#we are trying to find a dry food she likes but she seems to struggle with nomming it

[sugarysakurakitty]

....Not the same anon, but the one that likes dogs from a while back :)

....I saw you said you got a new dog, super happy for you! what kind? 😊

YAY NICE DOG ANON ITS NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!! Are you following me or do you just like to check back once in a while? /nfta (<- if you ARE following me that is a Very Limited List of who you could be, I only have like 20 followers lmfao)

Thank you!! I was super nervous about even mentioning her on here because of the harrasment (I don't really want to get paragraphs in my inbox that stress me out and trigger my OCD). She's a sheltie (Shetland Sheepdog). She's a year old, we just got her from the humans society less than a week ago! She's just wonderful. Everything I could ever ask for in a dog and more. I adore her to the ends of the earth. She's so very beautiful, blue merle with the sweetest brown eyes you've ever seen. Tiny little love. She is shy pretty shy with new people, but is more comfortable with them if she gets to sit on my lap. She loves to be outside, she PRANCES around in the grass. Such a sweetheart. Loves other pets. The stars aligned for me to get her (we weren't planning on ACTUALLY getting a dog anytime soon, but I just happened to see her online at a shelter we go to frequently, and I showed my Mau who told me to ask my dad for her for my birthday... and he went and got her for me! All in one day. We all adore her, she's so perfect.) She's been really helping me with a lot of stuff we didn't really see coming, and is helping with everything we hoped she would!

[little-diable]

Unspoken nicknames and lost loves – Dean Winchester (smut)

I crave Dean Winchester as if he's a drug. How insane. Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this, your comments keep us writers motivated! Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: The reader walked out on Dean and his lifestyle years ago, and yet she has never managed to let go of her love for him. Perhaps a nest of vampires in her town is exactly what needed to happen to bring them back together. Honestly, just pwp.

Warnings: 18+, smut, piv, mentions some heartbreak and talks about leaving, fluff tho

Pairing: Dean Winchester x fem!reader (3k words)

Darkness wrapped itself around (y/n), it crawled up her tired body like a snake slithering through Eden, knowing that chaos would unfold soon enough. The stone bench she was sitting on did little to shield her body from the cold night, leaving her trembling as she waited for his arrival. And yet she didn’t even know if he would show, if he had listened to the panicked voice message she had left hours ago.

Her eyes wandered over the rows of endless graves, trying to decipher the unfamiliar names to keep herself distracted. A part of her wondered why she was so sure that he’d show, after years of silence on her end – years of his calls she had ignored, of sober and drunk messages she had deleted. And yet a small part knew that he’d always come when she called, keeping the promise he had made years ago.

Dean Winchester had always been her enigma, the one she found herself clinging to for years, tied to him from her teenage years on, all until the day where she had packed her bag to leave the brothers and their lifestyle behind. A day that had flipped her life completely, luring her away from the places she had called her home for years on end, ripping it all out of her hands because her anxious overthinking mind had gotten the best of her.

And yet she didn’t regret running, at least not from the unstable lifestyle she had never managed to adjust to. But no matter how many years had passed since that day, she couldn’t shake her longing for the man she had once wanted to marry, the man she had hurt more than words could express, the man she expected to find her in moments of desperation.

“A cemetery, how fitting.” Dean Winchester’s raspy voice rang in her ears, forcing (y/n)’s glassy eyes towards his frame. He towered over her, letting his green eyes dance over her features while hers did the same, taking in every inch of the handsome face she’d never forget, no matter what may happen to her.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d come, but I thought this spot was far away enough for you to at least consider meeting me.” Dean sat down next to her on the bench, letting one arm rest behind her back. It wasn’t the first time she was seeing him again after leaving him, they had run into one another every now and then, and yet it was the first time they were all alone, without Sam or any of her friends near.

“You know I’ll always come whenever you need me, (y/n).” The use of her name cut deeper than she thought it would, instantly missing the nickname he had once used, a familiar sound she craved like a starving woman in need of food. She had to avert her gaze for a moment, no longer able to get lost in the eyes she’d always find, no matter how big a crowd may be, lured towards Dean Winchester like two magnets made to fit.

“So, vampires, huh?” She was glad for the change of topic, all too aware of the doubts that began to grow louder, leaving her to wonder if this had been a mistake.

“You know I don’t want anything to do with this, but I knew I had to call you. I’m sure you picked up on the series of missing people around here, the second I saw them killing that woman, I knew you could help.” Her mouth felt dry, struggling to speak about the things she had sworn she‘d keep away from. But no matter where she was, no matter what she was doing, it seemed as if there was no way out of this mess she had once lived through.

“I will call Sam, we will take care of this.“ Dean‘s hand found her knee, softly squeezing it before he dropped it once again, instantly making her miss the soft touch. (Y/n) couldn’t stop herself from smiling at him, allowing her a handful of seconds to properly look at the man her heart was still aching for.

“You can stay at mine for the few days you two will be around, if you want.“ The offer had rolled off her tongue before (y/n) could even have tried to stop it. For a moment, Dean kept quiet, not speaking up while she silently cursed herself for making this even harder for her. But before (y/n) could try to pull the offer back, Dean let go of a soft hum.

“That would be nice, thank you.” A soft smile was shot her way before he rose to his feet, letting his hands disappear in the pockets of his trousers. Both allowed one another to have one last look, giving the moment an almost melancholic touch before Dean parted his lips once again. “Sam will call you once we’re on the way. Be careful, (y/n).”

And all she could do was watch Dean Winchester leave her side once again, taking another piece of her heart with him.

……

“Thank you for letting us stay, (y/n). I’m sure this isn’t easy for you.” Sam had his hand placed on her shoulder, holding her close while Dean was taking a quick shower. She had missed having Sam around, the one she had kept in touch with over the past years, desperate for updates on the man she still longed for.

“I’m happy to see you, both of you.” She didn’t manage to speak another word, didn’t want to dwell on the feeling of regret and anxiety simmering inside of her. All she could do was turn from Sam, focusing on the bottles of beer she had bought, very well knowing that some things won’t ever change when it comes to the Winchester brothers.

“Shower’s free.” Dean’s raspy voice lured Sam from her side, forcing (y/n)’s eyes to Dean who leaned against the door frame with wet hair and clothes that hugged his frame a tad bit too well. With heat clinging to her, (y/n) tried to busy herself with preparing some snack, anything she could do to keep her eyes from wandering back to Dean.

“It’s a nice place you’ve got here.” He plopped down in one of the chairs, shooting her a grateful smile as she reached a beer out for him to take. (Y/n) was grateful that he hadn’t commented on the pictures she had hung up around her place, old memories of her and the two brothers, of shared friends and long lost loved ones. She was grateful that he didn’t tease her about any of them, well aware of the way she had struggled without them close, even though she had been the one who had decided to run.

“It’s enough for now.” His hum rumbled through him, echoing through the kitchen like a cry she struggled to keep bottled in. “So, no boyfriend or roommate you share this place with?”

“Oh come on, Dean.” (Y/n) scoffed at his words while shaking her head. She knew that he couldn’t be this oblivious, unaware of the heartache she had caused them both and still hadn’t managed to overcome. Even back then, when she had left him, (y/n) had known that no other man would ever come after him, after the one she had loved more than life itself, the brightness to her darkest days, the air she needed to breathe. She was choking without him, dying a slow death she was to blame for.

“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t been with anyone, it’s been years, (y/n).” Dean’s words cut deep, dripping with spite. She couldn’t stop her body from turning towards him, from staring at him with glassy eyes that were filled with unshed tears. She wasn’t stupid, was well aware that Dean had been with many women, spending nights or even weeks with them, at least until another hunt called him and Sam away. And yet she didn’t manage to swallow her jealousy, the biting sensation that left a bitter taste on her tongue.

“I haven’t, and I doubt I ever will.” With her back turned towards him, (y/n) kept her eyes focused on the kitchen island she was leaning against, palms pressed flat against the cold material. She had to blink away her tears, unable to stop a few from rolling down her warm cheeks. The sound of his chair screeching rang in her ears, followed by the sounds of his feet softly meeting the ground, telling her that Dean was moving closer.

“Look at me, (y/n).” His hands found her waist, turning her front back towards him. His green eyes were filled with pain, a sensation so strong, it forced a sob right out of (y/n). Wordlessly he wiped her falling tears away while a soft smile played on the lips she had last kissed years ago. “Talk to me, what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

“It’s so pathtic, god, fuck.” Her eyes fluttered close, she didn’t endure looking at him any longer, needing a few moments to deeply inhale some new air. Dean kept his hand placed on her cheek, holding onto her while silence wrapped itself around the two ex-lovers who clung to one another as if it was their final moment together.

“I know it’s my fault. I walked away, I couldn’t cope with this life. But I left my heart with you, I knew that I won’t ever get to love another person the same way I love you. And for a while I thought I could live with that, away from you and that unstable life. But now,” a shaky breath left her as her eyes flickered back to his. “Now I am no longer so sure about that.”

Dean pulled her into his chest, letting his chin rest on her head while another sob clawed through (y/n). With every passing moment, it felt as if Dean was tightening his grip on her, scared that she’d run before he found the strength to reply.

“You know, I was angry at you for leaving, probably for years. But the older I get, the more I understand it. It wasn’t fair of us to drag you into this, to force you to move around and live without any perspectives while we were both so young. You deserve better and I’ve accepted that. But I also always knew that you were it for me, no other person will ever manage to make me feel that love we shared.” His words felt like another punch to her gut, forcing her through these memories she had tried to drown with the love she had once felt – unsuccessfully.

“I don’t want to let go of you, Dean. I know I have to, but I don’t know how much longer I can live with this pain.” With his hand finding the back of her neck, he pulled her tear-stained face away from his broad chest. She was high on his scent, the comfortable scent she had craved to smell for years. His thumb rang along her lower lip, feeling the bite marks her teeth had left behind while trying to stop herself from speaking up.

He didn’t have to ask for permission as he dipped his head down to kiss her, to press his lips against hers like he had once done numerous times each day. Instantly, she felt hurled back in time, letting herself fall back into a familiar routine as her arms found their way around his neck and his tongue met hers.

Only as the sound of Sam nearing managed to reach them did they pull away from one another. Breathlessly, they looked at one another for a handful of seconds before she turned back towards the snacks and Dean moved towards the chair he had been sitting on.

“So, how’s life around here, (y/n)? Is it as quiet as you wanted it to be?”

……

“Dean?” She mumbled his name as she woke to the feeling of someone slinging their arms around her frame to pull her against a broad chest. (Y/n) could instantly tell that it was Dean, wrapping her in his comfortable embrace as she shuffled around, needing to look up at him.

“I can’t stop thinking about what you said to me earlier.” His confession filled her bedroom, weighing heavy on both their souls. Slowly, she moved her hand up his shirt, letting it rest on his chest while her fingers traced his exposed collar bones.

“I meant it, every part of it.” The heavy exhale that followed her words interrupted their silence, drawing their eyes back to one another. It felt like a deja-vu, happening just like hours ago where he had finally kissed her again after all these years. Their lips melted together, hearts and souls intertwined while he pulled (y/n) on top of him.

“Do you want this? I need you to be sure, sweetheart.” Her heart skipped a beat at the use of his old nickname for her, leaving her dazed while a soft “Yes” managed to leave her slightly swollen lips. Without letting go of her, Dean flipped them around, hovering over her while he got rid of his shirt. He took his time, teasing her for a few moments before he exposed his upper body to her wandering eyes.

Dean allowed her to trace his marks, to explore the skin she had once been all too familiar with, needing a few seconds to adjust once again. But he grew impatient all too quickly, letting his hands disappear beneath her shirt to pull it from her frame. Within seconds his mouth found her chest, kissing their way to her naked breasts.

(Y/n)’s quiet moans were like fuel to the fire, begging him to suck on her hardening nubs while she bucked her hips, feeling his hardening cock press against her covered heat. Nothing could happen now to pull them away from one another, to stop them from what was about to unfold, they were too far gone, set on moulding a perfect mess they never wanted to get rid of again.

“It’s been too long, I need you, need to feel you inside of me, Dean.” She was proud of herself for even finding her words while he kept rubbing himself against her, leaving her bundle of nerves pulsing. His eyes flickered up to hers, filled with a teasing anticipation that shook right through her like lightning striking her body. All while she laid still, with her hands resting next to her as if she was scared to touch him, to mess something up.

“You’re still such a needy girl for me, aren’t you, sweetheart?” With her breath hitched in her chest it felt as if she was drowning, drowning in everything Dean Winchester emanated. He rose back to a sitting position, chasing the distance between them to pull her panties down her legs before he stepped out of his boxers. (Y/n)’s greedy eyes wandered up and down his naked body, thanking whoever was listening for giving her a second chance.

“I want you bare, let me feel you.” She trusted him, knew that Dean would never risk harming her in any way, and yet she didn’t dare look at him while speaking the words that drew a gritty moan from Dean. He found his way back to her, hovering over (y/n) while he dipped his head down to kiss her. The kiss seemed to wake her from her state, letting her hands find their way up his neck to his hair, tugging on the soft roots to wordlessly beg him for more.

Dean brushed the tip of his cock through her slit, spreading her arousal on her skin before he finally sank into her. A loud moan left the both of them in unison, a sound he tried to swallow with another kiss pressed to her parted lips. He gave them a few seconds before he started to fuck her with slow thrusts, enjoying every second of their all too intimate reunion.

It felt like a dream, a surreal experience she was only dreaming about but would never experience in real life. Having Dean oh so close, being buried beneath him while he fucked her with calculated thrusts that made black dots appear in her vision – a dreamy state she never wanted to escape from.

“Look at me, pretty girl. Let me see how good I’m making you feel.” Dean’s teasing words dripped with confidence, leaving her buzzing in heat as her eyes snapped towards his. They held eye contact while his thrusts grew faster, knowing that they couldn’t drag this out even if they wanted to. Too many years had passed, years they had been forced to spend without the other near, years they were now trying to make up for.

“I love you, Dean.” She wouldn’t have managed to stop the words from leaving her even if she had tried to. Words that left him chuckling in delight before he repeated them, making her heart flutter in her chest. A blissful state that only grew more prominent as she sneaked her hand between her bodies to rub her pulsing bundle.

“I want you to cum with me, don’t let go yet, sweetheart.” (Y/n) could only let go of a choked sound while she clawed her fingernails into his shoulders, trying to stop herself from letting go. They kept looking at one another until Dean finally nodded his head, allowing her to let go as his ferocious thrusts pushed them over the edge.

Both moaned in unison as they came together, breathless sounds they couldn’t care about. The blinding sensation felt as if they were burning alive, robbing them of their breath while they were certain that it had never felt this good before.

“I’m sorry for leaving, Dean.” (Y/n) mumbled the words into the darkness of her room. She clung to him as he slowly pulled out of her, only to plop down on the mattress right next to (y/n).

“I’m sorry for just letting you go. I will never be this blind again, sweetheart.”

[achilles-rage]

Can’t Hold Back

summary: the three times you almost jump eddie, and the one time you do.

word count: 3.7k

request: anon- I NEEEED something about reader being obsessed with Eddies moustache, just her wanting to jump him constantly cos she finds it so hot. Sorry I am so obsessed with the stache it’s unhealthy.

a/n: this was longer than i originally intended, but when i was writing the last part, the urge i have to suck the soul out of this man took over and we got this. i kept thinking about the ring pop scene when he tilts his head back okay?? sue me!! anyway, enjoy<3

warnings: smut, tiny comb slander (affectionately<3), no use of y/n, fem!reader, plus size!reader, race inclusive!reader

MDNI- 18+ only!

You remember the first time you saw Eddie’s mustache. You were extremely busy with work, so you hadn’t seen him for a couple weeks. When you finally had time to see each other, he invited you over for dinner, and when he opened the door, you weren’t sure what to do. 

He seemed a little nervous to show you, but you quickly reassured him that you liked it. Actually, you fucking loved it, but you felt a little weird about telling him that it made you want to drag him to the bedroom and not come out until the next day.

When he sets down the plate of food in front of you, your mouth waters. With so much newfound free time, he finally forced himself to learn to cook better, and it was definitely paying off. He seems so proud of himself when you take a bite and have to fight back a moan, and as amazing as the food is, you still struggle to finish your plate instead of skipping right to the end of the night.

It doesn’t help that the entire dinner, he’s extremely interested in everything you have to say; excited to finally catch up on everything going on the past few weeks that you insisted you “just had to tell him in person.” 

He’s being so attentive and sweet, and you can’t tear your eyes away from him.

Everytime he touches his mustache, or brings his napkin up to wipe his face, your eyes are glued to his lips. Frankly, you feel a little bit insane for how much you love the new addition to his face. You wonder if he’d be willing to grow a beard as well?

Once dinner is finished, you help him clear the table, and as he rinses the plates in the sink, you lean against the counter beside him. God, he’s even more attractive when he’s not paying attention, you think. He’s rambling on about a call he got the other day at work, and you try to listen intently, but with the way his mouth is moving, every word is pretty much in one ear and out the other.

When he reaches for the dish towel to dry his hands, you move to stand in front of him, slipping your arms around his neck and pulling him against you. Your lips find his quickly, and after he lets out a quiet hum of surprise, his arms are wrapping around your plush middle, keeping you against him as you deepen the kiss.

Just as you start to trail one hand down his chest, desperate to get to his belt, he breaks the kiss. He rests his forehead against yours as he takes in a big breath of air, his eyes sparkling and a big smile on his face. God, he’s missed this.

“I have a surprise.” he tells you softly, as if afraid to disturb the calmness surrounding you two.

“What?” you ask with a grin, although the question begging to fall from your lips is “what the hell could be better than this surprise?” 

“They’re playing your favourite movie at the theatre downtown; some kind of anniversary special. I got us tickets.” he tells you excitedly, giddy to see your reaction. 

Your smile widens, and you laugh quietly before you pull him back in for a kiss. You mumble a “thank you” against his lips, and when you pull away, he’s grinning almost as widely as you are.

“Anything for you, mi amor.” he tells you earnestly, and you feel your cheeks heat up at the sentiment. You’re a little disappointed; all you wanted was to drag him to bed, or the couch, or honestly, the kitchen counter. But, you are excited about being able to see your favourite movie in the theatre, and he’s so proud of himself. You know you can’t do what you’ve been waiting for since he let you into his house, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less excited about going out with Eddie for the night. Your plans will just have to wait.

You watch with a small smile as Eddie frantically moves around the house, trying to find his wallet and keys so he can get to work. You can see both items from where you’re leaning against the wall near the front door, waiting to see him off. You let him search for a minute before you call his name, and when he turns, his shoulders relax upon setting site on you holding his wallet in one hand, and his keys in the other.

He closes the distance between you and grabs the keys from your hand, then raises his other hand to cup your cheek and bring his lips to your forehead. You close your eyes for a moment as he presses a soft kiss to your skin, wishing he didn’t have to leave so soon.

“What would I do without you, mi amor?” he murmurs fondly when he pulls away. He takes a moment to scan your face, taking in the small smile on your lips, and the sparkle in your eyes, and he silently thanks God that you’re in his life.

“I love you.” he finally says, then drops his hand from your cheek and makes his way toward the front door.

“Forgetting something?” you ask with a smirk when he opens the front door. He turns to you with a confused look, then makes his way back over to you slowly. He pulls you into him by the flesh of your hips, giving you a deep kiss. You feel his mustache tickle your skin, and you smile into the kiss, feeling his panic about being late temporarily melt away as he focuses on you.

When he pulls away, he gives you a wink, then turns again towards the door. You laugh softly as you roll your eyes; is that seriously what he thought he forgot? If he weren’t actually so late, you’d let him get all the way to his truck before you speak up again.

“Eddie,” you say with a laugh, trying to get his attention. “I meant your wallet, but I love where your mind went.” you tease when he turns to you again. His brows are furrowed, and when he sees you still holding his wallet in your hand, you see the redness appear in his cheeks. He covers his slight embarrassment up with a chuckle, then reaches out and takes his wallet. 

“Then I guess I forgot two things.” he says, trying to cover up his mistake with a cocky smirk. You shake your head, the smile stuck on your face as you narrow your eyes. 

He takes the extra time to press another kiss to your lips, this one deeper, and your knees almost buckle when his hand comes up to lightly grip your throat. You try to chase his lips when he pulls back, but he holds your head back with that same smirk etched on his face. 

God, if it weren’t for his shift in 10 minutes, you’d be pushing him over to the couch and sinking to your knees in front of him. How the hell was he able to turn the tables so quickly? One second he’s embarrassed, and the next he has the heat rushing to your cheeks and your heart hammering in your chest.

“I love you.” he tells you again, and you nod, swallowing as you stare into his eyes. Your eyes trail down to the hair above his upper lip, and you lick your lips. How can a mustache be this attractive? All you want to do is keep him home all day and show him just how much you like the new facial hair he’s sporting.

“I love you.” you murmur, and then he’s gone; out the door and in his truck before you can react. Motherfucker, you think, he knows what he’s doing.

“Eds, have you seen my necklace?” you call from the bedroom. You know you wore it to his house; you remember making sure it was facing the right way last night when you were in his bathroom before dinner. Even so, you’ve looked everywhere, and it’s nowhere to be found.

“It’s in here!” he calls back from his bathroom, and you let out a relieved sigh. The necklace isn’t expensive or sentimental or anything, but it is one of your favourites.

You let out a laugh when you walk into the bathroom, seeing the smallest comb you think you’ve ever seen, looking even smaller in Eddie’s large hands. He turns to you with a frown, his brows furrowed.

“Yeah, keep laughing. I’ll remember this the next time you tell me how much you love how soft it is.” he says with a scoff, a teasing glint in his eyes. You laugh softly, shaking your head as you walk further into the bathroom and grab your necklace off the counter.

He has a point, you guess. You do love how it feels against your skin when his lips are on yours, or when he’s nipping at your neck, or when he’s pressing open mouth kisses to your inner thighs.

You feel desire pooling in your stomach as you think about it, but you try to ignore it as you look at yourself in the mirror and clasp your necklace around your neck. 

You’re very sure that he keeps using the stupid little comb for longer than he should as you stand there fiddling with your necklace. Surely it doesn’t take more than 3 swipes with the comb to do whatever the hell he thinks he’ll accomplish with it.

You can’t help the small laugh that tumbles out of your mouth as you shake your head, trying to snap out of the weird trance Eddie has you in. How can him using a goddamn mini comb be so attractive? It doesn’t help that he’s wearing his LAFD shirt, and it’s just tight enough to show the outline of his chest.

“What?” he asks when your laugh hits his ears. You hum softly, shaking your head as you fight back a smile. 

“Nothing, nothing.” you try to wave him off, finally tearing your attention back to your necklace and securing it around your neck.

He narrows his eyes at you, and you both make eye contact through the mirror, but neither of you say another word. You take a step back as he leans away from the mirror and stands up straight, and you can’t fight the loud giggle you let out when you see that he not only has a tiny comb, but a tiny holder for his tiny comb.

“What the hell is that?” you ask through giggles, and he sighs, rolling his eyes.

“Well, I don’t wanna lose it, do I?” he replies, as if that’s a perfectly reasonable answer.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how important your little comb is.” you tease. Tiny comb and holder aside, he looks incredibly good today. The worst part is, you have a while before either of you have to leave for the day, and you can’t even take advantage of the situation. If you were to throw yourself at him right now, he’d never let you forget that his tiny comb that you made fun of him for couldn’t even stop you from still wanting him.

You’re at the grocery store with Eddie when you hear a scream from a few aisles over, then a frantic voice yelling for help. You freeze for a moment, your heart rate spiking and your hair standing on end, but when Eddie races out of the aisle and towards the situation, you snap out of it. 

You follow him, cart momentarily forgotten as you jog in the direction Eddie ran in. When you make it to the aisle, you see an older man passed out on the floor, and a woman is standing over him in tears while Eddie checks his pulse. 

You can hardly hear anything when Eddie turns to you, and it’s only when he waves his hand in front of his face that you can hear him. You blink a few times, then reach into your purse with shaky hands to grab your phone and dial 9-1-1 like Eddie asked. 

You kneel beside him and put the phone on speaker, holding it out in front of him so he can speak to the dispatcher. As Eddie continues to assess the man while speaking to the dispatcher, another man kneels down on the other side of the older man, trying to tell Eddie what to do. 

Eddie explains to him that he doesn’t need help calmly, and you’re not sure how he can remain so mellow right now, even if this is his job. Your hands are shaking, and all you’re doing is holding the phone.

The man continues to try to help, doing what you assume is everything wrong, because after a moment, Eddie erupts.

“Back up. You’re making it worse. I’m not gonna let him die because of you.” The man raises his hands in surrender, then slowly stands up and backs up. You watch as Eddie goes back to tending to the man, licking your lips in a desperate attempt to wet your dry lips. 

You feel extremely guilty, but the way Eddie just takes over has you too aware of everything around you. You can feel the thin layer of sweat on your skin from the stress, you can feel your heart beating in your chest, and you can feel the way Eddie’s thigh is touching the outside of yours. This is definitely not the time, but he’s just so smart, so capable.

You finally snap out of it when the paramedics come in, tapping your shoulder gently to urge you to move out of their way. You hang up the phone haphazardly as you stand up, feeling Eddie’s arm wrap around your waist, his hand resting on your hip and pulling you against him as he backs the both of you up to give the paramedics even more room.

You can feel Eddie’s breath on your neck when he leans his head towards you and whispers into your ear.

“Are you okay, baby?” You shiver at the sensation, nodding quickly as you blink a few times. “He’s gonna be okay. He just has low blood sugar, he just needs a glucagon shot.”

He thinks you’re on edge because of the man, and while you are worried about him, you know that Eddie knows what to do, that he’d be able to help him.

You both make your way back to the aisle you were in when you heard the scream and bring your cart up to the front in silence, neither of you remembering that you still have a few more groceries to get.

When you’re finally out of the store and the groceries are in his car, you check around you, smirking to yourself when you see no one in sight. You’re lucky that Eddie parks so far away from the doors; not wanting to risk anyone hitting his car and damaging the paint. You definitely don’t want anyone to see this.

Your lips are on his in an instant, your hands cupping his face as you push him back a step so his back hits the side of his truck. He hums in surprise, then melts into the kiss, raising one hand to your jaw while the other holds you by the waist.

“That was so hot.” you whisper against his lips, your kiss growing sloppy and needy. He chuckles against your lips, then slips his tongue past your lips to explore your mouth, savouring your taste. You can feel his facial hair along your skin, and it makes you shiver. He was right about that stupid comb. His mustache is extremely soft, with just the right amount of scratchiness that makes your head spin.

“Yeah?” he asks in a cocky tone against your lips, barely registering that you’re practically throwing yourself at him in the middle of the grocery store parking lot. You hum softly, nodding as much as you can with your lips glued to his.

The only thing that snaps him out of his daze is your hands moving down to his belt. He pulls back, chest heaving as he looks into your hooded eyes, pupils blown and full of lust.

“I think we should get home before we get arrested.” he teases you softly, and although you know he’s right, the thought of having to wait makes you whine softly.

You part from him reluctantly, then get into the passenger seat while Eddie returns the cart. When he’s back in the car and on the way back to your place, you reach over and place a hand on his thigh, dangerously close to the growing tent in his pants.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks lowly, a playful smirk on his face as he glances over at you, his eyes narrowed. You shrug, humming softly as you drag your nails up and down the fabric of his jeans.

He’s about to respond when you move your hand directly over his cock, growing harder with each passing moment. A strangled gasp escapes his throat, and his grip tightens on the wheel, knuckles white as you slowly palm him through his jeans.

“You’re really asking for it, aren’t you?” he asks, his breathing growing more ragged and his tone changing to one of warning. You bite your lip, a small smile peeking out as you add more pressure, moving your palm against him achingly slowly.

“Just wanna show you how much I love you.” you reply sweetly. He knows he shouldn’t be letting you do this, he has to get you both home safely, but he can’t seem to say the words, or pull your hand away. You know exactly what to do to get him worked up, and right now, he’s cursing that fact.

He lets out a low groan when you reach your other hand over the centre console, now working on undoing his belt and unbuttoning his jeans. He keeps his eyes glued to the road, his grip on the wheel as tight as it can be as you pull out his leaking cock. 

You spit into your hand before you grip the base of his cock, pumping him a few times as you watch the way his face twists in pleasure. You can tell he’s torn between wanting you to continue, and knowing you shouldn’t, and that’s what makes it fun. 

He shivers when you ghost your thumb over the tip of his cock, then increase the pace of your movements, pumping him in a way that makes him sure that he won’t be able to stop you even if he tries.

“You think I can get you to cum before we get home?” you ask in a teasing tone, a hint of condescension in your voice that has him fighting hard to keep his eyes open and on the road.

“I know you can.” he mumbles, and you laugh softly, keeping up the pace as you look down at his leaking cock. 

Your mouth waters at the sight, and after a few more pumps, you unbuckle your seatbelt with the other hand, then lean over the centre console and bring the tip into your mouth, swirling your tongue around him greedily. 

He lets out a shuddered moan, and one of his hands comes down to rest on the back of your head. With your mouth and your hand on him, he’s sure he won’t last much longer, especially when the possibility of being caught is looming in the back of his mind.

You hum softly as you taste the bit of precum on your tongue, and he lets out a quiet growl as the vibrations shoot up his spine. He can feel his balls tighten as you take more of him into your mouth, switching between moving further down his cock and giving the tip of his cock soft licks. 

As he pulls onto your street, he cums hard with no warning, making you gag slightly around him as you try to catch all of your release in your mouth. You slow the movements of your hand as you swallow his load, and when you’re sure you’ve gotten it all, you sit back up, a big grin on your face. 

When he finally parks in your driveway, he looks over at you in a daze, a smirk on his face as he takes in your puffy lips. He reaches over with one hand and wipes off a bit of his cum on your chin, then raises his thumb up to your lips. You open your mouth eagerly, licking his thumb clean before you smile again, and he feels his heart hammering in his chest at the sight.

“Told you that was hot.” you tell him, and he chuckles, shaking his head at how proud of yourself you look. And for good reason.

“Almost as hot as that was.” he replies with a cocky smirk, and you lick your lips, feeling the desire pooling between your legs growing with each passing moment. 

“I think we should skip dinner tonight.” Eddie says after a moment of just you two staring at each other. 

Once he’s tucked himself back into his pants, you’re both out of the car in an instant, groceries long forgotten as you both make your way inside, trying and failing to keep your hands to yourself until you’re behind closed doors. 

When you finally get inside, Eddie has you against the wall, pressing hot kisses to your neck as he works to unbutton your jeans. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me.” he whispers against your neck, the hairs of his mustache tickling you as he gives your jeans a firm tug. 

When you finally make it to the bed, you feel overwhelmed with his touch, and his kisses, and his praise, and you’re silently thanking anyone that will listen for making him grow that mustache, stupid comb and all.

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[grandlinedreams]

Hii I just found out about your blog today! I really like your writing 🤭 Can I request a straw hat reader and law trying to keep their relationship a secret but they failed. Then the reaction from both crews! Thank you!

Hi bb!! Thank-you, I'm honored!! 🥺💖 but oh absolutely!! I hope this is to your liking, bb! (Ig this is a little non-canon? indeterminate setting)

Palm up, you stare at the little square of white that inches across your skin at a steady pace. There are limits to vivre cards, you know that ㅡ but you can't help but silently will everything involved to move faster.

"You're not sneaky, you know." You whirl, finding Nami leaning against the doorway with an amused look on her face, arms folded across her chest.

"I don't know what you mean," you say warily, mentally kicking yourself for pulling the paper out without making sure you wouldn't be spotted with it, even as your fingers close around it protectively.

Nami's head tilts. "That secret candy stash," she says, "you're not very good at hiding it. You're just lucky that Luffy hasn't figured out where to look yet."

"Oh," you answer, trying not to sound too relieved that she doesn't mean the vivre card you've been watching for the last ten minutes. "Right. I'll have to move it around, then."

Nami studies you silently for a moment in which you're almost certain she knows, but then she pulls from the doorway with a sigh. "We're supposed to be meeting up with the Heart Pirates, so you might want to come out and join us before Luffy figures that something is up."

"Right behind you," you answer, waiting until she turns to put the vivre card away and moving to follow. Outside, you're just in time to watch the swell of waves break, exposing gleaming yellow metal.

"There they are!" Luffy crows excitedly from where he's perched atop his usual seat, waving to the Polar Tang despite the fact that nobody can see him yet.

"Remind me why we're still letting them hang around?" Zoro asks and you turn towards him, though Robin answers for you.

"Because it's important to keep good relations with our allies." She glances towards you. "You agree, don't you?"

You swear there's something in her gaze, a glint of amusement that runs deeper than watching you fumble to agree.

"Whatever," huffs Zoro. "Still think that guy's full of himself."

You bite your tongue, waiting until you're certain you won't say something you regret. "Luffy is our Captain, Zoro. If he trusts them, then we should too."

You feel a lot more than trust towards Trafalgar Law. But though it's gotten easier to keep those feelings under lock and key, it's still hard to not want to bounce forward and fling your arms around him the way Luffy does.

"Traffy!! Good to see you!"

"I've told you to stop calling me that, Strawhat," Law grouses, struggling to free himself from the rubber man's grip. "And get off me!"

Luffy seems far from upset by Law's greeting, cheerful grin still wide and bright as he lets go to offer the same greeting to Bepo, just a few feet behind his Captain.

You pretend not to notice when Law glances at you, your own attention pointedly fixed on some obscure point until you can't feel the weight of his gaze anymore. Only then do you lett yourself look back at him, fingers twitching at the memory of his vivre card on your palm.

ㅡ

Luffy's plan for the ally rendezvous ends up being to anchor both the Sunny and the Polar Tang at the back coast of a nearby island with the intent to keep either crew from being spotted and recognized. (It's more Law's idea, but all he does is roll his eyes when Luffy repeats it with much more enthusiasm.)

After that it's a blur of cooking food in the kitchen, platters laden down with piles of food and lowered down onto the beach, where a bonfire (small and carefully contained) is going at Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's request.

"Is there a reason you're avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you," you say from where you're picking up dry kindling for the bonfire. "Didn't we agree not to tell either of our crews we're together?"

"True," Law agrees as he approaches, "but I hardly think pretending that I don't exist at all is going to work either. They'll think you hate me."

"I think Zoro has that covered," you mumble. "But you know I don't hate you, Law."

"I do?" There's a hint of amusement in his tone, smirk tugging at his lips. He's teasing you, the jerk. "Could have fooled me."

You roll your eyes. "What if you're the one who hates me? Hm?"

He approaches, the height difference all the clearer for how he seems to tower over you, even as he leans down. "Hate is the furthest word from how I feel about you."

You've only shared a handful of kisses with Law and each time, you've been the one to initiate them. Perhaps a testament to how he's missed you, Law leans in, lips pressing against yours.

Your eyes close, and you're tempted to drop the bundle of wood in your hands in favor of curling them into his shirt ㅡ only to break apart at the same time as Law at the sound of your Captain's voice in tandem with Bepo's.

"Hey Traffy!! Where'd you go?"

"Captain? Captain!"

Law sighs. "So much for that," he says, pulling away from you completely and turning back in the direction that he'd come from. "Don't take too long coming back either, or they'll think you got eaten by a Sea King."

Watching his back, it's only then that you realize he's somehow eased the bundle of sticks from your grip and walked away with it ㅡ effectively leaving you with zero reason as to why you'd left in the first place.

"Jerk," you mutter, but you're smiling, bringing a hand up to trace your lips and the lingering warmth.

ㅡ

Sunset is a milky blend of reds and oranges, vibrant against the deep blue of the sea, inciting a deeper sense of contentment that makes you dig your feet into the sunwarmed sand.

"Comfortable?" Law seats himself beside you without preamble, the brush of his arm against yours intentional. You debate for a moment before you lean against him, gaze flicking upward to watch his lips curve into a softer smile when you rest your head on his shoulder.

"I am now," you mumble, let your eyes drift shut as you try to commit this to memory. "I wish we saw each other more."

There's a deeper meaning to it, a wholly selfish want for something more stable than what you have ㅡ going months at a time without sreing each other, vivre cards the only way of guaranteed safety. (It isn't safety, not really. Just the reassurance that the other is still alive.)

"I know." Law answers. "...every time I hear about whatever stunt you lot have pulled, I check your vivre card." Another deeper meaning, vulnerability where he usually can't afford it. "We could tell them, you know."

You snort. "Tell them what? 'Sorry, we've been dating behind your back for the last two years?'"

"You're dating Traffy?"

You feel Law tense under your head at Luffy's voice, and you turn to find him staring at the two of you.

Shit.

"Luffy, I, uhㅡ"

"Yes," Law cuts in, "we are." It startles you, how freely he's admitting to it now when he's the one who wanted to be so damn careful about it.

"Oh," Luffy says. And then he grins. "That's so cool! I mean, as long as you're not gonna steal [Name] and make them join you all the time."

You wonder if somewhere down the line, you've hit your head and entered a different dimension. Surely you have, for Law to be so blasé in admitting to your relationship and Luffy ㅡ well, that's on par for him.

Luffy takes it a step further, however, turning and cupping his hands around his mouth. "You guys!! Did you know Traffy and [Name] were dating?"

You flinch, Law's expression unreadable as there's an answering call ㅡ Shachi.

"No offense Captain, but we figured it out last year!"

"I thought they seemed awful chummy! Congrats, you two!" Nami.

And then Luffy is bounding off back to the others, and your shoulders slump. "Well, that was a lot of worry for nothing," you lament, though you reach for Law's hand, lacing your fingers before you stand, tugging him to his feet. "Come on, boyfriend. We have some explaining to do."

[lillsisamarshmallow]

Living Arrangements (6)

Summary: Y/n comes home with Jungkook and Jimin and discovers what the others were doing while they were gone. They arranged the conditions of their stay and Y/n finally gets to know all of the names of the people she invited into her apartment.

Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: None? Let me know if I missed any!

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“What the heck?”

As we turned the corner in the hallway, the rest of the apartment being revealed to us, I stopped dead in my tracks seeing what lay before me.

Pillows, blankets, couch cushions, everything had been thrown around the room, things were knocked over, the laundry thrown all over the floor. It looked like my home had been raided, whoever did this was searching for something, or someone, my mouth hung open at the sight, not forming words, my eyes scanned all over the mess of objects going from one side of the house to another, I felt the boys tense behind me.

Do they know what happened?

I turned around to face them, Jimin looked astounded but guilty and Jungkook looked scared. Staring at them they refused to meet my eyes, their eyes darting around the room trying to focus on something else, or maybe, they were looking for someone.

They definitely know something.

“What’s going on?” I asked them both sternly, both looked at me, but before they could say anything, I heard a noise coming from the mess. Turning around I couldn’t see anything different at first, but as I went to turn back to the boys, I saw something move.

A head poked up from the mess before turning around and looking at me, the long dark brown hair accompanied by the soft looking panther ears framed his face perfectly. Catching my attention away from the panther hybrid, I saw another head poke up from further in the mess, two bright orange fox ears.

“Hoseok?”

“Y/n? Jimin? Jungkook?”

It wasn’t Hoseok who spoke, turning to try and find the voice I spotted Seokjin peering out from behind the bathroom door, he seemed to sigh in relief seeing us before he started walking over, putting the bags down I walked towards him meeting him halfway.

“What’s going on?”

Seokjin swallowed the lump in his throat before looking away from me not wanting to meet my unbending stare, I put my hand on my hip trying to act more intimidating, not that it would work on him, my short frame compared to his I’m sure was not intimidating in the slightest.

“We uh, we-” His throat seemed to dry as he struggled to find the words to explain, he coughed a few times before speaking. “We thought someone took you guys or something bad happened, so we uh… tried looking for you, in the apartment…”

My eyes soften at his explanation.

Why did they think something bad happened to us?

“We’re sorry Y/n, we’ll leave” Hoseok said from across the room sadly.

Sighing, I gave Seokjin a genuine smile before speaking. “No, it’s okay, you guys don’t have to leave. We should’ve let you know we were going out before we left. Besides, I needed to clean up and now I have a reason to. “

“Where’d you go?” Namjoon spoke up from behind Seokjin, seeming to have also came from the bathroom behind him. Looking over at him he seemed genuinely curious, for once he didn’t seem to be mad at me which was a breath of fresh air.

“We went to the store to get some supplies, there’s a storm rolling in and they think it’ll last the week. Which means you guys can’t go home tomorrow, so we got some things,” I continued telling them about our outing while I walked over to the kitchen where the other boys are and started putting the food away. “Food, bathroom supplies, more blankets, pillows, and we also got you guys some more clothes, Jungkook and Jimin picked them out so hopefully they’ll fit.”

The room seemed to fall into a silence before Seokjin broke it. “Did you make Y/n buy all of those things? Aish, sometimes I can’t believe you two!”

“No! we didn’t make her! She told us to pick out food and clothes.”

I could feel eyes on my back as I bent down grabbing some strawberries from the paper bag to put in the fridge, turning around I saw many sets of eyes on me, I looked to Seokjin before giving him a reassuring smile and nodding my head before opening the fridge obstructing my view of them, putting the strawberries away.

The conversation seemed to die down as we began putting things away, most of the boys coming over to help, it was a comfortable almost silence with the occasional question as to where something went in the cupboard or fridge.

We had started cleaning up the apartment not long ago and with all the extra hands it wasn’t taking long, all that was left were some of the blankets in the loungeroom. Walking through them to try and get to the other side, I started shuffling my feet to try and gather them into the middle, my feet and legs became used to the continuous movement, it felt almost automatic the way they moved through the blankets, stuck in my thoughts I didn’t hear the warning fired my way,

I hit something hard in the blankets, a yelp left my mouth, my knees collapsing as I fell down into what I had hoped were just a pile of blankets, but unfortunately was not. Alongside my groans of pain from the fall and landing on the mysteriously hard object covered by the blankets, another voice could be heard groaning too. The blankets underneath me started moving but before I could scramble away a hand stuck out gripping onto my ankle, screaming I tried kicking it away and dragging myself away from whatever was holding me, but it was too strong, the blankets began to rise taking my foot with them, even my leg was lifted up by now.

From under the tower of blankets emerged…two fluffy cat ears, followed by long black hair turning to the side the person eyes met mine, at first, they were cold, annoyed, and almost murderous but upon locking with mine, realising who I was, they softened, but they still held slight annoyance and tiredness.

Was he asleep?

He let go of me, muttering a small apology before standing up fully and grabbing the blankets he was sleeping under and walking over to the couch where I could see him folding them up. Still in shock it took a few seconds to react to the hand that reached out to me, following it up I saw the panther hybrid, grabbing his hand he helped pull me up until I was standing next to him, I muttered a small ‘thanks.’

“I tried to warn you that Yoongi was there.” He chuckled looking at me which made me laugh alongside him picking up the last of the pillows.

So, if Yoongi is the cat hybrid, then this must be Taehyung.

It was nice finally being able to match all the names to the faces of the people staying in my home, making our way over to the kitchen counter, where most of the others were, we started discussing the conditions of their stay, sleeping arrangements, keeping everything tidy and not leaving the apartment without letting someone know. We had decided that the three youngest, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook would share the spare bedroom, and the others would share the couch, I felt bad that they all had to share, but I really didn’t have room for seven more people in my 2-bedroom apartment.

The boys took turns showering and trying on their new clothes, while whoever wasn’t busy was helping make the couch up. Seokjin had joined me in the kitchen to help make dinner for us all, due to the café I was used to sizing up recipes and making bigger portions. I went with something simple for tonight since it had been a long day for everyone, plating up all the food with Seokjin’s help didn’t take as long as I thought.

Placing the plates on to the kitchen island bench, I set them in front of each seat, there were six seats bordering the other side on the island, Seokjin announced that the food was ready, and they all dropped the sheets to come over and eat. Namjoon was showering while Hoseok was changing so there was enough room for the boys to sit while I stayed standing on the other side on the counter leaning over.

All the extra showers and dishes I knew would cause my water bill to skyrocket this month, but I tried not to think about it too much and continued eating from my bowl occasionally engaging in the small talk that was happening around the table, it didn’t take long for Hoseok to join us taking his seat with his bowl in front of him and digging in after saying ‘Thank you’.

Soon after, Namjoon emerged from the spare bedroom, his hair and ears were still wet but not dripping, he walked over to the table, I nodded at him and pushed his bowl closer his way, he gave an incomprehensible response before digging in still standing beside me due to the lack of free chairs. Looking over him, he was wearing some basic pajama pants that Jimin picked out for him, he leaned over the table to eat the food in silence, my eyes trailed up from his pants to his abdomen before it dawned on me.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt.

I could see his bare chest an along with it his wounds, he must have taken the bandages off when he was showering, the wound looked like it had been cleaned slightly so that must have been why he took longer in the shower. I was so focused that I hadn’t realised he had turned to face me.

“Y/n? You said you wanted to change the bandages so I-” He trailed off as I snapped back to reality, a noise of agreement leaving my throat.

“Uhh-um, Y-yeah, I did. I’ll go…I’ll go get those.” I stammered out as I turned awkwardly to go to my bathroom, I could hear a few giggles behind me, but I kept walking. Entering my bedroom my body shivered, I made a quick detour to close the door to my bedroom balcony before walking into my bathroom and getting the at home med kits from under the sink and heading back out to the kitchen. I hadn’t noticed before, but some of them had finished eating and had gone to finish setting up the couch and bed, I put the medical box on the table before finishing up my food, I saw Seokjin putting the dishes into the washer behind me, I tried to tell him that he didn’t need to, but he wasn’t having it, he insisted he helped out, so when me and Namjoon finished eating he came and took the plates to the washer before starting it up.

I sat down on one of the kitchen chairs while I started cleaning up Namjoon’s wounds, I realised that didn’t have any ointments to treat the wounds, so I just wound them up with the compression bandages, letting him know that I would thoroughly clean it tomorrow after I get some ointments.

I’ll have to visit Jiyoon and see if she has some.

Namjoon slipped on a matching shirt before giving me a smile and walking over to the couch with the other boys, they had finished setting gup the couch be now, it was really only enough room for two people, but they made it work. Seokjin and Yoongi shared the side that was against the wall and Namjoon and Hoseok were sharing the side opposite the kitchen, I walked over standing in front of them asking if everything was alright, after I got confirmation that they were all okay, I said goodnight to them all before walking behind the couch an making my way over to the spare room.

Walking in I could see Taehyung lying across the bed, his feet hanging off due to his height, Jungkook was sitting on a big stack of pillows backed up against the headboard, and Jimin was fiddling with the lamp by the bed side table, they were all laughing and joking around with each other, and they had the biggest smiles, their happiness radiating through the room.

Jungkook noticed me first, looking over at me he called my name which caused the other two boys to look my way, Taehyung sat up to properly face me, I gave them a smile stepping closer, Jimin walked around the bed to come stand on the same side as me.

“I just wanted to check that everything is okay, but you guys seem to be doing great.” I giggled, Jungkook flashed his bunny smile which made my chest shudder and my smile got bigger.

“This bed is so soft.” Taehyung exclaimed excitedly, collapsing backwards on to the bed full of fluffy pillows and doonas, we all giggled at his antics as he then proceeded to roll himself up in the blankets disappearing from sight.

“Yeah, we’re all good, Thanks again Y/n for letting us stay here.” Jimin said, I turned to look at him, I had never seen him this happy, I reached forwards wrapping my arms round his neck giving him a tight but quick hug, whispering in his ear, ‘Your welcome’ before letting go. I looked at all the boys once more, except for Taehyung who I couldn’t see because of all the blankets covering him.

“Goodnight, boys.”

“Goodnight, Y/n” Three voices replied to me, one being muffled, I turned and headed out, flicking off the light as a did and closing the door behind me, I quickly did a round, turning off all the lights before saying a final goodnight and heading into my room closing the door.

Behind the closed door I let out a sigh, I was exhausted, slipping off my shirt I made my way to my bathroom turning on the shower, getting in I let the steam fill my senses, my body relaxing under the hot water, I was too tired to do my hair, so I tried my best to keep it dry. I’ll do it in the morning. I thought to myself.

Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped my towel around myself before opening the door into my room, the cold air making me shiver and almost drop the towel, I got changed into some warm comfy pajamas, emerging from my closet I sauntered over to my bed slinking in under the doona, I made sure my phone was on the charger before closing my eyes and getting comfy in the blankets and readjusting my pillows, the sound of rain outside hitting the balcony floor and the window soothed me, the sleep came soon after, enveloping my mind and putting it to rest.

A/n: Sorry for the shorter chapter this week! Or at least it definitely felt shorter when proof reading. I knew how I wanted to start out the chapter, but I wasn’t sure how to end it, so it ended being of a bit of a word vomit and filler update, but don’t worry I’ll make it up in the next chapter. I hope it was still okay! I’ve been coming up with more of an actual plot now, I have to work out some more details and flesh it out a bit, but I’m fairly sure I know where I want this to go now. Once again sorry for not updating last week, I’m also slightly behind in writing, it’s because Pokémon scarlet has taken over my life, but I’m going to try and smash out some more writing soon. I hope everyone has a lovely day or night & Thankyou all for reading! 💜

[randomestdweller]

A/N: I love Sebastian sm but it’s something about him controlling my life that 😫. Anyways guys I don’t think Sebastian could ever love or even want to for that matter. If ANYTHING he’d probably just wants to feel possession over people, idk idk. Also the bde Sebastian had in this clip was crazy.

Repaying his kindness

Warnings: Dollification, sad ass reader backstory but it’s for the plot!, dub con (per the usual), blowjobs, sex but not very explicit, you have no autonomy fr, LMK if I need more warnings.

When was the last time you picked out your own dress? Actually, when was the last time you dressed yourself?

You weren’t noble by any means, in-fact, you grew up as a beggar on the streets along with your Mother before she died of cholera, leaving you alone to struggle by yourself on the streets of London, and when high society wasn’t being generous enough, and begging became hard to survive off, you’d think of calculating ways to steal from unsuspecting Nobles.

It had worked for a while, bumping into Ladies and Gentlemen alike before slipping your hand into their breast pockets. One time you’d even carried a fake silver watch, that you’d obtained from pick pocketing, and pretended that a Noble had bumped into you and broken it.

That had paid rather handsomely, but you weren’t a saver, you’d blown the money on food and a new outer coat as most of the stuffing had poured from your old one.

A day later you were scoping out new targets to scam. From your vantage point in the alley you came up with three targets; a family of three, a single boy and a butler, and an older Gentleman.

You quickly pondered on which to steal from before deciding on the easiest target.

A young boy and a man couldn’t be too hard to steal from, right?

With a surge of Adrenaline you skipped from your hiding spot and closed your eyes, bracing to fall on the boy but you were stilled by a firm hand on your shoulder.

When your eyes shot open, you made eye contact with the young man. He sharply glared at you before another person stepped to side of him, his hand remained on your shoulder.

“How can we help you?” The older of the two spoke, he smiled warmly at you with his eyes closed.

“I don’t need anything,” you spared another glance to the younger boy, whose face seemed stuck in a scowl, before trying and failing to shrug the man’s hand off.

His grip was firm, not tight, so the fact that you couldn’t even move your shoulder AT ALL, was alarming in itself but what was even more startling was the patronizing look in his eyes once he’d opened them. He looked at you like you were a fly buzzing around him that he could swat out of the air at any time he wished.

“Are you sure?” He pressed.

“Sebastian let’s go,” the boys cane tapped on the cobblestone beneath him, “I don’t have time for peasantry.”

You wanted to spit at the boy, to show him that status didn’t matter, to tell him not to look down on you but your instincts, of which you now realized held truth, told you to walk away quickly.

“Yes my lord,” the man purred, squeezing your shoulder (in warning?) before following behind his master.

You had cursed yourself for spending the money so carelessly but resigned yourself to sleeping hungry nonetheless, you had done it before and you could manage it again.

But that night you hadn’t had to dream of a warm meal, as you meandered through desolate roads to find a stoop that looked good enough to sleep on, you were interrupted. By the Man from early, his distinctive midnight hair and earl grey eyes made him recognizable, as walked out from an alleyway and stopped in front of you.

“You intended to steal from my Master today, didn’t you?”

Your heart jumped into your dry throat, you opened your mouth to deny his claim but you couldn’t. Not that you couldn’t open your mouth, or find the words, or that you had rendered speechless by his otherworldly beauty, but you were silenced by the glint in his eyes. The tea color had changed into something darker, much like the color of cream-less coffee.

“Save your lies, I’m here to offer you an opportunity,” he spoke so carelessly to you, as if you beneath him, and perhaps you were. His Black Coat tailored for him and of some high quality fabric from a different country while your coat chaffed against your arms and neck because the fabric was made of rough wool. Even with the money you had made you still couldn’t afford decent clothes.

Sebastian stepped only one pace closer to you before your legs broke apart into a half step, your right leg moved back but your left leg stayed in place, ready to turn away if necessary. You didn’t do it consciously, your body moved of it’s own accord, purely out of instinct and building adrenline.

Noticing your movement he arched an eyebrow, “really now, I’m not here to punish you.”

Seeing as you didn’t let up his lips raised into a small smirk, his posture still at ease.

“Alright, have it your way. In the meanwhile, would you consider living at the Phantomhive estate? You’d be fed everyday, allowed to shower,” Sebastian looked you up and down (in disgust?? You live on the streets what does he expect?), “and you would have a place to rest your head, how does that sound?”

Full sentences still evaded you but with what little words that still squirmed in your brain you were able to come up with something comprehensible.

“Why me?” The words were mumbled but still heard.

“You could be useful.”

You had so much more to ask, but the more time went by the more impatient Sebastian grew, he flipped a pocket watch from his breast pocket and glanced at the time. Now or never his body language shouted to you.

“What if I refuse?” Your heart hammered a bit softer when you finally said more than two words but rose again as he chuckled.

“What good would come of denying?” Sebastian was right, you had no reason to question him but that same gut feeling rose up like bile in your mouth.

Food, a bed, and much, much more you’d been offered in your life.

“Fine.”

That one word changed everything. Sebastian guided you to a carriage conveniently parked nearby, that he drove back to the intimidating Phantomhive Manor. You had rumors that it’d been burned to cinders two years before but the spiralling stairs and lively rooms told of a different story and before long your life was what he told you. Eating everyday, showering often, you had even met the rest of the staff and the Child Earl.

Although you were never officially employed at the estate, you helped the servants with their chores and when that wasn’t needed you’d endless wander the floors or gardens. You couldn’t read so as tempting as it was, you couldn’t simply curl up with a book. Life was nice, for a while. Once you’d been easied into the flowing pace the household brought it had been toppled on it’s head.

Sebastian suddenly demanded you’d eat at certain times of day, times that the other staff were doing their jobs, stating that it was unladylike to eat with workers. You had complied, only out of respect for his position and dedication to his work, and as a reward he began to teach you how to read.

It started like that, a doing-as-Sebastian-said-and-being-rewarded-as-he-saw-fit relationship, that at times felt transactional.

Soon enough, you hardly saw the other staff anymore- including Tanaka who’d usually come to talk to you as you ate, even though you were sadden by the loss, at least under Sebastian’s tutoring you could finally read a book without help!

Then Sebastian commanded that you stay in your room until he came to fetch you, whenever he felt like it. Somedays he’d come in the early afternoon or the late evening but each time he always came to speak to you about yourself, he’d always ask personal questions too, such as when was the last time you washed your hair?

“Do it today,” he would order, even if you had done it the day before. A week later, you were fed up with his antics.

“Why do you insist on telling me when to wash?” You couldn’t look at him, not after asking such a humiliating question.

“You never do it correctly,” he stated simply at his place beside the door. Your attention strayed for a second, in your short time knowing him, you’d only seen Sebastian sit once.

“What?” Your eyes snapped to his, tone filled with anger at his impudence. Sebastian crossed the room in two long strides before grabbing your chin roughly, even through his gloves you could feel his nails press into your jaw.

“Since you can’t even do so much as bathe yourself properly I will do it for you from now on.” A strangled sound came from in between your squished, reddening cheeks, “have you some compliant? Believe you me, I will not try anything indecent.” Sebastian smirked at you.

“It’s still wrong,” you tried to say but the words mushed together into nothing but a small indistinguishable squeal.

“You know,” Sebastian let go of you but didn’t move away. “I’m only looking out for your best interest as I always have. Honestly, you should thank me for my courtesy.”

It didn’t feel like you should, it felt like you needed to.

You relented under his smoldering gaze, “thank you Sebastian.”

That was his answer to any question of ethics you had of him. When he told you that he would dress you each morning, you thanked him. When he requested to do your make up everyday, you obliged. When his hands wandered as he put the corset on you, you said nothing. When he sat at the edge of the your bed and demanded you pay him back for his kindness you got on your knees and did your best.

Just as he taught you to do it too. Lick or on occasion spit on the tip, suck the head, stroke the shaft, take him into your throat until he said to stop (not any early no matter how uncomfortable the stretch), and repeat until he came in your mouth or on your face.

You never denied him either, not when he’d sneak into your room at night, pull down the covers, and paw at you. Not when he’d flip you onto your stomach or back and sheath himself inside you while rubbing your clit.

Especially not when you’d be lucky enough to have his head between your legs. Licking and sucking that treasured pearl between your thighs while his fingers scissored and kneaded your insides.

You never even denied him when Sebastian unabashedly asked to trim your pubic hair for you, stating that it was his duty to ensure his lady was taken care of. And it was embarrassing at first, you got used to when he would sit you on a sink and began shearing away at the tuffs of hair. You would claim he didn’t get any sexual gratification from it, if it weren’t for the fact that Sebastian would fuck you right after finishing. Always on the counter too, he’d stand between your legs and pull you into a rough kiss as he worked on undoing his breeches.

No matter how many time’s you’ve had Sebastian you’re body couldn’t adjust to such a such a big intrusion but during times were he seemed eager to have you, he wouldn’t wait for the sting to go away and would begin to fuck you then and there. His pace was unimaginable and often times so harsh that it’d rub your insides raw and didn’t allow you any pleasure as his hips snapped against yours.

It was times like that, that you remembered your pleasure took a backseat to Sebastians. Even if he did take his glove off to play with your clit, you’d still remember that fact.

But, Sebastian did give you a new home, he did take care of you, and he even taught you to read. So he’d take his pleasure from you and you’d thank him for it no matter how dehumanizing it was.

[redux-iterum]

Charred Legacy: Chapter Thirty-Six

(AO3 counterpart here.)

Cloudpaw stayed silent, and so did Fireheart; neither mentioned the apprentice’s visits to the Houses, which seemed to have stopped entirely. Fireheart woke up early a few times to make sure, and every time he poked his head into the apprentice’s den, his nephew was curled up and asleep. Only once, he was awake, cracking open a bleary eye to see what caused the shadow blocking the daylight, then shutting it again with a small sigh.

Over the next few nights, Cloudpaw’s energy and focus returned. Even though he couldn’t do much training, he stayed busy, tending to the elders and visiting Brightpaw—which, Fireheart noted with delight, he did with much more enthusiasm than before. He’d always bring her a piece of prey and chatter about this or that when she seemed receptive to it. When she wasn’t, he’d sit quietly with her or help groom her fur that she was in too much pain to turn and reach.

Fireheart, meanwhile, kept himself occupied. Speckletail had him on a patrol every night; if he wasn’t leading it, he was following after Dustpelt or Whitecloud. After those few nights passed and the scent of the dogs faded into the snow, the toms were split up into smaller patrols, mostly for hunting. Prey was scared again and struggling to find food, and the Clan had to be content with thin meals, leaving the best for Goldenflower, her kits, and the elders. As such, hunting was near-constant, the patrols slowly spreading over the territory—even into the burned part of the woods again, in the hopes that something got bold and would be out there.

Fireheart was on one of these patrols one night, leading Teaselfoot, Lizardtail and Sandstorm into the corner of the territory closest to the neutral grounds—and the road that bordered it.

 “We’re probably going to have to stretch out our search area tonight,” Sandstorm remarked, carelessly kicking a small, sooty rock in front of her as she walked. “I really doubt we’ll find anything up that far into the woods.”

“Honestly, I agree,” Teaselfoot said. “Shouldn’t we just head to the neutral grounds and try our luck there?”

Fireheart turned his head around to the cats behind him and replied, “I think we should, but let’s try our territory first. Whitecloud told me we should leave those grounds alone as much as we can.”

Sandstorm rolled her eyes. “Whitecloud’s overly cautious about hunting there.”

“It’s not like you could catch a rabbit,” Lizardtail said.

“It’s not like there’s anything looking for food in the ashes up north.”

“Still good to check.”

“Whatever.” Sandstorm flicked her tail on Lizardtail’s side, earning her a biteless scowl. “I’ll bet you we find nothing tonight.”

“Think positive,” Fireheart encouraged. “We could find anything.”

Sandstorm gave him a dry look. “Uh-huh. And if ‘thinking positive’ doesn’t work out?”

“Then think proactive,” Teaselfoot said. “We can just check out the neutral grounds there, right, Fireheart?”

“Right.” Fireheart nodded with a more jokey than serious authoritativeness. “But within our borders first, just in case.”

Sandstorm sarcastically bowed her head. “Lead on, then, prra*.”

Why did being called that feel so weird?

Fireheart didn’t retort, just picked up his pace into a speedier trot, his Clanmates grouped behind him and starting up a conversation about something or other that Fireheart didn’t pay attention to. He instead focused on his surroundings, ears swiveling and eyes sharp.

With the snow, it was harder to tell where the scarred land began and the preserved forest ended. Even the bark seemed the same color on such an especially dim night. Fireheart had to focus on the jagged branches and a very, very faint scent of smoke that was desperately clinging to the area, begging to not be forgotten.

No problem there, Fireheart thought. The sight of the fire will last a lifetime.

It was a shame that the burned grounds were becoming more familiar with every visit; Fireheart found he was walking the path he’d taken to find those humans the night before the fire. He took it again, turning left when he could smell the road. The patrol finally came to a stop in the uppermost corner of the territory, the neutral grounds visible from where they stood and Fourtrees standing silently in the distance. The road, hidden by its gravel ascent, was just as quiet.

“Well,” Sandstorm said after a pause, “I don’t smell anything edible.”

“That would be because of the snow,” Teaselfoot said. “Start poking around with that long nose of yours, you’ll find something!”

He had to duck away from a lazy attempt to cuff his ear from Sandstorm. Fireheart chuffed and opened his mouth to gently chide Teaselfoot, but his eyes caught Lizardtail, who was turning his ears and squinting at nothing.

“Something up?” Fireheart asked, lowering his voice.

Lizardtail stretched his thin neck upwards, sniffing, ears perked. “Does anyone else hear that?”

His patrol-mates copied him, straightening up and listening closely. A faint rumble, familiar to this place, could be heard in the distance.

“I think it’s just a car,” Fireheart said. “We should be fine—”

“No,” Teaselfoot said. “I mean, I hear that too, but there’s something else.”

Fireheart swiveled his ears again, taking a few steps forward and straining his senses. Somewhere over the road, plants shifted and water splashed. In ShadowClan territory, then? Fireheart squinted unconsciously.

“I’ll look,” he said to the others. “Stay here.”

“Oh, no, not by yourself.” Teaselfoot stepped forward. “Not with everything going on. Let me go with you.”

Fireheart looked at Sandstorm and Lizardtail, who nodded firmly. He relented, crooking his tail for Teaselfoot to follow him. The pair cautiously padded through the snow and up to the gravel slope. Fireheart took great care in climbing as silently as possible, flinching instinctively when a loose pebble slid and bounced down the slope. Teaselfoot moved quickly, only stopping once when he himself dislodged another stone that luckily did not travel far before settling.

They reached the edge of the road and peered out into the darkness, the shifting growing louder. A small shape, blacker than the night around it, was speeding through the marshes, leaping over the web of streams effortlessly and heading closer. Behind it, something equally dark but much bigger thundered and crashed into water, but kept up its pace, barely slowing down.

Fireheart didn’t have to see it perfectly to know what it was. And that it was coming towards the road.

In tandem, Fireheart and Teaselfoot leaped and skittered down the gravel, rushing to their Clanmates.

“Dog,” Fireheart said. “It’s chasing someone.”

Sandstorm cursed under her breath. “What do we do?”

Lizardtail looked upwards. “We can hide in the trees. Come on.”

“But what about—” Fireheart started.

“We can call for them if they make it across the road,” Lizardtail said. “Hurry, follow me.”

He whipped around and raced for the closest tree, lunging and grabbing onto the charred bark. He slipped down for a moment as the bark crumbled and fell off, but he struggled upward, followed by everyone else. Fireheart went last, grateful for the skin of the tree the others had left exposed in their rush to climb to safety. He nearly slipped himself, fighting to get to the lowest sturdy-looking branch.

Up this tree, they could see over the road. The black cat was sprinting for their life, their terrified panting steadily growing louder as they streaked for the black path. The dog panted too—Fireheart caught sight of white teeth and a long tongue—but its breathing sounded more excited than labored.

A light caught Fireheart’s corner of his eye. A car was speeding down the road, swiftly coming closer.

“Oh, muck…” Sandstorm craned her neck forward. “They’re heading straight into a car.”

“Get away from the road!” Fireheart yelled, as loud as he could.

Lizardtail stared at him, hissing, “What are you doing?! The dog will come this way if it hears us!”

Fireheart ignored him. “Run another way! There’s a car coming!”

If the cat heard him, they didn’t respond, just sprinting closer and closer. The dog lunged over the closest stream, taking one step for every three of the cat. The car barreled down, its lights blinding.

“DON’T COME OVER THE ROAD!” Fireheart yowled.

“Fireheart!” Sandstorm half-shouted herself.

The cat appeared on the stone path, the dog’s teeth snapping at their tail. Fireheart caught bugged-out, terrified pale eyes. They suddenly looked to the side and skittered to a halt halfway over ThunderClan’s side of the road as a bellow and a screech announced the arrival of the car.

The dog’s jaws closed over the cat’s back. It didn’t even look as the car crashed into the hunter and its prey.

Fireheart flinched and shouted in horror as the car’s wheels crunched twice in rapid succession, before it screeched to a halt. Red lights flickered awake as it stopped. A door opened and a human jumped out of it, hollering something incoherent that didn’t sound too far from Yellowfang’s cursing. Something in its hand lit up and it scrambled over to the bodies, shining the light down on them.

The dog’s black-and-brown fur didn’t give away much more than a dull reflection of the light, but blood, pitch in this darkness, shone around it. It was still holding on to the cat, who lay limply in a running position.

“By the Three,” Teaselfoot said softly.

Fireheart started backing down the tree, his feet sliding and catching bad bark.

“Where are you going?” Sandstorm hissed.

“We have to do something—” Fireheart caught himself before he could fall. “We’ve got to get that cat.”

“Fireheart, they’re dead,” Lizardtail said, effortlessly descending after him. “Their body is twisted all wrong.”

“No, we—” Fireheart stumbled onto the ground. “Maybe they weren’t—”

Before he could take a step, Lizardtail was in front of him. His long tail blocked Fireheart from stepping around him.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he said, oddly kind.

Fireheart stared at him, unsure whether to plead or order him to step aside so he could move forward. Teaselfoot and Sandstorm scraped down the tree behind him.

“I can check,” Teaselfoot said quietly. “But they’re definitely dead, Fireheart.”

“We can’t risk getting close to that human,” Sandstorm said. Fireheart stared at her now and her eyes almost shamefully flicked away. “But if you’re quiet…”

Teaselfoot looked to Lizardtail, who nodded curtly, and sped off at a rather silent pace up the slope. Fireheart stood, frozen, his mind cloudy.

We have to do something, he thought. That can’t be it.

Teaselfoot returned a few moments later, his face grave. To Fireheart, he said, “He’s not breathing.”

Fireheart wanted to be sick.

Everyone stood in silence for a long moment, or a single heartbeat, Fireheart didn’t know, before Lizardtail lifted his head and spoke.

“The dog’s dead, too?” he asked.

Teaselfoot nodded.

“That’s two down,” Sandstorm said quietly. She looked at Fireheart. “We should get home and report this immediately. Hunt later.”

Teaselfoot and Lizardtail hummed in agreement. Fireheart didn’t say anything, just slowly turned and started jogging in the direction of home. His Clanmates silently followed him.

He didn’t register the journey back. Nor was he conscious of what he was saying to Speckletail, though going by her darkly alarmed face, it wasn’t pleasant to her, either.

“And you’re sure it’s dead,” she said at last.

“Positive,” Teaselfoot replied.

It took Fireheart a moment to realize that everyone in camp was watching them, staring and whispering to each other. Cloudpaw’s tail trembled out of the corner of his eye.

“We’re safe from that one, at least,” Lizardtail said. “The question is…”

“Where are the others?” Speckletail finished. “Yes, that’s important. Did you smell them?”

The patrol shook their heads.

Speckletail hummed, nose down as she thought. Fireheart’s eyes kept flickering the image of the dead cat in front of him, and his pale, terrified eyes.

“We should tell ShadowClan about their Clanmate,” he said, voice muffled in his own ears. “They should know.”

“They’ll find out on their own,” Speckletail said, looking up again. “And if the dogs are in their territory, we can’t risk them following after us if we visit.”

“So…” Fireheart met her eyes, a dull anger sparking in his sorrow. “So, what, we just leave the body there to rot?”

Speckletail was not perturbed, though her voice was gentler. “ShadowClan will retrieve their Clanmate, if the humans don’t take him. He won’t rot away on the road either way.”

Fireheart said nothing.

Speckletail waited a moment for his response before turning to Lizardtail. “Get some rest.” Her eyes went to Fireheart. “I’m sorry the four of you had to see that. It sounds horrible.”

“It wasn’t pleasant,” Teaselfoot agreed. He nudged Fireheart. “Come on, let’s get food.”

Fireheart shook his head. “I’m not hungry.” Before Teaselfoot could say anything, he stepped away and for the corner of camp. Cats quietly let him pass, murmuring in concern to each other. He turned and sat down once he reached the corner, eyes seeing without really observing what his Clanmates were doing.

He didn’t notice Cloudpaw staring at him with a dreading, frightened face. Nor did he notice Brightpaw shaking beside his nephew, her claws sunk into the sandy ground.

*”Prra”: superior, equivalent to “sir” or “ma’am”.

[shadowthief78]

Lyney/Reader

Genshin spoilers under the cut, for 4.0 Fontaine Archon quests.

Containes unexpected kissing and the barest slightest tiniest slight yandere Lyney, might not be canon compliant bc I got stuck halfway through trying to do quest stuff and came to write this instead.

I thought I was in a bit of a dry spell but it turns out I just needed some catboy coded manipulation to get back in the swing of things. I think all three of them would be subtly manipulative like this and I love it. Hopefully I can write more of them soon :D

This came out a lot cuter than I pictured. I don't really think Lyney would be an overtly violent or threatening lover.

The first time Lyney kisses you is right after Crowell dies. Your eyes widen, still focused on Lynette's, while her brother presses his mouth against yours in a kiss decidedly not appropriate for someone the prime suspect in a murder trial. The basket of food you brough knocks awkwardly against your knees, tilting you forward at an uncomfortable angle.

The supervising garde coughs. Lyney releases you. You steady yourself against him.

"I brought you food. Freminet was worried you would get hungry," you say, uncovering the dishes. Lyney's little brother had practically thrown bowls at you while you struggled to fasten your cloak. "Some might be a little wet. It's pouring out there."

"Thank you," Lynette says, taking the basket. "I'm going to the dressing rooma to share."

"Sorry it's mostly leftovers," you say, watching her bow bob as she leaves.

Her exit leaves you and Lyney in the half-light of backstage, the spotlights casting eerie shadows on the props. The garde moves a few steps away.

Lyney seems to realize how stiffly you're holding yourself. "Sorry," he says, releasing your elbow. "Overwhelmed, I guess. Crowell..."

You knew Crowell—were the one to reccommend him for the job, in fact. You glance at the curtain covering everything.

"Freminet's worried about you. Says there's too many visitors for him to handle."

Lyney sighs. "Poor Freminet. He didn't have anything to do with this. I feel terrible about it all, I'm not there to support him..." He catches sight of you again and gasps. "Oh, archons, what am I doing? You're soaked through and through. I was so busy worrying about this I completely forgot my manners. I'll find you a change of clothes somewhere."

Someone in the dressing room offers you a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. Lyney continues hovering at your side, fussing. "I don't deserve you," he says, once his troupe has largely wandered off to rest. It's closer to dawn than sunset and you've mostly dried off. He sits at the edge of the pile of cushions you're propped up on, fiddling with his shoelace.

"I haven't done anything," you mutter, eyelids itching to close.

"That's not true," he says. "You keep the house in order, take care of Freminet, patch up all our costumes, organize the troupe, bring us food..." He trails off looking at you. "The kiss."

You look away. "Overwhelmed?"

He makes a frustrated noise. "Yes, but- Ah," he sighs, collapsing backwards closer to you. "I really did mean it. I just... probably should have waited for a better time. I hoped, after today's show, that, you know..." He dissolves into groans again. "Freminet adores you and so does Lynette. After this is all over, do you think maybe we could perhaps, ah, continue that?"

You see his face pressed to the cushions, rough fabric against his smooth cheek. He looks at you softly, like a dream, poised like a cat about to pounce.

Him. Lynette. Freminet. They all want to catch you somehow.

[my-beloved-lakes]

Eliot and the stray cat he said they weren't keeping. (Click for better quality)

(Ficlet below the cut)

Eliot glanced up from his book when he heard Parker come in, then did a double take.

She was standing in the doorway, holding a cat. It was scrawny and wet and covered in mud.

"Look what I found in the alley." She said, her voice was sad and sympathetic, but underneath that there was a hint of excitement. "She needs a home."

Oh no. Eliot thought.

"We are not keeping the cat, Parker." He said firmly.

"Woah, who put you in charge?" Hardison asked indignantly.

"We can't have a cat running around here." Eliot insisted. “Not with how often we’re out of town.”

Parker looked disappointed.

"We'd Give the damn thing abandonment issues." Eliot muttered under his breath

"Well, we can at least give her a bath and some food." Hardison said.

Eliot's expression softened.

"It can spend the night. We'll give it a blanket to sleep on and leave it in the bathroom where it can't get into anything." Eliot said. "I'll take it to the shelter tomorrow."

"Shelter's closed over the weekend. Won't open again till Monday." Hardison pointed out.

Eliot groaned. "So we're stuck with it for the next 3 days?"

"Yup." Hardison said smugly.

"What should we call her?" Parker asked.

"No. No. We're not naming it. It'll just make it harder to say goodbye when the time comes."

"Aww, come on, can't we keep her? She needs a home and family to love her." Parker insisted. "And just look how cute she is!"

"They'll find it a good home at the shelter." Eliot said.

"Well, I guess I better go to the store and get some cat chow so she can have something to eat while she's here." Hardison said. "You two can handle giving her a bath while I'm gone."

Eliot rolled his eyes and got up to help Parker clean the cat off.

"Get a wet washcloth." He said. "I'll hold it still while you get as much of the mud off as you can."

Parker gently handed the cat to Eliot and ran to the other room. The cat let out a quiet broken meow that was barely more than a squeak as she passed it to Eliot. It clung to Eliot's arm with its claws, and he could feel the thing trembling. He wondered if it was cold or just scared.

Parker came back a minute later with a washcloth soaked in warm water. Eliot held the cat out so Parker could wipe away  all the mud but after a while Eliot realized the washcloth wasn't going to be enough to get the cat clean. He sighed.

"It's gonna need a real bath." He said. “We’ll take it to the bathroom and do it in the tub.”

"She's not gonna like that." Parker pointed out.

The cat didn't mind nearly as much as Eliot expected. Or at least she didn't show it, maybe she was too exhausted or too scared to struggle. Her ears were pinned back in discomfort but she didn't put up a fight. She just sat in the tub, still clinging to Eliot's arm with her front paws as Parker rubbed soap into her fur. When Parker was done lathering the cat with soap Eliot helped rinse all the soap off, running his free hand over the cat's whole body as Parker poured warm water over it.

As Eliot ran his fingers through the cat's wet fur, he could feel scars. Most were old and long since healed up, but a few were more recent, still scabbed with blood.

"She's had a hard life, hasn't she." Parker said. "No family to love her, having to fight to survive."

"Yeah, seems like she has." Eliot said.

She's trying to guilt me into keeping it.

"She's old too." Parker pointed out. "Older animals are less likely to get adopted, you know."

Eliot sighed and shook his head.

I'm not going to let her guilt me into this. He told himself.

She was right though. The cat was old. Now that all the mud was gone, he could see that her face was covered in gray hairs.  The rest of her was a dusty brown color with tabby stripes. She was a cute cat, he had to admit. She reminded him of the cat he had as a kid.

Eliot shook his head.

Can't let myself get attached. He reminded himself.

He grabbed a dry towel and gently rubbed as much of the water off as he could. Then he set the cat down on the ground.

"Do we really have to lock her in here?" Parker asked.

"She can wander around the back rooms until we go to bed." Eliot said reluctantly. "As long as we keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get into anything."

Parker's face lit up and she opened the bathroom door. No sooner had she done so, the cat scampered out of the bathroom into the livingroom and darted under the couch.

***

When Hardison got home, he found the cat wandering around, cautiously smelling everything. Parker was watching the cat intently and Eliot had his face in a book, paying no attention to the cat whatsoever, or at least pretending not to pay any attention. 

"So I see the cat isn't actually staying in the bathroom then." Hardison said with a sly smile. 

"She'll be put in there when we go to bed." Eliot said. "She's just hanging out out here while we can keep an eye on her."

Hardison smiled and poured a little food into the new bowl he had bought for the cat and when he looked up, he caught a dirty look from Eliot.

"What?"

"You bought the cat a new food bowl?"

"Yeah." Hardison shrugged.

"Damnit Hardison."

"She needs a dish!"

"The cat is not staying." Eliot insisted.

Hardison just rolled his eyes and set the bowl on the ground next to his feet.

The cat snuck cautiously up, but didn't come close enough to eat.

"Oops, excuse me little lady." Hardison said and backed away from the food bowl.

As soon as the cat decided Hardison was a safe distance away, she darted forward and began scarfing down the food, making happy little meows as she ate.

Parker and Hardison both chuckled at the muffled meows coming from the cat.

"I don't think I've ever heard a cat do that." Hardison mused.

I have. Once. Eliot thought, then quickly dismissed the thought.

As soon as the cat was done eating Parker tried to creep closer to pet her, but the cat darted away and sat down, wrapped her tail around her feet and stared at Parker.

"Aww it's okay little kitty." Parker promised. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Parker sat down on the ground and scooted closer, but the cat moved away again.

"Parker, leave the cat alone." Eliot said without glancing up from his book. "She'll come to you when she's ready."

Parker reluctantly got up and settled herself on the couch between Eliot and Hardison.

***

Hardison stretched and yawned.

"Welp, I think it's time for me to get to bed." He said and got up from the couch. "Want me to put the cat up?" 

"Nah, I got it." Eliot shrugged.

"Okay, night night." Hardison said and made his way up the stairs.

Parker got up to follow him.

"Good night, Eliot." She said.

"G'night."

"I really want to keep the cat." Parker said as she climbed into bed next to Hardison.

"Oh babe, we're keeping the cat." Hardison said definitely.

"But Eliot was very clear that he doesn't want to keep her. I know he's not the boss of us, but I feel like we should respect his opinion, right?"

Hardison wrapped his arms around Parker and pulled her close.

"Parker let me let you in on a little secret that Eliot would probably kill me for telling you. He'd never admit it, but he loves that cat already. He's growing more and more attached to her every second. We just have to pretend like we don't notice it for a while, let him think he’s got us fooled. Before ya know it, he’ll cave and let us keep her."

Parker smiled and snuggled in closer to Hardison.

“I think we should call her Snickers.” Parker said

“I like Snickers.” hardison mumbled sleepily. “But don’t tell Eliot till he’s agreed to keep her.”

***

Parker woke up again in the middle of the night and wondered if Eliot was still awake. She carefully slipped out of Hardison’s arm and crept down the stairs. She found Eliot curled up, sound asleep on the couch. The cat was curled up in the curve of Eliot's stomach, nestled into a pile of blankets, purring loudly. 

So the cat’s not staying in the bathroom after all.

She smiled and crept back to the bedroom, nudged Hardison awake and motioned for him to follow her. Together they crept back to the living room.

Hardison chuckled quietly to himself when he saw Eliot asleep with the cat.

"What'd I tell you? He's in love with the cat already."

***

Monday rolled around, but Eliot didn’t seem to be in any hurry to take the cat to the shelter.

"Ya gonna take the cat today?" Hardison asked. 

He already knew the answer was no. Eliot was completely and thoroughly attached.

"If I find the time." Eliot shrugged. "Kinda busy today, though."

Hardison and Parker shot each other knowing smiles.

"Well, I can take her if you want." Hardison offered, knowing full well Eliot wouldn't accept it.

"No, I'll do it as soon as I'm not busy."

***

When evening rolled around the cat was still wandering around the back rooms of the brewpub, but Eliot's day had proven to be much less busy than he said. He had worked out a little, gone over the brewpub menu to make a few revisions and taken one client meeting, but all of that took less than half the day.

There should have been plenty of time to take the cat to the shelter. Hardison noted smugly to himself. But he doesn't want to say goodbye.

***

Tuesday really was a busy day. They spent the whole day planning, and executing a heist and by the time they got home, the shelter was closed for the evening.

Eliot grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and pressed it to his aching shoulder. Then he slumped down onto the couch with a sigh and leaned his head against the back, closing his eyes.

The fight he had with the security guards hadn't been particularly rough, but one of them had managed to wrench his shoulder pretty bad. he had popped a couple painkillers on the way home, but it was still aching.

He looked up when he heard a tiny squeak from the cat as she jumped onto the opposite end of the couch and made her way over to him.

The cat never seemed to meow properly. It always came out more like a raspy squeak, as if she had lost her voice. He was reminded once again of the cat he had as a kid, the only other cat he had ever known who had a meow like that.

She rubbed her head against his leg and walked in circles across his lap a few times before laying down and curling up on his lap, purring softly. Eliot scratched behind her ears, and she started purring louder.

Damnit. He thought. She's not going anywhere, is she? We're stuck with her now.

***

Wednesday morning, Eliot woke to find the cat wasn't asleep next to him like she had been when he fell asleep. He got up and wandered into the next room where he  found Parker, but the cat wasn't there. Neither was Hardison.

"Where's Hardison?" Eliot asked.

"Oh, He figured since we’re keeping the cat, it was probably time to take her to the vet and get her checked up. Ya know, make sure she doesn't have any illnesses or anything we need to know about. The only available time they had was first thing in the morning."

"Woah, we never agreed to keep..." Eliot trailed off and gave in, shaking his head. "Well make sure he knows to get a litter box while he's out."

Parker smiled and nodded.

"Damn cat." Eliot muttered fondly to himself as he set to work making breakfast.

“Also, we’re calling her Snickers.” Parker added.

Eliot smiled. He liked that name, mostly because Parker was the one who came up with it, but he liked it all the same.

[pandorafallz]

Lest We Rest Upon Our Graves | C20

Kìoetey eyed the sleepy mixture of Na’vi and humans alike, trying to function as they woke with new pains, the discomfort of their sleeping situations or flat-out hung-over. Teylan had woken up and nearly cried with his headache and so Ri’nela had left to get him drinking to rehydrate and painkillers to reduce his discomfort.

She stood awake and ready but waiting mostly with a deep sense of apprehension. Soon the Eastern Resistance members would arrive with Alma in tow and she could either see if the woman would actually follow her promise or blow her off. Her tail betrayed her impatience but thankfully, no one was about to see it.  She shouldn’t be this anxious either but… here she was. Ri’nela was no doubt waiting to inside, waiting to see as well.

Behind her, the door opened, She turned, half expecting Ri’nela or So’lek but… it was simply Jin-young with a tool kit, he had dark circles under his eyes but looked determined for his task, it seemed.

“How are you feeling?” Kìoetey asked softly, bending down as she drew the human’s attention “I saw you pass out quite quickly last night.”

“Hm, oh yeah.” Jin-young gave a very dry snort. “I… I couldn’t sleep. Not with the party. I wanted some sleeping pills to put me out but none of the medics knew where Nalin put them. Alcohol was next best.” He scratched the back of his head a little. “Next time, I think I’ll take a leaf out of Cortez’s book and take a trip to a field lab instead of being here.”

Her head nodded softly in understanding. “Maybe one day you’ll enjoy a party.” It wasn’t hard to see why. Not with Daniela’s death happening at one a few weeks ago. Not enough time to have healed from the reminders.

“One day.” Jin-young agreed.

“What are you planning to do now?” Kìoetey looked at his tool kit.

“I’m… not sure. Maybe I’ll source more wood and get building more furniture for the caves to expand for us. Right now, it works but with Nalin, she’s expanding the medical bay, I think we can try and expand the sleeping quarters. More bunk beds, maybe. See about getting a weaver to show me how to make cloth. I could help make some basic mattresses for the bunk beds.” He sounded very uncertain but content with his ideas. It gave him something to do which he sorely needed right now.

“I’m sure with whatever you make, it’ll be deeply appreciated”

Jin-young nodded. “Thank you and… thank you for keeping Teylan away from me.”

Kìoetey blinked a little but nodded softly. “I understand your pain, Jin. Teylan…struggles to understand the depth of his actions.”

Jin-young inhaled deeply. “I can’t forgive him. Not yet.”

“I know. I don’t expect you to.” She reached forward, her hand dwarfing his shoulder but his posture loosened up a fraction. “If you want to talk. I’m here for you.”

Jin-young’s hand came to her hand, patting the back of it softly. “Not yet, but thank you.”

She released his shoulder and let him go on his way.

Thirty seconds later, the airlock opened again and this time it was So’lek. Sporting a few new bruises and scratches from his spars last night but looked otherwise in a good mood. He had what looked like the last of a morning brew to stem the effects of his hang-over but it looked like he had it handled well.

“<Recovered?>,” Kìoetey asked, raising her brow at him softly.

“<Mostly. Only the light is sharp but it should faze within the hour.>”

“<How’s Teylan? Did you see him?>”

“<The last I saw, Ri’nela had made him food to handle both the pain and the tiredness but he should be up fully in the next couple of hours. I plan to take the opportunity with his sensitive ears to show him how to weave. Metal is noisy so he shouldn’t want to tinker with it.” He sounded a little pleased with himself for it. Kìoetey had no plans to argue with him on it either; it was a good opportunity. Golden, even. Teylan might find enjoyment in it as a means of soothing himself and producing something to be proud of.

Distantly, she heard the familiar sound of a Samson engine. Singular. Her ears twitched as she felt a ball of anxiety return to her gut. So’lek’s hand was soft as he touched her with very light delicacy and not imposing either.

“It seems the Eastern Resistance has arrived.” So’lek moved ahead, “Why don’t you go to Cortez’s office? I will send her to you directly for your talk. It should have adequate privacy for you two.”

Kìoetey gave him a surprised look

“Ri’nela told me of the change in plan with you and Cortez. The office should suffice” So’lek encouraged.

Kìoetey sighed. He did have a point. It’d be easier to focus on just seeing Cortez first and getting their business sorted before meeting the others. “Okay.”

She slipped through the airlock, picked up her canister and set the mask around her neck as the other doors opened up to the quiet mess of recovering humans. Some were busy, but taking it slow and a handful that laid about. One was snoring into a plant pot with a patch of dirt along the side of her face. But she could see that the medical team was fully sober and looking through some tablets, organising what looked like a mixture of medical tools and meds. One guy was wiping down a lamp, looking very uncertain.

“…ink this will work?” She heard him say to his colleague.

“Should do. They’ll need direct light when operating.” The other spoke before they were out of range.

Kìoetey sighed as she stepped into the office space but it… looked like it was becoming Alex’s office. Unsurprising given Cortez wasn’t their leader any more. She’d probably remain at the station and have the place to herself and not be too concerned.

Alex had decorated the walls with print-outs. Notes, she realised as she waited inside. Hand-written notes, equations of mushroom growth and…. reports of the yavä. Kìoetey knew distantly that the resistance was making efforts to clean up the yavä but hadn’t gotten involved herself. It wasn’t just Alex’s notes but she recognised the handwriting of Cortez among the report that was hung up. A few sticky notes, even.

She was studying the yavä?

Thankfully, she felt relief to hear movement close but the sensation was only brief as… So’lek came in with a Dreamwalker and another human but the human wasn’t Cortez. So’lek’s face was serious now, his good mood gone entirely. The Dreamwalker looked serious as well as did the human.

“I will collect Ri’nela and Alex,” So’lek stated and didn’t wait.

“Err... Hi?” Kìoetey frowned at the two newcomers. “Where’s Cortez? Who are you?”

“Dr Max Patel and Dr Norm Spellman.” The human introduced, gesturing to himself first then to the Dreamwalker. Both seemed friendly enough but Kieotey was still confused why they were here and not Cortez.“Nice to see the West resistance expand. We’ve picked up a lot of radio chatter about your success in shutting down near RDA sites. Impressive work.”

“Hm.” Kìoetey hummed in agreement, her eyes following Nalin as the doctor came in but… she was a little surprised at the doctor’s appearance. She had dark bags under her eyes, unkempt hair that stuck out from her typical ponytail and a fluffy blanket over her shoulders. Her surprise became concerned. “Nalin, are you okay?” she bent down, offering a hand but the doc shook her head, not meeting her in the eye as she walked past and sat down, pulling the blanket around her tighter.

Her eyes flickered to the door as So’lek returned with Ri’nela and Alex too.

“Alex.”

“Max…. Norm.” Alex greeted the two warmly, shaking both their hands. “I’m…glad to see you made it. How was the trip?”

“As expected. Dr Molly Curfman and Dr Daniel Choi have arrived with their avatars, once they’re linked up, they’ll help with dropping off supplies. ”

“Two avatars?” Alex asked, “I thought we were getting one driver.”

“Molly and Daniel are a couple, her avatar is expecting so they want to be far from Bridgehead before the baby is due,” Max said. “Molly was too nervous about being in High Camp. Mo’at convinced her to take the trip when she heard where we were leaving to.”

“Oh, that’s a surprise. Of course, they’re welcome here but we can’t guarantee safety,” Alex said. “We’ve only recently escaped a bombing. We lost good people.”

“They’re aware of the risks,” Norm said. “But, that’s a later conversation. There is a new matter that has to be addressed.”

“What’s going on? I thought Cortez was coming to talk to me?” Kìoetey interrupted, her jaw tensing irritably. “Did she bail out?”

“No,” So’lek answered first before the newcomers.

Norm and Max looked at each other first and a little nervously and Nalin let out a shaking breath and pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

“This… won’t be easy to hear, but last night, during the party, Alma Cortez… passed away,” Max spoke first, his voice soft and grave.

“What?” Kìoetey blinked. She surely didn’t hear that right. “What are you talking about?”

“Alma is dead, Sarentu.” So’lek spoke, sparing a soft look her way. “They would not lie about such a fact.”

Kìoetey shook her head. “But… she promised to speak to me.”

Alex released a tense breath, his surprised face becoming tense. “Oh shit…” He muttered under his breath but moved toward Nalin and pulled her into a hug. The doctor sunk into him and her arms wrapped around him tightly, her fingers gripping into his lab coat. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with that all night…I wish you called.”

Ri’nela’s posture had stiffened up, her tail barely swishing. “How?” Her voice was sharp and cold as she stared down at the new visitors. “Did she kill herself?”

“No.” Nalin’s voice cracked, pushing Alex aside to stare up at them, tears pricking in her eyes. “Al-Alma’s been sick for a little while and… she didn’t want to tell anyone.”

Kìoetey felt lightheaded and she could feel her heart pounding harder in her chest, her eyes turning down to the doctor. “She was sick?”

Nalin nodded. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t tell you. She… she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Not after everything else came to light.”

“What… caused this sickness?” Ri’nela’s voice was sharp but was no longer cold but she recognised Ri’nela was keeping herself from reacting to this. “She looked fine.”

“Her avatar’s death,” Norm said tightly.

“The avatar died weeks ago.” Ri’nela pointed out, rounding into the Dreamwalker swiftly “How could she have died last night?”

“Despite over forty or so years, the RDA doesn’t… fully understand the intimate connection between an avatar and its driver. No one’s… ever outlived their avatar long after a linked death. We hoped… Alma would survive long enough for us to treat her condition that rose from the avatar’s death. We believe that… a dying avatar caused a chemical urge through their brain which…caused the driver to remain bound into the connection. Most likely an instinctive form of self-preservation which unfortunately has dire consequences after the link is severed upon death.”

“That’s not answering the question.”

“To be blunt, the Avatar’s death caused damage to Alma’s brain when the connection was severed. Like whiplash to the brain.” Max said. “It took…time to develop into something. In Alma’s case, the severing caused the arteries in the brain to bubble out in two places, this is called an aneurysm. The first, the smallest ruptured immediately upon the link severing but the bleed was minimal and controlled and healed. However… she also formed another aneurysm close to her brain stem. Over the last couple of weeks, it grew in size despite treatment attempts and ruptured last night and caused massive internal haemorrhaging.”

Nalin sniffled but gladly sunk into Alex’s side.

“We came here primarily to operate to prevent the rupture and save Alma,” Norm said sadly, his ears pinning down a little. “Guess we were too late. I’m so sorry.”

Alex swallowed thickly, nodding softly. “You couldn’t have known, Norm. You came as fast as you could have.”

“<This… this isn’t happening…>” Kìoetey muttered to herself. It… it all felt too much.

“She thought she was going to be fine. She wasn’t supposed to die. We had a plan.” Nalin whispered, “She only had twelve more hours to go…”

“What of her body, Nalin?” So’lek turned to the doctor who shrunk away at the question. “Is it at the station? Did you need us to collect it?”

Nalin’s eyes lowered to the ground. “There’s nothing to recover, So’lek.”

“What?” Kìoetey was surprised the words left her mouth first. “What do you mean?”

Nalin closed her eyes, steeling herself to speak. “Alma found a spot to bury her family under this… pale willow tree out under the woods. She… she led me there and… I can’t remember how I got back.” Alex’s hand rubbed her back. “I left her there. I couldn’t…. couldn’t move her. Couldn’t help her after she collapsed. I… I don’t think she knew what had happened.” Nalin’s eyes filled with tears, “...I think the willow tree’s eating her.”

Cortez had died at her family’s funeral. Out in the wild. No…burial. Tree statement aside, trees didn’t eat humans, but that meant that they had nothing to return to Eywa. No funeral rites or… anything. Despite… her feelings in regard to the human woman, despite their… history, she deserved a funeral at the very least.

Not to be left out and alone. They couldn’t do a funeral without a body. They couldn’t even say goodbye. How was that fair?

Kìoetey shook her head but couldn’t find anything to say before she turned and ran from the office, her eyes stinging but she held back the tears and she pushed through and out, ignoring Teylan entirely in the process.

Amay descended at her call outside and Kìoetey was glad to see her. She had to get to the station. To see… maybe she could find her.

-

So’lek watched Kìoetey run out and Ri’nela was not long out either but he held himself from calling them back. This unexpected news would certainly cause the Sarentu to try and find understanding in this. Kioety was… someone who would certainly go out and check. No doubt that she was doing this before the truth would set in.

Ri’nela. So’lek was uncertain about how she would respond. The young tsakarem’s feelings in regards to Alma were going to be complicated in light of the woman’s actions but he knew the discontent this news brought as well.

No closure.

Alma was simply gone and a sudden absence would cause wounds to bleed. He knew he had to help them through this. If Kìoetey was not back by night, he would go search for her and bring her back.

Nalinlaine let out a shaky breath. “I’m sorry.” Her voice barely a sound.

“Alma’s death is not your fault, Nalin,” So’lek answered, turning his attention down to the doctor. He hadn’t seen her this… discomposed for a while. Even with the surprise attack and the loss of resistance members, she had held onto herself well. But now, this new behaviour was concerning. He could only assume there was guilt involved, not just being present at her death bed. “If she did not know, then you couldn’t have known.”

“I missed the signs, So’lek. She had a sentinel bleed days ago, that’s the first sign of an impending haemorrhage. Instead, I had to go off and fix up Harding.” Nalinlaine’s hand came to her hair, pushing her fingers through the blond locks that were barely bound back at this point.

Norm reached down, touching her softly on the back. “Why don’t you have something to drink and try and get some more sleep? You’re exhausted still.”

Alexander looked down, nodding softly. “If not, just sit quietly somewhere with a hot drink.”

Nalin nodded, pulling the blanket up over her head like it was a hood and rose to her feet. Alexander stepped back and allowed her to leave unhindered. A silence echoed after her before Normspellman sighed deeply.

“Molly is trained in how to clip and coil aneurysms. When Nalin is ready, I think she should also be trained so this doesn’t happen again.” the Dreamwalker said. “Now, I did message Alma yesterday hours before she died to go over the final details of the operation she was set to have. She may have recorded a last message for viewing”

So’lek’s brow pulled in. “You think she still would have died?”

“Her chances weren’t ever going to be good. Low weight, poor blood circulation, excessive nose bleeds and her age would have factored in her chances. There was… a huge chance she would have died during the operation but she weighed the risks for her only chance. She may not have known she was going to die that night but she knew she could have later on.”

It was a… fair reason for debate. So’lek could see the logic in that line of thought. He faced it in every battle he took; a fight where he could win, or a fight he could lose. He went in knowing one could be his last and maybe one day, that would happen.

But he supposed that in this case, Alma had the foresight to consider and prepare for the option, even if it wasn’t in the event of dying in medical treatment. He’d take a look at that himself once he had seen to the Sarentu.

“I will need to go and see to the Sarentu. I hope you can handle the rest of this for now?” So’lek asked Alexander.

The human nodded. “Of course. I’ll keep you in the loop once we’re done here.”

So’lek didn’t venture too far, pausing once to the medical teams to disband them from their duty now that they were redundant but didn’t yet specify a reason beyond Alma being unavailable however, he found Teylan lurking outside, looking tried but confused.

“So’lek.” The young Sarentu came to him the moment he was spotted. “The others… they left really quickly. Did something happen?”

So’lek reached forwards, “Come, walk with me. I will explain.” It seemed prudent to at least inform Teylan where the others had not. He did have a right to know, even if it wasn’t easy to hear. Teylan followed him up to the back exit where he crouched down to talk. If anything he knew of Teylan, he had to be gentle in his words so he considered his phrasing carefully.

“Teylan, I’m sure you’re aware that the Eastern Resistance members have arrived this morning. They came to help also resupply but to also help Alma.” So’lek stated. “She… has not been well.”

Teylan’s head turned a little, his face becoming uncertain. “Not been well?”

“No. It was a severe sickness that came about from her avatar’s death, only a few treatments are available to help and one we didn’t have available.”

Teylan’s eyes tilted before a look of recognition crossed over his face. “Oh, is that why the doctors kept that room clear? I helped them organise it in preparation for surgery but no one told me who it was for. I was just happy to help.”

“Yes, it was intended for Alma to treat her,” So’lek confirmed. “But… this sickness… grew too great unexpectantly last night. No one anticipated it.”

Teylan swallowed, his tail swishing against the loose dirt. “Is Cortez okay?”

So’lek shook his head. “She’s gone, Teylan. Her spirit is with her Ancestors now.” The only kind way to say it. As a human, she wouldn’t be with Eywa. Humans didn’t go to Eywa.

Teylan’s eyes grew wide, tail pausing as the news washed over him before he rose to his feet fully. “A-Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Teylan’s eyes remained wide, flicking about before he ducked his head. “I… I want to be left alone.” He decided.

So’lek straightened up, his hand coming to rest on the young man’s shoulder. “I will be inside if you need me. Ri’nela and Kìoetey are aware of this as well should you wish to talk to either one. Alma’s death may not be easy with your history but allow yourself to feel the emotions that come of this otherwise it will always sit with you.” He encouraged.

“If.. Alma was sick for a while… why didn’t the other doctors come sooner?” Teylan asked, “If they had… she might still be alive?”

So’lek reached forwards. “A valid question but one you must not bring up with Nalin. She was there when Alma passed on. That question will cause her more grief and pain.” He didn’t know himself but he assumed there was reason for it. He wouldn’t question Nalinlaine for it either. The resistance needed the doctor well and not thrown too deep into this emotional mess that wasn’t done growing. “While it was possible, it is likely they weren’t aware how bad the sickness was by the time they called for aid?”

Teylan nodded slowly.

So’lek dropped his hand but made his way back inside, for now, to allow the Sarentu to process this news.

Masterlist

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (8/1/2024) Episode: Aging Up Is Hard To Do

After Noemi joined Luigi in adulthood, the pair struggled to settle into their new, older, stage of life.

Luigi had been busy after aging up, first grieving and then trying to make Noemi’s birthday perfect. When the vain sim finally checked his mirror, he was horrified by how OLD he looked. Wrinkles and bags under his eyes…!? The self-absorbed sim hated the marks time had left on his face.

It didn’t help his outlook that his eczema and anemia seemed to be getting worse, despite religiously sticking to his tried-and-true maintenance routines. He’d also begun to struggle with excessive thirst. None of it made it easy to meet his own high standards. Luigi was officially in a funk!

As for Noemi, she had finally set a date to start the job that Skye’s birth and her health issues had postponed, but it was messing with her head.

She worried that her social struggles would prevent her from making a good impression on her bosses and new peers. On top of that, her inability to exercise the way she wanted to since Skye’s birth due to her surgeries had left her carrying a lot more leftover baby weight than she liked.

The idea of facing her new co-workers and clients when she feeling far from her “best” kicked her anxiety into high gear.

When Luigi admitted his unhappiness with his new, older look and recent ill health it prompted his fiancée to admit to her own concerns.

Noemi suggested that, since Luigi was feeling under the weather, they start trying to tackle things with a visit to their doctors.

Hopefully, his primary care provider could help him figure out what to do to get his chronic conditions back under control and Dr. Valasquez could help her brainstorm ways to manage her anxiety.

Sadly, the outcome of Luigi’s healthcare appointment only worsened his outlook.

His symptoms and answers to questions about his general dietary habits quickly prompted the doctor to order a panel of bloodwork. This revealed that Luigi’s recent fatigue and dry skin weren’t the worsening of his long-standing medical issues, but a sign that he needed to overhaul his lifestyle once again to deal with a new chronic condition: diabetes.

To keep his blood sugar in a healthy range Luigi would now need to avoid many of his favorite breakfast foods and mixology recipes. He hung up the phone in shock, his natural cheerfulness unable to find any bright side to the grim news. Why did these things keep happening to him!?

Noemi didn’t fare much better. Her therapist wasn’t able to suggest anything she didn’t already know, leaving her no better off than before.

Grabbing a late dinner after putting Skye to bed the couple compared notes and tried to brainstorm. Luigi’s first idea came as he remembered how empowering it had felt for him and his cousins to curate their “new looks” after moving in together. Maybe, he told Noemi, they couldn’t change what was at the heart of their problems, but with a little “fashion magic” they could cover over them a bit. She agreed it was worth a try.

When he went on to bitterly joke: “At least my seldom sleepy trait keeps me mostly awake and alert. If only there was a satisfaction potion of chronic-illness-be-gone!” a lightbulb went off in Noemi’s brain. No satisfaction reward would help him, but there was definitely one for her weight concerns.

When Luigi saw the “Insta Lean” potion pop out of his fiancées inventory he placed a hand on her arm to stop her from chugging it down.

“What?” she asked him “It’s a perfectly safe one time reset. Now that I can exercise again, I’ll easily maintain a weight that makes me happy. Come to think of it, exercising more would be good for both of us. Didn’t the doctor say a regular fitness routine would help you manage your sugar levels?”

“Yes, he did” Luigi replied, “and that’s a great idea. If you’re spending points, do you have enough to pick up Seldom Sleepy too?” At her nod he smiled and continued. “Grab that, and we can burn the midnight oil together, going for late night jogs on the beach and early morning swims!”

Gesturing back at the potion his face got serious as he continued: “I just wanted you to know, before you drink that, that you are beautiful and loved just the way you are. If your new bosses or your bathroom mirror don’t appreciate you, I hope you realize how much I do.”

Noemi leaned across the table and kissed him softly. “I love you too. However much your love completes me though, I want to go into my new job feeling on top of the world. This expensive little cocktail will boost my confidence in the office Monday morning, when I’ll need all the help I can get!” With that, she tipped the glass back, letting the magical concoction slide down her throat with a cool tingle.

With their “fixer upper” plans in place the pair looked forward to a fashion makeover to highlight their new, more mature, and soon sleeker bodies!

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[alcoholfreenayeon]

Anger Management

Mina x Reader

Request: I can make a request where the reader asks to dry mine's hair with pure cuteness (both date)

‘Thank you for coming!’, the cashier said cheerfully as you exited the shop.

You were going to meet Mina and had decided to get some snacks, knowing she must have just come back from practice and will be hungry.

You reach her and are greeted by a smile as Mina lets you in.

‘I got some snacks!’ You declare showing her the packet.

Mina slowly reaches in and has a look through them and then looks at you, slightly disappointed, ‘Y/n I don’t really like any of these.’

‘Well, what did you want then Mina? Because I-’, you begin but get cut off.

‘Never mind, it’s alright.’, Mina replies as she takes a packet of what appears to be gummies and a bottle of orange juice.

You stay silent, feeling awkwardness brewing around the corner. However you get a chance to clear the air when you notice that Mina seems to be struggling to open the packet.

You attempt to take it from her but she stops.

I told you y/n it’s fine I’ll-

I’m just opening it’, you interrupted and tried to force it open, unfortunately you used too much force and caused the gummies to fly everywhere. This caused Mina to jerk in surprise, her arm, hitting the bottle of juice and causing it to spill all over her.

She’s gasps in horror, horror which quickly turns to anger. ‘UGH! I just want to spend some time with you but you’re just…..so miserable! Can’t do anything right!’

You listen to in complete shock as you rarely ever hear her raise her voice, never mind snap at you like that. ‘I’m sorry, I-I was just trying to-to help y-

Stop blabbering idiot! I don’t want it now!

Mina…I’m sorry but don’t you think your taking it too far?

She doesn’t respond and just looks away glaring at the walls.

‘Fine then!’ You snap back and storm out of the room.

‘Mina you ok? You have been acting distracted today. This is the fifth time you messed up the dance’, Jihyo asks in worry knowing it’s extremely odd for Mina to make so many mistakes.

‘I’m…I’m ok.’, Mina replies unconvincingly.

‘Ok, let’s do one last try and then we take a break’ Jihyo orders.

All the members seem to be in sync this time and it seems to be going well until Mina nearly messes up but jerks back in her position but this causes Nayeon to flinch and the move ends right there. Jihyo sighs in frustration, ‘We need to do better girls, we only have a few weeks before our tour. We can’t make these mistakes.’ Everyone murmurs in agreement head to the cafeteria, discussing what they are going to eat. Mina however, hangs back, staying quiet.

As all the girls give their orders and chatter as they wait for their food, Mina keeps quiet and instead flicks through her phone, hoping to see a reply from you. She opens the inbox to see her “I’m sorry” still unread from yesterday. Her heart breaking upon seeing it, she swallows slowly, not knowing what to do next.

She puts down her phone, hoping that practice is over soon so she can call you, only to find Chaeyoung and Sana staring at her with worried looks. She quickly looks away from her knowing that some of the members are starting realize something is up. However, before they are able to say anything the food is brought to them and all attention is switched quickly to it.

Taking a deep breath, Mina looks at the kimchi rice she ordered and takes a small bite but she couldn’t swallow it. Her chest felt heavy and it felt like her throat had closed up making it hard to breathe. Taking another deep breath, Mina forces herself to swallow, feeling sick to her stomach. She looks down in shame and her lips begin to quiver.

Mina?, Nayeon asks with concern putting her hand on her back. However to her surprise, Mina just puts her head in her heads, hiding her face. By this point, all the other members noticed her and gathered around her, concerned to see their beloved member in this state.

Their worry only increase when they start to hear her sob. Doing the best they can, everyone tries to comfort and reassure her but it’s difficult when they don’t know what the issue is.

Jihyo, feeling worried and guilty asks Mina if this was because she called her out for messing up the dance. Mina shakes her head and replies, ‘I fought with y/n, and now y/n is mad at me.’

She explained the events of yesterday, she had stopped crying but she still looked pretty shaken up. When she finished, everyone looked quite shocked.

‘Mina unnie….you really said that…whoa I didn’t think you could be that blunt’ Chaeyoung commented

I…..I don’t know…we were just…and then I just snapped and then I said some things and then y/n ended up storming off. Now Y/n isn’t replying to my texts, not even reading them. The girls then begin suggesting what she could do to try and make up with you.

You were still upset over Mina’s outburst. You didn’t understand why a small mistake would warrant such an uncharacteristic outburst from your girlfriend. Like sure, maybe yesterday was a bad day for her and yes you did cause the gummies to fall everywhere but she was the one who spilled the juice and she was the one who snapped at you. Of course you did feel bad for not replying to her texts, your heart is screaming at you to reply, unfortunately, your ego is stopping you from doing that.

While you are debating with yourself about whether you should atleast read her messages or not, you get a text from Nayeon, she wants to know if you’d be up try some new food places with her. Obvious no brainer for you.

You knock on Nayeon’s door and are surprised to see Dahyun open it. You both greet each other and Dahyun leads to you the kitchen where you find Mina…..

The next thing you know, there’s some hushed whispering and the door behind you shuts leaving you in the kitchen alone with Mina followed by giggling from outside the room. You sigh as it all makes sense to you now.

Mina looks at you with guilt, her arms to her sides, unsure of whether she should say something or not. She manages to gather some courage and begins to frantically apologize, ‘ Y/n I’m really really sorry…..I shouldn’t have acted like it. I won’t make any excuse. Please forgive me.’

Hearing and seeing her act like that immediately broke all your resolve and it took everything you had to not run up to her and embrace her tightly.

You slowly nod and give her a weak smile. ‘It’s alright Mina….I probably pushed you over…..’ you fall silent as Mina rushes and hugs you tightly. Slowly you wrap your arms around her as well.

[maribatz-2k]

Family of Mine

Note: Day 12: Family Found

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

"Mama, can we keep him?"

"No hunny, we can't have a cat right now."

"But mommy he needs a home."

"No, now come on. He probably has his own mom." She take the child with her leaving the kit behind in the alley.

'I'm not a him. I'm an girl.' The cat snuffed to herself as she trailed the alley walking around looking for a dry place to hide. Finding a box behind a smelly dumpster, the cat slides in and goes back to sleep. When she wakes, she attempts to stretch out trying to remove the soreness only to be struck in her ball position. With an exasperated groan she pulls herself out of the box feeling her body pop with relief. She extends her fingers digging them into the ground beneath her, then push up to her bare feet. Removed from the box, she walks down the alley trailing pass restaurants deciding which location would be best to steal from. Satisfied with a decision she sneaks into the back of the restaurant, keeping out of view of the chefs and servers, pluck a nearly completed plate, and get back outside to eat. Plate cleared and set beside the door on the small table they have placed for smoking breaks, she walks away enjoying the night air.

Next morning, the cat gets scared awake as the dump truck pulls in picking up the dumpster next to her. She scrambled to her feet and bolts down the sidewalk just in time to see the metal bin land on her temporary home.

'Well great.' She thought to murrs out. Defeated she walks the concrete avoiding people's feet but also feeling mischievous and try to attack any loose wiggling thing that dangles off their clothes or bags. She found herself chasing after this little boy holding his mother's hand while he dragged his toy snake behind him. He was pleading with his mom to slow down, that his wrist hurts. She didn't let up any and for some reason it didn't seem right. So the cat jumped up and landed on the mom's back digging her claws through the coat into the skin making her stop in place. The woman let out a loud hiss letting go of the boy, who ran away as fast as he could from the woman, and reach behind herself to remove the object of pain. The cat let go of the woman's skin, but crawls up to her head, keeping her claws dug into the jacket to prevent from falling. Pissed off the woman reaches for the cat only to be screaming in pain as her claws dig further into her skelp.

"Someone get this mangy beast off of me!" The woman screamed moving towards the road struggling to remove the cat. Cars honked at them, trying to avoid and slow down from hitting. A delivery truck honks loudly, brakes squeaking with determination to stop, but like a deer stuck in headlights, both the woman and cat freeze in place ready for the impact of the vehicle.

"Are you stupid?" A loud gruff voice speaks just beside their ears. The woman was now on the sidewalk slumped on her knees panting. The cat remained frozen in fear unable to process what had happened. "It's okay. You're safe now."

'Oh my god am I dead? Please no I only have one life left.' She says in her head unable to get any noise out. Rough materials touch her body, carefully removing her claws from the woman's now bloody scalp speaks soothing words to her in a calm voice. Once free from the woman she gets tucked into a warm space of a hard surface and leather fabric.

"Thank you so much for saving me." The woman says in a haste trying to get up and thank her savior. Officers appeared behind them taking the woman in cuffs.

"Yeah, I wasn't saving you." With that the man walked away taking the cat with him. The movement of the man's body pressed against her body, the cat began to fall into a soothing comfortable sleep feeling him press his fingers in her fur.

She wakes up in a warm environment with the scent of food filling the place. Clanking and clonking sounds could be heard banging around the kitchen so she gets up and trots into the direction of the noise and finds a very tall male stirring the spoon around in a pot.

'Mmm that smells good.' She let's out a soft mew, rubbing her body in circles around his ankles. The man jumps without lifting his legs then shifts to look down at her.

"Well hello missy. You're awake." He kneels down and scratches under her chin. She moves her head and body against his hand satisfied with the feeling. As quickly as he starts, he ended the scratching and went back to stirring the pot. With a pout and mews again, getting up on her back legs, and paws his pants wanting more attention.

'More... Let me more' She mews again. He chuckles over her actions but continues to keep making his food. With a huff of disappointment she looks around them. With an eye on the counter top, she backs up and backs up until she is in a good enough distance, she lowers her shoulders, butt in the air wiggling to earn enough momentum then jumps up in the air. She makes it to the counter edge, claws extended, but once her paws touch the counters she didn't get a grip and slips right off and onto her back. The man scoffed into a laughter watching her carefully as she rolled over and sit there watching him with another huff. He cleared his throat, grabbed two bowls and fill one up with soup and the other with warm milk he had in a smaller pot and position them in front of the stools. The man leans down and picks her up placing her on the counter with him and begin to eat. She blinks a minute then begins to slurp the bowl or warm milk.

The man stomped out in his military black boots that night with his head covered by a red helmet and a brown leather jacket. Weapons strapped to his back and thighs as he jumps out the window and disappear into the dark. With a stretch she expands her fingers as her body pops, arching down where her butt is in the air enjoying the open space of the room.

"Mmm... I am still hungry. I want some of that soup he made." No one home but her so she walks into the bedroom and pull out a shirt, put it on, and go hunt down the soup. With a happy satisfaction, she places the bowl in the microwave watches as the bowl spins around inside as it heats. Once heated she pulls it out and sips it with the spoon he washed. Leaving the bowl in the sink, put the soup container back where she found it. She stalks the room curiously on who the man was. There was very little to identify about the strange man who picked her up, but she walked back to his bedroom and laid down on his king size bed sprawling out trying to cover as much of it as possible. The bed was so comfortable she felt like she was laying on clouds, falling asleep in peace she curled up tightly over the covers and snores.

Around five AM the man returns, slamming the helmet on the counter and run his fingers through his hair in distress. He moves to the kitchen, pulling out a glass and start to fill it up with water. The water hit the bowl and spoon making a clatter noise drawing his attention.

"Odd, I was sure I washed these. Whatever, I'll deal with it tomorrow." He shakes his head and fill up his glass walking toward his bedroom to find his new roommate asleep curled up on his pillow. "Guess it's now just you and me little one." He rubs her head before stripping down and laying in the bed face first and fall asleep.

To be continued...

@maribatserver

[nokingsonlyfooles]

EIGHT CHIPS

This is not my photo. These are not our chips. We were hungry and it didn't occur to us to take a photo. Nevertheless, we ordered pico de gallo at this restaurant, it came on a square plate just like this guac, and it had EIGHT CHIPS stuck in it. (I see TEN in the guacamole above. I suppose, that's an improvement? A couple of them seem pretty small so maybe it's like boneless wings and they're going by weight? I have so many questions and all of them are WHY??)

Our friends recommended this place. It has good Google reviews! I don't know what Canada does to a person that makes them think "chips and pico" means "EIGHT CHIPS served IN the pico for maximum sogginess" but I hope it doesn't happen to ME. If it does, let me exist in blissful ignorance and don't try to restore me to my former self.

Canada, this is a crime against my culture and me personally and YOU WILL PAY - presumably in maple syrup, or some other food you actually do well. (Keep your poutine. I don't like it!)

*sigh* All hyperbole aside, this is about how the doctor went, before dinner. She was over an hour behind again. I spent the whole time in the very bright waiting room with the heater blowing in my dry eyes. I was not in the best shape by the time she actually saw me, but I did have enough time to express my concerns, and have them dismissed. While my spouse gave me a Live Slug Reaction over the doctor's shoulder every time she condescended to me or lacked obvious information.

"What do you mean 'who did your eye surgery and when did you have it'? YOU REFERRED US! THIS IS A FOLLOW-UP!"

But there is nothing physically wrong enough to snap the doctor out of, "You're fine! See you later!" mode. My struggles are being attributed to the binocular vision dysfunction and my insanely dominant right eye. I thought we were trying to teach my brain to lean on my right eye a little less, but maybe not. I'm going to check in on Friday with the tech who gives me exercises and get some more exercises. And beyond that, the doc thinks I should keep doing what I'm already doing and I'll adjust. When, tho? Beats me!

I was not told that my binocular vision dysfunction would prolong my recovery. Maybe they were hoping it wouldn't! But it is. I'm supposed to have informed consent for making these medical decisions and I'm not getting it. I don't want to add that I HAVE OBVIOUS ROSACEA and that can make dry eyes worse, and nobody mentioned that to me at any point (not even today). I had to find that out myself Googling "dry eyes" after I already had the dang surgery.

I've got to start presenting as more masc, just for the damn doctors. Woman =/= Brain-Damaged Child with Hypochondria, but it reads that way in medicine and I'm gettin' really, literally sick of it.

[annes-room]

🍇 Jan 20, 2024

book review: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

⭐ 4.5/5

I feel like I understand why this book is so revered now. I also think it's incredible relevant today, and I think everyone should read it.

buckle up I have a lot of thoughts

short summary: featuring the Joad family, the story takes places during the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s. the Joad family is displaced from their home in Oklahoma, they pack up everything they own and drive their family truck to California to look for work, meeting hundreds of others just like them--starving and penniless. work is scarce but they keep trying, and they find community everywhere they settle.

something that I really appreciated about the presentation of the novel is how the main story is interspersed with chapters showing larger pictures of what everyone was going through: car dealership negotiations, trying to pawn off valuables for change, what happens to their farmlands after they leave, experiences of squatter's camps (that Steinbeck visited and collected accounts about while writing this book), shrinking wages and fermenting rage, perfectly good food left to rot because no one can afford it. it paints a wider picture of how desperate people were and how panic spread. it gave another perspective of the Joads by showing the variety of reactions people had to the injustices.

I won't lie, it's a bummer of a book to read, it starts bad and just gets worse, but the whole time, I had hope. the Joads had hope. I was rooting for them the entire time. every time they banded together during a struggle showed their resilience and hope that their luck would turn. and in the end it didn't. misfortune follows them the whole time. right from the start, family members start dying or leaving--up to the very last chapter. they start out with 13 people, and by the end, all but 6 are either gone or dead.

despite the fact that the novel doesn't really offer any solutions to the problems, I think it's still an important read. there seems to be another cycle coming around, where the cost of living is higher than a paying wage. there's a slight comfort in knowing that there will always be a community to find and rally around when everything seems insurmountable and pointless.

"but it's a classic novel! I can't understand those!" yes you can. the prose in this book is probably one of the easiest to understand that I've read in a classic novel. it still has it's dry points, but even if you don't understand every single reference to that time period, you'll still get a lot out of it.

some of my favourite quotes:

-a truck driver after debating whether or not to help a hitchhiker: "He knew he was being trapped, but he couldn't see a way out. And he wanted to be a good guy." (page 7)

-"a spotted brown hat creased like a pork pie" (19)

-"The red sun touched the horizon and spread out like a jellyfish" (45)

-"this was the new hearth, the living center of the family; half passenger car and half truck" (100)

-"This is the beginning--from "I" to "we."" (152)

-""Ain't you got half a buck?" [...] "Yeah, on'y I wisht they was some way to make her 'thout takin' her away from somebody else."" (187)

-"Down in the valley the earth was the lavender-gray of dawn." (289)

I started out thinking Tom was going to be the main character, but I think in the end it was actually Ma. she was the one doing the most to keep the family together and to encourage everyone not to give up. the first and second-last chapters propose that the women were always watching the men, trying to forecast their emotions to determine whether everything would be alright. either way the women would have to be the support on the other side, and that's the responsibility that Ma shoulders throughout the entire novel.

this book has a way of drawing you in and putting a magnifying glass to the discomfort the family experiences. Wikipedia has a quote from Steinbeck about the novel: "Throughout I've tried to make the reader participate in the actuality, what he takes from it will be scaled on his own depth and shallowness." I think it's absolutely true and he accomplished his goal. this is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

[therummonster]

*vibrating intensifies*

so. the monster debacle.

spoiler warning for episode 26 in the Multiverse Tales playlist Redemption of the Were-Jaguar. you've been warned!

from what i've seen all monsters they've become are also a slight reflection of their experiences and self.

EXHIBIT A!!! Vasilia Kuznet

Vasilia becomes a were-jaguar, which of course the obvious is her experience with hunting were-beasts. the second thing can be seen in the above image, she's very confident in just the air around her, but needed to change her own perspective on this other form.

also the finale of that episode was literally Gangadharan was finally trusting Vasilia despite the constant evasion of her fanged form.

EXHIBIT B!!! Astra [Redacted]

Astra becomes a skin walker. she has a tendency to change her identity when in a rough zone. examples: Diamos, Tatyana, and even the dragon form.

although i was a bit confused on why hyena specifically, because before i was researching for this, i mostly saw deer versions of the skin walkers. y'know, like how most people draw wendigos. so here's that info.

EXHIBIT C!!! Charlie/Mikayla Maciel

Bio-MeKayla became a sparking ghoul. the sparking part is obvious, Charlie is a machine based lifeform, and robotics tend to use some form of electricity.

but it's interesting to see that Charlie becomes this twisted version of his worst self, the part of him that's just like every other bio mech they're looking for.

the increased hostility and tendency to control their victims. that parasitic behavior near identical to a symbiote. examples of this behavior: Obi, Emerald Tyrannus, Terror Claw, Fin-Walker, Firecross Dragon.

the controlling part is easy to find in their meeting. he blindly takes control of Kayla and just asks her to try balancing. of course we can mark that up to being completely in a panic at the thought of getting cannibalized.

another fun detail, this corruption also seems to dissolve parts of Kayla to the bone. as you can see with Kayla's corrupt arm. could be a reminder of the slime drake, but without knowing what the leg looks like that is shooting into the dark.

EXHIBIT D!!! Champagne McGregor

champagne becomes a hybrid dinosaur/lizard man. i've already done my reasearch for him a while ago, there's nothing i can pull from mythology. what i can pull is his correspondence.

aka: his job and history. he created monsters of his own that were searching for their next chance of survival, be it food or safety.

heck he even lost his arm to a mutated freakshow of a tyrannosaurus.

exhibit e, the thing giving me the most trouble: Benny Sharp

Benny becomes a jersey swamp skulker. not much to refer to unless you want table top rpg ideas. and even if i do refer to other swamp lurking mythology, there's honestly nada. no fishy abominations i've found from movies are good references either... so we just gotta go off the THREE LINES that gangadharan gives.

this is a human that touched a cursed barnacle. they can propel themselves through the water at extremely quick speeds to the point the best way to hunt them down is to get them on dry land. they also have sharp blades on their forearms. wow. what help.

alrighty, time to bs my way through this... i'm probably gonna move around exhibits so we get me struggling to deal with this guy at the end.

literally what do i pull from???? the monster simply doesn't exist. it is there, it was created for one purpose: and that was a community redraw. hfffffffffff. i even finally tried to check out what swamp skulker is in the ttrpg. it's a sea roomba. with a vague appearence of an axolotl crustacean.

not even kidding. anyways, back to shooting in the dark with a leaf.

obviously the outer shell is there in place of the mech armor he was no doubt wearing. the ability to propel itself at high speeds as to avoid danger could be equal to his tendency to run in the past if things were getting too... dangerous for others.

but my main confusion is: why water? he's honestly never really interacted with it. literally one of his key sayings is basically "if a mech can't fly, it's not worth it." so maybe that shows that he doesn't have any worth in his eyes?????

the extra mouth like cover being of course kinda like a mask, maybe showing the fact he usually is counted as the positive "don't worry, we can win if we go fist fight god!" despite me staring at every trauma past christmas demons.