#some are still there and it's been ~8 months

[traveler-at-heart]

Doctor's In - Part 13

Summary: Your life in Boston after Wanda.

The air is cold, and just your luck, today you left the car outside of the building’s parking lot.

Maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all, as a cute woman is inspecting the black Corvette, in awe of the elegant and expensive car.

“Want a ride?”

“This yours?” she says, genuinenly fascinated.

“Yeap” you nod. “She’s a beauty, 490-hp 6.2-liter V-8 engine”

Do you know what those words mean? Not at all.

“My father and I used to fix cars. I need to send him a picture. Can I?”

“Sure, go ahead” you smile. “I’ll even take one of you standing next to it”

You pull out your phone.

“Oh, wait, I should have given you mine” the woman says, and you smile.

“Or you could give me your number and I’ll send the pics” you smile at her, offering your phone.

“Very smooth” she blushes, taking it.

“If you wanna talk about smooth, the leather seats are just…”

“Ugh, it’s too cold to take my motorcycle, can you give me a ride to the hospital?” Yelena interrupts, coming out of nowhere as usual.

“Shh, go away” you push her behind you.

“God, we’re gonna be late. Just skip to the part where you lie about texting the girl and get on with it” she mumbles, and luckily only you can hear her.

“Sorry, she’s being annoying” you elbow Yelena’s side. “I’ll send you the pictures, and my offer for a ride still stands”

“Well, alright then. Have fun babysitting” the woman comments, which earns her a glare from the blonde.

“Get in the fucking car” you mutter. “Why can’t you ask your mother for a damn car? She has lots of them”

“Like the one you borrow and use to get phone numbers? I don’t understand why you do it, you never call them”

“It’s not about having a date. It’s just fun to talk to girls. I never really did it outside of college” you shrug your shoulders.

You never call them because the thought of being with someone who isn’t Wanda is simply absurd.

But you don’t expect Yelena to understand it.

“I never ask for a car because then she’d be like See, I was right, a motorcycle was a bad idea”

“Get both, like your sister”

“No, because then she’ll say I’m copying her, like when she went to school with a green backpack and I got one that was similar the next day. But green has always been my favorite color” she rambles.

“Are all the Romanoffs this complicated?”

"Is your music taste always this random?" Yelena points at the screen. "Yesterday it was ABBA and now it's Metallica"

"Don't even think about changing it" you say, slapping her hand away.

You finally get to the hospital, parking in your spot, which is one of the best ones in the entire facility.

Melina is trying to convince you to stay beyond your three month contract, and she’s not shying away from providing a life of luxury, with a penthouse and a fancy car included.

If it wasn’t because you’re busting your ass in the ER, you’d feel like a sugar baby.

“Go and check on the people waiting, I have to sign discharges and look at some post ops” you tell Yelena as soon as you walk in, and she nods.

“Morning, everyone” you greet the front desk. “Is Patrick ready for his recital today?”

“Yes, he’s very excited” Nurse Roman says.

“Well, as a doctor I don’t feel comfortable saying break a leg, so let’s just leave it at good luck”

“That sounds perfect to me, Doctor Y/L/N, thank you” the woman says. You’re smiling until you notice the frown on Peña’s face.

“Don’t look at me like that. Not my fault you keep betting on Shelton when he’s literally playing against Alcaraz”

“Shelton is the future of American tennis”

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the resounding noise of your debt” you say, going back to the charts but keeping your palm open. You don’t look up until he gives up, putting a 20 in your hand. “Pleasure doing business with you, Peña. I’m so looking forward to Indian Wells and Miami back to back”

You don’t realise that Natasha is also at the front desk, signing a couple of discharge forms.

It’s been a month and you’re already friends with half the people who work here. Natasha’s glad, because it can be miserable to be isolated while you’re away from home.

The other side of her can’t help but feel really stupid too, because all this time she thought you were flirting and in reality, this is who you are with most people.

Now that’s a fast way to humble someone.

“Hi, Doctor Romanoff” you say, finally noticing her. “Ending your shift?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

“Starting a 48”

“Didn’t you just do one 12 hours ago?” she says.

“Yeah, but my brother and sister are coming over so I need the weekend off” you smile, actually excited. Natasha is probably one of the only people who could understand how good it is to reconnect with your siblings, but she’s been distant with you ever since you came to Boston.

So, you wish her a good day, and walk to the madness of the ER.

“Fuck my life, fuck it hard” you mutter when you notice who’s there. Ed Lorne, aka clown nurse. He’s a young one, practically fresh out of college and with an unhealthy obsession to behave like Patch Adams in that movie that always puts you to sleep (No disrespect to Robin Williams).

“Please tell me his shift is almost over” you plead to Yelena.

“Don’t be mean. He’s trying to make an impression”

“He already did and it’s a fucking awful one”

The fact that there’s no swear jar around has turned you into a sailor on leave. Not that you keep track, but if the twins could hear you, they’d be set for an Ivy League education.

Stop thinking about this, you mentally scold yourself, trying to breathe to settle that uncomfortable feeling at the pit of your stomach.

Yelena mistakes your frustrated sigh with a protest as Ed approaches you. Truthfully, it’s a bit of both.

“Top of the morning to you, Doctor Y/L/N” he says, removing an imaginary hat.

God, you’re gonna strangle him with a stethoscope.

“Guy in bed six has problems with urinating and I’m like well, more like ur-out of my bladder!”

“Boy, you’re really bringing the theater kid energy today, aren’t ya” you complain, ignoring Yelena’s smack on your arm.

“Why, thank you for noticing”

“No, that wasn’t a compliment. Check all of my post ops and medication, then fill out the medical records in the computer”

That should keep him busy for the next two hours and away from you.

“Evil” Yelena mumbles, but she’s laughing along.

You take care of a few people, ordering lab tests and other stuff that is quickly taken care of by the staff. It’s nice to have an ER that is never short on medical personnel.

You finish your exam on a patient just in time to get your daily call.

“Hello, Judas”

“Darcy!” you say, always with the same enthusiasm.

“I hate you” she repeats, every day since you left. Well, minus the first week. You didn’t have a phone at all. “Carol hates you too and you’re no longer invited to her wedding”

You can faintly hear Carol’s voice in the background, shouting that what Darcy’s saying is not true.

“I’m trying to get her to come back” Darcy explains. “Look pal, it’s either the good way or the bad way aka getting you in the Psych ward until you go back to your senses”

“I don’t suppose you could get my stuff and send it over?”

“No, for two reasons. One, if I see Wanda I’m going to kill her and dos, you belong here. So it would be stupid to send stuff that you’ll need when you’re back. Besides, how do you know Wanda didn’t throw them away?”

“I just do. Ok, it was nice being emotionally manipulated by you, but I gotta scrub in. Same time on Monday? Remember I’m seeing Zach and Jenny this weekend”

“Yes, get me all the deets on the gossip and yes, same time”

“Love you, pal”

“Screw you”

Darcy hangs up, but stares at her phone for a moment longer. She does miss you and even if she’s giving you shit for it, she understands where you’re coming from.

“Are these the CVs for Chief Fury?”

“Yes” his secretary says, carrying a couple of files. “He doesn’t like to read on the computer”

“Oh, here, I’ll take those”

And Darcy does take them. Straight to the trash can.

Gotta make sure the job’s open when you come back.

—

You’re out of shape. It’s been 27 hours and the work keeps on coming. It doesn’t help that Boston is so much bigger than Westview.

As you sit in one of the front desks, looking over paperwork and lab results, Ed comes in, holding a deck of cards.

“Pick a card”

“Did you get the lab results for Mrs. Pattmore?” you say, resisting the urge to slap the deck to the floor.

“No, they said it would take another hour…”

“Can you check again? Thank you”

Fortunately, he leaves and you sigh.

“He’s quite the character” a man shows up next to you, and you nod.

“He is very useful when I need urgent results from the lab. The technicians can’t stand him so they rather not see him around” you laugh.

 “I haven’t seen you before. I’m doctor Stephen Strange. Yes, that is my last name” he adds when you frown.

“Oh, nice to meet you. Yeah, I’m the interim Head of Trauma. Just until they find someone new”

“Huh. Not what I heard”

Well, there’s no way Melina will convince you to stay. But then again… you never thought you’d take the job in Boston.

“That’s definitely my plan” you assure him. “Were you on break?”

“Honeymoon. We just got back” he nods towards another woman who joins you, her smile wide. “Doctor Christine Palmer, meet… sorry, I didn’t get your name”

“Y/L Y/L/N. Congratulations to the both of you” you shake her hand.

“Thank you, how are you liking it here so far?”

“Everyone’s great” you say, but Christine catches your exhaustion.

“Lorne was just here asking to do a magic trick”

“Ah. That” she nods.

“Yeah” you get paged, and then wave at them. “See you around, and welcome back”

There’s a man coming in with a stab wound. Another shift from your work in Stark Hospital; the frequency of people who come in as a result of fights is a lot higher.

It was very rare to treat these kind of things in Westview.

“BP 130/70, no external bleeding or fractures” Yelena says and you nod, encouraging her to continue. “I want a chest X-Ray, transthoracic echocardiogram and blood work”

“The patient’s yours, Doctor Belova”

You’re honestly impressed. Yelena has been putting the work, and she’s very talented, especially while working under pressure.

“She has a good teacher” Melina speaks. The woman has a talent for knowing what people are thinking.

“Well, it’s in her blood, isn’t it? The whole Romanoff dinasty”

“Yes. By the way, this is your last patient. You’re not to be on call for so many hours in a week. The workload is very different here. And we will talk about a bonus so you can buy something to that girlfriend of yours to thank her for letting you be here”

About that.

Nobody knows Wanda kicked you out.

Except Yelena, but that’s because she kept asking about what Wanda said when you decided to come to Boston. The only way to shut her up was by telling her the truth.

It’s impressive that she’s kept the secret for so long.

“No need for a bonus, I’m doing my job as usual”

While you wait for the results of Yelena’s patient, the man begins to complain about pain between the shoulder blades.

“Lorne, book an OR and page Yelena” you say, knowing that’s a bad sign.

The blonde scrubs in as you begin the laparoscopy.

“What’s wrong? I’m still waiting on the results” she says, standing next to you.

“Pain between the shoulder blades is not a good sign for this type of injury. I’m seeing blood cloths in the anterior surface of the stomach and the liver. We’re switching to a laparotomy”

You find three lacerations in the liver and one in the stomach. Well, Melina’s plan didn’t work; you’re staying here for a bit longer.

As you move to inspect the pericardium, you look at Yelena, asking if she sees anything.

“No, it’s fine. Aside from the diaphragmatic perforation”

“And how are we closing that?”

“Ethibond suture with pledget” she answers after a slight hesitation.

“You’ll do it and I’ll be watching” you nod, moving aside. Truth is, your shoulder is hurting. It’s the old injury combined with the extra workload.

“Need any help?” Natasha walks in, and you shake your head no.

“I thought your shift ended”

“Came to do some post ops, and Doctor Romanoff asked me to help so you could go home”

“I’m fine” you lie. But Natasha stays in the OR, looking over Yelena’s shoulder.

“You’re making me nervous”

“Good. You could use some pressure. Y/N’s going soft on you” the redhead teases.

“I’m not!” you say, laughing. “I���ve been told I’m a great teacher”

“I’ve heard” Natasha nods.

Though Yelena takes a little bit longer than you would have, her work is excellent. Once you check everything’s done, you give the team instructions and scrub out.

“What are you doing with your siblings?” Natasha asks, joining you.

“Well, Jenny’s looking at NYU to apply. So I’ll meet them in New York, take them to a Broadway show. I was hoping they’d wanna go to the Met but not holding my breath for two teenagers to choose a museum”

“That’s fair. Have fun with your family” she smiles.

It’s weird to think about them as your family. They are, of course.

But to you, family is an entirely different group of people. One that you’ll never see again.

“Thanks. See you around” you nod, hoping to get some rest.

—

You never thought you’d be eager to see your family, but here you are, waiting in the airport, looking for Jenny.

As soon as she spots you, she runs towards you.

“Hey, kiddo”

“Make room for me” Zach says, jumping right in and making sure his sister has no room to breathe.

“You’re so annoying!” Jenny complains. Even if she’s three years older, Zach is a lot taller, being in that awkward teenage phase. “This trip was supposed to be just me”

“Y/N invited me” he says.

Well, kinda. He inserted himself in your conversations with Jenny, and as soon as he heard the words weekend in New York, he was ready to go.

“Well, I didn’t alter my girls weekend schedule for you, Zach. So just so you know, you’re getting a manicure and we’re plucking your eyebrows” you tease, walking them to where you parked. Of course they argue over who gets to ride in the front. “Alright, this is a rental. So, rule number one, no eating in the car. No throwing stuff at each other. No feet on the dashboard. And no one changes the music”

“Fine” they agree.

“First stop, the penthouse, then NYU”

Melina had heard about your trip and went out of her way to offer you everything at her disposal. Exclusive tickets, the Romanoff penthouse (apparently they have one in every major city), a reservation in a very nice restaurant.

You took most things happily. In a way, this is your compensation for emotional damages.

“So, what happened between you and Wanda?” Jenny says.

“Wow, can we at least have lunch first?” you accidentally hit the brake, making Zach hit his head against the headrest of your seat.

“I’m blind!”

“You’re fine” Jenny shushes him, turning to you. “I’ll tell you about our parent’s divorce”

“Ugh, deal. But you go first”

So, as you get food, Jenny tells you everything, with the occasional intervention from Zach. It’s nothing exciting, not technically. Their father finally realising your mother is an evil witch and taking their children away from her. It would have been ideal to do it when they were younger, but whatever.

“And you guys are doing good?” you ask, making sure things are better.

“Yeah… I just feel bad for her sometimes” Jenny admits. “Like what if she’s lonely or sad, you know?”

“That’s because you’re a good kid” you smile at her. “Let’s go get changed, we have to be ready for your college tour soon”

“What about your part of the deal?”

“Later” you say, trying to avoid talking about it.

By the time you reach the penthouse, you can’t help but admire the view to Central Park. It’s even bigger than the one they gave to you back in Boston.

“I want the biggest room” Zach says as soon as they drop their bags.

Of course, they’re engaging in a fight that involves some name calling and a lot of finger flicks on the forehead.

“You guys are worse than…”

They turn to look at you and you smile, trying to keep it together.

“Worse than…” Zach says but you shake your head.

“Nothing. Come on, better change fast”

Worse than Wanda and Pietro.

Will you ever stop thinking about her?

—

Earning the title of cool sister only takes a borrowed penthouse, Broadway tickets and exclusive seats at Yankees Stadium.

It’s day two and though you haven’t been able to convince them to go to the Met, you’re still enjoying yourself.

Kind of.

“So how long do these last?” you ask again, even if Zach explained the rules a dozen times already. “Ok, next time we’re going to the US Open because at least I’ll understand the game”

“So, you’re planning on staying here?” Jenny asks and you shrug your shoulders.

“There’s no plan for anything, really. I have two months left on my contract”

Zach goes to get more food and you keep watching the game in silence.

“Are you ok?” Jenny asks. Truthfully, though you’ve enjoyed spending time with them, Wanda’s been in the back of your mind more frequently than when you’re busy with work.

You can’t help but think about all the trips you never took with her, or wonder what she’d think about the city.

“Want the grown up answer or the big sister being brave answer?”

“I’d like the truth”

“Well…” you take a deep breath. “I’m not ok. I fucked up big time. I had everything I wanted within reach and just… I don’t know. Maybe it was never meant for me. It was too good”

“You are good enough for it, come on. Don’t say that”

“It’s hard to believe it when I hurt her so much. And the kids. But, it is what it is I guess”

“I’m sorry. If you wanna talk…”

“I know, sis. Thanks” you smile at her. All of the sudden you hear the crowd roaring and look up to see a ball that’s coming straight your way. You catch it, thinking nothing of it, while some people around you begin to speak to you. “What? Do I have to throw it back?”

“Are you insane?” Zach comes out of nowhere, taking it from you. “This is the coolest thing!”

“It’s a ball” you say, looking at the field.

“Nu-uh. It’s Camarena’s 50th home run. You know, the most promising baseball player of the season”

“Ok, if you say so”

Turns out it is a very big deal, as the player wants the ball back and is offering to meet you in exchange for it. You let Zach decide for the two of you, and his answer is an excited yes.

So, you take a couple of pictures and thank him when he hands you a signed baseball bat.

“Thanks, Carme…”

“Camarena” Zach elbows you. “I’m your biggest fan”

Yeah, you definitely earned the award to coolest sister, and it had nothing to do with all the money you spent. It came down to your ability to catch a freakin ball, like a competition with a golden retriever.

“We still have some time before we have to take the plane. What do you wanna do? You’ve been doing everything we want to” Jenny says, and you think about it.

“Let’s have a picnic in Central Park”

“Sounds fun” she agrees, while Zach keeps taking a million pictures of the bat.

As you walk around the park, you find something that unlocks a memory that was totally lost on you.

“Balto!” you point at a statue of the sleigh dog. They both look at you with blank expressions. “You’ve never seen Balto? Seriously?”

“I don’t know. Mom wouldn’t let us watch some stuff. She said it was silly to have a movie with speaking animals”

“That and Ghostbusters. But we never learned why”

“Oh, that’s because she and dad watched that movie on the day I was born” you explain while you pull out your phone to take a picture of the statue.

“Mom is such a bitch” Zach mutters and it makes you laugh.

“Come on, kid. Screw the picnic, I’m buying you the biggest burger we can find”

“See? I’m her favorite already” he teases Jenny and they begin to argue again. You hug them, staying in the middle to prevent a fight.

“Love ya both, kiddos”

—

Coming back to an empty house stings a bit more when you spent the weekend surrounded by playful banter and pleasant company.

The silence is unbearable and you know that at moments like this there’s only one thing that can make you forget.

So, even if you have to go to work tomorrow, you get changed and head for the usual club.

“Thought you found a better spot” Laura greets you as you approach the bar.

“Work was crazy” is all you say. No one knows your name, or what you do for a living. You just get drinks and dance to loud music.

“The usual?” you nod, accepting the glass of scotch. You enjoy it slowly for a bit, watching as some people dance and party. The outfits and the music are different from your time in college; plus Darcy and you used to go to shitty bars.

Either way, what hasn’t changed is how drunk people act; messy, unaware. You love it. No one’s asking if you’re ok, or why you're there.

“I was gonna buy you a drink, but you’re not done with that one yet” a woman offers with a flirty smile.

You finish what’s left of the scotch in one swift motion, and wink at her.

“There”

“Are you that thirsty, huh?” she teases, and you laugh, sipping from the new glass. “I’m Eve. You?”

“I’m… really thankful for my drink, Eve” you say, because you’re never gonna share your name with anyone else. “Wanna dance?”

The woman rolls her eyes, but follows you to the dance floor. It’s the perfect place to get lost, and avoid any conversation. The music’s loud, there’s people everywhere and you can simply disappear when you’re done.

It’s what you do best, isn’t it?

As you go out for another drink, there’s an impulse to talk to Laura.

“That was the name of a friend”

“What?”

“Laura. Well, not my friend. My ex girlfriend’s friend”

That’s about everything they have in common. This woman is covered in tattoos and has dark hair, styled in a mullet. Very Joan Jett, which is every girl’s type.

But my type is Wanda.

“Is that why you drink until I have to call you a cab?” Laura says, and you nod, taking a shot of tequila and asking for another one.

“Yeah. Come on, just one more” you plea when she’s doubting about giving you a third one. You pout and Laura rolls her eyes. “Thank you. Ah, I love this song!”

You blow her a kiss, running back to the dance floor. Wait, no, you don’t even know this song but it’s cool anyway.

And then the next one is good enough, until you’re a bit too drunk and have no idea what’s playing.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

To your disappointment, it’s a man.

“I’m fine!”

“Yes, you are” he says, putting his arm around your waist.

“I’m gay, dude. Stop it!” you push him away.

“Come on, you just need a good di…”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, not when your fist crashes against his nose.

Stupid move, as he’s tumbling to the floor, creating a commotion. You can tell he’s pissed when he stands up, but he never even gets to yell at you, because someone is pulling you back until you’re out of sight.

“You really are trouble” Laura tsks and you try not to laugh.

“He was an asshole”

“Yeah, he is. If it were up to me he wouldn’t go in at all. I have to get back to the bar. Stay here, drink some water. Then I’ll call you a cab”

“I’m sorry” you say, reaching for her when she walks past you.

“That girl did a number on you, huh?”

“I only have myself to blame” you smile sadly. “Thanks for the help”

Following the woman’s advice, you walk around the room, drinking some water and breathing to gather yourself. You’re vaguely aware of the pain in your hand, and remember that it was stupid to risk yourself that way.

If you can’t operate, Melina’s kicking your ass.

After a while, Laura comes back.

“Car’s waiting”

���Thanks… I owe you...”

“A cup of coffee”

You’re about to protest when she rolls her eyes.

“Not as a date. You have too many issues for me to handle. But I’d rather we stop meeting like this, with you starting a bar fight”

“Yeah, that’s fair” you smile, looking back before leaving the room. “My name’s Y/N, by the way”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N”

—

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

That’s all you can think about as you get ready for a 24 hour shift, sporting a massive headache and hangover.

You’re leaning against the elevator when the doors open, and you speak without opening your eyes, handing the keys of the car to Yelena.

“You’re gonna have to drive me today”

“Yelena already left”

You look up a little too fast, eyes meeting Natasha’s.

“Ah, jeez” you complain, feeling your head pound with the sudden movement.

“Rough night?” she says with a mocking tone, but then pays attention to your bruised knuckles, taking your hand. “What the hell? Are you ok?”

“Dude thought he could touch me and get away with it. It’s fine” you promise, though she doesn’t let go of your hand.

“You know mom’s gonna freak out when she sees this?”

“Don’t be a snitch, Romanoff” you say, stepping out of the elevator. “What are you doing?”

“Get in my car” she says, rolling her eyes. “You’re in no condition to drive”

“This is nice” you look around the Mercedes-Benz, reaching to touch the controls in the dashboard. Natasha slaps your hand away.

“Nicer than the Corvette?”

“Nah, let’s not get crazy”

“Did you have a nice weekend with the family?” she asks, rolling into conversation naturally.

“Yeah, we went to see Wicked because Jenny wanted to, then to a Yankees game where I caught the ball, which is apparently a big deal”

“It is, congrats”

“They made me buy some clothes that are not scrubs or…”

“Mini skirts? Like the one you wore last night”

“How did you…”

“My penthouse is in the same building, remember? Same as Yelena’s. Mom was smart enough to get a house away from everyone”

“Right”

“Doesn’t Wanda mind?”

That shuts you up real fast. And honestly? You don’t feel like lying. But as you’re about to answer her, she stops in the parking lot.

“Sorry, it’s none of my business” she mistakes your silence with annoyance.

“No, that’s not it” you explain, but then your phone pings. It’s a message from Jenny, sending you the Instagram post she made for the weekend in New York.

J: You made it to the gram!

Youths. You don’t even have instagram but click the link nonetheless. Yeah, those are nice pictures.

“Oh, you two came together?” Melina greets when she meets you in the hallway.

“Y/N can explain why” Natasha smirks and you glare at her.

“I was just feeling tired after the family trip”

“Natalia, who will be your plus one to the gala?” Melina changes the subject abruptly.

“I’m not taking anyone”

You direct your attention back to your phone, knowing they’re about to argue.

As you swipe through the pictures, a name catches your eye.

w.maximoff

What?

Does Wanda follow your sister?

She saw the pictures and liked them? Even if you were in them?

Don’t be an idiot, don’t think this means anything, she hates you, she’s better off without you.

The sudden urge to throw up has nothing to do with your hangover. You look around the hallway, and feel the desire to turn around and beg her to take you back.

You miss her too much, you can’t do this without Wanda.

Who are you kidding?

“Take Y/N” you hear all of the sudden.

“What?”

“Take Y/N to the gala with you” Melina decides, making Natasha roll her eyes.

“She doesn’t want to…”

“Yes. I’ll go” you interrupt Natasha.

Anything, anything at all to stop thinking about the one person who made your life worth living.

“Then it’s settled” your boss nods, pleased.

“Excuse me” you walk away, hoping there’s a ton of work that can keep your mind off everything else.

There is, and you’re grateful for the distraction it provides.

“I’m exhausted. How are you managing with a hangover?” Yelena complains after a few hours.

“Get some rest,” you mutter, looking at the lab results. “The OR won’t be ready for another hour anyway”

Unfortunately, it gets very slow as the day progresses. Everyone in the hospital is focused on a kidney transplant that is happening next week.

You see a woman walk in with her son to the ER and approach them.

“Hello, I’m Doctor Y/L/N. How can I help you?”

“Hi, yes. My son fell and I’m not sure, I think he might have hurt his wrist”

You turn to look at the kid, who is probably ten or eleven, and he looks back at you scared.

“I understand. What’s your name?”

“Kyle”

“Hi, Kyle. I’m Y/L. Can I take a look at your wrist?”

It takes him a moment to nod, but once he does you take him to one of the hospital beds where he sits. As you put on a pair of gloves, he looks around, clearly nervous.

“Cool shirt” you make conversation, noticing his Yoshi shirt. “My favorite is Rainbow Road, but the best time I ever did was on Vanilla Lake”

“Really? My favorite is Koopa Troopa Beach”

“That’s a good one” you agree, applying pressure on his wrist. “Ok, I don’t think anything’s broken but we need an X-ray to confirm. I’ll walk you there, it will take a minute”

Thankfully, it’s just a sprain.

“You’ll just wear a brace for a week, I’m also sending some medication for pain. Now, you’re gonna have to hold up on playing Mario Kart for a bit, as the movement isn’t good for your hand. Take it easy and if there’s any more discomfort or pain, come back to the hospital”

“Thank you” the woman nods, relieved that it’s nothing major. You’re about to say goodbye when her son hugs you.

“Take care, kid”

As you watch them walk away, your mind goes back to Billy and Tommy.

You miss them so much.

“Everything ok?” Yelena asks when you leave in a rush, walking towards the stairs.

Instead of answering her, you go down the steps, until you push the emergency exit, breathing heavily.

Don’t cry at work, don’t cry at work.

It’s not working. You squeeze your eyes shot, pinching the bridge of your nose.

A sob leaves your lips the minute Yelena catches up with you.

“It’s ok. I’m here” she says, hugging you.

“I miss them”

“I know. I’m sorry” is all she says, allowing you to cry as you lean your head on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be…” you finally gather yourself, wiping away the tears. Your face is hot with the embarrassment of being so emotional in front of Yelena.

“I understand. There’s nothing to be sorry about. Come on, you should get some sleep. I’ll cover the ER for a bit”

“Ok” you nod. But she still follows you to the break room, and as you lay in bed, Yelena makes small talk, asking about your trip and telling you some funny things that used to happen to her and Natasha when their mother would leave them to roam the city while she had board meetings.

As she tells you about her favorite things from the Met, your eyes feel heavy and you fall asleep, exhausted.

The younger woman looks at you, feeling a bit guilty. She understands that everyone in this situation is an adult, and sometimes relationships don’t work.

But it’s still hard to see you so heartbroken and lonely.

“Hey” Natasha walks in the room, and Yelena shushes her, leaning her head towards you. “Is she ok?”

“I don’t know” the blonde admits, closing the door behind her.  “What’s up?”

“Mom told me you’re bringing a plus one to the gala! I thought we agreed no dates for this one”

“Oh, yeah…” Yelena blushes, and Natasha tilts her head.

“Who is it?”

“So, what are you doing? Should we find you a date?” Yelena rushes to change the subject, walking with her sister to the cafeteria.

“No, Y/N volunteered. Or, my mother kinda forced her to”

“Maybe it will be good to have a distraction. She’s having a rough time”

Natasha stays silent as they get some food. To be honest, she has been distant with you. It was hard to get close again after all the hard words you exchanged.

Natasha was just trying to protect herself.

“So you’re not gonna tell me who it is?” Natasha insists after a moment of silence. Yelena laughs, shaking her head.

“You’ll find out soon enough”

—

You open your eyes to the sound of your pager. The OR was busy for longer than anticipated and you’re about to go and check if everyone’s ready.

While you yawn, you dial Yelena’s number.

“Hello?” you hear Natasha’s voice.

“Why are you answering Yelena’s phone?” you say, doble checking that you indeed called her sister.

“Oh, crap. I took her phone by accident”

“Hey” you step out of the room, and find none other than Natasha, ready to leave for the day. “Guess your mother bought these phones in bulk”

You show her the mobile Melina gave you, though you insisted in keeping your number. It’s identical to Yelena’s and Natasha’s and every head of department has one as well.

“Heads up, she might be tracking your location”

“What? Can she do that?” you say, shaking the phone. Natasha smiles at that.

She forgets not everyone is expecting the worst from Melina.

“I better go and exchange phones with Yelena” the redhead says.

“Sure, can you tell her that the OR’s ready? Thanks”

You leave, but then Natasha’s voice stops you.

“Do you wanna do something tomorrow?”

There’s a hint of shock in your face, but you nod and smile.

“Yeah, sure. Wanna come over to watch a movie?”

“Sounds good” she agrees.

“Alright. See ya then” you wave goodbye.

Between this and the gala, Natasha doesn’t know if it’s a good idea to spend so much time together.

She’s about to find out.

—

Natasha is questioning her choices as she knocks on your door, thinking it might be unwise to spend alone time with you.

She had felt like you both got some closure after the emergency surgery on that woman. And then, one week later you had shown up at her hospital, as if you hadn’t refused the offer a number of times.

As if the thought of leaving your precious girlfriend behind wasn’t the craziest thing in the world.

“Hey, come on in” you greet, opening for her.

“Love what you’ve done with the place” she teases, watching as the only real decoration is a Polaroid picture of you and Yelena that is taped to the fridge.

“I’m happy this thing came with furniture or we’d be having dinner on the floor”

“Martha Stewart would be proud” she says and you roll your eyes.

“Come on, food will be ready in a bit” you say, asking her to open the bottle of wine.

“Where’d you get it from?”  she asks as she hands you a glass.

“Uh, the grocery store?” you look back from the stove.

“Wait, you’re making it? From scratch?” she puts her glass down, looking over your shoulder.

“Well, not from scratch, it’s not like I made the pasta”

“I thought you didn’t cook”

“I didn’t” you smile, offering her a taste of the sauce. “But I got used to the finer things in life, like a good old homemade meal, and had to figure out how to get something done”

“This is actually really good” she says, surprised.

“I will give you a pass because I am also surprised that my cooking’s not so bad”

It must have been because you used to watch Wanda cooking all the time.

Ah, shit.

Maybe eventually you’ll go a day without thinking about her. Or not, and that’s your karma for being an idiot.

Once everything’s ready, you pull out two plates, and serve the food.

“What do you wanna watch?”

“Not sure, could we eat first?”

“Why, want to check that I won’t give you food poisoning?” you joke, but Natasha doesn’t laugh. “Oh, come on! I’ve never gotten sick and it’s been a month!”

“Let’s just eat”

“Fine, are you sure you’re gonna be ok talking to me? You’ve been avoiding me since I arrived in Boston” you comment, though you can’t be mad at her.

It was easier to blame her for your screw up that own up to it. You’re not particularly proud of it.

“I wasn’t sure if your girlfriend would give you shit for talking to me”

“We’re not together anymore” you blurt out, making Natasha stop chewing.

“You’re shitting me”

“She broke up with me” you shrug your shoulders. “So I quit my job and ran away like the asshole I am”

There’s a beat of silence, and you keep eating. You’re not expecting anything from Natasha, like pity or words of comfort. It’s just the way things are.

“I had no idea… I’m sorry. I feel responsible”

“Nat, don’t. Honestly, you weren’t wrong. I am attracted to you, and I didn’t set boundaries. If anything, I’m sorry for being a jerk and ruining our friendship”

She keeps eating quietly, and you know that she accepted the apology without making a fuss about it.

“Crazy, stupid love” you mumble after a couple of minutes.

“Yeah, I guess it can be”

“No” you snort out a laugh. “I mean that’s the movie I wanna watch!”

“Oh, I don’t know it” Natasha rolls her eyes.

“Of course not, it’s not a Bond movie. Come on, now that you’ve seen my food won’t take you to the ER, let’s get everything ready” you say, picking up the dishes. Maybe you’ll make popcorn, even though you are full.

“Wait a minute” Natasha says, and when you turn around, she’s got you cornered against the kitchen counter.

“Huh?”

“You said you are attracted to me. Not were. So you still are” she smirks, eyeing you up and down.

“Well, yeah. Have you seen yourself?” you stutter. It’s not helping that you’ve gotten used to physical intimacy and you’ve been craving it for the past weeks.

But that makes you think of Wanda again.

“I just… you deserve more than being a rebound, Natasha. And I am serious when I say I’m not staying beyond my contract”

You know you can’t be someone who isn’t heartbroken and in love with Wanda. But you can at least be honest about it.

“I know. It’s just fun to watch you get all flustered” she says with a sultry voice.

“Not funny” you say, pushing her away.

“Let’s watch that silly, corny movie now” Natasha rolls her eyes.

“You’re gonna love it”

“Doubt it”

As you suspect, she’s critizing Cal at every possible turn, calling him a loser. She’s also constantly texting about the hospital in between complaints.

“Hey!” she protests when you snatch her phone.

“I know we’re both workaholics, but you’re missing the parts with Emma Stone which are arguably the best ones. And this big reveal will blow your mind”

So, you put both of your phones down in the coffee table and take it as a win when she’s laughing at some of the moments in the film.

“Hannah is Cal’s daughter?” Natasha screams when you get to that scene.

“See?”

“Damn!”

“Bathroom break” you announce a while later, leaving the movie playing as you know the dialogues.

Natasha is actually interested in the movie when her phone rings and she picks up without looking away from the screen.

“Hello?”

She’s met with silence, which makes her actually pay attention to whoever called her.

Shit.

Wanda.

She took your phone.

But before she can explain or tell the other woman to wait, the call disconnects.

“What’s wrong?” you say when you return, sitting next to Natasha. “I know it’s sad, but I promise it has a happy ending”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry”

“Nat, you’re scaring me”

“I thought it was my phone, I picked it up. Wanda called you” Natasha says, handing over the phone to you.

“Oh” you tilt your head, shocked. “What did she say?”

“Nothing. She hung up. I’m so sorry”

“Well, maybe she just wanted me to get my stuff. That’s the only reason she’d call me, honestly” you say, returning to the movie.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” Natasha insists.

“I don’t know” you confess. Maybe you’re in shock. It feels surreal to have Wanda call you, after everything she said to you.

You left your old phone at Darcy’s house before jumping on a plane. You only got your old number back after Melina gave you one of those fancy phones.

Now you wonder if she ever tried to call you.

“I should go”

“And leave me to drown in obsessive thoughts?” you say dramatically. “Look, what’s the harm here? That she’ll think the worst of me, and then what? We broke up. She kicked me out, I’m gone like Wanda asked me to. I’ll just text Pietro and ask if the kids are ok”

That was your real concern. You had a feeling that it could be a mistake or something very serious. And you’d always put your pride aside for the sake of the kids.

“We’re watching a horror movie now” Natasha snatches the remote as soon as the credits roll, looking for Insidious. “That will distract you for sure”

—

“You’re evil” you say when Natasha walks out, laughing.

“And you’re a baby”

“There was a demon! Sewing while that creepy song played. You’re sick, Romanoff”

“Sweet dreams, Y/N” she says, whistling the song as she closes the door.

Now you won’t be able to sleep.

But there’s also another thing in the back of your mind.

Pietro hasn’t answered which can mean that it Wanda's call was a mistake and he’s choosing to ignore you.

Or something so monumentally horrible happened that he doesn’t even have his phone on him.

“Fuck it” you say, trying to control your breathing as you dial back.

You begin to feel like an idiot, especially when it’s pretty obvious Wanda won’t pick up the phone.

Hands squeeze the device as you deal with the disappointment. You are about to hang up when you hear it.

Wanda, saying your name.

And for a moment, you feel like everything’s ok again.

[breelandwalker]

Snow Moon - February 2025

Boots and mittens on, witches - it’s time for the Snow Moon!

Snow Moon

The Snow Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs during the month of February. Despite what certain groundhogs will tell you, February is the month that sees the highest rates of snowfall across much of North America, according to the National Weather Service, and many alternative names for the moon and the month in which it falls reflect this.

As with many full moon names, we find the roots of the Snow Moon among the indigenous peoples of North America. In this particular case, a colonist explorer noted in 1760 that the Naudowessie (Dakota) people called this month Snow Moon specifically due to the tendency for snowstorms to come during that month. Some other indigenous names for this moon and month refer to commonly-sighted animals. Some examples include Eagle Moon (Cree), Bear Moon (Ojibwe), Groundhog Moon (Algonquin), and Goose Moon (Haida). Another notable example is Hungry Moon (Cherokee), denoting the scarcity of available food in deep winter.

The moon will be at peak illumination at 8:53am EST on Wednesday, February 12th. It will be below the horizon at this time, meaning the moon may appear to be full on the 11th and the 12th, depending on where you live. It should be highest in the sky around midnight EST on the 12th - the perfect time for magic!

What Does It Mean For Witches?

February is a month of change and transition. Though winter still holds on, many places may be showing early signs of spring. Little buds may be coming out on the trees, certain species of birds are beginning to migrate back, and hibernating animals start to wake up and reappear.

As we begin to turn toward the end of our long winter’s rest, it’s a good time to think about how we prepare for oncoming change and how we care for ourselves and our practices during times of stagnation.

We might also contemplate the concept of distance and stasis as it relates to our practices, be it keeping long-distance bonds fresh, doing things remotely either alone or as part of a larger group, or feeling distant from your craft or your deities. And yes, such things are normal and cyclical. Our inspiration and motivation wax and wane just as the moon does. If it feels like you’ve been far away from your craft for too long, perhaps it’s time to bring it back into your orbit.

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

Gather fresh snow or icicles for moon water, or make your own moon ice by leaving a bowl of water out overnight to freeze, if the temperature drops low enough.

If it snows in your area, you can wish upon a snowball. Grab a handful of powdery snow, whisper your wish to it, and throw the whole thing up in the air to release the wish into the universe

With winter scarcity in mind, practice creating a minimalist spell as an exercise. Create a workable spell with as few components, words, movements, or ritual elements as possible. This is more of a challenge if you’re used to using material components or rituals in your spellwork. Many witches cast spells with focused thought or energy work alone.

You can also try creating a spell with only components and materials that you already have on hand. Explore your home and see how many items you can identify a magical purpose for and brainstorm different ways they could be used in your craft.

Explore the concept of self care as magic. Use your routines to create moments of rest and harmony, make a point of being kind to your body and your mind, and cultivate a more positive relationship with yourself - it’s the only one guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Connect with your local biome by looking for any early signs of spring in your area. Feed the returning birds and identify the plant and animal species you see around you as they appear one by one.

Happy Snow Moon, witches! 🌕❄️

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

Bree’s Lunar Calendar Series

Bree’s Secular Celebrations Series

Snow Moon: Full Moon in February 2025, The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Snow Moon: The Extraordinary Full Moon of February 2025, The Peculiar Brunette.

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews, Bree NicGarran. (Masterlist here)

Moon Info - Full Moon Dates for 2025

Calendar-12 - 2025 Moon Phases

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, check out my monthly show Hex Positive, and find my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[seellove]

Hearts Like Ours // sukuna x female reader - Valentine's Day Edition!

Masterlist

// (3.9k words) // Explicit - 18+

\|/ AO3

You're going through a rough patch with your husband and having to work late on Valentine's Day causes you to have to cancel all the plans he's made for the evening. While you feel guilty, Sukuna adjusts to make the most of the evening by pampering you and making you feel incredibly loved, which is very much needed after the last month.

Content Tags/Warnings Throughout Work: Reader and Sukuna are humans in a modern AU, husband Sukuna, established relationship, fluff, sex toys, explicit smut

AN: Hope you all enjoy reading about some Valentine's Day activities with husband Sukuna! Also getting stoned apparently results in me writing Sukuna one shots lmao.

“Let’s go ahead and make today the date we put on the submittal package, does that answer your question?” you say to the younger employee, ready to head back to your office after answering their questions.

They nod in response and thank you. During your final quality control check of the submittal, you had found a glaring error that needed fixing, thus resulting in this late night with the team you manage. You’d bought everyone dinner as an apology for needing to work late, but there truly was nothing that could make working late on a Friday night any better. 

When you sit back down in your chair, you pull your phone out.

7:15 PM. 

Fifteen minutes past the dinner reservation you had to flake out on because of needing to work late. A reservation that your husband, Sukuna, had made months in advance at the most exclusive restaurant in the city for your Valentine's Day date. Oh and the fancy hotel suite he’d booked for after, you had to cancel on that too.

You tear up at the thought as a wave of guilt floods over you combined with the stress of work. You and your husband desperately needed a date night or something of the sort to reconnect. As two upper level executives in your respective firms, work has been chaotic since the new year, leaving you hardly any quality time together. 

If you were lucky, one of you would slip into bed before the other fell asleep so you could at least talk to each other for a few moments. Even those minimal exchanges didn’t have much substance as normally you both were drained from the long day, struggling to hold a conversation after being in meetings and directing people for over twelve hours straight. 

Sukuna was always very understanding on the nights you didn’t feel like talking. He would hold out his muscular arm as an invitation for you to rest your head on his toned chest and hold you close, planting soft kisses on your forehead as you melted into his embrace. 

“I love you,” he’d whisper, turning off the lamp and holding you until sleep quickly overtakes you. 

Even though there were few meaningful interactions lately, you felt his love in other ways: how he tries to wait up for you even though some nights he falls asleep on the couch with the light on, sending food to your office when you are working late, waking up early to make you breakfast, waiting patiently to watch your favorite shows so you were caught up together, among numerous other little things that you can’t possibly remember.

Even if you can’t remember all of his actions, you remember how they make you feel and that means everything. You still feel loved, appreciated, understood, and cared for and those underlying feelings help get you by on nights like this. 

After another hour, you and your team finally pull together the revised submittal and you fire it off to the client. Walking out to your car, you realize your feet are killing you and your neck and shoulders feel extremely tense from the stress lately. You hope this is the last late night for a while.

It’s well after 8:30 by the time you park in your building’s garage. The long elevator ride to the penthouse floor seems to last an eternity as all you want to do is flop down and get these heels off. 

The elevator door opens and you are surprised to see Sukuna right there. 

“Oh, hey there,” you greet him with a small smile. He’s in his sweatpants and a faded t-shirt, something you can’t wait to join him in.

“Hi baby, here lemme get those for you,” he reaches for your bags, which you shrug off quickly, relieved to be shedding the extra weight. But that’s just like your husband, shouldering the extra burden when life gets the best of you. 

He doesn’t stop there though, picking you up, cradling you against his hard chest, and carrying you the rest of the way to your penthouse door. He smells so good, his familiar cologne enveloping your senses, reminding you that you are indeed home and you can relax.

He unlocks the door and brings you immediately to the bedroom, setting you on the bed where you can hear the water in your en-suite bathroom running. 

You realize he’s started running a bath in your large jacuzzi tub and you almost collapse with relief at the idea of soaking your defeated body in the hot water.

He reappears after putting your bags up, kneeling at your feet to take your heels off of you. His large hands rub your legs after getting them off, planting a kiss on each before getting up and bringing your shoes to your closet.

“Sukuna I’m sorry I ruined our Valentine’s Day,” you finally blurt out, feeling extremely guilty as a result of seeing him going above and beyond right now.

“Who said it was ruined?” he clicks his tongue, sitting down next to you on the bed and pulling you against him.

“It’s just I know you had that nice dinner planned and the presidential suite at the St Regis downtown booked, and because of me you had to cancel it all,” you choke back the tears that are starting to spill over.

He pulls you gently into his lap, hands cupping your cheeks and thumbs swiping below your eyes to catch your tears.

“Baby it’s just dinner and a hotel. They’ll always be there, they aren’t going anywhere. All I want is to spend time with you, whether that be here or some fancy ass hotel. You gotta admit though, our penthouse is pretty fancy on its own,” he chuckles which causes you to snort in response. 

“I just want you to be comfortable, relax, and unwind. Now come on, I’ve got a nice night planned for us right here,” he picks you up again and drops you off on the bench next to the tub. 

You notice the tub has a slight pink hue to it with bubbles and rose petals in the water along with white candles along the edge. A bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice with two nice glasses sits next to the tub, completing the enticing scene.

“You did all this on such short notice?” you stare at the display and then back at him, the tears threatening to spill over again. Sometimes you just don’t feel like you deserve this man. 

“Of course, anything for the love of my life. Now get in there and lemme just take care of you,” he says as he sheds his shirt, revealing his toned body with those sinful tattoos snaking their way down his chest and back. 

He helps you out of your work clothes until you both are naked in front of each other. You don’t miss Sukuna’s eyes roving over your body as he helps you into the tub before settling in on the opposite side of you.

“Gimme your foot,” he says softly, propping it up on his knee in front of him. The chill air hits your wet skin but that soon dissolves as he starts massaging your sore foot pads, his skillful fingers working themselves into all the places that need attention.

“Oh fuck that feels so good,” you hiss, letting yourself sink further into the water. 

“Good, I’ll get your back and shoulders next,” he says warmly. 

You can’t help but steal a peek at the way his muscles flex as he massages your legs and feet. It’s been a minute since you really looked at him, since you really studied the peaks and valleys of his shredded physique. You almost take it for granted after being together for so long. It had been one of the first things you noticed about him when you first met at his fraternity beach week back in college. 

You’d gone with your friend Gojo and saw him for the first time out on the beach while you were mingling with your friends. You’d been mesmerized by the way his tattoos rippled over his tan skin while he threw a football with the other guys, his wild pink hair hidden by a backwards hat and a beer in his hand. 

His sunglasses had hidden his eyes from you, but later he confessed that he was watching you at the same time, your hair blowing in the breeze and your cute smile tearing him up inside while laughing with your friends. 

That night he had finally built up the nerve to talk to you (with the help of some liquid courage) which turned into a nighttime walk on the beach and snuggling up on a blanket beneath the stars, talking together until early the next morning. He’d kissed you that night and even though you wanted to go further, you weren’t interested in potentially getting caught in public.

You didn’t have to wait long though because the next day while everyone was back out on the beach, you and him were a mess of limbs beneath the sheets of your hotel room for almost half the day and then again that night. 

That was almost eight years ago and even though time has passed and a lot of life has happened, you still love him to pieces and in your eyes he’s the perfect husband and partner. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Sukuna asks, his crimson eyes peering over at you, interrupting your thoughts.

“Mmm, just admiring your muscles, and it made me think about when we first met where I was doing the same thing,” you giggle. 

“Ha, it was meant to be wasn’t it,” he chuckles, planting a kiss on your heel and dropping it back into the water.

He pours out the champagne and clinks his glass to yours.

“Cheers to us checking each other out all that time ago. Had no idea it would lead us here, but god I’m so glad it did. Happy Valentine’s Day babe,” he leans in and kisses you. 

As he starts to pull away, you grip the back of his head, holding him in place, forcing your tongue into his mouth. The sweet taste of champagne mixes between you as you slowly roll your tongues against each other with practiced ease, your silhouettes becoming one in the flickering candlelight.

“I love you so much,” you whisper as your lips break away, his forehead pressed against yours.

“I love you more.”. 

“Come lean against me,” he gestures as he leans back against the tub side. You get settled, his knees caging you in on either side, scooting forward a little so he can start working his fingers along your neck and shoulders.

The combination of the hot water and his firm fingers has all the tension and stiffness from the last few weeks disintegrating and morphing into a tingly sensation that makes your skin heat up. As you move back to press your back against his torso, you feel him hard against you, amplifying the tingling feeling that shoots to your core.

“Mm fuuuck,” he groans at the pressure, his forehead falling forward to rest on the back of your head. He starts to trail soft kisses from your ear down your neck and across the back of your shoulder which has you moaning his name. 

“Kuna, that feels so good,” you sigh as you feel your core and stomach start to heat up. His hands start to wrap around you to fondle your chest, rolling your nipples between his fingers, causing you to fall backwards in delight into his pecs.

“Can’t forget these other spots,” his husky voice is in your ear, breath hot on your skin. His hands are all over you now, dipping below the water to squeeze your hips and thighs before coming back up to stroke your breasts again. 

“Vibrator or my fingers?” he rasps and it has you clenching around nothing in anticipation. 

“Oh shit. Vibrator, want you to keep touching my tits,” you can hardly speak.

He reaches over and grabs the rubber vibrator off the tub edge, turning it on and submerging it. You take it from him and get it positioned how you want it. As soon as it makes contact with your clit, your whole body jerks, causing his cock to throb behind you.

His hands go back to your tits, squeezing and rolling your nipples while you squirm from the stimulation on your clit. Everything feels soooo good, it’s been awhile since you’d been intimate like this, usually both of you are too tired to do anything. All you can do is lean back against him and take it all, unable to form a coherent thought at this point.

The thrumming of the vibrator against you sends waves of pleasure through your body, making your thighs tremble as the coil of desire begins to tighten with the mounting feeling. 

Your breaths get heavier, chest heaving causing the water in the tub to move in small waves from the disturbance. You can feel Sukuna’s heart pounding against the back of your head and him starting to rut his cock against your lower back. 

His fingers dig into your breasts as you both get more and more turned on. You click the vibrator up one setting, putting even more pressure on your clit. Your core is burning with hot waves of pleasure, on the precipice of an earth shattering orgasm.

“I’m close, kiss my neck,” you gasp. Sukuna quickly obeys, nipping and sucking at the spot under your ear he knows is your weak spot.

“Oh fuck! oh fuuuuck, Sukuna!” you cry out as you feel the orgasm start to tear through you, your pussy clenching around nothing as you convulse against Sukuna’s rock hard body. 

You are in complete bliss, eyes closed and resting your whole body weight against Sukuna. His cock throbs again as you start to come down from your high and the water starts to still.

Finally you come back to your senses, turning around to face him. You’re met with his trademark grin and blown out crimson eyes. He’s probably dying to do more, and quite frankly so are you. 

You reach down between you two and grab his hard cock, slowly pumping his shaft. Sukuna gasps, thrusting into your hand, causing the tub water to splash again with his movements. 

“Let’s get out,” he rasps, standing up with no regard for the water overflowing the tub. The man is on a mission and pulls you out with him. You both towel dry off and next thing you know he has you pinned against the cold tile wall, legs wrapped around his hips as he slides his cock through your folds and across your clit, slicking himself up.

“Ready?” his husky voice pants into your neck as he ruts himself harder against you. 

“Yes, please, I need you Kuna,” you whine as his hard cock rolls against your clit again.

That’s all he needs to hear as he lines his tip up to prod at your entrance. With one sharp thrust, he pushes into you, stretching out your walls as he pauses to let you adjust. You can’t really remember the last time you had sex but it’s like muscle memory at this point as your body adjusts.

“Fuuuuuuck, feel s’good,” he groans as he stares down where you are both connected. 

You bite your lip with the painful stretch, Sukuna watching you carefully as he gives you shallow strokes to help work you open. He stops when you squirm from the discomfort as he starts sinking deeper.

“Sorry, having a harder time than normal I guess,” you utter.

“It’s fine, I know you can take it. You’re my sexy ass wife, the only one who can take all this,” he says in a deep voice, continuing his slow thrusts. 

He finally bottoms out, letting out a guttural groan, his forehead falling forward against yours. His mouth is partially open as he tries to slow his breaths. 

“God I’ve missed this, so fuckin tight, taking me so well, my perfect girl,” he whispers in your ear as his thrusts pick up. Your nails dig into his shoulders as he probes for your sweet spot, adjusting his angle and depth slightly with each snap of his hips.

His pelvis slaps against yours as each punishing thrust pushes you harder into the wall, the cold tile rigid against your shoulder blades. 

“Can we get in the bed? It’s kinda uncomfortable,” you tap his shoulder. He’s knocking the wind out of you in this position and the hard tile is digging into your skin.

“Of course.”

He slows his movements, giving you a few more hard, deep thrusts before turning you around and walking back into the bedroom. He carefully lowers you both to the bed, keeping your bodies connected the entire time.

He pulls your legs over his shoulders and sinks even deeper into you, making you whine at the sudden pressure against your cervix. 

“This is much better anyways. Can see and feel so much more of you,” he growls in your ear as he sets another grueling pace. The softness of the bed is a welcome reprieve from the hard wall as he drills you into the mattress.

Your hands rake through his hair, moaning loudly as he quickly finds your sweet spot. There’s very few positions where he can’t hit your favorite spots. After all this time and god knows how many fucks, he’s an expert when it comes to your body, rarely leaving you unsatisfied.

“Right there Kuna, fucking right there, don’t stop,” you cry out, your pussy clenching around his cock as you start to careen toward your release. 

“God fucking come for me baby,” he pants against your neck, folding you up under him as he pushes your knees into your chest. 

A few more perfect strokes and you’re falling apart under him, your vision going white from the mind blowing pleasure coursing through your body. Your back attempts to arch against his large frame, nails digging into his shoulders as the orgasm rips through you. 

“Thats it baby, fuckin’ cum all over my cock,” Sukuna looks down on you with a smug grin, so proud of his work as he fucks you through your climax. 

He flips you onto your stomach and slides into you prone bone, giving you no time to react before railing you from behind. Your orgasm has barely subsided and now he’s drilling your sweet spot again, turning you into a drooling whining mess. 

His massive body leans over you, fingers entwined with yours and digging into the sheets as his punishing thrusts echo across the room from the hard slaps and the wet sounds of his cock ruining your pussy. 

“Love you so fuckin’ much,” he rasps in your ear, nibbling and sucking at your earlobe, driving you absolutely mad as you just surrender to the mind blowing feeling. 

“Lo-love you too,” you barely get out, jaw clenching as you feel another mind bending orgasm about to rip through you again.

He flips you onto your back, causing you to gasp in surprise as he goes back to the perfect pace from moments ago.

“Wanna see you, see your face when you cum…and when I cum, I’m so fuckin’ close,” he says through heaving breaths. 

The telltale sign of you clenching around his thick cock has Sukuna doubling down, not changing his angle or pace, knowing your release is close. 

“Look at me,” he demands. You do everything in your power to meet his gaze, which you are surprised to see is soft and loving now, the cocky smirk gone. 

Meeting your eyes is his catalyst because it's only one more deep thrust before he’s spilling himself inside of you while you milk him for everything he has. You quickly follow him over the edge as your bodies mold against each other, cumming together perfectly. 

Sukuna’s large body collapses onto yours, cock pulsing inside of you as he pumps his thick load deep inside of you, coating your cervix and walls with his hot seed. 

You both lay in your respective delirious states, coming down from the high together, heartbeats slowing and breaths syncing. You slowly scratch his head and work your way down to his upper back, earning a small whimper from the beast of a man sprawled out on top of you.

“Oh my godddd I love you,” he groans as he lifts himself up, pulling out of you. He rolls to the side and promptly pulls you onto his thick chest. 

“I love you too Kuna. Thank you for all that,” you giggle, basking in the afterglow of your love making. 

“Likewise,” he peppers kisses all over your face, earning a squeal from you. 

“See, I don’t consider this a ruined Valentine’s Day,” Sukuna grins as he stops his kiss assault, “I feel like this was a pretty damn good one actually.” 

“I agree, it was perfect,” you respond with sincerity. 

And you mean it. You’ve never felt safer and more secure in your relationship. The both of you are patient and loving, not letting the isolated rough patches and dry spells impact the strong foundation you’ve built after all these years. Both of you always find your way back to each other, letting the underlying bond guide you home, never letting the chaos of life win out. 

“Have one more gift for you,” his deep voice breaks the silence. 

“Sukuna this is all just too much,” you sigh, rolling off of him so he can get up.

He returns with his phone from the other room, sliding back in beside you.

“Hush, it’s a joint gift, you’ll like it,” he chuckles, pulling you tightly against him while he navigates to his email.

Then you see it, 7 nights at the Four Seasons Bora Bora. Your heart leaps in your chest.

“Oh my god!! Baby that’s amazing,” you exclaim with excitement. 

“Now there’s no way for anything to interrupt us, just you, me, and that gorgeous overwater bungalow in which I’m going to fuck you on every surface,” he grins, earning a playful gasp from you.

“When do we leave?” 

“First Saturday in March, so a few weeks from now. Get that time off request in my love,” he grins before diving back in to give you a sweet kiss. 

“You’re seriously the best, I really don’t deserve you sometimes,” you say softly, overcome with the emotion of everything he’s done for you while you had nothing to give in return. 

“My love, you are the most deserving and don’t ever think otherwise. As if I’d let a rough month or a tough few weeks upend all the years we’ve spent together. It will be but a blip in our hopefully long lives, god willing. I took those vows to heart when I said them, especially in good times and in bad, and I intend to uphold them until I’m dead and gone.”

All you can do is dive into his arms, both of you capturing the other in a tight hug. 

“I love you,” you say as you pull back and stare into his eyes.

He tucks a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

“I love you too. Always.” 

Masterlist

[silentstyx]

one year later, still yours

sum: sure, I used to be a regular here but I haven't been here in over a year and you still remember my order.

tw: unrequited feelings - both ends. percy's a sarcastic ass.

ive been pumping out fics heheh, also i love using logan lerman as percy bc hes jus so percy n hes so scrumptious and i wanna eat his face and his biceps and every bulging muscle on his ripped body ugh.

it was a slow day in general. you've been working at a local coffee shop near your house for two years now and your favorite regular that you've grown romantic feelings for is gone and been gone. you know that he only came in to buy drinks for his mom, but you also knew that he loved eating blue food dye, and if there was a blue drink he'd make starbucks even more rich. yet, you haven't seen him or his mother. you figure he'd started buying from a local coffee shop that's closer to his house and plus its still a small business that helps.

it sucks though because you had grown feelings for this boy. his name was Percy Jackson. you would always spell it wrong just to tick him off. 'persy jakeson' 'pansy jackson' 'perry the platypus'. a few that you have put over the year he was here. he would come in every saturday at the same time with the same order for him and his mom.

"medium caramel macchiato with extra caramel drizzle, a blue sugar cookie, and a small hot chocolate to go! puh-lease!" is exactly how percy would say it. his mom got the caramel macchiato and he got the blue sugar cookies and hot chocolate. you remembered the order and the cute face though after two months of him ordering at your shift. you made sure that if you guys were open that saturday at 8:35 that you were there for that shift.

you hear someone coming in, even though it was slow you were still working. "hi, welcome in! how are you?" you attempt to sound nice. don't know how well it's working yet. you haven't looked up. you were wiping the counters down. you look at the time.

saturday, 8:35 AM.

you look up immediately. it's him. you smile, "been a while, hm? thought you found somewhere else to get.... a medium caramel macchiato with extra caramel drizzle, blue sugar cookie, and a small hot chocolate all to go?"

he scoffs, "psh, never. you're the only one. my mom just stopped drinking coffee so i didn't have a good enough reason to go to the local coffee shop with the cute barista without telling my mom about the cute barista. 'we have blue sugar cookies and hot chocolate for free at home Perseus' blah blah blah. i have to admit though, the pillsbury dough boy with blue frosting and blue sprinkles is a lot better than your guys' cookies. might run you for your money."

you laugh, "so she tried to keep us apart? what is this, Romeo and Juliet?"

he laughs with you, "i'm surprised you remembered the order."

"you're a regular, of course i remember," you say incredulously, "you want the cookie and small hot chocolate but no macchiato?"

"yeah thats fine.. but [insert reader's name], sure, i used to be a regular here but i haven't been here in over a year and you still remember my order. thinking about me?" he says with a smug smile plastered on his stupid pretty face.

his stupid pretty face with some black hair falling into his long dark eyelashes and his gorgeous sea green eyes and his pretty pink full lips that you just wanna kiss and nibble on 'til there red and peeling.

"so am i right or completely far off?" he questions with a shit eating grin.

"think you have completely lost it, perry the platypus." you sigh, with your own stupid smile on your face.

he rolled his eyes and laughed, "oh we're bringing that name back? okay, okay. just know I'll get my revenge."

"ooh menacing," you say sarcastically as you hand him his hot chocolate and bag of his treat, "i left a little note under the coffee sleeve for you."

"oh i'll be sure to throw it away before i get to read it." he says sassily with a big goofy smile as he walked out.

you smiled and laughed at his shenanigans.

he got outside and got in his car. he immediately moved the sleeve, which he doesn't even know why you still put it if you make it directly for him to drink immediately - not too hot but not cold.

he lifts up the sleeve and sees you did write something. at first all he sees is a smiley face, he then turns the cup and sees what you've written in full. your number.

(123) 456-7890

©️ silentstyx please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my work with out my permission. thank you!

[syndrossi]

My town has been BLANKETED by snow which is STILL FALLING, and it's glorious. The white shock of it is just so pretty. And cold! But oh-so-pretty.

May I request a short snow-related drabble? Any verse. 🌨🌨🌨☃️🌨🌨🌨

So jealous of your blanket of snow! We've been unseasonably warm here, so pretty much all of our precipitation has been rain. BUT we are due some rain-turning-to-snow later this week! So in honor of snows past, and the snows to come, here's a short ficlet set some indeterminate time in the future (likely 6-8 months later than where we currently are in Resonant).

x~x~x

“It is snowing!”

Daemon opened bleary eyes at the accompanying quake to his bed as his younger son pounced upon it. Such early morning antics were usually more within Jon’s domain, with Rhaegar more inclined to lazy mornings, especially without lessons—and especially in the cold damp of winter at Raventree, where House Blackwood had eagerly offered to play host.

Daemon had happily indulged in the luxury of sleeping well past the normal hour for breakfast, Rhaegar a warm lump at his side while Jon went riding with Lord Blackwood’s eldest son and heir, Samwell. Even though the boy was nearly a decade Jon’s elder, his son had made fast friends with him.

“It is winter,” Daemon mumbled, debating whether to pull the blanket back over his head, but he made the mistake of catching his son’s eyes, which were bright with a joy that his more reserved son rarely showed. He sat up with a groan, and his hand was seized, his son dragging him to the window to pull back the curtains.

The ground, which had been hard and cold but bare the night before, was now blanketed in white, and heavy flakes swirled in the air, obscuring vision beyond more than a hundred feet. Wind rattled the glass panes of their window, and Daemon withheld a shudder, able to feel the cold through it, leeching the warmth of their bedchamber away.

These days he hated the cold more than almost anything, but he could remember the joy of frolicking in the snow as a child. That was the entire reason he had chosen to take the boys to the Riverlands, he reminded himself. So that they could experience the joys of snow free of the thick smoke that choked King’s Landing throughout the winter.

Daemon could remember his father playing alongside them, no less enthused about constructing grand defensive structures out of snow to crouch behind between salvos of snowballs.

“It is so beautiful,” Rhaegar murmured, looking almost mesmerized as he stared through the window. “So quiet.”

“For now,” Daemon said wryly. That would change as soon as the boys were outside. “Shall we dress and find your brother?”

Rhaegar vanished before he was even halfway through the question. Daemon dressed at a more leisurely pace, amused by how his son’s impatience shone through an unusually thin veneer of politeness. He used the time to explain the various games there were to play in the snow—in making snow dragons, and pelting one another with snow, and constructing forts of varying quality.

He knew both sons well enough to be certain that they would take such construction very seriously. The hatchlings, meanwhile, would pose an interesting complication—or element of warfare against opposing snow structures.

“Qelebrys and I can be your allies against Jon,” Rhaegar offered.

Daemon raised a brow at him in question. “That does not seem fair to your brother.”

The look he received in return was one of pity. “Trust me, an alliance is your only chance to emerge with any semblance of dignity.”

[rothjuje]

Dang I miss this space.

So many exciting things have happened since my last post. The twins turned 5 (how?!???) and Alyssa turned 8. Alyssa is fully her own person now and it’s so neat to see (and a little scary sometimes tbh). First grade was really rough for her, she got an IEP and struggled the whole year through. And her teacher was great, really really good. Her teacher this year scared me a bit (just like, not personable and very academically focused) but Alyssa has THRIVED. Made new friends, is actually ahead in both math and reading. I’m just so proud of her every day. She’s still the most fun, and looks forward to little adventures just like I do. She’s such a cross between Justin and I.

George is my mini-me, my little bud. Just the chillest, snuggliest dude. The most affectionate kid you’ve ever met. Loves music, talking on the phone, car rides, the beach, all the things I love. Gen is still my little spitfire. So much personality in one tiny little human. She’s so funny. And she knows it. She’s wicked smart. I can’t believe they’re going to kindergarten next year. My babies aren’t babies anymore..

I’m still a Girl Scout troop leader and moms’ group secretary. Love being involved in both but our troop is huge and it is a serious time commitment, especially during cookie season. I wanted to start a troop for Genna next year but had to pass it to some friends because I just don’t have the time to take on any more volunteer stuff between the kids and real estate.

I got my license in September, joined the best office ever in October, and am now an assistant to a successful agent in our office. I am learning so much and have met so many people which I love. It is very rewarding and exciting, but man I was not prepared for the balance of 3 young kids and a demanding job. I was doing comps until 10 pm tonight and Justin is traveling for work and, it’s a lot.

I struggled quite a bit at the beginning with anxiety, joined the lexapro club, and it really helped for a time. Then I felt like I was in a good place to manage the anxiety, and left the lexapro club. And I felt great for a time, back to myself, free from the side effects.

But now it’s mid February and it’s grey and cold and snowing every other freaking day and I just don’t feel like there’s any end in sight. This is our third winter here and the first two were very very mild, it only snowed a handful of times and was usually in the mid 30s to mid 40s. Like. Mid 40s isn’t bad, 45 and up I’ll take the kids to the park. But we’ve been lucky if we get 35 degrees. This winter has been hard and Justin is traveling a lot and I’m tired of feeling like I’m in survival mode. I keep checking the weather for a day over 40 degrees and unless it’s pouring rain it’s not happening.

Honestly. How do people live like this? I went from California where every day was a sunny or foggy 70 degrees, to Texas where everything was sunny and hot, to this. Cold. Damp. Wet. Grey. Darkness that lasts 6 months out of the year. How are other people maintaining their sanity so flawlessly? Like, is it extra hard for me because I have the experience of a life where you don’t suffer for half the calendar year? Or am I just a whiner? Maybe a little of both, but I guess if you grew up with it, it’s nature/routine/expected.

Anyway feel free to give me all your tips on winter blues thank youuu

[malk1ns]

february 8 @ flyers, 3-2 loss

we managed to skid into the two-week break without anyone else getting hurt in this game yay yippee! let's hope everyone gets healthy now because good grief.

exists in a world where the penguins still had their super bowl party at sid's on sunday the 9th instead of sid flying to montreal for four nations and geno flying to...wherever the fuck he was watching from. let's pretend that the first day of four nations practice was pushed to tuesday.

my honest reaction to the prospect of two full weeks with absolutely no sign of geno at all:

Zhenya has to begrudgingly admit that the visitor’s facilities in Philadelphia aren’t that bad.

They aren’t that good either, nothing compared to some of the newer places—Zhenya’s particularly fond of Seattle—but especially compared to places like Carolina, Philly is perfectly adequate. The locker room isn’t too cramped, the carpet doesn’t stink, the hot water works, and there’s a couch in the lounge that actually faces the TV and can fit more than one grown adult comfortably.

The couch is especially important, because the Penguins stopped requiring its scratches to watch games from the press box a few years ago and Zhenya’s never been back. Given the choice between wearing a suit and having to keep a neutral face while watching his team play without him and getting to kick back in sweatpants and swear as much and as loudly as he’d like, he’s picking the latter every time when he’s injured.

Sid, like the suck-up he is, stuck it out up above the ice for a few games, but pretty soon even he was changing out of his suit the second the cameras were gone for the game and sprawling out over whatever furniture was available, running his mouth at whoever’s stuck out with him about what’s going on in-game.

The season after Zhenya got his second knee surgery was some of the most fun he’d had while out injured, at least while Sid was doing rehab too. They spent a ton of time together, hanging around during each other’s PT times and making side bets on the games.

So, when Sid told him he’d be sitting the last two games before the break, to make sure his arm was back to 100%, Zhenya was excited. Sure, they’d be away instead of at home, but they’d be able to shit-talk the Rangers and Flyers together, and Zhenya wouldn’t have to haunt the bowels of the arenas like a ghost alone. Even better, he’d have a chance to actually spend time with Sid, who’s been acting off for months and annoyingly good at avoiding talking about it.

The Rangers game was a blast. Troy snuck them down some beers from the dad’s suite and Zhenya managed to goad Sid into some truly vicious shit-talking about New York’s entire roster. The win was the perfect cap to the day, and by the time they made it to Philly, Zhenya was ready to pass out in his hotel room with a smile on his face.

Sid was sour on Saturday, though, distracted and frowning at his phone during team breakfast and abandoning Zhenya to face the athletic trainers alone when they head to the arena for morning skate. Zhenya finally tracked him down on the ice, one of the last guys out there like always, shooting pucks at the net all alone viciously hard, with way too much force for someone who’s babying his arm in the hopes of representing his country in less than a week.

Eventually the coaches herded him off the ice. Sid was sullen on the bus back to the hotel.

“One of the caterers canceled,” he finally volunteered as they stepped off the bus and slipped into the hotel lobby. “For tomorrow, the Super Bowl,” he elaborated when Zhenya looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “They emailed me late last night and I’ve been trying to track down a replacement.”

Zhenya sighed loudly. “This why you’re such bitch?” he said, exaggerating his tone to try and eke a smile from Sid. It kind of worked. “Jesus, it’s not so serious, who cares?”

“It’s the wings guy,” Sid said grimly, and Zhenya groaned in empathy. The Pittsburgh Penguins take their chicken wings very seriously. “I think I got a lead, though. I just gotta make one more call and hopefully this gets wrapped up so I can nap.”

They’d knocked on wood at the reception desk, then gone their separate ways.

Sid hadn’t been ready for the early bus, but Zhenya went over anyway, eager to get his PT torture session over with so he could change and relax, and by the time Sid blows into the lounge Zhenya’s installed on the perfectly adequate couch, sucking down a protein shake and flicking through the channels as he waits for puck drop.

“New wings?” he asks, and Sid sneers at him. Zhenya purses his lips and shrugs, tracking Sid through the lounge as he slams open the refrigerator and digs for a snack.

“Other guy didn’t work out,” Sid says through a mouthful of granola as he drops heavily onto the couch. “Keep that on silent, I need to make a call.”

“You’re nap?” Zhenya asks, and Sid shakes his head sharply, jabbing at his phone. That explains a lot.

Sid’s on his phone through most of the first period, putting on his best aw-shucks voice as he tries to convince someone in a fifty-mile radius of Pittsburgh to whip up a couple hundred buffalo wings in under 24 hours. Zhenya half-listens, sending random Instagram reels in the Team Russia group chat and keeping an eye on the game playing out silently on the big screen across the room.

At one point, Sid gets up and paces in tight circles, and Zhenya puts his phone down to watch—Sid on the verge of a hosting-related breakdown is far more interesting than whatever jokes Kirya’s trying to make. Poor kid, he’s been out this season even longer than Zhenya has. Eventually, though, Sid drops his phone into his lap and sighs.

“All good?” Zhenya asks, passing the remote over before Sid can snatch it from his lap. 

Sid shrugs. “I found someone,” he says, but he still sounds pissy. “It was pretty far down my list, but the reviews are okay…hopefully it works out.”

“Bummer for not get usual, I’m like best,” Zheya says, stretching his legs forward and cringing when his left knee pops.

“Yeah, well, sorry about the letdown for your last ever Super Bowl party,” Sid mutters, and Zhenya whips his head around. Sid’s staring at the television with a surly look on his face.

The pieces are starting to come together. Sid’s avoidance, his odd caginess when Zhenya tries to talk about summer plans…

Over the summer, Sid and Zhenya talked a lot. Sid had been waffling about his contract extension, first wanting six years, then one, and Zhenya spent a lot of time listening as Sid talked himself into, then out of, and then back into the terms he was going to ask Pat to send to the team.

At some point, he’d tried to lighten the mood with a joke. He doesn’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something like, why not just ask for max term and if he feels like he wants to be done sooner than it expires he can just retire—Zhenya’s thinking of doing the same after this upcoming season, after all.

It hadn’t been serious. He’d thought about it; he’s still thinking about it. But he still doesn’t quite feel ready to be done with the Penguins as a player, so it’s really nothing more than a fancy, an idea he revisits when his knees ache so badly they wake him up in the middle of the night. The comment to Sid was nothing, less than a throwaway.

Sid had gone quiet, and that conversation had ended quickly. Zhenya didn’t hear from Sid for a few days. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time; they’re both busy, and Zhenya loses track of how long it’s been between travel, charity tournaments, and arguing with Anya through their lawyers.

When they got back to Pittsburgh, though, Sid was still acting off. He’s lightened up as the season’s worn on, but Zhenya still catches Sid watching him with a strange intensity sometimes. He clams up when Zhenya asks what’s wrong, neatly avoids all efforts at a serious conversation before Zhenya even realizes he’s changed the subject.

Now, though, it’s making sense.

“Sid,” Zhenya says, reaching out and trying to touch Sid’s shoulder. Sid flinches away from him. “You’re mad I make joke that maybe I retire this year? It’s not serious, like, okay I think about, but I’m still here, you know, I’m still do my best to play.”

“Whatever,” Sid snaps. He’s turning the remote over in his hands, and Zhenya wants to reach over and take it away from him. “I don’t care what you do. Go back to Russia now if you want, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Change what?” Zhenya demands, lost. Sid’s getting worked up, angry in a way that Zhenya hasn’t seen since they were much younger and Sid was less in control of his emotions. “Who’s say I go back to Russia? Maybe I move to Miami with Nikita. Maybe I stay in Pittsburgh! Jesus, Sid, what’s your problem?”

Sid snorts, turning to glare at Zhenya. “Come on,” he says, scornful. “Everyone knows you’re going to go back to Russia. You’ll move home and play for Metallurg, and once you’re back in Russia you and Anna will figure it out and get back together, and you’ll stay there until your Hall induction, and by then I won’t—” He snaps his mouth shut.

Zhenya feels like he’s scrambling to keep up with a video game he’s never played before. “Sid, I tell you, Anya and I, like, it’s done for real. We’re figure out how to be friends for Nikita, maybe, but we’re not together. Why you’re say all this? You won’t what?”

Sid presses his mouth into a flat line. His eyes flicker over Zhenya’s face, and he squares his shoulders. For a wild moment, Zhenya wonders if Sid’s going to hit him. “I won’t be able to tell you how I feel about you. I’ll have run out of time,” he says.

His words land like bricks in the quiet room. 

“Feel about…” Zhenya knows what Sid means, though, and his entire world tilts on its axis.

The entire twenty years rearrange themselves. Pieces move into place, events take on new meaning.

Sid watches him steadily. Zhenya looks back helplessly. Neither of them say another word.

[frownyalfred]

Lurking reader here! Decided it was past time to chime in. :)

So, just reread the latest chapter again and so so many lovely / interesting moments.

1. If Joker was able to smell Batman without suppressants, guessing it is fairly likely that Joker knows exactly who is under the cowl.

2. "I do. God, Jay, I do." Followed immediately by Alfred and his sass.

3.Loved the nod to Alfred chopping wood! "he likes fires" made me laugh.

4. Bruce is such a little brat isn't he? Purposely putting a very specific scent on Clark just as he is going to work.

5. 2pm Metropolis time? I always assumed that Gotham and Metropolis were like NY and NJ, close by so in the same time zone. Is that not the case?

6. "Deep into his third trimester" => questions about the pregnancy and time line. I didn't think Bruce was that far along. Can you give a rough time line of the pregnancy so far? Bruce found out when he was three weeks along. I assume the events of ASOH took maybe 2 months? So Bruce was around 3 months pregnant when they went to the gala? When Alfred mentions Dan working on repairs over the last 6 months, is that the time jump between stories? Btw, how long is a Kryptonian pregnancy/ hybrid pregnancy?

7. Gotta love how Alfred is like oh year I handled the installation of a whole elevator by myself. 😂

8. I feel like there is a ton of symbolism in the section when Bruce passes out. Vision going green. Tasting blood and soot. And of course the oh so lovely rut accelerant!

As usual, an amazing chapter and I cannot wait to see what comes next. So many details to catch in rereads to look forward to as well.

Hope your Monday has been a good start to the week.

Thank you so much!!!! I'm so glad you're enjoying. Rapidfire responses below:

Yes. Not good news at all. Joker has a very keen sense of smell and Bruce was very, very smellable (is that a word?) at that point in the story

I'm glad you caught that, poor Bruce really has so much self-hatred but he will not put it on Jason's shoulders! Love that for him

I could not help but add that reference to BVS Alfred's woodchopping scene, I think about it like every day

He is SUCH a brat and knows exactly what he did. I almost wrote this scene from his POV but it's funnier if it's from Clark's. I also cut a scene with Lois smelling it at work for space.

This is my own personal headcanon I snuck in there and forgot to explain. Yes they're still across the bay from each other but I thought they'd be petty and maintain the rivalry by insisting on being in different time zones

Bingo, right on the money. Bruce is near the end of his pregnancy, so we jumped a few months. It's roughly the same length as a human pregnancy with some minor changes in gestational speed etc. I have another post on this somewhere, I'll dig it up later

Alfred really knew exactly what Bruce's hesitation about the space would be and ensured he had no reason to say no. I imagined it was already a space (vent, HVAC, etc) that was fairly easy to re-purpose into a one-person elevator. Especially if he got Dan to haul the parts up there without opening them :)

Yes, there's a ton of stuff I was teasing just in that little section. So far, no one has put all of the pieces together yet, but folks in the comments are close.

[eulaliasims]

Round 3, Midwife 4 / 8

Soon after the wedding, a familiar face wanders in from the forest.

Angus: Hi, Mister Deer Man.

Arturo: Hello, small child who can apparently see me.

Angus: Of course I can see you. I'm Angus.

Arturo: So you are.

Arturo: Little mortal.

Helenet: Ah! By the gods, we need to put a bell on you. Or teach you how to knock.

Arturo: Ah, but that would ruin the surprise.

Helenet: Oh, so you are doing it on purpose.

Arturo: Your child is a witch.

Helenet: Angus? You can tell that so easily? I didn't think he was old enough yet for the magic to manifest, if he inherited it.

Arturo: That, or I have utterly lost my touch for concealment charms.

It's important to stop by and argue with the mortals once in a while. For fun. Gotta keep them on their toes. I'm sure I had a reason for taking these pictures three months ago, but damn if I remember what now.

Elmet, meanwhile, has another important question to ask Helenet later that night, when she's getting ready for bed...

Elmet: Netty, do you think we should have a baby?

Helenet: I'm not opposed to it, but… you realize a baby might be wirokū like you, right?

Elmet: No, I don't think so. I mean, I wasn't born a werewolf. People aren't born werewolves, are they?

Helenet: Yes. I told you about the werewolf family my grandmother knew of, didn't I?

Elmet: I kinda thought they were all just really, really unlucky.

Helenet: *sigh* I would be happy to raise a baby with you, but maybe first you should think a little bit more about what it would mean if they are born a werewolf.

You want Elmet to THINK? idk about that, Helenet.

But Elmet obeys her anyway, contemplating the matter during his nightly excursion while he watches the fire and waits for Arturo to show up.

He's not convinced Helenet is right, that their children would be born werewolves. He wasn't, after all. If a redheaded man dyes his hair dark with walnut hulls, it doesn't mean his children will be born with black hair instead of red. Lycanthropy is like, uh... walnuts? The metaphor has gotten away from him somewhere, but Elmet's point still stands.

Arturo: You are unusually thoughtful tonight.

Elmet: Netty thinks that if we have a baby, it'll be a werewolf.

Arturo: Helenet thinks many things. In this case, she is probably correct. There is a good chance of it. The lycanthropy has become a part of your blood; it is how it keeps its hold on you.

Elmet: Hm.

Arturo: I take it that is not the answer you desired.

Elmet: I… I don't know? I want to have a baby with her, so bad, like, I finally understand what my brother was going on about. It's wild.

Arturo: Many, if not most, humans have a strong biological urge to reproduce. It is the lingering nature of our animal pasts.

Elmet: Uh, okay. But remember the things I told you, the things I don't like about being wirokū? And I think, why would I want my child to experience that too?

Arturo: Consider that your condition came about as the result of a traumatic event; your child would be born to it naturally and never consider that it should be another way, unless you were to actively pass your anxieties onto them. You seem to have adjusted significantly since I met you.

Elmet: I still hate the shedding, though. It makes my pants itch.

Arturo: All mortal bodies are annoying sometimes. Some men hate having to shave their beard every day, you hate having to shed your fur.

Elmet: Who's shaving every day in this cold? Wait, Arturo, can you grow a beard? Have you been shaving it all this time?

Arturo: This isn't about me.

Elmet: But now I need to know!

[chains-of-destiny]

Monthly Progress Update #8

Hey everyone!

So...it's been a long time since there was a monthly progress update, and I apologize for that.

First off, where is the update?

It's coming! I still want to do a few test runs and read through everything one more time, but if I don't find any major issues, I'll post it tomorrow.

So what's been happening? (This is mostly IRL stuff, so if you're uninterested, feel free to skip this section.)

As I mentioned, there were some things that pulled me away from writing for a while, especially last month. January was a very busy month with work, university exams, and some medical stuff (I'm in good health now). Thankfully, I managed to juggle everything and successfully pass all my exams while also squeezing in some writing on the side. It was a tough balancing act, but I'm glad to be back on track now!

What's next?

Next, I'll focus on the revision of Chapter 2. I've read through Chapter 2 again, and I'm pretty content with the writing there, so I won't be rewriting 80-90% of the text as I did with Chapter 1. However, there are some small additions I want to include, some [WIP] sections I need to finish, and I also want to incorporate some of the great feedback and suggestions you've given me. Chapter 2 is bigger overall, but since I won't be rewriting most of it, I predict it'll take less time to finish the revision (though my predictions so far have been less than accurate 😅). After that, I'll finally move on to Chapter 3!

Thank you again for all your patience and support. I can't wait to share the new content with you all. 😊

Also, thank you for all the asks! I'll answer them tomorrow after (hopefully) dropping the update.

[bananaactivity]

Davenport Family Headcanons and portraits for shits and giggles

There are 8 of these mother fuckers so buckle in. Some background info is in another post but ill probably add that part in as re-blog thing... anyways enjoy my yapping

Davenport Family

Donald Matthew Davenport ( 44 ) January 8, 1971

The Daven-family figurehead and oldest Davenport son. A genius who works well with tech related to transportation, communication, personal protection, training, security systems, and helpful but basic AI ( think eddy). His work was praised heavily within the market that Davenport Industries existed in. He noticed his brother getting in with some shady investors and tried to stop him leading to a huge argument and a few months of not being able to reach him he found out that Douglas had been horribly injured and killed. He took the time to gather his brother's possessions finding the bionic children and taking them in. He raised them keeping them sheltered so that the government would stop messing with them. Eventually, he married Tasha and had a stepson in Leo who convinced him that it was safe for the kids, and he's had a kinda stressful but great love-filled life since. Eventually, his brother returned and after being mad for a bit he soon got right back into the swing with his baby brother. He was so happy to have his brother back after eleven years. Still bullying him of course but it's all love. He is kind and smart and very nervous. He isn't stingy with his money either, he does a lot of charity events for struggling kids who wanna do S.T.E.M. He looks at some kids who remind him of his brother as being a bit strange. He doesn't discourage them but helps them move in ways that won't hurt them in the long run. You can be an alternative scientist without getting dropped in like his bro. Sadge :( Sometimes he crashes out but it's a nervous crash out. Sometimes the kids really mess up and you really gotta step back and be like… okay guys bsfr. His little brother was a mad scientist and a handful, he was stressed. And his “death” made him sad. Rose is also a stressor she thinks he's a wimp :(. He was a Hippie, a “playboy”, a big goofy nerd, he's gone through many phases. He loves all his children. I never minded them calling him Mr. Davenport. Though I will say mostly Chase does it in my AU. Not for trauma reasons he's just silly. They all call him Dad and Leo calls him Big D. Marcus and Dan call him Uncle D.( For a long time he would just talk to Eddy instead of people before he met Tasha. Eddy is just a helpful assistant with a personality he always made me mad as a kid. He can keep some personality but I don't like the Tasha disrespect keep it P with my queen. )

BI- curious for a while ( He had a fling with Peirce Harrington way back when they were in a fraternity together at some fancy Uni. You know Frat boys, I do. Freaks.)

Douglas Patrick Davenport ( 42)

April 6, 1974

The Daven-family emo child and youngest Davenport son. A genius who is a bit unethical and does crazy work related to human enhancement, cognitive modification, bioweapons, and biotechnology, really pushing human and technological capacities while blending them. His work was highly controversial of course, it was kind of taboo when talking with people interested in Davenport Industries. Though many “darker” people were interested in his work, Doug hadn't received much praise due to the macabre of his expertise. So he entertained these investors getting himself into a dicey situation, leading to a blowout with his brother in 2002. Doug's situation was a little dire so he faked his death having to leave behind ABC. He could only take the Androids. He stayed in his dark angry hole. Mad that his brother was still thriving while he kept up this new evil stuff. Hoping that the children he had to leave were okay. He got into it with some more dicey figures eventually meeting Krane who was interested after reading some of Dougs old Highschool blog posts about bionics. Doug had already lost a lot of money so he planned to get his kids back but ended up defecting back to his family… he loves them.

Douglas loves his kids. They don't call him Dad, he’s Douglas. Sometimes Uncle Dougy. Leo calls him Lil D. He told him to stop. He didn't. He understands he made choices and that resulted in them being left. He had only come back to exploit them for money… bros, not the dad. He is to his android boys and that's great. He loves um. He enjoys going to Dons charity events. Seeing kids like him with alt ideas. And he sees his brother helping and encouraging them. He'd take back some of his choices if he could but he's glad of the few positive impacts they had. He's still alt, maybe a freaky idea here a crazy thought experiment there. But he knows to reign it in now. He was getting a bit too crazy perhaps, may have broken many moral rules there but he loves his family. Perry thought he was a butch lesbian when they met but then they became friends and she was like ohhh. 

Bro doesn't care if he likes you he likes you, I think Perry is the same but she has some preferences. ( What if I shipped him with agent Graham what then? You can't stop me lol)

Tasha Francine Davenport ( 44)

April 6, 1974

A mother, a businesswoman, the baddie. She divorced Leos's dad and they don't talk about that bitch who cares. Her son is her baby she loves him. She loves Donald a lot too when they met he was pretending he was a Donald Davenport look-alike who worked at a coffee shop. He called himself Conrad Shadingfort. ( Bro is supposed to be a genius wtf)  they ended up hanging out. He bought the coffee shop she frequented just so he could continue working there to see her. She knew the whole time and thought he was just being silly,. He hung out with her for 2 years and got to meet Leo too. When he wanted to ask her out he told the truth and she was like: “Huh? You thought I believed you?? Well, you’re so cute and silly and I like you so I will go out with you!” He kept the coffee shop as a business also having made a bunch of cool gadgets to help the employees. It was a cool spot lol. And then they got married later yay! Now she loves all the Davenport children even the androids lol. She doesn't have the baby yet (I'm bad at drawing babees) She is sweet and caring and knows when to do things for her because it isn't selfish. 

Tasha is Demiromantic yayyyy

Adam Robert Davenport ( 19) July 7, 1996

Good ol’ Adam. My fav, my boy. He is so relatable, I relate heavily. I'm the older sibling I'm the silly sibling (I stand by Adam is just into absurdist humor with a heavy commitment to the bit, and isn't dumb. Bro says stupid shit on accident and on purpose and you'll never know ) When he Bree, and chase bully each other its normal sibling level. He never uses his super strength with his siblings; it is just his normal strength. Which is a lot mind you but it doesn't hurt it's just irritating. He's still a Taylor fan, but if this took place in 2024, he would add Chapplle Roan to his playlist quickly. I'm not a big Tay or Chapplle enjoyer, but I won't ever let that affect Adam’s truth. You know what he likes Billie and Sabrina too, Laufey, Solange, Nicki, Doechii, he loves women's music artists, all of them. They're all baddies who slay according to him, Even if they didn't make music in 2011-2016. He's super chill no stress on his bones unless someone touches his siblings. Yall should know how he gets when they're in danger. “ I can call my sibling a dusty bum bitch, but if you even look at them wrong I'm beating your ass.” Adam is a big animal lover he's been asking Donald to branch out with animal charity events and he's working on it yay ( Adam and Douglas began to bond over animals. Especially dogs)

He's isn't labeled like I said he's chill, I relate bro, love him. His preferences do align with aroace ( so relatable bruh) He's just silly yayyyy!

His abilities are under the L-P Chip: Lasers, strength, lung capacity, “big blue fart that blows shit up” as he calls it, and durability.

Bree Downy Davenport ( 18) November 22, 1997

Bree. another Baddie. Bad-bree. Sorry. She's silly, not a super slob like that one gross-ass episode but she's a bit of a fem-tomboy ig. Catching frogs and lizards carefully here, painting nails, and putting on baddie fits there. Finding interest in environmental issues a big fan of ethical tourism. She's been all across the earth. She's good at clocking her brother's tea ofc. She and Leo talk a lot, Leo has been in tons of AP classes and introduced her to AP Environmental Science she loved it and they joined the environment club together. She is obsessed with the island ecosystem as it is a man-made one. She's glad her brother Chase talked with Donald about making sure if he did this island thing that he made it as safe for the environment as possible and he did a good job. ( She and Douglas began to bond because while Douglas was “dead” he went to a lot of places, they talk about them and history all the time) She's not gonna get superpowers. Now that's something I'll get mad at, she has more bionic abilities they're just locked. If she was really feeling that useless (she's not) she could have asked Doug about unlocking another one.

She’s a bi queen. Also an elite-level fumbler. Not because she's a bad partner. Just so bad with expressing feelings so it never gets to that level.

Her abilities are under the S-S Chip: Super Speed, invisibility, wall stick, durability, and voice replication. She got rid of Spikerella she hated it.

( I don't like most of these portraits but this one just pisses me off like wtf happened to his face)

Chase Junior Davenport ( 18) August 5, 1997 Chase Chase Chase. He's on the case. He's very logical and often uses his computer brain for most tasks. It's like that one time they had a boys vs girls for no reason and he used his bionics immediately. He's always using his bionics just because of the computer brain. He's super lucky he can use two bionics at a time otherwise he'd be a dumbass while fighting. He also downloads apps to do most advanced tasks or hobbies, except guitar and martial arts which he learned on his own. ( He loves Radiohead, thats how he and Douglas began to bond heheh ) He pretends to hate Spike but also declines to get his app deleted. Spike always has his back even if he's a bit… dramatic and violent. This Chase is a bit more unsure and less cocky due to this Donald not being as cocky too. (That was def a learned behavior.) His identity took a while about to season three. When Leo first helped them assimilate into high school Chase thought he could download a bunch of teen movies to get ahead. Introducing him to a concept he literally never thought of. Having a partner. It always ended badly cause he just thought it was what he was supposed to do and he wasn't ever into it. This changes that one episode where Chase was tryna impress a girl and Adam was tryna stop him to Adam being like “ Bro you don't even like her stop before you hurt her fam..” Anyway, eventually he figured it out and told Adam who was like I coulda told you that fam..,

He's labeled Aroace and is very repulsed by everything. Leave his ass alone.

His abilities are under the I-S Chip: Computer brain that can do all computer stuff at elite computer speed, Laser Bo, Force field, telekinesis, Magnetism, durability, Spike, and enhanced senses

Leo Francis Dooley (17) May 7, 1998

I don't have many headcanons for Leo. He's perfect bro. Silly, perfect comedic timing, smart, and caring. He loves hanging out with Doug. He didn't need as much time to be bonded with him as ABC for obvious reasons. He and Marcus have beef most of the time though. That's how cousins be. He and Daniel are cool tho they love bullying Marcus together. He and Gordo though had a massive falling out ( Break up). Never again. He dated Jenelle, he had a tiny nemesis crush on Taylor. He’s single now.

He's a pan-king.

He doesn't have a chip but his abilities are plasma, energy-sucking or wtv, shields, and a strong leg,( his eyes are just aesthetic)

Marcus Julian Davenport ( 18) December 14, 1997

I don't have much to change about Marcus either. He's still a little freaky butthead. He loves his brother and he loves playing the guitar as well ( Radiohead enjoyer yayaya). He also does a bit of boxing, why not? His Archenemies are his Brother and Leo still, but in a goofy way not a murder way. He and Daniel were like the goofy duo tryna trick ABC and Leo. Marcus was intimidating while Dan was just being silly bonding with Leo. I just think it's funny if we just add Daniel to Marcus and Leo moments where Leo is clocking Marc's tea and Dan is just like “ Lol yeah Marcus is trash hehe”. He has a much better relationship with this Doug as Doug lets them be them and has never abandoned him. Doug was goin crazy when his sons got missing. He's so silly.

He's not super interested in relationships not in an aro way but just like not that interested. If he sees a bad bitch though who's to say lol

He has no chip; He has all Adam Bree and Chase's abilities both hidden and not.

Daniel Moore Davenport ( 13) March 21, 2002

When you look at the timeline you may see the name Danielle.( This is also a reference to Bree asking about why Doug never tried making another girl. He did here but Dan was like nah fam) Yah originally Doug was tryna do one female and male design. The female took a little longer which is why Dan is so much younger. After a few years tho Dan wasn't fucking with that. Doug was just like: Ya know what this is fine and a win. Bro is so sentient and observant he got body dysmorphia :(. He's just a silly boy now. He bullies his brother with Leo butttt... He has a lil crush on Spencer. (That's Spin's name that he uses with his non-friends but I think its funny to say) I think it'd be funny if Dan and Leo are bulling Marcus, but Spin comes in and bullies Leo causing Dan to turn around and swap sides. Then both Leo and Marcus side-eye him like: aw hell naw. I also think it's funny if they have that moment in the wimpy kid movies where Marcus is Rodrick looking at what Dan (Greg) is looking at ( it's Spencer ( Holly)) and he busts out laughing: “ BROOOO NO WAY WILL THAT EVER HAPPEN! AHAHAH” I gotta draw that lol. Unfortunately, if you've read that one fanfic of mine you know that Spin is the leader of a team comprised of Daniel and Bob. And you also know how I feel about writing inter-team relationships. It would piss me off if my teammates started being all goo goo-eyed while we're on a mission like stopppp. So Bob has to watch his oblivious bestie and a dumb-ass android get themselves into avoidable shit. Bob went on a sabbatical from having crushes and now he's a chill guy ( he learned from Adam that hot babes aren't everything and to take time for himself, bros 15 he's gotta chill) Anyways…

Dan does identify as trans and hes another guy whos chill unless he has a crush ( he thinks Spin is so cool bro awww he just wants to hold handsssss )

He has no chip and his ability is the replication of all tech not just bionic. Like if he touches a megaphone he can amplify his voice or record things and amplify them. can save up to two bionics in a folder to use without touching someone. If he wants to use a different two he has to clear his folder.

Back Ground Info for shits and giggles

How Bionics and Androids Work

There are three levels for Bionic Humans and five for Androids, here they are in order of Rank

Bionic Levels: Superior Bionics, Partial Bionics, Soldier Bionics

Andriod Levels: Superior Bionic Andriods, Superior Androids,  Androids, Basic Androids

There are only three Superior Bionics. Guess who? You never will… It's ABC, obviously. Subjects A, B, and C. They were the first to have chips, with so much care and passion put into them over the years Doug worked on their chips and embryos. They're irreproducable. Their bodies can handle the toll of bionics well, as they were grown and raised as embryos to do that. Yes, the chips can be fixed up if pieces are smashed but brand-new ones that have the same strength of capabilities can't be done. That's why they have the glowy-eye things in my art. Leos a special case shut it. The chips are called Lazer-Punchy, Intelligence-Smarty, and Speedy-Sneaky. L-P, I-S, and S-S, chips respectively. Doug is shit at naming things. This exclusivity was done so that the 3 are extra special I wanted as much separation from the super soldiers as possible. It was a little irritating back when that season aired to see how all these new bionic people made ABC less special but I didn't want to get rid of them. So now it's a spectrum. They can activate 2 bionics at a time more if they train super hard.

The Super Soldiers and Krane are Soldier Bionics. Significantly less strong and durable than the Superiors. They had bionics implemented later in life. (Super soldiers were orphans or homeless children taken by Krane with no family to return them to and also another reason) A lot of them in the case of Krane. Little did Krane know, but even if he wasn't defeated and destroyed or wtv, his excess of bionics would have killed him eventually. His body was deteriorating rapidly and he took a bunch of shit to cover up the pain like an idiot instead of realizing the actual issue. The amount of abilities he put in is what made him so strong and formidable but again his body would've completely collapsed eventually. That's actually what Geis was waiting on cause she wasn't as much of a dumbass. The island also provides a lot of health care to the super soldiers after saving them. That's also what got the government to back off again, How much care they needed and how “useless” they would be without this constant care and upkeep. Again they just are like an iPhone 8 to ABC's iPhone 11. if that means anything lol. They can only activate one bionic at a time.

Leo is the only Partial Bionic, again the tech was something Doug spent a while on. Bionics that can be used later in life without causing trauma to the receiver. He was preparing to sell it to Krane but he didn't which is why Krane did that worse thing. After Leos's severe almost fatal injury Doug had to try something. He used his plans on the injured areas (his legs, arms, and head) and this makes Leo Bioincs less strong than Superior Bionics but more stable than Soldier Bionics. Doug destroyed these original design books ( superior and partial) as he knew Krane would do anything to get his hands on something like that. Chase however has a file saved in his computer brain that can be accessed even if his bionics have been compromised. He can activate one bionic at a time, more if he trains.

There are only two Superior Bionic Andriods. Marcus and Daniel. M.A.R.C.U.S: Modular Android Reactive Construct Utilizing Sentience. D.A.N.I.E.L: Dynamic Android with Neural Intelligence and Emotional Logic . Again trash names dunno what Doug was doin. They have a level of sentience and intelligence that's pretty much like… Vision or Ultron ig. They have this humanity to them and I treat them as such thats why they're ‘bionic” androids. They are conscious completely, they have personalities completely. There are technically no limits to their use of bionic abilities as it relates to LR universe. Minus cooling systems and child locks ( on Daniel) that stop overheating. They can eat, drink, and sleep. They're anatomically accurate to humans as well. ( Not for freaky reasons ofc just Douglas trying to replicate human processes again this is what makes them bionic, they replicate humanity very well) Any fluids that a human can have are simulated by special liquids that need to be replaced once every 10 years. That being things like sweat, digestive fluids, tears, and blood. These are all simulations though, and if they aren't replaced it's no big deal just means they can't do any of that stuff like eat or sweat. It's all aesthetic that stuff, just Doug showing off. They also grow like a human again Doug being a show-off. Doug started them before ABC meaning technically Daniel is older than Adam lol, but he finished them at different times. Daniel wasn't conscious until 4 years after Marcus and 7 years after Adam. The reason is that it was much easier to leave Androids as a WIP than actively growing bionic children. (The androids start out toddler size cause it is easier to work with. just what I think seems reasonable not any science all of this is what I deem reasonably possible in a fake world, it's not even pseudoscience) They can use as many abilities as they want with consequences if they overdo it.

There is only one Superior Android, Troy. T.R.O-7:Tactical Robotic Operative 7. Troy is not a bionic android; he only looks like a human. He doesn't replicate any human functions, and he is not anatomically correct. He can't eat, sweat, cry, bleed, sleep, or grow. He looks exactly the same as when he was first finished. He does however have a complex personality, similar to the Bionic Androids. Hes like the… Friday to their Vision. If that means anything lol. Hes very vain ofc but he misses a lot of social cues and has a harder time empathizing. Gies didn't bother to fix these for reasons that'll be clearer in the next level. Geis started Troy in secret back in college after Doug first started Marcus and Daniel. She had 6 versions before he was functioning how he does now. He still is very pervious to water, overheating, and a wide variety of things that happen to machinery. The reason hes less advanced is due to Gies not caring about the intricacies of accurately replicating humane behaviors. She thinks of androids as an easier way to do bionics—easily controllable weapons without waiting for growing embryos that can use bionics. My Doug was more of a human bioscientist with dubious ethical and moral codes. Troy can use up to 3 abilities before he begins to shut down.

Any other Androids in Gies army are Androids. Different from Troy. Troy took all of her college and 5 years after she graduated. Again the only reason she was doing this was for convenience and a leg up in this world so she used Troy as her money maker and all of the others are even less human than Troy. They were all destroyed with no hesitation while Troy was jailed. 

Basic Android are things like Robo Perry and EDDY. Like the Siri and Alexas of our world but with a little more spice.

Timeline for shits and giggles

1992- Creation of Davenport Industries ( Don was 21 Doug was 17) 1994- Begins 2nd year of college for Doug ( 20) and the beginning of Marcus and Danielle ( Daniel) and the prototypes of the L-P, I-S, and S-S chips/ first meeting of Geisel 1995- Geisele begins work on the first Troy. T.R.O-1 1996- Doug Graduates and Davenport Industries begins taking off, making both Davenport's millionaires and affluential inventors and scientist 1996- Gisele and Doug break up 1996- T.R.O-2 1996- Adams embryo is now a baby boy 1997- Brees Embryo is now a baby girl 1997-T.R.O-3 1997- Marcus is sentient 1997- Chases Embryo is now a baby boy 1998-T.R.O-4 1999- Donald builds the Penthouse in Centium City 1999-T.R.O-5 2001- Geisel makes a breakthrough in the movie industry and ceases work on T.R.O-6 in favor of working her way up the industry 2002- Danielle ( Daniel) is sentient ( a few years later Danielle is Daniel) 2002- Doug (27) and Dan (31) fall out and Doug fake dies ( Adam 5, Bree 4, Chase 4) 2002- Dan finds ABC and Raises them 2006- The Gov tries to tack ABC for “science” but fails because I said so 2008-2013- Doug works with shady people to get money and he is fairly rich, he also meets Krane during this time who promises him a big payout for the tech of human bionics and partial bionics he left behind in his young adult rage 2011- Geseil completes T.R.O-7 and becomes an Industry Titan with her breakout hidden star Troy West ( if this were a big thing you’d hear about the movies hes is as sly ref across all the seasons) 2012- Dan ( 41) and Tasha ( 41) tie the knot and Leo finds out about the Rats 2013- Doug Returns and does his evil stuff but he and the android bros get redeemed 2014- Krane does all his evil stuff and teams up with Geis but also does a solo thing so he dies 2015- The Island is up and running for about a year 2016- Geis finally comes in and gets her ass handed to her 2017—- Elite force stuff

I hate everything including all these fuckers. Ignore all the rats lookin crazy as hell i was tweaking when i drew that i promise

[suspiciouscatastrophe]

This post is not about malicious misgendering. It's about people who don't want to misgender you doing it anyway, because it's "too hard for them." It's about allies whose heart is in the right place – or at the very least on its way to the right place, and could use some poking to try harder.

It's inspired by my friend. She knows me from childhood. She loves me dearly. She keeps saying that no matter what happens, I can always run to her and she will help me. She offered me her place in case I got kicked out by my mother.

She also keeps reiterating that she "sees me as a boy." That she knows I am a man. That she wouldn't never want to misgender me on purpose.

It's been about 8 months since I came out to her as a trans man. (And way longer than that since I came out to her as trans in general – it was just that I used to identify as a nonbinary person who was using any pronouns, and I did allow her to stick with she/her for me.)

And yet. She keeps slipping. Not once-per-day slips, either. Several times per conversation. Granted, she is getting much better. She slips less than she used to. I believe she's trying.

And I know it's not just because of how long we have known each other for, but also because of me not passing enough. I came out to her before I started transitioning. When I made some first steps in my social transition and started presenting as masculine as I could, she told me herself that "it made it easier for her to call me a he." She didn't mean it viciously – she believes trans people are who they say they are even pre-transition and even if they don't pass. But it still betrays a degree of passive, deeply ingrained transphobia, her perhaps unrealized belief in universal visual gender markers created and reinforced by the cispatriarchy. She wants to say "he," but I keep giving her "she" vibes, so to say. Which is not my fault – I deserve to be gendered correctly. Everyone does, cis or trans. Transitioning or non-transitioning. Pre-HRT or on it. She needs to work on that.

And it's not like it's hard. In my social circle, only very few people are cis or post-transition. Most of the people I talk to daily are either pre-transition, in the early stages of transition, or non-transitioning. In the eyes of society around us, none of us passes. We also mostly speak Czech – a language that is heavily gendered. I have never caught myself using the incorrect grammatical forms for anybody.

Granted, I might be speaking out of privilege. I am trans myself (which is not a privilege by any means, but it is probably a favorable position with regards to your ability to be normal about people's pronouns), and I've always been language-oriented. But I don't think I'm a saint or exceptionally talented, so the catch must be somewhere else.

I reiterate, I literally think it's a skill. If it happens to you, practice, practice, practice – and not just speaking, practice thinking about the person you keep misgendering in the correct gendered terms, and then speaking will be easier. Go on the internet and visit trans spaces to learn more about diverse gender experiences and see photos to recalibrate your brain to familiarize yourself with how people of any given gender express themselves. You can do it. You can be the ally you want to be.

Okay. Maybe tonight is my turn to be a bully. Prepare yourselves. Here goes my bully take!

Struggling to gender people correctly because

a) you've known them for a long time pre-transition

b) they don't pass

is a skill issue in either case. Even if you love them and want to be an ally, even if you wouldn't misgender them on purpose – in that case it's not a failing of your morals, it's a failing of your literal skills and habit-forming patterns.

Hone those skills. Break whatever it is in your brain that ties them to their post-birth name/pronouns so strongly. Unlearn the rigid image of what "men" and "women" can and cannot look like. Carve the existence of people who don't fall into either (or fall to both) into your worldview.

Your trans loved ones will appreciate it so much.

[putting-kinger-in-places]

Can you put him here, over this man?

the rainbow winged man

Spamton Fight, Deltarune

[onlyancunin]

Temptations Part 2: Accolades

[egophiliac]

I have a question about the jp server pickups, since I really want knight Sebek, but I’m trying to save gems for bloom malleus + the 3rd tsum event that’s gonna show up sooner or later. Iirc, after knight Sebek, the next story update’s pickup had all of the previous story cards (ie cerberus Ortho, general Lilia, and knight Sebek). Is this true, and if it is, did it include a token system like the dorm pickups where you can just do 100 pulls and then buy the specific card you want directly? Because if that is how it works, then I can wait until then and be sure I won’t have to go to 200 for him.

we did indeed get a second chance at those three when 7-7 came out! I'm pretty sure there was not a token system -- though admittedly I don't 100% remember, sorry! 🙇 I took a quick search through some past posts/videos from people who tend to include the gacha and news stuff, but I didn't see any mention of it, so I'm inclined to think there really wasn't one. :( they were all separate pickups with their own pull counts rather than a combined one, if that info helps at all.

speaking as a strict f2p who hoards keys/gems like the lovechild of a dragon and a magpie, given the choice between saving for a story card and a birthday card, I'd go for story -- it does require a lot of patience, but there are way more opportunities to get past birthday cards, both from the anniversary events and the rerun pickups! tsums is a bit harder to say anything on because Eng doesn't follow the same event schedule, but it's a longish event and those pickups let you have a free 10-roll, so I think they're also a bit easier to save up for.

(ALSO speaking of free rolls, starting with the fifth round of birthdays -- the kutsurogi my room ones -- the birthday boy/union jacket/bloom cards have had a separate pickup that you can get two free 10-pulls at by doing missions! I got a bloom Jade from it a couple weeks ago. :D meanwhile general Lilia is the only story card I've ever managed to pull, so...I'm probably kinda biased. whoops.)

[ataleofcrowns]

I'm going to unofficially name CH10 the "X Filter". It really seems to be the chapter where a certain percentage of X romancers get filtered out because of That One Scene lmao