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glimmerglanger · 3 years ago

Note

Okay, I must know: is there any fallout in the main Fett household over the eldest Fett child getting dip-kissed on national television? How'd the parents take it? How'd the SIBLINGS take it? The ones who don't know yet, that is...

ADI!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS!! (You do, I screamed at you about it a lot). WELL. Now you can see what I was screaming about.

This is set almost IMMEDIEATELY after the Coda and goes from there. Implication of spicy but nothing happens on screen. All warnings for the main fic still apply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They didn’t really sleep, the night they won the World Series.

There were too many parties and celebrations for that. They’d been swept off the field, eventually, to an event center rented - apparently - on the chance they won, decked out with their team colors and full of cheering people and already smelling of champagne.

They’d had time for a quick shower, first, and his hair was still wet by the time they reached the celebration.

Some of his family had been there, but, based on the voicemails he’d gotten - Ben had listened to them for him and shook his head as Cody heard distant shouting, muffled - he’d known some people would be missing.

He’d expected it, but it still hurt, walking into a room and finding his parents, Boba, and Omen missing.

“Congratulations, man,” Rex said, when he made his way through the crowd, pulling Cody into a hug. “And I’m sorry about--our parents.”

Cody shrugged. What else could he do? It was hardly a surprise. He’d spent a few years trying to nudge their parents towards a more understanding place, but they’d already mostly cut contact with him over his decision to room with Ben.

He’d almost come to blows with his father over the way Jango referred to Ben, apparently unable to use his name, not when there were so many slurs right there waiting. They hadn’t really spoken more than a few words to each other since then, but Cody--

Had wanted his family at the game, had wanted to share the moment with them, and they’d taken the tickets when he sent them, attended each game in the series, even though it meant Boba and Omen missed some school.

“It’s alright,” Cody said, because he’d made his peace with it, and he wasn’t sorry about kissing Ben, wasn’t sorry about the swooping memory of being kissed, or proposing or--

Boil and Waxer made it through the crowd, then, hitting him like a wave, all hugs and backslaps and shouting. It was--a relief, that at least they were happy for him.

They’d already known about him and Ben, though, figuring it out on their own during one of their summer-time visits to Cody’s place after they moved out; his parents had refused to let any of his younger siblings come visit, like they were afraid that Ben’s sexuality was catching, or something.

Cody shook that thought aside, held onto his brothers, and relished what he had.

Eventually, the party spilled out onto the streets and across town and up into their hotel room, shrinking to encompass just the two of them. They fell together on the huge bed in the room - someone had gotten their things moved to the Honeymoon Suite - and made love with the drapes flung wide open and the sunrise coming in behind Ben’s shoulders.

After, Ben flopped down beside him, still breathing hard, and asked, after taking a sweet kiss, “Are we going to hyphenate?”

“What?” Cody asked, starting to feel the exhaustion that had been lurking behind the sweet adrenaline for the past…well, nearly twelve hours.

“Our last names?” Ben asked, grinning at him.

Warmth spread out all through him in a rush and he opened his mouth, not sure what he planned to say, before his phone started buzzing on the nightstand. He groaned, rolling to get it with a pang of regret.

It was one of his aunts. He thought about not answering, but, well.

Better to get it over with quickly.

The call didn’t last very long. When it was over, Ben handed him a cup of water, and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Their choice,” Cody said, taking a long drink and flopping back onto the mattress. “You want to try to sleep for a few hours?”

When he woke up, he had…a lot of texts. He ended up blocking a lot of the numbers, watching his connections to his extended family shrink and shrink.

Not all of them were bad. In fact, more than he’d thought were…supportive. Congratulations, both for the win and for his relationship. He wondered how many of them meant it, how many of them were only trying to maintain a good relationship with his money.

He did find one from Bly - currently overseas on a trip he’d begged to take - that just said: so, ben’s off the market, then?

He sent back, taking a sip of his coffee and hoping it helped with his headache: I will hit you with a bat.

I’ll take care of him while ur in jail for battery, Bly sent back, only seconds later, and then, right away, congrats man glad he’s finally going to make an honest man out of you can i stop pretending i don’t know that you’re super in love now?

Yeah, Cody sent, his heart doing something odd in his chest, go ahead, you have my permission.

Cool, Bly sent, we’ll celebrate when i get back.

“How’s it shaking out?” Ben said, coming out of the bathroom and toweling at his hair, stark naked in a way that made Cody mourn the days when he thought a hangover was a faint pain in his head and a little queasiness.

“As expected,” Cody said, and Ben winced on his behalf, coming over and leaning down to hug him from behind, body radiating warmth from the shower. “I’ve heard from most of my brothers, though,” he added, exhaling, “And they’re all--hold on.”

He murmured the last as his phone started ringing, Omen’s number popping up, which meant Boba was probably there, too. Ben stepped away, moving to his suitcase to grab clothes as Cody answered and said, the words having become near automatic, “Morning, listen, if this is to--”

“Cody,” Omen said, over the line, voice wavering through the interruption, and Cody tensed down his spine, because he knew all the tones used by his siblings and this one was full of worry. Before he could ask what was wrong, Omen blurted, over the line, “I’m a girl.”

Cody blinked, opened his mouth, and then--she started crying, terrible, choking, hitching sobs over the phone line.

“It’s alright,” he said, because--it seemed the more important thing to get out of the way. “Hey, that’s, Omen, that’s--”

She started crying harder, and Cody stood up, feeling--unsure what the fuck he was supposed to do to make it better. He had no idea where she even was, probably down in Texas, again, that was where the family had moved last and--

Abruptly, the crying stopped on the other side of the line, and, a moment later, Boba said, “She doesn’t like that name. You could--if you could call her Meg?”

“Of course,” Cody said, automatic, trying to process everything quickly enough through the haze of his hangover. “Meg--that’s. Tell her that’s--a very pretty name. And that I’m sorry--I didn’t know, I--”

“It’s ok,” Boba said, not sounding pissed about it, which was something. Ben came to stand beside him, an arm curled around his back. Cody reached out, blindly, and took Ben’s hand, getting a comforting squeeze right away.

“Listen,” Boba went on, quietly, “we, uh. Dad and Mom. They were both. Really angry. After the game and--all the way home on the plane and--they were saying--stuff about you. And Ben. And--Meg--she got angry and told them. About her, and--”

Cody flinched, because he’d taken - in a way - the coward’s path. He’d come out on national television and there was something horrifying about it, but it had also been far away from his family. “Is she okay?” he asked, panic lashing into his gut. “Are you okay? What’s--”

“We’re fine,” Boba said. “We’re--they said they were going to send her--somewhere, so we left. I went with her.” Of course he had. Boba had always been ready to start a fight on--her behalf. “We’re at - at one of my friends’ houses. Fennec. Her parents say we can stay for a while. But, uh, I don’t know--we don’t know what to do, now, and we thought--”

“I’m coming to get you,” Cody said, because what else could he say? Ben already had his phone in hand, looking up airlines because he was the best--

“Yeah?” Boba asked, and his voice wavered, some of the surety going out of his voice. “Really?”

“Really,” Cody told him, Ben tilting his phone so Cody could see with an arch of an eyebrow. Cody nodded and watched Ben put two tickets in the cart. “Send me your friend’s address. And - and tell Meg it’ll be fine. It’ll be okay.”

He looked over at Ben, again, when Boba hung up the phone, saying he needed to go check on Meg.

Ben paused in the middle of pulling clothes on, just watching him, and Cody blurted, still feeling as though he’d caught a pitch in the side of the head, “I have a sister.”

He’d always wanted one.

“Congratulations,” Ben told him, gently, and then, just as softly, “get dressed so we can go make sure she’s okay.”

Cody worried, extensively, through the drive to the airport and the plane ride to Texas. They weren’t, comparatively, that far away, which was some small measure of relief. They had a car waiting when they landed - Ben had arranged it, at some point, just taking care of the details - and Cody bounced his leg up and down the entire drive across town, holding onto Ben’s hand.

The house they arrived at seemed nice enough. Two stories. Stucco. Scrub grass around the yard--

Cody walked up the pathway to the door with his pulse beating against his ears. He’d been worried, through their trip, about his parents finding this place first and doing--something. Causing trouble, somehow.

But he didn’t recognize the other vehicles in the driveway, and Boba had sent no worried texts or calls for help. He stood on the front porch - there were a few planters full of succulents around and a large swing to one side with red pillows covered in embroidered flowers piled on it, and Ben put a hand on his back, and said, “Breathe.”

Cody sucked in a breath and let it out slowly through his mouth. He raised his hand and, drawing in another breath, rang the doorbell.

“What if--” he started, and then the door opened.

Boba stood on the other side, pretty much as tall as Cody these days, with a mop of dark curls and a tight expression around his eyes that eased a little as he pulled the door wider. Boba jerked forward, squeezing him in a tight hug, and then saying--

Something.

The words buzzed together, but Boba drew them inside, anyway, down the hall to a brightly lit kitchen where--

Meg was rising from a chair, smoothing down the front of the--flowing, billowy skirt she was wearing, white fabric with brightly colored flowers around the hem. She’d apparently bleached her hair out - it was a darker golden color than Rex kept his - and stood there with her hands clenched in front of her stomach, wearing a blouse and a little wrap around her shoulders, eyes darting up to meet his and then away again.

“Are you okay?” Cody asked, the first thing that occurred to him, and she made a hiccuping sound that turned into tears, time freezing into place for a terrible instant before she lurched forward and took two stumbling steps to fall into him.

“Sh,” he said, feeling inane, aware of Boba and Ben both lingering close by as he curled an arm around her shoulders and then the other. “It’s alright,” he said, because he was going to make sure it was okay, he’d--they had the money to--to take her and Boba in, and if his parents didn’t like it, well, he had the money to fight it in court and--

“You’re not mad?” she gasped, after a moment, from near his shoulder.

“Of course not,” he told her, because how could he ever be mad at her or--

She started crying harder, and he looked around desperately for some help. Ben was on the phone in the corner, talking fast and quietly, no doubt figuring out more about what they needed to do next, and Boba stepped closer and just leaned against them, hugging them as well.

“It’s alright,” Cody told them both and meant it.

#my writing #bush league snippets #bush league #the baseball au #i had so many feelings about this and worried i'd never get there with meg but!#in the end #it did get there

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flying-otterasaurus · 2 years ago

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Would you be okay to share your saved copy of Bush League by glimmerglanger? I unfortunately don’t have the snippets, but I’d really appreciate a copy of the full fic 😭

Yes, of course! Bush League is my absolute favorite out of all of Glimmer's fics! Happy to share. lmk if the link doesn't work.

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sunshineneedsaplacetokeephernsfw · 4 years ago

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Immortal - 1, Introduction (kinktober)

Kaminari Denki - Electricity

Warnings: 18+ (minor dni), non-consensual touching, electricity, creepy Denki, running, not edited

Word count: 3,185 (this is longer than all the other parts)

Masterlist

Part 1 | Next

October

The month that had become dedicated to stories and decorations on store shelves that ranged from spooky to creepy. But there was a strange unsettled feeling resting in the air this year. You felt it in the cool breeze and the whispers as people talked about the missing heroes from the past two years.

It was hard to believe the year was almost over. Especially when it felt like it had only just started, but here you were. You checked the clock and found your shift was done. You promptly wrapped up what you were doing and practically skipped out, with a book in hand. On your way out, your ear caught snippets of a conversation.

"It's horrible what happened."

"I wonder if it's going to happen again this year."

Right.

Two years ago, in October, the famous incident occurred when several students from U.A. went missing during a mission they had all been on. No one could ever find a single trace of them.

You pondered on it as you walked on the sidewalk with your book tucked under your arm. The sky was a deep blue and the air you breathed in was crisp and refreshing. And you were off work for the rest of the day. Which meant you could finally read more of the book that had been sitting on your counter for the past month. And it was a perfect day to read outside.

But you couldn’t stop recalling the strange, seemingly related event that happened last year. The next year after the disappearance, also October, two more heroes who had only just recently graduated from U.A. vanished the same way. It was also around that time when they realized that the villains Shigaraki and Dabi never showed their faces again, and the League of Villains seemed to be looking for them.

However horrible the disappearances, it soon faded into past news and life went on like nothing had ever happened. However, when the calendar changed to October once more, everyone was on edge. The heroes seemed more cautious, the public held their breath in anticipation.

You did your best not to care. It put a sick feeling in your stomach. Hopefully your book would manage to distract you.

Upon finding a nice bench, with a view of the nearby forest, you sat down with a content sigh and flipped the book open. Thankfully, it worked. You slipped into the story, hardly even noticing when you flipped the page or even when the clouds began to block out the sun. You only stopped when it became nearly too dark to read the page. You looked up.

Night had fallen. Shadows stretched and covered everything like a blanket. The only bit of natural light was a dim blue that was sure to fade soon enough.

Your heart beat fast. You closed your book and started in the direction of your apartment. There were always stories. Stories you knew were real. Stories that you'd hear all throughout the whole year, about people staying out too late at night and running into the wrong people. Real monsters.

This was your plan until you spotted somethin- no, someone moving. In the darkness, it took you a moment to see them more clearly. Someone in black and gray from head to toe, not a single bit of skin showing. And one in yellow, a top hat, and a theater mask. It took a moment, but you recognized these two as villains. You stumbled back. They were on the news once, and now they were there. You could see them. They could see you if they looked, they just hadn't yet. Or had they?

Your hands shook. Your limbs were frozen for a few precious seconds. Seconds that you could have used to get away. You ran to the forest. It was the first place you thought of. Maybe you could hide in the trees if they followed you. It was certainly a better option than running in the middle of the street.

The shadows swallowed you. You rushed past the tall trees that loomed over you. Twigs snapped beneath you. The sound of your own terrified breathing filled your ears. So loud, you thought everyone could hear.

The thought of actually stopping to hide finally occurred to you. You ducked behind a tree, hoping it was wide enough to completely hide you. Your eyes darted everywhere. You stopped breathing, praying that you wouldn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching. Nothing. Just the wind in the trees above. The leaves were so dark they looked more black than the sky above you.

Suddenly, your eye caught something that you missed. It was large. You jumped, as if some primal instinct were prepared for a giant monster. It didn’t move. You squinted and let out the breath you were holding.

It was a mansion. There were no lights on inside of it, and the wood was so dark it almost blended in. You never heard about this being here.

You wondered if anyone lived in it. Maybe they could help you. Though, it thankfully seemed like you weren’t being followed. It would be easy to just walk up and get a closer look. With a hand against the tree, you considered your options, to stay or check it out.

Your curiosity won the day.

You stayed low, prepared to dive behind a tree or bush, or duck underneath the mansion porch's railing. Almost every sound was amplified in your ear, making you jump. Which included the sounds even you were making.

The door wasn't locked. It swung open with ease, seemingly inviting you in.

You were considering whether you should enter, when you heard a distant, deep voice behind you. Your heart leaped from out of your chest. Following the voice, now another one, were footsteps. Without a second thought, you dashed inside and closed the door.

The entrance was large and open. Two staircases across from you. Two rooms to the left and right. You stepped into the left room to peer through one of the windows. You walked closer and closer to it. But no matter how close you looked, even when your nose was nearly against the cold glass, you could only see black. You stepped back in confusion.

It was the moment that you heard the door opening that you realized there was nowhere to truly hide in the left room. You quietly ran and dove under the table in the right room. Probably a dining room. The old carpet was rough against your elbows propping you up. You willed yourself to stop breathing as you watched their feet slowly tread in.

"I don't remember this mansion wasn't here last time we searched here," one said.

The other closed the door behind him.

"Yeah. This place is cool, but a little creepy. It's old and boring!"

"You don't suppose this mysterious mansion would have anything to do with Shigaraki's and Dabi's disappearance?"

"Hopefully, definitely not! Everyone's been looking for them for a long time. But I think the voice behind the screen cares more about Shigaraki."

You couldn't hold your breath anymore. You tried to be as quiet as you possibly could, but the small amount of air you allowed yourself just made you breathe faster and heart race. What were they doing here? Still looking for Shigaraki? You resisted the urge to peek up at them. If you could see them, they could see you. But somehow even looking at just their feet filled you with anxiety. Jumping every time one seemed to walk towards you. You wished the table was lower. That there was a long tablecloth that would hide you. That they wouldn’t see you.

"We should tell Kurogiri about this. Let's just leave."

"I agree." A moment passed. He tapped his foot against the floor. "I seem to not have a signal here."

A few seconds and some rustling. "Me neither. I'll go out and make the call."

His heavy steps left, leaving the other to wait behind, but only for a second.

"Um, you might need to see this. We're screwed."

"Hm?" He promptly left, leaving you alone.

You considered getting up and running away. But where would you hide? Would you be fast enough to hide somewhere else? Maybe you could open a win-

"How… did this happen?"

"I don't know! I just walked out and saw the ground wasn't there anymore! Or the trees or anything!"

You barely concealed a gasp. The door slammed shut and you saw two pairs of feet walk in once more. They debated for what felt like hours. Your nerves were shot and it felt like your elbows had rugburn. Finally, they walked up the stairs. You waited just a little longer until you heard a door closed. And even longer, until you were sure.

You slid yourself out from under the table. That couldn't be true, right? You ran to the door on your tippy toes, wincing every time you made the slightest sound. The door opened after a gentle twist.

You looked out. And sure enough. There was nothing beyond the porch but an endless black. Not the kind of black when everything's too dark to see. Even then, the shadows had depth. This.. seemed to stretch on forever.

You rushed back in and grabbed a vase on a wooden stand. Fragile white with turquoise lines that formed diamonds. You almost felt bad for what you were about to do. You lowered the vase to the dark, one hand on the floor board while the other reached down as far as you could with the vase in hand.

The vase never touched the ground. With a sigh, you let go of it. It dropped and dropped. Fell and fell, slowly spinning… until you couldn’t see it anymore. You listened for a crash, some sign that it reached the bottom, but the only sound was your own breath.

No bottom in sight.

This had… this had to just be some sort of quirk. Some sort of… defense for someone living there. It was the only explanation. That had to be it. You weren't trapped there with no way out, right?

You sat up. You cautiously glanced into the room before stepping in. You hadn’t noticed that it should be too dark to see anything. But somehow you could, like dim light coming from a moon that didn't exist.

A red carpet led to the staircase, then split to go up each set of stairs. Between the two sets of stairs was a book on a stand. One you hadn’t noticed.

You opened up a window and looked out. The void was still there. Still wrapping around the mansion. The only thing that existed now was you and this house. And the villains.

You wrestle with your pocket while dashing to a dark corner beside a table, and ripped your phone out. It nearly fell out of your hands as you turned it on and dialed the first contact you saw. Dial tone. The number was unavailable. You texted your parents. The text couldn't get through. Zero bars. You could get onto social media or make a Google search. But you could post or message anyone. Not one word, not on a single forum.

Your hands trembled. You ran one through your hair, grabbed onto the roots, and pulled. It didn’t even hurt. Nothing to distract you from your situation.

What to do. What to do. Well, hiding there was doing nothing good. Maybe you could search for a way out. Or find the owner and tell them what had happened.

There was no way you were going through the dooring up the stairs. You wanted to avoid the villains at all costs. You picked the door on ground level to the right. Book shelves were lined against the wall. There was no dust, but something gave you the feeling they hadn't been used in a long time. No lights, but strangely lit like the room before. You walked through the next door. A bedroom. The bed was sloppily made. Maybe it was the lack of people, but something unsettled you. Nothing felt quite right. But perhaps this was reasonable considering nothing else about the mansion was normal.

You reached for the knob of yet another door when you heard footsteps on the other side. That was your chance. You should have seen who it was, if they could have helped you. But there had been almost no real sign of anyone being in the mansion up until then. Even with the used bed, what if the villains had found another way downstairs? What if they were about to catch you?

You turned and made a dash. Through every door you'd been through so far. You should have just hid under the bed, but you didn't think of it at the time. You just wanted to get as far as you could.

When you got back to the entrance, your heart dropped in horror when you saw the villains emerging from the doors at the top of the stairs. They hastily ran out of it and firmly closed it behind them.

"Who is that!?" The louder of the two said.

Blood pounded in your ears. You didn’t stop. You were already opening the door in the left room and pulled the door shut behind you, still running.

How did they get there? Were they actually following you? Was it someone else you had run from? Was any of this even real?

You lost track of how many rooms you had run into. This one was hardly any different from the others. Same dark red wallpaper. There was a wardrobe, but did that really make a difference? You stopped in front of a window. Black. The moment you stopped was the moment your exhaustion hit you. Your legs and chest ached. You glanced at the door quickly then stared at the window.

Was this real? Was this all some sick dream?

You opened up the window.

If this was a dream and you fell, you would wake up.

You leaned out, placing your hands on the farm and beginning to lift a knee. The whole time you just stared into the nothingness.

"Woah, that's not a good idea," a cheerful voice behind you said, pulling you back by your waist.

Your back hit the stranger's chest. You twisted your head back to see who it was. His blond hair was long enough to reach his stubble covered jawline. He looked to be in his twenties, and was familiar for some reason. None of the villains, fortunately.

You breathed a much needed, heavy sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're not them."

“Nope, I’m Kaminari. Kaminari Denki. Wow! It’s been forever since I’ve talked with someone new. Hi, I’m Denki. Oops I already said that.”

You raised an eyebrow at his behavior. He held you a little too tightly. It was then you noticed you were too close together, with his crotch against your rump. You, embarrassed, gently pushed him away and he let go.

“Nice to meet you too. Kaminari? That sounds familiar.”

“Maybe you heard of me from the U.A. Sports Festival?”

“U.A…? Wait! Chargebolt? One of the U.A. students that went missing two years ago!??”

“The one and only.” He puffed his chest out.

“But.. what? That’s not possible. You look like you’re twenty-five or something.”

“You’re right, I am! It’s been so long since I had someone else to talk to! Did I already say that?”

He held your hand and pulled it close to him. Electricity sparked, going straight into your hand and making you jump.

“Sorry.” He smiled with concern in his eyes. “I have a little bit of a hard time controlling it now. Especially when I’m this excited.” His other hand reached towards you.

You stepped back and pulled your hand away. “Don’t touch me, please.”

He tilted his head, like he didn’t understand. But he didn’t come any closer.

"By the way, who were you talking about earlier? I’m not who?"

"Villains! They came in here after I ran in to hide from them."

“Really? What did they look like?”

“Twice and Mr. Compress. Twice has a black and gray suit, and Mr. Compress has a top hat, a mask, and a yellow jacket. Did you see them?”

“Yeah, I did. Actually, I saw them coming this way.” He pointed towards the door he had just come from.

“What!? Oh no…” your head whipped around, eyes scanning everywhere for a place to hide.

“I know a place to hide! In here.” Kaminari opened the wardrobe.

He quickly stepped in and moved to make room for you. You slid the hanging coats and clothing to one side and closed the door with just a small crack to see. It was too cramped for you. It was uncomfortably warm, but you would take it.

Your heart pounded in your ears. It was hard to see anything in the room with the small slit. Even then, you prayed they wouldn’t see you through the crack. If they did, you’d be finished with nowhere to run.

His fingers were against your waist, something you hardly even noticed because of the adrenaline. But they began rubbing circles into you, small tingles of electricity tickled you. One slipped down to the dip where your legs attached to the rest of your body. He pressed against your butt, at first you assumed it was simply him adjusting and the lack of room, but he didn't move. In fact, he pushed himself flush against you. You felt something warm and hard between your cheeks through the fabric of yours and his pants. If you tried to back away, the wardrobe door would open more, and the villains might come in any time.

"Please stop," you whispered.

He didn’t stop. He rubbed his head against the back of yours. He breathed in contently.

His hand rubbing you fell to your hip, then up again, into your shirt. You felt him drag against your soft skin. Reaching up to your bra. He made a clumsy effort to slip beneath it before squeezing and massaging it with the bra still on. Tiny sparks from his fingertips only drew your attention to this. You jolted when one ran over your nipple.

"Hey," you tried to sound angry, but it came out as a whine.

Much to your dismay, you felt your core growing unbearably warm. You wanted to stop him, but you froze. Your breaths were heavy. It didn’t help when he dipped his hand into your pants. Electricity somehow teased your clit through your panties. You barely held the moan in your throat.

"We can't be doing this," you said as a final attempt, "What if they hear?"

His lips fluttered against your skin. "Who will hear?"

"What do you mean? The villains… they are…" Did he actually see them coming?

He chuckled and ran a finger against your waistband. "We're gonna have some fun."

#kinktober #kinktober 2021 #kaminari x reader #denki x reader #kaminari denki x reader #denki x reader smut #smut #tw:noncon #I finally got it done

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amazingmsme · 5 years ago

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Hide and go Hammock

AN: Cheesy title I know, but this fic is so damn cute & full of love! I really recommend watching Raising Hope if you haven’t already. It’s on Hulu & is hands down one of the funniest shows ever created, & is pretty progressive especially for when it came out. Tagging @secretblog1212 cause they’re the only other person I know who likes this show. Without further ado, here’s my extremely self indulgent fic.

Jimmy couldn't be happier now that he and Sabrina were together. She was the girl of his dreams, and definitely way out of his league. She was beautiful, smart, funny, just everything about her was so endearing, especially all her quirks. She might've been embarrassed, but he thought it just made her cuter. But there were some that she wasn't afraid to show, even in front of other people. Short little snippets from their relationship on full display no matter where they were.

See, Sabrina was a very hands on type of person. She was a tactile learner, always talked using her hands, and she liked knowing how things felt, so you could catch her running her palm over an interesting looking surface. It only made sense for that to transfer to their relationship.

At first Jimmy was shocked at just how handsy she could be. As it turns out, the small brunette could be quite possessive. While she may not like kissing in public, she had no qualms with showering him with physical affection. Especially once she found out just how ticklish he is.

She was utterly delighted the first time she poked his side and heard him squeal. She'd made a game out of attacking him at random times no matter where they were, and that was before they started dating. Now, she was truly a monster.

Jimmy was watching tv with Hope, zoning out as she watched Spongebob. Sabrina walked into the living room, spotting her boyfriend from behind the couch.

"Hey Jimmy," she said, expecting to get his attention. When he didn't respond, she smirked, creeping up behind him. She leaned down and blew a loud raspberry on his neck, immediately drawing him out of his head and back to reality as he burst into giggles.

"Whahat?" he asked as she pulled away, rubbing his neck.

"I said your name but you ignored me," she justified.

"Oh come on, you know I zone out! If you say my name less than three times that's on you," he said, as though that would suffice. She placed her hands on her hips, "Oh is that so?"

That was weird, her voice was different. Why was her voice different? That usually meant-

He whipped around to look at her, a fearful look in his eyes. Her hands were already held out in front of her in the shape of a claw. He scrambled to his feet, making sure to keep the couch between them. Hope looked at her Dad, wondering what he was doing.

"Now wait a minute."

"Okay, what am I waiting for?" she asked. Jimmy furrowed his brows, not expecting her to be so patient. "Uhhh," while he was distracted, Sabrina lunged to the side, ready to go around the couch and grab him. He jumped into action, moving to keep the same distance around the couch. Hope curled in the corner to watch, a bright smile on her face.

Jimmy's smile was just as wide, if a bit nervous. Sabrina faked left before dashing around the other side, causing Jimmy to nearly run right towards her. He caught himself at the last second and spun around, dashing towards the kitchen. If it weren't for Sabrina's short legs, she would've had him.

Unfortunately for Jimmy, his parents were in the already crowded kitchen. Virginia watched him dash by her with a puzzled and judging look before going back to her plate of nachos. Even more unfortunate, Burt was blocking the other doorway. He saw his son coming and took a crouched stance, blocking his path intentionally now.

"Ooo, are we playing ball-less football again?" he asked.

"Dad move!" he yelled, shoving past him as Sabrina dashed past Virginia, hot on his heels. She ducked down and ran underneath his arm before either of them could even think to ask what was happening.

Burt blinked a few times, looking to Virginia for answers she didn't have. "What was that all about?"

"Beats me. Maybe they're twitterpatient like in Bambi," she guessed. Burt looked over his shoulder in the direction that they ran.

"Yeah, that must be it."

Jimmy was no track star, but at least he was fast enough to not get caught. He'd made it outside and was met with a dead end. The yard was small and mostly barren with few places to hide. He could hear her footsteps getting closer from inside the house. Time was running out quick.

He scanned the yard, eyes landing on their hammock. Perfect. He dashed over and flopped inside, wrapping the extra fabric around himself to hide.

Sabrina burst out the back door, surveying the empty yard. There was no way he had enough time to try jumping the fence, so he had to be somewhere. She started slowly making her way around the yard. "Jimmyyyy, come out come out wherever you are," she taunted. Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stretch himself inside the hammock so that it would look empty rather than weighed down by a human sized lump.

Sabrina checked the bushes by the house, and when those were empty, she ventured further into the yard.

"Y'know, not many places to hide, so you might as well come out now. It'll be a lot easier for both of us." She jumped behind the large tree in their yard, certain he'd be hiding there. "Huh, better at hiding than I thought," she mused to herself. She was about to check behind another tree when she noticed the hammock swaying slightly. That's strange, there's not much of a breeze.

She smirked to herself, aimlessly wondering towards the hammock. "If you come out I'll go easy on you." Jimmy didn't buy that for a second.

Sabrina now stood in front of the hammock, arms folded across her chest.

"Hm, I wonder where he could be."

She sounded close, too close. Jimmy held his breath, hoping she couldn't hear his rapid heartbeat.

"I guess I should just give up," she sighed heavily in defeat. Before he could relax at her mock surrender, she grabbed the sides of the fabric and pulled it open. "Peekaboo!"

He let out a loud scream and tried to jump out, but Sabrina was faster and climbed in on top of him. She leaned in and said, "Found you." He was already giggling with anticipation. He held her hands up, wiggling her fingers so he could see. He squirmed underneath her, sucking in his stomach to try and get away. She dove in, retreating before she made contact and making Jimmy jerk and his laughter increase. She repeated the action. And again. And again.

"Plehehease," he giggled. She cocked her head, feigning innocence.

"Please what Jimmy? You have to be specific."

"Juhust get it over with!" Her grin turned feral and he could've swore her eyes flashed with something evil.

"Well since you asked so nicely," she said sweetly. She took her time rolling his shirt up. He was already giggling up a storm, and he tried to pull his shirt back down. She gently smacked his hand away. Jimmy let out a giggly whine, moving his hand to hide his face instead. It was a shame that he didn't see the absolutely loving look she gave him then.

She raked her nails down his sides, making him jump at the touch. He burst into giggles, squirming beneath her. She started out light and fluttery, knowing the longer she kept this up the more sensitive and giggly he would become. That's when the real fun started.

"Are you gonna keep hiding?" she asked. Without moving his hands, he nodded. "Aw but I wanna see your cute giggly face!" she teased, drawing shapes on his stomach. He sucked in, trying to get as far away from her fingers as he could, but she just followed his movements.

"You're sohoho mean!" he cried out. Her jaw dropped in shock.

"Oh I'm mean? I'll show you mean," she growled in his ear. His hand came flying down, his eyes wide and a large grin was spread across his face.

"Nohohohoooo I'm sorry!" he tried pleading.

"Too late babe." She began tapping her nails against the skin. "Guess what shape I'm drawing," she smirked, knowing how much this drove him crazy.

"Noooo you know I hahahate thihis," his words were swallowed by his giggles as she started tracing. Sabrina chuckled evilly.

"You have to guess," she coaxed.

"Hehehexagon!" he cried out. She sucked in a breath through her teeth.

"Ooo sorry. It was a trapezoid." Jimmy threw his head back in defeat, knowing what was to come.

"Please let me try again."

"You know the rules Jimmy." She didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

"Yeah I know the rules but can't you just bend them a little?" he tried to bargain.

"Aw but that's no fun! But you know what is fun?" She didn't wait for him to answer before she exclaimed, "This!" And with that she dug into the muscle on his stomach, kneading and scribbling everywhere she could reach. Jimmy immediately fell into hysterics. He was always terrible at holding back his laughter, one thing Sabrina absolutely adored about him. His hands came flying down and latched onto her wrists, though he didn't push her away. Simply held on as he was lost to his laughter. That didn't last long either, as the sensation was too much to bear and he tried to get away, desperately pushing against the loose fabric of the hammock to get away. This proved harder than he thought. Being suspended in the air meant there was nothing for him to use to adjust his position, thus causing him to sink farther in the hammock.

"Aw what's the matter Jimmy? You're not trying to get away are you?" she asked. She pinched up and down his sides, squeezing at his hips and making him snort loudly.

"Nohoho!" Jimmy answered, going back to hide his face in the crook of his arm.

"You better not be, you know what I'll do once I catch you again," she warned, skittering her nails up his sides and crawling up his ribs before resting right as they reached his pits. He twitched, about to bring his arms down, but Sabrina stopped him.

"Try and keep your arms up," she said. He let out a mix between a whine and a laugh.

"Ihihi cahan't!"

Sabrina rose a brow, "You can try. Here, I'll go slow." She began circling his hallows with a feather light touch. Jimmy's bubbly giggles spilled forth from his lips, squeezing his eyes shut. Sabrina grinned to herself, adding a few more fingers to the tracing. His laughter grew stronger and he gripped the sides of the hammock to keep from slamming his arms down.

Suddenly without warning, she drilled her thumbs in the center of each underarm. He let out a loud shrill scream of laughter, glueing his arms to his sides. He tried to curl in a ball, thrashing from side to side. His legs kicked out behind Sabrina, and she struggled to keep her balance.

"I'll stop if you lift your arms up. My hands are kinda trapped," she emphasized her point by wiggling her hands where they were stuck underneath his arms, making him snort between giggles.

"Nohoho, you'll juhust keep tickling mehehe." Well, he wasn't wrong...

"Look, I'm not doing it anymore." She stilled her wicked fingers to earn back his trust. He was skeptical, he had fallen victim to her deception many times before. Regardless, he tested it. Only for her to go right back to tickling. Jimmy's thrashing coupled with the floppy and tipsy nature of hammocks finally caused Sabrina to lose her balance, falling forward onto Jimmy. But that still didn't stop her.

"Plehehease hahahave mehercy!" he begged.

"Not yet. One last thing, then I'm done. Promise." Using her new position to her advantage, she latched her lips onto the side of his neck, blowing a loud raspberry. Jimmy practically screamed in laughter before falling into silent hysterics as she continued to blow smaller raspberries all over his neck. As she backed off, he regained his voice as his titters trailed off. Just because she felt like it, she ran her tongue along his neck drawing out one final squeal. She looked up at him with dreamy eyes, snuggling deeper into his chest and nestling in beside him.

"I love you," she said.

Jimmy smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I love you too."

As he caught his breath, they just laid there and watched the clouds.

#jimmy chance #sabrina collins #hope chance #burt chance #virginia chance #raising hope #raising hope fic #raising hope tickle fic #ticklish!jimmy

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approximately-32-leafcutter-ants · 2 years ago

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Sending asks while you sleep from my main account while you sleep lol I wish I could switch to my other blogs for asks

Anyways, is there natural berries or mushrooms you can harvest?

Is there something you do that people would be surprised about?

Since you are Midwest and asked me a lot about the lakes, I am guessing you are northern. Because of this, do you enjoy hockey? I ask because the snippets I see it looks nice and surprisingly, my desert town actually has a minor league hockey team, no clue what level or division or anything like that.

i ain't asleep yet mate!

I've never done any mushrooming but i have harvested some berries. I had some wild strawberry growing in my yard growing up though it tasted bitter and dirt and the blueberry bushes were killed by the city because God forbid free food. I don't touch the other berries cause i don't want to die. mostly i preferred harvesting from the wild mint in the yard and chewing the leaves because i like mint, though i learned quickly to use moderation or suffer.

Anyone who knew me would probly be very surprised that I write a lot of poetry for personal use. I enjoy it but don't care to show anyone.

Hockey is okay but Ive never been big into sports, I'll sometimes switch the radio to some baseball or put a soccer game on in the background, but i don't really have an opinion on hockey posi or neg.

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smittenwithlouis · 7 years ago

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Hello! i was just wondering, if you have any snippets of your upcoming tarzan fics? :D

Yes I do! I know its taken me so long to write this fic but hopefully this makes you somewhat excited for it? 🍌🐒🌴🦍🌳

(Please note this hasn’t been beta’d and there might be some grammatical and spelling errors).

Another night was spent with barely any sleep and it’s beginning to take its toll on Louis’ body and mind. He’s been on his own for about five days and his morale is swiftly dwindling. Louis knows he can’t go on another day like this or he will surely go insane. He’s thankful that he has Chip by his side but he needs to feel safe and get actual food in his system.

After a very heated internal debate, he decides to keep walking up the river in hopes that by the grace of God, he finds any clue as to where the hell he is. Chip spends his time clinging on to Louis’ back. He tried to play with Louis earlier in the day but Louis just wasn’t up for it all that much. After all, he’s better off saving his energy foraging for food than playing with a baby chimp.

He did take some pictures of Chip and wrote down his observations from last night. The whole sleeping on the ground thing really threw him for a small loop when he actually thought about it. Alas, he still hasn’t seen any sign of any troop of chimps and thankfully no signs of Bili apes as well.

It’s passed midday when Louis notices the tracks. They’re from a big cat and by the number of them, this is his territory. Louis’ brain tries to think of the quickest way out of the area but it seems like it’s either through the river or through the territory. Louis’ sure he’s seconds away from another mental breakdown.

He’s scared, hungry, tired, and a surrogate mother to a baby chimp. He’s way out of his league with this and all because he was stupid enough to go exploring on his own. Even after Bebe and professor Aoki told him not to. It’s honestly what he deserves.

Louis tries to keep on high alert even if his senses and motor skills are at an all time low. Chip stays relatively quiet as Louis makes his way through the heavy bushes and tries his hardest not to trip with every step.

Louis’ anxiety is quickly building as his eyes move rapidly from left to right. He makes sure to also look up into the trees, jungle cats are known for hiding there, sneak attacking their prey. He tries to keep in my mind that all these animals have zero exposure to humans and he’s not sure how they are going to react. He’s about to take a left when he sees it up on a tree.

Louis knows leopards are nocturnal and spend most of their daytime napping. So it’s no surprise when he sees it doing just that. Louis’ heart starts beating fast as he tries to slowly back away. The leopard must be in deep sleep because it hasn’t taken notice of Louis in the slightest.

He’s so slow in moving, petrified that his heart might rip out of his chest and wake up the leopard any second. Louis is sure he can take a couple more steps back before he makes a run for it. He takes two more retreating steps before every logical thought flies out the window.

Louis’ heartbeat was deafening to his ears. He didn’t hear any noise but his rabbiting heart rate. He did however, see the leopard snap his head in his direction, growling in defense. Thats when all his senses take in his surroundings and the very source of his soon to be downfall; Chip.

Chip is shrieking and oo-ing, jumping on Louis’ shoulders and honestly if Louis didn’t have a heart, he would throttle him in that split second. All Louis sees is the Leopard leap out of his tree when Louis’ survival instinct kicks in.

Mid turn, he grabs Chip from his back and brings him against his chest. He can hear the ferocious growls of the leopard as it takes chase. He feels it, feels the heavy weight of the huge spotted cat barreling against him. Louis falls down so hard the breath is knocked right out of him.

His only thought at that moment is to save Chip. Rebellious and sweet Chip, who has only known danger and terror since before he crossed paths with Louis. He knows the leopard is going to go for his neck so he tries to keep Chip cocooned and away from his sharp teeth or claws.

It only lasts seconds though, because the heavy weight of the cat is gone as soon as it was on. Louis’ head feels fuzzy but his body is filled with adrenaline and its telling him to runrunrun. That thought is quickly interrupted when Chip wiggles from underneath him and starts shrieking his little lungs out. He moves jerkily behind Louis, straight to the jaws of danger and that’s enough to snaps Louis right out of his frozen state. He turns around ready to grab the stupid chimp and run before he gets them both killed. However, the sight before him leaves him completely dumbfounded. Louis doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or admit he’s definitely lost his marbles.

Theres a man, a naked man growling and beating his chest in front of the leopard. The leopard is menacingly staring at the man and his eyes lock on Chip and Louis. Louis’ heart plummets to the ground when the big cat launches for them yet again. Louis lets out a blood curling scream as he falls backwards onto his ass. Chip immediately runs behind Louis with a whimpering sound but the cat doesn’t get anywhere near them. The naked man immediately intercepts the cat and knocks it into the ground.

Louis is so fucking positive he’s actually dead and this is his brain making up some fantasy story about a hot and sweaty, naked man coming to his rescue, because there’s just no fucking way this is actually happening anywhere besides his perverted mind.

His imagination sure is something though.

Louis is stunned as his eyes continue to take in the brutal scene in front of him. He keeps his eyes trailed on the behemoth of a man as he crouches down on all fours and charges towards the leopard yet again, with no ounce of fear in any of his movements.

The cat leaps backwards and growls in warning as the man rises to his full height and pounds on his chest again, accompanied with a menacing growl of his own.

Somehow, some way, the leopard starts backing away immediately. Louis knows most leopards try to avoid humans, rather feasting on primates and small game than fully sized people. Clearly, this one thought Louis would be an easy enough kill but definitely deemed hot naked jungle man superior, not thinking another second before retreating.

Only when the leopard is out of sight does the man fully turn towards them. Before anything can happen though Chip shrieks and oo’s as he leaps from Louis’ back and half runs and crawls towards the man.

Louis’ doesn’t know what to think. He’s stunned, out of breath, and most likely dead but his primatologist mind immediately recognizes the sounds. The love gargles as he likes to call them. It’s a specific low throaty sounds apes make when they meet or greet a family or troop member.

It all makes sense now, why it didn’t take Chip too long to accept Louis. The man and Chip are very well acquainted, Chip is hanging onto the man’s neck as he oo’s and kisses him all over. The man grunting and nuzzling Chip’s fur in return.

It’s a rather endearing sight but Louis needs to get the fuck out of here. Dead or not, he needs to find his camp or peers and leave this nightmare behind. He slowly starts shuffling backwards, cringing when there’s twigs snapping underneath his bum. He places his hands behind to try to push him along faster, slowly lifting his ass off the ground and using his legs to crawl backwards.

Deeming that method useless, he rises to his feet painstakingly slow, holding his breath until he’s completely upright, managing to move undetected until a rather big snap comes from underneath his boot. Louis cringes and closes his eyes tight, not needing to look, to know the naked man zeroed in all his attention towards him.

Xx.

#this is probably SHIT #but I hope its somewhat enjoyable #rip #and it's just one fic #not multiple lol #anon #mydrabbles

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werewolves-are-real · 7 years ago

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Hi, i am sorry for asking you this but today we put our dog down, after fifteen years of caring and loving. this has devastated me and my mental health wasn't in a great place to begin with. I was wondering if maybe you could write a tiny Temeraire fic? or maybe a snippet of what you are working on? anything to help me get distracted? Again sorry for being pushy and thank you for your time.

I’m sorry to hear that! And, you don’t have to apologize. I’m exhausted today and not really in a writing-mood, but here’s a short piece from a WIP that starts during The Black Powder War. (I don’t know if I’ve shown this one? I don’t think so, though).

14thOctober

1807

______________________________

The hill is quiet when Lien touchesdown. Laurence and young Lieutenant Badenhaur crouch flat behind athicket of bushes and watch the Celestial's white wings splay brieflyagainst the sky as she kneels and lets her passenger descend.

The man who appears beside her isarrayed humbly and looks utterly unremarkable; nonetheless heunsettles Laurence. He is cloaked only in the coat of agrenadier-corporal, though his shoulders have no bars, and hisoutsized boots splash over the muddy terrain when he paces. Lien sitsback on her haunches and stares out over the field. The man moves tojoin her. They are both facing away from the bush.

“It will not be long now,” the mansays in French. His voice is strangely accented.

“Of course not,” is Lien's reply.“As I said.” And the man huffs.

All at once Laurence understands.

He turns to make his discovery known,and this is when he realizes that he has been too slow. Badenhaur hashis musket raised to his shoulder. Bullets of sweat gleam against theskin of his neck.

His finger starts to move.

Later, when he looks back on thismoment, Laurence will not understand his own motivations. He willrecognize the intrinsic bonds of honor and yet rebel against deepernotions of duty. But here, now, he only recognizes something worsethan death – cowardice. “Damn you!” he cries, too loud, andshoves the man's hand away.

A shot cracks through the air.

Lien snorts and whirls around. The man– Napoleon Bonaparte – grabs up his sword in a ring of steel.

And Laurence and Badenhaur fall out oftheir bush.

“Damn you, Sir!”Badenhaur cries. The Prussian officer speaks in French, their onlyshared language. His voice holds more fear than anger; they grapplefor the musket and tumble gracelessly over the dirt. “I could havekilled – I could have - “ His voice trembles; the evening lightcatches his face and he looks very young.

“Hold!” criesanother voice finally the two still. Napoleon approaches slowly,sword still raised, and assesses them carefully. “The gun – onthe ground.”

Badenhaur does notmove. With a slow breath Laurence tugs the musket from his fingersand lays it down.

Napoleon's eyesflick to him and to the rank-bars of his coat. But before he canspeak Lien rears to all four and stiffens her ruff. “WilliamLaurence,” she says. “Will you take everyone from me like anassassin in the night? I will kill you before you do.”

“I do not thinkhe meant to kill me,” Napoleon answers her. “ - But you did.”He glances almost dismissively to the lieutenant, then looks back toLaurence. “Why did you stop him?”

Laurence slowlystraightens and regains his feet. “We are not assassins, YourMajesty.”

“I hope not –you are bad at it.” Napoleon taps his boot impatiently against theground. “I thank you for saving my life, Captain, but there islittle I can do to repay you. If I released you here, now, would Ihave your word that you would not return to the fighting – that youwould not tell your compatriots of whatever information you havelearned?”

“No,” Laurencesays honestly. Badenhaur looks at him furiously but says nothing.

Napoleononly nods. He steps closer, sword gleaming. “Then I must haveyour parole,” he says. The weapons hangs between them, sharp butornamental; Lien's loathing is the real threat.

“You have it.” There is littleother choice.

“I will not ask for the word of yourcompanion; I daresay I do not trust it.” With this insult delivered– not unjustly – Napoleon sheathes his weapon and turns to nod atLien. “We will return to camp, then,” he says. “Captain, youcan be sure we will make your time as comfortable as possible.”

“Oh, I do not doubt it,” Laurenceanswers grimly.

_______________________________

“Do you come bearing gifts, MyEmperor?” As they descend a man approaches with the distinctmarkings of a Marshal. “A nice miracle - you leave to scout andreturn with two officers.”

“There has been some miracle,certainly – this man saved my life, though I think he begins toregret it.” This is true enough. “See that he is treated well. Donot trust the other one.”

The mysterious Marshal eyes Laurenceand Badenhaur, but only says, “Of course, Sire.”

There are other prisoners in the camp– a huddled, bitter group of men surrounded by neat lines of Frenchprivates. Badenhaur and Laurence are deposited among the Prussianofficers and left alone.

“Good god,” says the lieutenant.“I could have had him...”

Laurence looks away. One of thePrussians stomps over, his hands thrust under his arms for warmth,and demands something in Russian; Laurence shakes his head. “Icannot understand, Sir.”

Then in French: “What news? Have theEnglish arrived at last? Are we winning?”

Laurence notes the man's rank. “Howold is your news, Major...?”

“Major Pahlke. Two weeks at least.”

“I am very sorry to say thatJena-Auerstadt has fallen, and several other cities; the Russians areretreating.”

The man curses and kicks at theground. “The war could be over now!” Badenhaur bursts suddenly.

“That is quite enough, thank you,”says Laurence sharply.

“Sir - “

The Major frowns between them, butBadenhaur grudgingly falls silent.

The lieutenant has been amongTemeraire's complement for a relatively short time, a borrowedofficer from the ranks of the Prussian aviators to fill theheavy-weight's crew. Laurence has found him dependable but hasty; nowhe watches the man closely, hoping he will do nothing to unhingetheir already untenable position.

They will have to speak later. At lasthe turns back to Pahlke. “Have you heard anything of their plans?”Laurence asks, but the Major only shrugs and shakes his head.

The foreign camp makes an odd sight,and this sense of disconnect only rises the longer Laurence sits andwatches the activity around them. The sibilant sounds of French riseand fall around the camp, lending a strangely alien feel to whatwould otherwise be a mundane picture. There is another difference,too, that strikes Laurence about the French forces; the dragons areeverywhere.

They have not been relegated to somemuddy fields half a league away, and couriers are not skulkingnervously around the edge of the camp. Dragons – so, so manydragons – lay sprawled evenly among the general organized chaos ofthe ranks. Middle-weights, heavy-weights, light-weights. At firstthere seems to be an appalling number of fire-breathers, but thenLaurence realizes that there are a great many painted Papillon-Noirsskulking along the ground in mimicry of their more flamboyantcousins.

Everything is bitterly cold this closeto the edge of the country. Laurence sits down and watches the bustleof the camp slow. Pale stars glare down over the encampment, and hewonders what has become of Temeraire.

______________________________

“March, now, you lazy bastards,”the French aviator tells them without much hurry. “The first tofall behind makes a meal for Pravitas.”

The little Plein-Vite is unlikely toeat anyone, Laurence knows, but this threat affects the Prussianprisoners anyway. They scowl and grumble but keep walking. Therecently named Pravitas, for his part, seems unusually willing tooblige in his role as Terrible Monster; he bounces along after themen and flashes his long talons through the air with great delight.

Light flurries of snow cover the trailahead, but most of it has been pounded into mud and slush by theFrench army. The prisoners struggle along from a considerabledistance. Dragons fly overhead and Laurence squints against thewinter sun to look at them, but he finds only supply-beasts andcouriers - no sign at all of a smooth black hide or an English flag.

Of course Temeraire should not pursuehim. Bringing the eggs to Dover should be – must be – his firstpriority, and Laurence trusts that Granby will recall his duty. Asfor Temeraire himself...

Temeraire has watched the eggs fromTurkey as though he laid them personally. Laurence must trust thatthis unique instinct for paternalism will stall the Celestial where,he acknowledges wincingly, obedience will not; Laurence has noillusions about Temeraire's thoughts on duty and service.

“Yes, Napoleon himself,”Lieutenant Badenhaur says. “Why would I invent such a thing? Didyou not see us land with the Emperor's dragon?”

Laurence stiffens. The noise of theprisoners' march has steadily increased despite the irate demandsfrom the two-hundred-or-so accompanying soldiers. After all, theprisoners themselves care little if they are heard by allied Russianscouts – indeed they they would welcome it. NeverthelessBadenhaur's voice splits clear over the mingled complaints and jeersrunning through the lines. Laurence feels eyes comes to settle on hisback, and they are not friendly.

He keeps walking.

They make the next camp upwind of themain army. Their position is low and the French officers complainbitterly about exposure, the lack of sense implicit in walking towardthe cold Russian north.Laurence does not bother to hope. Snow continues to fall.

The mutinous mutterings of theprisoners are no surprise. Laurence, seeing the suspicious glances heattracts, does not join in any obvious plotting but contents withwandering near the boundaries of the designated holding-area where aperimeter of French guards are stationed.

“Three this week – and I will beglad to call myself a war-hero with no actions to my name,” saysone private to another. They glance at Laurence as he wanders by but,apparently deeming him harmless, continue: “The pickings aregetting slim, anyhow; but I still find it hard to think the Russiansare retreating. Should they not outnumber us?”

“Two to one at least, especiallywith Lefebvre and Davout gone North; but that is nothing new. And theRussians do not have our Little Corporal.” The second privatelaughs.

Good morale is an excellent sign amongsubordinates; it is strangely disheartening among the enemy. Laurencewatches as the shift changes and the two hurry away to huddle by asmall fire. There is some petty satisfaction in that, at least.

Night comes with a forced curfew.Soldiers come through the ranks of prisoners threatening anyone whowon't lay down with the ends of their rifles. Dawn breaks too soonand then they are marching again.

Laurence is intimately glad that hehas never been a foot soldier. The tedium alone is wearisome,especially with no respite or company. He misses Temeraire most ofall; every flash of black looks like the shadow of dragon-wings,though it is ludicrous to think that he would not hear a twenty-tonbeast approaching.

Suddenly the whole procession halts.“Quiet, now,” says one of the French officers. He speaks thecommand in his own language, and a subordinate repeats it in Germanand Russian.

It is evening – the sun is stillhigh enough for Laurence to make out a sudden tension among theofficers. Many of the Frenchmen grip their rifles, some their swords.The Plein-Vite, Pravitus, sits on his haunches looking alert.Laurence stands very still and tries to listen for whatever they haveheard.

The other prisoners have differingideas.

“Hier drüben!”shouts Major Pahlke. “Hier drüben!”

Shapes burst through the distanttreeline. Crackling shots ricochet through the air and shatter,leaving behind only the evidence of a dozen bodies keeling limp andsenseless among the French ranks. Even as these lines stiffen andcome together, tightening for an assault, the Prussian prisonerssurge forward.

Laurence joins them in the madcharge. He has little choice – desperate hands press him forwardfrom every side, and then the first of the unarmed soldiers descendupon their captors.

“Zut!”

A gunshot burstsnear his ear as Laurence plows into a French private; they fallgrappling until Laurence tugs away the man's pistol and hits him overthe head with it. He leaps back to his feet, fumbling to reload;someone jostles him from behind and then falls over, dead from ahead-wound as the shot resounds through the air.

The undermannedFrench lines, besieged on two sides, are already breaking apart.Laurence hears the officers struggling to keep an orderly retreatinstead of letting their men flee in panic. Nearby a group ofsoldiers mass together into a square, so Laurence joins a group ofRussians rushing at them. The square breaks before it forms and theFrench run.

The smoke isclearing already. Laurence follows the Russians until a hand grabshis arm.

“Traitor,”someone says, in alarmingly clear English.

Fire burstsagainst his skull, and Laurence crumples.

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francgreyjoy · 8 years ago

Text

Homer Simpson honored by Baseball Hall of Fame as ‘softball hero’

Although it's no longer "America's favorite pastime," baseball is still at the heart of the county's popular culture and, along those lines, its Hall of Fame just hit a home run by adding Homer Simpson to its ranks.

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On Saturday, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, added the animated character to its list of greats, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the episode "Homer at Bat," which aired in February of 1992.

A legendary reunion to celebrate Homer's "induction" into the Hall of Fame. #HOFHomer #HOFClassic (: Milo Stewart, Jr.)

A post shared by Baseball Hall of Fame (@baseballhall) on May 27, 2017 at 7:44am PDT

Not only did an actual costumed Homer show up to accept the award, but the organization even came up with an award plaque which includes an elaborate inscription.

"Inept safety inspector turned citywide softball hero. Right fielder led Springfield nuclear plant to city championship game, then sacrificed his body to win it all," reads the plaque image, which the Hall of Fame shared on Instagram.

Homer Simpson, welcome to "immortality." #FirstLook #HOFHomer #HOFClassic

A post shared by Baseball Hall of Fame (@baseballhall) on May 27, 2017 at 7:16am PDT

"Nearly supplanted by lineup of all-world superstar ringers, came through in a pinch and came to in time for the next episode. Girthy right-handed hitter powered many a mighty wallop during celebrated 1992 season with 'Wonderbat' his secret weapon. Lack of mobility in the field was no match for moves atop the dugout. Found fame as Bush League mascot phenom, parlaying his 'elephant walk' into a taste of the majors. Unacquainted with scientific concepts, only isotopes of which he was aware played at Duff Stadium, where uncanny knowledge of Southwestern palate exposed teams impending move to Albuquerque."

If you weren't around for that classic episode, you can find probably find snippets of it online if you look hard enough.

In the meantime, bask in the glory of everyone's accidental hero, Homer Jay Simpson, the pride of Springfield and now a peer right alongside baseball's greats.

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