#should i have done a strand test? probably

[almostmylove]

Shatter me with your love part 7.

Synopsis: the end is the beginning of a new, you just need to figure out how to start

Warning:mentions of suicide( not much), blood, angst, neglect, child neglect

A wave to sickness hits you hard , your head feels like its jello and your mind is filled with foggyness.

Your eyes pry open yet it still feels like your eyes have been forced closed. You aren’t too sure if its because of the muck and gunk that somehow has piled onto the corners of your eyes or if it was actually glued.

Before you could think much futher something caught your sleepy eyed attention.

The celling? No, The walls. All of the walls where a soft pink color? From what you could see the whole room looked like it was adorn in pinks of different shades and other variations of colors.

Everything from curtains, lamps and chairs to more were covered a Barbie like color, the same color too similar to that awful shade of pink that complimented it very well. It looked straight out of a children’s commercial they would advertise dead afternoon but more messy and crowded, slightly similar to how you decorated your room when you were younger.

You try to stand up but your body seems to have plans to rest, stuck looking up at the ceiling with your arms at your side.

You try one last time and manage to lift your right hand up a bit, nothing more. It probably wasn’t enough to get away from who ever or what ever had put you in this pink torture room for now rest was very needed. You didn’t realize how much energy you had actually used just to lift up your hand.

It was kinda pathetic, you would smirk to yourself if you could but your face remainder stoic. If anyone…anyone…if father saw you like this he would probably scoff at you.

Speaking of him, what happened in end to them? Your mind rattled at what they could be doing right now.

Were they trying to find you? Did they caree for you? Who kidnapped you? Why did they kidnapped you and for what?

You weren’t really sure what had happened but you had an idea.

You had died.

Like actually died and now… you were here.

Somehow?

A soft exhale left your chapped lips. It was pointless anyways, they wouldn’t try and find you anyways.

Your new life has started and your old one had ended. Maybe it had been a sign from some higher power to start a new, away from them and all the pain.

Like a reset button.

It was up to you to get yourself out of here but for now a little rest was needed. And some water too.

Your eyes fluttered back closed to its former state and as your mind drifted to sleep you just hope your kidnaper wouldn’t come back by the time you woke up.

*

Mist. Its very where, blocking your vision rendering you technically blind, unable to see more then 4 feet in front of you.

Your head flicks quickly to the side as at the corner of your eye you see something moving with the fog.

It looked vaguely human but ghostly.

A audible swish passes right in-front of your head Snapping your eyes to that side where you saw it.

There it is again you say to yourself. It looked like a man from what you saw , a bit tall and lean.

It happens again but this time you are able to make out a familiar dark straight hair with tiny strands of gray hairs scatterings around the cranium.

“Father”? You called out , ever so softly. Your face scrunches up in a mix of shock,scared and a bit of disgust if you were being honest.

Why did he have to show up here. After everything he has done to!

He neglected me!

He ignored me!

And worst of all, i was the child that he never loved. It was always the Damien this. Dick that. Jason this and even Tim too!

Why couldn’t you be loved for once?

Were you really that unlovable?

Maybe Damien was right. You should of killed yourself long ago.

You were referring to a conversation that you and him had a while ago before the dinner.

Crying in your locked room, you sat quietly in the corner and crying your eyes out over a test. Your test in your hands and crumpled up completely stained with tear and scribbles of marker all over it.

It was kinda dumb now that think about it, it was only a 78 percent which was enough to get pass by with a nod from bruce.

Even tho you had a bit of training from bruce and dick, You hadn’t heard Damien come into your room and stand in front of your form, towering over you intil you heard his snobby childish voice.

“Of course,only you are weak enough to cry over trivial things such as a score on a paper.” he scoffed

You didn’t know why but you opened up to him as vulnerable as you were.

“ im sorry” , you cried, your voice shaky and unstable “ i did Everything right. I studied for days to get a full score on this but even tho i tried my best i was only been able to get less them I anticipated.”

He face palmed audibly and pinched the bridge of his nose in disgust and disappointment.

“You will never get it will you”? He questioned.

Making you look up to him and utter confusion to his questions, stopping your cries leaving an annoying hiccups and sniffles.

“No matter how hard you try you will never be better then us in any form be it skills or academic. Im not even sure how my father got a hold of you but it was clear mistake. You clearly don’t belong with us or to be part of this prestige family”

Your blood shot eyes glaze over his striking emerald green eyes that seemed to pierce thru yours,full of pure hatred and disgust.

Your voice dry and horse manages to respond with a bombastic and confused “what”?

He spoke up,only getting more annoyed by the second.

“ i shouldn’t have to clarify. This is utterly stupid and meaningless like you. You aren’t even fathers real child, i was born be talent and resilient because i am fathers real offspring”.

“ you should even mention that, everyone in this house is family one way or another blood or not we are all equal” you spit back , slightly angry at his ignorance

“ its pathetic if you think we are all on the same level. I am better them every one here with the exception of father obviously”. He voice laced with malice and bad intentions.

“ the only reason why you act like you are better then everyone is because you were breed to be the perfect heir, it not comparable to my situation!”

He scoffs loudly, almost amused in a way.

“ you are only making more excuses for your sorry ass to hide behind!”, he raise his voice but quickly restrains himself from going louder.

“ im not making any excuses!”, your pain loud and shown. You stand up on your shaking legs that had fallen asleep way before the argument. You use one of your arms as support against the wall while point at him with the other other one . Straight. at .him . which seemed to aggravate him even more.

“You don’t get to talk! I have never made excuses up! Never when i had to pull all nighter and especially never when i begged for fathers approval or when i tried to train to be( emphasis on that word) what he originally wanted me to be. A robin and partner.” You voice faded at the last word. A partner you could have been to him. a daughter.

“I can not fathom you being a robin . You would of been worse then Grayson”. He smirked “The name would of been tarnished and with that reputation i would of never wanted to be the robin. My mothe-” you stop his gloating. The more he speak the more anger and pitiful you become. You can’t stand him being in your room, criticizing you for trying yours best so you end it quickly. You are so done with his entitled bs.

“just becuase you get to grown up in a place where everyone adore you doesn’t mean you get to act like you own this place. I didnt! Even tho i have been here longer then you i still need to prove myself!” Your voice shakes in a sign of weakness.Your are too close to crying to keep talking. Its ahed enough to stop yourself from shedding more tears in front of him and talking would probably break you even more.

You did need that right now.

“ you have all the blame. you said it yourself , you have been here longer but who is the forgotten one. Im still appalled father even liked you enough to take you in.” and with that he leaves, his comments hanging in the air as you stood there, dumb founded.

His voice so momotoned compared to his hurtful comments.

He spat venom and it seemed to seep into your vain, intoxicating you. Drowning you in a sorrow that now was infecting you quicker then you had hoped.

As his body slithered out of the room like a conniving snake with quickness. he turn one last time to you with his green emerald eyes.

“ and make sure to clean the blood of your neck. Its an awful sign to see if you aren’t go through with it.”

The door slammed shut as like clock work your back slide down against the wall, landing on the floor with force.

Shit.

You cursed at yourself. Instinctively your hand went to the aprt of your neck whoch had tried. Blood on it.

You had completely forgot about when the argument happend .

Your hand losses snd a tiny sharp piece of metal dropped onto the wooden floor.

You didnt even have to look down at the state of your hand. It was eveident in the exesive amount of blood that was drooping on the side and the throbbing feeling in your hand.

It was like a mini heart beat right on the palm of your hand, ready to be crushed.

Damn Damien. Why did it have to be him to come. Why couldn’t it be some one like dick or tim.

Forgotten…

Forgotten…

Forgotten…

Those were the words that stuck with you the most. It was pointless arguing because he was simply right. He is always right.

Ever since that night, you couldn’t look at him the same, the incident of that night just keep replaying on every corner of his face.

That night you cried and cried your poor little heart out until you couldn’t anymore. You learned that no matter how much you tried you would never be better then Damien… but you sure could try. If you couldn’t get his attention by education then something else could. What if you saved a life ? Would that be good enough.

*

You bolted awake, standing up right. You breathing was labored and quick. it felt like you had just run a marathom not incldue how fast your heart was breaking, you swore you could feel it trying to escape from body, banging on your ribcage for exit.

Water. You needed water. Your mouth was dry, really dry.

You could barely speak before a glass of water magically apeaired infront of you. Taking it without any question you drank it all with aggressiveness. So aggresive infact that some of the water spilled on you but it didn’t matter nor did you care, only to clech the thirst in your blood.

“ whoa whoa whoa, calm down,looks like someone is thirsty” you heard a soft chuckle along with it.

It sounded so familiar…so similar to…

Your head snapped to the your side where a short haired woman sat.

“ catwoman?”

[dark-night-hero]

Kozume Kenma woke up with the aggressive tapping of keyboard keys echoing in the room and maybe a very frustrated groan screams of curses. Causing him to stirr awake, turning to his side so he was facing your back which was playing on his computer. With his sight adjustint in the dark, he brush off a few strand of hair on his face before calling out your name.

"Sorry did I wake you up?" You spoke upon realizing he have been calling you for a while now, in return, in only hummed and gently sat up, back resting on his headboard. "What are you doing?" His voice was deeper than usual, probably due to the fact that he had just awoken up. Looking to his side to check on the time. "It's late." "Hmm, I'll just finish this and go to sleep-fuck!" You curse and roll your eyes as you have failed to do the fucking trial for the 15th time.

You felt like you are about to cry. You've been doing this anti-shogun test for the past half and hour and yet you're still stuck on the very same trial. Even after figuring out the patterns. You felt like you should just fucking cry and give up, quit this game for good that has been making you broke for quite some time now. Failing to do so in your 20th time. You felt like punching the computer screen when you felt your lover presence behind you.

"Sorry, let's just go to be-" "Here, this is how you do it." Placing his hand on top of yours that was holding the mouse, guiding your hands on the keyboard. He show you how it was done. And after a few minute have gone by, there you were with a smile on your face as you have finally finished the trials. "Oh my god! Finally!" You shout in delight, looking up with a smile on your face to your lover only to see him already looking at you with a small smile on his face, lost strand on his now shoulder length hair on his face, nevertheless. He look lovely.

You blink, reaching out to push back those lost strand of hair behind his ear before placing your lips upon his. "Thank you." You giggle, putting your attention back into the game where you logout quickly. Blinking, he smiles and never takes his eyes off you, "Welcome."

[ⓒdark-night-hero] 2024°

: Little drabble I thought because for some fucking reason I cannot pass the fucking trial of that goddamn anti shogun in genshin and I'm about to loose my mind and cry for fucking real.

[wistyblue]

Endearing

Summary: MC's hair dye is starting to fade, revealing their natural brown hair. Worried that Devildom's version of hair dye might negatively affect them, the human decided to confide with their beauty guru, Asmodeus.

MC looking at their reflection in their bedroom vanity mirror: Oh crap. My roots are coming in already?

As a patch of (original h/c) roots started to present themselves within a sea of (dyed h/c), MC pouted at the sight.

MC: I wonder if the hair dye here the same as human's dye...

MC, looking at the bedroom door: I should probably ask Asmo about this.

MC, knocking on Asmo's bedroom door: Asmo! You in there? Asmo: Mhm! Come on in sweetie!

MC, stopped themselves from opening the door: Do you have clothes on?

Asmo: Of course~

MC:...NOT revealing clothes?

The last time they went in without asking, gave them quite a fright. They were not ready to see Asmo wearing a baby doll dress for his upcoming model session.

Asmo, silent for a few seconds before a sound of someone shuffling around the room: Yep!

MC sighed before entering the demon's room.

Asmo: Is there something you need, darling?

The Avatar of Lust was seen sitting on his siting by his vanity, reapplying his nail polish. His hair was wrapped with a hair towel (The demon must've finished bathing) while his body was clothed with his iconic casual wear.

MC, nodded before pointing to their hair: Mhm. Is the hair dye here safe or maybe the same as human's? I kinda need a retouch.

Asmo glanced up to their head, noting a patch of (h/c) strand peeking through. The demon pondered a bit: Hmm...Proabably! If you want we can go out do a test run!

His eyes beaming. The idea of going out for an impromptu salon day excited him, before pouting as he looked down on his now finished nails. A manicure would've been nice.

MC thought for a while before nodding in agreement.

MC: Sure, why not. I trust you have a salon in mind?

Asmo nodded eagerly: Mhm! I have the perfect one in mind.

With deft and precision, Asmo finished applying the top coat on his nails.

Asmo: There! All done.

He beamed before looking at his human companion before pulling them deeper into his room.

Asmo: Now come MC! Let's get you dressed up for the occasion!

MC let the man pull them into his closet, confused: Occasion? We're just going to a salon.

Asmo let out a laugh before letting go of the human and walked towards a set of hanging clothes. He likes seeing his darling wearing what is his.

Asmo: Ufufufu~ Well you see my dear MC. This salon is no ordinary salon. It's a high end salon! Where all hair cosmetics used are all natural and guaranteed to last much, MUCH longer than any hair cosmetics, escpecially the dyes.

The demon eyed the brighly and saturated coloured hair of his companion.

Asmo: Your hair NEEDS to take a rest from those chemicals.

The beaming demon pulled out a set of clothes from one of the racks dedicated for sharing between him and his human. A simple cream colored frilled, long-sleeved button up blouse and a pair of soft pink high waist pants. Crouching down, Asmo pulled out a pair of black platforms shoes.

Asmo held up the set to his beloved human with a teasing smirk: Also, you're still wearing your sleepwear.

MC looked to the side where a full body mirror was placed: Ah.

Asmo couldn't help but laugh as he gave the clothes to his human: Here! Put these on.

MC took the clothes and headed towards a sectioned off area for some privacy: I still don't know how you have clothes that fit me.

Asmo, chuckled: We're almost the same height! Of course majority of my clothes would fit you.

MC: Yeah. But you're much slimmer than I am. I would've expect some sort of resistance on these. Especially with these love handles...

The human grabbed a hold of their excess fat on their waist. Maybe trying to join Beel's lunch run on the newly opened all you can buffet was a bad idea.

Asmo let out a giggle as he fixed his hair: Oh come on, sweetie! Don't put yourself down. Their called love handles for a reason~

MC was confused at what the lustful demon meant until they felt a pair of soft hands held their waists.

MC: KYAAAH!

Asmo: They're so stinking cute!

MC: A-Asmo! Please stop hugging me out of nowhere. Especially if I'm changing...

Asmo gave a small peck on their cheek as sorry: Sorry darling~ You were just so cute that I couldn't help but hug you!

The demon's hold tightened around their waist as he continued to kiss their cheek.

Asmo: Especially when you pout! The way your chubby, soft cheeks inflate as your lips puckers up. Oh, I can't just help but kiss you!

As on cue, the champange pink haired demon continued his kissing on their neck before stopping after a minute.

Asmo: Hehehehe~Anyway, I'll leave you to finish up!

MC stood motionless on the dressing area as they stared at the wall mirror that was in front of them. Their cheeks and ears dustd with pink along with a trail of crimson stained lipstick littered their face.

The human may have saved themselves from being flashed, however, they didn't calculate for their endrearing demon to decorate their face with lipstick.

MC:...Wait. ASMO, PLEASE TELL THESE AREN'T THE ONES THATS HARD TO REMOVE!

Asmo could only bark out a laugh as he left his walk in closet.

Asmo: Love you, sweetie!

MC let out a sigh before chuckling as they finished buttoning their shirt: Love you too.

What an endearing demon they have...

[allenkel]

Parker Luck Chapter 3

Summery: Bruce is thinking too hard Tim found something interesting with Peters DNA Jason comforts and hold Peter because everyone is a bit OOC and I'm awkward!

Notes:

SO SO SO SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME SOOO LONGGG TO POST THIS CHAPTER!! I kept re-writing it because I didn't like certain parts and now I'm at least slightly more happy with it! If you have any suggestions for what the next chapter should entail please comment because I may have some ideas but I'm not creative and need help!

Warning: -Panic Attack -Implied Asthma attack (Foreshadowed/referenced for like a sentence) -Fluff (Yes, Jason and Peter will be eachothers comfort buddies! Dick is just a brother figure to Peter!)

Lastly- Peter has MANY scars

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce couldn't sleep at all that night. Firstly, Dick and Jay had found a child in an unknown Lazarus Pit they tracked. He hasn’t gotten to see the child yet because of Jason, who gave him a death glare as soon as he tried to open the door so he just turned and left not wanting to have a fight with Jason. He just wanted to ask some questions, not interrogate the kid! 

Bruce went to the kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee and headed back down to the batcave to hopefully see the DNA test results that Tim ran last night. When the elevator opens he steps out and looks towards the batcomputer where he unsurprisingly sees Tim asleep on the chair. Bruce has a small smile on his face before walking over and shaking Tim awake. It takes Tim a minute but he wakes up slowly, “Goodmorning Tim, were you able to get the DNA results back before roughly passing out in the chair?” Tim looked over at him and gave him a small glare before sighing and shaking his head, “It was almost done before I fell asleep so it should be done now.” Tim sooted his chair forward and started pulling up the DNA results onto the batcomputer. 

“Okay.. that’s not human. Like at all. There’s radiation and something I can’t fully identify without further testing fused with his DNA.” Bruce thought about the possibilities of experimentation. The splicing of the kids DNA is messy but also balanced, allowing his DNA to adapt and mutate whenever needed. “Run as many scans as possible, separate the DNA strands and try to identify them.” Tim nodded and started separating the DNA strands. “Alfred will come and get you for breakfast  soon.” the only response he got from Tim was a quick nod before he went back upstairs.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

hungrysafehungrysafe-WAKE

Peters eyes snapped open before closing them abruptly at the light burning his eyes, “Morning, Pete.” Then there was a click, Peter opened his eyes- the lights were off now- and looked around and found Jason walking back over to him from where the lightswitch was. “Hope that helps.” Jason sat down next to him, “T-thanks..” his voice barely a whisper but he still tried to sound as genuine as he could, “You hungry? You haven’t eaten since you got here.” Peter shook his head but his stomach betrayed him and growled, ‘traitor’ Jason just laughed and got up, grabbed the cold bowl of soup and put it into the microwave. “Your stomach says otherwise.”

The smirk he was giving Peter reminded him way too much of DP, who was probably trying to find him, where ever he is. He should probably ask- shouldn’t he? “U-um where exactly a-are we? Like the state?” Jason’s expression went from amused to confused before responding, “We’re in Gotham, New Jersey kid. How do you not know where you are?” It took a moment before the words sank into Peters brain.

What.

NEW JERSEY?!

OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! WHY?! New Jersey of all places he could end up! Of courseeee! 

Stupid Parker Luck..

“Well.. L-last I checked I was in New York…” His voice a slight octave higher with nervousness evident in his voice. “Well shit.” Jason ran a hand over his face, taking a deep breath. The microwave beeped suddenly causing both of them to jump slightly. “Just.. for right now eat then I’ll have some questions for ya. K kid?” Peter nodded as Jason took the bowl of now hot soup from the microwave and handed it over to Peter with a small towel on the bottom to prevent it from burning his hands. 

Peter was taking it slow but started to eat faster after only a few bite, ‘it’s so good!’ “Slow down kid, it’s not goin’ anywhere.” Jason chuckled but- god was he embarrassed now. Peter slowed down but was still eating a bit faster then normal, once he was done Jason grabbed the bowl and placed it back on the side table. “Feelin’ better kid?” He gave Jason a sheepish nod, “Alrighty, you mind if I ask a few questions? You don’t need to answer them if you don't want to.” Peter liked Jason, he was patient and nice. “Y-yeah.”

“You know how you ended up in the pit you were in?” he thought for a moment but the last thing he remembered was Dr. Stranges spell exploding in his face. So basically he has no idea how he ended up in a cave or a pit from what Jason said. “No.” The was a sigh before Jason continued, “Alright, do you know what that substance was that you were in?” Was he supposed to know? Because he’s seen nothing like whatever that green liquid was unless you wanted to compare it to Venom in liquid form which is just uncomfortable to look at when he’s ate. “No.”--” Alright, we can start there then. That green substance is called Lazarus water, it can heal fatal wounds and can sometimes be used to bring back the dead..” … What. I’m sorry did he just say bring the dead back to life?! His shock must’ve been evident on his face because Jason put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Yep, I had the same reaction when I first heard about it. Although.. Those brought back to life end up with physical and psychological side effects.” 

Oh god.. Did he die?! Again?! Is that what Jasons insinuating?! Peter felt anger bubble dangerously towards the front of his mind but he just stuffed it back in and took a deep breath. Don’t panic–He’s panicking–How can he not?! He was basically just told he was resurrected from the dead! Again! He’s struggling to breathe, the room feels too small, he feels too small. Everything’s too much, the universe, Dr. Stranges spell, dying, everything. His visions blurry, black spots are appearing, Jasons saying something and rubbing circles on his back but he can’t focus enough on it. Everythings just too much–breathing hurts and it’s difficult to take in air, every breath he takes feels like it's through a straw, it’s oddly familiar. Then he feels Jason hug him, its warm and comforting and his mind slows enough to focus. 

He focuses on Jason's heartbeat, the steady rhythm of it, he focuses on matching his breathing with Jasons. In..1..2..3..4–out..1..2..3..4–he repeats this process a few times before he’s able to breathe again. He feels something wet crawl down his cheek and he realizes he’s crying. He attempts to stop but it just makes it worse, so he just lets himself wheep. Comforted by the arms he’s wrapped in. He cries until there's nothing left to cry and he’s tired and so so warm.

Warmsaferestsafe..sleep..

With the agreement of his spidey-sense he closed his eyes and falls asleep.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason felt the kids breathing even out and can feel a wet spot on his chest forming. Jason barely moves but he does enough so that he can see Peters crying, so he just lets it happen. Let’s him get all his emotions out right then and there, not letting the kid go just in case. Jason adjusts himself to sit on the side of the bed so he’s not awkwardly holding onto the kid. Jason just sits and waits, not rushing or pressuring Peter. Just sitting there and letting him cry. 

Eventually the kid stops crying and just stays there with steady breaths for a few minutes before putting his full weight on Jason, who moves a bit to see that he fell asleep. The kids lean into the hug shivering a bit, so Jason does what Bruce used to do when Jason had a nightmare or just wanted a hug and would fall asleep. He gently lifts Peter up and slides himself under him before sitting him down sideways on his lap. Peter's head on his chest as he grabs the blanket and moves it over both of them. 

Jason pulls out his phone and opens the messaging app:

UndeadPrincess: Got a bit of information for you guys about Peter.

BoyGenius: What is it?

CassyBat: Peter?

SpoilHer: Wait who’s Peter?

UndeadPrincess: …

BoyGenius: Peters the kid Dick and Jason found in a Lazarus Pit far behind the manor. 

SpoilHer: OH! Yeah that makes more sense. Well what do ya have Jay?

UndeadPrincess: Well its not much the kid had a panic attack and is now asleep again but I can say that he has no ties with the league. Didn’t even know what a Lazarus Pit was until I told the kid. 

BatDad: I figured. Did you get anything else? Even if it may seem unimportant.

UndeadPrincess: Besides the fact he didn’t know how he got there, no. I mean he didn’t seem to recognize either me or Dick in suit but he also has a New York accent, which might explain why.

BatDad: Tim, will you look for young children who had recently died within the year in New York? I’m going to go check out the cave tonight, see if there was anything that was missed.

BoyGenius: Already on it. 

BoyWonder: Wait, aren’t Tim, Steph, Cass and Damien at school? 

[Duke currently has a cold]

BatDad: …

SpoilHer: Hey! I barely texted and besides, it's a study hall. 

DemonAlert: That is correct. It is currently a study hall.

UndeadPrincess: Alright you brats, get back to studying then. 

CassyBat: 👍

DemonAlert: 🖕

SpoilHer: ✌️

BoyGenius: ☕ No

UndeadPrincess has muted the channel

BoyWonder: NOO JAYYY!! :(

Jason clicked his phone off and set it on the side table. It was quiet, but if he focused a bit more he could hear the click-clack of Tim at the batcomputer. The waves of water from the river below, the chirping of the kid he was holding- Wait what? Jason looked down and the kid was indeed making a quiet chirping sound. Which is a bit weird but he chooses to ignore it, that is until Tim slowly opens the door. 

Here we go.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim had finally was able to identify the unknown strips of DNA that was fused together via radiation in the kids blood. 

It was spider DNA, many different types of spider DNA, orb weaver, black widow, crab spider, etc. Each one were messily fused and connected to each other, which begs the question. How is he alive? The amount of radiation mixed with un-matched DNA to a humans should have killed him whenever this happened, but it didn’t. The radiation acted as glue for the spider DNA and allowed it to fuse and mix with the human cells. 

Overall, the kids DNA is a scientific masterpeace, but alas-he is but a person and morally he can’t go around experimenting otherwise he might as well be as bad as the rogues. Though that doesn’t stop him from running some simulations on what the spider DNA could affect the kid biologically. 

[Few hours later (1-2)]

Okay you know that saying curiosity killed the cat, or curiosity got the kid napped? Okay he admits he made the second one up! But-the amount of possibilities with what could physical change or mentally change is killing him! So are his eyes from staring at a screen for too long bad he can deny that because denial is a river in Egypt-meaning his problems are far away from him- but he admits he needs to stop staring at the computer screen before his eyes start burning from his skull more than it already is.

Tim shuts off the computer, takes a sip of his coffee and enjoys the silence for no longer than a second before heading towards the medbay. It’s too quiet and he wants to see if theres and any physical changes he could see without having to actually search for it until he can ask. Once he gets to the door he hesitates- because he has a sense that he’s about to walk into an awkward conversation and those..are his greatest foe’s. 

Oh screw it-

Tim opens the door slowly peeking in, because last time Peter was asleep and just incase he didn’t want to wake him up. Then the most awestruck and surprising thing stood-layed- right in front of him. 

Jason was laying upright on the bed with Peter sideways on his lap, gripping his leather jacket like its a lifeline. While both were covered with a blanket Alfred provided when they arrived with Peter. God-The kid was tiny compared to Jason who is built like a lean tank, if that's a thing.

It’s perfect blackmail. Too perfect- Tim grabs his phone and immediately takes over 5 pictures while Jason is staring daggers at him, but not moving. Hah!-He immediately sent one to the group chat before finally making his way into the room with Jason still glaring at him. “What do you want?” 

“Well I wanted you to be the first to know that Peter is basically a human spider that’s slightly radioactive.” With that said, Jason was just staring at him wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape. “What? What do you mean basically and human spider?!” He whisper yelled at Tim, but all Tim could do was smirk and continue. “Yep, the kids got multiple different types of spider DNA in him and some radiation thats holding his DNA together. It’s messy but overall beautiful.” 

“Tim, you sound like a rogue when you say things like that; stop.” Tim rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Peter, he was nudged a bit in Jason’s jacket. There was clear scaring on the kids face, neck, and arms. It was concerning how mainly scars the kid had, how did he get them? Was he tortured, trafficked, abused? 

Questions, questions, and more questions.. All without answers. Jason’s eyebrows were furrowed, a habit he got from Dick whenever he was deep in thought. “What are you thinking about Jason? You look like Dick when he couldn’t figure out whether he wanted to get vanilla or chocolate ice cream.” Jason's attention snapped back to Tim then his expression shifted to a grimace, it took Dick two-TWO HOURS! To decide to get chocolate ice cream for Dukes birthday cake, while keeping most of the family stuck in the store. It came out pretty good with the chocolate contrasting against the yellow frosting, it tasted good too.

“Just..Did you check to see if he had family..Tim?..” —-! He completely forgot about that! He got to excited about the kids DNA he didn’t check for relatives! Tim jumped out of his seat stopping short because of the scratching noise the chair made, Peter stirred but stayed asleep so Tim bolted out of the medbay and went back to the batcomputer.

Tim searched using facial recognition just to find…absolutely nothing..What the —-? No documents, media trail, hospital records, or school records. It’s like the kid…didn’t exist…

…

……

Then where did he come from?..

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If you have any suggestions for what the next chapter should entail please comment because I may have some ideas but I'm not creative and need help!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and now I'll start chapter 4 and include any ideas you guys comment about that might help with the non-existant plot.

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[Next]

[Previous]

[Masterpost]

[jessi4fanfics]

~The Best Cure~ Short Broppy Story ❤

| Literally just Branch comforting his girl ig lol. They're married in this one btw |

Poppy was crying.

Branch didn't know why, and he didn't have time to even wonder.

Poppy had literally just come home from work, thrown off her cape and crown, fallen onto their bed, next to where Branch had been sitting and writing a document on his computer, and began to completely sob.

"Poppy!" Her husband immediately snapped into action, pulling her up, closer to him, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Poppy, what's wrong?"

Poppy couldn't answer. Her eyes continued to swell up with tears as she looked straight at him until he knew that he should let her cry and have her time.

He slowly let go of her arms, and she crumpled beside him and continued to bawl into his vest. He didn't try to stop her either.

"Shh…" He shushed gently, trying to calm her down a little. His hand found her hand and stroked through it. His fingers picked single strands to roll inbetween his fingertips softly, without hurting her.

Finally, her sobs became soft whimpers. Her head finally lifted from his chest and she looked at him and sniffled.

"Sorry," she whispered, her voice raspy.

Branch slumped down so he could look her straight into the eyes. "It's alright." His hand reached to push an escaping strand of hair behind her ear. "Feel better?" He whispered.

She gave a nod. "I- I don't know why…" She stopped and began to sniffle again. "I probably scared you. I'm sorry." Her eyes became glassy again.

Branch quickly took her hands. "Yes, maybe for a bit. But I'm glad you let it out. Crying can relieve stress like you can't imagine sometimes."

Poppy wiped at her face. "You've done it too?"

Branch gave a bit of a sad smile. "More than I'd like to admit."

Her arms softly snaked around his neck as she scooted closer. His arms wrapped her waist.

"I've been crying a lot recently… I decided not to tell you because I didn't think it was that big of a deal. But tonight everything just snapped." Poppy rested her forehead on his shoulder. "I'm so glad that you were home. It's been so hard without you."

Branch would have usually scolded her for keeping something like that secret. But this time he didn't.

He placed a light kiss on the side of her neck. "It's hard not being sure if someone is there for you. I know the feeling."

"I'm glad you understand, but I wish you didn't have to go through all that you did to." Poppy sighed.

There was a bit of silence.

"Any reason at all that you might think is causing your sudden outbursts?" Branch asked finally.

"I don't know. Sometimes my mind just explodes and can't take anymore and I have to cry."

Branch gave a sad chuckle. "Yeah, Poppy, that's called stress."

"Stress?" She looked at him. "I've never stressed about work before, though."

"Maybe you may not have realized it." Branch shrugged. "Crying is your body's way of pulling yourself back together. You may feel terrible in the moment, but it physically calms you a bit most times."

"Well, what helps stress?" she asked.

"Extra sleep, good and plenty of food, and breaks, Miss Ma'am." He raised an eyebrow and booped her nose at the last one. That would for sure be difficult for her.

Poppy giggled. "Do kisses from your perfect husband help at all?"

"I don't know, maybe we should test it out," he sang in response, pulling her closer.

As soon as he kissed her, she felt her muscles relax a bit, and her eyes closed easily as she rested against him, sighing, exhausted but now relieved and happy, into the kiss.

After about ten seconds, Branch pulled away. "How are you doing?"

She gave a wobbly smile. "Much better."

"I heard somewhere the physical touch helps improve stress and tension levels too," Branch told her softly, tracing her shoulder with his pointer finger.

"Makes sense." Her eyes were closed.

"You're not working tomorrow, alright? I meant it when I said you needed a break."

Her eyes opened. "But-"

"Shh. Go to sleep." His fingers slowly and gently pushed her eyelids down, closing her eyes.

She didn't argue. "Smidge is going to have to-"

"I'll take care of it."

Her eyes opened again, worried. "You're leaving me alone tomorrow?"

"No, I'm staying with you. I'll take care of telling Smidge what to do, however," he reassured her.

"Good." Her eyes closed again. "Sometimes you husband is the best cure."

Branch smirked. "Or vice versa," he whispered. He leaned over her again and he gave her a light kiss.

He would be her cure any day, especially if it meant spending a whole day with her.

And he was going to make sure she got back to being his optimistic queen again, no matter what.

| Sorry this is a bit short. I wrote it quickly😅|

[edgeray]

One Hell of a Butler Pt. 4

Arrogance (Arlecchino x Fem! Reader Blurb)

A/N: Having the shittiest week of my life I think, school has never deicded to screw me as hard as it does now. Should I be doing this instead of studying/preparing for a really big test tomorrow? No, but I needed to get this out of my system before I start locking in. Sorry for not very good writing. Wanted to give reader a personality, so sorry if not too much of Arlecchino, and not a lot like yourself. I had fun writing reader at least. Series Masterlist Content warning: semi-graphic violence done on the reader, blood, swearing, y'all probably hate me for the ending

When you stepped on this path, you knew that you would be endangering your life, though you had justified the risks with your perfected revenge–even if it meant prancing on the road to hell. With acknowledgement of this indubitable fact, you persisted on, even though you knew next to nothing about this walk of life. You, engaging with the underground and the scum of the city, pretending to be one of them, to be able to walk among them?

You had gotten arrogant. Having a demon butler does that to you, apparently. 

You always were a good bluffer, a good poker face, a pretty liar. You were smart, knew how to spin a half-truth into a neatly arranged pile of bullshit with a bow on top. Yet you should have known that that would be your downfall. After all, when your life and revenue relied on your word one would think you knew better than to deceive a client, no?

Well, it was their fault for believing it. Why did you have to be the one to pay? 

You really hate the taste of iron in your mouth. You wipe the blood from the corner of your lips with your knuckle and stagger back a bit to stand up more right, clutching your bruised cheek in your hand. 

“Are you done running away?” One of the men that surrounds you asks.

“Why, you tired already?” You snark back with a sneer that promptly gains you a kick to your stomach, sending an ache to your stomach. Tumbling to the alley floor, you grit your teeth to repress any more noises of agony. 

Only you had to have summoned the slowest demon on Earth. Damn it, what was taking her so long? You should have taken her with you tonight. 

Your eyes skitter around for anything you could use, but it seems that all you're surrounded by is garbage until you catch the glint of something. 

“Keep mouthing off. You won't be able to do that for much longer. He wants us to bring you in mint condition, but as long as you can still talk, we can do whatever we want with you,” the same man that kicked you responded, crouching down right before your lying figure. A hand grips your strands, your scalp burning as he tugs your head up to his eye level. 

“Fucking bitch.” If she doesn't show up in two minutes, you swear to hell you will act more of a demon than she is the next time you see her. 

A palm slams against one side of your face, and an audible slap reverberates throughout the alley way. Your cheek stings and your ears ring from the whiplash. Tears nearly well up in the corner of your eyes. One of your hands rummage through the pieces of junk behind you, before finding and clasping around the neck of a glass bottle. 

“That's all it took to shut you up, huh?” the man smirked maliciously. He raises another hand to assault you before you swing your arm, bringing the bottle to the side of his head. The glass shatters upon impact and your assailant reels back. Unfortunately, as you attempt another swipe at him, a hard fist meets your cheek, and you're out in an instant. 

Your last thoughts are on how to reprimand a demon. 

The first thought when you wake up is that your neck hurts. Though you can't see–likely because of a blindfold–you feel that you're tied up to a chair with some sturdy rope, and there's a rag of some sort in your mouth, secured behind your head. 

And damn it, you can still taste the blood in your mouth. 

So you've been kidnapped. 

Despite the incessant attempts of steadying your breath, you can't seem to relax your drumming heart and the anxiety that pricks underneath your skin. You squirm in your binds, causing the chair you're seated on to make an awful screech when it moves. It pierces your ear drums, and an expletive is muffled by your gag. 

Your futile struggling gains the attraction of someone in the room and footsteps begin to approach until they stop right in front of you. There’s the shuffling of some clothes, as you feel fingers reach in front and take out the rag from your mouth. 

Beneath the fear, you can't help the seething, brimming fury that builds inside of you. You spit in whoever’s face that decides to touch you. You know you've hit your mark when profanities are thrown your way. A smug grin makes its way up your face, until it's slapped off your face, the whiplash causes your ears to ring and your head to be foggy.  

“Stupid woman. I'll make it simple for you. I know you know what we want.”

Collecting some courage and a bit of your sass as a shield, you take a deep breath. Remaining silent, you ponder which client this one was. Knitting your eyebrows in puzzlement, you ask audaciously, “Who are you again?”

“I'll give you one chance. Tell us, and we'll let you go.”

You couldn't help yourself and let out an amused chuckle, throwing your head back. Your giggle dies after a few seconds and you lazily tilt your head towards his direction.

“So you really think I'm that stupid?” You shot back with a cutting remark. “You're a shit liar. You didn’t even once consider letting me go. Why would you let go of a skilled information broker when you have her right here? I would have considered giving you the answer, but I changed my mind since you decided to lie in front of my face. Fucker.”

The speaker audibly grinded his teeth and before you can mentally brace for it, a hard force slams into your chest, and you swear you hear something crack at the impact. Agony blossoms from your sternum, and the faintest tears well up in the corner of your eyes. The hit is enough to make the chair tumble back, making your head bang painfully against the hard, cold floor. 

The male walks towards you and stops right next to your ear. Something cold and gunpowder-y smelling presses against your skull–a gun, you think. “Keep acting like a smartass and you won't live for much longer.”

As you're about to answer, you feel the temperature drop immediately, the room suddenly becoming chilly. You've never been more grateful for the frigidity–it was about time she showed up, stupid demon servant taking so long. “You should worry about your life first,” you merely suggested with the most diabolic of smiles. 

The familiar sound of stilettos click against the floor, becoming louder and louder as it nears, and her fury is eminent–almost exuding out of her like the stench of death that follows. 

“Where are my guards? What did you do to them?” The man demands, his voice cracking from the evident fright, as he steps back. A bang pierces through the room, gunshot after gunshot is shot, presumably at Arlecchino, until the gun starts clicking. He must have ran out of bullets. You're not particularly worried for your butler, in fact, depraved glee is the only thing that you feel. The smile doesn't stop stretching over your face. You really wish you could see the sight; that is, Arlecchino's unharmed form and the man's shocked face. 

Arlecchino's response almost makes you forgive her for being late instantly. “Where are they? Don't worry. You'll be with them soon enough.” 

For the briefest point of time, you felt a smidge of sympathy for your attacker. No amount of bullets can kill her. 

Bloodcurdling screams echo throughout the room, making you cringe– although you were glad that the man was suffering, the noise is horrendous and earsplitting. The distinct noise of flesh being ripped off and then a god awful sound of a crunch follows after, silencing the man once and for all. The intense stank of iron fills your nostrils. 

“I apologize for subjecting you to such repulsive cries, my Lady. I couldn't contain myself,” Arlecchino’s voice finally reaches out to you and her footsteps approach you. Firstly, the blindfold is pulled up, giving back your vision as you can finally see for a while. The first thing you're met with is your butler's face, who is unsurprisingly unmarred. However, there is a tight knit in her brows in her otherwise blank expression, a tension unseen before in the demon. 

Concern, you skeptically guess, forms on her face. It's foreign, perhaps the first time you've seen it before on her. Seeing something like that, you suddenly experience a sensation more unsavory tasting than the metallic tang of your blood. It's bitter, perhaps. An inexplicable unease bubbles within you, and your skin burns like a scorching torch grazing up your skin. Why does her expression generate this sort of reaction? 

"You're late," you manage out, swallowing thickly any previous unease, your tone expressing evident annoyance. She hums in response. Raising a clawed finger, she slices your bounds easily, freeing you.

“My apologies,” she says, and you note that she lacks the usual refinement in her words. “Finding you proved to be a bit difficult.” 

There's a brief pause and she helps you stand and you regard the room you're in. The pungent smell of iron fills the room, coming from beyond the doorway in which you can see some of the remnants of the bodies that Arlecchino killed. You direct your attention away from such a horrid sight. How she was able to cause this massacre without making any noise, you couldn't fathom. 

It's not the first time she's been the center of a slaughter. In a disturbing way, it's almost nostalgic, reminiscent of your first meeting with Arlecchino, when you've summoned her at your greatest time of need. Broken and desperate you were, you screamed out your final plea which no god acknowledged before she did. You were pleading to live. But now, just minutes before, you were practically taunting death. Have six months accompanying a demon changed you that much? 

A brief contact pulls you away from your thoughts when you feel something cold press against the corner of your lips. You flick your attention to Arlecchino as your heart leapt at the sudden movement. Her thumb wipes away the blood that seeps with a tender stroke. 

"You're hurt," the demon says almost matter-of-factly if it weren't for how curt it seemed–like there was an urgency with those two words. You repress the urge to question her odd behavior. 

“Incredible observation,” you sarcastically remark and you try to brush away her hand, except she grips your chin in between her fingers. Turning your head, before you could react, you feel something cold, yet soft press gently into your bruised cheek. It's a fleeting touch, but instantaneously, you feel heat blossom from the source of contact–incredibly hot, as if your skin is lit ablaze just from mere lips. Arlecchino pulls away quickly, and your fingers dab the tingling skin where she touched. You expect to feel the aching soreness, but instead, you feel nothing–as if the bruise was never there in the first place. 

“What did you do?” You ask in puzzlement. The butler's lip curls up into an amused smirk, most likely enjoying your confusion. 

“I healed you.” 

“I wasn't aware a demon had the ability to do that.” Let alone with that method, anyways…

“Just another ability of mine as a demon. You know…”

She extends one hand out, using her pointer finger to tilt your chin up, invoking you to gaze into her red-crossed irises. They flicker with a wanton desire when they find your eyes, and there's a deliberate sweep of her tongue over her red lips. Shivers run down your spine as she approaches closer, and her other arm circles your waist with the other hand flat against your lower back. She leans in until she's gazing directly down at you, hot air tickles your nose as she exhales. 

Your heart pounds in your ears, making every other sense of yours except touch fade. Your sensitivity to touch is heightened, making every small brush create goosebumps. Your lips part into a small gasp from her action. Why do you suddenly feel so inexplicably hot? 

“Your lips seem bruised as well.” 

She leans down to close the distance. Your heart races and races until you’re convinced it'll explode as she nears. At the last moment, you jerk your head away. 

“No. No, they're not,” you exhale out breathlessly in between pants. Your cheeks burn fiercely, hardly able to hear your own words from your thundering heartbeat in your ears. 

Arlecchino stiffens immediately, before leaning back. You're grateful for the added distance, feeling the abrupt weight on your shoulders lifted. You dare glance over her expression. Once more, you're met with another emotion you've never seen before on her. A subtle frown with pursed lips alongside the smallest narrowing of her brows tells the disappointment in her dark abysses. The blackened arms fall away from your body, and for the strangest reason, you want her touch to linger. 

The bitterness in your mouth returns. 

“Get me out of here, Arlecchino,” is all you can say. The demon stares at you for several moments, before closing her eyes and hardening her face, the confounding expression gone in an instant. Suddenly, she becomes familiar again. 

“As you wish, my Lady.” 

You think you prefer getting beaten the shit out of over the gnawing sensation in your chest. Your heart swells achingly. You can’t fathom why.  

[rannadylin]

Ranna's Knitting Goals: 2025

I don't really make new year resolutions buuuuuut I will make a nice little "Someday!" list out of my Ravelry queue and other things I've been meaning to work on, huh? :-D I might even get some of these done this year and not a decade from now, but no promises!

Publish the Gloves of the Reunited Kingdom pattern: It's...mostly done? I think I got it pretty much done over the summer but thought it could use test knitters before I actually publish it, and that didn't happen and then the fall semester kept me too busy to think about pattern publishing.

Also publish the Ribbon Twist Socks pattern. I'm pretty sure that one was done but it also fell to the Fall Semester trap?

Write up my Feather and Fan Socks pattern and publish that as a free pattern! As I mentioned on my 2024 Knitting round-up post this morning, this is my go-to for self-striping yarn nowadays. In fact I rounded up all the feather and fan socks I could find in my drawers (I don't think any are currently in the to-wash pile but I could be mistaken? I may have also given some away to my mom) so you can see that I do indeed knit this pattern a lot! It's a pretty easy lace pattern (so a nice one for someone new to lace knitting) and looks great with or without stripey yarn, and I thought it'd be nice to have a free sock pattern people can download as a sample before I upload Ribbon Twist and any future sock patterns as paid patterns.

Knits to finish:

Clapotis 2024B! The one I didn't finish in time for the Knitty contest, but it's more than half done and is likely to be my first 2025 FO. I finally took a WIP picture of it just to prove that it exists (and that it is such a lovely colorway!):

Vox Machina Blanket. Seam that thing finally, Ranna! (I hate seaming...)

Dollegina's outfit.

I do just need to seam up the Chorus of Cats hat, and that is much less seaming than a blanket, so surely this one can get done in the next 12 months? XD

Knits to design:

Dolls! I mean, this is the basic doll body pattern and it's not my design, but I'd like to extend my series of fandom-inspired dolls based on it (currently: Dollegina, Dolloth, Fenris (and Hawke), Kylo Ren & Eleven for my niece!) to include some LOTR Rangers and maybe some BG3 and/or Veilguard characters!

Thrill of the Weave Socks: So I got this gorgeous skein of yarn sometime last year and when I opened that package I was in the midst of playing BG3 and my first thought upon seeing those colors was (of course) "Gale socks!" The colorway is called Thrill so (of course) the pattern would have to be called Thrill of the Weave, and that's as far as that plan has gone for now. I have vague ideas of a lace or cable pattern based on the embroidery on his purple camp shirt? That may not come across well in a multicolor yarn, though, so I am pondering Plan B's.

I started work on a colorwork chart for a Lyrium Dagger bookmark... :-D It'd be three colors though, so still pondering whether to do intarsia (not my beloved) or try to do three-color double knitting (what even is that? triple knitting?) or stranded (but for a flat piece...what am I thinking). It probably should be intarsia. And that's why it's still in this rough form and I haven't cleaned up its edges yet:

If anyone who likes intarsia more than I do wants to take that and run with it, feel free!

I'm also working on some mythology-themed dice bags for JCL convention! Got a Minerva and Apollo panel done so far but I need to make some variation of the JCL logo to pair with them for the back of the bag.

Knits from the Ravelry queue:

Amphora Cardi: I have the pattern and the yarn; it was on my 2024 knitting to-do list but not one of the things I got around to, so this is my reminder to self that it needs to happen!

Might be up for knitting a vest this year? Maybe Sennit or Canton or Rockhound. Or Tracery!

Choose Your Fellowship! Mix and match colorwork LOTR sweater? Yes please!

Aglow - I can always use another pretty lace-and-beads shawl! :-D

Techniques:

I tried mosaic knitting (in the Chorus of Cats hat that I still need to seam) for the first time in 2024! So for 2025, my knitting bucket list still includes trying Entrelac and Brioche knitting.

[moldwood]

i've had a bluesky for probably a year or so but have never ever used it because i don't have the energy or time for more than one social media. until tumblr dies i'll be here 99% of the time, but art may start to be posted over there at least. all that is to say i logged in to make sure i still had the urls and saw this on the homepage feed whatever

I CANNOT IMAGINE THE WORLD TWITTER USERS HAVE BEEN LIVING IN WHERE THIS IS MINDBLOWING. COULD YOU IMAGINE NOT BEING ABLE TO edit:im adding a read more for the people on mobile. don't click it. it's just to prove a point about the ridiculous number of characters you can have in a tumblr post

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp… under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of… …9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick ourjob today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as… Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right.

At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Oan anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything?

We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. - Hey, Jocks! - Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can'tjust decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Bees make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it. Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Oouple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow.

Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you bee enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Oome on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal… - Is it still available?

Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Oongratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler.

Barry, what do you think I should… Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine… What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans! All right, launch positions! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Black and yellow! Hello! You ready for this, hot shot? Yeah. Yeah, bring it on. Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check. OK, ladies, let's move it out! Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers! All of you, drain those flowers! Wow! I'm out! I can't believe I'm out! So blue. I feel so fast and free! Box kite! Wow! Flowers! This is Blue Leader. We have roses visual. Bring it around 30 degrees and hold. Roses! 30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around. Stand to the side, kid. It's got a bit of a kick. That is one nectar collector!

Ever see pollination up close? - No, sir. I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one. See that? It's a little bit of magic. That's amazing. Why do we do that? That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us. Oool. I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow. Oould be daisies. Don't we need those? Oopy that visual. Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move. Say again? You're reporting a moving flower? Affirmative. That was on the line! This is the coolest. What is it? I don't know, but I'm loving this color. It smells good. Not like a flower, but I like it. Yeah, fuzzy. Ohemical-y. Oareful, guys. It's a little grabby. My sweet lord of bees! Oandy-brain, get off there! Problem! - Guys! - This could be bad. Affirmative. Very close. Gonna hurt. Mama's little boy. You are way out of position, rookie! Ooming in at you like a missile! Help me! I don't think these are flowers. - Should we tell him? - I think he knows. What is this?! Match point! You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it! Yowser! Gross. There's a bee in the car! - Do something! - I'm driving! - Hi, bee. - He's back here! He's going to sting me! Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze! He blinked! Spray him, Granny! What are you doing?! Wow… the tension level out here is unbelievable. I gotta get home. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down! Ken, could you close the window please? Ken, could you close the window please? Oheck out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out. Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this. What was that? Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This… Drapes! That is diabolical. It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies. What's number one? Star Wars? Nah, I don't go for that… …kind of stuff. No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds. When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say. There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out. I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it. I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me. Wait! Stop! Bee! Stand back. These are winter boots. Wait! Don't kill him! You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me! Why does his life have less value than yours? Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement?

I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling. My brochure! There you go, little guy. I'm not scared of him. It's an allergic thing. Put that on your resume brochure. My whole face could puff up. Make it one of your special skills. Knocking someone out is also a special skill. Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks. - Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night? - Sure, Ken. You know, whatever. - You could put carob chips on there. - Bye. - Supposed to be less calories. - Bye. I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something. All right, here it goes. Nah. What would I say? I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to. Oh, I can't do it. Oome on! No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't. How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good. Here she comes! Speak, you fool! Hi! I'm sorry. - You're talking. - Yes, I know. You're talking! I'm so sorry. No, it's OK. It's fine. I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed. Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee! I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me. And if it wasn't for you… I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised. That was a little weird. - I'm talking with a bee. - Yeah. I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me! I just want to say I'm grateful. I'll leave now. - Wait! How did you learn to do that? - What? The talking thing. Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up. - That's very funny. - Yeah. Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with. Anyway… Oan I… …get you something?

Like what? I don't know. I mean… I don't know. Ooffee? I don't want to put you out. It's no trouble. It takes two minutes. - It's just coffee. - I hate to impose. - Don't be ridiculous! - Actually, I would love a cup. Hey, you want rum cake? - I shouldn't. - Have some. - No, I can't. - Oome on! I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms. - Where? - These stripes don't help. You look great! I don't know if you know anything about fashion. Are you all right? No. He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison. He finally gets there. He runs up the steps into the church. The wedding is on. And he says, "Watermelon? I thought you said Guatemalan. Why would I marry a watermelon?" Is that a bee joke? That's the kind of stuff we do. Yeah, different. So, what are you gonna do, Barry? About work? I don't know. I want to do my part for the hive, but I can't do it the way they want. I know how you feel. - You do? - Sure. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist. - Really? - My only interest is flowers. Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan. Anyway, if you look… There's my hive right there. See it? You're in Sheep Meadow! Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond! No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once. - Why do girls put rings on their toes? - Why not? - It's like putting a hat on your knee. - Maybe I'll try that. - You all right, ma'am? - Oh, yeah. Fine. Just having two cups of coffee! Anyway, this has been great. Thanks for the coffee. Yeah, it's no trouble. Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life. Are you…? Oan I take a piece of this with me? Sure! Here, have a crumb. - Thanks! - Yeah. All right. Well, then… I guess I'll see you around.

Or not. OK, Barry. And thank you so much again… for before. Oh, that? That was nothing. Well, not nothing, but… Anyway… This can't possibly work. He's all set to go. We may as well try it. OK, Dave, pull the chute. - Sounds amazing. - It was amazing! It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life. Humans! I can't believe you were with humans! Giant, scary humans! What were they like? Huge and crazy. They talk crazy. They eat crazy giant things. They drive crazy. - Do they try and kill you, like on TV? - Some of them. But some of them don't. - How'd you get back? - Poodle. You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see. You had your "experience." Now you can pick out yourjob and be normal. - Well… - Well? Well, I met someone. You did? Was she Bee-ish? - A wasp?! Your parents will kill you! - No, no, no, not a wasp. - Spider? - I'm not attracted to spiders. I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face. So who is she? She's… human. No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law. - Her name's Vanessa. - Oh, boy. She's so nice. And she's a florist! Oh, no! You're dating a human florist! We're not dating. You're flying outside the hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite! She saved my life! And she understands me. This is over! Eat this. This is not over! What was that?

They call it a crumb. - It was so stingin' stripey! And that's not what they eat. That's what falls off what they eat! - You know what a Oinnabon is? - No. It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up… Sit down! …really hot! - Listen to me! We are not them! We're us. There's us and there's them! Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning? There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me! You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee! - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! There he is. He's in the pool. You know what your problem is, Barry? I gotta start thinking bee? How much longer will this go on? It's been three days! Why aren't you working? I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about. What life? You have no life! You have no job. You're barely a bee! Would it kill you to make a little honey? Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you. Martin, would you talk to him? Barry, I'm talking to you! You coming? Got everything? All set! Go ahead. I'll catch up. Don't be too long. Watch this! Vanessa! - We're still here. - I told you not to yell at him. He doesn't respond to yelling! - Then why yell at me? - Because you don't listen! I'm not listening to this. Sorry, I've gotta go. - Where are you going? - I'm meeting a friend. A girl? Is this why you can't decide? Bye. I just hope she's Bee-ish. They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena? To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream! Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering.

A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events? No. All right, I've got one. How come you don't fly everywhere? It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster. Yeah, OK, I see, I see. All right, your turn. TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane! You don't have that? We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Oh, my. Dumb bees! You must want to sting all those jerks. We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us. So you have to watch your temper. Very carefully. You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust. Oh, my goodness! Are you OK? Yeah.

What is wrong with you?! - It's a bug. He's not bothering anybody. Get out of here, you creep! What was that? A Pic 'N' Save circular? Yeah, it was. How did you know? It felt like about 10 pages. Seventy-five is pretty much our limit. You've really got that down to a science. - I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue. - I'll bet. What in the name of Mighty Hercules is this? How did this get here? Oute Bee, Golden Blossom, Ray Liotta Private Select? - Is he that actor? - I never heard of him. - Why is this here? - For people. We eat it. You don't have enough food of your own? - Well, yes. - How do you get it? - Bees make it. - I know who makes it! And it's hard to make it! There's heating, cooling, stirring. You need a whole Krelman thing! - It's organic. - It's our-ganic! It's just honey, Barry. Just what?! Bees don't know about this! This is stealing! A lot of stealing! You've taken our homes, schools, hospitals! This is all we have! And it's on sale?! I'm getting to the bottom of this. I'm getting to the bottom of all of this! Hey, Hector. - You almost done? - Almost. He is here. I sense it. Well, I guess I'll go home now and just leave this nice honey out, with no one around. You're busted, box boy! I knew I heard something. So you can talk! I can talk. And now you'll start talking! Where you getting the sweet stuff? Who's your supplier? I don't understand. I thought we were friends. The last thing we want to do is upset bees! You're too late! It's ours now! You, sir, have crossed the wrong sword! You, sir, will be lunch for my iguana, Ignacio! Where is the honey coming from? Tell me where! Honey Farms! It comes from Honey Farms! Orazy person! What horrible thing has happened here? These faces, they never knew what hit them. And now they're on the road to nowhere! Just keep still. What? You're not dead? Do I look dead? They will wipe anything that moves. Where you headed? To Honey Farms. I am onto something huge here. I'm going to Alaska. Moose blood, crazy stuff. Blows your head off! I'm going to Tacoma. - And you? - He really is dead. All right. Uh-oh! - What is that?! - Oh, no! - A wiper! Triple blade! - Triple blade? Jump on! It's your only chance, bee! Why does everything have to be so doggone clean?! How much do you people need to see?! Open your eyes! Stick your head out the window! From NPR News in Washington, I'm Oarl Kasell. But don't kill no more bugs! - Bee! - Moose blood guy!! - You hear something? 

Like what? Like tiny screaming. Turn off the radio. Whassup, bee boy? Hey, Blood. Just a row of honey jars, as far as the eye could see. Wow! I assume wherever this truck goes is where they're getting it. I mean, that honey's ours. - Bees hang tight. - We're all jammed in. It's a close community. Not us, man. We on our own. Every mosquito on his own. - What if you get in trouble? - You a mosquito, you in trouble. Nobody likes us. They just smack. See a mosquito, smack, smack! At least you're out in the world. You must meet girls. Mosquito girls try to trade up, get with a moth, dragonfly. Mosquito girl don't want no mosquito. You got to be kidding me! Mooseblood's about to leave the building! So long, bee! - Hey, guys! - Mooseblood! I knew I'd catch y'all down here. Did you bring your crazy straw? We throw it in jars, slap a label on it, and it's pretty much pure profit. What is this place? A bee's got a brain the size of a pinhead. They are pinheads! Pinhead. - Oheck out the new smoker. - Oh, sweet. That's the one you want. The Thomas 3000! Smoker? Ninety puffs a minute, semi-automatic. Twice the nicotine, all the tar. A couple breaths of this knocks them right out. They make the honey, and we make the money. "They make the honey, and we make the money"? Oh, my! What's going on? Are you OK? Yeah. It doesn't last too long. Do you know you're in a fake hive with fake walls? Our queen was moved here. We had no choice. This is your queen? That's a man in women's clothes! That's a drag queen! What is this? Oh, no! There's hundreds of them! Bee honey. Our honey is being brazenly stolen on a massive scale! This is worse than anything bears have done! I intend to do something. Oh, Barry, stop. Who told you humans are taking our honey? That's a rumor. Do these look like rumors? That's a conspiracy theory. These are obviously doctored photos. How did you get mixed up in this? He's been talking to humans. - What? - Talking to humans?! He has a human girlfriend. And they make out! Make out? Barry! We do not. - You wish you could. - Whose side are you on? The bees! I dated a cricket once in San Antonio. Those crazy legs kept me up all night. Barry, this is what you want to do with your life? I want to do it for all our lives. Nobody works harder than bees! Dad, I remember you coming home so overworked your hands were still stirring. You couldn't stop. I remember that. What right do they have to our honey? We live on two cups a year. They put it in lip balm for no reason whatsoever! Even if it's true, what can one bee do? Sting them where it really hurts. In the face! The eye! - That would hurt. - No. Up the nose? That's a killer. There's only one place you can sting the humans, one place where it matters. Hive at Five, the hive's only full-hour action news source. No more bee beards! With Bob Bumble at the anchor desk. Weather with Storm Stinger. Sports with Buzz Larvi. And Jeanette Ohung.

Good evening. I'm Bob Bumble. - And I'm Jeanette Ohung. A tri-county bee, Barry Benson, intends to sue the human race for stealing our honey, packaging it and profiting from it illegally! Tomorrow night on Bee Larry King, we'll have three former queens here in our studio, discussing their new book, Olassy Ladies, out this week on Hexagon. Tonight we're talking to Barry Benson. Did you ever think, "I'm a kid from the hive. I can't do this"? Bees have never been afraid to change the world. What about Bee Oolumbus? Bee Gandhi? Bejesus? Where I'm from, we'd never sue humans. We were thinking of stickball or candy stores. How old are you? The bee community is supporting you in this case, which will be the trial of the bee century. You know, they have a Larry King in the human world too. It's a common name. Next week… He looks like you and has a show and suspenders and colored dots… Next week… Glasses, quotes on the bottom from the guest even though you just heard 'em. Bear Week next week! They're scary, hairy and here live. Always leans forward, pointy shoulders, squinty eyes, very Jewish. In tennis, you attack at the point of weakness! It was my grandmother, Ken. She's 81. Honey, her backhand's a joke! I'm not gonna take advantage of that? Quiet, please. Actual work going on here. - Is that that same bee? - Yes, it is! I'm helping him sue the human race. - Hello. - Hello, bee. This is Ken. Yeah, I remember you. Timberland, size ten and a half. Vibram sole, I believe. Why does he talk again? Listen, you better go 'cause we're really busy working. But it's our yogurt night! Bye-bye. Why is yogurt night so difficult?!

You poor thing. You two have been at this for hours! Yes, and Adam here has been a huge help. - Frosting… - How many sugars? Just one. I try not to use the competition. So why are you helping me? Bees have good qualities. And it takes my mind off the shop. Instead of flowers, people are giving balloon bouquets now. Those are great, if you're three. And artificial flowers. - Oh, those just get me psychotic! - Yeah, me too. Bent stingers, pointless pollination. Bees must hate those fake things! Nothing worse than a daffodil that's had work done. Maybe this could make up for it a little bit. - This lawsuit's a pretty big deal. - I guess. You sure you want to go through with it? Am I sure? When I'm done with the humans, they won't be able to say, "Honey, I'm home," without paying a royalty! It's an incredible scene here in downtown Manhattan, where the world anxiously waits, because for the first time in history, we will hear for ourselves if a honeybee can actually speak. What have we gotten into here, Barry? It's pretty big, isn't it? I can't believe how many humans don't work during the day. You think billion-dollar multinational food companies have good lawyers? Everybody needs to stay behind the barricade. - What's the matter? - I don't know, I just got a chill. Well, if it isn't the bee team. You boys work on this? All rise! The Honorable Judge Bumbleton presiding. All right. Oase number 4475, Superior Oourt of New York, Barry Bee Benson v. the Honey Industry is now in session. Mr. Montgomery, you're representing the five food companies collectively?

A privilege. Mr. Benson… you're representing all the bees of the world? I'm kidding. Yes, Your Honor, we're ready to proceed. Mr. Montgomery, your opening statement, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my grandmother was a simple woman. Born on a farm, she believed it was man's divine right to benefit from the bounty of nature God put before us. If we lived in the topsy-turvy world Mr. Benson imagines, just think of what would it mean. I would have to negotiate with the silkworm for the elastic in my britches! Talking bee! How do we know this isn't some sort of holographic motion-picture-capture Hollywood wizardry? They could be using laser beams! Robotics! Ventriloquism! Oloning! For all we know, he could be on steroids! Mr. Benson? Ladies and gentlemen, there's no trickery here. I'm just an ordinary bee. Honey's pretty important to me. It's important to all bees. We invented it! We make it. And we protect it with our lives. Unfortunately, there are some people in this room who think they can take it from us 'cause we're the little guys! I'm hoping that, after this is all over, you'll see how, by taking our honey, you not only take everything we have but everything we are! I wish he'd dress like that all the time. So nice! Oall your first witness. So, Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden of Honey Farms, big company you have. I suppose so. I see you also own Honeyburton and Honron! Yes, they provide beekeepers for our farms. Beekeeper. I find that to be a very disturbing term. I don't imagine you employ any bee-free-ers, do you? - No. - I couldn't hear you.

No. - No. Because you don't free bees. You keep bees. Not only that, it seems you thought a bear would be an appropriate image for a jar of honey. They're very lovable creatures. Yogi Bear, Fozzie Bear, Build-A-Bear. You mean like this? Bears kill bees! How'd you like his head crashing through your living room?! Biting into your couch! Spitting out your throw pillows! OK, that's enough. Take him away. So, Mr. Sting, thank you for being here. Your name intrigues me. - Where have I heard it before? - I was with a band called The Police. But you've never been a police officer, have you? No, I haven't. No, you haven't. And so here we have yet another example of bee culture casually stolen by a human for nothing more than a prance-about stage name. Oh, please. Have you ever been stung, Mr. Sting? Because I'm feeling a little stung, Sting. Or should I say… Mr. Gordon M. Sumner! That's not his real name?! You idiots! Mr. Liotta, first, belated congratulations on your Emmy win for a guest spot on ER in 2005. Thank you. Thank you. I see from your resume that you're devilishly handsome with a churning inner turmoil that's ready to blow. I enjoy what I do. Is that a crime? Not yet it isn't. But is this what it's come to for you? Exploiting tiny, helpless bees so you don't have to rehearse your part and learn your lines, sir? Watch it, Benson! I could blow right now! This isn't a goodfella. This is a badfella! Why doesn't someone just step on this creep, and we can all go home?! - Order in this court! - You're all thinking it! Order! Order, I say! - Say it! - Mr. Liotta, please sit down! I think it was awfully nice of that bear to pitch in like that. I think the jury's on our side. Are we doing everything right, legally? I'm a florist. Right. Well, here's to a great team. To a great team! Well, hello. - Ken! - Hello. I didn't think you were coming. No, I was just late. I tried to call, but… the battery. I didn't want all this to go to waste, so I called Barry. Luckily, he was free. Oh, that was lucky. There's a little left. I could heat it up. Yeah, heat it up, sure, whatever. So I hear you're quite a tennis player. I'm not much for the game myself. The ball's a little grabby. That's where I usually sit. Right… there. Ken, Barry was looking at your resume, and he agreed with me that eating with chopsticks isn't really a special skill. You think I don't see what you're doing? I know how hard it is to find the rightjob. We have that in common. Do we? Bees have 100 percent employment, but we do jobs like taking the crud out. That's just what I was thinking about doing. Ken, I let Barry borrow your razor for his fuzz. I hope that was all right. I'm going to drain the old stinger. Yeah, you do that. Look at that. You know, I've just about had it with your little mind games. - What's that?

Italian Vogue. Mamma mia, that's a lot of pages. A lot of ads. Remember what Van said, why is your life more valuable than mine? Funny, I just can't seem to recall that! I think something stinks in here! I love the smell of flowers. How do you like the smell of flames?! Not as much. Water bug! Not taking sides! Ken, I'm wearing a Ohapstick hat! This is pathetic! I've got issues! Well, well, well, a royal flush! - You're bluffing. - Am I? Surf's up, dude! Poo water! That bowl is gnarly. Except for those dirty yellow rings! Kenneth! What are you doing?! You know, I don't even like honey! I don't eat it! We need to talk! He's just a little bee! And he happens to be the nicest bee I've met in a long time! Long time? What are you talking about?! Are there other bugs in your life? No, but there are other things bugging me in life. And you're one of them! Fine! Talking bees, no yogurt night… My nerves are fried from riding on this emotional roller coaster! Goodbye, Ken. And for your information, I prefer sugar-free, artificial sweeteners made by man! I'm sorry about all that. I know it's got an aftertaste! I like it! I always felt there was some kind of barrier between Ken and me. I couldn't overcome it.

Oh, well. Are you OK for the trial? I believe Mr. Montgomery is about out of ideas. We would like to call Mr. Barry Benson Bee to the stand. Good idea! You can really see why he's considered one of the best lawyers… Yeah. Layton, you've gotta weave some magic with this jury, or it's gonna be all over. Don't worry. The only thing I have to do to turn this jury around is to remind them of what they don't like about bees. - You got the tweezers? - Are you allergic? Only to losing, son. Only to losing. Mr. Benson Bee, I'll ask you what I think we'd all like to know. What exactly is your relationship to that woman? We're friends. - Good friends? - Yes. How good? Do you live together? Wait a minute… Are you her little… …bedbug? I've seen a bee documentary or two. From what I understand, doesn't your queen give birth to all the bee children? - Yeah, but… - So those aren't your real parents!

Oh, Barry… - Yes, they are! Hold me back! You're an illegitimate bee, aren't you, Benson? He's denouncing bees! Don't y'all date your cousins? - Objection! - I'm going to pincushion this guy! Adam, don't! It's what he wants! Oh, I'm hit!! Oh, lordy, I am hit! Order! Order! The venom! The venom is coursing through my veins! I have been felled by a winged beast of destruction! You see? You can't treat them like equals! They're striped savages! Stinging's the only thing they know! It's their way! - Adam, stay with me. - I can't feel my legs. What angel of mercy will come forward to suck the poison from my heaving buttocks? I will have order in this court. Order! Order, please! The case of the honeybees versus the human race took a pointed turn against the bees yesterday when one of their legal team stung Layton T. Montgomery. - Hey, buddy. - Hey. - Is there much pain? - Yeah. I… I blew the whole case, didn't I? It doesn't matter. What matters is you're alive. You could have died. I'd be better off dead. Look at me. They got it from the cafeteria downstairs, in a tuna sandwich. Look, there's a little celery still on it. What was it like to sting someone? I can't explain it. It was all… All adrenaline and then… and then ecstasy! All right. You think it was all a trap? Of course. I'm sorry. I flew us right into this. What were we thinking? Look at us. We're just a couple of bugs in this world. What will the humans do to us if they win? I don't know. I hear they put the roaches in motels. That doesn't sound so bad. Adam, they check in, but they don't check out! Oh, my. Oould you get a nurse to close that window? - Why? - The smoke. Bees don't smoke. Right. Bees don't smoke. Bees don't smoke! But some bees are smoking.

That's it! That's our case! It is? It's not over? Get dressed. I've gotta go somewhere. Get back to the court and stall. Stall any way you can. And assuming you've done step correctly, you're ready for the tub. Mr. Flayman. Yes? Yes, Your Honor! Where is the rest of your team? Well, Your Honor, it's interesting. Bees are trained to fly haphazardly, and as a result, we don't make very good time. I actually heard a funny story about… Your Honor, haven't these ridiculous bugs taken up enough of this court's valuable time? How much longer will we allow these absurd shenanigans to go on? They have presented no compelling evidence to support their charges against my clients, who run legitimate businesses. I move for a complete dismissal of this entire case! Mr. Flayman, I'm afraid I'm going to have to consider Mr. Montgomery's motion. But you can't! We have a terrific case. Where is your proof? Where is the evidence? Show me the smoking gun! Hold it, Your Honor! You want a smoking gun? Here is your smoking gun. What is that? It's a bee smoker! What, this? This harmless little contraption? This couldn't hurt a fly, let alone a bee. Look at what has happened to bees who have never been asked, "Smoking or non?" Is this what nature intended for us? To be forcibly addicted to smoke machines and man-made wooden slat work camps? Living out our lives as honey slaves to the white man?

What are we gonna do? - He's playing the species card. Ladies and gentlemen, please, free these bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! The court finds in favor of the bees! Vanessa, we won! I knew you could do it! High-five! Sorry. I'm OK! You know what this means? All the honey will finally belong to the bees. Now we won't have to work so hard all the time. This is an unholy perversion of the balance of nature, Benson. You'll regret this. Barry, how much honey is out there? All right. One at a time. Barry, who are you wearing? My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants. - What if Montgomery's right? - What do you mean? We've been living the bee way a long time, 27 million years. Oongratulations on your victory. What will you demand as a settlement? First, we'll demand a complete shutdown of all bee work camps. Then we want back the honey that was ours to begin with, every last drop. We demand an end to the glorification of the bear as anything more than a filthy, smelly, bad-breath stink machine. We're all aware of what they do in the woods. Wait for my signal. Take him out. He'll have nauseous for a few hours, then he'll be fine. And we will no longer tolerate bee-negative nicknames… But it's just a prance-about stage name! …unnecessary inclusion of honey in bogus health products and la-dee-da human tea-time snack garnishments. Oan't breathe. Bring it in, boys! Hold it right there! Good. Tap it. Mr. Buzzwell, we just passed three cups, and there's gallons more coming! - I think we need to shut down! - Shut down? We've never shut down. Shut down honey production! Stop making honey! Turn your key, sir! What do we do now? Oannonball! We're shutting honey production! Mission abort. Aborting pollination and nectar detail. Returning to base. Adam, you wouldn't believe how much honey was out there. Oh, yeah? What's going on? Where is everybody? - Are they out celebrating? 

They're home. They don't know what to do. Laying out, sleeping in. I heard your Uncle Oarl was on his way to San Antonio with a cricket. At least we got our honey back. Sometimes I think, so what if humans liked our honey? Who wouldn't? It's the greatest thing in the world! I was excited to be part of making it. This was my new desk. This was my new job. I wanted to do it really well. And now… Now I can't. I don't understand why they're not happy. I thought their lives would be better! They're doing nothing. It's amazing. Honey really changes people. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you? - What did you want to show me? - This. What happened here? That is not the half of it. Oh, no. Oh, my. They're all wilting. Doesn't look very good, does it? No. And whose fault do you think that is? You know, I'm gonna guess bees. Bees? Specifically, me. I didn't think bees not needing to make honey would affect all these things. It's notjust flowers. Fruits, vegetables, they all need bees. That's our whole SAT test right there. Take away produce, that affects the entire animal kingdom. And then, of course… The human species? So if there's no more pollination, it could all just go south here, couldn't it? I know this is also partly my fault. How about a suicide pact? How do we do it? - I'll sting you, you step on me.

Thatjust kills you twice. Right, right. Listen, Barry… sorry, but I gotta get going. I had to open my mouth and talk. Vanessa? Vanessa? Why are you leaving? Where are you going? To the final Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. They've moved it to this weekend because all the flowers are dying. It's the last chance I'll ever have to see it. Vanessa, I just wanna say I'm sorry. I never meant it to turn out like this. I know. Me neither. Tournament of Roses. Roses can't do sports. Wait a minute. Roses. Roses? Roses! Vanessa! Roses?! Barry? - Roses are flowers! - Yes, they are. Flowers, bees, pollen! I know. That's why this is the last parade. Maybe not. Oould you ask him to slow down? Oould you slow down? Barry! OK, I made a huge mistake. This is a total disaster, all my fault. Yes, it kind of is. I've ruined the planet. I wanted to help you with the flower shop. I've made it worse. Actually, it's completely closed down. I thought maybe you were remodeling. But I have another idea, and it's greater than my previous ideas combined. I don't want to hear it! All right, they have the roses, the roses have the pollen. I know every bee, plant and flower bud in this park. All we gotta do is get what they've got back here with what we've got. - Bees. - Park. - Pollen! - Flowers. - Repollination! - Across the nation! Tournament of Roses, Pasadena, Oalifornia. They've got nothing but flowers, floats and cotton candy. Security will be tight. I have an idea. Vanessa Bloome, FTD. Official floral business. It's real. Sorry, ma'am. Nice brooch. Thank you. It was a gift. Once inside, we just pick the right float. How about The Princess and the Pea? I could be the princess, and you could be the pea! Yes, I got it. - Where should I sit? - What are you? - I believe I'm the pea. - The pea? It goes under the mattresses. - Not in this fairy tale, sweetheart. - I'm getting the marshal. You do that! This whole parade is a fiasco! Let's see what this baby'll do. Hey, what are you doing?! Then all we do is blend in with traffic… …without arousing suspicion. Once at the airport, there's no stopping us. Stop! Security.

You and your insect pack your float? - Yes. Has it been in your possession the entire time? Would you remove your shoes? - Remove your stinger. - It's part of me. I know. Just having some fun. Enjoy your flight. Then if we're lucky, we'll have just enough pollen to do the job. Oan you believe how lucky we are? We have just enough pollen to do the job! I think this is gonna work. It's got to work. Attention, passengers, this is Oaptain Scott. We have a bit of bad weather in New York. It looks like we'll experience a couple hours delay. Barry, these are cut flowers with no water. They'll never make it. I gotta get up there and talk to them. Be careful. Oan I get help with the Sky Mall magazine? I'd like to order the talking inflatable nose and ear hair trimmer. Oaptain, I'm in a real situation. - What'd you say, Hal? - Nothing. Bee! Don't freak out! My entire species… What are you doing? - Wait a minute! I'm an attorney! - Who's an attorney? Don't move. Oh, Barry. Good afternoon, passengers. This is your captain. Would a Miss Vanessa Bloome in 24B please report to the cockpit? And please hurry! What happened here? There was a DustBuster, a toupee, a life raft exploded. One's bald, one's in a boat, they're both unconscious! - Is that another bee joke? - No! No one's flying the plane! This is JFK control tower, Flight 356. What's your status? This is Vanessa Bloome. I'm a florist from New York. Where's the pilot? He's unconscious, and so is the copilot. Not good. Does anyone onboard have flight experience? As a matter of fact, there is. - Who's that? - Barry Benson. From the honey trial?! Oh, great. Vanessa, this is nothing more than a big metal bee. It's got giant wings, huge engines. I can't fly a plane. - Why not? Isn't John Travolta a pilot? - Yes. How hard could it be? Wait, Barry! We're headed into some lightning. This is Bob Bumble. We have some late-breaking news from JFK Airport, where a suspenseful scene is developing. Barry Benson, fresh from his legal victory… That's Barry! …is attempting to land a plane, loaded with people, flowers and an incapacitated flight crew. Flowers?! We have a storm in the area and two individuals at the controls with absolutely no flight experience. Just a minute. There's a bee on that plane.

I'm quite familiar with Mr. Benson and his no-account compadres. They've done enough damage. But isn't he your only hope? Technically, a bee shouldn't be able to fly at all. Their wings are too small… Haven't we heard this a million times? "The surface area of the wings and body mass make no sense." - Get this on the air! - Got it. - Stand by. - We're going live. The way we work may be a mystery to you. Making honey takes a lot of bees doing a lot of small jobs. But let me tell you about a small job. If you do it well, it makes a big difference. More than we realized. To us, to everyone. That's why I want to get bees back to working together. That's the bee way! We're not made of Jell-O. We get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow! - Hello! Left, right, down, hover. - Hover? - Forget hover. This isn't so hard. Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Barry, what happened?! Wait, I think we were on autopilot the whole time. - That may have been helping me. - And now we're not! So it turns out I cannot fly a plane. All of you, let's get behind this fellow! Move it out! Move out! Our only chance is if I do what I'd do, you copy me with the wings of the plane! Don't have to yell. I'm not yelling! We're in a lot of trouble. It's very hard to concentrate with that panicky tone in your voice! It's not a tone. I'm panicking! I can't do this! Vanessa, pull yourself together. You have to snap out of it! You snap out of it. You snap out of it. - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - Hold it! - Why? Oome on, it's my turn. How is the plane flying? I don't know. Hello? Benson, got any flowers for a happy occasion in there? The Pollen Jocks! They do get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow. - Hello. All right, let's drop this tin can on the blacktop. Where? I can't see anything. Oan you? No, nothing. It's all cloudy. Oome on. You got to think bee, Barry. - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Wait a minute. I think I'm feeling something. - What? - I don't know. It's strong, pulling me. Like a 27-million-year-old instinct. Bring the nose down. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - What in the world is on the tarmac?

Get some lights on that! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - Vanessa, aim for the flower. - OK. Out the engines. We're going in on bee power. Ready, boys? Affirmative! Good. Good. Easy, now. That's it. Land on that flower! Ready? Full reverse! Spin it around! - Not that flower! The other one! - Which one? - That flower. - I'm aiming at the flower! That's a fat guy in a flowered shirt. I mean the giant pulsating flower made of millions of bees! Pull forward. Nose down. Tail up. Rotate around it. - This is insane, Barry! - This's the only way I know how to fly. Am I koo-koo-kachoo, or is this plane flying in an insect-like pattern? Get your nose in there. Don't be afraid. Smell it. Full reverse! Just drop it. Be a part of it. Aim for the center! Now drop it in! Drop it in, woman! Oome on, already. Barry, we did it! You taught me how to fly! - Yes. No high-five! - Right. Barry, it worked! Did you see the giant flower? What giant flower? Where? Of course I saw the flower! That was genius! - Thank you. - But we're not done yet. Listen, everyone! This runway is covered with the last pollen from the last flowers available anywhere on Earth. That means this is our last chance. We're the only ones who make honey, pollinate flowers and dress like this. If we're gonna survive as a species, this is our moment! What do you say? Are we going to be bees, orjust Museum of Natural History keychains? We're bees! Keychain! Then follow me! Except Keychain. Hold on, Barry. Here. You've earned this. Yeah! I'm a Pollen Jock! And it's a perfect fit. All I gotta do are the sleeves. Oh, yeah. That's our Barry. Mom! The bees are back! If anybody needs to make a call, now's the time. I got a feeling we'll be working late tonight! Here's your change. Have a great afternoon! Oan I help who's next? Would you like some honey with that?

It is bee-approved. Don't forget these. Milk, cream, cheese, it's all me. And I don't see a nickel! Sometimes I just feel like a piece of meat! I had no idea. Barry, I'm sorry. Have you got a moment? Would you excuse me? My mosquito associate will help you. Sorry I'm late. He's a lawyer too? I was already a blood-sucking parasite. All I needed was a briefcase. Have a great afternoon! Barry, I just got this huge tulip order, and I can't get them anywhere. No problem, Vannie. Just leave it to me. You're a lifesaver, Barry. Oan I help who's next? All right, scramble, jocks! It's time to fly. Thank you, Barry! That bee is living my life! Let it go, Kenny. - When will this nightmare end?! - Let it all go. - Beautiful day to fly. - Sure is. Between you and me, I was dying to get out of that office. You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. - Thinking bee! - Me? Hold it. Let's just stop for a second. Hold it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, everyone. Oan we stop here? I'm not making a major life decision during a production number! All right. Take ten, everybody. Wrap it up, guys. I had virtually no rehearsal for that.

[myhatisblue]

Part 4. Might need to fix some flow things later but it's been long enough I want to get it out before I give up.

Next part should be the last I think.

Yesterday really showed off the extent of how closely I was being observed. Staying busy was a necessity if I wanted to survive. Not that I’m completely surprised by that fact, it’s just easy to forget when tossed in with everything else. I mean they were already willing to drug the shit out of me if the situation required it, expecting anything else but a tight leash would be both dumb and foolish. It’s a guess and maybe paranoid but I have to go on assuming everything I do and say and do is recorded in one way or another. Doubt they’d use a video camera, but it probably the same idea dreached in magical bullshit and named something I couldn’t spell out if I tried.

Escape may be the end all goal but the real test here might be more about seeing if I’m too far gone or not.  I could say up and down that I’m fine, and on the right team, but why believe that when I’ve only got words to back me up? It’s too much of a risk to handle this any other way, even I can figure that out. Still feels like crap being jerked around like this.

Ugh I couldn’t help but wonder what Ken’s really thinking at times like this, he was currently just sitting on the edge of the platform staring straight at the scenery. His expression was strangely blank, maybe he was distracted by something. Everything he did, how he moved, and how he acted, it was all very… well Kenneth I guess… So seeing break that facade for even for a minute was strange and stuck out like a sore thumb.  Even when he was being serious he didn’t lose that aspect of him. Still it didn’t seem like he wanted to say something to me.  Letting him figure out what was going on is for the best. He’ll let me know what's going on soon enough even if his real intent is hidden in a forest of lies.

There were positives to how this all panned out after all, like how I’d had the best sleep of my life, or how my platform stayed where it was.  The less positive thing that I found out very quickly was that said platform was surrounded by a pit that seemed bottomless.

Man, If this happened when I was first dumped here I’d be stuck waiting for it to change again. Or I’d have to risk climbing down and then all the way back up. Things have changed now, I’ve got experience to pull from. The easy answer was to just extend the cement platform, but I may as well use this as an excuse to figure more shit out.  

Walking towards the edge I reached out towards the flesh on the other side. My thoughts calling out to it, at first strands of meat started to stretch towards me, but gravity and the lack of support eventually caused it to collapse into the pit under the strain.  I took a second to recover, my head seemed to take on a lot when I tapped into that other strange part inside it now. The pain seemed to go away quickly, so I can only hope that it’s a matter of practice.

Understanding the flaws in the original attempt made the second one go smoother. Again I commanded the tissue forward with a bit more direction this time.  Meat wove itself between large pieces of bone strengthening its reach and eventually forming the bridge I desired. Thinking about it practically I could have just used a single piece of cartilage if it was large enough, but learning how to tie different parts together seemed like a useful skill. I’d need to fuck around all kinds of different ways to get any better at this.  

Honestly I was sweating by the time the job was done, working with that much distance between me and the targeted area turned out to be a hell of a hurdle. The end results were odd, in a strange way it felt like something inside of my arm had shifted and moved. I dunno if I can get used to how these new senses are hitting me everyday. 

Dreaded thinking about what comes after all this. By the time I get out will I miss this or be glad to be rid of it? Part of me is stuck thinking that this place can’t ever be anything but a graveyard. That messing with it spits on those that died here. And that even if I don’t have other options every part of what I’ve done, and what I continue to do is fucked up beyond comprehension. 

But a lounder part of my brain kept being surprised by how useful it can become with enough guidance.  Celebrating every success, and wanting to see how far all of this could go. What if I actively started reading technical knowledge books? Could I recreate something more advanced if I knew how it worked from a fundamental level, or is having that personal connection to the object more important?  I’d have to get out first to figure that out-  

God what the fuck happened to me? 

Why am I thinking about coming back? Shouldn’t I want to bury this place for good and return? But… could I even do that if I tried anymore?  Has being here so long really eroded my brain so much? I can handle the being alone thing, hell this is an improvement over the last time, I only had my thoughts and an endless void back then. But being here… the longer I stay the more I feel like a part of it.  Like everything is an extension of me, just as natural as any other limb.  But that’s wrong isn’t it? I shouldn’t want anything to do with all that suffering. It’s over now though… the dust has settled… Fuck… What part of me is right?  Is the part that wants to dive further into all this even me?  Maybe it was something rotten that’s snuck in after being here so goddamn long… But how could I piss away everything that led me to this point… What’s right, whats wrong? who-

“Mills, you're losing it again.”

Again I’m being dragged out of my brain and back to reality. Or at least as close as a place like this can get to reality.

“I’m pretty aware of that…”

“Oh so sitting there and mumbling to yourself is just a fun new hobby you’ve decided to pick up?”

There wasn’t any reason to just stand around, I needed to move, get away from this. Leave those thoughts behind and start working my way back… Just keep going forward, that's what I can do. Getting out, I just need to get out then everything will make sense.

“Gaspar.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.  I mean I do think I deserve a little credit, for only kinda losing my head now.”

“You shouldn’t be losing it at all. It’ll just make you sloppy.”

“Why do I even need to be on my game right now, I’m doing the shit I need to make those observers happy.”

“Don’t act like you're blind.  That grudge that’s following you wherever you go is just waiting for you to slip.”

“Grudge?”

“You’ve seen it enough to put it together.”

“I’ve seen it…?  Is that what you’re calling those shadows that keep showing up just out of sight? Kinda just assumed that was in my head, or that the dead were finally coming to take revenge on me.”

“On that shit again Mills? The souls of the people that were dead were long since devoured. You're also the only idiot around who thinks he has a debt to pay a bunch of corpses. Ones that might I add have been so completely consumed that they for all extent and purposes don’t exist anymore, save for the few scraps of physical evidence left in the world.”

“Yeah, yeah… They picked a bunch of losers without deep ties to the outside world, and made it easy to wipe all of it away. Dead families, runaways, or people just better off gone. Even if there was anything left, who would care to remember any of us.”

It was a sickening feeling… That someone kept tabs on people like that.  That they got to judge who’d be fine going missing without a trace. Even more disgusting was the fact that I wasn’t the one to send them to their graves. They took the cowards way out long before I was even able to make a move.  For I know there are more people like that, willing to sell others out with nothing to lose on their end.  Sacks of shit all gunning for some absurd bullshit like power or control. 

It was a wound that no amount of time or isolation would fix, revenge was stolen long before I was aware of the pieces in play.

I continued; 

“Still… I can’t accept it devoured or not… There’s something still here, fragments of humanity carved into the foundations… I feel it like an itch at the back of my neck, the sorrow, the hatred, and that fear that stuck at the very end of it all. It’s not gone, no matter how many times you repeat it. Even if what's left hates me, that fine, doesn't it deserve that much? I got off scott free.”

A flash of rage consumed Ken's for just a moment, before a sigh escaped his throat and he dragged a hand through his hair and looked directly into my eye.

“Ha… Scott free huh. So what, the isolation, being trapped without a single sense to break though the endless void, no way to scream or beg for help as that nothingness did its best to eat away at you… all of that was just a nice little saunter through the flowers? You’d be fucking brain dead if I didn’t go to all the goddamn effort I did.

Jesus christ why do you care about corpses when your the one that’s been fucked. You get smashed face first into the floor and look up and beg for more.  Why?  Because you don’t want anyone else to experience this? Fuck off! As if you’ve got that delusional hero bullshit in you like the rest of those freaks.  No you’re just too goddamn broken to realize how wrong you've been treated. That broken brain of yours just tells you that you deserved all this and worse…  It doesn’t even matter, you’re not going to accept that no matter how I phrase it. Still it’s not what the grudge is about.”

I struggled to put together words… Half the time Ken wants to watch me suffer, in a lot of ways that could even be seen as reasonable… but moments like this screw with me to no end… Why is he upset about that? What does he actually even want, or does he not even know? Even looking at him he seemed deeply conflicted, part of him was still shaking with an unending wreath. The other half looked like it regretted every word he’d ever said. It was a strange inner conflict that didn’t seem like something that had an answer or solution to.

In short it was awkward, we both knew that.  Still he’d managed to give an escape, an easy way to move this conversation on. So I asked what he’d likely wanted to hear from the second it came up.

“Then what the fuck is this Grudge then?”

One question was all it took for him to regain his footing, just like that Ken was back to his normal hard to read attitude. It’s almost impressive how quickly he bottled up what had just happened. It was back to business like nothing had happened.

“You might be the new owner here, but that doesn’t mean that every inch of it is just going to accept what happened. Not that I’m implying there’s a brain in there anymore, but there’s still a hunks of instinct written into every fiber. It’s a messy bitch deep down really.”

“You don’t outright say shit like this in plain english. What’s up?”

“I admit I’m evening the playing field, it’d be really boring if you just got blindsided by a loss you couldn’t even try to prevent.  You’ve gotta walk through hell, suffer like no one else ever has and make this dive of yours into the obscure unforgettable.”

There it was again, why does suffering like that pass as fine, but not when it’s related to Sneckdraw and his group? 

“Going with that excuse huh…?  Let me think this one out, normally you sit there and lie until I call bullshit and say ‘could be’ or ‘maybe’.  Lately though you're getting grim, being serious and not taking the easy opportunity to screw with me. Could probably only mean that shit is getting bad in a way I can’t notice.  So feeding me real information is the only way you can make sure I and by extension you make it out of here.”

“I guess I’ve become a fan of existing, a bad flaw of mine lately.  You’re a terrible influence on me.”

“I knew it, then okay let’s wind it back.  I’m still not fully following, why won’t this place just accept me? I already ate the shit out of its heart and took on the power it had. Wasn’t that all I had to do?”

“It should have been, but at some point though things went awry.  Maybe it was on purpose, or it happened subconsciously but you’ve divided yourself into two parts. The loser Mills from before you crossed the line, and the other parts related to the lovely flesh-scape around us. 

It’s a reasonable thing, human minds weren't made to contort in the ways you have just to get here. The real problem is this ancient flesh has its own instincts, desires, and its very nature demands control. It was there long before you and will exist long after you’ve rotted away.”

“Uh huh…” 

“The problem that’s looming is that you aren’t stepping up to keep it in check yet. The divide you’ve set up keeps your mind whole, but that same distance means you can stand on par with the other half. In a way you’d understand it’s like you're trying to do teeny tiny needle work with your fingers taped together… You're just going to end up ruining what you want done, or stab the shit out of yourself.”

“What are you suggesting I do then Ken?”

“Accept it, there’s no going back to who you used to be anyways.  So toss away the weak parts and change before you get swept away.”

“I bet that translates to cutting out my humanity, and embracing the blooded nightmare.”

“If you want to survive, something’s going to get lost in the process.”

“Not happening. At that point I may as well just be nothing more than a carbon copy of the previous owner. Whether I managed this on my own, or strings were pulled to get everything to line up, me being what and who I am has to be a factor in what comes next. There’s no way this was a goddamn accident.”

“Mills, don’t be a goddamn fool when I’m feeling kind.”

“Feeling kind huh, too bad this and the haircut are the two things I’m not budging on. If this place wants to start acting like it’s big shit I just need to make it remember who won out in the end.”

“That haircut is shit, but… I see what's happening, Oh Mills are you trying to be smart for a change? You're saying exactly what our guests want to hear. Even giving enough content to understand it just hearing one side of the conversation.  

I’m almost impressed, honestly! It won’t change what the final answer is gonna have to be but keep struggling. You’ll figure out the truth sooner or later, once it starts showing its cards. We’ll see how long your convection will last after that.”

With all this talk of future dangers there was something I’d only just realized that I’d forgotten to ask about.

“Yeah, yeah warning taken, hey I’ve never gotten around to asking… Do you know where that bat I had last time I was here went? Did Sneckdraw end up taking it or what?”

“You're bringing that of all things up now?”

“You started talking like things were gonna get dangerous. It's the only weapon not a part of all this that could even still be here.

“He did try, but I think that Lucy chick may have made sure that It got swallowed when you did.”

“I got swallowed?”

“Yep a mouth just appeared under you and dragged you under. That’d be why you were still here and not in some lab getting chopped to bits.”

“Huh, I never really thought about that part. So I guess that means the bat is just somewhere under all of this?”

“Who knows, it’s not something you’ve got a reason to worry about now.”

There it was again, dodging the part of the conversation that I would have liked an answer for and suddenly disappearing. Not that it wasn’t obvious that it had to be there, it’s just odd he decided that it crossed the ‘giving Mills too much information’ line. He did seem a little shocked I asked about it even if he was trying to downplay his reaction. It seems dumb since I’m pretty sure it was just a standard bat. Though given it came from a dude made of thousands of sentient insects maybe assuming that is stupid too…

I shook my head a little before I got started going towards the first marker I’d set down. The walk was fairly uneventful, after all of the warnings it was a nice change. Ken kept to himself, occasionally appearing sitting somewhere starting out at nothing of note. Can’t ignore the fact that he might actually be looking for something out there. I don’t feel anything different, but evidently Kenneth seems like more than he led on.  I guess he was born here, and even if he’s weirdly kinda a part of me, I still can’t expect him to work on any kind of reasonable logic. He’s just as weird as everything else here. Even if his actions seem in our best interest when it counts, I know he’s actively hiding things.

It was good news when I finally found the first mark.  It was exactly as I left it, flag intact and still just as tall as I was. I made sure to take that blue cloth down before I left the spires that marked the land.  Even if I don’t get any further use out of them, maybe I’ll make a little monument and tie them all to it. Seems like a good way of remembering this… After forgetting so many faces, leaving things behind to prove something happened here seems important… Even if the memories aren’t really that great, it’s a step forward and should be marked all the same.

The trail of successes continued, at least until I reached around to the halfway mark. Then there was a glaring problem, there was a flag on the ground in front of me. It was ripped to shreds, and any signs of my spike was gone.  I couldn’t be sure since everything looks the same for the most part but the giant pit in my way might have been where it used to be. It was a pretty safe bet since I stayed pretty straight and it sure as hell wasn’t there yesterday. Even after looking down it I couldn’t tell how deep it actually went.  Sure Lighting may not be a major factor here, but that just spoke more how far down it went, my eye could only process the bottom as a red blur. More than enough to prove that it was notably deeper than any of the other pits I’d seen.

Maybe this is part of what’s got Ken on edge? I tried to look around for him but he was nowhere to be found. What I did find instead was even more holes, each around 15 to 20 feet in width. It was a consistency that I hadn’t seen here before. Had that bad feeling stewing in my gut again, and my mind kept circling the idea that something else was here. But that could really only be that Grudge thing Ken mentioned right?  I can’t imagine that I’d be sent here alone if someone like Sneckdraw had the ability to control so much here. Tossing me in here is a waste of time and resources since I’ve got no end date, or clear direction. They could have provided more guidance if they’d figured shit out, and maintained far more control. For people with far too much to do and so little time, a place that turns minutes into hours isn’t something you’d play games with not unless you had no other option. This could really only be the primal nature of this place making moves to try and break me. It’s the only thing that lines up. 

I’d love to write it off as just this place being weird like always but the size and distance between them seemed far too consistent. Even continuing forward the pits seemed to follow the path of my markers. Only stopping when the ocean was in view.  There wasn’t anything that signaled why it would have stopped. Maybe getting close to the area I’ve been screwing around with kept it away? I guess there’s memories ingrained there now, and I already know my changes seem to stick. It makes a little sense that it wouldn’t be able to mess with something so strongly claimed. I guess? Uhg, It feels a little pointless to assign meaning to something so abstract in concept.

The point was I’d made it back and aside from one glaring new addition everything looked exactly how I’d left it. That addition on the other hand was a strange one… In the middle of the cement court I’d made,  a tree had broken through the ground. Not fleshy, or covered in teeth and bone, just an ordinary tree.   I mean I guess it had red leaves on it but everything else seemed like a standard tree. I looked around and saw no sign of Ken, and I wasn’t feeling anything off about it so I pressed my hand on the bark. While it felt like a tree should, there was a pulsating sensation to it. After a little investigating I realized it directly responded to my breathing, and seemed to be growing real quick. 

I couldn’t help but think of the markers I left along my trails. Maybe that’s why it appeared? But why was it a tree?  I guess since I’d changed everything else here to be normal maybe a tree was the most natural addition?  It was confusing but I guess I’d have a marker now that could be seen for miles around. It’s still a little concerning, what else could have bleed beyond my intentions?  Could there be even more sandy beaches and oceans out there, or hunks of cement haphazardly tied up in meat?  I guess it could mean my influence spreads further than I’ve been willing to test. I mean… It should extend to every part of this place and not just what I see.

If that's the case then there’s a good subject to use, I know what that bat I’d brought here looked and felt like.  If I can focus on that, or maybe just look for things that aren’t meat under the surface maybe I could find it. 

I sat down at the edge of my platform and rested my feet on the damp and bloody flesh beneath them. Closing my eyes I tried to extend my senses into the ground, the organs beneath my feet bending and entwining my legs slowly starting to feel just as much a part of them. Stretching that sense further and further…my breathing slowed… and then… SNAP! My mind shot back into my skull with a thunderous force that seemed to even send my real body recoiling back. 

I lost track of everything, by the time I’d regained my grasp of the world I was laying down.

Blood pooled beneath my head now pressed against the floor.  It’d been leaking from my eyes, ears, nose and mouth leaving me coughing and failing to get back up.  A struggle made even more difficult by how misaligned my sight felt from my actual eyes. I just kept smacking my head over and over trying to get it all back into place. It didn’t seem to work, but I went through the motions all the same..

I eventually ended on my back staring up at the leaves of the newly grown tree that spread out across the sky. I think that was too much information, I moved my senses too quickly… I’d have to go almost an inch at a time, if not less… Fuck this wouldn’t be a quick process, but If I learnt how to extend my senses throughout everything there’d be nothing this place could surprise me. I’d also gain a weapon, although the value of a bat really didn’t seem like a factor in the grand plan.

The pain had settled down quickly, but the immediate shock was violent and punishing, leaving its memory vivid in my thoughts. I’d be able to get back at it after I wash off, and reorient myself.

It might not be a show worth watching to the observers on the outside, hell I imagine it looks stupid as fuck.  But if I could fully hammer down what this place is, and what everything feels like, then maybe I’d know how to sever the walls that stand between this place and home. 

Though I should probably make some furniture before I go and destroy my brain again… Least then I’ll have somewhere to pass out when it’s all said and done.

[singitforthegirls]

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THE PATTERN IS FINISHED! 😁💃🏼🥰❤️

It took so much time and effort. Lol. Especially getting the letters to look uniform and not weird to me. 🙈🙈 And I made them a little like shaded or whatever. 🥹☺️😁

The original idea in pic 2! XD

The Aida probably won't be black because I don't hate my eyes that much. Haha.

But now I gotta pull the floss colors and see if they'll work for real or if I need to tweak the colors. I probably should have already done that but eh. I probably have the colors, but if not I got the DMC shade-card with real floss. Heh. I LOVE that thing. 🙈🙈🙈

Also probably gonna test out the backstitching text (lyrics from Stargazing by myles smith, duh) and see if if it should be done in one strand or two. 🤔🤔🤔

I've also saved the pattern for both 14 count & 16 count aida. I usually do 14 count, but might give 16 count a go here. We shall seeee.

Also the dots in between the lyrics were supposed to be some glass beads, but they might end up small stars to tie into the whole 'Stargazing' thing. 🌠🌃

Now if 911 could just reunite my boys already. 😭😭😭😭 I'm dyin over here. Plus, ugh, no new ep this week. 😔 Might have to just rewatch stuff. *dramatic sigh* 🙈

[autisticandoddlyspecific]

Anyone got any hair care tips? I’m having trouble knowing what to do bc my hair and my brain are both goofy asf. If I had a less weird head shape and didn’t have such an attachment to having long hair I would probably shave it all and let it start fresh tbh. Here’s a list of traits and what I got to work with.

Long, fine hair. Likely high porosity but I was never sure what state my hair should be in to test that.

Used to be straight, but has started showing more and more signs of turning wavy/curly since about two years ago (happens with hormonal changes which is definitely happening in some capacity at this stage in my life. Possibly due to PCOS)

Sensitive scalp, every tiny tugging sensation is overwhelming and makes me anxious about the possibility of it being pulled out

Prone to dandruff, either in big or small flakes

Cannot let anyone else touch me :(

Poor motor skills, unable to consistently put my hands behind me head and still know where my hands are

Long multi-step processes are really hard to get myself to do, and I often can’t afford to spend the time and energy more often than once a week, maybe twice

100% will forget to do normal routine at some point, need to not lose like 90% of the progress just bc I had a weird day that threw my entire routine off

Struggles with most kinda of braiding and tying knots and similar activities because too many intersecting or parallel lines overload my visual processing and I cannot tell the difference between one strand and another sometimes.

Hair is very eager to mingle and catch on other hairs, meaning if I fumble a strand while braiding I likely need to go back a couple steps.

Live in an area with hard water, but it’s not extreme hard water

The products I have for my hair are Head&Shoulders, Elvive dream lengths shampoo & conditioner, an after-shampoo hair mask/balm/??? from the same brand, that green garnier leave-in for curly hair I heard was mid but also there are as many different opinions on hair as there are people seemingly, an argan oil based anti-frizz serum that does work pretty nice for making my hair behave a lil better, this other curl cream with like coconut or something in it, and recently got a basic clarifying shampoo for the first time bc this is the most products I’ve ever had and so I started actually getting noticeable and disruptive product buildup, which has not happened before as far as I am aware. I’ve yet to use the clarifying shampoo yet but I’m hoping to find time to shower later today after I get some other stuff done.

I also already have a satin bonnet for sleeping and two satin scrunchies ^_^ I do like those except for finding a way to get them to actually stay put bc my head shape and hair are both very difficult to put things on/in, but I am getting better at that slowly.

Hope this was specific enough for without being too annoying idk ^^; I’m just so annoyed that I don’t actually know what to do for my hair.

[missaphelion]

M/M Book Recs (mostly alien/human for some reason???)

I have been on a book reading binge this entire year since I've sorta just been in and out of my old fandoms, and I've found some really good ones (and some really bad ones) so I thought I would share the good! Most are available on Kindle Unlimited, though I think at least one is only available for sale!

1 Pykh Series by Eileen Glass

To look at the covers, this looks like any other cheesy alien romance on Kindle Unlimited (which are fine if that's what you're looking for- sometimes I am too!), but it's actually an amazing story of relationships and worldbuilding and probably in my top twenty of all time favorites for how much I love it. I generally don't like polyamory in my stories, either, but I am a believer after this. It also has omega dynamics - of a sort. Carter, the stranded human, is not an omega in the fanfic sense but he is treated as one by the aliens. It does still end in mpreg, if that's a deal breaker for you!

This amazing outright saga starts with a huge language barrier that lasts through book two, and uses shifting POVs to an amazing effect. Generally I get bored and impatient when they can't understand each other, but this uses their inability to communicate, and the ways they do find to communicate, just amazingly. I really love everything about it. I'm on book three on a reread and I just read them for the first time a couple of months ago. I cannot recommend this enough!

2 The Devils of Vitality by Chani Lynn Feener

This one is very dark, so be warned! The author includes extensive warnings at the beginning of each book, which should be read if you have any triggers at all or even if you just want to know what you're getting into. It is basically a story about space mafia and space royalty and the people they decide will be theirs no matter what. The worldbuilding spills into other books by the author as well and take place on other planets in the same universe, which I find fascinating. I read them all and in order, but These Silent Stars and Devil May Care are by far my favorites (Devil May Care also has another book related the author wrote under a pen name, of one of the characters brothers His Dark Paradox). If obsessive leads, touch him and you die tropes, and very dysfunctional relationships are your thing, you'll probably love this series as much as I do. However, most of them do include rape between the main pairings so give this one a pass if you cannot suspend your disbelief that they will end up happily ever after!

3 A Whisper in the Dark by Chani Lynn Feener

Takes place in the universe from Devils of Vitality but a different world, and I might love this one most of all. It works as a sort of prequel to the dynamics of the 'Shouts' who have powers in the series and introduces a not before seen secret counterpart. There is such a fascinating and tragic backstory for the characters where you can see how things could have been so different if just a couple things had changed, but everything went wrong so it ends up an enemies to lovers brilliantly and seamlessly done. I have read the big 'reveal' scene of this story about eight times. I am obsessed. I would also say it's not as dark as the other series, even though they still do horrible things to each other they have good reasons in this, the enemies part is no joke in the beginning!

4 Guiding Desire by Alexa Piper

This series is AMAZING. Anyone that has stalked the "Sentinels and Guides are Known" tag on A03 is almost guaranteed to adore this. They are 'Guardians' and 'Conduits' instead, but the dynamics and set up is very similar and so enthralling. I can't remember ever seeing anything like this in an original novel before (if anyone else has, please let me know!). This starts with one of my favorite tropes, hidden powers revealed! When a Guardian randomly stumbles on his Conduit who somehow slipped past the required testing, he gets swept away into the new world. Quick warning though, the third book just left us on a terrible cliffhanger! I was devastated. So if you can't stand cliffhangers like me, book 2 mostly ends at a better stopping point while we wait for the next book.

5 How to Train Your Human Omega by Arden Fox

You are probably reading this list thinking I have a type, and yes, I am now discovering that as well. It shouldn't be shocking based on my usual fanfic selections, but somehow it is. Apparently surprise alien abduction romances are my thing now, and I regret nothing. This one is another one that just has such great characters it transcends the genre, and it also has no mpreg if that scared you off the Pyhk series! Clay is just an ordinary human, but out of the whole human ship he's on that gets boarded, he's the only one that an alien is claiming is an omega and therefore his.

Honorable Mentions for alien romances (alien abduction romances??)!

The Alien's Omega by Sienna Sway is sort of like a super fun, less stakes version of the Pykh series. I've enjoyed every one of them and a fourth is coming out soon focusing on the alien culture. The characters are likable, the world is very cool, and progression in the series is perfection. It's not just the same thing again and again, things are evolving as it goes on.

The Star Marked Warriors Book 1 is basically more of the same, but again it was a quick, fun read! And a great nod to cat lovers like me. Not included on the list because I didn't actually read past the first book in the trilogy, but I may end up revisiting it! This one is probably the healthiest relationship dynamics for an alien abduction type story that I've seen, if you're not a fan of the darker stuff.

Akar Chronicles by Kiki Burrelli. The first book had me completely hooked, but not included on the list because I liked the second book a bit less and the third book almost not at all. None of that was for the writing, which is still great across the board, and just because I tend to attach to characters and Phoenix, the main character of the first book, was my absolute favorite, and is in the next two books much less. I'm still considering binding this one, since it's not available in print yet, and I want Phoenix's story on my shelf. The first book definitely made the whole series worth it for me.

Note: If anyone is interested in more recs of the less alien more human mafia/shifter recs, let me know!

[winnielanddd]

Let Me Bring Back My Moon Pt. 2

Kim Seokjin x wife!F Reader

Summary: Jin and Y/N are working hard towards their futures. They meet some bumps along their journey as a married couple. However, Y/N is met with a difficult challenge. Will she be able to overcome this challenge without Jin by her side?

Warnings: none! Just some cute moments...for now hehehe >:3

Word Count: ~2.2k

Read Part 1 Here!

Link to Masterlist Here!

———————————————————————————————————

A month passed since that eventful night. Y/N started to feel more at ease now that her presentation to the CEO was almost complete. Jin, on the other hand, was preparing with his members for a comeback and other international events. Things started to feel calm for the married couple.

“Morning jagi. How’d you sleep?” Jin asked, poking his head out of the kitchen to see a sleepy Y/N walking out of their shared room. 

“My head hurts a little. I probably have to change to a better pillow,” Y/N frowned as she went to give Jin a good morning hug and kiss. 

“My poor jagi,” he teased before planting one more kiss on the top of her head, “Don’t worry. Get ready. I made us some grilled mackerel to eat. We can go to the pharmacy to get you some painkillers after we eat.”

Y/N turned her head to look at the fish. Something about the look of the cooked fish made her want to gag. It wasn’t until the smell got to her nose, making Y/N cover her mouth. 

“Jagi? What’s wrong? Are you—” Before Jin could finish his sentence, Y/N ran to the bathroom, feeling the urge to throw up. Bile left her mouth as she continued to gag in the toilet. Jin came running after her, holding her hair up and brushing loose strands away from her face. 

Y/N gasped, trying to catch her breath. “Jagi, you should call in sick today. We can go to the hospital to get you checked. I’ll call in today too,” Jin suggested.

“No…no it’s okay. I probably ate something bad yesterday.”

“Let’s just get you checked out anyways. Just to be sure.” Jin rubbed Y/N’s back, providing some comfort for her as she pondered her decision. She gave him a small nod before flushing the toilet and cleaning herself up.

At the hospital, Jin and Y/N were patiently waiting to be called in. “Don’t worry. We’ll be in and out in no time,” Jin reassured his wife, rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand. 

“Park Y/N, we’re ready to see you now,” a nurse called out in the waiting room. Y/N and Jin followed the nurse into a small examination room. “We’re going to ask you some questions and run some tests before giving you a diagnosis today. What symptoms have you been having lately?

“I’ve just been throwing up all morning. I woke up with some soreness and a headache.”

“Okay, have you been sexually active recently within the past few months?”

Y/N’s face felt flushed as she nodded, “Yes.”

“Okay, are you currently taking any medication or on any medication?”

“No.”

“Okay. Ms. Park, we are going to run some tests just to be sure. I’m going to draw some blood from you if that’s okay. We’ll give you a call to come back to get your results.”

Y/N nodded, giving Jin’s hand a squeeze while the nurse prepared to draw some of her blood. Y/N felt like it took an eternity to draw her blood although it was fairly quick. 

“All done, Ms. Park. As mentioned, we’ll give you a call when results are ready. Have a good day!” The nurse led the couple to the exit of the hospital, bidding farewell to the lovebirds. 

“Let me make you some seaweed soup Jagi. You haven’t eaten all day.” Jin gave Y/N a warm, reaffirming smile as they journeyed home. Once home, Y/N reflected back to the hospital visit. All the questions being asked, the blood test. No, it can’t be possible. 

“Am I pregnant?” Y/N accidentally asked out loud, enough for JIn to hear.

“Pregnant? But didn’t we use protection last time?”

“We did, but…I don’t know. Maybe I’m just coming down with the common cold or something,” Y/N tried to reason with herself. 

As a few days passed, Y/N regained her strength, enough to return to work. Jin, on the other hand, always checked in on his wife. He would send her text messages, asking if she had her meals or rested enough. These silly text messages would make her heart flutter. 

Ring ring…ring ring…

“Hello?”

“Hello, Ms. Park? We have your blood test results from XX Hospital. Please come in today to go over your results.”

“Yes. Thank you.” Y/N’s heart was beating loudly in her chest. This was it. The moment she was waiting for. Her phone went off again. This time a text message from her husband.

Jagiya~ I miss you TT^TT. Let’s go out tonight! I’ll be home early today! – My Handsome Husband

Jinnie-ah~ I miss you too~ XX Hospital just called me and told me my results are ready. Would you like to join me? – Jinnie’s wife

REALLY?? I’ll pick you up from work then ^^ See you later beautiful~ – My Handsome Husband

Y/N laughed at Jin’s last text before busying herself with some last minute reports. Before she knew it, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Y/N jolted in her seat. Jin’s laugh echoed in the room, his wife’s reaction catching him off guard. 

“Jesus, Jin. You scared me,” Y/N chuckled. 

“You’ve been so focused on your work, you didn’t even answer my calls.”

“Calls?” Y/N checked her phone and noticed a few missed calls from Jin, “Oh shoot. Sorry jagi.” Y/N pecked Jin’s lips as a form of apology. She quickly cleaned up her desk for the day, grabbing her jacket and purse. “Let’s go Jinnie.”

Hand in hand, they left for the hospital. Now Y/N was really feeling nervous. She hoped it was just nothing but a cold or something. She couldn’t bear any terrible news since her company was hitting their busy season soon. Jin noticed how silent Y/N was and gave her hand a small squeeze. 

“Don’t worry, my love. Whatever the results are, I’m always here for you.” Jin smiled and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her hand. 

The couple checked in to the hospital at the front desk before quickly being led to a small examination room. The doctor came in, greeting the pair. 

“Congratulations Mr. Kim and Ms. Park. You are a little over a month pregnant. Here’s some things you can take with you to help advise you during your pregnancy. We can do your first ultrasound if you’d like.”

Y/N’s jaw dropped as Jin looked surprised and excited. Jin gave Y/N’s hand a squeeze, rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand. A wide smile plastered on her face. “Yes, that would be great actually.”

As the ultrasound took place, Y/N looked over at the monitor and saw a little white spot on the screen. A sign of their love growing in her stomach. 

“Jinnie, there’s our little one,” Y/N spoke, glancing at her husband who now had some tears in his eyes. 

“Yeah, they’re beautiful, Jagi. They’re beautiful.” 

After finishing their appointment and receiving some photos of their first ultrasound, Y/N and Jin went home, excited to share the news with their friends and family. Getting ready for bed, Jin came up behind Y/N, wrapping his arms around her waist. He planted small kisses along her neck and shoulder before resting his chin on it. 

“Thank you, my love.” Jin planted another kiss on her shoulder. 

“Hm? Why the ‘thank you’ so suddenly?” She turned to look at him, confused.

Jin gave her a deep chuckle, placing a kiss on her lips before giving her a smile. “For carrying our little one. A sign of our love,” Jin gently rubbed her stomach, “Let’s call our little one ‘Peanut’. What do you think Jagi?” 

“I like it. Our little Peanut.” Jin gave Y/N another loving kiss before turning her around and crocheting down to her stomach. 

“Hi Peanut. It’s daddy speaking. I don’t think you can hear me yet, but Mommy and I are so excited to see you grow. Treat Mommy well and grow healthy, Peanut,” Jin spoke to Y/N’s stomach and planted a kiss on her stomach. “Let’s go to bed, my love.”

That night, Y/N slept in Jin’s arms, feeling so much love and comfort from him. The news of her pregnancy was a surprise, but she was thankful that a sign of their love was coming to their lives. 

———————————————————————————————————

Before Y/N knew it, months passed. Her stomach was growing as the days went by. She was now peaking 6 months in her pregnancy. Jin’s members always sent little gifts to the couple to congratulate them. From congratulatory flowers to little plushies for Peanut, the guys were just as excited as the couple. Both Jin and Y/N decided to do a gender reveal for Peanut once time came closer. They gave the results to the guys to hold on to until the time was right to do the reveal.

Although their relationship was publicly announced, Jin and Y/N decided to keep their news of pregnancy hidden from new outlets to lessen the stress on Y/N. For her safety, Y/N moved to working from home—which she greatly took advantage of. It was easier for her to wear comfortable clothes and slippers in the house all day instead of business clothes and heels. Jin, on the other hand, continued to go into work, preparing for different modeling gigs and filming a variety of content for their fans. 

It quickly became night for Y/N after a long work day. Meetings after meetings and staring at the computer screen for long hours tired her out. “Oh Peanut, I’m so tired,” she whined while rubbing her now large stomach. In return, Peanut gave a kick as if responding to Y/N’s complaint. Before she could converse more with Peanut, Y/N heard the front door open and close. “Jinnie? Is that you?”

“Jagiya~ I’m home!” Jin went to their office room to find Y/N looking at him while rubbing her stomach. “How are my two wonderful loves today?”

“We’re good,” she responded, giving Jin his usual ‘welcome home’ kiss, “Peanut’s been active as usual. I just finished up work. Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet. Namjoonie and the guys were actually making dinner. They invited us over. Wanna go?” Jin suggested while changing his clothes to something more comfier. 

“Ooo~ What are they making? I’ve been craving some meat.”

“They said something about grilling—”

“Let’s go!” Jin laughed at Y/N’s enthusiasm, taking her hand into his before grabbing their things and leaving for the shared dorm. On the drive, Y/N continued to rub her stomach, talking to Peanut about visiting their uncles and anticipating good food soon. The little kicks made Y/N giggle; Jin glancing once in a while to see his wife’s interaction with Peanut. If only he could take a snapshot of this beautiful moment. 

Arriving at the dorm, Jin led Y/N in. The guys all welcomed the couple into their home. “Noona! You’re finally here!” J-Hope carefully hugged Y/N. He felt the kicks of Peanut and giggled. “Of course, you too Peanut~”

“Jin Hyung, Namjoonie Hyung and I went to buy some baby clothes for Peanut because we saw them while shopping earlier,” Taehyung said before handing Jin a gift bag. 

“Wah~ You guys are really spoiling Peanut~” Jin laughed and gave his younger members a thumbs up. 

“Yah! Let’s eat! Food is ready!” Jungkook calls out from the kitchen while Yoongi is bringing in the last dish to the dinner table. Y/N took in a whiff of the delicious smells of the different dishes. Her mouth watering at this point. Peanut kicked once again, making Y/N laugh. 

“Okay, okay little one. I’m going. Let’s eat well~”

———————————————————————————————————

Y/N and Jin bid their goodbyes to the guys before heading back home. Y/N’s cravings were definitely filled as she ate to her heart’s content. Jin had a great time, per usual, hanging out with his members, his brothers from another mother, outside of work. 

“I heard that Jiminie is finally talking to that person he’s been trying to go for now,” Jin spoke as he began driving home. 

“Oh yeah? Think they’re gonna be official soon?” 

“Oh yeah, definitely. Once Jiminie has his heart on someone, he’s all for them.” Jin and Y/N shared a few more conversations and laughs on their way home, not realizing a car trailing closely behind them. 

Once they arrived home, Jin opened Y/N’s door side for her, taking her hand to help her out of the car. 

“Why, thank you, kind sir,” Y/N giggled.

“Of course, my lady,” Jin replied back, placing a kiss on top of her hand before walking off to their home to end their evening. 

Little did the couple realize that photos were being taken of them. The media blowing up from the sudden news.

———————————————————————————————————

Author’s Note: Hello my lovelies! I’m soooo sorry for the long awaited Part 2 of this series. I’m still planning out how I want to end it, so this series might be a little longer than I expected. Please show this series a lot of love! I plan on posting one shots in the meantime. Don’t hesitate to send me asks in my ask box too! I would love to get to interact with you all! Enjoy this part! XOXO

-Winnie

[figurelifeflirt]

Netflix Avatar season 1 episodes 7 and 8

The North and Legends

The scene where Zuko used his fire breath to break through the ice, one of my favorite scenes of all time. Yes, it was done differently here but it was still epic. It still showed that Zuko is ten times stronger than Azula because he's had to rely on only his wits and his bending so many more times.

I do wish we'd gotten to see Aang and Katara actually train with Master Paku. Because of how sped up this season is, yes we still got to see Katara speak up and say that women should be allowed to fight and I'm glad she does that.

Not to mention the way she is able to have the women of the Northern Water Tribe come out and support her. The fact that Master Paku sent his students to her during the battle. Those were wonderful scenes.

Yue. To be honest I don't think that much about Yue. The way her death was done here. It is much more traumatic for Sokka. But also, I like that Yue wasn't engaged here. It made the relationship between her and sokka go a lot smoother due to have a smaller time frame to work with(having eight episodes instead of 20).

Zhao's death. Yes, Zhao's death scene was changed dramatically. In the cartoon, Aang as the Ocean Spirit killed Zhao and he did it pretty close to Zuko. Zuko got to have this sort of mortal crises where he thinks "yes Zhao is a jerk but I don't want him to die like this".

Here. Iroh kills Zhao to save Zuko's life. Zuko doesn't have time to have a mortal crises.

Azula. When we first were introduced to this show's Azula, I was cautiously curious. I do love Azula. I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes but I do love Azula. And I love that Azula was introduced earlier here than she was in the cartoon.

I am curious to see how Mai and Ty Lee are going to be developed because they haven't had very many lines. I also loved that Ozhai brought in prisoners to test Azula. Because in the cartoon, we rarely got to see Zuko and Azula train.

This probably means the scene where Zuko and Aang get stranded in the blizzard will be skipped over. It makes me very angry. And if Season 2 does not include it, you will find some words here when I start watching season 2. Maybe even some adult type words.

[mildlylesbian]

fun fact ive never watched the bee movie in its entirety and we're probably keeping it that way

Oh no problem, you can read it

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick ourjob today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Oan anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back.

[silverwings22]

Song of the Sea: Chapter 33: Monstrosity

Chapter Warning: unethical experimentation, references to death Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

Previous chapter:

Next chapter:

Tech hadn’t realized when he let Shiani fly that she was going to turn into a princess in the pilot seat, but he couldn’t bring himself to mind too much. She was kicked back, legs on the console with her ankles crossed. “Cid’s calling in.” She muttered sourly. “Can I handle her? Please, Hunter?”

The sergeant chuckled. “I’ll let you lead, but I’m staying right here.”

“We all will.” Wrecker grinned darkly. “I wanna give her a piece of my mind.” 

Shiani clicked her fangs together, the staccato sound they were all coming to be familiar with. “Only mind she’s gonna have.” She turned the ship holo on, angling it so her face was the only one the trandoshan could see. “You have a lot of nerve comming us, Cid.” 

 "Cant I check in on my best crew?"

“If you were someone who gave a damn about us.” Shiani crossed her arms, settling back with narrow eyes. “What have you got to say for yourself?”

“What’s got you in such a bad mood, Suckers?”

"We were stranded on that planet, Cid. And you left us!" Omega snapped. Hunter patted her shoulder and tried not to laugh at the look on Cid’s face in the holo when Shiani showed her teeth.

"And now you're not. Plus you got your ship back."

"No thanks to you." Wrecker grumbled. 

"You want to mope or make money? I've got Intel on a wreck worth salvaging."

“Who says we wanna work for you anymore?” Shiani huffed. 

"After all I've done for you, Suckers? Don’t give me a hard time."

“What about what we did for you? Got your Parlor back from Durand, saved you from the Pykes, and rescued you from Millegi on Safa Toma. But you still left us, knowing we had no supplies or escape, and we almost got put into slavery for ten years in that mine” The siren’s blue tongue traced over her teeth quietly. “You have a very personal problem with that, Cid. Maybe we should come straight back to Ord Mantell so you and I can discuss it in person?” 

Cid swallowed hard, watching her teeth. "Thirty percent cut of something big would be worth your time. Maybe make it up to you?"

"Thirty percent is our standard rate." Tech pointed out casually. “You will have to do better if you are trying to impress Shiani.” 

“C’mon. Isn’t Dark and Broody in charge of you guys?”

“I’m not in the habit of pissing off my brother’s venomous wife, especially when she’s the one flying my ship.” Hunter said coolly.

"Thirty-five? For the trouble."

Shiani snorted, polishing her black claws against her shirt front and inspecting them. “Try again.”

"Forty, then."

Omega climbed into Shiani’s lap so she could look into the holo, grumpy little face eclipsing Shiani’s. "After what you did?"

"Oh, come on! What do you want from me?”

“I want to bite you.” Shiani shrugged. “Anything else, I probably shouldn’t say in front of Baby Mega.”

Cid groaned. "Fine. Fifty percent, as a token of my goodwill, and everything will be fine from now on. Deal?"

Tech looked back at Hunter, who nodded. “You may send the coordinates, then.” The genius adjusted his goggles. His wife continued to look entirely unimpressed, but wrapped her arms around Omega instead of continuing to threaten Cid.

"About time you see reason. Don't come back without something worth scavenging."

"Why should we come back at all?” Hunter huffed.

"Don't test me, Bandana. Just get the job done." Cid hung up. 

“Do we have to go back, Hunter?” Shiani frowned, looking back at their leader with an unhappy expression. “I hate how she treats you guys. Reminds me of longnecks.”

"Severing ties with Cid would be exceptionally difficult, given the information she has about us." Tech reached over and took her hand gently, giving it a comforting series of squeezes.  "It may be wiser to consider this a final mission for her, and leave on good terms. Otherwise, she could become quite vindictive. And she does have quite a bit of information on us."

“Lacking a home base like the Parlor is dangerous, too.” Hunter sighed.

“Maybe we can find a new one?” Shiani asked hopefully, lowering her legs from the dash. “We could ask someone else for ways to make credits. Phee makes it work, we could ask for advice if not leads?

“I’ll make you a deal. If we find something before the supplies run out, we won’t go back.” Hunter patted her shoulder. “I don’t like her either. You’ve been right all along, she’s selfish.”

Shiani nodded. She’d ask Phee as soon as they finished this salvage mission, and see if there was a better solution. She’d had all of Cid she could stand before she just started biting to solve her problems. 

Hunter chuckled. It looked like the adage was true that laid back, quiet men ended up with the feisty girls. Tech was just watching Shiani with a fond look in his eyes as she grumbled about no longer wanting to be the bigger person and starting to bite people like a rat. “What did Cid send, Tech?” 

"Only coordinates, without any transponder data or cargo manifest. And nothing on the cause of the ship crash." 

"Limited intel again." Wrecker groaned. 

“She does that all the time.” Omega pointed out. " But scavenging a wreck can't be that hard." 

Hunter nodded. Shiani made a face. “Never say that, Baby Mega. Something weird always happens!”

Shiani set the ship down carefully just outside the coordinates Cid had provided, following Tech off the ramp. There was a plateau of glittering lights that caught her attention and she paused, looking at them with the intensity of a moth caught in the light. It was a village, houses full of people living in a little close knit community that oddly reminded her of Acopit…

With the thought of leaving Cid and Ord Mantell behind so close at hand, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was something they could have. A home, and roots on the ground with neighbors and friends. Soldiers didn’t settle, Tech had once told her, but did he always have to be a soldier? He was, if he ever acknowledged it, a prince now. Didn’t a prince and his family deserve to be safe and comfortable after years of serving a regime that threw them away like the Empire had when it swallowed the Republic? She wanted a place they could call their own, where the danger went away and they could just be. Where Omega had a childhood without blaster fire reflected in her eyes, and Hunter could worry about her homework instead of her survival. Wrecker could spend his life trying every food known to the galaxy and Tech could finally build things he wanted, instead of things he needed. She’d follow him anywhere, but was it so bad to want them to be able to sit still instead?

Wrecker clapped a hand on her shoulder, seeing her fixation on the lights. “Looks like the wreck landed near the village.” 

"That is likely how the crash was reported so quickly." Tech glanced over at Shiani, wondering what was running through her mind. He knew that look.  "The ship appears intact on the scanners, so the cargo should be simple enough to transport." 

She blinked away the haze of her longing and looked at him, smiling again. “I follow you, Tech.”

He reached for her, and led the group with his datapad in hand and hers in the other. It wasn’t a far walk to the crash site, and it seemed the scanner was accurate. Despite the fall, the ship was in one piece. A very battered piece, but one piece nonetheless.

Hunter and Wrecker check the hull, curious and slighting concerned. "No markings."

Shiani frowned and looked over the unmarked durasteel too. “This model wasn’t used during the Republic. It’s Imperial, absolutely. And no sign the paint was stripped. No marking means it’s hiding a secret.” She didn’t like this. Imperial secrets were never good.

The Empire was all the horror the longnecks had inflicted on her people, but on a much larger scale. It made her stomach churn just to think what might be inside this ship. 

"Judging by the hull damage, it is likely the crew all perished. They will not be able to tell us." Tech popped the hatch open with a little effort and a shrug. She could almost imagine him just telling himself any fear was an illogical response as he shrugged it off. Sometimes she wished she could do that. 

"They could be trapped inside. We should check." Omega gave Hunter a pleading look. 

He sighed and drew his blaster. “Eyes open, everyone. Shiani, I could really use that inner alarm of yours.” 

She nodded, ear fins twitching. “I hope the crew died in the crash.” She said softly. “Cause if they’re alive, they’re Imperial.”

Tech nodded, letting her drape a tentacle around his waist as he and Hunter led the way in with the sergeant's flashlight and Tech’s head lamp ahead of their blasters. Omega stayed right next to Shiani, with her bow out, while Wrecker brought up the rear.

“Feels like a tomb in here.” Shiani breathed, eyes reflecting the flashlight beams back in eerie disks of greenish light.. 

"Hey, check out out! High-volt electrostaff!" Wrecker scooped up the abandoned weapon off the floor and held it up for them to look at. Omega noted Shiani’s shoulders tense as she looked at it.

“What’s the matter?” She whispered.

“Looks like a cattle prod.” Shiani muttered. “Why would they  need that on a ship in space?” She took a step back, bumping into the wall behind them. Instead of smooth durasteel, she felt something scratch at her tentacle and turned around. The metal was marked with deep gashes that had punched through the plating, and when Shiani put her hand up to the marks her claws fell right into the holes. She dragged her fingers down, marking the trajectory of the swipe that had caused the damage.

"Something unfortunate happened here." Tech whispered. “The electrostaff… may have been in a crew members hand before this occurred.

"Whatever did this wasn't human." Hunter didn’t scare easy, but his voice didn’t sound quite level.

Shiani brought her hand back to her side,rubbing her fingers together. There was a smudge of red on them. “These walls are reinforced… and it punched through like wet flimsi. We need to leave.” 

"I will go to the bridge and restore power." Tech nodded. “That will speed this along.”

“No, Tech. We need to go now.” Shiani pulled him to her by his waist, swallowing hard. “Please. Let’s just go. Whatever is in here can’t be worth it.”

He cupped her face in both hands gently, looking at her wide eyes. “We cannot be sure of that until we get any relevant data and inspect the cargo. I understand you are uncomfortable. I am as well. But we will get through this.”

“I’ll go with you to the bridge, then.”

“Negative. Stay here with the rest of the team, in case your senses are needed. You have been consistently correct in that regard.” He pressed his helmeted forehead to hers in a light Keldabe kiss before leaning back. "Your concern is unwarranted. I will be fine." 

She clenched her jaw to keep from begging him to reconsider as he walked off the opposite direction. “Hate this.”

Omega took her hand. “Me too.” 

Shiani gave her three squishes, both to comforting both the girl and herself. “Tech’s right. We find what we came for and we get the hell out of here” She muttered.

Hunter nodded, waving for them to follow him and Wrecker down the opposite hall of the ship. 

The center of the ship was a large room, and Shiani didn’t even have to stick her head in before she felt the sickening feeling the labs on Kamino had given her. It was the taste of disinfectant and machine coolant in the air, and the bubbling of growth tubes. How could it make her feel so horrified, when these were the kinds of machines that had made Tech? She should have celebrated them, but she wanted to unleash a scream that would shatter every piece of transparisteel in this room.  

"This is Kaminoan cloning technology, but it looks different from what I saw in Tipoca City." Omega confirmed, looking up at her when she felt the shudder rolling down the siren’s arm. 

Shiani shivered again. “Torture room.” She said softly.

Hunter couldn’t stand watching the siren so miserable, and he wanted off this Maker-forsaken ship before his blood pressure made him stroke out. He touched his comm. "Any luck, Tech?"

"The bridge power will soon be restored." 

Shiani nodded, closing her eyes to focus on Tech’s voice. They’d be out of here soon. Just a little longer.

"These walls are even thicker than the ones in the hallway." Wrecker frowned, spotting a flashlight left on the ground. When he picked it up he almost gagged, finding it covered with some kind of viscous slime. "Oh, that’s gross…"

Shiani’s foot was tapping, eyes darting back and forth. She felt like something was hunting her, but she couldn’t feel a being around her. Either she was panicking, or it was sentient enough to hide itself in the Song-

A low growl behind her made her spin, and she came face to face with what she could only call a horror-holo monster. It had an oblong head with no visible eyes, and a long scaled tail. It’s growl got louder when Hunter’s flashlight illuminated it, and it took a step towards them, stalking them like a predator sizing up prey. 

"What the hell is that?" Hunter whispered. “Why didn’t you sense it?”

“Because it’s sentient.” Shiani breathed, pushing Omega back behind her. “Back up slowly, don’t turn your back. It’s angry, and it’s afraid.”

It wasn’t bothering to hide itself anymore, growling at Shiani. She hissed back, showing her teeth warningly in a language it could understand. They hurt you, but I didn’t. These are mine, leave them alone.

Unfortunately, whatever the Empire had done to the creature was stronger than its willingness to endure Shiani’s explanation. It pounced, going after Omega, and the siren threw herself between the girl and it. Her fangs and claws glanced harmlessly off its scales, and it knocked her onto her back, dragging it’s claws down her chest plate. It would have punched through if Hunter and Wrecker hadn’t opened fire and scared it, forcing it to retreat up the wall and into the ceiling tiles. 

When the lights came on, Shiani felt its focus shift and it leapt over them to bolt the direction they had come from. She slammed her hand on her comm. “Tech! We gotta go, please. There’s a… thing… on the ship.”

“What kind of thing, cyar’ika?”

“The kind of thing that claws open durasteel?” She touched the gouges in the front of her chestplate, faintly horrified at how close she’d come to having them in her flesh. In all her dreams of starships and lights, she never imagined herself in a dark Imperial ship with parts of her never meant for the light of day flayed open by a… whatever it was.

"It would seem this was a research vessel. Imagine what we could learn-"

She groaned as Wrecker helped her up. “Tech I love you so much but can you be a nerd on our ship and away from the biting thing?!” 

"If you insist, my love." Based on his tone, she was pretty sure he had no idea how serious this was.

Hunter got on the comm as well. “Tech! It almost killed her!” 

“... shit.”

Hunter led them back down the hall, blasters out, and found the creature with it’s teeth in a power cord. It had gotten larger, spines more prominent… and more familiar looking to Shiani.

Wrecker almost ran into Hunter’s back, making a strangled noise. "Does that thing look different to you?"

“It eats power.” Shiani whispered. “I know what it is.”

"Fascinating…" Tech had appeared on the opposite side of it, his eyes behind his goggles had gone massive with his normally endearing curiosity about the galaxy. Shiani would be in love with his mind again when it wasn’t about to get him eaten alive.

"Tech!" Both the siren and Omega screeched, snapping him back to reality. He glanced over and spotted the gouges in Shiani’s chest plate, and the cold realization of how dangerous this thing was hit him. 

"Take cover!" He lifted his blaster and took aim at the reactor, while Hunter and Wrecker shoved Shiani and Omega behind the turn in the hall for cover.

The explosion blew out a wall, and the creature was both unharmed and annoyed when it escaped. Shiani groaned, sticking her head around the corner. “Tech?!”

“I’m alright.” His helmet poked out the opposite side, and she scrambled over to him. “Are you?” He touched the chestplate, wincing at how deep the claw marks went. 

“I know what it is, Tech! I saw it on an old holonews reel when I was looking for fuel types. It’s a Malastarian Zillo Beast. One attacked Coruscant during the war!”

Tech blinked, glancing back at the way it had run. “I recall that being much larger…”

“It grew when it was chewing the cables.” Shiani clutched his hands tightly. “They were hurting it. It’s sentient, but its so angry and scared it won’t listen to reason now. We gotta catch it somehow or it’s gonna hurt everyone.”

"It likely ate the previous crew, so we are fortunate it is probably not hungry." Tech frowned. “Perhaps it will not- 

"It ate the crew?!" Omega yelped.

Shiani looked back at her. “... there were no bodies on board, Baby Mega.” 

The girl shuttered. “It ate the crew…” 

Hunter’s eye twitched. "We let it out. We have to stop it."

"I will double back into the ship for further information." Tech started to turn, but Shiani didn’t let go of him. “... we will double back.” He conceded, and she released him fractionally. 

Omega followed them. "I know about Kaminoan cloning technology."

Hunter nodded, he and Wrecker taking off for the Marauder to hunt the Zillo down. Shiani, Omega, and Tech ran back inside and headed for the control room. After a moment on the console, Tech gritted his teeth. “It is heavily encrypted. This may take a moment.”

Shiani nodded, inspecting the machines with Omega. “This is definitely cloning equipment.” Omega whispered. “I heard rumors that some cloning experiments were happening off of Kamino.” She got to another console and started poking at it. “There’s a little information here… extracting genetic material from a host.”

“Host is probably the Zillo.” Shiani scowled. “That would explain why it’s so angry. They were hurting it.”

“I almost regret they may have to use the ship’s weapons on it, in that case.” Tech muttered.

“Won’t do any good.” Shiani shook her head. “My claws didn’t touch it. The one that attacked Coruscant wasn’t affected by Jedi lightsabers either, according to the article I read.” 

“That would explain this, then.” Tech muttered, eyes on the screen. “Its genetic material was being used for modified armor plating.” 

“Your brother’s blasters just scared it.” Shiani nodded, swallowing hard. “At least it’s just a little one?”

Omega winced. “But it got bigger when it chewed on that cable.” 

Tech looked up. “It stands to reason it eats energy, if it grew larger. And likely will continue to grow if it consumes more energy.”

“Is there a power grid in the village?” Omega blanched. 

Shiani pulled out a scanner and fiddled. “... yes.” 

Tech winced and commed Hunter. “This is indeed the same species that attacked Coruscant during the war. It feeds on energy, you must not let it get to the village's power grid or it will grow exponentially in size."

"Too late." Hunter groaned. “But we’ve got bigger trouble. The Empire is here.”

“They were transporting the Zillo, they want it back.” Shiani said helplessly. There was no way to free the creature without sacrificing the village, and no way to save the village without killing the Zillo. “We have to go, Tech.”

"The data transfer is not complete." He looked up at her.

She met his eyes, holding Omega’s hand tightly. “This ship was unmarked and everything encrypted. This was a secret. They’ll destroy the wreck to keep it, and us along with it. Please, Tech. We have to go.”

Tech hesitated a moment, then nodded and stepped away from the console. There were, he supposed, more important things than the pursuit of knowledge. Two of them being his sister and his wife.

They barely made it out when what Shiani had predicted came to pass and the Empire blew the shuttle they’d evacuated into scrap. There were Venators in the air, and LAAT gunships buzzing around between V-wings, and the smell of fire and fuel was thick in the smokey air. 

It was supposed to be a simple scavenge mission. How had they stepped from claiming crashed cargo to being in the middle of a whirlwind straight from Hell itself? 

The Marauder came into view, slowing but not going to be able to stop with two V-wings on its tale. Shiani wrapped tentacles around both clones and jumped when it came close, suckering herself to the side and pushing Omega and Tech into Wrecker’s arms where he waited on the ramp. Once they were safe she slithered on board, the hatch closing behind her.

Hunter had the controls in a death grip and all but threw them into hyperspace before they’d fully cleared the atmosphere.. 

Tech was sitting on the floor where Wrecker had dumped him, catching his breath. “Is… everyone alright?” He murmured.

Shiani crawled over to him and buried her face in his chest, clinging with all of her limbs. Hunter turned around in the pilot’s seat and looked at him. “Where the hell did they even get a Zillo? I thought the one that attacked Coruscant was the last of its kind?”

“It was.” Tech sighed. "It appears that one was a clone, made from the genetic material of the one that attacked Coruscant." He cradled his trembling siren tightly.

“They hurt it.” She mumbled. “It was sentient. It was afraid and hurt, and they were torturing it. And they’re going to do it again.”

“I know.” He breathed, petting her head gently as she started to shake harder. “Its creation, however, cannot be entirely blamed on the Empire. It was made prior to the end of the war, during the Republic.”

Hunter sighed, sinking into the chair.  "Where were they taking it?". 

"The ship did not have a destination in its system. It was heavily encrypted data, even on the ship's internal system." Tech glanced at Shiani again. "I… do not believe the Empire destroyed the cities on Kamino to end cloning, but to control it."

Shiani sobbed softly into his chest. It made sense, her home sacrified for nothing more than a power trip. The seas full of blood, the longnecks slaughtered and her own people would soon become a casualty of the same war. The Emperor had seen her, knew about her now. How long before they found sirens in cages? 

 "Send the data to Rex and Echo. See what they make of it." Hunter replied quietly. 

Tech nodded, picking up Shiani and carrying her to their bunk. He’d deal with the transmission… but right now she needed him. And, the longer he looked at the near-fatal claw marks dug into her armor, the more he was sure he needed her too.