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inairbinad · 2 years ago

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Lover's Lick

Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson, 2.4k words, also on ao3

Just a silly little first kiss idea that fell into my head because I accidentally typed Lover’s Lick instead of Lover’s Lake.

It was a blistering day in Hawkins. As a twisted way to enjoy it, the whole party decided to spend the day at Lover's Lake to continue celebrating what they’d dubbed “Dead Vecna Summer.”

Eddie wasn’t sure he was enjoying himself, yet, but Robin was determined to make sure everyone did.

“It’s called exposure therapy,” Robin explained as she lazily dragged her toes through the water from her seat on the dock. “If we all come here and have a good time, the positive association will start to make the bad shit less scary.”

“That doesn’t sound like a thing,” Mike countered, and Nancy leaned down and flicked a handful of water at him. She and Robin were near inseparable now, physically sitting shoulder to shoulder as they soaked up the sun, but also to the point where Nancy steadfastly defended everything Robin said.

“It’s a thing, Wheeler,” Eddie drawled from his own beach towel. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was a thing or not, but Robin tended to know her shit, so he was going along with her plan for now. Eddie had no interest in actually getting in the water, but the shady little patch of grass he’d managed to lounge in was pleasant enough. “I just don’t know if it’s working.”

Admittedly, the whole experience was made more pleasant by the fact that no one else but their little group was around, staring them down or making accusations with their eyes. No one really wanted to spend much time at Lover's Lakep anymore, considering it had so recently been a crime scene. The quarry and the copious other lakes around Hawkins seemed delightful by comparison; but maybe that was just because no one else had Robin.

So far, only Dustin, El, and Will had been brave enough to venture into the water. They were off the shore a ways, splashing each other and giggling ferociously. The glee on their faces was helping to tamp down the lingering sense of dread that Eddie couldn’t quite shake, despite his best efforts.

Steve was also eyeing them warily, either watching like a hawk to make sure nothing weird went tickling at their ankles, or because he was fighting himself on whether he wanted to venture in after them.

Eddie suspected it was a little bit of both.

“Fuck it,” Steve muttered to himself, before stripping his shirt off and wading into the lake. Eddie watched him go from behind the safety of his sunglasses, doing his best not to let his jaw go slack in the presence of a half dressed, sun kissed, and about to be wet Steve Harrington.

Once Eddie finally tore his eyes away, he noticed Robin also looking after Steve—but her expression was a worried one.

“Maybe we should play a game,” Eddie suggested with a slow grin. “For positivity, and whatnot.”

“Oooh, how about truth or dare?” Max recommended in a heartbeat, like she’d been waiting for an opportunity to present itself for her to suggest it. It instantly made Eddie wary of her intentions, but he shrugged and went along. If it made Max happy to wrangle some embarrassment out of her friends, she deserved as much. Plus, truth or dare never scared Eddie much, since he could always come up with something freakier to challenge people with than anyone ever dared him to do. And truths weren’t tricky at all, because he had a knack for making bullshit sound like the truth on the spot.

They didn’t come around on his turn for a while, yet, so he let his gaze drift back across the strikingly serene water until it landed back on Steve. He started off indulging the kids in letting them dunk his head under water, but now he seemed to have found some semblance of peace, floating on his back with his eyes on the sky.

“Earth to Munson,” Lucas called out, cupping his hands around his mouth and deepening his voice for the intended bullhorn effect. “It’s your turn, so you can stop ogling Steve, now.”

“I don’t ogle, Sinclair,” Eddie said, pulling his best unaffected act. All the same, he dragged his eyes back to his immediate surroundings. “That’s much more your speed.”

Lucas nervously glanced at Max, knowing exactly what Eddie was implying. Max seemed to know as well, because she came to Lucas’s defense in a snap. Eddie would’ve thought it was sweet, if he hadn’t just aimed the Max Cannon of Shit-Talking squarely in his direction.

“You’re the one who looks like you want to lick Steve’s face half the time,” she said with a knowing smirk. Everyone else burst into laughter, and Eddie had no choice but to eat the shame of being completely obvious, to the point where even all the gremlins knew he had an enormous crush on Steve.

“Only half the time?” Jonathan asked, and Argyle snorted. When even the two of them were helping to gang up on Eddie, he lost any hope of someone backing him up instead of roasting him further. He sighed in resignation.

Not long after all the Upside Down drama had concluded, Eddie and Robin had both teamed up and decided to come out to the whole group together. It was partly because Robin was sick of having to deny the allegations that she was in love with Steve, and partly because they both agreed it would let the group adjust so that there would be as little friction as possible when Will decided to follow suit. It turned out none of them really needed the extra education in love and acceptance and all that, though. The kids barely blinked an eye, and instead just shifted the allegations about being in love with Steve off of Robin and right onto Eddie.

“Oh my god,” Lucas squealed, completely overcome with excitement for some reason. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Eddie as he said, “That’s your dare!”

“I didn’t even pick—” Eddie tried, but everyone was already turning to look at him with matching evil smiles.

“Lick his face,” Max sat back, folding her arms against her chest in satisfaction.

“That’s not my dare,” Eddie muttered, already knowing his fate was sealed. He had to lick Steve’s face, or suffer some unknowable torture for time eternal for being a chickenshit.

“Lick his face,” everyone chorused, mercifully at a whisper so Steve wouldn’t hear. That didn’t make it any less mortifying.

“I swear to Christ—” Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, doing his best to ignore them. He thought maybe he could withstand the torture option, instead.

“Lick his face,” they all repeated, chanting like they only worshiped at the alter of humiliating Eddie in the most creative ways possible.

“You’re a bunch of heathens,” Eddie whined.

“Lick his face!” They repeated, insistent and already getting louder.

Eddie stared at Max in a silent plea, knowing she was the one who could most easily get everyone to lay off of him. This was her rodeo, and they both knew it. Max only stared back at him, unwavering. Eddie wondered if this was why she wanted to play truth or dare in the first place.

“Fucking,” Eddie grumbled, pulling himself up off his towel and whipping his own shirt and sunglasses off. Then he stood there, clad in nothing but his Garfield swim trunks, and took a deep breath to steady himself. He’d done worse than this, surely. It would be mortifying, but he’d get over it. Steve had a good enough sense of humor that Eddie didn’t think he’d be pissed, at least. “Fine.”

Then he stomped off into the lake and started swimming out to Steve to a round of raucous cheers at his back.

The calamitous thing he was about to go do was enough to distract Eddie from the fact that he was swimming in this lake for the first time since the spring, and he wasn’t being dragged down to its depths, or watching something mind-bendingly terrifying, or being chased for his life as he did. An entirely different kind of doom was spelled out for him, sure, but at least Eddie was swimming towards someone as his fate unfurled before him.

Steve really did look beautiful, sprawled out on his back, droplets of water glistening on his skin in the sun. Eddie intentionally caused a lot of fuss as he swam, making waves and noise as he went, so as not to startle Steve out of his peaceful reverie too severely.

Steve was already treading water, swimming upright again, by the time Eddie reached him.

“Hey,” he said, soft and trusting even though he probably shouldn’t have been.

“Hey,” Eddie echoed him, feeling the weight of fourteen sadistic eyes on his back. Once more, he was incredibly glad that no one else but their little group of friends was around to witness this. Eddie laughed, a desperate and delirious little sound that perfectly encapsulated how little he believed he was about to give in to peer pressure like all the preppy conformists he always made fun of.

“I’m sorry in advance,” Eddie said, and Steve tilted his head in confusion.

“Huh—”

Eddie reached up and grabbed Steve’s chin, watching as the lake water pebbled across the planes of Steve’s face, and gently tipped it towards the side. Then he licked a stripe up Steve’s cheek, quick but thorough, just enough to savor the feel of Steve’s skin on his tongue for even a moment.

Just as quickly as it’d begun, it was over, and Eddie turned around to face his jury, still idly judging from the dock. They broke out into another round of cheers and applause, so Eddie couldn’t help but thrust his arms up in triumph and give them a little show.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, then, and had to kick his feet quicker so he didn’t start sinking at the sensation of being spun around. Eddie braced himself, for a split second thinking he was gonna get punched.

The next thing he felt was, in fact, a hand on his face, but it was as gentle of a touch as he could ever remember feeling. Eddie peeked one eye open, only to find Steve looking back at him, a small smile playing at his lips. Steve rubbed his thumb across Eddie’s cheek bone, then very deliberately dropped his eyes to Eddie’s lips.

“What are you doing, Stevie?” Eddie asked, wondering if he was dreaming all of a sudden.

“What was Robin rambling about earlier?” Steve murmured, the low rumble of humor in his chest. “Positive associations?”

Eddie just nodded dumbly at him, entirely unsure if that was what Robin had said at all.

“Well, here’s mine,” Steve said simply, then leaned in and kissed him.

Even though the world had seemingly thudded to a stop, Eddie felt the way Steve’s lips moved against his own, firm and soft all at once, leaving him all tingly in an instant. Eddie didn’t know how, or why, but Steve was kissing him like he meant it—like he’d been ruminating on his desire to slot his lips between Eddie’s it for as long Eddie had been fantasizing about the same.

The realization was a heady one, and Eddie heard a surprised little whimper escape his throat. Steve hummed happily in response, then slid the hand on Eddie’s cheek into his hair, getting a better grip so he could maneuver the angle of Eddie’s face to his liking.

Eddie thought he’d let Steve position him however the fuck he wanted as long as he kept kissing him. He grabbed on to Steve’s shoulders on instinct, dragging him in closer, with the water allowing Steve to flow into Eddie's arms with ease until their chests were pressed together. Steve gently nipped at Eddie’s bottom lip with his teeth, and Eddie rode that wave to bold new heights, daring to drag his tongue along the curve of Steve’s, perfect, delectable mouth. Steve's grip on Eddie's hair tightened, then he opened up and rolled his tongue against Eddie's own.

Eddie thought Lover’s Lake might actually be the best place on Earth.

It occurred to Eddie that he might sink and drown and die in that moment, since he completely forgot how to tread water when the only thing he could focus on was Steve’s mouth on his own, Steve’s hand in his hair, Steve kissing him so thoroughly that it was worth it if this was where he died after all. But Steve secured an arm around Eddie’s waist, holding them both aloft in the water, letting the sunshine dance across their shoulders and set their kisses surging with even more heat than their hold on each other could generate on its own.

When they finally pulled apart, Eddie heard the distant roar of hooting and hollering coming at them from the dock and their friends nearby in the water, but he couldn’t do anything but stare at Steve, dumbstruck and with the taste of Steve's cherry lip balm still on his tongue.

“Was that okay?” Steve asked, looking worried now.

Eddie thought the best way to chase that concern right off Steve’s pretty face was to kiss him again, and again, and again.

“Oh my god, get a room,” Dustin hollered at them after a moment, and Eddie relished the feel of Steve’s smile against his own. Eddie pulled back just enough to tilt his head in silent communication, doing his best not to get too distracted by how Steve’s lips were still swollen thanks to him.

“Definitely,” Steve nodded in agreement, and two of them took off after Dustin in perfect sync. By the time Dustin realized what he was in for, it was too late. He paddled away like a mad man, screeching and giggling all the way, but Steve was too fast. He gained on Dustin quickly, getting his arms around him just as Eddie caught up.

Together, they each smacked a sloppy kiss to one of Dustin’s cheeks, then dunked him underwater together. Dustin did his best to look affronted when he resurfaced, but his grin was unmistakable.

“It’s about time,” he muttered, then splashed Steve and Eddie both and quickly paddled away again. El and Will joined in the chase this time, and Eddie heard several splashes from the dock behind him as reinforcements came to unite in a game of ganging up on Henderson.

None of them ever really panicked about taking a dip in Lover's Lake after that.

#steddie #dani's drafts #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie fic #stranger things #fanfic

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quietquaking · 1 year ago

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I just wanted to write a cute little 2K fic. Something to do for the night, right? But to do so required knowing a little bit about the specifics of Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters.

So I tried to figure it out. But the more I did, the more I realized it just didn't make sense. And suddenly there I was, redesigning the entirety of his school and the world with it. Now, almost six hours after I was planning on starting my (short! low-effort! one night!) fic... the map is done.

Worldwide Stats

- mutant-x gene appears in approx. 0.4% of the population, but is only activated in maybe a tenth of those (statistics are skewed by varying radiation levels around the world, as well as some hiding their mutations in countries less open to it)

- so about 27 million mutants worldwide, about 120K from the US

- options are to hide it, be killed for it, jump straight into specialized military or government care from a young age (normal age restrictions on military service apply in the US and other countries), hide somewhere isolated, or stay in a place specifically for mutants (Xavier’s school, Genosha, and global equivalents)

- in the future schools will start to adopt special policies for mutant kids, and they can continue living at home, eventually move on and live in normal society (this is mostly for kids with tame or harmless mutations-mutant schools and havens will continue to stay open, particularly for those with more volatile powers)(some can also go to specialized schools, learn to control their powers while getting an education, then rejoin the world with more control)

- currently, about 5K go to Xavier’s and ~16 million live on Genosha

- people immigrate from everywhere to live on Genosha, it’s the largest haven in the world (most range from towns or cities of 100-1 million)- technically Genosha is a small country, without the rights of one, living under the US government

- Genosha isn’t really a cityscape, it’s more stacked up neighborhoods (made of abandoned industrial material, mostly) and sprawled out farmland - people help each other, some areas elect local governors and some go to Erik for larger conflicts, but mostly it’s just peaceful and self-governing. lots of orphanages and group homes and adoptive families, bc human families keep trying to get rid of mutant kids

Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters

- originally it could only hold about 300 people, but it was destroyed during Apocalypse and rebuilt, now holds approx 5K (including 1K of staff) - about 1/2-2/3 stay on site

- floor plan has east, west, south, library, and nursery sections, entry fountain is south, flower garden is south, vegetable/herb gardens are northwest, hedge maze is northeast

- buildings sit in the southeast quadrant of the property

- basement (spanning south and west wings, and stretching farther west underground) holds Cerebro, jet hangar, x-men facilities, hank’s lab (with enough room for other scientists as well), and spaces for training particularly volatile mutations (similar to alex’s bunker in First Class)

- first floor (spanning west, south, and east wings) is large rooms that serve as classrooms (10-30 people), commercial kitchen w hired staff, communal dining space (basically a fancy cafeteria), entrance hall, and headmaster’s office

- second floor (spanning west, south, and east wings) is dormitories (400ish rooms) - for kids staying the week and leaving weekends or kids staying for the year and leaving summer - 6 kids per room (2 triple bunk beds), communal bathrooms, and game room (foosball, pool, ping pong, etc)

- third floor (spanning west, south, and east wings) is residential bedrooms, anyone who stays year-round or lives permanently (x-men and some of the staff)- kids staying summers but leaving after graduation share rooms, but only 2-3 people. couples can also choose to share. a few rooms up here are kept empty for last-minute changes of any kind, as well as a residential kitchen (midnight snacks and whatnot). bathrooms are in each room, but some rooms do share

- attic (south and east wings) is loads and loads of storage

- separate section for the library, 2 stories (kids can also have personal bookshelves in their rooms)

- kids under 6 stay in the nursery, kids 6-14 have someone older in their rooms to mitigate conflict, injury, etc

- everything is connected by two large sets of stair and two elevators, plus stairs in the library and down to the basement

- shed for sports supplies somewhere

- 3 basketball courts, two tracks, and a baseball diamond, plus lots of trees and free space w picnic tables (sometimes outside space gets used for training or classes as well)

- hedge maze and vegetable garden in the back, flower garden in the front

- students can also volunteer in either garden and cook in either kitchen

- the school is private, so it costs to get in, but alternate plans can be made for those that can’t afford it

- everyone is given an allowance to buy their own clothes and toiletries and have a bit of fun, school supplies and food are provided

- trips are taken twice a year in groups to get basic necessities

- there’s a bus stop about half a mile down the road, kids 14 and up are encouraged to walk there and catch the bus to anywhere in town on their days off (students younger than that must find staff supervision)

- students can be finishing up a HS diploma (credits are transferable), or starting from scratch, or just learning to manage their powers

- afterwards students can leave to attempt to rejoin society, go live on Genosha, go hide in the wilderness, join the x-men, or work as a staff member (living onsite or not)

[image id: a pencil sketch of rough squares and rectangles, labelled as all the buildings mentioned above]

#the only reason i'm posting this is so I can link it to the fic when it's done #so people that want some context can have it #x-men #x men movies #xavier's school for gifted youngsters

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martialartslover7 · 2 months ago

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You know, I feel like, this entire fact rests purely on the point that, the series NEVER dared to resolve the entire Uchiha conflict, and I don't mean the battle with Madara and Obito, I mean, literally, publically acknowledging the Uchiha clan, how it came to their massacre, pardoning them with memorial statues and whatnot, etc. Because, otherwise, I can understand why Sasuke wouldn't ever regurlarly show his face around Sakura and the others, because he might be feeling betrayed by his own team. Neither Kakashi, nor Naruto, ever made an effort to dig up facts about the Uchiha massacre, challenging the elders and feudal lords, who are all bearing responsibility for the massacre even taking place, enabling Danzo and the Konoha elders, period. Because of this, I cannot exactly blame Sasuke for not returning often, since this village betrayed him first, and yet, for decades on end, he has to live in shame of his own heritage, despite the fact that most of them DIDN'T EVEN AWAKEN THE SHARINGAN, MAKING THEM INNOCENT CIVILIAN CASUALTIES, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

It hurts way more with Sakura, because, it's like, even with Sarada being born, this isn't peace. This is yet another facade to undermine Sasuke's suffering, and I frankly find this disgusting. And don't get me wrong, Team 7 bears no blame here. I am not putting the blame on the characters here, by the way, I am having all my eyes focused on the writers, who just did a major cop-out here, and just made everything so fancy and pretentious, just to hide the fact: They stopped giving a damn with the Boruto continuity, they weren't even trying to make it consistent with the previous lore and characters.

For a more detailed rant, feel free to check this small post of mine, where I go over the most important reasons as to why I think, Kishimoto and Ikemoto completely disrespected Sasuke's entire character and arc:

Seriously. FUCK. THE. BORUTO CONTINUITY.

I can only repeat it.

FUCK. OFF. BORUTO.

Louder.

FUCK. RIGHT. OFF.

Peace.

Sakura doesn’t deserve neither one of them as friends.

I’m crying because Sakura is the only one being dejected by her own husband

Meanwhile this is most of THEIR daily lives.

And you know what the IRONY is?

Sakura probably STILL looks down on THEM because “they don’t have Sasuke”.

She probably STILL thinks Sai is a Sasuke look alike and that Ino settled for him.

She probably STILL thinks Naruto is an annoying loudmouth fool that somehow got Hinata to fall for him.

It’s sad that Sakura thinks she’s got the prize even though Sasuke doesn’t even want to hold her hand without Sarada in the middle.

I mean look at this:

Can Sakura even do this without Sasuke running away from her?

Does Sasuke EVER touch HER?

#sasusaku #pro sasuke uchiha #pro sasusaku #team 7 #fuck off boruto #anti naruto ending #anti boruto #naruto series #naruto #pro sakura haruno #pro sakura uchiha #naruto fandom #rant post #vent post

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connectingchaos · 1 year ago

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🥉HARD SLAP

Our relationship may be unconventional but we BOTH stayed amidst it ALL.

She FEELS for me that much, hence she STAYED.

If its NOT LOVE, I don't know what it is. But if it's really NOT LOVE yet, what more if it already is?

There's really no pressure here.

I don't pretend. There's no illusion.

Force her? Regardless of what I want, ask or do, if she really doesn't want me, love me, or like me even, You know for a fact that she won't do any of these things, make an effort, or do whatever or anything for me.

She can only change if she wants to. And she can only change for herself alone. If her actions shows otherwise, I can never stop her.

I cannot control her. And I never wanted to. She can block me, remove me from her life and or just cut me off everything if she wants to. But she doesn't. She never did.

She CHOSE to STAY.

She CHOSE to make an EFFORT.

She DECIDED on her own.

You can laugh all you want, believe whatever you have thought of, throw blatant insults or whatnot but again, your truth may be different than mine and that's no longer my problem. I just do what is right, live in peace, loving her with pure intentions. As always been. You can keep on with your rants and exhaust yourself. IDC.

If she believes in me, and trusts in me, that's because I never lied to her on anything about EVERYTHING.

The HARD SLAP here is, I am the person she has feelings for and Its no longer with you. As for me, She wants to keep your FRIENDSHIP and I have to accept it too. If you cannot show respect, accept that its just friendship and be civil, that's a given. But i will no longer do anything about it, nor accept anything beyond what's right. All I know is our feelings are intact.

HARD FACT: I am NOT courting HER

TRUTH is --

She's the one who asked for this Chance.

Even before UK, she's the one who keeps asking me to give her a chance after another, who wants to give effort, who wants to continue everything that we have.

She asked ME for another chance since, as she said in her own words, she wants to have her chance to express her TRUE feelings for me. To do things right with me. To correct her wrongs. To show me what she truly feels. And she doesn't want to put everything we had to waste. So I gave her that in exchange for her honesty.

You're still wondering why I have 'so many chances'? Or wonder why she keeps 'following' what I say? That's your answer. FYI: I told her if she wants this chance, if she wants to be with me, she has to respect my boundaries; Respect Me.

And I am NOT 'bragging' here. I am just stating facts.

Facts that are based from what she tells me, her actions, and what she makes me feel every single day.

Yes, she's unstable. Complicated. Confusing even. And yes, she makes mistakes. But that doesn't stop me to appreciate and see what she's been trying to show me ever since.

She pushes me away. But doesn't want me to go. She pushes but holds on me tighter. She may not be great in telling her feelings, resistant to feel at times, and deny things at most, but

Her actions show her TRUTH.

I even asked her recently what turns her off, and she mentioned,

"Someone like her. Someone who LIES."

FACT: She got turned off with YOU when you LIED.

Now I am not invalidating what you had nor what you feel. You are entitled to that. I know truth hurts. I know how it feels to be cheated on, broken and lose the affection of that person. However if you really value her, keep the friendship at least, then STOP yapping about her choices, her feelings, and accept that its DONE.

We can all co-Exist if everyone values RESPECT and no one crosses the line.

Again --

The cause of her downfall and made her realize she's over YOU is the unacceptable DECEIT you've done.

Its your choice to HURT her. Its your fault why those feelings faded.

And here I am getting scraps for the loss of her sense of self for problems I didn't make. I am even compromising for her sake.

DON'T blame me for things I didn't do.

Accusing me for that lame blog? Fine. Accuse me all you want.

Its not mine hence, I'm NOT affected.

Again, if you want to focus on some random shit which could be about someone else really, then enjoy. I won't join your parade.

Go on. But that's on YOU. Enjoy living in that life of hatred.

TBH, I was never jealous of you. I don't compete with you. And I don't even hate you.

I just hate what YOU did that damaged M and lost her self.

It was never personal. Amongst it all, I just hated all the LIES.

I hate the fact that you deceived her when you know for the longest time how hard it is for her to TRUST again, to love again.

She trusted you.

You were her friend before anything else.

And YOU betrayed HER.

Don't you even realize that? I don't think you do.

You know how bad her mental state is, you know what she had gone through. Her traumas. Her past. You knew her fragility more than anyone else, yet YOU still deceived her.

She didn't deserve it, but YOU did anyway.

And all this time, you keep attacking her,

making her feel so small

when it was YOU who traumatized her tremendously.

And you're blaming her for what she feels and do now???

Its not her fault to feel lost.

Its not her fault to lose feelings.

She never wanted to lose herself.

And now she gets to be blamed for changing?

Where do you get the audacity to demand, really?

For you to get mad since she's prioritizing ME now?

Amazing.

I don't even understand where you get the audacity of telling M that I'm taking advantage of her weakness when all the while, you're the one who's deceived her for 11 long years.

Again, STOP projecting yourself on me.

I am NOT anything like YOU.

Tell me, who has taken advantage of M, really? I never did.

You LOST her because of YOU.

You lost her with all the 'ALIBIS' you've given her for the past years she's been yearning for you. YOU already lost her months long even before I came. She said it herself. YOU lost her with your own shit.

Its your fault.

Your actions, your karma.

And with all the things that happened, with what you did, along with ALL the choices she's made, You should know and accept your place by now.

She always say, "She feels she can do right with me. And with me, she can finally do what's right." So I'm holding on to that.

Hence, I am compromising the friendship chat, and to be CIVIL for her sake.

I can never win against your 11 years friendship. BUT I know I have her heart. So with that, I will never let anything or anyone get in the way.

I will never do anything to put it to waste. I will stand here to defend her, support her, love her in ways YOU'VE never done; and give her what she needs. I'm going to protect her, be with her -- no matter what.

And I only believe THIS--

If she wants to, she would. If she doesn't, she won't.

I NEVER BEGGED for her to keep me. Or make her feel GUILT for the things that she's done. At the end of the day, if she doesn't feel anything, she WON'T feel anything, nor do anything for me, regardless. Her EYES says it all. I don't "use" ANYTHING to gain affection nor compassion. Every night, she's more passionate than she used to, and I don't ask her to. Every day, she's more intimate with me even if she appears to be COLD.

Her actions, Her choices -- ALWAYS speaks a thousand words.

so, You be the judge.

As much as she feels for me, I will stand here. And I am NOT going anywhere.

#reality

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snipsnsnailsnwerewolftales · 4 years ago

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Trial and Error (Derek x Reader)

A/N: This has been something living in my brain for a while, and I decided to get it out, along with 5 prompts.

I do not own Teen Wolf or it’s characters. Sadly.

Thank you to @xteenwolfwritingsx and @mymonandsymon for looking this over for me!

Warnings: Some language. As close to smut as I write, (If you squint.) Mostly just fluff, though.

Word count: 1,646

Anon said: “"I'd kill you on the spot if you weren't so nice to look at. Because, full offence, your personality needs a lot of work."”

Anon said: “Can you do 93 & 99 w/ derek hale pls :) thank you!”

(93. “Forget it. You fucking suck.”

99. “Don’t be an asshole. Asshole.”)

Anon said: “Hello! I was wondering if you would be willing to do numbers 8 and 101 with Derek Hale from the the most recent list you have posted? If not it’s okay, thank you ❤️”

(8. “You didn’t just wake me up at 2am because you were ‘in the mood’.”

101. “You got a cute butt.”)

Xxx

You’d barely made it into the loft before you were pinned up against the far wall, Derek holding your hands up on either side of your head at the wrists, his grip much tighter than it should be, but not as much as it could be.

“I thought I told you to stay on your side of the city,” he hissed out, face inches from yours, eyes glowing red, and a low growl rumbling in his chest.

His eyebrows knit in confusion at your smirk, his body pressing against yours as you made a halfhearted effort to push you both off the wall.

Rolling your eyes, you let out a breathy chuckle, which only made him cock one eyebrow up in either amusement or disbelief, you weren’t sure.

“What the hell is so funny?” He asked, both his tone and his weight easing up a bit.

His mistake.

“Oh, nothing,” you mused, looking up and away from him for a few seconds before flipping you both around, holding him pinned against the wall in the same position, your own eyes glowing their bright red as he let out an annoyed snarl. “Just thinking about how things can change in an instant….”

The breath was knocked out of you as you once again were pinned to the wall, this time his weight almost fully against you to keep you still. “What do you want?” He ground out through clenched teeth.

You couldn’t help thinking that the two of you would have been great friends if it weren’t for both of you being Alpha’s. Pack rivalry and whatnot overriding much of any chance at getting any closer than you were now, which given your position physically, was actually pretty damn close.

Baby steps.

“I have an idea,” you began after letting out a huff. Resigned to being stuck against the wall, you relaxed a bit, deciding to try and placate the Big Bad Sourwolf instead of poking him with a metaphorical stick, no matter how fun the latter was. “It would save both of our packs a lot of hassle, and probably save some innocent lives, too, come to think of it-”

“No,” he said firmly, his hold relaxing just a bit.

You looked at him in shock. “You haven’t even heard-”

“I said no!” His voice just as firm as before, he pushed off the wall for emphasis, your body relaxing just slightly, and you rubbed your wrists, despite the fact they were already pretty much healed.

“I’m just trying to be a good leader, Derek, offering you peace and my help for both our sakes and our packs, but because of whatever vendetta you have for me, you’re not willing to listen. Well, you know what? Forget it. You fucking suck.”

Stalking toward the loft door, Derek grabbed your elbow firmly and lightly tugged you to face him, making you roll your eyes again. “What, Hale?”

“I know. Look, I’m sorry. I really don’t know what it is I don’t like about you, I just don’t.”

“Gee, thanks,” you mumbled, looking down at your feet as you fiddled them absently.

Grabbing your shoulders to make you stand still again, you straightened your back and looked him in the eye. It wasn’t the gesture that caught your attention, but the gentleness in it. A new side of Derek Hale had just showed itself, a side you always thought was there, but never got to see, except when he was interacting with his pack.

Very small baby steps.

“But,” he continued pointedly, “I’m willing to put that all aside to listen, for our packs and everyone involved.”

“You’ll really hear me out?” You hated how small your voice sounded.

“I’ll try my hardest.” He smiled a real, genuine smile, and you felt some of the ice crack between you two.

You returned the grin with a small one of your own, before finally saying, “Don’t be an asshole. Asshole.”

Derek laughed, and let go of your shoulders, walking back into the loft, and after a few seconds, you followed him. Looking over his shoulder, he smirked and said, “I’m just trying to be nice.”

You scoffed, then let out a chuckle. "I'd kill you on the spot if you weren't so nice to look at. Because, full offense, your personality needs a lot of work."

Sitting on the couch, he spread his arm out in gesture to the open spot beside him, his own smirk still firmly in place. “So I’ve been told.”

Xxx

Waking up to the wee hours of the morning and a silent loft, you looked around bleary eyed. Once you realized where you were, and who was with you, your eyes went wide.

Laying on the far end of the couch, his legs tangling with yours in the middle at some point while you were both asleep, was Derek, head propped up on the arm of the couch, mouth wide open as a snore escaped him.

You couldn’t contain the giggle from the completely uncharacteristic image of the big bad Hale Alpha, and turned into the couch cushion to smother the sound.

It was only a second later you looked back, but you still jumped as now Derek was looking at you with one eye barely cracked open, his mouth closed in a tight line, but his eyebrow raised in what you now understood was amusement.

Lightly swatting his leg with your own, he said a mock “ow”, but neither of you untangled your legs.

Propping your elbows on the arm of the couch behind you, you glared at him. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not polite to stare?”

You swatted at his legs again, and he did the same, both of you grinning lightly.

“Did the alarm go off or something?” He lazily looked to a box on the wall that must have been some sort of baddie alarm, his hand going to the back of his neck to scratch sleepily. Contented with what he saw, he looked back at you, stilling, hand still on his neck. “What?”

“Why do you assume I woke you on purpose? Why would I put myself in a position to endure even more of your company than I have already had today, which, by the way, is I think more than we have had at once ever?”

He grinned. “You didn’t just wake me up at 2am because you were ‘in the mood’.”

You shrugged, smirking right back at him. “You got a cute butt.”

“Why, thank you,” he said cheekily, his grin doing the same.

Batting his legs again lightly, you heard him mutter, “Okay, that’s it,” and you suddenly found yourself pulled toward him, until you were basically straddling him, your wrists once again tightly held in his hands.

“Stop doing that.” His voice was firm, but soft. His eyes searched your face, but for what, you didn’t know.

Digging your knees into his rib cage, just as some sort of retaliation, he groaned softly at the pressure. You leaned down close to his face and whispered, “Make me.”

Suddenly faster than you could blink, your positions had been flipped, him now straddling you, holding you down. “Okay.”

Trying to fight back, you quickly gave up, huffing, much like earlier in the day, looking up at him with a less than enthusiastic look.

Searching your face again with his eyes, he finally landed on your gaze with knit eyebrows.

Raising yours in question, he let go of your wrists, but you left them beside your head, and he sat back on his haunches, your legs still under him.

“I’m trying to figure out what it is about you that drives me so crazy.”

“I have that effect on lots of people,” you said smugly. “I’m awesome like that.”

“That! That’s it.” He pointed at you, and you sat up, elbows once again on the arm of the couch, eyebrows once again raised in confusion. “Yeah, you drive me crazy, but I’m starting to think it’s not because we hate each other or annoy each other-”

“Are you sure? Because you’re kinda driving me insane just a little bit right now-”

He leaned back over you on your perch on the armrest, face closer than it ever had been, and you found yourself staring at his lips. “Am I?”

If it hadn’t been the look in his eyes, the sound of his voice with those last two words did it. Your eyes drifted shut when he finally met you with a kiss, surprisingly soft and tentative given the tension between you two.

But that was just the first one.

Pulling back just enough to look at you one more time, something was exchanged between you without words and you both surged forward in a heated kiss.

Slowly laying back down all the way, your hands briefly in his hair to make sure this never stopped, pulling him with you, his hands grabbed your wrists putting them by your head like before, but this time trailing his fingers lightly from your elbows up to your hands, fingers tangling with yours as he held your hands.

Instead of restricting, his weight now felt warm, and inviting, and the more of it you felt, the more you wanted.

Turning your head to the side, you had a small grin on your face, but it soon turned into a soft gasp as you felt his lips ghosting ever so lightly over your skin, working from your collarbone, up your neck, and to your ear, where he bit the lobe gently.

When he released it after a second, you turned your head to look at him, lips barely touching one another’s, foreheads pressed together, and heavy breaths being shared, almost as if the breath one was breathing out was what the other required to live.

Xxx

Tags: @mayahart02 @palaiasaurus64 @shydinosaurcandy @lucyqueenofthestars @c-breanne1999 @l4life @ethereallysimple What’s this?

#derek hale #derek hale imagine #derek hale x reader #derek hale x reader imagine #derek hale x reader insert #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf #tw imagine #teen wolf reader insert #teen wolf x reader insert #teen wolf x reader #teen wolf fluff #tw fluff #fluff #tw #pack imagine #pack x reader #pack x reader insert #my mind spins stories

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kk095 · 3 years ago

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Terry’s Cardiac Emergency

*hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted a story in awhile! None of my more recent ideas materialized. This story may need some additional editing and whatnot, but I hope you enjoy!*

Terry was a 53 year old woman with wavy, shoulder-length brown hair, beautiful blue eyes that never changed with age, and was of average height and build. Terry worked as an office manager for a hotel, but she always felt her most important job was being a mom, having 2 sons: aged 21 and 18. Terry didn’t have an extensive history of health issues throughout her life, but that all changed 6 months ago when she had her first health scare. One evening after work, Terry experienced chest pain and shortness of breath. Instead of driving herself home, she went straight to the ER, knowing something wasn’t quite right. At the ER, it was discovered that Terry was having a heart attack, so she was taken up to the cardiac catheterization lab and had 2 endovascular stents placed. The procedure went according to plan, and Terry was released from the hospital 2 days later, making a full recovery. Terry and her family had quite a scare and were glad to put that incident behind them- or so they thought!

Last night around 10pm, Terry was at work. She began experiencing a sharp pain in her chest that came seemingly out of nowhere. To make things worse, she began experiencing shortness of breath along with dizziness and light headedness. Around 10:30pm, one of Terry’s coworkers found her unconscious and slumped over at her desk. Terry was breathing and had a pulse, and she had a pale complexion with bulging veins in her neck. Terry’s coworker immediately realized something was wrong and called 911.

After emergency services were notified, they were on scene about 7 minutes later. On scene, EMS set up 2 large bore IVs and set Terry up on a portable heart monitor. Her vital signs weren’t the greatest: her blood pressure was 80/41, her heart rate was 142, her o2 saturation was normal, but the EKG was abnormal, showing an alternating QRS complex. The paramedics hung a bag of normal saline to begin fluid resuscitation and gave Terry some nitrates for chest pain. Since Terry wasn’t fully conscious and had unstable vital signs, the medics felt the next step was intubation for the sake of airway management. A 7.0 ET tube was then placed into the 53 year old mom’s airway, and then held in place with a blue tube holder after proper placement was confirmed. After intubation, Terry was placed on a stretcher and taken into an ambulance which waited nearby.

Terry’s vital signs failed to improve during transport. Her blood pressure continued to drop at an alarming rate. The medics pushed a 250cc bolus of .9 NS to try and buy Terry some time, but it failed to ameliorate the situation. A few minutes into transport, Terry’s condition worsened and went into cardiac arrest. The medics promptly began ACLS protocol. Terry received deep, violent chest compressions. Her D cup breasts bounced around in sync with each individual compression while her belly rippled outwards. Epinephrine and atropine were pushed into the IV line while the defib paddles were being charged. The paddles were charged, gelled, and pressed up against the patient’s bare chest before the shock was delivered.

A quick jolt of electricity was sent into Terry’s lifeless body, causing her chest to flop quickly and her breasts to jiggle. With no change present on the monitors, the medics decided to shock Terry a 2nd time. Shock #2 caused Terry’s feet to flex back and then forward, showing off the thick, silky wrinkles throughout the soles of her size 7 feet. But the 2nd shock failed to produce ROSC, so a 3rd shock was delivered shortly after. Terry’s body twitched violently on the stretcher, reacting more intensely to the stronger defib shock. But it was no use- she went into PEA after the 3rd shock. The medics immediately resumed chest compressions and ambu bagging and pushed the 2nd round of medications.

The EMS team was unable to restart Terry’s heart, so she arrived at the hospital with CPR in progress. By time Terry got to the hospital, she had a down time of 6 minutes, was shocked 3 times, and received 2 doses of medications. After EMS updated the ER team on Terry’s situation, she was moved onto the ER table under a large overhead light. PEA was present on the monitors, so an ER nurse began pumping away at the 53 year old’s chest. The ER attending began barking orders, ordering various blood tests and called for an echocardiogram. With CPR ongoing, ultrasound gel was squirted onto the patient’s chest and an echo was then performed. “jeez, massive tamponade. Get me a thoracotomy tray.” The ER attending called out decisively.

Terry’s chest was splashed with betadine while one of the nurses began setting up the proper equipment for an emergency thoracotomy. Once the tray was set up, the ER attending picked up the scalpel and made a quick, crude cut in the patient’s chest. The incision started in the 5th intercostal space just to the left of her sternum, extended laterally, around her large left breast, and ended just shy of her left armpit. The underlying tissue and fat had to be incised further in order to gain access to the thorax. The following step was to place a finochietto rib spreader into the newly created opening in Terry’s chest. Once the spreader was placed, the knobs were turned and Terry’s ribs were pried apart. A loud popping and cracking sound was heard in the room as the 53 year old mom’s ribs were forced apart during the invasive procedure.

After gaining access to the inside of their patient’s chest, the ER team performed a pericardiotomy in order to relieve the large accumulation of blood trapped around the lining of Terry’s heart. A scalpel was used to make a delicate incision laterally across the exterior portion of the heart. The fibrous lining of the heart was then separated, releasing the blood that was trapped. Thick, gooey coagulated blood oozed from the pericardial incision. The coagulated blood was suctioned out, only to be replaced by fresh, bright red material blood. The area had to be suctioned out once more in order to create a line of sight for the ER team. After visualization of the thoracic cavity was obtained, internal massage began. One of the ER doctors wrapped their hands around Terry’s heart and began manually pumping it. With internal massage ongoing, a cross clamp was placed on the descending aorta near the diaphragm in order to redirect bloodflow to Terry’s heart and brain.

It took several minutes worth of meds and internal compressions until Terry converted back to v-fib. At that point, the internal paddles were charged to 10 joules. The large, spoon shaped paddles were lowered into the woman’s chest, and a shock was delivered. Terry’s chest jolted slightly in response to the shock, but she remained in v-fib. The internal paddles were recharged to 20 joules and placed around her twitching heart. A dull, wet thunk was heard, but v-fib still persisted. A cycle of internal massage and ambu bagging was performed while the large, spoon shaped paddles were recharged to 30. After the paddles were ready, the team delivered the next shock to Terry’s heart. Her toes curled, showing off her cute, wrinkly soles, but she was still in v-fib after this 3rd shock.

Terry was shocked 4 more times with the internal paddles, received several cycles of internal massage, and received the maximum dose of meds. At the 22 minute mark of the code, one of the nurses noted fixed and dilated pupils. Despite the team’s best efforts, time of death was called on Terry while she was still in v-fib. The ambu bag was detached and the heart monitors were switched off. The EKG electrodes were disconnected from Terry’s chest and the rib spreader+clamp were removed. A toe tag was placed on the big toe of Terry’s left foot as a sheet was placed over her lifeless body before being sent off to the morgue.

Since the circumstances of Terry’s death weren’t immediately clear, an autopsy was performed. The autopsy revealed that one of the coronary artery stents Terry had placed 6 months earlier ended up breaking. One of the broken pieces sliced open one of the coronary arteries, causing a major hemorrhage. The blood from said hemorrhage became trapped within the lining of the heart, essentially crushing Terry’s heart from the inside.

With that information in mind, Terry’s family was able to successfully sue the medical device manufacturer of the broken stent, and settled for an undisclosed amount. Even though this couldn’t bring Terry back, it gave her family peace of mind given the tragic circumstances.

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yanderenightmare · 4 years ago

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HEADCANNONS

KINKS & FETISHES part two

goodiebage WARNINGS: yandere, abuse, noncon/dubcon, arson, threats, Stockholm Syndrome, mind control, narcissism, sadism, slavery, torture

PART ONE

YANDERE ! KATSUKI BAKUGO - KACHAN POWERPLAY

It’s been said before and it will continue to be preached until the end of time: Katsuki is a full-blown narcissist, and he loves making his dominance excruciatingly clear. He rarely uses any form of bondage, enjoying being the sole reason his darling stays in her place. Hand around her throat, squeezing that weak windpipe, forcing those precious sweet squeaks from her throat, feeling them simmer against his palm. Capturing her tiny delicate wrists between his fingers, squishing until bones pop and she swears in spluttering whines that he’s snapped and broken something. His knee digging into the doughy flesh of her thigh, causing sharp tickling pain to shoot straight through her flesh, all in an exaggerated effort at keeping her beneath him.

He’ll be degrading, especially in a suggestive way. His entire bone-crushing weight pressing down into her, constricting and controlling what air gets to pass down to her lungs, while he knowingly asks her how good it feels when she begins to clamp down around the girth of his cock, feeling her warm wet walls convulse and spasm each time he pumps his sopping swollen tip into the spongey feel of her cervix. Teasing, taunting and mocking words flying along with spit through his grit teeth onto her face, as the tab of his thumb rubs tight circles onto the bead of her clit. Anything resembling self-control can be written off as a cruel joke, when they both know her entire composure is at his mercy. Reduced to simply stimuli and response at his fingers, her reactions on his beck and call.

YANDERE ! DABI - TODOROKI TOUYA BEGGING KINK

He wants to see her kneel, he wants to see her crawl, he wants to hold that perfect little face between his palms and make her shiver and quake at the feel of his warming hands, threatening to mar her soft and supple skin up until it’s nothing but tough purple leather like him, with no hope of healing. He wants to see her cry, he wants it loud as though her sobs could shatter glass, he wants it ugly as though no one could look at her and call her beautiful except for him. He wants all of it as his studded cockhead pokes at her inside, all the while where he pounds into her ruthlessly and savagely, hearing her feeble broken pleas tremor beneath the palm he’s placed wrapped deadly around her throat, fingers bending and plunging into her delicate neck.

Then he wants to show mercy, he wants to glide his lanky boney fingers through her soft hair, hush and coo at her to quit her sniveling and shaking. He’ll have her on his chest, listening to her mumble out sweet forms of gratitude and other soft-tinted apologies. Her lips admiring his piercings, laying worship on them as though praying at an altar. Finding utter unlocking blissful satisfaction, as though some war has been won, at the fact that she’ll never be able to leave him, because he’s made the idea of leaving him seem like death in her brittle mind, not because he would hunt her down, but because she cannot hope to live without him.

YANDERE ! SHIGARAKI TOMURA FOOT FETISH

Just look at them. So dainty and petite compared to his, so small compared to anything, fitting so perfectly in his hand, soft skin in contrast to his dry toughened and calloused hands. And so very sensitive and ticklish, both beneath the touch of his fingers and teeth and tongue and cock. Pink wriggling toes, curling and crinkling until they cramp as he bottoms-out inside her, just begging for him to bite them while he fucks her harder, unable to go anywhere with her ankles shackled together, the chain pulled over his head and resting at his neck with her precious feet made to hang off his shoulders, only able to pull him closer.

Tomura learned quickly when playing with his darling that a woman’s feet are a woman’s weakness, because as she begs him not to touch her, begs him to stay away, once he wraps his hand around her ankle and drags her back to where he wants her, thigh-high sock slowly being pulled off to reveal her legs and coming off at her pedicured toes, foot enclosed in his strong hands, making her bones pop in a much needed message, she’ll moan in a way parallel with how lude she’ll croak with his fat cock drilling into her.

YANDERE ! SHINSO HITOSHI BONDAGE KINK

Who would not find it cute? A little pussycat all knotted up in a ball of yarn, with no hope of escaping, all trapped and vulnerable and begging for Master’s help. Her fingers dancing in the air, wrists tightly locked together, under full understanding that they’re completely useless under the circumstances, having no purpose except for stroking his cock in those moments he’s come close enough, yet not having the courage to sink her claws into the tender squishy flesh of his length because he has her other delicate bits on full display, all for him to destroy if she is to give him the right motivation, if she gives him an excuse to punish her.

He can play nice if she plays along, if she expresses her gratitude on cue like he’s taught her, if she asks for permission, if she begs enough. Either way, she’s not getting out of his trap. Either way, he’ll have his way, which is all that’s important to him. He knows she’ll enjoy herself whether she wants to or not, he’ll see to it up close and personally. Whispering small commands in her ear when she decides to be difficult, telling her to focus, telling her to forget everything except for him and those hands of his and that tongue of his and those teeth of his and that fat veiny cock of his, playing with her, forcing her to see stars.

YANDERE ! TAKAMI KEIGO - HAWKS MARKING KINK

It’s a need, it’s a necessity, it’s an instinct more than a desire. He’ll be rigid and manic and swivel-eyed, unable to feel at all at ease or at peace with her skin being unadorned and healed and ridden of his teeth-marks and claw-marks and love-bites. They belong on her just as much as that angel-coated set of wings on her back. His name belongs carved into her chest with the handy use of one of his crimson feathers just as much as that feather belongs in the flock on his own back. They need to be ever present on her body or else he’s risking her forgetting who it is that she belongs too.

She doesn’t really need clothes. Keigo likes her ready for the taking at all times. Expensive clothing articles just go to waste if they fall prey to him having to rip them to shreds when removing them unceremoniously from her body, especially when she’s so adamant on resisting him. Besides, if she’s all covered up in silks and whatnot, how is his need to see himself on her skin expected to be satiated? And, she looks so cute trying and struggling to cover herself up, with only her hands and feathers to use in hiding herself from Keigo’s prying eyes.

YANDERE ! MIDORIYA IZUKU - DEKU DADDY-KINK

Whether it’s sparked by his need to help and protect his little darling from harm and the dangers of the world, or because his own father abandoned him as a child, he does not give it too much thought, despite his darling often times asking for an explanation when he has her bent over his knee, sharp slaps printed on the dome of her ass while she’s made to beg Daddy for forgiveness, her otherwise perfect milky skin now bruised with ugly purple and blues, further indicating Izuku’s ownership of her. Come to think of it, maybe it’s because the title inspires authority, something of which he demands all responsibility of.

She’s his little girl, his little baby, his little Bunny, in desperate dangerous need of Daddy’s firm hand to teach her right from wrong, to teach her proper manners and proper posture and how to properly bounce up and down the length of his cock. Manners including begging Daddy to let her cum, whereas posture is learned and achieved through lesson after lesson where they train in keeping her ass arched up when her head is buried face-down in the pillow, with Daddy’s cock skewering her from behind, her little ass earning a bright-red slap each time her posture fails, her little ditzy brain unable to take simple directions with all the blood pooling in her brain.

YANDERE ! CHISAKI KAI - OVERHAUL LINGERIE KINK

She looks so perfect clad in expensive customized lace-roses and patterned mesh. Straps connecting her garner-belt to her thigh-high socks, all decorated with rosery swirls and diamonds and pearls, the golden clasps acting as a thing to admire and a puzzle to solve before he can slide her out of her underwear. Bralette granting minimum support as he wants to see her mounds in their natural perfection, the invisibility of the mesh-fabric leaving little to the imagination with her nipples on full display. Teddies too are such a delicate and exquisite playful attire for him to dress her up in. Intricate and ornate patterns adorning the fabrics both of silk and satin and velvet and cotton and lace, two small buttons positioned at her entrance for easy access.

Way too short skirts to even come close to fulfilling their purpose of hiding her privates. With their fluffy taffeta and tulle propping the skirt up into a wet-dream fairy-tutu costume. Kimonos too are such a sweet soft form of unwrapping a present. Tendrils of ribbon tying into big splendid flamboyant bows all for him to tug and make fall apart to open what glory found inside the packaging. Ruffles adorning the sleeves and every other edge in cutesy doll-like fashion. Colors of pastel pinks and creams in stark contrast to his black suit-pants when he makes her take a seat on his knee.

YANDERE ! TODOROKI SHOTO AFTERCARE KINK

It’s more than a duty, it’s a pleasure as well, something to look forward to, something to cherish. To have her broken bruised sweat-slicked radiant body, shivering from the cold or feverish and delirious from the heat, all fallen into a feeble mess of tired aching limbs, and her so very preciously dumb blissed-out state of mind, with words incoherently mumbled and blubbered and hiccupped out into the air with no true goal inside her fried little head. Her eyes heavy-lidded and pupils opium-wide, unable to focus on anything with the rapturous frenzied-high that has shaken her body ablaze and rendered her all but a febrile mess.

She’s so cute with all her humanity having been broken, leaving her as a wild cotton-eyed bleating little lamb as he places her in the hot-tub, careful to join her so she not drown in her absentminded euphoria. It takes time to come down from the fever, her body involuntarily fallen prey to spasms and convulsions wreaking through to her toes as they crinkle under the pressure, with her voice outing small whimpering sighs and moans. Shoto’s right hand ghosting over those fresh red and blue and purple galaxies adorning her body, cooling the swelling skin down, calming the blood gushing out from popped veins as he whispers sweet soft-spoken comforting nothings into her ear, cooing and hushing at her to let him kiss everything better.

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thirstyfortaglines · 3 years ago

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My girlfriend will outlive me but that’s okay because I love her

Yanfei x Gender Neutral!Reader

1.5k words. Fluffy-ish writing with reader and Yanfei just talking. Tiny bit angsty since there’s some talk of Yanfei’s lifespan being a lot longer than the average human’s.

The rather loud bustling of the streets as the remaining day stalls became more loud in an effort to attract any last customers to their wares before they set up shop for the night was muted to the pair that strolled down its streets. Usually interested in the goods themselves, you and Yanfei had decided to pass on any actual shopping that particular evening in favor of simply taking in the environment of the harbor which was relaxing in its own way with the familiar clamor of the environment.

Despite instigating this outing, wanting to get out after finally finishing a particularly hard job, she was uncharacteristically quiet. For the last few days she had excused herself from the usual excursions around the harbor you two shared, the emotional drain from the child custody case she had taken on leaking into her non-work life. It wasn’t like you could have just told her to care less or to try and let it affect her less, Yanfei loved her work and her dedication and investment in each and every case was what made her so good as a legal adviser. The downside was just that in emotionally charged cases she tended to struggle a bit, the lack of a real definite cut and dry answer or compromise proving taxing on her as no amount of investigation would solve it.

Gently nudging her to catch her attention, she met your gaze. “Something weighing you down?. Even if we weren’t dating I’d still listen to you as your friend. You can always talk to me,” The offer hung in the air for a few moments, the silence bringing up concerns that perhaps it had sounded demanding.

Before you could fret too much, however, she responded. “In a way, yes. It’s a rather heavy topic so let’s discuss it at the end and just enjoy our evening out.” Yanfei’s tone was matter of fact, leaving no room for discussion on the matter for the time being. At least whatever was affecting her wasn’t doing so to the point where she was unable to compose herself quickly like she usually did.

Still not quite sure if she was really okay, you reached and held her hand like you normally did, giving a reaffirming squeeze to it which was reciprocated.

“Now come on, everything will close by the time you get to the stall if you keep on being this slow,” she pestered as she took the lead in moving through the street, letting go of your hand in favor of emoting while she spoke.

“We go to the night market, it’s just becoming sundown.”

“It’ll be well past morning at the rate you’re walking, and if we hold up any stalls who are nice enough to still be open by the time you make it there at that snail’s pace that would be a violation of the ordinance on stall times that requires they only be set up at their allotted time slots, of their own choosing of course.” She was evidently teasing you, her exaggerated nagging tone giving that away easily. As she turned back to make a face at you of mock exasperation at your still average walking pace, you surprised her by having moved right next to her.

“I’m not moving that slow and I won’t lose track of you. Not everyone in Liyue has bright pink hair and is even half as energetic as you.”

Unsurprisingly, she was only surprised for half a second at best before she had a retort lined up. As the two of you continued your walk, playfully arguing while pointing out various wares to each other and occasionally checking out stalls, the warm yellow of streetlamps slowly grew stronger.

It had quieted down for the night, or perhaps it was the place where the two of you had decided to settle at, a patch of grass on the terrace overlooking the harbor, by the time your legs had begun protesting and Yanfei had conceded to stop for the night and rest.

A warm kind of silence filled the air as you rested against each other, the kind that just settled unspoken and naturally.

“Regarding what was bothering me earlier, it was nothing much or perhaps it’d be more prudent to say nothing that will be of pressing importance anytime soon,” she began. Pausing before continuing, she looked at you for affirmation to continue and that you were listening. Not wanting to really verbalize a response and interrupt what she had going on any further, you nodded to indicate your attention. “While I have little fears of children or us separating and whatnot, unlike the case I just dealt with, it did bring some fears to light for me that hadn’t really come to the forefront of my thoughts before.”

She took an extra moment to prepare her words as she turned to fully face you. “There is no doubt in my mind that I would like to spend the rest of my life with you, our long withstanding friendship and now romantic relations a testament to that fact, the fears of your inevitably passing as my lifespan theoretically should far exceed yours are present.”

Yanfei raised her hand in a motion to indicate for you to stay quiet right as you were about to say something, she knew you too well and a small smile broke across your face at that despite the rather heavy conversation topic.

“However, I am not someone who is willing to let the upsides of life pass me by in favor of cowering in fear of what will happen. I’ve thought this through, though not much as the answer was already evident from the start, but I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you and even if that isn’t possible I will do my best. I hope you feel the same.”

Flustered at her words, you were at a loss of words for a moment. Upon seeing your reaction, Yanfei’s expression once again relaxed from the previous serious face she had been wearing, the same one she used to mask her anxiety during her work which was enough to betray her true feelings to you despite how calm she appeared.

“Yeah, I love you a lot too, which is what I’m going to assume that’s what you meant. I won’t lie, I have thought about it before but you’re right that it’s a long way off. Let’s just enjoy the time we have together, and I’ll be sure to make good memories for you to remember” Deciding to counterattack in light of her smug expression, you leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her cheek, the scent of flower perfume and the fried food stalls you had visited together mixed in a rather strange but comfortingly familiar way.

From there, the conversation naturally flowed back to what it usually was, ending with Yanfei standing up and brushing her skirt off.

“With that off my shoulders, I feel up to doing another investigation. I got a request for another case as I was exiting the courthouse earlier today and was already given the downpayment for it,” she began, the usual glimmer in her eyes back in full force which you were more than happy to see.

“Is it another case of false advertising at another stand selling trinkets?” you sighed, tone laced with tiredness that was only mostly fake. “I thought today was supposed to be resting as time off from your last case?”

“That was yesterday, it’s already a new day. The peace and prosperity of Liyue won’t stand without people there to keep everything in order.”

“It also won’t go away if you decide to take a day or 2 off.”

“Oh hush and help me find out what place was selling those frost jade crystals, I have a feeling they’re false as they didn’t seem to have cryo energy within them and the only really nearby source of them that’s reliable is shipments from Snezhnaya and whatever the traveller brings from the cryo enemies in Monstadt. Neither of those two have relations with the seller which is exceedingly suspicious,” she began, already involved and trying to get an angle on the situation. It was cute, but it’d be even cuter if she wasn’t already halfway down the stairs to the main part of the harbor while you had been distracted trying to figure out what she was trying to investigate.

“I’m hurrying up, I’ve got it,” you called out just as she turned around to probably call on you, mirroring how she had quieted you before when she anticipated your response. As you rushed to get off the ground and not fall down the stairs, you almost fell.

“If you die early from chasing after me and falling down the stairs I will personally not let your soul leave your body. Now hurry up and be careful, the sun is rising soon,” Yanfei teased, turning back around and sprinting down the stairs rather gracefully. Benefits of being alive for hundreds of years included knowing the exact architecture of Liyue Harbor and how to sprint down stairs without tripping it seemed. Sighing, you called out to your girlfriend as you ran after her though you were still smiling.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #yanfei #yanfei x reader #mod rhubirb

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lastwagontrainhopper · 4 years ago

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A guiding hand

Royai week day 2 - Serene (let’s collectively ignore how late I am posting this ok thaaaanks)

Summary: “She expected Roy to follow up with a flirty comment or joke; that was usually how this type of conversation went. Instead, after a moment, he let out a sight. When he spoke again, his voice had a melancholic tone to it.

"That right there is the one sight that I really miss. ” ”

---

The Colonel and his Lieutenant share a late-night conversation. (Blind!Roy)

Words: 2489

Tags: Blind Roy Mustang, Fluff and Angst, Late Night Conversations, Established Relationship, Canon Compliant

read on aot

“They had left their windows wide open, letting in a soft breeze to relieve them from the heavy summer heat. The curtains were rising and falling without a sound, fluttering in the air like ghosts. Even the streets around the house were quiet at that hour; the only thing that broke the stillness of the night was Riza's voice.

"As for Senator Harn's wife, she was wearing a very elegant apricot-colored dress. With her signature high hairdo, of course.”

Their blankets had long been kicked away to the bottom of the bed in a messy pile. Roy was lying on his back, facing to the ceiling, one hand playing idly with a lock of Riza's hair.

"Apricot?" His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "That's the yellow with a touch of pink, right?”

"That was pretty much it, yes." Riza was lying on her side, her head against her hand, elbow propped up on the pillow. The room was covered in shadows, but the flickering lights from the window on the street allowed her to see the outline of Roy's face.

"And you said Harn had a royal blue jacket...That must have made for an odd contrast.”

Riza smirked. "Yes, that's what several people seemed to think. It looked as if the General and his wife had not consulted with one another before coming to the gala.”

A sly smile spread across Roy’s face. "Ha! And you just know the rumors about their marriage are already flying high. It's sort of ironic, considering how Harn is constantly babbling to the Parliament about the “traditional family” and the “sanctity of marriage” and whatnot." His hand came to lightly circle Riza's wrist, his thumb tapping the back of her hand. "I’m sure you now understand how crucial fashion is in Central. It's not just a matter of taste: it's inherently political.”

"Sure," she answered, unconvinced. "Anyway. The Harns didn't capture the guests' attention that long, since the buffet was brought shortly after.”

Roy hummed appreciated. "And that was a good one. I've rarely tasted crab this delicious.”

"Yes, and they must have put as much effort into the presentation as in the cooking, because the set-up was magnificent. Everything was served on glittering silver plates, which reflected the glow of the chandeliers. On each table, the dishes were arranged in a sort of pyramid, culminating with the piece of meat or seafood. It looked extremely fragile, like...like some sort of house of cards, or crystal architecture, defying gravity - but they all stood the evening without crashing down. It was breathtaking.”

This had become the most constant part of their day. Almost every night, as they lay in bed before going to sleep, Riza would describe to Roy a long list of the things he hadn’t been able to see during the day. When they had first started this habit, as they were working on the the reconstruction of Ishval, Riza's descriptions had been much more pragmatic, like a mission report: which building seemed in need of repair? Which tribal leader looked unsatisfied during their morning meeting? She did her best to give him this information as the day went by, but there were always important details that she missed.

As the years had passed and the two had distanced themselves from the military, Riza's description had slowly become more lyrical. She began to tell him about beautiful sights that he was missing – a particularly colorful sunset, or the way the city lights looked at night. As time went by, she started to enjoy these conversations and more more, and they became increasingly long. It got to the point where, as Riza saw something pretty during the day, she found herself immediately thinking of the way she would describe it to Roy later at night.

"You should try to write a book," he had told her once. "You're so good at this - I can picture in my mind everything that you're telling me about like I was seeing it."

"It wouldn't be the same," she had answered, shaking her head. "I like hearing your reactions."

He had arched his eyebrows, smirking. "And yet you scold me every time I interrupt you.”

"Stop being overdramatic,” she had retorted. “Now let me continue." They had left it at that.

Sometimes Riza would rest her head on his chest as she went on with her stories. This was what Roy preferred. Ever since losing his eyesight, he had grown much fonder of physical contact, even casual, with her - after all, it was the surest way he could know that she was by his side. But Riza liked to remain slightly further, just next to him, so that she would be able to observe him during their late-night conversation. His face would take on such a special expression at those times, almost peaceful, or...serene.

Serene. That would have been the last word anyone would have chosen to describe Roy under normal circumstances. Despite his reputation as a slacker, he was a man that was constantly busy thinking about one thing or another, pondering, planning his next ploy – or his next date with a certain Lieutenant. His eyes in particular had always betrayed the constant working of his mind: they were restless, always darting around the room to study the people they were talking to, noticing details in their postures, noting suspicious movements out of the corner of his eye.

And, Riza knew it well, even the moments of rest didn’t bring Roy much serenity. More often than not, his sleep was plagued by violent nightmares that would wake him screaming in the middle of the night - or at least, that tensed and distorted his expression as he slept.

This had not changed since the Promised Day. But since Roy’s fight in the underground of Central, his blind eyes had lost their piercing look and had taken on a milky appearance. In the first few weeks, Riza had hated meeting that blank stare - it reminded her too much of what his eyes used to look like, as well as symbolizing her failure as a bodyguard.

But eventually, she had come to see a certain beauty in them, and in the calmness they brought to Roy's expression. He was still as expressive as ever, with his trademark crooked smile and taunting eyebrows. But in the evening, when they were alone together, his face truly relaxed. As Riza described the day's events to him, he would focus entirely on her voice, letting his mind recreate the image she was painting. His eyebrows would loosen and his forehead became smooth, free of its usual furrow; his mouth would fall half-open. At this particular moment, Roy took on a serene expression that Riza had never seen on him before, and she never got tired of looking at it.

"I need to tell you, unfortunately," Riza broke the silence that had settled, "that you were not the best-dressed man at the reception.”

Roy propped himself up on his elbows, frowning with surprise. So much for serenity.

"What? Who was?”

“You’re not going to be happy about this,” Riza said, trying to hide the small smile in her voice. "But Colonel Birks made quite an impression. He wore a rather daring suit, made of a black fabric from which red velvet patterns stood out.”

Roy huffed with indignation. "Velvet! Nonsense. He obviously can’t stop pushing the boundaries of extravagance – and of bad taste.”

"I don't know," Riza said evasively. “I thought it was pretty elegant…and I wasn't the only one.”

Roy ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it. "Outdressing the president should be considered insubordination," he muttered under his breath. "I'll call Ms. Zhao tomorrow. I need something more avant-garde for the next gala. Maybe with some silk mixed in with a cotton suit?”

He lay down again on the bed and raised his arm, inviting her to come closer. Riza moved to nestle up against him, putting her head on his shoulder, a hand on his chest. Roy wrapped an arm around her waist and buried his nose in her hair. Whenever he did that, his breaths would tickle Riza's neck, making her giggle; she would always pretend to be annoyed but it, but they both knew better.

After a moment, Roy tucked some of her hair away from her face. He brought his lips close to her ear. "Tell me again what you were wearing."

Riza felt a shiver go down her spine. That deep voice that Roy used when he whispered always got a reaction out of her, no matter what cliché or silly thing he would say.

A wry smile crossed her lips. "At this point, you know my wardrobe better than I do, Roy. ”

"I know," he answered, unabashed. "But I like hearing you describe it."

Riza chuckled. “Well,” she began, “I was wearing the flowy emerald green skirt that Rebecca got me for Christmas, a brown leather belt, and my white blouse. The one with the embroidery on the collar. ”

He hummed in appreciation. "With your golden high heels, I'm guessing."

"With my golden high heels," she nodded, "because even though my feet are killing by the end of the night when I wear them, they do really go well with that skirt." Her hand started to play with the ring that Roy wore as a necklace. "I didn't put much makeup on because of how humid the weather was. But I did wear my bright red lipstick."

She felt his cheeky smile even before he spoke. "I can recognize it by taste, now."

If they weren’t pressed so close together, she would have dug her elbow into his ribs. She rolled her eyes instead. "I also had my gold bracelet to go with the shoes, and the earrings you bought me to complete it all. What else...my hair was in a bun, and, of course, I had my necklace."

She expected Roy to follow up with a flirty comment or a joke; that was usually how this type of conversation went. Instead, after a moment, he let out a sight. When he spoke, his voice had a melancholic tone to it.

"That right there is the one sight that I really miss. ”

Riza felt her smile drop. A lump appeared in her throat. Roy rarely complained about his blindness; even in the months following the Promised Day, he had adapted to his new lifestyle with impressive resilience. At first, it seemed as if his disability had affected his Lieutenant, plagued by guilt, more than himself. Still, Riza knew that he must have carried a lot of silent regrets through the years. There was so much Roy had had to give up, so many compromises he had had to reluctantly accept on his plan to reform Amestris – and on his personal life.

Riza disentangled herself gently from his grasp and straighten up, half sitting, to observe him. One of his arms was folded under his head, and he still seemed to be looking at the ceiling - but of course, that was just an impression. She ran a hand through his hair, brushing them away from his face. He smiled slightly at her touch, but she didn't need to see the pupils of his eyes to know that his heart wasn't in it.

She didn't like seeing him like this. With thoses cloudy eyes, melancholy turned his serene expression into a confused one - like he was a child that got lost and couldn't look for his way home.

Riza laid down again and rested her head on the pillow, her face turned toward Roy. She started to gently stroke his arm. "At least, you can keep in your mind the image of what I – and you – looked like in the prime of our youth," she said after a moment in a playful tone, trying to comfort him. "You won't need to see us get all old and wrinkled.”

To her surprise, Roy's face saddened further.

"Don't say that. Beautiful women are like fine wine, they only get better with age - that's what Chris used to say. I always wanted to see how you would look as you grew old.”

Riza raised her eyebrow, surprised. "Really?" she answered in spite of herself.

He nodded. "Not everyone ages gracefully, of course. But I know that wrinkles would look flattering on you; you have such elegant features. And silvery hair never fails to give this distinguished look - at least on women," he added, running a hand through his hair, suddenly self-conscious. His eyebrows furrowed. "Do I already have grey hair?"

Riza felt her shoulders relax. "You're almost completely bald by now, Roy."

He winced. "Please don't joke with that. I don't know what I would do if this were to happen.

Riza simply smiled, and they fell back into a comfortable silence. She watched Roy’s chest rise and fall with his breathing, lulled by the calm rhythm.

"You know, I always wished I could see you grow old, also because it would have meant that we made it."

Riza felt her breath catch in her throat.

She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek, hoping her touch could tell him what her words couldn’t.

“We did make it, Roy.” Now of all time, she wished he could see her face.

"I know," he said. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a light kiss against her knuckles. "I know."

Riza propped herself up on her elbow. She close her fingers around his, and squeezed firmly.

"Listen. We'll just do like with everything else. When my hair turns grey, I'll describe it to you. And as for the wrinkles," she placed his hand on her face, "you can see that for yourself."

Roy made a small smile. For the first time, he turned to face her, placing the tip of his fingers on both sides of her face. That was something he never tired of doing. Before he had lost his sight, he had always been able to read her like a book, understanding the meaning behind even the most subtle of her facial expressions. Now, he could do it in a much more literal sense, by tracing the surface of her body, reading the lines on her skin as if they were words written in braille.

"And when my face is so wrinkled it's unrecognizable,” she continued, "you will know the story behind each one of them.” She injected a smile into her voice. “The ones I already have on my forehead, for example, come from the stress of having spent so many years asking you to do your paperwork.”

His fingers brushed her forehead, and he smiled, abashed. "And you're all the more beautiful for it, my dear." He reached toward her and, guided by his hands, placed a light kiss on her head. “I can’t wait to see the rest.” ”

#royaiweek21 #royai #blind roy #fma #fanfic

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xokarma · 3 years ago

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╰┈➤ ❝ [ Demon-Neutral ] Stare and Wonder ❞

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ CW: none

'*•.¸♡ an: i wrote this kinda with satan in mind honestly but when i was writing i couldn't bring myself to write his name LMFAO so i tried to keep it demon neutral and i think it could apply for if your mc/you resides in the demon lords castle, hopefully. also, nothing specifically romantic happens here (to keep it neutral since all the demons behave differently n whatnot) but i may write second parts that are demon specific. anyway, enjoy ♡¸.•*'

﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉

The way his eyes grazed over MC’s being seemed to catch the attention of the human. MC could feel his eyes burning into the back of their skull, yet, strangely enough, they liked the attention. As nervous as it made them.

They wriggled in their seat a little, feeling the pressure of the demon’s eyes on them. What was it about them that made them so interesting to look at? Especially in the middle of class?? The longer it continued, the harder MC found it to focus.

After what seemed like hours, class was finally dismissed. MC remained in their seat, hoping that he took the initiative to leave before they did, so they could maneuver in peace. To their delight, the class quickly became empty and they were left by themselves.

MC quickly rushed home and into their room. Plunging into bed, they finally felt relaxation wash over them. Having such deep and intense feelings for someone you lived with and also held a good friendship with was only bound to cause trouble. MC had to avoid trouble. And the demon in question, apparently.

They knew it wasn’t the best solution to this issue but, honestly, they hoped this would help the emotions that lay to rest in their heart would eventually fade. Though, thinking about how the demon who managed to set their heart aflame in the first place was certainly not going to make this any easier. Just thinking about how he was eyeing them in class rather than doing literally anything else made the butterflies in their stomach erupt into flight. MC craved his attention so deeply but they knew the risks outweighed the rewards.

What if they were overthinking it, anyway? What if he just so happened to zone out and wasn’t really looking at them but more in their general direction? Considering he left right after the signal sounded, it would make sense. Maybe he wasn’t interested in them at all. Maybe he was making the effort to avoid them just as they were making the effort to avoid him.

Their head began spinning thinking about what the demon felt about them. They knew they shouldn’t care, they really didn’t want to, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t shake the thought. Maybe they should go talk to him? They lingered on the thought for a few moments before ultimately deciding that this was an issue for future MC and, for tonight, they should catch up on work they missed during class.

After all, they were just as focused on their demon as he was on them.

#obey me #omswd #obey me shall we date #om #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #diavolo #barbatos

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thecandywrites · 3 years ago

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Micro- Mermaid Chenera Part. 2

Woo, teen years in micro-merfolks lives. Growing, blossoming, having those oh so unpredictable hormones start pumping, kicking in instincts and whatnot, in what practically feels like overnight and how clique-ey even they can be. Because even in the real world, most fish do best in schools of their own kinds and using my somewhat limited knowlege about how real fish tank dynamics can work, as in who is aggressive, who is nice, who gets along with who. Who is clique-ey *cough* neon tetras *cough* and who is chill. Enjoy.

Micro-Mermay

Chenera

Part 2

When you awoke, you found both you and Nona had grown, almost overnight and now you were almost cramped in the little crevice but tangled with Nona, you continued to be.

“Chenera! Where are you?! The feed just dropped in from the feeders, you need to hurry up and come out and eat or there won’t be any left!” Abaria called after you before you lifted your head off of Nona’s chest as Nona was still fast asleep, he fed you the day before, you figured it was only right that you return the favor as you squeezed past him and left your crevice and rocketed up to the top of the tank, taking all you could hold before you raced back again.

“Like a Danio that one, so fast.” Abaria noted to Thya as they sat on one of the rocks and ate their breakfast and watched on as you appeared then disappeared again as the others either tried to flutter around you or simply get out of your way so they wouldn’t get hit by your racing self.

“Shy one she is too. Her colors changed again. Maybe she’s part rainbow fish, where her colors evolve as she ages.” Thya noted.

“She does seem a lot more green today.” Abaria had to nod as she helped her youngest ones eat their first meal, the elders leaving “the baby bits” for the youngest ones who always seemed to be hatching almost every day from all the different clutches being delivered.

“Any sign of Ethel?” Abaria asked.

“No, she left early this morning, before the feeders turned on. Still crying when she came through too.” Thya answered.

“Well if Chenera stays in here for too much longer and actually bonds to everyone else, pulling her from this tank won’t be good for her.” Abaria noted.

“But she is making all the young men in the tank strive to grow up quicker than usual, look at them, the second she came out, they tried to swarm her, but she out maneuvered them before disappearing again.” Thya returned as she pointed to the other males who seemed to swim around the cave, taking turns, looking at the mouth of the crevice and trying to see if there was any other entrance to it but you had moved one of the bits of leaves to stop up the entrance so that you and Nona could dine in peace.

“You fed me, now I feed you.” You offered to Nona when you had come inside and dumped your armfulls of food on the long blade of grass between you.

“You’re greener today.” Nona noted between mouthfuls.

“I adapt to my environment, it’s greener in here now, so it makes sense that I’m greener.” You explained as the green leaf that was shoved at the entrance now cast the space in a green glow.

“That’s awesome, here in this tank, only the rainbow micros change color, but as adults, otherwise, our colors are our colors as we grow, they don’t change.” Nona explained.

“Well, my siblings and I, we change ours all the time, every time we play hide and seek. It takes us most of the day to play one game because we all camouflage ourselves so well, or we play this other games, minnows in a hole, it’s where one of us tries to find a good hiding spot and we try to see how many we can cram into the same spot, I think at least five of my siblings could make it into a space like this, but we pack each other in quite tightly, but it can get hard to breathe when you’re in the back.” You shrugged.

“I’d like to see that actually.” Nona offered, although, he was sure you were prettier today than you had been the day before as the smallest hints of breasts started to bud on your chest. It was amazing how younglings could change so drastically overnight when they were growing up, it wasn’t until they reached 50 cycles when they were considered adults and stayed somewhat the same until they began to age. But all of that seemed so far off now.

Once you both had eaten your fill, then you both ventured out of the little space before Nona rounded up the younglings for a game of hide and seek.

Of course the first round, you were the first to get caught, your long flowing gold hair still stuck out along with your flashy colors.

And when it was your turn to seek, it was like almost all of the older boys hardly tried to “hide” at all so that you caught them first, so they could seek you second. The dwarf gourami micro that had been smitten with you the day before seemed to swoon over you now. If Fonta had said you were pudgy yesterday, the dwarf gourami micro- Larto, dwarfed you, but he was all flab at this stage, hardly much muscle underneath, he was nearly the biggest boy in the tank besides the adults who were still caring for the other clutches of eggs. And he looked at you the way you’d expect a predator to look at prey and it made you uneasy.

So when it was Larto’s turn to find you, you did what you knew best, you went up into the tall grasses that raised up like tall trees from the gravel, and tied your long hair up into a bun, put a piece of water lettuce and wrapped it around your head to hide your golden head and camouflaged yourself along the long blades of grass and other roots and without the gold visible from below or the sides. It was like you were invisible as long as you stayed somewhat still and “flowed” with the stalks of long grasses.

Larto unfortunately found everyone else in the tank, except for you, even being an arms length away from you, he nor any of the others could see you among the foliage.

“Did you check the cave?” One of the girls asked.

“Yes I checked it three times, she’s not in there!” Larto exclaimed before the others tried calling out to you but you stayed put, it wasn’t until they all claimed that you had won, and thus immune from being “it" for the rest of the day before you finally moved from your spot and they all gasped and groaned to realize that they had all seemed to search that spot repeatedly and yet not have been able to spot you at all as you swam down to them, the camouflage you had once sported, being shed and draining away and the vibrance of your colors and sheens and shimmers returning to your body and your fins the closer you swam to the group as your billowy fins seemed to surround you even while you swam ever so gracefully down to them, your hair falling from it’s previous bun and flowing behind you like a curtain of gold once more.

“That’s no fair! You have hidden camouflage!” The other girls protested as the guys themselves were too impressed and temporarily stunned and dumbfounded to voice any kind of complaint.

“I do. In my home tank, it’s what we all do, except my parents, they can’t change like the young ones can, it’s to keep us from being bait to any other fish that might try to eat us.” You calmly supplied.

“Well it’s still not fair! You have a gold head and hair, you should have stuck out like a sick fin and you shouldn’t be allowed to change like that because we can’t change like that!” Melbeth argued angrily as the other girls echoed their agreement to that.

“I shouldn’t be allowed to be myself and do what I’ve been born and apparently bred to do? To naturally camouflage?” You repeated in confusion.

“Melbeth, don’t be a sore loser, just because she was able to hide better than us, doesn’t mean it’s her fault, isn't one of the lessons that are taught to us is that survival favors those who can adapt to change? Her subspecies just mastered it, that’s all. It’s not her fault she was born that way.” Nona defended you.

“And it’s not her fault that you’re red and blue and tried to hide among some green moss. You just stood out like a sick fin too.” Larto defended as well as he came over and tried to put his arm around your shoulders but you quickly dipped and swam just out of his reach and pulled your hair from his fingers so he wouldn’t grab at it either.

“Please don’t touch me.” You requested respectfully as you swam away from him to be with the other girls, although much good it did you, because they swam away from you, isolating you further before Nona came and simply stayed by you and took your hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“How come he can touch you though?” Larto demanded angrily.

“Because he doesn’t look at me like you do.” You answered.

“What does that mean?” Larto demanded, clearly offended by that.

“You look at me the way I look at food. The way you look at me, makes me feel like you’re going to eat me too and I don’t like it.” You maintained with your head held high and your chest puffed out as millions of years of fighting instinct suddenly unlocked in your brain and body as your eyes focused on Larto, already mapping out how to hurt him fastest and with the most accuracy and efficiency with minimal effort on your part. He may have been twice your size but you felt like you had the heart of a fish three times his size beating in your chest.

“Hey, I’m a dwarf gourami micro ok? The only fish bigger than me are the oscar micros, the angel micros and they’re all too big even for this tank. So I can look at whoever I want, however I want.” Larto insisted as he came over and scowled at you and towered over you as the others slowly backed away except for Nona who tried to pull you back behind him but you refused to back away from Larto, refusing to give him a millimeter as you glared just as angrily and hatefully back at him.

“And I like looking at you, cause you’re the prettiest girl in here, so get used to it.” He leveled with a smug smirk as the other girls scuffed and bristled at the comparison.

“I can fix that.” You offered with a smirk of your own as you got an idea.

“Yes you can, you can give me a smile for starters.” Larto demanded before you rolled your eyes and groaned in annoyance and let go of Nona and swam down to the gravel floor to pick up a piece of gravel and began tossing it up and catching it again before picking up other ones and casually juggling them, the muscles in your arms flexing with the exercise.

“I could, but I don’t want to, so what I could do instead is I could…” You began to swim deceivingly gracefully towards Larto, two of the three pieces of gravel falling to the floor of the tank behind you as you kept the last piece of gravel behind your back and covered by your long golden hair before you got just above eye level with Larto and gave him a predatory look of your own, which both thrilled and exhilarated him but also just gave him an ounce of fear because there was a dangerous curve to your grin and he didn’t fully trust the look in your eyes either, he had looked at you with lust, but you were looking at him with thinly veiled malice.

“Poke your eyes out so you can’t look at anything, how about that?!” You seethed as you closed the distance between you and him with surprisingly great speed, headbutting him and knocking him off balance and on his side and grabbed him by the throat with surprising strength and reared your other hand back with the piece of gravel in your hand as your colors changed yet again, from a beautiful black and greens, to blood red as you saw the very real fear start to fill his eyes as you bared your teeth to him in an impressive threat display as your fins unfurled completely until you appeared to be just as big as he was as the spines of your fins stayed black and began to poke towards him.

“If you do, you’ll go into the bully tank, there are fish bigger and meaner than me who would eat you for breakfast!” Larto sputtered desperately, shocked and scared by your actions since they were the opposite of what he was expecting as he tried to loosen your grip on his throat. For being as big as he was, he was surprisingly weaker than you were at this stage in his life.

“Chenera don’t, he’s right! If the others come and see you like this, they’ll think you’re the bully and put you in the bully tank.” Nona pleaded with you as he took the piece of gravel from your grasp and let it fall.

“Let him go, he’s not worth it. Even you- are too young and too small to survive that tank. Please Chenera, let him go.” Nona pleaded before he tried to take your hand from Larto’s throat before you let Larto go, but still scratching his neck with your clawed fingertips as you let your grip off of Larto's neck which made Larto hiss in pain and reach for his neck.

“Look at me like I’m food again, and see what happens, I dare you.” You threatened Larto before you slapped him two body lengths away with your powerful body and fins before you let Nona lead you away and back to the group as your colors changed back to what they were before, but by this point, all the other younglings had seemed to make their minds up about you. You did not belong and you were obviously aggressive when you weren’t a scaredy-fish as all the girls continued to school together and away at the other end of the tank to hang out on the soft moss and bask in the bright lights and glimmer like little jewels themselves while the other males retreated to the other end of the tank rethink things. If you could be just as aggressive as a dwarf gourami- attempting to mate with you, even though you were still a bit young for it, meant you could seriously hurt them and while you may have been the prettiest girl in the tank, you weren’t worth their lives.

So all that was left was for you to sit on top of the cave with Nona that was in the middle of the tank while the adults were still inside and helping the latest clutch of eggs hatch.

“How come when I defend myself from a bully, the others shun me?” You asked Nona as you sat and sulked and cast a look over to the other girls who were playing some other game amongst the moss.

“Because dwarf gourami micros can be known to be aggressive, usually only one or two are kept in a tank like this, or kept in tanks where there are nothing but dwarf gourami mircos. Usually everyone is used to backing down from them, but to see you match his aggression, even though it was in self defense, the attitudes in this tank are, you are either aggressive like a bully or nice like the rest of us. And you’re the first one that is in between so they don’t know what to make of you.” Nona shrugged, not knowing what else to say as he sat next to you and held your hand again.

“So why aren’t you with your other friends and brothers then?” You asked him as you nodded over to the other end of the tank where the other boys were casting curious looks your way and quietly talking among themselves.

“Because I like you better than any and all of them. I know you’re not a bully or usually aggressive, but you’re brave and you have courage and you don’t let others push you around which is awesome and a first for many in this tank. Plus I know you’re not a scaredy fish either, you’re just smart enough to hide when there is danger and camouflage yourself when you’re being hunted. You’re probably the smartest fish in the whole tank because your instincts have saved your life so far and you’re smart to listen to them. You’ve been through things that no one in this tank has been through. That I’m sure if they had gone through what you had gone through, they would show some more sympathy. But they’re just younglings and they don’t know any better yet and I’m sure if they were older and more mature, they’d understand.” He comforted you before he let go of your hand to put an arm around your shoulders and grinned lopsidedly when you rest your head on his shoulder as your soft, long flowing hair surrounded both of you as he gently ran his fingers through it, he couldn’t help it, it was still the softest thing he had ever felt.

“Well thank you for staying my friend then.” You offered.

“You’re welcome, you’re a good friend to have.” He returned.

When it came time to go to sleep though, even your “half brothers and sisters” refused to let a “bully” sleep with them since the parents were sleeping with the clutches of eggs, leaving the younglings to sleep in piles in the sandy pits.

So once again, you and Nona returned to your crevice, continuing to move the gravel around, expanding the space so that it was a proper cave-like space under the cave-like hide and lined it with fresh grasses and other plants and algae to make a space comfortable for both of you as once again, Ethel was too distraught to really look at her other tanks as she passed by and went to bed.

It wasn’t for a few more days until, Ethel’s assistant, Channel, came to check up on the tanks and refill the automatic feeders and do a cleaning since Ethel was still dealing with the police and the investigation that Channel moved the big rock hide to vacuum under it and it exposed you and Nona as your first instinct was to take Nona by the hand and quickly swim to the other foliage and back him up behind you and camouflage yourself so that both of you were hidden from view.

“What the hell?” Channel said as she saw the flash of gold.

“Goldies aren’t supposed to be in this tank.” Channel said before she called Ethel.

“Yes?” Ethel answered.

“You need to come home, I think one of your gold chameleons got dropped into the odds and ends tank by those fairies.” Channel informed her boss.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Ethel immediately answered as she stopped what she was doing and had her other employees pick up where she left off and immediately rushed home.

“Where? Where’s the gold chameleon?” Ethel asked as she came over to the tank before Channel pointed you out.

“Oh thank goodness, that’s Chenera! Oh look at how she’s grown! Even with the flakes instead of the special micro-betta food, oh look at those colors! Oh if it wasn’t for that gold head, she’d be almost impossible to see, let me get the net.” Ethel said as she got her net and tried to catch you before you kept darting all over the tank with Nano in tow.

“Ethel’s trying to bring you home! Quit trying to swim away from the net! Nona called to you as you swam with all your speed as he did his best to keep up.

“To hell with that, I ain’t leaving you behind.” You insisted as you tried to hide inside one of the other hides and glue yourself to the top so you couldn't be seen.

“But don’t you want to go to your home tank? And be with your family?” Nona asked.

“I’ve been in this tank too long, they’ll probably reject me because I won’t smell right. You’re the only family I need now.” You insisted as you peeked out to see where the net was and where else you could hide.

“Chenera listen to me! You don’t belong in here. You are some kind of special micro, I don’t know what kind but special enough that you probably need special food and to live in a special tank and be with your own kind. If you get aggressive when pushed by a dwarf gourami, I don’t want to think how aggressive your family will be towards me and I’m just a guppy micro. I’d be no match to them, hell I’m no match for the platys or the mollys or anything else. This needs to happen whether you like it or not Chenera. Just let me go, so you can go back home. I will always remember you and while I will miss you like crazy, this is for the best. She’s not going to stop until you’re caught and the net is already stressing everyone out.” Nona tried to reason with you as he held your face in the darkness as little blue tears came to his eyes while they flowed from yours too.

“But I don’t want to let you go. You’re all I have!” You cried as you clung to him.

“You’re all I have too, and while I’m grateful you landed in this tank and I'm so grateful that I got to meet you and know you and I’ll never forget you or our friendship for as long as I live. Please, I know this is hard and scary. But, it’s the way things will have to be.” Nona comforted you before you kissed him as you pressed your body to his, your own camouflage matching his pattern onto you as he kissed you back just as strongly before the hide was picked up and you reluctantly let go of Nona, your long hair slipping through his fingers for the last time as you reluctantly swam into the net, casting one last longing look at Nona before the net was pushed to envelop you completely as Nona watched on helplessly as you curled into another ball, your fins covering you and shielding you from view as you cried at being parted from Nona as you were picked up and Ethel held you and a little bit of water in the palm of her hand as she carried you over to your family’s tank around the corner and out of view from the odds and ends tank.

"Oh you poor thing, you made friends huh? I know it hurts to leave them, but you're about to be reunited with your family, you should be happy." Ethel tried to comfort you before she gently dropped you into your family's tank.

“Look who I found! The fairy that tried to take her must have dropped her into the odds and ends tank. I’m so sorry I didn’t go through the tanks more thoroughly, or I would have found her and returned her sooner.” Ethel apologized to your parents and siblings who had now, grown quite a bit and dwarfed you before you seemed to swarmed by them, all of them hugging and kissing you and holding you, trying to wipe away all the “foreign” water from you as you breathed in the once familiar water before Ethel left and returned with more pieces of special vitamin packed mackerel and anchovy and special betta micro food just for you so you could eat and catch up to the rest of your family. “She’s been in the odds and ends tank and they don’t get the same food as you guys, so she’s underweight and undersize now. You’ll help her catch up won’t you? The color tank morphing stage is only in a few days, so we found her just in time.” Ethel told your parents and siblings as she dropped in what she could before you were led to the soft sand pit again and given most of the hunks of mackerel and anchovy all to yourself as your family asked what had happened to you as you told them what happened, and how you were treated in the other tank, how the elders and the adults welcomed you with open arms but all the younglings around your own age shunned you because of how different you were to them, except for Nona. Whose pattern was still on your own tail. And how he was your only friend while in that tank.

Meanwhile back in the other tank Ethel was collecting the oldest adolescents who were about to be subadults as she noticed the scratches on the dwarf gourami and chuckled.

"Did you try to mate with my gold chamelon betta micro? And did she hand you your ass?" Ethel teased him as he scoweld and sulked.

"Well, it serves you right, she was too young for that, she's much younger than you and obviously of a different species." She insisted to him and the other males she had scooped up and put into the bag to transport them back to the shop for processing.

"I know, you don't want to leave either, but it's time for you to go too, thanks for being her friend sweetheart," She cooed to Nona as she scooped him up too and put him with the others.

"But I'm sorry to say, none of you will ever meet anything like her ever again. Chenera is a very special gold headed chameleon betta micro. From my best breeding stock I have and worth her weight in pearls and then some. And chances of any of you ever seeing anything like her again, are slim to none I'm sorry to say, what a beauty she was wasn't she? But as always, adults and elders, thank you so much for looking after her and doing the best you could for her, here is an anchovy for you guys and another clutch of molly eggs that were abandoned and surrendered at the store. So mollies, you're up." She said as she put the clutch down as the molly adults went over and happily took over the eggs with extra food for incentive.

"Ah, that explains, everything." Nona confessed as the bag was lifted and from this vantage point, just in the distance he could see a small tank full of gold dots and colorful fins and figured you were in that one and safely home.

"Goodbye Chenera, I loved you. I'm sorry I was too much of a scardey fish to say it until now." Nona admitted to himself, regretting not saying it when he had the chance. He should have swam after the net and told you, he should have been brave like you, he should have kissed you first, he should have admitted his own feelings for you so much sooner when you weren't being chased by that net. But he looked on with bittersweet relief. You were home, you were safe, you were surrounded by your kind and your family and if you would turn out to be anything like the other betta micros he could see from here, what a true beauty you'd end up being when you would fully grow up and mature. And that's the best that could have happened, and it did.

Meanwhile back in your home tank...

“What tank is this anyway?” You asked them as you ate after you had caught them up.

“Oh honey, we are the gold chameleon betta micro tank. You’re a gold chameleon betta micro. You’re the best of the best as far as the species goes. That’s why you have a gold head and hair but otherwise you change to suit your environment. So this pattern on your body, is this Nona’s pattern?” Your mother Miralia asked.

“Yes, he’s a guppy micro.” You answered as you looked down at your tail and traced the pattern over it, missing Nona like crazy. Wondering if your father or brothers would have actually attacked him if he had tried to follow you or if you had drug him along or if Ethel just would have grabbed him from the net and dropped him back in anyway.

“Ah that explains the shape and pattern. Well guppies are always friendly, I’m glad he at least was able to be your company and friend while you were in there and helped to keep you safe. Did the other males try to swarm you and always try to get you attention?” Your father Avarian asked worriedly.

“Yes, one was a dwarf gourami micro- named Larto- he was..he looked at me like I was food and tried to push me around and I threatened to smash his eyes out if he didn’t knock it off.” You answered and were surprised when your whole family cheered as your parents gave each other a meaningful and knowing look.

“Atta girl! Well we are bettas after all, we’re also known as “Siamese fighting micros” and we don’t back down from a fight or put up with any attitude from anyone else, and we never mix with gouramis, either dwarf or otherwise. Usually because they can grow to be twice our size as adults. But if he was still a youngling, you stood a good chance of making good on that threat and beating his tail into the gravel. So I take it that the reason you’re so dark is because you were hiding in some kind of cave? To get away from those awful dwarf gourami micros?” They asked and you nodded yes.

"Well that and he could have been looking at you like you were food or he could have been looking at you with mating on his brain." Your father gently broke to you.

"Eeewww!" You gagged and fought to keep your new food down as your siblings laughed as they shuddered.

"Yeah, eewww, no thank you." Your sisters repeated.

"That and you're still several cycles too young for that kind of thing anyway, and with the odds and ends tank, no one is rarely the same age, they get new clutches almost daily, how they keep everything straight is a miracle. But when you get to that stage, don't be surprised when every guy you meet looks at you that way but you won't have this reaction, you'll actually like it, expect it and want it, when it's from another betta micro." Your mother explained as you gave her a disbelieving look.

"Just trust me on this." Your mother placted.

“Anyways, never again will you ever have to put up with dwarf gouramis or any other micros of any other kind because usually us betta micros are kept all by ourselves in mated pairs and families to a tank, occasionally once you make it into the shop, if a buyer wants to put you into another tank, you might be with other micros, maybe even guppies or mollies or whatever, but never any dwarf gouramis or oscars or angels, because they’re all too big, and equally as aggressive as we can be, it’s either one mated pair of dwarf gouramis, oscars or bettas or angels, never two and definitely never all four at the same time.” Your mother explained.

It almost felt odd to sleep in a sleep pile again, this time in the absolute middle of it, your sisters had combed and braided your hair gorgeously so that it wouldn’t tangle. And after spending so long just sleeping in a small cave with Nona. You looked out into the room past the glass panes of the tank, with the various nightlights transfixed about the room and new motion sensors and cameras in the corners flashing red every once in a while that had been installed while you were in the odds tank.

You missed Nona, and the foliage, and the privacy of that little cave. Where it felt like you two were the only two micros in the world, and you were still shocked to learn that you were supposed to be so precious and amazing and better than anything or anyone else but to have what felt like half your life to be treated the opposite, you had a hard time accepting it, especially when Nona had treated you like an equal while also making you feel accepted and comforted and even a little special, because he was your only friend and you were his and you had felt odd to have a crush on him for the last couple of cycles and to take your one shot at kissing him, it was thrilling yet heartbreaking because it was your first, and probably your last and you felt sure that the way you felt about Nona, you didn’t want to feel that way about anyone else for as long as you lived.

But still, you had to admit, you had missed your family and your parents and the amazing food. Plus learning the true nature of yourself, made everything make a lot more sense.

But if you could get adopted by someone who would adopt other micros of other kinds, you had the small chance of seeing Nona again, you would just have to wait and be patient.

#Mermay #Mermay 2021 #Yes I know I'm late #as usual #I'm sorry #Micro mermaids #exo #exophillia #mermaids #mermaid romance #micro mermaid romance

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joezworld · 4 years ago

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Why has the UK stubbornly refused to recognize sentient vehicle rights like, at all?

At first it was cultural, then it was active coverup.

Culture

Like many industrial-revolution era countries, human rights kinda fell by the wayside in the name of progress. When child labour is still accepted and slavery is within living memory, sentient machines being treated like horses is not a stretch.

As a point of fact, most European countries (except Belgium) held similar views until the second world war - long story short, the Nazis offered locomotives full citizenship if they sided with them, and when it was apparent that they were losing, a lot of engines sided with the allies, but kept their (French/German/Vichy French/Dutch/Polish/other Nazi territory) citizenship. That and the US Army Railroad engines that went over to rebuild the continent forced Europe to accept engines as people.

The UK was mostly spared from the massive loss of infrastructure and never had to deal with the Nazis as an invading force, so they never had that happen. At the time (the 1940s) these views were not too unusual, as the North American/Japanese view on locomotive rights was a relative rarity everywhere else, so the UK was allowed to be a laggard because the world had bigger stuff going on.

Coverup

The first coverup was in the early 50′s. The cold war was slowly turning hot, and the west was slowly starting to not like communism. Old Uncle Joe Stalin realized in The War that railways won and lost the war, and made active efforts to keep the locomotives of the soviet rail network happy. (If you’ve watched the HBO show Chernobyl, the coal miners had a similar standing to locomotives in the USSR - they kept everything running)

As the soviets began to include locomotives in their society as a whole - equality for all workers and whatnot - this made countries like the UK, who had locomotives essentially in bondage/slavery, decided to keep their engines in the dark, less they decide to break free from their shackles and become communists. It also didn’t help that the vast majority of the British Public viewed locomotives in the same vein as they would a working animal like a horse - barely sentient and hardly worth notice. A few bills about loco rights introduced into parliament were quietly hushed up or just died in committee.

Then came modernization.

Word spread slowly, mainly through newsreel footage (that absolutely spawned riots when shown in North America) and escaping locomotives, but the world really didn’t begin to catch on until the late 1960s, when BR started scrapping relatively new steam engines, who were young enough to be considered children even by continental European standards.

The outcry was mostly diplomatic - most European countries at the time, including the UK, had vanishingly few media outlets and most of those were either directly controlled by the state or were able to be censored by them. The Europeans didn’t want to show genocide on national television because, well, y’know - that, and while the Americans were making some noise about it when not staggering from land war in Asia to missile crisis to a different land war in Asia, the BBC merely refused to air the stories. With “Auntie Beeb” as the driving force behind credibility at that time, ITV and the newspapers didn’t really run those stories. What few they did were either buried deep in the back pages or were blocked by D-Notice. (D-Notices were used because if the trains rioted, the country would be in a bad place from the government’s perspective.)

Meanwhile on the international stage, the UN was mostly silent - as it was for most genocides - because of the Cold War. The British Army was one of the largest bulwarks against the Soviets (especially if they stormed their way through Europe and left the UK by itself), and the country was a major world superpower and a world-spanning empire.

As the thinking goes: You do not accuse a major economic and defense ally of Genocide, especially if they actually did it - because then they won’t be allies with you.

In fairness to the UN, they did clandestinely fund hundreds of different locomotive extraction operations from the 1960s to present day, so it wasn’t like they did nothing, but they had to give the outward appearance of that to keep the Brits from having massive social upheaval.

That was the other problem - it was determined that there was a non-zero chance of a revolution level event if the British Public found out that they’d been complicit to a genocide. In order to keep things stable, the UN didn’t push.

This period of mild détente continued all the way through the 1980s, when Operation Smash Hit happened. I’m writing a longer story just on this, but the short version is that shit hit the fan on an international stage, and the UK Government responded by putting a blanket D-Notice over everything related to OSH and the subject of locomotive rights in general.

This held all the way into the mid-2000s, when a couple of things started to happen:

9/11 happened, and some of our strongest partners in peace/commerce became countries with awful human rights records like Saudi Arabia and Russia. The Locomotive Genocide by this point was 30+ years in the past, so the horror was somewhat removed by then, and Britain was seen as comparatively innocent.

The EU finally managed to slip some locomotive specific legislation into law, and basically added a 300% tax on scrap locomotive parts. This killed the locomotive scrap industry in the UK, and means that most locomotives withdrawn since 2005ish have just sat around on out-of-use lines instead of being killed.

The recession happened, and used locomotive exports became a profitable business during 2009-2010, as out-of-use locomotives were sent away to be “scrapped” in Albania and Greece. (The UN paid the scrap merchants for their trouble and the Albanian and Greek state railways got new locomotives for a lot less.)

The last 2 points basically made it seem a lot better for British Locomotives, as they weren’t likely to be killed in the name of the economy, which has settled many of the worries held on an international stage. The rise of the internet has slowly built awareness within the United Kingdom, but nothing has yet happened, as there’s 200+ years of cultural inertia working against locomotives within the UK. It might happen soon, but soon is a very long time to wait.

#ask response #locomotive rights headcanon #background info #sentient vehicles #sentient vehicle headcanon #Headcanon #long

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tomeandflickcorner · 4 years ago

Text

Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Last Train to Oblivion

Bit of a simple story in this one, but still a good one (apart from a few nitpicks of mine). Though the simplicity makes it seem really short.

It’s nearly midnight at Grand Central Station, and the train from Trenton, New Jersey is just pulling in. But when the clock strikes midnight on the dot, the train tracks begin to spark and soon bend upwards. This ends up signaling the appearance of a ghost dressed in traditional train engineer clothing. The ghost quickly scares away all the bystanders at the station before entering one of the trains, making his way up to the control car. There, he takes a few moments to examine the control console before letting out a loud howl of what I guess was supposed to be frustration. Because if this was the ghost of an old-time train engineer, then the modern-style trains are probably are very confusing and alien to him.

It then cuts over to the Firehouse, where we see Peter has decided to stay up late to set up and play with a model train set. It seems that Peter is really into trains, which is an interest that seemed to come out of nowhere. Egon, who I guess was coming downstairs to get a midnight snack, pauses for a moment to comment on Peter’s train obsession, because Peter was even mimicking train noises as he played with his trains. Though Peter seems to be ignoring him, so Egon shrugs and continues onto the kitchen. Slimer then shows up, wanting to play with Peter’s train as well, but Peter slaps his hand away from the controls. So Slimer decides to, I guess, turn himself into a tunnel for the train to go through. Which results in him eating the toy train. Naturally, Peter is ticked about this. But before he can do anything to Slimer in retaliation, the phone rings and Peter has to go answer it. I’m guessing Janine finally was allowed to get a night off. That’s great! The woman deserves a break every now and then.

The phone call turns out to be about the disturbance down at Grand Cental Station, so the Ghostbusters suit up and head out. Upon arriving at the train station, they’re greeted by a security guard. Who actually asks them if they’re the Ghostbusters. (No, it’s some other group of guys carrying Proton Packs and driving around in the Ecto-1.) The security guard tells them about the ghost he’d seen and speculates it might be the ghost of Casey Jones. The Ghostbusters then make their way into the station, with Peter talking to Winston about how Casey Jones was a train engineer who was involved in the most famous train wreck in railroad history. (Yeah, I’ll talk more about that at the end of this review.) Here, Peter gets distracted by the sight of an actual working steam locomotive that was sitting out in the open for some reason, so he has to run over to check it out, with Winston following after him.

Meanwhile, Egon and Ray are looking around the train station. They come across Casey Jones in a cafeteria-like area of the train station. At the moment, Casey Jones is busy looking at a cup of coffee and an iced tea, as if trying to decide which he’d rather have. The episode explains through Egon’s dialogue that Casey Jones must have a sore throat or something and is needing to lubricate his throat. Which does make sense, since after Casey Jones downs the cup of coffee, he actually starts speaking. Up until that point, all he did was make that horrible wailing noise. For a while, Egon and Ray continue trying to track down Casey Jones. But every time they have him in their sights, Casey Jones manages to get the better of them, either burying them in a pile of train tickets or dropping suitcases full of clothes on them.

Eventually, Casey Jones makes it outside, just in time to see Peter and Winston standing near the steam locomotive that Peter had been playing around in. He apparently overhears Peter telling Winston how much he loved trains as a boy, and had even taken up Engineering as a college major for two years, until he figured out it had nothing to do with trains. This, combined with the fact that Peter is now wearing an engineer hat he found inside the steam locomotive, leads to Casey Jones abducting Peter, taking him into the steam locomotive and shackling him next to the locomotive’s boiler. Casey Jones instructs Peter to keep the fire burning in the boiler. At first, Peter refuses, mentioning union rules and whatnot. But he quickly relents when Casey Jones virtually threatens him by crushing a sheet of metal in his hand. So, as Peter starts shoveling coal into the boiler, the train starts to move. And despite Winston’s best efforts, he cannot reach Peter in time before the train picks up speed and moves out of sight.

Here, we get a prolonged sequence with Egon, Ray and Winston trying to follow the train Casey Jones is manning, in an effort to get Peter back. They try all manner of things to get onto the train. Such as jumping onto the train as it goes under an overpass (this fails because Ray miscalculated the number of cars on the train) and trying to block the train by parking the Ecto-1 on the tracks (they have to abort this plan pretty quickly for obvious reasons). At one point, they have to steer the Ecto-1 directly onto the tracks in order to avoid driving into the Delaware River, which obviously results in everyone inside the Ecto-1 experiencing a rather bumpy ride. Eventually, Ray comes up with a plan to use the track ramp to launch the Ecto-1 directly onto the roof of the train. This plan ends up working, but even then, they’re not in the clear. Because Casey Jones apparently sensed their presence and went out to face them, demanding they get off the train. But that leads to more filler scenes. Because they briefly shake Casey Jones when the train entered a tunnel, because Casey Jones was ‘standing up’ at the time and was momentarily too solid to pass through the wall. There’s a weird joke when Ray states he saw something amazing but then says ‘forget it, you missed it’ when the train exits the tunnel. Then the train goes through a second tunnel, and when it comes back out again, the Ghostbusters are inexplicitly inside the train. It’s a bizarre moment, but I guess you have to get a little gimmicky when you’re dealing with a train going through a dark tunnel.

Eventually, Ray, Egon and Winston make it to the front of the train, where Casey Jones (who had managed to catch up after the tunnel mishap) is in the process of instructing Peter to throw the last piece of coal into the boiler. Ray instructs Peter to not move (and Peter literally freezes in place), and the Ghostbusters effortlessly are able to capture Casey Jones inside a Ghost Trap. However, it seems there’s still an issue that must be addressed. Up ahead, there is an Amtrak passenger train heading right towards them, with a collision course imminent.

So the Ghostbusters scramble to try and think of a way to prevent the two trains from crashing. Ray tries to pull the brake in the steam engine, but it snaps off in his hand. Briefly, Ray and Egon consider simply jumping off the steam engine before the two trains collide, but Peter points out that he’s still shackled in place and there wouldn’t be time to free him. Winston also adds that jumping out won’t prevent the people in the incoming passenger train from getting hurt. He then announces that the ghost they caught really must have been Casey Jones, citing the ghost’s history of causing train wrecks. But this statement gives Peter a revelation. Acting quickly, he takes the Ghost Trap and releases Casey Jones. Upon being freed, Casey Jones flies out of the steam locomotive and heads right for a nearby track switch. Upon pulling the track switch, the steam locomotive is diverted to a second track, thereby preventing the collision from happening. Once the two trains miss each other, the steam locomotive slows to a stop, and Peter is instantly released from his shackles.

As the Ghostbusters climb out, Peter explains that he’d figured out that Casey Jones had been trying to correct the mistake he’d made in his life. Since he’d caused a train crash while he was alive, his ghost had been trying to prevent a train wreck in an effort to seek redemption. Although, Egon points out that Peter’s plan had been a risky gamble. Still, it seems that Casey Jones had achieved what he had been trying to do, and he waves goodbye to the Ghostbusters as he fades from sight, signifying the fact that his soul is now at peace.

Okay, I’m all for stories involving ghosts who are simply trying to cross over. But for some reason, I have a slight issue with this episode. While I do sympathize with Casey Jones’ plight, it still seems like a jerk move for him to have done all this. Yeah, his spirit wanted to prevent a train wreck so he could cross over. But does it still count when he deliberately creates a situation where a train wreck could happen? That aside, there’s the fact that this episode suggests that the train wreck that killed Casey Jones also killed a bunch of other people. Particularly when Peter states that Casey Jones’ ghost had wanted to save lives, not take them. The main issue with this is that it contradicts the actual story involving Casey Jones. Yeah, Casey Jones was an actual person. The factual Casey Jones died when the passenger train he was manning collided with a stalled freight train in Mississippi. However, he did successfully manage to prevent a disastrous crash by skillfully slowing the engine, which saved the lives of the train’s passengers at the cost of his own. In other words, the only person who died in that crash was Casey Jones himself. So, if Casey Jones died saving the lives of the other passengers, what exactly was he seeking redemption for?

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

#the real ghostbusters #rgb episode review #ghostbusters franchise

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whispersafterdusk · 4 years ago

Text

Lost in Time - ch 18

Getting around in Portia was pretty dang easy, all things considered. It was a peaceful town; no one really expected theft or violence.

If she was an actual thief this would have been a dream playground.

But she wasn't. She was far more than a thief -- even thinking of herself in that manner was insulting. She was here for information...even the smallest detail could be important back home, and she was exceptionally good at picking out the right kind of details. ((Continued below cut))

With the simple locks on all the doors here in town it was ridiculously easy to go poking around for information; she'd always walked with a quiet and careful step and had spent her childhood accidentally "sneaking" up on people, which had drawn the attention of Duvos's allies within Lucien. Between her mother's tips and tricks and some rigorous training within Duvos's armed forces she'd been a talented snoop even before she'd stolen her mother's scouting suit. This Portia job was considerably easier than any assignment she'd been given before and even without the suit on she could read everyone's mail, eavesdrop on whoever she wanted, she'd planted the Uplifter manual in a box in the neighboring clinic to uphold the illusion that it had been misplaced rather than stolen and carefully memorized, and Dr. Xu's desk always had up to date information regarding the upcoming construction effort to expand the clinic into a school and install the All Source AI here.

Everything she could feasibly find pertinent to her mission here was all within easy reach.

Dr. Xu's desk also held something far more interesting than the construction information too: she'd accidentally stumbled on some counseling records on one Elizabeth Summers...the folder that held them was dog-eared and worn -- they'd looked more used than the others there and that had drawn her attention. Reading through those had been... To think that someone could have survived inside a fancy, high-tech tank for three hundred years. It seemed impossible and yet at the same time she had to marvel at what mankind had been capable of creating in ancient times, and she felt a sharp pang of jealousy and loss when she considered just how much they'd lost in the Calamity.

All that knowledge that woman must be carrying...first-hand information regarding the Old World -- advanced medical knowledge AND technical knowledge! That would make Duvos unstoppable if they had that in their grasp, and if only she'd known sooner about Summers then they could have planned to snatch her as well when they made their move for the AI.

Oh well. If not now then in the future -- Duvos was going to eventually win. They had to - their worldwide plans for humanity were too important to let sit unimagined: gathering everyone under ONE banner, ONE leadership, and everyone taken care of so there'd be no more fighting over dwindling Old World resources as mankind dug itself out of the crater the Calamity had left them in (a crater that now seemed leagues deeper after what she'd read in the counseling notes).

Granted, she could readily admit that Duvos's methods of getting everyone under one empire were a bit heavy-handed; it was understandable that the wider world wanted nothing to do with a nation they saw as violent warmongers. But that opinion only made sense if people didn't bother to look beyond the outermost layer of the empire -- no one ever dug deeper to truly understand how Duvos was striving to take care of its citizens. One thing Lily appreciated about Duvos's claim to technology was everything they discovered or learned was immediately turned toward the empire's benefit, and its citizens reaped the rewards with more and higher paying jobs, higher crop yields of ever increasing quality, and the feeling of security knowing that THEY, at least, had nothing to fear from other nations daring to come in and take it all away.

Duvos would get the world back on track to becoming that utopia it had once been in ages past, and that would be so much easier if the city states and neighboring nations would just join together and stand shoulder to shoulder beneath the empire's banner.

It was an inevitable future that she wished the rest of the continent would see the sense in, and if they'd all just pick the easy route...

She'd spotted Evangeline walking down the road toward the harbor a few days ago and while she hadn't seen her since, nor had she seen Marcus, if she was here then he was too and it was good to know they had arrived and would be ready to move when the time came.

There would be more than them, of course; as a security measure Lily didn't know who to expect (Marcus and Evangeline WOULD, though) but knew there'd be at least two more because Xan's original plan had been simple and to the point: once the All Source AI had been moved to the clinic they would break in, disable it, and take it and all its attached computer parts out to the open desert where a plane would be landing to take them all back to Duvos. It had some inherent risk to it (all plans of that nature would) but they'd all been satisfied with it and everyone knew exactly what part they would have to play to make it happen.

NOW, however, with what amounted to a body double of the doctor that ran that clinic, they could step back and go a bit slower at it...carefully take things apart, pack them separately and carry it all out a little bit at a time over the course of a few hours instead of a mad rush with all of it on them at one time. She was certain whoever else was sent along to help wouldn't mind the change in the plan, especially since Xan himself approved of it.

And they'd have Harrison on hand to help dispel any suspicion -- Lily didn't believe in any gods or anything like fate but the coincidence of the two men sounding so much alike AND there being a machine that could alter one to look like the other was almost enough to make her consider offering a "thank you" to the cosmos. Harrison wasn't exactly the heroic type either and all he'd have to do is do as he was told to get his family and teacher back safe and sound - she couldn't see him being bold enough to try anything and risk someone getting killed so she didn't feel even the slightest hint of guilt over it!

Speaking of doing what she was supposed to do... Lily shook herself out of her thoughts and glanced behind her at the path she was leaving in the field as she walked. The mud beneath her feet sucked at her boots but it did make it incredibly easy to push in the little colored row markers Sophie had given her; the farm had a multi-bladed plow contraption that was hauled along behind a sturdy draft horse and the old woman liked to have these markers out before the plowing started so not only would the rows be simple to keep evenly spaced but also so it was clear what seed was going where in the fields when planting time came (she'd tried explaining something about crop rotations and whatnot but Lily had honestly tuned her out halfway through her rambling).

White for wheat (there was a LOT of white markers), yellow for cornballs (also quite numerous), various shades of green for peas, leafy greens, peppers, bamboo papaya, bright orange for potato fruit, purple for pumpkins, and bright blue for layered carrots. She'd already marked out a small plot up near the farmhouse for herbs as well...she'd had the passing thought of asking for a plot to plant some flowers just so there'd be something here she'd actually enjoy tending to but there wouldn't be much point in that being as she'd be leaving soon anyway.

Maybe when it was all said and done and Duvos had united everyone Lily could switch careers and get into some manner of horticulture. It would be harder work than spying but it was hard to ignore how much she loved seeing and caring for brightly colored blooms.

It was good to have goals, no matter how far out into the future they seemed.

...maybe they would start construction soon while the ground was soft, and all her goals would shift forward a bit in time.

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

Between training in the mornings, taking on her new patrols and postings in the early afternoon, and training Toby in the late afternoon through early evening, by the time bed time rolled around Eli was only too happy to crawl under the blankets and pass out.

It felt good to be so active. It was like being back in...

Don't-

...no. She couldn't shut this particular thing out. That was too big a part of who she was. She might not be in charge of this "squad" but it was like coming home; maybe it was the only real thing she COULD refer to as "home." It was a topic she'd discussed with Dr. Xu during their sessions and they'd been carefully untangling her feelings regarding the whole thing: survivor's guilt, mourning what she'd lost, and trying not to feel guilty over building a new life that resembled her old one. If she was going to keep moving forward then she had to stop blocking things out.

So. Yes. She could admit to herself it was like being back in her squad. She NEEDED to admit that to herself, and embrace and understand everything that came with it, no matter how painful.

She'd just stepped through the doorway of her room when she heard pounding feet coming up behind her; as she turned Selene - smudged with oil and red in the face - came into view and the woman broke into a wide smile as she spotted Eli standing there.

"Oh good - I caught you before you fell asleep. It's done!"

"...which "it" are we talking about here?" Eli prompted after a pause; her tired brain couldn't recall if Selene had mentioned anything nearing completion recently aside from work on cutting through the door.

"The rifle!" Selene laughed. "Remington managed to find the pieces so I could cast off them and now I've got it all assembled -- I've got some ammo made too."

"Oh. Well, wasn't expecting that." Eli rubbed at her eyes and turned to follow as Selene gestured for her to come along; Selene practically jogged back to her factory while Eli followed at a brisk walking pace.

The factory was still working away at making the components needed for the signal towers so it was as noisy as ever inside the building -- a section of the shelves against the wall that normally held Selene's collection of tools had been cleared away and there were neat rows of pieces and parts all laying together and shining brightly in the overhead lights. A quick count showed that at least four signal towers' worth of parts was there...slowly but surely they'd have them done, assembled, and installed.

Selene led her over to a workbench against the wall to their left; sitting on a makeshift metal stand was a rifle that, while not quite what Eli had been using three hundred years ago, still looked enough like a rifle that she could immediately pick out all the individual elements in the weapon:

The safety was there above the trigger guard, the chamber was left open (it was a bolt action-style rifle), there was a polished set of iron sights installed on the barrel, and it looked like the butt was a decently thick section of rubber that had been repurposed off something else judging by the rubber remnants sitting in a pile next to a bin full of scrap. Sitting in a semicircle beneath the rifle stand were nine bullets; they weren't a caliber she was familiar with (she felt it was safe to assume that they didn't measure bullets in the same way anymore). They were larger than the ones that went into the revolver she was carrying but smaller than the ones she utilized three hundred years ago and she was already debating how she wanted to carry them on her.

"I had Ack help me line the sights up - he may be a cook but his eyes work way better than any human's eyes would," Selene said as she carefully lifted the rifle off the stand and held it out to her. "And, while they weren't exactly thrilled I DID have Merlin and Petra show me some ancient designs. I based this on one of those old guns but had to use what I'm able to make so it has the uh - the little thingy-"

"It's bolt action," Eli interrupted with a chuckle as Selene gestured at the chamber. "I know. Back in my day these were automatic and you just loaded in a magazine that had a lot of rounds in it and they cycled as the trigger was pulled. True bolt actions were usually reserved for marksman competitions."

"Yes, that - the automatic thing I mean" Selene said with a giggle. "I saw how it worked in that design but I just don't have what's needed to craft something like that reliably. Looking at that old stuff was weird though, since some of them had ammo that was like sand...?"

At the builder's question Eli nodded as she turned the rifle over in her hands; it was heavy, sturdy. "I'm surprised you had plans or pictures of those still... They were specialized plasma rifles and they didn't use typical ammo. They were also expensive as hell and broke down rather easily if you didn't keep them immaculately clean. Basically grains of the ammo would fall into the chamber, and in one split instant would be turned to plasma and ejected -- that's the really, really, REALLY simple explanation. I don't know enough of the science behind it to tell you exactly how to make one of those. Heck, I doubt I could tell you enough on how to break down and clean one of them since I've only ever fired one a handful of times on a shooting range."

She picked up a bullet and slotted it into the chamber, then tested how the bolt moved; it was sticking ever so slightly - thinking on it Eli realized Selene probably didn't know how to grease or oil anything like this so before she even thought of test firing she should check the rifle out herself piece by piece.

"Has a bit of a stick to it. Want to learn where all the grease is supposed to go?"

Selene thought a moment, then nodded. "Might as well. I greased and oiled what I thought needed it but I guess I didn't get enough in the right places."

Eli ejected the bullet and placed it back with the others then returned the rifle to the stand. "It's possible, but it's also possible that whatever you're using might not be the right sort of thing for the job. We can go over that tomorrow though - I'm totally wiped for the night."

"Well why didn't you say something?" Selene huffed. "It's not like it's going anywhere."

"It's fine," Eli chuckled. She headed toward the door with Selene following along at her elbow. "I'm always tired in the evenings lately...I swear, eventually I'll be back in top shape."

"And, then you won't be tired?"

"No, I'll be LESS tired," Eli corrected.

Selene stuck her tongue out at her. "But still tired and you should mention that the next time I have something to show you so I don't drag you out of the house again."

"Fine fine," Eli grumbled, but smiled afterward.

They headed back inside the house with Eli headed toward her room again; Selene headed into the kitchen and a moment later stuck her head back through the door.

"Oh, by the way - I got more butter."

"Beat me to it, thanks," Eli called back over a shoulder as she again stepped through the doorway to her room and carefully closed the door behind her, and then leaned against the door as she debated grabbing a snack before bed now that she knew butter was back in the house.

Frequenting Martha's for loaves of that raisin bread was becoming a habit -- partly because she and Selene both went through a loaf in about two days (toasted and with a smear of butter was an amazing treat) and also because Eli wanted to try and help Martha offset any miscellaneous costs that might be cropping up because of her training Toby. She already knew he was going through paper as he made himself reference notes and pictures but when she started in with the physical training aspect there'd be a possible uptick in food costs, and clothes would need replacing if they got torn or stained, boots would wear out quicker...

As she stood there just inside her door she could feel weariness pressing in like a weighted blanket dropped over her head; it was probably too late in the evening for a snack anyway, and if she had a slice of the bread now there wouldn't be enough left for their breakfast.

Pinky was sitting in the middle of her bed again; she rolled the cat over to make enough room to get her legs on the bed and under the covers, then settled in against her pillow. As usual Pinky took her time getting comfortable and Eli winced a bit as the heavy animal briefly stepped across her knees; her legs were sore from all the walking she'd done today but she couldn't be bothered to get up to take an aspirin at the moment, and she mentally reminded herself she needed to pick up another bottle of it from Dr. Xu when she went in for her next therapy session.

They would be starting the construction on the expansion soon...Selene was nearly through that door. She WOULD have been through the door yesterday if she hadn't run out of fuel for her cutting torch; it was quicker to order it from Vega 5 and have it shipped here than it was for her to gather up what was needed and try to refine it herself so during this little waiting period she was focusing fully on getting those signal transmitters finished and assembled.

That was going to be...interesting. Those transmitters were going on top of tall metal towers and it promised to be a heck of a climb to reach the top, and there was the question of how they would haul the transmitter up there with them. They would weigh about forty pounds each which wasn't TOO heavy, technically, but they'd be bulky and someone would be carrying one up a ladder...they should probably rig up a temporary pulley system to make it easier and safer on everyone involved when the time came to install them.

Well, whatever. That was a problem for Future-Eli. Now-Eli just wanted to go to sleep, and for her left calf to stop cramping.

Right as she was dozing off there was a quick knock at her door.

"Hey Eli - sorry to bug you but Asher's wondering if you're still up."

A couple of thoughts immediately raced through her mind: had the spy been caught? Had the spy hurt someone? If this wasn't a case of life or death should she strangle Asher now or wait until morning?

"M'awake," she mumbled. She rolled out of bed (and Pinky immediately reclaimed her spot in the middle of the mattress) and paused long enough to put a bra back on before opening the door and padding barefoot to the living room where Asher was sitting on the sofa.

He was perched on the edge of the cushions, elbows braced on his knees and actually twiddling his thumbs as one heel bounced up and down. When she came through the door his head jerked up to look at her; his expression was grim and she felt a small jolt of worry shoot through her.

"What's up?"

He opened his mouth to reply then paused to look her up and down. "-uh."

"Yes, I'm wearing duck-printed pajamas, it's what I pulled out of the drawer tonight. Why are you here?" Eli asked, trying to keep the hard edge of 'authority' out of her tone -- she was NOT in charge, Asher was NOT her subordinate, and it wasn't fair to be annoyed at him since she doubted he'd be making a social call this late at night.

"It's - well, I was hoping to talk on the way."

"The way where?"

Asher bit his lower lip and then huffed out a sigh. "Graveyard."

Eli's eyes narrowed and she spun on a heel to rush back to her room and get clothes, boots, and her holster on. Asher was standing at the door when she came back and she followed him out into the night; he set a quick pace across the yard and waited until they were beyond the gate before he spoke.

"Remington and I were walking to the Corps building from the Round Table, saw a light in the graveyard -- was pretty low to the ground, Remington was worried someone had left a candle lit out there so we went to have a look. Right as we went through the gate someone took a potshot at us - it was way wide so I'm thinking it was clearly meant to be a warning shot, or a distraction to let whoever it was get away. Remington went for back up and I kept going, looking and listening and using the stones as cover. I combed the place over and didn't see anyone or get any more bullets in my direction, but..."

He trailed off as they came to the graveyard's gate, and pulled out a small flashlight and clicked it on; Eli tensed up and scanned the area, marking every shadow and mentally putting herself on high alert for any sort of movement or sound. Asher seemed cautious but not nearly as cautious as she would have been with an active shooter on the loose; he knew exactly where he was going and about six graves in Eli realized where he was leading her.

Darren's grave was very distinct compared to the ones around it, and in the light of the flashlight she could see a message scorched across the stone:

Neither Portia nor the world needs you

She felt the bite of her nails against her palms as her fists clenched, and there was the roar of her own blood in her ears as an immediate rage hit her.

"Oh you fucking did not, you bastard," Eli snarled before she could stop herself.

"...what?" Asher asked after a moment.

...that had come out in Dubeian. Probably good that it had. "I am not translating that," she replied. She took a deep breath and slowly relaxed her hands; her palms were still stinging. "And you didn't see anyone?"

Asher shook his head and quickly panned the flashlight's beam around the grave - the grass was flattened but none of the tracks were clear. "Nope. And I'm thinking I know why."

She tore her gaze from the gravestone and looked over to him; he was looking at her with a clear expression of concern on his face. "You're thinking the spy's figured out who I am and where I came from."

"Duvos likes their technology-"

"-so they're going to make me a target, got it," Eli interrupted. She reached out and took the flashlight from him and squatted to get a better look at the trampled grass.

As she'd initially determined the tracks weren't clear; they were all muddled together and she couldn't get a feel for the size or type of footwear that had been tramping around here and, for some reason, they simply stopped at the edges of the nearby graves. She stood and had a look at the next grave over and could see grass and mud smeared across the top, and similar smears were on the base of the grave beyond that.

"...almost looks like our perp jumped from tombstone to tombstone to hide their tracks, except for here because they wouldn't have been able to balance on the bottom of Darren's stone AND do their fucking defacing without burning their own face off," she muttered. "So what's their damn aim...try and intimidate me into leaving town and grab me off the road? They picked the wrong bitch to try and scare off, I can tell you that much... Where's everyone else?"

Asher gestured beyond the fence line. "Sam went out that way, Arlo took Remington and went to check the ruins down the hill, and Mali is checking 'round the church and along the walls. I cleared the cafe, commerce guild, and apartments, then got sent to go get you. Adam's on alert out at the facility."

With a sigh that trailed out into a growl Eli ran a hand through her hair to push it back into place; some goddamn-- could she even blame this on the spy? That had been both their immediate suspicions, and if Duvos knew about her she supposed it would make sense for them to try and grab her, but what if it wasn't even related to that? Could be some church crony...Portia got a lot of tourists, ANYONE could slip in pretending to be there for the scenery.

"Have you told Gale yet?"

Asher shook his head. "Not yet - Arlo wanted to clear the area first since we've got undeniable proof that there's an armed whoever out there. Can't really let them have the run of the town. I'm thinking they're long gone though -- no idea where to, but I doubt we're going to find them."

"And if they'd wanted to actually shoot one of you they could have..." Eli said quietly. "You'd have to be a piss poor shot to miss a target that doesn't even know you're there."

"Yep. And they could have followed up in the confusion too - we didn't know where it'd come from at first."

Eli panned the flashlight around slowly, marking out where the mud smears and even a few tufts of grass led; it looked like whoever it was had jumped the fence at the back of the graveyard... She walked over and looked up and down the fenceline and could see where the grass had been disturbed but was quickly recovering from the trampling. With a grunt she vaulted over the fence and headed out, only vaguely aware of Asher calling for her to wait for him; he'd said Sam had gone out this way so maybe she'd found something by now.

This was part of the tree farm so somewhere out here she'd come across the now well-worn footpath that would lead out to the facility; of course, there were also a lot of ruined buildings out this way that, while they'd been stripped down of anything useful, were still decently intact and could house and hide any number of persons who managed to get inside.

Those ruins would both take time to clear and be especially dangerous to do so.

So much for sleeping tonight.

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

"At the very least Lee assures me that he knows of no such Church agent within Portia, and frankly he seemed genuinely disgusted and concerned by the idea that someone would fire on an innocent like that - not even enforcers would dare be so reckless."

Asher was only half-listening to the man; he was somewhat distracted by the burning need to find whoever it was that had shot at them AND defaced the gravestone so he could pound them into a fine paste. Competing with that need was the thought that he couldn't decide if it would be better or worse for this latest development to be unrelated to the spy -- it COULD be someone related to the Church in some way - either a rogue enforcer or some random nobody who heard rumors and came to deal with it themselves: vigilantes weren't common but Asher had run into them enough times to know that if someone got it into their head that only THEIR narrowly defined world view was the right view then they felt justified in doing whatever they felt needed to be done. And, of course, it COULD in fact be their spy trying to distract them and spread their numbers thin. They all knew the facility and Stewart were the spy's target but if Duvos knew about Eli too...

"I feel we've little choice - we need to let the townspeople know at the next town meeting that there's an armed and dangerous person somewhere in the region," Arlo spoke up then. "We can't risk someone getting hurt because they didn't know to be on the lookout."

"But the next meeting isn't for another couple days," Sam said. "Do we want to risk something happening in the meantime? Or risk letting whoever this is walk out of town freely?"

Remington shook his head. "We can't do much about them leaving - we have no idea what this person looks like, and while it's not TOO common we do get folks coming through Portia who carry sidearms on them. Not every traveler with a gun is going to be the person we're looking for."

That was something Asher agreed with. Guns weren't plentiful but they were still around, and while they tended to be small or have limited range they were still quite dangerous. Thankfully a lot of them weren't all that accurate and so he'd spent all night (because who in the world could sleep after knowing someone shot at them?) wavering back and forth between believing it had been just a warning shot meant to distract them or if the person had actually intended to hit them but the weapon or their skill was at fault for the wide shot. He was leaning more toward the warning shot still since, even though he and Remington had ducked for cover immediately, there had been plenty of time for follow up shots that hadn't come...but was he willing to stake lives on that assessment? Even if THIS had been just a warning there might not be a warning the NEXT time.

"I think we need to tell everyone, immediately," Asher spoke up then. "And I agree that not everyone with a gun is our troublemaker but if we see anyone armed we should at least keep an eye on them if we can. Our guy probably came in over the fence from the tree farm, same way they left too - can we close the tree farm to any tourists? Whoever this is might not be deterred by the need to scale the fence versus walking through the gate but at the very least we'd cut down on the traffic in the area since regular folks would be kept away."

Gale nodded. "That's an idea -- better to disappoint people than put them in danger or let our culprit have the run of the farm."

Asher saw Eli stir out of the corner of his eye. "Do many people tour the tree farm?" she asked.

"From early spring to early fall we do get a surprising number of folks wanting to see the apple blossoms and pick the fruit, and Dawa keeps a section of just the fruiting trees for that purpose. Portia's emergency funds can certainly cover any lost wages that'll come from curtailing traffic to the farm."

"For now that seems like a good idea, and in the near future we're going to have all the signal towers up so that'll help us coordinate keeping an eye on things. I told Selene about our newest visitor's antics and she's going to pull double duty to get everything made," Eli went on. "We'll need to borrow some muscle to get them up and installed but then we'll all be in contact with one another no matter where we are in Portia."

Asher watched as she lifted and then waggled the wrist that her Hi-Def was strapped to. "-that would make life a lot easier," he said into the pause that followed. "One of us spots something, we ALL know about it immediately."

"Have we heard anything from anyone else?" Remington asked. He was looking at Mali, and Asher turned his attention to her as well.

"No," Mali replied. "So far as the Alliance's spies and scouts can tell nothing has changed within Duvos's territory -- no increases in labor, material acquisitions, or troop movements. They're still occupying the Orzu Ruins and saber rattling at Ethea but nothing has escalated and we've not heard of any secret plans of theirs in the circles our spies have infiltrated. If this person is working under direct orders from Duvos higher ups they're keeping it very well hidden."

Gale stood up and pressed his hands against his desk, slowly panning his gaze to look at all of them one at a time. "All right then, it seems we have a tentative plan -- I'll spread word, and I hope you all will as well, that we're to have an emergency town meeting tomorrow night. I would aim for tonight but I worry that wouldn't be enough time to make sure everyone knows about it -- we'll be cautious, and keep our eyes peeled for any trouble, and I'll go to Dawa immediately after this to instruct him to close the tree farm to everyone except for those there strictly for business purposes."

There was a lot of nodding at that; Gale inhaled and exhaled slowly and then moved out from around his desk only to pause and look toward Eli as she cleared her throat.

"Not to uh...sour the mood further, but what's your protocol on shooting to kill?"

The room went silent; all eyes, Asher's included, moved to Eli. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised by it (she'd already shot at the spy once) but with the exception of Remington and Mali it seemed everyone else definitely was.

After a moment of no responses Eli shrugged. "Sorry, but it needs to be made clear right now. I'm armed, and I've already tried to put a bullet into our visitor once -- I wasn't wanting to kill and I didn't hit them anyway but I was ready to accept whatever consequences would've followed if I had, because I was essentially a private citizen then. Now I'm part of your law enforcement. I need to know if I'm allowed to use lethal force if it comes to it."

"IF it comes to that," Arlo said; his tone was a bit strained -- Asher wondered if the man had ever really stopped to think about taking a life. None of the Civil Corps here seemed to carry a weapon and he doubted they'd ever been placed in a "them or me" situation with anything other than a rogue monster or robot (he knew Remington had seen action in Lucien so that would explain why the man didn't look so shocked at her question). Cutting down some leftover relic or rampaging beast was a heck of a lot different from having to take down another person.

Eli nodded to him. "Unfortunately I think it might, now that we know they're armed. I'll do whatever I can to not let it get to that point but..."

She trailed off; Mali was nodding at her and Arlo noticed it. For a long moment Arlo looked between Mali and Eli, then sighed and looked to Gale. "I'd hear your opinion on this."

Gale pressed his lips together. "Well..." he started, drawing the word out. "You all know I've seen action myself. The thought of killing is as abhorrent now as it was then but sometimes, you're not given a choice." He turned to look to Eli. "Being as you were formally trained and were a ranking member of your military I imagine you would know when it's time to use lethal force or not, and I feel I can trust you to use your judgement to avoid any unneeded loss of life."

"I appreciate the trust and I won't let you down," Eli replied. "I'm not about to let this story become a murder mystery."

Arlo, Remington, Sam, and Gale all nodded knowingly; Asher looked to Mali and saw a hint of the same confusion he was feeling at the moment but Gale was ushering them out of his office now so he hurried out ahead of the others.

The sun was just starting to come up - a reminder that they'd all gotten hardly any or, in some cases, no sleep at all. Asher had a running record of three days without sleep and hoped he wasn't going to be breaking that record in the upcoming days; Mali immediately headed out through Portia's gates to head back to the facility while Gale's steps appeared to be leading him back to his house.

"-any orders for the morning, Arlo?" Asher asked after a moment.

"I'd like you and Eli to comb the area over again, then separate out into your patrol patterns. Sam - take on Remington's patrols this morning. Remington - I'll need you with me. I was supposed to be escorting Selene into the ruins to break down that door and get it ready to be hauled out to the facility to be installed but with her needing to focus on getting the signal transmitters done you and I will have to handle it ourselves. She's showed me how to disconnect most of the wiring we'd be encountering so our task is to get it detached from the wall however we can and stacked together to be moved out of there. Mint is taking charge of getting the install site prepped and ready and he'll be leading a team to retrieve the door when they're ready."

Ha, he'd almost forgotten about the plans for that security door; with that installed they wouldn't need constant surveillance for the facility. That would be one less thing to juggle schedules with and maybe then they could focus on turning over every rock and blade of grass, and check every nook and cranny of the Portian countryside to find whoever their little visitor was and get them out of the picture.

They all began to separate out into their assigned duties; Asher walked side by side with Eli up the hill toward the graveyard again. He felt a little jolt of anxiety up his spine as he walked through the gate into the graveyard but there weren't any shots fired at him again, nor did there appear to be anyone here.

"I'll take the northern half, you go south?" he asked.

Eli nodded and headed off without complaint -- which he was glad for as he'd purposely given himself the northern area because that's where Darren's defaced tombstone was and he didn't want her to have to face that again.

As he suspected there wasn't anything out of place or different from when they'd checked the area over earlier; the grass had mostly recovered from being walked on and if not for the mud smears on the gravestones you'd be hard pressed to tell that anyone had been through the graveyard recently.

Still, he and Eli spent a good amount of time examining every stone and the strip of land on either side of the fence; then, with the sun up and his Hi-Def indicating it was going on nine o'clock, they both hopped the fence a final time and headed out into the tree farm.

"So...if we were back in your time, how would you be handling this?" he asked as they walked.

For a few steps she didn't answer. "...well, back then we had AI drones. They could fly and cover a large amount of ground. And, we had people out on foot searching too with specialized equipment."

"Did you have to do many manhunts like this?"

She shook her head. "Usually they were rescue missions but sometimes yeah, we had armed people out making trouble." She paused, then let out a snort. "What I wouldn't give for my armor kit. Weighed an absolute ton but it could withstand being shot by most weapons. Having to do all this, LIKE this...makes me feel pretty damn useless."

"What? How?"

She waved a hand. "Nevermind. Don't really feel like getting into it at the moment."

"Right. Sorry," he said in a rush. Once they got to the rear of the tree farm they would need to split off into their patrol routes. "So, uh..."

"Hmm?"

"We get done - meet up for lunch?"

They continued on in silence for several more steps. "-maybe. Depends on what's happened by then."

He let out a sort of helpless chuckle. "Yeah, true."

Again they walked on in silence and reached the point where their routes went in different directions; Asher walked along his for a few feet then turned around. "Hey, Eli?" She stopped and looked over a shoulder at him. "What was the story comment about?"

"I'll tell you over lunch."

He grinned and started back along his patrol route.

#Lost in Time #lit #Lost in Time - ch 18 #Arlo #Mali #Remington #Sam #Gale #My Time at Portia

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