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joshslater · 5 years ago

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Russian Dolt

Another Hank collab. Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

I was just about ready to give up and head back to the hotel. I’ve spent 16 years being a sales representative across Southeast Asia, and I know all the regional variations on the prostitutes fairly well. Here in Manila, a Russian girl would go for at least twice the price of a local. A Malay girl would go for a discount. But too much of the same old thing grows boring, and that’s why I was out in the bars tonight instead of just calling an escort to the hotel for a “massage”.

I wasn’t sure what I was after, to be honest, which was part of the problem. Maybe a threesome? A gymnastics girl doing tricks for me – and on me? I’ve heard that in some countries the Olympic teams even earn some side money in brothels. I’ve never found it myself, but that would be something different at least. So far nothing I had found had really turned my crank. I was polishing off a mediocre whiskey when I was approached at the bar by the man.

The guy was younger than me, maybe 25, and looked very Russian. Buzzed hair, tank top, tight jeans, flip flops, cheap tats and the don’t give a fuck attitude that their entire nation has adopted since they lost the Cold War. He smelled of smoke and cheap cologne. He looked to be in great shape. I didn’t want anything to do with him.

“I overheard you speaking of freak sex, yes?”

The accent was heavily Russian as well. This could be exactly what I was after, but it could also end up with me robbed and dead in a ditch.

“What’s it to you?”

“We have proposal. Have you had sex as not you?”

Despite the hot and wet climate, I could feel a wall of heat radiating on my other side as one real furnace of a man stepped closer to me. I turned my head and looked right into a black tank top. It was filled with a huge pile of meat. I looked up at his face and he made a silent nod. Perhaps not as stereotypically Russian, but still very much old Soviet stock, and presumably lots of old Soviet hormones, not all his. His muscles seemed to have muscles.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “Sex as not me?”

“We have a thing that lets you do sex as if someone else. Understand? You could be me?”

“I could be you? Who would you be?”

“I would be you, for short time. Very short. Then you as me do any things, dangerous things. Nasty things. But safe for you. When finished, you are you and I am I.”

I was thinking really hard on how this scam worked. Was this just going to trick me out of 5000 pesos, or was the end goal to take me for all I was worth? The setup was intriguing. Performing sex as someone else… I’d certainly never tried that before. I didn’t want to let fear hold me back, in part because I knew, loathe as I’d be to admit it, that it often did.

“What kind of nasty things?” I finally answered.

“Many different things. You chose. How about fucked by wrestler?”

He gestured towards the pillar of meat on my other side. That surprised me. Back home where I grew up there was a lot of "God hates fags" and crude gay jokes, but I always thought it was a bit obsessive. It's a free country so they can do whatever they want, as long as they keep me out of it. I’d never had sex with a man before, obviously. Never even considered it. I was about to protest how I wasn’t a fag, when a small little voice at the back of my head pointedly said “Damn straight, but apparently he is one.” Well, if I was going to be someone else, then why not go for something truly wild and different? Something I would never put my own body through.

“How does it work? How do we do it?”

“We put your body somewhere safe. To keep your mind off it. Then we swap. When you are done, we swap again. 3000 pesos per hour.”

Twenty minutes later, if even that, the three of us were standing in my hotel room. The lobby was deserted, save for the night manager who gave us a disapproving look on our way to the elevator. On the way up, I made a quick estimate of what everything I brought was worth. I only had my carry on, some clothes, my laptop, cell phone and travel wallet. If I was completely cleared out by these guys, I could stay an extra day, have the cards blocked and reissued, use insurance to buy replacements, and be on my way. Not much to lose, really.

The big hunk of meat was Boris, because of course he’d be a Boris. He didn’t speak any English. The sleazy guy in the wifebeater was Mikhail, and he was now explaining the details of how he proposed we do this. He had a handcuff with a really long chain, so I could be cuffed to the bathroom water pipe and still make it to the bed. This would allow Mikhail, in my body, to stay securely in the room, watch TV, use the bathroom and such and such while I was out in his body. I was full of doubt. Step one really can’t be that I chain myself with handcuffs to the bathroom pipes? Mikhail saw my hesitation without me saying anything.

“You want to see first, yes?”

“Please.”

From his pocket he pulled out two thumb rings. They were plain iron rings with no inlays, but with engraved symbols running around them, which gave them a brutish look. He gave me one.

“Sit down. Put it on, right hand.”

I did as I was told, and nothing happened. He sat down next to me on the bed and unceremoniously slipped on his ring. Instantly, everything shifted a few feet to the side, and I suddenly looked out of his eyes instead of mine. It worked. It felt amazing.

His body was in such great shape. I ran my hand over the buzz cut stubble on my head, feeling the prickliness of it against my palm. Then, swiftly, just as quickly as I had jumped into his body, I was back in mine, looking at my hand. Mikhail had just removed the ring.

“You can see it works. You want to continue, yes?”

I sure did. I could scarcely believe this technology was legit. Perhaps it was magic. I know, magic isn't real, but then neither are body swaps. I put the ring back on, and wow, the rush. I was back in Mikhail’s body.

Mikhail patted me and got up. It was so trippy to see my body moving next to me. He quickly locked the handcuff to to his left wrist and then stepped into the bathroom to attach the other end of the cuff. He then stepped out again and gave me the key.

“Here, keep this safe. My suggestion would be to put it in the room safe, so you don’t lose it in the excitement.”

To my shock, he was talking fluent English now, without any accent.

“I will do,” I answered, immediately laughing a dumb Russian laugh. Wow, how stupid my own voice sounded. I sounded just like Mikhail in voice, accent and whacked English.

I immediately realized that whatever these rings did wasn't simply placing my brain inside Mikhail's body. That would just change the voice. But to also changed my accent and even words and grammar, which hinted at something more complex. It somehow both frightened and excited me, and I felt a stir in my pants. I wondered what else would be different, what else this body I now inhabited might be made of.

I put the key and my wallet in the safe, and locked it with 7478. Same code as my old phone, based on the Boeing 747-8 plane. As an international businessman I've had many trips on those. Boris started moving and ushered me out of the room, almost impatiently. As the room door clicked shut, I realized that I’m standing outside of my room with no key, no ID, a different body, and next to this oversized hunk of meat. I reminded myself that I can, at any moment, just remove the ring and appear back in the room. I could then open the safe, grab the key, unlock the shackles on my own body, and pretend like nothing had happened. As long as I have my hand free to remove the ring, there is no need for a safe word tonight. I chuckled with Mikhail’s voice at my own internal pun.

The feeling was amazing, getting accustomed to the body. I could tell my first thought was spot on: this bod was in great shape. It was lithe, almost sprightly compared to where I was at normally. Toned and packed with just enough firm muscle to have a bit of a swagger, it seemed. As we strode out of the hotel and into one of the waiting taxis, I ran a hand through my buzzed hair once more, feeling the spike of the flat cut against my palm. I tugged a little and played with the studs in my ear lobes.

Is this how fags felt, I wondered? Are these sort of bodies part of where their pride and sex drive comes from? I hadn’t given any thought before to the idea that men who are attracted to men might find their own bodies hot, too. I looked down at my forearms, noticing the fit power in them, the veins lightly popping. It did look good to me. I could feel queer thoughts, but I wasn’t ashamed or repulsed by them. This wasn’t me, but I could tell it could be very hot to play the gay. And looking at my arms, I felt an erotic buzz. I was starting plump up a little. I was legitimately turned on.

“In Soviet Russia, you not find faggot. Faggot find you!” I said out loud, laughing, thinking that I sounded even dumber than Mikhail did in this voice. One of my favorite jokes finally had a body worthy of it. Both Boris and the driver ignored me.

I suppose Russians didn’t usually make such a classic Russian joke, did they? Or did they? This really was the most out-of-body experience I’ve ever had, quite literally. Talk about risk versus reward payoff. I had to do it again.

“In Soviet Russia, big dick find you!” I found myself slurring, stupidly, and just hearing the ridiculous accent come out of Mikhail’s mouth, a mouth that was mine for the time being, made me snort with laughter again. I didn’t expect that the first few things I’d be doing in this body would be laughing my ass off. It was truly surreal. But it was hilarious, I mean, wow. Maybe it was my way of trying to find my sea legs after such radical change.

We arrived at a different hotel only 15 minutes away from mine, but looking at it they couldn't be further apart. If Mikhail and Boris looked seedy in the lobby of my hotel, they would appear posh in this neighborhood. I was still not used to this body, and wobbled a bit getting out of the taxi. Boris stopped and waited by the hotel entrance while I made a few jumps to test that everything is fine.

“Boris,” I say, my voice reminding me of some squirrel and moose thing – Natasha – Rocky and Bullwinkle – I can’t get over this accent –

“Boris, where is room?”

I find that I almost have a feel for the way the Russkies talk, I think, and that if I just roll with it, I’ll be able to work with it almost effortlessly. Boris started leading me into the hotel and down a hall. He stopped by a door and opened it, with a real key. Not one of those card reader doors. He entered the room and I followed.

First thing I did was to swagger on over to the mirror. I didn't get a good look while in my room before Boris ushered me out. Yeah, I pretty much looked amazing. This body, or whatever sense of sexual desire was in this bod, recognizes male beauty in a way that wasn’t apparent to me at all as a straight guy. This body is fit, it is toned, it is more tanned than I would have expected from a Russian guy. He must have been in The Philippines for a while now, I figured. The tats, which I thought looked like cheap pieces of shit from a budget tattoo parlor before, looked masculine, tough, and sleazy.

I looked like the mirror image of a guy who lived to fuck, drink, smoke and party, I thought- And I could feel that I was craving a smoke, too. But man, that mirror… I was boned, totally erect over a man for the first time in my life, even if it just was myself, in a way.

Mikhail had been wearing that rich brand of underwear to try to act like he was worth something, I suppose. What’s the name of it? I can’t even remember, not being an underwear type myself. To me, despite whatever he must have spent, the briefs and tats all just made him look cheap and trashy. But I liked it. It’d be perfect for tonight. I fully intended to take advantage of it all, go out for a while, have fun and bring someone back tonight. If things stayed chill, I was ready to fuck. Boris looked bored, and wasn’t even really watching me, so I was guessing things were cool.

I recalled Mikhail had blurted something out earlier about “Fuck Wrestler,” which I presumed meant Boris. And I had been thinking maybe I’d do that, initially, not really being sure what I’d do. But now that I was attracted to men, apparently, I really just didn’t think Boris was my type. Or this body’s type. Or whatever. He didn’t seem to be into me, either. I like the look of Mikhail’s body for sure, and it’s almost mesmerizing to me. Breaking away from the mirror is a bit of a challenge, I notice, as I put my tank top back on. Maybe the old line about Narcissus isn’t so far from the truth after all.

“Boris, I want to go to bar,” I said. “Gay bar. You know where?” “да,” the oaf answered.

I understood it as "Yes", of course, but I understood it in a fluid way. Could I speak it, too?

“Вы можете общаться ��о мной на русском языке?” I blurted to see if he could understand me. My own words sound like something an insect would come up with. They buzzed. They sounded slushy, and they sounded like shit. I really don’t know how folks can speak such an ugly language, how anything could evolve in such a strange way.

“да.” he said again, without any emotion.

There’s some male jewelry on the counter, I noticed as I started to turn out the lights. Dog tags, a pendant. I picked them up and put em on. Looks good- Wonder if Mikhail walked around with that, normally. The whole walk to the bar, I couldn’t help but to act cocky, shifting my posture, feeling playful with this body. Boris, as I found out by trying to chat him up, despite him being a man of few words, did have a pack of cigarettes to help me out with. Soon I’m bumming a couple off of him, and as soon as I could get away with it outside of the lobby, I light up.

The guys walking around Manila that we passed – some are kind of, I don’t know how to put it…not ugly, but not really attractive. I wasn’t really drawn to the girls, I noticed, but not the guys either, all that much. Some of them caught my eye a little more than others. I hoped when we got to the bar that I would find one of the Russians I was expecting to be there. Was that what my genes were hunting for, or was that what I just was expecting to find? A Russian? Would I be attracted to a German, a Frenchman or an American if I ran into any? Good luck picking one up with this voice, I thought to myself. But this is a sexy body. I bet I could pick up a lot of different kinds of guys. Gays aren’t really known for being particular, I thought. At least they’re known to do a lot of depraved shit with anyone. They aren’t like women. They have it easy, so I should too.

The thought of trying to hit on a guy, though I had no clue how to do it, seemed amusing. I felt a tinge of nervousness, but then I remembered this isn’t my real body. I could say anything. There’s a wallet in these jeans and I flipped through it. Was that arranged? There’s enough cash in there, 400 pesos, to drink for a while depending on the prices. I wonder if Boris would loan me more, but how smashed would I really gonna get? It should be more than enough.

Soon we were in the bar. I eyed the field. I spotted my prey almost instantly. Dark beard, full, thick. Bomber sunglasses tank top, twists of tribal tattoo down one arm. I wondered what sort of guy wears glasses in a bar, and I was thinking, fag guys do. And that’s you too, fag boy, so hop to it. And it was alluring, even as I knew it was done for affect. I didn’t care. He was hot.

I didn’t sit down by him right away, though. Boris and I took a spot at the corner, by the entrance. Soon enough, though, I wink at him on his way to take a piss. Why not? Nothing to lose, man.

Once he was out of sight Boris stood up, and surprised I asked him if he was going to leave. I kind of expected he would stick around to make sure I didn't do anything too stupid with Mikhail's body. He smiled for the first time, patted me too hard in the back, responded "Ты справишься" and left. And with that I was on my own.

Well, that’s all fine with me, because I was worried these guys might think I already scored Boris or something. Didn’t want that crimping my game. I was totally comfortable on my own, too. Fuck, it’s not my body. Still can’t get over how liberating it was to just know it.

The night got rolling, more folks were trickling into the club, and Bomber Glasses and I were talking, finally. He is German, but does speak some English. This body did the work for me, I thought. He was into me. I couldn’t help but be fixated at his beard, man, and the chest hair that foofed out of the top of his tank. He has a dog tag of his own around his neck. It’s all so sleazy and fucked up. It’s weird, knowing that what once would have repulsed now allured.

Soon he was buying me a drink. I wondered if I was attracted to powerful guys, as this was the first one who caught my eye out of the bunch, not that there were many to choose from. He was at least a good three inches taller than me. Darker complexion. Thicker hair, and of course that beard. That chest. Mine’s got just a little fuzz. I started to wonder if Russians were a hairy people compared to Germans. I didn’t think they really were, but some definitely are. The train of thoughts caught me by surprise. I’ve never before considered how hairy guys are. Must be the fag in me for sure. Wondered what mixing with this body for the night is gonna do to my mind, long-term. You know, like what if it’s like the long-term effects of a powerful dose of shrooms? That might not be good, depending. It felt OK in the trial swap we did earlier, so clearly it reverts without any seeming issues, but then that was just after a few seconds.

No time to be nervous, though. I wanted to get my money’s worth.

Now the guy’s looking at me, intensely, right in the eyes over drinks, and I was feeling like maybe the gays have a point about wanting their public display of affection. I was feeling like if this guy wanted to fuck out in the streets of Manila with me, I’d do it, despite the filth and chaos. By the time he was kissing me, right in the bar, and I was feeling his thick beard press into my jaw, and we’re speaking our stupid, malformed English to each other, all I could think about was the hard cock that might end up in my ass tonight if this kept going well. I wantws this guy to come back to the hotel with me.

“You and I,” I said, between kisses. “Go wild, with sex, you make sex with me. Hot as sex,” I went, fascinated by the chest hair he was got spilling out of the neckline, rubbing it with my fingers, playing with it, all as best as I could. He was trying to slobber on my earlobe stud and probe my tongue with his ear. We’re making a scene in the bar. I couldn’t care less. He stripped my shirt off right then and there in the bar so he could see my chest. He was playing with my pecs, rubbing the muscle, slapping my firm belly, my firm biceps. “Flex for me,” he commands. I've never done that in my life before, and don't really know how, but somehow I manage to make some tight abs for him. He is lost in admiration, I could see.

We walked out the backdoor of the club, his fingers in the back pocket of one of my jeans, not just kinda steering me, as I’m rather sloshed, but claiming me. Showing who is the top. He squeezed an ass cheek through the denim, and I loved it. He leaned in for another kiss. It’s a steamy night. I needed a smoke, so I lit one up, buzzed up, feeling dreamy as hell, wondering what "nasty things” would actually going to be like. A cock up my ass? I could take one, fuck if I care. Sounded glorious right then. I wondered if I could feel that desire in my ass that they supposedly get? Not yet, I thought, searching my thoughts to see if I felt anything, and decided that maybe it’s because I haven’t tried it, yet. I wanted to try it. This German guy, a man, had me feeling like a creature of beauty. I felt beautiful in a way no woman had ever made me feel before.

I can scarcely remember the walk back to the hotel, for all the alcohol, hormones and groping. I remember wanting to be rather cautious the whole while. Manila is just loaded with chaos, deep pits and potholes you can step into, nothing in the way of sidewalks, not to mention motobikes and jeepneys. The hotel was much too close to bother with a cab.

I remember thinking that the longer I stayed in this body, the more risk I was taking, but I’d come this far tonight and intended to finish it. We didn’t set a time limit. “When you are done” was the deal. That made sense, as they got paid by the hour. They’d want to give me time to fuck until I’m sick of it, presumably by dawn at the latest, and I would obviously want my body back. This set of jeans didn’t even come with ID, and most of my few bucks had already been spent at the bar.

As for the sex, this guy was experienced. I figured as much, but found it out fast once we were in the bedroom together. I mean, I had barely latched the door behind me when he really flaunted his power, flipping me right around, pressing my back up against the door, passionately taking my jaw in his big hands and kissing me, licking me, tenderly and firmly, all at the same time. It’s hard to describe. He was even licking up my neck in broad strokes like I’m a fruit that’s ripe on the vine. It was hot. I suppose I must be a fruit, at least for tonight, haha. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, on my breath. I wanted to hear my dumb, hot, sexy Russian voice again. I was fumbling to get him out of his tank, which should have been an easy move, but I was too drunk.

“Chest, man,” I said. “You hairy, man. You are hairy. It’s hot.” I sounded like an idiot, I know, but it’s hot to hear my voice, too, my slurring, Russian voice.

”Yeah, boy,” he went, feeling up my pecs. I liked being called boy by this guy. Made me feel young, sexy, which I am. And I knew it.

He was practically ripping me out of my briefs and threw me on the bed. He got me naked, and he has got coke. It’s not my body, I think. I knew what to do, believe it or not. I've been to the bars around Wall street and seen what happens in the men's room. So I snorted up a line off the glass counter, walked over, naked, lit up a cigarette right in the room. Didn’t see any non-smoking signs, at least. This isn't the kind of hotel that bothers with smoke detectors. He slapped me on the ass and I couldn’t believe this was me, just hanging out casually, naked with a guy who’s occasionally slobbering all over my lower jaw.

I snorted another line. I felt amped, like coffee, only crazier. I took more at once. With a cross-fade like this, I know it’s more dangerous. Not my body, not my problem.

He was wrestling me down. I loved the feel of my muscles pushing back against his, and I loved trying to toss him, to pin him down, but he was stronger. We wrestled a lot that night, playful. I was so drunk it didn’t really hurt even when he threw me to the floor and body slammed me. It’s just fucking fun, don’t know how to put it, that state when you’ve got adrenaline and passion and lust and a few drugs pumping through your veins.

Man, his cock was a thick one. At one point I remember him shoving his hand in my ass, licking and slobbering all up in my crack, and I’m just on hands and knees, drooling, playing with my own dick as it flopped around and dangled down, making slimy fish line circles of pre-cum in the carpet. Although most dicks in the world are uncut, it somehow felt wrong that my dick now was one of them. Like peeing with boxers on. I was on my haunches, and he was fucking the living shit out of me. It hurt and I yelped out, but guy knew what he was doing, I told myself.

At one point, I half cum, forcing myself to hold it back, not wanting the experience to end so soon. “Try,” I said to him, stopping, getting up off my knees. “Try not to cum,” I said. I had pulled back, hard, using my groin muscles to stop it so I could save my load. A minute later I was good to go again. He put a cock ring on me, telling me that will shut the dick up. I don't know if he brought it or if he found it in the room. Everything was a blur. “You are my pet now”, he told me. He was pushing me down, going for my armpits, slobbering and licking all over them. I had no idea men did that. I was shocked, but it felt great.

There were other surprises. I didn’t expect to be gagging on his thick cock, or expect that he’d seemed to want to pleasure in making me choke on it. But I sure as hell did choke on it. “Spit on it,” he ordered, so I did. “Lick,” he said, so I did, licking my own spit on his cock. I was slobbering up his cock as much as I could with my tongue, thinking that must be what he wanted. It felt good to do. I mean, what an iron rod, what a maypole. This was better than eating pussy, I thought, for sure. I wondered if I’d feel that way tomorrow, realizing I wouldn’t, so I’d better make the most of it now. This would have just seemed sick to me yesterday.

“Fuck me, fuck hard, fuck my ass,” I said to him. My ass had almost started to throb after getting fucked for a while, and it was starting to feel almost empty when it wasn’t getting fucked. Crazy but true, like I wanted him in there. I wondered if this was the prostrate being activated. I could feel it, almost like a heartbeat or something, inside my ass. “Put it in,” I said, wanting him to fuck me more, wanting to understand these sensations better. My ass was sore and yet it just felt so good. Fuck the pain away, and why not?

We took a breather and it was hard to even keep my hands off him for a little while. I wanted to at least massage his shoulders, wrap my arms around him, stroke his legs. If I didn’t have a life of my own, a successful, straight life, I could almost love this guy. The feelings were just so intense, drunk as I was. Probably the alcohol was causing the feelings, but did it matter? He was so beautiful to me. He made me feel sexy. We knew what to do with each other, even as new and awkward as I surely was. The dumb Russian voice Mikhail had was awkward, so fuck if it would matter if my technique was, too. This was all for my excitement, not for the sake of the performance, I remembered.

How long did we fuck? It must have been hours. Time passes at such strange rates when you’ve been partying. I remember my cock being sore, the skin rubbed raw, the thing just aching from the weight of the cock ring, swollen up, but not wanting to stop. I wasn’t sure if I could even get the ring off at this point, drunk as I was. Fuck the pain. “Harder,” I grunted at one part. “Fuck me harder. Deutschland!” I shouted, playful, in lust, this German sex king… my own command sounded like a woof. I really was his pet. But he was also mine.

I didn’t just pass out, I blacked out. I blacked out hard.

I was utterly confused when I woke up in a hotel bed, but then memories started trickle in. The body swap. I clearly was still in Mikhail’s body, I knew, because I could feel it. I felt sore. Wait, why was I still in Mikhail’s body? Looking around I could see I was in the bed in his shitty hotel room, no German to be found. I got up while the whole body was screaming in agony. The bed sheets were pretty much ruined with semen and other fluids. What a mess. My head throbbed with a hangover worse than I have ever experienced before. I stumbled over to the mirror.

Young, muscled, and well-hung were the bright side of what I saw. Everything else I saw in the mirror disgusted me, even more now than when I swapped into it yesterday. I was naked except for the thumb ring and a cock ring. The dick and balls looked bruised, a dangerously purple color. I tentatively touched the dick and pleasure tinged pain shot through my body. It was swollen and had a dull ache, but a small part of me even wanted to play with this dick some more, as I was still horny as fuck. I didn't remember cumming. I didn't even dare to think about the agony it would be to remove that cock ring. I needed to recoup.

I knew Boris and Mikhail were basically showboating a lot of this from the get-go, but after all that, I was really tired of this immersive experience shit. I didn’t know where the German went. I didn’t know if he even kissed me goodbye, and I tell myself it doesn’t matter. This was the wildest trip I’ve ever been on, and definitely worth it. But I didn’t want to deal with this body. I didn’t want to be a fag any longer. I reached to remove the thumb ring when a sudden fear came over me, like I needed to think this through. I paused.

When I remove the ring, where would I end up? Strapped to a cross in a BDSM dungeon? In a Filipino jail? Who knew what sort of Willy Wonka arrangement these guys had in store for me? Hopefully this is just part of the game, or it’s something else that I’m not thinking of. I was trying not to panic. I was not feeling amused anymore. I just wanted out.

I was hungry, thirsty, sore, emotionally drained, horny, and I had a godawful craving for a smoke. Whatever they’ve done to my real body, it couldn’t be any worse than this.

I removed the ring.

Nothing happened.

I screamed. I punched the wall. I screamed ‘fuuuuuuck!’ until I was sobbing on the filthy bed. I was reduced to a crying mess, not surprisingly.

This is my body now. A trashy fag’s body, with an unrelenting sex drive, a smoking habit, a drinking habit, and I no doubt more addictions waiting to be discovered. No surprise he was eager to ditch it. I'm sure my hotel room was cleared out by now, the credit cards emptied to the limit. What would I do with the stuff there anyway? Clothes that doesn't fit and a passport I can't use. This is who I am now, and there is no way to even begin to explain it to anyone, without seeming like a madman.

I really needed a smoke.

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whitehotharlots · 4 years ago

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The worthlessness of wokeness

Boeing apparently just fired a guy because three decades ago he argued that women should not be in combat. This is great. A succinct encapsulation of the inescapable worthless everything of being ailve in the year of our lord twenty twenty.

Boeing is one of the most evil companies in the whole of human history. They are the reason we have been in Afghanistan for twenty years and will maybe never leave. Our political class has one goal, which is to give Boeing and similar cocksucker companies money, and because of that we have murdered somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 million muslims since 9/11.

But, you know, they gotta stay woke. And so they gotta fire a guy who made a completely mainstream argument 35 years ago. And, most important, they have to ignore all context in doing so.

The reason women have historically been barred from combat isn't because their proper place is in the kitchen or that their hands are just too dainty to grasp rifles. It's because women who find themselves in combat zones tend to get very brutally raped.

How--these people think that office politics are life and death, that vulnerable people risk irreparable damage every time they have to ask a white person to turn on the xerox machine or pour them a coffee. How can you be so pathologically aware of human vulnerability and not grasp what happens during a fucking war? Like, we're in a situation where the explicit goal to to kill other human beings but we're still gonna ask people what their pronouns are and not fuck them without expressed, affirmative consent? Do you honestly think that, you illiterate fucking worthless child?

Supporting war means supporting rape on a scale none of these coddled idiots can begin to imagine but they've managed to so completely conflate reality and signifiers that they cannot grasp that. It's okay--even woke, something to celebrate--to needlessly precipitate and perpetuate the conditions that lead to the direct, physical, and constant rape of tens of thousands of women. But having a now-unpopular opinion 33 years ago it is rape culture, the Real source of the problem, and anyone who does it needs to be shunted away from polite society from the rest of their miserable lives.

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c-murphy · 5 years ago

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I feel like the working canon of how Jack’s immortality works is when Rose brought him back to life when she was the Bad Wolf, she coulnd’t control it and brought him back forever. But then it get’s more complicated when you factor in that he keeps getting older, albiet at a very slow rate. And then you’ve got the fact he’s the face of Boe and we NEVER got an explanation how that happened. So I’m sitting here thinking about it and I’m wondering, if he gets reset every time he dies, his body healing and getting rid of wounds and leaving no scars behind, what else changes? If he can regrow limbs and stitch himself together after being blown up, what’s the limit? What happens to his hair when he dies? If he grew it out really long, died and gasped back to life, would his hair go back to the length it was when he died for the first time on the game station? Why would it stay long? Why wouldn’t it? I understand it’s a stupid question but I can’t get it out of my head. Becuase when he got blown up in the hub, he came back with his regular hair. Maybe I’m just thinking about it too much but I don’t care. What about Miracle Day? I only watched that shit once and it made no sense to me, his immortality is tied to his blood apparently? Why wasn’t his daughter immortal, or half immortal? Maybe she was and never noticed she got over the common cold a little sooner than the normal kid. Does that mean his grandson was a quarter immortal? I just don’t know but I don’t want to be the only one with these questions in my head so you’re welcome if you read all the way the end of this shitshow :)

#torchwood #strange little rant #Jack’s immortality #Face of Boe #Bad Wolf #Rose Tyler #Asking the real questions and half two in the morning #You’re welcome

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saiilorstars · 5 years ago

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Next Stop, Everywhere

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Female OC x 10th Doctor

(OC Face claim: Victoria Camacho)

// Story Masterlist //

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Chapter 6: New, New Beginning

Chapter summary: The Doctor take Joy and Rose on their first trip after his regeneration. Of course, the Doctor never imagined a hospital would full of terrors, including the return of an old enemy who’s taken to inhabiting the bodies of his friends.

"It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87 and this is...New Earth," the Doctor announced once we had a beautiful view of a new planet in front of us.

"New Earth," I whispered, my eyes frantically gazing from one thing to another, "Oh my god..." I walked a few feet ahead, "This is amazing," I looked up to the flying vehicles above us.

"This is amazing," Rose remarked, "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet!"

A sweet scent, but a familiar one, caught my nose. I began sniffing and looked down. "I know that smell," I bent down.

"A different sky!" Rose continued, "And...what's that smell?"

"Apple grass," I answered, standing straight and turning back with a smile, "Sweet apple scent."

She didn't believe me and glanced to the Doctor. "Apple grass," He confirmed, nodding his head.

My smile grew sweet, "I knew it!"

"Don't you always?"

I shrugged, "I've yet to be wrong, so..."

"Oh, I love this!" Rose brought back his attention. "Can I just say..." She glanced to him, a great and big smile plastered on her face, "Travelling with you...I love it."

"That's not the only thing she loves," I rolled my eyes, turning away from them.

Usually, there'd be some company from Mickey but I realized it was just me now. I had tried really hard to get him to come but he said no even though I had begged and pleaded. He believed, apparently, that with the least possible number of people the Doctor took on, the more noticed I'd get. Between you and me, that sounded pretty sad. But I will admit that in the short while I'd entered the TARDIS, I had been noticed a little more by the Doctor. However, his attention seemed to wander back to Rose whenever she made a comment.

So here I am, as the third wheel again, with the Doctor and Rose.

While the Doctor and Rose laid on his coat on the grass, I went towards a funny building. I didn't stray too much of course, but I was drawn to it. All the flying cards going above would drive back and forth but nothing would stop by this building. It seemed odd...

"I bet my life's savings there's something wrong with you," I pointed to the building, as if it would make a comeback. I thought I heard something behind but when I glanced back I just saw grass. Still, I looked around but there was nothing. "And I'm never wrong..." I crossed my arms, glancing at the building again.

"What do you think?" the Doctor called as he and Rose joined me.

"Do you want to know the city's name?" Rose asked, looking rather amused.

"New New York," I replied nonchalantly, ending her source of amusement.

"How?" She almost frowned I dare say.

"Because she's clever," the Doctor pointed at me with a grin.

"Or, and I'm just saying," I looked up to the flying vehicles, "Someone shouted it from above," I smiled. The Doctor shook his head. "What? That wasn't my fault."

"We have a hospital to visit," He announced, pointing to the building behind me.

"What? What for?"

"He was summoned," Rose replied.

"By who?"

"Psychic paper. Shall we?" He extended his hand to me.

I looked between him and Rose. "Um...no," I turned around and started for the hospital.

"Joy?" He called but I kept walking, biting on my smile.

"Let's go Doctor!" I said, innocently, seeing it was bothering him.

~0~

We walked into the reception area of the hospital where cats were walking around. And they were dressed like nuns!

"Woah..." I blinked.

"There's no shop!" I heard the Doctor's whine. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I like the little shop!"

"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything," Rose said.

"That's impossible," I turned around, "You can't possibly cure everything."

"She's right," the Doctor nodded, "The human race moved on and so did the viruses. It's an ongoing war."

Another cat walked by, causing me to stare with a goofy smile on my face,"Neat..."

"They're cats," Rose pointed, shocked as they went along.

I followed a few cats walking by, going back and forth...I wanted a close up!

"Now don't stare," the Doctor told Rose, "And Joy, don't follow them."

My smile would not erase, "I can't help it. They're actual walking and talking cats," I tilted my head, "Cool."

"Well, at least you're taking it somewhat better," He muttered, "Rose! Think of what you look to them all...pink and yellow."

I followed another cat...

"JOY!" He yelled, scolding me as well.

"Sorry," I quickly turned back for them.

"Look, that's where I'd put the shop!" He pointed behind Rose. "Right there!"

I rolled my eyes, "What's with you and shops?" I followed after him.

"I like the shops," He said, defensively.

"You're allowed to point here and there but I can't do what I want?"

He walked into what looked like an elevator, "Uh, yes."

"So then why can't I follow them?" I started for another cat.

"Get back in here!" He snapped, pulling me into the elevator.

I frowned, "You know, these are the first kind I'm not allergic too. Let me have some fun."

"Ward 26!" he yelled, "What was that?" he looked down.

I sighed, "Nothing important, I guess."

" Hold on! Hold on!" We saw Rose rushing to join us but the doors closed too early.

"Oh, too late, we're going up!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"It's alright, there's another lift!"

"Ward 26!" the Doctor shouted down, "And watch out for the disinfectant!"

"The what?" I looked around, slightly afraid.

"Watch out for what?" Rose called back.

"The disinfectant!"

Commence stage one- disinfection.

There goes one of my ears. "Doctor, what exactly do you mean by-" I gasped loudly when an icy-cold water hit my face. "Crap, that's cold!" I shouted, blocking the remaining water from making contact with my face.

The Doctor remained perfectly calm about this and only smoothed out his hair.

When the water finally stopped, a freaking powder puffed into my face. I coughed out and fluttered my eyes open. "This...is-"

And the final straw happened: Strong wind smacked me upfront. All my hair stuck to my arms and face as the wind blew.

When the doors finally opened, I dashed out, "What the hell was that?" I demanded, pulling strands of hair off my face.

The Doctor smiled, "Procedure, nothing to worry about."

"It's stupid!" I snapped, removing the strands off my arms.

"Mind you, I'd say it's pretty good if it got all that hair of yours dried up in less than a minute," he gestured to my long, very-much-dried, hair.

I mock glared, "I'm sorry, would you like me to get it cut short for the next time?"

"C'mon," he pulled me towards another one of those cats, "And can you not follow more cats?"

"I don't know..."

"Hello," he greeted the cat.

"I am Sister Jatt."

"You have a name?" I blurted, receiving a thump on the arm by the Doctor, "Ow," I frowned, rubbing my arm.

"Sh," he put a finger to his lips.

I rolled my eyes and looked away. It seemed the only attention I received from him was reprimands. I'd rather not get noticed then!

The cat led us into Ward 26, where the Doctor, apparently, needed to go. Right now, the Doctor kept rambling on about the stupid shop again.

"Doctor, it's a hospital," I reminded, "No time for that."

"She is right," Sister Jatt nodded, "The hospital is a place of healing."

He frowned, "A shop does wonders for people, Joy."

We stopped in front of man who was fairly large and laid on a bed. It seemed his skin was turning into stone.

"Excuse me!" the lady beside him exclaimed, "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."

"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" the Doctor asked the man.

"I'm dying sir. A lifetime of charity and abstinence and it ends like this."

"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance," Again, the lady spoke.

"Frau Clovis!" the Duke gasped. She rushed to hold his hand. "I'm so weak!"

Frau Clovis glanced to us, angrily, "Sister Jatt! A little privacy please!"

"He'll be up and about in no time," Sister Jatt led us away.

"I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone," the Doctor shook his head, "A cure for that won't be around for another...what? Thousand years?"

"Have faith in the sisterhood. Is there no one here you recognize?" She gestured to the dozens of patients. The Doctor looked around but didn't say anything. "It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."

"No, I've found him..." the Doctor said, distracted all of a sudden, "Joy," he held out his hand for me.

Confused, I took it. I figured out his distraction when he led us to the Face of Boe. "Isn't he..." I pointed, "From the..."

Another cat stayed by our familiar patient. Sister Jatt nodded to her, "Novice Hame, can I leave these two visitors in your care?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"Oh, I think our friend got lost," the Doctor stopped Jatt before she left, "Rose Tyler. Could you ask at reception?"

"Certainly," Jatt said then left.

"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Novice Hame said, "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you friends?"

"We met just once on Platform One," the Doctor answered, "What's wrong with him?"

"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."

"Of what?" I quickly asked, looking with horror at the poor face.

"Old age," She looked to him, "The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions. Although that's impossible."

"How do you know?" I challenged, a teasing smile growing on my face. "The universe can be very mysterious."

"I'm here," the Doctor knelt before the Face of Boe, "I look a bit different but it's me...it's the Doctor."

I sighed, watching the two have a strange conversation. I turned for the great, glass window beside us. I walked closer to it, staring out into the city. It did looked wonderful.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Novice Hame asked me.

I glanced back, "Is it that obvious?"

She smiled, nodding, "You've got that curiosity gleam in your eyes. The city is very big and full of wonders."

"I can bet," I stared out, smiling at the thoughts of the city.

"Joy, I'm terribly sorry," the Doctor stood up, "I meant to bring you somewhere incredible to thank you but..."

"What are you talking about?" I raised an eye brow, "This is incredible."

He didn't seem to believe me, "But it's-"

I stepped closer, "New planet. New aliens. Talking cats," I said in a hushed tone so Novice Hame wouldn't hear, "Oh yeah, this is incredible."

"But a hospital?" He raised an eye brow, clearly disbelieving my statement.

"Well, I've dabbled a little in the med-department. Short internship, don't ask me how I got it," I shook my head, chuckling at the memory of that day, "I get to learn more!"

"Keep that brain building up," He smiled and I nodded, "Good."

"You two are strange," Novice Hame remarked with amusement, "And you know the Face of Boe?"

"Is it hard to believe?" I asked, curious.

She smiled, "No..."

"Are we the only visitors?" the Doctor looked around.

"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old."

"That must be a pretty cool job," I smiled.

"There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret. That he will speak those words only to one like himself."

"What does that mean?" the Doctor asked.

"It's just a story," Novice Hame shrugged.

"Could be true," I suggested, "Tell us the ending?"

Novice Hame smiled dimly, "Well, it's said he'll talk to the wanderers. To the man without a home guided by his moon spirit."

"Now there's something intriguing, don't you think Doctor?" I perked up, unlike him who just remained silent.

~0~

As I walked around the room of patients, the Doctor went to give Rose a call. I know he said not to follow anymore cats but it was impossible! I was highly allergic to cats and to not be sneezing like crazy.

My staring was cut off by a loud laughter. I looked around and found it belonged to The Duke from earlier. The Doctor was still talking so I went ahead and walked to the Duke's bed.

"Hello," I waved sheepishly.

He and his friend, Frau Clovis, were holding champagne glasses. "Little pink thing!" He exclaimed, "Look at me!"

"You're cured?" I raised an eye brow, confused.

"Indeed. Have a glass!"

Frau Clovis handed me a glass of champagne. "Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan doesn't constitute a form of legal contract."

I nodded and took the glass, "Cheers..." I said, slowly raising the glass.

"No you don't," the Doctor took my glass and handed it back to Clovis, "You're not allowed to drink."

"Who says?" I raised an eyebrow, knowing for a fact he didn't even know my age.

"I do," he declared, raising the glass high up thanks to his newly-acquired height, "It's all just a bunch of toxins."

"Oh, now you care," I muttered, rolling my eyes and turning back to the patient.

"What did you say?"

"And it's the man!" cried the Duke, ending out short fight, "You two are my good luck charms! Come in! Don't be shy!"

The Doctor smiled, tugging on his ear. He didn't seem all too happy about this new found recovery.

"Winch me up!" the Duke ordered. With a press of a button on a remote, the bed lurches forwards. "Look at me! No sign of infection!"

"Champagne, sir?" the waiter asked the Doctor.

"No thanks," the Doctor answered, handing him back my glass, "You had Petrifold Regression, right?"

"That being the operative word! Past tense! Completely cured!" the Duke rejoiced.

"But that's impossible," the Doctor said, refusing to show any joy.

"How was he cured?" I asked, curious, "I thought you said it would take another 1000 years for the cure to arise?"

"That was the idea. What's in that solution?" He walked to the pouch of blue liquid.

"A simple remedy," a new, older cat approached us.

"Then tell me what it is."

"I'm sorry, patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."

"I'm the Doctor."

"I'm Joy," I waved, sensing the growing tension between the two.

"Matron Casp!" Sister Jatt hurried towards us, "You're needed in intensive care!"

"If you would excuse me," Matron Casp nodded, "Have a good day."

"That was a bit odd," I said afterwards.

"Yeah..." the Doctor stared after Matron Casp.

He took out his glasses again and began examining each patient that had been miraculously cured.

I followed after him, "Still gonna wear those?"

"Aha," He nodded, carefully looking into one of the pouches, "Can you go see if Rose is close by? I'm beginning to get worried."

"Sure," I turned for the entrance. I was midway there when she finally came out from an elevator, "There you are!" I hurried to meet her. "The Doctor's been asking for you."

"Has he?" She asked, her voice oddly pitchy. "Well, better go tell him I'm here. Out of my way," She pushed past me.

I blinked, making a face, "Okay...?"

I looked back and saw the Doctor take her to one of the patients and explain the situation. I couldn't make it out but something wasn't right with her. Her voice was all...annoying. And, as ignored as I am sometimes, she was never rude to me.

"I need to see how they do this," the Doctor walked towards me.

"Look for a terminal," I crossed my arms, "Don't they usually keep all that info in?"

"Yes!" He pointed, excitedly, "Because, if they've got the best medicine in the world...then why's it such a secret?"

"I can't Adam and Eve it," Rose said, coming to join us.

Both the Doctor and I looked to her, confused. "What's...what's with the voice?" the Doctor was the first to ask.

"Oh, I don't know..." She smiled, and wickedly I dare say, "Just larking about New Earth...new me."

"Who says larking?" I whispered to myself. "Rose, are you-"

She held a finger to me, her smile gone and replaced by a mean glare, "Shut up."

"Excuse me?" I stepped up, the Doctor having to grab my arm and restrain me.

"Why don't you go and look for that terminal?" She looked me over like I was some poor, primitive thing.

"Doctor, you better knock some sense into her before I do," I snapped, shaking his hand off my arm.

Before I did anything rash, I walked for the elevators. What the hell had gotten into her? By chance, I happened to have found one of those terminals on the way.

"Doctor?" I called, "I think I found a-"

"Oi, what did I say?" Rose interrupted me. "Be quiet. We're a bit busy."

"What?" I snapped my head at her, "Rose!"

"Mmm, aren't you just..." She ignored me and stepped closer to the Doctor.

Without warning, she pulled his face to hers, slamming his lips against hers.

My eyes widened, and oddly enough, I found myself feeling sort of...mad? "Hmph!" I turned away.

"T-terminals this way..." I heard Rose say after what seemed like an eternity.

She walked off in the direction I had found the terminal in. I looked back to the Doctor and saw he was just staring after her, completely dazed. This was exactly why I didn't want to travel with them. I'd be even more cast off, and frankly if this was going to be Rose's new attitude she'd be better off with me far away from her before I'd hurt her.

The Doctor smoothed his hair back into place, "Woah...still got it," he walked a few steps then realized I still stood here, "Oh...Joy..."

"Hmph...no, please, don't mind me," I raised my hands, "I'm just gonna go follow more cats..." I spat, rolling my eyes. I walked towards the terminal and had to stop when I realized my attitude. What had just happened? I was angry, but exactly what of?

"Joy?" The Doctor caught up a few minutes later. "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stop thinking of what had happened. "Nothing. Completely fine. Let's go."

"But-"

"I said let's go," and I continued to walk.

~0~

"Nope, nothing odd," the Doctor concluded after reviewing the patients' details on the terminal.

"It's missing something else," I said, looking at the screen, "I heard something about Inten-"

"The cats," Rose cut me off, "They talked about Intensive Care. Where is it?"

I frowned. That was what I was going to say. She wasn't making this easier for me.

"You're right, well done," the Doctor nodded and got to work.

That was my being right, and my congratulations.

"Why would they hide a whole department?" Rose continued, "It's gotta be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame."

"What if it's locked?" The Doctor asked.

"Try the installation protocol."

"Yeah, course. Sorry," he used the screwdriver and somehow made the wall reveal a secret corridor.

Rose walked straight into it. I blinked incredulously; this was not the trip I expected...

We found ourselves gazing up on rows and rows and rows of green doors. The Doctor walked ahead and opened one of the doors with the screwdriver.

I gasped when a man that was covered in boils and surrounded with smoke stared at us. "Oh my god..." I clasped my hand over my mouth.

"What's wrong with him?" Rose asked, disgusted.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor breathed, slowly closing the door, "I'm so sorry."

I noticed Rose holding her nose while the Doctor went to the next door. "Rose?"

She glanced at me, looking me over, "What?"

I rolled my eyes, "Never mind," I pushed past her, "What kind of disease is it?" I stared at the woman behind the new opened door.

"All of them," the Doctor spat, "Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything."

"Oh my god..." I said sadly, "I...I don't know what to say..."

"What about us?" Rose questioned, "Are we safe?"

"The air's sterile just don't touch them," the Doctor closed the door.

"How many patients are there?"

"They're not patients," the Doctor walked over to the railing, gazing upon the millions of doors.

"But they're sick."

"They were born sick," he snapped, "Meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory."

"A human farm," I walked along the doors, "How horrible."

"Why don't they just die?" Rose inquired.

"Plague carriers," the Doctor answered, "Last to go."

"It's for the greater cause," Novice Hame approached us.

"How could you agree to such a thing?" I rejoined them, "How?"

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."

"By killing?" the Doctor shouted angrily.

"But they're not people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."

"What's the turnover?" the Doctor neared her, "Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousand? For how many years? How many?"

"Mankind needed us," Novice Hame remained calm, "They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We tried everything, believe me. All the results were just too slow."

"So you created a farm," I said, disgusted, "Say what you say, these are people." I pointed, to the doors, "Locked up and forced to carry every disease? This isn't a hospital."

"They're flesh," Novice Hame insisted, "That's all they are."

"No, they're alive," the Doctor corrected.

"But think of those Humans out there, healthy and happy because of us?"

"I'd rather die," I declared, "Knowing that someone else was going to pay the price for my health? I'd rather die and I'm sure these people would agree. No one's live is worth over another's. No one."

"But who are you to decide that?" She raised an eye brow.

"Human, thank you very much," I spat, proudly, "I may not have any special skills or powers but I've got a secret weapon: a higher authority, the Doctor."

"Really?" He glanced at me, genuinely surprised.

I smiled, forgetting my former irritation with him, "You know it."

Even ignored, even reprimanded, I knew he'd always have my back. I knew I was still on the same level with Rose in that department.

"Yes. And if you don't like me then that's too bad because I'm as high as the authority gets," the Doctor stepped up.

"Um, excuse me," Rose pushed me to the side again, "Just to confirm this...none of the humans in the city actually know about this?"

Novice Hame shook her head, "No, we thought it best not-"

"Hold on," the Doctor cut in, "I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. But one thing I can't understand, what have you done to Rose?"

"I don't know what you mean..." Novice blinked.

"I am being very calm about this," the Doctor continued, "And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed. NOW."

"We haven't done anything," Novice Hame insisted.

"You have," I nodded, finally finding the world at sense again, "She's incredibly rude now and I wanna knock her out..and I never wanna knock out Rose."

I decided to let go of Rose's attitude during the Doctor's regeneration for the better. She was just hurt the Doctor had left her, even though technically he hadn't. So she lashed out on whoever was close...me. Though I had let it go, it didn't mean I wouldn't knock her out if she did it again...fully conscious however.

"I am not," the blonde snapped.

"Yes, you are," I turned to her, "You've been fairly rude to me and I'm biting my own hand to keep me from knocking you out!"

"Darling, it's not my fault I'm so much better than you."

"Then again...why restrain myself if she's not," I balled up a fist.

"See? Another thing," the Doctor pointed, grabbing and keeping a tight restraint on me, "They never argue. And, Rose would care about these people dying. What have you done?"

"Oh alright, clever clogs," Rose rolled her eyes. She pushed me away and pulled the Doctor back to face her. "Smarty pants," she pulled out his tie, "Lady killer," she leaned closer.

"I'm gonna kill her," I said, bluntly.

"I knew something was going on in this hospital but I needed this body and your mind to find out what," Rose gestured to herself.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked.

She smirked, leaning to his ear and whispered, "The Last Human."

"Oh god, the piece of scrap?" I raised an eye brow. She glared at me, but I didn't care. Instead, I let out a short laugh. "Ha! You're not Rose! The world makes sense again!"

"You annoying little brat," she spat, walking up to me, "Do you know how idiotic you are? I don't care how clever they say you are, you're nothing but a little-"

"Oi, leave her alone," the Doctor cut in, stepping between us, "You got a problem, it's with me."

"Go in and save the little girl, why don't you?" She whipped out a tube of perfume and sprayed it to his face. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Doctor!" I dropped beside him, "What did you do?" I looked up to Cassandra.

"Free sample?" She smiled sweetly then sprayed that thing on me as well.

~0~

I woke to yelling and yelling. I realized my arms had been forced to a rail with a type of wire.

"What's going on?" I woke up my senses.

"Oh, you've woken up," Cassandra pretended to pout, "I sprayed double."

"Where's the Doctor?" I looked around.

"Right here," she patted one of the cell doors, "Ready to become infected as well."

There was pounding on the other side of the door, "CASSANDRA!"

"Let him go," I reached out for the door.

"Uh, no?" She rolled her eyes, "Stupid one inside, clever one outside."

I paused to think about that. Obviously, I wasn't as smart as the Doctor, but I decided to mess with her for a moment.

"Wait, shouldn't it be the other way around? Clever one inside, stupid one outside?"

I watched in amusement as she realized her mistake.

"Shut up!" She exclaimed.

"Cassandra, just let Rose go!" The Doctor yelled again, "Please!"

"Oh, I will," assured Cassandra, "As soon as I've found someone younger and...less common, I'll junk her with the waste," She patted the door again, "It's showtime!"

"Cassandra," I called, "...Go into me."

She raised an eye brow, suddenly confused. I couldn't believe I was doing this...

"Go into me and leave Rose alone. I'm younger..." I swallowed hard, forcing myself up against the rail, "And...I'm richer," by the sudden gleam in her eye, I knew I had caught her attention, "I swear to god I am richer. I will give you my credit cards-they're old Earth cards with money in it basically-but you just let Rose be and come into-"

"Is that a deal?" She smiled wickedly.

I took in a deep breath and nodded, "A deal. And I always keep my end of it. Will you?"

"Definitely."

Next thing I knew, I was gasping for air, my head feeling like it would explode!

"Oh, younger body..." Cassandra remarked, placing my hands on my hips.

"Get your hands off me!" I snapped.

"How are you speaking? I'm in control!"

"...I'm clever."

"Very, I can see through your brain..." she paused, and I actually felt her own mind creeping into mine, seeing thoughts and feelings, "I can see everything. Oh...you're so lost, aren't you?"

"Quit talking Crap. I'm letting the Doctor go," I forced myself to walk a few steps. I noticed Rose was on the ground, unconscious. "Rose! Is she alright?"

"Yeah, fine. She's weak."

"Oi, that's a friend."

She scoffed, "Okay..."

"What are you doing?" Matron Casp demanded.

We turned and saw her and Jatt standing before us.

Cassandra took control of my speaking skills, "Straight to the point whiskers. I want money."

"The sisterhood is a charity. We don't give money. We only accept."

"The humans across the water pay you a fortune for all this and that's exactly what I need," she stepped us closer, "Perhaps a yacht would be nice too. In return for which, I shall tell the city nothing of this. Deal?"

"I'm afraid not," Casp declined. Jatt pressed a button from a remote.

"I advice you to really think about it."

"No need. I decline."

Cassandra frowned, she became restless in our body. "I will tell them!" She pointed, "And you can't stop me! Not exactly Nuns with guns. You're not even armed."

"We have claws. Much more effective," Casp showed us her paw with sharp and filed nails.

When she hissed I managed to make my body jump. Cassandra, remained still with no emotions to show. "Nice try." She spat and turned us to a strangely patterned man.

"Chip! Plan B!" He pulled down a lever, making every door of every cell open.

"What have you done?" The Doctor demanded as he rushed out the door. He looked down to Rose who was just waking up. "Where's Cassandra?" He helped Rose stand. "Where is she?" Rose shook her head, still groggy. "Joy?"

Cassandra shrugged my shoulders and made sure I wouldn't speak. She turned us around and ran off somewhere.

"Joy!" The Doctor yelled after me.

"Oh, you don't like that. Do you?" Cassandra asked. "That's not who you are..."

She was giving me the ability to speak again and so I took it, "Shut up."

"Min-"

"Shut up, piece of scrap!" I yelled.

"Why don't you say something?"

"Where are we going?" I demanded. "And who the hell is him?"

We ran down the stairs, with the strange Nan behind us.

"Oh, that's Chip, don't mind him. He's harmless," Cassandra waved him off.

"Joy! Hold on!" The Doctor continued to yell after us.

"He just won't give up!" Cassandra frowned.

"He's my friend. You think he won't question why I'm not speaking and running away from them?"

"Are you sure he's a friend? I see he's been awfully rude..."

"Not to be mean," I said instantly, dead serious, "His mind is just...occupied with something else."

The Doctor and Rose caught up with us at the cellar while we tried working the elevators.

"It's not gonna work!" I yelled.

But Cassandra kept working, "Shut up!"

"It's a Quarantine! Nothing's moving!"

She groaned, letting our hands drop everything, "Would you be quiet?"

"No, I will not be quiet."

"Cassandra?" the Doctor stepped forwards.

We turned around, both fairly annoyed at each other.

"Do you mind? I'm having an argument with a pessimistic brat," Cassandra crossed our arms.

"You took Joy's body?" His eyes widened with horror, "N-n-n-n-n-no. You get out of there, right now!"

"Sorry, but she made a deal," Cassandra smiled wickedly, "And a deal is a deal."

"Joy?" He frantically looked into my eyes, "Can you speak? Are you okay?"

The flesh got into the cellar and advanced towards us. "Gotta run," Cassandra waved a hand and dashed off.

"She's getting away!" Rose yelled, running after us.

"Mistress!" I heard Chip call.

"Oh no, he's gonna be infected!" I tried stopping but my feet wouldn't budge.

I wasn't in control anymore.

We ran into a new room where Cassandra pretty much knew her way around. I assumed this was her hiding place. We rushed to another door and opened it only to find more flesh.

"We're trapped!" We turned back around, "What are we gonna do?"

"Who's saying that? Joy or Cassandra?" Rose asked.

"You are going to leave that body," the Doctor angrily marched up to us, "That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet!" He pointed to a contraption across from us. "You're compressing Joy to death!"

"Finally you take some importance of her," She crossed our arms.

"What?" He asked, indignantly, "What does that even mean?"

Even if I wanted to speak, there wasn't much I could say at this point.

Cassandra leaned forwards, a big smirk plastered on her face, "You know, I may be evil but I'd never do what you're doing, Doctor. That's just cold."

He blinked, stepping back as he studied me from head to toe. I thought maybe he'd capture something Cassandra had said but I was severely disappointed by his next words. "Cassandra, get out! I don't care where the hell you go, but you get out of my friend RIGHT NOW!"

"I can't go anywhere else," Cassandra shook her head, "My original's skin is dead."

"That's not our problem," Rose stepped up, "You need to get out of her. It's horrible what you're doing!"

"Give her back," the Doctor said, dead quiet, pointing his screwdriver at us, "And I mean now."

I saw what she was gonna do next but I had no way to stop her. "You asked for it," she said.

I felt myself become free from her control. I stumbled a little, almost falling back and rubbed the side of my head. "Oh wow, my head..."

"Uh...Joy?" Rose quietly said. I glanced to her and saw she was looking at the Doctor.

"Oh my," the Doctor's eyes looked around, "This is...different."

"Cassandra?" I raised an eye brow, "Don't you dare..."

"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum! So many parts! And hardly used..." the Doctor wiggled around like crazy.

"Oh my god..." I stared, utterly stupefied.

"Cassandra you get out of there!" Rose demanded.

"Two hearts! Oh baby! I'm beating out a samba!" Cassandra/He continued about with radical movements.

"Get out of him!" I yelled angrily.

"What do we do?" Rose ran a hand through her hair.

"Ooh, he's slim," Cassandra/He ran a hand down his body, "And a little bit foxy!" Cassandra/He glanced to us, "You've thought so too," he started walking up to Rose, "I've been inside your head..." Rose became slightly pinker, embarrassed, "You've been looking..." he leaned down to her, "And you like it!" I chuckled lightly, looking away. "Minerva, I saw you gave him a look too...something's going on in that little head of yours and you don't even know it."

I snapped my head back to him, "Hey!"

"Who's that?" Rose looked between us, confused.

"Sister," I spat, fairly angry with Casandra. Rose was going to continue her questioning but the doors burst open. "They've gotten in!"

"What the hell would the Doctor do?" Cassandra/The Doctor shouted.

"He'd get us out of here," I snapped, glaring, "Too bad he's not around!"

"There's a ladder!" Rose pointed, "C'mon!"

Cassandra/The Doctor shoved past us and got to the ladder first. "Out of my way!"

Rose climbed after him then I. We climbed up but saw there was no other way around.

We would be stuck...

"Cassandra, if you'd get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something!" Rose yelled.

"Yap, yap, yap," Cassandra/The Doctor swayed his head, "Got, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone City."

I rolled my eyes, "We're gonna die if-" I yelled when something grabbed my ankle. I looked down and saw Matron Casp. "Get off me!" I kicked her head.

"All our good work! All that healing!" She cried.

"Get off!"

"Go and play with a ball of string," Cassandra/The Doctor muttered.

I kicked Casp's arm down and finally got free. And just in time because one of the flesh grabbed her ankle, making her break out in boils. She yelled in pain then fell off the ladder.

"They're coming!" I cried as the flesh advanced on us. "Cassandra!"

We moved up and up but when we finally reached the top, the doors sealed shut.

"Now what do we do?" Cassandra/The Doctor looked down.

"Use the screwdriver!" I yelled, looking down to see how far the flesh were off.

"You mean this thing?" She pulled it out.

"USE IT!" I yelled angrily.

"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."

"Because he's smart," Rose snapped, "The Doctor can open it! You'll have to come back to me!"

"No way," Cassandra/The Doctor shook his head, "Hormone City?"

"It's either that or die."

"Hold on tight," Cassandra then leaped into Rose again, "Chavtastic again. Open it!" She demanded from the Doctor.

"Not til you get out of her!" the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at her.

"We need the Doctor."

"I order you to leave her!" the Doctor shouted, "NOW."

I looked down and saw the flesh were much nearer now. "Doctor...might want to hurry," my voice trembled.

"And don't you dare jump into Joy," he added, "Now get out."

"I'm gonna regret this," her little cloud rushed down past me to one of the flesh, "Oh sweet Lord, I look disgusting," she frowned.

The Doctor then opened the elevator and jumped in. He pulled in Rose then me. When my feet hit the new floor, I felt something inside of me again and I gasped, nearly stumbling back.

"A deal's a deal, brat!" Cassandra said...with my mouth.

"That was your last warning, Cassandra!" the Doctor shut the door and turned to us, "Get out!"

"A deal's a deal, Doctor. Let her be a woman of her word," She scoffed, "If she's considered one yet."

If she wasn't in my body, I would've smacked her. The Doctor had no choice but to leave her within me for the moment. We returned to Ward 26 where we were greeted with hostility from the other patients who hadn't been infected just yet.

"We're clean!" the Doctor held up his hands, "Look, look! We're all clean! See?"

"If we had been infected, we would've been dead," I said, rolling my eyes. And yes, that one was me.

"What's the status?" the Doctor looked around.

"I think we're the only ones left," Frau Clovis said, sighing, "And I've been trying to override the quarantine," she raised her contraption in hand.

"You can't do that. If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine."

"I'm not dying in here!"

"We can't let a single particle of disease get out!" the Doctor raised his voice, "Ten million people in that city would be at risk! Turn that thing off!"

"Not if it gets me out," Clovis gritted her teeth.

I walked up to her, quietly snatched her contraption and threw it to the ground, stomping on it repeatedly with my foot.

"Cassandra!" Rose exclaimed.

"No, no...I'm pretty sure that one was Joy," the Doctor calmly said.

I smiled sweetly to Clovis then returned to my spot. "If I'm going to die, it will not be in vain."

"You will not die," the Doctor said, "Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease! Move it!"

"No need to shout," I muttered to him then rushed off to get what was needed.

As we gathered the ingredients, Rose was helping the Doctor tie a rope around his body.

"How's that? Will that do?" he asked as I handed him the last of the pouches.

"What are you going to do?" Rose questioned.

"Oh Rose, be a little smarter," Cassandra snapped.

"That one wasn't Joy!" I quickly said afterward but Rose still glared.

The Doctor had moved to the elevator doors, opening them up with the sonic.

"The lifts aren't working!" Cassandra exclaimed.

The Doctor looked down on the shaft, "They aren't moving which is entirely different," he looked back at us then walked to Rose and whispered something in her ear. The two looked to Cassandra and I for a moment then Rose nodded and took steps back. "You're coming with me," he grasped my arm, "And I apologize Joy."

"What are you doing?" Cassandra demanded.

"I can't leave you in a room full of City officials and powerful patients, now can I?"

"That's a bit rude, don't yah think?"

"Joy knows what I mean," he rolled his eyes.

"Does she? Does she really?"

He looked into my eyes, "Why isn't Joy speaking anymore?"

"Because, I'm in control now. No more Joy."

He stared for a moment, silent and dead serious, "I refuse."

If I could smile, I would have...

~0~

"Now you listen up," the Doctor exclaimed, "I'm dealing with a much less clever girl now so I'll dumb it down," Cassandra frowned, "When I say so, take hold of this lever," he gestured to it.

"But there's still a quarantine down there!" Cassandra cried, "We can't-"

"I said hold the lever!"

As he went into the elevator to do his work, Cassandra and I remained on top, silent...at least for a moment.

"Why do you travel with him? He barely acknowledges you."

Because he's a friend, I thought.

"That's not a friend," she scoffed, "And yes, I hear your thoughts."

You can't live forever, Cassandra, especially in this body. You'll die even quicker in me.

"Please, you've lived twice as much. I think I'll be fine."

I'm young.

"Okay..."

"Pull the lever!" the Doctor shouted.

Cassandra did the task on command.

Commence stage one: Disinfection.

I knew exactly what would happen; he's saved them once more.

"Pass it on!" the Doctor shouted happily, "C'mon!"

"Pass on what?" Cassandra demanded, confused.

You idiot.

"Shut it, brat," she spat. The Doctor pulled us into the elevator. "What did they pass on?" She asked him."Did you kill them?"

"That's how you do things," he walked out into the reception.

He's cured them.

"He cured them?" Cassandra repeated.

"I'm assuming Joy figured that out," he stared at the flesh and smiled, "I'm the Doctor and I cured them!"

My mouth opened but only noises came out. Cassandra shut it and frowned, "No! I'm in control. Remember that deal."

~0~

"The Face of Boe!" the Doctor rushed over to our old friend. Rose and I followed behind him. "You were supposed to be dying!" the Doctor smiled.

It was true, he did seem just healthy as in the Platform.

There are better things to do today. Dying can wait.

"Oh I hate telepathy," Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Sh!" Rose snapped.

I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew.

"There are legends you know," the Doctor knelt down before the Face of Boe, "Says you're millions of years old."

That would be impossible.

"You know, I got the impression...there was something you want to tell me..." the Doctor said quietly.

A great secret.

"So the legend says."

It can wait.

"Oh does it have to?" the Doctor pouted.

We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time...for the last time...and the truth shall be told. Until that day...

And like that, he teleported away. A few seconds after, he stood up and turned around. "And now for you,' he pointed at Cassandra and I.

"Everything's happy. Everything's fine...just leave me," Cassandra stood straight, "She made a deal."

"I could care less what she did. What I'm saying, is leave that body," he stepped closer, "You have lived long enough."

"So has she!"

"Don't," he shook his head, "Get out now."

"I don't want to die!" Cassandra started crying.

I forced my mouth open, making a few attempts to speak myself.

"She wants to talk," Rose said, "Cassandra!"

"No," Cassandra gritted her teeth, "I don't want to die."

"Mistress!" Chip ran forth, "I kept myself safe! For you, mistress."

Her thoughts began racing through my mind and I felt so sorry for Chip.

"Cassandra, don't you dare," the Doctor warned, sensing her plan before it was even finished, "He's got a life of his own."

"But it's a volunteer," she said, eyeing the patterend man, "And so I shall take it!"

Before I could attempt to stop her, she leaped out of me and into Chip. I gasped for air again as I fell back, feeling quite free now.

"Oh!" the Doctor caught me just in time, "You alright?"

I blinked, "Y-yeah..." I swallowed hard and forced my eyes to wake up. I felt my legs give out once again and down I went.

"Woah!" the Doctor helped me once more, "You just want to hit that floor, don't you?"

I shook my head, all my thoughts and senses finally returning to normal. I looked up and smiled, "Hello," I waved.

He smiled back, "Hello."

I couldn't stop smiling, and I was a little confused to feel my face become warmer. Was I blushing? Oh my god...I was!

"You refused?" I questioned quietly, recalling his words.

"I don't give up on you. It'd be shameful if I did," he answered, his smile softening, "I'd be ashamed if I hadn't learned anything."

I raised an eyebrow, a little setback by his choice of words...a very familiar choice of words.

Rose coughed from the side and I realized she wanted us apart. I quickly removed myself from the Doctor's arms and cleared my throat. "Hi Rose," I waved, hoping my blush was gone. She faintly smiled and waved back.

"Oh sweet Lord, I'm a walking doodle," Cassandra said from Chip's body.

"Cassandra, that's not fair," I frowned.

"You made a deal with me," she marched herself to me, "And you lied!"

"I know what I said-"

"Then why didn't you keep it?"

"Why did you try killing us?" I countered, "I didn't lie, by the way, but I'm sure as hell not re-offering that deal."

She opened her mouth but instead fell forwards. I quickly helped her up, "Are you okay?"

"I think...I think I'm dying," she gasped lightly, "But...but I think that's okay."

The Doctor and Rose joined and helped support her. "I can take you to the city," the Doctor offered.

"No, everything's new on this planet," Cassandra looked around, "No place for Chip and me anymore. I think you're right Doctor, it's time to die."

"There's one last thing I can do, though," the Doctor announced, "C'mon."

We were brought into the TARDIS. At first, I didn't understand what the Doctor was trying to do. But then I saw the new surroundings and recognized a specific blonde woman; Cassandra. I smiled, content, and let his plan go into action. I can't say I was glad to see death right in front of me, but it was a part of life. I wouldn't escape from it anywhere. I watched Cassandra at her beginning and very last moments all in one. After that, I ordered the Doctor to take me right home.

~0~

"I'm really sorry Joy," the Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS.

I felt the fresh air of my dear planet greet my face when I stepped out. I turned around and smiled, "Don't be. It was pretty fun."

"I was supposed to take you into the city. Thank you properly for-"

"I didn't want it," I reminded, "I was pretty happy. I've been an intern for a hospital once and seeing how an alien one worked is a very good opportunity to learn more."

He smiled softly, "Always trying to learn."

I nodded, "Life's pretty short for me so I better make the most of it. Say bye to Rose for me, will you?" I hugged him, "Thanks for taking me on board."

"You're more than welcome to stay with us and you know it," he quickly offered.

I pulled back and shook my head, "Now more than ever I need to stay."

For both my life's sake and theirs. I would not be a third wheel...

I saw he was slightly hurt and made me feel bad, "You know, I've got a job now. A real and proper one..."

"Yeah..."

"And I actually got another raise," I continued, hoping he'd see it wasn't his fault I didn't want to stay...even when a good chunk of it was. "I think maybe by the year's end I'll have enough to finally move out. And I'm even ahead on my sch-"

"I guess I'll see you later then," he looked up, "Because you know I will come back."

I didn't even take offence he had cut me off again. He always did that. "Yes, I'll come on board once in a while. Just like always."

He nodded, hugging me, "Take care then, Joy."

"You too," I said, pulling back. He turned for the box, opening its doors and moving to go inside. "Doctor, wait!"

He glanced back, confused yet obedient. "You...your words earlier...in the hospital," I became nervous for some reason but I had to know, "You talked about being ashamed if you hadn't learned, those...those were-"

"Your words," he finished, smiling as I nodded fast.

"How did you...I mean, you were asleep..."

"It's a bit fuzzy," he began to explain and so I became silent, ready to listen, "I remember some parts now. Your voice happened to come into mind a lot for some reason, though..."

"I talk a lot..." I admitted, making a face that made him laugh.

"You do, but that's a good thing!" He exclaimed, trying to make it seem like it really was fine. "But the thing that stuck most in my head was you not giving up on me. And...I don't know, but you sounded really upset for the most part of the day. What were you upset with?"

I swallowed hard, knowing this could be my chance to finally let everything out and make him realize his mistake. "Um..."

"I get you were upset with Rose, but I felt like there was something more," he eyed me while I tried gathering some words, "Just know that while part of that day is fuzzy, I will remember it sooner or later."

"...you will?" I raised an eyebrow, my heart beating faster when he nodded.

"Yes, so if there's anything on your mind...you should probably tell me now."

I contemplated on my choice, and realized when it'd be the perfect moment...the day he remembered my words and put them all into place. Then he'd figure it out and then I'd confirm them. But it'd all lay with him.

"Joy?"

"No," I spoke up, almost authoritative, "I will not tell you anything."

"What?" He frowned.

"It'll come back to you sooner or later," I shrugged, trying to play it off as something nonchalant.

"What will?"

"That'd be for you to figure out."

"Joy, why don't you just tell me?" He seemed to be getting agitated. "I know you and there's something-"

I'm sorry but I just had to scoff at that, only increasing his annoyance. "Doctor, I think you should just go."

"What's going on!?"

"You'll find out, or realize one day," I opened the doors of the TARDIS for him, "See you around."

He was fairly irritated but muttered a low 'bye' and walked inside the box. As the TARDIS de-materialized, I couldn't help feel that there should've been more insistence on why I refused to tell him anything. But I figured he just didn't care enough to continue questioning me. Still, I had to admit it did feel pretty nice to learn that he had heard me on Christmas and made him thoughtful on why I was so upset. Who knew, maybe that 'soon' was much sooner that I thought it'd be.

But for now, there might be a 'new' Doctor, but it sure as hell didn't seem like it just yet.

#10th doctor x oc #noblecrescentedit #oc: Minerva Souza #oc: Joy Souza #fic: next stop eveywhere #10th doctor imagines #10th doctor x original female character #doctor who imagines #10th doctor #rose tyler #new earth

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swanky-batman · 6 years ago

Text

Once

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: swearing, drinking, adult situations implied.

Sooooo... this is a one shot I’ve been working on for a little bit. I got super sick the last few weeks so I haven’t written or posted anything since my return and I’m really sorry for the delay. :| I hope you forgive me!

Bucky and the reader share an interesting night when she joins the team, and it seems to bring them closer. Maybe not the way he was hoping for.

Masterlist

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

“Avengers- I need everyone in the living room.” Tony called. Moments later movement came from a few different directions as you stood next to him, gripping the bag on your shoulder.

“What’s this about, Stark?” Natasha raised an eyebrow as she glanced over you.

Tony had not only briefed you but gave you their files to look over, apparently more than he had given them.

“I’m only going over this once, buttercup so why don’t we wait until everyone joins us?”

A couple minutes later and the last one to pop out of the hallway was Sam. All of them, the whole team spread around and looked at you, waiting for Tony.

“This is Y/N Y/L/N-” He paused briefly to pull up your file behind him, “She’s been working in the rookie division for a few weeks but I think we better try her out in the big leagues-”

“What exactly does she do?” Sam asked, scratching his neck.

Tony smirked, looking over at you. Right- guess that was your cue.

You dropped your bag before zapping out and behind Sam, holding one of your knives right next to his neck.

“How much control does she have over it?” Steve asked with a straight face.

“More than our other trainees. She’s been trained prior in hand to hand combat, weapons training, programming… honestly if you wanna see her list, read her file. I sent it to each of you. We’re giving her a test trial for one month.” He shrugged, seeming to be done. “She’s to join training with everyone and if anyone has a problem, bring it up with… Bruce.” He smirked, patting him on the back before turning around.

You turned back to the team, still sensing some stiffness, “Anyone up for a bite to eat? I know this pretty crap bar with the best tacos.” You hoped to sound nonchalant but you were intimidated. Captain America, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch were standing closest to you and your inner dork was screaming.

“I’m in.” Sam shrugged, Wanda adding she would like to come with a small smirk, Vision nodding next to her.

“I’m gonna stay in tonight. Thanks.” Natasha crossed her arms and looked over at Bruce who looked a little sorry. Steve scratched his neck. “I think I’m going to pass, I’m sorry.”

“No worries- you both have reading to catch up on now.” You smirked, trying not to look bothered, “That just leaves you.” You turned to the Winter Soldier himself and forced eye contact. “Care for some brews and tacos?”

“Sure.” He smiled cautiously, pointing behind him, “Let me grab my coat.”

“Sounds good.” You smiled, “I should probably find my room and throw my bag in.” A voice in the house came on and stated that your room was upstairs, fourth door on the left.

“That’s next to mine and across from Bucky’s!” Wanda smiled, stepping forward to show you the way.

After grabbing your things, everyone stepped out into a car they called up. Minutes later you were there and grabbed a table. It was a Friday night so it was a little packed but you still found one off in the corner.

“It’s shot night!” Sam called, doing a little dance, making everyone laugh. “That’s the fastest way to open everyone up.” He winked.

“Then let’s do three rounds for the table.” You smirked, holding up a hand for the waitress when she had time.

Wanda rolled her eyes, “You’re an encourager I see.”

“Only sometimes.” You let a smirk stay on your lips, looking up you met eyes with Bucky. “Do you drink, soldier?”

He paused, looking you over, “I drink, I just can’t get drunk.”

Your eyebrow shot up, “Can’t or haven’t?” You waited and when he had a smile tease on his lips you nodded, “Let’s find out tonight then, shall we?”

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

One time. That’s all it was. Two people, energies synced. Years ago- before you knew each other. After drinking, laughing, sharing a dance- the touch between you both was electric. You didn’t know how either of you made it back, or how you ended up in your room. How, it seemed, you escaped the notice of everyone when he did the walk over to his room the next morning.

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

Neither of you had talked about it after. You both sent jokes or teasing manners over the next few weeks and then it became the thing between you. Your friendship had survived a very interesting beginning, may even be why you two are so close.

You made the cut after your trial and stayed on the team- and now here you were almost three years later. Wanda and Vision had moved out to live on their own last year and the team had accepted you as one of their own.

-------

You walked down the hall with a large cup of coffee in your hand as you yawned.

“Morning, sunshine.” Bucky greeted, falling into step next to you, “Heading towards the meeting?”

“Unfortunately. Rather be sleeping.” You offered a smirk.

“I heard about your night with Natasha.” He paused, side eyeing you. “All mission, no fun right?”

“Of course.” You snorted slightly, “Except little miss widow wouldn’t shut her yapper about her boe.”

“So you…?”

“I’m a person with little backbone, Buck. We hopped on our bikes and drove halfway through the night so she could see him for a few hours. Then we popped back on em and got here…” You checked your watch, “Maybe three hours ago.”

“I’m impressed, you’re a romantic.” He teased, opening the door to the room for you.

“My internal organs aren’t as pleased at the moment.” You winked before walking in and plopping down in a chair. Bucky sat next to you with Tony at the head.

“So business- nice work on the mission to Nat and Y/N, some nice information you brought back on our baddies. I think we’re going to have one more recon team out before the end of this week, random pairing again. On another note- Miss Y/N herself is about to pass the mark for being her for three years.” He smirked, looking over at you, “Don’t think I forgot. Which means we’re having a jumbo party this weekend.”

You snorted and raised your cup to the looks you got. He went over a few more topics and then dismissed everyone.

“Doll, it’s been three years?” Bucky faked a groan, “That must make you feel old.”

You smirked and shoved him away, “That hurts alot coming from one of the guys who was born before sliced bread.”

“Some things were better back in the day.” He shook his head, “You looked better back then too.” He stuck out his tongue and backed away from the swipe you tried. You ported over to him and threw your arm around his neck.

“James Barnes you take that back.” You called, holding him in a headlock. “Say I look fabulous!” You shouted with a laugh.

He chuckled from below you, rumbling in his chest as he tried to move away and you ported again, catching him. He turned away and you ported on his back, him slumping a little.

“Put on a little weight, haven’t you?”

You gasped, tightening your legs around his waist, securing your piggyback, “Why are you being extra rude to me today?!”

“WHY ARE TWO AVENGERS LATE TO TRAINING AGAIN?” Called Tony over the intercom and you both jumped and ran towards where you were supposed to be.

---

“Hurry up, Y/N.” Tony called impatiently from the other side of your door.

“Sorry, just adjusting… and done.” You sighed, looking at the handy work from Natasha and Wanda. You opened the door and saw him standing there.

“You clean up pretty good.” He smirked, offering you his arm. “I brought you in- now I’m taking you down. To the party that is.”

You snorted and took his arm, walking with him towards the sounds that were already happening.

He announced himself, gave you a spotlight and then led you down the stairs to join everyone.

You joined an ongoing game of truth of dare, Avengers style.

“Hey Doll, look at you.” Buck came up behind you and smiled, “You look gorgeous.”

“Really? Not old, or that I’ve put on weight?” You teased, waiting on your turn.

“I said a little weight.” He raised his hands in defense, asking if he could join in too.

When it came to you, you picked truth.

“What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you?” Wanda asked.

You paused, trying not to blush and smirk. “Jesus. Well, I’ve had a few oops moments in my time but… I think the most embarrassing- has to be when I was training my ability. I was just learning how to control the me moving through space and didn’t really understand it at all yet. I was in training with a bunch of the rookies here and… well.” You looked down, heated, “I kind of ported. And left… my clothes behind. My trainer was kinda freaked.” You chuckled to yourself.

A round of laughter hit around you and you felt a hand come up around your waist.

“How have I not heard that one, babe?” Bucky asked, clearly amused with the story.

“I don’t tend to go out of my way to tell that one.” You chuckled, giving a truth for Steve.

The round ended up on Bucky, who was egged on by Sam to pick dare. “Everyone playing has to close their eyes- tightly! Barnes has to kiss who he likes the most. On the lips.”

Everyone laughed but closed their eyes, you smirking and speaking so only he could hear, “Steve is going to be surpriseeeeddd.”

A few seconds later, you felt a hand on your cheek and a thumb trace your lips.

“Are you done, did it happen?” Wanda asked.

“I don’t think so cuz I didn’t get my kiss.” Yelled Sam, which prompted some laughter. The hand withdrew from your face.

“Yeah I’m done.”

You opened your eyes to see everyone looking around, you tried to stay calm and didn’t meet Bucky’s eyes until the next round started.

“I think I’m gonna find some food.” Bucky threw out, thumbing away from the group.

“I want some too.” You held a hand on your tummy with a smirk before turning to look for him. You spotted a shadow walking upstairs.

You ported in front of his door, in front of him.

“Jesus, Y/N.” He jumped a little, chuckling to himself. “What are you…”

“Why did you…” You gulped, not knowing how to finish.

You both stood there looking at each other for a few seconds, your eyes locked and trying to read the others.

“Can we not do this in the hall?” He scratched his neck, his cheeks a bright pink.

You stepped aside and let him into his room, following him in and closing the door behind you.

You looked at his back for a few moments while he looked out the window.

“Do you remember… your first night here?” He turned back after, his eyes darting over you.

You nodded, “How could I forget.” You smirked, your heart picking up a little at how it ended.

“I remember it too. I wasn’t out of my shell yet, but I decided to go with you guys. That night... “ His eyes closed for a second, he sucked in air, “It was amazing. The food, the times… when we got back.” He opened his eyes again to meet yours, “We clicked. Maybe I didn’t know your backstory but I knew your eyes, your smile, the way you danced, and the way you teased me. It felt like electricity between us. Tell me I wasn’t the only one who felt that.” He stepped closer, his eyes not breaking contact.

“It did feel…” You blinked and turned away, “Electric. Why do you wanna bring it up after so long?”

“I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Every time I see you in the morning, or for training. Every time you talk to me, smirk about something or tease me. Every time you touch me.” He steps right in front of you, “My skin pulses. I am so aware of you, all the time. I keep hoping you’ll see it, think it, want it to.”

“Want what?” You asked after a moment, his thumb coming under your chin and pushing up so you look in his eyes.

“Us. I want you- and me. Y/N, I love you. I think I’ve loved you since that night. I wanted to give you time to get to know my background, all of those terrible things I did. To know you shouldn’t be with someone like me, to be friends with me. Yet every time I mention them you wave them away, tell me it wasn’t my fault. Make me feel better. I know I don’t deserve you- and if you don’t feel the same…” He paused, sucking in a breath, “I’ll figure it out.”

Your heart felt like it was bursting from your chest, your eyes never leaving his through the confession. “Bucky, I didn’t know.” You answered, taking a shaky, unsure breath, “I didn’t know you felt the same way.”

His jaw opened to say something and stopped, his eyes searching your face.

You smirked and teased an eyebrow, calling him in with a finger. His face hovered close and his lips touched yours briefly, his arms wrapping around you.

“You’ll have to catch me first.” You winked before porting over to his bed, him chasing after you with a grin making you shriek a little as he tackled you.

“I love you.” He said again, kissing your lips greedily this time, arms around you instantly.

“I love you too.”

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

Permanent Tags: (Hello Loves!)

@i-regret-this-already, @breezy1415, @seninjakitey, @imboredsueme, @courtneychicken, @marriedtopeterparker, @imeannooffensebabybut, @marie-lestowell, @cassiopeia-barrow, @daphne-fandom-writing, @notmyfault404, @i-larb-spooderman, @aussiearies, @marvelismylifffe, @kdcollinsauthor

#Bucky Barnes #bucky fanfic #bucky x reader #avengers fanfiction #Avengers #marvel #fanfiction

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kasuomikori · 5 years ago

Text

One word...

Reader P.O.V

As we were walking down the bridge, in magnificent elven city of Rivendell. I was amazed, the waterfalls, mountains and nature were beautiful. I was so lost in amazement that I barely noticed Gandalf speaking to someone, he was elf.

"My lord Elrond is not here." Said elf that was speaking to Gandalf. He looked like he is young around 23 in human years. 'Really (Y/N) he is a freaking elf! He could have around three thousand years easily!' As I lost myself in thought yet again, I was very surprised when dwarfs had pushed me behind them along with Bilbo and encircled us. But everything cleared up when I saw big number of elves on horses thundering towards us. They encircled us.

"Gandalf!" "Lord Elrond! Mellonnen, Mo evinedh? (My friend, where have you been?) " Said Gandalf bowing. "Farranem 'lamhoth i udul o charad, Dagganem tim na Inat Vedui. (We've been hunting pack of Orcs that came up from the South.)" The person who is now known to me as lord Elrond said. He drew his cloak from his horse, and dare I say very gracefully dismounted. He met Gandalf in mere two steps and hugged him. He withdraw from his hug, and took an Orcs sword from his waist, and gave it to the elf who met us when we came here.

"Strange for Orcs to come so near our borders, something or someone has draw them near." Said lord Elrond. Immediately my face etched in guilty expression because I know that we are the ones who drove them near. But in the same moment as I thought that, Gandalf as he has just read my mind said. "Ah.. That may have been us." Gandalf said gesturing to thirteen dwarfs, hobbit and me. Elrond glanced around company, I cached his eyes I looked at and him smiled and nodded. As hello. At last his gaze fell upon Thorin. "Welcome Thorin son of Thrain".

At that point I zoned out of their conversation. Instead I admired elf lord in front of me. He had pitch black, long hair, his eyes were captivating gray, his nose perfectly shaped and his lips thin. Even for elf he was beautiful. My heart stirred in my chest. ' Really Y/N, you are admiring freaking elf! You got off your mind or what?'

"Nartho i noer, toltho i viruvor. Boe i annam vann a nethail vin. ("Light the fires, fetch the miruvor [wine]. We must feed our guests".) Elrond said but that caused confusion between the dwarfs so Gloin decided to step up. "What is he saying!? Does he offers us insult?!" He said in pretty much harsh tone. "No master Gloin he is offering you food". Gandalf replied at which Gloin calmed down and said " Well in that case lead on". I had to stop myself from laughing. Gandalf looked at me confused as to why am I smiling, I just shook my head.

As we were heading to the hall where we will be eating, I stayed behind. I wanted to do something that fell on my mind as soon as I saw the valley.

"You go ahead eat, I'm not very hungry. But I would want to see gardens around here. That is if you approve it my lord Elrond". I said. His gray eyes looked at me, small smile played on his lips and he just nodded. That caused me to smile. "THANK YOU! U-Uh.. I mean I'm ever grateful". My embarrassment got better off of me so I ran away in to beautiful gardens.

-------------------------------------------Time skip--------------------------------------------------

As I was walking around gardens, I remembered my beautiful home. I remembered the place where the sky is ever blue, and hearts are ever kind, from place where the knights are born. Where people smile brighter, and sun shines stronger. My homeland is... Was full of mountains, rivers, forests and waterfalls. My city was just like Rivendell, surrounded by mountains, and trough it flowing clear river. Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered everything, my burned homeland, my dead family and friends, the torture.. Every memory that I tried to bury and lock deep in my mind came flooding back. My heart started throbbing, and my eyes started wetting. I just fell on soft grass beneath me, and cried until darkness took me.

-------------------------------------------Time skip--------------------------------------------------

I woke up, to see sun setting. My mind started registering that my supposedly short absence lasted at least three hours. So I jumped up on my legs.. BIG mistake as I instantly felt dizzy. But got hold on some tree that helped me steady myself, and walked towards place that I started my walk.

-------------------------------------------Time skip--------------------------------------------------

When I was out of gardens I started walking towards place where I was told that they have dinner. I walked in to see dwarfs on two separate tables, Thorin standing and lord Elrond and Gandalf on the head table. Besides Elrond was elf who I learned his name was Lindir, nice lad. As I was walking in, I just nodded at everyone as my signature way of saying hello, they nodded back and continued eating, but one of the elf maids brought another stool and put it beside Dwalin and gestured for me to sit with smile, I of course smiled back and sat.

"Can't say I fancy maids, they are too thin. They are all high cheek bones and creamy skin. Not much facial hair. Although that one there is not bad." He said looking at clearly male elf, I chocked at water that I was drinking, nearly bursting out laughing. "That's not an elf maid." Dwalin said, Fili turned to face him shocked expression crossed his face, as if asking him really. Dwalin just shook his head. That's when all table, besides me roared in laughter, for me it was just small smile.

"It's funny." He said nodding slightly.

"Thirteen dwarfs, halfling and human strange travelling companions Gandalf." Elrond said looking at us, that caused me to perk up. "These are decedents of house of Durin, and surprisingly cultured. Gandalf said, and I nearly laughed as I saw Bombur stuffing food in his mouth 'Oh the irony'. I thought to myself smirking.

"Change the tune why don't you? I feel like I'm on the funeral."Nori complied "Did somebody die?" Oin added. "Alright lads there is only one thing for that." Bofur said and climbed on the table.

'There is an inn, a merry old inn,

beneath an old grey hill,

And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill.

The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; And up and down he runs his bow, Now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle.

The landlord keeps a little dog that is mighty fond of jokes; When there's good cheer among the guests, He cocks an ear at all the jests and laughs until he chokes.

They also keep a hornéd cow as proud as any queen; But music turns her head like ale, And makes her wave her tufted tail and dance upon the green.

And O! the rows of silver dishes and the store of silver spoons! For Sunday there's a special pair, And these they polish up with care on Saturday afternoons.

The Man in the Moon was drinking deep, and the cat began to wail; A dish and a spoon on the table danced, The cow in the garden madly pranced, and the little dog chased his tail.

The Man in the Moon took another mug, and rolled beneath his chair; And there he dozed and dreamed of ale, Till in the sky the stars were pale, and dawn was in the air.

Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat: "The white horses of the Moon, They neigh and champ their silver bits; But their master's been and drowned his wits, and the Sun'll be rising soon!"

So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle, a jig that would wake the dead: He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune, While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon: "It's after three!" he said"

The table was MESS! Dwarfs were throwing food around, and nearly got Elrond three times! Gandalf looked like he would love to just disappear, an I wasn't much better. I would so LOVE for earth to open up and just swallow me whole. My face red from embarrassment but also from anger.

"ENOUGH!" I roared, banged my hands against table and shot up from my stool, everything stopped. "NOW LISTEN TO ME! YOU WILL CLEAN ALL, AND I MEAN ALL OF THIS! AM I CLEAR!" I could say that they were scared, even Thorin paled little. But I couldn't care less. I could feel gaze of Elrond and Gandalf and everyone in room. But I couldn't bring myself to care. "But.. we were just having fun." Fili and Kili commented but their bad luck was that I heard them. "You were having fun?! Do you see what you did of this place?! You thought that these poor people are going to clean up your mess?! NO WAY I'm letting that happen! Oh and one more thing.. There is so many that are hungry and you... YOU ARE THROWING FOOD AROUND! Next time you decide to do that, make sure I'm not there. Otherwise... Well you don't want to see what happens!" I was so angry that I could feel my body shaking. But just to stop myself from doing anything reckless, I took deep breath and exhaled. "I'm going for a walk. By the time I'm back, this place is going to be clean. AM. I. CLEAR?" I asked, all of them just nodded, I turned around and ran out. My blood was boiling.

---------------------------------------------Time skip------------------------------------------------

I was lying on my back in gardens watching stars. When I hear someone walking behind me. I turned around to see Gandalf standing there."There you are!" His warm voice rang. "Yeah here I am." I answered. "Mind if I sit?" "No of course not." "What was that back in hall? I mean yes it wasn't good of them to act like that.. But still wasn't enough for you to explode like that." He asked "My actions were not really good I admit.. But I got so angry that I couldn't think properly. I mean when I remember what I had to go trough just for peace of bread.." I started saying but quickly shut up. But apparently not quickly enough because Gandalf straightened his back, "What you had to do?" He asked his gaze confused but also scared. "No.. Nothing forget it.." I said, but his gaze was enough to make me tell him. "Well.. When someone wants to torture you there are two ways. First psychological and second is physical. I got tortured both ways and let me tell you... I wasn't fun at all. One of their physical torture was forbidding me to eat. I would need to be on brink of death to get peace of bread." All my memories came flooding back, my heart throbbed as I began remembering all awful things I had gone trough. Before I got chance to notice it tears were rolling down my cheeks. Gandalf just wiped them off.. "Do not fret little one. You are safe here." He said his voice soothing. "I think it's time for us to go back. You got lord Elrond pretty worried, but also his people were very thankful because you had "forced" dwarfs clean that place up!" He said small smile playing on his lips, which also got me to smile.

---------------------------------------------Time skip------------------------------------------------

Form that night already passed five years, I'm now living in Rivendell. I had gone out with dwarfs to reclaim mountain, but there lost Thorin, Kili and Fili I still miss them. But as I didn't have anywhere to go lord Elrond has offered me place in Rivendell. Now I'm his adviser along Lindir. With both I'm good friends. Although my feelings for Elrond weren't as platonic as they were for Lindir.

'Really I'm again thinking of that! Sober up Y/N! Elf finds love just once, and Elrond already had his! So get back on track!' I was thinking again, musing about Elrond. But my heart was shattering every time when I remembered that elf can only love once, and the one I love has already found his one love, who is waiting for him. But as I continued my musings I saw ellon who stole my heart without even knowing it walking towards me.

"Again lost in thought Mellon?" Elrond asked smiling his tone joking. I was one of few who had privilege to hear him joke an see him smile so genuinely. "Yes... Have lot on my mind..." His smile disappeared as soon as he heard pain in my voice. "What is bothering you Mellon." His voice now serious and concerned, I looked at the eyes I fell in love with, to see that they match with tone of his voice. "I.... I just..." I sighted "There is one person that I love... But I know that he couldn't love me back in million years." I finally said what was on my mind. But Elrond looked taken aback. "Mellon... You never told me you loved someone..." He said.. "Yeah... I did... For long time too.." I said. Elrond didn't looked too happy. "Don't worry Mellon... I promise to you that whoever doesn't love you, doesn't deserve you because he is totally out of his mind." He said "So you call yourself crazy?" I said it even before I could think of it, and as soon as those words left my mouth I regretted them. "Wh.." He didn't even get chance to finish his sentence as I shot up and began running towards my chambers. I could hear him calling my name but I ignored it. As I came to my room, I locked it, threw myself on bed and began crying. Because I knew that it will never be the same. My relationship with Elrond will be completely different. I shattered our friendship! I completely destroyed it with my idiotic behavior!

----------------------------------------------Time skip-----------------------------------------------

I was crying for whole hour, and began drifting off to sleep. But knock disturbed me. "Who is it?" I ask. "It's me Y/N open the door. We have to talk." I heard Elrond's voice trough door, my body was temporally paralyzed. "Y/N open the door." His voice was firm and I figured he was angry, so it would be better to open door before he got more angry. So I got up and unlocked door. As soon as click from unlocking was heard Elrond got in room, and hugged me to his chest. After that without any warning his lips smashed on mine, I could feel every emotion he put in it.. Desperation, pain, hurt, happiness everything.

"My heart, joy and all stars on the sky! I love you too." He said his face bright and in his eyes I could see happiness.

Just that one word. Just word LOVE changed the rest of my life.

#erlond #oc #elrondxoc #elrondxreader #the hobbit

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orionares · 6 years ago

Text

Drabble, Part 14

“Are you actually recording this? Didn’t you leave your phone in the room?”

“ I grabbed it while you were flirting with the nurse. I’m glad I did.”

“You know you’ll never hear the end of this if he finds out you were recording this, right?”

“It’s worth it if I don’t have to ever hear about the time I apparently snored on that flight from Dubai.”

Kensi slowly opens her eyes at the chatter she can hear across the room. Sam and Callen’s bickering are relaxed and humorous and by the sound of it, nowhere near its end.

“Proof versus whining, Sam. Pick your poison- either way I’m staying out of this.”

“By running your mouth?”

“What are you two doing?” Kensi calls out with a smile. She finds Callen and Sam at the foot of Deeks’ bed, the ex- SEAL scowling up at his partner from his wheelchair. Callen pauses before he scoffs humorously and Sam before answering, “I’m just an innocent bystander to Sam’s devious ways. Recording Deeks snoring…. I would never- “

Snoring?

A rather loud snore comes from her sleeping fiancée, who’s head is drooped slightly to his right. Never one to snore heavily, Kensi finds the unusual snoring absolutely adorable. Another snore comes and she sits up a little straighter, trying to stifle a laugh. “Oh, no.”

“And if I have to hear,” Sam states, “the words ‘I don’t snore, Sam. I’m kind of too amazing to snore’ one more time, I’m going to kick his ass.”

The memory of being crammed in the back of a Boeing C-17 Globemaster with a sleeping Callen, a snoring Sam and Deeks smiling mischievously at the ex- SEAL brings a smile to Kensi’s face. “Well, it was Deeks not sleeping and bored on a six-hour flight. What did you expect?”

The three chuckle softly at the memory for a minute before the laughter dies down. Callen sighs softly before moving towards Kensi. He wraps his arms around and asks warmly, “How are you?”

“I’m holding up. I just want us to go home and sleep for once in our bed,” Kensi answers. She reaches out and touches his cheek, which immediately wakes him. Deeks’ eyes open wide before slowly lifting his head up to both Sam and Kensi.

“Mm mm…. morning or afternoon,” he mutters. It takes a minute before Sam and Callen’s presence catches up to him. “Huh?”

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Callen calls out, relief clear in his voice. Deeks shifts up in his bead to take in the first full conscious view of his teammates in two weeks. Sam wheels his wheelchair closer to the side of the bed to look up at Deeks. “How do you feel?”

“Warm and fuzzy. What happened to you?”

Sam snorts at the younger agent’s comment. “Nothing huge. Just getting surgery after being blown to hell.”

“I know the feeling,” Deeks replies. His humorous expression falters almost immediately as he asks softly, “How bad?”

Sam rubs his elevated leg and shrugs, “Depends. I’ve got a lot of PT coming up and possibly another surgery coming up- Doc says that we’re going to play it by ear.”

Deeks nods silently in understanding before the room falls into silence. Kensi takes a moment to scan each face in the room and finds the same emotion she’s feeling- fear.

“What happens next?” Kensi asks. “What do we do now? I mean- when we go home and breathe- what do we do now?”

Callen turns to the small chair near the wall and pulls it close to the bed. He eases himself into the chair, his expression inquisitive. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Kensi nods to Sam and Deeks, “It’s going to be weeks before either of you are back to work and I doubt any of us will ever see Mosley ever again. Hetty’s in the wind again so…even with all of those solved, I can’t help but wonder if- “

“If we should walk?” Deeks finishes for her. His eyes catch hers and the same uncomfortable elephant in the room seems to grow between them. Kensi shakes her head and breaks the gaze at the memory of their argument in the parking garage.

“If this is really happening, if we’re really doing this then let’s do it. Let’s go down there, save this kid and be done. One last mission and we’re out.”

“I’m not ready to do that.”

The argument, only two weeks old, feels like a distant memory. She tilts her head to the right ever so slightly and repeats softly, “If we should walk.”

“I can’t say that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind the past few days,” Sam admits. He unconsciously rubs his elevated leg once more before continuing, “With Michelle gone…. I…things are different, I have to admit.”

“You seriously thinking about walking?” Callen asks incredulously, the disbelief high in his voice.

Sam turns back in his wheelchair and calls back over his shoulder, “I’ve got to think about my kids. Plus, don’t worry- if I walk, I’m not going to leave you. I’ll tie a rope to a little tugboat for you whenever I take the boat out.”

“You won’t let me on the boat?”

“Nope.”

As the two continue to nip at each other, Kensi tries to muster a half smile but her eyes drift off to Deeks. He’s sitting quietly, keeping a slightly dazed expression of mild interest in Callen and Sam’s banter. She wants to catch his gaze, send a mental message of I meant what I said across the room.

Instead, the bantering suddenly trails off into silence. Deeks finally speaks again, “Did she come?”

Three pairs of eyes fall on Deeks. Kensi cocks her head slightly to the right in confusion. “Baby, did who come?”

Anger quickly flashes across Deeks’ face. “Mosley,” he answers darkly, “Did she come by after we were rescued?”

Kensi and Callen share a worried look. “She did actually,” Callen answers. “She came to our rooms to apologize and told me that she was going to enjoy as much time as she can with her son. I’m sure she may try to run with Derrick.”

“Mosley came to see you actually when you were unconscious,” Kensi adds. Her mind drifts back to the angry, self-righteous expression on the assistant director’s face when she had fired Deeks. “She recognized that her method wasn’t the right one and that she wants you to know that she’s…. sorry.”

“She’s sorry…. hmm…”

“And I agree with Callen that there’s a high possibility that we’ll never hear or see from her again.”

Deeks nods slowly, digesting this information. Kensi takes a quick glance up to the clock on the wall and then turns to Callen and Sam. “Can you guys give us a moment?”

“Yeah.” Callen pulls Sam back away from the bed. As he turns the wheelchair and pushes his partner out of the room, Callen adds, “Sam and I can go for a walk and talk about this tugboat issue.”

“It’s going to be a rope tied to a life raft if you keep bringing it up,” Sam says with an eye roll as the pair turns the corner and disappear out of sight. Kensi pauses, something she immediately regrets. Anger of the conversation with Mosley, her fiancée flatlining, the waiting for him to wake, and the momentary peaceful joking between the teammates hit her like a train.

“Kens?”

Kensi shakes her head, fighting back the tears forming in her eyes. A question sits at the end of her tongue, a question that’s been sitting in the back of her mind from the moment she had woken up in the hospital post Syria.

“Kensi?”

“How did you do it?” Kensi blurts out. Her voice trembles as she continues, “I was in a coma for weeks and the hospital for even longer. Baby, how did you- how did you sit here day after day and wait for me to wake up? How did you do this? Because I can’t breathe.”

“Hey, hey….” Deeks enlaces his fingers in her and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’m ok. Don’t- “

“If you tell me to not worry about it like you’ve done many times before, I’m going to scream. I’m going to scream. I just…. everything that we argued about, I was so unbelievably stubborn about. And then when they had to resuscitate you- “

“When they had to what?”

Kensi stares at her fiancé at his question. Deeks’ eyes flickers between the bed sheets and her before he looks back to her expectantly.

Ok, here we go. “Right before you woke up, you stopped breathing,” Kensi says, her voice cracking, “And you flatlined. I almost lost you and that…that baby, is going to stay with me forever. I don’t know how to go from here.”

“I……Baby, I didn’t…. I’m sorry.”

Kensi lets out a tearful laugh and wipes away a tear. “Sorry? There’s nothing you could have done about that.”

Deeks opens his mouth to speak but hesitates. “I just feel guilty. I’m sorry that you had to see that, Kens. And when you were in the coma, all I could think about was our future.”

Our future. Our endless future. Kensi smiles and then pulls the bed’s hospital railing down. She carefully climbs into the bed, carefully maneuvering over the wires and settling next to Deeks. She rests her head against his chest and breathes him in. His steady heartbeat is everything she needs right now.

Everything.

#densi #eric christian olsen #ncis la #marty deeks

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merrylittlehogwartsrp · 6 years ago

Photo

Happy Holidays, Karli! We are thrilled to “invite” Lavender Brown (fc Alisha Boe) back to Hogsmeade for a little forced Winter Cheer. We adored how past, directly post war, and current all worked so well in your app--from family dynamics to current werewolf (or not) infection.

Please pack your bags and send in your tumblr. Additional information can be found here!

OOC DETAILS:

NICKNAME: Karli

AGE: 27

PRONOUNS: She/Her

ACTIVITY ESTIMATE: Around 6-7 probably. I generally am on every single day through mobile, but I can’t post every day. T/W are usually a no for me as far as posting goes, but I’m on in the weekends fairly regularly.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

FULL NAME & NICKNAMES: Lavender Claudia Brown

BIRTHDATE: November 3rd (”That’s a Scorpio, a water sign. Professor Trelawney always said that we are called that because we can be as mysterious as the ocean itself. Don’t you find me mysterious?”)

BLOOD-STATUS: Half-blood

GENDER IDENTITY: Cis-Female

GENDER PRESENTATION/PRONOUNS: Female, She/Her

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual. Lavender likely doesn’t think much about her sexuality and perhaps doesn’t even know this word (it is the early 2000s, after all, and sexuality wasn’t as understood), but she does understand that she likes pretty things and people. If someone catches her attention, she’s on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy, girl, or something else entirely. Well, perhaps not everything else… she’d like to them to be human. Like, Professor Lupin was good-looking and all, but…

CHARACTER SITUATION:

OCCUPATION: what do they do for a living?

Lavender owns a very small shop in Diagon Alley, just on the border between Diagon and Knockturn. Not actually Knockturn, but no one wanted the little place with the boarded up windows so close to all the dark happenings (you think there would be less without a war, but apparently not!) so rent is cheap and it adds to the appeal. Her shop is supposed to be mysterious, you see!

It’s called Azure Moon (as in “Welcome to Azure Moon, are you ready to awaken your aura?”) and it’s a mystical shop. She sells various items for the art of Divination, such as tarot cards, tea leaves, and crystal balls. There is also a line of homemade hand creams, scents, and other products that are geared towards enriching the experience. In the back, Lavender will provide a tarot or palm reading for an additional fee. No, she will not blow you for a bit extra coin, thank you very much!

Her scars ended up choosing the name for her. Many people actually assume she’s a werewolf since her attack. There are so many rumors around the species that people often believe they can “catch” lycanthropy from a simple touch. What wix don’t realize is that actual werewolves wouldn’t have scratch marks like Lavender’s cursed wounds. She lets the rumors go, though - it adds to the appeal of the shop. She often gets business simply because teenagers dare one another to enter or adults just have to see and no one leaves without a purchase after her wolf eyes catch them staring.

HOUSING:

Lavender lives in the flat above her shop by herself. It’s even tinier than Azure Moon - with a little bathroom with the sliding wood door, while everything else fit into the one room. Her bed is off to the side with bulbs of light hanging around it from the ceiling. Scented candles or incense burn at the table in the corner. She has a purple couch with a teal rug, wood floors. Shawls and blankets in varying places. Not quite Trelawney because Lavender is much more fashionable, but there’s an aura about the place anyway. In her bathroom, she has an entire closest dedicated to hair products, scrunchies, nail polish, and make up. Her vanity is her sanctuary… even if it barely fits next to the toilet!

SOCIAL STANDING:

She’s nothing. Well, not nothing to herself or her friends or whatever - but to the Wizarding World… nothing. She had joined the D.A., yes. She fought the Carrows, yes. She nearly gave her life to the Battle of Hogwarts, yes. But she’s no war hero. She hadn’t even taken down a Death Eater before her fall! The world does not remember her name, even though it was in the papers once as one of the injured. Ginny and Neville and Luna - they led the rebellion. Harry and Ron and Hermione - they took down Voldemort. Lavender is nothing.

But she’ll be damned if she’s not remembered for something before she goes!

CHARACTER CONFIGURATION:

TALENTS/WEAKNESSES

(+) Divination

(+) Fashion

(+) Finding a weakness and making someone see it

(-) Transfiguration

(-) Inspiring others

(-) Not very athletic

STRENGTHS/FLAWS

(+) Intuitive

(+) Passionate

(+) Confidence

(-) Possessive

(-) Manipulative

(-) Reactive

CHARACTER HISTORY: (It says “short” paragraph but I got a bit carried away on some of them!)

FAMILY BACKGROUND

When Felicity Brown got pregnant right out of Hogwarts, her family was appalled. They were purebloods, after all! Maybe not Sacred 28 or anything of that caliber, but still… purebloods had standards! And with a stranger, no less! Felicity claimed the man had also been a pureblood wizard, but she didn’t even know his last name, so what was the truth, really? Her family kept it up, though. It was easier to explain to the neighbors and friends that a mistake with the potion had happened (each retelling had it less and less on Felicity’s shoulders) while keeping up appearances of little Lavender’s bloodline.

For the first two years of her life, she’d lived with her mom and grandparents in a nice home in a magical community. Such a beautiful baby, Felicity put her daughter in bows and dresses and teeny tiny golden robes. So precious! people gushed and Felicity smiled because that’s what was expected. She began to notice, however, that the way her parents treated her daughter was different than the other grandchildren. Well, she was married out of wedlock, after all! And it had been obvious that even the claim of a pure bloodline wasn’t enough to keep her parents happy.

She left without a word, dragging her crying toddler into the stormy wind, apparating to a new home in the countryside. And wasn’t it such a coincidence the muggle owners suddenly wanted to move out and leave the deeds to a young, single mother? Felicity had assumed muggle life would be easy. After all, she had magic on her side! Finding a job had been simple once she learned the trick of enchanting a parchment to say exactly what an employer wanted to see. But acting the part. That had been a bit tougher. Still, if she became fairly good at those memory charms, no one from the ministry had come knocking!

As Lavender grew up, she learned of the Wizarding World, but only the basics. Hogwarts, wands, robes, magic. Nothing about the details. She loved her mother but, once, she wished she could visit her grandparents again. Felicity, however, liked to keep her daughter close. They’d grown up together, after all. A child having a child.

She poured over magazines - both magical and muggle alike - and didn’t even realize that it wasn’t normal for a parent to prefer to spend most days inside the house. That it wasn’t normal for boxes to be stacked in the house, filled with trinkets and trash and those cut outs from 1984. (”Oh, honey, we can’t throw them out! We may need them some day!” her mom had said more than once).

All Lavender knew was that she was ready to get out of the clutter. She was ready for Hogwarts, where she could style her hair for people to actually see it.

LIFE DURING THE WAR

The castle was beautiful and, oh, look at the floating candles! There are elves here! And ghosts! Hogwarts had been spectacular. Even with deaths and tournaments and ever-changing teachers and heartbreak and Harry Bloody Potter messing things up for everyone! Even with the war looming, Hogwarts was spectacular. And maybe that’s why the death of Albus Dumbledore had been so shocking. She’d thought they were untouchable.

But Voldemort had taken over, The Chosen Jerk had fled with her dolt of an ex-boyfriend, and Lavender had realized that beautiful things could be dangerous. Hogwarts turned dark. The Carrows and Severus Snape took over, tormenting the students, and leading the students’ lives down a place that only ended in bloodshed. Lavender realized, for the very first time it seemed, how much a blood status mattered. She’d always been half-blood… safe. But she knew so little about the Wizarding World and, whenever quizzed, she’d failed. The curse of a parent who did not want anything to do with the wixen any longer.

She continued with the D.A. - but only after asked. She snuck out of the common room - but only with a group. She wasn’t the leader here! And, even if she tried to be, no one would ever follow her. People have been underestimating Lavender her entire life, why would they stop just because a war was going on? She tried to resist as much as she could whenever the Carrows told her to torture someone, but sometimes she felt like she just had to. After all, if she didn’t do it – didn’t Crabbe and Goyle just get called in? And they were so much worse than her! It wasn’t an everyday thing, but she did do it and knew that sometimes that meant people judged her. But whatever – she was still fighting the damn war, wasn’t she?

She stayed for the Battle of Hogwarts. Of course she stayed! But it wasn’t even halfway through when Greyback attacked. The world had exploded and she’d been thrown over the edge and he’d bitten into her body. Her skin had been eaten. She couldn’t remember much after that. Not the stirring or the hexes or people finding her body. She was alive – but was she?

LAST THREE YEARS

The first four months after the war had been spent in St. Mungo’s. Not just for the cursed wounds – though there was a gnarly scar on her neck from the place Greyback’s teeth had sunk into her, as well as others on her face, a few on her stomach – but also just… the rest of it. She’d been left to die for hours in that unsteady Hogwarts corridor. She’d been hit with stray curses, pieces of debris had partly covered her body. There were bones to fix and regrow, wounds to heal, hexes to trace, antidotes to drink. She didn’t have to learn to walk or write or anything again, but her memory stayed hazy and there were things she forgot. Had she taken her meds yet? Did the healers visit yet? That is mostly better now, but Lavender still struggles with short-term stuff every now and again.

The shop came later – much later. After being released from the hospital, she went back to her mum’s house. Felicity, who had given up the Wizarding World for good (other than using her wand for simple things), had tried to use Lavender’s injuries as proof that it was dangerous. She tried keeping her daughter away from everything magical and, for the first year, it almost worked. Lavender was still recovering, she couldn’t live on her own. At first, she didn’t realize her mother was isolating her but, when letters from Parvati were never given or her friend never received Lavender’s, she realized.

She left just before the one year anniversary, leased the shop, and didn’t look back. She still writes to her mother sometimes – she does love her, after all – but she also needs space and doesn’t visit often. This is her life and she gets to choose how to live it! Which is maybe why she’s been getting so annoyed with Parvati lately. All she ever did was talk about Lavender’s scars – her symptoms. Lavender was more than constant shaving and cursed wounds and growling in anger and if her friend was devoting her entire life to fixing her, did she really love Lavender for who she was? Sure, maybe Lavender gets a little squeamish around actual werewolves – but she’s not one, so why does it matter? All she knows is that if Parvati doesn’t just give it up soon, Lavender may explode.

HOLIDAY DETAILS:

Her mother is not religious - it’s something she says with pride, smirking at whatever expression the other person gives - and so Lavender was not raised with any sort of real religious tradition. However, they do celebrate Christmas because Felicity believes it’s a time to give gifts, get drunk, and stuff their faces.

Being just the two of them, they spent Lavender’s breaks from school with hot cocoa (lots of marshmallows!), crappy romantic Christmas films on television, cuddled up in blankets on the couch. Lavender loves her mum - even now! But it’s also hard losing some of that easy connection. Her decision to fight in the war hadn’t just screwed her up - it messed with a lot of her relationships, too.

Something else Lavender did with her mum growing up was look at all the lights. They would go out every year - Lavender holding the side of the car for dear life, as Felicity had never actually been trained in driving and had charmed her papers to get her license - and argued over who had the best house. It was fun and something Lavender missed last year when she decided not to spend the holiday with her mother.

She hasn’t told her mum she won’t be heading home this year either and, given there is no Daily Prophet for Felicity Brown, Lavender will eventually have to find her Gryffindor courage. She’s not exactly angry for the celebration. It’ll be weird going back to school, but she’s happy to see her old friends, show off her new robes or muggle dresses, and hear all the gossip. She’s also planning on setting up a table to sell a bit from her shop. So, if it’ll get her a bit of extra coins, then why not? It’s life after war… might as well get a bit drunk and have some fun!

OOC SUPPLEMENT:

SHIPS: Nope! This would be my first time playing Lavender, if accepted, and I have literally no preference. My biggest thing is… I definitely need chemistry and build up! I’m the slow-burn queen and can’t just jump into something without any build.

CHANGES: Nope, I think we’re good!

FACECLAIM: Alisha Boe or Vajèn van den Bosch

#merrylittleapp #lavender brown

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opedguy · 3 years ago

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Zelensky Accuses Putin of Cover-UP

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), April 5, 2022.--Accusing 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes in an a apparent massacre in the Bucha suburb of Kiev where some 200 bodies were found, 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky encourages the U.S. to follow up with warm crimes charges against Putin. Biden has called Putin a “war criminal” on several occasions making ceasefire talks all but impossible. Zelenssky now says Russia covers up its war crimes much like it did with Russian separatists brought down Malaysian Flight 17 July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Zelensky wants Putin charged with war crimes claiming he’s busy covering up Russian troop atrocities since the Feb. 24 Ukraine War began. “They used the same tactics when the occupiers shot down a Malaysian Boeing over Donbass,” Zelensky said Russia blamed the shoot down of Flight 17 on Ukraine. Zelensky blames Putin for the Ukrainian corpses found in Bucha, numbering a little over 200. At the same time, Zelensky boasts about killing over 15,000 Russian soldiers a far bigger number of deaths, than international rights groups can entirely confirm. So when Zelensky talks about Russian atrocities, killing hundreds of civilians, what has Zelensky done with some 15,000 or more dead Russians? How ironic that Zelensky boasts about liquidating over 15,000 Russian soldiers while, at the same time, pointing the finger at Putin for war crimes. If Ukrainian and U.S. intel are correct, where are the 15,000 Russian soldiers liquidated by Ukrainians forces? “They blame Ukraine. They even came up with various conspiracy theories. They even went so far as to claim that the corpses were ‘thrown’ on board the plane before it crashed,” Zelensky said, referring to Russian treachery. Where are all the Russian corpses estimated at over 15,000 Russian troops? Zelensky said Russia want to pretend that there are no war crimes. Zelensky said Russia said Ukraine’s authorities have staged the atrocities to spread the idea that Russia is actively involved in ethnic cleansing. Ukrainian officials disseminate a Russian article on RIA Novosti Website by Timofey Sergeytsev saying that Nazi elements must be purged from Ukraine. Ukraine has highlighted Sergeytsev’s article to show that Russia is actively involved the ethnic cleansing, the same charge leveled at the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. Former President Bill Clinton accused Milosevic of ethnic cleansing of Muslim Albanians, prompting the 1998 Kosovo War. Zelensky now insists that Russia engages in genocide against Ukrainians. Zelensky has used every trick-in-the-book to get the U.S. and NATO to join the Ukraine War. Biden has joined Zelensky in accusing Putin of war crimes, calling him a “butcher” and “war criminal,” making ceasefire talks almost impossible. Biden gives daily war briefings because the Ukraine War is run out of the White House, prompting Putin to understand that the U.S. government, as stated by Biden, wants Putin removed from power. While Biden says there’s no official change on regime change in Moscow, Biden said clearly that Putin cannot continue in power. Once Biden asserta that the Russia leader can no longer stay in power, the Ukraine War took on a whole new meaning. All the talk by Zelensky and Biden about war crimes, including ethnic cleansing, it makes a stronger case for the U.S. putting boots on the ground. Zelensky and Biden have no explanation for what happened to over 15,000 Russian troops liquidated by Ukrainian armed forces. Ukraine’s 40-year-old Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about putting together Ukraine’s evidence of execution-like killings in Bucha and Mariupol, to eventually go to the Hague’s International Criminal Court [ICC] to prosecute Putin. But Guterres must ask Zelensky and Kuleba to account for more that 15,000 Russias Ukraine has killed since the war began Feb. 24. U.S. and Kiev authorities have been building the war crimes case against Putin from Day One, demonizing Putin as much as possible in the Western press. Biden found out that China and India, the world’s most populous states, do not condemn the Ukraine War. Both countries want the war to ended but see no benefit like Biden and Zelensky in denouncing Putin daily. China disagrees with Biden’s approach to U.S. foreign policy. U.S. and Ukraine officials can’t account for what happened to some 15,000 Russian troops, largely because the figure is 10 times the actually casualty number posted by the Kremlin. Whatever happens prosecuting the war, Ukrainians can’t have it both ways, excusing their own battle tactics while, at the same time, condemning everything Russia does to prosecute the war. If Biden and Zelenksy were really interested in stopping the collateral damage, they would meet regularly with Russia to find a way to end the war. Branding Putin a war criminal helps the White House and Kiev PR effort but does little to end the conflict. Biden did much harm to the Ukraine War effort admitting in Warsaw March 28 that he can’t imagine Putin staying in power. As long the Ukraine War is between the U.S. and Russia, it’s going to be difficult to end the conflict anytime soon. About the Author John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in nation and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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spamreports · 3 years ago

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For the past two weeks, I've been targeted in an extremely thorough social engineering scam that nearly cost me all of my ETH. I'm super lucky to have made it through unscathed. Here's the story 👇

1/ First a quick background. I'm the founder of Arrow, a DAO working to build open-source VTOL aircraft and air taxi protocol. We're still fairly early-stage and focused on growing the team. We're open to contribution and don't turn anyone away if they're excited to help.

2/ So two weeks ago, this user "heckshine" joins the Discord and introduces himself. He's currently working at Ubisoft and offers to help with 3D design and animation. The message seems a little strange, but I just attributed that to a language barrier.

3/ Heckshine also has a friend that is really passionate about VTOLs, and is working on a metaverse project. Her brother in law is a VP at Boeing. Wow, what a connection!📷

4/ Over the next few days, heckshine starts working on various animation projects for Arrow. He designs a really neat animated version of the hero image for our website and begins working on some aircraft renderings. We're all super impressed by his dedication to the project.

5/ While this is happening, heckshine also reaches out to his friend, Linh. She's apparently interested and heckshine asks me to send her an email. From what he has told me, Linh seems like a great connection.📷📷

6/ Linh gets back to me with a very thoughtful email. She tells me a bit about her metaverse project, Space Falcon. I'm not really sold on it, but I'm not really an NFT person so I didn't have any reason to think it was a bad idea either.📷

7/ She also tells me a bit more about her connection with Boeing/Wisk and offers some thoughts on Arrow. She seems eager to help with a potential partnership for us. The tone of the email is a little strange, but I assume it's also just the language barrier.

8/ Linh and I move the conversation over to Discord. We talk more about our backgrounds and end up deciding that she can best help out as an advisor. She offers to provide guidance and advice around what would work well regarding partnerships for us. I'm excited for her support.📷📷

9/ She then tells me more about Space Falcon. It seems kind of like a get-rich-quick scheme, but again, that's kind of how I see a lot of NFTs. With all that she's doing for Arrow, there's no harm in showing a little support.📷

10/ Space Falcon uses something called Armstrong wrapped ether. I don't really get it but I don't bother to do the research. Apparently, users will have to lease the NFTs and it can provide some passive income to the holders. I tell her that it sounds neat and to keep me updated.

11/ Somewhere in here I actually look up Space Falcon. I had never heard of it, but it seems like a fairly popular gaming project on Solana. I see Linh's name on the team page. Linh and I agree to stay in touch, and I move on to other things.

12/ For the next 10 days or so, heckshine is active in Discord every day. He puts out some super high-quality renderings. They're not particularly airworthy, but he's super excited to be helping and I figure we'll improve with some iterations.

13/ I can't overstate how committed and authentic heckshine has seemed through this entire process. We're super aligned on vision and I'm feeling great that he's so enthusiastic about what we're working on.

14/ Yesterday is when things started to get really crazy. Heckshine and I had been DMing back and forth for a while about the design for our v1 aircraft. He gets the entire configuration and he's ready to get started on a rendering when he gets up in the morning.

15/ As we're wrapping up, Linh reaches back out to me with some crazy exciting news. She's going on a tour of the Wisk facility and has invited me along to meet the team. She includes a screenshot of an email thread with Sebastien, who is actually a VP at Wisk.📷

16/ In hindsight, this is kind of absurd, but I had no reason to think that any of this wouldn't be real. We set a date for the trip and Sebastien is going to get back to me with a formal invite over email. I'm pumped and incredibly grateful to Linh for setting this up.📷

17/ This is when Linh mentions that their staking app has launched. She offers to send me the NFT. At this point testing out the app is the least that I can do! I ask her to send it to my hot wallet, but she sends it to my primary because it's so valuable. No big deal, right?📷

18/ She sends me some instructions on the staking app. The site seems fine and it has prompts for three transactions: The NFT approval, a token approval for Armstrong wrapped ETH, and a stake function. The token approval seems little strange but I don't hold it so I don't worry📷

19/ Now here is where I got incredibly lucky. Since it's a new project, I decided to move the NFT to a fresh eth address before going through the staking process - just in case they get exploited down the road or something. The stake goes through and I'm earning yield on it.

20/ I let Linh know that I'm staked and that it was easy. She offers to send me one of the other NFTs, but she wants me to stake it on my main account to help them with their growth. A little annoying, but I'm fine with it.📷📷

21/ I let Linh know that I'm going to read through the contracts before I stake it on my main account, and she starts getting pushy. This is when I finally realize that something sketchy is going on.📷📷

22/ So I pull up etherscan for the new address where I staked the first NFT and my blood goes ice fucking cold. The aWETH that I approved was not Armstrong ETH, but rather Aave's aWETH. On my main address, almost all of my ETH is sitting in Aave...📷

23/ At this point I ghost the scammers and they eventually start deleting all of their Discord messages. As some sort of final attempt, she sends me 0.2 ETH to cover gas fees and asks for the NFTs back. Not sure what the logic is with that.

24/ I dig further into the contract that I almost approved to spend my aWETH and find this truly terrifying function. This is where the scammers would have been able to transfer any amount of aWETH out of my account. I'm at the limit for this thread. Stand by for part 2📷

25/ As I continue poking through the scammers addresses on etherscan I eventually find the source of their funds - a 100 ETH Tornado Cash deposit. These guys were incredibly well funded and super smart.📷

26/ I have to assume that they hired a 3D design contractor that was putting out most of Heckshine's work. They also had built custom contracts and the front end that are entirely specific to this scam as far as I can tell.

27/ And what about SpaceFalcon, that seemed super legit, right? As far as I can tell it is a real project on Solana. The real project is using the (spacefalcon . io) domain where the scammers somehow acquired the .com.

28/ So the Linh that I've been interacting with is probably just an imposter of the real Linh working on the real space falcon...

29/ Ok, what are the takeaways here? 1. Token approvals can be super dangerous. I'm always going to be extremely cautious with them going forward. It makes sense to always put a cap on approvals when you can.

30/ 2. Scammers are getting smarter. Before now, the best scam I've really encountered is basically "hi this is tech support please share your private key so we can help"

31/ 3. Always verify, no matter how much you trust. These guys spent two weeks targeting my own specific weaknesses, and I was extremely close to falling for it. You can't be too paranoid

32/ I'm super lucky to have made it through all of this with minimal damage. You guys all stay careful out there!

#scam

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clubofinfo · 6 years ago

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Expert: It’s more than doors between government and the businesses that they supposedly regulate that go round and round. One of the other swinging doors is between the Democratic and Republican Parties. A second door Perhaps the best known case is when Al Gore ran for president in 2000, he picked Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Then, in 2008, Lieberman showed up at the Republican national convention to endorse John McCain for president. Between those two campaigns, John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, was rumored to be leaning to ask Republican John McCain to be his running mate. Had Al Gore won, Lieberman would most likely have been the subsequent Democratic nominee for president. Had John Kerry won with McCain on the ticket, McCain would have been the heir apparent to the “Democratic Party” crown. Whether Lieberman or McCain, Democrats across the country would have been told to bow in reverence to their party’s red-blue nominee for president. This was hardly the first time such a switcheroo blossomed in American politics. In 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln dumped his sitting vice-president to ask Democrat Andrew Johnson to be his running mate. After Lincoln’s murder, US voters, who had selected a Republican to be their president, found him replaced by a Democrat. Though such examples at the presidential level may be enshrined in history books, they happen all the time at the local level. In 1963, the Texas Young Democrats allowed high school chapters for the first time. I was 15 years old then and organized the state’s first Young Democrats chapter at Lamar High School in Houston. We invited a teacher who had been elected to the Texas Legislature to speak to our chapter on “Why Am I a Democrat?” His answer was simple. He was a Democrat because that was the only way to get elected in Texas of the early 1960s. The next year, he came out as a Republican. That was the time of the exodus of southern Dixiecrats from the Democratic to the Republican Party. Fast forward half a century and I was the 2016 Green Party nominee for governor of Missouri. I participated in the debate with Democrat Chris Koster and Republican Eric Greitens. Greitens, riding the election on Trump’s wave, has since become internationally infamous for an affair in which he allegedly tied his victim to his basement exercise equipment, hit her, took nude photos of her, threatened to publicize the photos if she ever told anyone what he did, and continued various sex acts without her consent. During the campaign, both the Democrat and Repubican made TV ads showing themselves with automatic weapons. Besides being partial to gun violence, they had something else in common. Both had switched parties. The Republican Greitens was a former Democrat and the Democrat Koster was a former Republican. Like most others greedy for power, they decided which way the winds were blowing, calculated where they could most effectively hustle votes, and adjusted their public images and party affiliation accordingly. (Greitens resigned as governor in May 2018.) Flip-flops between the corporate parties are hardly peculiar to Missouri. Evan Jenkins was the runner-up in the May 2018 Republican primary for the West Virginia US senate seat. Jenkins had been elected as a Democrat to the West Virginia legislature, but hopped to the Republican side to win the third district US house seat in 2014. During the 2018 race, the former Democrat boasted a perfect rating from the National Rifle Association as well as a 100% “pro-life” record saying, “I am a West Virginia conservative who is working with President Trump each and every day for our shared conservative values.” That was nothing new for the state. Its billionaire governor Jim Justice started out as a Republican, became a Democrat in 2015 to win the governor’s race and switched again to the Republicans in 2017 to bask in Trump’s glow. These people are as dedicated to the colors of their party as a chameleon is to staying green when it’s opportune to turn yellow. The original door Do you remember when the “revolving door” was first noticed? It was due to people like Michael R. Taylor who rotated between regulatory agencies and the corporations they were supposedly regulating. Taylor began as a Monsanto lawyer. Then he became a staff lawyer for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and helped it to hassle Amish farmers for selling whole milk while giving companies like Monsanto the green light to sell genetically contaminated products without labeling them. Then, he cycled back to Monsanto, becoming its Vice President for Public Policy. In 2010, he flipped back to being the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods. The scenario was quite a bit different for Richard Gephardt, former speaker of the US House and darling child of business unions and anti-NAFTA coalitions in the early 1990s. When I was working with Public Citizen to oppose NAFTA, a friend who had just been to Mexico told me that Gephardt had spoken in Monterrey promising to get NAFTA through the US House. So I spent several afternoons at the Washington University library until I found the Mexican paper Excelsior recording his comments. I documented Gephardt’s statements in an Op-Ed piece in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of June 1, 1993 and reported his two faces during the next Public Citizen conference call. There was stony silence for several seconds. Then Lori Wallach let everyone know “Dick Gephardt is the best ally in Washington that we have.” Though Gephardt gave clear warnings of his true colors, leftists paid to lobby politicians had a devout faith that an ally scheming to stab you in the back is better than no ally at all. A few years later, the left did turn on Gephardt – but only after he publicly displayed his contempt for progressives. In 2005, he abandoned his distinguished career as public servant and formed Gephardt Government Affairs which allowed him to pocket almost $7 million lobbying on behalf of clients such as Goldman Sachs, Boeing, Visa Inc and Waste Management Inc. Of course, Gephardt was not the typical revolving door guy. Instead of being an agency bureaucrat he was elected to public office. And he did not wait to resign from his governmental post to serve industry because he was apparently working both sides regarding NAFTA at the same time. A third door This brings us to a third way the door revolves – the way that policies and practices get tossed from one corporate party to the other. When I was a kid, the saying went “The Democrats bring war and the Republicans bring recession.” But no more. With rapacious Wall Street increasing its appetite for expansion as its human host decays, the Democrats and Republicans shadow box to see which can simultaneously be more violent and make the quality of life deteriorate faster. Perhaps the old saying stemmed from the way Woodrow Wilson won the presidency with the slogan “He kept us out of war” and then proceeded to take the US into WWI. A few decades later Lyndon Johnson ridiculed Barry Goldwater’s threat to bomb Viet Nam back into the stone age. After LBJ won the election, he did his best to carry out Goldwater’s plan. For about half a century, the Republicans won the reputation of being the most anti-Communist. Yet, it was John and Bobby Kennedy who tried to invade Cuba, went off their chain to pit bull Fidel Castro, and began the very long series of attempts to assassinate him. Years later, the rapidly anti-Communist Richard Nixon ascended the throne, recognized China, and visited Beijing. In case you missed it, the right-wing Nixon reversed course and realized a progressive idea. It was hardly the only positive event that happened during the reign of one of the most degenerate presidents of all time. The following occurred during his presidency: end to the Viet Nam war, beginning of the Food Stamp Program, creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, passage of the Freedom of Information Act, formal dismantling of the FBI’s COINTEL program, decriminalization of abortion, creation of Earned Income Tax Credits, a format ban on biological weapons, and passage of the Clean Water Act. One of the crowning achievements during the Nixon era was the April 28, 1971 founding of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Shaun Richman describes in The Unionist how OSHA “has the authority to promulgate industry-specific workplace safety rules and to fine companies that violate them. The law also provides for workplace safety inspectors, whistleblower protections for workers who report potentially unsafe conditions and legal protections for workers who go on wildcat strikes to put an end to a dangerous situation.” Do Democrats in power provide some sort of assurance because they “call for” more environmental protection than do Republicans? During the 1990s, St. Louis environmentalists were trying to block the construction of a dioxin incinerator. There was a Democrat in the White House, a Democratic Governor of Missouri, and a Democratic County Executive. We persuaded the Democratic majority on the County Council to pass an ordinance requiring dioxin incinerators to operate according to EPA standards, which seemed like a victory since no incinerator can meet those standards. We stopped going to County Council meetings because we thought we had “won.” Then the Council repealed the ordinance we had lobbied for. Bill Clinton got his Missouri dioxin incinerator. When do Democrats stab you in the back? Whenever your back is turned. In 2018, Donald Trump is justly despised because of his racist hate campaign against people of color, especially his ripping immigrant children apart from their parents and putting them in cages. But let’s not forget the continuity between Obama and Trump. As Tina Vasquez writes in Rewire News: When he first announced DACA in 2012, President Obama boasted of ‘putting more boots on the southern border than at any time in our history.’ Obama sought to ‘centralize border security’ on the pretext of deporting violent criminals and gang members—now Trump’s cause … The anti-immigrant zeal that Trump used to get elected is in many ways closely aligned with the history of America’s immigration system, which gave priority to white immigrants and sought to limit entry by other groups. Every administration, Republican or Democrat, has maintained this system’s injustices. A major difference between the two presidents is that press outlets like MSNBC tended to ignore actions by Obama but shrieked in horror when Trump followed suit. Clearly, the outrage against Trump positively lessens the attacks, but it makes one wonder: If a Democrat replaces Trump and commits the same atrocities against immigrant children, will media again muffle its anger? These examples of Democrats and Republicans swapping platforms and policies do not even scratch the surface. Their views are so interchangeable that one could write a 10 volume collection of the way they imitate each other and still barely cover the tip of all the stories out there. Progressive Democrats? Does this mean that there is no one running for office as a Democrat who sincerely wishes to move in a more progressive direction? Of course not. There are many, many candidates who start out running for local office as a Democrat and stay at the bottom of the Party’s hierarchy because it is structured to keep them there and use them as bait to lure and defang other progressives. Progressive Democrats at the base level do not script the Party’s major directions, which is as firmly controlled by big business as is the direction of the Republican Party. While they may propose reforms in their communities, they must march in line with candidates for national office if they are to get funding to run at a higher level. Those higher-up Dems are the ones most skilled at collaborating with Repubs, echoing their policies, and even fluttering over to the GOP side if the time is right. While the Republicans and Democrats are able to twist and turn on any dime lying in the street, there is at least one item for which they have a mind-meld. The top concern of their corporate benefactors is “How do we reverse the gains of the New Deal?” Bosses of both parties seek to undo the New Deal – the biggest difference between them is how to pull it off. The Dems generally use finesse with a stiletto, carving out gains one-by-one, weeping and sobbing as they do so. The public face of the Repubs screams in delight as it whacks off gains with a meat cleaver. The difference in rhetoric is vastly greater than any difference in the end result. So many politicians can alternate policies and, at times, party affiliation because they see elections as a thermometer measuring if it is the hour for the delicate blade or the butcher knife. The great virtue of the Democrats is creating hope. The great virtue of the Republicans is being a bit more honest about their long term goals. The perception of vice or virtue in either depends on the mood of the observer. Do Democrats and Republicans quarrel with each other in front of TV cameras? Obviously yes – but it’s merely a mock lovers’ spat crafted for public consumption. Once the cameras are off, they embrace in excited passion while collapsing onto the bed of cash provided by corporate donations to both parties. In our darkest hour Understanding that the unified goal of both parties is to turn back New Deal gains leads us to ask how those victories were won. It was because of the massive strikes, exploding labor movement, and unprecedented growth of the Socialist and Communist Parties that made a New Deal necessary. Key corporate players decided that it was more discreet to allow some demanded changes than to suppress mushrooming mass movements. Hop forward to the Nixon years. The many accomplishments won during his term were not because that vicious anti-communist fell on his knees, beheld a shining light, and vowed to tread the path of righteousness. It was due to a strong labor movement, a massive anti-war movement following on the heels of the civil rights movement, and a growing women’s movement demanding reproductive freedom (along with many other more radical movements). Hop forward again to the depravity of the Trump administration. As humanity faces extermination from increased production of fossil fuels, opposition bubbles up at an equal rate. Even though Republican state legislatures agreed to continue undermining public schools, in Spring 2018 teachers decided that they had had enough. West Virginia had a Republican governor and a Republican majority in both houses of the legislature. But West Virginia teachers went on strike anyway and were followed by teachers from Oklahoma and other states likewise dominated by anti-labor Republicans. Even though illegal, the strike won because teachers stood together with janitors, bus drivers, food service workers and other state employees. As Bruce Dixon laid it out in Black Agenda Report: …successful strikes are possible wherever an overwhelming majority of the workforce is committed to it, whether or not those workers are in a ‘right to work’ state, and whether or not the strike is endorsed by their union if they have a union at all. Neither of West Virginia’s two teachers unions endorsed the strike, and the leaders of both unions initially and repeatedly attempted to ‘settle’ it for far less than the striking workers demanded. The three revolving doors are just other ways that big business manages government while pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Corporate flunkies transfer between their bosses and agencies to ensure agencies do their bidding. Professional politicians go back and forth between parties according to their career opportunities. Parties grab policies from each other to see who can hoodwink the most voters. The Democrats and Republicans are parts of a single gestalt that creates the illusion of meaningful difference when there is none. If you are part of an organization that gets caught up in the revolving door, don’t keep going around in circles – find another way out. In times of the darkest despair, solidarity is still the road to victory. http://clubof.info/

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