#they were passing around the fact like a hot potato

[lilydotroxanne]

The thing I adore about ww is the constant onslaught of odd facts from all characters, either due to the fact that they are inherently geeks, (Bartlet, Sam), the job requires they be overly informed (everyone, but CJ especially), and the fact that they are surrounded by each other sharing said info. The line “did you know” precedes some of my favorite bits.

[deadsetobsessions]

Snart Jr.

Lovely prompt by @stealingyourbones in her long prompts list, in which Danny Phantom meets the Rogues of Central City! This will have multiple parts, I just haven't written them yet.

Disclaimer: I know very little about Captain Cold and Mirror Master despite having watched some of the Flash. The general vibe I get from Flash is that Flash just really cares about his rogues as evidenced by how he talks to them and doesn't immediately one-shot them like I'm pretty sure he could do. And that Captain Cold is a snarky asshole that just wants to steal things and follow his plans as planned? Tbh, the whole mini-arc/episode with him just felt like Snart was trying to coordinate the world's riskiest group project. He was so done by the end lmao

"Huh. That's new."

Danny hovered an inch off of the ground, having just been spat out by swirling green portal. He was going to have to get back to the Zone later to hot potato Skulker through a couple of portals in revenge. He had a math exam he had to study for, dammit.

Danny sighed. Might as well see what's happening. The portals rarely lead somewhere boring, and Danny was bored. He floated further in, form going intangible and invisible as he passed through thick but insulated marble walls. See, Jazz? He could totally plan ahead. He's also learning that he could probably rob a bank easily, but Danny would never.

"Never been spat out in a bank before," he hummed, eyes flickering on the numerous forms of cowering people in the lobby. The goons scattered about don't see him, but it would take another ghost to even detect his presence so it was to be expected. He moved further in with little hindrance and soon touched down onto polished floor behind two incredibly suspicious individuals.

"What-cha do-ing?"

The two figures, currently and obviously robbing a bank, whirled around in surprise. Their respective weapons whirred to a start before they stopped, baffled by the meta teen standing there with his white hair waving about and innocent look pasted all over his face.

Leonard Snart knew instinctively that the kid was so full of shit. He'd bet his entire plan on the fact that the kid knew exactly what kind of shit he was stirring. Still, Snart was guilty of a lot of things but direct child-endangerment wasn't ever one of them.

"How'd you get in here, kid?" Mirror Master raised his laser pistol, ready to distract and divert the kid with threats of violence- which Snart glared at him for- or with his hall of mirrors that he'd run to.

Danny shrugged. "I walked. If you guys didn't want me here, you should have guarded the place better."

"They were supposed to," Snart drawled. He cased the kid. Teen. The kid had a weird halo effect, that seemed to draw the eyes to the stylized letter on his hazmat suit. The kid was young. Meta. Non-hostile. "You trying to stop us?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah. Came from the Ghost Zone so 's really non'a my business. I was just being nosy."

Snart gave a curt nod and nudged Mirror Master back into cracking the security measures.

Mirror Master scoffed. "What the hell is a ghost zone?"

"I mean, it's pretty self explanatory, right? It's a zone where ghosts live. Hence, you know, Ghost Zone." Danny did a little jazz hands (oh, yeah, he was definitely gonna get Jazz to make that joke sooner or later) for emphasis.

Snart paused for the slightest bit before continuing with his task. Did ghosts exist?

"...Did the Flash send you here, kid?"

"I'm not a kid," Danny scowled, walking right up to them. He got enough of that from his own Rogues, thank you. "And what's a Flash?"

"The Flash, kid." Mirror Master corrected, shoving monitors and PC's and expensive looking office chairs into... a mirror dimension? Danny shrugged and rolled with it.

"Who's that? Your boss?"

"Local superhero, not our boss. You're not from here," Snart quickly deduced as a small smile wormed onto his face from successfully cracking the security without setting off an alarm. They'd have ten minutes before the system cycles the access codes again and flags the fraudulent ones. That should be enough time.

"Superhero? Are they fast? Actually, where is here?" Danny glanced around at the now bare security office like the Flash would show up.

The guy in green and yellow took everything not nailed down to the ground. Danny respected that, even if he kind of wanted to stop the robbery. But he's not really supposed to interfere. That would be uber rude, since it looked like the guy in the fur jacket seemed like he had planned everything precisely.

"You're in Central City, kid. Did you take a wrong turn trying to get to Keystone or something?" Green-yellow guy snorted.

"Gonna be real honest with you, I've got no idea where that is. What state are we in?" Danny followed as the pair rushed to the safe doors. He could offer to phase them through but no matter how flexible Danny's morals have become over the years, he was going to draw a line at actively helping a person commit crime.

"Kansas. Do you teleport? Are you a teleporting meta?" Snart asked, eyes intense as he both glared at Danny and pressed an ear to the safe door.

"Nah, I wish I could teleport. Getting to school would be so much faster. Kansas? Huh, I've never been."

"How lost are you, kid?" Mirror Master incredulously paused from robbing the packages that were delivered to the bank.

Danny shrugged. "Oh, I'm Danny. Who are you guys?"

"Captain Cold. That's Mirror Master."

Danny shifted as the safe clicks open. "So, uh, are you guys the villains here?"

Captain Cold shot him a weird look. "We're actively robbing a bank, kid. That should be obvious."

"Also, you're acting real calm for a kid speaking to two of Fawcett's best super-villains." Mirror Master chimed in, laser-ing off locks on deposit boxes and shoving cash and stuff into his mirror dimension.

Danny padded in after them. "Eh, you haven't shot at me- not even on sight- yet, which is more than I can say for law enforcement, so you're pretty chill in my book."

Captain Cold snorted, pointedly taking his freeze gun and breaking off a large manual lock. "I believe it's my job to be the chill one. Plus, we don't kill. The Flash would be up our... business if we did. It's not worth the trouble."

"You can say ass. I've heard worse."

"Not from me, kid."

Danny hadn't had that kind of consideration from anyone in a long time. Even if it's a bit... mother-hennish, the halfa couldn't find it in him to be annoyed. "Ah, okay. Well, you also haven't kidnapped me or tried to stop me from following you, so..."

Mirror Master shoved a giant painting into his dimension. "You haven't tried to stop us; it'd be weird trying to stop you."

"Makes sense."

"Heh. You're alright, kid. Though... who's kidnapping you?"

"My fruit loop of a godfather. It's a thing," Danny avoided the searching gaze like a pro.

"Hold this." Captain Cold said suddenly, giving Danny a massive dufflebag.

"Wait, what?"

Captain Cold began stuffing the bag with cash and once the money in the vicinity (not that much) went in, he said "Go look around. Having another person in here is a risk so you might as well make up for it."

Danny's calling it. Captain Cold was full of shit. The guy's a big softie. Danny smiled sheepishly and agreed. Danny circled the place, pointing out expensive looking stuff- "for fun" and not because they were nice to him- when he felt the tell-tale zaps of an anomaly in Clockwork's domain.

"Move!" He shouted at the two villains, both of whom dove out of the way. Instinctively, Danny threw out his gloved hands and iced the floors, instincts bristling at the incoming danger. His jaw dropped as a blur encountered the ice and went ass over tea kettle onto the floor, unable to stop its own momentum.

"Oh shit!" Danny uttered, eyes wide as the blur slammed into the opposite- reinforced- wall with a pained shout. The stopped person was wearing red, with a lighting bolt motif all over their uniforms. That implied speed. Speed implied "The Flash." Danny knew a hero when he saw one and he just iced him. Shit.

"What-" The Flash groaned. Mirror Master and Captain Cold gaped.

"OhmyancientsI'msosorrygottagobye!" Danny shouted.

"Hey, wait, kid-!" Captain Cold shouted. Danny ignored him, going invisible in a panic and sank into the ground, mortified. After thirty seconds of self-hatred, he zoomed out and away. Danny held his head in his hands as he flew back to where Amity was...

Only to stare down at the empty plots of land where his city was supposed to be. Danny shoved a hand into his chest and pulled out his phone.

[No results for Amity Park. Did you mean "Amity Arkham"?]

"What."

Any research he did after that only turned up a Jasmine Fellona, a budding neurobiologist in her field, and other people that were adjacent to the people Danny knew. But nothing, nothing from Amity Park.

"Oh, yeah, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy."

---

As the Flash stood around to keep an eye on the hand-cuffed villains, he couldn't help but ask.

"So, uh, Snart. Did you... get a kid?"

"What." Snart asked, incredibly done with this shit.

"You know. Snart junior? With the ice and everything?" Flash gestured at the un-melting ice that covered the floor leading into the safe. "I mean, I'm not thrilled you're pulling your kid into a life of crime..."

"No."

"Wait, you had a kid and didn't tell me?" Mirror Master asked, mildly offended. "That was your kid? No wonder no one shot at him!"

"He's not my kid." Snart gave Flash the stink-eye. "And don't you have a couple of baby sidekicks running around?"

"C'mon dude, you're so obviously fond of him. It's okay, you don't have to hide it." Flash avoided the topic... in a flash.

"Can someone arrest me right now so these idiots can be removed from my vicinity?" Snart snarked to the approaching officer, jerking his head to point at the beaming Flash.

"You and me both, buddy," Officer West sighed.

---

One trip to the zone and a stressful conversation with Clockwork later, Danny was found in his keep, smacking his ghost head into the ghost wall of his ghost keep. Danny would unleash a Wail if it didn't have the nasty habit of bringing everything around him.

Apparently, he got "Amity'd," a process which meant Amity spat him out like an over chewed dog bone and refused to take him back.

"That doesn't even make sense! I left there a bunch of times! And came back!"

"The city has decided that it was your time to leave, Danny." Clockwork spared a wane smile for the curled up boy-king.

"I have people to protect there! My entire life! My haunt!" Danny yelled, breaths that he didn't technically need coming shorter and shorter. The neon green of the Zone whirled in and out of his vision in a dizzying shudder of anxiety and incoming panic.

"It wasn't your haunt, I'm afraid. The city nurtured you as a young spirit- thus shared her haunt- and has decided that it was time for you to... leave the nest, so to speak."

That stopped Danny's panic in its tracks. "Are you telling me she NightVale-d me? Some kind of involuntary coming-of-age bs?"

If he weren't on the edge of hysterical laughter, Danny would take a moment and proudly say to Mr. Lancer that he had paid attention in class.

"...Yes."

"Fuck." Danny dropped his head down in despair. His head made a loud thunk. The bag of cash he'd accidently made away with sat innocently at his feet. Further proof that it wasn't some nightmare he'd wake up from anytime soon.

---

Danny slumped over the desk, exhausted. Technus had lent him a ghostly hand and hacked into government data bases to re-establish his social security number and all the other dumb bits and bobs that he needed to establish his identity because Amity was an actual ghost town. Ghost to reality, ghost to real life. Ancients, Amity even had their own data network, which he couldn't access outside of Amity itself. This meant that Danny couldn't even call anyone. Ugh.

"I gotta find a place to live," he mumbled to himself. Danny, despite knowing that he needed to do things, did not move for another ten minutes.

Then, as his phone alarm went off, buzzing on the table. Like... Clockwork... Danny sat up straight and wiped all traces of wallowing self pity off his face. The people in the library- students- gave him solemn nods of solidarity. Danny nodded back and left the library.

He wandered around Fawcett City, somewhere Clockwork had recommended he stayed. With Clockwork, recommendations tended to be life-important (plot-important?) orders. Danny liked the place, really. It gave off the weird and settled "what-the-fuck,-Box-Ghost-did-you-have-to-destroy-the-mall?" vibes Amity constantly gave off after the ghosts started coming through. He thought he even saw a talking tiger! Awesome.

"Hey, are you new here?"

Danny looked down. His reflection stared back at him.

Did he have another kid? Did someone clone him again? Ancients curse you, Vlad!

"Uh- yeah."

"Oh. Do you need help getting around? I was born and raised here all my life, so I can totally do that!"

Oh thank the Ancients, this wasn't another Dani. Just a weirdly similar looking kid.

"You know I'm a stranger, right?"

"I don't think anyone helping Nanny Mae pick up her oranges would hurt kids," the kid said archly, but with a grin so like Dani, it made Danny miss his younger sister.

"Okay, you got me there. But still."

The kid sighed. "I know how to be safe, thanks. I'm Billy!"

"Danny. Nice to meet you."

"Okay, Danny, where you off to?"

"I'm actually trying to find a place that'll be cheap to rent." He's sixteen, but Danny could totally pass as eighteen. "I'm thinking about moving to Fawcett. It's nice here, with all the ambient magic and stuff."

This got him a wide-eyed look. "Do you use magic?"

"Something like that."

"Cool."

Danny took in the considering glint in Billy's eyes and decided that it was future!Danny's problem. Present!Danny was currently occupied with trying to stay off the streets. That giant bag of cash he'd accidently absconded with would be helpful and Danny felt kind of bad... but his growling stomach had chased that away quickly.

"This way!"

Danny shrugged his wavering morality off and followed the kid, shouldering his new and stolen duffle bag. If anything happened, he could just go ghost. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened in this city, Danny made sure to check.

"Have you been by the zoo?" Billy began to rattle off his favorite details about the Fawcett city zoo as he wove around the city.

Danny didn't think he'd actually have to go ghost.

"Not yet, actually. Is it true that there's a talking tiger there?"

"Yeah! Tawky Tawny! He's my friend!"

"Awesome."

[jaikuoo]

CHERRY LIPGLOSS SUCKS

Part 1 | Part 2

Summary: You and Regina have a long-standing history together, and now, with your exes pairing up in a new relationship, you are reluctantly forced to work together to win them back. Will the familiarity bring you closer, or will old habits resurface, leading to further tensions?

Warnings: Mentions of weed, Manipulative regina, profanity and pretty bad writing

1.2k words

A/N:This is my first time writing a fanfic guys sue me 😔🙏

"Kiss me."

"What-" My eyes widened as cherry-flavored lipglossed lips suddenly pressed into mine, cutting off my breath and words.

How the hell did it lead to this?

2 WEEKS AGO

"What the fuck?" I muttered, my eyes widening in disbelief as I stared at my phone screen. Tina, was there in the photo, holding hands with none other than Aaron Samuels

It was a recent picture, uploaded just minutes ago, with over a hundred likes already on an account called North Shore Couples. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"N/N?" my friend Mae asked, concern evident in her voice. "You practically look like you've seen a ghost - are you alright?"

I hastily shove my phone in her face (figuratively, not literally), revealing the Instagram post I had found.

"Holy crap." she gasped, equally stunned. Brynn, our friend seated beside Mae, leaned over to get a glimpse of my phone.

"No way...Thats your ex right?" Brynn confirmed "didnt she say she was a lesbian?!" She exclaimed taking my phone.

"Exactly!" I retorted, the pain of my recent breakup with Tina after a simple misunderstanding had only happened two weeks ago, and I had been tirelessly trying to win her back by giving her flowers and chocolates daily and attempting to engage in conversation whenever we crossed paths - though she always snubbed me with a curt reply. And now, here she was, holding hands with Aaron Samuels.

My heart practically shattered into a zillion tiny pieces.

"Hold up, I thought Aaron was with Regina?" Ander dingles(if you get this i love you), our other friend interjects, snatching my phone from brynn to also examine the image.

Regina.

I can't help but wonder how she's taking it right now. My gaze instinctively drifts towards the "plastics" table, only to find the trio deeply engaged in a discussion, most likely gossiping - Their speciality

"They broke up three days ago, you doofus," Mae replied, rolling her eyes at Ander, who merely shrugged and replied "They always break up."

"I bet they'll get back together again in three days," Brynn countered, taking my phone from Ander again and glancing at the photo.

As I looked back at Regina, I saw her friend Gretchen, wide-eyed, showing her phone to the blonde. Upon seeing the screen, Regina froze for a moment before snatching the phone and accidentally dropping her fork on her tray. The cafeteria grew a bit quieter, likely because everyone knew what Gretchen had just shown Regina. Whispers spread throughout the room, adding to the tension.

"She must have found out," I muttered, turning back to my friends, oblivious to the sharp blue eyes fixated on the back of my head. As Mae grabbed my phone to scrutinize the picture again.

"Can you guys stop playing hot potato with my phone? You each have your own, for goodness sake!" I exclaimed, snatching my phone back from Mae, my irritation simmering, uncertain whether its from their phone-passing antics, my ex's sudden change in orientation, or the fact that I had been busting my ass for two long weeks just to win her back.

The chatter in the cafeteria suddenly resumed as everyone returned to their own conversations and cliques.

-

"Damn it," I muttered to myself, searching frantically through my pockets, "where the hell is it?" The math class had ended, leaving me mentally drained. I decided to take a quick break to ease my mind, but my stress levels were skyrocketing as I failed to locate my blinker in any of my pockets.

"Looking for this?" Regina's voice rang out, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

I quickly turned around, my nerves on edge, as I spotted her holding my blinker between her forefinger and thumb.

Panic surged through me, but I quickly attempted to remain composed as I glanced around the empty classroom, thankful that we were alone. "How did you get that?"

Regina responded with a snarky tone, rolling her eyes. "You don't exactly hide them very well," she quipped.

I squinted my eyes at her, dissatisfied with her dismissive answer.

With a hint of annoyance, she clarified, "It was quite literally hanging off your bag, you bimbo."

Her heels clicked against the floor as she approached me.

Regina extended her hand, offering my blinker as if she were a benevolent angel.

With caution and suspicion, I edged closer to take it, but she swiftly pulled her hand away with a mischievous smirk on her face.

I sigh, "What's the catch?" I asked irritably, knowing damn well there was something she wanted from me.

Regina feigned surprise with a sarcastic remark, "You know me so well."

"You must already know about the new couple, right?" she posed, her tone laced with insincerity.

The mention of the recent pairing of Aaron and my ex, Tina, caused me to roll my eyes.

"yeah, what about them?" I grumbled.

"They're quite the couple, aren't they?" Regina commented, though her tone lacked genuine warmth.

I huffed in frustration and demanded, "Just get to the point."

"I need your help." She says fidgeting with my blinker

"What?" I replied, raising an eyebrow questioningly. Regina stated with certainty, "Tina's your ex, right?" I nodded in affirmation.

She then added, "Well, I'm pretty sure she still has the hots for you." I couldn't help but chuckle incredulously, signaling for her to continue, my skepticism evident.

"Yeah sure, her responses to my attempts definitely suggest otherwise," I retorted dryly.

Regina disregarded my remark, "And im sure you probably want her back, just like I want Aaron back." She planted herself in one of the classroom chairs, resting her palm beneath her chin as she looked up at me, causing my jaw to clench at the mention of Aaron's name.

"That boy is incredibly naive," Regina continued. "He always comes crawling back to me, but now it's more challenging with Tina Twat around." Her gaze fixed on me, she proposed, "You can make TIna jealous and I'll make Aaron insecure, and thus, he'll come rushing back to me."

"That's manipulative," I pointed out to Regina.

She responded with a dismissive scoff, "Pfft, of course it is!" A small chuckle escaped her as her expression remained cold and mocking.

"So...lets team up" Regina suggested, looking me straight in the eyes. "just like old times, yeah?"

...

"Do you think we'll still be friends in the future?."

"Of course!"

...

"Fuck no."

Her smile faded at my rejection, replaced by a sly smirk. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if the school council were to find out about you and your friends little, not so legal herb business?"

Regina's smirk widened as I reluctantly backed down, not wanting my friends to get into trouble.

"I'll take that as a yes" She smiled victorious as she rose from her seat, sauntering towards me with an arrogant air. She took hold of my blinker, taking a quick hit before deliberately blowing the smoke in my face. As she placed it against my lips, I could taste the lingering sweetness of her cherry lip gloss.

"Ill see you tomorrow, after school, underneath the bleachers. Bye." Regina says, her voice laced with a mix of victory and satisfaction. She waved her fingers as she walked away, leaving me standing there, contemplating the situation.

"Cherry lipgloss sucks"

[shortstrawberry]

Was having midnight craving of Donna Beneviento so here's some possessive professor Donna.

Professor Donna sees you being too chatty with a fellow classmate in her class. She's not happy.

Today is a really bad day to have a cold.

You let out another loud sneeze in the class, whispering sorry to your poor seatmates. You just had to have a cold when you had a important test to give in your Botany paper. You look down at your answer sheet. The bubbles you had filled seemed almost blurry, your eyes were just that watery. But you're pretty sure you have done enough to at least pass this exam. Not that you need to worry about that, as you can feel your Botany Professor's worried gaze on you.

Dr. Donna Beneviento. Chef extraordinaire, maker of best hot chocolate, giver of best cuddles. Also your Botany professor. And your girlfriend. Although Donna and you prefer the term "partners" much more. The relationship is that serious afterall.

It's in fact so serious on Donna's part that you know if you decide to quit education and decide to just pursue your lifelong dream of being a potato couch, Donna will happily support it. But no, you also have the lifelong dream to open a florist shop, and so here you are: suffering in a botany test.

"Hey, I have a heatpack. You'll feel good if I put it on your forehead."

You do feel so deathly chill right now, the cough clogging up your lungs for a extra measure. So you nodded at your kind seatmate, letting them take care of you.

You thought your seatmate would just place the heatpack on your forehead and be done with it. But no, they started to pet your head as well, coaxing you to fall asleep.

"Hey, you've done enough. Take a nap. I'll keep watch if Professor Beneviento comes around."

Hearing your partner's name, you immediately realised you've done fucked up. Thing is, Donna can be... Uh...a little possessive.

You heard the sound of pencil snapping from the direction of your girlfriend.

Okay, maybe very possessive.

You looked up at your seatmate, hoping that they'd get the hint to maybe keep their hand away. But no, they made the situation worse, by starting to play around with your hair, and then giving a small forehead massage. Instead of it making you feel good, you just felt more worried.

You could hear the boots of your girlfriend approaching you two.

"I think you should focus on the exam."

Yep, that's Professor Donna's seethingly pissed voice. It's quiet like the icy tundras, but you can feel the anger simmering in it.

The hand that was on her head was immediately off, and soon replaced by the gloved one of your girlfriend.

She petted you quietly, then bent down to whisper directly in your ears.

"Do you need me to take you to the infirmary, cara mia?"

My darling. Donna uses that Italian phrase on you when she wants to stake her claim. Otherwise it's usually dolcezza on most days.

You're now on a precarious situation. If you say yes, surely other students would find it strange that their Professor is showing such favouritism towards you. On other hand, if you say no, Donna would probably get more upset. Donna does not like it when she is denied a chance to take care of you.

And you can just sense just how badly Donna wants to bring you in her arms and feed you her hot chocolate.

Still, you care about your girlfriend's professor reputation more then Donna does. So you shook your head no, quietly croaking out your excuse.

"No... Too tired."

You heard Donna exhale in even more concern. But thankfully she didn't force the issue. Instead, she went ahead and took off her black trenchcoat and draped it on top of you. She petted your head one last time, but you can sense that Donna really wanted to kiss you instead.

She did however whisper certain words in your ear.

"We'll get you home soon, cara mia. And then I'll take care of you."

As you dozed off, you decided that you're really looking forward to Donna's possessive caretaking.

Wanna see the possessive caretaking? Lemme know!

[usafphantom2]

The SR-71 was conceived to operate at extreme altitudes and temperatures: actually, it was the first aircraft constructed with titanium. Aluminum was the standard back in the early 1960s but the friction caused by air molecules passing over its surface at Mach 2.6 would melt a conventional aluminum airframe.

There are so many interesting facts about the Blackbird.

Did you know that the SR-71 grew while flying at Mach 3? When titanium or any metal is extremely hot, it grows. The wing would get between 600 -900° degrees Fahrenheit.

The geniuses at Skunk Works had an answer to this problem. The wings were corrugated! (You know, the little waves that look like potato chips that are corrugated.) This stopped the wings from splitting as they had room to grow. Approximately how much did the SR increase? Around three to four inches in length during flight. The expansion joints could also expand 1 to 2 inches a well. With every flight, the SR 71 grew stronger.

As mentioned The SR-71 was made of titanium, a very strong, durable metal that was imported from Russia. The Russians had no idea who was buying the titanium, they would’ve never sold it to us. If they knew it was for a military airplane. They thought it could be for pizza ovens!

The CIA uses dummy companies to disguise themselves. Very clever.

The tires of the SR-71 were silver-gray.

According to the sign accompanying the SR-71 tire on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson, KS, SR-71 tires were infused with powdered aluminum. The addition of aluminum to the rubber gave a much higher flash point to the tire, helping it withstand the high heat caused by friction with the ground upon landing at extreme speeds. The tires were also filled with nitrogen. By inflating the tires with nitrogen, instead of air, a fire would be less likely to start due to the absence of oxygen.

The tire pressure on the SR-71 was 415 psi (compared to the 32-35 psi in your automobile tires!). Each tire costs $2,300 and would last for approximately 15 full-stop landings.

These were just a few of the many facts that I have collected over the last few years. I hope you enjoyed it!

Linda Sheffield.

@Habubrats71 via X

[broareweabouttoviberightnow]

I just saw you were taking requests! :D Lately, I've been obsessing over Buck's and Dally's relationship. Do you think you could write something about them? Preferably a sickfic/whump, but no worries if not.

@fefe-the-cat I HOPE THIS DOES YOU JUSTICE!!! This is where I kinda admit I've never thought much about Dally 'n Buck but this was fun to explore!! TYSM for the ask!!! fic below the cut!!

CW: mentions of vomit and throwing up!! nothing graphic!!

Dallas rolls over, grabs the bucket he'd stolen from the shed 'n brings up the only thing left in his stomach: bile. Waves of nausea roll over him, causin' his shoulders to buck 'n his elbows to buckle from where he's tryin' to hold his weight. He lets himself collapse face down on the bed, buryin' his face in his sheets.

Shit.

He doesn't know why he thought he'd be over this by now. Glory, kill him now. He'd felt like shit yesterday mornin' when he'd woken up thrown unceremoniously into the back bedroom at Buck's. He hadn't been surprised, per say. Wakin' up at Buck's almost certainly meant he'd gotten piss drunk the previous night without one of the gang to drag his sorry ass back to Darry. He'd chalked the sickness in his stomach and heaviness in his limbs to forgettin' to stop before the tequila shooters.

That had become a harder beleif to hold as he crawled into bed last night feelin' worse then when he'd started. By the time he woke up this mornin' heavin' dinner he'd accepted it.

He finally stops chokin' on nothin' 'n sits up and against the wall. He was beginnin' to really regret not just draggin' his ass to the Curtis' place. But he didn't want to do that to Darry. He wasn't that selfish. If he wound up on their porch with the bug he'd pass it to Pony who would give it to Soda, would pass it over to Steve who'd hot potato it to Johnny and it would swiftly wind up with Two and finish out strong with Darry. Sickness made the ranks of the gang like clockwork.

No, he was determined to figure this one out himself. He'd be fine.

Dallas dragged his head off the mattress, instantly heavin' again. Fuck, how Darry could take care of all six of them without losin' his mind was beyond Dallas.

A knock pounds on the door and Dallas runs a hand over his mouth to wipe away the bile, scrubs over his face, pushes back his hair. "I'm not runnin' the fuckin' ponies today, Buck, piss off."

He's not necessarily surprised when, instead of retreatin', the door flies open. Not shocked but still irate. Buck stands in the doorway lookin' pissed as all get out before he gets a good look at Dallas. He softens instantly, cockin' one eyebrow.

"You look like shit." Dallas rolls flat onto his back, stares at the celin'.

"Gee, thanks." He pushes himself to sit when Buck doesn't leave. "Fuck off, I'm fine." Buck rolls his eyes. Well, that was new. Usually, when Dallas told him to get lost he'd mutter about some fuckin' kid who thought he could order his grown ass around 'n then promptly get lost.

"Move over." Buck crosses the room in three strides, not that it was impressive, the room was practically a renovated closet. Dallas was more amused with the fact it took him that many.

"Buck, leave me alone. I feel like shit, I'm not runnin' those fuckin' horses." Dallas squeezes his eyes shut 'n bites down hard to keep his teeth from chatterin'.

"Yeah, no shit." He nearly jumps out of his skin when Buck's hand comes down on his forehead. He snaps his eyes open again, bats his hand away.

"Buck, get the hell out of here, would ya?" He tries again. Buck pulls the cig that's burnin' down to nothin' from his mouth, stamps it out on the bottom of his boot, and tosses it out the open window. He reaches over 'n wiggles it shut. "I wanted that open." Dallas shoots him a glare even though he was gonna close it himself the second he got the man out of his room.

"That's probably why you got sick to start with. Close the fuckin' windows in winter, why doncha?" He rolls his eyes and sounds too much like Darry for comfort. Dallas kicks him in the thigh.

"I'm not sick." Buck actually laughs in his face.

"Sure. Do you vomit on the weekends for fun now?" He kicks the bucket Dallas dropped to the floor. Dallas glares at him. "Look, I'll go get that Darry guy, he can come scrape you off the ground." Buck goes to walk out 'n Dallas snags a hand around his wrist quick as quick.

"Leave Darry out of this." Buck stops, fixes him with a stare. "I don't want him to worry or nothin'."

Well. That wasn't the answer Buck had expected.

"Fine." He shakes Dallas' hand off 'n Dally lets it drop to the bed. "But I'm not gonna let you die in my back room. Bad for business." Dallas rolls his eyes but doesn't argue. Buck disappears into the hall, returns with a thermometer.

"I don't need that shit. I'm fine." Buck shoots him an incredulous look Dallas pointedly ignores.

"I don't really care if you think you don't need it. Either you're openin' up for it to I'll get Darry down here to open your mouth for you." Dallas scowls as Buck plays the only card in his hand. He wasn't sure what Darry Curtis had on the rabid dog that was Dallas Winston but whatever it is, does the trick. Dallas leans over 'n snatches the thermometer, shovin' it into his mouth. "Now keep it there. God knows it'll be hard since you can't ever seem to keep your mouth shut." Dallas shoots him a glare 'n he doesn't need words to convey how close he is to kickin' Buck's ass. Buck just grins.

After a long minute, Buck plucks the glass from Dallas' mouth 'n checks the readin'. He lets out a long, low whistle. "Holy shit, kid."

Dallas momentarily stops scowlin' 'n Buck swears he hasn't seen the vulnerable look on his face since Dallas was fourteen 'n rollin' into Tusla with an accent so strong you couldn't understand a damn thing he said and the hunted look of someone much, much older.

"I think you're out for the count, kid." Dallas is still so focused on the red line he forgets to be agitated with Buck for callin' him a kid. Buck puts one hand on his chest 'n pushes him back down to the pillows.

"What does it say?" Dallas puts up a decent, three-second fight before he goes white 'n grabs for the bucket. Buck worries his lip, runs a hand up the kid's back.

"Says you're sick, dumbass." Buck sighs, stands up once Dallas shoulders stop shakin'.

"Don't go." Dallas' hand snakes out again, this time fingers diggin' deep into Buck's wrist. He freezes, takes in Dallas' gaunt face, his sudden desperation.

"I'm not goin'. I'm gettin' you a glass of water since you've been yackin' nothin' since yesterday." Dallas hesitates a moment 'n Buck doesn't try to pry his fingers off.

"Fine. But don't you dare come back here with medicine. I won't take none of that nasty shit." Buck rolls his eyes and crosses back to the door.

"You'll take whatever I want you to so I don't have to have the cops carry your skinny ass out of here in a body bag." Buck pretends he doesn't see the middle finger Dallas throws as he leaves the room.

When he comes back the kid is suddenly much more subdued than he was when Buck left. Buck deposits the shot glass of cold syrup and water on the nightstand.

"What is it, kid?" Dallas leans back against the wall, pulls his knees up to his chest.

"Buck, am I gonna die?" And the question jars Buck so hard he chokes on whatever he was gonna say.

"Are you gonna what?" Dallas turns the full force of his cold, ice eyes to Buck.

"Die." He deadpans.

"What the hell made you think some little cold is gonna knock off the unkillable Dallas Winston?" Buck smooths a strand of white blonde hair from his forehead. He knows he must really be feelin' whatever bug he's caught when he doesn't fight it at all.

"I dunno. I don't get sick. Last time was... New York." He trails off, buries his head down in his knees. He doesn't need to clarify what he means.

"Yeah, well." Buck picks up the glass, forces it into Dally's hands. "This time you got people lookin' out for you. Ain't no stupid bug gonna kill you, kid."

Dallas takes the cup, swallows a tentative sip. "I guess."

"Look. You're tired. You're half delirious if the nonsense you're spittin' says anythin'. Just try to go to sleep. You'll wake up feelin' better." Buck takes the water, swaps it for the shot glass of medicine. Dallas knocks it back like he shoots vodka- makin' a face 'n then pretendin' he enjoyed it.

He eases Dallas back onto the bed, decides fuck it, the kid was as much Darry's problem as he'd once been Buck's. A million years ago. He'd call him once he got the kid down.

Dallas' eyes flicker shut, blonde lashes fannin' across his cheeks. Buck smooths his hair back one final time, pulls the blanket up 'n over him.

He's nearly out of the room when he hears Dalla's hoarse mutter. "What is it, kid?"

"Thanks, Buck. For everythin'." Buck isn't sappy or nothin' 'n if you asked he'd swear he had no idea what you were dreamin' up. But if he wipes a tear off his cheek as he pulls the door closed, well, it was deserved. He had a soft spot in his heart for that stupid kid. Sue him.

[rain-day-today]

A few more baby fairytail headcanons because their the found family that haunts me in my dreams🫶🏽 these are a little more natsu and gray centric cause those are my favs

Gray and Natsu did not have a place to live until they were in the guild for like a year . There were too many parentless orphans running around and not enough people to keep track of them, so It was couch surfing hot potato like nobody’s business.

Natsu’s stuff was scattered to the high heavens. You would find his sandals in Laxus’s room, bag in the Strauss Siblings place,any clothes were scattered between Erza, Cana and Levy. Really its a miracle he had clothes at all considering the fact he also refused to wear a shirt his first month( “you don’t needs shirts in the forest snd their itchhhyyy” ) . Gray was a bit better and just had a card board box that he took to people’s house when he decided (without the person’s permission) to crash there for the next week. Ironically,The two would always end up trying to crash with the same person on the same night. Natsu would be climbing into the room through the window right when Gray was breaking in by picking the lock.

Speaking of which, Everyone but erza can pick locks. Lissana is the fastest followed by Cana and then Natsu. Mira just broke the door down.

Whenever they were smaller and Erza went on a job with Levy they had an unspoken understanding to only speak like they were from medieval times. There were alot of questions afterward and more lost in translation.

Little Cana would cut and dye everyone’s hair. She Once dyed natsu’s hair black, mistaking the hair dye as extra shampoo-y shampoo

That was the worst week of Natsu and Grays life. Whenever they were out in public together they got mistaken for brothers.

”WHAT DO YOU MEAN BROTHERS?! HES A BROODING EMO STRIPPER! WE DON’T LOOK ANYTHING CLOSE TO RELATED. ”

*cana and laxus dying of laughter*

*maco and wakaba choking*

“BROTHERS?! BROTHERS?!?? ARE YOU BLIND HIS FACE IS FREAKY! FREAKY ! AND LOOKS COMPLETELY STUPID, HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT ME AND THAT THING SHARED ANYTHING?!?!”

natsu and gray couldn’t look at each other that entire week.

EmoTeen!Gray discovered the girls taste in books after being locked in the library closet during “book club”

Natsu knows exactly what Erza and Levy read. super hearing y’know? He wont admit to it but he knows not to be in the guild whenever those high pitched giggle start.

Laxus gets severely motion sick. He used to deal with it by using those stupid looking motion sickness glasses every time he got on a train. Now he just sells his soul to the devil (mira) for a bottle of magic elixir ( straight vodka) that lets him pass tf out.

Erza lost an Erza look alike contest once

Mira lost a Mira look alike contest

Lissana won both of them back to back

Natsu has a collection of hand me downs that he refuses to wear or get rid of. Most of them are Erzas old armors or things gray stripped and forgot about, but he has a little of everyone. His favorite one is Laxus’s old big coat.

Elfman does a little quote of the day thing in the guildhall

Elfman once got all the fairytail kids including s-class Laxus, Erza, and Mira to Jump Guildarts. No one knows the outcome because at some point all the smaller kids got knocked out with only Erza,Mira and Laxus left awake and they wont tell who won.

When they were younger there was a cute skate park the girls would visit often, thats why they can do all the cool skate board tricks.

Levy bought a motorcycle after getting the money from her first “big” job

Natsu once put a tin full of mentos in multiple buckets of coke in the guild hall infirmary

One time gramps was feeling really down and kids did a little play to cheer him up. They did sleeping beauty with Levy as Sleeping Beauty, Cana as the prince, Mira was maleficent, and Laxus as the prince’s horse. Gray, Natsu, and Elfman were obviously the fairies. Erza wasn’t in the guild at the moment much to her dismay. The play genuinely went incredibly well except instead of waking the princess up with a kiss, Cana head butted Levy so hard it caused Levy to pass out.

Little Valentines Day scenario

(No i do not care that its may)

The first year they were all together, Natsu and Gray got in trouble with Erza the day before valentine’s day. Them hearing everyone gush about wanting someone to give them something, decided that the best way to apologize (save themselves) would be to give her a bunch of valentines day candy and presents. They gave them to her at the guild with cute cards and she was so so happy she started to tear up. This marks Erza as the first person among them all to get a Valentine present.

The others were silently seething, which turned into alot of teasing “ Aww looks like Grays got a crushhh,” “ Look at natsu being all gentlemen like , Erza must be a special special girl,” Erza promptly beat them all up for it, and Gray and Natsu were successfully in their mission to save themselves!

They did feel kinda bad afterwards seeing the others look longingly at Erza quite large pile. Natsu sneakily went out and bought some more chocolates to hand cheer everyone up, gray joined in because “No way am I letting flame brain be liked more then me!” They obviously fought, which melted the chocolates. No fear however! Natsu tempered the chocolates to perfection and gray used his magic to make fun molds.

The next day they handed them out and now its a tradition. On Valentine’s day you get candy from the boy of your dreams, the next day Natsu and Gray give you a creepily detailed mini you made out of chocolate.

[chunkymamatam]

Do you have any Floyd stories you can share :3

This man. If you could see my face rn lmfao

He's a little asshole that's what he is (/aff). We share a gym class, and we started pairing up together sometimes. Well one day we weren't really doing much cuz we got our shit done already so we were just chilling and suddenly this man just starts tickling me! I actually full on swung at his face. I almost hit him too, bro I was so scared because he caught my fist and he just stared at me stunned for a moment. He then proceeded to start cackling, and held me down while he started tickling me again. He stopped when I started crying but had a shit eating grin on his face. Absolutely no remorse ╯︿╰

Also while we're cleaning up the lounge at the end of the day this man will occasionally turn the music back on and drag me to one of the open areas and start dancing with me. its fun but also hes doing all the work cuz he straight up lifts me off the ground. I think the fact he can swing me around like a ragdoll is entertaining for him. Plus I'm not scared of him before during or after the experience so I'm sure that feels nice too.

not necessarily just a Floyd story here but on Halloween the whole trio scared the piss out of me by locking me in a pitch black room that I didn't know they were in and then proceed to start passing me around the room and boarder line playing hot potato with me. They turned the lights on and I'm gonna be honest I couldn't even be mad cuz I did start giggling at their first attempt to scare me cuz they yelled boo and I couldn't take it seriously.

Him and Jade Bother me in the pool a lot. I'll be minding my business and they'll yoink me under or grab my foot lmfao. Sometimes they'll just kinda float with me. oh also fun fact its a salt pool not a chlorine pool so its safe for the merfolk students.

He also accidentally gave me a seizure that was crazy. That was before we were closer/friends. OH he wants me to go see his next game too so that's exciting. I used to play basketball too so it'll be really fun for me to watch. I'm excited to see him play

[bodysnatch3r]

putting this under a read more because i have nowhere else to put it. this ended up being long! mostly i am Processing.

i think what's fucking me up about veilguard being so polarising is that i have no way to make my own value judgement. i can't play it, at all, full stop. consoles are expensive, i live paycheck-to-paycheck and realistically speaking cannot even begin to think about buying a current gen console until well into 2025. i was saving up and then in june shit happened and those savings had to be used for something else and my stipend got reduced by a couple dozen pounds and the bills went up. so it goes.

i do not want to watch someone play it because it is just antithetical to how i relate to dragon age as media, and besides anyone posting playthroughs is inundated with critical comments. and the result is that the usual mechanisms i have against brainworms concerning certain types of critical statements—knowing i can fall back on my own experiences with the games and my own judgements of where the writing succeeded or didn't, what story am i trying to tell through these interactive games, how do i reconcile it with the story the devs were trying to tell, where does it diverge, etc.—are totally inaccessible to me.

this would have been fine, i think, if the fandom consensus i've been seeing hadn't been mostly "either you hate it or love it with no in between. and if you think the opposite of me you are Stupid". which. well i guess ten years in the fandom have taught me Nothing. but i digress.

i would have been fine, because i know from experience that i am often satisfied with scraps that others may find lacking—for example, i think dai quickly dropping and flattening the mage/templar conflict into a couple of missions in the hinterlands was fine, because we have several books that hint at and deal with the larger-branching consequences of da2. much of my fan experience is, generally, concerned with where i can "fill in the blanks" because that is what interests me the most. i thrive in the corners and margins. the less i know, the more i can take what canon gives us and run.

plus, over the years i have developed a tendency to meet bioware where they are at. past experience in creative industries has really shown to me how stifling any form of artmaking can be in a corporate environment, and i know that right now the blame as to why we got veilguard and not joplin is being passed around like a hot potato, but the truth of the matter is, we will never know beyond the fact that bioware management is beholden, like all companies, to the "number go up" capitalist doctrine, no doubt reinforced by their parent company ea. and that, at least following the failure of anthem and andromeda (but i suspect from even earlier, as david gaider has said), bioware has been the ugly duckling of ea's roster. (as an aside, i would love to know who in ea has such a soft spot for bioware, that they allowed them to continue on following those massive failures.)

what i am trying to say is, i have been struggling so much with something i had managed to heal myself from, precisely because the one coping mechanism that does work for me (stewing in the source material) is totally inaccessible to me. so i have all of this antsy, nervous, conflicted energy, exacerbated by my own obsessive tendencies and the fact that sometimes having a childhood hyperfixation return full force as an adult just really fucking sucks when my personality is prone to regressing into harmful thought patterns and behaviours—is it as bad as people are saying? will it be a massive disappointment when i finally do play it? should i even like it when apparently it is such a slap in the face to the fans?—and nowhere to put it.

i kind of preferred it when we all thought this game was just never going to come out and i had made peace with it.

[sixshotsinatumbllr]

Rating Good Omens Characters by whether I would employ them in my IRL cafe or not.

Aziraphale: 100% would employ. He'd be on service, taking orders and running them out. Also, we have a small retail book corner, which I am currently failing at making work, so Aziraphale can also get that going (he'd be great at sourcing books, not so great at selling them). He is not allowed to perform his magic act though, which makes him sad. Sorry Azi.

Crowley: Absolutely yes. That (infernal being) knows their coffee. The ywould be a shit-hot barista. Sadly, they get fired after a week because the only person in my life that is snarkier and grumpier than Crowley is my husband (the actual owner of the cafe, I'm just along for the ride). They get into too many arguments and Crowley quits majestically. But we really appreciated the handful of times they yeeted someone off into another dimension when they were difficult customers.

Nina: Obviously. She has the experience for the job (unlike probably all the other characters); and she has the personality for it. She'd be the one that gets all the good gossip from the customers and be able to handle it be stupid busy. She'd be our number one reliable employee. My husband and Nina would also fight and snark but they'd both feel refreshed by it.

Gabriel: NAH.

Jim: Also NAH, but we'd probably put him on for a week of work placement through a job placement agency to help him out a bit, because he clearly needs it. Unfortunately, he becomes a liability because he drinks too many hot chocolates on shift and that costs us too much in stock.

Beezlebub: I'd really like to, but the council food inspector won't allow it with all the flies that come with zir.

Famine: I think Famine would be a food rep. These people come around from food wholesalers to introduce us to new products. A lot of these seem pretty questionable. I reckon Famine's taken Ciao on the road after the Notpocalypse for something new to do. He's a very polite and enthusiastic rep, but we politely decline his products. The following week, a critical potato shortage hits the market and we have trouble sourcing good quality chips, a key menu item in the cafe.

Furfur: I wouldn't give him a job even though he appears to have a solid set of organisational skills, because he personally irritates me. But then he becomes a regular customer, coming in for a large cap everyday, pays in the low-denomination coins, takes up an entire table of six for two hours, and then asks for a bag of coffee to be ground in the middle of the lunch rush.

Maggie: she'd be in charge of the playlist. (at least, after Crowley quits in a fury, up until then he'd hogged the spotify and dictated all of the music- and miracles it to continue even when he's not on shift. There's slightly less Queen than there is on our playlist currently). She'd be a day barista one or two days a week. I reckon Maggie and Aziraphale would be the Monday server/barista duo.

Every now and then, the playlist gets possessed for a few hours and none of us can do anything about it but let it pass and see what Crowley's digging musically these days.

The Metatron: Absolutely not. In fact, he's banned from coming within 500 metres of us and our oat milk supply.

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

It takes a mob pt. 9

First

Prev

Ao3

“So what color flowers do you think Marv would like to be buried with?”

Bill glanced to Ken as the kid made a loud squeal from his place on the counter.  The diaper incident was still fresh in mind but for the moment the kid looked content to stay solid.

Ken played with Danny’s legs before continuing his musings,

“We could go traditional roses, but carnations might have a better meaning and shit.”

“I don’t know shit ‘bout flowers.” Bill grunted as he dumped a large mixing bowl of dough on to the table. “But I want his ass cremated, going to put him in an hourglass. Maybe he’ll finally will learn time and place.”

Me-Mah tutted as she measured and cut the portions.

“That child was never one to think things through.”

“It kept Danny out of the limelight, didn’t it?”

Me-mah snorted as she glanced over,

“But, at what cost boy?”

“A hell of an ass whoopin for the most part.”

A voice chimed in, and Bill felt some color leech from his face.

“Ayyyye, didn’t know you were scheduled to hop in Jay! What are you doin’ on this side of the front?”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Ken take a sudden dive to the floor with a loud thump.

Everyone paused for a second to look at the space the man once inhabited.

“…you good there Ken?”

Ken let out a wheeze as his head popped back into view.

“..Just some fractured dignity.”

“Riiight.. So, I heard you guys had quite a busy weekend, mind catching me up?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it busy per se, but you know how- hey hey! Why don’t you not come over! you know what I’ll come over to you!”

Scrambling past the table tops Bill steered Jason back out the door onto the streets.

“You know I was actually going to ask Me-mah about a possible change in meal prep for next week, right?”

“And I can make sure she’s up to date and everything! No need for the higher ups to need to hand around you got your own projects to worry about!”

“Like the project you three have decided to take?”

“..I have no idea what you are talking about boss.”

Bill stumbled as Jason finally dug his heel as they came close to an alleyway opening.

“Now we can do this the easy way of the hard way Bill, and my night’s been headache inducing enough.”

With a gritted teeth, Bill trudged into the ally with little fanfare.

“So,”

Jason started through a puff of a cigarette,

“I would like to preface this talk with the fact that Marv will be fine. Some bruising and a concussion to match but no lasting damage as far as the doc is concerned.”

“Oh. That’s, good.”

“You don’t sound so sure of that.”

“No! It’s- it’s great that Marv is good an’ all but, this is the boss we’re talking about! That ain’t his usual M.O.”

Bill took off his hat and rubbed at his temple,

“I mean, I’ve seen the dude do a lot more for way less. No scarring? No disfigurement? Not even a broken nose??”

“And it was anyone else than it would’ve been so, but it’s Marv we’re talking about. The dumbass is the equivalent of a pittie in a sweater. Besides-“

Jay made a show of flicking the used bud into a puddle before shifting to face Bill and leaning a hip against the grimy wall.

“He had his gun in his holster, if he was trying shit, he would’ve went with that instead of a steel chair.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home couldn’t come into view quick enough.

Unlocking the door, Bill dumped the bag in his arm before he made a b-line to the kitchen.

The kid had a set of lungs and was making it quite clear that he did not appreciate being hungry.

“It’s okay kid, let it out, good for the soul and all that.”

Bill started to bounce as the microwave warmed the key to his ears’ bliss. His mind couldn’t help but go back to his conversation with Jay in between Danny’s gasps of air.

“What’s the plan? Fling the kid from person to person? Playhouse until gets annoying and pass the kid around like a hot potato? I don’t think there’s a single person who went through foster that wouldn’t be able to tell you how that would work out.”

Gently, Bill removed the tot from his imprisonment before quickly scooping up the bottle and testing the heat on his wrist.

“Do you even know the first thing about babies? How to test their bottles temp and clean them? How about burping? What about Immunizations?  Or are you flying by your coat tails? They need commitment!”

It didn’t take as second for Danny to latch on with a content hum.

The quiet bliss could’ve been heroin as far as Bill was concerned.

Making his way back to the fallen bags, he got a glance at the small library that had made its home on his floor.

“What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

He could do this, he got his GED last year, so Bill was used to studying. He just had a bit of a time crunch to catch up is all.

“I don’t know shit about kids..”

One of the first things Jay did as soon as they properly introduced him to Danny was drag both of them to Dr. Leslie for an evaluation.

Bill’s original estimate was quite off.

The kid was about four months old.

Reaching over for a dirty towel, Bill shifted Danny to his shoulder and gave him some pats.

He wasn’t above admitting that a lot of what he was told went over his head, but a relative bill of good health was good news as any.

He couldn’t help but let out a huff of laughter when he noticed the kid’s face.

“What? What’s with dat look? Am I really doing this wrong Al-“

The sound that came out of the kid had no right being that grotesque.

Danny face smoothed as Bill looked down in mild horror as he felt new weight on the back of the onesie.

“..that wasn’t a fart, was it?”

The beginning of another spell of crying kicked the henchmen into gear.

“Right! Bath! Shit, don’t got one those bath thingies- uuhhh… right! Sink time Dano.”

Slinging the bag onto his shoulder, Bill went back to the kitchen and turned on the faucet sending a silent thank you to the two idiots who finally went home.

There was a bit of hesitation before he snapped the kid’s buttons off.

“Babies are messy Bill; they piss and shit and throw up to hell and back because it’s the only thing they can really do. If you can’t handle that then you have no right-“

With a quick shake of his hand, Bill made quick work of the kid’s clothes and diaper before turning his head to the side letting out a small gag.

He’s handled men’s entrails falling out of their bodies better than this.

Checking the temperature, Bill held Danny so that his back was to the faucet and started to splashing handfuls onto the mess.

“I know I know, not the most conventual cleaning but we’re going to have to sort that out tomorrow.”

Steeling his nerves, Bill fished out the baby soap from the bag and got to work.

“The things I do for yah…”

One freshly scrubbed Danny looked up with a giggle as Bill meticulously worked to keep the soup from his eyes.

A new problem emerged as the impromptu bath was over. There wasn’t a clean towel nearby much to Bill’s dismay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sudden clearing of his work schedule via text made Bill pause before he tossed his phone within reach.

Letting out a huff he placed Danny onto the makeshift changing table.

“‘You need an adjustment period’ and ‘Can’t have you working in the high risk now and blah blah-‘ The bosses are acting like I’m some transplant now because of you.”

His complaints were unanswered by his audience though a small squeal of laughter did tug a smile onto his face as he plopped the kid’s rump back onto the clean diaper.

“Yeah.. yeah, yuck it up. Just so you know, this is a once in a lifetime thing goin’ on, so don’t expect me to pull a Wayne an’ bring you back any siblings.”

Dawn was breaking as close is ever did in the city.  The early commuters were starting their day and he bit back a yawn as he continued his work.

The two of them didn’t get to go back home until well past three. Both Jason and Dr. Leslie felt it consequential to give Bill a crash course in baby 101 and enough homework to reach his gills to boot.

Something that he was beginning to notice is that plans tend to not hold up when dealing with children.

Sure, Bill hasn’t got much range in experience with kids, but what plans he has made around Danny got shot through like a diamond store on a Saturday.

He planned to never have kids, and now that had one to take care of, he just planned to keep him clean and worry about everything else tomorrow but-

“Shit!”

Waving away the sudden cloud in his Face with a cough, Bill looked down at the scene in dismay.

What was once a perfectly clean skin was now powdered white up to a confused little chin.

“Come one Kid, up, up-“

Bill gently pulled them to a sitting position by the arms with snicker.

“We got the rest of our lives together kid.”

He started to try brush down the excess with a towel as he continued,

“Yeah, this ain’t goin’ to be easy, but hey, I’m in your corner for better or for worst.”

Scooping and wrapping up Danny in a bundle Bill took another glance around his apartment and tried not to grimace.

The kitchen window was patched over with some newspaper and tape and the carpet still had some questionable stains from the past.

As much as it sucked to admit, Bill knew his time here was limited.

A one-bedroom apartment was not good enough for a kid to grow up in.

The feeling a small hand brought him out of his musings.

“Bab bah.”

“You know that's very cute, but I just swaddled you for a reason. Phase you hand back under your blanket.”

With a gently poke Danny was once again fully engulfed.

“I’m going to have gray hairs by the time you learn to crawl, I can just feel it.”

That was another day’s concern, as for today.

“I think it’s time we go lay down for a bit. How’s that sound?”

With a small yawn from his companion, Bill eased into the couch and turned on the tv low with a sense of déjà vu.

‘If dad could see him now…’

And as he started to lose the battle with sleep a passing thought made him let out a small huff.

Maybe he’d give his old man a call, it’s not every day the family expands after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~

This has been an adventure. I started my tumblr page as a place to throw away my prompts so that someone else could get inspired and my brain wouldn’t hold onto them. I didn’t actually expect to not only use but finish one!

For all of you guys who’ve been following along on both tumblr and ao3, thank you.

Here’s to more stories to come!

[tora-the-cat]

one of the funniest things about Itachi and Sasuke is that they are BOTH so 'I love it when people play mind games with me. I will kill us both <3' coded likkkke!!

His FATHER spent Itachi's whole life grooming him to lead a coup and become the first Uchiha Hokage, and Itachi spent every second he could undermining that and then eventually has no choice but to kill him! Danzo (and Hiruzen) backed Itachi into a corner and made him do the unthinkable, so Itachi made a 10 year plan for his own death and fully intended to murder Danzo if he ever tried to pull some shit with Sauske village be damned, and THEN Sasuke finding out about the whole situaiton IS what killed Danzo in the end, and it WASN'T EVEN PART OF ITACHI'S PLAN!! Obito got so angry at this 6 year old for being an optimist and a pacifist that he killed his teammates and then actively assisted the kid in an ethnic cleansing to break Itachi's spirit and make him an ideal pawn for the Akatsuki, and Itachi just! Got super depressed (again, 10 year death plan) and hated his guts and starts dissociating whenever Obito talks!! He delays the Akatsuki's plans by years because Obito is now nervous to directly attack Konoha while Itachi's still breathing! and he's STILL spying for Konoha and Obito is either willfully ignorant because he thinks Itachi is a lame party pooper or too scared to do anything about it!!

And Sasuke???? SASUKE!!! Spends his ENTIRE LIFE under the thumb of people who think they know him and how to manipulate him and are wrong EVERY TIME! Orochimaru thinks his thirst for power is so all consuming that he doesn't care about himself or anything else outside of killing Itachi and is thus incapable of independant scheming or betrayal, and he gets KILLED FOR IT! Obito makes the SAME damn mistake he made with Itachi and underestimates Sasuke because he thinks that he's so broken by his brother's fate that he's suseptible to any and all suggestion, and Sasuke doesn't give a FUCK about ANYTHING besides his own plans anymore, and is absolutely just going to do whatever he thinks is right until it inevitably kills him, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised it Obito was on his hitlist- and, at the end of the day, Obito DOES end up dead!! Gaara tries to empathize but is still learning empathy so instead Sasuke just feels like his LITERAL GENOCIDE is being trivialized, and ALMOST dies for it! Danzo assumes he's just another corrupted wayward Uchiha, and gets KILLED FOR IT! Kakashi thinks that Sasuke is Just Like Him For Real and thus he knows that Sasuke is beyond saving and must die, and gets ALMOST killed for it and then proven WRONG!! Literally ALL of the fucking HOKAGE try to plea for Konoha's legitimacy and lie like DOGS using all of their politician plays of why Sasuke should Stop, and he calls bullshit on all of it anyway! Sasuke spent his entire young life getting passed around like a hot potatoe between men projecting their own trauma onto him and convincing themselves that they know his every move because they once were him, but NO ONE has EVER been doing it like Sasuke and none of them accounted for the fact that he's so scared of everything and full of love and never wrong and not afraid of death or any of them and they've been dead since Sasuke decided they were annoying!!

Naruto and Sakura were only able to get through to him at ALL because Naruto lacks the decorum to be manipulative and thus Sasuke can engage with his bullheaded arguments without feeling actively hunted (like he HAS BEEN his WHOLE LIFE) and Sakura actually DOES understand him and his motivations and his soul in it's entirety because she spent their adolescence studying him like a bug, so she can meet him EXACTLY where he's at. The only person in the world who ever successfully manipulated Sasuke was Itachi, which makes sense considering he mastered the art of it FIRST!!

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

See-through

@greywake

🥵🩻🥰

This is partly inspired by my experience having a sprained ankle. It didn't go as well for me as it did for WWX here, though...

If you find any medical inaccuracies, no you didn't.

Enjoy!

Wei Wuxian has always known he'll end up in the hospital eventually - trouble follows him like he owes it money, and he has a sense of adventure that sometimes pushes him to extremes that don't even make funny stories after.

He figured he'll end up rushed into the ER after some epic fight or a car crash or something news-worthy, though - but no, he's in the ER cause he's sprained his ankle slipping on ice on the way to work this morning. Damn capitalism!

He's more upset about the stupidity of the thing than about the fact that he's had to hobble his way to the hospital because he can't drive (if he tries applying any pressure on his leg he goes lightheaded with pain) and nobody bothered to pick up the phone or answer his texts asking for help - it's the middle of the work day, of course people are busy.

He should be busy too, he has a big project coming up, he really can't afford wasting time with something like this - yet here he is, doing exactly that. His boss is going to be royally pissed, but at least he's in the stage of the project that allows him to work from home and not fall behind.

It's going to be a pain getting A-Yuan to and from school, though. Wen Qing can only get him once or twice a week at most, since she's started working as a surgeon at the general hospital two towns over, and Wen Ning has just begun his internship at a law firm...

A nurse wheels Wei Wuxian down the hallway, away from the emergency room, passing through two large glass doors after a few turns that were only a bit too sharp. He reads "Radiology" on a wall and sighs as the nurse leaves him in the waiting area to go to, presumably, talk to the doctor on call about his case. Wei Wuxian doesn't even bother to hope his bones are fine, actually - he can tell they're not, with the way his ankle looks like it grew a tennis ball overnight or something.

The door to the doctor's office opens and Wei Wuxian almost doesn't hear - if his nurse is going to handle his wheelchair as roughly again, he's pretty sure he'll fall off and last thing he needs is to sprawl all over the hospital floors.

But instead of his ER nurse, the door opens to reveal someone else - and for a moment, Wei Wuxian forgets about the pain in his ankle and how having it immobile will complicate his life. A man walks out in white scrubs that Wei Wuxian finds sexier than any lingerie, stretched taught over the planes of his chest and shoulders, short sleeves revealing beefy arms. He's tall and he's so handsome it should be illegal - his long, shiny, dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail and two strands artfully frame his face, his golden eyes glinting in the sterile lighting... Wei Wuxian distantly remembers Wen Qing watching this one medical show where they called a hot doctor "McDreamy" and Wei Wuxian is pretty sure he met the real life inspiration for that nickname.

"My name is Lan Wangji and I will be attending to you for now." he says and Wei Wuxian can only try not to think of what attending to he'd like this man to do to him. "Let me take you to the X-Ray room and we will discuss your condition further."

Wei Wuxian nods because it takes all his strength not to say something along the lines of "you can take me whenever, wherever or however you like". He does wonder why it's not his nurse doing this instead of the doctor, but if Wei Wuxian can avoid getting wheeled around like a sack of potatoes, he'll take it.

The walk is short and he tries not to be disappointed about not getting this hot piece of man pushing him around like he's presumably, weightless. With the way he looks, he must be really strong, he could probably lift Wei Wuxian with one hand and throw him around like a ragdoll... fuck, they better not be measuring his heart rate again because he's past the 100s for sure.

They enter a large, chilly room, sterile white, a metal table in the center with the X-Ray machine hovering ominously over it. Though Wei Wuxian has always been fascinated with the engineering of such things, he has to admit they need to make these machines look less creepy.

The doctor brings him near the table, and Wei Wuxian wonders if he can just joist himself up on it using his arms only and his one healthy foot. Whatever they've given him for pain in the ER has worn off by now and his ankle throbs with pain insistently.

"No need." Lan Wangji says as he notices Wei Wuxian trying to place himself on the table. "Allow me."

Wei Wuxian's heart leaps into his throat as he feels himself hoisted up and then gently laid down onto the cold table, Lan Wangji not having even so much as winced during the process. Now, he's not on the same level, but Wei Wuxian knows himself to be quite heavy, though he doesn't look it. He's done a good bit of archery before he got pulled out of it by his guardians and he's always enjoyed going to the gym - so knowing all that and yet being lifted like he weighs less than a paper bag has him all sorts of hot and bothered.

No wonder they put him into radiology.

"What happened?" Lan Wangji asks as he presses a few buttons on the machine and carefully inspects Wei Wuxian's ankle as it whirrs to life. His touch is gentle, soft, and Wei Wuxian inadevertedly breaks into goosebumps as he watches the man's fingers all over his bruised skin.

Right, talk.

"I slipped on ice on my way to work, I didn't even notice it was there... I thought I could just power through it but like two hours later I could barely move at all so I had to come here..."

"Were you able to drive?"

"No..."

"Somebody must have brought you in, then?"

"No, I...walked."

Lan Wangji looks at him with narrowed eyes and Wei Wuxian can sense the disapproval in them. "No wonder it looks like this. I doubt it is fractured, and it looks more like a bad sprain, though you've decidedly made it worse by applying constant pressure on it."

Wei Wuxian blushes, embarrassed. "It was the quickest solution... I work pretty far away from here and an Uber would have emptied out my wallet completely, you know..."

Lan Wangji clicks his teeth in disapproval. "I'll have to put you in a cast because of this, so I hope it was worth it."

"How mean..." Wei Wuxian whines, "I'm already in pain, I don't need a scolding too..."

"Your health comes above saving money, above everything. You can make more money later, but if you damage your body irreversibly, no amount of money can fix it."

Lan Wangji carefully reaches to adjust Wei Wuxian's foot over the blinking light of the machine. He yelps at the pain that shoots through him out of nowhere, and Lan Wangji apologizes quietly.

"I apologize, but you are going to have to take it for a bit, I know it hurts."

Wei Wuxian is absolutely not going to look for a double entendre in there and he's not going to think horny thoughts about where else he'd like to be told those words.

"Try to stay still, I won't be longer than a few minutes."

Wei Wuxian hopes that's only true for the X-Ray and nothing else, it would be such a shame if...

He's left alone in the room seconds later, and the X-Ray machine buzzes a few times as Wei Wuxian does his best to stay still and not have to hold that position for much longer. As much as he likes being around the hot radiologist, his ankle seems to have decided it hates him more than before and it hurts terribly now.

Luckily for him, the procedure is over just as he feels like he'll die if he doesn't move.

Lan Wangji returns from the control room and helps him back into the wheelchair, Wei Wuxian too distracted with his fantasies to try not to stare.

"As I suspected, it's not a fracture. The orthopedic tech is currently unavailable, so I will put you in a cast and prescribe you painkillers. You will need them."

"I need them even now..." Wei Wuxian mumbles, "I think my ankle did not like that X-Ray at all."

"I will have something administered for you." And, on the walk out, he shouts out after the nurse, "Su Minshan, bring 500 mg of Naproxene to my office and my prescription notebook, please."

There is some sort of affirmative response from an office - more like a grunt of approval followed by incomprehensive words -, and Wei Wuxian realizes that's his nurse.

"Someone's definitely not having a good day today, huh..."

"Mn. He's going to be transferred to another hospital soon and he is being especially... unpleasant because of it."

"Disciplinary action?"

"Partly. I apologize on his behalf for his behavior."

A laugh. "That's alright, he wasn't that bad, I just felt a bit like in a medical 'Fast and furious' on my way here."

Lan Wangji laughs in turn, and Wei Wuxian is pretty sure his heart skipped a beat or two at the sound. Wow.

They arrive at the end of the hallway and enter an office where several tools and buckets lay next to a bed, a desk and two file cabinets in the opposite corner. Su Minshan shows up shortly after, a sour expression on his face as he brings what was asked of him before storming out.

Wei Wuxian gratefully takes the painkiller after Lan Wangji helped him onto the bed and lifted the leg of his jeans all the way to his knee. He bites his tongue not to make a dirty comment about just taking off his pants entirely.

"Have you ever had a cast before?"

"Surprisingly enough, no! This is my first time."

"You will have to have it on for two weeks. You are likely going to be in pain for only two or three days at most, but I will prescribe you enough pills for a week in case you need them for more."

Lan Wangji brings in a bucket of water and lays down a few towels onto the floor as he proceeds to wash off Wei Wuxian's foot. This shouldn't feel as intimate as it is - and yet, Wei Wuxian is trying so hard not to blush or react in any way at the gentle touches and the careful handling.

"You might get some itching or numbness due to immobility, but no matter what, do not attempt to remove your cast or move your foot inside of it. You will only prolong healing if you do."

Wei Wuxian watches, fascinated, as the man covers his leg in bandages, and then into the white substance that's slowly hardening into his cast. Lan Wangji works with precision, betraying habit, and the focused expression on his features suits him all too well. Is it a breach of any laws if Wei Wuxian were to ask for his number right now?

"Do not attempt to walk with your cast on for the same reason, either. Until you'll have it removed, you should primarily be on bed rest."

The cast is almost finished now, so Lan Wangji goes to wash his hands and sits at the desk to write the prescription and whatever else. Wei Wuxian loves to watch him, and he hopes he doesn't come off as creepy.

"After the cast is off, depending on the look of the sprain and whether you are still in pain, you may be referred to a physical rehabilitation center. Any questions?"

"No, it's all clear, thank you."

"Let me help you out, then."

Wei Wuxian feels like a whole wuss. A coward. He didn't even try to shoot his shot, just sat there staring and said nothing at all! Now he's probably never getting the chance to do it - the odds of returning on the same shift are infinitesimally low... so to hell with Wei Wuxian's luck in love.

Not that he ever expected someone like Lan Wangji to say yes, but still.

Lan Wangji brings him to the parking lot, and Wei Wuxian expects him to say goodbye, leave and mind his business, their fates never crossing again.

However, Lan Wangji pulls out his phone and hands it to Wei Wuxian. "Please order a ride for yourself."

"W-What? No, I- you really don't have to! I can handle it!"

"I am offering, so please do not refuse."

"I appreciate it, but I don't-"

"It's not out of pity. As your doctor, it is my duty to ensure you can start your healing journey properly, and this is part of it."

Wei Wuxian opens his mouth to argue but decides against it. What can he even say? He's not in the position to refuse help, after all, but... he's never heard of a doctor to do something like this for a patient...

"Thank you... I can pay you back in a week or so, when I get-"

"No need."

Of course not, Wei Wuxian thinks to himself, what's an Uber ride to a doctor's salary...

An ambulance whirrs past them and Lan Wangji sees someone in the back wave him to follow.

"I must go, there's an emergency."

"Right, thank you for everything again, and good luck!"

Lan Wangji nods briskly and runs after the ambulance, disappearing into the hospital building.

Wei Wuxian really wishes he's said something, but it's too late now. He decides to look at his medical documents as he waits for the car, distracting himself from his thoughts.

But a smile breaks out on his face as he finds a little post-it note attached to his prescription. It's a phone number, with "See you once you're better?" written in beautiful calligraphy at the end.

If he wasn't immobile right now, he'd jump for joy.

[cat-esper]

therizinosaurus - share a scene that you’ve put a lot of work into and stegosaurus - share a humorous scene for the ask game?

Hey, thanks for the ask!

Therizinosaurus - share a scene that you've put a lot of work into

For this one, I'm going to share a snippet from Music of the Spheres, the book that will ultimately be the death of me. It's already been through what feels like a million iterations, but probably the bit I've worked on the most, aside from the first chapter, is the Monster Chapter (I've since chopped it up into smaller chapters but it will always be the Monster Chapter to me), which looks nothing like it did in draft 1 and will likely look nothing like the final draft. Still, here's a piece of it:

“Give as much as you can to the shields and bring us hard to starboard. Don’t compensate for rotational drift. Fire when ready.” It was maddening. It was all I could do not to tear my hair out. Pacing wouldn’t help. What was going on here? Were we losing? From the looks of it, we were losing. Another jolt came. And another. Everyone looked worried. Kri looked worried. I’m pretty sure I looked worried. “Shields down, attempting to compensate.” “Hull breach on Deck E.” Oh god, we were losing. “There are too many of them,” I said. I imagined what it would be like to lose life support, to get sucked into the vacuum of space and die. It always seemed like an unpleasant way to go. I clenched and unclenched my fists, sweat seeping through the bandages. Every shudder threw me against the wall and every shudder might have been the last. People were talking over each other, giving status reports that kept getting worse and worse as we tried to run. “Engines failing.” “Do we abandon ship?” I could only see the back of Captain Holt’s head but I imagined the grim look on her face. “The Krintoc will pick us off.” “We're drifting toward the planet. I'm getting nothing from the engines." “Everyone, brace for impact.” Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god. I reached for the nearest chair and grabbed onto it, thankful it was bolted down. We were going to crash. My skin went hot and then cold. We were going to crash. Kri knelt next to me. I hadn’t even realized I’d gotten on the floor. All around me, I heard, “All hands. We are planet bound. Brace for impact. All hands. We are planet bound.”

Stegosaurus - share a humorous scene

This one's from The Last Paladin, book 1:

“Imagine me knowing two famous people,” Alexos said once they’d gotten sandwiches which were close enough to recognizable that Chelsea had no qualms about stuffing her face with them. “I’m not famous,” Chelsea said, starting to wish he would get over his obsession with the fact that she had spoken to Shay Finnegan a grand total of one time. “Are you famous?” she joked, looking at Chyan. “Uh…” Chyan quickly took a bite of her sandwich. “What? No way…” “Yes way,” Alexos chimed in. “You don’t know who this is? Of course not, you’ve lived on backwater, tiny marble Earth your whole life, you poor potato.” “Hey.” “Her father is Leyar of Caim. Robotics engineer. His partner is Dr. Kane effing Laakkonen. They took AI up to the next level. I bet you never heard of Eremon either. Most sophisticated android ever created. You can’t tell the difference between him or a Denebian. Looks close enough to pass for human too.” Alexos put a hand on his heart, sweeping the hair out of his face. “In an expanding universe, it’s not the gods who rule. It’s Laakkonen AI. Longevity, perseverance, discovery. Breaking the boundaries to see the future,” he said in an announcer’s voice like he was imitating an advertisement. “Shh. Sit down.” Chyan tugged on his shirt and he promptly plopped back down. He ran a hand through his hair. “I have done my humble duty introducing you two. Chelsea, I won’t take it personally if you run off to see this ground-breaking technology and leave poor old me behind.”

[dollsonmain]

More morning babbling

-

It sucks that mowing does wipe me out so badly because summer time is do things time like dig around in the yard and do faceups and stuff but mowing takes all of my energy for the whole damn week. Worse when it’s actually hot.

But so far, this spring and incoming summer have been very cold.

-

That Guy was teasing me about my weight yesterday which I do not appreciate because it’s not like I’m not the same me regardless of my weight (not that he’s ever treated me like a person anyway) but to be honest I can’t tell if he even actually dislikes it. He keeps grabbing me.

The men in my life stay skinny and I gotta go from horse to donkey.

I was thinking, though, that 50 lbs in about 2 years is kind of an alarming amount of weight gain. All I’ve done is be more active and stop skipping breakfast, but it’s also perimenopause time which causes weight gain. If I had access to and were also willing to go for medical care, I’d probably find some sort of imbalance somewhere.

Though still, for me, the biggest annoyance of weight gain or loss is not being able to fit into my clothes, anymore.

I’ve only had to get rid of or replace a very small handful of things, which goes to show that I tend to wear my clothes a few sizes too large. These yard pants are uncomfortably tight in the thigh, now, not just across the butt, and I had to get new pajamas and say goodbye to a skirt and that’s about it.

And I am very lucky that my joints don’t seem to be any worse with the weight. Same old pain.

-

Having to face the fact that there’s no room for this toaster oven. It might be something I have to take all the way downstairs when it’s not actively in use, or I might have to pass it on to someone else.

I’m going to finish scrubbing it out and make a few things in it, though.

Most things I’d make in it are things I can’t even eat. I plan to make some beet chips, some roasted tiny potatoes, and maybe some more, crispier pita chips, not like I can’t do that in the regular oven. The smallness of the toaster oven gives it novelty.

-

When That Guy first started talking about being interested in Genshin Impact I was reading that a lot of players find it to be basically a clone of Breath or the Wild. Now that hes playing Tears of the Kingdom, yeah. It’s like he’s still playing Genshin but with Link.

He is finally starting to get tired of Genshin, too. I guess a combination of the gatcha which he consistently fails, the rapid release of new characters which he can’t get because he refuses to pay real money for the gatcha, and the repetitiveness of the mats grind.

[eastbluechef]

The galley kitchen was hot and noisy but he didn't mind it. In fact, he barely noticed it because he was too much in 'the zone' as he tossed some ingredients into a sautée pan, taking a small step back as it flared up.

"Shift is done, Sanji! What are you still doing in here?" A man yelled and pointed to the door. "Get out. Can't be hanging around in here because we can't pay you extra. Besides you're due back here in the morning for breakfast service."

A sign escaped Sanji, and he ran his hand through his blonde hair, looking at the pan. "Workin' on a new recipe, Zeff." He said in his soft British accent. He didn't quite feel like going to his cabin but then again he couldn't mingle on the upper decks of the cruise ship with the passengers -- even though he'd love to because it was a singles cruise ship afterall. Lots of pretty ladies out there.

He removed the pan and put it on the unlit back burner and wiped his hands on his apron. "Right, guess I'll be going." He paused. "Unless you need to me stay?"

Before the other man could answer a woman burst into the back. "Is there someone in here who can take this tray out to table 127? Anyone??" She sounded desperate.

"I can do it, Darling," He said with a smile, removing his white chef jacket and slipping into his black waiter's jacket. "Could never say no to a lady in need." Usually Sanji would've turned up his nose or threw a fit if he had to do a waiter job but she needed help. Before picking up the tray he glanced at his boss as if asking for premission.

"Make it quick and then turn in for the night." The man grunted.

Sanji tipped his head in thanks and then lifted the tray, heading out of the kitchen and into the large dining room. He made his way through the tables and smiled as he passed all the women. They weren't really paying attention to him they were all too busy with all the single men trying to find their perfect match.

He approached table 127. It was near the wall in the back of the dining room and there was a pretty blonde sitting there -- all alone too. "Madam," He smiled, stopping at the table. "I have your --" He glanced at the tray noticing what was on it. "Salmon limone with garlic roasted potatoes, and a side of asparagus." He carefully set the plate in front of her, and took in her beauty. He couldn't help but notice her expression. All the other women looked like they were having a blast, she on the other hand looked miserable.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you not having a good time?" He looked into her blue eyes. "And if you aren't, then what can I do to make your night better?"

@abeautifulmencgerie