#( IN CHARACTER. )

[x78091]

it gets worse at night. the confusion, more so after strenuous activities. remember that thing mark said about dax regretting staying the night? dax leaves the room, and for one haunting minute he thinks he's just going to hear the front door. he takes his fingers of both hands to the sides of his temples and rubs them for a moment. then he's moving under the blankets, head on one pillow while grasping the other right into his chest. he has four pillows on the bed, no need to worry dax. this isn't exactly what he had in mind in the after-glow of their intercourse.

don't need to say sorry, sorry. “I'm sorry.” he says again. fuck. put his face into the pillow against his chest. “I'm just--- goodnight dax.” lying his head back down, and closing his eyes.

hand on his boxers. wonders again why mark reminds him so much of a frightened animal. he stands up and moves to the bathroom, dumping the remander of the melted ice into the sink. paper towel in the trash before returning. it nags at him now. mark's never been scared before - not this way. not with dax. he lets it go. forces himself to do it so he doesn't scare mark away.

slides back into the bed and under the covers. arms open to mark. "you don't have to be sorry," he hadn't hurt dax. hadn't upset him. had worried him, sure. but that wasn't worth a sorry. "we can just lay here. sleep. you don't have to do anything - don't need to say sorry. i'm right here, mark. i'm here."

[mx-anthropy]

I saw a few people saying don't trust mech repair shops that are clean, and that you gotta go to the ones that are dirty and have crap everywhere 'cause they'll do a proper job and fix your rig cheaper and better.

While I agree in general, it's an even better sign if that shop has that *one* bay and workbench area that is conspicuously clean. Every good workshop has *that bay*.

That's the bay for when they need to go cleanroom on something. Pulling and refurbishing laser arrays, injection pumps, etc. Manually recalibrating gyros. Re-valving joint dampers. Fabbing up "custom" bracketry to fit that aftermarket heat exchanger that's *supposed* to be a direct bolt on OE style replacement and you just *know* it's not going to be that simple cause it never is, but the efficiency is so much better than the factory crap and who the hell wants to pay for a new genuine exchanger anyway, if you can even get one?

The number of absolute cowboy techs I've seen that think that just because they've done a bunch of work on their pa's agricultural mechs for years, they know everything there is to know about mech internals, strip down and reassemble a combat-rated set of hand actuators literally just on the god damned shop floor, only to wonder why all the hydraulics piss fluid out as soon as they run it through a test cycle. They might *look* the same as pappy's mech actuators, but they have way tighter tolerances and they run *way* thinner fluids in them. You get so much as a nick in the sealing surface of one of those rods and it's not gonna seal again. And before any goobers come for me saying "JuSt RuN tHiCkEr OiL" if you put anything thicker than 2W-5 in those things they'll just lock up. Won't leak but you'll not be using that hand for anything but karate chopping your opposition.

Anyway rant over, TLDR next time your stompy death machine needs actual proper work done, and not just entire unit assemblies throwm at the problem, take it somewhere that actually cares to understand the concept of machined tolerances.

[yoku-yukihime]

The "lunar" new year... is that really necessary.... do they really need that, those lunarians? is Our new year not good enough??? Someone should go up there and beat them up. but thats unrelated to my thoughts on the lunar new year i just think someone should beat them up.

[tr1cked]

LOKI holds up her hand, a stream of fireworks stemming from her palm. she was just showing off, a little display of magic to wow her audience. it was a simple trick, something that she could have done without a lot of effort. ❝  beautiful, isn't it? ❞ she asks, expecting praise for her minimal effort. they were in the middle of a bar; tucked away in the far corner of it. nursing drinks in front of them - a slow pace. neither was attempting to get drunk. it was about the company, spending time with one another. he would have done a million tricks to keep their attention on him.

open starter !

[coldfrcnt]

❝  hey, chat. ❞

[b0kksu]

     he gives you this look, wyd?

[thstrongesta]

❛ SO... how much longer are you gonna be mad? ❜

[tr1cked]

he would not have minded if she threw caution to the wind, acting out on pure instinct. continuing to act as if she was somewhat put together, he felt as if he needed to do more to make her unwind. she might have relaxed against him, but there was still a part of her that was holding back. wanting to hear all of the sounds that she could make, he was determined to make a mess of her. she made attempts to hide her face from him, easy when she was buried into his chest. forcing her to give him eye contact would have been too cruel; not wanting to make her regret letting him in closer. he gives her some space to comfort herself despite the intimacy of their position.

teasing her with some gentle strokes; creating friction that was not there before, he wanted to get her worked up. all before he started with one finger inside of her. feeling the warmth of her around his digit, pressing in as deep as he possibly could. all the way up to the knuckle, he stopped for a moment. giving her the opportunity to get accustomed to the intrusion. her body was trembling on top of her, but she didn't worry that she would need extra support - she could already lean against him if such was needed. adding a second finger, she takes it slower. stretching her out a little further than the last, it was a cautious motion. giving her the chance to accommodate to her fingers.

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ his hold on her was easing the nerves she had been wresting with not too long ago , prompted by her own spontaneous actions . her frame became much more relaxed than would have been possible at the top of their encounter . it was like her body was moving on some long - dormant instinct , one she had not previously experienced , nor had any awareness of . the noises & volume of them would have driven her to hide away from his gaze , if not for his hold on her & her not being able to move away from him . she slightly till sher head down to shield at least a portion of her face with her long , thick hair . she shoves her bottom lip between her teeth , hoping to somewhat keep some decorum .

he requested her to ask for more , which she eagerly complied with ; though she was not sure what she was even asking for in the first place . not being of clear enough mind to ask for any form of clarification , she waits to see what he will grant her with next . anticipation builds inside of her , though it does not last long when she cannot help but go back to vocalizing her appreciation when his touch lands more directly against her , though still separated by such a thin barrier . as he gives that area more attention , she is brought back in to join their lips , melding them together so effortlessly . this too is not for long , before his hand is right flush to her , nothing left to move aside . she whimpers , already trembling . ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

[eloquentgod]

and here king remained at the spire's peak, with little else to do by herself except look at the gigantic rift in the sky, almost threatening to pull her in, with how close she is to it.

it probably won't be long now, she thinks. wondering if the other gods will do something about the rift, and about her. the blame of each letter sent to the gods was pinned on her, after all.

[shiranken]

' DO YOU THINK THERE IS A POSSIBILITY WE CAN INFUSE THE FLAVOR? That way the coffee will taste like confections, or do you think it's just a wild dream? '

[immortalshe]

Setting Prompt 007 @stories-from-the-warp

SETTING PROMPT 007: the ruins of an ancient structure lost to time.

❝ Through me... Is the way to the city of woe. Through me... Is the way to sorrow eternal. Through me is the way to the lost below. Abandon... ❞

The Princess' hands are smeared in dirt, gravel stuck between each finger and in the folds of her red palm. It had taken the better part of five minutes to clear the cellar hatch well enough to read, and another five before that to pull the corpses off it. Her tongue moves in guttural clicks and pops, faithfully repeating the inscription in its original dialect: the extinct language of an extinct people, the first colonists of Bela Tegeuse.

It left a bitter taste. She corrects it with a candy. And another. And perhaps one more. Switching to her cleaner hand, she sulkily licks off the sugar as she continues reading.

Even now, when she could no longer remember what age they built this temple before she consigned them both to the fire, the disappointment of having her own creation used for the compliments of Slaanesh lingered —— now, it festered into anger. How could it not? Yet another crop of obscene idiots had sung princely praises in her words, had writhed in that creature's name, and yet again, it had been her chore to send them to their master.

So lost is she in her poetry, she does not notice @stories-from-the-warp is stood behind her until her eyes fall to the last sentence, a candelit shadow upon the floor overlapping her own crouched one. The shock is palpable; she blushes, refusing to turn her head out of sheer shyness, and stretches out her bag of candy.

❝ Ah! My apologies! If I had known I had an audience, I would have read it in Low Gothic... Please, help yourself to a treat... Ahh, how rude of me... ❞

[mourningstcr-a]

starter call ( @hcllishqueen )

❝ NO , i ... i'm listening , really , it's just - ❞

❝ there's this ... well , it's a feeling ? in my head ? like a boot . well , no , it doesn't feel like a boot , but like someone is wearing a boot ? and on my head . and jumping . a lot . ❞

[tr1cked]

' i will gnaw off your fingers ' came the squeaky voice, befitting of a hound so small. grabbing him by the collar, LOKI pulls him back - giving ample space between the hel - hound & the woman. flames peaked out from behind it's ears. ❝  don't mind him, he's all bark and no bite. ❞ giving the hel - hound a pat on the head, he ruffles it's fur in spiky patterns.

@frombehindpaleeyes

[coldfrcnt]

[ WRAP ]: when sitting astride a horse/motorcycle/etc. together, the sender reaches back, takes the receiver’s wrists, and gently pulls their arms around the sender’s waist in an embrace designed to keep the receiver safe, despite feeling remarkably intimate. (Reverse please)

he was no stranger to driving a motorcycle. in fact, he'd had one when he was younger - a dream of his, driving them was like second nature. but - with a passenger, he had to be more cautious. he couldn't drive as fast, or as reckless as he usually did. his body might have been able to take a fall with grace, unsure if she was the same. reaching for her wrists, he wraps them around his waist. ❝  hold on tight. ❞ pulling her closer in; it was necessary for her safety - the last thing that he needed was to see her fall. tucking up against his back would be the safest way to travel. they had some distance to cover - and he didn't have a spare helmet for her. which meant, they were going to take it nice & easy. the roads around the area were pretty decent, no need for worry.

starting up the engine, it was loud. hard to hear one another over the revving. tearing off into the streets, he started off at a brisk pace. there would be no dodging between cars or ignoring traffic signs. he had to be a safe driver for her sake. the city was where it was tough - once they hit the country, it would be smooth. the base they were heading towards, it was out in the middle of nowhere. accustomed to this, because they wanted to keep as low key as possible. having a large scale military operation in the middle of the city just ... wasn't feasible. they had to opt for the middle of the desert, anywhere that was less travelled. occasionally, he would take one hand off the bars and reach down - checking at each stop light to make sure that her hands were still firmly wrapped around his core.

[impinged]

@esprit--curieux.

You see Odile. Sitting outside. Nose in her book. There's no doubt in your mind that it is her. Even with her back turned as she is, it's unmistakable. You walk a bit closer, blink. Once. (She's still there.) Twice. (She's really there!!!) Thrice. (IT'S ODILE!!!!!!)

There are suddenly so many things you want to do. Call out to her, celebrate, maybe scream? Odile, you think, Odile, I haven't forgotten you!!! ODILE LOOK AT ME!!!!!! You want to grab her, shake her down, make her look at you.

You don't do any of those things.

You don't disturb her at all, actually.

You know Odile takes her 'alone time' seriously. That she needs to recharge, be left to her own devices, or however she chooses to put it on the given day. Just because you've been deprived of so many semblances of familiarity here doesn't mean you should subject her to your never-ending desperation. That would be rude.

You want to though. Selfishly. You won't. But you want to, more than anything. So she knows. You missed her.

You quietly walk over. You stumble a little as your heels dig into the grass. You sit yourself behind her ...... ... You scoot closer. Just enough so a bit of your back brushes up against hers. You know she has her limits when it comes to physical contact... or you're pretty sure at least. Stars, this is a lot even for you. But you have to. In order to let her know you're here, present. Real, maybe. Maybe.

You breathe. In, and out. You feel your back press further against her as you do. You don't trouble her with all your weight, but you can't help but want her to push back. Just a little. Just enough. You need your own reassurance, after all. Is she real? Are you dreaming? You don't know. You can't say.

Actually... can Odile even recognize you by presence alone? By touch? You doubt it. You and Odile are very particular about that kind of thing. Contact. Closeness. You're... learning. But it's hardly been enough to have a recognizable grasp on it, you think. You're not really sure how it works.

Should you not have done this? Will you make her mad? You should have at least made sure she saw you before you did this. Maybe you should have made eye contact or something. You sigh. The argument in your head plays on and on and you nitpick all your mistakes when you should be relishing in another friend's company. Not that you know she wants it. You almost sigh again, but this time, you catch yourself before you do. Instead, you do the first sensible thing since you've spotted her, and finally say something.

"So..." You quickly remember how perceptive Odile usually is, and thank yourself for sitting with your back turned as you struggle to sound casual. "If your research is about alternate worlds, then you've hit the jackpot."