#team up booster box opening

[yojeongin]

DON’T BLAME THE LOVECATS — 14: LA FUERZA DEL DESTINO

→neighbor!jaemin x neighbor f!reader

genre: social media au, neighbors au, fluff, angst, enemies to friends to lovers, humor

synopsis: you and jaemin are only meant to get along for the sake of staying there so why was his pandora box opening the more and more you two got closer? he wasn't strong enough to keep it shut.

wc: 2.8k+

an: I thought this was cute... pls ignore any typos on the pics.

m.list | previous | next

Jaemin expected many things in life unlike you who didn’t. But what neither of you expected was to be this close in such a short amount of time. 

Sure, yours and his friends had played around with the idea way back when you two would tell each other to go to hell through the walls or leave passive aggressive notes on each other’s doors. But right now that manifestation was becoming a reality and neither knew how to handle it. 

While Jaemin did his best to ignore it and act aloof, you stayed up listening to music that you knew he’d like just to contemplate what things had come to. 

So because of that here you were sat on the cold bleachers while falling asleep midway through Sunwoo’s match. The game was as interesting as it could be but given none of the teams had scored, it pushed you to boredom. Not even a lil brawl was going on for your entertainment.

You felt bad for it of course. This was Sunwoo’s big break. If he performed well, there was a chance he’d get called up for the national team. Whether it was a higher subdivision than what he currently was in or the main lineup, it was still a great opportunity for him. 

There was also word of scouting agents coming around and he had begged the universe that he’d get scouted for bigger leagues soon. He wasn’t old but he also knew many European teams had opted for players younger than him and he wanted his time. He needed this. 

So as sleepy as you were, you’d support him. 

You’d never think of saying this in the past but you were glad Jaemin was right beside you. If it wasn’t for his constant check ups to see if you were okay and even getting you some energy boosters, you’d probably be knocked out laying on the hard bleacher.

“How late did you stay up? Your team lost, no reason to celebrate.” Jaemin teased, a bright smile on his pretty face. 

What? No there’s no way that crossed your mind. 

Shooting him a sharp glare, “Ha ha, very funny.” You rolled your eyes, shifting closer to him unconsciously. Yes, Pachuca had lost against Tigres but that wasn’t your problem — not when you only watched it for your boyfriends in each team — your problem was something or at least someone else that you didn’t want to mention right now. 

“I couldn’t go to sleep, I think you’re a bad influence on me.” Damn, damn, damn! This is what you were trying to avoid but your mouth always had to act before your brain. 

“Me? How so?” He shifts to look at you, some teasing laced in his words. “Forget about it.” If you spoke further more you feared your mouth would just tell him. But he was as stubborn as you. 

Laughing, he knocks his shoulder against yours playfully, both your hands only millimeters away from each others. “Thinking about me? You can admit it.” 

And fuck him! Fuck him for being able to read minds! Lord, only you know how much yn wants to scream right now— the Lord and Amilah of course. The older of the bunch watched both of you from the side, smiling giddish at the romance that she knew would soon blossom. 

Spring was right around the corner after all. 

“You have a week to pay me, I beat you to it!” She whispers to her husband, smiling widely as he rolls his eyes. “We said if they started to date, they’re not there yet.” He rebuttals but she simply shrugs. 

Shoving his shoulder teasingly, Jaemin laughs at your actions. “Oh you’re so full of yourself, not everything is about you.” You scoff, turning your head to ignore him. 

Jaemin couldn’t contain his amused laughter. “You’re making it about me, yn.” The way your name rolled off his tongue made your head turn. You didn’t want to show it but it sure made you feel nice and warm. 

“I— yo— ooh, you irk me so much!” Your hands lifted exasperatedly, not knowing what to do in the situation while he continued to tease you. His eyebrows knitted, mouth ajar to release his laughter a bit louder. 

“I didn’t do anything, what?” He speaks but as he was to continue his teasing, the screams of the contrary bleachers and referee caught his attention. 

The faint words of ‘ball!’ and ‘watch out!’ made his reflex skyrocket when he watched the ball hurling to either of you but mostly you. So out of instinct; Jaemin moved aside pulling you with him. 

When the ball was to hit your head, it had simply gone over and bounced between seats ending up getting stuck between the empty spaces. That was it for the ball but what mattered most was that he had you close to his chest. Arms wrapped around your body and hands covering your head. 

His heart was beating harshly against your ear. He seemed most scared than you. If anything you were confused as to why he had done that. Was it not for Jeno who had jumped from his position to sit beside you and frantically question if you were okay, asking if the ball had grazed you even a tad bit.

When your friend had done so, Jaemin’s grip began to loosen on you but you hadn’t left your position. Opting to nod slowly to process it all but finding comfort in the way Jaemin’s toned chest felt beneath you. 

“Are you— um, are you, okay?” Jaemin asks, looking down at you. It was then that it settled you hadn’t separated from him. 

“Yeah… yeah, sorry.” You reply, smoothening your hair in the process of giving him an awkward smile. “Good, good…” he looks around, noticing Sunwoo’s stare but the boy didn’t port that jealous glare. Instead he had a smile on his face, nodding his way before getting back to the game. 

“I’m going to go get a drink… want anything?” He asks to which you shake your head, letting him go peacefully. 

“Jaemin and yn sitting in a tree—“

“K. I. S. S. I. N. G…”

Your friends began their taunting causing for you to bury your face in your hands. God, they could embarrass you with just anything. Even Jeno joined in. 

“You guys suck.” A whine leaves your lips, scooting closer to bury your face in Winter’s lap. While watching the match she soothed your hair, shushing you. 

“I think it’s cute. Like a reflex to get you out of danger.” She finally spoke, tearing her eyes away from the pitch. You look up at her, your eyes betraying you and showing her that hopeful shine. 

Jeno had gone back to his seat besides Hyuck, both turning to look at you. “Don’t act like you didn’t like it. You stayed there for a good while.” Haechannie chuckled, showing you his pretty wide smile. 

You couldn’t help but return it, of course without burying your face back in Winter’s lap. “He was warm…” your muffled voice made the others either smile, giggle, or look at each other knowing what this could lead to. 

“But I don’t want to make anything out of it. What if he’s only doing it to get this thing with Johanna over with? I think it’s best we leave it like this.” 

Your heavy sigh once separating from Winter made their smiles disappear. They couldn’t believe you weren’t able to see what they all did. Even before you two started all this, Jaemin would do nice things for you. 

He’d water your plants from his own balcony, sweep your entrance, at a point he even washed your welcome mat but you never noticed because he made sure of it. Many of this times your friends had caught him but they didn’t say anything per request from him. Using the excuse that he wanted things to look presentable.

In times you thought Minino was spending time with Mark, he was actually with Jaemin. Taking care and feeding him so he could spend time with Dooie when she didn’t get treatment. And even when you thought he didn’t like the poor kitty, he always felt horrible knowing he was sad on days Dooie wasn’t allowed any animal visits. 

Jaemin has always looked out for you. He rather just do it in his own silent way. So let’s continue keeping it that way. 

He himself felt odd about the situation. Instead of getting a drink he had gone to the restroom, calling Mark with shaky hands.

“What’s up?” “Dude, I just—“ “Ah gotcha! Trolled you! Nah just leave a message I’m probably teaching or something and if this is Jaemin, don’t worry. Dooie is home... I think.”

Jaemin facepalmed, laughing in distressed. “This fucking idiot.” He groaned, hanging up what he thought was a call. Worst thing is he always falls for it.

Now here he was, with a shaky voice and shaky hands with no one to talk to but himself. 

As stupid as he thought it would be, he looked around to check if no one was in the stalls. When he decreed it was safe, he sighed. Leaning against the sink and looking himself directly in the mirror.

He opened his mouth to let out his words but they were stopped. Jaemin really couldn’t express what he felt. He was aware that it was more than a friendship. It has been ever since that winter or 21’ when he saw you wearing his sweater that you had thought was Mark’s.

That familiar mint hoodie that had disappeared months prior and was now on you. He thought it looked nice on you, at least better than on him but when you caught him staring, you had taken it off. Giving it to him to give to Mark and thank him for letting you use his sweater.

Right, you were under the impression it was Mark's because if it was his, you would’ve never worn it. 

But that was nearly two years ago because just last night you had worn his angel kitty hoodie without any hesitation. Things really do change just like that. 

Jaemin felt foolish but also giddy. He hated how things started but he was glad his silence all these years about his growing affection had been kept to himself. At least now something was coming out of it.

The game had finished not long after, Sunwoo had assisted the only goal his team had scored. But the bright side was that the other team hadn’t scored and this was done with only three minutes before it ended, bringing great joy to everyone who cheered for them.

Sunwoo had gone to celebrate with his team, messaging you all while whining about not being able to celebrate with you guys but everyone reassured him it was fine. He deserved to have this win.

So after having dinner with everyone and Jaemin, the two of you had finally found yourselves back at his place. Lounging around in his room. 

His room.

Your walkman had long been destroyed by the paws of Minino that had found it fun to chew on the plastic. He had loved it enough that anytime it was up on a surface he’d make sure to drop it to the floor and all that was left was scattered pieces. 

So when Jaemin told you he had a boombox with a cassette player feature, you had rushed to get your box of cassettes while he searched his own boxes to fish it out. By now he sat on the foot of his bed, listening intently to the album you had raved upon.

Well you raved about the band but regardless he really liked this song. In a specific way it fit the situation you two were in and he liked that.

Even when not thinking about it, everything tied you together.

While he did that, he had given you free range of looking through his vinyls. Carefully picking them and placing them back down. You didn’t know much about those or how to care for them but you sure liked seeing his perfectly lined collection.  

What you liked most was seeing the different artists. He had soundtracks, folk, pop, house, techno, and just any genre you could think about. Hell, put their songs in a playlist and anyone would probably get whiplash from listen to Carpenters' superstar one second just to have System of the Down's u-fig playing right after.

An amused laugh escapes at the mental image, something he caught on. “Did you find anything you like?” He asks, pushing back one side of the headphones. 

“How did you find the Peperina album? I’ve searched forever but it’s always so expensive and I'm looking looking into cds.” You took a spot besides him, leaning in to hear what song he was listening to now.

“You like this one, huh?” He nods, a smile forming on his lips. “Mark found it in a garage sale. He said it looked old and weird so I probably would like it.” You laugh at his words, head hung low but when you lifted it, you took in that he hadn’t stopped looking at you.

Beginning to feel nervous, you shake it off, playing with your hands instead before reaching for your box of cassettes. “Let me find a deck and I’ll make you a mixtape.” 

“You can just make a playlist.” “What’s special about that?”

A smile spread wide on his face, full body turning to you and leaving the boombox beside him. “You think I’m special?” He teased with some pure curiosity and hope in him. 

He had caught you off guard but it was your words so what could any one expect? “I— I mean, um…” You didn’t want to say no or act like you had earlier because in a way you wanted to say yes. Your ego and the way he made you feel were just clashing against each other. 

You didn’t get to elaborate. By the time any words tried coming out, there was a knock on Jaemin’s door followed by Mark opening it and showing he was only wearing a towel. One covering his whole body and another his head. 

“I can’t find Dooie’s medicine. It’s 11 already— Oh shit.” He had finally paid attention to what was going on.  He hadn’t noticed all this time you had been in the apartment. He would’ve felt shame for how he looked but if anything he was giddy about you being in Jaemin’s room. 

“Never mind then, I’ll leave you guys to it.” He giggles, springing out the room with childish laughter as he made his way to his own bedroom. 

Jaemin looked from the doorframe to you, received with an amused smile. “I guess it is kind of late,” You stand from your spot, him following suit. “‘I’ll see you later, okay?” He nods, removing the headphones fully. 

Just as he was going to take out the cassette, your hands stop his. They were warm, enveloping your fingers against his cold hands. Unconsciously you squeeze them trying to give him some warmth.

“Keep it until I make you the mixtape.” Your smile made his chest feel like it had that morning and his hands soon began to shake softly. 

“Thanks… I’ll see you out.” “We live next to each other, Jaemin.” 

A soft giggle, enough to ease his nerves. Just like his pretty smile eased yours. 

But it didn’t matter to him, he had walked with you all the way to your door and even played with Minino for a bit when he bolted out to rub against his leg.

Purring and crying against his touch, you lifted the cat for Jaemin to grab. Immediately he was received with kitten licks to his fingers and soft bites. Sniffing his lover on Jaemin’s clothes and snuggling further more in his arms.

If you stayed there any longer seeing how much your cat loved him, you’d probably end up doing something stupid. You didn’t want to do anything stupid, this friendship was building and you didn’t want things to move too fast. At least that’s what you’re fooling yourself into thinking.

“Goodnight, I still have to give Dooie her medicine.” He reluctantly speaks, petting Minino one last time and rubbing his cheek against the cat’s fur. 

“And good night to you, especially.” He speaks in a baby voice, earning a meow from your child. Unbelievable, you were jealous of your cat.

Handing you the cat, Jaemin flashes you one last smile waiting for you to get in. “Goodnight, Nana.” And so his heart felt like it had exploded with the nickname. His smile widened and his eyes trembled in joy. He couldn’t form words but he nodded. 

Nana sounded great coming from you.

‘Y desde entonces hasta ahora, el juego del amor nos tuvo tres años jugando. Luego nos separó, pero la fuerza del destino nos hizo repetir. Que si el invierno viene frío, quiero estar junto a ti.' [1]

[1] And from then to now, the game of love kept us playing for three years. But the force of fate made us try again cause if it's going to be a cold winter, I want to be by your side.

taglist: @bbymatz @dandelionxgal @multieonnie @w3bqrl @liljeongseong @n0hyuck @minjiville @xxxx-23nct @liliansun @ihrtnyu @kpopwh0r3

let me know if you’d like to join the taglist!

[rthidden]

Unlocking Creativity: How ChatGPT Can Inspire Your Business

Are you curious how a chatbot can outshine you in creativity?

Let’s explore how ChatGPT draws new ideas from familiar data and why it can be a game-changer for your small business.

1. Making Connections Like a Pro

Just like your brain, ChatGPT thrives on making connections.

It sifts through vast amounts of internet data to find patterns and ideas. This means:

Innovative ideas: It can suggest fresh marketing strategies or product ideas you might not have considered.

Diverse perspectives: Drawing from various sources brings unique viewpoints.

Creative brainstorming: When you're stuck, ChatGPT can become your brainstorming buddy, generating lists of creative ideas in seconds.

2. Tapping into a Well of Knowledge

ChatGPT isn’t just brilliant; it’s like having an intern who’s read everything!

This vast knowledge means it excels at finding solutions to common challenges.

Here’s how that benefits you:

Quick answers: Need a catchy tagline or email subject? ChatGPT can whip one up faster than you can say “limitless potential.”

Industry trends: Stay updated as it provides insights into emerging trends and customer preferences.

Problem-solving support: Stuck on a business hurdle? ChatGPT can offer practical solutions based on similar past scenarios.

3. Creativity at Scale

What if I told you that you could outproduce a whole think tank?

Give ChatGPT a prompt, and it can generate numerous creative responses quickly.

This feature can help you:

Expand content marketing: Generate blog topics, social media posts, or even video scripts on the go.

Generate varied ideas: One prompt may yield dozens of suggestions or concepts, making every brain freeze a thing of the past.

Enhance brainstorming sessions: Use its output to spark new discussions within your team, keeping the creativity flowing.

4. Test Your Creativity Against ChatGPT

Feeling competitive? Challenge ChatGPT!

Ask it to answer a creative question and see how you stack up. This can be an eye-opener because:

Benchmark your skills: Discover how your creative thinking measures against an AI’s rapid-fire ideas.

Sharpen your creativity: Analyzing the responses can inspire you to think outside the box.

Encourage teamwork: Use this exercise in team meetings to elevate collective creativity and inspire new approaches.

Using ChatGPT as a creative ally can unlock new opportunities for your small business.

Whether it generates innovative ideas or enhances problem-solving capabilities, it packs a punch in the creativity department.

So, are you ready to embrace this technological creativity booster?

Give it a try, challenge your ideas, and share your experiences with us below!

[zerokrox-blog]

Based on this tiktok

The Anything but a Backpack Day in Hawkins High was started by a group of seniors who thought it would be a hilarious prank but it caught fire, it became a thing in the school. And it happened the week before exams as something to have fun with before the week's finals. 

Teacher’s had fun as well by not carrying their briefcases and instead following tradition they had to use something else. Some didn’t bother and just carried in their few notebooks. Some were creative and used whatever they had available. Miss Green, the gym teacher, used an old shoe box. Another teacher used a flower pot. 

So as the students came into the school the principal and teachers stood by the front doors seeing what people came in with as well as greeting students.

There were the typical, toy strollers, some boy came in with a brightly coloured piece of sheet metal holding his books. Two girls came in with their school books in matching red toy grocery-store carts. Munson and his friends all came in with their books a bright red wagon, which also carted Gareth who had broken his leg. One person carried their book in a pet carrier, while someone else was using a scooter. Some people used nothing, just their arms. Someone had taken a stuffed animal and turned it into a carrier. A boy in twelfth grade used a small driven lawn mower. Chrissy Cunningham came in with her books in a heavy looking tool box. Some of the basketball team used different tackle boxes. Billy Hargrove used an old tire to hold his books. 

A student came in with a large cardboard box. A girl who used a walker came in with her books neatly stacked in it, with a piece of cardboard around the back so no books would fall through. A few boys came in with their books in bike-baskets. One girl came in with her books in an old microwave. A boy was holding his younger brother who was wearing a backpack. Another boy was using an old baby sling. A girl was using a baby carrier. A random jock was using a baby car seat and another used a booster seat. 

Nancy Wheeler came in with her books in a large suitcase while Jonathan Byers carried his in an old suit bag. A few more students were using a wheelbarrow. 

The teachers were laughing. It was very funny. But then someone gasped and everyone looked up Miss Green, the gym teacher lost it. Steve Harrington was carrying an entire dishwasher on his back. He waved and both doors opened to let him in. Principal Higgins tried to help but Steve waved him away, not even sweating.   

“Steve.” Miss Green couldn't help but laugh, “why are you using a dishwasher?” 

Steve shrugged and gave a smile, “well it’s not a backpack and it wasn’t installed yet sooo I figured why not?” 

The student’s in the hallway laughed hysterically at his blase response. 

It was another successful Anything but A Backpack Day in Hawkins High.

[bishiglomper]

You know how I was psyched to learn to play pokemon 👀

I have definitely fixated on it more than the nephew.

Weve only successfully managed to play one game. ...and a half.

And in both i couldn't do a damn thing. Wasnt pulling any energy cards despite doing a 1:3 ratio. 🙄

In the "full game" my first pokemon was a 120 hp Iron Moth. He was like "fuck this I'm out" but then I was disabled so he took out my whole team no problem. Had an evolved pokemon and everyone had all their needed energies. Just OH-KO'd them all. So hopefully that kept his interest. 😂

But I was very sad because i wanna play too but there wasnt enough cards to build 2 (decent) decks 😭

BUT

TODAY

I found walmart still had a bunch of those 50 packs of spooky pokemon for $20. Obviously mostly psychic types.

I was thinking Gengar is my favorite pokemon, I want to try a psychic deck. But boxes and shit are so expensive. I dont know what boosters to look for, etc.. But the spooky packs!! Obviously would have tons of ghosts!! 150 cards for 20 bucks! Was so excited.

I opened them all at lunch, it was like christmas. Even my aunt was like "she's so happy. 😮"

So I was able to put together what looks like a decent psychic deck. Dunno if it'll stand up to Arceus but we'll see. 👀

What really sucks is the nephew is on an opposite sleep schedule. 😐 and no one else is interested in playing with me 😔

One of the things that made me go ahead with getting nephew set up was that the library had pokemon every week. Hosted by our friend! So we knew her, she could help and he'd get to play with other kids.

But alas. I found out theyre not doing it lately due to low attendance. 😔

If only I didnt have a shitty phone. Or a working desktop. I'd just get pokemon tcg live to scratch this itch.

Duel Links helps a lot but its not the saaaaaaame

[gosoccerdawgs]

Nordic’s Torpedoes Sink Admirals

Bearden 4 at Farragut 1

Friday, April 28, 2023 7pm

FARRAGUT—Bearden spotted Farragut an early goal before All-State striker Lucas Nordin scored four goals of his own to lead the Bulldogs in a 4-1 victory over their neighborhood rival in front of an overflow crowd Friday night.

The Admirals scored on a flukey opening minute header, but it was quickly neutralized forty-nine seconds later when Nordin took a midfield pass from Jack Raulston and scored from twenty yards to level the score less than two minutes into the game. The teams scratched and clawed the remainder of the half without scoring, going to the break knotted at 1-1.

Farragut’s aggressive play, which eventually resulted in fifteen total fouls, produced a red card seven minutes into the second half, forcing the Admirals to play a man down. Bearden immediately seized the opportunity, as Nordin scored twice within ninety seconds, both on crisp, timely passes from steady midfielder Hamid Djouadi, and suddenly the Bulldogs had some breathing room with a 3-1 lead and 28:01 remaining. The Dawgs controlled possession from that point, ultimately resulting in Nordin’s fourth score off a nice cross from sophomore Lucas Ford. 

Sophomore keeper Logan Nelson was fearless in goal, staying busy fielding numerous and dangerous free kicks into the box from long range. Junior Shawn Spencer got the start at outside back, as Cole Hutchison filled a hole at defensive mid.

Nordin now has 18 goals on the season, Hayden Tate has 11, Ethan Ford 5, Jack Raulston 4, Harrison Schwall 3, and seven players have 1 each. Tate and Raulston lead the team with 6 assists each, Ford has 5, Nordin 4.

Referring to Nordin, Farragut Coach Bradley Culbreth told 5 Star Preps after the game, “You’ve got to bottle Lucas up, he’s an All-American for a reason--he’s a stud!”

Goals: FHS-Brooks Burnett (1’); LUCAS NORDIN (2’ assist-Jack Raulston); LUCAS NORDIN (51’ Hamid Djouadi); LUCAS NORDIN (52’ Hamid Djouadi); LUCAS NORDIN (78’ Lucas Ford). 

Shots/Shots-on-goal: BHS 22/10 FHS 10/4. Corners: BHS 5 FHS 1. Fouls: BHS 12 FHS 15. Cards: FHS-Red (47’). Conditions: slippery, grass, clear, 72 degrees. Attendance: 67. Records: BHS 11-0-3 FHS 2-10-1.

Outside the box…entertaining ‘Twitter-meister’ and Booster Club Prez Eric Foster aptly described the Admiral defensive plan as “fight club strategy”...play was stopped briefly late in the first half when a young boy wandered across the Bearden back line--he was assisted safely to the Farragut bench by Bulldog defender Shepard McMurry...the Mighty JVs closed out their undefeated season by beating Farragut 2-1 Wednesday at home--they finish with a record of 13-0-2. Lucas Ford led the team in scoring with 12 goals, Wylder Lee had 8, Aidan Ainsworth 6, and Jashua Garcia 5. Goalkeepers Jackson Wolverton, Eli Keener, and Jaden Mann only surrendered 2 goals all year, with 13 shutouts...Woof!

[ancient-cats-unite]

Slime Time

Inspector Gabriel was expecting relic samples, NOT a feline slime.

Inspector Gabriel looked out from his dimly lit office. The scent of burnt coffee and chocolate wafted in the room. Kanta was eating some milk chocolate alone, dangling his paws off the desk. A melancholy record played in the corner of the office, on top of poorly sorted files.

Operation Relic Bee was underway and they would bring back pure ammonite along with other things. Gabriel, of course, was always the first to get their hands on it. The broadcast stated they would come back soon. Sure enough, the trailer pulled up.

Roe Cat spun out, oogling a little bundle of white. Dual Whales were carrying a terrified Fisherman Cat on their backs. Cutter Cat was towed along with a Lil Dark, who was furiously chewing on a Big Mac. Courier got out, looking like he smoked fifteen grams of crack. Gabriel made his way over to the team.

"We got your fix!"

Roe Cat handed over the little bundle. It was full of pieces of the queen's carcass, plentiful enough for some trial and error. However the one thing that stood out, covered in green gore, was..

"What is that?"

Gabriel noticed a little glob, grey in color with purple accents. Poking the blob, the slime turned around, humming happily. It flopped its little whiskers.

"Plbb? Weee!"

Cutter Cat zoomed up on cue. Lil Dark was purring happily in his own booster seat.

"A baby! A little guy we found in the queen's prison. Its pretty chipper to come along with us."

Slime Cat licked the relic pieces. Gabriel looked sternly at the collection before folding it back up. A prisonner? Was this goop a criminal in the bee's eyes? Some questioning is in orde4.

"Yeah, this'll be of use. Thank you."

Almost cradling it in his arms, Gabriel went back to his office, overjoyed slime and pieces in tow.

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

"Kanta. Scalpel."

Gabriel sat at his desk, hunched over the relic. Kanta slid open the dissection kit. No light was present except for the glowing stones embedded in Gabriel's palms and the bedside lamp.

"Here you go. What are you going to do with the slime?"

Slime Cat was being held in a lunch box. It meowed curiously at the junior detective cat. Gabriel was not fond of the queen's prisonner, though the slime remained oblivious. It just looked so.. incompetent. It didn't do much besides singing (which Kanta always applauded after it finished a song) even when harshly interrogated.

"Send it down to the Cat Dictionary. Magnifying glass, Kanta."

The glass caught light from the bedside lamp alluminating the dark room, projecting onto Slime. Slime Cat was in awe, his grey and purple blobbiness shining slightly. Catching wanting looks from Kanta as he worked, it called out to him.

"Meeeeewww! Kata!"

Finally caving, Kanta picked up the slime with gloved paws. Gabriel turned over to see his assistant getting his heart melted.

"It.. it said my name.. Its so goddamn cute!!!"

Kanta rubbed against the plastic container, crying, to which Slime Cat did the same. Gabriel facepalmed, writing up some notices in the relic pulsations.

"Put it down. If I crack the Relic case, we'll get promoted to fight these anomalies. Focus."

Kanta placed the slime down next to a pile of papers. Slime Cat looked dejected, before meowing at Gabriel.

"Gwebiel! Meeeeeeeeeeeeww!"

Gabriel gave it a death stare, which shut it up. Frusturated over nothing else noteworthy in the relic flesh and that thing being in his office, he scoffed.

"Kanta. Take it down to the dictionary sector. Return quickly, we have much to discuss."

Kanta sighed. Floating off the desk with the slime, he scurried off to the Cat Army's commander's office. The slime took one last look at Gabriel and sniffled.

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

//Hey gamers, been a hot minute. The Slime Cat has sucessfully taken over again. Plus some Gabriel fanart fueled me.//

[ezcater]

How to Throw the Ultimate Workplace Pizza Party

The pizza party is a classic workplace event. It gets people excited like nothing else (aside from surprise holiday bonuses). When that stack of pizza boxes makes its first appearance, everyone’s eyes light up with anticipation. As it happens, Thursday, February 9, is National Pizza Day. While most of us don’t need a national day to enjoy a slice or two, it does give us an excellent excuse to order lunch catering for a workplace pizza party.

There are many reasons to hold a workplace pizza party. Maybe your team is crushing it this month. Or maybe it’s just been a while since your last in-office event. No matter the reason, you can ensure your next workplace pizza party goes off without a hitch with this trio of tips. Ask Your Team for Pizza Suggestions When it comes to pizza, people have opinions. As you refer to local pizza catering options, field suggestions from your team. To simplify things, you can poll your team via your company’s chat app or if you’re feeling brave, make it an open discussion. Fielding suggestions adds a dash of excitement to the mix. It gets people more involved and invested—which can also work as a morale booster. It can even add a bit more energy to your team’s day, and adding energy to the workplace is always a good thing! Alternatively, if you’re ordering corporate catering for an event and you want pizza, you or your event planner can skip this tip and make the executive decision and just get a wide selection of pies. Get the Perfect Pizza Spread Once you’ve decided on who’s catering your pizza party, it’s time to make another decision. In this case, it’s building the perfect pizza party spread for your team. The great thing about catering pizza is that it’s wildly easy to get something for everyone without going overboard. In other words, you can stick to your catering budget while making sure everyone is happy. From meat and veggie options to gluten-free and vegan pies, it’s astonishingly easy to get what you and your team want—and to get a little of everything. Timing Is Everything The perfect pizza party is a well-timed pizza party. When is the best time to have pizza? That’s a trick question because the answer is anytime. Jokes aside, it can be best to plan for pizza to arrive when most of your team is having their lunch break. For the average workplace, it may be between noon and 1 p.m. Coordinating the pizza party with your team’s lunchtime is beneficial for a few reasons. First—and most importantly—it’s when people are hungry. Second, it can help minimize wasted time. Your team is cued in and knows it’s back to work when the 30 minutes or full hour is up. Lastly, it helps keep productivity up. People know when the pizza will arrive, so the expectation is set. This can help keep your team more focused. About ezCater From catering Indianapolis business events to taking care of your corporate catering needs, ezCater does it all. Going into 2023, ezCater has established partnerships with over 104,000 restaurants and caterers across the country. For businesses just like yours, this is a huge win. Anytime you need catering for events, team lunches, sales calls, or for any other reason, ezCater has the tools and resources to help you make it happen. They make ordering simple, along with budgeting, invoicing, and more. Everything is trackable and scalable. Need to order from a restaurant that can handle distinct dietary restrictions? No problem. Is your team craving Mexican catering? Find it in seconds. Discover all the benefits of ezCater today and enjoy the best catering options your city has to offer. Find the perfect pizza for your next workplace party at https://www.ezcater.com/ Original Source: https://bit.ly/3E2QaHC

[jrpneblog]

Early goals banish the Blues

Two goals in the first fifteen minutes at St Andrews saw North End win for the eighth time on the road this season and go someway towards repairing the damage from that poor home defeat against Norwich. North End looked well in command of the game in the first period and if we could have scored again before the break you wonder just how many this game could have finished. However the home side came out with renewed vigour for the second forty five minutes having looked devoid of any confidence or ideas in the first half of the game. North End sat back and this gave the home side more encouragement and a goal seven minutes from time meant it was a nervy ending for the 1,450 who had made the journey to the Midlands. We managed to see it out comfortably after the Birmingham goal but it should really never have got to that stage such was our superiority in the first half of the game.

Ryan Lowe made two changes to the team that suffered the shocker against Norwich with Liam Delap coming in for Daniel Johnson and Robbie Brady making a welcome return in place of Bambo Diaby. Birmingham started briskly but it wasnt long before North End were in the ascendancy and Ryan Ledson opened his account for the season after ten minutes when a cross from Brady came off a defender only for Ledson to smash it home left footed from the edge of the box. Five minutes later it was two after another cross from Brady was flicked on by Alan Browne into the net. The home side were all over the place but North End didn't really capitalise on their clear advantage as Woodburn's shot was deflected wide and a chance late on in the half from Cannon went begging. The fact that we couldn't score that third goal did impact the game and led to a bit more of a rearguard action after the break.

No changes for North End at half time after a very comfortable first period but it was the home side that came out fired up after leaving the field to boos at half time. Although Birmingham had plenty of the ball in the early stages of the second half they didn`t really look like scoring as North End relied on the counter attack through Delap and Cannon. The two young strikers once again linked up well and caused the Blues plenty of problems down the Channels in both halves until Delap was replaced by Evans with twenty minutes to go. North End dropped deeper and deeper as the game wore on and it looked like being a grandstand finish when Jutkiewicz pulled one back for the home side with just a few minutes remaining. The travelling contingent were getting slightly nervous as it should never have got to this, however we held firm to the end and through the five minutes of added time to record win number eight on the road this season and fire us back into the top half of the Championship.

So an eighth win on the road for Ryan Lowe`s boys and once again you wonder just how the league table would look if we have had any sort of decent home form. North End started the game well and held up with a sloid enough performance for the rest of the game even though the hosts have plenty of troubles of their own. A protest against the owners near the end showed just how much pressure there is on some of the clubs in the Championship although on this performance I can only see Birmingham heading South in the league and not North. For North End it was a morale booster ahead of the big cup tie next Saturday tea-time when Spurs are in town although I would suggest that the boys from White Hart Lane may be a slightly tougher nut to crack.

.

BIRMINGHAM CITY 1-2 PRESTON

.

WOODMAN 7

STOREY 6 LINDSAY 7 HUGHES 7

LEDSON 7

BROWNE 7 McCANN 7 WOODBURN 6 BRADY 8

CANNON 7 DELAP 7

.

Subs

EVANS 7

JOHNSON 6

PARROTT 6

.

MOTM: Robbie Brady

Attendance 16,608

Preston Fans 1,450 (8.73%)

[patchamppokemon]

ITS LIVE! MY SUPER EARLY SUN & MOON TEAM UP BOOSTER BOX BREAK! AND THERE WERE WAY MORE PULLS IN THE BOX THAN USUAL!

This is the first in the UK on YouTube and im super excited for you all to see it. If you enjoy it please leave a comment on the video and maybe even sub!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbJH1FnnGWQ

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Confidence to inspire fear

( Don’t forget to come see my on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord )

The bridge of the freighter felt like it had become a nightmare as Lithel awoke.

He tried to open his eyes but even when open the room refused to stop spinning. One of his upper left eyes refused to open and as Lithel attempted to reach up with one of his arms he found that he could not move it as well.

Tilting his head down and saw through his blurry eyes that a section of the bridge ceiling had collapsed atop him and was pinning him to the deck. He tried to rise but the weight was too heavy. Just as he began pondering if this would be his end he felt the debris shift atop him. "Captain!" Lithel heard someone calling him but the sound felt like it was coming from everywhere. "Captain can you hear me!?"

Blinking several more times Lithel was able to focus and he saw his second in command Michael rushing over. He could hear several other footsteps approaching and not long after the metal pinning him to the floor being lifted off and a strong pair of arms pulling him out.

"I got you sir, just take it easy."

Lithel moved his mouth to thank him but nothing came out but a soft gurgle and whimper.

Only now as he was pulled free did Lithel see the damage done to his bridge. Halve the consoles were shattered, the data streams were flickering rapidly as an overload of information from across the ship poured in, and at one of the walls had several panels blown out and were currently on fire.

Michael helped lay him down across the floor while a medic rushed over and began treating him. Lithel was about to sit up and take back his command throne when the communications officer rushed over.

"Message coming in sir; it's from the pirates."

Lithel's eyes went wide and he tried to sit up but Michael put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. They had served together aboard the Red Manta for some twenty years and had developed an understanding that needed no words.

He saw the look in Michael's eyes and knew he would take care of the situation and instead laid back down.

"Put them through." Michael said as the communication officer scurried off and began fiddling with the only remaining working communication console.

Within moments the data feeds stopped streaming information and displayed an image. On the opposite end series of figures could be seen standing around a command throne similar to Lithel's were it not for the adorning skulls and bones of various species draped over it.

They were muscular mixture of aliens ranging from lizard like creatures with sharpened teeth to thin limbed beings looking like living twigs, and even a strange blob like creature that had a knife wedged within it. But the most impressive of the figures was sitting atop the throne itself.

It had the shape of a humanoid figure but it appeared as a swirling cloud of black ink ever shifting. It wore no clothing and had no distinguishable features save for a pair of crimson red eyes.

"Surrender."

It was a single word spoken by the black ink creature before Michael could even say a word. The crew around it chuckled and laughed as if sizing up their soon to be prize; though Michael would soon throw a wrench into their celebration.  

"Are you insane!?" he spoke. His stance was firm and unwavering with his feet planted into the decking as if he was bracing for a storm. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"Who, are you?" the black ink creature spoke as it raised a talon like finger at Michael, the ink bleeding off of it in drips as it did so.

"I am Captain Michael Zbari of the human reformation, transporting goods to the homeworld."

The pirates appeared confused at this announcement and murmured among themselves before the ink creature held up a hand. The medic treating Lithel appeared to take just as much of the confusion from the announcement and was about to say something when Lithel forestalled him. He knew Michael was playing a dangerous game, and it might just be there only way of getting out of this.

"You, lie." The words were spoken as if through water and Lithel could barely understand them as the thing continued. "The captain, is not human; this, we know."

"First you attack my ship unprovoked and now you claim I am not captain of my own ship?!"

His confidence radiated from him as he spoke and some of the pirates appeared taken aback. They were the ones who had attacked and now had them all at gun point. With a single word they could destroy the Red Manta and be on their way yet this human was acting as if they were the ones who should be sorry.

"Do you have any idea who are cargo is for?" Michael continued. "Should, we, care?" the ink being replied. "You should when Emperor Galvoc finds out you stole his personal shipment."

The smirks of the pirates dropped away instantly at this. The mere mention of the human emperor's name gave them pause as if they had just been struck by a cannon. The ink being leaned forward now on both arms and fixed the camera with a burning gaze.

"You, lie."

Michael scoffed at this and raised his arms out. "Nineteen containers of freshly cut refrigerated Borgan meat, twelve containers of the finest wines of the Nebula Rim, thirty six crates of gem stones from the fire pit mines of Draxon Iv, and that's just the tip of the ice berg."

The ink monster relaxed back into it's throne at this. "An, impressive, haul, indeed." it said and some of the pirates began grinning again but Michael continued to speak.

"For one with a death wish, an impressive haul for sure."

Michael stepped towards the monitor. "You could kill us and steal all of our cargo to sell but it won't matter; because the emperor will hear of this and will hunt you down to the farthest ends of the universe."

The ink thing chuckled and Michael's face frowned. "By attacking his shipment you have essentially declared war on him; you do realize that don't you?"

At this the black goo like creature stopped chuckling.

"He controls the largest fleet of ships to ever sail the void;  their numbers alone change gravity of entire systems with their passing."

"His armies are beyond counting and the march of their feet can crack planets in two."

"The depths of his depravity for torture against his enemies boundless and of such horrific that even the Draxic are afraid to incur his wrath."

Fixing an equally dark glare now Michael faced down the ink being. "You have no idea the hurricane you just sailed into."

The pirates began to argue among themselves but the black creature let out a deep roar that sounded as if bubbling tar could scream.

"He, will, never, know!" it said, "We, will, be, long, gone, and, you, all, dead!"

It was Michael's turn to smirk as he pulled out a small box like device with a blinking red light.

"This, is an emergency transmitter capable of reaching across five sectors." he held it out clearly so all the pirates could see. "Once activated it calls in a relief fleet to warp to our position within twenty minutes; and I activated it fifteen minutes ago."

For the first time the ink creature rose from its throne and pushed several of the pirates aside with surprising strength for a creature that appeared to be made of living oil.

"You, bluff!" is said.

"You could stay and board us to call it, but when they arrive and blow your scrap heap of a ship out of the stars I don't think it'll really matter what you think now will it?"

The two stared down each other, neither speaking a word yet unwilling to back down in the face of this challenge.

Lithel watched with ever clearing eyes as the pirates became increasingly anxious.

"Tick." Michael made a sound similar the clock arms of his wrist time device. "Tick, tick tick tick."

"Silence!" the ink creature bellowed, but Michael continued.

"Time's running out for you." His face was devoid of emotion save a devlish smirk. "Tick, tick, tick, tick!"

"I said silence!"

"Time's running out little pirate." Michael quipped back, "Tick, tick, tick, tick!"

The pirates were not frantic and some even began talking to the ink creature in an alien language none of the red manta crew could understand but it appeared to upset the ink being.

Letting out another roar the screen suddenly went dead leaving the bridge crew silent as the repair teams finally shuffled in to douse the flames.

Through the viewport Lithel could see the pirate ship burning retro boosters and turning around as fast as it could before warping away.

Michael stood upright for a few moments more after they fled back to the warp before collapsing down to the ground. Streaks of sweat began pouring down his face like rivers and he began breathing rapidly.

Lithel raised himself on to his arms unsteadily and looked at Michael.

"How did you know that would work?"

Michael looked at him as if he just remembered he wasn't alone on the bridge and looked embarrassed.

"When you act like you have the backing of the biggest thug in the yard, the other rats tend to leave you alone."

"So by claiming to be the emperors personal shipment.." Lithel began as he connected the dots.

"They would fear the hell hammer that would fall on them should they attempt to steal from the biggest threat the galaxy has ever seen."

Lithel was surprised that such an act of subterfuge worked but they were still alive and he would be the last to complain on how it was handled. He did point to the strange blinking box Michael still clutched in his hand.

"What is that device?"

Michael looked at it for a moment before chucking it over to Lithel who gracefully caught it mid air.

"It's a remote control for my room lights."

Lithel looked at it dumbfounded but before he could inquire more from Michael he saw his second in command pass out on the bridge as the stress of the attack and the performance he just made finally caught up to him.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Sun 13 June ‘21

Orville Peck posted Harry’s tour dates (for which he’s the opening act) with Harryween circled, but then deleted- so ARE those shows maybe happening? We just do not know but yes, this is a compelling reason for speculation that maybe at least the Harryween shows are being left in place for this year, even if not the tour as scheduled. MSG leaving it on lists of scheduled shows for this year as they reopen just said to me that it hasn’t been rescheduled YET, but in combination with this it becomes more interesting...

Louis liked some Euros posts (including a tweet about the youngest player ever to play the championship, who he followed) and got pumped at England’s victory- “Unbelievable start for England!! Looked very exciting, lots of great individual performances. It's coming home!!!!”; all those exclamation points got the attention of the official team twitter who liked the post! Nice. Then he liked a tweet of himself losing his mind and throwing beer everywhere from when England seemed to be beating Croatia in the 2018 World Cup; they lost that one but beat Croatia today so yeah… apt! And a later game got a much less emotional nod, just “What a game.” The Full Time Meals fish finger sandwich recipe that we’ll get to see Louis follow tomorrow is up and yes, as a non-British person I am a little startled (the waffle is just… in the sandwich? okaay) but being shocked by British food feels like such a cliché and this is, to be fair, meant to be a recipe for children, so fine: put a waffle in a fish sandwich. Why not. Anyway, the recipe should be very easy for Louis to recreate.

Steven Bartlett and Liam “were spotted at an assortment of Manchester's swankiest venues”, being cool young rich guys and making all the spon-con stops. They got a local paper write up for their visit to “the stylish new ****** restaurant” (what, they didn’t give ME any spon-con money, look it up if you actually care) where they “posed up for pictures... in the venue's selfie corridor” (cause what kind of self respecting restaurant doesn’t have a SELFIE CORRIDOR right? anyway pictures were published- very nice) and they say Liam was “also spotted at Manchester's Ivy restaurant over the weekend, and is thought to be staying with Steven to watch the big England game on Sunday.” Today the pair were seen doing some “morning boxing” at a Manchester gym (who were delighted to post video of Liam training), and getting haircuts. The guy who cut their hair talked about the key to social media success (he says you should have varied posts oh no you guys I am FAILING!) and is so excited to get Steve and Liam’s cut pics (in their matching England jerseys) up that he goes for it EVEN THOUGH IT’S A SUNDAY, what a risk taker. Little does he know it’s the picture of Steve’s dog that really shines, glad to see little Pablo getting to go everywhere with them. Anyway then the duo (trio? did the dog go?) headed out in their coordinated outfits to hang out with a gang of folks gathered to watch the game at a fancy beer garden kind of place. We also got a Lonely Bug preview today that shows the most we’ve seen yet of the actual piece, with glimpses of the bug trapped in a glass box and a bubble among other things, and a little bit more detail about the sale; there are “six unique pieces” that will be for sale on the 15th.

Niall posted a car selfie- when in LA I guess! He’s looking good and he’s not afraid to acknowledge it, happily sharing his “skincare routine and his secrets for such soft floofy hair” upon request. He tells us “foaming face wash, toner, SPF, hydrating booster serum, moisturiser”, it’s “genetics on the hair” and “also don’t have a lot of dairy anymore. Game changer for the skin.”

[lovemeleo]

Please write one were Asher has an allergic reaction and Sirius and Remus freak

Um so hi, surprise. I finally wrote something again. This prompt has been sitting in my ask box for god knows how long and I finally wrote it. Sorry it took so long, anon, but I hope you all enjoy. The SW world and it's characters belong to always fantastic @lumosinlove!

If you haven't read the rest of my Asher series, here's the link for tumblr and AO3!

cw: allergic reactions, talk of medicines, IVs, and hospitals

It started as a normal day, as most days tend to do. Remus got up first, doing some yoga in the living room before turning on the coffee maker to run while he was in the shower. He had this routine down pat so of course, he was ready with Sirius’s cup of coffee when the taller man came up behind him, nuzzling into his neck.

“Morning, mon loup.” Sirius mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep as his arms wrapped around Remus’s waist.

A soft smile spread across Remus’s face as he pressed the steaming cup of coffee into his fiancé's hand, “Good morning, Pads. I can get Ash ready for Lily’s if you want a shower before practice.” Remus said quietly, already hearing movement from the toddler’s bedroom.

Sirius answered with a kiss to his shoulder, looking up at him with a grin, “You’re the best, babe,” He said as he pulled away, cheekily slapping Remus’s butt before making his way to their bathroom. Shaking his head fondly, Remus turned to start getting Asher’s breakfast ready, the oatmeal cooking on the stove.

Just as he was about to go check Asher was awake, a small pair of arms wrapped around his legs from the side. Asher rested his head on his Papa’s hip, letting out a loud yawn. Remus couldn’t help the chuckle he let out, their son so much like his daddy, it was ridiculous.

“G’Morning, Papa.” Asher murmured, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up.

Remus picked him up, resting the toddler on his hip as he finished up his breakfast, “Good morning, mon chou. Sleep well?” He asked as he put the oatmeal into a bowl, topping it off with some berries before getting him set up at the table.

The little boy hummed happily, sipping his milk as he waited for the hot cereal to cool down, “Yep! I had a dream that Harry and I were wizards and we got to battle a bunch of bad guys and we won of course and it was so cool.”

Remus chuckled, sipping his coffee as he listened to his son’s dramatic retelling of his dream, “Of course, you won. Most powerful wizards ever, obviously.”

Nodding happily, Asher started in on his breakfast as he continued to fill his Papa in on the wizarding world from his dream. He had quite the imagination and it definitely came through his dreams.

When he had finished, Remus helped him wash up and get dressed before Sirius came in with his bag for the Potter’s house. Lily always watched Asher during their practices, letting him and Harry tire themselves out together. They were the best of friends, constantly attached at the hip. When they pulled up to the Potter’s house, Lily and Harry were already waiting on the front porch, the boy already jumping excitedly as he saw their car pull up.

As soon as Asher was released from his booster seat, he was running as fast as his little legs would take him. And Harry, not one to be outdone in the dramatics department, met him halfway and slammed him into a hug.

Lily laughed, coming down off the porch to give the two men a hug, “Sorry, I’m not gonna sprint up to you two,” She said, giving them both a tight squeeze.

“Wow, I see how much our friendship means to you!” Remus teased, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Now, where’s that husband of yours? Still doing his hair?”

A loud laugh came from the doorway, James appearing with his bag thrown over his shoulder, “Yeah, you know me. Very much worried about my hair when I’m putting a helmet on.” He said, throwing his bag into their car before giving Lily and Harry a kiss goodbye.

After saying goodbye to their own little munchkin, the three men were off to practice. Today consisted of some dry land training for warm-ups before moving on to some drills. They were about an hour into their drills when Coach Weasley blew the whistle from the sidelines.

“Black! Lupin! You’ve got a call!” He yelled across the ice, his eyebrows furrowed as he held out the phone.

Knowing that calls weren’t allowed during practice unless there was an emergency, the two men were to the bench in seconds, Remus quickly grabbing the phone, “Hello?”

Lily’s frantic voice was on the other side of the phone, already talking, “Remus, I’m sorry, I literally looked away for a second, and then he was screaming. I didn’t even see-”

“Lily, take a deep breath. What’s going on? What happened?” Remus said, trying to keep his voice calm.

A shaky breath came through the speaker before she continued, “I took the boys to the park across the street like I always do, and they were on the playground. It was fine then all of a sudden, Ash let out a really loud scream. I got over there as soon as I could, but he had already hives. Harry said he had a bee on his arm and got stung. I called an ambulance, and we’re at Gryffindor hospital now in the ER. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even know he was allergic.”

Remus was already unlacing his skates, the phone held between his shoulder and ear, “It’s not your fault, Lils. We didn’t know he was allergic either. We’ll be there soon.” Quickly handing the phone back to their coach, Remus and Sirius ran back to the locker room.

In less than 5 minutes, the two men were back in their car, racing towards the hospital. “Fucking bees,” Sirius muttered, quickly pulling into the parking lot.

As soon as they were parked, both of them quickly ran into the ER, their hearts pounding in their chest as they reached the front desk, “W-We’re here for Asher Lupin-Black.” Remus said to the receptionist.

She pointed them down the hall and they were off, seeing Lily waiting in the hallway outside of the room. Lily met them halfway, Harry on her hip sniffling quietly, “The doctor is in with him right now. God, I’m so sorry. I had just gone to grab my phone to take a picture of them, Harry said they were chasing the bee. I didn’t even realize there was one by them.”

Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “Lily, it’s not your fault. He’s a kid, these things are going to happen. You got him here as soon as you could and got him help, and we’re so so thankful.”

Sniffling softly, Lily wiped at her face, “I was so scared, all I heard was him screaming. The hives spread so quickly.”

The door opened as they stood talking, a doctor coming out of Asher’s room. His eyes widened at the sight of the two hockey players, probably realizing who’s child he had been working on before giving them a small smile, “Hi there, I’m Dr. Johannis. You must be Asher’s dads.”

“Yes, how’s he doing? Is he ok?” Remus asked as he stepped forward, already itching to get into the room and see his son.

Dr. Johannis was nodding before Remus had even finished, “Asher is doing fine. He came in with anaphylaxis from what appears to be a bee sting. Luckily, due to your friend’s quick actions, we were able to get him in the ambulance and give him a shot of epinephrine. He’s doing much better already, the hives have begun to fade. We do have him on oxygen at the moment as a precaution.”

Remus and Sirius both let out a breath as if a weight had been lifted directly off their shoulders. Asher was okay.

“Can we see him?” Sirius asked, his eyes flickering to the closed door behind the doctor.

Smiling, Dr. Johannis nodded, “Yes, of course. My nurse is just in there, double-checking his vitals. We want to keep him for a little bit longer to keep an eye on him but you should be able to take him home tonight.”

After thanking the doctor, Lily urged them on without her, “Go on, he was asking for you both. I’ll text Coach so he can let the team know. I’m sure they’re all worried.” Nodding, the two of them quickly made their way into the room. Asher looked so small on the hospital bed, an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth as he watched the nurse fiddle with the monitor. He quickly turned to the door as soon as it opened, eyes quickly filling with tears when he saw his dads.

“I’m sorry!” Asher cried, his voice muffled from the mask. Remus and Sirius were next to him in seconds, pulling him as close as they could without tugging any wires or IVs out.

Running a hand gently through his hair, Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “Oh mon chou, it’s okay. You didn’t know that was going to happen.”

“We’re just glad you’re okay, bub.” Remus said, running his hand gently over the little boy’s back.

Sniffling quietly, Asher rested his head on his Daddy’s side, “We thought it was a bumblebee, and Uncle James said those are fluffy and they don’t sting and they’re nice. But it wasn’t fluffy and it was not nice.” He huffed, wiping at his face.

Sirius couldn’t help but chuckle, pulling Asher closer, “Well now you know which ones to stay away from, right?” He asked, feeling the toddler nod before he let out a loud yawn.

“Sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to give you a heads-up. The medicine we gave him through the IV might make him sleepy,” The nurse said from next to them, as he headed to the door. “Let us know if you need anything.”

Remus nodded, pulling the blanket over Asher’s legs as the little boy began to doze off, “Of course, thank you so much.”

Then it was just the three of them, the only noises coming from the monitor and Ash’s soft snores.

“Well. That was fucking scary.” Remus whispered, leaning over to rest his head on his fiancé's shoulder.

Sirius snorted, his head falling onto Remus’s, “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Thought my heart was gonna fall out of my ass when Coach said we had a call.” Remus nodded in agreement, remembering the moment he heard Lily on the other side of the line.

“The team is gonna spoil the shit out of him. Like he isn’t going to have to walk anywhere for months,” Sirius continued, his hand moving to run through Asher’s soft curls.

Rolling his eyes, Remus glanced over at Sirius, “You act as though they don’t already spoil the shit out of him. Leo carried him on his back all around New York last month. Nado sneaks him treats constantly. And if Dumo brings him one more toy, we’re going to have to move to a bigger house.”

Sirius couldn’t help the large smile that spread on his face because Remus wasn’t wrong. Asher was spoiled. The team loved him, and he loved them all right back. They were so lucky to have such a supportive chosen family, and Sirius didn’t really believe in God but shit, he was grateful to whatever deity gave him this life. He had a loving fiancé, a fantastic son, and the best damn family a man could ever ask for. There was nothing better.

And when their entire house was filled with hundreds of “Get Well Soon” balloons and an entire hockey team when they got home that night, all of the worry was entirely worth it to see their little boy’s face light up the room.

[hepalien]

Destiel Bunker Fic Rec

Little to no angst to the best of my memory

Good girl. by orange_crushed @robotmango - Gen, 1.7k

Crack, TFW, Fluff

(In which Team Free Will gets a four-legged mascot.)

Sam drives her to a veterinarian’s office one day, in the stolen car he is now increasingly regarding as his, and she comes back sort of sulky and depressed from having been tricked into getting a series of vaccinations.

“I know the feeling,” Cas says, at floor level with her, while the puppy licks the underside of his wrist and makes sad eyes. “I was once immune to tetanus, but now I am forced to endure booster shots.” He looks over at Sam and Dean, and lowers his voice to a whisper. “They told me they were taking me to the zoo,” he says. He pets her ears. “You will learn to trust again.”

The Heart’s Memory by @imogenbynight - Teen, 2k

Reunion, Season 8, Fluff

After three months trapped in Heaven, Castiel flies to the bunker, and contemplates the nature of love and the human heart.

Exercise by cadignan @morethanslightly - Explicit, 2.1k

Season 8

Dean didn’t even know the bunker had a gym for the first few weeks.

the run and go by microcomets @mishcollin - Teen, 2.7k

Fallen Cas, Domestic, TFW, Fluff

Cas makes a list. Dean is Yoda, and Sam is unimpressed.

Sock it to Me by @domesticadventures and @propinquitous - Gen, 3k

Established Relationship, Fluff

It starts with the bacon socks.

(or, SWS: Socks Without Story)

more under the cut

Winchester 12 GA by Firebog @brainsforbabyjesus - Gen, 3.3k

Fallen Cas, Proposal, Fluff

Dean plays another game of are we dating or do we just fuck sometimes? The game goes like this, drink a bottle of beer for every maybe-date he’s been on with Cas and drink a double shot for every time they’ve fucked.

Dean’s not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that he’s been stumbling drunk for the last four days.

suddenly all at once by @xylodemon - Mature, 3.5k

Future Fic, Fallen Cas, Humor, First Time

Dean falls in love on a Thursday.

Cas and Chill by @xylodemon - Mature, 3.7k

Season 11

The one where Dean comes home and they watch TV.

Quintet by Anythingtoasted - Mature, 3.7k

Fallen Cas, Fluff, 5+1 Things

based loosely around the 'five times' structure, but not really. fluffy as hell.

Every Time A Bell Rings by @kototyph - Explicit, 5k

5+1 Things, Wings, P/rn With Plot, Fluff

Five times Castiel got Dean dirty, and one time Dean returned the favor.

Come Home by @whelvenwings - Gen, 6.3k

Domestic, TFW, Fluff

Click click click click.

Dean smiled as he entered the bunker’s library to hear the familiar sounds of Cas knitting, the steady rhythmic soundtrack to every single morning. In his hands he held a pair of mugs, and the scent of coffee curled up into the air, exotifying the musty scent of old books and dust-thick shelves. Dean had splashed out last time he went to the store, and bought a special Colombian blend.

________________________________________________________________________

Dean, Castiel, and Sam have lived happily in the bunker together for a while, when they happen upon an old abandoned house. It doesn't look promising at first, but with some love and hard work - and some paint fights, from Dean and Cas - it starts to look like somewhere they could stay: a permanent home, with light through the windows and herbs in the kitchen.

To Know by @imogenbynight - Explicit, 7k

Fallen Cas, Post Season 9, Fluff

Dean tells Castiel not to open the box on top of his dresser while they're away. He doesn't, exactly. But he still sees what's inside.

Rock of Ages by Winter_of_our_Discontent @bamfinacuddlyjumper - Teen, 7.4k

Oblivious, Sam Knows

It starts because they need a rock. Not, of course, just any rock, but apparently this particular critter needs an Aztec-style obsidian-and-jade dagger right through its human-teeth-and-eyeball-eating heart to actually kill it.

In which Cas gets a ring, and Dean (finally) gets a clue.

Aim and Ignite by @wincechesters - Mature, 10.3k

Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post Season 8 AU, TFW, Fluff

After the angels fall and Cas loses his grace, and with Sam still recovering from the toll taken on his body by the trials, Dean starts a prank war as a way to lighten the mood in the bunker and alleviate his boredom. It might just have some unexpected consequences.

Tales from the Bunker of Domesticity by @teaandjumpers - Mature, 17k

Domestic, Season 8, Fluff

Moments of domesticity between Dean and Cas (and occasionally Sam) in the Men of Letters bunker. Essentially, this is a story about the boys building a home together.

When you have a future by Firebog @brainsforbabyjesus - Teen, 17.6k

Fallen Cas, Accidental Relationship, Found Family, Fluff

Sam closes Hell. Castiel closes Heaven. The heroes save the day. There's no Heaven or Hell waiting to cause the next big disaster. There's no more end of the world. There's only a squirmy feeling in his chest that feels a lot like freedom. So, now what?

(Things I promise you in this fic: dog poetry, rabbits, and fluff)

I Been Blind by @jemariel - Explicit, 22.3k

Fallen Cas, P/rn with Feelings

Castiel is in love with humanity. At least, so long as he's not the one experiencing it.

A lighthearted smutty romp wherein Dean helps Cas navigate the tricky minefield of human needs.

more recs

[stevenbasic]

“Knock-knock!” I heard at the door of my office, startling me. I was nearly - jesus - an hour into this video call with the Study Coordinator from Evolution, and had obviously lost track of time.  “Where’s my favorite patient?!?’ called the voice. It was Vida, my Nurse Practitioner, entering with a broad smile, a procedure tray and someone else and causing me to look up from my computer screen. “Time for your mediciiine…” In place of her usual white clinic jacket, she was wearing a tailored black jacket over a black, figure-hugging, dress, cut low.

Immediately I said my abrupt goodbyes to Gianna, over chat, and shut down the window right as she was, good lord, blowing me a kiss. At the same time I looked up and gave my wan smile of greeting to Vida and the generously curvy blond woman who’d entered with her…

“This is Morgan, if you two haven’t met yet,” Vida said, as she briskly approached my desk, high heels clacking. Trailing behind her a few steps was a woman in a white blouse and tan leggings - a big woman - broad of shoulder, wide of hip, huge of chest, standing taller than Vida by five or six inches...and myself even more, “She’s a Nurse Practitioner too, from Evolution until just yesterday, when she joined us.”

“It is very nice to meet you, Dr. J…” Morgan purred, in a voice deeper, richer than Vida’s. There was a queer smile on her face and a hint of a vaguely Eastern European accent in her words, one that she was obviously trying to hide. For now she was hanging back, taking her cues from Vida as the younger but more senior woman began to prepare her tray behind my desk to my left. “Nurse Vida is training me today how to take the care of you.”

“H-hi, uh, Morgan,” I replied, immediately sensing that that was not this woman’s given name, and remembering it was time again for my booster shot. The thought, for some reason, brought me a little thrill, remembering how it made me feel last week…but was it also responsible for the 8 pounds I’d lost since then? “But, um, what do you m-”

Interrupting my concerns, Vida chuckled. “Oh, don’t get worried, doc. I just figured that the more of us that know how to do this for you, the better,” she explained, opening the strange black box in which the vitamin B12/D/K booster vial was packaged. I noticed the familiar, strange blue tint of the liquid as Vida removed it along with the pre-packaged syringe. “And Morgan here has lots of experience.” At that, Vida nodded up at Morgan; the larger woman took that as a cue to move around the other side of my desk, to my right, and come to stand alongside me there. I was flanked.

“I-is that right, Morgan?” I asked, hearing the nerves starting to quiver in my voice. I hated needles, I hated them. But this single, combination shot was much better than three separate ones. “Wh-what did you do at Evolution?” I asked, not able to recall her resume as I looked up at her; she was gazing down at me, over the shelf of her formidable bosom. I was hoping that, if she had started seeing patients today, that she had been more buttoned up during the workday. The cleavage she was showing at this moment, over the neckline of her overmatched white blouse, was vast.

“At the Evolution Pharmaceuticals?” she replied, the accent in her voice unable to camouflage itself through the words, “There, I was with research team, taking care of study subjects. But before, I was in pediatrics ward, with preemies, the NICU.” She looked down on me with a crooked smile, and seemed to be resisting reaching out her hand to me. Instead, she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length blond hair. “I love holding little bodies.”

“Haha well, that’s exactly why we’re here, isn’t it, Dr. J?” Vida added, explaining to Morgan and pursing her full, plump, latin lips, “This young man has lost a few inches recently and we need to make sure he gets his vitamins.” With that, Vida beamed down at me and released  her thick mane of dark hair from the conservative bun she’d been wearing for the workday. A wave of the now-ubiquitous perfume in this place flowed over me, and I felt a stirring between my legs. I had been intermittently hard during my video call with Gianna - her tits were unbelievable - and I was afraid now that I might swell to some obvious, inappropriate monster of a boner with these women so close. “Lucky for him he has his girls to take care of him,” Vida concluded. The vial and syringe, for the moment, laid inert on the tray.

I tried to focus. ”I, heh heh, don’t know if I need someone to ‘take care of me’...” I spoke, trying to sound relaxed as Morgan’s left hand finally did come to rest on my right shoulder. I’d honestly just met this woman, but she was being very…familiar. Vida as well; she was generally a bit more aloof than she seemed today. It was like there was something weird in the air, something bringing them closer.

“That's silly,” Vida responded, “Even doctors need someone to look after them.” At that, she began to remove her black jacket, and laid it on my desk, as if preparing herself for her task. Underneath she wore a clingy black tube dress that hugged her hourglass figure and revealed her trim shoulders and the upper swells of her full chest; she watched as I struggled not to look at her body. “Who do you see for a PCP?”

“uh…” I began, trying to recall my last visit to a doctor’s office outside of this one, “…no one?”

“You mean…” Vida asked with exaggerated concern, as she herself put a hand on my other shoulder, leaning in to me and twirling a lock of thick, raven hair, “you don’t have a Primary??”

“N-no I, uh-“

”Well, that’s no good,” Vida concluded, standing straight and looking across me at her fellow nurse, “Don't you agree, Morgan?”

”Oh yes,” Morgan concurred, her dimpled smile betraying her amusement, stepping a touch closer, “You need the primary...care...provider.”

“That settles it,” Vida decided, removing her right hand from me to place both it and her left one on her broad hips, in determination, “I’m going to be your PCP from now on.” Her action had drawn my eyes to her remarkably tiny waist and shit this girl had some curves. “I’ll contact our insurance company, do all the paperwork. How does that sound?”

The big woman to my right was giggling, and her hand had begun to idly caress my shoulder.

“Uh, th-that’s fine…” I agreed.

“So,” Vida finally asked, with a wry smile, “does my patient have any questions before we get started?”

Ugh, right…the injection. “Well, um, honestly…” I began, knowing I should at least address the concerns I had over this combo B12/D/K formulation, “I’m not sure it’s working. I think I’ve lost weight since last week, and even maybe almost an inch…”

“That’s ridiculous. You must have measured wrong last time, used a bad scale,” Vida replied, trying to reassure me, “But…do you think you need to go out and get checked..?”

At that, Vida herself moved in closer, and I saw Morgan, to my right, turn her thick body more towards me. Both women looked down at me.

“Or do you want to let us take care of you..?” Vida finished. It felt like a challenge, and I sensed something, an inner struggle inside myself. The logical, intelligent practitioner who cared for his health wanted to answer one way, bring a halt to something that was dangerous, possibly ruining my life. But another part of me, the one that was feeling the cock growing once again down my right thigh in tribute to the ever-more enveloping warmth of these women, just wanted to say-

“n-no…I think I’m alright,” I answered, “let’s go ahead with the shot. I’ll be fine.”

If I had known then what I know now, that my mental capacity for rational thought in the face of arousal had been already crippled by foreign agents? If I had known that I was being purposefully enslaved, drowned more and more every day in the sea of pheromones and womanly curves in which I swam? WelI, I would have run screaming. Or, then again...would I?.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Vida assured me. Her voice had dropped low, almost hypnotic, “You don’t need to go out and see any other specialists. We’ve got everything you need right here…” She was beginning to prepare the injection, now, drawing the blue liquid from the vial up into the syringe.

“Yes, everything,” Morgan agreed, looming over me now so close to my right, her hips and belly blocking out the world behind her. Her scent was warm, earthy. Between it and Vida’s reassuring tone, I felt powerless to do anything but trust these women.

“But,” Vida began again, inspecting the now-filled glass syringe, “if you are still shrinking, lots of guys would be jealous. Don’t you think, Morgan? Here, take this-” She handed a band-aid across me to her fellow nurse.

wh-what?

“Oh, yes,” Morgan concurred, her voice husky, unwrapping the band-aid, preparing it, “very jealous.”

”What…what do you mean?” I asked, confused, looking from one woman to the next, up at them. Without even being told, I had begun rolling up my sleeve.

Vida chuckled. “Oh, you know, the whole ‘vulni-chic’ thing,” she answered, holding the prepared injection now in her right hand, “you’d get very popular if you lost another-“

“One meter?” Morgan said, giggling in her deeper, richer tone, “Two?”

“haha I’d disappear…” I joked, feeling a wave of warmth coming from Morgan’s body to my right, “just like, haha…”

“It’s not a joke, Dr. J,” Vida said, her voice plain, suddenly, clinical, “it’s a thing. Here, get ready-“

“Ouch!!!”

She’d jabbed me, in the left shoulder, with the shot.

Vida spoke as she pressed the plunger, pushing the blue liquid into my deltoid. “It’s not just a fad for women, guys these days are admitting it, too…” she said as she drew the needle out of my arm. Immediately I’d felt it entering my body, like a milky warmth. “Good boy,” she praised, “Band aid?”

“Thanks,” I replied without thinking, watching as Morgan leaned her big torso across me as I turned in my chair towards her, presenting my left shoulder. She was nearly smothering me with her big breasts as she applied the bandage, and I did everything I could not to goggle at the wobbling flesh of her full, tan cleavage. My roving eyes made me realize that this generously endowed woman was wearing a very thin bra, or possibly none at all. Somehow, though, she was still so firm, with a natural buoyancy that kept her tits high and proud on her chest. My gaze could not get enough. But then eyes fluttered as I was assaulted by both an overwhelming breath of her perfume and the first rush of pleasure from the shot. I began to lower my sleeve, rubbing my arm as I looked up at her, smiling down at me as she finally stood up and away.

“I mean it, with the shrinking,” Vida started again, watching me with an appraising eye as I recovered from my shot, buttoned my sleeve, “have you seen Melissa’s new Instagram post?”

With the butterflies? I didn’t want to admit anything.

“The guys that follow her, the simps,” she continued, “they talk about wanting to be like bugs, crawling into her breasts.” She was replacing the syringe, carefully putting it and the vial back into the box. “It’s all over the place, everywhere, though no ones really talking about it yet,” she said, as she closed the black container, “guys wanting to be smaller, weaker than us. Wanting to become inferior, more passive, more submissive.”

She looked down at me and smiled, watching as the effects of the injection began to take hold. Even more strongly than last time, I was being gripped by a pleasant wave of lethargy, relaxation.

“Guys want to be small, these days,” Vida said, “and we’d like it that way too, wouldn’t we, Morgan?””

To my right I heard Morgan purr, a little grunt. “Yes, Nurse Vida,” she said, her voice low and struggling with arousal, “we would like it very much.” I had the feeling she was holding back her true feelings, in restrained understatement.

Vida laughed, casually. “It’s weird, all these changes in gender dynamics,” she continued, brushing a lock of my hair behind my left ear, “the new thing is bigger women, smaller men. Here, look at Morgan, perfect example…”

I turned, looked up at the smiling behemoth of a woman.

“She’s probably bigger than you ever were,” Vida continued, “taller, heavier, thicker everywhere.”

“Yes,” Morgan agreed, seeming to rise up, grow bigger, heavier, right in front of my eyes, “I weigh much, much more than the you.”

“And, you have to admit…” Vida asked, watching me look up at the huge, busty blond woman, who was now absolutely dwarfing me in my seat and could probably lift me like a child, “that’s kinda sexy, right?”

“I, uh….” I began, not knowing what to say. My erection was getting painful, now, contorted as it was in my pants, trying to stretch down my right thigh.

Vida spoke again, now holding my head in place by my cheek and jaw, so all I saw was Morgan. “So, even if you are getting smaller...lots of us would like that.”

I sat there, in the building afterglow of my injection, and looked at this woman’s body. It was, in all ways, so much bigger than my own. Thicker thighs, wider hips. Her arms were stronger than mine, her shoulders broader. Standing aside her, I would look puny. Even Vida - though she stood roughly my height, maybe an inch or two more - her hourglass figure and womanly hips made her body just that much more than mine.

”Dr. J,” Vida said, pulling me from my reverie, but not releasing my face from her hand’s gentle embrace, “You look like you need to go lay down. We’d take you up to bed ourselves but we have an important girl meeting to get to, don’t we Morgan?”

“Yes,” Morgan replied, though never taking her eyes or dimpled smile from me, “Very important.” I watched as she looked down on me, regarded me, considered me. “But I promise. Next time you can go to the sleep in my lap,” she said, “I have a very nice lap.” With that, Morgan bent at the waist a bit, to gently slap her prodigious thighs. My eyes watched them jiggle, and then her hands come up to the collar of her blouse, hoisting her breasts. “Or, if not on lap, we find somewhere else…”

“Haha okay,” Vida laughed, finally releasing my head but smiling as I didn’t turn away from the cleavage into which I was now dumbly gazing, in my vitamin-fueled haze imagining myself sinking into it like a caterpillar, cocooned in womanly warmth. “I’ll get a couple of the MA’s to get you upstairs…”

=========================================

more Vida & Morgan imagery, more posts, more more more at my Patreon.

Thanks for reading, everyone.

[thepartyresponsible]

For the wip ask (they all sound very interesting ngl it was hard to pick just one!) LostSteve

lost steve! yeah, so. what if shield defrosted captain america, and he broke out and just...kept running? what if they lost him? what if he ended up hiding out in tony’s tower, away from the fight for long enough to get his feet underneath him?

this fic is mostly about steve and tony finding each other first, so they can form the heart of the avengers, instead of the fault line that splits the team in half. here’s the first part of it.

                                                          —  

There’s an alert from Nick Fury that Tony chooses to ignore, for the sake of his convenience and Fury’s ongoing character growth. JARVIS announces its arrival and then diligently reminds Tony about the message twice before Tony tells him to mute it until morning.

“If it’s really that important,” he says, “they’ll just send someone to break in anyway.”

Which is why, on some level, he’s not at all surprised to find a man sitting on a couch in his penthouse twenty-seven hours later. He will admit to being caught somewhat off-guard by the specifics of the situation, though, because Steve Rogers has been dead for longer than Tony’s been alive.

“Zombie?” Tony asks. “Hallucination? Oh, clone? Are you a clone?”

Steve Rogers looks at him the way people look at wax sculptures. Like he’s interested in the details of the creation in front of him, but doesn’t believe for a second that what he’s looking at is real. “Mr. Stark,” he says, politely. His voice is deeper than Tony would’ve guessed.

“Robot,” Tony theorizes. “Sexbot? Updated Trojan Horse? If I let you inside me, are you gonna--”

The man’s brow furrows, and his mouth twists down, and his eyes are too sad for circuitry. No one would code that kind of grief.

Tony pauses for a moment, rocks forward onto the balls of his feet and then back onto his heels. He studies this intruder carefully. Someone sent him a Steve Rogers lookalike in a white t-shirt and stained khakis. He’s hale and healthy, built like a god, but his feet are bare and dirty.

Bloody, too. There are bloody footprints on the carpet.

“Wait,” Tony says. “Wait. Who the hell are you?”

There’s a long beat of silence. The man on his couch just stares at him, eyes tracing over Tony’s face, his shoulders, looking at him like he’s starving for something. He’s quiet and small, somehow, in a way that doesn’t relate at all to the amount of space his body takes up.

And then he stands, light and graceful on his bloody feet. His jaw tightens, and his shoulders pull up, and he’s an American Hero, suddenly and decisively, like he’s made some kind of choice about it.

“Mr. Stark,” he says, again, “I’m Captain America.”

And he is, Tony thinks. The same way that he’s Iron Man. Because once you put on that kind of armor, whatever else you used to be is irrelevant.

                                                           —

He’s Captain America, and he’s back from the dead. SHIELD had him and lost him, and Nick Fury wants Tony to go looking for him. That’s the message he left with JARVIS over a day ago. And Tony can’t imagine he was the first name on their list, which means Steve Rogers has been alone in the wrong century for an unknown but considerable amount of time.

“Hey,” he says, calling out from where he’s slouched against the kitchen island, watching Captain America dutifully eat through every scrap of leftovers Tony had in the fridge. “How long have you been here?”

“I was born here,” he says, through a mouthful of fried rice that he hides behind a napkin. He chews, swallows, and jabs his fork over Tony’s shoulder. “In Brooklyn.”

Tony knew that. Of course he knew that. He memorized everything about Steve Rogers back when he thought he could become enough like him to make Howard consider him worthwhile. “No, I mean,” he says, waving his hands, “in this century. How long have you been--- Jesus. I dunno. Awake? Aware? Unfrosted flakes?”

Steve blinks at him. He stares for a second and then ducks his head, stirs his fork through the open takeout box in front of him. “Spent a couple days,” he says. “Looking around.”

Looking around. Steve Rogers, unwitting time-traveler, barefoot in New York. What had he been looking for? Why did he come here?

“Why didn’t you get any shoes?” Tony asks, instead of any of the more complicated questions.

Steve tucks his feet under his chair. He washed them half an hour or so back, walking uneasily into the bathroom Tony showed him and then locking the door behind him, like he thought Tony was some kind of pervert who would bodyslam through the door to catch a glimpse of him sudsing up his bare ankles.

“Didn’t have any money,” he says, surprisingly mulish about it.

“You couldn’t smash and grab a pair of Sketchers?” Tony shakes his head. “If you get lockjaw, you’re gonna have to tell Fury you caught it from somewhere else. Fuck’s sake, when was your last tetanus booster? 1943?”

He shrugs. He doesn’t seem concerned. He’s busy eating his way through enough calories to keep your average winter-starved grizzly happy.

It’s hungry work, coming back from the dead. Tony remembers the unholy things he would’ve done for a cheeseburger.

“Didn’t have any money,” he repeats, scraping his fork around the sides of the takeout box, diligent and serious, like it’s the very last scrap of food he’ll ever get.

Tony clears his throat, hip-checks the counter to heave himself to standing. “I’ll get you some cash.”

                                                           —

There’s a weird moment, when Tony gives him the money. It’s just a few hundred dollars. He’s not Tony’s problem, not his project raised from the dead, but he still doesn’t want to give Steve Rogers the means to get himself truly lost in a world he doesn’t know.

Five hundred dollars will get him some food and somewhere to sleep for a few days, but it won’t get him far enough out of SHIELD’s orbit to get himself in trouble.

He looks up when Tony gets close. There’s a well-worn wariness in his eyes. He watches him the way a dog from a bad home might watch him through the bars of the shelter’s kennel. Resigned instead of hopeful, like he knows how this goes, like he knows he can survive it.

“Here,” Tony says. He leaves the money two chairs away from him, within easy grabbing distance. “And I have shoes your size, if you want to borrow them.”

“I don’t need that,” Rogers says, pointing at the money.

Tony lets his mouth tip up sideways, smirks like this is the part of the whole situation he finds truly unbelievable. “You’re going to come into my house,” he says, “uninvited, unannounced, and then you’re going to refuse to accept my hospitality? Rogers, what would your mother think?”

There’s a stall point in Roger’s stare, like watching a bird fly into a window. There’s a moment, right around the word mother, when those blue eyes blank out, and Tony’s just staring into empty space.

“She didn’t,” he says, and it’s fascinating. He’s stitching himself up right here at Tony’s dining table. Tony can practically see it happening, vertebrae stacking up, pulling him taunt like a needle tugging on a thread. “She never liked charity.”

Tony is familiar with pride. He has something of an overabundance himself, although he comes by it honestly. He knows hurt pride hates an audience, so he looks away.

“I imagine she hated the idea of you starving, too,” Tony says. “Probably worked very hard to make sure that didn’t happen. Going to waste all her work now, Rogers? Seems ungrateful.”

He’s half-taunting by the end of it. He’s not sure why. He finds weak points like a magnet finds iron. Sometimes he doesn’t even know what he’s pulling on until after he’s accidentally ripped out someone’s heart. It’s not one of the traits he’s proud of, but, like his pride, he knows where it came from.

Rogers glares at him, but he hooks the next takeout container over anyway.

“I’ll get those shoes,” Tony says. JARVIS has already measured; Rhodey left some boots that should fit.

Steve doesn’t say anything, but, when Tony comes back, the money is gone, and so is he.

                                                           —

Tony doesn’t tell Fury a damn thing. If Fury lost a national icon, that’s his problem. And anyway, Tony’s still not completely convinced that the blonde who materialized in his penthouse was actually Steve Rogers and not some kind of really confused, really well-built homeless man. Or a stripper.

Tony’s never actually met a stripper who showed up in khakis, refused to disrobe, and then ate ten pounds of takeout before silently disappearing, but he’d be willing to pay another five hundred dollars for a repeat performance.

He figures out how the maybe-Steve got into his penthouse. He upgrades the security, but he tells JARVIS to let him in if he ever comes back. He’s not sure what he’s hoping for, but he’s too curious to lock him out.

                                                           —

There’s a bit of nothing that kicks off in New York, some Hammer tech that goes haywire. Tony puts it down like the cheap knockoff that it is, but he gets stuck in debrief with Phil Coulson afterwards, because he’s not quite quick enough to abandon the scene after the fight’s over. In his defense, he was holding a car above a partially-trapped bicyclist, and Coulson caught him before the EMTs could finish disentangling her.

He makes it back to the Tower after an hour of mostly-wasted time. Steve Rogers is sitting at his dining table. Tony bites back the ludicrous urge to “honey, I’m home!” him.

“Hey,” he says instead, as he steps in from the balcony, stripped down to the skintight suit he wears under the armor. He didn’t expect company. “You get something to eat?”

Steve seems somehow offended by the question. “I didn’t break in here and steal anything,” he says.

“Okay,” Tony says, moving past him. “Well, that’s a gold star and an empty stomach for you, Rogers. We’re all very proud.”

“It’s not my food,” Steve tells him. If he had hackles, they’d be raised. Tony wants to pat him on the head, but only because he’s always had a sort of neurotic tendency to see how hard people bite before he decides whether to trust them.

“Yeah, and a twenty-dollar grocery bill is really gonna break me,” Tony says. He takes a smoothie out of the freezer. “You want pizza? I’m gonna order pizza.”

Steve stares at him for a long moment before he shrugs. “I could eat,” he says.

“Great,” Tony says. He has JARVIS order three pizzas, because he wants at least half of one for himself, and Steve Rogers is a human garbage disposal.

Steve takes a shower while they’re waiting. He asks first, which Tony supposes is the polite thing to do, and he takes his backpack with him, like he’s worried Tony’s going to steal his wallet.

“You know,” Tony says, when Steve remerges, wearing another knockout set of some grandpa’s Goodwill khakis and button-down shirt, “you keep showing up like this, and it’s gonna get harder for me to lie to Fury about having no idea where you are.”

Steve flips open a pizza box and carefully selects a slice. His hair is wet and neatly combed back from his face. He’s handsome from a distance but damn near devastating at close range. Tony takes another bite of pizza, hopes it’ll help swallow back the urge to sink a few grand into war bonds.

“Fury’s the guy with the eyepatch?” Steve doesn’t settle into a seat. He takes his pizza and wanders over to the window, stares out at the skyline.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Tony says.

Steve makes a face. Tony can see it, dulled and faded, in the reflection on the glass. “He’s persistent,” he says, slowly. Not like it’s a compliment.

“Yeah,” Tony says, again, “that’s him.”

Steve doesn’t say anything else. Tony finishes his slice of pizza, eats another one. There’s an ache in his right shoulder from being wrenched around by Hammer’s ridiculous creation, and he should be icing it, but he doesn’t want to. Not with Steve Rogers here.

He’s never liked looking human in front of an audience. His problem has always been that he couldn’t figure out how to stop. At least, not until he built his armor.

Steve comes back when he’s out of pizza. He’s catlike in his wariness, in the way he seems pissed at Tony for daring to exist in his proximity.

“That fight,” he says, apropos of approximately nothing at all. “Earlier.”

“Oh,” Tony says, rising out of his chair and moving toward the bar, giving Steve the room to loom over the pizza like he’s defending his kill. “You see that on the news?”

“Saw it on the street,” Steve says. “Heard the screams.”

Heard the screams and came running. So he’s still in the hero business. Fury will be happy to hear it.

“You’re gonna get yourself killed,” Steve tells him. He sounds angry about it. At Tony, not the situation. “Where’s your backup?”

“Backup,” Tony repeats. “Cap, c’mon. Read a newspaper. I work alone.”

Steve Rogers looks up from his pizza perusal just long enough to roll his eyes. It should feel like a slap across the face, and maybe it does. However it feels, Tony likes it. Wants more of it. There’s always been something grounding in being dismissed, like Tony’s never known where he stands until someone shows him how he doesn’t measure up.

“Is that supposed to be impressive?” Steve asks. “Men who work alone die alone, Stark. And they’re not very effective when they do.”

Tony knows he’s meant to be offended. He is, probably. But he couldn’t bite back his smile for anything. “I think I liked you better when you called me ‘Mr. Stark.’”

“Seems to me,” Steve says, “you want everyone to call you Iron Man these days.”

“Oh Captain, my Captain,” Tony says, “surely they had that line about glass houses in the ‘40’s?”

Steve frowns at him. “I never asked anyone to call me Captain America.”

“And yet,” Tony says, tipping a bottle of whiskey his direction, “that’s how to introduced yourself to me.”

Steve gives him a look like he thinks Tony’s being deliberately obtuse. “That’s who I am,” he says.

Tony rolls his eyes and flips a tumbler right side up. “But when I start using a stage name,” he says, “suddenly I’m a narcissistic asshole who doesn’t--”

“Do you think,” Steve says, looming up suddenly, shifting gears like something mechanical, going battle-ready with more decisiveness than a faceplate clicking down, “that anybody spent years, spent—I don’t know. Millions of dollars? Do you think anybody did that for Steve Rogers?”

Tony’s caught wrong-footed. He did it again. Drilled until he found the nerve, cut until he broke the skin.

“I think you don’t get one without the other,” Tony says, trying now to soothe. But he’s not very good at it. His instincts don’t run this direction. His whole life, the only things he could ever repair were machines.

Steve shakes his head. He steps away from the pizza. He looks around, eyes zeroing in on his backpack.

“Stay here,” Tony says, sidling out from behind the bar, whiskey now in hand.

Steve straightens up like a cobra, like he’s going to spit venom in Tony’s face. Tony wants to put his mouth on him, which is probably only half because he’s always been hellbent on his own destruction. The other half is that Steve Rogers is beautiful like something made in a lab for aesthetics alone, carefully designed for universal appeal. Tony likes to tell himself he has a taste for the exclusive, but the reality has always been he wants exactly what everyone else does.

“You don’t want SHIELD to find you,” Tony says, “then stay here. Trust me, this is the last place they’d think to look.”

He’s not standing between Steve and the exit. He was careful about that. Whatever SHIELD might think about him, he doesn’t have a death wish. And also, when he’s thinking about it, he’s not usually deliberately an asshole. It’s just that, most of the time, he’s not thinking about it.

“Why should I trust you?” Steve asks.

Tony shrugs. Hell, he has no idea. “Why’d you come here? The first time. When SHIELD lost you, you came here. Why?”

“I went home,” Steve says, argumentative, all squared shoulders and tight jaw. “I went to Brooklyn. But it wasn’t there anymore. None of it was—I couldn’t find…”

He trails off, shakes his head, sharp and agitated, a horse bothered by a fly. It’s hard to look in his eyes. There’s something in them that Tony doesn’t want to see. It’s like watching a statue bleed.

“I heard there was still a Stark in New York,” Steve says. “I read about you. I thought maybe you’d--”

��You thought I’d be like Howard,” Tony finishes for him. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“I thought you’d be like me,” Steve says, which doesn’t make any sense at all.

“You,” Tony says. And then, a little helplessly, “What?”

Steve looks away. He shrugs, looks back. “I saw the suit,” he says. “On the news. I saw what it can do. I didn’t think--- things have advanced a lot. I didn’t understand. I thought Howard had…”

Tony squints at him. “You thought Howard did a Rebirth redux and tested it on his kid?”

“I thought a lot of things,” Steve says, snappy. “It was a very confusing couple of days.”

Tony can imagine that it was. “So you thought I was Rebirthed, and you wanted--”

“I didn’t want anything,” Steve says, and there’s that flash of exposed nerve again, that look like a sinkhole in the backs of his eyes. “That’s not the point.”

Tony takes a sip of his whiskey. It settles, warm and sweet, into his stomach.

I didn’t want anything.

I shouldn’t be alive, unless it’s for a reason.

Tony holds the tumbler out. Steve needs the warmth more than he does. “Here,” he says.

Steve takes it, seemingly on reflex. “I can’t get drunk,” he says.

“Well,” Tony says, circling back toward the bar, “not with that attitude.”

[gvnchvcks]

what are your hcs for everyone's role in the crew? e.g. fredo is sniper, michael is demolitions etc.

Oooh!! My girlfriend and I were just talking about this actually! Here are the roles we think fit the best, though they aren't exactly very original:

- I totally agree with you on Michael and Fredo. Michael is exactly the guy you go to if you need pretty much anything to do with things that catch on fire or go boom, and I like to think he helps out when the group needs some good ol fashioned muscle

- Alfredo is absolutely 100% the sniper. Really he's perfect for any stealthy job whenever he gets serious, but he prefers to provide cover from a distance before rushing in later on to help his mates

- Trevor is all about heist planning and he helps on the financial/monetary end of things. Of course these are heavy and important tasks, so Gav, Jack, and Matt help him out whenever they can. I also really like the idea of him being one of the crew's medics

- Okay I will say one thing: Gavin is still the Golden Boy. Idc if its outdated or out of character, golden boy!gav is still my absolute favorite. So a bit of hacking and heist planning. I also like to think he's perfect as a distraction, interrogator, and overall team morale booster. Tbh he's pretty well rounded as long as he's not the one driving

- I've always loved pilot/driver!Jack, she's perfect for the job. Can get you from point A to point B to point C with class and expertise

- Matt is the crew's leading hacker. Sure Gav does some too, but I'd almost say he works under Matt. I like to think he also helps Treyco and Jack deliver orders through the crew's earpieces, but of course usually from further away like from inside a van parked a few blocks back (definitely also knows how to use a sniper, he just leaves it to Alfredo unless the job calls for it)

- Lindsay is the wildcard. Not exactly an "expert" at any specific thing, but great at anything that causes chaos and confusion. Explosions, random tear gas containers, they have it all. Just like Gavin though, I wouldn't let them drive-

- Jeremy is the muscle. Brute force is their game, and Rimmy is their name. I also like to think they're a driver/pilot of sorts, but they specialize in special vehicles that are more so used to cause destruction or to be a distraction

- Fiona, being the newbie, hasn't quite found her niche yet. But, she does have one thing: Rage. Get her fired up and watch her go. Bullets will fly and heads will roll. She's the perfect decoy; enemies expect to go against the Rookie but instead they get blown away by the Supernova.

- Bonus: Geoff works from the shadows now. He's still the head of the crew, but he's no longer the face of it. Orders go directly from him to Trevor. From the Kingpin to the New Boss.

My ask box is still open for fahc/minecraft AU asks!!