#the algae bra got me

[mixedbag-o-beans]

the joke book is BACK BABY

[lexisecretaccx]

High School Sweethearts pt.1 - Chris Sturniolo

PT2, PT3, PT4, PT5, PT6, PT7, PT8, PT9, PT10, ( rest of the parts on my Masterlist)

A/n: This is gonna be a series but PLSPLS bear with me bc I am struggling in school right now! This series reminds me of the K-12 Album tbf lol🤍🎀

(Chris sturniolo x Fem reader, skater Chris, nothing much atm, maybe a bit suggestive in a dream but not much else tbh.)

The bell rings, causing me to lift my head swiftly. I look around at the class and the other students are packing up so I copy, but just as I lean down to place my pencil case into my bag, a book slams on my desk making me jump out of my skin.

“You aren’t going anywhere y/n. Sleeping in class again?” My teacher Mr Rockwell looks down at me, his face cold and stern. “I’m sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night and..” he picks the book up off the desk, “no excuses. Good thing this is the last period because you can stay behind for detention. An hour and a half.” I sigh as he walks away before picking up a sheet of paper and placing it on my desk.

I place my face into my hands out of embarrassment, I’ve never had detention with this teacher before, I’m usually alert in his classes. “No more sleeping!” Mr Rockwell slightly yells from across the classroom and I pick up my pen before sighing and studying the page. Algebra. Math has never been my strong suit.

Mine and the teachers heads both shoot to the door as it opens with a squeak, a brunette boy walks into the room and up to the teachers desk, “You’re late again. Once more and there will be serious issues.” I hear Mr Rockwell say, before the boy replies “yeah sorry, see my brother had to..” “Excuses again! What’s the matter with the students in my class.” He mutters, leaning past the brunette to look at me.

My face flushes with embarrassment as the boy turns to look at me, he mustn’t have noticed there was anyone else in the class, I am seated right at the back to be fair. He smiles at me softly, before turning back to the teacher. I swear I recognised him, I think he was one of the triplets in our grade.

“Sit down.” Mr Rockwell mutters, handing the boy the same piece of paper he gave me. To my surprise the boy sat right next to me, probably to try copy me. “If you’re trying to copy me, you’re out of luck because I haven’t got a clue either.” I whisper and I look over to the boy, his eyes studying my face. “Do I know you?” He whispers back.

“I don’t know.. do you?” I ask in confusion because I haven’t ever spoken to him or his brothers, “yeah you’re the girl who sits at the front in science.” He chuckles and looks at the teacher at the front of the class and then back at me.I’m surprised he knows who I am, I didn’t know he was in my class.

“Oh yeah..” I laughed lightly. I look back down at my paper to try and make some sense of it, and I fail at that.

The teacher stands up and his chair squeaks against the floor, causing me and the boy to jump as we look up. “I need to go.. grab something from one of the other classrooms I’ll be 10 minutes minimum.” He spoke monotonously and walked out the class. I immediately look to the boy and he has the same confused expression on his face as I do.

“What was that about?” He looks to me for an answer, “I dont know but at least I don’t have him staring me down anymore,” I laugh, “what’s your name? Sorry I dont remember it.” I feel guilty, due to the fact that he knows who I am, I mean I know who he is but not enough to know his name, does he even know mine?

“Oh uh im Chris, and don’t stress it y/n u won’t be forgetting my name soon enough.” He smirks to me before his eyes focus on the equations in front of him. He knows my name. “What do you mean by that?” I laugh softly and he shrugs.

“Maybe you’ll remember me as the boy who stole the answers for this algae-bra shit.” He stands up whilst looking at me, “it’s Algebra, Chris, and you aren’t stealing answers, what if he comes back?”

“Chill, I’ll take the blame for it anyway.” He opens the drawer in the teachers desk and ruffles through some paper until he smiles and grabs a piece of paper, closes the drawer and walks back over to me. “You thief.” I joke with him as he sits back down and scoots his desk closer to me so we can share the paper.

We finish up with the paper and the teacher still hasn’t returned, Chris puts the paper back into his desk and we try to wait it out for the 25 minutes we have left. “Can we just leave now?” He rolls his eyes and taps his pen on the desk. “I wish but no. What if he comes back and we’re gone?” I watch him as he stops tapping his pen and leans down to his bag.

“Live a little y/n. He’s been gone for most this detention, it’s his fault if you leave early.” He packs his things into his backpack. “Plus I’ll write a note on his board and let him know we left ‘at the right time’” he does finger quotations and smirks, “fine.” I sigh.

He hops out his seat and grabs both our papers and places them on the desk, as I pack my things away. He writes on the board ‘sorry for being in detention or whatever but we did the work (it’s on ur desk) and left, love u teach xx - Chris’ “there.” He smiles proudly and I roll my eyes “you’re not funny.” I stand up.

We both sneak out the classroom and Chris leads me the way. We hear voices coming from a storage cupboard and he looks back at me before we go to move forward again but before we can start moving, the door swings open and a girl walks out, she looked about late 20s or something, she went down the hallway in the direction we were headed.

Chris turns to me and raises one of his eyebrows as if to say ‘what the fuck was she doing in there’ . About a minute later someone else stumbles out of the cupboard, my mouth drops when I realise it’s Mr Rockwell. He walks down the corridor towards his class which means he was gonna pass me and Chris. Chris pulls me behind a locker and my back is pressed right up against him.

Mr Rockwell passes us, and thankfully doesn’t see us. I let out a sigh of relief and Chris grabs my arm before we are running down the corridors and out the double doors. Chris leans against the brick wall, breathing heavily.

“I’m never doing that again.” I breath as I smile at him, “You know we will,” he smirks at me before checking his phone. “Shit I was supposed to be home like half hour ago I should go.” “But detention doesn’t end for what.. another like 10/15 minutes? Why would you need to be home before it ends?” I ask tilting my head slightly as he smiles and looks at his feet.

“Your detention doesn’t end for another 10/15 minutes, mine ended like 45 mins ago.” He looked at me, “what, why didn’t you leave when you should’ve then?” I am really confused now. “Didn’t want to leave you on your own.” He shrugged before grabbing a skateboard off of a rack. “Oh thanks.” I smile “You skate?” I try to hide my blush from his comment and bring my focus to his board.

“Uh yeah, do you?” He smiles down at me due to our height difference, “no but I tried once and I got scared.” I laugh, he laughs too before dropping his board onto the ground, “I’ll teach you sometime.” He starts to skate away, “see ya y/n!”.

I get home and throw my notebook down onto my desk, one of my pages is folded over, I hate when that happens. I turn to the page to unfold the corner and there’s writing on the page ‘know you would want this - Chris’ below that was his phone number. I smile to myself at his slightly messy handwriting and pick up my phone.

I add his number to my contacts and open up imessage. ‘How did you write that in my book without me noticing😂’ I press send. He replies with ‘gotta keep an eye on your stuff y/n😉’ we text back and forth for a bit before I go to sleep.

“You’re so pretty y/n.” I smile as he leans over me and smirks, “can I?” His hand plays with the seam on my panties. “Yes.. please.” He starts to kiss my neck, “fuck Chris…”

I sit up quickly, breathing fast. “What the fuck.” I mumble to myself before wiping my eyes and laying back down. Come on y/n you barely knew the boy before today and now you’re dreaming of him? I sigh heavily.

I’m never telling anyone about that.. ever..

A/n: omds I kinda like this.. I’m gonna try to make it a series but I won’t be able to update frequently! I love this storyline tho and I know where I’m going with this so bear with me!

Taglist: @blahbel668 @mattsleftnipple03 @rac00ns-are-c00l4 @hysteria-things @sturniologurl4l2008 @jakevwebber @braindead4l @mattybearnard

—💋——📷——‼️——💌———❤️———💌——‼️——📷——💋—

[nightprompts]

&. 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝: 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

(  inspired from the pun book from the last of us, here are some dialogue prompts of various puns. feel free to edit and change as you seem fit. )

❛ for a fungi to grow you must give it as mushroom as possible. ❜

❛ it doesn't matter how much you push the envelope. it'll still be stationary. ❜

❛ what did the mermaid wear to her math class? an algae bra. ❜

❛ people are making apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow. ❜

❛ why did the scarecrow get an award? he was outstanding in his field. ❜

❛ what did the triangle say to the circle? you're so pointless. ❜

❛ a book just fell on my head, i only have my shelf to blame. ❜

❛ i tried to catch some fog earlier. i mist. ❜

❛ i stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. then it dawned on me. ❜

❛ diarrhea is hereditary... it runs in your genes. ❜

❛ what did the green grape say to the purple grape? breathe, you idiot! ❜

❛ i'm reading a book on anti-gravity, and it's impossible to put down. ❜

❛ what is a pirate's favorite letter? tis' the c. ❜

❛ i wasn’t originally going to get a brain transplant, but then i changed my mind. ❜

❛ what washes up on tiny beaches? microwaves. ❜

❛ why are frogs so happy? they eat whatever bugs them. ❜

❛ i don't trust trees. they're shady. ❜

❛ i was going to tell you a pizza joke, but it's too cheesy. ❜

❛ i want to be cremated as it is my last hope for a smoking hot body. ❜

❛ there’s a new type of broom out. it’s sweeping the nation. ❜

❛ did you hear about the man who lost his left side? he’s all right now. ❜

❛ what do you call a bee that can't make up its mind? a maybe. ❜

❛ i tried to make a belt out of watches. it was a waist of time. ❜

❛ i got fired from the calendar factory, just for taking a day off. ❜

❛ did you hear about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of soda? he was lucky it was a soft drink. ❜

❛ tequila may not fix your life but its worth a shot. ❜

❛ why are there fences around cemeteries? because people are dying to get in! ❜

❛ thanks for explaining the word 'many' to me, it means alot. ❜

❛ i once ate a watch. it was time consuming. ❜

❛ why are teddy bears never hungry? they are always stuffed! ❜

❛ i don’t trust stairs because they’re always up to something. ❜

❛ never trust an atom, they make up everything! ❜

❛ i couldn't figure out how to put my seatbelt on, but then it clicked. ❜

❛ how do construction workers party? they raise the roof. ❜

❛ what do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? a thesaurus. ❜

❛ when a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds. ❜

❛ i made a pun about the wind but it blows. ❜

❛ it's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally. ❜

❛ what did the ocean say to the beach? nothing, it just waved. ❜

❛ i have a joke about chemistry, but i don't think it will get a reaction. ❜

❛ i'm on a seafood diet. i see food and i eat it. ❜

❛ why did the restaurant on the moon get bad reviews? it has no atmosphere.❜

❛ how do you organize a space party? you planet. ❜

❛ i once heard a joke about amnesia... but i forget how it goes. ❜

❛ the frustrated cannibal threw up his hands. ❜

❛ it takes guts to be an organ donor. ❜

❛ why is the mushroom always invited to parties? he's a fungi. ❜

❛ a guy walks into a bar... he was disqualified from the limbo contest. ❜

❛ jokes with punch lines can be painfully funny. ❜

❛ so what if i don’t know what apocalypse means? it’s not the end of the world! ❜

[rpstartersinc]

* 𝐇𝐁𝐎'𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓  𝐎𝐅  𝐔𝐒  /  𝐄𝐏  𝟑,  𝟒  &  𝟓.

feel free to change pronouns / wording!

“ want your jacket back? ”

“ never been in the woods. more bugs than i thought. ”

“ i don’t want your sorries. ”

“ i wasn’t gonna say i’m sorry. ”

“ nobody made you go along with this plan. ”

“ don’t blame me for something that isn’t my fault. ”

“ what are you looking out for? ”

“ is it something lame, like you fell down the stairs or something? ”

“ someone shot at me and missed. ”

“ i gotta grab some stuff i stashed. ”

“ you ask a lot of goddamn questions. ”

“ i had a friend who knew everything about this game. ”

“ there’s this one character named mileena who takes off her mask and she has monster teeth and then she swallows you whole and barfs out your bones! ”

“ ah, getting funnier. ”

“ dude, you got to go up in the sky! ”

“ so everything came crashing down in one day? ”

“ if you have to get bit to be infected, then who bit the first person? ”

“ there’s stuff up there you shouldn’t see. ”

“ well now i have to see. ”

“ whatever it was, think it’s gone. ”

“ dead people can’t be infected. ”

“ it doesn’t get old. ”

“ i’m not infected! ”

“ why did you take that long to answer? ”

“ i thought about lying for some reason, but the reason didn’t come. ”

“ i’m letting you go, so go. ”

“ if i feed you, then every bum you talk to about it is gonna show up here looking for a free lunch. ”

“ you already know i’m bad at lying. ”

“ everything tastes good when you’re starving. ”

“ i know i don’t seem like the type. ”

“ would you stop!? ”

“ paying attention to things, it’s how we show love. ”

“ there are no friends to be had. ”

“ i’ve actually been talking to a nice woman on the radio. ”

“ aren’t i the lucky one? ”

“ i got something to show you. ”

“ i like you older. older means we’re still here. ”

“ i was never afraid before you showed up. ”

“ took most of the night. i’m exhausted. ”

“ i’ve had more good days with you than with anyone else. ”

“ i should be furious. ”

“ you hear anything, you see anything, yell. ”

“ so they’re dead? ”

“ i used to hate the world, and i was happy when everyone died. but i was wrong, because there was one person worth saving. ”

“ we have a job to do, and god help any motherfuckers who stand in our way. ”

“ we can just keep our histories to ourselves. ”

“ you do what i say when i say it. ”

“ they have hot water! i’m taking a shower, and then you’re showering, because seriously - pffff. ”

“ well don’t you look pretty. ”

“ it’s like a spaceship. ”

“ gas breaks down over time, this stuff’s almost water. ”

“ it doesn’t matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationary. ”

“ what did the mermaid wear to her math class? an algae bra. ”

“ i stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, and then it dawned on me. ”

“ this make you all nostalgic? ”

“ hold your horses, i wanna see what all the fuss is about. ”

“ why are all these pages stuck together? ”

“ can we start a fire? i’m freezing. ”

“ no one’s gonna find us. ”

“ if you don’t think there’s hope for the world, why bother going on? ”

“ i’m not even tired. ”

“ i’m all turned around. ”

“ this is my second day in a fucking car, man! ”

“ you’re not hurt? ”

“ you don’t come out until i say, okay? ”

“ my mom isn’t far, if you could get me to her. ”

“ you can have it. ”

“ you don’t have to! ”

“ i can’t fit through. ”

“ i was alone. ”

“ you were wronged, and i’m sorry. ”

“ they put a gun to my head! ”

“ have i satisfied the necessary conditions for you to talk? ”

“ you think i won’t do it? ”

“ i didn’t hear that guy coming. ”

“ you’re just a kid. ”

“ i know what it’s like, the first time that you hurt someone like that. ”

“ i’m not good at this. ”

“ you shouldn’t have had to, and i’m sorry. ”

“ it wasn’t my first time. ”

“ you put it in your pack, you’ll shoot your damn ass off. ”

“ we’ll get through this. ”

“ let’s just handle what we have to handle. we can deal with this after. ”

“ where would you be without me, huh? ”

“ how did you know it was an ambush? ”

“ i’ve been on both sides. ”

“ we did what we needed to survive. ”

“ did you kill innocent people? ”

“ i don’t want someone sneaking up on us while we’re sleeping. ”

“ i don’t wanna talk about it. ”

“ so it gets easier when you get older? ”

“ did you know diarrhoea is hereditary? yeah, it runs in your jeans. ”

“ you laughed, motherfucker! ”

“ look at me, not at that. ”  

“ i used to be so scared of these people. ”  

“ did it make you feel safe? ”  

“ how does it make you feel now? ”  

“ i swear, i’ve told you everything i know. ”  

“ he won’t be talking. ”  

“ why go to the trouble? you can kill yourself right here. ”

“ do i look scared? ”  

“ i’ve been watching them, i know their patterns. ”  

“ we don’t wanna hurt you, we wanna help you. ”  

“ if i lower my gun, we didn’t hurt you, so you don’t hurt us, right? ”

“ that’s a weird fucking tone, man. ”  

“ that’s just the way he sounds, he has an asshole voice. ”

“ i’m gonna trust you. ”  

“ you know what happens when you do that to people? the moment they get a chance, they do it right back to you. ”

“ never killed anyone. ”  

“ pointing an unloaded gun at you was the closest i’ve ever come to being violent. ”

“ that’s my dicey-as-fuck plan. ”  

“ your dad’s kind of a pessimist. ”  

“ he’s not my dad. ”  

“ i’m not her dad. ”  

“ endure and survive. ”  

“ i wasn’t exactly telling you the truth, before. ”  

“ i am the bad guy because i did a bad guy thing. ”  

“ we’re not doing so good. ”  

“ have you been back to the room you grew up in? ”  

“ he would be horrified by the things i’ve done. ”  

“ this is what happens when you fuck with fate. ”  

“ are you ever scared? ”  

“ i’m scared all the time. ”  

“ i’m scared of ending up alone. ”  

“ if you turn into a monster, is it still you inside? ”  

“ stay awake with me. ”  

“ gimme the gun. ”  

“ what did i do? ”  

[darkimpala1897]

Things Eddie has said to Wayne because he has no filter.

Eddie answering the phone it was one of Wayne's friend not knowing he had one.

Eddie: "Oh, hello sorry the dinosaurs are busy right now.

Wayne walking into the room looking at his nephew.

Wayne: "What are you doing?"

Eddie turning towards Wayne with a smile.

Eddie: "Oh wait one of the dinosaurs is here. It's for you Wayne."

Eddie hands over the phone laughing under his breath.

Wayne: "Very cute, very funny."

Wayne takes the phone shaking his head.

Eddie: "It's pretty funny, did you get it it's cause your old."

Wayne covering the mouth piece nodded.

Wayne: "Oh I got it just fine."

Eddie trying to start a conversation at the dinner table.

Eddie: "I walked into Chrissy's room once and I tripped on a bra."

Wayne putting his head down knowing what was coming, Steve had no idea.

Eddie: "It was a booby trap."

Steve trying not to laugh because that was horrible even for Eddie.

Eddie following after his uncle who was trying to escape him.

Eddie: "What is a bunch of kittens called?"

Wayne afraid of what's gonna come out of his nephews mouth still answers

Wayne: "You mean a litter?"

Eddie: "What's a litter?"

Wayne shaking his head wondering where Eddie's brain disappeared to.

Wayne: "A bunch of kittens Edward."

Wayne just trying to enjoy some peace and quiet. Eddie coming out of nowhere.

Eddie: "What did the triangle do to the circle?"

Wayne looking towards his nephew, he grumbles something under his breath.

Wayne: "Oh god here we go again."

Eddie laying on the living room floor staring at the ceiling well Wayne made breakfast.

Eddie: "I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went."

Wayne looks over the counter at his nephew wondering where he was going with this.

Eddie: "Then it dawned on me."

Wayne shaking his head, he feels like he's living with his sister all over again.

Eddie walking through the door Steve right behind him.

Eddie: "I forgot to throw a boomerang once."

Steve looking towards him confused.

Eddie: "But it came back to me."

Wayne could be heard groaning from wherever he was.

Eddie couldn't sleep so he goes and bugs his uncle.

Eddie: "What did the mermaid wear to her math class?"

Wayne who was trying to sleep looks towards Eddie.

Wayne: "I don't know what?"

Eddie: "An algae bra."

Wayne groans grabbing his pillow tempted to smother his nephew.

Eddie on a field trip, Wayne unfortunately had to chaperone.

Eddie looking a dinosaur, he points it out to Wayne.

Eddie: "Look, this one looks like a chicken."

Wayne looking at he nods agreeing.

Wayne: "Well fun fact of the day, paleontologists believed that birds came from dinosaurs."

Eddie looks towards his uncle.

Eddie: "Well look at you being Mr. Professor."

On that same field trip.

Eddie looking at the planets.

Eddie: "Hey Wayne, name all the planets?"

Wayne thinking about it for a second.

Wayne: "My very educated mother just served us nice pizzas."

Eddie blinking at him confused.

Eddie: "Are you having a stroke?"

Eddie laying upside down on the couch watching TV.

Eddie: "A backwards poet writes in verse."

Wayne wondering what he's on about now.

Wayne: "Do you even get what that means?"

Eddie shaking his head.

Eddie: "No of course not Wayne."

Eddie standing with Wayne as the upside down potals activate.

Eddie: "People are making apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow."

Wayne looking at his nephew with the seriously look.

Eddie: "Too soon uh?"

Eddie putting a ridiculous hat on Wayne.

Wayne glaring at him.

Wayne: "Eddie seriously?"

Eddie nods smiling.

Eddie: "It's my birthday, so it's my amazing rules and I say you have to wear the sombrero."

On that field trip I was mentioning early.

Eddie staring at a dinosaur skull.

Eddie: "That's a thick skull."

Wayne looking at it.

Wayne: "Kinda looks like Gareth."

Eddie looking towards his uncle.

Eddie: "I'm totally telling him you said that."

Wayne shaking his head.

Wayne: "Please don't. But like come on you have to agree, just catch it in the right light and boom it's Gareth."

Eddie sitting on the kitchen counter watching as his uncle packed up the Christmas decorations.

Eddie: "It's not like the guy didn't know how to juggle."

Wayne putting down the Christmas lights, wondering to himself if he could string Eddie up.

Eddie: "He just didn't have the balls to do it."

You're welcome for the qoutes we should have had between Wayne and his idiot nephew.

[askstranger]

Every No Pun Intended Vol. 2 Joke in TLOU and TLOU:LB

The Last of Us

(All the following jokes are from the last of us)

"It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope. It'll still be stationary."

"What did the Confederate soldiers use to eat off of? Civil ware."

"What did they use to drink with? Cups. Dixie Cups."

"I walked into my sister's room and tripped on a bra. It was a booby-trap."

"A book just fell on my head, I only have my shelf to blame."

"What is the leading cause of divorce in long-term marriages? A stalemate."

"What did the mermaid wear to her math class? An algae bra."

"3.14% of sailors are Pi Rates."

"People are making apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow..."

"I tried to catch some fog earlier. I mist."

"I stayed up all night wondering where

the sun went. Then it dawned on me."

"You wanna hear a joke about pizza? Never mind, it was too cheesy."

"What did the green grape say to the purple grape? Breathe, you idiot!"

"Why did the scarecrow get an award? He was outstanding in his field."

"A boiled egg in the morning is really hard to beat."

"I'm reading a book on anti-gravity, and it's impossible to put down."

"It's not that the guy didn't know how to juggle... he just didn't have the balls to do it."

"I'm glad I know sign language. It's become quite handy."

"I forgot how to throw a boomerang. But it came back to me."

"When a clock is hungry... It goes back four seconds."

"I once heard a joke about amnesia... But I forget how it goes."

"When the power went out at the school... The children... were de-lighted."

"Those fish were shy. They were obviously coy."

"The frustrated cannibal threw up his hands."

"I didn't have the faintest idea... as to why I passed out."

"There was once a crossed-eyed teacher... who had issues controlling his pupils."

"Diarrhea is hereditary... It runs in your genes."

"I heard two peanuts walk into a park... One was as-salted."

"What is a pirate's favorite letter? Tis' the c."

"Those two men drinking battery acid will soon be charged."

"The midget psychic escaped prison. He was a small medium at large."

"I'm inclined...to be laid back."

"Newspaper headline reads: Cartoonist found dead at home, details are sketchy."

" The Magician got frustrated and pulled his hare out."

" A criminal`s best asset... is his lie-ability."

" I heard about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of soda. He is lucky it was a soft drink."

"What did the triangle say to the circle? You're so pointless."

"What did the cannibal get when he showed up to the party late? A cold shoulder!"

I hope you enjoyed!

Enough.

-Stranger.

"Oh Lord, tht was hilarious!!!"

-Mirror.

[pedritomosquito]

Unmute (Ch 3)

Summary: Joel's journey to find Tommy is interrupted by a girl who needs help. A whole lot changes for both of them when she ends up tagging along.

This Chapter: On the road, Joel begins to learn Ellie's language

Pairing: No Pairings, just Joel & Ellie

Word count: ~1.2k

Warnings: SA recovery, Mute(ish) character

Their next day of silent hiking began and by noon he faintly made out a noise behind him. It was more than just an exhale, it was… a chuckle cut off before it could tumble out. A quarter of a laugh. He turned and saw Ellie with her typical book in hand.

“What are you reading?” He asked.

Ellie skipped a few steps forward to catch up to him. She passed him the tattered book.

“No Pun Intended: Volume Too, by Will Livingston,” He read the cover aloud.

Ellie reached out and pointed insistently at the volume written on the corner of the cover.

“Too, two,” Joel nodded, his tone unimpressed, “Yeah, I see what they did there.”

Ellie scoffed at his lack of enthusiasm, snatching the book from his fingertips and cracking it back open to read herself.

Joel expected to be reacquainted with silence but Ellie’s voice rang quietly next to him.

“No matter how far you push the envelope, it will always be stationary.”

Joel just blinked.

“I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, then it dawned on me.”

Oh god, the puns were terrible. But she was talking in complete sentences, all on her own volition. He stayed quiet and put on his best show of appearing unimpressed, hoping she’d continue.

“What did the mermaid wear to her math class?” She asked, looking at him expectantly.

Joel shrugged his eyebrows. He knew he was about to hear the answer regardless.

“An Algae-bra!” She smiled .

It was the first time he’d seen her smile, her cheeks rosy and lips quirked. Joel wished he could take a picture, that he could lay it as a polaroid over every time he’d seen her broken.

He just shook his head. His lip twitched but he was unwilling to break for a joke so lame.

She fell asleep with the book in her hand that night.

“Hand over the scissors,” Joel stated.

Ellie looked at Joel as he sat down on his sleeping bag. It was dawn, the sun just beginning to climb the sky. She reached to cover the pocket containing the scissors protectively, but before she could protest much further, Joel produced a switchblade from his bag. He held it out to her.

“You need an upgrade,” He explained.

She snatched it out of his hand with her usual ferality. She turned the grip over in her hand, seemingly familiarizing herself with the feeling of its shape in her palm. Her thumb pushed the button and the blade instantly flicked out into place. She admired the shiny metal and its dull glint in the morning light.

“You know how to use it?” Joel asked.

Ellie looked at him, mildly insulted, with an eyebrow raised. She pantomimed an exaggerated, slow motion stab and a ‘ta-da’ wiggle of her fingers to prove her point.

“Yeah, yeah,” Joel nearly rolled his eyes. How Ellie managed to pack so much teenage sass without saying a word was beyond him. “For people, you want to have the blade up, underhand. Go for someplace soft in their belly. Wouldn’t risk the chest ‘cause if it gets stuck in their ribs, you’re up the creek without a paddle.”

Ellie was paying close attention to his violence how-to. Puns and violence. Those are the only interests he’s been able to pick up so far.

“For infected, you wanna have the blade facing down, overhand. Go for the temple or the throat. You can do the eye too, but you’re more likely to get bit so it’s best to avoid it. Back of the neck if you can get ‘em from behind. Got it?”

Ellie nodded.

Joel put his hands on his thighs as he got up.

“Good talk.”

Joel heard the steps behind him come to a stop. He turned around and found Ellie looking out at the field next to them.

A crashed airplane, fragmented and half-claimed by the earth, laid across the hill.

He shuffled over and stood beside her.

“Never liked flyin’ in those tin cans,” He offered, “Wedged in a middle seat with a twelve dollar sandwich.”

He watched Ellie continue to scan the wreckage before her gaze drifted up, observing the clouds for a moment. He figured that trapped between the walls of the QZ, the only place Ellie ever really got to look was up.

“You got to go in the sky ,” Ellie replied quietly in wonder.

Puns, violence, the sky.

Later that day, when Joel switched off the lantern light, he looked up at the night sky. He picked out the couple of constellations he knew.

He bet Ellie would love talking about the stars.

“Joel?”

“What?”

“Why did the scarecrow get an award?”

“Because he was outstanding in his field.”

“You dick ! You read this?”

“No. Now go to sleep.”

One morning, they were packing up the camp they had set up in a clearing of the forest.

Several yards away, the brush at the edge of the clearing rustled. He saw Ellie become a blur of motion as she instantly arrived next to him, tucking herself behind him.

He was reaching for his pistol when a tiny parting of leaves appeared and a small brown deer peeked its head into the meadow. A dainty black hoof extended onto the grass. Aside from its small size, the white splotches on its shoulder gave away that it was just a fawn.

As quickly as it appeared, it leapt away, back into the coverage of the forest.

Joel looked to his side and saw Ellie peeking around him. Only days ago she wouldn’t come within ten feet of him, much less seek him out for protection.

Her eyes were alight with awe as she continued to stare at where the creature had stood.

Puns, violence, the sky, animals.

“Probably loads of ‘em out here,” He said, “Every year, there was a couple months where it was legal to go and hunt the bucks. Helped with population control. Now I’m sure the place is overrun.”

“So everyone hunted for food before the infected?” She asked.

So she was in the mood to talk.

“No, maybe way out in rural areas, but hunting was just a hobby for most folks. There were butchers in every grocery store.”

“There were really whole stores with just food?”

“Yep,” he nodded, “Some were big as warehouses. Just aisles and aisles, every food, every flavor and brand you could think of.”

“Wow,” Ellie replied wistfully.

“Grocery stores are where this mess started though,” Joel said, “That’s what they think, anyway.”

“The first bite?” She asked.

“No. Theory is the fungus mutated and got into some sort of grain supply,” He explained, “Flour, sugar, something common. Food hits the shelves all over the world, people ate it, got infected and started biting. Few days later, whole world was gone.”

“That quick?”

“That quick.”

“Never taught us that at FEDRA school,” Ellie murmured.

“Governments usually aren’t too keen on advertising their mistakes,” Joel replied, “In the old world or new.”

Ellie thought for a moment before nodding conclusively.

“Thanks.”

Ellie valued the truth, that much was clear to Joel (and probably justice too, if the revenge she took on her captors was any indication). He respected that. He imagined that in the old world, she would have either become a lawyer or an inmate. No in between.

Puns, violence, the sky, animals, truth.

“Course.”

She got up and picked up her things, beginning to head west. She had her own way of being a leader, no permission or words necessary. He respected that too.

Author's Notes:

Me? Using a fleeting fawn to represent Ellie’s loss of childhood and innocence? More likely than you’d think.

Ellie seeking protection from Joel when the deer comes. Only days ago she wouldn't go within 10 feet of him. Now That’s What I Call Trust™

Joel literally learning Ellie’s language, whether he means to or not, and she barely even has to say a word. Puns, violence, the sky, animals, truth.

Thanks for reading my loves!

Next Chapter: Chapter 4

[final-girl96]

Firefly Chapter Thirty-Two

Pittsburgh 2023

"How did you know that guy wasn't hurt?" Ellie asked. I looked over at Joel who was clearly trying to avoid answering the question. "Because we've been on both sides," I told her. She looked at us and Joel opened the door. As soon as we stepped outside we saw a pile of ash and bone. "You killed people?" She asked, looking at the pile of bones and ash that was still smoking. "We did what we had to do," Joel told her.

He jumped up onto an outside air vent and up into a fire escape. Ellie and I jumped up to stand beside him. He pointed his finger towards the distance, "we need to get over there to that bridge," he said. In the distance stood the Fort Pitt Bridge. The yellow arce not hard to miss. "Looks so far away," Ellie said, then jumped down over the fence that was below the fire escape.

"El, wait up!" I said, jumping after her. Joel climbed down after us and then we jumped down onto the road that led into the QZ. "Is this the same road we came to before turning around?" Ellie asked. Joel hummed. The road was jammed with cars, trucks, and buses. Some cars were just a blackened shell and some had the skeletons of those who never made it into the zone.

"Your hunter buddies do this too?" Ellie asked. Looking down at a pair of skeletons. I walked up beside her and took a deep breath. "No. Back when they announced there would be quarantine zones, everyone was trying to get in. And when the zones came to their capacity…" I clicked my tongue and she looked up at me. "They just killed them? Even if they were infected?"

"Yup. Even if they weren't infected they still killed them because it was better than taking the chance of them getting infected. Less people…less infected," Joel said and continued walking. We walked through the cars, occasionally looking inside to see if there was anything of use. As we got closer we another bus blocked the main entrance into the zone. Joel's arm shot out in front of Ellie and pulled her behind a car with me right behind them.

There were three men up ahead on top of the bus. "Shit. What're we doing?" I asked. Joel gave me a look that said that was a stupid question. He was going to kill them. I mean it was only three of them. Or at least that we would see, there were only three. Joel pulled his gun and shot. "Fuck!" Ellie said, covering her ears. "I pulled my own gun and shot one of the three men. Before the other one could even process what happened Joel shot him.

After they were taken care of we continued on our way. We walked around looking in the vehicles. "Okay, we need to lighten the mood, ready?" I turned my head to look at Ellie, who was following behind Joel and I. She had her joke book out. "It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope…it'll still be stationary."

Joel looked over at me before directing his attention to her. "What is that?" He asked. "Joke book. No Pun Intended: Volume Two by Will Livingston." Joel sighed heavily and turned around. "Let's keep going." Of course, Ellie being who she is kept going with her jokes. "What did the mermaid wear to her math class? An algae bra.” she chuckled a little at that and kept going.

"I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, and then it dawned on me," she looked up at me with a smile on her face. Joel jumped up on top of the bus and Ellie put her book away. "Okay, fine. But there will be more!" She climbed up after him and I was last to climb up beside them. "Another abandoned zone?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, there aren't as many around anymore. Boston is one of few that are still functioning " I told her. We jumped down onto the other side and on the wall read: "give us our reactions." Ellie had stopped and looked at the wall. "Why weren't they giving them their rations?" She asked. Joel stopped beside her and looked at the wall. "It's a way to control people and they started running low on food and supplies."

"That's never happened in Boston," she said. We walked through the line area to get to the entrance into the QZ where they would get people registered. "Happens more often than you know," Joel mumbled. As we got closer we heard voices. "There's more people," Ellie whispered.

I turned and looked at her, "you stay behind me or Joel at all times. If you can't stay behind one of us then you hide until we say it's safe to come out." She nodded her head and followed Joel and I as we crouched down and made our way around to the other side to get a better look. We were outside a bookstore.

Two men were standing outside until the canvas tent that FEDRA had out up. "There are probably more inside. We take them out silently then head inside." I nodded at Joel and followed him around the side of the metal wall. Joel took the one on the left and I took the one on the right. We put them in headlocks, cutting off their airway and then snapped their necks. I heard Ellie whisper, "Jesus." Before we quietly and carefully made our way inside.

Inside on the bottom floor was where people had been registered before being allowed into the zone itself. Joel had separated from me and Ellie, who stayed behind me but also stayed far enough away that if she needed to run she could without getting caught in the crossfire.

I counted four on my side that I could see and when Joel finally made his way back to us and didn't look happy. "There are more upstairs. At least five of them," he said. "There's at least four down here," I told him. He nodded, "okay. We can try and distract them. Get them separated and take them out so they don't gang up on us. Take her and go back outside where we came in. I'll make a distraction and wait near the alley on the other side."

Ellie and I made our way back to where we had come in. Then we heard a big bang and saw Joel quickly making his way to the other side. There were voices from inside the building. "What was that?" One voice asked. "I'll check it out." One of the men, from where we were just at, came out the front door. He slowly walked further out, looking around as he got closer to where Ellie and I were, I quickly grabbed him and shoved my knife into his throat.

There was a strangled cry from the other side indicating that Joel took out another one of them. I grabbed a brick off the ground and threw it at one of the windows causing more men to get curious about what was going on. We took about two more before moving back inside and shooting it out with the rest.

Of course, there was that one that thought hebwas sneaky. He came up behind me, wrapping his arm around my neck and holding a knife to it. The darkness in Joel's eyes would have scared anyone, and it did at least for the asshole behind me. His voice shook as he demanded for Joel to back up. What he wasn't expecting was for me to twist in his arms and stab him just above the waistband of his pants.

Then, when he fell to the ground, my hands wrapped around his head from behind, and I snapped his neck. Ellie looked at me with wide eyes. "You're fucking scary. You know that? Isn't she fucking scary, Joel?!" I could see Joel wanted to say something. To lecture me on needing to be more aware of my surroundings. But he didn't. For once in his life he didn't say anything and we moved on.

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

BUBBLES!!!!! I hope you had a lovely lovely day, my darling!!!

I must tell you the biggest plot twist of my week (...okay maybe my day, I'm a bit of a drama queen) SO I study English and I have a class of oral expression on Wednesday afternoon and I have a cool ass teacher who makes us play games every week AND TODAY she said we'd do something on puns I was very very giddy, getting all of my best Ellie puns ready and the game was some sort of diction game? like we were in pairs, one of us had to read the pun and go in the class and repeat it to the other who had to write it (goal being to finish writing all the puns first) AND my partner just comes and she goes "what did the mermaid—" and I just "WEAR TO HER MATH CLASS??? AN ALGAE BRA!!!!!!!!!" and she was like "YES!!!" anyway goes on a few more times AND THEN I mention to the teacher the famous "did you know diarrhea was hereditary?" and she looks at me and goes "yeah it run in your genes" AND MY OH MY I WAS JUST LGJTSGLGOGIGTG but it's STILL not the end!!!!! my teacher then goes "actually they're from a show, the last of us" AND I JUST LOSE IT and then another student hears me and we kinda just start talking about it and yeah I was over the moon (but then teacher said NO MORE TLOU TALK because we kept mentioning spoilers and stuff linked to the game) OKAY NOW IT'S THE END but I was just too happy not to tell you all about it!!!!!

okay NOW!! yesterday while we were chitchatting about our darling pedrito <3 you mentioned his sexy sexy salt & pepper hair (so 🥵) WHICH OBVIOUSLY MADE ME THINK!!!!! ahem ahem

(this is about post!out-break Joel but I guess it could work for a regular no outbreak Joel who just got old)

he actually HATES his salt&pepper hair. Like...HATE it because it just reminds him of everything he lost in a way? I'm really going to develop the idea, bear with me pls 🥲 he loves you, okay? actually, no, he adores you and you're the only thing keeping him going (with Ellie obv) but you're also very much younger than him now in the society you live, a big age gap is literally the last of anyone's worries—you and Joel included BUT THEN you arrive in Jackson, settle there and get comfortable (you work, Ellie goes to school, you have your cute little home) and Joel starts having those ideas...really bad ideas. To put it simply, your relationship made much more sense when all you had was him because...well you didn't have much choice anyway but now that you're in Jackson? All these young, healthy, cool guys are around and you get along with everyone (of course you do) and everyone loves you (of course they do) and Joel just start thinking what is she actually doing with me? is she staying because she feels like she has to? is she staying out of pity? is she not realizing she could do much better? is she going to realize that soon and just leave? am I going to lose her? And it gets mixed with the fact that he's older, that fact never hit him as hard as it did in that moment While you want to stay at the bar for the party and dance, he's tired and goes sit down, he's half deaf, he can't carry stuff that's too heavy anymore or else he might hurt his back AND his once dark brown hair turn this grayish color And all of this is just...the realization that if he'd met you when he was still in his 30s, he'd be able to do so much more, he wouldn't be this closed off, grumpy old man; he'd bring you flowers and be all romantic and sweet He's just mourning the man he could've been if the pandemic didn't destroy the world and he knows that man would've been so much more worthy of you, of your kindness, the love you've so selflessly offered him through all this. Obviously you end up realizing he isn't feeling great—he's not very subtle about it and he acts really weird like...very un-Joel like lol—and when he finally admits it you just...cradle his face, kiss his stubbled jaw and make sure he's looking at you, not staring at his hands as he does when he feels embarrassed And you reassure him that no, you don't want to date some 30 something dickhead who wants nothing more but to make out at the back of the bar, no you're not staying with him because you feel like you have to or because you don't realize there is better out there— you know exactly what's better out there and it's exactly why you chose him and not another— and of course, you adore his hair, you adore his wrinkles and his hands roughed by the years But you know when you feel insecure about something, words are often not enough? And Joel isn't immune to that, your words do make him feel better but they don't make the insecurities vanish SO you show your man how much you love him and how sexy you find his hair (okay I do realize this sounds kinda sexual, not meant that way but...) You kiss his calloused knuckles more often and allow your gaze to linger a little longer when he comes of the shower with those gorgeous salt & pepper locks, curling over his brow as they dry. You take the time to play with his hair whenever you're on the couch together and voice your feelings more often (not shying away from calling him handsome, gorgeous, etc... or just tell him he looks pretty, that pair of jeans looks nice on you) and yeah, you would have LOVED the pre-outbreak Joel but not because he was young or because he didn't go through what the post-outbreak Joel went through but because, whether it's now, twenty years ago, young, old, he's your man and there's nothing in the world to keep you away from him <3

phewwww that was LONG and I'm pretty sure I still forgot stuff lol but that's basically the idea I had when you mentioned his hair and yes, pedrito's hair >>>>> how can a 47 y/o man look that good is beyond me (guess it's all that coffee he drinks) but yeah I dont know how to finish this ask so im just going to say byeeee ily little bubble 💕🫧

-🪷

Anhhhh I love that you used the joke! I've been navigating through life with them as well. No, but I love situations like this. I love how people are obsessed with this show and I looove when people just chit chat about their hobbies.

I won't add much to your amazing thoughts because I did use them as an inspiration for a story. So thank you for this! I just looooooooove when I see your ask in my box. Now to hope that's you'll have fun reading the story!🤍✨

[preppernewstoday]

1851 shares Many people believe that stockpiling a lot of gear and supplies is a way to prepare for any kind of disaster. Although this is a great idea, survivalists understand that stockpiles are not enough to keep you alive. Gear is stolen, supplies are destroyed by the elements or other factors are involved. The best way to survive in this world is to make the most of what you already have. This topic has been discussed before in posts. People who think outside the box and find creative solutions to problems will thrive in any situation. There will be lots of clothes scattered all over the place if SHTF. Clothes can be used for survival in many ways. These uses are not the only ones you should be looking at. These examples will show you how many things you can do everyday objects. This will help you get your survival creativity flowing. 1. Tie a Splint You must immobilize a broken bone. Same goes for any limb that has been bitten by a snake. Use a stick to secure the splint. See triangular bandage uses. 2. Bra Dust Mask A dust mask is an essential but often forgotten item in a Bug Out Bag. You've probably got a face mask in your emergency kit. A bra can provide protection if you are in a bind without one. It's great that bras are worn by almost all women. The bra comes with one mask and an additional for male friends. *For more information on masks, see this Guide to Emergency Face Masks or N95 Face Masks. 3. Leaf Curd Did you know you can eat lots of leaves? It is important to first break down the leaves and then extract the protein. This would be used in a survival situation where you need to use a large rock to bang on the leaves. You would then mix the leaves with water and filter them using a fine mesh cloth. You can use a t-shirt, or a sock to do the job. This is how leaf curd looks when it's done. 4. Sock Gaiters When I first went orienteering (one the most enjoyable ways to learn survival skills), it was a surprise at how many people were wearing gaiters. Gaiters are similar to soccer shin guards, but not as heavy. After running through the woods I discovered why everyone was wearing gaiters. It took me 2 hours to remove the thorns from my legs. I am lucky that I did not get poison ivy and nettle patches. Gaiters can be made easily with old socks Take the socks off of your feet and pull them up over your entire shins. To protect your shins, fold some newspaper or cardboard in the socks. 5. Water pre-filter Purifying water is an essential survival skill. You don't want to suffer from dehydration due to diarrhea if you have Giardia, or another terrible parasite. You can boil water for just 1 minute*. This is the good news. However, boiling water won't remove dirt, algae or other gunk found in backcountry water. Here's the solution: To pre-filter the water, simply run it through your shirt or bandana. *Boiling will not purify water of all dangers. This guide will help you choose the best water treatment method. Here's how to make an emergency water filter at home. 6. Tourniquet When you have to tie a tourniquet, your clothes can be a great choice. Are snake bites possible? NO. Venous bleeding. Also, NO. Direct pressure can't control arterial bleeding. YES. Are you looking for amputated limbs YES. You don't need to know How to Use a Tourniquet. This guide will help you choose the best tourniquet to fit your needs. 7. Sharpen a Knife With a Leather Belt While a knife is the best survival tool, a dull knife can be dangerous and almost pointless. Sharpening a knife in a survival situation can be done with other methods , such as glass or rock. These methods won't give you a razor-sharp edge, but they will make your knife sharper. This is where the leather belt comes in. Strapping leather belts can be used to remove the microburs from a knife's edge or blade.

[embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=eZ0klWzoOkk&feature=oembed[/embed] Find out more survival tips for a belt. 8. Lashings Cordage is an essential part of any survival kit. You may want to keep some cordage with you in your Everyday Carry, such as by making paracord keychains or bracelets. You can use your clothing to make shelter for short-term needs, such as lashings or basic necessities. It beats making cordage from plant fibers anyhow! 9. Self Defense Have you ever seen a prison drama film? You've probably seen one of those soap-beating scenes. Although it might not be as effective as a firearm or knife, a hard object in a sock can serve you better than anything for self-defense. You can also see more nonlethal self-defense. 10. Filter Coffee The End of the World is not a reason to stop drinking coffee. You'll likely enjoy this small luxury even more. How are you going make coffee? You can use your coffee grounds to make a sock, or other piece of clothing. Then pour boiling water through it. 11. Bandage I'm more concerned about first aid than most preppers (at least those in my circle). I have a well-stocked home first aid kit and a miniature first aider kit for my Bug Out bag. These kits include many types of bandages . You should not use your clothes to stop bleeding. They can cause infection and are often dirty. If you don't have sterilized dressings, you can boil strips and use them to make bandages. Make sure to keep the dressings fresh by boiling them every time. 12. Make your own Medicinal Oils It is a good idea to get an book of medicinal plants for your region and start reading. You could save your life by knowing which plants are healing. It is also worth considering planting a medicinal survival garden . You must first extract the medicinal compounds from medicinal plants. This involves soaking the plants in oil or alcohol, and then squeezing the compounds through a fine mesh fabric. This is where your clothes come into play - you can use the clothing to strain medicinal oils. Can you think of other survival uses for clothes? + Credits for images

[lord-explosion-baku]

Trident Tale part 2

Mermaid!Shinsou x reader x Kirishima x reader

Warnings: adult themes (minors DNI)

Author’s note: sorry to those of you who have asked me to put on the tag list! I don’t do tag lists! But if you don’t want to lose this story, you can always bookmark it on AO3.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Original image by @maewoahoah

Moving to an island where everyone is big on the surf scene and other oceanic happenings might not have been the brightest idea for someone so afraid of anything that has to do with water, but you make do by spending your days looking after the Bed & Breakfast, trying not to burn the house down when you fry a few eggs, and obsessively scrolling through Eijirou Kirishima’s social media page. He’ll never notice you, and you think you’re fine with that, until a mysterious force washes into Ms. Shuzenji’s pool after a particularly nasty storm.

Hitoshi Shinsou is a pain in the ass from the get-go, but you put up with him, fins and all, when he promises he can help unite you with your soulmate. The catch? The fish is hellbent on taking back what was stolen from him, and he won’t lift a gracious finger until he gets what he came for.

You’re helpless to lend him a hand, so long as you stay dry. Unless, of course, he has other plans.

You know how the saying goes: you rub his fins, he’ll rub yours.

The thing about being hungry is that you can sometimes convince yourself that you’re full. You can sip water, swallow your breath, pop a few mints in—hell, you could even pretend to eat. However, even if you might trick your brain, your stomach will still be empty.

By the time you finally get some real goddamn food in your stomach, it will be aching from being teased.

It feels like this is exactly what Hitoshi Shinsou has done to you. Teased you. He’d mentioned being one of Ryūjin, which you can only assume is something religious or magic. You know he’s a fish, and that he makes people’s skin glow when he touches them, and apparently his lips or his saliva can heal wounds. But he’s not yet given you any real goddamn food.

The jerk has been swimming circles around the pool, commenting on how disgusting it is being stuck with all the trash, and complaining about your poor hospitality, but has not yet told you what the hell he’s doing here.

It’s not like you ever asked for some creature to crash into Ms. Shuzenji’s pool. Maybe some people would be ecstatic over finding an actual merperson, but life isn’t all about singing songs and talking to seagulls. He’s definitely not an Ariel, unless he is in fact looking for a prince. With all his sass, you think he’s much more of an Ursula than a Disney princess. If he is a sea-witch, he refuses to tell you.

It won’t matter much by the time Denki gets here anyways. You had been honest when you said you wouldn’t put it against him to call some news station when he sees Hitoshi. You figure that after some science lab’s helicopters carried your intruder away to run tests on him, the fish-man will be out of your hair and a thing of the past.

Despite the cynicism crawling through your head, the thought actually makes a guilty pit form in the bottom of your stomach. A life is a life, afterall.

“At least tell me why you tried to…to…” Your mouth flattens when you recall Hitoshi leaning into you, his lips a whisper away from yours.

“To?” Hitoshi asks while he observes the wayward bra that blew into the pool with notable repulsion.

“To kiss me!” You bark out, ears warm.

“Oh, that?” He purses his lips, spinning the bra around in the water. Then, he’s contemplative for a moment, as if he’s thinking of an excuse that won’t make you angry. Or will. He seems to get a kick out of frustrating you.

“I suppose I should’ve considered that it’s not a social norm for humans to greet other humans with their lips,” he says with a cocky, probably lying smirk. “My bad.”

“You expect me to believe that mermaids kiss each other to say hello?”

“Not a mermaid.” The fish is all teeth as he regards you. “I’m one of Ryūjin. And I’d like to think that you’d believe anything I tell you, since you seem to know nothing about my people.”

“Because you won’t tell me anything about your people,” you mutter right before the house bell rings. Your heart jumps with a spike of panic. You haven’t thought about what you’re going to say to Denki yet. You begin thinking about science labs again, and that knot in your stomach tightens.

“Okay,” you say in a warning tone, “I’m gonna let Denki in now…”

“Uh-huh.”

“He’s gonna see you…”

“That’s the plan.” Hitoshi lifts a brow. “You’re not worried for me, are you?”

“I just think you should be more worried about yourself,” you say. “Humans aren’t…” There’s a pensive pause when you try to search for the right word. “Humans aren’t good.”

“Would you say that you’re a good human?” He asks.

What a question. You’d like to believe that you are, but you can’t kid yourself. Never one to be very self-sacrificing, you utter your next words with confidence. “Nope.”

“And yet, you haven’t done anything malicious towards me. Nothing, besides that half-assed attempt to kick me away from you, anyways.”

Rolling your eyes to keep your couldn’t-care-less facade up, you left the smirking merman to wade around in the murky pool. There’s not another second to think about what you could possibly say to Denki about your surprise guest, because when you enter the house, you see his face peeking through the side window next to the front door. You could see a drink holder and a Tiki Burger bag in his hand. His smile is bright, while yours is grim.

He pouts, seeing through forced body language, and proceeds to make a funny face. You let out a half-sigh, half-laugh. You might not be a good person, but Denki is. He’s an idiot, but you don’t think he’d ever do anything to harm another creature, mythical or not. This could even be fun to him. Exciting. Something extraordinary happened, and you’d been too scared to react to it appropriately, but Denki would be different.

Your changing emotions grow palpable when you finally reach for the handle.

“Heard you had some thingies that needed twisting,” Denki says as you open the door. He’s wearing his company’s shirt, a brown thing with the PoolPros logo on it, though it’s cut raggedly short to show off his midriff. He’s been particularly confident ever since he’d gotten his navel pierced, and happily showed off the topaz stone that Kirishima had given him. It hangs right above his buckle. It forces onlookers to look at his abs…or maybe his groin. He says it’s lucky, and you haven’t argued with him about it. You would probably call something Kirishima gave you lucky too.

In a flash, you’re grabbing him by his shirt collar and guiding him in and against one of the hall mirrors.

“Something’s happened.” The words immediately spill out, even while you still do not know what you’re going to say. You hope that if the right things tumble out of your mouth, Denki will get the picture.

“Uh…” Denki’s cheeks are red hot, reacting to your close proximity. “Was it a spike in your libido?”

God.

“No, shut up!” You smack his chest and glance down the hall towards the back door. The pool isn’t in your line of vision, but just knowing what lurks there gets your blood pumping. “This is going to sound crazy, but I need you to keep an open mind.”

He bobs his brows. “For you? Always.”

After an exhale, you gather your composure, and tell Denki everything with as much eloquence as you can muster.

“There’s something living in the pool!” You bark out, erratic. “It’s big and it has zero impulse control and it’s rude! It talks! When it touches me, my skin glows. Then it tried to kiss me, Kaminari! And it’s rude!” You add that in again, because you cannot stress it enough. Hitoshi Shinsou is as unrefined as a piece of driftwood, and he had the audacity to make comments on behalf of your decorum. “It won’t tell me what it’s doing here, either. I offered to get it back into the ocean, but it said it wanted something else, but it won’t tell me what, and I don’t know what to do!”

Denki blinks rapidly, like his eyelashes are repelling every word you toss at him. There’s a beat, he swallows, then his lips tilt up into a knowing grin.

“Alright,” he says, “I see you.”

“You do?” Maybe you had to give Denki a little more credit. That hadn’t been your best description of a nightmare scenario.

“Sure do, little lady. This is some kinda belated birthday prank, huh? Thought you could slide one past me when I was least expecting it! I was thinking that maybe you just forgot about it, but now you’ve got something up your sleeve, don’t ya! Well cutie, I might be dumb, but I’m not stupid!”

Striding into the house, Denki places the shakes and burger bag onto Shuzenji’s kitchen counter. Shoulders deflating, you follow him while he fishes a few fries out of the bag. If he doesn’t get it now, he will soon enough.

“What could it be?” He ponders, tossing a fry into his mouth. He nods towards one of the cups and mumbles about a shake for you, then towards the back door. “Couldn’t be a party—it’s too early for a party. And you don’t talk to many people…”

Ignoring the slight burn, you front Denki, and extend your hand out to his. His eyes widen for a moment, he wipes his hand on his pants, and takes yours.

“I need your help, Denki. Seriously.”

“Yeah,” he says, a touch more reformative. “Okay.”  

What should’ve been some grand reveal, however, turned out to be anything but.

The pool being clean is the first thing you notice, as absurd as that is. It’s now half-filled, with only sprinkles of algae leftover by some miraculous clean-up. There’s no more silver fish swimming around, and all the trash that had previously taken sanctuary in the pool now lays on a mountainous pile with the bra sitting at its peak. Your guest is no longer in the pool—the very clean pool.

Denki chuckles and says, “well, this doesn’t look bad at all. By how hysterical you were on the phone, I was expecting something much worse. Oh! Hello!”

Your jaw drops as Denki waves at Hitoshi—a very comfortable-looking Hitoshi who lounges on one of the reclining pool chairs, head turned back like he’s sun bathing, one leg crossed over the goddamn other. Legs. Attached to feet—feet that definitely were not there when you’d met him.

Tricky, magic fish-man.

“Oh,” Hitoshi says, carefully considering Denki. “We have company?”

The ‘we’ in his statement doesn’t sit right with you anymore than his appearance does. He stands, and both you and Denki gasp when you see his new outfit in its entirety. It’s all royal blue, fine silks, and sheer fabric that only covers the places that would make Denki blush. Puffy, yet flowing sleeves connect to his now two golden cuffs. A heavy gold necklace hangs around him, and he’s got a light sash thrown around mostly his bare chest. A golden, v-shaped belt holds his deep blue harem pants up.

They are the gaudiest goddamn pajamas you’ve ever seen.

Hitoshi moves like water to face Denki, then firmly grasps him by the forearm, yanking the boy forward so that their lips are mere inches away from each other. Noting that there’s no glowing from their contact, you watch as Hitoshi’s indigo eyes slide from Denki’s lips, to you, and shows off a dubious glint.

“Whoops,” Hitoshi murmurs basically into Denki’s mouth. “I almost forgot that you don’t greet people like this here.” He takes a step away and smirks. “Forgive me. I’m Hitoshi Shinsou. You must be the pool guy.”

“Um, yeah. ‘M Denki Kaminari.” Denki laughs nervously. His cheeks burn red, and he keeps shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Grabbing onto your hand tightly, he starts back towards the house, towing you along, saying, “excuse us, we just have to—uh. Talk.”

In a tick, you’re whisked right back inside, in the land of private conversations.

“It didn’t look like that before, Denki. I swear to god.” You’re insisting as soon as the door is closed.

“It?!” Denki balks, his cheeks turning even more red. “Do you mean the pool or that hunk of a man hanging around your backyard?!”

“Both, I guess, but I wouldn’t call it a man! It had a giant purple tail before you showed up!!”

“That’s very rude, y’know.” Denki peers back at Hitoshi who’s lackadaisically cleaning his fingertips. “What are their pronouns?”

You imagine Hitoshi surrounded by others like him, all either screaming or clicking to communicate with each other in an inhuman language. “I don’t think pronouns matter wherever it’s from!”

“Hmm.” Denki slides the door open and pops his head out. “‘Scuse me, Hitoshi, what are your pronouns?”

Without missing a beat, Hitoshi answers him. “As in titles? You can call me Shinsou, but if you’re so inclined, I’ll allow you to call me lord.”

“Lord, of course.” More nervous laughter as Denki closes the door. “Lord. That’s a kink thing, right? It’s gotta be!”

“It’s not!” You bark, but Denki doesn’t hear you. Instead, he rushes towards one of the hall mirrors and begins fussing over his hair.

“I honestly can’t believe you did this. I mean, you, of all people. You’re braver than I gave you credit for. Coulda given me a heads up, though. I would’ve worn somethin’ nice. Or not come at all. I do feel like I’m intruding.” Denki’s eyes light up. “Unless this is for my birthday and you’re…you want me to join you?”

“You’ve lost me.” You're too busy trying to figure out what you can do to convince Denki that Hitoshi is a mermaid. You’ve considered pushing him back into the pool, but you don’t know if that would change him back to his sea-man state, or just make you look like a jackass.

“This is so weird. I haven’t seen that guy on the island before, and believe me, I know everybody. It must’ve cost a pretty penny to get him here. On top of everything else-“ He clears his throat- “how much is this costing you? Does Shuzenji know what you get up to while she’s away?”

It hits you like a freight train. “Oh, Kaminari…No…”

“The jig is up!” Denki stomps his foot defiantly and points towards the door. “You’re paying that man for sex!”

“God no!” The very idea that you’ve paid Hitoshi to be here, to touch you, flusters the hell out of you. If anything, you’d pay for him to leave. “You’d honestly think I’d hire a prostitute?!”

“Escort is the term they are using nowadays, and no, I wouldn’t think you’d hire an escort until now!” Denki scoffs, then moves his hand through his hair, exasperated. “The thing is, babe, you don’t need to. You’re cute and fun! If you got out every once in a while…”

“Fish!” You yell, cutting him off, because you’re not about to have another conversation about your hermit lifestyle. “He’s a fish, Denki! I didn’t fuck a fish! Nor am I planning to!”

Denki blinks at you. Not like before—not like he’s reflecting your words. This blink is more like a blink one would offer someone who’d been having an otherwise normal conversation, until they started talking about the earth being flat, or homosexuals burning in a lake of fire.

I’m not crazy, you think and will Denki to believe. I’ll prove it.

Before you can give Denki a play-by-play of what happened—properly this time, and not just your rambled recall—the door slides open, and Hitoshi steps in.

“May I enter?” The regal-looking man asks.

At the exact same moment you say, “no,” Denki says, “of course.”

“I was just hoping to find something to eat.” Hitoshi stops in the kitchen, arms crossed and expectant.

“You haven’t fed your hooker?” Denki whispers and it blows your mind that he can say hooker and you can’t say prostitute. “You can have half my burger!”

“Burger,” Hitoshi repeats the unfamiliar word, and looks around, probably wondering what it could be. Denki takes the hint and proceeds to fish his meal out of the bag. Overly familiar with Shuzenji’s kitchen, he finds a knife to cut the sandwich in two, then hands one half to Hitoshi.

Hitoshi frowns.

“I’m sorry, are you a vegetarian?” Denki asks, and you can tell he’s being overly hospitable in a house that is not his. When Hitoshi doesn’t answer him, but doesn’t stop frowning, Denki asks, “do you not eat meat?”

“This is meat?” Asks Hitoshi, shaking the burger in the air. Some mayonnaise-covered lettuce falls to the kitchen floor.

“I have to clean that!” You yip and wet a paper towel. When you’re on your knees, Hitoshi gives you a smirk of indifference.

“What, do you not have hamburgers where you’re from?” Denki asks, and when Hitoshi refuses to answer him again, he says, “the meat is the patty. It’s beef.”

“Beef.” Hitoshi begins dissecting the thing, throwing the bun halves, pickles, tomato, and lettuce all on the floor. You continue to curse at him while he sniffs at the patty. “What animal is this?”

“Beef is cow, dude.” Denki sounds more skeptical now, which you’d be grateful for if you weren’t already on your hands and knees, scrubbing ketchup out of the tile. “Man, throwing food on the floor is rude no matter where you’re from. Babe, you shouldn’t have to clean that up.”

“If I don’t, who will?” You ask, sardonic.

“There’s not really a floor where I’m from,” Hitoshi says once he swallows his first bite. He places the patty back onto the burger wrap, and steps away from his mess. “At least, there’s no floor when it’s meal time. We just let shells and bones float around until they go down to where they’ll eventually break down and decay.”

Denki asks, “where did you say you were from?”

“He’s a fish, Denki.”

“I didn’t.” Hitoshi gets down on his knees with a wetted paper towel of his own. He swipes at the places you’ve missed, then looks at you. “Tell me, would a not-good person clean up a mess that isn't their own?”

“It’s kind of my job,” you retort and stand so Hitoshi can finish cleaning. Instead, he stands with you.

“And what is his job?” Hitoshi nods towards Denki who looks more and more fretful by the second. “I assume he’s here to provide services. If you’re paying him, shouldn’t he be the one to clean for you? Prepare meals for you? Bend to your whims?”

Denki says, “I’ve got a couple jobs, but I’m not a housekeeper, no.”

“No?” Hitoshi gives out a terse laugh and hands the towel off to Denki. “Clean.”

Denki looks to you for an explanation. You’re about to chew Hitoshi out, when he again says, “clean,” but this time, there’s something attached to his voice. Something that is nothing, but also more. It sends goosebumps up your arms and compels Denki to fall to the floor and obey the command.

“Yes, my lord.” When Denki finishes cleaning and throws the rest of the mess in the bin, he looks at Hitoshi, eyes glossy, waiting.

“Fetch me some water,” says Hitoshi, and after another yes, my lord, Denki begins searching for a glass.

“Quit it!” You shout and very nearly grab on to Hitoshi’s arm, stopping only when you remember the glow and the prickles that accompany his touch. Decidedly, you hurry after Denki and grab the glass from his hands and snap your fingers in front of his face.

Denki blinks, and this time it’s not because he doesn’t hear you, and it’s not because you’re spouting crazy nonsense. He blinks, and it’s a revelation.

“Hypnosis!” Denki says the word like eureka! and you want to shake him, because he should be angrier than he seems.

“I’m surprised you understand or even remember that much,” Hitoshi drawls. “You’re more in-tune than you’d like people to believe.”

And I’m Mother Teresa, you think bitterly. The fish is contemptuous as hell, but he doesn’t read people well. To him, you’re good and apparently Denki’s a genius.

“How did you do that?” Denki asks with growing excitement. “When I was a kid, I was really into magic, but could never get any of the tricks right. You didn’t use any triggering noises or images or anything.”

“There is a bit of magic about you,” Hitoshi says like he’s thinking out loud. “Not enough to pull something like what I just did off unless you have the proper tide jewel. But you do have enough power to utilize a tide jewel.”

“Don’t do that again,” you warn, and pour water from the sink into the glass. There’s purified water in the fridge, but Hitoshi hasn’t earned it. “To Kaminari or to me. The difference between a house guest and a home-invader is who does and does not use hypnosis on other guests.”

“I wasn’t aware that hypnosis is a common occurrence in your residence.” Hitoshi reaches for the glass, but you hold it away from him. Casting out a withering look, he says, “I wouldn’t be able to hypnotize him again, even if I wanted to. Not for a while, anyways. Not without my tide jewel.”

“What’s a tide jewel?” Denki asks. “Is that, like, sea glass?”

Eyes flicking from the glass of water, to Denki, then to you, Hitoshi says, “he knows how to ask a question.”

The questions that you ask get ignored! But instead of saying that, you continue to withhold the water, and say, “then answer him.”

Mildly peeved, Hitoshi turns his attention back to Denki. “You say you have a couple of jobs. What would they be?”

“That’s not answering his question,” you mutter.

“I’ll decide whether I should answer him in a moment. Denki, if you will.”

“Oh, well…” The sheepish Denki brings his hand to the back of his neck, blushing slightly. “I’ve got the PoolPros gig, and sometimes I pick shifts up at The Salty Barrel. I sort of got an affinity for making drinks…and cooking…and fixing things, so they like to keep me around.”

Unamused, Hitoshi pries. “Anything else?”

“Sometimes I pick up odd jobs. Fishing and delivery. I guess I’m pretty dependable because of the boat.”

This catches Hitoshi’s attention. “You have a boat?”

“Sure, yeah. It’s nothin’ too special yet. I’ve been working on it, and it’s coming along, but it’s not ready for what it’s truly intended for.”

“Which would be?”

Denki looks at you and winks, making your ears warm. You know exactly why he got the boat.

“Romantic rendezvous.”

“I see,” Hitoshi says pensively. Then, his eyes go sharp when he notices you fiddling with the ties on your shorts. “Are you two mates?”

Denki lifts a conspiratorial brow towards you, before throwing his arm around your shoulders, pulling you against his body. “Sure, yeah—we’re mates!”

You push away from him, and bite, “not those kinds of mates.”

Although nobody disagrees with you, you sense Denki sulking.

“Ah,” Shinsou muses. “You haven’t yet fought for her hand?”

Before you can groan at the idea, Denki laughs quietly, but his laughter quickly grows uproariously as he considers the idea. Soon, he’s gripping his stomach to stop himself from doubling over. You glare at his feet.

“As if there’s another guy to fight for her,” Denki bellows, wiping a tear away from his eye. “Maybe if she ever went out, but for now, the only person I gotta fight for her hand, is her!”

“Oh, I understand,” Shinsou says, eyes on you. “A battle to assert domination.”

Denki hoots loudly at the idea. “Looks like I’m screwed!”

To your growing agitation and embarrassment, Denki continues to laugh. It’s as if you’re not constantly shooting him down. You’re not pitiful. Not helpless. And you think you’d have some game if you put your heart into it. You just have a type, and the pool guy just doesn’t fit the bill, whether he’s handy or not.

There’s no humor to be found in Hitoshi’s eyes, though. He’s glaring at you, like before, only now he’s looking at you more like you’re a piece of meat—like he’s some kind of predator and you’re his newfound prey. You inadvertently step closer to Denki, as if he could be used as some sort of defense shield, then elbow him in the ribs, pretending that you’re not at all intimidated by this fish-turned-man.

“Nobody’s fighting anybody,” you say, keeping eye-contact with Hitoshi. You’ve been told before that the fact that you’re never the first to look away is a little off-putting. Hoping to have the same uncomfortable effect on your guest, you don’t even blink when you say, “I just have my eyes on someone special.”

At the same time Denki stops his laughing, Hitoshi narrows his eyes—not out of malice, but what seems to be curiosity. That’s as far as you’ll go with revealing any more personal information. You might not be physically spoken for, yet, but at least you’re emotionally unavailable. You vaguely wonder if those kinds of ideals are acknowledged by sea people.

“Yeah, Kiri,” Denki says with a roll of his eyes. So much for keeping things personal. “He’s not interested in dating anyone, though. In fact, he’s pretty much married to the ocean.”

“At least there aren’t other girls,” you say, and with a quick glance at Denki, you add, “or boys.”

Denki exaggerates a woeful, hand-over-forehead pose and cries, “at least we have each other!” Then, he places his hand back around your shoulders. Again, you scoot away from him, and this time, you catch Hitoshi’s lips quirk up, just a bit.

“Alright,” Hitoshi says. “I’ve decided.”

“Decided what?” You ask.

“That the two of you are going to help me.”

The fish-man moves to flatten the burger wrap down on the counter like a map, and proceeds to decimate the other half of Denki’s burger. Denki says, “oh that’s fine…I wasn’t that hungry anyways.”

“Help you with what!” You bark, practically starving for details. Despite Hitoshi and all that he’s done, your interest is piqued, and you feel as though you’re finally going to get to the meat of his situation.

Lining a few fries on the paper wrap, Hitoshi finally says, “a few of my worldly possessions have been stolen from me. They’ve been missing for quite a long time now, and I now plan to take them back. Four of the six items happen to be tide jewels. I figure those will be the easiest to locate and extract.”

Denki snaps his finger. “Tide jewels! That’s what we were talking about! What are those?

Dabbing his pinky into some mustard, Hitoshi says, “artistry…” He dips his ring finger into the ketchup and says, “reign…” he tears a piece of lettuce in half and says, “tide…” and finally, he rips some of the patty and says, “soul.”

“Artistry, reign, tide, soul,” Denki repeats, peeking over Hitoshi’s shoulder. “You don’t happen to be a musician, do you? A magician musician!”

“I’m a connoisseur, but not a practitioner.” Hitoshi breathes. “And you’re too close to me.”

“Well, you’re certainly not an artist,” Denki huffs, taking a few steps back. You move in to see what Denki saw.

On the wrap, the French fries have been warped to look like some sort of three-pronged fork. On the left prong, there’s a dab of ketchup, in the center, mustard, and the right has a piece of lettuce sitting on it. Connecting the three prongs is the bit of hamburger meat Hitoshi had ripped.

“Is this supposed to be a fork or a trident?” You ask, then kick yourself, because it’s obviously a trident. Duh. Mermaids. “Is that one of the things that have been stolen? A trident?”

Hitoshi says, “yes. All four of the tide jewels connect to the trident. With them, the trident could very well be one of the most powerful blessed objects on this planet. If it falls into the wrong hands, the results could be catastrophic.”

“Now, hang on,” Denki begins, brows curved into a frown. “What?”

“So good at questions,” you murmur.

“Each tide jewel has its own magical property. The names speak for themselves, but since the two of you are a little slow on the uptake, I’ll explain.” Hitoshi points at each different spot on his fries-trident, explaining what each point represents.

“The yellow jewel is for artistry and skill. Whoever wields it, whether in its natural form or attached to another object, will learn trades quickly, can craft almost anything at a master’s level, and they’ll have a more creative way of thinking.”

“The red jewel is for reign and rule. Whoever wields this can command any audience. Wars have been fought, kingdoms taken, and women stolen by the power of this gem. It’s almost the most violent of the four, but it can also be used to keep peace.”

“The blue jewel is for the tide. They used to be two jewels, one for tide-ebbing, the other for tide-flowing, but they’ve been molded together after another theft mishap. With the power of this jewel, one would be able to control not only the water of the sea, but water itself. This gem can create storms you couldn’t dream of. This is possibly the most dangerous stone if placed into the wrong hands.”

“Sir, that’s a piece of lettuce,” Denki says.

“Your burger didn’t have anything blue,” Hitoshi growls, “nor did it have anything purple, which brings me to the last jewel. This would be the soul jewel. It aids people with wishes, can offer good dreams, and can allow the wielder to see people’s auras, or souls. This jewel has stopped many malevolent unions in the past.”

Finally, Hitoshi turns back to you and Denki. There’s nothing content about his expression now. If anything, he looks grave.

“The fact that the trident is not in my possession has already had a cataclysmic influence on the world you know now. I need it, and the jewels, or else there may be dire consequences.”

Throat dry, palms sweaty, you swallow thickly, and allow yourself a moment to process all that he’s saying. It may be idiotic, but you believe him. Maybe if you hadn’t seen him in the water earlier, things would be different. You’d be more skeptical. But since you’ve already seen one impossible thing today—two if you're counting the fact that Hitoshi grew legs and magically poofed himself an outfit—you don’t think he’s lying.

However, Denki did not see him in the water. Which is why he’s the first to speak.

“Right,” he says, looking down on you. “Sorry, babe, but the marvel universe did it first with Thanos and his gauntlet. If this is supposed to be a scavenger hunt of some kind, can we skip the game, hints and all, and get to the dinner? I expect there’ll be candles and such for nighttime, so maybe you and I can hang out at the beach, sans the mean magician?” Denki looks at Hitoshi. “No offense, buddy. You could join us if you cheer up a bit. I’d never say no to a threesome with two equally attractive people.”

The water in the glass you’re holding begins to shake. It shakes, and then it moves, and then it lifts up into the air, snaking around like a gelatinous worm, and slowly makes its away to Hitoshi’s mouth. Never before have you seen anyone swallow menacingly, and this has changed it.

“I am not your buddy,” Hitoshi hisses between his teeth, “and this is not a game.”

“He just…” Denki begins stuttering. This isn’t something he can chock up to something as mundane as a magic trick. This is pure magic, and you feel less like a giant dork for how you reacted to Hitoshi showing himself to you, with how distraught Denki seems to be.

“I told you,” you say under your breath, “he’s a fish!”

“I am Hitoshi Shinsou. I am one of Ryūjin, and you will not desecrate my name or my people by belittling me or my power.” It hadn’t occurred to you until now that he’s not only speaking to Denki, but to both of you. The thought makes you shift with unease as Hitoshi’s eyes slide from your friend to you. “Not without consequences. I’ve been burdened with this purpose, and the two of you can choose to help me and reap the rewards that follow, or you can return to your miserable lives, loligagging and ogling the things you know you want, but are too lazy to obtain.”

At this moment, Hitoshi Shinsou seems ancient to you. Trepidation crawls up your spine, chilling you to the bone. You regret most of what you’ve said to him, even the things you’d thought he deserved. You have an inkling that if Hitoshi really wanted to harm you, or Denki, he would. Easily.

“Okay, well-“ Denki, again speaks first, thank god. “You didn’t say there would be rewards.”

Maybe don’t thank god yet. But before you can apologize on Denki’s behalf, the air that you hadn’t realized had got heavier, thicker even, lifts, and Hitoshi eases up, lackadaisical smirk back on track.

“You both wish for something,” he says. “If you help me retrieve what’s rightfully mine, I will graciously return the favor by granting your wishes.”

“We do?” Denki asks. It’s wild to you how easily he could jump back into conversation like this, although, when you look closely at him, you can see that he’s trembling faintly. “What do I want?”

“You wish for a boat,” Hitoshi says, “so I will give you a boat.”

“I have a boat.”

“I’ll give you a better boat.” Hitoshi seems to be enjoying himself now, even going so far as to lean on the table, picturing exactly what he’s describing. “A captivating boat that both women and men find irresistible. It will sail smoother and faster than the other vessels out on sea. You will never want or need for an upgrade for it will never wear or tear.”

“A super boat,” Denki muses, beguiled by the idea. It’s your turn to be skeptical now, because you haven’t wished for anything. At least, not aloud for Hitoshi to hear.

“Then, what do I get?” You ask, arms crossed. You can admit that you’re interested in what he might have to say.

“Oh darlin’, that’s easy,” Hitoshi purrs, and moves from the counter over to you. Slowly, like he’s savoring your anticipation. Lifting a finger to your arm, he slides it across your skin, watching as both the glow and the tingles return. You have to hold your breath to yourself from sighing.

“You want to be loved,” he says, “adored even. And not just by anybody. You want to be with your soulmate, isn’t that right. That may be why you came to this island to begin with.”

There’s no way he could’ve known that you’re new to the island. Nobody said anything about it. But he’s not wrong. Though you can’t say he’s right either. You came to the island in hopes to find…yourself. And though you haven’t yet found yourself, you sure as hell found Kirishima. And soulmate has a nice right to it.

“So if we help you find these gems—“

“—tide jewels,” he intervenes.

“Tide jewels-“ you roll your eyes- “then you will give Denki a super boat, and you will unite me with a soulmate?”

“Exactly,” Hitoshi confirms. “Easy peesy, isn’t it?”

“How do we know you’ll uphold your end of the bargain?” Denki asks, finally out of his super boat daydreams.

“I said you were good with questions.” Hitoshi smirks. “You don’t know. You can’t know. But you can either do this with me, and probably get a super boat and a soulmate out of it, or you can not, and get nothing.”

Denki side-eyes you, and you him. You hold each other’s gazes for a brief moment, and you already know how this would play out if you refuse. Denki would convince you to do it. You don’t do anything, he says with his eyes. Might as well hang around and see how this plays out.

“Fine.” Even though your good conscience screams at you to do otherwise, you let up. “We’ll help you.”

“Excellent.” Hitoshi beams, or at least, he beams in a way only someone who was just threatening two other people can beam. “Then we should start our search today. We’ll probably need to go into town and see if there are any supernatural occurrences or old folktales to check out.”

Going out to town is the last thing you’d planned on doing today. Or maybe the second to last thing you planned on doing. You have to ask, because if you don’t, you’ll go batsy.

“We won’t be getting wet, will we?”

Hitoshi scoffs, which isn’t an answer. Maybe you really don’t ask the right questions because when Denki asks, “you said there were six things you need to retrieve. What’s the sixth thing?” Hitoshi winks at you, and grins. And when he grins, your stomach aches.

[samwilsondiaries]

; welcome home

PART I — PART II (soon)

© @pietro-maximoff

sam wilson x fem!reader. masterlist.

summary. sam comes back home after being a week in europe, not replying to your calls or text messages.

words. ± 1.3k.

warnings, tags. after tfatws 1x04!reader insert, more or less. nsfw, +18!!! nothing really smutty, just a few touches and language.

a / n: none of my stories contain reader's body descriptions to be inclusive.

You couldn't help but feel worried after what you watched on the news. Sam left almost a week ago, asking you to stay with Sarah in Louisiana until he was back, only wanting to protect you. In the hospital, your boss gave you a sabbatical month, after collecting too many personal days. But being locked in Delacroix was eating you alive, carrying your phone wherever you used to go, waiting for a call or a message from your boyfriend that never came.

Helping your sister-in-law to extend the fishing net all over the floor to clean it from algae and trash, you weren't able to ignore it and to not check your notifications again. Nothing more than some emails and posts on your social media. Sarah puckered her lips disappointed for how his brother was behaving when she watched you sighing. She knew his ass was in big trouble, that was for sure. At least, help her with the family business kept your mind occupied the whole day, and it wasn't too bad to spend time with your nieces. They adored you and you used to have so much fun.

“I'm gonna put the boys to sleep”. Sarah informed you, coming into the kitchen while you were finishing your second glass of red wine. “You okay? Has he replied?”

“Nope”. You mumbled, taking another sip.

“He'll be okay”.

You knew it. Sam could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but you were aware of how hard he was. Your sister-in-law gave you a tight hug and left a kiss on your cheek before going upstairs to finish her day with some good sleep. She deserved it after too much work. On the contrary, you stayed there sitting at the dinner table, spinning your glass as if it could make it fill up by itself magically. Like every night, you used to wait an hour before heading to Sam's old room and try to sleep for a couple of hours, mostly waking up every thirty minutes to check your phone again. You weren't understanding why he hadn't replied to any of your texts, at least, with an emoji.

“Baby…”

The whisper dragged you back to reality with just one push, abruptly turning on your chair to the back door in the kitchen. Sam was there, standing in silence with a hand rested on the knob. He didn't seem hurt in any way, but he knew you probably would give him a silent treatment until he compensated you enough. Pressing your lips together and frowning, hiding how much you desired to hug him, kiss him and tell him how much you had missed him, you turned again to face your glass of wine.

Behind your position, you heard him heavily sighing while closing the door. His steps came closer, taking a seat on the chair next to yours. A shiver ran down your backbone when his right knee touched slightly yours, putting your head to the opposite side of his. Sam was conscious that telling you he was too occupied to use his phone only would make it worse, stretching his hand above the table to hold your free one. He was aware of what a simple touch from him could cause on you, taking it in advantage as you sniffed back your frustrated want to cry and yell at him.

“I've misse—”.

“Fuck that, Samuel. And fuck you”. Interrupting him with such a painful hiss, you stood up to empty the glass in one gulp, walking towards the sink to leave it inside.

After what happened with the blip, the minimal thought of losing him generated you a kind of anxiety that suffocated you till making you pass out. Five years. You had been looking for your soulmate for five years. You waited for him, even praying to God to bring him back to you. And when he did, he promised you to never leave again. A week without a single report from him wasn't exactly a way to keep it.

You supported part of your weight against the counter, with both of your hands tightly gripping the edge of it, bowing your head down. Sam pressed his inner cheek with the tip of his tongue, not being sure of what to do. He knew he screwed what he pact with you, even if it wasn't his intention. Believing that it was better if there wasn't any more distance between the two of you, he got up from his chair to reach you in two strides. Your boyfriend urged you to turn around and face him, but you tilted away your head not wanting to look at him.

Crossing both arms on your chest to let him know with your posture that you were more sad than angry, Sam placed his hands on the sides of your neck, cleaning a wild tear running down your cheek by using his thumb.

“You're the only thing in my mind when we're not together”. He guaranteed you, looking for your reddened eyes. “I'm sorry. I truly am… Look at me, please, baby”.

“I saw it on the news, Samuel. I saw what that Captain America did. And you were there, standing next to James. Don't ask me to not be worried”. You spoke then with so much rage still stuck in your throat.

“We will talk about it tomorrow, I promis—”.

“You promise. That's what you said the last time and look at my phone. Nothing. Nothing from you in days”. You reproached him, clicking your tongue and interrupting him again.

“Then, I don't promise. I assure you I'll answer any question you have tomorrow”. His orbs stayed in place, not moving a single minimal inch from yours.

You didn't reply. No word came from your mouth. Mouth that he didn't hesitate to bring to his. Sam only gave you an ephemeral kiss, causing you to close your eyes just like him. A sneak peek of what was about to happen. It was no more than a second when you were devouring each other's lips. Desperate, eagerly. His tongue soon invaded your cavity, drinking the sweet moan you couldn't retain as his left hand went straight down your ass. He squeezed it making you slightly lean upon your bare tiptoes, as he made his way to between your legs.

The heat started to strangle you when he slid his free hand under your shirt to grip it around one of your boobs, freeing it from your bra. Your tongue continued fighting his, not caring about the lack of air within your lungs, as you rocked your needed core against the lump growing beneath the rough fabric of his jeans. Sam grunted against your lips, wishing for an instant to be in your kitchen and not in his sister's, so he could simply rip off your clothes and fuck like two animals in heat. He needed to control himself, but he just simply couldn't, hearing your lower pleasing vocals.

“No, no, no, please, Sam...” You sobbed in a whisper, tangling your fingers in his shirt when he tried to take a step back.

“Shit, baby girl… You drive me insane”. He uttered into your ear as your mouth landed on his neck. Kissing, biting, and pulling up his skin between your teeth.

Sam's hands pawed your body strongly, pressing your body against the counter to make you feel what you caused on him. Having to take care of not being heard or caught on action just turned him on high-sky, but he was conscious that it wouldn't be a good scene for his nieces.

“C'mon… lemme take you to my room”. He asked you, finally settling some distance barely breathing, holding your hand to quickly guide you upstairs.

a / n: thank you for reading! if you liked it, please, leave a comment and reblog it, i'd really appreciate it.

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[writingsbychlo]

smoke and fire (12)

word count; 8943

summary; you and newt are called to another unusual call.

notes; this is the first half (technically) of a mini sub-plot. the end comes in the next part.

warnings; violence, gun use, description of injury, slight gore, intentional harm, attempted murder, reference to drowning.

“I feel disgusting.” You mumbled, water still dripping from your arms as you stood, shaking yourself odd a little and groaning at the chill that was beginning to sweep in. The lights on the firetruck were flashing, equipment still being loaded back up, and Newt was standing on the other side of the ambulance, a water bottle Minho had given him sitting in his hand as he took another large sip, gargling the water loudly and frothing it around his mouth before spitting it out onto the concrete and grimacing.

“I think I swallowed, like, half the lake.”

You felt bad for him, you really did, and you tried to peel the wet material of the shirt away from yourself. Unbuttoning it slowly, you frowned, wet hair plastered to the back of your neck in the ponytail you wore, and Newt choked on his drink, laughing loudly and spitting up water again. He patted at his chest, turning away from you, his cheeks going red as he tries to hack up water that had gone down the wrong pipe, and you patted his back, startled at his sudden reaction.

His eyes were watering when he recovered, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “You know, if I was straight, I’d be very flattered.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your nipples.” He beamed, and your brows furrowed, before you glanced down, noting the hardened peaks from the cold, showing clearly through your tank that had gone clear enough in its pale grey colour to show off the plain design of your bra, and you scoffed. “Truly, it’s an honour, but it’s doing nothing for me.”

“Oh, no, whatever will I do now?” You mused, voice flat of any emotions, and he only laughed again, peeling off his shirt, and ringing it out, goosebumps rising along pale skin as the chill of the air washed over his skin. The lake was clear now, a group of kids who had stupidly enough decided it would be a good idea to jump off the edge of the dock before realising the wall was too tall and slippery with algae to get out, beginnings of hypothermia and ingestions of dirty water before anybody had wandered past close enough to hear them calling for help.

Sometimes, you really hated teenagers.

“Think if we’re fast enough, we can get back to the house before the firefighters? First dibs on the showers with the best water pressure, and guaranteed hot water.”

His eyes twinkled a little as he lifted a still damp but no longer sodden shirt back onto his shoulders, grimy and covered in green and brown stains from the water, no bothering to button it back up. “I take that as a challenge, and I accept.”

You climbed in through the back of the van, pulling open the bottom drawer and finding the plastic seat coverings, chucking one of the sheet packages to Newt for his own chair, before he slammed the doors with you in the back, and rounded to the driver’s side. Smoothing the plastic over your chair to make sure it was covered, your shoes squelched a little as you collapsed down into it. Newt did the same, and the second the keys were twisted into the lock once he was shuffling uncomfortably on the plastic, you were flicking the heating on to the highest temperature you could get it.

The downside of working in a van filled with drugs and medicine? The heat didn’t get very high in order to keep what needed to be refrigerated at the temperature is was required to be at. His eyes checked the mirrors as he reversed, noting the firetruck that was beginning to back out, the Squad truck leaving first, Gally and Fry still milling around to talk to the cops, and so you and Squad had a head start.

It would seem that they had the same idea, because Minho had a positively dangerous look in her eyes as she pulled up towards the entrance alongside you both, and Newt smirked, hand on the gearstick as he switched gears and pressed his foot down on the pedal. He surged forwards, the van moving faster than the trucks due to their added weight, a delay in its start-up, and the pair of you shot across the uneven gravelly path towards the main highway.

The red truck wasn’t far behind, and yet you were laughing a little at the determined look on your partners face, what had been a modest challenge was now becoming a battle between yourselves and the Squad team. You had the edge, being a lightweight vehicle, easy navigation and more speed, but they had the edge, the big red truck was more noticeable to other driver’s and they tended to move out of the way more for firetrucks than they did for ambulances.

As you met the junction for the highway, Newt flicked on the indicators and swerved onto the highway in a gap between cars that was too small to be considered safe. The move left you pressed into the side door of the ambo’, turning to look at him as his eyes stayed fixed on the road, a smirk on his face as the red truck was left in the dust, having to wait much longer to be able to pull out.

“Alright, Vin Diesel, settle down.”

“You want a hot shower to get clean? Or do you want lukewarm water with weak pressure that takes hours to get you clean?” You considered it, knowing that the more the showers were used, the weaker the water pressure got and the colder they ran as the hot water was distributed out, and you weighed out the pros and cons. You gave in with a reluctant sigh, watching Newt weave between cars, and he let out a triumphant noise. “Exactly. So, be a good co-driver, and play something exciting.”

“This is an ambulance, Newt. We have the classical jazz station, the news station, the emergency radio, or static and silence.”

“Sing something.” He offered, and you laughed loudly. “Maybe just yell exciting things at the top of your voice like it’s a James Bond movie. You can be my Bond woman.”

“Exciting things? You mean like ‘Quick, Newt, watch out for the rock slide’ or ‘Oh my God, Newt, he’s shooting at us’?” He hummed, rolling his lips together a little, and looking into the mirror where the red van wasn’t all that far behind anymore. “Oh, okay, I got it. How about ‘Quick! Newt! The bomb that will destroy world peace and the alien trade federation is about to go off, hurry so you can disarm it and save the galaxy!”

“That’s the one!” He shouted back, laughter taking up the cabin between you both as he picked up a little more speed, growling under his breath as distant wailing took place. “Did they just turn the fucking sirens on?”

“That’s illegal! A crime! Disqualified!”

Only a moment later, the truck was passing you by, Thomas lounging in the front seat with a smirk on his face, not even bothering to look at the two of you as he held up his middle finger, feet popped up on the dashboard, before they were pulling ahead, and you gaped at it.

“He flipped us off!”

“He did what?” Newt sounded like he had been told that Thomas had run over his dog, before his face was growing stormy, and he peeled off towards one of the exits, and you sat up a little more in your seat.

“Newt, this isn’t our exit, why are we slowing down? This is war now!”

“We’re taking a shortcut! I think.”

You pouted, watching as he pulled off onto the quieter roads, already resigning yourself to the loss. The van moved slower, not by much and certainly still considered fast for these roads, and you didn’t recognise the area you were driving through until you were almost at the house, coming at it from a completely different angle. It was a side that the trucks would be unaware of, the roads on this side of the house too narrow for the trucks to navigate on, but an ambulance could definitely weave and dodge along them.

You were expecting the grey garage to already be stained with bright and shiny flashes of colour, but as you approached it, the bay was still empty, and you gasped.

Unclipping your seatbelt before the vehicle had even rolled to a halt, and as soon as it was in park, haphazardly and slightly wonky within the designated space but still inside the lines, and Newt was ripping the keys from the ignition. You didn’t even bother peeling away the plastic overs, both hopping down from the van, doors slamming, uncomfortable runs in wet shoes from the vehicle to the changing rooms, the door practically bounding from the wall with the urgency that you forced it open.

Your fingers were trembling with both the cold and the adrenaline as you opened your locker, grabbing for the towel and washbag that sat on the middle shelf, slamming the metal canister shut a second behind Newt, and on the other side of the room, you heard a shower curtain swipe open, before the water spray was coming on.

Kicking off your shoes onto the white tile, your socks were ridden with water, and you stopped into the basin, flimsy curtain closing behind you. Switching on the water, you didn’t care about clothes getting wet as they were all drenched regardless. The water was hot and strong, pouring down over you as you let out a breath in relief, sighing out at the feeling, and stripping the partially unbuttons shirt the rest of the way down.

Dropping it to the floor outside, your vest followed, bra dropping by your feet for modesty, not all too thrilled about the idea of the entire team seeing your underwear. One fireman was plenty enough. Your trousers came next, panties following your bra, and socks lastly, before you were freeing your hair from its bobble and scrubbing dirt from the tendrils. The water was murky as it pooled around your feet, and you grinned through the suds as you heard the locker room door open up.

“Nice of you guys to finally join us!”

Newt laughed at your words, and you scowled at the taste of shampoo that got in your mouth, eyes squeezed closed tightly, but you couldn't hold back your laughter at the several complaints that burst out.

The shower next to yours clicked into gear, a slight dip in the flow of water as it adjusted, and it was steadily growing weaker as the firemen all changed and climbed into a shower, but you had already shampooed, only some soap and conditioner to go.  

“How the fuck did you guys beat us here?”

“We played by the rules, Bren! Flicking on sirens, that was cheating.” You tutted, the girl scoffing from the cubicle beside you.

“Uh, playing it smart isn’t cheating!” She retaliated, and you scrubbed a bar of exfoliating soap over your skin, the extra shrub helping to rid you of the feeling of grunge from the lake away from your flesh. “But seriously, how the hell did you beat us here with so much time?”

“Newt knew a short cut, apparently.” She made a vague sound of agreement, the boys all chatting loudly from the other side of the room, and the build-up of steam was beginning to give you a headache. Running some conditioner through your hair and combing the knots out quickly, you finished up, switching off the water and finding your towel, hand fumbling outside of the stall for the material, before you were finding it, and wrapping it around your body. Wringing out your hair, you pushed back the shower curtain and stepped free.

Newt was at the lockers, pulling a shirt over his head, almost fully dressed, the plastic washing basket from the corner was sitting outside him, water pooling through the cracks to the floor as his clothes dripped, and you scooped up your own, dropping them in with his and flashing him a grateful smile as he all but nodded in a promise to load them into the washer.

His fluffy hair was almost dry already, messy and sticking up from his towel, and you envied how quickly he could get ready again. How quickly all men could get dressed, really.

Taking your kit over to the sink, you fastened your towel a little tighter around yourself again to make sure it would stay tight, before wiping a patch in the steamed-up glass to see your reflection. Running a collection of moisturisers and serums over your cheeks, keeping it at it’s best despite the smoky and dirty conundrums you found yourself in on a day to day basis, you rehydrated and cleansed your skin, before moving on to your hair.

Heading to your locker to get a new set of clothes, you lifted the catch open, the door swinging as you gathered belongings, checking you had everything for a new uniform in your back-up bag, before placing it down on the bench. As you closed it, you jumped, a body leaning on the metal on the other side, and a mumbled curse fell from your lips at the shock. Reaching up to clutch at the edge of your towel and ensure it didn’t fall, you glared at the laughing attacker.

“You fucking suck. Why are you scaring me when I’m in a towel? Dumbass.”

“Oh, ouch. Cranky today, huh?” Thomas teased, reaching out a finger to poke at your stomach through the towel, and you jumped, slapping his hand away as he chuckled more.

“I’m cranky when I’m in a towel, and risking flashing the entire team because you wanna’ startle me!” He smirked, eyes scanning over your body particularly slowly, as if to make a point, and you rolled your eyes, despite the heat forming on your face. Adjusting your towel again, he watched your fingers move, and you kicked at his shin, watching him hop around in his towel at the aggression.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“You know what that was for!” You held your fingers up, pointing them from your chest to your eyes, and he got a wicked grin once again as he clocked onto what you were saying. “Go away so I can get dressed in peace!”

“So now you don’t want me around? That’s not how you felt a couple of weeks ago.” You glared at him again, crossing your arms and stomping your foot a little, knowing what he was referring to, and he hadn't been any less affectionate since. At the action, though, he gave in, hands held up in a surrender and his laughter following him all the way around to his locker on the other side, leaving you alone.

Members of the team were still wandering around, and so you tried to be as quick but as discreet as you possibly could, tugging your panties and trousers up under your towel. Your spare shoes were uncomfortable and tight, barely worn in as opposed to your regular ones, and you were cold as you put on the clothes that had been chilling in the metal canister, bag ready to be taken home to refill.

Rubbing your towel across your hair to dry it out better, you left it as it was, towel folding in the bag to be taken home, and you placed it all back inside. Adjusting your fresh uniform to sit a little more comfortably on your body, your fingers smoothed along the collar and flattened it down, before sweeping still damp locks away from your clothes.

The men were all filtering from the room, a faster turn around as they dried, all carrying dirty and sodden uniforms to the laundry room to try and get them sorted, hoping to find themselves with one less task to do when they go home, and not wanting to stink up their cars with the foul smell that came with the water from the dock by trailing the wet garments home.

The dull buzzing of the only hairdryer the fire station had was already in use by Brenda, shorter hair looking a little crazy as she only had her fingers to come through instead of her usual styling brush, and she was scowling at her reflection in the mirror as her hair curved up in the wrong directions at the edges, bangs looking untamed. She glared at your snickering as you approached, finger flipping over the switch to turn it off, clearly deeming the effort good enough, and she stuck her tongue out at you and handed it over, letting you start it up to reduce some of the water trapped in your own hair as she tried desperately to do something to control it a little better.

“Why don’t you just comb it all back?”

“And look like a starring member from ‘Grease’? Want me to start singing ‘Go Grease Lightning’ on the top of one of the fire trucks, huh?” She was so over-dramatic, and yet you loved that about her, shaking your head and smirking a little as she continued to struggle. You weren’t all that bothered about getting it completely dry, just enough that you wouldn’t catch a chill from it. You didn’t really feel like facing the next few weeks with a sore throat and a blocked nose.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you that I’m pretty sure I have a curled brush in my bag?”

She paused her work, arms crossing over her chest, hip leaning on the porcelain of the sink, and you could feel her burning glare on you as you continued to keep your one hair tame just with the use of the machine and your fingers. “You’ve had a blow-dry brush this whole time and you let me suffer?”

“Uh, first off, it’s not a blow-dry brush. It’s just a round brush. Make do. Secondly, you make it sound like I had food and you’ve not eaten for three days.”

“Same thing.” She hissed, playfully through it all, and she didn’t wait for permission, before she was meandering to your locker over hers and letting herself in, beginning to dig through the items in there to find the brush. She let out a triumphant little noise, and as she all but skipped back across the room, you decided you were close enough to dry, shaking your head to tame fly-aways and handing her the dryer back. You turned, walking away from her, and she let out a sound of complaint. “You’re just gonna’ leave me in here, alone?”

“It’s the changing rooms, not a back-alley at a nightclub at 3am.”

“What if I get lonely?” She pouted, turning the heat up and power down, the whirring going quieter so neither of you had to shout quite as loudly to one another, and you shrugged, backing away from her a little more, and smirking.

“Talk to your reflection. I’m going to make a snack.”

She huffed, but smiled, turning back to her plans, and you were the only one to what your soft chuckle as you left, the chill out in the corridor being shocking as you stepped from the steam-filled room to the breeze-filled hall to the main bay, shuddering as goosebumps rose over your arms, and you crossed them across your chest to keep your heat in.

Thomas was standing at the entrance of the laundry room, a basket full of wet clothes, nose turned up a little as Newt and Jeff loaded the machines, and you didn’t envy them at all. The doors to the common room were sealed shut tightly, presumably to keep in the warmth, because Fry had turned on both of the space heaters, and the room was already warming up to being hot. The smell of garlic bread was filling the room, some kind of cheesy pasta following it, and Fry was already singing loudly to the song playing over the radio, almost drawing out the television as Gally watched a movie that was so old it was in black and white, but he wasn’t paying attention, rather, he was texting on his phone and enjoying the background noise.

Minho was sitting beside him much the same, fingers moving swiftly over the screen, and Clint was chewing on a pen at the table as he filled out the puzzles in one of the newspapers from last week's stack.

“What’cha making, Fry?”

“Chicken and mushroom pasta, you want some?” Your face screwed up, shaking your head, and he laughed. “Let me guess, you don’t like mushrooms?”

“They’re gross and slimy. No offence to your pasta.”

“They’re delicious, and healthy.” He corrected, and you grunted, opening the fridge, and pulling out a loaf of bread, shuffling through the contents of the fridge to find a topping you wanted. As you searched, a soft bumping at your ankle caught your attention, a sharp and chipper bark to follow it, and you glanced down, finding a wagging tail and a ball of golden fur staring up at you expectantly. “That dog is a bottomless pit of food!”

“He’s a growing boy!” You waved the cook off, taking a packet of ham out and peeling a slice off from the inside of the pack, holding it up at about waist height, and watching as the dog shuffled backwards, staring up at it and preparing himself. “C’mon, Scoot, jump!”

The dog did so, a happy yip sounding from him as he did, snatching half of the slice as it tore in your hands, and chewing down on it happily, pieces falling from its mouth and onto the floor, and he was quick to lick those up too. “He’s never going to learn any tricks if you pamper him like that.”

You looked up, Thomas having come through the doorway, Newt following behind him, your partner raising his shirt to his nose and sniffing at it, trying to determine whether the stench had transferred to his uniform just from doing the laundry, before collapsing down in the armchair. “He just did a trick! He jumped!” Scooter did it again, snatching the rest of the ham from your fingers, and you gasped as teeth brushed over your fingers, your hand snatching back, and Thomas chuckled, coming to a stop before you and taking the ham from your fingers.

“He did not jump on command, he just jumped for food.”

“Fine! You try!” You raised a brow, and Thomas took the challenge, a smirk forming.

“Scooter!” The dog’s head snapped to face him, from where he’d been occupying himself with pawing at one of your undone laces, now focused on Thomas. “Scooter, sit.” The dog remained still for a second, your lips pursing as he continued to pant and wag happily, stood on all four paws.

“What was it you were saying?”

Thomas’ eyes flicked up to you, narrowing for a second, before he was trying again. “Scooter, sit.” Your jaw was slack as the dog did exactly as told, sitting neatly and letting his tail brush over the flooring patterns, hearing the fridge behind you opening and closing, jars and tins rattling as Fry continued to cook. “Good boy, Scoot! No, lay down.” Thomas clicked his fingers, pointing at the floor, and the dog flattened out, staring up at Thomas expectantly, and you huffed. “Good boy. You want a treat?”

A bark signalled that, and Thomas rolled up a piece of the honey-glazed delicacy that Fry was snatching back a second later with mumbles about it being wasted, and Scooter stood up to snatch it, running away across the room in a pitter-patter of movements, scurrying away to his bed in the corner.

“See?”

“How the hell did you do that?” You demanded, washing your hands under the tap and drying them off, before going back to the sandwich you’d been preparing, and Thomas seated himself on one of the island stools with a shrug.

“I’ve been practising. Wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, consider me surprised.” You offered, grabbing a knife from one of the drawers, and Fry groaned beside you, shooting you both a dirty look as you began to spread the butter.

“Consider me revolted.” He gagged, and you rolled your eyes, swinging your foot out to kick at his shin, Thomas flipping him off despite the heat that was building on his cheek, and the chef wasn’t deterred from mimicking your conversation. “Seriously, get a room.”

“We have a room. It’s this kitchen. Two out of three, we win, majority rules.”

“Nice.” Thomas grinned, holding his hand out, and you slammed your palm against his in a satisfying high five, before pressing the knife down and cleaning it off, sealing the butter back up and putting it in the fridge, before grabbing your fillings. Layering them on carefully, you started slowly, constructing your sandwich carefully, and building it on your plate, before slicing it evenly down the middle, starting at your lunch proudly.

You only had a second to appreciate it, before a large hand was picking up a piece of it, taking it away and biting the corner off or it happily. “Hey! Who the hell said you could eat my sandwich?”

“Sharing is caring, sweetheart.” He winked, taking another large bite and speaking through his food, hopping down from the stool, and your face screwed up. You took your now half a sandwich, walking towards the empty couch and hearing Thomas trail after you, the couch the wrong way to the screen, but you weren’t all that bothered about what was happening in this movie anyway, and so you faced away from it, spreading out along the couch. “Move your legs.”

“Give me my sandwich back!”

“It’s half gone now!” He held it up, showing you the evidence of the half-eaten piece, and you shrugged. As if to prove a point, he pushed the rest of it all into his mouth at once, cheeks feeling with food and lips barely able to close, before he was brushing crumbs from his shirt, and picking your legs up at the ankles, lifting them up to be able to sit down.

“You’re disgusting.”

“Yep.” His words were muffled, your feet being laid back down across his lap, and you took a more polite bite of the remaining half. His fingers moved to your shoes, finding the undone laces and wrapping them around his fingers, before pulling them tightly and looping them into neat knots. He repeated the same on the other foot, before slumping back into the couch a little, still trying to chew the whole mouthful, and you wiggled a little as you got more comfortable, sliding further down until it was your calves in his lap instead of your feet, and your shoulders could rest on the armrest.

His hand rested on your knee, thumb smoothing over you lightly as his other hand produced his phone from his pocket, beginning to swipe at it absentmindedly.

“You two are honestly sickening. I have toothache.”

“Oh, cut the crap, Newt. You spent a half-hour on the phone to me two days ago talking about Derek.” Newt looked shocked for a second, pale cheeks flushing with warm colour, before he was shrugging it off.

“Yeah, well, at least me and Derek have never cuddled in a waiting room at his job.”

“We aren’t cuddling right now!” You scoffed, taking another bite of your sandwich, and chewing it as you process what to say next. “Besides, it would be unprofessional to cuddle in a waiting room where patients could see. This is totally different because we’re inside the house, an-”

Your words went flat as you heard the siren overhead go off, even Thomas’ thumb on your knee pausing its motions, everybody going silent, only the sounds of sizzling oil and the muted television static to go as the alarm went off. You deflated, only yourself and Newt being called for, and you heaved yourself to a sitting position, Newt already beginning to peel his body back up out of the comfy chair he’d seated himself in.

“At least it’s only a local call, we’ll be back before the shift even ends.”

Your partner’s words did little to comfort you, and he chuckled as you continued to glare, before forcing yourself into action.

Swinging your legs down to sit up, you looked mournfully at your only half-eaten meal, before handing the plate to Thomas, who beamed at the offering, your fingers tousling his hair before you were wandering away, and attempting to pull your hair back into something that resembled a pony-tail using on the bobble on your wrist and your fingers.

Newt grabbed the keys, ready to set off, and you followed after him as the doors remained yet to even start swinging shut in his haste. Reaching the van, you hesitated as you neared climbing in, stripping away the plastic over your seat and dropping it down into the footwell of the van, watching Newt do the same. Starting up the ambulance and fastening your seatbelt, Newt flicked on the SatNav, the machine taking a second to load up, before it was programming in your given destination and beginning to guide you.

“So, that’s something pretty new.”

“What is?” Your eyes flickered over yourself, the same uniform you always wore clad on your body, and a pair of sneakers, your brow raising as you turned to your friend, the silence saying everything, and he scoffed. Switching gears as he pulled out onto the faster roads, he spared you a look, dubious and unbelieving of your confusion.

“You know what.”

“I assure you, I don’t.” You shuffled a little, the radio crackling, but none of the chatter directed toward the two of you was coming through yet, and you waited.

He sighed, flicking on the indicators and pulling out onto the highway. “You and Tommy. That’s what I’m talking about. What’s up with you two?”

Heat flushed over your face, and you sank back a little further into your seat, but your lips wanted to form a smile, and you had to bite down on the inside of your cheek just to contain it. “I’m not totally sure.”

“You’re not sure?”

“Well, I kinda’ know. It’s all so new. It’s scary, but exhilarating.” Newt only smiled, eyes flicking to the mirror to check over everything he was looking at, before taking another turn following the SatNav, a side road to leave the highway, and you were still waiting on call details to come through on the radio. “I mean, I know it’s something. He knows that, too. We’ve talked about it, but we’re just, sort of, waiting.”

“Waiting for what, exactly?”

“The right time, I guess.” You sighed, realising how odd it all sounded out loud, to be talking like a teenager to your friend about a guy you liked, but it also felt natural and right. “Everything has just been crazy lately. I don’t think we would be like we were without the craziness, and it’s kinda’ weird to think that this job has changed my life so much, that this house has changed my life so much, when none of the others did before. I think we’re just waiting to see if it’s real, or just an in-the-moment emotional deal.”

“Seems pretty real to me.”

You smiled, knowing that Newt’s words were intended to be soothing, but instead, they made your heart race a little more.

Everything made your heart race nowadays, like you were in overdrive all the time, you were constantly on the edge, and not in an anxious way. You’d spent so much of your life feeling closed off and locked down that you weren’t used to how it felt to be on the opposite end of the scale. You had anxiety, and fear, and loneliness, that was your normal status, but since settling into Firehouse ‘21, everything had been turned upside down.

Your heart would race with thrill and excitement, and the heat flushing over you wasn’t so much from rage - after you’d sorted your problems with Thomas, anyway - but from flustered shyness. On the days when you felt lonely, when the urge to be around someone else was stronger, your phone was there, lighting up with notifications from a group chat and you knew you had friends you could call, someone who would spend time with you, when they weren’t on duty.

It was all still new, and a little scary, and still thrilling.

Then, there was Thomas. You weren’t sure what it was with Thomas, because you had nothing to compare it to. Your previous relationships had been quick and spinning. A fling that ended just as fast as it started, almost always ending after a first date with tumbling into bed and shutting down when the first signs of intimacy began to rear their heads. You moved around and you never stayed put long enough to invest in something, but you had no plans of leaving Firehouse ‘21 any time soon, and so you’d allowed yourself to let Thomas in before you’d even realised it was happening.

Intimate and emotional, a connection that wasn’t physical yet, you didn’t even know what it felt like to kiss him, and yet it still made you feel a little breathless and lightheaded to imagine it because there was a weight and meaning hanging to it now. There was something deeper than you’d ever had, a relationship that wasn’t pinned on sex and quick connections to chase away the cold sheets when you felt truly alone, but instead, left you feeling warm and loved even when no one was around.

“So, what about you and Derek?”

It was Newt’s turn to be embarrassed, the gravel and shale under the tires crunching loudly as the two of you began to trail up abandoned dirt roads, the rickety and deafening sounds of the trains of the metal bridges overhead shooting past were like the banging of metal against metal, hitting a spoon against a pan or steel-tipped work boots on metal platforms.

Pale skin turned dark pink, and he flashed a cheesy grin, eyes sparkling a little, and you already knew how excited he was. “That good, huh?”

“Things with Derek are awesome.”

“I take full responsibility for that awesomeness.” You teased, and he chuckled, the van coming to a halt, and your brows furrowed, amusement disappearing and confusion over as you stared out at the empty scene. The SatNav on the dashboard clicked green and shut down as you reached your destination, clearly telling you both that this was the correct location, and yet there was nothing, and nobody to be seen. “Put a pin in that conversation.”

He only mumbled his response, equally as confused, and the two of you stepped out of the car, a chill sweeping over you as it became eerily similar to the last case you’d received with nobody present, still so recent that the police investigation into it was still open, the court case over Chuck’s death was yet to be closed and the arson investigators hadn't even completed their analysis. “Check the radio. Is it turned on?”

You moved back in, knowing that it was because the static had been playing lowly in your ears all the way through, but there was nothing else. Normally, at a call on the edge of a town like this, the two of you would be greeted by someone, a frantic pedestrian, friend or family member, the person who had made the call would arrive to lead you to the person, and even as you listened, you couldn't hear anything.

No loud groaning or yells of pain, no mangled screams for help or even a blood trail to guide you. There was absolutely nothing to suggest why the two of you would be here, and it all became more and more suspicious as each second ticked by. Newt tucked his hands into his pockets, and you picked up the receiver, sitting sideways on your seat and turning the dial, before pressing the button down on the side.

“House ‘21 ambulance, calling in. We haven't had any more details, can we get an update?”

You waited for a second, eyes narrowing as the machine clicked you through to an operator, and there were muffled voices in the background of the call centre, before a clearer voice rang through. “‘21 ambulance, can you confirm your location, registration number and ID for me.”

Newt smirked at the frown on your face, knowing that every so often a caller came who actually required you to cite the information. While you couldn't deny that it was protocol, and they should be doing it every time, most of them took it simply at your word of being the paramedics, because they knew that most robbers wouldn't be bothering to call in on the radio of they were stealing from an ambulance, they’d just clear out all the medicines and run.

Listing off the information she requested, you listened and waited, the sound of long nails typing quickly at a keyboard sounded out, and you turned up the volume, holding the device out from you a little, so Newt could hear more clearly, even as he wandered a few feet away, looking around some more. “Still there, ‘21?”

“Yep.” You paused, hearing a few more clicks, before the woman was sighing.

“My files don’t have much. The caller didn’t leave a name or an identification, the only notes here are the address, and that you’re looking for a stab wound victim.” Newt's brows raised as he heard the words, and you only felt more confused. If someone had been stabbed, there should be a trail of blood or someone calling for help, you should be able to see them, they couldn't have gotten far without leaving a pathway of where they were, and yet, there was nothing here except the trains on the bridge overhead. “That all?”

“That's all.”

She hung up not long after, and you grabbed for your go-bag, chucking Newt his bag too, and he only just managed to catch it as the breath was knocked from his lungs, sticking his tongue out at you childishly as you grinned, before slamming your door back shut, and letting Newt lock it up, the van chirping and flashing as it sealed.

Swinging your bag onto your shoulder, your partner mimicked you. Wandering away together, you paced a few minutes from the van, staring out across the empty area, and crossing your arms. “I gave up my lunch for this shit.”

“You go left, I’ll go right, we’ll sweep around, and in ten minutes we meet at the van?” You only nodded, kicking at a particularly large pebble under your foot, and turning to face the direction you were told to go in. You heard Newt stepping away, pebbles shifting underfoot, and you followed suit, glancing back at the blond over your shoulder for a second. “Yell if you find something.”

“Will do.” You saluted, a grin thrown over his shoulder to you, before fixing your gaze ahead of you once again.

There were a few old houses, run-down and abandoned, nobody having lived in them for at least a decade. Broken windows were boarded up and front doors were hanging on their hinges, spray paint that was old and faded, drips and chips on the wood that was stained with years of abandonment, and wire fences with chains on that had been long since cut away. The grass was dead, yellowed and brown and overrun with weeds, and spoke spots ere charred blank with ash, where you suspected kids had come to light fires and get away from parents when they were bored; empty bottles of booze and cans of pop littered the ground, among wrappers and boxes for things too old to see the labels on.

You checked every garden, standing in the gate and calling out to offer help, but nothing except for silence came back. The rusty metal creaked as you stepped out from the last row, three random houses in an area of town that had clearly been skipped in the surrounding gentrification, left to fall into disrepair, and you didn’t blame it. The constant source of trains of the tracks overhead was already beginning to give you a headache, there were no real roads built to this area, and it was miles to the closest bus stop or shopping centre.

Turning back around, you didn’t walk straight back to him, but you walked a little to the side, taking an angle back towards the van just to be sure you were covering the maximum space that you could, checking over it all thoroughly, and just as you’d been giving up, your eyes caught the flicker of movement in your peripherals. When you focused on it, it took you a second to find it again, the trembling of metal stilts holding the bridge up forty feet above you disguising it, but then there was a twitch again.

In the shadows, easily missed, but then there they were. Sitting, leaned up against one of the bars from the other side, hand-pressed weakly over their stomach, head lolled to the side. You weren’t even sure if they had moved, or if they’d simply slumped forward because of the vibrations of the rickety bridge legs, and you felt a jolt of adrenaline race through you as you tried to jump into action.

“Shit!” You muttered, a slight rise on the hill before you as you tried to climb up it, the dust forming clouds behind you as the stones slipped at the sudden and uncoordinated movements, before you were stumbling closer to the person. “Newt!”

Another train shot overhead, drowning out the sounds of your shouts, and you hoped Newt had actually heard it, because you’d walked so far that he was more like a blur away from you, and you certainly couldn't hear his yells as he offered help anymore, they’d faded away a few minutes ago, but you couldn't be occupied with it now. The second the train had passed, you tried yelling again, out of breath and panting as you dropped to your knees before the person.

Their head was lying forward, chin pressed to their chest, fresh red blood seeping out between their fingers in weak bursts, and at least you knew they were still alive. Cupping their face, you pushed their head back, skin sickly pale and flushed with sweat, a very quiet groan leaving his lips, and hooded eyes cracked open barely at all to look at you. “Did you make that call?”

“Call?” He echoed, seemingly confused about what was even happening, but with the amount of blood that was staining the pebbles around you and clumping in the dust and dirt as it turned dark, you weren’t all that surprised.

“Alright, buddy, we’ll get you all sorted out, okay?” You circled a hand around behind his neck, the other on his side, and you needed to lay him down just to be able to get to the wound, because you couldn't see anything with him slumped over like this, daylight partially blocked out from the bridge overhead and shadows forming over the man. “I need to get you laying down, think you can handle that?”

He didn’t even nod, simply made a broken hum under his breath that you decided to take as an acknowledgement, before pulling him forwards. He let out a louder cry this time, the pain taking him over, and you heard the rapid-fire crunches of Newt running towards you, slightly uneven footsteps on his hurt leg, but you didn’t pay any attention to it, grateful that he’d heard you, but focusing on your patient.

His hands had fallen away from his wounds, and you fumbled for your torch, the light designed to check eyes did little to light up the wound but blood was staining the pale shirt he wore, leaving wet red patches as far up as his ribs. Newt skidded to a stop behind you, a hand running through the longer fringe in his face as he pushed it back, eyes wide.

“Well, shit, I’ll be damned.”

“Knife wound, pretty deep, can you hold the torch for me?” He nodded, stains of red smeared across it from where you’d already got blood on your fingers, and you pushed up the edge of his shirt, getting a look at the wound. He sank to his knees, holding the light over it more clearly, and you hoped he could sense your silent appreciation. It helped you to see, but didn’t clarify much, because blood was smeared over his skin and gave illusions about where his injuries started and ended, bubbling blood still leaving the gash. Dropping your bag down to your side, you opened it up, fumbling through for a pair of rubber gloves, and a tissue to be able to wipe away the blood with.

Snapping the latex onto your wrists and taking the folded clump of paper, dragging it delicately but firmly over the spot to try and get a better look. A second, maybe two, was all you got of clear skin before blood was beginning to fill the space once again, the man’s shallow pants and groans getting lighter and weaker, and you knew you had to hurry, lost time in having to search for him taking its toll now, but it was long enough to get a good look.

“We’re going to need some stuff from the van, probably the stretcher, but I don’t know how well we can wheel him across that gravel.”

“I can just pull up the van?” He offered, clicking off the torch to hand it back to you as you put the correct pressure down on the wound to stop the bleeding, pinching around the edges and holding tight to seal the wound, and you nodded.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s good. Pull up the van!”

He nodded, brushing dust from his knees as he stood, and you used your other hand to begin searching through your bag for the disinfectant spray you needed to start cleaning up his wound so you could put a provisionary seal on it.

You found the canister, shaking it carefully and trying to squeeze the lid with two fingers to get it off, a ‘pop’ sounding before the fading footsteps Newt was making came to a sudden halt.

“Woah, woah, woah..” You looked up, eyes widening and blood running cold at the sight. Newt had his hand held up, a man who’d ace you couldn't quite see behind the baseball cap and the hood he had pulled up to obscure his features, sleeves reaching gloved hands, and a gun in one hand, finger pressed over the trigger as Newt took a few steps back toward you both and stumbling slightly, his leg going weak as he stood unevenly on a rock, and you couldn't help the gasp in fear that left you. “Look, man, we don’t want any trouble. We just got a call, for that guy.”

He reached out one hand, pointing to where you were kneeling still, and you leaned forwards, moving very slowly as you tried to press down gently on the top of the canister, spraying gently on the wound, but as the man let out a sudden and pained noise, the gun moved to you, and you froze, jumping back from the actions and dropping the can.

“I know, because I made the call.”

“You made the call?” You repeated, the face of the shadowed man becoming a little clearer, a large tattoo taking up one side of his face, and you shifted, the uncomfortable stones digging into your knees making you wince as you tried to hold still, an ache in your muscles as your heart raced with fear once again. “If you made the call, why can’t we help him.”

“You’re not here to help him, his wound is just to get you here.”

“You stabbed a man to get ahold of a paramedic?” The gun clicked, the safety catch off, and you swallowed thickly, internally berating yourself for asking such a question when the moment was so tense. “Look, we’ll come with you, we’re more than happy to, but just let me help him and then we’ll go wherever y-”

“Lady, if you don’t stop talking, I will blow your fucking brains all over these stones.” Your jaw snapped shut, heart freezing in your chest entirely, and you nodded dumbly. “Great, now get the fuck up, grab your bag, and walk over here real slow.”

You hesitated, only for a second, before lifting your hand from the man’s wound, hearing him groan out a little, and you ducked your head, knocking your bag over and the contents falling out across the gravel. “I don’t know if you’re even sentient enough to hear me right now,”

Your words were as low as you could get them, hoping then standing a few metres away wouldn't pick them up as he focused back on Newt, and you packed away slowly,

“If you can, I’m leaving the antiseptic and some gauze here. You need to pinch the sides of your wound, lay still, take deep breaths, and hold as much pressure as you can. In about forty minutes, we’d be due to make a call in, we’re supposed to every hour we’re out; when we don’t report in, they’ll send another ambulance. Just hold on, alright?”

You nudged the items a little further into the shadows, hoping the man had caught your words and had the strength to hold on, before you were peeling off your gloves, tucking them into your bag, and zipping it up to sit on your shoulder. Holding your hands up to show they were empty, you stepped beside Newt, the look on his face silently questioning if you were alright, and you gave him a subtle nod, raising a brow in return, and he ducked his head once in reply.

He stood behind you both, pushing the edge of the gun against Newt’s head to urge you both forward, and you matched his steps, the three of you walking slowly as you allowed yourself to be guided. There was a sleek black car pulled up, one you’d missed when arriving, and you suspected he’d driven away and waited somewhere for the ambulance to go past before pulling up again, because it wasn’t exactly hidden.

“Look, we’re going willingly, alright? No fight here, I’ll help. Our ambulance is right there,” You pointed to it, hands still raised up, arms beginning to ache and tire, and Newt folded his, resting his hands behind his head, and turning to look at you as you spoke, “Just let me call in for someone else to come help the other guy, they won’t even get here until after we’ve gone anyway, it’ll t-”

Your ears were ringing, the sound of the bang going off, the rush of air, and the way it felt like an explosion had gone off inside of your own head. You stumbled, falling to your knees at the impact as your entire body went weak, and your vision went black for a second as you tried to process it. You couldn't focus, everything seeming a little blurry, and you could feel Newt’s hands on your shoulders, shaking you, a very muffled shout of your name, before it was all torn backwards once again, and you felt nauseous as the shock swept through your body.

The man crouched down, pulling his hood back and directing an angry gaze straight at you as you blinked to clear your vision, barely able to hear a thing. “That was a fucking warning shot, speak again, and the next bullet won’t miss.”

You had to read his lips for half of the words he said, barely processing them, the bullet that had flown past your ear was making everything fade around the edges, and you were hauled roughly to your feet by a hand under your arm, leaning you against Newt as you staggered the final few feet to the car that was your destination. You could barely clear your head, shaking it a little bit finding even that action was too painful.

Blood was rushing, your headache felt like it was about to split your skull in half, and your shoulder ached as you were tossed down roughly into the open boot, unable to catch yourself in time. Newt followed, the lid slamming shut, darkness surrounding instead. You could feel Newt’s hands on you, the flash of light from his keyring over your irises making you wince, his fingers pressing along your jaw and around your ears, checking for any signs of a ruptured eardrum or any bleeding, but as the car rumbled to life, peeling out of abandoned area everything felt like it was slipping.

Your fingers scratched at the flooring of the car, nails digging into the felt, grains and dirt stuck under your fingernails, and then the car jolted, dipping into a pothole on the road, your head hitting against the floor of the car, and everything you were still clinging to was lost as well as you blacked out.

[mnemosyne-musing]

Double date (River/11)

(So this prompt link is very tenuous and has basically turned into pwp for which I at least partially blame sonic for encouraging me. This version is rated T but the link for the slightly smuttier version is here)

“So!” the Doctor leaps up the stairs to the console and grabs the monitor, spinning around on his heel before typing rapidly into the keyboard, “I was thinking, once River arrives, maybe, a trip to the Amazzi waterfalls. They have these wonderful pools filled with algae. Only, it’s not really algae, it’s this kind of-“

“Doctor,” Rory interrupts, somewhat tentatively, “We were thinking tonight. If you don’t mind that is. That we could just stay in? Maybe have dinner and, you know, just talk to River, and you of course?”

“Yes,” Amy pipes up quickly, “Only if you don’t mind of course,”

He looks up from the console at the two of them standing by the railing. Amy folding her hands slightly nervously in front of her and Rory biting his lip anxiously.

He beams at them. “Of course!”

Amy gives a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you! It’s not that we don’t want to go anywhere, it’s just, it’s been a lot the last few weeks and we haven’t really had much of a chance to process or talk to River or-“

“Ooh, it can be like a double date!” he cuts in and claps his hands together, “We can cook dinner here. I’ve got this wonderful recipe from Escoffier. Fabulous chap. I worked in his restaurant once actually and-“

“Doctor, are you sure?”

He waves a hand at them as he types. “Pond, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. It doesn’t always have to be running and excitement. I can do an evening in. Now, off you pop and get your cooking clothes on! I’ll pick up River and we’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

Amy and Rory grin at each other before bounding towards the stairs and out of the console room.

“Thank you, Doctor!” Amy calls as they scarper down the corridor.

It had been just over a month since leaving River in the hospital after Berlin. They’d seen her once since then. He’d taken the Ponds to a planet with a fantastic seventeen hour meteor shower and they’d bumped into her on the viewing deck. They’d also run into a gang of high-end jewel smugglers whose presence there River swore was a complete coincidence to hers. He had his serious doubts about that but, honestly, he’d been quite distracted by all the running and excitement and then afterwards River had had to dash off very quickly. Well, not so quickly that she hadn’t grabbed him and snogged him against the door of the TARDIS but. Anyway.

He sighs and shakes his head to clear of it of those thoughts before returning to the monitor. He’s just about to pull the lever to let the TARDIS dematerialise when there’s a familiar noise of someone appearing by vortex manipulator behind him.

“Hello sweetie,”

He turns around, a grin already on his face and leans back against the console. River is standing a few feet away, wearing a dark trench coat that’s cinched in and tied at the waist, a pair of dazzlingly high blue heels on her feet that do funny things to his insides.

She begins to stalk towards him, a little bit like a predator approaching its prey.

“I thought I’d bring you a birthday present,” she practically purrs, stopping just out of arm’s reach.

He quirks an eyebrow. “But, it’s not my birthday?”

She simply smiles. A slow smirk that spreads across her face and now she really does look like she’s sizing him up for the kill. That thought really shouldn’t thrill him as much as it does he briefly ponders.

She brings a hand to the belt on her coat and slowly pulls it loose. “Care to reconsider?” she asks, her voice low and throaty as the coat falls open.

The Doctor opens his mouth but all words and possible replies immediately evaporate as he catches sight of what she’s wearing beneath the coat. Or rather, what she’s mostly not wearing beneath the coat. He hardly thinks that the plunging bra and skimpy pair of knickers, both made of flimsy lace in a deep blue colour to match her heels, really count as clothes. In fact, he can think of several planets on which that is most definitely not considered an outfit and would probably be illegal and really- hang on, why is he thinking about other planets when River is here and-

He licks his lips and swallows. “I think,” he manages to croak out, “I think it might be my birthday after all.”

River grins wickedly at him and lets the coat fall to the floor with a soft thud. She steps in towards him and grasps his shirt front, pulling him off the console and steering him backwards towards the jump seat. She pushes him down willingly into the seat and his hands automatically drift to grasp her hips, his fingers splaying across her back and stroking the soft skin there.

As she leans down to kiss him, there’s a small flicker of a thought at the back of his mind that there was something he was supposed to be doing. Something he was doing just before River arrived and-

A little while later, she levers herself off his lap as gracefully as she can before turning to look for her knickers. He watches unashamedly as she bends down to retrieve them, arse in the air and wearing nothing but those heels. She frowns down at them before shrugging, kicking her heels off and slipping her underwear back on. Turning back towards him she leans down and nabs his shirt, slipping it on before he can protest and carelessly doing up less than half the buttons.

She looks so utterly delectable, all beautifully dishevelled and ravished that he reaches for her again but she dances out of his reach.

“River!” he complains, as she sashays away from him and towards the corridor, “Where are you going?”

“We need to toast your birthday!” she calls over her shoulder as she disappears around the corner.

“But, it’s not really-,” he sighs and stops as he realises he’s talking to an empty room. He shakes his head and pulls up his boxers and trousers before sitting back in the jumpseat and waiting for River to reappear. He still hasn’t really caught his breath back since River first appeared in the console room.

He must’ve closed his eyes very briefly because he nearly jumps out of his skin a few minutes later when River’s voice suddenly crackles in the air.

“Sweetie, do we have any of the 1976 Krug? I’m sure we do but I can only find the ’77 and it just isn’t as good.”

He looks around wildly but he’s still alone in the console room.

“River?” he exclaims, “What? How are you doing- Where-“

“I’m in the kitchen, sweetie,” she says in that infinitely patient tone that she seems to reserve for when she’s telling him something extremely obvious, “I’m speaking over the intercom.”

“But. The TARDIS doesn’t have an intercom?” he objects, still looking frantically around the room as if River might suddenly pop up from behind the furniture somewhere. Her silence in response to his comment tells him she is probably rolling her eyes at him.

He’s about to come up with something very cutting and witty when over the intercom he suddenly hears a gasp and a very Scottish ‘Oh my god!’

The Ponds! Oh gods indeed! He had totally forgotten them and their date! He leaps up, spinning around to look for his shirt and then remembers River had purloined it just minutes ago. He swears in Gallifreyan under his breath, running a hand desperately through his hair before dashing out the door.

He sprints down the corridor which is rather longer than he remembers it being, cursing the TARDIS under his breath as he does do. He careens to a halt just before the kitchen and vainly tries to slow his breathing as he attempts to nonchalantly stroll inside.

He stops in the doorway and swallows nervously. River is leaning back against the kitchen counter, still clad in only his shirt and her knickers. She’s clutching a bottle of champagne in one hand and a couple of glasses in the other and looking exceptionally amused.

There’s another doorway into the kitchen on the opposite side to him and standing there are both Ponds. Amy is looking mildly embarrassed but still faintly amused whereas Rory has a shocked and slightly horrified expression on his face.

“Ah, there you are, sweetie!” River calls out cheerfully, “Did you want a glass of fizz?”

“Doctor?” Amy simply puts her hands on her hips and cocks her head at him expectantly.

“Ponds!” he exclaims as he looks wild-eyed between them, “River just arrived and- she- Well, we were going to celebrate because-“

“I think we know how you two were ‘celebrating’,” Amy snorts, folding her arms in front of her, “You’re only wearing one outfit between the two of you!”

“Ah, no, no,” the Doctor shakes his head frantically, “I know what this looks like but actually I had to give River my shirt as she only had a coat and some underwear that, well, really wasn’t much of an outfit to begin with and after-“

“Not. Helping, Doctor,” Rory mutters from between gritted teeth as he scrubs a hand over his eyes as if trying to erase that particular mental picture.

The Doctor gulps and attempts to salute the other man. “Sorry, centurion.”

“I suppose I should have asked earlier but when are we, Doctor?” River asks, still looking far too entertained with the whole situation.

“We’ve only just done Berlin a few weeks ago,” he mumbles as her eyes widen.

“Oh! Early days then,” River nods in understanding, a grin still playing around her lips, “So, this is the first time you’ve caught us like this?” she asks Amy and Rory as they nod.

“Hang on!” the Doctor says in a panicked voice, her words suddenly sinking in, “What do you mean ‘first time’?”

River simply gives him that knowing smirk again. “Believe me, none of you want to know about those times in advance.”

He puts that rather worrying thought to the back of his mind, ignoring the way Rory blanches and Amy gives a small shudder. Pasting a smile on his face, he claps his hands. “Well, we’re all here now! We can have that double date!”

“Double date?” River raises an eyebrow as she looks at him.

Amy shakes her head. “Sorry Raggedy-Man. Seeing you two half-dressed has kind of ruined my appetite.”

The Doctor glares at her and pulls his braces up self-consciously over his bare-chest, ignoring River’s soft snort of laughter. “Oi. Rude, Amelia.

“Don’t you Amelia me!” she retorts and wags a finger at him, “I know exactly what you’ve been doing with my daughter!” she adds as the Doctor blushes bright red and avoids her gaze. She turns on her heel and heads towards the door, dragging Rory along with her. “We’ll see you in the morning,” she calls over her shoulder, “If you could try and keep it out of the communal areas that would be lovely!”

The Doctor splutters in protest and turns an even deeper shade of red. He turns to River who is still leaning against the countertop. “You,” he points his finger accusingly at her, “This is all your fault.”

“My fault?”

“Yes,” he nods emphatically, crossing his arms across his bare chest and trying to look foreboding as it was possible to look when only half dressed, “We had a nice evening planned. The four of us. A double date. And then, you arrived with-,” he gestures vaguely at her, “Well. With all-. Looking like that and now here we are.”

River ignores his attempts at glaring and simply laughs. She puts the champagne and glasses down on the side and slinks towards him, her hips swaying. She runs her hands up his chest and winds them around his neck.

“I’m sorry, my love,” she coos in a tone that suggests she isn’t really very sorry at all. She leans in closer and whispers in his ear. “Shall I make it up you?”

He swallows heavily, his arms having already uncrossed themselves and somehow found themselves settling on her hips. “Well,” he mumbles, “It is my birthday after all.”

Her answering laugh is muffled as he kisses her once more.

--

[anastasiaskarsgard]

BAD IDEA

No one asked for this but here it is. Smutty smut drunken NSFW 18+ filth for your reading pleasure.

If you had any sense, you’d have stopped drinking hours ago and be in bed by now... but where’s the fun in that?

Your head felt somewhat heavy but light at the same time. It was more of a foggy feeling really. Honestly, you couldn't exactly pinpoint how you were feeling. All you knew was that it was the moment before passing out. The feeling of the alcohol being a little bit too much but not quite enough to push you over. Though you couldn't even recall why you were at the bar right now. In fact, now that you were thinking about it, you were alone with no idea where your friends had gone.

You turned slightly on your bar stool and leaned against the bar. The martini you were holding spilled over a bit as you moved, but you barely noticed or cared. I mean the glass was a terrible design. Far too easy to spill. You sipped at the remains of it absentmindedly as you surveyed the room. Where had your friends gone? Why did they do this to you? Invite you out and then ditch you. You needed a new friend.

Then you saw him. The most delicious man that you had ever laid eyes on was sitting farther down the bar. He was long-limbed with silky chestnut hair. Long legs, angular sharp features and my God those lips. He looked very broody too. Just your type, and he was all alone too.

You got up and walked over confidently, flashing your winning smile that often brought men to their knees, and struck a pose. He didn’t even seem to notice, as he looked back down at his glass disinterestedly.

He didn't say anything, and you wondered if he was already trashed. You poked him to see if he was even aware of his surroundings. He coldly glared at you.

Wow he was even better looking head on. You smirked at him mischevioisly. Aaannnnddd nothing. Wow!

“You responded! I was wondering if you were plastered already. Wait... you did just respond right?” You asked giggling.

“You realize that you're drunk?” he asked.

“False statement!” you sang in a sing song voice. “I'm very tipsy, and if I have one more I'll be drunk, but I'm definitely not there yet.” You tried to take a sip of your drink, but realized it was no longer in your hand. Confused, you looked around, trying to find it.

He was clearly skeptical, or at least, you thought so. The changes in his facial expressions were so minute that it was hard to tell. His eyes were green and very pretty though. Almost like emeralds or that crazy green algae in aquariums.

“For the sake of peace, how you take a shot with me, and then we'll both agree that I'm drunk!” You winked at him.

He didn’t react, just looked away again, ignoring you. It was a shame he was so good looking and such a poop. Seemed like a waste. You didn’t care that you were staring at the side of his head. It was pretty amazing how good he was at blocking you out though.

“What kind of drunk are you?” you suddenly asked.

“Excuse me?!” he demanded, snapping his attention back to you.

“How're you drunk? You look like a moody drunk to me.” You nodded slightly, agreeing with yourself like you’d just given some sage advice.

“I don't get drunk."

“Nu-uh!” you disagreed. “That's a lie and green eyes don't lie, and you have such lovely green eyes. Green eyes only get jealous!”

“You must be a stupid drunk,” he muttered to himself.

“No! Stop lying green eyes! You're not supposed to lie. I'm a horny drunk, and I'm not horny enough to be drunk yet,” you shared.

“Why are you bothering me?” He seethed.

“Because you're gorgeous. Also I lost my friends, and I want you to get drunk with me. I’ve had the worst week in my life and I never go out or get drunk. I’m the most responsible bitch you’ve ever met!” You said waving your arms dramatically. You leaned in and spoke breathily in his ear “but not today, today I’m all about terrible decisions, and I’ve never seen a better bad idea than you.”

He rolled his eyes and sighed, “if I buy you a drink, will that make you go away?”

“Maybe,” you confirmed. “But you need to get another one too and drink with me!” You turned to the bartender and got his attention.

“Another martini for me and a... whatever he had before for green eyes here! Plus we need two shots of something that tastes nice. He's paying,” you told the bartender.

In your tipsy state, you didn't notice the way the bartender looked to the man next to you for confirmation, Nor did you notice the way your green eyed man nodded at the bartender. You were too focused on admiring his face.

When the bartender returned, you both took your shots, then you made sure that your green eyed man was drinking his drink before downing your own.

“Now I'm drunk!” you declared happily.

“Good. Now go away.”

You pouted. “But I don't know where to go, or even how to get there. And you’re my bad idea. Are you drunk yet?”

“Ugh.” He was obviously very sick of you. “I'd have to be in order to deal with you." He signaled the bartender who promptly brought him another drink.

“Where's my drink? How come you get another one!” You whined.

“I'm not buying you anymore. Go away.” He glared at you. He was not very nice at all and normally you’d never let someone speak to you this way, but you were drunk and he was pretty.

“You're mean! Ummmmm...”It occurred to you that you didn't know his name. “What's your name again?”

He looked at you with disbelief. “You don't know who I am?”

“Noooooooo.” You were confused. “Do I know you? Because if You know me then you know I’m not being myself and you should be way more confused like me. I don’t remember everyone I meet tho. Don't take it personally. Oh God, we've met before. . . Did you maybe get a haircut? what's your name again?”

He laughed, but it didn't seem very happy, more like a calculating laugh. It gave you the shivers. You wanted him to make you shiver in other ways.

You got distracted by his eyes again. As he drank, you watched him, entranced. He wasn’t as good at ignoring you though, he checked you out, and then looked up to see you staring and glared at you again.

You stood up abruptly, and grabbed the sides of his face, kissing him. You bit his lip, dominating, but then he began to kiss back. Soon you were fighting him for control. His hand was in your hair, pulling it to get your head at a better angle for him. You pulled away and thrilled at the fact he had been so responsive.

You bit your lip and whispered in his ear, “I don't live too far from here.”

“Where?” His voice was slightly husky.

You rattled off your address for him, and suddenly, he had your arm and you were both leaving. This was kinda surprising. He went from stone cold to let’s go in record time. Walking was proving to be a bit difficult in the gravel wearing heels so he picked you up like you didn’t weigh anything in a bridal hold. He smelled nice, so you snuggled up against him and let you carry you, grinning like an idiot. He lightly kissed your forehead and gently rubbed shapes in your skin where he held you. It was very soothing and almost sweet.

Suddenly, he set you down and you found yourself looking at your door. You didn't know how he had gotten you to your apartment. He'd distracted you the entire way with his kissing and touching. You fumbled for your keys and had a very hard time getting your door open. He made it harder by kissing your neck the entire time. This was the best idea you’d ever had.

As soon as your door popped open, he picked you up, wrapping your legs around his waist and walked inside. As soon as the door was closed, your back was against it and he was kissing you again. By now you'd lost the battle, and he was in complete control, and you were loving it. He was so dominant, and losing yourself in someone was just what you needed.

You began to unbutton his shirt, wanting to know what his chest felt like, wanting to feel his skin. He broke away for air, and you took the opportunity to unhook your legs from around his waist so you could unbutton the last few buttons. You removed his shirt and threw it somewhere. At this point, you were standing so you kissed your way down his chest and to his belt. Unhooking his belt and quickly pulling it off, you took the opportunity to make a mad dash for your room He caught you before you made it, and you dropped his belt as he picked you up. You squealed with excitement as He carried you into your room and dropped you on your bed. Then he was on top of you, kissing your neck as his hands made their way up your shirt. One unhooked your bra as the other pushed the cups up and away from your breasts. His thumb moved over your nipple lightly causing you to gasp slightly. He cupped your breast with his hand and brushed the nipple, harsher this time causing you to moan. Then his hands were both tugging your shirt off.You were quickly topless and his eyes were on your chest before he dipped his head down and his mouth was around a nipple. He licked and bit it lightly. But you forgot about his mouth completely as one of his hands found its way under your skirt and cupped you from over your underwear. You arched into his hand as it pressed against you and moaned lightly. He pushed your underwear aside and two fingers slid into you. You began to moan and buck your hips into his hand as his fingers pushed in and then pulled out slightly. He pumped his fingers in and out a few times before smirking at you. “What a good girl. You're so wet for me.”

You whimpered as he got off of you and the cold air made you shiver. He yanked your skirt and underwear off before undoing his pants. You watched fascinated as he pulled his pants and boxers down. He was gorgeous everywhere. His skin was flawless, and he was nicely toned with broad shoulders and a prominent V line. Speaking of that area, he was very nicely sized, downright impressive. He could walk around naked and not have a single insecurity you decided.

You didn't have much time to admire his body, as soon as his pants were off he was on top of you and between your legs again. He pushed into you quickly not giving you very much time to adjust before he was pounding into you. His thrusts were hard and fast leaving you convulsing and moaning beneath him with screams and moans leaving your lips with reckless abandon. You didn’t care if you looked crazy or pissed off the neighbors.

Soon his rough pace had you seeing all white and reaching your climax. You shook and convulsed beneath him, clenching around his member but he fucked through it. He kept going and soon you were starting to build up again. You were almost seeing stars again when his pace sped up and he crushed his lips into yours, kissing you possessively as you both climaxed. He stayed inside you, giving you sweet kisses and rubbing his nose against your cheek. It was a stark contrast from the way he just fucked you.

You started to rock your hips again, and then quickly flipped him over so you were straddling him, smiling triumphantly.

He was apparently not amused by this and you found yourself face down in your mattress. His hands pulled your hips up and he roughly entered you from behind. His pace was fast and hard again but you were enjoying it. His hands were holding your hips in place tightly and you held your upper body up with your arms. At some point he reached forward and hooked your mouth with two fingers pulling your face so he could see you, growling the most dirty delectable things at you. That sent you over the edge and you were completely undone. Never in your life, had you cum like that. He came soon afterward and you both collapsed onto your bed. He pulled you over and kissed you on your head affectionately.

It was crazy how he could go from ice cold asshole, to passionate savage lover, to soft sweet cuddler in the blink of an eye.

Staying awake seemed impossible, and in your hazy state, you didn’t care that you’d just had unprotected sex with a total stranger, or what ever happened to your friends, or what your neighbors may think of your loud shameless fucking; there was still something you wanted to know. “Green eyes? What’s your name?”

He tensed up a bit and hesitated. You could practically feel him thinking before nuzzling into your hair and whispering in your ear....

“My name is Roman Godfrey.”

[buchvnann-blog]

Princess Of The Sea - i

Summary: After a mission went wrong, Bucky has fallen from an aircraft straight into the sea, he was sure that right there it was his end, but it didn’t happen. How?

Warnings: Bucky falling from an aircraft, drowning.

A/N: I have no slight idea of where this came from on my mind, but I decided to wrote it down for once.

“Y/N? You okay, daughter?”

    My dad’s voice startles me as I get out of trance. I was too deep in thoughts to realize what was happening around me. I was in a fair near the shore with my dad. He was a distributor of marine animals, which was what Amnesty Bay lived for. Most of the international money that got in here was because of it. And my dad was very famous for his work in the small city. Everyone knew his name. Which happened to everyone know mine too.

“Uhm- Y-Yeah... I’m fine, papa, I just zoned out for a bit”

“Did you got into another argument with your mom?”

“You know us too well”

    As I could get along just fine with my dad, it meant I’d have constants fights with my mom. Today, she argued about how reckless I was, how I should start to be more responsible, and that I’d soon have to deal with their business. Everything just felt so heavy on my shoulder, I was in my early 20s, I only wanted to live a little. But she didn’t think so.

“I’ll talk to her”

“It’s okay, pa, it’s just... I don’t feel like I’ve lived enough to run your business yet and-”

“Our, our business, daughter” He corrects me.

“Yeah... I just, I don’t know...”

“It’s okay, I see it, you have a lot of things to experience first, for example, we have yet to meet your boyfriend”

“You know I don’t have one...”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I wasn’t looking for one?” My dad chuckles with my answer.

“Go to the sea, kid, you know it’ll help” I hesitated as I didn’t want to leave him alone “Girl, I can handle this, now go”

    I smile. I give him a quick kiss on the cheek before running away to a isolated part of the shore. It wasn’t a sunny day, the sky was cloudy but no rain, day like these felt just right. I took off my clothes, staying only with my bra and underwear. I ran into the water and just jumped on it. The feeling of refreshment was immediate. I love the water, I think I got it from my dad. I swim until I reach a rock to sit. I push my hair behind and take a deep breath. Everything felt in peace for a moment.

    Not long enough. I had laid down in the rock, my head resting on my arms, when I heard it. It was a loud ‘boom’. It sounded like it came from the sky. I looked up, and even though I couldn’t see much because of the clouds, I saw something falling not too far from where I was. It was a man. And with the speed he was falling he could hit is head in one of the near coral reefs. I jumped in the water once again, this time swimming to where it was most likely he’d hit the sea. 

    When he hit the water I swam deeper so I could reach him. I wasn’t fast enough. He hit his head in one of the coral reefs. When I managed to get closer I saw a cut on his forehead. His long dark locks kept getting in the way of his face. I put one of his arms around my shoulder and started swimming back up. I noticed his other arm was made of metal, and I wondered if it would rotten in contact with the salty water of the sea. I took a deep breath when I reach the surface. He was unconscious. I swam us back to the rock I previously was and managed to put his body on top of it.

    I placed my ear on his chest and panicked when I didn’t get his beating heart. What was I supposed to do? I brush some hair out of his face and take a closer look to his injury, it was pretty bad.

“God, my mom will kill me if she finds out” I mumble to myself.

    I get my face closer to his forehead. Soon enough, a tear is running down my cheek. It drops on his forehead, right in his cut. I watch closely as the wound was slowly healing, luckly he’d wake up soon. I could tell that he still had water in his lungs so I started making CPR. I did a few compressions before he started reacting. He moved aside and coughed some water. He was still weak.

“Hey... It’s okay, soldier... You okay...” I say taking his hair out of his face once again.

    He looked at me dazily. His soft blue eyes were dilated. He looked frightned. His breath was fast and almost seemed like he was having a panic attack. I soothed him until he settle down in a normal breathing pace. He moved his mouth once or twice, trying to say something more likely. I assured him he was okay and safe. My hand kept a steady caress on his scalp. His plump lips were trembling.

    I looked up to the sky, wondering from what he had fallen. And I soon see an Avengers quinjet approaching. 

“Your friends are here... You’re safe now, okay?” I tell him, he had a sleepy look on his face. He was fighting to keep his eyes open.

    I saw a small bird-alike android approaching. I knew that if it recognized me I would get in trouble. I jumped off of the rock and hid myself lower and near the algae. I still observed as the android found his body. I saw the quinjet approaching and a man yelling his name that I couldn’t quite get. By his uniform I could tell that he was Captain America. He kneeled down close to his friends body and seemed relieved when checked his pulse. Another man showed up and helped put him back on the quinjet. Even when they drift off, I stayed still a few more minutes, just to make sure there wasn’t no danger. It wasn’t like my lungs were aching for air anyway. I swam back to surface and looked up. Catching a final look to the flying aircraft before it camouflaged itself with the dark clouds.

    Now that was a story I couldn’t tell my mom.

    Maybe my dad.

    I got back to the shore. And dressed up. My clothes getting wet and clinging to my body. I push some hair out of my face and behind my ear while still looking up to the sky. Weirdly wanting something to happen. But nothing ever did. I started walking back to find my dad, hugging myself as the wind hit my wet body making me a little cold.

    When I found him. He quickly put a towel around my shoulders, rubbing my arms and smiling tightly at me. He loved to know how connected to the sea I was. Somehow it made him proud.

“How was the sea today?” 

    There were a few people around us. So I knew that if I wanted to tell him the truth I’d have to wait. It had to be somewhere private. And luckly somewhere my mom wouldn’t heard of it. So I decided to give him a vague answer.

“A little agitated”