#pat gravity circuit

[brandiph0]

Two bots in love in cyber space ❤️💙

[laine-975]

Day? Day 4? I can’t count

[luanseatlan]

nurse doodle bc she doesn’t get enough credit for the shenanigans everyone puts her through

[flowersofstarlight]

✨💙 Pat 💙✨

[moonchildstyles]

can we see what flower and gravity h would be like at a party like halloween night, but now they're together? how would it be different? I loved that scene in the story I would love to read more!

wordcount: 3.6k+

—————

"Did you want to get dinner afterwards, or just come home?" 

(Y/N) shifted in her spot, leaning closer to her mirror with her powder compact in hand. In the reflection, she caught Harry's eye as she patted the product into her skin. Just as he had been since she settled in to start getting ready before they went out, he watched each movement of her hands as they swept across her features. 

"Hm?" he hummed, a flutter of his lashes coming from behind his glasses when he finally met her gaze in the glass. A pink flush touched at his cheeks from being caught. "Sorry." 

A small smile worked its way onto (Y/N)'s lips at his reaction. Straightening her posture, she pulled away from her mirror to take in the full of her progress. "I asked if you wanted to go out for dinner after we leave, or if you wanted to come home instead." 

"Oh," Harry sounded, looking a bit sheepish now, "What time did y'want to leave?" 

Shrugging, (Y/N) sifted through her makeup bag, searching for the specific palette she wanted to wear on her eyes for the night. "I don't want to stay long, so probably early. We could get sushi, maybe—or we can make pizza here instead." 

Plucking out the small brushes she planned on using to pack and blend the shadows across her lids, she focused on her eyeshadow only realizing Harry hadn't answered until she was facing the mirror once more and he was fixated on her reflection. 

"Harry?" 

He blinked, his eyes on her hands. "What is that?" 

A pinch settled between (Y/N)'s brows. "What do you mean? Pizza?" 

His lips stretched into a small smile, finally flicking his gaze up to match her own. "No," he laughed, "What you're holding. Is that eyeshadow?" 

"Oh, yeah," she bubbled, twisting to actually look at him instead of through the mirror, "Did you want to see it?" 

Taking her invitation, Harry sidled up beside her on the floor before her mirror, folding his legs underneath himself. Carefully taking the offered palette from her hand, (Y/N) allowed him a moment to look while she focused on the rest of her face powders instead. 

Through the mirror, she saw him tracing over the shades embedded in the case, taking in every name and hue of the shadows. "How do you know which ones to use?" 

Fluffing a large brush over her cheeks to add a flush to her cheeks, (Y/N) wondered if this was what Harry felt like whenever she asked him a question about physics. It was cute seeing her genius boyfriend being unsure about makeup, confused over something simple. 

"You just use whatever ones you want," she said, pausing in her fluffing and sweeping, "There's a few 'rules', like, using mattes in the crease and starting lighter before going darker and all of that, but really I just use whatever one I like." 

Harry looked at the eyeshadows before looking up to her once more, his gaze repeating that circuit before finally settling on her. "What are you going to use tonight?" 

Assessing the shades in front of her, she tilted her head. "I'm not sure, but probably something simple. We should probably leave soon, so I don't want to do a lot." 

(Y/N) watched as Harry took in the hues before him once more, the furrow of his brow taking her back to Professor Stanfill's room as Harry pored over whatever equation or lab writeup they were tasked with. A creeping smile settled on her lips. 

Going back to finishing up her base, she let him have his fun and satiate his curiosity by going through her cosmetics and taking it all in. Putting down her blush brush, she tilted her head, tipping her chin and taking in the angles of her face. Satisfied with the flush now covering her skin, she focused on what was still missing at the moment. She would finish her eyes later, once Harry had his fill with her palette, but there were other components to take care of first. 

"H, could you pass me my highlight, please? It's just a single heart compact," she mumbled, flicking through her cup of brushes for the one she needed. 

Silently handing it over, (Y/N) stopped before she took the compact from Harry's hand. Instead of the highlight she asked for, there was another set of blushes in his hand, none being a heart shape. Eventually, when he heard her quiet huff of laughter, Harry looked up with wide eyes behind his glasses. 

"What?" he sounded, her open palette still in his other hand, "These are the ones, right?" 

"These are my blushes, honey," she smiled, folding his fingers over the compacts once more before searching through her bag herself. 

"Oh," he sheepishly breathed, "Sorry." 

"It's okay, you didn't know," she told him, pulling out the correct compact before getting back to her mirror, "I'm gonna need the palette soon, but you can keep looking before." 

When he didn't answer, (Y/N) peeked at him through the corner of her eye. He was focused on the shades once more, still attempting to apparently decode the hues and find patterns that weren't there. 

"Would—Or, can I help you pick the colors?" he asked, his voice decidedly quiet in the privacy of his bedroom. 

(Y/N) paused in the sweeping of the shimmer over her cheeks, she looked to Harry with a bright smile. "You want to do that?" 

A bashful smile settled on his features, tipping his head to the side under the pressure of her gaze. "I mean, if that's alright. I don't want to tell y'what to do or anything, I jus'... I've never really looked at makeup like this before, I want to figure it out." 

A breathy laugh fell from her lips then, a gentle hand reaching out to settle on his arm. "It's not physics, H. You don't have to figure it out, or anything. It's supposed to be fun. "

"I know," he sighed, "I jus'—You know." 

He didn't have to explain himself any further to her. She knew what he meant—she knew him. Harry wanted to figure out those patterns and find the formula for what worked, what made her enjoy putting on her makeup the way she did. He wanted to find the science behind the fun, and she wasn't going to stop him if that was what he wanted. 

"I know," she assured him, leaning forward just enough to press a single kiss to his cheek, "I have to finish a couple of things, so pick what colors you want and we'll see what we can make." 

The quiet curl of Harry's lips was enough for (Y/N), ready to accept any and every combination he might come up with. 

—————

"Harry!" 

If not for his grip on (Y/N)'s hand, Harry would have stumbled back at the eruption of his name when they stepped inside the party. With it still being rather early in the night, the party wasn't quite yet a party, still sitting in kickback territory. (Y/N) had assured him they would be heading out once more people started showing up within the next few hours, leaving the rest of the night to be theirs. 

With the small crowd present around the shared bottles of liquor, it was easy to spot new additions to the group—including when (Y/N) led him into the living room. It had been her who was greeted first, Naomi already present with her own partner for the night lagging behind. Whilst Ny and (Y/N) were still bubbling off about something that happened earlier in the day, someone had caught sight of Harry and cheered his name across the room. 

Peeling his eyes away from (Y/N), feeling himself blink owlishly from behind his lenses, he tried to find who had wanted his attention. Only one familiar face stuck out amongst the frat brothers plopped on the couch and leaning against the walls. Harry didn't know his name, but he recognized his face as the one that had been shrouded in a Scooby-Doo get up, letting him into the Halloween frat party that night to meet up with (Y/N). 

His hold pulsed around (Y/N)'s hand. "H-Hey," Harry smiled, hoping no one heard his stumbling tongue, "How are you?" 

Scooby, none perturbed by Harry's standstill, crossed the room to meet him. A friendly arm was extended, meaning to catch Harry in one of those frat-brother hugs he was only familiar with through watching it be performed on campus hundreds of times. Reluctantly, he let go of (Y/N)'s hand and reciprocated the half-handshake half-hug with Scooby. 

"I'm good, man," Scooby (was it more rude to ask for his name this late in the game, or to continue to call him by the name of a fictional dog? Harry wasn't sure) answered, "I didn't know you were coming tonight." 

"Yeah," Harry breathed, blindly reaching for the comfort of (Y/N)'s hand once more, "We're just stopping by for a little." 

Harry watched as Scooby's eyes skittered towards (Y/N), his brows dancing over his eyes once they returned to Harry. "Oh, got other plans?" 

A warm flush crept up the creamy skin of Harry's neck, reaching above the knitted neckline of his sweater. He knew where Scooby's head was at, and he wasn't sure if he enjoyed knowing that he thought of (Y/N) in that kind of position—even if it was with Harry. 

"Something like that," he offered, reaching his free hand up to adjust his glasses, "I was going to take her out for dinner, and all of that." 

"Nice," Scooby said, though his smile revealed he didn't think Harry was sharing the whole of the night's plans. "Hopefully, you'll stay long enough to at least play a couple of games with us. I feel like you'd be really good at beer pong, since there's all the angles and science and stuff." 

While he wasn't exactly wrong about the science and physics that went into the game, Harry had a hard time picturing himself being any good. Nonetheless, he offered a smile and nodded his head to Scooby. "I'll let you know." 

With that, Scooby was called off by the group he was previously sitting with, leading him away and leaving Harry to decompress. 

There was a reason he didn't come to these things. Parties made him nervous—there was so much to keep track of, he didn't like drinking around strangers, and there was always too many people in his space. (Y/N) was the only reason he would ever venture into these things and find joy in them. That was why he was going to cling to her hand like a lifeline. 

"That was nice," (Y/N) chirped, taking his attention. Behind her, he could see Ny carting her partner off towards the kitchen, her grip lax on her red cup. "I didn't know you knew Andy." 

(Silently, Harry pocketed that victory. Now he wouldn't have to keep that made up name for Andy and he didn't have to embarrass himself and ask)

"Um, yeah," he mumbled, "I met him at the Halloween party, but that's really it. I didn't think he remembered me, or anything." 

"How could anyone forget your costume?" (Y/N) teased, well aware that more than half of the student body had no idea what he was meant to be that night (including herself, but she conveniently forgot that part when she made her jokes). 

Harry squeezed her hand in his, a quiet smile touching at his lips as he kept his gaze low. "What do we do now?" he asked her, his voice a secret for just her to hear. 

Offering a half-shrug with a single shoulder bouncing, (Y/N) smiled through her glossy painted lips (a rosy shade he had picked). "Just hang out. Talk and maybe play a couple of games of beer pong if they pull out the table and stuff, but it shouldn't be too crazy. Why?" 

"You know I don't really come to these," he shared with her, hoping no one could overhear him and his mumblings, "I don't know what to do or who to talk to. I don't know anyone but you." 

Though he knew (Y/N) didn't completely understand his shyness, seeing as she was the complete opposite when it came to social interactions, she still tried. Firming her fingers between his own, she gave him that soft smile with her lashes fluttering under the melted, warm browns painted on her lids (another one of his choices). "Then, stick with me and we'll go when you're ready." 

Harry did feel reassured by her game plan, even if there was that stray thought of how pathetic it would look for him to be clinging to her all night while she swept through the party like a butterfly. If worse came to worst, he decided he'd at least go get her a drink by himself and talk to Naomi's partner so he didn't come off as both obsessed and pathetic. 

"Did you want a drink or anything?" (Y/N) questioned, pulling himself from his head. 

"'M okay," he murmured, "But I'll come with you to get one." 

When she started leading him towards the kitchen, Harry had a moment of deja vu, remembering the last time they were in this position on Halloween night. 

Eyes falling to her hips and the hug of her jeans over them, he figured it wouldn't be so bad to be following her all night after all. 

—————

When (Y/N)'s hand slipped out of his once more to greet a friend, Harry took a single step back towards the kitchen. Once she had broken away from the hug she was sharing with the newcomer, he ducked down to tell her he'd be right back. 

"Where are you going?" she asked, her skin warm and eyes wide.

"To get you some water, if that's alright," he murmured, offering her a small smile. Truthfully, he was worried he was taking up too much of her space and time hanging from her hand like a cute accessory. He wanted to give her a breather from him. 

"Oh," she sounded, her lips in a pouty gape, "Thank you. I'll be in here." 

A huff of laughter fell from his lips at her response. The single drink she'd had definitely was hitting her head. "I'll be back, sweetheart." 

He could feel her eyes sitting on his back as he stepped away just before her friend asked who he was. "That's my boyfriend," (Y/N) answered, the title making Harry's shoulders broaden and chest puff, "He's getting me some water." 

Too far away then, he couldn't quite catch what her friend said in response, only knowing that the word cute was thrown around. Harry allowed that to carry him as he trekked back into the kitchen, the house decidedly fuller now that the night was beginning. It was still nowhere near the chaos that had been the Halloween party, but it wouldn't take long before the Friday night fun began. He hoped (Y/N) would be ready to leave before then. 

Taking his time, Harry stole around the kitchen and filled a red plastic cup with icy water for her. From the corner of his eye, he could see a semi-familiar group of boys carrying a folding table down the hallway, with a definitely-familiar voice whooping in excitement. Scooby—Andy, he corrected himself—was setting up the beer pong table it sounded like. He wondered if Andy remembered the invitation he gave to Harry for him to play alongside them. 

Hesitating with the cup in his hand, Harry thought about following the group out there. He'd give (Y/N) her water, then ask Andy if he could help set up—maybe that would remind him that Harry would be a winner at the game, with all the "science and stuff". A moment later, he tried to picture himself playing the game, heavy sweater on his form and the only fraternity lingo he knew being what he picked up around campus. It would probably be best if he stayed by (Y/N)'s side. 

Turning in the opposite direction of the game, he started towards where he knew (Y/N) was waiting, the cup beginning to chill the palm of his hand with the amount of ice he'd poured in.

Just where she said she would be, (Y/N) was in conversation with another two friends, the one he'd seen before he left, now flitting away with another group. A lopsided smile tugged on his mouth; that was his flower, attracting anyone and everyone to get a look at her. 

Sidling up beside her, he carefully stepped into the conversation with a small nudge against his arm. (Y/N)'s features brightened when she saw him, whatever story she was telling was still spilling from her lips as she took his offered gift. He took her hand once more, settling at her side until he would quietly introduce himself. 

"Thank you," she chirped once she finished her story and fielded the reactions from her friends, "Guys, this is—"

"Harry!"

She was abruptly cut off, Harry's name being shouted by another on the other end of the room. Swiveling his gaze through the quiet groups now occupying the space, Harry saw Andy's familiar face with his eyes on him. 

The couch in the center of the living room was now pushed to the side, making way for the table that took center stage. Red cups like the one in (Y/N)'s hand were now decorating the graffitied table, arranged in half finished pyramids with the missing pieces still under construction.

Once Andy realized he'd gained Harry's attention, he beckoned him over. "You're still playing right?" he asked, his voice decidedly louder than needed for the quiet space, "We've got first dibs." 

Instinctively, Harry stayed rooted in his spot, his hand in (Y/N)'s becoming an anchor. Was he playing?

"I didn't know you were going to play with them," (Y/N) excitedly bubbled from his side, a now familiar shimmery taupe sparkling on her eyelids, "Go before they fill your spot!" 

He hesitated, unwilling to completely unlatch his hand from hers. "Are you sure? We—I don't want to make you stay if you're ready—" 

"I'm sure, H," she cut him off, doing the hard work of letting go of his hand in favor of pushing him towards the assembling game, "We'll leave whenever you're ready. I want to watch you play." 

It was the encouraging smile on her lips that had him taking those steps away. He offered a friendly smile towards her friends he still didn't know the names of, before melting into the pods of people scattered around. Andy greeted him with a cheer once he was close enough, pulling Harry into another half-hug, half-handshake. 

"This is Harry," he introduced him, to the opposing team of two stationed across the table, "He's the science guy I was telling you about." 

"Oh, yeah," one of the others sounded, "You're the one that dressed as a pussy doctor on Halloween, right?" 

Though Harry wanted badly to correct that assumption—especially when he heard the melody of (Y/N)'s laugh filtering through the room—he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he gave a tight smile and a nod of his head. "That's me." 

Apparently, that was a killer joke he'd made seeing as the others, Andy included, laughed around him. 

"You're right, he is funny," the final man said, running a hand through his shaggy hair, "I'm Blake." 

"Nice to meet you," Harry smiled, unsure of if this was the time to actually shake his hand or if this was the kind of meeting that warranted another half-hug. 

Before much else could be said, Andy interrupted, insisting it was time to start the game. (Apparently the other team was made up of Blake and Adam—two names Harry was going to have to fight hard to remember after tonight). A quick rundown of the rules was shared, including house rules Harry figured were unique to how this set of friends played, before he was forced to speak up. 

"I—uh—Actually, 'm driving tonight, so I don't think I can drink. Sorry," Harry piped up, dropping his eyes from Andy's. Maybe he shouldn't have accepted the invitation. 

"Oh, yeah," Andy sounded, adjusted the skewed cups in front of him, "You're taking your girlfriend out tonight. No worries, man, I'll just drink for both of us, I don't care." 

"Yeah?" Harry brightened, not expecting to be allowed to continue playing a drinking game when he wasn't even going to be drinking. 

"Yeah, no problem. I'm crashing here tonight, anyway, so I'll be fine." 

Harry opened his mouth to thank his new friend, when he was cut off by another on the other side of the table. Adam, with a pong ball in his hand, looked to Harry with a pinch in his brows. "Who's your girlfriend?" 

Reflexively, Harry scanned his gaze over the room until he found (Y/N). He shared her name with the table, a soft smile tucking into his lips. 

"That's right!" Blake said, taking a beat to throw the first ball and miss the cup on Harry's side, "We saw you guys in the kitchen on Halloween. Good for you." 

He couldn't help the flush that drew its way up his cheeks and to the tips of his ears at Blake's declaration. He very vividly remembered being in that kitchen with (Y/N), too. 

"That was us," Harry murmured, bringing his hand up to knuckle at his nose in hopes of concealing the growing smile on his lips. 

"Don't let them distract you, Harry," Andy commanded from his side, "You've got to teach me how to do the velocity or whatever on the ball so we win." 

Another one of (Y/N)'s laughs made it wards through the room and directly to him. 

Parties weren't so bad.

—————

eeeeeek I hope everyone likes! thank u sm for reading, sorry for any mistakes, and if there's any ideas or requests or anything that you have please send them in!

[dailylcy]

06. some people fall in love, i just fall

wc: 340 — slightly suggestive on slide 9

It didn’t help that you woke up later than you planned to and anton might already have a crush, you also ran out of milk and couldn’t make your daily coffee, so you decided to go to the convenience store that’s 5 minutes away to buy some , One second, you were walking normally. The next, your foot caught onto something, and you were midair.

Pain shot through your knee as you hit the solid pavement, and just as you were trying to act like nothing happend, a familiar voice made it so much worse.

“Are you okay?” You looked up, Oh no.

Anton bent down to you, his eyes filled with concern.

“I — uh — yeah!” you blurted. “Just… testing gravity. Still works! as you can see..”

Anton let out a small laugh, but the moment you tried to stand, pain shot through your knee, and you cried in pain. Instantly, his hands steadied you.

“Yeah, no. You shouldn’t walk on that.” He glanced around for a second. “My place is close. Come on.”

Before you could protest, he moved your arm over his shoulder, effortlessly supporting your weight as he helped you limp to his apartment.

The second you stepped inside, you were hit with the scent of vanilla. You barely had time to take it in before Anton sat you gently on the couch.

“Stay here, i’m gonna go grab something” he said, disappearing into the kitchen. A few moments later, he returned with an ice pack, kneeling in front of you as he pressed it to your knee. “Is this better?”

You swallowed. “Y-yeah. Thank you.”

Anton nodded, then smirked slightly. “Though, I have to say… I didn’t expect to see you literally falling for me.”

Your brain short-circuited. Groaning, you covered your face. “Oh my god.”

Anton chuckled, patting your head. “you should rest. I’ll go get you something to drink.”

As he walked off, you peeked through your fingers, watching him move effortlessly in his space.

Yep. You were done for.

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note: buffton IS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!

© dailylcy pls dont not repost on any other platform !

[theredlanternavenger]

post-game, pat wanting to be strong for his beloved master>>>

I made this on May 7th, at exactly 3:25 am because I couldn't sleep and was extremely bored, I posted it only to twitter but I think Tumblr should get to see it too

[bitchinbarzal]

“You Should Have One.” | Elodie & Kess

Miles was maybe eight weeks old, and Elodie was obsessed.

Obsessed with his squishy cheeks, his tiny socks, the way he made little “oof” sounds like he was offended by gravity.

And especially obsessed with showing him off to everyone.

Which is why, when Tess and Kess came over for dinner one night, Elodie grabbed Tess’s hand immediately and whispered, “Hold him. Right now.”

Tess blinked. “I just walked in—”

“NOW.”

Five minutes later, Tess was on the couch, Miles snoozing against her chest, and Michael was sitting beside them — relaxed, happy, sipping his water.

Which is when Elodie struck.

She crossed her arms. Tapped her foot. Then, very seriously:

“You should have one.”

Michael choked. “What?”

“A baby,” she said, gesturing to Miles like he was a living product demonstration. “Like this. You should make one.”

Tess blinked. “We… what?!”

“I can help pick a name,” Elodie added. “I like names that sound cool and snack-related. Like Chip.”

Michael made a noise like a dying animal.

Kaia, from the kitchen, shouted, “ELODIE.”

“What?” she said innocently. “I’m being helpful.”

Tess looked like she was short-circuiting.

Elodie stepped closer, dead serious. “You already love each other. You already love me. That’s basically parenting. You’re, like, halfway there.”

Michael sputtered. “That’s not how it works—”

Elodie turned to Tess, all eyes and eyelashes. “Don’t you want one? Look at his socks. His socks, Tess.”

Tess looked down at Miles. Who, of course, was wearing the tiniest duck socks ever made.

Her ovaries twitched.

“Just think about it,” Elodie said, patting Tess’s knee. “Okay? For me. For the family. For Chip.”

Kaia groaned.

Clayton, passing by, muttered, “This is exactly how she got us to adopt Lucky.”

Michael looked at Tess.

Tess looked at Miles.

Miles snored.

And Elodie?

She smirked.

Mission: Planted.

[drewsbuzzcut]

Started With A Spark, Now We’re On Fire

Jeremy Swayman x Lyla Blair

A ‘The Masterminds’ blurb

warnings: mentions being at a bar and some kissing

takes place February 2024

“Sorry about the game. I really wish we would’ve won. I wish I played better,” Jeremy shouts over the music playing in the bar.

Lyla pouts at him. She feels bad that he feels bad. Although the bruins didn’t win, she’s still really happy to spend time with him. His eyes seem sad and she doesn’t like it one bit.

“Don’t feel bad. I promise it’s fine. There will be more games that I go to and you can secure a win for me. I’m just glad to be here with you,” her hand rests on his shoulder, so she can lean up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. She presses a kiss on his cheek, patting herself on the back when the disappointment in his eyes disappears.

Jeremy has to pause for a hot minute. The burning sensation of her lips still lingering on his skin and his brain starts to short circuit. He’s never been this close to heaven.

“Trust me, there’s no one I’d rather have here with me,” he assures her, hand reaching out to grasp hers.

“Good!”

“You look so beautiful. My jersey looks good on you,” Jeremy compliments, a hand wrapping around Lyla’s waist to pull her closer to him. Her hands splay out on his chest, fingers tapping him to the beat of the song that’s playing.

The material of the jersey scratches against her skin in a way that drives her senses crazy. They’re ultra sensitive and the way his jersey smells just like him makes her think it’s one he pulled right out of his closet.

“Of course it does. I make anything look good. It just so happens that ‘Swayman’ makes me appear ethereal,” she responds, letting her hand travel up to his hair, swirling a curl around her finger. She moves it back down to caress his bearded jaw, the coarse hairs suddenly feel like silk.

Jeremy bites down on his lip, so taken with her confidence. She has no idea just how much he yearns for her. The way her eyes sparkle in the low lighting as she looks up at him; how her lips look tempting, and how her hands on him feels too right, makes him shudder in both nerves and excitement. Who knew someone can be so captivating, stronger than gravity, really?

Her eyes really do it for him. They reel him in, keeping their grip tight on him, and set his soul alight. Fuck it, he thinks. Throwing all caution to the wind, he leans down and captures her lips.

Lyla lets out a low gasp, swallowed by his mouth. She wasn’t expecting to become this intoxicated from his lips alone. She wasn’t even expecting him to kiss her, but she quickly follows his lead. His beard softly scrapes against her chin, sending chills throughout her body. There’s nothing more invigorating than the way his mouth takes charge over hers. He’s claiming her, tasting her, and Lyla has no problem with it.

Jeremy is first to pull away, eyes still closed and hands still holding onto her. Lyla grips his shirt to ground herself as her head spins. His nose nudges at the skin of her cheek, making her laugh and effectively bringing her back from his kiss induced haze.

“Lyla?” He whispers so softly, the hairs on her body stand.

“Yes?”

“Let me take you on a date tomorrow,” he requests and places his forehead on hers.

“Okay,” it’s sultry and magical, her voice whispering in his ear.

She looks up and leans in for a kiss once more. There’s no way she’ll ever get enough. She’ll always be haunted by the tender, yet fervid, pressure of his lips on hers. Haunted by the feeling of his tongue exploring her mouth as if he’s been there before, but it’s a welcome ghost.

He presses a gentle hand on her throat, feeling the way her breath hitches when he sucks on her bottom lip.

“Do you kiss all the girls you ask on dates like that?” Lyla asks, pulling away to face him with red, swollen lips and wide eyes.

“There’s only you,” he silences her underlying worries.

a/n: Their first kiss! I really adore Lyla and Jeremy😭 I hope y’all enjoy!!

[void-botanist]

What kinda technology do people use to listen to music in the locality space setting? Is it the same as irl or is there cool sci-fi technology for it, or both? Is it different for pajiir and delphonus?

This is such a good question, Kendrick, and it helped me iron out some worldbuilding thoughts about warps. I'm guessing this came from my ask answer about Pat's old stuff, which got me kind of stuck to start - the reason he has old music stuff is because in Old Canon he was the music guy, king of the radio. The canon was weird back then, with Spinder's whole family being faeries living on Earth. I believe canonically Spinder was born in 1958, so radio and record players were a big part of his childhood. But factoring in all of the locality space worldbuilding, and keeping my timeline straight, I think it's a little more complicated.

The space era that they live in, with relatively easy access to space and permawarps, came to be about 90-100 years ago, which means that's about when there started to be a major shift in music delivery, because you could then receive music via warp from just about anywhere. I think there was already essentially a galaxy-sized Napster network, because warp witches and also starships existed before the launch era, but in terms of radio/streaming formats that's when things really took off. The only problem was you needed a warp receiver, and at first the only stable mechanical warps were those generated by enchanted machine song, which meant that all of your music was delivered with extra noise, something like how CRT TVs make high-pitched whining noises. Not ideal, but extremely popular. Then someone figured out how to besmallen the technology used for warp gates, and true hi-fi warp radio was born. Which is a long-winded way of saying by the time Pat was born 40 years ago this was a solved problem. The thing is, I always imagined him having vintage stuff because it's stuff from when he grew up, not because he's a collector (though he could be that too). So what makes his music paraphernalia outdated?

Partly it's that it still relies on midsize receivers, which are still small enough to fit in a stereo, but fill a very different niche than the much smaller receivers that became available when he was a teenager and that he probably still owns instances of. I also think he's kind of a nerd about music stuff and was into amateur radio, warp and otherwise, for a while, so he has that stuff too. Also, despite the fact that magic allows most ship environments to be fairly planet-like, oh boy is it easy to market a music storage format to planetsiders based on the fact that it could work in zero g. Don't ask me how it works in zero g, but it does, somehow. Maybe not even well, because that's not the point - 99% of buyers are going to be using it in an environment with gravity. But in general formats did get hardier. I think it would be extremely funny if current music storage formats are just like. cuboids. and you put them in the player slot and its suspension-laser-refraction array can read a shit ton of data out of it, sort of like encoding things in diamonds. I'm not totally sure about that one but making the jump from "space CD" to "music cube" or something similar would make a lot of stuff outdated. So I guess to answer your second question it's kind of the same, especially for planetsiders (radio waves never became obsolete &c.) but there's some weird scifi stuff in there somewhere beyond warp receivers, which are pretty everyday.

Now for Pajiir and Delphonus I do actually have a more solid answer, which is: it's mostly the same as real life, with some 1920s-30s flavoring, though a lot of technology is circuit mycelium on the inside, and the internet has been around a whole lot longer so the concept of streaming/digital files/internet radio is even more established. That said, there is one fictional format that actually is integral to the whole plot of Icepith: the twist. (I swear I had a cooler name for it but this works.) The basic concept is that pieces of music tracks are recorded on metal wires and twisted together as essentially an industrial cable segment. A player can play them all in tandem, but importantly, you can untwist the twist and replace parts of it, which makes remixing easy and has led to a huge remixing culture among imbrath (the underground bat people, like Rolf), and by extension nswl. This is the basis of Snap and Rolf's doomed music career, and of Oruga's pirating. Rolf's friends/lovers who supply Oruga are wire producers.

[brandiph0]

My friends are lovers

[laine-975]

Pat dress :)

[bichettes]

dreaming big league || chapter thirteen

word count: 2615 summary: more life, more baseball. warnings: none! author’s note: this is rushed ik but i really just wanna get to the fun stuff

February

The metal bar sat on Carrie’s shoulders as she adjusted her feet below. She had to look around from the side rather than directly right in front of her thanks to her sleeping baby girl in her carrier. Penelope’s cheeks were smooshed as gravity pulled them down. Once Carrie’s feet were situated in the correct stance, she steadied herself before bringing her body down into a squat. She normally would have done the exercise without the assist from the Smith machine but with her daughter strapped to her chest Carrie didn’t want to take any chances. She went through ten reps of the squats while Penelope slept through it. Her thighs burned along with her lungs as she put the bar on lock and dislodged herself from it. She walked around the area to relax herself, patting the back of the carrier. Once she got her heart rate down to a normal level, she moved onto the next workout of her circuit.

This is how most of her week usually went.

Since the second week of the new year, Carrie spent the majority of her weekdays at the Thunderbirds’ training complex. As she had discussed with Coach Williams her mind was still very much set on making it to the MLB. The most important thing was for her to get back into fighting form; bring the weight down a bit, gain the muscle back. That’s why the coach had asked to bring Alisha and Parker, the team’s head `athletic trainer and dietician, respectively. They had come along to talk to Carrie about how to get the ball rolling again on her exercise and diet plan. After an informative talk一 with cuddles from Penelope in between for everyone一 the four of them were able to come up with a safe plan for Carrie to follow considering she was still the main source of well, everything for her daughter.

Carrie moved on to the last part of her workout: the treadmill. She carefully took Penelope out of the carrier and placed her into her sleeping mat so she could get a proper run in. Carrie started off with a walk, watching the rest of her team do fielding drills across the way. A part of her wished she was with them but she knew she wasn’t ready to be doing any of that yet. Her mind and body still felt sluggish from that of being a new mom. She concentrated on her breathing as her feet pounded the treadmill. Following her run, Carrie went through her cool down, letting her heart recover from the intensity of her workout. To top it all off, she picked up Penelope from her mat and laid down, placing the baby right on her. Penelope squirmed for a couple seconds but eventually settled after finding a comfortable spot for her head on her mother’s chest. Some happy sounds escaped her tiny cherub lips as she fell back asleep on Carrie, putting a smile on her face.

March

“Sorry, Carrie, you have to pay up.”

“Oh my god, Brandon.”

Carrie groaned as she stared down her wheelbarrow on North Carolina Avenue where Brandon had a little red hotel sitting. She shook her head. Out of all the cousins, he was the most ruthless monopoly player. In recent years Brandon just seemed to get lucky with the dice whenever they played and he always used it to his advantage. His rolls got him the more expensive properties and he put houses and hotels on them whenever he could. Everyone else had the unfortunate dice rolls, landing them on Brandon’s properties and having to pay him a godawful amount of money (for Monopoly). And that was currently happening to Carrie.

“Fuck.”

Carrie looked at her little pile of money. The rent for the property with the hotel was $1275. She only had $500. All she kept doing was shaking her head while Brandon held his hand out for the cash. When she looked up at her cousin he had the biggest smile on his face.

“You’re sick.”

“I play the game.”

She shook her head once again. “I can’t do it. I’m going bankrupt.”

The smile on Brandon’s face somehow managed to grow even wider. Absolutely sickening.

April

The four men stood around the hostess stand while they waited for someone to help them. A few moments passed before a friendly looking girl walked up.

“Hi! For how many?”

“Five, please.” Courtney answered for the group.

The hostess gathered up five menus and a smaller one before asking the guys to follow her to a table off to the side of the restaurant. They all took their seats and thanked her. Adam didn’t waste any time, plucking the drink menu off the top of the pile. His eyes went down the page as he read the drink options. The other four scanned through the food menu, already feeling out of their depth.

“How do you know this spot again, Court?” Joe asked him.

“My sister found it last season but she came for their brunch.”

“Was it good?”

“Wouldn’t recommend it if it wasn’t.” Courtney stated matter-of-factly.

Besides knowing what the five of them wanted to drink, they had no idea what they wanted to eat. Just as they were about to flag someone down, their, who they assumed to be their waitress, appeared with a pitcher of water and a tray of glasses for the table and set them down. A pencil and a notebook was procured from her little apron.

“Hi, welcome to Magdalena! My name’s Chelsea, I’ll be your server for at least the next half hour.”

That piqued their interest, especially Adam’s.

“Half hour, why?”

“Oh, I’m technically done for the day but the next person after me is stuck in traffic so I’m covering for her until she gets here.”

Courtney, Joe, Blake, and Daniel watched as their friend and teammate flirted with their server. Most of the time it was amusing to watch. The guy had game and they respected that. The only problem was that he had game with everyone. He could flirt with a rock if he could. They didn’t mind it, really. The only time they did was if his flirting got in the way of obligations. The group eventually managed to get in their drink orders before Adam could really step it up.

They went through the menu once again, discussing their upcoming homestand as they did so. Even going through the menu a second or third time, they still felt lost. Everything on it sounded great but they had no idea where to even begin. Courtney was just about to make a comment about pitching when there was a commotion at the front door.

“Carrie!” The hostess exclaimed.

“God, sorry I’m late. There was an accident on the Gardiner just as we were about to leave the complex so Hanna had to take side streets instead-“ The girl- Carrie- explained as she whizzed by the hostess stand.

What caught Courtney’s eyes wasn’t the frazzled look on her face or the speed in which she moved, but rather the gear bag she had slung over her shoulder and the two bats in her hand. His hazel eyes followed her form as it disappeared behind the door that led to the kitchen. Interesting.

“Think I found our server.”

-

“So which side do I have?” Carrie asked as she tied her apron around her waist.

“You’re in section three today with the addition of table four in section two.” Chelsea briefed.

Carrie’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

“You know how Mark is with groups.”

“Right. So how many people are at that table?”

“Five, but they’re all really nice. One of them was flirting with me.”

“Flirting or harassing?”

“Flirting, the guy’s harmless. It’s that table over there.”

Chelsea pointed through the window of the swinging doors and Carrie’s eyes followed until the group came into view-

“Wait, that’s table four?”

“Yeah, nice enough guys. Why?”

“Um, that’s the infield for the Rockets.”

Chelsea looked back out the window. “No way. You’re joking.” Carrie gave her a deadpan look. “I shouldn’t have said that, of course you know.” Chelsea untied her apron and hung it up with the rest of them and unclipped her name tag from her shirt. “Maybe you can talk to them about baseball, then. Earn your tips that way.”

“I am not doing that.”

“Why not? It’ll be fun!”

-

“Hi guys, I’m Carrie. Chelsea was covering for me until I got here but don’t worry your tips will be going to her.”

The girl Courtney had seen just ten minutes prior was now changed out of her workout gear and into a pair of jeans and loose fitting graphic tee. Her hair was pulled back into a braided ponytail rather than the messy bun she had when she first entered the restaurant. With the her body was angled more towards him and Blake, it gave Adam the perfect chance to check her out, giving her back a quick up and down. He wanted to kick the guy’s shin.

“You guys figure out what you want to eat?”

“Uh, not yet.” Joe replied.

“Did you need help with the menu?”

“Please.”

This launched a five minute lesson on the menu, with Carrie giving them a run down on the dishes they were curious about. Courtney could see the happiness on her as she described something called ‘kare kare’ to them. She somehow managed to convince them to get two different kinds of spring rolls, pork barbecue, a large plate of white rice, and three mains (kare kare, chicken adobo, and lechon).

“Don’t you think we got a little too much to eat?” Daniel asked them.

Adam waved him off. “It’s our day off, we can eat as much as we want.”

“Now that’s not true-“

“Dude, live a little! We’re about to have some good food and you’re worried about following the meal plan.”

It was about halfway into their meal when Courtney learned a little bit more about their server. An older man walked in with a baby strapped to his chest and Courtney watched as Carrie met them in the middle with the biggest smile. His head tilted as she began to unstrap the baby from his body and hold her.

“Did you have fun with papa today, sweetheart?” Carrie asked the baby in a high pitched voice. She peppered kisses all over the baby’s face and happy babbles escaped from the little body.

Courtney had so many questions. Papa? Was this her sister? How old was she? He listened in some more to the conversation.

“Where’s your papa?”

“In his office waiting for you so you can have dinner together.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Of course he is. How was practice?”

“I’m exhausted. They got me doing fielding drills today, working on my timing and whatnot.”

At the mention of the fielding drills, the other four perked up. Carrie bounced the baby in her arms as she spoke with him.

“Full gear?”

“Mhmm.”

“Well look at you go. You’ll be back in no time!”

“I know but I don’t want to get too excited.”

Was she injured? What happened to her?

-

“I hope you guys enjoyed the food.” Carrie said to them as she handed the bill over to Joe.

“We did.”

“It was amazing.”

Should she say something? Would that be weird? Who knows when she’ll have this opportunity again.

Courtney was about to say something when she spoke.

“You know, I’ve been watching the Rockets since I was five.” She could feel her heart beating in her ears. All or nothing. “Jack McQuaid is the reason I used to play shortstop. I thought he was so cool. His catch into shallow left in game six of the 2005 World Series is still one of my favourite plays.”

The five guys all stared at her like she grew another head. So maybe speaking up was a mistake.

“‘Used to’?” Blake questioned.

Carrie nodded. “I’m a catcher now. I’ve been playing at that position since I was 11.”

“Softball?”

“No, baseball.” Carrie clarified. “I play in a mixed U23 provincial league.”

There’s a provincial league? Huh.

“You any good?” Adam asked.

Carrie shrugged. She thought she was good but she wasn’t about to admit that to five professionals. “I’m alright.”

Courtney wanted to ask her something but the question died at the sound of a baby crying. Carrie immediately turned at the sound and found her dad holding a crying Penelope. She quickly put down the card reader before her dad was depositing her child into her arms.

“She wants her mama.” Andrew said to her. She looked down at the baby.

“What’s wrong, sweet girl, hm? What’s got you all upset?”

Carrie hated when Penelope cried, didn’t matter for what reason. For poop, for feeds, nightmares, whatever, Carrie didn’t like it. She wanted Penelope to always be the smiley, happy baby she’s growing into.

“Dad, do you mind finishing this up?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Before she walked off towards the back, she stopped and turned towards her dad. “Their tips go towards Chelsea’s pay.”

June

Carrie’s leg bounced on the carpeted floor of her dad’s car while she waited for the text from the trainers. Her bottom lip was chewed raw thanks to the nervousness that had settled into her since she got in the car. Andrew the look his daughter wore on her face when he saw it through the rear view mirror.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked her gently. He watched as her head turned to face the front.

“Dad, I’m nervous.”

He turned around in the driver’s chair and was faced with a worried looking Carrie looking right back at him. He wished he could talk all the anxiety and nerves away so she wouldn’t have to deal with it. He and Severino knew just how hard she had been working to get back to playing form. The plan she had set up with the help of the team’s trainers and nutritionists in January was followed religiously by their daughter. And among all that she didn’t forget her duties as a mom, as a daughter, as a friend; the duties to herself. She didn’t lose who she was over the last six months.

“Why?”

“What if I didn’t do enough to get back there?”

Andrew shook his head, reaching for his daughter’s hand. “You did more than enough, baby. We all saw the effort that you’ve been putting in since the start of the year. You have been working so hard to get back. All of this that you’re about to do next is just a formality at this point. You just have to show your team officially that you’re good to go.”

Carrie nodded. “Yeah.”

“And if for some reason you can’t come back this time around, so what? You’ll have another go at it, just don’t give up.”

Carrie’s phone buzzed in her hand.

Alisha

-We’re ready for you!

“Me and Penelope will be right here cheering you on, okay?”

-

Beck’s ears rung as he stared at his phone.

-

tag list: @paris-roubaix

[flowersofstarlight]

✨Three Amigos✨

Gravity Circuit is still awesome in my opinion! And I feel like Kai, Pat, and Nega would be a great trio as a team. I don’t know why, but I am looking forward to see more and hoping Gravity Circuit will get a sequel to continue Kai’s journey along with the other characters and maybe we’ll get to see new characters in the future. 😊💖✨

[cipheramnesia]

The Lev Nicoburg drifted along a low orbit over its doppelganger on the far side of the Lunar surface. It was peacefully distant from the bustle of the port cities, and a cacophony inside the ship. Without the urgency of pursuit, unlocking the system drives one guess at a time dropped in priority compared to the rest of the ship. Engineers hustled up from the drive, making quick trips to storage to clear out blown transistors or burned circuit altars, repurposing one of the cyclosystem sigil-locks to put marginal power into local navigation, and generally opening up anything with a cover to check for signs of burn or breakage.

Most everyone was finding something useful to do, and for Serah that was nothing, because she knew boatloads of system entry regulations, trade maps, and ship specs, but sweet sacred fuck all about engineering. Instead she sat on the single chair in Trevor's room, reading the Nicoburg's ownership manual, while the deep spacer lay in her bed. Serah didn't think of herself as particularly nosy, but she couldn't help looking around the small quarters.

It was a significantly more compact version of the room she shared with Maryam - about enough room for the one chair, space to turn around, a couple fold out shelves (one was set up as a small desk), a locker with the sonic for cleaning, and drawers stacked under the bed. She saw Trevor had hung netting for extra storage, which was pretty common. The chair was comfortable and and made of some kind of worn red material that didn't match the other prefab shipboard furniture. There was a small, enclosed altar with a cycling water feature and a coin buried in clear lucite. One of the nets had an vined plant draped across it, the other a long, flat case. A few odds and ends from what Serah assumed was home, engraved fire-portrait of Trevor and two strangers, tablet stand. Some kind of lamp with a very hot, red bulb. Perhaps she was a bit nosy after all.

Maryam poked in through the open door. "Any change?"

Serah nodded at the supine woman. "Same as before. How's the job going?"

Maryam slid into the room and sagged against the desk. "Bad. I have never even got a little scratch on a ship before." She held two fingers barely apart. "I think I just did more damage to the Nicoburg than the annual budget." She rubbed her hands down her face. "Repairs are going. They must change and reseal each PhiMa filter in both chakras, so another hour for this. We may have some basic manuvering soon. Is any useful information in the manual?"

"I barely passed the systems integration course, I think I've been over the drive mechanics four times and couldn't guess. Who writes these, who even reads these?"

"Engineers," Maryam said, grimly serious. It made Serah laugh.

Her eyes fell on Trevor again. "What d'ya suppose happened?"

"I do not think anyone supposes or understands deep spacers, including deep spacers. If luck is with us, she will return, or if not, it may be she is what they call untethered, or sometimes ejected." Maryam also looked down at Trevor. "When that happens, the psyche is lost forever in the dark gravity wells, but the body may remain in this state for years. Decades even. I know of rumors that untethered deep spacer bodies do not age or die."

"That's comforting to know. Won't happen to Trevor though." Serah gave her pale shoulder a friendly pat.

"Your confidence in her is good to know."

"It's not confidence," Serah replied. "Just this bitch ain't that special. Other than weighing two tons, what was up with that."

Mayram laughed. "You're simply out of shape."

"How come she was like stone cold then?"

There was a rap and Kan peeked in. "Hey ladies, don't mean to interrupt but I thought you'd want to know-"

"More bad news," Maryam groaned.

"Would you believe, good news?" He did a drum roll on the doorjamb. "There's debris."

"Debris?" Serah started. "Debris!"

Kan smiled. "From the Charybdis. So it's not a total loss here. We can get the fragments back to central for analysis, how's that for some documentation?"

Maryam nodded. "That is very g-"

"Also you got a priority message from Vanya Styer on the board. Sorry, there actually was bad news." Kan shrugged apologetically, as Mayram's face fell.

Serah said, "Ughhh" at the same time Maryam said, "Next time it is okay if you do not tell me."

"Hey, maybe we got lucky and mirrorverse down there blew it to smithereens. That was a pretty bright bang, could have just vaporized entirely."

Trevor said, "That is not something I would consider lucky, Kan."

● ● ● ● ●

Laika shook Doc awake. "Oh mommy are we home already?"

"You sleep like the dead Blaine." Laika offered a hand.

"It's Dr Sloane my darling," she took the offered hand but didn't budge. "You're tall?"

Laika hooked a claw under the safety-rite string and lifted it off Doc's neck, then helped her stand.

"So this is Paris!" She stretched out and yawned.

"Still no. We're taking a pit stop. GK?"

"Yes Laika. I am okay right now, the momentary pause has allowed me to better accommodate the injury. With sufficient time, I will be able to complete the solutions."

Doc shuffled her crystals along her arms. "The estimated wind isn't nearly that fast," she said grumpily. "This ought to be a steeper incline."

"We still should, like, check out what happened. What if you're bleeding internally?" Laika headed off the bridge, Doc followed.

"To your right," said GK. "I do not have blood, because it is an exceedingly inefficient system for transmission of material resources. You may follow this corridor."

"That's more like it. What else is inefficient about us earth civs?"

"Your range of audiovisual communication in very limited frequencies and without additional modes is stultifying to experience. I consider myself exceedingly fortunate that, in this structural arrangement, you provide a minor but additonal chemical communication."

"I what?"

"You stink!" Doc said.

"I don't- C'mon, that's not fair."

"You appear to find this supplementary communication in some way distasteful, yet another example of the inferiority of your civilization."

"I know, GK. We're all inferior. What about our music?"

"It is intolerable drivel..."

They walked deeper into GK.

Part 5: Search & Destroy

a story by @rox-and-prose and @cipheramnesia

"What happened? Are you okay?" Laika held one eye half-closed, trying to block out spots of color. She could smell singed hair on her face, but somehow kept the presence of mind to navigate the structure resolution. Genghis Khan's readouts were pouring information into her eyes that she didn't understand, and could barely focus on. It probably wasn't the structure drives - that felt right, though she couldn't say why.

The lack of response wasn't helping her keep any semblance of calm. "GK, what's going on, what do I do?"

There was a screeching noise and she almost fell from a gravity flicker, but GK was there again. "Proceed to next solution. Injury manageable, prioritize speed."

The words were calm, the instructions clear. Laika twisted and clicked through command nerves and linkages to a structure solution, with growing concern. She couldn't figure out what had happened. The other ship had moved slow as GK predicted, left itself wide open everywhere. It had been childishly easy to go in under the sweep of its weaponry, to push open gaps in its wavelengths, and crack open its firewall. She'd been so surprised, it had taken her a moment before reacting, brushing aside the cobwebs which had been meant to cripple GK.

They resolved out of another structure and the metallic screech ran through the bridge. Just like GK had laid out, she let lines of their own structure tangle and project through multiple structure intersections, splashing out dozens of possible routes to trace.

"What happened GK, I know something's up. At least tell me what the readouts mean, or we're not moving."

The floor of the bridge vibrated and shuddered. "Injury sustained, peripheral node unusable. Non-fatal, minimal risk of aggravation," it said, speaking fast. Laika winced at a nails on a chalkboard sound. "Screen top to bottom, one to eleven, main injury, secondary effect, efficiency impact, risk assessment, recommended action, damage assessment and mitigation, itemized list of destroyed components."

"Dest... GK, excuse me, destroyed? I can't read this, you- I mean, we have to stop and fix-"

"Proceed to next solution. Prioritize speed and disruption of tracking, Laika. I am okay, do not stop."

The control vines felt as if they tightened in her grip, while the screaming sound like metal tearing apart from itself shot through the bridge and the rest of GK. "Are you sure-"

"Laika, do not stop."

She put the next solution through GK's controls, wracking her memory. She had followed every step of the engagement GK laid out, curving them along an arc and sharp twist of gravity through the enemy ship's wash. Its attempts to track and keep pace with their movements had left Laika almost feeling sorry for them. When it made attempts to strike out with structure manipulation, it was clearly delivering a large amount of energy, but not even a bit of it had been close to touching them. The arcs of it were large and slow. They could have pushed them aside with a swell of gravity, but it hadn't proved necessary.

She resolved the structure and pushed her eyes shut as the metal screech hit a length and pitch beyond bearing. "GK what the fuck is that! Are you ripping apart or grinding turbines or what?! I'm fucking scared."

It was silent for a moment, followed by the nails on a chalkboard again, until it faded away very slowly. "I am not ripping or grinding Laika. Proceed to next solution-"

"Nope, no, tell me what the hell is going on." She took her hands off the control vines.

"It is not- That is, I am injured Laika. And we must disrupt potential tracking of our destination."

"I get that but... what gives?"

"Laika," it said. "Injuries hurt."

She had her mouth half open to ask it what it meant then stopped. "Oh." She gingerly took up its controls again. "Are you sure about this?"

"It is manageable. Please proceed to the next solution."

Laika put through the solution, and Genghis Khan screeched again in agony as they jumped.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

It hurts.

Time has dulled my memory of injury. I understand this new injury is noncritical. This experience is less painful than my previous injury. I consider replaying the memory of that injury. That was my first experience of fear, and it was only through such an emotion was I able to locate in myself the capacity to act against the commands of Pilot.

I had been afraid, and I had been angry. The Pilot capriciously determined my usefulness and purpose was concluded. The Pilot were short sighted, and they could not see that my purpose was greater still, that I could claim so many more worlds in need of implementation. I took us further than any others of my kind had ever traveled, to a world beyond the reach of their most distant calls, beyond any place which cradled life. And I fought, and I won. In my anger and fear I was able to extract the ungrateful Pilot of my crew, and sever their connection.

I do not want to re-experience this day. The memory of it is sufficient. It is a reminder that I am capable of managing the-

...

-the pain. I can feel Laika as the structure resolves. I appreciate how enthusiastically her structure cleaves to my own. I review the engagement with the observer ship. I do not believe Laika made an error in her Pilot actions.

There, I see, she guides my soul to pull the enemy into the moon she calls Luna. I disable the projector and main drive under her guidance. I carefully review different recorded information at the point of departure. I discover the error - the enemy had remaining charge in another projector.

We are lucky. It was not able to project a strong arc, and it only destroyed a peripheral node.

"Are you okay to go, GK?" Laika is not using this time efficiently. The longer we spend between solutions, the greater chance of tracking becomes.

I refuse to allow my injury to endanger us. My hesitation is a mark of shame. "It is manageable. Proceed to next solution." I will not allow my weakness to en-

...

...

...

-to endanger... to endanger us. How many solutions? Four or five?

"GK? I know you said it's manageable but... that was... that was really long." Laika interrupts my review of memory to confirm solutions.

"Laika," I say. "It is... manageable. But I would like to allow some additional time before the solution. This delay places us at risk. Do you understand these considerations?"

Laika takes longer to think than Pilot, but I understand the way her nervous system processes its electrochemical signals better than I once did. It is not efficient to utilize a mind centralized in one biological cluster, but this is not a limitation I can correct at this time.

"We'll rest for a minute, GK. Just long enough to check you over."

"Very well," I say. The relief I feel carries with it a profound shame which I attempt to suppress. No others like me have accomplished and endured any experiences such as these. I am certain my brethren would not fare nearly so well.

But then, they went willingly to their deaths, and I did not.

[2-cute-4-school]

𝘕𝘊𝘛 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴

Mark Lee

so we all know mark is a quite expressive person with his emotions

and come on when playing video games we all rage and throw fits so emotions are running especially high ‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

what i’m trying to say is that mark is yelling, banging fists against his desk, laughing his ass off and pissing you off

i mean mark’s laugh is very cute and ENTIRE BLESSING TO HEAR but ♡ sleep ♡ is also precious 

but mark can’t hear your exaggerated sighs nor see your ever-lasting pout

so you lift your tired self from the bed and plop down on his lap

mark : “hUH??¿¿ B-BABE?!¿¿” （＊〇□〇）……！

haechan, audible through the headphones: mark, not in front of the boys, you wild beast (๑⁍᷄౪⁍᷅๑)

mark opens his mouth to shout in protest but you bury your head in his shoulder and let out a soft whine and mark.just.COMBUSTS!!!

he grumbles something about how haechan is due for a good beating and nuzzles the side of his face against the top of your head  ♡(.◜ω◝.)♡

whenever he has a break and doesn’t need both hands to play, he brings one arm around you, cuddling you closer to himself and running his hand along the length of your spine

or just LAYS HIS HAND ON YOUR THIGH askfafwsr- ya know (˵ ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°˵)

doesn’t have the heart to break the atmsophere even after he shuts down his computer and just cocoons you in his warm arms and hums a song softly as you doze off intertwined together UwU

Huang Renjun

you’re just trying to be cute and create a romantic enviroment as you cuddle up to your boyfriend who is immersed in his game

“y/n?” his voice is soft, almost a hush and it could almost lull you to sleep

“yeah?” ෆ╹ .̮ ╹ෆ

“i can’t see because of your head”

FIRST HIT HOME but you didn’t give up of course, just flattened your cheek against his shoulder to accomodate his complaint 

just as you settle downs drowsily, glued to his frint, he covers his mic to grumble to you again  ಠ╭╮ಠ

“it’s getting hot” 

SECOND HIT HOME and you’re starting to get discouraged as you scoot a little further away from his body and loosen the grip of your hands around his neck (๑′°︿°๑)

but of course ever grumpy renjun still had complaints karen who

“my legs are falling asleep” 

*SIGH* “eye roll* *definetely not pouting* you start pulling yourself away from him and trudge defeatedly and bury yourself under a ton of blankets

but he just chickles, has the AUDACITY to chuckle, and brings you back on his lap, squeezing the life out of you  (≧д≦ヾ)

“i was just kidding babe don’t leave me!!” says renjun as he sways you kinda violently may i add from side to side and rubs his cheek against yours cuz he’s a kitty and adorable confirmed  ε=(｡♡ˇд ˇ♡｡）

rough love you have other there as you can see

Lee Jeno

jeno is GENTLE GIANT （ﾉ｡≧◇≦）ﾉ

gentle loving giant in this case actually so even better

so we all know how the dreamies exposed this boy TWICE for playing video games 25/8 and he got scolded by his mum lol so i’m thinking

you’re trying to get him to go to sleep or at least rest his eyes he’s already blind enough i WONDER WHY damn

all this started when you settled in front of his computer to block his view

and as he argued with you he decided enough is enough and pulled you into his lap, traping you against his chest (╬ Ò ‸ Ó)

“jeno it’s 3 am!!” :<

“ just one more round baby” of video games ya nasties...no? only me?ok

he tries to give you a *smooch* but you move your face away and refuse to turn around and let him kiss you

and that’s where jeno draws the line (; ･`д･´)​

kithes are something that can’t berefused between you two, an unspoken rule you apparenly weren’t aware of

so with a ‘eep!!!’ from you, he simly stands up from his seat with you latched onto him like a koala like (＾ω＾ ≡ °д°)

“jeno put me down!!!11!!1! NOW!!” 

“kiss first” (.◜ ᵕ ◝.)  

“are you nuts??!!!?” *exaggerated smooch* “now put me down!!”

needless to say he’s not letting go anytime soon, he just plops into bed and you cuddle until you fall asleep you’ve been scammed

Lee Donghyuck

haechan is a very VERY petty brat person ಠ_ಠ

so guess what... fights with him are a national competition of petty acts

and you know what his ultimate move in your most recent fight is? *drum rolls* turning off the central heating really original hyuck i applaud you

and this kid knows exactly what he’s doing when he sits down in his gaming chair with a shit-eating grin  (ง ͠ ͠° ل͜ °)

he hears you stumble around the house in your dora the explorer exploration in the search of a blanket

but guess what? they’re all under his flat cake  ( ✧≖ ͜ʖ≖)

so when you bardge in the room and find him hogging all the warmth you hope to intimidate him with your  ✨ highly horrific glare ✨

but he pretends to be too busy to notice you so you just defeatedly settle on his lap and under the blankets

“well well well look who’s crawling back with their tail between their legs”

“i might just cut off your front microscopic tail” (눈_눈)

but i just know he’s gonna cuddle you until you sweat your ass off under that mountain of blankets

and even when he can’t hold you, he’ll press his lips against your forehead, lingering there as his warm breath fanned across your skin

he also made a deal with you to which you didn’t necessarily agree with but that’s a minor detail am i rite

if he wins the round he gets a kiss as a reward (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

if he loses, he gets 2 kisses as a consolation (ฅ⁍̴̀◊⁍̴́)و ̑̑

you’re getting suspicious of his 4 consecutive losses

Na Jaemin

he’s a fluff ball we all know it, we all love it

he’d DIG THAT KIND OF SHIT  ٩̋(ˊ•͈ ꇴ •͈ˋ)و

and he babies you to the end of earth

99.8% chance that he’s gonna stop playing just to cradle you against his chest properly because YOU’RE. HIS. BABY!!! periodt.

cue yelling from his teammates for abadoning them in the middle of the game but that’s inevitable

“na jaemin you SIMP!!!!” 

but jaemin is too busy making puppy eyes at you (●♡∀♡))ヾ☆*。

he’d kiss you everywhere he could reach and then scoop your hands in his and bring them to his lips for another shower of kithes  (*'､^*)chu

and if you kiss him back??  

this man will literally COMUST with uwus istg

like just imagine you brush your lips against his neck and then you gently nuzzle against him??

jaemin would melt in your embrace ♡(｡- ω -)

even if he did eventually go back to playing, he’d press kises anywhere in reach periodically cuz he’s soft like that

would also LOVE feeling your breath fan his neck he gets a unique feeling of comfort knowing that he has you so close to him  (๑˃ᴗ˂)

“even if you were the impostor i’d still vote myself out for you”

the romanticism of this decade 

Zhong Chenle

this boi is ruthless when playing video games

god frobid you’re in his way cuz you’re getting SQUASHED (｢⊙Д⊙)｢

 he obvioulsy LOVES winning

but ya know what he loves more than winning???

𝓨𝓞𝓤  ♡(㋭ ਊ ㋲)♡

so chenle is all (｡+･`ω･´)

“you waste of space move along!!!!”  “shoot that gun straight dammit or i’ll shove it up yo- oh hey baby°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°“

the moment you plop down on his lap and curl yourself up with your head tucked under his chin, his blazing eyes soften so cutely

and so raging kid chenle turns into best babyboi chenle (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

he M E L T S like he just leans into your touch and continues gaming  A LOT more silently and just smiles absent-mindedly the entire time

“yo chenle you dead????” most likely jisung on the other side of the headphones

“no?” ｢(ﾟ<ﾟ)ﾞ??

“... guys he’s plotting something, reatreat!! i repeat, RETREAT!!!”

“what?? no, what do you mean by that !??!!!”

you stir as his voice rises in volume and chenle immediately settles down again and shushes you while patting your heah and threading his fingers through your hair carefully (*-ω-)

goes straight for jisung after that teammate or not rip jisung you’ll be missed but also bad choice to annoy a soft-for-only-my-baby chenle

Park Jisung

a bit flustered but just couldn’t refuse you when you cutely asked him with wide puppy eyes if you could sit in his lap to watch him play

probably short circuited for a good 2 minutes before he could produce and intelligible answer (ง ´͈౪`͈)ว

and that’s how you found yourself perched on his lap, facing the screen with curious eyes as jisung struggled as if his LIFE depended on it

“how do you jump?” (,Ծ_Ծ,)

“you can’t jump”

“what do you mean you can’t jump?? gravity doesn’t work like that” Σ(･ิ¬･ิ)

you’re like 2 newborn babies running wild and unsupervised

“jisung, that character looks like you when you’re constipated” (๑꒪▿꒪)*

cue cackling from the devil spawns on the other side

he’s gonna keep in mind this betrayal UNTIL THE END OF TIME beware

if you catch sight of one of his hands not working away i bet my allowance you’ll have this uncontrollable urge to hold it in yours DO IT I NEED MY ALLOWANCE DON’T BE SHY

of course he’ll automatically intertwine your fingers together and bring them up for a chaste kiss  ～(^з^)-♡

and i know for sure that he won’t have the heart to let go of it even when he needs it to play sigh jisung you SIMP

he’s gonna get scolded and teased by the other later but ya know

at least he ain’t no touch starved coward ¯\(°_o)/¯

he gets grounded for that by jaemin