

“I’m not finished with you yet, doll,” he grinned teasingly before starting to buck against you, thrusting harshly without mercy. 

Your head rolled on the side over your pillow, surrendering to the hot burning pleasure of Tyler’s pounding on your aching core. Letting go of his throat, your hand slid over his jaw, caressing his scared cheek with your thumb and making him look at you. His brown eyes gazed into your glossy lust-filled ones, taking in your panting and blissful expression like it was the most beautiful art composition in the world. Your thumb rolled over his lower lip, and he couldn’t help but nipping playfully at it. 

Throwing one of your legs across his hip, you dug your heel on his back, bringing him closer to him to help him get his own release, no matter how hard he was already pounding into you. Hiding his face in your neck, Tyler’s ragged breath mixed with moans and his cock twitched painfully inside you, feeling himself getting close to cumming. Feeling it too, you arched your back, pressing yourself even closer against his hard body. 

“That’s it, give it to me,” you chanted, “fill me with your cum, tiger.”

A low groan escaped his lips, muffled against your neck and his hips gave a couple of harsh thrusts before releasing himself in you. Moaning hotly in your ear he spilled in your cunt, hot ropes of cum filling you as you held him close, legs crossed behind his thighs. Cradling his sweaty body against yours, you felt him give a few more lazy thrusts, before half collapsing on top of you. 

Ragged breath and softly tuned down whimpers filled the room, the contact of your naked skins on each other helping you match the other’s calming heartbeat. After a solid minute of silence, you slightly rolled on the side, gesturing to Tyler to get off of you; his body was starting to weigh on your ribcage. Getting the message, he carefully rolled over, making you both hiss slightly when he pulled his softening length out of you. 

Falling on your back you let out a long sigh, closing your eyes for a second and draping your arm over them. The pleasing ache in your body slowly mixed with the exhaustion sinking in, and every inch of your body felt heavy like bricks. 

Next to you, the mattress dipped awkwardly and Tyler pondered if he should go away right now. A hand clumsily searching for his own blindly answered him, and he looked at you in surprise. 

An arm still draped over your eyes, you mumbled, “Stay.”

The very brief second of hesitation vanished out of his mind the moment he saw a single, glossy tear rolling down your cheek. 

“Please,” you rasped weakly. 

The sight made his heart squeeze painfully. He thought he had seen all the sides of you today, but he had never seen you being this vulnerable. So he slid back next to you, and pulled the duvet over the both of you. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised in a whisper, caressing the hand holding his. 

For the first time, you were glad you weren’t alone right now.

[Part.5] 

A/N: I said what I’ve said, and I’m not taking anything back lmao; yes post Hyde!Tyler had a praising kink and a thing for dirty talk, fight me on this krkrkrkr

Also, did I search for Edgar Allan Poe’s poems to find new teams for the Poe cup? Absolutely. Here how I pictured the teams: Annabel Lee (1849) = about his wife, so I made Ophelia Hall’s girls dress as corpse bride The city in the sea (1831) = about Death sitting on a strange throne, thought that grim reapers outfits could suit former Jesters aka Xavier’s team Evening star (1827) = a makeup with blue foundation and little stars would be SO PRETTY and even if she’s not competing in this chapter I could picturing it fitting Bianca perfectly, so the other girl’s dorm The raven (1845) = self explanatory, the second boys’ dorm dressed as ravens

Thanks everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed this part ♥ Hope you’re all doing okay, take care of you ♥

Taglist: 

@igotanidea​ @officerrrfriendly​ @beggingforxavierthorpe​ @aliciahlewis​ @stresseyzesty​ @katiemrty​ @leightonsteele​ @black-swan-blog27​ @mooniesthings​

Usernames unfound by Tumblr: 

@spiceyhotsherbet

Plz tell me if I’ve forgotten you in the taglist (or if you wanna join!)

[puppiesandnightlock]

Link: A Robin's Song (Chapter 4)

Summary: found here

“A NIGHT TO REMEMBER: BUY YOUR PROM TICKETS NOW!”

Damian was hit in the face with banners, posters, and flyers littering the school grounds the moment he’d walked in.

“Here we go.” He sighed, preparing himself for two months of watching cheesy promposals, disgusting amounts of PDA, rejections, and annoying phrases that only served as a reminder to his nonexistent love life.

A few months had passed by, Jon and Haisley still going strong, although in Damian’s opinion, he and Jon were not.

Sure, although they considered each other best friends still, and talked at least once every day, they’d done less together. Jon was always out with Haisley, Damian taking care of his siblings and his job more so now that his father was working longer hours to keep up with the rent, despite the fact that Damian’s online presence was covering at least half of their bills and groceries.

Incidentally, Damian's Robin persona had grown big to where he was being offered contracts and agents. He denied each of them saying he already had an agent, but thank you.

(Tim preened when he found out that he was the agent Damian had.)

Robin had done a few covers, the past three hit singles having left people demanding more. His most popular video that wasn't one of his original songs was one where Jason had wrangled him into performing a duet song with him from a musical.

There hadn't been much inspiration lately, which surprisingly counted as a win. Less need for venting, less emotions killing him inside. However, as previously mentioned, kept his relationship with Jon a bit more strained. He’d gotten more used to avoiding Haisley during lunch, unfortunately meaning he was avoiding Jon, too. 

He’d met some people while “in hiding” as his brother called it, a red-haired boy named Colin who’d saved him from being spotted by a teacher during lunch and they’d found that they had gym together, a person who went Akira who frequented the library and was always willing to be silent company or recommend some books, coincidentally in his AP Lit, and most recently, a girl called Skylar in his Art class who’s saved him from embarrassment when he left his sketchbook in the class, opened to a page full of doodles of Jon.

There was still hope held out that they would grow as close as they were before, although the Kent that frequented the house more now was Kon, as he, Tim, and Bart Allen, who was one of Tim’s 4 closest friends, would go to the elementary school to pick up Dick, Jason, and Bart’s little cousin/sort of brother, Wally.

It was one rainy night that it finally did happen, a football game that he’d taken a rain-check on due to Duke being out and his father on the late shift. 

Jason, Cass and Steph were fully asleep, a feat to behold. Tim had been ordered to bed, technology confiscated, but knowing his brother, he would have some way of finding more. 

Dick was up with a warm cup of milk with some honey and cinnamon due to a nightmare, curled up with Damian.

“You should go to bed, little bird.” he pulled the empty cup from the five year old’s grasp. 

“W’nna wait for Daddy…” the child argued, although he was on the brink of falling to sleep’s clutches. 

“Daddy will be there when you wake up.” Damian assured him, carrying him to the shared room at the end of the hall.

Despite the protests, he fell asleep before he was even in bed. His older brother smiled softly, brushing the hair to the side and kissing his forehead. Jason was asleep in the bed next to his, one arm hanging off the bed and clutching a book. 

Damian removed it and bookmarked the page, giving him a good night kiss as well. He did the same with the rest of his siblings, exiting the oldest children’s room as a knock on the door came.

 He went to answer it, expecting Duke. Instead he was met with a tearful Jon, soaking wet from the rain and the tears on his face.

The paint on his cheeks from the game was smeared, and he was still wearing his football jersey, but none of the padding, and he was panting slightly.

Damian deduced he’d run directly from the locker rooms to his house, and he ushered him inside without a second thought.

“D-Damian-” He choked out, stumbling inside and falling into the shorter boy’s arms.

“Hey, hey.” He soothed. “What’s going on?” 

“H-Haisley-” the heart-broken look on his face split Damian in two, causing him to lead him to the couch and sit him down.

He let him change into some of his oversized clothes, oversized for him meaning it’d fit Jon perfect, if not a bit snug. 

 Water had already been boiling for tea, so he got out a cup for jon. He stood behind the boy and held a towel, running it through the raven curls in an attempt to dry them.

The sobs had quieted to sniffles, and the hair was no longer dripping, so Damian sat next to him, his own cup of tea in hand. 

“So.” He said, blunt, but gentle. “You gonna tell me what’s up or did you just come here to mope?”

Jon’s voice was rusty from the disuse and crying, so his first few words were slightly broken.

“I-uh, I had a fight with Haisley. Our…first. Bad one, I mean.”

Damian’s expressions morphed into sympathy, scooting closer to let the older boy lean on him. 

“What was it about?”

He hesitated, then spoke, Damian’s hand running through the damp curls as Jon leaned on his shoulder.

“I didn’t notice a cheerleader was flirting with me, and I just kept speaking to her normally, you know, and by the time I did notice, she’d gotten too close. Haisley saw the whole thing and i thought she had come to help me, cause she took me away, but she started yelling at me-”

His voice cracked. “She’d seen the whole thing and said that I was too trusting and a pushover. I-is that true, D? I mean, i’m not the smartest and this was proof that i’m stupid enough to trust anyone-”

“Jon, stop.”

 This whole time he grew increasingly more annoyed at Haisley for this, it hadn’t been Jon’s fault, and nothing had warranted the reaction and words she’d said. It was normal to be a little pissed, but that’s sorted out by communication, not harsh phrasing.

“You aren't stupid, and you didn't do anything wrong. It’s not your fault that you didn't catch on early, and if Haisley likes you like she says she does, she’d understand that. You should talk it out, both of you. I have a feeling that you didn't get a word in edgewise.”

He’d come close to crying again, but had refrained, leaning into Damian’s warmth. They stayed like that until the rain let up, Jon hugging him tightly before he left the Wayne’s.

“Thanks, D.”

It gave him a surge of some unexpected emotion, the way the other boy watched him with such reverence in his eyes. 

It felt wrong, this joy, the spark of…hope. 

He shouldn’t have been feeling like this, not for someone who was happily in a relationship. 

But is he really happy? His mind taunted temptingly. How much more can you take? How much more can Haisley hurt him?

He shook his head, shoving the dark thoughts back.

No.

He would not surrender to his own urges so easily, and he would never if it meant hurting Jon.

_____________________________________________________________

On Monday, two days after Jon had come to the Waynes, Damian had stuck by his friend, Jon avoiding Haisley at all costs. 

This kept up throughout the week, until Jon had gone to her with his tail between his legs, something that Damian had firmly advised against, seeing as she was the one who jumped to blame. 

This was only the beginning of the downfall, arguments getting louder, happening more frequently, and towards the end, Jon fighting back. Damian had had the unpleasant experience of sitting in the middle of one, although he loved watching Jon fight back when she went too far.

Many times, they would end up on the Waynes front porch, or the Kents backyard, Jon leaning on Damian for comfort. 

It was one of these nights where they watched the stars spread across the sky, Jon’s head in Damian’s lap. 

He could pretend, for a minute, that this was real, that all of this here was for them two. These moments were savored, the small touches and honeyed words. 

“Hey, Dami.”

Damian paused in playing with his curls, responding with a simple, “Hey, Jon.”

“You know about prom coming up? You gonna go?”

Damian paused. “Dunno.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“You can always tell me anything, you know that.”

“I don’t think I want to take Haisley to prom. I…I don’t even know how much longer we’re gonna last, the way these things are going.”

Something absolutely explodes in him, overwhelming his person with hope and excitement and disgust. 

Disgust at himself for this. 

“I see.” he settled on. Jon must have seen the emotions battle across his face because he turned a kicked puppy expression to him.

“You…don’t think I’m a bad person for this, do you?” his voice was shaky, perhaps on the verge of tears. 

Damian was quick to soothe him, jumping in with an “I could never.”

“You deserve happiness, and if you feel like she’s hurting you, or you don’t feel that way anymore, you have to tell her. Especially if you don’t feel that way, because that could end up hurting the both of you.”

It was silent, the older boy absorbing his words. Then he smiled.

Just a small one, enough to see the pearly whites peak from soft pink lips. It was one that held the world to Damian, and however small, it made his heart skip a beat.

He wanted that smile to be directed towards him forever, to burn it into his memory along with all of his favorite memories of the boy. 

It would stay forever, even if they wouldn’t.

After all, everything breaks at sometime, even the things created from the best and built to last.

“Thank you, D. Say, if I do ask Haisley, would you still come? To prom, I mean. Just cause she’s gonna wanna be with her girls and i’d like my company, maybe we can even find you a date!”

Damian paused, snapping out of the haze. 

“I could find a group to go with, if you would like me to. I do have friends besides you, you know.” He teased lightly. 

“Of course.” He stuck his tongue out at him. “But I’m still your number one boy.”

“Always.” Damian said, without hesitation, however the admission might have seemed.

 He supposed it was possible that it could have been too blunt, as Jon’s pale complexion sported splotches of pink after, his blue eyes avoiding his gaze. 

“It’s getting late. I should go.” He stood, shaking out his hair from where Damian had been toying with it.  “See you tomorrow, D. Thank you for…all of it.”

“Of course” He stood as well, watching as Jon stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way up the street, watching until he turned the corner and disappeared. 

With a  quiet sigh, he walked back inside, shedding his day clothes for sweats  and a loose top. 

However tempting it might have been for them, his siblings said nothing as he settled on the couch between his two youngest brothers, scribbling words mindlessly.

He had half a song when he retired for the night, burning in shame as he read the cheerful, wanting words on the page. There was half a mind to tear it out, shred it into pieces. Guilt tore into him, the scribbles feeling as though he was exploiting what Jon had told him and wrapping it up in pretty paper to serve it to the masses.  But another part, the one he despised and was repulsed by on a daily basis, told him to keep it. 

Indecisive, and acting much like a child, he shoved it under his bed, the page burning a hole in his pillow the rest of the night.

_____________________________________________________________

It was back to the same old thing the next day, Jon and Haisley making up and going on as if nothing had happened. 

It was times like these that Damian would feel actual concern, more than usual. If this cycle of pain continued, surely he would have to step in. 

He ranted about this to Colin in P.E, who’d shrugged, and then Skyler in Art who had seen many similar things in her own friends, and now to Akira during lunch. They watched him pace, whisper-scream because it was a library and then slump in a beanbag chair.

“ Why do I love him?” He whispered, surprising even himself. He turned to Akira with a plea. They raised an eyebrow at him, bookmarking a page and saying gently. 

“This is the first time in the twenty rants you’ve gone on this month that you’ve told me you love him. That means something. I know what, but I'm not going to tell you.”

“Because this is the part of the story where the main character has to figure their own way out with only the cryptid words of the friend?” Damian asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Yes, actually. And my cryptid wisdom for you has probably been yelled at you by everyone else you talked to today. It’s to tell him. And at the very least, do something with yourself that helps you. I don’t wanna hear the ‘but my best friend’ bullshit, just say it, and if you’re as good as friends as you say you are, he’ll let it go and y’all will go on with your normal life.”

Akira stuck their nose back into the book, letting Damian mull over the words that he’d been plagued with the whole day. They weren’t wrong, Colin had said the same thing at the beginning of sprints and Skylar had recounted past experiences.

His siblings had been drilling this into him for the past two years and it had never seemed in any way possible, but now it might even be necessary. 

He got up as the bell rang, departing to his next class. 

He deduced that if Jon didn’t ask Haisley, and they actually did break up, there was no rule against him taking Jon. 

If he was ever going to tell him, it would be that week of prom. There was a month left, and as Damian entered his house, he ran for his bed and pulled out the half-finished song. 

This was it. If he was truly going through with this, it would be on his terms, through his preferred medium. 

Song.

[jor-elsemissary]

Martha: so Lionel...you'd do anything for me?

Lionel: Without hesitation nor question

Martha: marry me

Lionel:

Lionel: Wait what?

Martha: It was to my understanding that you said ANYTHING *smirks*

Lionel *laughs* clever girl

Lionel getting Martha the first diamond that didn't symbolize he wants her out of his life but rather stay in for forever.

It had been a long time since he had actually shopped for jewelry. Normally he would have his secretary or someone else to choose and buy the jewelry for him to give to someone he wanted to indulge. Then again it had been an even longer time since he had ever wanted to indulge a woman he actually enjoyed the company of.

He forced himself not to think about Lillian and focused on the woman whom he was buying for tonight.

The jeweler patiently waited behind the counter while he browsed the selections beneath the bullet proof glass. Emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds were the most common and valuable choices. There were a few exotic stones that held no interest to him and he was certain that green one was meteor rock. He doubted the company was trying to pass it off as an emerald.

The fact that it was there was concerning and left him wondering if any of the other stones were variations of the meteor rock. The last thing he wanted to do was give the love of his life a gemstone that could hurt her son and hurt her. It left him feeling conflicted about the veracity of this store.

“You are aware that you have meteor rock in your selection?” he looked up at the man and saw a flicker of concern. So he was aware. “I am going to assume you’re attempting to sell it as is and not as another gemstone?”

“I assure you, Mister Luthor, that any piece is being sold as claimed. The selections of meteor rock are displayed with similar gemstones for aesthetics and comparison and all customers are informed of its type before being sold.” It was a little reassuring but it still worried him that he might end up with kryptonite.

“Are you aware that they are radioactive?” he continued to converse while his gaze drifted toward the diamond. As far as he knows there were no clear rocks that affected Clark. The ones he studied were inert and came off as just simple crystals.

“I have been informed that they are safe,” the jeweler answered and he can hear a hint of annoyance.

Lionel snorted in contempt, “Then you were misinformed. My company studies the rocks and they are highly radioactive and have been known to cause cancer and mutate individuals.” His gaze met the man’s firmly, “I was afflicted with cancer because of how close I worked with the stuff.”

There. He saw a flicker of concern as the man stole a glance at the green ones. “I will have the selections removed and request a deeper inquiry into the gemstones.”

“Crystals,” he corrected. “They’re crystals. The only value they have is that they’re exotic and from space. Now… any of the diamonds meteor rock?”

“No, Mister Luthor.”

“Good.” He tapped the glass above a diamond ring. It was a silver band with a large stone imbedded in the middle and smaller stones fanning out from the center, growing smaller the further away they were. “I’ll take this one in a size 9.”

The man was silent as he opened the case and removed the ring. He hoped that she would like it. The last time he had bought her a piece of jewelry, she had been conflicted because of her marriage to Jonathan Kent. This time, though, she was widowed and had been seeing him seriously for a little over a year now.

Diamond earrings were a symbol of break up for Luthor men. He didn’t want to do that with Martha Kent. A diamond ring, however, was the symbol of wanting the woman in his life forever. He hoped she would see and understand how much that meant to him.

He wanted to prove his love to her even though she did know how much he did love her. The part of him that sought her approval and trust, wanted to always prove his love. Because the moment he stopped, was the moment he no longer wanted her love.

Lionel accepted the velvet box and studied the ring more closely. Yes. He wanted Martha in his life forever and he knows deep down he could never stop loving her. He still loved Lillian after all that had been said and done, so he knows he’ll still love Martha should things turn for the worse between them.

He was determined to make this relationship work. If it meant compromises and bending to her will, he would do it.

Because he loved Martha Kent and nothing was going to be allowed to get between them.

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes-Chapter 24

Fandom: Supergirl

Characters: Kara Danvers, Clark Kent, Samantha Arias, Lena Luthor, Lillian Luthor, Ruby Arias, Oliver Queen, John Stewart, Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onnz, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Cat Grant, Lucy Lane, Damian Wayne, Felicity Smoak, Streaky the Supercat, Martha Kent, Selina Kyle, Talia Al Ghul, Lucius Fox, Maggie Sawyer, Alex Danvers, Jason Todd, Otis Graves, Lex Luthor

Summary: What if superheroes had to pay a property damage tax every time they had a fight in the city?

Lillian sighed as she watched the clock at Noonan’s gradually tick away the time. She felt a sudden squeeze of her hand. She looked to the seat next to her at the restaurant to see Martha smiling back at her. 

“Everything is going to be okay. The worst that can happen is that Amanda won’t tell us anything and send us on our way.”

Lillian gave her a soft smile. She reached down and kissed Martha’s hand and said, “I’m more concerned that she will rat us out to Lex more so anything else.”

Martha raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is that why you suggested meeting at Noonan’s instead of the office?”

Lillian sighed and said, “Lex is lax with watching over me, but you can never be too careful. Both Amanda and I frequent this restaurant enough that it wouldn’t be unusual for us to bump into each other and have a few words.”

Martha looked at Lillian baffled and asked, “Wait? You guys see each other here often?”

Lillian leaned back in her chair and said, “Yes. Amanda and I are usually around here late morning or early afternoon. However, we tend to avoid each other.” Lillian shook her head and sighed. She continued, “Amanda and I used to be best friends in college. We came up with the idea of Cadmus during our senior year as a capstone project. We thought that there should not only be an organization that studies the extraterrestrial lifeforms that were already on Earth but also learn how to coexist with each other. I focused more on the business side of things whereas Amanda worked towards networking and getting funding. Everything went well until Zod came into the picture several years ago.”

Martha winced and said, “I hate that name with a passion.”

“You are not alone in that sentiment. It reshaped Amanda’s perception of aliens as a whole. She viewed every one of them as a threat and that they needed to be removed from Earth. Lex provided her with options to achieve that and in return, she provided him funding to support his research efforts on the subject. I objected to all of this, but she still pushed me out. Fortunately, enough people from Cadmus didn’t like Amanda’s new direction and decided to come with me as I formed my own company.”

“If you think she has so much hatred against aliens, why do you think she would talk to us.”

Lillian leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully. 

“There have been rumors of Leviathan changing direction for a while now. They have always been anti-alien, but their choices in political candidates have been interesting to say to least.”

Martha looked at her quizzically and asked, “How so?”

“Well, the candidates they have supported so far are pro-alien rights and making reforms to help aliens become citizens. It is a complete 180. Lex wasn’t willing to cooperate with their changes so he was cut off. Amanda has used funding from Leviathan in the past. I am curious to see if she followed the road Lex took in regards to them, or if she fell in line to their new policy. If she did, we may be able to get something out of her.”

Martha nodded and said, “I like that particular theory. Hopefully, it doesn’t take that long to get information out of her. I have so much to do to prepare for tonight.” 

Lillian smirked and asked, “Worried about meeting the children I see?”

Martha pouted which caused Lillian to smile. She loved teasing Martha just a tiny bit. 

Lillian caressed Martha’s face and said, “You don’t have to worry. Sam, Lena, and Ruby will adore you as much as I do.”

Martha looked down while twiddling her thumbs and said, “Well, Lena has kind of avoided me with everything with Clark. I just worried that she might…”

Lillian kissed Martha’s hand which caused her to blush.

“Lena is more than okay with everything. All three girls are happy that I have put myself back out there.”

Martha smiled and said, “Still, I want to make a good impression and make sure that everything goes smoothly.”

Lillian smiled and said, “It will darling. I am just as eager to meet Kara. I have never seen Lena this happy before. It is like she is floating on cloud nine everyday.”

Martha chuckled and said, “I am not surprised. Kara is a bundle of sunshine that will brighten anyone’s day. I just wished that some of that would rub off on Clark. He used to be so optimistic, but now….”

Lillian squeezed Martha’s hand and said, “Hopefully this stuff with Lex will give us insight into Clark. I don’t have any proof, but I am willing to bet money that Lex has something to do with Clark’s behavioral changes.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did,” said a woman’s voice. 

Lillian and Martha nearly jumped out of their seats. They turned to see a black woman of medium build and short black hair staring at them. She had on a blue business suit. Lillian quickly change her expression to surprise to passive. 

The woman smirked and said, “You are losing your touch Lillian. It is nice to see that I can still take you by surprise.” 

The woman pulled up a chair and sat down with them. 

Lillian sighed and said, “It is nice to see you too, Amanda.”

Amanda smirked while she turned towards Martha and said, “I am assuming that since you brought Superman’s mother that you are wondering about if Lex had anything in store for him.”

Martha looked at her startled and asked, “How….”

Amanda chuckled and said, “Lex wasn’t very subtle about his infatuation with your son.”

Martha glared at the woman while gripping the table until her knuckles went white. 

Martha growled, “Yet you help a mad man hurt my son over and over again.”

Amanda sighed  while leaning back in her chair and said, “Would you believe me if I told you it was never my attention that he got hurt?”

Martha scoffed and said, “Don’t insult my intelligence.”

Amanda chuckled and said, “Well, I did want your son neutralized after the events with Zod.”

Martha winced at that statement. 

Amanda sighed and said, “And before you say anything, I realized that your son was being controlled by Zod. However, that fight between them caused over 200 people to die. Most had the nuance of separating Superman from that. He was drugged after all. However, your son isn’t normal. What if he is drugged or mind controlled again? Who is there to stop him. The Justice League was barely able to contain him the last time. We need measures in place for if that were to occur.”

Read the rest on AO3

[beantothemax]

Anyway hello.. Inbox fic jumpscare

Why, oh, why did it have to be pirates!? Obviously she knew the reason, no normal people would go to the Dread isle, but she still wished it could have been a team of non bandits.

The pirates had not done anything so far, but she still hid beneath the stairs on the deck. It was a small, cozy space. Most importantly, she was hidden behind some barrels and was difficult to spot. She sat there for hours, staring out at the gorgeous sapphire colored sea while people spoke and laughed above her.

"Where's Lyn?" Hector asked.

She wanted to groan, but didn't in fear of being found.

"I don't know, I think she's hiding cause she's sea sick," Matthew replied.

Wildly incorrect but a rather funny answer and she involuntarily snorted.

"Lyn?" Hector asked.

He peered through the space between the steps, smiling when their eyes met.

"What're you doing down there?"

"N-nothing! Leave me be!" she hissed.

Hector didn't care for what she said though and removed a barrel that hid her so well.

"Hiya Lyn!" he laughed.

"If you're gonna sit here too, at least put the barrel back," she grumbled.

"Okay," and he did as told, sitting comfortably beside her, "So... Kent said you're hiding here because you're scared."

"He did?"

"Yes."

"Snitch."

"So you are scared?"

She rolled her eyes but muttered in the affirmative.

"He said you don't like criminals because some killed your parents," Hector said, uncharacteristically soft.

She tensed at the mention of her parents and moved further away from him, but that was hardly half a foot, given the tiny space they sat in.

He put a careful hand on her shoulder, "I- uh, my parents died of a plague. For months afterwards, I was a clean freak and bathed so much I got rashes. I know it's not the same, but I get why you're so scared."

She wanted to cry just thinking of them and she wished Hector would stop trying to sympathethize with her. She wanted to be alone and deal with her feelings alone, but she couldn't muster a single word.

"...I know you're scared to sail with bandits and I'm sorry there were no other options. If it'll make you feel any safer, I can stay by your side and make sure they don't try to hurt you," he said, so strangely sweet and calm that for a moment, she doubted whether it was truly Hector that spoke.

For so long, she didn't know what to say. Most others had dismissed her and a few even called her dramatic, but now one of the people in the company that she disliked most offered such a considerate kindness that all she could do was cry.

Hesitantly, he wrapped an arm around her. She eagerly hugged him back, unintentionally soaking his shoulder with tears. They sat there for a long time, holding each other while Lyn cried and cried, and for the first time since they boarded the ship the previous day, she fell asleep.

He carefully picked her up and brought her to a spare hammock where he let her sleep. He nearly left, but recalled his offer to protect her. She might wake up and he might not be there. He could lose her trust so easily...

And admittedly, she had grown on him. He wanted her to feel safe.

THANK YOU????? OH MY GOSH????? PIE ON GOING TO DIE??????,,,,????.?.?.?.?.?

lyn not wanting to board a pirate ship since her family were killed by criminals is a REALLY intriguing lil plot point that I like a lot and this whole fic just!!!!!!!! emphasized it!!!!!!! a!!!!!!

her not seeking comfort but recieving it anyways in Hector!!!!!!! and him going through a similar experience and promising to stay with her and a!!!!!!!!!!!!! pie this is so lovely what the heck!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vansandhands]

A Guide to Handling Fragile Items While Moving

Website: www.vansandhands.com

Moving homes can be challenging, especially when dealing with delicate items. To ensure the safety of your belongings, it is essential to be prepared in advance and choose the best packaging material. Essential packing materials include quality cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, labels, rope or bungee cords, corrugated inserts, and packing peanuts. Sturdy blankets or bedding can be used to protect fragile items before packing.

Packing glassware, ceramics, and tableware using packing paper and bubble wrap is crucial for easy handling and less room for shifting. Use the original box and remove cables, leads, and accessories for electronics. Wrap them in bubble wrap and place them in a different bag or box.

Packing electrical goods like toasters, computer equipment, and kitchen appliances is also essential. Pack them into smaller boxes and wrap them in protective layers to avoid damage. Dismantle furniture and wrap any fragile furniture to prevent scratches or dents during moving.

To pack fragile items correctly, follow these tips: avoid using thicker boxes, use smaller packing boxes, secure the bottom with extra strips of tape, layer the heaviest items on the bottom, use delicate packing materials, wrap each item separately, use dividers for glassware and stemware, fill hollow articles with packing paper, use plenty of packing tape, clearly label fragile items, and take your time when packing.

Hiring a moving company in Kent, such as Vans and Hands, can ensure the safety and security of your valuable possessions during your move: Trust Vans and Hands for reliable and expert handling of your delicate belongings. Read Handling Fragile Items: Expert Advice for Safe Move, here.

[marketingreportz]

Water Softener Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Water Softener Market Overview:

A water softener is a device designed to remove minerals like calcium and magnesium from hard water, which can cause scale buildup in pipes and appliances, leading to reduced efficiency and lifespan. By exchanging these hard minerals with sodium or potassium ions through a process called ion exchange, water softeners improve water quality for household use, making it gentler on skin, hair, and clothing while enhancing the effectiveness of soaps and detergents. Regular maintenance, including replenishing salt supplies, ensures optimal performance and longevity of the system.

Request sample :

According to a study on hard water conducted by the United States Geological Survey, 85% of all states in the U.S. are supplied with hard water. Hard water has a high concentration of minerals and salts that forms the core of water supply in this region. It has a detrimental effect on health and negatively impacts household activities such as cleaning, dishwashing, and laundering. Hard water often forms a white ring composed out of salts around most of the products and the salts in it can even penetrate into sweat composition. Inadvertently, most countries in the world are facing this problem and relying on the water softener market for a feasible solution for this persistent issue. The water softener market has therefore earned a massive amount of revenue in 2018 which has been evaluated at $7.2 billion. Both commercial, and residential places, utilize water in various kinds of activities ranging from menial to large scale tasks, which is why this market has found its application in every nook and corner of the world. During the forecast period 2019–2025, the water softener market has been evaluated to expand at a standard CAGR of 6.80%. Since, North American water bodies are more or less filled with hard water, the water softener market is the strongest in this region with a country-wide share [PN9] of 36% in 2018.

Inquiry Before Buying:

The water softener market is segmented on the basis of type, into salt-based water softener and salt-free water softener. While salt-free water softeners only focus on assuring that the salts do not adhere to the pipes, salt-based water softeners completely absorb the salts rendering soft and pure water for utilization. The latter application segment is more popular amongst consumers and has been evaluated to rise with a CAGR of 6.60% through to 2025.

Water Softener Market Growth Drivers:

Health Impact of Hard Water

Hard water can have detrimental effects on human health. The salts present in this particular kind of water easily results in the development of kidney stones which is a severe health issue. According to the findings of National Centre for Biotechnology Information, an increased magnesium intake from hard water results in cerebrovascular mortality. Several other conducive health issues resulting from consumption of hard water include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and others. This has resulted in high demand for water softeners from both commercial as well as residential buildings lest the health of everyone gets affected.

Water Softener Market Companies:

Honeywell International Co., one of the leading companies in the world providing solutions for smart homes and efficient lifestyles have invented a water softener called KaltechSoft. This machine uses process automation and can regulate its water softening on the basis of consumer requirements.

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Some of the other key companies include Culligan International Company, General Electric Company, Whirlpool Corporation, Honeywell International, 3M Company, Kent RO Systems Ltd, Unilever, Pentair plc, A.O. Smith Water Technologies, Evoqua Water Technologies LLC, and Ion Exchange (India) Ltd.

Water Softener Market Trends:

Water softeners often utilize sodium for removing minerals and other salts from hard water which can be extremely harmful to not just environment but to people’s health. People who are put on a low sodium diet are often at a disadvantage as excessive sodium gets added to their diets. Owing to technological advancement and scientific research, the water softener market has recently been disrupted by aluminum based water softeners that do not use sodium for conversion into soft water. Using simple chemistry, aluminum is able to remove all the excessive impurities from hard water, thus conserving the environment by lowering sodium usage.

Water Softener Market Research Scope

The base year of the study is 2018, with forecast done up to 2025. The study presents a thorough analysis of the competitive landscape, taking into account the market shares of the leading companies. It also provides information on unit shipments. These provide the key market participants with the necessary business intelligence and help them understand the future of the Water Softener Market. The assessment includes the forecast, an overview of the competitive structure, the market shares of the competitors, as well as the market trends, market demands, market drivers, market challenges, and product analysis. The market drivers and restraints have been assessed to fathom their impact over the forecast period. This report further identifies the key opportunities for growth while also detailing the key challenges and possible threats. The key areas of focus include the types of segments in the water softener market and their specific applications in different areas.

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Water Softener Market Report: Industry Coverage

The water softener market can be segmented on the basis of product type, type, and application. Based on product type, the market can be divided into Catalytic softeners, and Electro-magnetic. By type, the market can be fragmented into salt-free and salt-based. And on the basis of application, the market can be divided into residential, industrial, and commercial.

The Water Softener Market report also analyzes the major geographic regions for the market as well as the major countries for the market in these regions. The regions and countries covered in the study include:

• North America: The U.S., Canada, Mexico

• South America: Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica

• Europe: The U.K., Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Denmark

• APAC: China, Japan, Australia, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong

• Middle East and Africa: Israel, South Africa, Saudi Arabia

For more Lifesciences and Healthcare related reports, please click here

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Delaware Demolition & Junk Removal Contractor

With over a decade of experience in the industry, Philly Strong specialize in delivering safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible demolition solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial projects in Delaware. Philly Strong serves the entire state of Delaware including: Wilmington, New Castle County, Kent County, Sussex County.

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Post-Brexit border checks jeopardise food security, grocery retailers warn

New border checks under Brexit are reducing consumer choice and jeopardising the UK’s food security, The Guardian reports.

A joint letter from the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) and the Horticultural Traders Association (HTA) has called for an urgent meeting with the government over the continuing problems their members face importing plants and cut flowers under the current border system.

The letter from the HTA, which represents gardeners and retailers, and the FPC, which represents 700 fresh produce suppliers and distributors, comes six months after the introduction of new border checks on plant and animal products entering the country from the EU post-Brexit.

From April 30 this year, plants for planting and some cut flowers entering Britain from the EU began to be checked at border posts across Britain. Previously, plants were checked at destination, allowing nurseries and gardeners to store them in controlled conditions on site.

The changes at the border, introduced to replicate checks on British exports to Europe, were designed to improve Britain’s biosecurity and prevent the spread of disease between plants in the country.

But in their letter, both groups said trade in edible plants such as fresh fruit and vegetables, and non-edible plants including finished plants, bulbs and seeds, had faced “significant challenges,” with importers facing higher costs, increased risk of delayed or damaged orders, and burdensome paperwork. It also added:

This situation has led to reduced consumer choice, strained business relationships, a tarnished UK business reputation, diminished confidence in border processes, compromised food security, and setbacks in achieving our environmental targets.

Delivery costs increased

John Adams, owner of Hertfordshire-based plant wholesaler Jane Adams, said he had stopped importing olive trees into the UK because of the new border regime, while lavender imports had also become much more difficult because of the level of checks.

Adams, whose company has been importing plants and cut flowers for more than 50 years, says the rules have increased delivery costs by about 10 per cent and orders have started to arrive with delays that have sometimes lasted between seven and 24 hours. Another major retailer, who did not wish to be named, said:

Due to border concerns and other pressures on businesses in the environmental horticulture sector, we are seeing the choice of plant products imported being reduced by up to 25% in some cases in the last two years.

UK fruit and vegetable growers are also reliant on imports from the EU, with many buying seeds and young plants from the continent which are then grown in the UK for food production.

Delays due to border checks

Earlier this year, the National Farmers Union warned that the inspections threatened farmers with an “existential threat,” warning that young plants could face long delays and could be damaged or destroyed, which could affect future harvests.

In August, the British Tomato Growers Association said lengthy seed inspections at the border were threatening yields, while the Cucumber and Pepper Growers Association (CPGA) said significant delays were causing “costly crop delays.”

The letter also sets out 10 urgent government actions that could improve the flow of goods from the EU to the UK while protecting businesses from increased costs.

These include agreeing a plant health agreement with the EU based on mutual recognition of standards, removing barriers in the current system of border posts that prevent inspectors from carrying out inspections after 5 p.m., and calling for inspections to meet the agreed four-hour service level agreement set out by the government.

The letter also calls for the abolition of the £145 fee charged at the government-run border control post at Sevington, Kent, which handles all inspections passing through the Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel.

The letter states that charging should be suspended for 12 months while the economic impact of the border policy is analysed.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said:

Protecting UK biosecurity remains one of our key priorities and checks on certain imports are essential to prevent outbreaks of diseases that would severely damage our food supply, the environment and future trade. Since coming into power, ministers are working closely with industry, trade partners and enforcement agencies to minimise disruption. This includes resetting our relationship with Europe and seeing a new veterinary agreement to improve our trade ties.

Read more HERE

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About Us

Bio-One of Providence is a leader in crime scene cleanup and biohazard decontamination services in Providence for a reason. The scenes we remediate can be overwhelming and dangerous. We are trained, experienced, and here for you. Contact us anytime, day or night. We answer the call 24/7.

Contact Us

(401) 569-0169

Info@BioOneProvidence.com

About Your Local Owner

We are a help first business, and we do it because we care.

Bruce Ballard

Owner

Bruce Ballard is the owner of Bio-One of Boston and Bio-One of Providence. Bruce grew up locally, playing sports and always engaged in his father's church. Bruce is a graduate of Bridgewater State University with a degree in Exercise Science. Bruce has always had a passion for helping people. Immediately after college, Bruce threw himself into the fitness community with the goal to help assist people in becoming healthier and increasing their quality of life. Since then, Bruce has invested himself into the public sector, earning his National Paramedic license and becoming a Firefighter/Paramedic in a local community. With the assistance from wife Nicolette, Bruce looks to continue his life passion of helping those in their most dreaded time of need.

Our Purpose

Bio-One of Providence is a professional crime scene and biohazard decontamination cleaning company serving the Providence area.

We are trained, experienced, and insured to remediate overwhelming biohazard situations. From animal hoarding to active crime scenes, we have disinfected, removed, and disposed everything you can think of. In Bio-One's 10+ years of experience, teams across the United States have tackled everything imaginable with care and compassion.

During that time, safety has been a mainstay. We follow OSHA standards and ensure all our teams are equipped with the proper equipment and PPE to safely complete a job from beginning to end.

Our Qualifiers

We are trained and insured as a professional crime scene cleanup and decontamination company. Our technicians are highly skilled and have been trained on OSHA's safety standards.

You can call our local team directly

We answer calls 24/7

The cleaning procedure will be explained in detail

We will schedule work when it is most convenient for you

Our trained technicians will decontaminate the impacted areas and leave it in safe manner so you can move forward

When you call Bio-One of Providence, you are working with professionals. If anybody knows how to clean biohazards, it is Bio-One of Providence.

Compassion and Understanding

Our priority is helping you. Bio-One of Providence continues to be the most passionate and caring company in the cleaning services industry. We have built our company on the foundation of discretion and confidentiality.

We treat each situation with care and compassion and take time to learn your individual needs and goals.

We can open your insurance claim and work with adjusters so you can focus on other urgent matters. We strive to make a difference in our community and thrive by going above and beyond for our clients at Bio-One of Providence.

A local approach  for Providence communities

Bio-One of Providence is a local business that puts the community at the forefront. We serve Providence and its surrounding areas in crime scene cleanup and biohazard decontamination. We are a team deeply integrated in the community, and dedicated to providing care and compassion to all of our clients.

Areas served:

Bristol County

Newport County

Providence County

Kent County

Washington County

New London County