#supervisor shenanigans

[ofcowardiceandkings]

sighs

[ggxxacr]

customers are so funny lol this lady came in asking if we had our new cinnamon buns and me and all my coworkers were like ????? until one realized she meant the thing wendys just got, and when i said no we dont have those plus our old cinnamon thing was limited time she got annoyed?? and said she literally bought one last week???? maam i can assure you you 100% did not purchase something we havent had since 20 years ago

[cultivating-wildflowers]

I know the rule is “a clipboard and/or hi-vis vest will get you in anywhere” but for me the bar is so much lower. If you have a key to the building and say you’re here to check a particular system at 4:00pm on a Sunday, that’s between you, God, and your hypothetical employer.

[natandacat]

We got clinical support last minute we're gonna be able to apply to the biggest grant 😭

[risuola]

YOU CRYIN'? pt. 2 — F. READER x GOJO SATORU

So... it happened, you and your frenemy of ten years fucked and now, you have to deal with his shenanigans, idiotic pet-names and so. much. touching. The man took teasing you straight to his heart.

cw: smut, little to no plot, unprotected sex, Satoru being his usual teasing self, reader discretion is advised — 1,6k words

» PART ONE

"Fuck you, Gojo."

"Oh my, your mouth is so filthy," the man laughed quietly, squeezing your hip and pressing his hard, muscular body against your back under the guise of reaching for a can of soda that he could have easily grabbed without gluing his dick to your ass. His lips brushed against your ear as he added, "should I punish you for that?"

" Get lost," you snapped, pushing him away with your hips and he chuckled.

"I think I should," his grin widened. "You've been acting like such a brat lately. I wonder why would that be?"

God, how you hated him and his stupid smile. Ten years of knowing each other and still all you could think of when he opened his mouth was to break his damn nose. You thought he couldn't possibly get any more annoying than he already was, but he proved you wrong every time. It's been four months since the two of you had sex for the first time, and somehow that triggered another level of madness that you had to deal with while working with him. Endless supply of idiotic pet names, never-ending sexual innuendos, and so much touching now created the new veil around the usual bickering that has been going on for a decade.

"It's not me acting like a brat. It's you straight-up being an idiot," you scoffed, glancing around the crowded gymnasium at Jujutsu school. It was a special night; students and some teachers from Kyoto were visiting Tokyo, and the only reasonable thing to do was to throw a party to create bonds between the youths and just relax a little without the need for training and fighting. There was a little bit of that, as some of the students just communicate through their fists, but other than that it was almost an ordinary high school party, with dozens of ordered pizzas and fried chicken, snacks and sweets, plastic cups filled with various non-alcoholic drinks, and music blaring through the speakers. There was also a corner where teachers could sit and enjoy some chitchat, but most of the adults were responsible for keeping an eye on things. You were one of those supervisors, and so was Gojo, but of course, the idiot takes everything so lightly.

"So mean," Satoru chuckled again and took a sip of the melon soda straight from the can. "You know, there are other ways to get into my pants than acting up. You could just ask."

There he goes.

"Not everything is about you and your dick," you were that close to growling at him, but forced your composure back in line and your voice down. You wouldn’t want anyone to know about your little affair with him, or whatever the fuck that was. Yea, you fucked him... few times after the first one on his desk, but in your book few quickies wasn't enough to call it a romance. If anything, you felt like you were the teenager in this school, hiding in the various corners only to have some tension off, but damn, Satoru was good at releasing it. There was this thing where he bragged he was good at everything he did and you figured that sex was clearly one of those things.

"No, but since that thought is already in that pretty head of yours, shall we sneak out of here?" he purred, way too close to your ear and his large hand smoothed over the curve of your hip. You took a grip of his wrist, squeezing it with enough force to make him hum with a slight surprise that quickly switched back to his signature grin once you pulled him out of the hall and into the teacher's dormitory. Your door was first, and you unlocked it swiftly with a key, pulling him inside.

"Oh, so we're meeting at your place now?" he teased, but you shoved him against the nearest wall with no delicacy whatsoever.

"Shut up," you muttered, already working on the buttons of his light blue shirt.

"Eager, aren't we?" a chuckle rumbled inside his chest, but his hand betrayed that he wasn't so chill either, with how quickly he began to undress you.

And then, there you were again. Underneath him, in your own bed, leaving scratch marks across his back and shoulders as he's slammed his hips into yours, kissing every sweet and sensitive spot inside of you, burying his cock deep into the velvety heaven time after time. His mouth never parted from your skin, smearing hungry, wet kisses all over it, and you let your hand tangle in his hair as he sucked a spot onto your neck. A low, breathy moan escaped your throat as his movements became sharper, harder, driving you absolutely crazy with every push and pull of his hips.

"You're not gonna cry this time, are you?" he teased; his teeth nipping at the shell of your ear, but you couldn't care less about his taunting when he rolled his hips with such delicious finesse, reaching so deep inside you that your vision was filled with stars.

“Oh, shut up, Gojo,” you mumbled. Heat filled your entire system, every touch of his hands stinging with pleasure and lust, and the temperature rose rapidly as Satoru shattered his own composure.

The intimacy of your apartment unleashed even more wildness in him, he was less cautious about the surroundings, much more playful. All his attention was buried in you, he was vocal, moaning low and purring against your skin and lips. He gave into the surge of ecstasy that pulsed through his veins and the rhythm he set made him lose his mind as your pussy swallowed him whole. So lost in bliss, he didn't care about the bruises his grip on your hip will leave and the marks he sucked into your flesh. The subtle pain it caused only made your head reeling even more into the heated state of euphoria.

Satoru's hand fell between your bodies, quickly finding your clit and massaging circles into it, forcing a moan of his name from your throat. The sound was music to his ears, he wanted it on repeat. Your whole body tensed, pleasure began overtaking you and your orgasm was threatening to explode. You squeezed his bicep, clawing at the hard muscle and your breath stuttered. Gojo knew you were close, with the way your pussy throbbed around him, it was a clear cue and he picked up the pace, determined to bring you over the edge. Your trembling thighs and the desperate hold you had on his shoulders only added fuel to his fire and when your warmth exploded on his cock, leaving creamy white around the base as he pumped you through your orgasm, he felt himself close as well. His name slipped off your tongue like a prayer, whispered so beautifully.

"Look at you, such a good girl," he praised, licking your throat and chasing his own release with ferocity. The searing kisses he planted all over your chest and neck became sloppy and wet, and you felt the curve of his dick hitting your sensitive spots all over again as his thrusts became hurried, rough, and frantic. He collapsed onto his forearm, your plush walls squeezing him hard, and he moaned your name as the final string snapped, releasing the warmth of his load that slicked your insides, filling you so completely to the brim, and the sensation only untangled another knot of ecstasy in your stomach. Second orgasm washed over you, although weaker than the first one, but still overtaking your entire, hypersensitive mind and soul. It was too much, he was too much, too intense, overwhelming.

A satisfied smile stretched his lips, a light laugh escaped them as he rode the high out with slow and languid rolls of his hips. Satoru pulled away and then dropped onto the bed, barely making it to the spot next to you. He found himself lost in a haze of afterglow, but the excitement still surged through his veins. He was still hungry, unsatiated. All of this felt so good, it was almost frightening. And then you went again. And again, giving into the primal impulses and the intoxicating haze of desire and lust. The world outside your room faded into nothingness and only you two mattered. Nothing more than two bodies colliding, breaths intertwining and lips crashing onto one another.

As you lay down, facing each other, both sticky and messy in the aftermath of your adventure, you could feel the adrenaline wearing off, leaving your body sore and exhausted. His grasp remained at your waist, keeping you close to him. It was odd, it felt foreign and wrong to stay in the tender embrace of his arms, to share kisses so soft and intimate, and yet it felt right to be there with him. You let your fingers brush his cheek. Gojo in a state of post-bliss was a blessing to witness. His eyes heavy and hooded but still so blue and beautiful; his hair disheveled with some strands stuck to his forehead and his lips swollen and parted as he breathed slowly through them. His pale complexion still bearing the marks of flush, and there was none of his usual arrogant facade. Gorgeous.

"We're gonna get in so much trouble for leaving the party," you whispered against his lips, and he chuckled lightly. "That old Kyoto prick is gonna get pissed."

"He has no power over me," Satoru responded, stealing another kiss. All his focus was directed on your lips, you were the only thing on his mind right now.

"No one has power over you, Satoru," you smiled, biting his lower lip gently, and he could swear that his nervous system twitched in excitement at the way you spoke his name.

"You seem to have some," he admitted, giving you another peck and with a firm grip, he rose from the mattress with you in his grasp. "Shower. We're disgusting," he joked and you laughed, holding on tight as he made his way to your bathroom.

"Oh yeah, we are."

[occasionalsnippets]

I Read FD!Mc and I love them, awh, how cute, It is stated that FD!Mc is not a constant in the universe since thier alternate self didn't exist but what do you think thier alternate self woild be like if it did exist?

— 🦊 Anon

I did do a couple of little au ideas at the end of the outline but here’s elaboration of Wayne enterprises intern au!

Taglist:@dragondevinity, @lonely-star2044, @sheep-from-rad, @ilxandra, @thethingwiththefeathers, @star-wars-lycanwing-bat, @sackofsadstuff, @zonked-times, @paastaboi, @venfia, @fantasy-angelo, @linaisadream

You get an internship at Wayne Enterprises and it’s pretty great. It’s only supposed to last half a semester but then um. Jason died. The company went to hell for a bit, your supervisor transferred to another department and no one signed your internship annulment form. So, you’re trapped at Wayne Enterprises for the unforeseeable future.

Tim sneaks out one night and ends up becoming Robin. You had told him to wait for you but apparently you were taking too long so he left on his own. Ugh. Teen rebellion. You knew it was going to happen at some point.

The company gets less on fire. Mr. Wayne starts showing up again. It's summer and you are still working at Wayne Enterprises. Fuck you hate it here but at least you're still being paid.

You think that at some point, they just… forgot you were an intern? People keep giving you tasks. You keep doing them. You don't know who your new supervisor is or who to go to anymore.

Tim goes to you for advice on how to take care of a grown ass man. You tell him he should just let you into the Wayne manor so you can do it yourself but he thinks it won't go over well. Fine. Whatever. You help out in the background.

At some point, Batman starts getting better and Tim becomes Robin officially. Mr. Wayne, still pretending to be as ditzy as ever, mistakes you for someone else (an assistant or something?) and brings you along to a board meeting.

You dutifully take notes and watch him run circles around everyone else. At the end of the meeting, once everyone has left, he turns to you and asks "And who are you again?"

You give your name, no last name, and ask if there's anything else he needed. He waves you off. You can already tell he's going to stalk your employment history.

The new intern supervisor's contact information is buried under 62 emails and 5 link portals. You call so you can finally quit. They respond with "You've been promoted". "What?". "You're been promoted". "By who? When? For what?". "By Mr. Wayne, two days ago, to executive assistant."

You complain to Tim as you examine the case he brought back to you for help. He is entirely unsympathetic to your plight.

The things that happen after are mainly just shenanigans.

You know that they know that you know Mr. Wayne and co are vigilantes but in a "professional work setting", you are determined to never directly bring it up. If they want to talk about it, it will be over your dead body.

Later, when Batman gets lost in the time stream and Mr. Wayne mysteriously "retires". Tim breaks the news to you.

"Congrats, you've been appointed CEO."

"What?" you respond in horror.

"You're the new CEO." He's not even hiding his laughter.

"Traitor," you hiss at him as he breaks and laughs directly in your face.

[astralnymphh]

okay likeeee mom!ellie playing with the kid at the park or something and it’s just SOOO CUTE😭😭😭😭😭🙊🙊🙊

mom!ellie certainly has a chosen tote bag that has everything her child could ever need— it's slightly worn at the straps and probably has a hole struck through the bottom corner, but it's got charm! packs snacks, devices, stuffed animals, and other various styles of toys to show off. ellie wants her kid to be the coolest and most fun to be around, so she obviously brings some kind of mini drone— that she ends up fiddling with herself and accidently flings it into the nearest bough. and once that idea fails, due to her own shenanigans, she'll just cede her handy bag and belongings to you for the hour, "gonna go join 'em, since i brought my skateboard. love you babe, don't feed the pigeons without me— mwah." pecks you on the forehead and gives your shoulder the old reassuring pat–pat prior to her ass darting towards the main playset and maneuvering through the labyrinth that is playground construction. her converse screech on the tongue of a slide as she (unlawfully) climbs up to go and pursue her kid, only to get told off by some rule–abiding kid, or a literal supervisor, "shit, my bad! just trynna' find my kid! uh— ignore me!" and once she does find them, ushering them over to the outskirts of the woodchip filled area, she'd mess around on her skateboard (totally not to impress her kids' friends) pulling out the neatest tricks in the book before getting a tad too cocky and tripping over herself, button of her nose meeting the hard, rough edge of the curb. "fuck! ugh, shit— n't again— nope nope, you didn't hear that! i did not swear!" scrambles to get up; pushes onto her knees and notices the blotches of crimson freshly drawn upon the slate gray stone, dabbing the hem of her hoodie sleeve in without thinking. park day— without fail, routinely concludes in ellie trudging hand–in–hand with your kid, her dismantled drone, perfectly in–tact skateboard, and a nosebleed, which you selflessly oblige to clean up later, her head nestled in your lap as you dab a balled up tissue along the bridges of her nostrils, those dumb, out–of–it eyes blinking repetitively, rolling around the ceiling bounds, staring up at you, mumbling somethings along the possible translations of, "that was a good day, i think. y'know, next time you shouldn't—" points her finger up at you, "let me on that playset. could end up with a sprained ankle, and you'll have to carry me to bed.. how bad would that be? eh, actually, that sounds kinda—", "ellie. don't sprain your ankle, please."

DAILY CLICK . IMPORTANT TLOU POST . PALESTINE INFO

nosebleed in question:

[littlebigmouse]

List of Small Things™ I enjoy about Fullmetal Alchemist in no particular order

Everyone in FMAB/manga is just Some Guy™ and very human and I love that so here goes:

Falman getting stuck with a serial-killing suit of armor in his appartment for days and his reaction to it. It may have been weeks. He's been on sick leave the entire time. He's a guy in his early thirties with a flock of early-greying hair because being in a dead-end-role in the military is stressfull, ok. He gets stuck at home with a funny little serial killer (and eventually some foreign body guards, and a foreign prince?? lighting signal fires in his backyard?? like man what a week)

The whole military ambush against the Devil's Nest was yes, kind of kickstarted by the gang kidnapping Al for Greed, but it was mostly kickstarted because Ed was down south to do his yearly official report and Bradley and Armstrong just happened to be present when he was informed Al had gone missing. Greed's entire operation was done in by a teen doing his paperwork

on that note, Greed really decided to spend his immortality wisely by pursuing absolutely none of his supposed ambitions and just decided to settle down with a bunch of buddies. An offshot of the buddies he was initially made to guard, too. I don't think Greed is aware of this either

everyone on that radio building. The radio host 100% down to get some coup-shenanigans into his station to drive engagement. The guys sympathising with Mrs Bradley and taking care of her. Breda taking control of the narrative with a perpetual frown by the skin of his teeth.

I know the story of how the Bradleys met is technically not canon(?) but Mrs Bradley slapping her future husband upon their first meeting because he got his flirting tips from his siblings will never not be funny. Idiots. All of them.

EVERYTHING about Darius and Heinkel. They lost their jobs and became wanted criminals upon helping out some scrawny 15 year old. They have families they miss dearly. They haven't looked back since. "You guys don't HAVE to help me save the world" - "It's not like we have anything better to do"

i was going to say the Ice Cream Truck, because it's iconic, but actually, when told to disguise a vehicle, 15-year-old pinacle of edgelord fashion Edward Elric turned it into a colourful nightmare of spikes that barely resembled a car but might be closely related to the worlds deadliest parade float. None of this was necessary. Ed is just like that.

Hawkeye growing her hair out after meeting Winry, and Winry getting piercings after seeing Hawkeye's

Denny Brosh bursting into tears when he sees Maria Ross is still alive. Dude managed to not quit his job despite working in the same city (department?) where his best friend's killer was his supervisor. They were also very real for showing us that this is a guy who oversleeps and is older brother to at least three younger siblings. There was no need to give us more on Denny Brosh but every little detail hit so hard when they reunited.

okay so remember that time Ed and Ling ate Ed's shoe. Remember that Ed spend some time on a "deserted island" as a kid. Gluttony's stomach had nothing on him. Izumi raised some anime-ass boy-scouts. 100% Farm boy behaviour. These kids are so 15 it makes me want to bite things

immortal, soul-spliced dwarf in a flask got rid of his Sloth and still managed to procrastinate on his world domination plan until the last minute. Most Human disaster.

the entire half-episode they spend on Dr. Knox and his regrets and family. FMA is so good about humanising everyone.

everyone bullied Yoki because he was a small town fraud exploiting workers for his own benefit. Simply a jerk. He also hit Pride with a car in an epic rescue, and cried and screamed the whole way through

that one shot of a kid curiously poking a soldier they found bound on the ground with a stick

(I know it's technically not canon, but-) "I'm trying to save your life, asshole!"

Edward Elric

[syneilesis]

[fic] Slow Days

Slow Days

Love and Deepspace | Part of Airport AU | Xavier (Shen Xinghui) & Sylus (Qin Che) | 1.2k words | G | ao3 link

In which Xavier is also an immigration officer, your buddy, your pal, your partner in crime, and Sylus doesn't like him very much.

A/N: More airport au shenanigans! There's cameos of Rafayel and Zayne. Mentions of Sylus/MC!Reader. Xavier is being an absolute shit in here lmao.

Xavier empties the canned iced tea in one generous gulp as he watches Rafayel get flagged and escorted by customs officers for carrying what looks like a dazzling array of colorful powders encased in a wide medicine box. Tara passes by him and sees the commotion, coos a little, laments, “Just another day for our resident frequent flyer, I guess. I swear they could have just made Rafayel an exception to a lot of protocols.”

“He's not gonna sell the powders to them, is he?” Xavier says, then shoots the can at a bin fifteen paces away from him. It sails in a smooth, perfect arc before plunging in with a muffled thunk. Tara claps just once for the accurate throw.

“I bet he's gonna call his manager—what's his name?”

“Theodore?”

“Thomas. It's Thomas.”

Just then a flurry of passengers arrive and they both head onto their lanes.

A streak of dark blue and white materializes in Xavier's peripheral vision, and then he pivots to the far end of the aisle, where Nero is stationed and is currently doing nothing.

“Let's switch.”

Nero looks up and confusion fills his expression. Xavier waits for him to get up.

“But ... I'm assigned here?”

“You need more experience in dealing with foreign passengers. Let's switch.”

“But Supervisor Jenna said—” Then something catches Nero's eye and he suddenly pales. He scrambles to leave the counter and Xavier gives way. “Okay, okay, let's switch!” he says, running towards what is originally Xavier's station.

Beyond the queue of arriving passengers, Sylus, with his tall and imposing figure, sweeps his gaze around as if searching for something. Or someone.

Xavier exhales, a little terse.

When Sylus's eyes land on Xavier's counter, Xavier lifts his hand to give a casual wave, a polite smile following after. Even from such a distance he can see the way Sylus's mouth distorts into a repulsed sneer, his head tilting a fraction back.

It's a good thing you're not here, because Xavier is gonna have a little fun with this.

He pitches his voice loudly so Sylus can hear: “Flight crew in this lane, please.”

Sylus turns away and ignores him.

“Mr. Pilot, I'm ready to stamp your passport.”

Still ignoring him.

“Are you waiting for your crew? That's very nice of you today.”

He can feel the frantic glances his co-workers are throwing at him, and Xavier understands. It's unusual to conceive the notion that a group of immigration officers are intimidated by a commercial airline pilot, but here they are. Xavier supposes that Sylus does give off a kind of energy not normally associated with commercial airline employees.

Even the people falling in line are now glancing nervously at the man, who's still standing at the center, all knotted brows and increasing impatience.

Well, Xavier thinks, this won't do. There's been too many incident reports this past week; he's not letting another one add to the pile.

So he says, “She's not on duty today, sorry to break the news to you.”

Finally, that captures Sylus's attention.

“So can I stamp your passport now?”

A click of the tongue is his only response, but a few seconds later Sylus is striding towards Xavier's counter, the wheels of his carry-on a low burr against the tiled floor.

He slams the passport over to him.

“Her shift schedule won't change until next month,” Sylus says, gruff.

“Hm, you're right,” Xavier replies absently, typing some information on the computer. He's discovered that the key to getting under Sylus's nerves is to act all politely nonchalant around him while dishing out the most obnoxious things he can say to him—and that usually revolves around you. “She and I had already worked out our sched for the next six months, so if you want to know when she's available”—here Xavier goes back to Sylus and wears his most winsome smile—“I'd be happy to tell you. Okay, now look at the camera—thank you.”

“Why ask you when I can visit her personally after this?” Sylus takes his passport back and smirks at the frown Xavier unwittingly makes. “Also, I have her number saved so I can call her right now if I wanted to.”

“I don't recall her ever having mentioned giving you her number.”

And here Sylus's smirk turns vicious. “Oh, maybe she doesn't want you to know. I hadn't realized that it was our little intimate secret.”

There's a short pause before the emphatic 'intimate' left his lips, which Xavier assumes to be deliberate so Sylus can relish the moment he loses his cool. He won't let that happen, of course; he didn't read books on psychological warfare for nothing.

Xavier's about to comment on the non-existent intimacy Sylus has with you when somebody three lanes over screams.

“Oh my GOD it's Dr. Zayne!”

A collective hush silences the whole immigration area before it roars back up again, with several people whipping their heads around and others murmuring in confusion. A few counters away, Nero's and Tara's incredulous voices pierce the din.

“Why is Dr. Zayne here?! He's not supposed to be on duty today!”

“There's a lot of frequent flyers in this flight, it seems!”

Xavier twists his body to look—and there, indeed, is Dr. Zayne, glasses and medical coat and all, coming out of an office near the corner where the escalators that lead to the baggage carousels are.

Upon hearing his name, Zayne raises his head and sees the gaggle of people recognizing him across the hall. His steps falter for a quick second, but his seamless swerving towards the escalator covers that small blunder.

“Ah, he escaped,” Xavier says aloud, and in the background a disappointed 'aww' can be heard as an answer.

Sylus remains on his place, his expression very unimpressed at the recent unfolding of events. When he catches Xavier staring at him, that expression devolves into mockery, and then a smirk emerges.

“I can't wait to spend precious time with the kitten while you're still here working.”

Xavier tamps down the urge to reach for his phone. He plasters a bland smile and shrugs. Says, “All right. Thanks for telling me. I can't wait for her to share with me the details after.”

He grins when Sylus narrows his eyes at that.

“Oh,” he continues, “your crew are here. Why do they look all so haggard ...”

Sylus is no longer paying attention—he's already on his way to the escalators.

There's still time before the crew reaches his counter, so Xavier grabs his phone and fires off a text to a customs officer friend. A little inconvenience wouldn't hurt anybody, would it?

•

Thirty minutes later, and the area is empty of people once again, you stroll in with matcha chocolate ice cream on hand. You give it to Xavier.

“Hey,” you say. “Thanks for letting me extend my lunch. Did I miss anything?”

Xavier smiles, beatific, and answers, “Nope.”

[lightaflaem]

𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 [𝐨𝐧𝐞]

content warnings: heavy gore, zombies, infectious disease, mentions of blood, hospitals, cheating, profanity, violence, usage of weapons and guns, mental health problems, implied anxiety attacks, explicit smut, oral (f!receiving), fingering, protected sex

word count: 5.5k

summary: just when everyone thought that the flu-like virus which led to a global outbreak four years ago had finally settled down, a new variant struck that escalated rapidly and became out of control. with limited supplies and life at stake, you were left with no choice but to team up with your ex-boyfriend, oikawa tooru, to navigate and seek shelter.

keiya.speaks: this is an entry for @pixelcafe-network 's 2024 spooktober event 🎃

series masterlist | next part

You wished that all of this was just inside of your head.

You begged the ups that once you open your eyes, you’ll be in your favorite figs scrub suit, caressing your Beckman Coulter DxH 900 hematology analyzer, praying that the reagents would be enough for your hospital’s bed capacity as your laboratory supervisor forgot to place an order for this month’s supplies.

Or maybe wooing your Cobas e601, hoping that your quality control would be in the range of the mean so you would be able to run all your chemistry specimens smoothly. Maybe when you finally open your eyes, you’ll be back inside the laboratory, signing all your patients’ results as a Medical Laboratory Scientist.

However, when your eyelids unfolded and a baseball bat swung towards you that nearly grazed the tip of your nose, you were back in this stinking reality.

“I swear to fucking hell, Tooru, stop spinning the bat like that, you nearly hit me again!” you hissed, trying to avoid the piece of wood for the nth time. Your eyes caught a glimpse of the nip of skin that has been hanging around the bloody barbed wires wrapped around it for heavens knows how long and instantly, you felt your insides turning upside down, nearly throwing the acid of your stomach in disgust. 

“Aww, chibi-chan is annoyed, you’re too cute to be annoyed. You can’t be annoyed at me, darling. You’re stuck with me.” Tooru smiled, his eyes turning crescents while grabbing a few cans of easy-open tuna paella and throwing it into the creaky shopping cart.

You’re back in this reality where everyone around you has turned into a living dead—basically zombies. People might think that this is just a foolish tale told by someone like you however, it wasn’t. When everyone thought that the Corona virus that set the world into a pandemic four years ago had ended, well it hasn’t really ended that well yet.

A new variant mutated and current vaccines didn’t work that much into protecting the people. Eventually. Everyone started getting sick again and the cases doubled, tripled, and continued proliferating like hell. Hospitals were full of patients with flu-like symptoms and quarantine was implemented once again. With the lack of research and scientific approach, never have you ever imagined that the simple flu virus that was once contained will mutate into something more damned, something more hellish—and that is taking over its host’s nervous system and respiratory tract, owning it completely just like the mad cow and rabies disease. At this point, you didn’t really understand it that much because there’s a lot of factors and unknown elements. With that, the once feared virus has already taken over the world again but this time, much worse than the first one.

Two weeks since the virus has flipped Japan 360 degrees, 14 days of being stuck to survive with Oikawa Tooru, your ex-boyfriend. 

Shit happens for real, right? But when that menace, caramel-eyed, 6 footer guy who dragged his best friend, Iwaizumi Hajime, into his shenanigans suddenly showed up in your workplace with a bouquet of flowers 3 years after your break-up, you felt your blood boiling as the last thing you wanted to see is his face.

And another shit happens is that the very same day he showed his arrogant face to you, that’s also the day when the whole city went rabid and everyone suddenly started biting each other as the undead symptoms manifested in most of your emergency room patients. It was like a trigger that suddenly detonated, sending signals to all of the infected to attack.

That’s how you found yourself in an abandoned grocery, picking up some goods before you eventually hit the road to seek a temporary shelter while looking for a permanent one with your ex-boyfriend, who’s now taking advantage of the life or death situation to get closer to you once more.

“Phew, looks like we got everything we needed.”

Your gaze shifted to the items inside the cart. Canned goods, instant meals, protein bars, biscuits, some snacks, bottled waters that could probably last up to a few days depending on the consumption, energy drinks, basic medicine and first aid, batteries, ropes, some toiletries and personal necessities, and a box of condoms.

Box of condoms?

“Oikawa Tooru, you perverted sex animal!” you felt your face heating up despite the broken air conditioner kept on running, setting the whole area into freezing point.

Tooru was laughing his ass off as you picked up and threw the packets of rubber on his chest. He was bursting so much that he dramatically wiped his fake tears.

“We’re in the middle of a fucking apocalypse and you still have the time to pull shitty pranks just like that!” you exclaimed, face puffing in vexation. “If you don’t have a goddamn thing to do—”

“GRRAAAGH!”

“Fuck!”

A squeal leaped out of your mouth as you saw a flesh-rotting guy approaching Tooru from behind. It let out a deafening howl, echoing in the empty store. Its skin was pale, almost white with purple veins popping in its throat up to its face. The pieces of tissue that were decomposing and filled with maggots were falling into the floor, scattering everywhere. Eyes were bloodshot and scarlet red blood was pouring out of its mouth, approaching the both of you with speed. It can fucking run?! 

In an instant, Tooru secured you behind his back and gripped on the bat’s handle with force. As the raving undead approached, he swung the piece of wood with full strength, leaving a huge missing chunk on the man’s head as the muscle flew away due to the impact. Blood spurted out everywhere and you could see pieces of its brain being tangled in the barbed wires. It fell on the ground convulsing before becoming motionless, indicating that it’s already finally dead again.

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Tooru’s eyes landed on you, checking you from head to toe.

You were frozen in your place, still trying to comprehend what happened. It wasn’t the first time that you were attacked yet you could still feel your insides being scrambled whenever you’re placed in the exact situation. You felt like you’ll seriously never gonna get used to this scenario.

“Y-yeah, I’m alright. A-are you okay?” you questioned, meeting his brown orbs back. Tooru just laughed hysterically, pushing his hair back and settling the wood just above his shoulders.

“Of course! It’s the grand king after all.”

Piece of shit. You thought. He’s already 27 yet the silly nickname that he was given way back in his junior high volleyball days were still fixated on him. He’s a serious menace.

“C’mon, Iwa’s probably wondering why the hell we’re taking too long. As much as I wanted to say that we took this precious time to make out, I’d rather not.” he commented as he pushed the cart forward. You could see from his back how his gaze changed, sensing if there’s still a threat around you.

When the both of you exited the store, you were greeted by your two companies.

“Y/N! Are you alright?” Tobio hurriedly went towards you, examining your physical state. “We heard the noise from outside. We're ready to barge in, you know?”

“Oi. I’m here. Why didn’t you ask me too?” Tooru sniggered in annoyance as the black-haired man continued ignoring him as he was not existing at all. Of course, the former did not let it go and started a childish, rivalry eye to eye against each other.

It was just broken when Iwaizumi squeezed himself in between to check the items inside the cart.

“You guys forgot my snickers, you fuckers.” his forehead creased when he did not catch a glimpse of his favorite chocolate bar that he clearly instructed earlier. You mentally slapped your head as you realized it just now.

“Now Iwa-chan, this is not the right time to freaking enjoy a chocolate bar.”

“Shut the fuck up, you trash. I’ll stuff this cart into your mouth.”

“And I love you too, Iwa-chan!”

Both you and Tobio stood there with a facepalm on your faces as you watched the two best friends bicker with each other in the middle of goddamn ruins. Some people wouldn't be convinced that they have been friends since high school but they really are.

One of the few good things despite the catastrophe is that you somehow luckily ended up with the people you’ve already known. When your workplace turned into madness, Tooru and Hajime managed to pull you away from the crowd of insanity to hide and ended up escaping together safely to the hospital’s parking lot. However, little did the three of you know that there’s also a few undead lurking there. You felt the numbness taking over your body as you recognized some of them as your colleagues—Yamaguchi Tadashi, a nurse on the 6th floor and Sugawara Koshi, a pediatric resident. They were moving mindlessly, drool dripping on their lips as they no longer recognized their own self.

Before Tooru could drag you away from it, a familiar Suzuki Jimny in solid kinetic yellow stopped in front of you. The door flew open, revealing Kageyama Tobio, a phlebotomist and your college friend, screaming to the three of you to get inside the car.

And that’s how you ended up navigating the now ghost roads of Miyagi with these three. The first instinct is to drive to the government facilities in Tokyo to get help; however, it is nearly impossible to reach your destination when you’re unarmed, have no supplies, and do not know what terror lies ahead on those roads. Good thing is that there’s still electricity and water, however, cellular phone signals and wifi are now down so you couldn’t get any help through local authorities. With that, the three of you decided to stick with each other to gather and prepare everything you needed and move little by little at a time.

“Man, you seriously have horrible taste in color.” Tooru spoke to Tobio as he closed the door of his Suzuki Jimny, clearly provoking the younger one instead, all he received was a scoff, ignoring his remark.

“Tooru, stop it.” you berated your ex-boyfriend and blew you a kiss instead that made your eye roll heavenly.

In no time, you’re back on the road with Hajime driving, Tobio on the passenger seat, leaving you and Tooru in the backseat. Your itinerary for today is to find a house to stay in for a few days before finally driving out of Miyagi for good since the last house you went to got infested with undead.

Every night, you get nightmares from the images of the undead. Whenever you dream about it, it’s always detailed to the point that you could smell the malodorous odor of the rotting bodies. The terrifying screams were also echoing in your eardrums that sometimes sent a strike of headache on your head. But sometimes, you also dream about your life before all of this happens. Your happy life whom you’ve worked hard to achieve. Somehow, you managed to pull yourself together otherwise, you’ll lose your sanity and even worse, become one of the undead. However, you really don’t know how long you could still hold yourself in one piece.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Tooru managed to tickle your sides as your mind was hastily floating in cloud nine. You turned to him and saw his soft gaze locking on you. You noticed how his hazel hair that matched the color of his eyes is now cropped into a shorter one compared to its length when you were still dating him three years ago. He’s also wearing a graded specs now whom you did not recall him having one before. His pointed nose and chiseled jaw are now more prominent due to the weight and baby fats he lost. Arms and body became more muscular, skin got a little tanner than usual probably because of his training in Argentina as a professional volleyball player.

Tooru’s really handsome. He’s got the type of attractiveness where you’ll look over your shoulders to glimpse at him once again whenever he passes by. Despite his childish personality, he’s really kind and a gentleman that made him easy to penetrate inside the heart of his crowd. He’s got the aura wherein he can bring the best out of you when you’re with him. He's like the daylight you’ll see when you reach the end of the night sky.

Your relationship with him was stable. You fight but all the arguments are talked and reflected thoroughly. He always gives you whatever you want and need. Handles your tantrums very well and does not hold grudges against you or anyone else. He makes sure that he can show and make you feel all the love languages he could ever think of. He’s the best boyfriend and best friend you’ve ever had. It was so strangely stable to the point that you thought that he’s the one you’ll marry. However, when he accidentally left his phone in your apartment and you caught a glimpse of a contact with a picture of a girl asking if he had fun last night with her on his text messages, your dream of marrying him and being each other’s end game shattered.

He tried calling and chasing you for almost a week after that but you didn’t give him a chance to explain, knowing that only bullshit will come out of his mouth after he blatantly cheated on you just like that. After that, the only news you heard about him is that he’s flying to Argentina to turn his dreams into reality of becoming a professional volleyball player. He never tried contacting you again after that, not even once.

Three years later, he finally achieved his dreams as he’s all over the news as the best setter CA San Juan has ever had and now he’s suddenly back as if nothing happened between the two of you, alive and kicking. 

“Nothing, just tired.” you lied, not having any energy left to converse with him. You felt a calloused, warm hand placed above your left elbow, thumb caressing your skin. Your eyes flew and saw Tooru’s bruised and wounded hand attempting to soothe yours. “What the hell—”

“It’ll be alright, Y/N. I promise you. We’ll get through this, just like we always have.” he left out a soft yet reassuring smile before releasing your arm. You don’t know why but you felt like a hope ignited inside you. A sense of solace hit as you felt that Tooru never once had second thoughts in you. 

You find yourself erupting a small smile. There’s indeed hope despite the darkest times.

Standing in front of a 2-storey modern house, you clutched your baseball bat as you prepared yourself for a possible undead atack. It wasn’t that big but it’s enough for a family of three to live in. The exterior has a monochrome color palette with wooden doors and tinted glass windows that reflect your worn out states. It also has a balcony that has a few clothes hanging on the railing.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Hajime looked up at the towering building.

“I hope so.” Tobio answered, leading towards the door.

Slowly, Tobio twisted the automated door knob that surprisingly opened without any difficulty. The four of you exchanged looks, swallowing the balling lump in your throats as you set a foot inside the house. You were greeted by an eerie silence upon entering the abandoned house. It was decorated with lavish interiors and monochromatic palette, matching with the exteriors. The floor is made with oak wood and the walls are marble that added extra fire to the aesthetics. The second floor has a bathroom, one master bedroom, a guest room with two beds and a balcony that faces the streets. Overall, it’s a nice house and seems like the owner is well-off based on their residence.

Hajime and Tooru checked the second floor and found nothing but a few pieces of clothes that seemingly belonged to a man. However, inside the closet of the master bedroom, they found a leather bag of guns, ammunition and a copy of the firearm’s registration. You were not knowledgeable that much in firearms but you immediately recognized AK-47, M16, and the famous Smith & Wesson Model 27 that you once saw in the anime Banana Fish.

“Damn, so those really exist in real life.” Tooru made an exaggerated comment as the weapons were carefully being laid in the long coffee table by Tobio.

“We’re already in an apocalypse, you shithead. Guns like these are more realistic than this fucking hell situation.” Hajime retorted, blood is always boiling at his best friend’s idiocratic remarks.

“Let’s just keep these in one place and take it once we’re moving away. For now, let’s stick with our current weapons so we can utilize everything at once.” you proposed, earning quick nods from the boys.

“Ah, my darling is so clever! Come and give me a hug.” attempting to cage you in his chest, you quickly dodged your ex-boyfriend's arms and pointed the baseball bat a few inches away from his face.

“Don’t you dare touch me, Oikawa.”

“Why? You loved my touches. You were begging for my touch—”

“Shut it!”

You shused him by swiftly covering his mouth with your right hand. You could feel his lips twitching against your touch, eyes forming a curve as he smiled infuriatingly.

“Love birds, take your business upstairs. Me and Tobio will share the guest room, the two of you in the master bedroom so you can make peace with your demons. Don’t think of bitching up because I ain’t taking any shit today.” Hajime firmly said before grabbing the weapons one by one to store them in the small compartment under the coffee table. You felt your face being flushed with much embarrassment as the two guys witnessed your bantering. Tobio was about to appeal but he met the death stare of Hajime, making him pursed his lips.

You couldn’t even remember the last time you shared a room with your ex-boyfriend. The whole 14 days with him, you either get your own space or share a room with all of them. That's why your vital organ is now leaping so hard that it might jump out of your ribcage.

After arranging and dividing the supplies so that it can last for a few days, the four of you improvised a barricade on the door and covered the window so that you wouldn’t see the streets outside that holds a few abandoned cars, splurt of blood on the road, decomposing human pieces, and some bodies that are unrecognizable.

Seeing the first-aid kit that you grabbed earlier in the kitchen counter, the memory of Tooru’s wounded and bruised hand suddenly flashed in your mind. Without a second thought, you found yourself getting ice from the functional freezer and wrapping it in a clean cloth before wetting the piece of fabric so that the cold temperature could easily penetrate. In no time, you were now standing in front of the master’s bedroom, slowly peeking to see if Tooru’s awake.

You saw him sitting on the edge of the bed that is facing the door, clutching a polaroid film in his hand. His face is blank yet a void of sadness was swarming in his brown eyes as he sighed and kept the picture back in his wallet. Your lips parted as you recognized that he’s still using the wallet you gifted him on his last birthday before you broke up.

“Tooru?” you spoke, casually pushing the door. “Can I come in?”

He let out a chuckle. “Of course you can.”

With that, you slid your body inside the room. His eyes were fixated on you as you sat down beside him, placing the kit on your lap. Your hands were trembling as you reached for him, which he willingly lifted without any question, gently patting the iced towel on his bruises that he probably got from mishandling the baseball bat.

“Wow, never have I ever imagined that I’ll get a special treatment from a medical laboratory scientist. You know you can just kiss the boo boo and it’ll go away instantly.” he winked, making you roll your eyes at him again.

“Shut up. My treatment fee is really expensive for idiots like you.” picking up the disinfectant, you slowly rubbed it on the sides of the small cuts with a clean cotton ball, earning a winced from him as the sting penetrated the wound.

Tooru was silent the whole time you’re icing and dressing his hand. He knows that whenever you're doing something healthcare related, you don’t want to be disturbed as you pour your hundred percent concentration into it. He knows this better than you.

“You never gave me a chance to explain myself, Y/N.” he opened up when he saw you finished sealing the wrapped gauze pad around his palm. “At least let me explain this time. I cannot swallow the fact that we’re already in the middle of this goddamn situation and you still haven’t got the peace of mind you deserve.”

You could feel his stare burning at you. When you met his eyes, it was full of perseverance as if he’s not going to let you exit the room without listening to his explanation. To be honest, you really don’t know to yourself why you’re refusing to hear his side. Maybe you’re afraid of the confrontation. Maybe you’re scared of the fact that he cheated and he’s going to confess it in front of your face. Maybe you’re rejecting the reality that Oikawa Tooru did cheat on you with somebody else.

Gathering all your strength, you let out a deep exhale before speaking. “Give me a reason not to kick you out of this room.”

Tooru’s demeanor changed when he heard those words. It was hard for him to gain your trust once again after everything but if he’s given the chance, he will never let go and prove himself to be worthy of your heart once again.

“It was a prank.” he started, making your face puzzled. “It was a fucking shitty prank pulled by my teammate, Kindaichi. I remember him doing the same thing to Kunimi before but we all laughed it off since Kunimi’s single. I don’t remember when he did it but I think when I left my phone in the locker. He changed his number’s contact photo and name into a girl’s name. After that I went straight to your apartment. I seriously forgot the existence of my phone that day since we’re really having fun and I was late for my practice the next day. When Kindaichi heard that I left my phone somewhere, he texted it and that’s the part where you saw it and thought that I was cheating on you. I confronted him after that with Iwa-chan. That's why I know all of it and he said sorry. I never spoke to him after that.”

He let out a sad smile. “That’s basically everything. I tried contacting you, calling, messaging, and waited outside of your apartment for three hours but you weren’t there. I really wanted to talk with you because we both know that I’ll be leaving for Argentina in a few weeks but yeah, it happened and we can’t really change anything about it anymore.”

Tooru’s bandaged hands slowly made its way to yours, clasping both of his palms on your hands. “I’m so sorry that I let it go just like that. I know that I’m three years late but if there’s anything that I can do to make everything right again, I’ll prove it to you in any way you want just to trust me once again. Even as just friends…Y/N, you’re the best girlfriend and best friend I ever had in my whole life and thinking about everything that happened between us and how it ended just like that puts me in misery.”

Fuck. you thought. You don’t know if the world is playing with your vulnerability right now but after hearing everything, you feel like you’re stoned in your place. You feel like your insides are being scrambled and you wanted to vomit every single thing you ate for the last 14 days with him. All this time, it was a prank. A fucking prank that caused so much damage in both of your lives and relationship. A prank that made you lose your former significant other. And the most fucked up thing about it was you could’ve done something to prevent your relationship from crumbling down. It was completely in your control yet you let him slip away from your finger. If it wasn’t for your stubbornness, Oikawa Tooru is still your partner until today.

“Shit! Y/N, I—sorry! Fuck, please don’t cry.” Tooru panicked when he saw the pooling liquid in your eyes start streaming down your cheeks, eventually wetting both of your hands. You didn’t even realize that you were already a crying mess as you hollow your cheeks to prevent the pitiful sobs escaping your mouth.

With much fragility, Tooru enclosed your trembling body into a warm hug that instantly melted all the pain you’ve been feeling. You could hear your hearts beating together against each other’s chest.

“It’s okay. We’re okay now. I finally found you again. I love you so damn much, Y/N.” he whispered in your ear, right hand caressing your back.

After a few minutes of staying in that position, you finally calmed your hurricane. You pulled away, greeting his worried eyes with your puffy and red ones. Upon meeting his gaze, you felt your heart soften as Tooru’s caramel ones penetrated in yours. His lips formed into a small smile when he saw the way you looked at him.

He will never forget those doe eyes of yours. The very first time he saw your eyes, he instantly fell in love and he knows deep inside that he’ll keep on falling in love with you in every chance he gets. In every universe and in every lifetime, his heart only belongs solely to you.

Your faces acted on their own, slowly moving towards each other until your warm lips clasped with each other. The tension that was middling the two of you finally broke today. It started gentle, lips moving together in sync not until Tooru’s hand grabbed your jaw, lightly turning your face to the side to deepen the kiss as he explored the cave of your mouth that he hasn’t tasted for years.

You pushed yourself above him, finally straddling his lap and wrapping both of your arms around his neck as the innocent kiss suddenly turned into a heated one. Tooru would lie if he said that he didn’t miss all of this. The feeling of being intimate with someone that he hasn't given a chance after your break up because he doesn’t want to do this thing if it’s not with you.

Grinding yourself against him, you felt the growing bulge that was now poking your heated core. You couldn’t help but to let out a soft moan that made Tooru halt his action. It turned him on.

“Y/N, do you want to do this?” he asked, eyes now filled with lust. You nodded, wiping the corner of your mouth. You could feel your cheeks firing up as embarrassment crept in your soul for wanting him.

“Words, love. I need your consensual words.” he commanded you.

Despite the awkwardness you’re feeling, you couldn’t help yourself especially when you felt him fully erected under you. “Y-yes, Let’s do this.”

That’s all it takes for Tooru to gently place you in the bed and continue kissing your unattended mouth. His hands started roaming around your breasts, squeezing both of it tenderly that earned another moan from you. You felt him smirking against the kiss before he humped above you, aligning his clothed bulge that was restraining against his jeans and rubbing it against your clothed pussy.

It ignited a pool of wetness as you felt the hardness being rubbed in you.

“H-hgggh…Shit,” you cursed, eyes shutting from the luscious friction.

“Fuck, Y/N. I’m so hard for you.” Tooru said as he massaged your core with his hand. He felt the wetness leaking from your clothes that made him bite his lip in horniness.

He went down from his position as he pulled the hem of your scrub suits down, completely removing your bottom garment that revealed your wet panties. Tooru mentally cursed at his view. All he did was kiss and teased you and yet, you’re already a pooling mess for him. The way how your body reacts to you is driving him insane.

Slender fingers started circling around your clothed core that sent a jolt of pleasure in your body, making your back arch. Tugging the only piece of your bottoms down, he successfully removed the clothing swiftly. He was welcomed with your dripping pussy for him. He didn’t waste another second and devoured it hungrily, tongue nibbling your clit.

“Ahh!” you let out a loud moan as his warm muscle made contact with your pussy. He was licking and placing soft kisses before alternating it with sharp circles by his tongue. The way he glides his mouth against it was driving you in nuts, almost making you see stars.

“Shit shit Tooru, it feels so good!” you did hesitate to let out another moan when he inserted a finger inside you. When he felt that your walls adjusted to it, he slid another one before moving his digits in and out.

You don’t know what to feel due to the intense pleasure that was being thrown at you when he started scissoring his fingers inside. You felt like you could cum with just his fingers. Tooru’s eyes never left your sight and watched how you’re taking his fingers really good.

“F-fuck, Tooru. Please! I want you…Fuck me! I want to come in your dick,” you pleaded messily as you felt your stomach being tied in knots.

With that, he took his fingers out and started stripping his bottoms. His aching hardened cock finally freed itself and slapped against his abdomen. This wasn’t the first time that you saw Tooru naked and this wasn’t definitely the first time that you saw his member but shit, its length and size never fails to amaze you.

Quickly grabbing his wallet, he took out a piece of rubber which you quickly recognized.

“You really took the condoms earlier?” you asked, eyeing at the packet of condom that is now being torn from its packaging.

“Just a few pieces. For emergency.” he grinned as he slid the rubber on his dick without any problem. You laughed as you already expected that from him.

Positioning himself between your legs, he grabbed the shaft and started rubbing the tip against your pussy, almost teasing you. The damn idiot was smirking the whole time and slammed his dick inside you that made you yelp.

“Fuck! Tooru, what the hell?!”

“You like it rough, don’t you?”

He started rocking his hips slowly before picking a consistent pace that made him groan in pleasure.

“You’re so fucking tight and wet, Y/N. Fuck love, I love you and your pussy so much.” he said in between the thrust like he’s worshiping your whole self. You let out a chuckle that was replaced with erotic sounds as he started thrusting in a much faster pace. You felt your walls being stretched out but at the same time, it felt so good that his dick’s the one who’s stretching you out. Tooru found your g-spot in between the thrust that earned you a loud moan as the waves of electricity slammed your body.

“Yes! There! I-it’s so good! Y-you’re so good!” you moaned out as the same spot was abused by his dick repeatedly.

You felt that he’s nearing because his thrust became incredibly faster and impatient. His face was now grunting as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, lips parted in pleasure. Your stomach starts hardening as your core feels like it’s going to combust anytime. Your insides are tightening so much, indicating that you’re also nearing.

“T-tooru, M’gonna c-cum,”

“Me too, love. Me too.”

He replied incoherently, thrusting a few times more before pulling his member out, coming inside the piece of latex. You also released the coil that is forming inside you before he could even pull his dick out.

The both of you were panting so hard with your legs trembling and chest heaving. Tooru collapses on your top with a smile, kissing your lips once more before burying his face on your neck.

“I love you, Y/N.” he said, which made you let out a genuine smile.

Meanwhile, across the wooden door of the master’s bedroom, Tobio was standing with two cups of your favorite 3-in-1 iced coffee that was meant for you and him, right hand completely frozen on the doorknob’s surface as he listened to the alternating erotic moans launching from each other’s mouth while making love.

© lightaflaem. do not repost on any platform.

[thebirdandhersong]

Bobby's form: In the Fittes fic, Bobby joins Fittes last (there's a numerical error on Ned's form... he joins Fittes a few months before Bobby, but he joins the Kipps team after Bobby), so the application form has been updated and streamlined (my way of giving myself an excuse to not keep drawing, otherwise I WOULD'VE gone on forever).

Ned's transfer from Jansson's unit to Kipps's unit - in one of the later chapters, there's a Ned chapter about how he joins Kipps's team. This is part of the process: Kipps is asked to take Ned Shaw onto his team and he accepts.

The form that Lucy starts to fill out at Fittes. This has no bearing on the story. I just wanted to design a handwriting style for Lucy and play around with it a bit.

Lo and behold......... registration forms for the older set..... I used Word to create the forms, converted PDF -> PNG, and knocked myself out for two days, designing handwriting styles, drawing their child selves, and coming up with parent names, etc.

[beemochi-art]

Hello beemochi I hope everything going well.

2Q about Prowl and Jazz.

1Q, how are transformers born in your au? Does it have something to do with their Sparks (merging and creating a new life form)? Or is it more physically intimate? (No need to describe if it is intimate)

2Q, since Prowl was built and came online, he didn't have parents like Jazz did, correct? Who did Prowl consider as parents or family other than Jazz.

( my tf au there are several other ways that are complicated and sometimes brutal but we aren’t talking about that rn.)

1) For Forte-verse it’s simpler, there are two ways to get Sparklings, spark merging and through a allspark well. Spark merging is a form of physical intimacy. Interfacing is the cybertronian equivalent to.. well you know. ( honestly sex isn’t important to the shenanigans of forte-verse, if I do end up bringing it up it’s probably to make crude jokes.) not only does merging sometimes result in a sparkling but also two bots being Sparkmates. Interfacing isn’t required to have a sparkling but couples will do it while spark merging cause, hey why not.

Allspark Wells will create sparks that will eventually form into newsparks who will then make the journey out of the well and into cybertronian society, finding their own clan, guardians and families. That’s how it used to work at least. As cybertronians evolved they found more efficient methods of making bots for specific purposes. Companies would take ownership of wells and harvest newly made sparks. Then they could be put into development chambers to faster form into new sparks, the companies could manufacture their looks and upload what they are meant to do right out of the chamber. ( I liked this concept so much that it also applies in my other au but I go more into all that junk there too.) Of course they still need to develop on their own a bit into fully fledged adults and some skills would still need to be taught.

2) You are correct, Prowl has no parents. Unfortunately how he was made didn’t make it easy to find any either. It’s normal for new sparks to imprint and want to be close with older cybertronians, however the supervisors that would watch Prowl’s group were very mean and aggressive, they had no interest whatsoever in caring for new sparks, only training them because it was only their job. This would lead Prowl to trying to work extra hard to impress the older bots (never worked.) Prowl never got to view anyone as a parental guardian.

However Prowl did get very close to a couple of bots from his line. Smokescreen and Bluestreak are like family to him, they all grew up together. Smoky acts as the older brother type, though he doesn’t watch Prowl and Blue like a hawk like he used to, Smoky is much more comfortable now letting Prowl take the lead. He’s a big laid back teddy bear but has mastered to art of intimidation, all Praxins have.

( Fun fact: Prowl’s line are referred to as Praxins because the company they from is called Praxus.) Blue is the baby sister for sure, she’s a grumpy bug eyed weirdo but she’s just paranoid. She wants to make sure her family is being treated right, Blue can tell when they are getting taken advantage of. Even tho she is grumpy and kind of gloomy she isn’t super serious like Prowl and is a bit of a social butterfly.

Prowl is pretty independent and a loner but when Blue and Smoky are around he can’t help but hover and fuss over the two.

[redrobin-detective]

Listen, I'm not done on absolute batshit shenanigans with Lockwood & Co plus Skull.

Imagine this, its late at night, they're chasing down a dangerous specter. They come across an abandoned Night Cab, the driver likely fleeing the terror and decide to commandeer it. None of them are at the legal driving age in Britain and -despite all the laws they break - they are all very concerned about this. They turn to Skull who is being bounced around a plastic shopping bag because they'd been in a rush leaving the house. Not only is he a few years older than them biologically but he's also like, over a century lol.

He and Lucy bicker in the street for a minute while the others listen awkwardly to the one sided debate. Skull gives in so the five of them pile into the car and Lucy straps the half broken into the front seat with the belt across him. Skull - being a dead Victorian boy with NO idea how to drive a car or how traffic laws work but also an agent of chaotic evil - makes an absolute mess of driving.

The kids are screaming in the car as it speeds through the streets, skids through hairpin turns, probably runs red lights and breaks people's side mirrors on purpose. The police are on them before long, Lucy is hissing at Skull to just keep going even as the little shit puts on his hazards and pulls off to the side. Imagine you are the officer walking up to that dented, haggard looking cab.

It is positively coated in frost, one of the few visible signs of an active haunting. You peer inside to find 4 brightly smiling youths with grave dirt on their cheeks and rapiers across their laps. Agents, obviously but with no adult supervisor in sight. One darling, pretty girl bats her eyelids and asks is there is problem because they really are in quite the hurry. You look down to find the car is driving seemingly by itself, the wheel and radio dial turning on its own. There is an old looking, cracked skull buckled into the drivers seat. One girl in the back is grinning unsettling wide because she is the only one who can hear the skull explaining to the officer that he was just taking his children to the sacrifice pit to offer them as tribute to his dark lord. You decide this is well above your pay grade and wish the agents and their?? driver???? a good night. As they drive off, you decide its finally time to take up your brother's offer and move out with him to Australia. Britain just gets weirder every year.

[lovemyavatar]

STAR GIRL

| Lo'ak x F!Avatar Reader |

summary: Eywa isn’t supposed to choose sides. she maintains the balance of life. so, a question arises. are you worth saving?

warnings: descriptions of injuries, sibling shenanigans, protective mama Neytiri is kinda mean, this is super long but it was necessary

notes: we’ve got a slow burn, folks

dialogue in italics is Na’vi translated to English

before chapter two

Chapter One

Five Years Later

Pandora, in all it’s beauty and mysticism, is harshly unforgiving.

The land takes as easily as it gives. The People talk about maintaining a balance. They say Eywa takes no sides.

You beg to differ.

“Come on, Y/N!” A voice, hoarse with panic, shouts.

“I’m trying! What, do you think I’m just having fun over here?” A groan breaks the tension as you pull with all of your weight.

Your human body, admittedly, is not in the best shape. It’s to be expected, considering that these days you spend more time in your Avatar than your natural form. But right now, you’re regretting not keeping up with your movement routine.

Keeping your human body healthy and mobile has proven to be the key to performing at a high level in your Avatar. The two, however separate, are deeply connected. You’ve had to learn that the hard way.

The lab door slams shut with a loud bang as you finally manage to drag your colleague inside. She’s dead weight, unconscious and bleeding heavily from a large wound in her side. You rip the oxygen masks from your face and hers, letting them fall carelessly to the floor.

Something clatters and tumbles at your back. You turn, seeing that Meg, your supervisor, has shoved everything off the nearest flat surface. She rushes to your other side and the two of you hoist Sam onto the table. Tension and anxiety are palpable between you as you both take a few seconds to catch your breath.

Your eyes rake over the form before you, catching on the rapidly growing red stain near her right hip. Silently, you both jump into action. Meg runs toward the back of the lab while you spin around to grab the closest med kit.

It pops open easily and you rifle through it, an irritated growl filling the lab as you come up empty.

“Who the hell used the last Tylenol?” You shout to no one in particular.

Supplies have been dangerously low for almost a year now. Shipments from the main lab have been coming less frequently than ever before. And when they do show up, they have half the cargo you’re used to receiving.

Survival on Pandora has always been a challenge, but now, it’s nearly impossible. Medication in particular has become so scarce, you’ve had no choice but to develop your own alternatives from the moon’s resources.

It’s a bit of a passion project, if you’re being honest. You enjoy the work. Experimenting with the incredible flora surrounding you makes the hard days worth it. Not that you’d admit that to any of your fellow scientists.

Meg comes barreling through the narrow hallway, arms filled with medical supplies. Her gaze snaps to you, still digging through the med kit. It’s obvious in the way the light—the small flicker of hope in her eyes—fades away that she knows. She knows you have nothing.

She returns to Sam’s side and begins slicing her shirt open. With another frustrated grunt, you shove the useless med kit to the side and rush to your work station. You rip open the small fridge beneath your desk, grabbing a thin vial of bright purple liquid.

Nectar from the Healing Rose plant sloshes inside as you race to the other side of your station. You only have a few of these vials stashed. The essential liquid is very hard to find. The huge flower it comes from grows in heavily wooded areas. Otherwise known as areas you and your team try to avoid at all costs.

The locals are not a particularly welcoming bunch. It’s better for everyone if humans stay far away from their territory. Which, to be fair, is all of Pandora. But there’s been an unspoken agreement since the war between humans and Na’vi nearly twenty years ago. They’ve given humans these small spaces, the labs they live and work in, and don’t interfere. They expect that you all do the same.

It’s days like these, that you wish more than anything you could just talk to them. Days like these, when one of your own accidentally gets too close and pays the price.

You glance at Meg over your shoulder, catching the moment she sees the wound for the first time. She recoils, lips twisting with disgust and sorrow. You jerk back around, pausing for a moment to let your eyes close tightly. After a single deep breath, you continue your search.

You jerk a drawer open, fingers curling around a large, prickly Dapophet leaf. In two strides you’re back at the table, moving quickly to unscrew the vial of nectar.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Meg removes one hand from where it was applying pressure to the wound, gesturing for you to stop. “We have no idea what that shit will do to her.”

She’s right. Despite the countless hours spent curating natural remedies over the last several months, none had been tested on humans. On rare occasion, you’ve tried them on your own Avatar with some success.

“What other choice do we have?��� You barely recognize your own voice through the desperation.

You know it’s risky. These substances aren’t designed for humans. They’ve grown and developed on an alien moon, for its native inhabitants. Neither of which want you here.

But you’re running out of time. The neurotoxin laced arrow struck your friend nearly ten minutes ago. Her chances of survival are drastically dwindling with each passing second.

Meg gives you a hesitant nod of approval. You slide one hand beneath Sam’s head, using the other to part her lips and pour the vial of nectar into her mouth. Once you’re sure it’s gone down her throat, you move quickly to grab the Dapophet leaf.

It snaps easily between your hands, quickly coating your skin in a clear, thick goo. You waste no time in smearing it into her open wound. Several tense moments pass as you work, Meg watching in a frozen stupor from the other side of the table.

Finally, when you’ve covered the entire area, you step back. Your hands, now soiled with blood and organic matter, fall to your sides. You can only hope that the plants, both of which contain healing properties, work together to keep your friend alive.

Meg leans down tentatively, placing two fingers against Sam’s neck. After a few beats her face goes slack, eyes closing with a sigh of relief.

“She has a pulse.” She looks up at you, eyes glistening with moisture.

You fall back against a nearby work station, muscles going slack. There’s no promise she’ll survive, no guarantee she hasn’t lost any cognitive function. But for right now, you’d saved her.

For right now, Eywa was on your side.

Tiny speckles, invisible to the naked eye, dance across your vision.

You watch them twist and wiggle against the glass plate, as if trying to find a way out. The minuscule dots seem alive. They are alive. More alive than they should be. These samples, no matter how many hours spent staring at them, never cease to amaze you.

Every single piece of Pandoran flora you’ve studied shows signs of intelligence. Levels of intelligence previously unknown on a cellular level. It’s remarkable, as are most things on the moon.

You push yourself away from the microscope, running a hand down your face with a deep sigh. Exhaustion weighs heavily on your shoulders, but you can’t bring yourself to stop working. With another push, the wheels of your chair spin you in a slow circle. Your head falls back, eyes going unfocused toward the ceiling.

Another sigh fills the lab. You slowly rise to your feet, achy muscles protesting every movement. Still, you push on, making your way toward the back of the lab.

“Where ya going?” Meg doesn’t move from her position, hunched over a laptop at her own work station.

“I just need one more sample.” You say offhandedly, not even stopping to look at her as you enter the narrow hallway.

“Oh, no no.” You hear the scrape of wheels on the tiled floor and groan. Gentle hands grip your shoulders, stopping you. “We’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“Come on, Meg. I’m gonna be staring at this stuff all night.” Your plead with her, eyes darting up to meet hers.

Her face softens and she lets out a sigh, head falling forward. You both know you aren’t asking to get a sample. You’re asking for a moment of peace, a moment of reprieve from the suffocation of the lab.

Your skin feels too tight, too dry. You’re jittery, fingers twitching and legs bouncing. Despite the fact that you could fall asleep standing up, there’s a pent up energy within you that’s begging to be released.

You feel all wrong, the weakness of your human body a constant reminder that out there you’re something more. Something greater. After the day you’ve had, you just need to feel it for a little bit. You need to feel like yourself again.

“Fine, but you have to go now. A big storm is coming in.” She finally concedes and you jump up with excitement, a grin splitting your lips.

Not even five minutes later, you’re strapped into the link pod. Meg pushes a few buttons to your left before leaning over the open door.

“You have one hour. Not a minute longer. Got it?”

“Got it, chief.” You give her a mock salute and she rolls her eyes with a chuckle.

The door closes with a click, and you’re off.

A giggle bubbles in your chest as you jump over a fallen log, the ground beneath your feet bursting with light as you land deftly on the other side.

You practically skip through the dense forest, eyes locked on the earth to watch it come to life. It’s one of your favorite things about Pandora, the way every single aspect of the moon is it’s own life form. Even the ground, hard and unforgiving, is beautiful.

Your arms stretch outward as you balance on your toes and spin. The large, thick leaves surrounding you feel smooth to the touch as your fingers slide along them. A trail of light glitters in their wake, your gaze tracking it the whole way.

The sun hangs low in the sky, and you know it’s almost time to return. The thought alone makes your stomach drop with disappointment.

Without warning, something plops on the top of your head. It tilts back, a lazy smile pulling at your lips when a flurry of raindrops dot your skin. They’re cold, leaving tiny pricks of sensation along your face.

Another laugh fills the otherwise quiet forest and you spin around again. All tension melts away from your muscles and you finally relax for the first time in days. You can only last so long in your human body. You’re like a ticking bomb, stress only growing the longer you’re away from your Avatar.

Finally being out here, being free, is a much needed release. But it always has to end.

When the rain picks up, you decide it’s a good time to head to the lab. The sun is setting quickly and like Meg said, the incoming storm is supposed to be a big one. Dark clouds blanket the sky as you jog back the way you came.

Within minutes, it’s pouring. Harder than you’ve ever seen it. Huge, fat raindrops drench your clothing and fall into your eyes, making it difficult to see. Fingers swipe over your face repeatedly, but it does little to help.

A rushed pace carries you through the forest, but the earth is just as soaked as you. With each leap or duck, your balance is tested. Despite this, you break out into a sprint at the sound of thunder rolling nearby. One arm moves up to shield your face while the other bats away any foliage blocking your path.

Darkness looms overhead. The bioluminescence surrounding you isn’t nearly enough to light the way, but it’s all you have. After several minutes of frantic—and mostly blind—running, you must be close to the lab.

Your legs slide forward as you come to a halt. A pained grunt falls from your lips as you crumble into a heap on the forest floor. You look up, arm still acting as a makeshift umbrella, and freeze.

There’s nothing in front of you but dense trees.

“No, no.” You mutter, head jerking in every direction to confirm your worst fear.

“Shit!” Your panicked voice echoes through the forest.

You’ve gone the wrong way. Despite taking this path countless times, you somehow got turned around and now you’re even further from the lab. And dangerously close to Omatikaya land.

Thunder rumbles the earth beneath you, louder than before. Only a few seconds later, a bolt of lightning cracks across the sky. All you can do is watch in stunned horror as it comes right toward you. At the last moment, you duck against the mossy ground, rolling into the fetal position.

A deafening bang makes your ears ring painfully. Something cracks and splinters loudly. You peer up through your arms, eyes widening at the sight of a tree, only a few yards away, bursting with flames.

It towers higher than you can see, split in half by the impact. The heavy leaf-filled top angles toward you, quickly plummeting to the ground. You scramble upright, slipping a few times before catching your feet.

You don’t stop running for several minutes, heart slamming in your chest so hard it hurts. Trees fall, animals cry out, and rain continues to pound against your skin. For a moment you’re blinded by it all as you desperately climb to higher ground. Something snags against your ankle, easily tearing the flesh and knocking you off balance.

And just like that, you’re falling.

Breath lodges in your throat. Instinctively, your eyes squeeze shut. Your arms wrap tightly around yourself, hoping they will protect you. Your stomach flips violently as vines and branches slam into you on the way down.

Then, you land. You fall unconscious instantly, the moment your head slams against the forest floor. The surrounding area stills as animals scatter. Rain splatters over your body, limp and curled in on itself.

Nearby, a cluster of woodsprites floats serenely through the storm. They seem to take an interest in you, gently wafting in your direction. One by one they find a location to land, until your entire body is covered.

At this moment, it’s as if Eywa herself makes a decision. It’s as if Eywa herself guides your queue, as it tentatively moves to intertwine into the very earth beneath you. Another bolt of lightning strikes the ground, only feet away. The forest floor illuminates brightly, casting a beacon up toward the sky.

Your body spasms before falling limp once more.

“I’m not lying!”

Slowly, sounds of the forest filter into your ears. It’s gradual. First, everything is muffled as if you’re underwater. You wonder for a moment if you are underwater, but a shaky breath confirms the opposite. Your head lulls to the side, eyes squeezing tighter against the bright sun above.

“Isn’t that what a liar would say?”

You drift into unconsciousness again, only to be promptly reawakened as something jostles your side.

“Bro, watch where you’re going.”

“I’m serious, I know her!”

Your brow furrows with confusion as you try to piece together the conversation happening around you. So far, there are two voices. They’re speaking Na’vi, but your trained ears easily translate the words.

“What are you talking about?” A new voice asks skeptically.

“Nete, remember when we were kids, we stayed out too late and we had to tend to the Ikran for two weeks? When I saved that girl? That’s her!”

“That literally didn’t happen, Kiri.”

Kiri? No, it can’t be. You perk up slightly, willing your eyes to open. They don’t cooperate and you’re forced to listen blind.

“Shut up, idiot. It happened. And she’s right here to prove it!”

A searing pain ignites in the back of your head as you jerk to the side again.

“You were just having one of your episodes, spacing out and telling stories like always.”

A growl that sounds distinctly like a warning cuts the steadily building tension. “Lo’ak.”

There’s a quiet scoff before silence falls over the group. You realize then that you’re laying in something. It’s huge and rough against your skin, and shelters you from the ground as you’re dragged against it. You wiggle your fingers, but immediately stop as pain shoots up your arm. One of the voices grunts and you’re jostled again.

“Her clothes are weird.” Another new, younger voice chimes in, breaking the silence.

“Dad is going to kill us. I don’t even know why we’re bringing her back.”

“She’s hurt.”

“She’s a Dream Walker. Oh, Eywa. You’re dealing with mom.”

As quickly as you’d come to, you fade away again.

You’re like nothing he’s ever seen before.

The structure of your face is not entirely Na’vi, but not outwardly human. He can tell, even with them closed, that your eyes are too small for your face. Your nose, although covered in bioluminescent freckles like others in his clan, is narrower than it should be.

Even from his position across the tent, he notes the small hairs that frame your brow bone. His soft gaze trails from your face to the slow rise and fall of your chest before finally catching on your hands.

You look like him. Like his dad.

Demon blood. Half-breed. Freak.

Avatar.

The Avatar program is something he knows of only in stories. A long forgotten mission that ended before his birth. He’s heard countless tales of his dad’s time as a Dream Walker, but it’s the stuff of legend. Not reality.

They aren’t supposed to be here anymore.

Aside from the few scientists who stayed behind after the war against the sky people, he’s never met another Avatar. He’s definitely never met one his age. When she patched you up, his grandmother and Tsahik of his clan, Mo’at, estimated you to be around twenty. Or, your Avatar to be twenty.

His lips purse in thought as he wonders what your human form might look like. How old you really are. And if it—

His back straightens at the sound of stirring across the tent. It’s the first movement you’ve made in hours. He’s instantly rigid, muscles taunt as he swiftly draws his bow.

Pain is the first thing registered when your consciousness drags itself to the surface. A groan fills the quiet space, limbs twisting to test your range of movement. First, wiggling your fingers feels okay. Moving your arms is tolerable. Your legs, however, are nothing but razor sharp soreness.

Your eyes peel open slowly, fluttering a few times as they adjust. They’re met with darkness. Not true darkness, but the in-between twilight you’ve grown to expect from Pandora. Whatever you’re laying on is firm. With a wince, you shove your elbows into the stiff surface. It takes several seconds to muster the strength to push yourself upright.

By the time you’re finally semi-vertical, you nearly fall back down at the sight before you.

A tiny, startled gasp fills the tent. The shaky inhale is barely perceptible, but his ears twitch at the sound. The way your chest rises and falls quickly stirs something within him. He feels a tug in his chest as he watches your eyes widen with fear.

Slowly, he lowers the bow.

His eyes never leave yours as he peels one hand away from the weapon. His thumb presses into the microphone wrapped tightly around his throat.

“She’s awake.”

You try counting your heartbeats. They’re way too fast, but you can’t seem to catch your breath. Despite instinct telling you to take in as much of your surroundings as possible, you can’t look away from the man in front of you.

His stare is hard to read. It’s cold, but curious. Harsh, yet rimmed with softness and depth. His large yellow eyes don’t waver from yours. He’s lowered his weapon, but it still sits at the ready across his lap.

Not more than a minute later, a whole hoard of Na’vi file into the room. You begrudgingly tear your gaze away, attention briefly jumping to each newcomer.

First there is a woman, slender and graceful in the way she moves. She regards you with a snarled lip and hard glare. A man follows closely behind, hands clasped tightly behind his back. He tips his chin in scrutiny as his eyes rake down your form. A child hovers at his side. She avoids you entirely, her face smooshed against his thigh.

A girl is next, and when you see her, your back stiffens with recognition. It’s Kiri. The girl who saved you all those years ago. She’s older, of course, but those large kind eyes are unmistakable. Your heart rate skyrockets once again.

So, you weren’t hallucinating earlier. She was part of the group that brought you here. Your gaze flits back toward the others in the tent, wondering if the voices you heard belong to them.

The final figure steps into the tent, and a swallow catches in your throat. You choke and sputter out a few coughs, all eyes snapping in your direction. Your hand moves up to soothe the spasming muscles and you offer what is hopefully a friendly smile.

After your encounter with Kiri nearly five years ago, you’d become obsessed with the Omatikaya people. Every moment of free time has been spent studying them. Their culture, beliefs, language, and traditions. You’d researched until your eyes crossed with exhaustion and still, it wasn’t enough.

Your favorite story was that of Jake Sully. Human turned Dream Walker turned Toruk Makto. The current Olo’eyktan of the Omatikaya people. A widely revered warrior who guided the Na’vi to victory in their war against the humans two decades ago.

And he’s kneeling right in front of you.

“What’s your name?” He speaks in English, voice surprisingly tender.

You realize he’s just assumed you don’t understand Na’vi, but you don’t mind keeping it that way.

Your mouth opens and shuts for several long beats. If you’re being honest, you’re a bit starstruck. This guy is a legend. A fierce leader. You’ve read so many things about him, even watched some of his early video logs.

You finally manage to squeak out your name quietly, throat dry and hoarse.

He nods encouragingly and adjusts his weight beside the bed. “What are you doing here?”

That’s the golden question, isn’t it? You know what he means, though. He isn’t talking about your presence on the moon. He wants to know why you were on his land.

“I was…” You spare a glance toward the room, but instantly jerk your attention back to Jake at the sea of judgemental eyes staring back. “I just got caught in the storm.”

“You from a lab?” A simple nod is your response, to which he hums under his breath. “Which one?”

“Ma Jake…” The woman behind him suddenly hisses in warning.

As he stands and turns to face her, you take a moment to look closer. You realize she is Neytiri, wife of Jake Sully. She’s fiercely beautiful, a dangerous sense of confidence oozing from her firmly squared shoulders. She’s a formidable force, with a fearsome reputation rivaling her husband’s.

“You know she won’t survive the night on her own.” He speaks quickly in Na’vi, a tired sigh leaving his lips as if he knows how she will react.

She hisses with displeasure, head jerking in your direction although her hard stare doesn’t leave him. “That is not our problem. Demons are not allowed in this place.”

“Sweetheart, she’s a scared child. Look at her. What kind of damage could she do in one night?”

“All they do is damage. She will find a way.”

Your gaze shifts away from the pair as they continue bickering. First, you find Kiri’s eyes. She holds your stare for a few seconds, hers swimming with recognition and something else. Something darker. She crosses her arms tightly and looks away with a frown.

Your brow pinches at her curious reaction, but you try not to take it personally as your attention moves to the two older boys flanking Neytiri’s sides. One of them clearly resembles her. They share the same slender build, down to the delicate structure of their faces.

You realize quickly that these must be their children. It would explain the way Kiri’s physique resembles an Avatar’s more than a native, considering Jake’s genes. A quick glance at the other Na’vi in the tent confirms that one of the older boys shares your Avatar traits as well.

The Na’vi on Neytiri’s other side is a spitting image of Jake. He’s still looking at you. You can feel it. Can feel the burn of his gaze as it tracks every one of your slight movements. Your eyes meet his, breath hitching at the intense heat behind his stare.

You have to look away after only a few moments. For some reason, your heart is threatening to beat out of your chest. With your attention now on the floor, you tune back in to the conversation still going on around you.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“Ma Jake…” Neytiri reaches for him, but he silences her with a shake of his head.

“It is decided. Neteyam, you will—”

An irritated scoff fills the tent, and all eyes swivel to the boy who moments ago held your attention. Jake drops his chin, brow raising in silent challenge.

“What? I didn’t watch her hard enough?”

He knows it’s immature, but he can’t help the resentment that swells inside his chest. Neteyam, the perfect son. Neteyam, the perfect soldier. He never fails to get exactly what he wants. And him? He’s always left in the shadow of his older brother’s greatness.

“Lose the attitude, Lo’ak.” Jake simply frowns at him before moving on.

Lo’ak. You repeat the syllables in your mind several times. His name is Lo’ak.

“As I was saying. Neteyam, you will show her where to sleep. Understood?”

The boy, Neteyam, nods without hesitation. “Yes, sir.”

“Such bullshit.” Lo’ak mutters, mostly to himself.

“Take that tone again and you’re grounded for a week. You read me?” Jake’s voice sharpens to a hard edge you haven’t yet heard. He points a threatening finger in his son’s direction, brow creasing with displeasure.

Lo’ak’s ears flatten against his head as it lowers under the weight of the admonishment.

“Yes, sir.” He grits the words out, jaw tense.

Finally, Jake turns his attention back to you. He clears his throat, casting one last weary glance toward his family. “You can stay here for the night. In the morning, we will help you find your way home. My son, Neteyam, will show you where to sleep.”

You nod appreciatively, nervous to look away from him. His gaze is kind, unlike the rest of your visitors. “Thank you.”

With that, everyone starts to disperse. Kiri’s eyes linger on you for a fleeting moment as she guides the youngest from the tent. You test your limbs again, cringing against the intense soreness of overworked muscles. It feels like you’ve run three marathons back to back.

Just as you wobble shakily to your feet, Neytiri speaks again.

“Neteyam,” He turns to look at her, finding her hard stare pointed directly at you. “Watch her. I don’t trust these demons.”

He nods in understanding and gestures for you to leave the tent. You swallow down the remaining uncertainty and follow his lead. Exhaustion pulls at your insides, so strong you could fall asleep where you stand. You have no choice but to accept Jake’s offer.

The second your Avatar falls asleep, you’ll wake up in your human body anyway. The sooner that happens, the sooner you can assure Meg that you’re fine. And try to convince her not to kill you.

Neteyam moves quickly through the village. You keep your gaze trained on the ground, because you know the second you take in the vastness of Home Tree, you won’t be able to sleep. The scientist within you will demand that you spend the night studying the massive structure.

Your tired muscles struggle to keep up as he weaves through tents and hallowed out alcoves. He doesn’t glance back once, simply expecting that you’ll still be there behind him. There’s movement in your peripheral vision and you know that people are staring. You just keep your head down and stay as close to Neteyam as possible.

You follow him up two levels of branches, finally landing on a large canopy of hammocks. At least a hundred intricately woven hanging beds wind all the way around the tree’s massive trunk. Neteyam points toward one wordlessly as you struggle to catch your breath beside him. He’s completely composed, not the least bit taxed by the journey.

Your eyes fall closed, and after a deep breath of courage you leap from the branch into a hammock. The whole thing sways and you desperately hang on, freezing on your hands and knees. Once it settles, you slowly and carefully lay down, shakily falling into a tense position on your back.

“Thank…” When you turn, he’s gone. “You.”

A sigh leaves your lips. You shouldn’t have expected anything else. You know you aren’t welcome here, and the only reason you have a safe place to sleep is that Jake Sully was once like you. If he wasn’t the Olo’eytkan, you’d be dead already.

Within seconds your heavy eyelids fall closed. You’re so exhausted, you couldn’t keep them open if you tried. You hope Meg won’t be too mad at you, the last thought that crosses your mind as you fade in and out of consciousness.

Only a breath later, you fall into a restless sleep.

taglist:

@bajadotcom

[fuck-customers]

🌠 I have a fun story. Some of this was filled in by a relative of mine who works upper management.

Where I work, we have this employee. She's a bit of a jack-of-all trades but seems to choose to stay on the bottom rungs, since she'd honestly not thrive in higher management positions. I'll call her X. X is pretty introverted, quiet, kind and above all, willing to help.

Our door greeter has some hang-ups and inconsideration they won't work through, so they call out very often. (Boss won't fire them because they are elderly.) X was always the first to offer to take their shift. Did our forklift guys need a spotter? (The guy they used to have walked out one day.) X is on it, no questions asked. Does a customer need an employee to help them shop? X is there! X has covered more of my shifts than I can count, due to personal life issues.

A lifesaver and a sweetheart. We all were inspired by her and also branched out to help, sometimes.

Despite how nice she is, X takes bullshit form no one. One day, one of our main supervisors got a position changed and some asshole took their place. This asshole seemed to hinge a lot of their projected success on what they perceived as X's submissiveness. Well, X felt disrespected by every interaction, it seemed. She always denied this jerk.

He'd demand X do something. "I'm sorry, that is not within my responsibilities as a cashier. If my responsibilities have changed, I would like to see a notarized and documented form that bares my signature before I take on other tasks." Honestly, to-a-T, brutal compliance of business shenanigans.

Well, Jerk got mad she stopped being so complicit and, one day, confronted her on her "behavior." Other employees, myself included, recorded him yelling at her while she looked unmoved and unbothered. When he was done, he shouted. "You do all of this for anyone else! Why not me?"

X was quiet for a long time. "You didn't treat me like a person when you bullied me in high school, and you still don't now. So why would I?"

Y'ALL, I WAS FLOORED. He was her high school bully and her revenge was not doing anything beyond her contracted job to help him, KNOWING HIS SUCCESS HINGED HEAVILY ON HER.

He was about to snap again, but saw we had cameras pointed at him. His face was red, he looked like he realized something.

"I don't remember that."

"Yes you do. Leave me alone, please."

Then, he didn't ask her to do anything. When he's wasn't scheduled, she goes above and beyond. But X didn't do a god damn thing for Jerk. He couldn't look her in the eye anymore. And honestly, good for her. Our store will never fire her; she knows too much and is too helpful, and she's the highest paid cashier after all her raises and such.

His "projected" productivity suffered since all of his promotional promises hinged on the cashiers being willing to help him with tasks outside of their job. We'd help if X did. She stopped so we did, too. One day he stopped showing up as our supervisor. Our new supervisor told us he'd taken another position.

X is a badass.

She eventually quit and took up her true passion, which was coding and programming. I still text her and we play Balder's Gate together. I love her to bits. She even said she'd teach me some code stuff and see if I can't work with her and her company... Wish me luck!

Posted by admin Rodney.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Dear Dire Crowley,

I am writing this letter in advance because there are responsibilities which you so graciously dumped on me I have to tend to. But I am in desperate need of your help.

You see– you haven't given Grim or I the allowance that you promised to hand us for school supplies and other basic necessities. Although I have been saving up to repair some of the damages *the kitchen sink keeps leaking, the floorboards are creaking, the water pipes are not piping* to make Ramshackle more comfortable to live in, there were urgent matters in the school *totally has nothing to do with some nasty students* that cost us madols/thaumarks.

So oh-so-kind and benevolent Headmage, could you please give us our allowance? I know you are incredibly generous and I promise I will continue to actively work hard on my schoolwork AND meet your high expectations. I will deal with all the crazy shenanigans that the NRC students are up to. I will deal with EVERYTHING even the constant overblots you claim are rare.

From,

Your tired and desperate Ramshackle Prefect/Supervisor: A Shrimp!Yuu

Enter; An Unkindness of Ravens.

The mail ghost had dropped off a letter for you in the morning. Pitch black, with a glossy sheen, reminiscent of a raven's feathers. You broke the golden wax seal bearing Night Raven College's emblem and opened the envelope.

Your heart leaps and seizes in your throat.

It’s correspondence from Crowley.

Dear Prefect,

I hope you are doing well down in Ramshackle. The other day I happened to pass your lodgings while on an errand rushing to aid in an emergency in the Alchemy Labs. My, hasn’t the building been spiffied up! The dorm that was once destitute and in disarray is no more. I hardly even recognize Ramshackle without all the leaks, creaks, dust bunnies, inconsistent electricity, and busted water pipes exceedingly rustic charm.

I’ve heard that many of those that temporarily stayed at Ramshackle for the VDC training camp donated their second place earnings toward its renovation and refurbishment. Isn’t it wonderful what the power of friendship can do for oneself? When you so generously give to others, they will give back a hundred-fold.

I have, of course, taken this important work you do for our Night Raven College into account when calculating your monthly allowance. However, let it also be known that I have also taken note of your new living situation—which is significantly different from what was originally provided for you and Grim-kun. These new accommodations take quite a bit of upkeep. Working water, electricity, wi-fi… those amenities do not pay for themselves!! Therefore, I will have to deduct a portion of funds and redirect those to pay for the newly renovated Ramshackle dorm.

As requested, enclosed is your allotted allowance—meant for your school supplies, living expenses, and other necessities. Do not spend it all in one place, and please do keep doing your urmost to meet my expectations!!

Sincerely,

Dire Crowley

Headmaster of Night Raven College

You closed the note and peered into the envelope it had arrived in. It didn’t feel very thick with cash, but perhaps there were some substantial notes tucked onside. So, inverting the envelope, you shook vigorously.

Out drifted a few thousand thaumarks and a flashy coupon. “500 thaumarks off one item of your choice!” shouts the bombastic text upon it. You recognize Sam’s funky scrawling letters, the colors of the Mystery Shop.

The money and the slip of paper drifted to the floor at your feet. You stared blankly at the pathetic trove. Thinking that you must be mistaken, you checked the envelope again—but alas, there is nothing more left to reap.

Trembling, you squatted down and hurriedly collected your bounty. As little as it is, it was still something.

The reassurance did little to quell your undulating emotions.

You crushed the meager amount of thaumarks—and your 500 thaumarks-off coupon—in your hand. Taking a deep breath, you unleashed all of your pent-up frustration in a single roar, shaking your fists at the skies.

“Curse you, C-r-o-w-l-e-y…!!”

Your voice carried across NRC and up to the headmaster’s office, where he happily scribbled away at a contract. Beside him was a platter piled high with sweet treats and baked goods.

(“Certainly NOT purchased with money pilfered from school funds!! Why, that’s embezzlement, which is a grave crime,” he would scoff if you asked him about it. “I work hard to earn my keep; I deserve to spend my wage as I like, fufu.”)

“Ah, I see that my charitable gift has finally reached its recipient!” Crowley hummed. “Good, good. May the Prefect put their money to use, just as I have.”

With that, he sunk his teeth into a tea cake and drifted off on a cloud of sugar and butter.