#me when robots and mechanics: um

[erinwantstowrite]

was rereading the Peter "Grayson" scene for to fact check myself in my notes and man. i laugh every time i read it because i know some engineer or science nerd was like "what the HELL are you talking about" the entire time. i absolutely was guessing while writing it. i looked up "things you need to build a robot" and that was it

[kekewrites]

How to make a baby 101

Tw. dubcon, dark content, virginity loss, breeding kink, creampie, size difference, a lil age gap (2-4 years), sex education gone wrong, cunnilingus, coercion, nicknames, creampie, overstimulation, corruption, reader is ignorant and innocent (sheltered, kinda went a bit mute at the snusnu part), nerdy to cocky (character)

***

Step 1: Ask your childhood friend to help you study for your exam.

"Hmm? How to make a baby?" His eyes widen a little, a small flicker of something in his eyes as you ask him about reproduction system or along that line.

"Well," he said slowly, his voice still composed but with a hint of surprise, "that's not quite how it works." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Making a baby is a bit more...complicated than that."

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, you listened attentively as he explained the mechanics of reproduction, his deep voice a low rumble. The bedroom lamp cast a warm glow over the scattered textbooks and printouts, illuminating your curious expression.

"Okay, so the male produces sperm, which are essentially cells with a tail..." He paused, realizing how bizarre that sounded. He pressed on. "Right. And the female ovulates an egg once a month. When the egg is fertilized by the sperm, it starts dividing and..." He flipped to a diagram showing the developing fetus week by week.

Your brow furrowed, your finger tracing the arc of a tiny spine. "But... how does the sperm get inside the egg?" you asked, genuinely puzzled.

He cleared his throat, feeling a bead of sweat trickle down his neck despite the coolness of the room. He'd been dreading this part. "Uh... well, that happens through... sexual intercourse."

You blinked at him, "What's that mean?"

Fuck. Think, choose your words carefully.

"It means... when a man and a woman... um... physically join... their genitals..." His face felt like it was on fire.

You tilted your head, studying him with frank curiosity. "You mean like... when you put your penis in a girl's vagina?"

Direct, to the point, no nonsense. Just like her.

He blinked. Twice. Thrice. "Y-yes. Exactly like that," he managed to croak out.

"And the penis is like a big, FAT sperm," you said, matter-of-factly. "So the sperm comes out of there and swims up to the egg when the girl ovulates, and then they meet and the egg gets fertilized."

He stared at you, momentarily lost for words. "Er... yes. More or less," he agreed weakly.

Jesus fucking christ.

"But... why do you think the penis has to go inside the vagina to do that? Why can't the sperm just swim through the girl's belly button or something?" You asked, genuinely puzzled.

Because it fucking feels incredible, that's why. Among other reasons.

"W-well, because..." He took a deep breath. "The male... releases the sperm directly into the female's reproductive tract... to increase the chances of fertilizing the egg," he said, trying to keep his voice level.

God, could he sound more like a robot?

You nodded slowly, considering this. "Oh. Okay. So... the penis goes inside the vagina, and then the sperm comes out and swims up to the egg. That's how a baby gets made."

You're oversimplifying it, but... yes. Basically.

"That's right," He confirmed, feeling like a fraud. He'd failed to mention the vast majority of the process – the hormones, the emotions, the raw, animalistic need that drove humans to couple.

At least until she's old enough to understand... and maybe hate me for it.

Looking down at the diagrams strewn across the bedspread, frowning slightly. "I still don't really get why the penis has to be inside the vagina though..." she mused. "Is that like... really important?"

Fuck me, it's not just important, it's essential. Indispensable. Irresistible.

And I really need to stop thinking about this before I embarrass myself.

He swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice even. "It's... yes. It's very important. For biological reasons," he said shortly.

Like the fact that a man loses his goddamn mind with lust when he's buried inside a woman's tight, wet heat. Fuck.

"Oh. Okay..." You said slowly. "I guess that makes sense."

Thank fuck for that.

Tapping your chin thoughtfully. "So... the penis gets hard, and then it goes inside the vagina, and then the man ejaculates the sperm, and that's how a baby happens..."

Too fucking right it is. Among other things.

"...and then the egg gets fertilized, and the baby starts growing in the womb..."

He nodded jerkily. "Yes, that's... that's pretty much it," he agreed, feeling like he was standing in the middle of a firing range with a live grenade in his hand.

And I'm the fucking grenade.

"And then the baby comes out and..."

And a man comes so fucking hard he sees stars, buried balls-deep in a woman's clenching, spasming cunt...

You were still talking, but your voice faded into static as a dizzying rush of images flooded his brain. The slick glide of a woman's hot, velvety walls gripping his aching cock like a fist, the filthy slap of skin on skin, the debauched sounds of pleasure spilling from kiss-swollen lips...

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

Step 2: Preparing to make a baby.

"So first you need to get comfortable, lie back on the bed." He instructs calmly, his deep voice low and clear. He watches as you reluctantly complies, easing herself onto the edge of the bed.

"Good girl," he praises softly, careful not to let his growing desire bleed into his tone. "Now spread your legs for me, nice and wide. I need to inspect you closely first."

You hesitate a moment before slowly parting your thighs, revealing your most intimate area to his hungry gaze. He feels his cock twitch in anticipation but forces himself to focus.

"Beautiful..." he murmurs, more to himself than to you. He kneels down between your spread legs, bringing his face level with your core. Inhaling deeply, he catches the scent - musky and heady, already tinged with arousal.

"The first step is to get you nice and excited," he explains, his voice still calm despite the building heat between them. "I'm going to start by stimulating your clit. Can you tell me where that is?"

When you glance down uncertainly, "Shh, it's okay. I'll guide you."

He parts the lower lips with his thumbs, exposing the delicate flesh of your inner walls. Your clit peeks out from beneath its hood, already glistening slightly.

"There it is," he murmurs, tracing the swollen nub with the pad of his thumb. "It's this sensitive little button here. When I touch it, you'll feel sparks of pleasure. Don't fight it."

True to his word, he begins to stroke your clit with a feather-light touch, circling and flicking the sensitive bundle of nerves. Almost immediately, you gasp and writhes beneath his ministrations.

"That's it sweetheart," he encourages, his own breathing growing a bit ragged. "Let yourself feel good. Get nice and wet for me..."

His fingers delve deeper, parting your slick folds and seeking the entrance to her channel. "You're already so wet," he groans softly, feeling her silky walls clench around his probing touch. "That's perfect..."

He works his fingers inside, curling them to brush against that spongey spot deep within, as his thumb continues to circle your clit. The dual stimulation has you arching off the bed, breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

"Good girl, just like that," he praises huskily, pumping his fingers steadily in and out of her tight heat. "You're doing so well, sweetheart. Getting so nice and ready for me..."

He leans in closer, his warm breath ghosting over your drenched folds. The scent of your desire is intoxicating, making his head swim. Unable to resist, he dips his head and runs his tongue along your slit.

"Mmm, you taste divine," he rumbles, his voice vibrating, "I could eat this pretty pussy for hours..."

He seals his lips around your clit and suckles gently. At the same time, he increases the speed and pressure of his fingers pumping into, curling them to ruthlessly stimulate that special spot inside.

You cry out sharply, hips bucking up against his mouth as your pleasure spirals rapidly. He just grips your thighs tighter, holding in place as he continues his relentless assault. Feeling your walls starting to quiver and clench erratically around his plunging fingers.

"That's it, baby," he urges between licks and suckles, his words slightly muffled. "Come for me. I want to feel you come all over my tongue..."

He redoubles his efforts, determined to bring you to the peak of ecstasy. His cock throbs almost painfully in his pants, leaking pre-cum at the thought of burying himself inside.

Crying out, back arching sharply as orgasm crashes over you. Inner muscles clench and spasm around his invading fingers, gushing fluid that he eagerly laps up.

As your spasms slowly subside, his tongue now lapping softly at your sensitive flesh, soothing through the aftershocks. He releases your clit from his lips and places tender kisses along the inner thighs as he slowly withdraws his fingers.

When he finally lifts his head, face is glistening with juices, a look of deep satisfaction on his handsome features. He crawls up your body to capture your lips in a deep, passionate kiss - letting you taste yourself on his tongue.

"Mmm, you're exquisite," he murmurs against her mouth when he finally comes up for air. "So responsive and sweet..."

Step 3: This is how a baby is made.

Taking a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest as he gazes down at you, naked, flushed form. He can still taste you on his tongue.

"Now, sweetheart, the next step is for me to enter you," he explains, his voice low and rough with barely restrained desire. "I'll need to guide myself inside your tight little cunt. It might feel a bit intense at first."

His hands skim down your inner thighs, parting them further as he settles himself between them. With one hand, he frees his aching cock from the confines of his pants. It springs forth, thick and hard, the bulbous head already glistening with pre-cum.

Wrapping his fingers around the base, giving himself a few slow pumps as he lines himself up with your entrance. He can feel the slick folds fluttering against the tip of his member as he teases the opening. Biting his lip, he fights the urge to simply slam forward and bury himself to the hilt. He needs to go slow, to let her adjust to his size.

Slowly, he pushes forward, feeling tight walls parting for his girth. He has to grit his teeth at the exquisite sensation. You let out a shaky moan, fingers digging into the sheets below.

"That's it, baby," He grits out. "Take me inside you, feels so fucking good." He bottoms out with a low groan, heavy balls nestling against your ass. He stays still for a moment, letting you get used to the feeling of being so utterly stuffed full.

Leaning down, he capture your mouth in a searing kiss, swallowing whimpers and moans as he begins to move. He starts with shallow thrusts, withdrawing until just the tip remains inside, before plunging back in to the hilt. Gradually, he increases his pace, his hips rolling in a steady rhythm as he claims her body as his. He savors the taste of your mouth.

He breaks the kiss to trail his lips down the column of your throat, pausing to nip and suck at the racing pulse point. "You feel incredible," he murmurs, his voice rough with desire. "So tight and perfect, like you were made for me..."

His hand drifts down to your breast, cupping the soft mound possessively. He kneads it with gentle pressure, thumb brushing over the stiff peak of her nipple. Feeling it pebble further beneath his touch, he dips his head to take the hardened nub into his mouth.

You gasp sharply, arching up into him as he suckles the nipple, tongue flicking over the sensitive flesh.

"Gonna...fuck...cum inside you," he grunts, feeling his release fast approaching. "Gonna pump you full...make you...mine..."

His strokes become erratic, each driving thrust pushing him closer to the edge. He can feel his cock pulsing and jerking inside her slick sheath, his heavy balls drawing up in anticipation.

"Remember sweetheart," he pants harshly, eyes burning into you. "For me to fill you with my seed...you need to be ready to receive it. Open for me, baby...let me fill you up..."

He reaches down to rub tight circles over throbbing clit, wanting to feel you spasm around him as he finds his release deep inside. The lesson is simple - to make a baby, they both need to let go. Body tenses, muscles coiled taut as a bowstring as he teeters on the brink of ecstasy. With a hoarse shout of your name, he hilts inside one final time and erupts. His cock jerks and pulses, painting the insides white with his hot, thick seed.

"Fuuuuck, yes! Take it baby, take my cum!" eyes squeezing shut as wave after wave of intense pleasure crashes over him. Holding you in place as he empties himself deep inside.

Head thrown back and eyes rolled up as your own climax slams in your core. Milking him for every last drop of his potent release.

They remain locked together, chests heaving and sweat-slicked skin pressed close as they bask in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

"Mmm, you did so well, sweetheart," he murmurs after a long moment, brushing damp strands of hair from your face. "Took every drop like you were made for it."

He leans in to capture your lips in a slow, tender kiss.

"That's how you make a baby," he whispers.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

no one has said anything to me about this yet so i'm coming out and saying it myself

IGNIHYDE DUO (trio) REALLY WERE BOOK 7 MVPS. HOLY CRAP 😭 Of course, that's not to talk down the contributions of the other characters (like damn, did Silver's UM come in clutch, and everyone had their own moments) but!! Right now, there's already a lot of talk about Diasomnia--for good reason, it's their book--so I want to give Ignihyde their stars too.

Like Silver said at the party, none of this would be possible without them and help from S.T.Y.X.! It was Ortho's very nature of being a robot that allowed him a loophole to reach out to Idia and navigate the dreams. Otherwise, Silver would be dream hopping randomly and it would take so much longer to invite all the relevant people. Ortho also helps S.T.Y.X. gather data about the current situation on Sage's Island. And--MAY I ADD????--at one point, Ortho was confronted by THE Malleus Draconia, who threatened to end him on the spot with lightning (which, may I remind you, is something Ortho's official profile states he dislikes). Not only that, but to be brave enough to believe in his brother not rejecting him in favor of a reality in which OG!Ortho never died... ORTHO'S BITE SIZED BUT HE'S SO BRAVE

Then Idia????? He provided a ton of useful support. Making that cheat tool, summoning everyone, coding in all those hacks, explaining what's going on in a way that's easy to digest (and that video????), TELLING MALLEUS TO HIS FACE HE'S TURNING INTO THE RULER OF EVIL... Rushing in to send the sword flying at Malleus when Silver dropped it??????? And can we talk about how he's so pathetically out of shape but pushes himself to sprint to the meeting point anyway?! HIS MOMENT ON THE MAGICAL WHEEL???!??!?!?????? 💀 (otaku) PRINCE RIDING IN ON A (mechanical) HORSE

Let's not forget OG!Ortho too!! He may exist only as an entity in Idia's dream space, but it's so clear he's important too. Maybe not as a physical force, but definitely as emotional support OTL OG!Ortho being so friendly with Idia but then deciding to stand in his way as a "final boss" to test Idia's resolve??? Him sending Idia off by telling him "the entire world is waiting for you", not genuinely wanting to trap him in the cold, dark Underworld... His reappearance in the Ignihyde battle map against Malleus??? POLITELY GREETING MALLEUS AND THEN CASUALLY COMPLIMENTING ORTHO ON HIS NEW GEAR??? I can't with this cuteness 🤡 AND THE WAY ALL THREE OF THEM CALL EACH OTHER BROTHERS...

qebhlqeviyo ygiFWIQEBGT26 1387TGOEBIADGDADBGIPN anNYWAY THAT'S ALL TO sAy I SALuTE THE SHROUD BROTRHERSE 🫡 THEy HARD cARRiED AnD BECAmE THE hEROES THEY WAnTED TO BE AS KIDS… Dreams do come true after all, fellas ❤️

[ihaznoclue]

Ooh goodie 😊! It’s always a good start to the day when I see one of my fav writers with an open request box.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen a Sonic request and as it just so happens, I’ve had a request in mind for this very occasion.

I was thinking of Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles encountering a reader of their own kind struggling to fight off an enemy and comes to their aid. So yes, essentially Sonic and Shadow encounter a hedgehog!reader and Knuckles, an echidna!reader. Gender and romantic/fluff genre will be left up to you as well as who the enemy is. It could be Robotnik or G.U.N or whoever you want.

Can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with regarding this request among the others you’ll receive. But also remember to take care of yourself, keep hydrated and take breaks 💕💖

Pairings -> Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna x Reader

Warnings -> None

Note -> Reader is the same species as them and they are fighting Doctor Robotnik and his robots so they decided to help them

Genre -> Fluff

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Sonic zipped through the forest, his usual cocky grin on his face as his ran past everything while passing by. The wind rushing past him, but something felt different this time, a faint but distinct noise of combat reached his ears as his ear flicked at the noise

He then skidded into a complete halt, spotting another hedgehog that look just like him, but you weren't familiar to him as you were locked into a battle with a group of Eggman's badniks robots. You looked exhausted, struggling to hold their own against the relentless mechanical robots

"Yo! You're gonna want to take a break after fighting with these guys for a while" Sonic called out

You then turned around as you looked startled then nodded as you just wanted a break for yourself

Sonic then gave you a little wink as he started to roll his shoulder as he ready up to beat these egg robots

Without another word, sonic dove into action as he whirled around as he took out the badniks with ease. with every twist and spin of him, sonic was gonna get this done in no time

Finally the last robot fell as it malfunctioned, sonic landing right beside you, arms crossed among his chest and he then smirked again

"So, how about next time you let me take care of these things"

You gave out a little chuckle, giving a tired smile "Thanks you really saved me back there"

Sonic gave you a thumbs up "No problem, I'm just doing what I do best! If you need any more help, don't hesitate to yell out" He then ran off, causing your fur and quills to move around

"Wait! I didn't catch your name!" You yelled out

"Sonic!" He yelled out from a distance and you could clearly tell that he gave you a little wink behind his shoulder than speed off

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

Shadow stood as he watch the chaos unfold right in front of him, seeing you struggling while fighting Eggmans robots

The air around him crackled with the energy a she stood still, unmoving as he focused on your fighting, nothing that you looked like the faker of a hedgehog sonic

Your fighting skills were impressive but looked like you were struggling most of the time, while taking more robots at a time

As you were fighting, shadow teleported right in front of you as he startled you, catching the robots attack form hurting you

"You're outnumbered" Shadows voice called out as he swinged the robot into a wall, causing you to look shocked

"I-I can handle this, I just need to hold out a little longer-"

Shadow didn't wait for you to finished your sentence as with a burst of speed, he unleashed some of his chaos spears, exploding serveal robots that were in his way

"Tsk, Weak" His voice was low and harsh as he now looked at the damaged and broken robots laying in front of him, then turning to you

You then gulped a little until Shadow nodded, "Ah- Thank you.. um"

"Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog.." His red eyes watching them then he turned around walking past the robots, kicking some of them while he walked through

"Stay out of the way next time and let me do all the fighting"

Then he left, leaving you in silence, but with a faint and quiet sense of relief that he was there to help you

KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA

Knuckles was scouting around the house when a loud ramble caught his attention making him sprint in action. He races to the source of noise only to see another echidna fighting Eggmans robots

"Are you crazy?!" Knuckles shouted as he dove into action, hitting his fists into the robot causing them to become damaged

You were highly exhausted as you grunted, swinging your hammer towards a robot that was distracted "I can handle these guys on my own"

Knuckles raised an eyebrows as he hit another one making it fall backwards, a small grin tugging on his lips as he looked at you

"I see, you're brave I'll give you that. but you're fighting a losing battle if your watch your back"

Together, you two made a quick and easy work towards the robots as your attacks were perfectly synchronized with each other. When the last of the robots fell, Knuckles stood proudly, brushing the dust off his knuckle gloves

"You're not bad, what's your name?" Knuckles said

You wiped some dirt off your cheek, offering a smile towards Knuckles

"Name, Name the echidna"

"Knuckles, Knuckles the echidna"

You two then shook hands, Knuckles seeming to have a tight grip with didn't faze you at all

"Well next time name, when you run into trouble around here, don't think twice about asking me for help, us echidna's stay together"

Then Knuckles went off leaving you as you smiled, interested in finding another Echidna on this planet earth

-A<3

[penny-anna]

hi guys!! guess who got more transformers fic recs!! including some WEIRD SHIT!!

Electric Chapel by DesdemonaKaylose

You are cordially invited to the WEDDING of our esteemed LORD MEGATRON and SOME LITTLE GUY HE FOUND IN A BOX.

Megatron attempts to marry Rung. Rung is highly desirable. Skywarp and Thundercracker eat teacups. delightful.

Working Through It by Trinary

“TC,” Skywarp says, “I’m, like, ninety percent sure that humans don’t have interface cables.” Thundercracker squawks and almost knocks him over trying to get the script out of his hands.

robot/robot/human threeway w plug n play interfacing. GOOD robot action.

they say some things just don't wash out by harperuth

The data continued to coalesce with every passing moment he could watch Rodimus and still he couldn’t come to a conclusion. By all accounts it didn’t make any sense. - - - Or, Ultra Magnus struggles to understand Rodimus and his unorthodox fueling habits.

nice little UM and Rod fic!!!

Creep Down the Alleyway, Fly Down the Highway by Nathrakh_Red

Tracks was laughing in a way that’d be sarcastic if it was anyone else, in a way that might’ve ruffled Raoul's feathers if he hadn’t gotten used to the fact that Tracks laughed like a wealthy woman drank— haughtily, self-possessed, and so as not to cause wrinkles. Two different Tracks/Raoul fics!

WAUGHHH!! *biting and chewing these two*

Feel How It Feels by autoschediastic

But Optimus said, "That would be helpful," and a weirdly pleasant warmth spread through Lennox's gut.

some good transformer & human content for u

don't mean to brag, but my bandwidth is fat by harperuth

“Kid,” Ratchet ex-vented, “Did you listen to anything I just said?” Tailgate’s visor flashed, for just a klik. First Aid almost thought it was a trick of the light, “Big war, modified interface arrays, do I want one, et cetera. I listened. And I said no.”

tailgate hot girl summer

Spike Seeks Valve by Baird Crevan (Baird)

“Your name.  Is.  Spike,” Skywarp repeated.  “Yes, that’s what I said!  I am Spike, ally to the Autobots, the defenders of Earth!” Skywarp trembled a little and made a weird giggling noise.  “Uh, wow.  That’s.  Erm, sorry Jazz, I gotta… I gotta steal your Spike.”

i already recced this one but my GOD is it funny

Bottom of the Line by Trinary

Skyfire’s been pining over his lab partner for too long. He could swear Starscream has a thing for him, too, but when they finally get together, it doesn’t go like he expects. Skyfire’s always been told the cold constructed were missing something. He just didn’t think it was this.

u like skystar?? TOP tier skystar right here. recommend watching 'fire in the sky' first if u haven't seen it. for full impact.

how to get away with murder by OccasionalStorytelling

First Aid: You want me to treat you like you’re disposable? I don’t know what kind of data I could have you analyze for me— Rewind: I want you to treat me like I’ve been disposed of. There’s a distinction. The only problem is, they get caught.

we are getting into the weird shit now!! heed the warnings on this one. outstandingly weird n messed up. i love Rewind.

For Educational Purposes Only by keelywolfe

no ao3 summary on this one. bayverse. Sam & Mikaela fuck in front of Ratchet for uhh research. i must stress that this fic is primarily about Ratchet and Mikaela matching each other's freak. i love when Mikaela gets to be a little weirdo.

Viviparity by nine_dandelion

Some things have never been within the purview of mechanical beings, but Cybertronians have always been adaptable. When Ratchet discovers a newly-ignited spark growing inside Rodimus, though, he finds his abilities (and patience) tested.

my friend sent me this one and i was like 'why are u sending me mechpreg' (she knows how i feel about mechpreg) and she was like no no trust me you'll like this one u know what?? she was right. go check it out.

The Way to a Mech's Spark (Is Through His Fuel Tank) by Trinary

Starscream and Skyfire set off on their first Academy mission, and Starscream doesn’t consider the logistics of fuel until much, much too late. Skyfire isn’t keeping it in cubes—it’s in his auxiliary tanks, and there’s only one way to get it out. Starscream’s plating heats just thinking of it. He knows he can’t ask without embarrassing himself. He can make the whole trip without refueling, right?

FABULOUS living robot spaceship specific kink. love it.

ok that's all for now!! wahoo!!!

[ducksido]

Hai! It’s ur fav Idia anon😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈 okay hear me out, Idia with a half frank stein half cyborg reader. Like reader has an electric heart and organs but a human brain and is like made out of like ten dead human parts, oil for blood type. So Idia is just like checking up on their vital robot organs on his computer, like using wires to connect to reader’s organs (entry thing on back??) while reader is on his lap, just relaxing and chilling, and u can interpret the rest😝😝😝😝😝

[Yes you are my favourite Idia anon😁]

(Tw: mild body horror mentions, nothing gory, just wires and weird organs. Soft vibes override.)

The room is bathed in a neon-blue glow, flickering slightly as a screen updates line after line of data—pulses, pressure, charge levels, synaptic fire. All of it you.

“Okay, okay… entry port's clean, transmission’s stable…” Idia mutters, fingers dancing across his keyboard, fast as lightning, faster than your own synthetic nerve relays. His hair pulses in hues of cerulean and violet, glowing brighter every time your vitals spike. Which they do. Every time you shift in his lap.

You’re leaned back against his chest, legs folded sideways over his, like a puzzle piece slotted in place. Calm. Almost sleepy. Like it’s normal to have a bunch of cables trailing from the base of your spine, connecting your bio-mechanical organs directly into Idia’s rig.

Your heart? Electric. Hums like an engine when you're content. Your lungs? Powered by soft hydraulic pulses that compress with a hiss and expand with a shudder. And Idia? Well, he’s obsessed.

Not in the "science project" kind of way. More like the "I can't believe you're real and I get to be the only one who gets this close to your wiring" kind of way.

"How’re you feeling?" he asks, voice unusually quiet. His hand’s resting over your sternum, right above the casing where your electric heart clicks and pulses like a steady metronome.

"Warm," you murmur. “Even with the oil circulation. Feels… nice.”

That makes him freeze for a nanosecond. Nice. Nice? YOU think it’s nice??? His brain blue-screens. You’re literally half-built from corpses and spare parts—there’s tubing under your skin instead of veins, a synth-liver that processes coolant, and an actual operating system that pings him when your battery’s low. And you're just… on his lap like a cat.

“Uhh… yeah… obviously it’s nice. My setup is, like, peak comfort optimization. Nothing less for my… my um…”

He trails off.

You blink up at him. “Your…?”

"...My favorite test subject." He coughs. Loudly. “N-not in a creepy way!! Just, like, statistically you’re the one I monitor the most, so it’s just accurate, you know?? Purely clinical—"

You tilt your head back a little more so you can look up at him with that half-synthetic eye of yours that flickers softly when you smile.

“Idia.”

He stiffens.

"You don't need to short-circuit over every compliment."

"...I d-don’t short-circuit." (He does.) (He literally does. Your neural link picks up a micro surge in his output whenever you’re too close. Which is always.)

Still, he leans down, brushing his nose against the crown of your head. “Just sayin’. No one else gets to do this. Monitor you, I mean. Tinker. Maintain. You’ve got, like, a whole corpse-Wi-Fi situation going on, and I’m the only one who knows the password.”

You hum again. You like that. The idea of belonging—not as a project, but as a person only he understands.

“Okay, diagnostics are good. All organ-tech’s running smooth. Heartbeat's in the sweet zone. No overheating.” He lets the wires retract with a whirr, but doesn’t move you off his lap. If anything, he wraps his arms a little tighter around your waist. “Guess I’ll just keep you here a little longer. For observation. You know. For science.”

You smile, letting your body rest fully against him, your cold frame soaking in his heat.

“Sure, doc. For science.”

[tripleglitchwriting]

Kinesthesis 3

Jazz/Prowl/HumanReader first contact AU

Part 2

I am so sorry this took so long 😭 but I finally got something out! This was written over the course of multiple months so if it’s inconsistent that’s why. Over my impromptu hiatus I’ve grown as a writer and as a person so that will probably change the way this story goes, but not to worry! I still plan on carrying on with this fic.

Be aware that I may not remember things about that last two chapters before this because it’s been a while. If you find any mistakes, let me know!

Also, thank you to the anons that encouraged me to keep going! This one goes out to you.

So, now you have quite a few problems. Not only were the ‘robots’ alive, they were also obviously damaged and asking for your help. Your help. Of all people. You still didn’t know where they came from, if someone was piloting them, how they got here, what that blue liquid was, or why one of them only made weird metallic scratching sounds. That one in particular really freaked you out when it first started ‘speaking’. At the time, you immediately assumed there was a metal demon somewhere coming to eat you.

Instead of that, they were just giant robots asking for your help in the middle of asscrack nowhere. Very simple. Foolproof, even. Nothing wrong there.

“I’m… going to get to work.” You told the one apparently named ‘Prowl’. He didn’t make any sputtering noises at you this time, so you took that as your go-ahead.

He was huge. Well, you knew that, but it was still jarring. You had to literally climb him to get to his wounds. Delicately placing your rag to the injured spot on his neck, you could feel the pump of something akin to a heart under the metal. Now that was weird. Wait, maybe it was just a fuel pump of somesort. He couldn’t… it couldn't have an actual heartbeat, right? Robots don’t have heartbeats.

That isn’t possible.

After a bit of cleaning up blue liquid and trying not to cut yourself on shards of metal, a realization dawned on you. These guys were more complicated than you thought. Really, a robot shouldn’t have this much… everything. They shouldn’t have half of whatever parts are in them. What kind of coding was driving them anyway? What fuel did they even use? The blue stuff?

Oh, who are you kidding. They aren’t robots. They can’t be. They can’t just be robots. They fell from the sky, of course they can’t be robots! Your heart picked up its already erratic pace, yet even with shaky hands, your work took priority.

Soon after there wasn’t a hole in Prowl anymore. Not one on his neck, anyway. You counted that as a win. But seeing as there were way more lacerations, dents, and cuts all over both of them, you definitely had the rest of your work cut out for you.

Simple. Foolproof, even. Nothing wrong there.

—---------------------

Jazz, with his sight still mostly busted, anxiously awaited some sort of indicator that the person helping them was actually patching up Prowl. They seemed pretty stunned earlier. Scared. He had assumed they’d run away and get help. That would be a more reasonable reaction, right?

Obviously it was probably better that they didn’t, this was a completely new planet after all. They’d be scrap if it weren’t for this random person helping them out. This person that is native to this new planet. With… no knowledge of Cybertronian biology- oh scrap. This person had no idea what they were doing!

“W – it! Wa– a - i!” Staticy, barely understandable garble came out of his vocalizer. He heard a tiny peep out of the little guy and a kind of ‘hrmph’ from Prowl.

“What? What is it? Did I do something wrong?” They squeaked in a comically high-pitch tone. “I- I’m sorry, I- know mechanics but this is kind of different and I don’t want to hurt anybody I just-”

“Y- yo- u kno- me- c– nics?”

“Um, yeah, it’s what I do. For school.”

“S- – -ry f’r t--e frig–t, I’m j-st co– m– in’ to–my–sen s- s- ses, an’ rel-i’ed wher– we ar’... an’ I don’ kn- kn- kn- – -w… ca—n– ya- re- – -y fi- x us?”

“O- oh, n- now yo- -y questi- on it?” Prowl commented from the sidelines. Jazz deliberately ignored him.

“I mean, I can, I just need some time to figure everything out… i- it doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“W- Wha-t’s’t sayi- in- ing?”

“A- askin’ i- if it- it- it- hu- – -ts.”

“O- of co- rs’ it h-urts!”

“Wait, what’s he saying?”

Jazz cringed for a moment, realizing just how taxing it’s going to be on him to keep translating. Of course, he decided to use it to his advantage. Why not have some fun in the face of certain death?

“H- he s’ys h’s t—ckl’sh.”

“Oh, um, okay. Does that mean you guys can’t feel pain? Like, can I go harder with this? I have some power tools I can use back in—” Okay. Bad plan.

“N- N- N-O we C- – -N Fe’L It!”

“Oh, um, can or can’t?”

“C- C- C- C- CAAIIIEEEZZZZzzzt!” His vocalizer gave off a pointedly unpleasant sound just before shorting out.

“Is that… should I know what that means?” Jazz took a second to reset his vocalizer.

“N- n- n- o… b- b’t w– fe’l pa’n… i–t h- – -rts…”

“Can feel pain, got it. Um, is your voice okay? I can try fixing it… if that’s a thing I can fix…?” As much as he appreciated the gesture, Jazz wasn’t ready for that kind of operation.

“N- n - o thn’ks.”

“Alright… I’m gonna keep going here then.”

It was then, nearly offline, cut off from most forms of communication, on a completely alien planet, that Jazz realized this might be a little bit too much to handle.

“Y- y- you—re an ‘di—ot.”

“M- ay’e… bu— ‘least I c’n t- t- ta-k to ou- fr’nd ‘ere.”

“It’s Wh—lja’k, o- of c-cou’se I d- di—-nnooowoowOWW!” Jazz heard a loud crash followed by a tiny scream.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, what did I do? I- I didn’t know, oh my god…”

“Wh—t? —at ‘appe— d?!”

“I- I’m sorry, I think I hit something, I’m so sorry!”

“Pr—ler? P—owl!?”

He got a groan in response. A groan and a new, distinct, clear sound.

“—bbzzzt —- bzzzt ——tobots! This is Optim— —ime. If yo- can hear thi-, heed my call. The Arc is inoperable. Most of you are scattered across an alien world. While I do not know where the Decepticons have landed, I can confirm they are on the planet with us. Do not lose hope here, my friends. For the fate of Cybertron and the remaining Autobots rests in your capable servos. Attached to this message are the coordinates to the Arc, I will be waiting for you there. Good luck—- bzzzt —— bzzzt—-!”

The three sat in silence. While he couldn’t see the hologram that was most likely coming from Prowl’s projector, he heard what the message contained. They were safe. Optimus was safe. And he once again had a goal to achieve.

“Wh- what the hell was that!?”

“Th’nk Pri—us…” Prowl whispered.

“It -as… a- a- f- fri—nd.”

“Oh, okay. What did your friend say?”

“Th— w- we ha— so—me-here t- be.” Jazz attempted to move his body, but was once again denied. “W- we n- n- ne—d to g—-!”

“Hey, woah woah woah! You are not well enough to get up yet! I haven’t even started patching you up!”

“Aau—augh! I- I- kn— Ratc— uh, I- I- I kno—“

“Settle down. I- I’ll be as fast as I can, alright?”

Jazz huffed in halfhearted agreement. Prowl, on the other hand…

—---------------------

He thought this was an incredible waste of their time. Oh, sure, he needed to be fixed, but he was doing just fine now and he did not need help from a mysterious stranger he couldn’t understand. How could he, Prowl of Petrex, need the help of a tiny little creature like this one? There was no such need. The only need he had was to get himself and Jazz functional again, report back to Optimus, and win the war.

He tried to get up. After about half a second of metal creaking, unconscious groaning, and a little squeak from his benefactor, his body gave out. His spark burned with a searing mixture of frustration and stress as he tried to clench a servo. But of course he couldn’t. Of course he was stuck. Injured, vulnerable, and useless. But still, Optimus needed him. Needed them. So he needed to get up!

“C- cal- m d- do— n Pr—‘er… ye’ sca- a- rin’ ‘em…” He could hear panicked chittering from somewhere on top of him. He had half a mind to shoo the thing away, but even if he could raise his servo, he knew this was his only hope. He would never admit that, obviously, but deep in his spark he knew.

He didn’t respond to Jazz. He didn’t need to. He just focused on the little twinge of pain somewhere atop his chassis and a wound being sealed. A familiar feeling. Not too familiar, not like this, but enough to be comforting.

He imagined the medbay in the Arc. That time when they defeated the enemy and no one had to die. They won, and everyone cheered and celebrated and did whatever people do to express joy during a war.

He was unconscious for cycles. Just because nobody died doesn’t mean nobody was hurt. And he was really, really hurt. But it didn’t matter, not even to him. Moments like that are rare, after all. When one could rejoice without mourning the loss of a friend. He’d only expected Ratchet or First Aid to stay with him during that time. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the spoils of victory? No one is willing to give up a moment of solace like that. No one is stupid enough to pass up the opportunity for happiness. Except Jazz.

Jazz stayed with him the whole time. He stayed by his bedside, refusing to leave once the required surgery was over. He brought glasses of energon for both of them. To share.

Prowl didn’t wake up then. He missed the party and the congratulations and the relief. He missed Jazz telling him stories and about his day. He missed when the rest of the crew stopped by to check on him. When he did finally come out of stasis, Jazz wasn’t there. Not of his own volition, but because he passed out on the floor due to exhaustion. They both got a long lecture about taking care of themself from Ratchet when it was over.

And Jazz is there, now, still with him. Bleeding out and broken, but still there. And Prowl was powerless to help him. His HUD sang one final message in his head before it went suddenly silent, and he fell helplessly into the deep abyss of stasis.

[sophswritingthings]

explosive - hazel callahan 

pairing: hazel callahan x forfem!cheerleader!reader

warning(s): no warnings, actually! it’s just really fluffy <3 swearing, tho!

tropes: fluff, friends to lovers, sort of canon compliant, first kiss

summary: hazel’s had a crush on you forever. and it really comes to a boiling point when you and the girls go to tp and egg jeff's house. and when she, y'know, set offs a bomb.

a/n: was hazel knowing how to make a bomb hot…….. or was that just me?

word count: 1,144 words / 6,176 characters

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

hazel was watching you from afar; her eyes trailing up and down your figure. your cute, graphic tee to your lazy comfy sweatpants; which, she only knew your wore when you wanted to get messy. since, you only ever wore them during your art class. 

“hazel, your fucking staring her down,” pj glared at the girl beside her. “you're such a stalker.”

“I— i am not!” hazel hissed back, “I’m… gonna go work on that bomb now.”

meanwhile, you were sort of watching her too. the way her eyes creased together into somewhat of an angry look; but you didn’t think you'd ever seen hazel callahan truly angry. 

that was besides the point.

you thought she was adorable, to which, she was. 

and those thoughts were now dragging you toward jeff's car, where hazel was slipped under. her marked up convers were hanging out from the top of the car.

“hey, hazel.”

the car almost jerked up, and you heard a “fuck” from under the car. you couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, though you did wonder if she was okay. 

“you okay, hazel? I didn’t mean to spook you. probably should have thought about that before I came up on someone under a car, huh?” you chuckle in response.

“I-it’s fine,” she says from under the car, her voice choked up. she was nervous, and her face was best red—glad that it was hidden under the body of the car. 

“you sure?” you cock your head, bending down to be sat on your knees. “that sounded kinda painful.”

hazel hums a little, “mm-hm!” in a response. she slides out from under the car for a moment. she wanted to see your beautiful face, even if hers was currently covered in soot and ash.

and even if it was beat red.

than a loud, shrill beep sounded from under the car.

“um, hazel, is that something we should be concerned about——“

out of instinct, she grasps your hand tight. she pulls herself to her feet, as well as you, and begins to charge for their “getaway” car. she slides into the backseat, pulling you in beside her.

after a few seconds, you feel her hand still clasped around yours. It made your heart beat a million miles a minute, her rough, coarse hands rubbing against yours. In comparison, yours were small and soft. holding a hand like hazel's felt…

… nice.

a few moments later, you feel those same hands covering your ears, pulling your head close to the crook of her neck. instead of covering her own ears, she covered yours, as if you didn’t have the hands to do so.

she was so cute. so thoughtful…

you two were, as of now, in the car alone. despite the damn bomb going off; the girls still hadn’t hopped back in the car, hadn’t driven away.

that left you alone with a hot girl you had a crush on. 

and you were pretty sure she liked you, too.

“so,” you gently nudge your knee against hazel’s. “how the hell do you know how to make a bomb?” you scoff, glancing at her with a playful expression.

“Its… not that hard,” she laughs, looking bashful as ever. “not like I’m some child genius.”

“still impressive,” you nudge your knee against her's again, causing her to look up at you, “learn that in robotics, or somethin’?”

she shrugs, “um, the mechanics of the it, sure,” hazel clears her throat. “rest online…”

“it’s.. it’s. yeah, it’s cool.” you smile softly. you gaze at her, maybe for a moment too long, your eyes locked together. “hazel… I… um—“

your words are cut off. 

the rest of the girls slide into the car. 

two more slide into the back, isabel and brittany. they pressed the two girls closer together, your thigh pressed gently against hazel’s. it made you blush, sure, but—it felt good. It felt… right.

you and hazel glance at each other, laughing softly. it’s a knowing laugh. you know what you were going to say; and you hoped you'd get the chance to finish it later. It was hazel's car that they were driving in, after all. they'd have to drop isabel and brittany off, drop pj off, let josie drive herself home than—

—it would be just you two.

twenty minutes of driving later and it’s just the two of you. you’ve moved into the drivers and passengers seat, the only sound between you two for a moment is the sound of the heater in hazel’s car rumbling to keep you warm in the cold weather.

“.. I have a feeling you knew what I was gonna say.. don’t you?” you chuckle, your cheeks bright red as you gaze out the windshield in front of you.

“.. I-I could guess,” hazel murmurs, her fingers tapping against the leather steering wheel. “because I kind wanted to say it, too.”

you pause. you had a feeling that it was reciprocated, but god to hear it out loud…

“well, than..” you whisper, “good to know.”

hazel chuckles, “yeah.. that’s pretty good to know.”

you laugh right back, realizing how stupid your words actually sounded.

you grab your purse as the car comes to a stop outside your large house. you open the passengers door, stepping outside the car.

and, unsurprisingly, hazel has followed you.

“so,” your eyes trail up her body, landing on her beautiful blue eyes. “could I say it’s pretty evident that i’d really like to kiss you right now?”

“you.. could say that.” hazel murmured, resting a hand on your cheek. she began to lean down, considering your height difference. her lips where inches from yours. “can I—“

before she gets to finish her question, you gently press your lips against hers. they’re warm; and taste almost like a hint of vanilla lipgloss. 

It was good. It was all so good. It felt like your insides were exploding, from the idea. your stomach squirming, your hands twitching on the back of hazel’s neck—which, you were sure she could feel.

when you pulled back, you took in a little gasp of air.

“a date, than?” you prompt, smiling. “how does tomorrow sound?”

“tomorrow?” her eyes light up at the thought. she didn’t think you’d wanna go on a date with her that soon. “sounds perfect. I—I’ll come and pick you up?”

“amazing,” you nod your head, giving her a smile and a wave over your shoulder as you walk toward your house. 

she watched as you slipped inside, leaning against her car with her arms folded. the idea that such an amazing girl would like… her? the loser masc lesbian is who nobody talked to?

the idea was foreign to her.

yet here you were, kissing her and asking her on a date. 

it was all so… amazing, to her.

she couldn’t wait. not one second.

[bluebellowl]

@meltedmilkteeth

Thank you!! They better! I've worked so hard for like two months now? Idk why but 3D art just sucks me in so hard, every time I open blender I'm in there till like 4 am

at anon Why. Why would you do that? It's just hurting their feelings and your foot. nobody wins.

at anon Really? Um.. thank you? It might be a skill issue there. I'm still learning how to do smooth 3D animation. But yeah Ingo also is animated using irl robots making him extra stiff. He was even more janky in the process.

@golden-buddle They respect and trust her and their platonic love goes deep! She's the one they come to when they have problems, mechanical or soul wise or just for maintanance.

Vincent and Aiden are newer additions so while they each specialise on one of the twins, making them close too, Elesa has been there from the start so their bond is the deepest with her.

@bananacreamphi Thanks! I did have fun making them noodles! Mmm blueberry noodles....

@lil-ms-dipst I've never played Lethal Company and I had to google it. So it's a survival horror game? Judging by their pokemon they both don't scare easily. Ingo has a ghost pokemon that haunts people and then eats their souls while Emmet has a gigantic spider!

I'm not sure how much of this game is skill and luck but at the skill part they'd ace this! Especially together. Nothing beats these perfectly synced nerves of steel!

at anon perhaps? I did have a similar journey so welcome aboard!! These two just fit together so well! Especially SB where you get to be buddies with a giant animatronic?? What submas fan wouldn't wanna be buddies with a giant subway boss animatronic?? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh dear looks like I lost one. I remember someone asking if I could show some funky animation mistakes bc they heard they tend to be hilarous. The absolutely are!! and I should certainly make a compilation post of some of them.

[tagsecretsanta]

From @idontknowreallywhy

From @idontknowreallywhy to @womble1

My prompts were:

1. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

2. The sound of laughter.

3. Sirens blared, warning of the approaching...

Things went a little… bizarre 🤣 (Apologies in advance for the earworms)

A Refrigeration Situation

Sirens blared, warning of the approaching apocalypse.

Or at least that was the impression the sociopath who had chosen this frantic tri-tone screeching sound clearly wanted to inflict upon the eventual owner of their top of the range high tech appliance.

The very one Virgil was about to take a wrench to. A heavy wrench.

Except that doing so would mean he had to remove at least one of the hands he had clamped hard over his ears. And he was not ready for that yet.

His teeth vibrated at the frequency of unbearable and he yelled Brains’ name again. No way of knowing if there was a reply because he would likely never hear again.

Alright, deep breath. It was no worse than that time Gordo tried to learn the bagpipes.

He shuffled closer to the cursed thing and peered at the luminous green and yellow message flashing from the excessively complicated control panel.

TEMPERATURE WARNING!

Oopsie!!! Too toasty right now!

… what the?

Virgil prodded the “more info” button with his elbow and was rewarded with an error code and a string of screaming face emojis.

“EOS?!” He bellowed above the din “You have the manual for this thing? What is Error Code S1E11?”

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

The first indication that everything had gone sideways was when MAX shot through the living room and out again bleeping frantically and waving his arms around. This didn’t cause much of a flickering of Tracy eyelids because it had happened so many times before when Brains had started musing about extreme upgrades to his mechanical assistant. As MAX’s personality developed, so it seemed did his sense of self and his attachment to his physical form. Brains did not share this attachment and thus MAX continued to evolve and generally came to enjoy the additions to his capabilities eventually. Virgil remained unconvinced that MAX’s new ability to hover 6cm above the floor was really worth the shrill daggers of noise produced by six tiny VTOL jets but most of Brains’ inventions came in handy in unexpected ways so he wasn’t about to argue.

What made today’s demonstration of those rockets weird though, was that MAX zoomed straight out of the glass doors, off the balcony and into the swimming pool.

Whereupon he sank like a stone.

And stayed there. His inflatable water wings remained inactive, which again was odd because the trigger was supposed to be automatic. They’d seen them in action on many sunny afternoons when Brains firmly refused all invitations to join the pool party but his robot assistant had attended in his stead.

Gordon promptly dived in to rescue him. MAX refused to be rescued.

There was no response on the internal comms so Virgil had volunteered to take the elevator down to Brains’ lab to let him know. And to check everything was… well… alright with their resident genius.

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

The speaker by the ceiling crackled into life and Virgil’s digital niece appeared to be singing at him. Loudly. And just a fraction of a fraction off key:

“Why’d ya have to make things so complicateeeeeeeed?”

“EOS?”

“I see the way you’re acting like you’re someone else, gets me frustrateeeeeeeed!”

“Um… right.”

Virgil stood frozen in the confluence of two sonic hellscapes.

“We might have a situation!” EOS’s feed was suddenly cut and replaced with his brother’s shout.

John materialised with Brains at his heels.

“You don’t say.” Virgil yelled back.

“We have to shut it down.”

“Right! It’s painful!”

“Not the noise the whole…“ John waved his tablet at the fridge and continued at the top of his voice. “EOS is in defence mode - when she detects a hostile digital presence she sings at it and refuses to accept any incoming data. I suggested it as an improvement to the LALALALALALALA approach she took with me.”

“You suggested Avril Lavigne?!”

“She’s going through a… phase.”

“EOS is going through a pop punk phase?”

“Last week it was Irish boybands. There was… a discussion. My musical tastes were found lacking and I have deemed it prudent not to comment any further on the topic.”

Virgil was saved from working out how to tactfully respond by the remainder of his brothers thundering down the corridor.

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

“Oh! It’s just Fridgey!” Gordon skipped up, confident he could save the day and double tapped the control panel in the top right, just like the saleswoman had shown him. The noise stopped. Virgil remained frozen in place, looking as though somebody had hit him with a spade.

Scott prised his brothers’ hands from his ears.

“Virgil, you with us?”

Scott patted the bear on the shoulder then shifted The Look at him.

“Gordon, did it come with a manual?”

“Pfft what comes with a manual these days? It’s all inbuilt…” he poked at the control panel again but the error code persisted. “Ok maybe we could Google it?”

John hissed.

“Or any search engine or hacking method of your preference, Johnny boy”

“Don’t call me Johnny. What’s the model number?”

“Ooh no idea err….” Gordon swept his eyes over the front face of the refrigeration unit until his eyes alighted on the embossed text on the bottom left.

“It’s called FRIDGLER 4000”

Scott’s head snapped up.

“YOU BOUGHT A FRIDGE FROM FISCHLER???!!!”

There was a silence.

“LANGSTROM FISCHLER???!!!”

Oh crap.

“I didn’t know it was him!!! I thought he just made weather stuff!! And stupid rockets! I just thought it was a cute name for a fridge! I… I was more focussed on the Features.”

“What feature could possibly be more important than it being made by that… by that…” Scott, aware of Grandma’s approach from the elevator, reached for an appropriate word but floundered.

“Rat-faced weasel?” Alan ventured and then blushed as he received his eldest brother’s finger guns of approval.

Gordon didn’t need those. He didn’t. But he did desperately need to justify himself.

“It was the biggest I could get for the budget you gave me! It was internet-linked to make the grocery run easier - Grandma liked that! And it had cool features like the snow cone maker, everyone has enjoyed those! And… and the instafreeze Virg and Brains have used that loads for their espresso cubes this summer… and there was that special humidity-controlled section to stop your pie crusts getting soggy, Scooter! You weren’t complaining about that!!!”

Gordon looked around at a full house of angry Tracy eyebrows.

“I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS GONNA GET SENTIENT AND START FIGHTING EOS.”

John pointed one shaking finger at the sickeningly cute animation of a bubbling conical flask beaming happily at them all from the control panel.

“None of you noticed it either…” that may have been whinier than Gordon was proud of.

Maybe it was the reminder that his little brother appreciated the importance of a reasonably firm crust that softened the big brotherly heart. Maybe it was just the realisation that said crusts were unchilling… and fast. Either way? Scott intervened just as Alan opened his mouth to add his verbal interpretation of John’s silent scorn.

“Alright. This isn’t getting us anywhere. What we need to focus on is how to fix the situation. Our first priority has to be saving the food else it’s gonna be a lean, lean Christmas.”

Vehement agreement filled the air.

“What are our options? The kitchen fridge has limited free space. Hmmm. Brains, can we use your cold storage in the lab?”

“Ah w-well there are a f-f-few p-p-p-projects whose g-gaseous em-missions m-might interact p-p-p-p-problematically w-with items intended f-for human c-c-c-c-consumption…”

“You’ve been making new engine coolants again.” John stated with a sigh.

“Y-yes. Incredibly t-t-toxic.”

“We can’t risk a toxic turkey.” Virgil mused.

“Or a noxious nut roast?” Alan added tentatively.

“Or lethal lebkuchen dough!” Gordon accepted Alan’s high five.

“Or fatal figgy pudding” John added in a disarmingly perfect British accent.

“Or soggy crusts.” Scott added distractedly, poking cautiously at the twinkling control panel

Gordon was shook. His facepalm echoed down the corridor. “BRO… you wound me deeply! “Poisoned pie” was right there for the taking. RIGHT THERE.”

Scott was spared the shame of acknowledging this failure by a sickeningly cheery voice blaring out from a hidden speaker.

“Good Evening Insert-User-Name-Here! You have activated Voice Control, you clever sausage. Please speak your command loudly and cheerfully!”

Scott swore under his breath as his siblings chorused their disapproval.

“W-well it m-might work.”

Even as the words left his mouth Brains rolled his eyes at his own optimism. Gordon felt compelled to defend the indefensible.

“It might! He’s got to get lucky sometimes, right?”

Brains snorted.

“Well what choice do we have?” Virgil gestured at Scott to give it a go.

Scott nodded and visibly steeled himself as if about to leap into an abyss. He cleared his throat and used his clearest most commanding voice:

“Set refrigeration temperature to 2 degrees Celsius.”

“Oooh someone’s a grumpy pants. Give it another go.”

“What?!!”

“I don’t think it was cheerful enough bro.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” Scott rolled his eyes and tried again.

“Oooh someone’s a grumpy pants. Give it another go.”

“I’M PERFECTLY CHEERFUL! I AM A RAY OF SUNSHINE!”

“Scotty Scotty Scotty…” Gordon inserted himself between the control panel and the man who appeared ready to break it with his face. “Allow me.”

“Hey hey fridgey buddy! It would be awesome if you could maintain a steady refrigeration temperature of two degrees Celsius. Thanks a million!”

There was a slight pause.

“Hmm your accent’s a bit funny isn’t it but I think I got it. Switching to proving drawer mode. Target temperature 38 degrees Celsius. Your rise is going to be GLORIOUS!”

Ah.

“NONONONONOOOOOOOO!!” Scott howled and yanked on the handle which refused to budge.

“Uh uh! No peeking! Patience is the most important ingredient in bread making. I’ve cleverly applied the locks so you won’t be tempted!”

“You’re a fridge!!! Make it cold! Make it COLD!! Don’t ruin my crusts!” He sank to his knees and hammered on the door as if his beloved pastry might hear and open it from the inside.

Gordon, detecting a dangerous deterioration in his elder brother’s grip on sanity, shuffled hurriedly backwards. Virgil growled and ran from the room.

John stabbed at his tablet “Unbelievable! This thing is unhackable. The code is completely illogical. I think this part is the dna sequence of a banana…”

Alan nodded seriously as if he too could recognise the genome of any given fruit on sight. John sighed.

“EOS? It’s me. Please engage? This is an emergency situation.”

The AI passionately informed him that he was a skater boy.

Alan edged himself towards the control panel and peered at it thoughtfully. Perhaps it was something Game Theory could help with.

The happy conical flask bubbled innocently at him as if to say “Press me! Go on! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I w-would advise against…”

Brains advice was interrupted by the sound of the door at the end of the corridor flying off its hinges and the familiar hiss-whine of an exo-suit powered by angry eyebrows. NOTHING and NOBODY would make Scott beg and remain in one piece.

Alan pressed the button. A twangy guitar riff was followed by the cheery voice crooning “oooh, baby”.

Alan took personal offence and punched it. The track increased in speed:

“OohbabyoohbabyIt'smakingmecrazyit'smakingmecrazyEverytimeIlookaroundlookaroundEverytimeIlookaroundeverytimeIlookaroundit’sinmyfacehowvbizarrehowbizarrehowbizarrehowbizzzzz”

Virgil emitted something akin to a war cry and tried to reach around his sobbing elder brother to rip the door from the cursed appliance when suddenly everything went quiet.

Kayo walked around the side of the fridge holding a cable with a plug dangling limply from the end.

Grandma gasped. Alan blinked. Brains’ jaw dropped. Scott sniffled. Virgil’s exo-suit wheezed as he sagged in relief. John head butted his tablet.

Gordon sat on the floor and laughed hysterically.

Kayo handed the plug to Virgil who crushed it with his pincers.

Scott scrambled to his feet and dragged the door open and the family feasted their eyes upon their festive bounty.

“Well, we’d better get all this upstairs to the other fridge then? hadn’t we?” Grandma decided to take charge.

“But there isn’t enough space in the upstairs fridge.” Alan whispered.

“We’ll have to prioritise.” Grandma’s tone shifted to that of a doctor giving bad news.

With a yelp, the Commander of International Rescue leaped forward, grabbed three boxes of pies and sprinted for the stairwell.

The others watched him leave.

“Shall we take the rest in the elevator?”

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

True to his role as the resident genius, Brains’ suggestion that the best way to avoid waste was to eat most of it today had cheered the family up no end. Scott, John and MAX (who had finally emerged from the pool) cooked up a storm in the kitchen and created the largest and most eclectic Christmas Dinner Tracy Island had ever seen.

John had persuaded EOS to restore contact and she was providing a soundtrack of Christmas hits interspersed with her favourite festive jokes. Gordon and Kayo were competitively decorating a lebkuchen penguin army. Gradually the basement fridge was emptied.

Virgil and Alan did the last run which turned out to be armfuls of cheeses of indeterminate vintage. Trying not to breathe too deeply, Virgil kicked the door closed and Alan stuck his tongue out at the errant fridge before they turned their backs and walked companionably towards the elevator.

The control panel flickered.

Very faintly, at the very limit of human hearing, there was the sound of laughter.

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[helluva-simper]

Reader x Moon

Reader with silly gremlin Moon Fluff and silliness with a hurt/comfort Reader thinks they’re boring when Moon see them fun to hang around with, caring and love them Moon tries to avoid those awful comments about him but it still hurts, he hides it well too, but can almost see that and comforts him

Sorry if it was too detailed!

Apologizes. This was sitting almost finished in my docs and I completely forgot about it. I am so sorry. Also, I didn't understand the second part if you wanted it as a different thing or what so i slightly added it into this. Hope you enjoy

You were a worker at the Fazbears pizzaria- the company that's somehow still in business. You ended up getting a job here when you found out that they give a decent pay for people willing to work with and able to fix the animatronics there and now you work as a technician. You often didn't do much though. Just polished the Glamrocks, refilled the map bots with maps, stood around during the day sometimes just to make sure there wasn't anything the matter with the animatronics and then went back to chilling. 

It wasn't bad but the amount of strict rules and guidelines that corporate had made break time seem more boring and less appealing. “Don't sleep during work hours” or “No drugs in the vicinity” were the ones you never really cared for because you did them anyway.

You were in the back of the Fazprize counter where the kids would give tickets to get random 

play items off the shelves like candy, stress balls, or board games. The light was off which made it harder to see you so you relaxed a bit. You sat down before reaching into your pocket to pull out a blunt and a lighter. Normally you would do this behind the building when work was almost over and the chances of you getting caught were low but the Glamrocks were performing and the Fazprize table was closed so it was the best place to get some relief. 

You take the blunt and light it before popping it into your mouth. You count the seconds as you take a drag before exhaling. You did this a few times before you just sat there. It already had taken effect when you started to feel your limbs feel lighter and your head feel a bit more foggy. Your plan was to be here for around ten minutes and skedaddle before anyone saw you but Lady Luck always seems to leave your side when you need her most. 

“Night guard, what are you doing?” A robotic voice asked you. You turned to see the dark blue and black animatronic- Moondrop- hunched over, kinda on all fours, and his head was spun upside down as he stared at you. Your lips turned into a thin line as you sigh. You gesture to the blunt in your hand. “You DO know that goes against Fazbear's rules to smoke drugs such as weed. “ He says in a tone that could almost be depicted as disappointment. 

“Sh, sh, sh. Come on, Moon. Let me pass this one time. You still owe me one.” A few days ago Moon had made a mess and blamed it on one of the kids which the staff watching believed Moon but you saw him make it and you promised you wouldn't tell so now you're cashing in your favor. Moon growls before he sat on the floor. “You're… very naughty, Night guard.” He mumbles, making you lightly chuckle. 

You continued to smoke while Moon watched you intently. Other than the occasional twitch in his arms he stood completely still. “Um… you alright? Do you need something?” You asked a bit confused and concerned. He didn't respond, just continued to stare. Your eyebrows furrowed for a moment before you sighed and looked away from him. He wasn't anyone, you suppose. 

“Are you alright, Night guard?” Moon asked, crouching down. You blink a few times trying to focus your eyes. Were you really that high? Nah. It couldn't be. Nope. You were just dog tired. “Yeah, I'm alright.” Even with his permanent smile on his mechanical face you could tell he wasn't satisfied with your answer. “What? I said I’m fi-""Lying is very naughty, nightguard…” Moon interrupts. You sigh. You know that animatronics are built to know and analyze people to know what they are feeling to do their job but damn, you really need to work on your poker face. 

With a sigh, you stubbed the blunt out on the tile and leaned back against the shelf. “Do you think I’m boring?” Moondrop’s head turns slightly. Your face twisted in regret. Why the hell were you asking him of all things? He was an animatronic, not a therapist. “Actually—forget it. That was dumb. Nevermind.” As you spoke you tried to stand up but he pushed you back down with one of his slender, robotic fingers. “Why would you say that?” He asked as you caught yourself. You frown before you look away, pulling your knees to your chest. “Just some… stupid kids…” You muttered, almost not audible. Moondrop just stared at you looking at you as if he was in deep thought.

 “I don’t think you’re boring.” He started which made you look over to him. “A troublesome brat, yes. Not boring though.” You grunted at him which made him chuckle. “I’ve learned from experience that kids will judge anything that’s not familiar. Sundrop always got the children’s love because the kids always see adorable, cutesy, and pushovers on TV but when they see me, they tend to run away and make harsh comments.” Moondrop lets out a low growl before continuing. “The point is as long as you’re content then that’s all that matters.” Your eyes widen in surprise. Did… did you just get motivation from a robot? From Moodrop of all animatronics. 

“Um… heh… thanks.” You said. He nodded once, then tapped the side of your head with a single finger. “Now, go back to work before I report you.”

Figures.

[youhavethewrong]

Yuiviews: Tribe Nine

Hey everyone! Firstly, thank you all for the support of the first Yuiview on Psychopomp GOLD, I'm glad I was able to convince at least one person to ruin their day with that game 💖

And speaking of life-ruining games, today I'd like to give my first impressions on Danganronpaman's not-for-very-long-latest foray into hopefully making you laugh and cry: Tribe Nine

(As of the time of this writing, I have 6 hours of gameplay and have made it about 1 third of the way onto Chapter 1, so it's less of a review and more of a first impressions)

Something very important before we start: We need to define who Danganronpaman is. You'll be hearing about them a lot.

That's the joke name my friend @neosfusion and I came up with to call the collective formed by writer Kazutaka Kodaka, artist Rui Komatsuzaki, and composer Masafumi Takada. All three of these people form Danganronpaman, and the reason we group them into one entity isn't just because each of their contributions led to Danganronpa's unique flair and style, but because the three of them would go on to work in new projects together, all of them reading, looking, and sounding extremely similar to Danganronpa.

(This is what we imagine they look like)

So far, the three of them have worked on the Danganronpa series, Rain Code, Tribe Nine, and the upcoming The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy. And because I absolutely love Danganronpa, I've been following all of their projects. They never disappoint me, so I keep trusting them with my time and money.

(They also have a good record of making me uncomfortable)

Luckily, no money is required to get into their Sports Action series Tribe Nine! All it requires is watching a 7/10 anime that barely adds context but introduces some important characters and then play a free game that's 100 times better.

(Yes, the Danganronpa similarities extend to "watch this mid anime to get the full story")

Now, fans of Danganronpaman will know that their works tend to be quite similar in a great many aspects, involving similar plots of solving mysteries, memory loss, an ensemble cast of almost always exactly 15 people all of which with unique powers/talents, a markettable mascot, a futuristic city, some sort of game with strict rules that helps figure out the truth, minigames that turn debates into action, killer robots, a maniacal mastermind, a-

(Can't wait for their next game where a group of a high schoolers get trapped inside a school! Yippeeee!!)

The Tribe Nine game fixes the lack of Memory Loss and Markettable Mascot the anime had as well as introducing a fast-paced, responsive action RPG battle style that-

...s-sorry, I got distracted for a second there. Where was I? Oh, right, the uh, the Action RPG battles are super fun! It reminds me of NEO The World Ends With You, as you can switch between the 3 playable characters that form your team to perform and extend combos that-

The uh... the... the fluid action combat that... um... surprises after entries more focused on deduction uh.... you wouldn't expect........ uh, for it to work as well as....................................

.......

...sigh. Well, there's one glaring flaw that is inescapable no matter how fun the core gameplay is. It's a gacha. And yes, that is a flaw.

"But Yui, that's not a problem for me! I like gachas!" so do I!!! I freaking love this game! And that's why this upsets me! Because every time I like a gacha game I like it despite it being gacha, not because of it! And every single time the gacha elements get in the way of the bits I like!! Elements such as:

Every single time you spend money it's temporary, as it's not a question of whether the servers will shut down, but when.

The game gets bogged down by daily, weekly, and monthly missions that you feel obligated to do cuz otherwise you're gonna be missing out on some resources you need to level up and keep the story going.

The gameplay mechanics get bogged down by having to collect a thousand different materials and currencies to give your characters the best equipment, but it's gotta be for their class, but it's gotta be the highest rarity, but also you gotta give them their favorite plushie, and also you gotta get multiple copies, and don't forget to level up their abilities, and they have a digital pet that you gotta get parts for, and don't forget the cards, and AAAAAA-

Progress and leveling will go swimmingly and extremely fast at first, and once you're invested in the story and characters you'll eventually reach an insurmountable wall that requires weeks, if not months of grinding to overcome. And once you do, get ready for your story progress to be on a slow pace until the day you stop playing.

A constant stream of new content and time-limited events mean fun and rewards if this is the only game you play, but quickly becomes an anxiety-ridden chore if you ever play like. A 2nd game. And remember, these are games you're meant to play forever, so that WILL happen.

And worst of all: if the game does well, the story is never allowed to end. If it doesn't do well, it's rushed through so as not to leave players hanging without a conclusion.

(The day I stop crying about what we lost with this game is the day I'm no longer alive)

So, that's the reason I wanted to write this review. To complain about the fact that I can't write a review. Because it doesn't matter. What's the point of me talking about how good the graphics are (they are), how fun the gameplay is (it is), and how well made all the character redesigns are (they're drippy). If I convince you to play it, all I'll be doing is pointing you at a gambling game that'll eventually die and god KNOWS if that means we'll get to see all the story that was planned.

(And if you'll be able to beat that story without requiring maxed out SSR units)

Now, it'd be dishonest of me to call this a "first impressions" and just complain about the state of live games for the whole thing, so I want to make this very clear: I really, REALLY like this game. The fighting system is fast-paced but not overwhelming. It's one of the best realizations of Danganronpaman's art style and designs in 3d, looking sharper and better than previous attempts like Ultra Despair Girls and Rain Code. It's full of personality, love, and care in every corner. The quality of illustrations in the cards you get are fantastic. The story beats are meaningful and impactful from minute 1. The voice acting is great, the lightning is great, the music is great, the gameplay is great, everything about this game is REALLY GOOD! When it comes to free gacha games, this is one of the best ones available.

(I don't care for the tamagochi system having a bunch of minute micromanaging with tiny little bonuses that you gotta hand-pick - but I LOVE that each character has a unique animation and pose for showing it to you)

However, recommending a gacha game is like recommending poison. I can talk all day about how earthy the flavour is, how the way it tastes totally covers the cyanide, and how it kills you way faster and less painfully than those OTHER poisons... but it's still poison.

("This one has a pity mechanic after 20 rolls!")

If you're the kind of person that can get invested in a game while accepting the crushing reality that it will become COMPLETELY unplayable some day, that over time you'll probably spend more money on skins than you would've on a whole new game, and that can resist the constant urge to gamble because "well I'm having fun anyway I might as well spend some money on something I enjoy cuz after all I work hard and I spend my money on things that make me happy- oops there go $200 dollars. And I didn't even get the character I wanted", then yes, Tribe Nine is good tasting poison. But be aware of what you're getting into.

("You win this time... but once I get my next paycheck you WILL give me the summer variant of my fave!")

Personally, I'll keep playing it. I really enjoy the story and characters, and I'll willingly expose myself to inevitable heartbreak, because Danganronpaman hasn't disappointed me before, and I'm holding tightly onto the hope that this won't be the first time. But as much as I want to see these creators succeed, I can't really recommend you do the same. The sadness of permanently losing something meaningful to you is usually not worth it.

(AN OFFLINE VERSION! A MANGA ADAPTATION! A SHOUTOUT IN THE NEXT GAME! ANYTHING JUST GIVE ME ANYTHIIIING)

So who knows what the future holds for Tribe Nine. A lot of it will depend on how well the game performs, so there's no true way of knowing other than waiting. Hopefully in around 4 years time I can come back with a part 2 of this review that's titled something among the lines of "Tribe Nine - Why Some Gachas Are Worth Your Time" and not like "Tribe Nine - And Why The Current Gaming Landscape Needs To Be Burned Down And Restarted From Scratch"

(For some reason, I'm not super hopeful it'll be the former)

[e-vay]

The Sonnet of Domino & Phlox - Ch2

[A/N: Click here to read the previous chapter. This story is also available to read on AO3]

“Aren’t they something?” an older gentleman asked with a sigh, adjusting the glasses on the edge of his long snout.

Domino continued affixing a spray nozzle to a hose but shifted her eyes in the direction of the shrew’s gaze. “Uhh…” she hesitated, unsure what to make of the orange, mechanical bipeds that stomped down the street. With each weighty step, the ground trembled and rattled the ladder the hedgehog was standing on. “What exactly are they, Mr. Mayor?”

“Our ticket to the future, that’s what!” The politician boasted. “Two months ago this eccentric human rides into town on a floating caravan! He requests a meeting with me, claiming he’s some kind of genius inventor who wants to help this great city reach its full potential,” He adjusted his vest with pride. “That’s when he showed me the blueprints for these beauties.”

Hedgehog and shrew watched as the two large robots paused in the middle of a large patch of untouched earth. With a metallic groan, the crude “hand” of one of the machines retracted into its arm and was replaced with a long drill head. It stiffly bent forwards and began boring into the ground. The bots were impressive but noticeably rough in their assembly, including large clunky bolts and bright orange paint hastily splashed onto the metal framework. The designs didn’t have the polish and finesse that one would normally find on something like a car, but perhaps that was to be expected from a budding inventor. Domino certainly didn’t know any better. Still, something about the eerie “smiley-face” logo that was stamped on each mech didn’t sit right with her…

“He told us these were cutting edge technology, that they would put us centuries ahead of neighboring towns, and golly was he right. They were only delivered a few days ago but they’ve already streamlined our building processes and made huge improvements to the city.” The mayor’s speech was interrupted by the sound of townspeople cheering as the two robots completed their construction – a well with a hand pump – in record time. Young children ran towards the well, heedless of the metal giants, and used the pump to draw up fresh water that they then splashed at one another. 

“Huh…” Domino mused. She returned her attention to the hose in her hand and sprayed a steady stream of water in the freshly cleared gutter that hung along the roof she was leaning against. She tilted her head either way, making sure no drips escaped from the seams of the gutter, before looking down at the rain spout and assuring that the water ran clear without any blockage. Satisfied with her work, she turned off the hose and descended down the ladder. “Gutter’s clean. You should be set for the winter.”

“They might be a little crude now, but with our investment, he promised the models will only get better,” The shrew said more to himself than the girl next to him. “Soon enough there’ll be smaller models, capable of doing just about anything!” He suddenly turned to the girl with a wide smile. “Just think! You’ll never have to be bothered with odd jobs ever again. It’s like he told me: ‘The Botniks are here for you!’”

Domino did her best to force a smile but couldn’t help but rock on her feet from discomfort. Odd jobs were how she got by. What was she meant to do if these “Botniks” started popping up everywhere? Well, best not to fret about it now.

“Um… Mr. Mayor?” the teal hedgehog hinted awkwardly. “I finished clearing the gutters.”

“Ah! Right, your payment!” The shrew took out his wallet and began counting the contents before hesitating with a pained smile. “Uh… You’ll have to forgive me… The salary posted on the job board is… outdated. We used most of the city’s annual budget investing in our ‘little’ robot helpers here so I can only give you half of what was originally offered.”

Domino’s quills bristled. HALF?! She nearly screamed out loud. Gee, would’ve been nice to know that BEFORE I scaled this blasted roof! She bit her tongue and took a deep breath in. This meant she’d need to take on more gigs than planned, and letting loose some snarky remarks to the mayor of all people would definitely get her kicked out of town before she’d made enough money. She forced a tight smile and politely pocketed the payment handed to her. 

“Nooooooo sweat…  If there’s anything else ya need that your big bots are too bulky for, just holler!” 

She turned on her heel before she said something stupid. 

Glancing up at the town clock, Domino’s grimace was quickly replaced with an excited grin. She sprinted towards the city gate with glee. After all, it was difficult to stay glum when she was promised an adventure with a charming purple hedgehog.

—

“Did those ‘very important duties’ of yours involve drinking 8 cups of coffee?” Phlox teased. He briefly took his attention away from the instructions in his notepad to look up, noticing the teal hedgehog jumping from tree to tree above him. 

Domino seated herself onto a branch and swung backwards into a knee hang so she could lock eyes with Phlox. 

“What makes you say that?” she winked. 

Phlox trepidatiously hopped over several large rocks to meet up with the girl who had gotten far ahead of him. “Oh, I don’t know-” he shrugged as he squeezed his way through some dense bushes. “-all the running and leaping about like a grasshopper could have something to do with it!”

Domino giggled. Phlox may have called himself a nature photographer, but it seemed he had the enthusiasm (or lack thereof) of a city dweller. Escaping the city walls and going on an escapade–however small–always filled Domino with energy. She simply couldn’t keep it in! The lady hedgehog laced her fingers behind her head and closed her eyes, swinging casually from the branch as she waited for her hiking partner to catch up. “I’m just in my element. Besides, I’m itchin’ to see this hidden treasure of yours. You need to keep up!”

If her eyes were open, she’d see a devilish spark light up in Phlox’s eyes. He might have been the quiet type, but he was extremely competitive and loved a challenge. He secured his camera tightly to his side and took off in a sprint. Keep up? Oh, he’d show her. 

“Like this?”

Domino’s eyes jolted open as she felt Phlox’s breath tickle her nose. She let out a high pitched squeak upon realizing the guy she thought was several yards away was nose-to-nose with her. The shock made her loosen her grip on the branch and she was in for a quick plummet to the ground. 

“Whoa!” The indigo male threw his arms out and caught her, holding her securely to his chest. He was strong! Of course, her transient lifestyle and meager diet left her on the smaller side, but Phlox held her as if she were weightless. The muscles in his arms were dense and firm against her slight body.

“I didn’t think you’d startle so easily,” he teased.

“Yyyeah, well-” Domino began to excuse herself, but couldn’t find the words. Geez, what was it about this guy that made her so tongue-tied? Sure he was plenty sweet, certainly nicer than most people she’d ever met. And yeah he was good-looking—she couldn’t deny that. Now she noticed how nice he smelled, too; something woody, earthy, almost sweet, like sandalwood. And his fur, so warm and soft…

Her fingers combed through the shaggy, wheat-colored fur of Phlox’s chest, sending a shiver up his entire being. His heartbeat quickened against her fingertips and she swiftly withdrew her hand realizing what she’d done. Domino looked up to find his muzzle as scarlet as hers surely was. “Uh…”

Phlox felt the urge to say something, but his shyness got the better of him. He instead cleared his throat and set the young woman back on her feet. “Sorry for scaring you…”

“Nah,” Domino replied. She twirled the tuft of fur near her cheek bashfully as she ruminated over what just happened. She shouldn’t be getting close to someone like this. Letting someone in only led to betrayal or disappointment. Besides, what did she have to offer him? She had no home, no money. Relax. She reminded herself. It’s okay to have a little fun…

“Besides, you just gave me an opening.”

Phlox’s eyes went wide. With his voice barely above a whisper, he asked, “To do what?” 

“To do… this!” Domino snatched the notepad from Phlox’s hands and bolted away.

“H-HEY!” The boy shouted before swiftly chasing after her. He was not nearly as graceful navigating the woods as she was, especially with a camera slung over his shoulder, but he managed to stay close on her tail. 

Domino cackled over her shoulder. “I thought you said we needed to see this grotto at a certain time of day! So hurry it up! Or are those cool jeans of yours slowin’ ya down?!”

“These pants provide full mobility!” he shouted. The two laughed as they weaved their way through the forest, Domino skimming the instructions in the notepad and leading them the rest of the way to their destination. 

She abruptly stopped in front of a wall of weeping katsura trees and Phlox had to clumsily skid to a halt to keep from crashing into her. Domino looked back and forth between the green palisades and handwritten notes. “I’m pretty sure this is it,” she confirmed. She returned the booklet to Phlox before presenting an arm to the curtain of emerald leaves. “This was your goal. After you.”

Phlox shook his head with a smile. “Together.”

A little taken aback, Domino simply nodded in agreement and squared herself up beside Phlox. Both hedgehogs drew back the partition of leaves and stepped forth.

The grotto was truly a sight to behold. Dozens of large trees stretched and twisted amongst each other as if embracing in a circular huddle, leaving a medium-sized clearing in the center. Fountains of leaves and vines draped about the branches, painting the enclosure every shade of green. Tiny sprigs of yellow and white wildflowers dotted the forest floor, their blooms diminutive and modest but still serving as a beautiful compliment to the rich viridescence of the grass they sprouted from. Silky, golden rays of sunshine poured through the canopy in beams so crisp, they looked as though one could reach out and touch them. The early autumn breeze glided along the treetops and the soft pitter-patter of the leaves tickling each other echoed down into the grove. The willowing trees all made for a perfect shelter, completely cloaking this little slice of heaven from the rest of the world. It was only the two hedgehogs and a sparse flight of fluttering insects that were privy to this space.

Domino’s breath wavered in awe. She silently stepped deeper into the natural arbor and sat down with her knees pulled to her chest. Even though she spent the entirety of her life out on the road, the planet never ceased to amaze her in new and spectacular ways. She folded her arms over her knees and rested her head on them, sighing with a soft smile.

Phlox took a deep breath, letting his lungs expand entirely with the crisp fresh air before releasing it and setting to work on adjusting his camera. As he delicately fiddled with the device, he couldn’t help but notice Domino’s silent reverie in the corner of his eye. His heart filled with pride knowing the young lady seemed just as touched by the setting as he was. He walked over to her, whispering as not to break her daydream.

“This is why the timing was so crucial,” Phlox said softly. “I’m sure this spot is beautiful all the time, but at this exact moment, at this exact time of day? It’s-”

“Heavenly,” Domino concluded. It was true. The sunbeams filtering through the trees managed to diffuse the light to give the space an ethereal glow. Anything that was lucky enough to catch the direct sunlight appeared to have a soft, colorful halo as the light bounced off its surface. Phlox nodded and headed off to document the scene.

Meanwhile, Domino reached forward and let her arm glow in a sunbeam as she let all the worries that normally plagued her mind dissipate. Here in this cove, she didn’t have to concern herself with the upcoming winter. She didn’t have to think about how–or when–she’d find her next meal. Even the looming threat of “Botnik workers” that would soon replace her managed to escape her mind. Right now, she could just be. Her eyes studied every leaf, every blade of grass, every sway of the branches that hung above her head so that even on the bad days, she could look back at this moment and feel peace.

Eventually, her attention shifted to the indigo photographer at work. He walked so carefully and quietly it was as if his boots weren’t even making contact with the ground. At one point, the boy managed to approach a flutter of blue butterflies that didn’t seem phased by his company, shining and dancing in the late-afternoon sun like fairies. She wondered if it was possible to capture the serenity of this moment in a photo. It would be nice to see if he succeeded, but he likely wouldn’t develop his roll of film any time soon. She’d be long gone before those photos would come to light. The thought caused a strange weight in her chest, a sinking feeling she shouldn’t allow herself to feel. She diverted her attention to some of the wildflowers beside her.

Neither were sure how much time passed as they each quietly enjoyed the space, together but individually in their own ways. Once satisfied, Phlox walked over and took a seat next to Domino. “I didn’t get to ask you earlier...” he broke the silence, but his soft, honey-smooth voice was so reposeful it might as well have been part of the ambient melody of the forest.

“Hm?” Domino hummed, looking over to the boy beside her.

“What’s your dream?”

The girl leaned back with her palms behind her and surveyed the shelter of leaves above them as she pondered. Her dream. Such a big question. What should she make up this time? What would impress this guy the most? ‘To conquer a mighty dragon’? ‘To soar among the stars’?

“I want to make a difference,” she found the truth slipping from her lips. She shook her head and shrugged with defeat as if that goal was too ambitious for someone like herself. “Even if I can do just one good thing.”

Her words were so simple but there was such a bitter heaviness to them. Did she really think she was of such little significance? Phlox hardly knew her, yet he sensed something positively great about her. The brief hours spent in her company were already changing him, encouraging him to become more of the person he was striving to be. What or who made her think so little of herself? He wanted to ask, but wisdom told him if he did, she’d likely withdraw even further.

Instead, he placed his hand on hers and gave it a firm squeeze. 

“You will.”

Domino turned to Phlox with a soft gasp. His words sounded so genuine. Oh, how he looked at her, too. The way those green eyes surveyed her made her feel like she was the only thing in the world. It was intimidating. It was exciting.

Though her heartbeat grew louder in her ears, she still managed to pick up a faint assortment of sounds off in the distance. Chattering? Shrieking? She wasn’t sure but it was quickly growing louder. At the same time, she and Phlox looked towards the barrier of trees and noticed the branches and leaves beginning to tremble. Something was rushing through the forest and rapidly making its way towards the grotto. The tops of the trees shook and the roar of what sounded like a crowd was quickly upon them. Domino only briefly saw a flash of color burst through the curtain of leaves before closing her eyes and throwing herself on top of Phlox to shield him from whatever threat found their hiding spot.

The roaring now completely surrounded them, making its way over their heads and echoing all around them in the grotto. Domino tried to flatten herself and Phlox as close to the ground so they wouldn’t be hit. But despite the overwhelming noise, nothing struck them. She heard Phlox gasp. “Minnie, look!”

Domino opened one eye to see Phlox looking skyward, a wondrous smile on his face. She hesitantly turned just enough to peek over her shoulder and gasped as well. Hundreds–no, thousands of colorful birds were flying in mass above the canopy. Despite their numbers, they all moved together in perfect harmony, creating a magnificent, undulating patchwork of color in the sky. Domino rolled onto her back and the two hedgehogs watched in awe. She knew that birds were likely to migrate before the winter months hit, but she never witnessed something quite like this. The setting sunlight shone through their wings as they fluttered above, painting the entirety of the sky with a brilliant rainbow. Just as quickly as they had approached, the last of the birds flew past and the grotto returned to the peaceful silence once again.

Phlox and Domino both blinked. The moment had come and gone so quickly, it was almost as if it didn’t happen at all. They turned to each other, Domino’s head still resting on Phlox’s arm, and at once they both giggled in breathless bewilderment. 

“What are the odds of that?” Domino grinned, placing a hand on her forehead in disbelief.

Phlox smirked confidently. “Right place, right time.”

“Ah yes, your ‘super power’,” the girl rolled her eyes and began to shove herself away. However, Phlox quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight to him. She squealed with laughter and fought against him in protest.

“Don’t mock my talent,” he chuckled while Domino squirmed in his grasp.

“Lemme go, you brute!” The teal hedgehog shoved her palm into Phlox’s face, making him laugh even harder. Still, he held her close.

“Naht ‘til you apahlagizsh,” he muttered under the pressure of her hand. 

Domino removed her palm and leaned in with a playful scowl. “Never.”

Phlox met her smug glare. “Then I’ll never let you go.”

Domino stopped struggling and her smile faltered a bit. She knew he was joking; after all, she started this game, but something about those words… Something inside her wanted them to be true. She enjoyed the feel of his embrace. She wanted him to hold onto her endlessly, and the thought made her curse to herself. ‘Wants’ were stupid, frivolous. Her lifestyle only allowed for ‘needs’: shelter and sustenance.

Domino was beginning to realize that Phlox’s presence caused an entirely different kind of hunger within her.

The male’s chuckles diminished as Domino stared at him quietly. His cheeks and chest grew warm as he suddenly registered just how tightly she was pressed against him. Phlox searched her cyan eyes, wondering what she was thinking. Was she upset? He was inexperienced with flirting; had he gone too far? She wasn’t pulling away, though. Her gaze briefly flickered to his lips and his heart raced faster and his purple fur prickled up. 

“...Do… you realize what that was?” Domino whispered.

Phlox’s eyes widened. Was she asking about his sudden shiver or the display of birds they just witnessed? He hoped it was the latter.

“Uhh… a… murmuration…?” 

“A-K-A…?” she nodded expectantly and a smile began to curl on her lips.

Phlox’s eyelids dropped with realization and he sneered, “Don’t. You. Dare.”

Domino sat up and poked at Phlox’s chest to punctuate her words. “Those were FLOCKS of BIRDS!”

“That’s it!” He went to snatch her again, but Domino was too quick for him this time. She sprinted to the edge of the grotto and giggled while she waited for him. Phlox hurriedly packed up his gear and threw his camera strap over his shoulder. “You’re in for it now!”

The girl squealed and darted away as Phlox chased her all the way back to the village.

—

Domino let out a long yawn after collecting payment from her most recent task. Despite completing her fourth odd-job of the morning, she still found herself struggling to stay awake. Then again, she did have a hard time falling asleep last night…

It wasn’t the cold that kept her awake. No, she was plenty used to sleeping outside in all manner of harsh weather conditions. What kept her up were thoughts about that damn boy. That quiet, dazzling boy. 

She didn’t recognize herself when she was around Phlox. Talking to him either led to embarrassing, truthful slip-ups (she still couldn’t believe she’d told him her “dream.” How stupid!) or left her unable to speak at all! And that stunt she pulled in the grotto to try and save him… What was that?! She’d lived her whole life looking out for herself. Her entire existence was all about self preservation. So why did she throw herself on top of him when she thought they were in danger? Domino was annoyed with how quickly her priorities were shifting. And even more annoyed by how good it felt to care about somebody other than herself for once. 

Tossing and turning over all these thoughts left her with little shut-eye last night. 

An idea came to her suddenly. Perhaps a cold dip would wake her up! Besides, after doing all the dirty jobs that the townspeople didn’t enjoy and the “Botniks” were too clunky to complete, she could use a bath. 

She exited the city and headed downhill. Her years traversing the wilderness trained her to easily find rivers, and after carefully listening for running water and taking note of the ways the trees leaned, she found what she was looking for.

It was a serene creek with blue-green water that was clear enough to see the bottom of the river bed. It would be plenty deep enough for a proper swim. A medium-sized stack of boulders allowed for a steady flow of water to gently trickle down into the larger body of the creek. On days where the weather was more severe, she imagined the waterfall would crash into the river with a thunderous roar. But on this mellow autumn morning, the water was calm and tranquil. 

It made her think of Phlox. 

“Chaos,” she cursed to herself. The Domino she knew would have just shrugged it off and gone about her business. But this new, thoughtful Domino realized this was the exact kind of scene Phlox would love to photograph. The idea of gifting him with this little treasure and seeing the look of excitement on his face was too much to resist. “So much for ‘priorities’ huh?”

She convinced herself that this would be her way of repaying him for the grotto trip yesterday, nothing more. Satisfied with that reasoning, she hurried back to town in hopes to find that photographer that seemed to be making a home in her mind’s eye. It didn’t take long for her to spot him. The young man was sitting under a shade tree, writing in his notepad. Butterflies filled her stomach at the width of his smile upon hearing her call his name. The feeling intensified with how quickly he agreed to go with her. 

“I’m telling ya, you’re gonna make this place THE travel destination once the world sees all your photos. Especially of this spot I found!”

“Had I known you were a location scout, I’d have hired you sooner.”

“You can’t afford me. Heiress, remember?” Domino teased with a wink. “I’m offering you this location on the house.” Phlox laughed his mischievous laugh as he followed the young woman. Once they reached the creek, Domino raised her arms into the air and spun around with a triumphant, “Ta-daaaa~!”

The purple hedgehog placed his hands on his hips and his grin was brighter than the sun. His reaction was even better than she had pictured.

“So, whaddya think?”

“I think,” Phlox chuckled, lowering the camera from his shoulder and placing it on the ground. Domino blinked as he kicked off his boots. “This is going to be so cold!”

“What?” Domino scoffed while Phlox removed his beloved pair of jeans and pried off his gloves. “You’re really gonna jump in there?”

“Like you aren’t?” Phlox raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile plastered on his sandy muzzle. “That’s why you came out here in the first place, right?”

“I-” she scratched her quills and shrugged, “I guess I just took you for the prissy, hot-shower type.”

The boy turned to face the girl while walking backwards and used his fist to make a stabbing motion into his heart. “Minnie, you wound me!” He spun on his heel with a laugh and ran towards the creek before leaping into the air, curling into a spinning ball, and crashing into the water with a mighty splash. 

Just as quickly as he had jumped in, he resurfaced and his voice cracked as he shrieked. “I WAS ᴿᴵGᴴᵀ! SO CₒᴸD!”

“PFFTT!” Domino burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over and holding her stomach. “Gaia! I had no idea your voice could reach that high!”

“Shu-shu-shushhhh up and guh-get in here!” Phlox demanded through chattering teeth. He swam to face the other way so Domino could strip down to her undergarments without him watching. 

Domino shook out her hands to mentally prepare herself for the cold plunge before jumping into the water, wailing. She resurfaced with a gasp. Well, she certainly wasn’t tired anymore. 

“Whu-whu-whyyy duh-duh-did we d-do thissss?!” 

Phlox’s ears were pinned flat to his head. “‘Cuz wuh-we’re young and sssss-stupid!” 

“C-c’mon Young, ssswim with Stupid,” Domino laughed despite her shivering and waved him over to follow her as she began to swim. “The mmmore ya move the w-warmer you’ll be.”

The two hedgehogs made a game of who could swim the fastest from one edge of the creek to the other, and before long they had quickly adjusted to the temperature of the water. It turned out that Phlox was an excellent swimmer, capable of doing laps around Domino. The girl rolled her eyes as he gloated over his many wins.

“Ya know, I think I liked you more when you talked LESS!” She startled him with a tackle and dunked him under water.

He sprang back up and shook off his quills. “You opened this Pandora’s Box, there’s no putting it back now.”

“Oh yeah?” She went for another tackle, but now that he was onto her, he dodged and left her rolling face-first into the water. Domino made several more attempts, but Phlox would either stay so still it was like slamming into a brick wall, or he would use her momentum against her to make her plunge face first into the water. 

Her most recent effort left her clinging to Phlox’s side, trying to push his face into the water with no success. “Grrrrr why won’t you go down?!”

Phlox laughed and pried the girl off him with ease. “I love your enthusiasm. But you won’t beat me in a battle of brawn.” He tapped his temple. “You’ve got to assess the situation and play to your strengths.”

The teal hedgehog let her head fall back and groaned with frustration. “You said it yourself: I’ve got no strength.”

“I meant ‘do what you’re best at,’” Phlox scratched the fluff of his muzzle as he pondered for a moment. His green eyes suddenly lit up and he snapped his fingers. “I know a game we could play!” He swam a distance away to make room between the two hedgehogs. “I’m going to guard this end of the creek. If you get passed me and make it to the bank, you earn a point.”

Domino’s shoulders sank. “You’re the better swimmer and you’re bigger than me. I’m never getting through you.”

Phlox smiled with encouragement. “Assess the situation, Minnie. You’re smaller, but that makes you faster and more slippery. Use that to your advantage to get around me.”

“Hmm,” Domino considered, her pout turning into a genuine smile. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot!”

“But!” Phlox held up a finger. “To prove that I’m not going to just let you win, let’s raise the stakes. If I catch you, you have to answer a question. Truthfully.”

“Pfft,” Domino sputtered. “That’s not much of a reward.”

“It is to me,” Phlox grinned. He stretched his arms out to either side. “Now show me what you’ve got!”

Domino’s eyes twinkled with determination and she rushed forward. She originally tried swimming to the side of Phlox’s reach, but he was able to quickly catch up to her. She panicked at the last minute and tried to charge him, but he caught her and she went limp in his arms in frustration. 

“Next time, don’t give up so fast. There’s still a chance to break free.” Phlox shifted the girl in his arms so he carried her bridal style and swam them back over to Domino’s side of the river. “So, how many siblings do you have?”

“70.” She moped. 

“Hey, I won my prize. The truth. How many do you really have?”

Domino rolled her eyes and shoved herself off him. She muttered quietly, “It’s just me.” Her answer was guarded, but Phlox couldn’t help but pick up the loneliness in her tone. He tried to lighten the mood with his own response as he made his way back to start-position. 

“Wow, the center of attention, huh? We’ve got two litters in my family. 3 brothers and 1 sister. I’m right in the middle.”

“5 guys in one house? I bet the place stinks!” Domino teased, finding her sense of humor again. “Ugh, you have no idea!” Phlox joked and rubbed his nose. “When I first started out on the road, I felt like I could breathe for the first time in my life!” The girl attempted to swim by him again. Phlox grappled for her and though he did briefly get his arms around her, she was able to wiggle through his forearms and kick off his back to propel herself to the creek bank. Domino couldn’t help but dance along the shore at her win. 

“See that’s it!” Phlox threw a fist into the air. “Show me what else you can do. Besides those sick dance moves.”

Domino hurried over to her side again and strategized. She knew he would just keep catching her if she tried to swim around him, and though she could wiggle free, she’d get exhausted in no time. She looked down and noticed how similar the blue-green shade of the water was in comparison to her own fur. 

She squeaked as she was suddenly rushed and held tightly in Phlox’s grip. 

“What the HELL?!” she squirmed. This time he locked her forearms across her chest and she couldn’t wiggle loose. 

“Who said I couldn’t leave my post? You were taking too long and I have questions!” 

Domino slumped against Phlox’s furry chest, defeated. Her voice was monotone, “What is your question, O devilish Phlox?”

“If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Domino giggled before her eyes went wide. “Ohhh, those hash browns from yesterday!”

“That’s it? Hash browns?” Phlox cocked an eyebrow. Domino shoved off him so he could return to his position. 

“I’m not a picky eater and those were good! Why, what would yours be?”

“Chili. The spicier, the better!” Phlox answered before whispering under his breath, “Hmm. I could learn to make hash browns,” Meanwhile, Domino returned to her plan that she was formulating before she was last captured. She took a deep breath and submerged herself completely underwater. 

“Uh-oh,” Phlox panicked. The only patches of Domino’s fur that weren’t teal blue were her cheeks, stomach, and the inside of her ears, and while she was underwater, she was just about invisible. His eyes searched frantically, trying to figure out which side she would attempt to get around him. He yelped when he felt something brush the undersides of his paws. Once he realized it was Domino swimming below him, it was already too late and she was on his side of the river. 

“HaHA!!” She cheered and shimmied her shoulders in a victory dance. 

“Very clever,” Phlox grinned. “I’m onto you now.”

Their game went on for several more rounds, with Domino taking the lead by a substantial amount. Still, Phlox was determined and managed to get a few more answers out of her before their game was through:

“What’s your biggest pet-peeve?”

“When people are snooty. Get outta here with that crap!”

“Morning-bird or night-owl?”

“Of course you’d ask a ‘bird’ question, ‘Flocks.’ I always start the day bright and early.”

“What’s your favorite thing about yourself?”

“Oiiiii… Hmmm. My resourcefulness.”

“Excellent choice. I’ve never seen anyone wield a roll of tape better than you.”

“And you never will~” 

“Would you ever want to have kids one day?”

She had to think about that one for a moment. Logistically, her lifestyle wouldn’t allow for that kind of thing. It wasn’t responsible. But Phlox did ask her to answer honestly. A soft smile formed on her lips. 

“Yeah. I would.”

Phlox bit the inside of his cheek in hopes to suppress his smile and the blush creeping up his neck.

Domino attempted one more round, but at this point she was drained and Phlox caught her without much struggle. 

“Okay, okay,” she panted and the young man released her. “You win. I’ve had enough.” The girl huffed and puffed, struggling to tread water with the amount of energy she’d exerted. 

The boy chuckled and took her hands into his. “Here, catch your breath.” He was surprised that instead of merely holding onto his hands, Domino pulled herself close to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She rested her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes as she attempted to regulate her breathing.

Phlox was certain she could feel the pounding of his heartbeat, but surprisingly he wasn’t all that ashamed this time. Domino had a way of making him feel excited and calm all at once. It encouraged him to be bolder, braver, more accepting of his quirks. 

“I can tell you wanna ask me another question,” the girl teased. 

“I do,” Phlox admitted, his voice much softer and reserved, like the first time they met. “But it’s not part of the game.”

“C’mon, you caught me so you earned it,” Domino leaned back enough so she could look Phlox eye-to-eye. Her mouth curved up into a smile at how red his face was. “What?”

Be bold. He told himself. Be like her.

“Can I kiss you?”

Domino’s jaw dropped with a soft gasp. Of all the things he could’ve asked, this was the last thing she expected. Before these last two days, nobody even bothered looking her way. Now not only did she have the undivided attention of this dashing young man, but he wanted to kiss her? Phlox could easily have any girl he wanted, so why would he waste his time with somebody like her?

Well, she thought, probably because he doesn’t actually know me. If he did, he’d leave. 

It would be smart to say no. But when would she ever have this opportunity again? She’d be gone by tomorrow, having never kissed a boy. A beautiful, kind, lovely boy.

“…Yes.”

As soon as the word left her lips, Phlox took her face into his hands and kissed her. She was alarmed at how quickly his mouth was on hers considering how shy he’d been just a moment ago, but it was a welcome surprise. Her arms remained wrapped around his neck and she closed her eyes as she returned his kiss. 

Phlox sighed happily into her lips, his thumbs stroking her cheeks as he cupped her face. He’d never kissed anyone before, but from the moment he first laid eyes on this young lady it was all he could think about. She was so unique and adventurous and funny! Oh, how she made him laugh like he was a little kid again. He was generally in good-spirits most of the time, but he hadn’t felt happiness like this for a long while. Being in her company was like floating in the clouds. The kiss broke just briefly as his mouth subconsciously curved into a smile, but he did his best to force it down and match his lips to hers once more. 

One of Phlox’s hands gently combed down Domino’s long cyan quills and that burning hunger flared up in her lower belly once again. His lips were too lovely, his touch too wonderful. This was dangerous. 

Regrettably, Domino broke away and rested her forehead against his as they both attempted to catch their breath. “I’m not so good at multitasking… We should probably get outta the water now,” the lady hedgehog suggested. 

“Yeah, okay,” Phlox chuckled breathlessly. The two swam to the edge of the creek and Domino pulled a towel out from her backpack. She dried herself off as much as possible before tossing it to Phlox while she got dressed. He pulled on his pants and boots then laid in the grass next to the girl and quietly admired the clouds with a smile on his face. 

Domino was grateful for the silence, trying to make sense of all the weird thoughts and feelings swimming around her mind. She knew it was a bad idea to let somebody in like this. The closer Phlox got, the sooner he’d realize what a joke she was. She knew she would need to leave before that happened. So why, why did she feel this constant urge to let him in? She chewed on her lip but silently cursed to herself as she could still taste him. 

“Hey, so…” she started, despite her better judgment. Phlox turned his full attention to her. “I’m no chef, but… I make a pretty good stew. And you said you like chili, so, uh… I was wondering if you’d…” she clapped a hand over her face and sighed. “-If you’d let me make you something. You know, to pay you back for… everything.”

“Pay me back?” Phlox asked, his brows furrowed.

“For breakfast, and the grotto,” she threw her hands into the air, “and all the tactical combat lessons you just gave me!”

“Hey, I did those things because I wanted to. You don’t owe me anything,” he did his best to reassure the girl. He propped his head up with his hand and gave a mischievous smirk. “But if it’s a date you’re suggesting…”

“Chaos,” Domino muttered. Still, she couldn’t help but smile. 

“You have to ask me proper. I’m old-fashioned like that.”

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes before turning to face the boy who was all but wiggling with anticipation. “Phlox. May I make you dinner? As a date.”

“Yes.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before rolling over to grab his camera. His face was bright red, but his smile was confident as he removed the lens and adjusted the settings. “Now, to capture this little gem you found me!”

Domino packed up her bag before swinging it over her shoulder. “I’ll meet you at the inn you’re staying at, yeah?”

“Okay!” He snapped a few photos. “What’re you up to today?”

Oh, just buying a cheap jacket and a bunch of nonperishables so I don’t starve this winter. Impressive, right?

“More business meetings. I heard the mayor’s a big-time investor. I’m gonna see if he will fund the latest board game I’m developing.”

Phlox slowly lowered the viewfinder from his eyes. Why was she telling stories again? He thought after what just happened… Why couldn’t she just tell him the truth? He closed his eyes and sighed. Who was he to tell her what to do? Besides, it was like he told her: she didn’t owe him anything. All he could do was hope that she’d learn to trust him eventually. 

“Knock ‘em dead, Minnie. I believe in you.”

The girl gave him a playful salute before heading back into town, leaving the boy alone to his thoughts. 

Domino hadn’t even made it to the market before hearing a thunderous crash and the screams of several townspeople. People sprinted away from the townsquare in a panic. The old Domino might have followed their lead and scampered away as well. But over these last couple of days, she found herself evolving. Even more important than self-preservation, she felt a stronger urge growing in her heart: the need to protect. Without hesitation, she raced towards the sound of the commotion.

[Next: CHAPTER 3]

[A/N: I used the art of Nathan Fowkes as visual inspiration for many of the scenes in this chapter. If you aren't familiar with his work, I highly recommend checking it out!]

[starletdust]

✧ regressuary day 2 — snack time !! ✦

⤷ little sunday ; sunday is hungry. the astral express is unfamiliar.

wawawa !! thank ye for the kind words on my last work ^.^ a majority of this was written around 4-5 am , so if it seems like the author is half-asleep it’s because he is . yes . the dogs woke me

please let me know if you have any ideas for future prompts , i’d love to hear them !!!

this has been crossposted on my ao3 !!

it’s late, but not too late to go sleep — however the express members have all retreated from dinner to their own for the night, a quiet peace filling the train. the lights are dimmed, but not yet off, and softer music than people’s daytime choices plays muffled in the background.

sunday sits in his bed, twiddling his thumbs. it’s comfortable, but not quite yet his own — only some of his clothing hangs in the closet, a few small trinkets he was able to take with him discreetly upon his departure from penacony laid out on his desk. he misses the planet sometimes, though he knows it was for the better to leave. for robin, for all the refugees that call it home.

sometimes, it’s a comforting thought. sometimes, it gives him the taste of bitter nostalgia, and he ends up reminiscing on his life way back when. he thinks about sweet memories with his sister, and the sour reminder of all the times the order loomed above him in his youth, watching his every decision.

and yet, unlike usual, those thoughts do not plague him. no, rather his stomach does, grumbling quietly — it’d been about an hour since dinner, though. was sunday even allowed out of his room at this time?

it doesn’t matter if no one knows he left his space, taking slow steps through the hall, quietly sliding the door between the parlor car and the party car open — his headwings tense, perked up with alertness.

he stares down at the floor, repeating left foot, right foot in his head, as if he was a baby taking its first steps; he was still getting used to balancing without the added weight of his wings, along with his mind feeling as if it was stuffed with cotton.

the pair of appendages he does have shifts, guarding his face like a horse being given tunnel vision. if i can’t see them, they can’t see me. a foolish thought, a childish one, but it makes his worries settle — even if only slightly.

eventually, he’s walked far enough to see the stools of the bar, and promptly sits down on them. he makes sure to keep his posture straight despite the faint tiredness that approaches, kicking his feet lightly as he waits patiently for the robot to make its round over to him.

“hello, sunday. what would you like to order?”

sunday pauses; he hadn’t even thought about this part of his little operation, having assumed he’d just get caught and told back to his room.

“um..” he hides his face behind his wings, peeking at the robot sheepishly. “may i have a, um, an egg tart, please?”

“coming right up, sunday!” it says cheerily, and sunday squeaks at the volume, cringing at the fact that it’s ena knows how late and this thing has no nighttime mode, still mechanically loud and expressive as always. it’s like it wants sunday to get in trouble, putting an extra emphasis on his name, making the halovian’s shoulders slump in embarrassment and defeat.

although, it does only take a minute or two for the sweet to be prepared, which marvels sunday — he giggles when it’s slid right in front of him, giddy, his wings fluttering as he takes the first bite.

and oh, it’s like the robot tweaked the recipe so it would especially be like home for him, his whole body feeling warm and fuzzy. he slows down in his eating, savoring the sweet taste of love and care. “thank you,” he says hastily, having nearly forgotten his manners; he finishes it soon enough, it was only a single portion, thanking the robot once more. he repeated his quiet trek back to his room, hummimg to himself, the mental comfort encouraging the sleepiness to embrace him further.

when he slips into bed, he does so contentedly, hugging a pillow tightly with a faint chirp. he misses his sister, he misses his home.. however sunday probably ends up talking to that robot the most after that night, asking for different assortments of desserts and being pleasantly surprised each and every time.

sorry it’s not the most obviously agere .. TT

@twinypwupy

[sepublic]

Alright hear me out. Pythor x Overlord yaoi. Think about it. The only people the Overlord has really interacted with are yes-men he created to serve him, such as Kozu and Cryptor, or people he's manipulated after rescuing at a low point in their lives, so Garmadon and Harumi.

Pythor is different; He's someone wholly independent of the Overlord, who went out of his way to find and rescue him, totally of his own volition. The Overlord might not have even known Pythor existed up until they met. Others, the Overlord has had to control and take advantage of, but him and Pythor are always on the same track, there's no moral hesitation on his end. They have an evil laugh together, the Overlord outright tells Pythor that he likes him.

Of course Kozu and Cryptor do everything for the Overlord, they were made for that. Pythor CHOSE to be unconditionally loyal. He says he wants the Overlord as a means of revenge against the ninja, but he still took a bullet for the Overlord, which necessitated Zane's sacrifice. Maybe Pythor was more assured of the Overlord's ability to destroy the ninja than his own, and was willing to die for vengeance because what else does he have left?

He's an outcast by Serpentine standards; In the canon Pythor's Revenge book, part of his motives for stealing the BorgWatch ahead of its release was to impress his fellow Serpentine into letting him back in, but they don't. Everyone blames Pythor for nearly getting them killed, he's hated by his own kind now, and was evidently somewhat of a black sheep even amongst his own Anacondrai, who eventually did recognize him at the end of S4.

Does Pythor even know what he's doing with his life anymore, or is he just angry and bitter and looking for an outlet? Has he been driven twice mad, first by surviving the starvation and Donner Party cannibalism of his kind, and then burning inside of the Great Devourer? He was all alone after the Great Devourer, vulnerable and having to take care of himself.

Maybe he sees himself in the Overlord, someone considered an absolute monster with nobody else on his side, who just wants to lash out at the world. Maybe there's a kinship between the two, where Pythor gives him the helper he himself needed. Multiple times, he is the Overlord's savior, when usually it is the other way around between the Overlord and his found champion; There are times where HE is guiding the Overlord with advice, having a grounded, mortal perspective that he needs. The Overlord has had minions and pawns, but him and Pythor genuinely feel like an equal standing.

Don't you think it's kinda sus that the Overlord trusts Pythor more with his damaged condition, than the Nindroid he literally programmed to serve him? He knew Cryptor longer. But Pythor's willing, unconditional loyalty really is something else; I think the Overlord's never had a mortal choose to be on his side without coercion of some kind, so he's like his first real friend. The only person he actually respects enough to listen to; Someone the Overlord trusts to intimately hide in the body of, over any other mechanical means up until this point. Maybe he was just sick of robotic confines and wanted to feel flesh. But maybe…!

Cryptor is wary of Pythor and learning the Overlord really did trust this Serpentine more than his own creation is frustrating to him. He thinks they're both vying for paternal affection from the Overlord. On Cryptor's end, that is the case. But for Pythor, he, um. Fucked that old man.

In Crystalized, I kinda see the Overlord as replacing the twisted paternal role that Harumi tried to place Garmadon into. So in addition to any possibly objections over the mastermind of her parents' demise being on C.O.C.K., not only is the Overlord justifying it by explaining that Pythor is loyal, but also. Also he's his husband. Evil purple couple. By extension that makes Pythor her dad, her fourth dad. Harumi has to explain to Mr. F that Pythor fucked her dad.

[itsgivingeattherich]

Electrified Love (An April Fools Story)

Baymax

Hey pookie I got mail 💌

Part 1 | Part 2

Warnings: IDK ILL DO WHEN I FINISH. Enjoy. Please um this is the shittest thing I've written.

Everyone was gone, only the light in your workshop was on. You were working on your latest invention -well if you could call it that- in reality you were failing all your classes; this was the last ditch effort to stay in his uni.

All you needed to do was twist the last bolt tight then you could leave. However, as you went to do that the end of the wrench snapped off and clanked on the floor.

"UGH come on!"

You held your head in your hands while tears welled up in your eyes, this really needed to work. Scouting the area, a wrench glared at you on the other side of the workshop, Hero never cleans anything. You walked over and picked it up; the chill of the metal froze your hand. His brother's initial was drawn on the bottom, it brought out guilt in the pit of your stomach, but he wasn't the one on the brink of getting kicked out.

As you retreated back to your corner, turning the wrench in your hand while walking. A heavy box caught your foot, you tumbled forward face first onto the floor. Pain exploded throughout your body, great it was just what you needed to end your day.

It came to you to just lay there for the rest of the day, to give up and hand in your letter of apology for wasting their time by attending- A soft tone came from a red box, before a quick "Power on." robotic voice. Huh? Oh no. Not Hero's stupid marshmallow man.

"Hello I am Baymax." He put his palm facing you and slowly waved. "you are in pain"

"Yea you're kinda stating the obvious." You growled out, still feeling the ache from your body.

He waddled until he reached beside you. No warmth came from him, he was a robot so that was a given, he reached his hand out and you grabbed it pulling yourself up.

"Is there... Anyway I can. Help?"

"Can you do repairs?"

"Yes I can repair people's outsides and insides." He stated

"No. I mean machines, can you? Screw a bolt in"

"I am. Sure I can be of assistance."

That last bolt was a killer, his plushy outside wouldn't serve in the strength department, but it was better than nothing. So, you took him to your mess of an invention, handing him Hero's wrench. He grabbed it in-between his index finger and thumb. Then repeatedly banged it on the bolt.

That was, unsurprising, he was a medic robot not a mechanical one. The sound of metal was eager to give you a headache.

"STOP!" you shouted. "Just. Stop." You plopped on the floor in defeat.

He dropped the wrench on the table before gliding next to you.

"Humans (when in distress) require another presence to alleviate the worries and doubts, so there. There." He said while patting your head.

"Im going to cry if you carry on" you threatened with your head folded into your lap. "You aren't really a person, and I doubt anyone is here at this time, so are there any easier ways to calm down." As your voice was muffled, it took the robot quite a while to decipher your needs.

"A good way to... Calm down, for humans, is slow and steady sexual intercourse with a loved one." He stopped petting you, and you lifted your head to look at him.

You chuckled. Was he serious? There was no one in this floor who had any experience in the bedroom. I mean, it was a school overflowing with nerds, who would rather do maths as a hobby, than touch another human being.

"There's no one on this floor dumbass. Only you and me." You flicked your arm to show the emptiness of the workshop.

"I am sure I. Can be of assistance."

"Urgh. What the fuck, do you even. I mean. do even have a penis?" A quick check of his underside proved that he didn't. How was he going to help, and there was no way in hell your first time was going to be with a medically trained robot.

"No I do not have any , I am a non gender confirming being, I am only a piece of machinery to aid others."

"uh huh. So how are you going to assist me if you are only a chunk of metal."

"I can help with my. fingers." He brought up one blob of his suit, and wiggled it in your direction.

You know what. You'd try it, not because of some weird fetish but just because it sounded like a dumb idea, and if you were going to get kicked out anyway, so wth who cared.

He lifted you on the table then tapped your head, urging you to lay down. Nothing screams romantic like the constant whirring of a fan tucked into his white suit to keep him, alive? Could you even say that for a robot?

He carefully pulled down the band of your tights, with his large fingers gliding against the heat of your core. The underwear was next, he took both items of clothing then folded them, and placed them beside your head. Well you couldn't really ask a robot to be sexy.

You opened your legs and rolled your eyes, something told you this wasn't going to be the best sex you would ever have had. He ployed around your hole with the tip of his finger, never making an attempt to slip in or rub your clit to relieve some pressure.

"Can you. Like um actually make me cum at some point today."

"I, because of the code in my system, cannot make someone cum."

"Urgh forget it!"

You got off the table and pressed his off button, he retreated back to his red box as you gathered your clothing and got dressed. You'd work on your invention tomorrow, right now you need to go home and think about what you were about to do.

As you were cozying up at home your phone rang, hero's name popped up on the screen. Strange.

"Hello?"

"What is Wrong with you!"

"Stop screaming it's late."

"Why the FUCK. Would you fuck my robot. My brother died before he could finish that thing and you just tried to sleep with it."

Oh Shit.

ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠 ℙ𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕤. 𝕊𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕎𝕋𝔽, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕙𝕪𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤. 𝕀 𝕤𝕠 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕.

"𝕊𝕠 𝕓𝕓𝕘 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙."

"𝔹𝕒𝕪𝕞𝕒𝕩"

"𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕀 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖-"

"𝔹𝔸𝕐𝕄𝔸𝕏!"

"𝕀'𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕒𝕪𝕞𝕒𝕩."

𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖. 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤.

𝕰𝖆𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖎𝖈𝖍, 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖘𝖕𝖎𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒 𝖔𝖚𝖙