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soobadnoonecanstopher · 4 years ago

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Touch it for Real, Part 7

Genre: Humor / Fluff / Angst / (Eventual) Smut 18+

Warnings: OMG they were roommates / slice of life / slow burn / mutual pining / crude humor / cursing / virgin!baek / idiots to lovers / unresolved sexual tension

A/N: DON'T YELL AT ME ABOUT THE TENSION. I KNOW IT!!! Be nice.

Characters: Baekhyun X You/Female Reader

Description: You teach Baekhyun how to date. (Basically the Get You Alone M/V)

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8

Nothing had changed.

Nothing outwardly had changed. Baekhyun moved about as he always did.

Nothing had changed at all about your home life and yet you had been stumbling around on two unsteady feet for the past week with this new and terrible ache building inside of your belly and yet, nothing had actually changed. It was a longing. A desire to possess something that you could not have.

It was as if the realization that you loved him and had loved him for a long time had turned up the brightness on your view of him. He was luminous. You’d been wearing dark shades for so long and when you took them off you were blinded by him.

You were aware that you were acting weird around him. How could you not be aware; it was turning into an obsession at this point. You woke early and slept late, eager to find any reason to be around him for the simple pleasure of watching him.

Things you’d found annoying in the past, his crazed deafening outbursts while gaming; the sloppy way he took too-big bites and stuffed his cheeks with food as he chewed, barely able to close his lips; the half dazed foot shuffles through your home at two in the afternoon when he’d just rolled out of his bed and moved like a zombie toward the fridge for water and sausages from the cupboards; all of these things that made you roll your eyes before were now doing something else to you that you couldn't excuse. You found yourself smiling just thinking about him. You were looking at him now with new eyes. Eyes that were biased and eyes that were crazy.

You were so very drawn to him.

It felt like a new hobby; 5am wake up with a buzzing alarm on your phone, shower, change, slip over to his door and press an ear to the wood for a chance to catch the sounds of his voice speaking into an ear piece to someone on the other side of the world. A soft knock against the wood and a low voice, his grunted voice returning your knock and you’d slip into his space for what you could only describe as a sick voyeuristic chance to watch him play his game. You just wanted to look at him. The urge was so strong; to see him. You just wanted to look at nothing but him; the first thing you saw in the morning and the last thing you saw at night.

Baekhyun would turn around to look at you as you crawled sleepily into his bed and you’d pretend to fall asleep until he turned back to his game and then you would just watch him.

You liked the shape of him when he sat at his desk. You liked the broadness of his shoulders and the curve of the back of his head. How could his back be so attractive? He had a strong and reliable back. You felt an immeasurable comfort in the rapid, rhythmic sound of his fingers typing on his keyboard and the way he lowered his voice into his headset when he thought you were sleeping in his bed behind him. Sometimes you’d actually drift off though. Lulled into a deep comfortable sleep that felt so much better than any sleep you’d managed in your own bed until you’d be lightly roused by a hand on your shoulders and the sound of his voice calling your name in a whisper.

“Bug, it’s almost time for work,” he would urge and you would groan and stretch, surprised that you had slept so well.

You’d stay there every possible second until you had to report to your work on your own computer.

It was late in the afternoon on a Thursday. The weather had been cold and miserable all week but through your window for the first time all season you felt the warm sun rays landing against your face. How long had it been since you felt the sunshine? You thought perhaps this called for a celebration. Maybe winter would be short this year and you could celebrate a little early with a dinner time barbecue out on the terrace. You knew the wind might still be cold despite that warm sunshine that peeked through the cloud cover but you could handle that much.

It was your turn to make dinner and you hit the final keys on your work assignments and rushed through your room getting ready for a quick trip to the market. You’d get some meat for grilling, some delicious fresh veggies and maybe a bottle of alcohol to sip on. Nothing too crazy, you didn't really trust yourself drunk.

Outside, the air was crisp but at least it wasn’t raining, or worse, snowing. This would do just fine.

When you returned from the market with your arms full of shopping bags your happiness about the unseasonably warm weather outside and your excitement for a tiny cook-out spread rapidly to your roommate who was happily pulling on a soft cable-knit sweater to go outside with his little bluetooth speaker as he set up the portable grill out on the patio table.

The buzz you felt inside of your chest while watching him was incomparable. His smile was wide and beautiful. His teeth were white and perfect and the way his eyes closed up when he really got to smiling wide made your heart do little flips. You couldn't contain your own wide smile when his eyes bounced over to touch yours and that smile on his lips pulled even wider — it sent a jolt straight through you — he was electric. He was a lightning bolt and you felt so high up, of course you were hit first.

The meat was sizzling on the grill and Baekhyun was sitting across the table from you just watching as you snipped the long strips of pork and beef into smaller bite size chunks with scissors and flipped them with long cooking tongs when they started to turn brown.

He was unusually quiet as you worked and it took nearly all of your fortitude to keep from staring at his face openly with an obvious love struck expression. You were thankful that it was your turn to cook this dinner and Baekhyun didn’t even try to take the tongs away from you and take over the grilling. At least you had something to do that wasn’t just staring into the softness you caught in his eyes across the table. You wondered what had to be on his mind that made him look at you this way.

Some of the meat was done and you moved it toward a cooler section of the grill pan, motioning with your tongs toward the quiet man to grab it and eat it but he just sat there with a disconnected look on his face.

He was moving so slowly today. Maybe he wasn't that hungry. You hoped it wasn’t getting too cold out here now that the sun was slipping lower in the sky.

When he didn't immediately move, you sighed and grabbed a piece of lettuce, wrapping the meat inside with some veggies and some of the fillings you knew he liked and you stood up in your seat, holding the wrap up to his face, expecting him to lean forward and grab it with his hands and begin eating already.

When he finally did move it was preceded by a bright smile and he leaned forward and opened his mouth, grabbing the food firmly between his lips, he bit down with his teeth and you felt the brush of his soft lips against your fingertips as he took the bite of food into his mouth straight from your hand.

You could feel the warmth and it was instant. As if someone had turned on a space heater in front of your chest and turned it on full blast.

The ghost of that tiny brush of his lips against your fingers lingered and your mind grabbed hold of it, echoing the sensation again and again with each pound your heart made inside of your chest.

Baekhyun was chewing and he hummed out in appreciation at the deliciousness of the meal you’d provided. You lifted your glass of wine to your lips to hide the smile that took over your face and you noticed he finally picked up his own chopsticks and began building himself another bite to eat. He was grabbing meat, two pieces, added a dab of sauce on top and grabbed a few delicious additions and he was carefully wrapping the tasty package into a tight ball with his fingertips.

You’d just swallowed the wine and had looked down to flip the meat when you caught his movement. He stood from his chair and he leaned, in the exact same way as you had done and you laughed out loud at the sweet expression you saw on his face as he held the food up to your face.

“Ahh,” he said and you leaned forward to receive his offering.

When your lips parted, his fingers pushed forward and your brain buzzed in chaos when his thumb grazed slowly along your bottom lip. He moved too slowly. His fingertips lingered. You let out a breath of air through your nose and his fingers did not break contact with your lips until you’d closed your mouth up and started to chew the food he’d given you.

You felt as if your face was burning. You chewed quickly, hardly even tasting the food that was in your mouth as your eyes tracked his movement; you could not look away from him if you tried. He sat back in his chair with his empty hand held up and the pad of his thumb brushing back and forth over his fingertips, the fingers that had just touched your mouth so carelessly and as he sank into his seat he brought his hand up to absentmindedly touch along his bottom lip.

Your thoughts were fuzzy. Everything outside of his brown eyes took on a soft dreamlike blur.

The eye contact he was holding broke suddenly and he inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, dropped his hand from his lips and looked down at the table of food spread out before you both.

He had a glass of ice water beside him and he lifted it to pull the cooling liquid into his mouth.

You watched the way his jaw worked when he swallowed. You watched the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out.

You had lived with Baekhyun for more than two years and you’d never been quite this affected by the man having a drink of water before.

He set the empty glass down roughly on the table and the noisy thud the glass made woke you from the silent reverie. It sharpened your mind and lit a match under your tongue fueled by a growing curiosity that had been filling up your every waking thought lately.

“Baekhyun,” your voice came out a whisper and the sound of his name made his eyebrows lift and he looked across the table at you. “Have you ever fallen in love?”

You weren’t sure where this question came from or why you were suddenly so bold to ask him such a thing, but you were burning with curiosity about the man. Maybe it was the half of a glass of wine that had already made its way into your bloodstream as you sat here and picked at this delicious meal you shared with him.

He was chewing now and the corners of his lips had turned up into a small smile as he looked across the table at you.

There was a strange pause in his movement to reach for the water pitcher so he could refill his glass.

“Yes,” he said softly after he swallowed his food he continued his reaching, finding the pitcher and pouring more water inside his empty glass. His small answer quenched a small bit of the thirst you had inside of you and this new found knowledge about him made you feel warm inside.

He drank and you smiled wide and genuine, somehow elated at the idea that he’d felt this wonderful feeling at one point in his life. The idea that this beautiful man knew exactly how good this feeling of love was; it made your head swim.

You reached for your wine again, draining the rest of your glass and immediately followed it with a big spoon of rice to somehow combat the alcohol with the only weapon you had to fight it. If only the wine hadn’t tasted so damn sweet on your tongue. You’d drank the glass too quickly and you considered the waiting bottle that sat beside you on the table, begging you to give in to just one more glass.

“Have you?”

It was Baekhyun’s turn to ask now and you turned away from the begging bottle to look into that tempting softness he had in his eyes. What was this mood he had fallen into? Was it the sunset? The clouds rolling in front of the setting sun created a beautiful scene. You saw purple, blue, red, and bright orange. The view was absolutely perfect.

“Have you ever fallen in love?”

His voice was so quiet and the warmth of his tone was enveloping you entirely.

“Yes,” you said. You reached for the bottle and tapped into some source of super-human self control you hadn’t known you had in you; you poured only half a glass.

This one, you would sip. For your own good, for the love of God, you would sip it.

“How do you love someone?” Baekhyun had leaned forward in his seat and his eyes tracked the movement of your glass as you lifted it to your lips and you took your first sip. Sweet wine, sweet man with sweet looks in his eyes and sweet questions on his lips. For the first time you wondered if you might be in real danger of making a mistake tonight.

Your brain kicked in. He was asking you important life questions now and you looked upward toward the darkening sky as you pondered this. This must be one of his life lesson questions. Maybe he wanted some advice on how to treat a girl he loved properly. You considered your words thoughtfully.

“Umm...I think...people show they love someone by—”

“No, not that,” he interrupted your answer, stopping you with a raised hand. Then he pointed a finger across the table toward you, “not other people. How do you love someone, Bug? What is your love like?”

Oh.

It was such a raw question.

You were suddenly thankful for the wine you’d already had to drink because you’d never been asked something like this. Not by him or by anyone. In fact, you’d never even thought about it.

How were you, when you were in love. What kind of a lover were you? He was watching you as you considered and your lips opened and closed twice as you tried to think of the perfect answer to this very difficult question.

You thought about your past relationships. Honestly it was hard to remember the good in hindsight. The bad times seemed to jump out at you. The childish way you sometimes acted, the selfish things you’d done and blamed it all on love at the time. Maybe you had been too young to really know what love was. This was part of the reason why you felt so resistant to it. You’d never had a love that hadn't turned bad and burned you from the inside. Maybe you just weren't cut out for love.

And now, with him, the pining, the scheming, the watching, and daydreaming. The fantasies of his touch, of his laugh, of his kiss. Going out of your way to make him smile. Little things you would do just to get him to look at you. The ache you felt in your fingers to touch him. The sweet satisfaction of actually doing it. You’d do anything for it. For him. You’d been doing anything; slipping into his bed just to smell him all around you.

“Shameless,” you said out loud — because you’d do anything. You didn’t even know what you were capable of yet, but you felt like a dangerous woman just thinking about it.

His focus drifted and he exhaled a puff of air through his lips. You heard the smallest chuckle from his throat and a smile pulled at his lips.

“Shameless?” He asked with a bounce of his eyebrows. His water glass was in his hand and he lifted and poured the last few drops into his mouth. It had been hardly anything at all and you watched him curiously as you forced another bite of rice down your throat.

“What does that mean? How do you love shamelessly? Explain that to me.”

You’d been watching his hands as he talked. There was an electricity buzzing around in his eyes that felt almost challenging and you’d expected him to reach for the water pitcher again to add another tiny sip to his glass and make a big show of drinking it down but instead of reaching for it, his hand shot across the table to grip around the neck of the wine bottle.

You were positively transfixed. He lifted the bottle and brought it to his side of the table and you heard the glass spout clink against the rim of his empty glass and the steady glug glug glug of liquid poured too fast through the small opening and he filled his glass most of the way full with deep blood-red liquid.

It was at least as much as you had had to drink already.

Baekhyun was drinking with you. He lifted the glass to his lips and took a long pull of the alcohol into his mouth and he swallowed roughly with his eyes closed. You felt amused by the sight. Strangely comforted by his company even more now that he had joined you inside this bottle of wine.

When he looked up into your face, your shocked expression must have been funny to him because he laughed just once before opening his mouth to speak again.

“Go on,” he said as he lifted his hand across the table toward you. You couldn't tell if he meant you should drink your wine too or if you should answer his question so you lifted your glass to your lips for a big swallow and then you opened your mouth to put your thoughts into words.

Baekhyun was still drinking the wine in his glass and you hoped his full belly of meat and veggies would keep him from becoming too wasted too quickly. You were enjoying his company too much for him to suddenly hit the table and pass out. You were also pretty sure it would be difficult to carry his body into his bedroom if he was unable to walk himself. While you’d never seen him wasted, you’d always assumed he abstained from drinking simply because he could not handle the alcohol.

“I’m shameless, I mean,” you began, trying to find the words to explain what a disaster you were when you fell in love without incriminating yourself too much, “I’m dumb. I’m jealous. I’m clingy and needy and desperate.” This was sounding awful. Why were you such a mess when you fell in love. “I’m probably very annoying to whichever poor soul...”

Baekhyun had emptied his glass as you talked and he licked his lips, leaving behind a telltale red hue along his bottom lip. “Sounds brave to me,” he said quietly to the inside of his glass.

“But, Peanut I thought you couldn’t drink.”

“I never said I can’t.”

The wind changed suddenly and a surprising gust flew over the table, taking a napkin and tossing it across the surface of the table. You reached for it at the same time as he reached and his reaction time was faster. As he gripped the cloth, your hand landed over the back of his warm hand and the surprise of that unintended warmth of his smooth hand made you recoil quickly.

If he noticed he didn’t react. For all you knew this struggle was taking place entirely inside your head. Baekhyun was just having a casual dinner conversation with his dumb roommate who had just acted like his hand was fire as she’d just been singed.

“But you don’t,” you said carefully, coming to some new realization about the man’s habits in self control. In his own personal dos and don’ts.

With this Baekhyun smirked and nodded his head once.

“Not usually, no. I try not to, at least.” His lips pulled wide. It wasn’t a smile, but more of a grimace. When he moved again he was gripping around the wine bottle once more and you left him to it. He refilled his own glass and your eyes followed the movement as he tipped the bottle over your wine glass and emptied the remaining liquid into yours.

So much for only one drink. (OKAY, one and a half. Shut up…)

“So what’s got you drinking tonight?”

It occurred to you that while you had been lost in the ocean of your silly crush on him, Baekhyun might actually have something on his mind that was troubling him.

Something that had turned his mood quiet like this and something that had bothered him enough to be drinking half of your bottle of wine tonight.

The last time you’d seen him drink wine was after he’d bombed that first phone call with Mia. The taste of her name on the back of your tongue soured the sweetness of the wine some.

“Nerves, I guess.” His small confession traveled on the chilly wind and you felt a tiny raindrop on your cheek that signaled trouble.

Baekhyun lifted his glass to his lips once more. It was almost empty now. The light in his eyes was much dimmer than when this evening started. He pulled his lips wide with a wince, “the date...on Saturday.”

His words were sticky as they made their way across the table and you felt another cold rain drop. Was he feeling this too or was it just you.

He must not have felt what you did because he kept talking, “do you know I’ve been stood-up before?”

The wine seemed to have loosened his jaw. Baekhyun didn’t usually talk openly about the embarrassing dating failures he’s had. He definitely didn’t smile ruefully with a deep wounded sadness in his eyes as he did it.

The sad smile pulled his lips wider and he found your eyes across from the table as he lifted both of his hands and raised his fingers. He was counting something. Showing you a number with seven fingers raised and he mouthed silently, “seven times,” and he licked his lips and bit down on his bottom lip and hung his head with his chin down to his chest.

You were shaking your head widely. Madness, that any woman in her right mind would look at this man and find enough fault to stand him up. That someone with half a brain in her head wouldn't jump at the chance to go out with him.

“What if,” he mumbled and the wind picked up again blowing your sweater tightly around your arms and your chest.

“She will come.” You said confidently, interrupting his anxious thoughts with your determined certainty at what you were positive was true. Mia liked Baekhyun at least as much, if not more, as Baekhyun liked Mia.

He was watching your face now. Waiting for the cold wind to die down enough for you to hear what he was saying to you without having to raise his voice.

“What if she doesn’t?”

You didn’t like the defeatist attitude he was sporting now. He was losing this fight without having ever set foot on the battlefield. It filled you with even more determination than you had when you started this whole dating coach thing.

“If she doesn’t show then she’s a fucking idiot and we’ll just have to ditch Ben and go have our own hot date; just me and you.”

At last he laughed. It was a single guffaw straight from his chest and it sounded glorious. Somewhere off in the horizon you caught a flash in the clouds. A storm was coming.

“You’d do that for me, Bug? What if I’m too upset to be any fun? What if I get bad again?”

At the mention of his moods you felt a pang in your heart. The darkness that sometimes followed him around when he stayed locked in his room for days, hardly ate anything and refused all attempts you’d made to coax him out.

It hadn’t happened since you’d grown close to him and you had begun to think you’d dreamed such occurrences that felt like such a distant memory to you.

“I won’t let you. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make you feel better. Hell we can even practice making-out in the back of the theatre.”

This made him laugh harder. His cheeks were pink and his smile was beautiful.

“That would certainly take my mind off of anything, LoveBug.”

You knew he said it as a joke. He was laughing and everything when he said it. Yet the words he said paired with the nickname that always sent your heart racing had a rapid effect on you. Your breath quickened and you were so thankful that the sun had gone down and taken with it all of its incriminating lighting that would allow him to see you clearly. You were certain that you were blushing and you’d now gone completely silent.

But Baekhyun was still giggling to himself at the thought and you felt the smallest tinge of disappointment that he found the idea of making out with you in the back of a movie theater like a couple of high school kids so hilarious that he was still laughing about it. You lifted your wine glass and shook the last few drops into your open mouth. The bottle was empty and you were consumed by a mountain of regret at only buying the one.

It happened in an instant. The cold air quickly picked up speed around you took on a crisp fragrance and in that same moment there was a flash of bright light with an instantaneous loud boom that echoed inside your eardrums and made you scream as you covered your head from the loud scary noise. It echoed inside your chest and you could feel the shaking inside of you at the shock. It had been so fucking close you could feel the hairs on your arm standing upright. Without realizing it, your scream had turned into a quiet cry of fear and you could feel the trembling in your fingertips as you tried to wrap your arms around your body protectively.

“Shh...Let’s go inside,” you could hear Baekhyun’s voice against your ear and you could feel the warmth of his arms wrapped around your shoulders. His arms were rubbing calming motions up and down your back as he steered you carefully around the corner toward the doorway that led to your bedrooms. As quickly as the lightning strike had filled you with a trembling terror happened the skies then opened up and a thunderous deluge of freezing water fell from the heavens and instantly soaked you both from head to toe.

“Shit,” he cursed out loud. Ice cold rainwater slapped hard against your skin. Frigid winds whipped the streams of rain over your head, biting and stinging against your face and you both ran for cover as his hands found the door and pushed it open in front of you and you stepped inside the silent darkness of his bedroom with two or three steps in with Baekhyun pushing through the doorway behind you. You heard the grunt and the effort behind you as he pulled the door closed tightly and when the door was shut you were bathed in complete still blackness.

“The power’s out,” you heard him say through chattering teeth and after a second of rustling sounds a beam of light from his raised cellphone illuminated the darkened space.

It felt so foreign to you. This room was always a hum of lights and sounds and noise and everything was just dead. The plug pulled; the life snuffed out, you were overwhelmed by just how loud the silence in this room felt. It was suffocating.

You were shaking where you stood. Too cold and still trembling too hard from the close call with the lightning to feel comfortable moving, you jumped and yelped when the sounds of Baekhyun moving around his room shocked you again. He was moving through the darkness, using the flashlight from his cell phone to see. You heard so much movement but could hardly make out what all was happening until you felt someone tugging at the soaking wet hoodie you wore.

“Take this off before you catch a cold.” Baekhyun was speaking to you in the darkness and you felt cold slim fingers pushing dry garments into your hands.

The light from his phone went out and you were bathed in darkness again.

“Hurry and change, you’re shaking too much.”

You could hardly grip the hem of your soaked sweater with how badly your hands were shaking and you had dropped the warm dry clothes he had given you somewhere down at your feet.

“B-Baek, I d-drop-ped — c-can’t s-see,” the chattering of your teeth felt violent. You felt as if you could bite off your tongue or crack a molar with as hard as they were chattering. Was this just the cold or had you been hit by that lightning outside and were you about to drop dead from the electric currents running through your body?

A person appeared before you. You felt him there. Your eyes were beginning to adjust to the blackness and occasionally flashes of lightning through the window would illuminate bits here and there. You could make out the outline of his broad shoulders. There was a flash were you saw his skin. Another flash with a fresh shirt pulled over his head and you were beginning to feel numb to the cold. Numb and dizzy feeling all over; like you could drop to the floor right here.

“Lift your hands.” His voice called to you and you did as you were told, feeling the sticky way your clothes clung to you and tried to hold on. Your skin below was icy and bare. Fingers that were so much warmer than your own slipped down your hips, pushing wet garments down. Heavy soaked jeans. Wet panties. You even dropped your arms to let your bra fall to the floor at your feet and a warm fluffy towel wrapped you up quickly as he rubbed over the surface of you, drying your skin and warming you with the friction.

It felt like life. Like you might just make it.

“I don't have any underwear for you, I’m sorry. Just put these warm pants on.” You stepped into the legs of the pants and looked down at the sight of him crouched down on his knees before your nakedness. A flash of light illuminated the room for a fraction of a second. Just long enough for you to catch the drift of his eyes. Just long enough for his eyes to lift into your own and you knew that flash had been enough to imprint the image of you completely bare before him into his memory.

You did not have enough heat in you to blush. He was moving faster, pulling a long sleeve sweatshirt over your head, covering your breasts and belly with the soft warm fleece.

“Come lay down,” you were pulled by both arms. Your bare feet felt like ice cubes but they moved where you were led to lay down under the warm covers of his bed.

Despite the fluffy blankets and the soft mattress below your feet, you still shivered. It was awful. Nothing you tried seemed to make you warm and Baekhyun had disappeared somewhere in the darkness.

“Baek,” you called into the black but it was silent. He did not respond. You could feel a fearful panic begin to rise up. You just couldn't get warm enough. Where was he?

The wind shifted and you heard the rain hitting the windows of his bedroom harder and somewhere in the distance you heard a sound. It sounded like a struggle between a man and a patio door. Banging and thumping and cursing right out loud and then he barged back into his bedroom breathing hard and soaking wet again.

“Here Bug, catch.”

Something was coming. You felt panic then. You absolutely could not see anything in front of you and he’d just said the word catch which told you he was about to throw something at you and you screamed and buried your head deeper under his covers.

You felt a light thump land over your chest. Something small. How dare he throw something at you during a blackout. You slipped your hand out cautiously and felt a plastic cylinder. It was a small flashlight.

You turned it on and shone it across the room and Baekhyun was standing in the center of his room with his arms tight around his stomach, dripping wet from head to toe again from whatever he felt he needed to go back outside for.

You could hear his heavy breathing and the shaking from across the room.

“Baekhyun, get over here. You’re shaking.” His teeth chattered audibly and he rocked back and forth on his legs where he stood but he still wouldn’t move.

“I h-had t-to get th-the st-st-stove—”

You didn't need his explanations right now. He needed to get those wet clothes off and get under this blanket with you right now before he died of hypothermia.

“Byun Baekhyun shut the fuck up and take off the wet clothes right now. Come here and get warm. I swear to God if you die—”

Finally he was moving. Your threats must have sounded serious enough for him to move close to the bed. The will to survive was strong. You clicked the flashlight off when he pulled off his shirt. Through the limited light from the windows you caught the drop of his pants and you pulled your focus up on the blackness of the ceiling above you when you felt the blanket move and the bed beside you dipped.

The temperature of his body was a shock. He was so cold. All over; his skin was absolutely freezing and you turned into him as soon as you felt it. You laid your arms and legs over him and pulled his bare shoulders into your chest in a tight embrace. The hair on top of his head was very wet and you used the blanket to rub over his head, hoping the friction would help some; hoping to dry some of the wetness.

He was shaking so hard. Small vocalizations came from his throat with every other tremble as he tried to control it and you tried not to jump when you felt his icy fingertips make contact with your bare stomach when he’d reached for your warmth and the loose sweatshirt you wore had shifted to expose your skin. His fingers did not pull away. The desire for your warmth was too strong and his entire palm laid over your bare skin. Cold. So cold. You shifted then, moving your own hand over his own to cover where he was frozen. To warm him back up. The spot of your skin where his hand laid had lost too much heat and you gripped his hand in yours and placed it up higher on your rib cage where you had more warmth for him.

You knew this was about survival.

He was warming up. You could feel the change as his chest stopped shaking and he stopped moving his hand up higher on your skin. He’d stopped just short of your breast and your heart was racing so fast in your chest you figured he had to be able to feel it.

The desire was a raging fire inside of you. His hands were warmer now and yet he was still touching so much of your bare skin. His legs had given up the vibrating tremble and you still felt the tightness of his thighs holding your legs hostage.

The storm roared outside and inside here you both cocooned under this warm blanket in this shared bed and slowly, little by little you felt the warmth return to his body as it had returned to yours.

He had gone motionless when his shaking stopped and his breathing evened out. You’d briefly considered that he might have fallen asleep until you felt a slight flex in his fingertips. His hand flinched and moved and you felt a delicate sweeping motion in his fingertips that touched the warm skin over your rib cage.

Your eyes were closed as you focused on that movement and a small gasp of breath betrayed you when his thumb brushed along the underside of your bare breast.

You had to breathe. You had to inhale to stay alive and the act brought with it the heady fragrance of his body that joined you under this blanket.

You longed for more. You craved it. Shamelessness. With your eyes closed and his body heat pressed against you this way, what you wouldn't give to succumb to the desires that were flooding your body with more warmth than you could stand right now.

You moved a hand then, trailing your fingertips lightly up his shoulder, curving toward his neck to lightly touch the softness of his cheek.

His face turned with the feeling of your touch and you felt the hot breath from his parted lips that you touched with your fingertips. His breathing was heavy and it matched the labored breaths that came from your own chest.

Baekhyun’s lips were soft to touch. You felt the motion of them as he pursed them lightly and kissed the tip of your fingers that touched his mouth so freely like this.

You couldn't even remember what it felt like to be cold now. Every inch of your skin felt like it was burning.

“I’m...dizzy,” his low whisper filled the air with more warmth and on his voice was a whining complaint, “I...think I am drunk.”

His words made you pull your hand back down from his lips and you rested it over his chest as your mind whirled.

Baekhyun rarely drank any alcohol at all. He’d consumed a half a bottle of wine, had an encounter with near hypothermic temperatures and now you had him naked in his bed with truly wicked and shameless intentions. While it didn't start out that way, the situation had quickly escalated and you’d done nothing to stop it.

You were at war. Your desires and your conscience and you knew, you knew which one was on the right side.

“You feel so warm,” his whisper was back and he leaned into you as he said it against your ear. Against your neck he breathed in deep and spoke again, “mmm...fuck — you smell so good. I feel like I am making a mistake. This is a mistake. Please, not like this — not drunk.”

You had never felt this frustrated and this turned on in your entire life.

He shifted then and you felt the dip as the bed moved and Baekhyun pushed up with his arms and pushed with his legs and he rolled over you on the bed, placing a knee between your legs. As he rolled you felt the push of his hips where they landed perfectly between your thighs.

You wanted him. He felt so good on top of you. He fit perfectly between your parted legs, you wanted him.

You wanted to kiss him and hold him and you wanted the sex; you wanted to wrap your arms and your legs around his waist and pull him down into you but his words were protesting. You knew, you knew this could not happen.

You wouldn't do that to him. You would not, absolutely would not let his first time be a drunken mistake. You had more self control than that.

Something on the bed rolled when he moved and it knocked against your hand. Something hard and plastic. You reached for the flashlight and clicked the button, sending a burst of illumination up into his face where he hovered over you on the bed.

His eyes shaped shut at the sudden brightness and you struggled to keep yours open.

“Baekhyun,” you said through clenched teeth. Your own breathing was too ragged to try and sound calm as you spoke and he dropped his face, turning away from the bright light.

“We can’t.”

You bit down on your bottom lip. You were insane. You had lost your entire mind. You were in love with him, he was so beautiful and he was practically begging, begging you to fuck him right now. You felt the push of his hips between your legs and everything. But his words. And when his eyes opened you could see how glassy and disconnected his focus was. He was drunk and you would not do that to him.

“We can’t do this.”

It took a palm placed gently on his face for him to look into your eyes with any real focus and realization. “You know we can’t.”

With his chest heaving and his cheeks pink and flushed he looked into your eyes and nodded his head, knowing that you were right. Knowing that this had been a weak moment brought on by alcohol, made worse by the storm and the compromising position you had found yourself in and you felt him shift and push himself off of you.

You turned off the flashlight as he moved; in some attempt to save your sanity from having to relive the beautiful image of his naked body positioned on top of yours. It didn't really help. You were a mess anyway.

When he was off of you and covered on his bed, your only course of action was to leave this place. You could not stay so close to the temptation that had nearly undone everything. You could not even imagine waking up the next morning after such a drunken occurrence had occurred. At least you were leaving with your pride still intact. At least you would be able to look him in the eyes tomorrow morning and still feel like you were a good person.

You sat on the edge of his bed for a moment. Willing the chaos inside of your body to slow down some so you would not stumble as you walked out of here.

It took some doing. You could still feel it all over your body and you turned to look behind you at the man laying on his bed fighting whatever internal battle he was fighting and you found his eyes open, watching you.

He moved a hand and laid it over your own, squeezing lightly with his fingers.

“Thank you,” he said, “I’m sorry,” he added with a wince on his pretty face.

A wave of distaste rose inside at the sight; a feeling so powerful it led your movement down to him.

You leaned into him and you pressed your lips into the softness of his cheek, kissing him once. It took considerable strength to pull your lips away from him. It took even more strength to push yourself into a standing position and walk out of his bedroom, but you did it. You would even be okay eventually. After a shower and a glass of cold water, you would get past this and you would be able to keep living here without having fucked up the only good thing in your life during a moment of weakness.

You would be okay.

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8

Tag list: @j-pping @blahblahblah-boo @his-mochi-cheeks @amyeonzing@littleflowercrown13 @baekinmylife @insta1010 @nana-banana @f4ncyvelvet@bbhbeth @totallynerdstuff @byunbabybaek @maijinki @bbyunz@theclawofaraven @kingkushdealer @uhobob

#baekhyun #exo #baekhyun Fic #baekhyun fanfic #exo fic #exo fanfic #baekhyun fluff #exo fluff #baekhyun smut #exo smut #baekhyun series #exo series

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jordanlahey · 5 years ago

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“A Blast from the Past...” (2/?)

Pairing: Poly!lost boys x Reader

Summary: The boys feast and chase downs local witch coven and it didn’t work out in their favour. Home was home but at the same time it wasn’t.

Warnings: language, innuendos

Word count: 1761

A/N: sorry it too so long I’m just catching up on fics now. Also can we appreciate this gif of Paul and Dwayne? 😍

"So you're telling me you are really from 1987 and some witch got mad at you and you came here is a cloud of red?" I repeated what david had told me, trying to make sense of it all, it didn't quite seem real but then again they are vampires and I have powers so what even is real anymore? I stay quiet trying to think of something anything.

"Don't forget we ate the witches whole coven." Paul chimed in, he seemed to be so proud about it but he just seems like a happy-go-lucky guy.

"What if I could help you find a way to get back? I'm not sure if I really count myself a witch per se but I can try find something?" I suggest, it's not the best idea but it's worth a shot. The boys all looked at each other seeming like they were having a silent conversation between the four of them.

"What's in it for you? Why do you want to help?" David lit another cigarette, blowing the smoke out as he leaned back into his chair. If was a fair question, what is in it for me? Nothing I'm just trying to help but was there really a need for me to answer?

"I can't think of anything at the top of my head. I mean while you are all sleeping during the day I can do something to keep unwanted visitors away so that another incident like earlier doesn't happen again?" Another silence in the room, I could sense that they were uncomfortable talking about anything in front of me considering we had just met, I would be uncomfortable spilling anything if I couldn't trust someone. I pull out my phone to heck the time it was nearly 5am and the sky was starting to brighten.

"Hey what's this thing?" My phone was snatched out of my hands by Paul as he eyed my phone, Shaking it, tapping it and putting it up to his mouth trying to talk to it like a walkie talkie.

"Hey give that back!" I jump to my feet and try to get it from him but he holds it above me so that I can't reach it. "Paul give it back!" He threw my phone to Marko as he did the same, I ran towards him then he flew up into the sky "that's not fair! Marko please!" I could tell David and Dwayne were amused buy this as I run between the two blonds.

It went on for a good few minutes however, Paul had landed in front of the entrance to the cave and the sun was just away to illuminate the cave. "Paul! Look out!" I run towards him again this time knocking him out the way of the sun rays, the rest of the boys hid where the rays wouldn't effect them but they were still in the same area as you and Paul. In other circumstances I wouldn't have been awkward at all but since I'm lying on top of the blond vampire it was more that awkward. Paul looked at me and wiggles his eyebrows at me causing me to roll my eyes at him and go try and get off of him.

"You're welcome for saving your ass being turned into a pile of ash." I huffed "now go, dont worry I'll keep anyone out of here in the mean time." With that they all crawled into a dark hole which I assumed their own sleeping space. If I'm being honest I hadn't even slept yet, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I napped on the sofa? I would go to the small bed that I mentioned earlier but they tensed when I spoke about it.

Before I head off to sleep a cast a small little protection barrier to keep people out if they were to come near it would just look like a massive rock on the outside. I cuddle up on the sofa and slowly drift off to sleep.

*****

I slowly awoke from my meant to be nap and I check my phone for the time I knew the boys weren't going to be awake since the sun was still up. It's 1:30pm I some had time to kill, I did plan on going home and getting something to eat maybe charge my phone for a little while before coming back and trying to think of a solution to sending the vamps back to their time. If I'm heading out I'll leave the little barrier up cause if I break my word they'll have my head for sure.

I headed to my home and greet my grandmother but she seems to be with a client at the moment so I leave her be and head up to my room to grab my computer and some spell books. I know it's cliche. My grandmother and I run a smoll café shop near the boardwalk, as well as a place to eat it's also a place for visitors or open minded people to come get a reading etc and we even sell small things like crystals, sage, candles etc all the good witchy stuff.

"Y/n, you were out late I didn't hear you come in." My grandmother startled me, I sigh in relief.

"I stayed at a friends house sorry about that, hey you may be able to help me." My grandmother looked at me and smiled. "How does time travel work? Are there any spells for it?" I chew the bottom of my lip, hoping she won't as me about why I'm asking her this to be honest she's smart and she knows all kinds of magic. However, she looked at me sympathetically.

"Oh honey, I know what this is about." Now I'm the one confused. "You want to time travel to stop what happened to your parents I know, but you can't change the past and if you do then you'll have to sacrifice something in return and suffer the consequences." She was way off I know this already i can't change the past but I need to send the boys back to their time, thats the same as time travel right?

"What about spells to send people back in time. Like to their time?" This stuff is confusing as heck.

"Why would you want to know something like that, honey?"

"I...it's for a book I'm writing about spells, I'm just curious." I am a terrible liar and she can see right through me. "Grandma, you are the smartest witch I know please tell me." She looked at me and I could see the cogs turning in her head if I wanted to I could tap into her mind as see what she knows.

"That isn't going to work sweetie, a witch always has a block on her mind so that no other beings can read them and I'm terribly sorry but there is no spell for that and there never has been." With that she leaves my room back down to the shop where she probably has customers waiting. I sigh in annoying. Bullshit. If there was no spell then how did the vamps get here there is always a counterspell. Nothing is ever permanent.

I finish grabbing all the books and my laptop then head downstairs to go back to the cave, it's 3:15pm the sun doesn't go down till 7ish this gave you roughly 4 hours to find a solution or do something else but you'd rather head back to the cave and keep watch there's no doubt gonna be some people poking around there and you have the best job in the world. Being a guard dog for a bunch of vampires.

Back at the cave you, sat down on 'David's' chair and proceeded to look through all the books you had about magic and spells, there had to be something here. Your nose was too buried in the books you failed to notice how quick time went by and still no sign of a counter-spell. Your book was snatched from your hands, startling you and you tried to calm your breathing as Paul flipped through the book and turning it every which way to understand the text. Which was stupid it was in perfect English probably words he isn't familiar with god bless.

"How long have you been reading the Mumbo jumbo? It's basically snoozefest." He tossed the book on the ground near the others and went flicking the through them all.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand and I've been looking through them for 3 hours maybe?" You answered, picking up the book you were trying to read.

"Really that eager to get rid of us?" Your eyes shot you the platinum blonde, he smirked at you as he walked towards you causing you to walk back into the wall.

"N-no." You swallowed thickly. "Last time I checked you wanted to go back home." You tried to rid your voice of any insecurity, probably failing miserably. David leaned closer to you.

"Last time I told you that's my seat." He stepped away from you and sat in HIS seat.

"It's not like you were using it." You huffed and muttered under your breath, this made him smirk more. "Paul could you stop tossing my books around please."

"I'm bored." Paul whined then latched himself onto you then Marko joined in.

"Let's have some fun, ayy Paul?" You looked between the two blondes as the face you a smirk and you broke out of their grips.

"Woah woahh woahh! And Don't look at me like that." You warned as you backed away from the group of vampires.

"Like what?" Marko pouted, you mentally cursed yourself and huffed.

"I'm not food! I probably don't taste good anyway so no biting I mean it." You warn again mostly at the two blondes who were sharing knowing glances.

"How would we know if you taste bad if we don't try it." You backed away from the boys then ran behind dwayne who was just watching, using him as a shield from the 2 blondes. "Like he's gonna help."

"Stay back! I have a Dwayne and I'm not afraid to use him!" This caused the boys to erupt with laughter.

"You're adorable." Marko laughed, you pouted and rolled your eyes.

"Come on you four, I bet you are all hungry anyway let's find you something to eat." You nod time the exit of the cave.

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys fanfiction #the lost boys headcanon #the lost boys imagine #the lost boys x reader #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys #lost boys x reader #marko the lost boys #paul the lost boys #the lost boys paul #the lost boys david #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys marko #poly!lost boys x reader #poly!lost boys

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thebibliomancer · 4 years ago

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #233: The Annihilation Gambit!

July, 1983

“Up against... the BARRIER!”

Pretty cool cover!

So here’s the thing. This is a crossover with Fantastic Four. John Byrne even gets a credit for breakdowns and co-plotting.

I’m not going to completely cover the related FF issues but I’ll dip into the relevant parts of them.

For example, let’s discuss Fantastic Four #254 which coincided with the ending of Avengers #232. The thing with the fleeing crowd that didn’t know what they were fleeing and the invisible wall She-Hulk bonked off of? What’s the deal with that?

Allow me to summarize.

The Fantastic Four went off to explore the Negative Zone and had a series of weird and silly adventures. They left Alicia behind to babysit Franklin but Annihilus popped out of the portal and took them captive. This happened back in #251 so he’s had the run of the place for a while!

He’s been making modifications to the Negative Zone Access Portal and adapting the generators. For whatever reason, switching the machine on sends out potent fear waves which causes everyone to flee the area of the Baxter Building. There scene where She-Hulk and Wasp see the fleeing crowd and bonks off an invisible wall repeats.

And that’s all you need to know! Annihilus is messing around, potent fear waves, invisible wall, Avengers!

Now let’s get to the Avengers part of this crossover.

The Avengers issue of Avengers starts with Captain Marvel booking it over New York musing about what an eventful day she’s had as a full-fledged Avenger.

What with having to rescue President Reagan after he was taken hostage by soggy swamp men. Then Eros (Starfox) showed up and insisted on joining. Then Monica, Starfox, and Thor went off to catch Plantman who engineered the presidential hostage thing. All of that in only six hours!

Monica Marvel Rambeau is on her way to the mansion to give her report when she too bonks into something.

Captain Marvel: “It was as if I bounced off some sort of invisible wall! But that doesn’t make sense!”

Yeah, it really doesn’t!

As Monica herself points out, the wall is invisible ie light is going through it. So her light form should be able to go through it too!

Its a very selective invisible wall, apparently. And it gives her a weird ominous feel to touch.

But she’s not going to let sleeping walls lie and decides to try different energy forms to see if anything can get through.

Annnnnnd. Radios, cosmic rays, electricity, infrared, x-rays, and even gamma rays can’t get through. Although, Monica has the feeling that the wall gave a bit under the gamma, but not enough to matter.

Monica detours around the wall and heads back towards her original destination. AVENGERS MANSION!

When Monica arrives, cool team leader Janet the Wasp van Dyne is talking with the police. Obviously the police aren’t equipped to deal with an invisible dome.

At the least, though, Jan uses the NYPD data-link to figure out where the giant dome is centered.

Also, Wasp has another new outfit. This is the same day.

But its pretty snazzy black and purple so I won’t complain.

Monica tells Jan that Big Trouble is brewing and Jan is basically like ‘oh god now what’ but thankfully Monica and Jan are on the same case.

MEANWHILE, Steve Rogers’ modest Brooklyn Heights apartment. Where Steve Rogers is not having a conversation about his feelings with his girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal because his feelings are classified!

Steve Rogers: “In a way. It’s Avengers business!”

I’d mock this but what has Steve bummed and pacing like a caged bear is that Tony Stark, his good pal who he’ll never Civil War with, has quit the Avengers, gave Iron Man up to someone else, and is trying to drink himself to unconsciousness.

Which is very concerning! But also something you can’t really share the full details of without revealing a lot of secrets that aren’t yours to reveal! I feel like you could at least say ‘I think my friend is an alcoholic but won’t accept my help’ without spilling secrets but shrug.

At least Steve is open with Bernie. Yeah, she knows he’s Captain America!

Truly, the man is a role model. Not just as a superhero but also on dating.

Steve gets a BZZZT on his snazzy cool radio wristwatch, possibly the coolest thing to wear on one’s wrist ha ha don’t think about Avengers wearing Apple Watches.

Anyway, Jan updates Steve on the invisible - and expanding - dome. And that weirdly, there doesn’t seem to be anyone trapped inside because everyone ran away from it because its inexplicably spooky.

So Steve rushes off to Save The Day, stripping mid-run because that’s the kind of casualness and comfort you can have in a relationship where you’re open and honest.

See how Steve didn’t have to make up a half-assed excuse? Maybe think about that, Spider-Man. You’re not in this scene but maybe think about it.

Meanwhile again, the Baxter Building.

Where thankfully for people not reading Fantastic Four, we get an echoed scene where Annihilus motive rants at captive audience Alicia Masters.

Basically, Annihilus is feeling very bummed that Blastaar stole his Cosmic Control Rod in Marvel Two-in-One #75. For one thing, it really tied his whole outfit together. For another, without it, Annihilus isn’t immortal and he’s freaking out about dying. And not dying eventually, he’s apparently got Doom-level messed up face now from how he’s degrading.

So really the only real way to come to terms with mortality is to destroy two whole universes so you don’t die alone.

Annihilus broke Reed’s Negative Zone Access Portal and used its power core to power his own impenetrable NULL-FIELD. Which I guess is the invisible dome.

Annihilus: “How wonderfully ironic -- that a device which once produced a gateway between two universes should provide the power to utterly destroy them!”

I’m missing some middle steps here but basically invisible dome -> ??? -> destruction of the Negative Zone and the, uh, Positive Zone.

A MEEP MEEP from a computer which may be a roadrunner gets Annihilus’ attention and he sees to his shock that She-Hulk has planted her feet and is trying to bodily hold the dome back.

It’s not working but its slowing it almost imperceptibly and even that’s supposed to be impossible.

Annihilus: “What manner of creature is this?!”

I’d guess gamma-powered She-Hulk is having a tiny bit of luck against the dome for the same reason that Captain Marvel did when she tried gamma radiation.

Wasp, Captain America, and Captain Marvel show up to help She-Hulk.

She-Hulk tells the other Avengers that the invisible dome keeps “oozing over everything inanimate” but that she(-Hulk) can’t stop it.

Cap suggests using his shield despite the risk of losing it inside the dome.

Because, when Captain America uses his mighty shield, all who oppose his shield must yield. So maybe he’s onto something.

She-Hulk plants the shield in the ground in the path of the dome.

So good news/bad news.

The dome doesn’t swallow up the shield. But the dome just pushes the shield, carving a little furrow in the ground.

That cracks me up a little, I will not lie.

I don’t know why Cap’s super cool shield is exempt from getting schlorped up by the null-field but now they have a good idea where it is without having to bonk!

Speaking of bonk, Thor and Starfox come to join the party and Starfox runs right into the invisible wall.

Hee hee hee.

He also drops right into She-Hulk’s arms and they have a mutual banter moment.

She-Hulk: “Hmm! I’ve never had anyone fall for me like this before!”

Starfox: “I assure you it was totally unplanned... but rarely have I fallen into such open and inviting arms!”

If I recall correctly, they do hook up at one point and then years later She-Hulk beats seven kinds of shit out of him when the question arises of whether his powers influenced her into it.

At least Starfox is receptive and she’s not stalking Ben Grimm.

Anyway, Thor tries his hand at busting the null-field by shooting a bunch of lightning at it. Even though Captain Marvel tells him she already tried electricity.

Thor gotta Thor though.

And when the field stands firm against all the lightning, he gets pissed and hurls his hammer into it.

Mjolnir flies into the field, loses steam, and just pitches gently to Earth.

Bit confusing. I wonder why Cap’s shield can’t go through the dome but Mjolnir can.

BY THE WAY, THEY LEFT CAP’S SHIELD JAMMED AGAINST THE DOME.

They don’t comment on it but you can see it still gouging up the pavement. I guess they’re using it to mark where the dome is?

Amazing.

Anyway, Thor marvels at how Mjolnir left no mark on the invisible barrier and how its not returning to his hand like it should. Clearly there’s some weird property of the barrier interfering with Mjolnir.

Cap points out yeah thats interesting but isn’t there something that happens if you have Mjolnir out of hand for too long?

So Thor runs away and turns into Normal Doctor Donald Blake in an alleyway where nobody can see it happen.

Again: amazing.

Thor is basically out of the story because Normal Doctor Donald Blake can’t do anything to affect the barrier and he can’t get Mjolnir back while its up. So he’s just going to be twiddling his thumbs.

MEANWHILE, at Cross Technological Enterprises.

Hawkeye tries to cajole inventor Jorge to build some contraption for him but the man protests that he designed it in his spare time but if he builds a working model on staff, CTE will own the invention.

Unless someone approves a sub-contractor waiver that will let him keep the rights but who would do such a thing for him??

Hawkeye decides that as head of security he’ll do such a thing. I don’t know if head of security has any kind of sway like that but I imagine that won’t stop Hawkeye from insisting that he does.

Then Hawkeye hears about the Avengers dealing with the dome thing and gets sad that he can’t be out there with them.

Hawkeye: “Blast it, I oughta be out there with the rest of the Avengers! But, as long as my leg’s in a cast, I’m a liability to ‘em... until I prove otherwise!”

Maybe focus on letting your leg heal!

I don’t know what nonsense you’re brewing up and I know that months is forever in comic book time but maybe just take the time and let your leg heal up!

Back over at the Avengers, Cap and Wasp now justify to the others why Thor took off. Claiming that they sent him on a scouting mission. Captain Marvel objects that scouting is her specialty, what with the lightspeed dash, so Cap claims that brute force isn’t helping so its more important to have Captain Marvel’s versatility here.

Leading She-Hulk to snark that brute force not working doesn’t give her a lot to do.

Starfox has become instantly bored with the plot because he’s here for adventure dangit, so he wanders off to go flirt with an EMT.

Because Starfox.

A Quinjet arrives, because Wasp has put her true superpower to work.

The power of NETWORKING!

Aka, she placed a call to Vision and Scarlet Witch and they just showed up to help.

Wasp explains the situation and Vision decides he’s going to intangible through the field.

Vision: “Interesting. It does have an oddly unsettling ‘feel’ to it!”

Then he walks through and instantly collapses face first into the asphalt.

The Avengers’ bumbling attempts to deal with the null field are almost farcical really.

Scarlet Witch is alarmed by her robot husband faceplanting so tries to use her plot-resolving probability powers on the invisible barrier but to no avail.

OH NO HER DOES ANYTHING POWER DID NOTHING!

She bangs on the invisible wall yelling Vision’s name but Cap tells her “that won’t do any good!”

True but c’mon. Her robot husband just collapsed. Have some understanding.

Although I wonder what’s going on here.

The field goes over inanimate objects but doesn’t let Cap’s shield through. Mjolnir and Vision can go through it (although Vision does the intangible) but lose power shortly after entering.

Then again it is called a “null-field.” It probably does whatever it wants.

I’m just wondering whether Vision counts as an inanimate object or not. He’s very animate but he’s not strictly speaking biologically speaking alive.

Meanwhile, in the Baxter Building, Annihilus is laughing up a storm at the Avengers’ silly hijinxes. But mostly in the ‘they thought they could stop me’ sense.

Annihilus: “Lesser beings such as these are helpless before the genius of Annihilus! They do not deserve to live -- just as I do not deserve to die! I curse the fates which have robbed me of my rightful immortality! But even though life slowly ebbs from the dissipated body within my exo-skeletal armor, still shall I be Annihilus... still shall I be He-Who-Annihilates!”

And he pulls the Big Dramatic Lever.

Outside, Starfox is still flirting with the paramedic while she asks whether he should be helping the other Avengers?

Starfox: -squishes her face- “Alas, I am not a full Avenger. I am but a trainee, at the others’ beck and call! If they want me, they will call.”

And then he tries to make out but she’s distracted by the Baxter Building suddenly glowing with an awesome power.

And Starfox freaks out. He freaks out so much that he realizes that now is not the time for making out. That’s how alarming things suddenly are!

Paramedic: “Brighter than the moon... glowing like there’s no tomorrow...”

Starfox: “I fear your choice of words is most apt!”

And then he wanders back on over to the Avengers to tell them how messed up everything is.

Something occurs to me.

The Avengers don’t really have a Smart Guy TM currently. Tony left them in the lurch in that regard. And they tried to recruit Hulk again (apparently in Incredible Hulk #285).

Cap(tain America), Captain Marvel, Wasp, She-Hulk, and Thor are great. But they’re not people who can look at a thing and instantly jump to a correct conclusion about which technobabble will keep things from bad.

I think... Starfox may have become the Smart Guy TM of the team by default because he does have advanced space learning even though I’m pretty sure he napped through advanced space learning science class.

My god, the state of things.

Anyway, Starfox directs the Avengers’ attention over to the Baxter Building. Within the invisible field, there’s a second glowing field. And based on Starfox’s brains, the invisible field is a null-field (yes, that’s true) which cancels out all energy within, except at its focal point. Uh, sure. I think if all energy was cancelled out, we’d see way wilder effects but sure.

The glowing field is positive energy. And when the glow meets the invisible, it will cause the universe to merge with the Negative Zone AND THEN DESTROY THEM BOTH.

See, this is something that’s known on Titan. They just study ways to destroy everything apparently, nbd.

Starfox even mentions that his brother Thanos knows about this but “not even my brother Thanos was mad enough to test it!”

I dunno. I feel like Thanos is exactly mad enough to do that. I also feel like Starfox doesn’t know his brother was well as he thinks. So, yeah.

Hence, they’re all doomed. I mean, unless there was some way to penetrate the null-field BUT WAIT, Starfox says, didn’t Captain Marvel feel the field give slightly under gamma radiation? THEN THERE STILL MAY BE HOPE!

Yeah... Yeah. Starfox is the Avengers’ Smart Guy now. God.

Its like a reverse-Beast. He came to be a smart guy but the Avengers’ had plenty of those so decided to be the fun guy.

Starfox came out just to have a good time and he has to use his space brains to save reality.

(Also, its because of Same Face but Starfox even looks like Reed while he’s transitioning from doomsaying to figuring out the whole thing just by panicking and explaining things)

So after the Avengers do some calculations and preparations, Captain Marvel blasts off into space!

Cap(tain America) estimates that they only have twenty minutes and that a lot can go wrong.

Then a giant shouty bug man appears in the sky to shout.

Annihilus: “PEOPLE OF EARTH -- HEAR NOW THE WORDS OF ANNIHILUS! YOU ARE HELPLESS BEFORE ME! I AM YOUR DEATH!”

“The destruction of all that lives has ever been my goal -- but never have I had the means to kill so many! The time of universal death is at hand! I see among you those who are known as the Avengers... those who you would call heroes! Hah! They cannot save you! They are as helpless as the accursed Fantastic Four!”

“There is no hope for anyone this day! This is the day that Annihilus dies! And as I die, I shall reach out and I shall shake the very foundations of two universes! AND ALL SHALL PERISH WITH ME!”

Not gonna lie.

That’s a damn good villain speech.

You’ve got the villain head in front of an apocalyptic pink sky. You’ve got evil gloating. You’ve even got some dunks thrown at the superheroes because you just know that average civilians will be like ‘the Avengers will save us!’

Pretty good rant, Annihilus.

“Meanwhile, in the vacuum of space, the lightform of Captain Marvel has already flashed beyond the orbit of the moon”

Amazing.

Simply amazing.

Captain Marvel nyooms past the moon and traverses 93-million miles to go to the sun.

Which, even at lightspeed, takes over eight minutes.

A helpful reminder that even the ability to go as fast as light doesn’t necessarily mean you can get everywhere instantly. Cosmic distances are vast.

Captain Marvel nyooms around the sun, so close that even in the form of a light, she can feel the Sun’s gravity.

This is all some great stuff.

Then, Captain Marvel melds with a coherent light beam fired from solar satellite Starcore-One and transforms it and herself into a gamma ray laser beam NYOOMING right at Earth.

Blasting through the null-field just in time to interrupt more of Annihilus’ villain ranting.

Annihilus: “Prepare to make your final accounting, mortals! These are your last wretched moments of... eh?”

And then with a SKRAKATA SKRAKATA BOOM, the null field and positive energy fields are neutralized.

She-Hulk who was casually leaning on an invisible wall FLUMPS to the ground.

Wasp assembles the Avengers still milling about and tells them to move on the Baxter Building since Annihilus might still have tricks up his sleeve.

With the null field gone, the terrified crowds of onlookers are now just confused onlookers and want to get back to what they were doing before they started panicking.

Normal Doctor Donald Blake has to reach through the crowd of legs to grab Mjolnir so he can become Thor and rejoin the Avengers.

Y’know, before someone starts pondering why they haven’t seen him in a while.

Scarlet Witch notices sudden Thor and since everyone else ran off without paying any mind to Vision (geez, what the hell, the Avengers? He’s your good pal chum!) she begs Thor to help.

Scarlet Witch: “Thank heavens, you’ve returned! The Vision was injured somehow by that null-field! I... I can’t find any vital signs! His synthetic body is too different for the paramedics to do anything! Help us! Please -- !”

Thor slings Vision over shoulder exactly like you’d expect a buff Norse god to do and reassures Wanda that they’ll find someone to revive Vision.

At the Baxter Building, the Avengers very courteously go in through the front door because there’s just a lot of defensive systems that may or may not be active. And anyway, Wasp has a key to the special elevator.

Apparently, Wasp is such good friends with Sue Storm that she was given one of those special lasers incorporated into her new costume that opens the elevator doors.

I’ll have to check with my friend who liveblogs Fantastic Four to see if Jan shows up much. Because Sue has shown up a couple times in Avengers to build the idea that she and Wasp are good friends after their cool brunch but I haven’t heard of the reverse.

When the Avengers get to the 34th floor to confront Annihilus, they find that it’s been taken care of off in Fantastic Four.

The caption tells me for the full story to see that issue #256 and for once, I will.

(Interestingly, while Byrne got a co-plotter credit on this Avengers issue, Stern doesn’t get the same in the corresponding FF issue which really suggests who the driving force of the story was.)

Over in FF #256, the FF are stranded in the Negative Zone for reasons but have also noticed the null-field and positive field thing going on. Reed works to limit the effects of the fields merging to only the Baxter Building instead of the whole universe, which will also help the FF return home. He also hopes that someone on the Earth side of things “an Avenger perhaps” is also taking action.

Which, yeah. Captain Marvel’s whole thing where she launched herself at the Baxter Building from the Sun.

While she’s doing that, the thing that Reed is doing starts shorting out the circuity that Annihilus is using.

Then, Captain Marvel’s appearance causes the console Annihilus is working at to explode in his face, destroying his life-support armor.

Annihilus tries to activate the ‘destroy the universe’ thing manually but because of Reed’s machinations, the Fantastic Four get pulled back into the universe and Annihilus gets booted into the Negative Zone.

Its implied that Annihilus dies here but ha ha ha no he’s going to show up again without explaining how he survived. What a dick.

The Fantastic Four pop back into the Baxter building with the colors in their outfits changed because of technobabble. Reed instantly accosts Captain Marvel for being someone he doesn’t recognize but Thing tells him who she is and defuses things.

Thing runs off to take Alicia to the hospital, Sue runs off to look for Franklin, and Reed and Human Torch put out all the fires.

And that’s where the books sync up so back over to Avengers.

The Avengers meet up with the FF and compare notes and Reed starts trying to technobabble explain the change in uniforms when Wanda interrupts and asks someone to help Vision.

Reed examines Vision and comes up with some good news.

Vision is, more or less, okay. When he entered the null-field it drained his energy and disrupted his synapses but there shouldn’t be any permanent damage. The robot coma is Vision basically fixing himself up but Reed could speed up the process and help him recover faster.

And then Sue comes in with an unconscious Franklin.

Everyone drops everything to immediately rush off to the hospital, leaving Wanda and coma-Vision alone.

I mean. Kinda rude. Its entirely fair for Reed and Sue to run off. Its their son. And Johnny flies ahead to alert the emergency ward. But does the situation really need Starfox, Captain America and She-Hulk?

(The FF issue actually shows that Captain Marvel stuck around. She barely knows Wanda and Vision and she’s actually being courteous to them. Geez.)

I’ll give Thor a pass because he can turn into a Perfectly Normal Doctor. But really? Everyone is just leaving Wanda alone? Just like they left Vision just passed out in the street?

The Avengers are being dicks to Vision and Wanda today!

Follow @essential-avengers and like and reblog perhaps. Because I wouldn’t leave Vision lying passed out in the street and I haven’t even been his friend for years. Just saying.

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universe-in-the-void-in-the-cube · 4 years ago

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I think I figured out my core problem in life.

Drama!

And before you get up on me for it, just take a breather and listen to me while I’ll explain myself.

For as long as I can remember all I have known is negativity, stress and drama in my life. Basic timeline of my life.

Age 2 to 3 - As my first memories I lived in cockroach infested apartment complex, inhaled lead based paint fumes and I broken my wrist from climbing up a slide backwards.

Age 3 to 4 - Moved into a shitty 70s build trailer house in tornado prone Oklahoma experience in tornadoes for the first time and getting lost in the mall.

Age of 4 to 5 - Moved from Oklahoma to Washington. Lived with grandparents before my dad got a job and found us a home.

Age 5 to 8 - Moved to a new apartment complex, get bulled and beat up by the kids at school, get lost walking home from a friends house, get on the wrong public bus on the first day of kindergarten. Having to become a big sister to a new baby girl and experiencing my first major volcanic eruption. Yes I lived in Tacoma when the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens happened.

Age 8 to 9 - Get beat up and bullied at school so badly that CPS was called and I was taken away from my parents and placed in a foster home with abusive foster parents the refused to let me drink ANY liquids and made me sleep on the floor with cockroaches, mice and rats for a week. Before being move to my grandparents for the summer then to a new foster home with a foster mother that had dementia before being returned to my parents January 1st of the following year. And transforming schools as well and forced to go to therapy that seemed a bit off.

Age 9 to 11 - Move back in with parents, mother blames me for being taken away by CPS, tells me that I am to old to play with toys of any kind and force to go to therapy that somehow didn’t feel quite right. Mom goes through her first religious zealot stage. And I broke my left leg, underneath the kneecap on Valentine’s day of all days, and the doctors office didn’t think I broke it and had me on a damn splint for a week till my parents took me to the major children’s hospital where they did tons more x-rays than my normal doctors office did and found out I did brake my leg. And when they took off the cast the first time they realized they set my leg wrong and had to rebreak it and reset it so I have knee problems till this day.

Age 11 to 12 - Forced to move again because new apartment complex owners kicked every one out, and had to live with my dad’s brother, his brother’s wife and 4 cousins in a one bedroom house with the basement converted to 4 bedrooms that had a bad problem of getting flooded when there was to much rain. Get transferred to a new school that was so backwards that my education and grades nosed dived and badly, and moving to two homes in less than a year. As well as starting my period for the first time.

Age 12 to 14 - Go to middle school for the first time, get bullied again and sexually harassed and totally confused about things and mom goes through religious zealot stage 2 and start getting emotionally and mentally abused by my mother. My grades drop even more. Wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend.

Age 14 to 18 - Go high school, grades improved, mother becomes more controlling to the point I wasn’t allowed to go to school games, participate in sports or any other extra curricular activities, or any school dances. (I missed out on both my Jr. Prom and Sr. Ball), finally allowed to have a boyfriend who cheated on me with 4 other girls, 3 of which were my friends all at the same time. Mom ended up having throat cancer and a month after she had surgery my parents had to stay in an apartment in Seattle for chemo, my sister had to stay with my grandparents in another town and I lived at home alone as a latch key kid. Then my dad has a heart attack and I was the first one to be called and I had to call the entire family and I was by myself with no one to comfort me.

Age 18 to 19 - Graduate high school, my grandpa dies, get caught shop lifting, go to jail for a month, forced to go to Job Corps, met my husband, get kicked out of Job Corp and move back home, mom kicks me out to move is my future husband’s alcoholic step dad for a week, almost get raped by the prick, come home a week later get married. New husband’s mother visits me and my mom kicks me out of the house again and forces me to live with my mother-in-law who was a nasty alcoholic at the time while husband was still at Job Corp.

Age 19 to 25 - Live with mother-in-law, get in to fights, go to jail for domestic violence, get extremely sick with the stomach flu and almost die with an 105 temp and extremely dehydrated, and end up hurting my back by falling down the stairs hitting the area between my tail bone and lower back twice causing me to have back problems till this day. Go to collage as my husband goes to jail for writing bad checks and end up going through the first hints of emotional brake down.

Age 25 to 27 - Move into my first apartment with my husband alone. Have a slum lord as a landlord, first major blizzard and ice storm, get on SSI, doing good till one day I was cutting up meat and suddenly had the urge to cut myself. AKA my first psychological brake. Go to mental health after that.

Age 27 to 32 - Move to my second apartment, having unintentional roommates put on me and my husband, then 911 happens, then get a series of earthquakes in the city I live in, get the room makes moved out, get a new one for a while that meets the cunt that ruined my life, get the dick head on again off again roommate and having to constantly deal with his shit, my dad dies, then my grandmother dies, get an inheritance, the cunt my second roommate knows gets jealous and accused my husband of being a pedo and arranges the situation by bribing the cops that interviewed my husband (since the detective on my husband’s case was friend with the cunt’s mother) and the judges with her mother’s money, husband goes to prison for 5 and a half years.

Age 32 to 40 - Living without my husband, on again off again roommate gets so drunk that he threatens to kill me so get a restraining order on him. Get coned by an asshole which causes me to loose money, computer and laptop brake, car gets stolen, have to sell the car or get it towed when I get the car back, have the asshole roommate move back in. Having to deal with his bullshit with his family and girlfriend to the point they are all living with me and my property gets stolen.

Age 40 to 45 - Husband gets out of jail, he is forced to not live with me or I will end up losing my housing. He ends up getting a job and everything is good. I get thyroid problem, sex drive plummets and he ends up cheating on me and getting the girl he was fucking pregnant, deal with my asshole roommate with is asshole girlfriend who are both addicted to meth and badly and do drugs in my home, more stuff get stolen. Find out that I am infertile and can never have kids when my husband told me what he did, get new management in the apartment complex that I live at for almost 20 years, they give me hell and force me to find a home in less than 30 days and do tons of illegal stuff to me and other tenants in the complex to the point one had their cancer (which was under remission) come back and kill the poor man causing him to die of cancer.

Age 45 to 47 - Find a new apartment thanks to the old realtor company, still have the asshole roommate move in with me, losing about half of all my clothes and being in debt for a few months thanks to husband and the new realtors of the old apartment. Go to the hospital under suicide watch because of all the stress. then Covid 19 happens, drives my roommate to controlling situation and abusing me mentally and emotionally till I am nothing but an empty shell of a human being. Finally had enough, get a new restraining order on him, deal with a bed bug problem and feel like I am not going to make it then heater goes out then the lights and I have a nasty mental brake down and end up getting psychological help.

Age 47 to current - Get the bed bug problem fixed, get he heater fixed, roommate no longer lives with me, I am going to therapy and improving every day. All my bills are paid in full, I have food in my kitchen and enjoying life finally. The first time in my life I have never experienced stress and that negative aura of doom and gloom around me. But... it scares me since I am waiting for the other boot to drop since my life has NEVER been this peaceful and good EVER!!!

So because of this revelation. I believe that negativity, drama and stress is normal for me because that is all I have known in my life. To have a peaceful and content life is so abnormal and strange to me that it feels wrong and bad and I should feel guilty. Hell I do feel a strange sense of guilt to. But I shouldn’t feel that way. I should feel happy. So I need to be reprogramed so I can convinced that my current situation is what life should be and can be for me. Not doom and glove negative aura cloud surrounding me like a thick fog.

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loveistherootofhappiness · 4 years ago

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A little late, but still good (As you can see, turning in assignments on time just isn’t my thing 🤦🏾‍♀️)

Ship: Madney Rating: T Word Count: 1923

Summary: This was purely a coincidence. Just because a handsome stranger just so happened to be sitting next to her, wearing her so-called lucky colors, it didn’t mean anything.

Day 6: “Do you believe in love at first sight?” + meet cute

Can also be read here

Maddie heaved heavily, struggling to catch her breath. Her lungs protested the full on sprint she’d just done to make sure she didn’t miss the bus. The bus driver, uncaring of her plight, looked between her and the meter, silently willing her to pay her fare so he could move on to the next spot. She took a couple of calming deep breaths, grabbed the change, from her bag, and turned to find her a seat.

She found one of the last seats available on the already crowded bus. Such was the bane of L.A. public transit. Sitting her bag next to her, she put in her earbuds to listened to one of her favorite podcasts as she waited to arrive for her hospital shift.

She’d gotten lost in the story she’d been listening to when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Slightly started, she quickly removed one of her earbuds and looked up, locking eyes with the handsome stranger in front of her. She felt, what could only be described, as an electric current flow through her as she held his gaze. She could have sworn she spotted a flash of something in his eyes before he broke their contact.

“I’m sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if the seat next to you was taken?”

Maddie found herself instantly charmed by the kindness in his voice and the lopsided grin he’d sported. She took in the rest of him. The light of the morning sun highlighted his bronzed skin and dark brown eyes. His salt and pepper beard gave him a distinguished look. He was beautiful.

But the most noticeable thing about him was his bomber jacket. It looked as if an abstract painting had been taken and plastered on to the material, with all the differing colors splattered all over it. It definitely reminded her of something straight out of the 90s.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes then,” his voice broke through her train of thought. Confused for a second, she quickly realized she’d gotten so lost in her thoughts that she failed to answer his question. She must look insane.

“Oh, no,” she moved her bag out of the way. “It’s all yours,” feeling the blush forming on her cheeks, she chuckled nervously as he sat down, “sorry about that, I think I got distracted by your jacket.” Not a total lie.

He snorted, admiring the sleeves. “Wish I could take credit for it. It’s my brother’s. Couldn’t find mine, so I stole his.”

“Your brother has unique taste, it’s nice.” She returned his grin with a shy smile, finding herself instantly charmed. As she looked, she was able to take in the colors a little more, it definitely had al the basic colors accounted for, but the colors she saw the most of were green, purple, and orange.

Your lucky colors for today are orange, purple, and green. Her roommate, Josh’s, voice floated into my mind as she remembered what he’d said that morning. Josh been reading the L.A. Times and insisted on reading their horoscopes, which included a part about lucky colors.

Maddie shelved that thought process immediately. Nope. She wasn’t going down that road. This was purely a coincidence. Just because a handsome stranger just so happened to be sitting next to her, wearing her so-called lucky colors, it didn’t mean anything.

When she heard the familiar ding, she saw that her stop had been reached. Gathering her things, he gave her a wave before she exited the bus and walked the short distance to the hospital entrance. She pushed thoughts of horoscopes, colors, and handsome strangers away to prepare for whatever insanity this city provided the ER today.

Easier said than done.

Maddie flopped down in her chair, completely exhausted as her shift was nearing it’s end. It seemed that pushing those thoughts out of her mind just wasn’t what her brain wanted to do. It wasn’t to the point of distraction, but she’d caught herself thinking about a certain handsome stranger multiple times. His eyes, his voice, his smile. It had been a long time since he felt that connection with someone. It was crazy, she’d barely spoken two sentences to the guy, but there was something there she couldn’t describe.

And she didn’t even get his name. Some luck, huh.

Maddie sighed, as she used her badge to unlock the computer. Checking the incoming patients chart, she saw that a patient had been placed in one of her assigned rooms. She signed up for him and read through his chart. Possible broken wrist. Sounded simple enough.

Grabbing the appropriate tablet, she headed to his room. She did the obligatory knock before entering. “Okay, Mr. Han, I” she was stopped short by the sight of him. Sitting on the bed, holding a bag of melted ice to his wrist, with a bruised cheek, was the guy from the bus this morning.

“Well, hi.” He said as he smiled at her.

“Hi.” She stepped further into the room and closed the door, doing a quick survey of him to catalogue all his visible injuries. “It looks like you’ve had an eventful day, Mr. Han.”

“Please, call me Chimney,” she mustn’t’ve kept her face as straight as she thought, as he followed up with, “long story.”

Part of her wanted to wanted probe further so she could hear it, but knew this wasn’t the time or place. “Maddie.” She introduced. “Okay, Chimney, mind telling me how your face and wrist ended like this in,” she made a show of looking at her watch, “12 hours?”

“It looks worse than it feels,” he flinched as he tried to flex his injured wrist. She started checking his vitals as he explained, “I was trying to break up a bar fight. Drunk guy wanting to take his anger out on other people. He got my cheek as I got between him and another guy. He popped my wrist as I was tossing him out.”

She grabbed his wrist from him, gently examining it. Black, blue, swollen, and out of place in several places. “I admire the heroism.”

“Wouldn’t really call it heroism, it’s kinda my job,” he looked from his wrist to her eyes, “I’m a bouncer... slash D.J. slash manager.”

“That sounds... busy,” she laughed as she gently let go of his wrist.

“It can be, but it’s a living.”

In that moment, the doctor walked in the room. She left the room, giving them some privacy to talk. Sitting down at the computer she was still in a state of disbelief. She didn’t know if it would be wise to call this luck, given the state he was in and she still had no idea where she stood in her belief in it, but she didn’t think she could call this a coincidence anymore.

Maddie gathered the things she would need to wrap his wrist and bandage his cheek. As soon as the doctor came out, the x-rays came back and confirmed what she already knew: his wrist was dislocated. She waited for the doctor to put in the orders and do the obligatory explanations with Chimney before heading back to the room.

“Chimney, let’s get that wrist wrapped and get you out of here.”

She slid the stool in front him, gave him an initial dose of pain medicine, and went to work on getting him patched up. There was a comfortable silence between them as she bandaged his bruised cheek.

“You know of all the ways I thought about seeing you again, gotta say, this wasn’t on the list,” he told her as she moved on to his wrist.

She actions faltered a bit, but she quickly recovered and fell back into her rhythm. Looking up into those kind, brown eyes, she saw the sincerity there. “You thought about seeing me again?”

He smiled shyly, “well, I’d hoped,” she was well aware that her cheeks were a fresh shade of crimson, “now I’m trying to figure out the ethics of asking your nurse for her phone number.”

Maddie knew she had the biggest grin on her face. Ignoring her heartbeat, she slid on the brace and wrapped the sling around his neck and wrist. Reaching for the discharge paperwork she’d brought with her, she held out the clipboard and a pen. “Sign here please.” She kept the smile on her face as he looked between her and the pen, grabbing and signing his name as best he could.

“Listen, if I overstepped-”

“You didn’t,” writing on the paperwork before she handed him his part of it, “and it looks like I’m officially not your nurse anymore.”

He caught on quickly as she pointed to her name and personal number at the bottom. Taking out his cellphone right then, he sent her a text message. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Just making sure you know it’s me.” She chuckled and saved his number.

They pocketed their phones, he grabbed his things, which included the jacket, and they both walked out of the room. “Well, Mr. Han, it has been a pleasure, you know besides the reason that you’re actually here.”

“Gotta say, the pleasure has been all mine.”

“Stay out of trouble,” she told him as he turned and walked towards the exit.

“No promises,” he threw over his shoulder before walking out the door.

Making her way back to the nurse’s station, she put his paperwork on the rack to be filed, made sure all her charts were completed, and logged out for the day. When she walked into the nurse’s lounge she found two of her coworkers having a conversation as she walked in.

“Ask Maddie and see what she thinks.” Jasmine said.

“Ask Maddie what?” She asked as she got her things from her locker.

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

The question gave her pause and she turned to face the two women. “Um, I don’t know.” A certain charming man came to mind as she thought about it, throwing her completely off guard. She was certainly charmed by him, definitely infatuated and instantly attracted, but love. That was a stretch, right? Though, she had to admit, she’d never felt that strong a connection with someone before. “Maybe. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a possibility.”

“See, Maddie agrees with me.”

“I just don’t think it can happen,” Malika chimed in, “there definitely attraction at first sight, infatuation at first sight, most definitely lust at first sight, but love? Absolutely not, how the heck can you love someone you don’t know?” She did have a point.

“You’re just a cynic.”

“Just another way of saying realist, Jas.”

Leaving the two women to their conversation, as all the implications were starting to give her a headache, she said her goodbyes and left. As she walked across the parking garage, she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She pulled out her phone and read the text on the screen.

Chimney Han I just realized, you probably know my entire medical history and I know nothing about you. How about we change that over dinner?

Maddie found herself staring at the message. All the implications and possibilities of whatever this thing was between them aside, she knew she liked him, at the very least. She felt excited at the thought of exploring the connection and see where it led.

She typed a quick, “I’d love to,” in response. ---

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

#madneyweek2021 #madney #chimney x maddie #maddie buckley #howie chimney han #911 fanfic #fanfic writing hell

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docnomore · 4 years ago

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Four years ago, I was walking and blew out my r knee. My family doctor knows my academic and work history. He generally accepts my word. No physical exam. I ask for an MRI, he orders one. Results showed a tear in the medial meniscus. Exactly as I’d said. Government insurance sent me to the local Naval Hospital where a full Captain (3 steps below God almighty), did not bother with a physical exam but instead, took me to the OR then sent me to Physical Therapy and cut me loose. No further follow up. At PT, I was continually encouraged to get on the elliptical where when at last I agreed to, I immediately tore what’s left of that meniscus. I asked the young Lieutenant if she could order X-Rays and explained that while cartilage doesn’t show up, the space it leaves, does. She did me one better and ordered up another MRI which showed the new tear and lots of fluid. She sent me back to see the Captain who was mad that she’d ordered the MRI instead of asking him permission first. He drained the fluid, gave me a knee brace and told me he wasn’t going to operate again. I went back to PT where it was clear that the Captain had ripped into her. She too cut me loose. Suspected cancer, I ended up being sent to an Endocrinologist who determined there was no cancer: dramatic loss of weight (nearly 50 pounds) and gynocomastia. No explanation. Instead he decided I was now Type 2 Diabetic. He began appropriate medicine therapy and followed me up annually. Last December, I had a follow-up with him. He kicked me out of the office for having tested positive for Covid a month earlier. I was made to weight in the car in his parking lot where we did a “virtual” appointment. I could not hear him over the sound of traffic. I stared at him for nearly 45 minutes while he reviewed his notes on computer and (per my wife sitting beside me), grumbled that no one had sent to him results of lab work that he’d never bothered to order. At last, he asked why he was seeing me, he did not know. Totally unimpressed, I’m not going back. A year ago, I’d blown out my left knee and again, same story. No physical exam by anyone. MRI showed a tear. Different surgeon. He did minimal care including writing a consult to PT but left it for me to submit to insurance. In the end, I never got PT on that knee. Even my ENT shifted me over to a nurse practitioner. Fine, whatever. Trouble with my hearing aid, audiology had two students see me. They bumped up the volume. I tried explaining that the hearing aid was broke. They were so busy trying to impress that they missed that I need a new one and sent me on my way. I’ve been basically without for nearly a year now. I have another audio appointment in June. The quality of healthcare has dropped significantly. If I go, I have a good mind to not verbalize but instead just sign to the idiots - they don’t know ASL. Generally, the only one who consistently signs to me daily is my wife. Spending a day with Sylvia, my interpreter for Church, I forget to shift between relatively grammatically correct English and the syntax of ASL that tosses out the useless words. Caught between two worlds and one is filled with extreme malpractice brought on by a consistent lowering of standards followed by the mask of fools : extreme arrogance. I give up. We all die eventually. No one gets out alive. While we’re here, it’s all about ease and comfort. I don’t NEED a hearing aid. I don’t NEED an endocrinologist. I don’t even need an ENT trying to “fix” me. It is what it is.

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noctuascion · 5 years ago

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CRYPTAGE AU: snobby rich crypto growing up with little to none affection from parents because of busy jobs that keep them away. Meets Mirage one day after showing his decoys to his friends and crypto follows him to the Witts Bar owned by mirage's dad. he was just curious and it turned into affection, cus y know mirage is the first person to show him a warm fuzzy welcome feeling. and they take off :)

Ooooo. I like this !! I'll see what I can do. It might either be super long or super short. Depends.

Empty hallways and vacant family rooms, kitchens with strangers in suits and his father and mother paying him little mind with guests over, giving life to the normally dead home. They were such prominent memories in Park's mind, so many days spent alone, spent playing with toys that he held little interest in, or tinkering away in the little makeshift lab in his room, creating little inventions that, with his amateur skill, would either fall apart or simply not function. The boy held fascination for the art of creating technology, and that fascination carried over into his adult life.

He had made it his passion, and now he had his own surveillance system company, creating his own technology and profiting from his own genius, living a comfortable life—a comfortable, lonely life.

Although he was brilliant, socializing was simply a skill he had never perfected, even when he had watched his mother and father speak, so composed and professional. He let other people handle business deals; he wasn't fond of dealing with people and their nonsense.

Still, it did take a toll on him. He, much like any human, desired to talk, to socialize with creatures similar to himself. Speaking with his cat simply wasn't the same.

Hence why he found himself in the usual shop he visited when looking for spare parts to create new devices with. The owner was a blonde with a Lichtenberg figure on her left cheek, likely from the high-voltage equipment she deals with on a daily basis. She was bubbly and sweet, and, frankly, he almost envies the absolute sunshine that emanates from her. Almost. People are drawn to the warmth, and he was as frigid as they came.

She greeted him with a rapid wave of hand, excited to once again see him in her humble little shop.

"Bonjour, monsieur Park!" Natalie greeted. "What brings you in today?"

"You know you're allowed to call me 'Tae Joon,' right?" he said in minor amusement; always one for formalities. "And I just wanted to grab some extra conductors and a new motherboard. The one I currently have is fried and a client wanted a new computer by the end of this week."

"Ah! I see! Well, you know where everything is!"

Park nodded and walked to the intended aisle, gathering the desired supplies along the way. A small basket hung on his arm, filled with various items to be purchased and used in his client's requested PC.

Although he has enough money to live comfortably the rest of his life and a company bringing in plenty of profit, he could be rather bored at times with just how mundane his life had become after reaching success. He had considered traveling, but he quickly realized that was a horrible idea; he hated being outside.

Voices, however, caught his attention. One was loud, drenched in excitement, talking at the speed of sound, masculine. Another voice was much quieter, replying slowly and uncaring, feminine. The third seemed hyper, enough energy for more than fifteen people, masculine. The voices didn't interest him—what did was the conversation.

Park didn't like to admit it, but he was a tad nosy, liked to learn new things. He wasn't a gossip by any means, and such petty subjects didn't interest him, but they were all piled in a tech place; they had to be discussing something interesting. He rounded the corner without shame, peering over at the group in question.

"… and we just finished the prototype!" the brunet, the tallest one, exclaimed, waving his arms around in excitement. Upon them were strange contraptions, circular devices Park didn't recognize—and they appeared to have a slight blue glow to them. He turned around to fetch some components on the shelf, tossing them into the basket the shorter one, prosthetic legs and a mask covering half of his face with goggles over his eyes, messy and short blond hair atop his head, was carrying. "It took us months, but it's finally in testing phase!"

"And you decided some little shop was the perfect place?" the black-haired one ask, rolling her crystalline eyes in amusement. "You're the most unorthodox man I know, Elliott."

Elliott, Park thought, putting the name to his face.

"It's perfect! And funny! Imagine someone walking down an aisle and they see me," Elliott explained, moving down the aisle a little more, picking up something before putting it back, "and then go down a different aisle—and I'm there again."

The blond snorted out a laugh. "That's genius!"

"I know, right?"

Park huffed out a quiet breath, though he was still more so interested in the technology along the other's arms, those devices that emitted the strange blue glow. He was about to turn and attempt to find a different area that was less conspicuous, but, as soon as he did, he was met face-to-face with nearly an identical copy of the tallest one down the aisle, standing just behind him with a smile. It was frightening enough that it elicited an admittedly embarrassing shout from the man, backing up and crashing into a shelf. It rattled violently against the wall it was held up against, a few things falling and crashing to the floor. Fortunately, none of them broke, but Park could feel his dignity shatter on impact.

The three down the aisle immediately spun around to see what caused the commotion, and a look of guilt crossed Elliott's visage immediately.

The other Elliott had immediately vanished, like some apparition, and Park was wondering if he was starting to hallucinate. Perhaps he was cooping himself up in his room too much…

"Oh, my god—I'm so sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?" The man was near him now, the devices on his arms no longer glowing. His hands were floating over him, like he wanted to touch him but refrained from doing so. "I really didn't mean to scare you like that—"

"You didn't scare me," Park snapped, kneeling down and setting his basket down to begin picking up the dropped items. "Moron."

Elliott only chuckled, kneeling down as well to assist in picking the items up. "Still, sorry about making you run into a shelf. You aren't in any pain, are you?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Fairly certain."

"Uh, okay, good!" Elliott flashed the shorter a warm smile, eyes soft and inviting. "I'm Elliott!"

"… Tae Joon."

"Nice to meet you, Tae!"

Elliott's friends had finally decided to wander over, and, eventually, Park learned their names as well. The black-haired one, sporting a nose piercing he hadn't noticed because of the distance, was named Renee, and the blond one was named Octavio, and, instantly, Park felt most of his energy drain after entertaining a single conversation with him. He was fast—and annoying.

But they were nice. Park never really conversed with others in a casual environment. He learned that Elliott and his mother were developing holo technology that would be able to replicate the appearance of someone almost identically, move and act just like them. Octavio was a daredevil, and, just by the mask being pulled down just a bit, the visible scarring, was enough of an indication of the truth that held. Renee herself was a scientist; her and her colleagues were apparently working on a project and Park found himself a bit more fascinated that he'd like.

Park had even shared his own technology, his own company, and the three weren't shy with questions—especially Elliott. It was weird, having people pay attention to him, but he couldn't quite figure out if he liked it or not. On one hand, it was nice to talk about his interests; on the other, the attention was uncomfortable, having so many eyes on him.

He was surprised to find himself feel so relaxed around them, though. Renee was quiet and mellow, much like him, so talking to her was natural. Octavio was hyper, but he was also a good listener, and he shut up when someone was talking. Elliott was just fascinating in general, a walking ray of sunshine with confidence soaring above the clouds. Renee and Octavio poked fun at him, but he always took it in stride. He couldn't help but feel a bit out of place.

"Hey," Elliott suddenly said, nudging Park gently with his elbow, somehow avoiding snapping any of the holographic devices off, "you wanna grab a drink?"

Renee and Octavio both chuckled quietly, receiving a glare lacking any real malice from Elliott.

"I don't want to intrude—"

"You're cool, dude!"

"Besides," Renee said, sporting a slight smirk, "Tav and I are heading out. Bars aren't really our scene."

"Liars. You're my number one customers."

"Dunno what you're talkin' about, amigo." Octavio laughed again, waving his good-byes. "See ya!"

And, just like that, the two made a speedy exit, leaving Park alone with Elliott. Elliott didn't seem bothered, but Park could feel panic swell. He was basically being forced into spending time with someone, a new acquaintance at best. Elliott was friendly, sure, but Park wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

Elliott seemed to have noticed, because he gently bumped Park's shoulder with his, smiling that same warm smile that seems to frequent his visage. "I'll do most of the talking, okay?"

Park could feel himself relax, if not just a bit.

— ;

The bar owned by the brunet beside him wasn't open today, so no one was inside, quiet and vacant. Elliott went behind the counter almost immediately, fetching a few alcoholic beverages Park wasn't familiar with (though he wasn't familiar with, well, any, since he's never drank before), and mixing them together, concocting some creation the tech geek both feared and anticipated.

He talked the entire time, rambling about his technology and how amazing it was, how they were so close to perfecting it he could taste it. He knew his stuff, everything stated with an intellectual mind and not just random jargon tossed out on a whim. He was intelligent, and Park… well, he found it a bit attractive. It was a pleasant surprise, since he was sure the other was full of it and didn't know much about the technology he was testing, a mere lab monkey rather than anything special.

He kept his attention on Park the entire time as well. He didn't ignore him, didn't cut him off. He treated Park like he was there, and that was a concept virtually unheard of by the surveillance expert. Elliott didn't have any ulterior motives for wanting to befriend him, no desire to abuse his wealth or even just get a job at somewhere that paid well. He was genuinely interested in Park. It made him feel warm, and that sensation, he knew for certain, was good.

Elliott slid a drink over to him, that smile of his never once fading from his visage. "I don't take you for a heavy drinker, so this one isn't too strong."

"Thank you," Park said, taking the glass and sipping the beverage. It was… interesting, a lot of things hitting him at once, and he released only the slightest cough after swallowing. "What is this?"

"An Addington!" the man replied brightly, leaning against the counter with a hand placed atop it. "It's got vermouth in it, sparkling water, and a bit of orange." He shrugged. "Best served like a martini."

"Hm."

Elliott was strange, he decided. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He was bubbly and happy. He was a bit awkward at times, accidentally stuttering over himself when he spoke about something without thinking beforehand, and he sometimes rambled on about nothing and everything all at once. He was kind, though, and patient, attentive and strangely endearing, charming in his own way.

And when he placed a warm hand over Park's, he decided he would give this a shot.

#apex legends #crypto #tae joon park #mirage #elliott witt #cryptage #ahhahahh i hope i kept to the peompt properly;;;;#and sorry if it's bad #am bad at writing jfjdjw #i hope you enjoyed tho !!#lenardo does a write

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lev1than · 6 years ago

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10 Famous Inventions that were the particular culmination regarding other people’s work

An unclean (yet open) secret regarding innovation is most wonderful breakthroughs seldom happen due to a single only genius.

Whereas history is rife with stories with famous inventors, who are generally national game characters, in almost every event they were just the first reduce weight improve a preexisting system to your final level where the item achieved muscle appeal.

Imagine how research discoveries with hundreds of years in the past inspired the works for subsequent ages of professionals.

Or what sort of iPod changed personal song thanks to the actual combination of advancement in the despropósito fields about digital favorite songs compression, hard drive miniaturization, affordable ARM microprocessors and other sorts of technological innovations.

1. Galileo and the telescope

Even while Galileo is normally credited having devised the main telescopes, there was actually a good Dutch individual called Hans Lippershay who had been making addition devices making use of the ever bettering qualities of glassmaking at the moment.

Allegedly, Galileo heard about all these and chosen to build his personal, even generating some changes in the process. Having been also the first person to work with these brand-new optics being a scientific musical instrument, which is where his true value was initially added.

2. James Watt and the steam engine

While I was in secondary school, my scientific research teacher thought it was funny individuals “What was the name of the man who seems to invent the particular steam website? ” Very funny, because “Watt” was the reply, so the problem was a fashionable statement.

Merely steam applications predated Watt’s design just by almost 58 years. Brit Thomas Savery patented the very first steam serps design for 1698, to take out water from coal fosse. Subsequently, Jones Newcomen superior the design to function at atmospheric pressure, of which became the normal design for concerning 50 years.

Watt’s real advancement was building the program with an independent condenser, which made the full process now more efficient.

3. Eli Whitney and the cotton gin

During periods of captivity in the USA, Georgia predominantly expanded cotton that had quicker fibers. The didn’t are very effective with the products at the time which usually tried to take away seeds on the fibers (roller gins), plus required a great deal of manual job. So the point out of Ga sponsored a good engineering force to come up with an improved design.

Whitney improved within the roller gins by updating the sturdy rollers by using wire your teeth.

While this drastically improved manufacturing ability with regard to cotton, this also had typically the sad complication of increasing the requirement for slaves to a fella the career fields.

You may also interesting in invention ideas

4. Elisha Otis and the elevator

Equipment capable of working out with people straight into tall architectural structures has endured since the early Egyptians. And since the industrial wave and the regarding cities triggered taller homes being designed, people started to be tired of being forced to climb various flights associated with stairs. And so elevators had been invented, applying either steam or power engines which often pulled uplifts with ropes.

However, rules have a tendency to bust. And even having an elevator just one or two stories excessive, if the rope broke so you plummeted while using carriage it will result in no less than severe personal injury, if not the loss of life.

Otis truly invented the safety break, which will stop often the elevator through crashing when it was initialized by quick falling every time a rope got destroyed. This took off a major potential for death coming from buildings tall than several stories and even spurred around the building in the first skyscrapers.

5. Thomas Edison and the light bulb

It's perhaps the most popular invention in recent history, and its sign actually sums up the concept of a notion.

And yet, Youngsters Edison didn’t invent the sunshine bulb. Not necessarily the wine glass bulb, or perhaps the glowing filament inside it. They merely better the previous styles to the point that they can become otc practical, in 1880.

The initial electric light product, called a great Arc-Lamp, was made by Humphry Davy with regards to 78 decades before in which but did not last long together with was too bright. Throughout 1850, Ernest Swan has seen that carbonized paper was much better stuff for a filament and put to use them to help make light bulbs. But he could not get the design to be more effective or durable.

After furthermore experimentation, both equally Swan and Edison uncovered subsequently more beneficial materials, and ultimately their a pair of companies amalgamated to market most of their new improved upon design jointly, though most of the people only recall Edison.

6. Guglielmo Marconi and the Radio

In the 1890s, both Marconi and Nikola Tesla have been fighting to formulate the radio. Tesla actually got more of the beginning patents to the technology. Still, the initial treasure of electromagnetic radiation was actually made seven years earlier by German researcher Heinrich Hertz, who was capable to both broadcast and acquire radio swells in his research laboratory.

However, the guy couldn’t imagine any sensible applications regarding his knowledge.

It was after Marconi who has been able to acquire all these technological innovations and switch them perfectly into commercial merchandise.

7. Henry Ford and the car

Honda released the exact Model Testosterone levels in 1908, and it is the first auto to gain block market elegance and good results at a time any time many people nonetheless traveled through the horse.

Nonetheless, the car while powered simply by an internal combustion engine was really created by Karl Benz within 1885, and many other engineers, therefore, improved about the design for greater efficiency, coziness performance.

Precisely what Ford reached was improve production technique of the machine. Her assembly line advanced production productivity significantly, slashing the cost of every single unit for a price point in which people could possibly actually have the funds for it.

8. The Wright Brothers and the airplane

Teens have been hoping to see flight intended for eons. Via Leonardo Kc Vinci’s sketches of hovering machines to story regarding Icarus, many people desired to clear themselves on the shackles involving gravity.

And then the Wright Brothers were not really the only people of their time to try and establish a machine competent at powered airline flight.

George Cayley was the first person to move via designs regarding flapping similar to birds towards a “fixed wing” design. Yet another engineer referred to as Otto Lilienthal then implemented a lot of those models to create genuine gliders through fixed wings and examining them, putting together a lot of files which the Wright Brothers would likely subsequently usage.

Additionally, the very Wright Siblings were able to implement another the latest invention within the time: the internal combustion algorithm from vehicles. They were all-around at just the right age when this kind of became offered.

Their real innovation was a student in their patterns which authorized their planes to actually always be steered as well as controlled. And also rest is usually history.

Also, check out: invention help

9. Philo Farnsworth and the TV

An excellent sort of an invention that had been only probable thanks to quite a few other pioneering technological advances across market sectors.

Farnsworth had the ability to take the trends of the cathode ray tubing (by Ferdinand Braun) and also combine them with an approach to scan graphics using electrons which the person apparently started out thinking of inside high school.

This design likewise outperformed other competing TV SET technology at that moment: mechanical TELEVISION SET.

10. Bill Gates and the Graphical User Interface

Beginning computer systems were being primarily command-line driven, this means you had to know every one of the inputs for you to type right keyboard in order to the machine that which you wanted it all to do.

A lot of people credit Roshan Windows utilizing introducing the globe to the Gui (GUI), which you could use a rabbit to just click on-screen materials to tell it again what to do, making the whole course of action much more simple.

However, much of the progress throughout GUI growth happened very much earlier. Some sort of pioneer was basically Douglas Engelbart, who exhibited an Operating System which has a mouse pointer in 1968. This plan was subsequently taken up by simply Xerox, exactly who released their valuable Alto pcs which were the 1st with a duck and GUI.

As figures go, Apple’s Steve Work opportunities saw an Alto when visiting Xerox’s PARC study center along with inspired him or her to make sure the main Apple Macintosh personal computer would have some GUI, the initial mass-market GUI computers. This unique then flat the way to the even more business-focussed Intel Windows Main system, which got the idea absolutely mainstream.

#inventors #creators #beat maker #inventhelp #invention ideas

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harryandhishook · 5 years ago

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Wings are made to fly - Chapter 5

Pairing: Not fully sure yet, just gonna see how it goes (Maybe Evie? Don’t know yet)

Setting: Auradon

Warning: Erm … none? I think at least

Summary: Everyone knows what type of person they are, Fairy, Goblin, Dragon or just a simple person and Harry thinks he’s just a simple guy but the more he comes into contact with Auradon and magic, the more the people around him notice something off and maybe Auradon is the only place with answers

Words: 2165

Requested: Nope, me and my Fiance were roleplaying this and I thought it would be awesome to make it into a Fanfic

Side note: I have no excuses for this one, Uni is finally over and obviously the whole pandemic is happening which has stressed me out seeing as I only have the resources I need in basic form on my computer so I have you can all forgive me. Also there is no proof reading and still no beta reader so you’re just gonna have to live with this quick chapter, also I’m trying to write more than just Descendants so I may try my hardest to spend time on more than just one fanfic at a time.

Stay safe my friends, I love you all <3

First // Prev // Next

Within the next few days, the group became quite busy; Harry being pressed by Evie for fittings upon fittings of his new coats, which he didn’t really mind much, Uma and Gil trying to come up with plans to keep Harry’s cover during school, i.e. Gym, which wouldn’t be too hard if they could get some help from the nurses who were there during Harry’s coma and lastly, Ben, the one who had been going crazy from trying to secretly communicate with the pixies, going behind his parents back was something he had never done and it was something he found quite exhilarating but it needed to be done and he would do it whether it got him in trouble or not.

It wasn’t until the school practically went into meltdown and the fairy god mother ran hectically around the halls that the gang knew Ben had done it.

Uma, Gil and Harry laughed hysterically as they watched teachers, guards and students run around the school grounds from the pirates’ window, the lot of them realizing just how entertaining Auradon could really be from up here,

“Ye’ know, I think I might like it ‘ere actually” the young Hook said, breaking them all away from the entertainment for a moment, “It’s not our type a thing but a little bit o mischief around and we could make this place a little bit more fun, ye’ know what I mean?” he asked, turning to the others as they sat in thought. Neither spoke for a while, just watching everyone below in silence, Uma could relate with him, it was quite nice to smile, to laugh, to have fun, it was nice to have the freedom they had here and well, even Uma couldn’t deny, everything here would be missed if they went back,

“You know what Harry, I think you’re right, I think…” she started, wrapping her arms around both boys, pulling them into her before continuing, “I think we are going to do great in Auradon” she mused, glad to have her two boys beside her.

Everything was calm, the three of them content as they sat, watching silently out the window until suddenly, the commotion outside stopped, students freezing as a bright light floated down from seemingly nowhere, catching the pirate’s attention,

“Is that?” Gil asked, sitting up straight as he crawled closer to the window, peering out curiously,

“Holy shit, Ben did it, he actually did it” Uma confirmed, watching as the light slowly disappeared, revealing the Queen of the pixies herself, “Wait … THAT’S THE QUEEN” She screamed excitedly, leaning closer to the window with Gil, “I thought pixies were small? She looks about the same size as us” she asked, neither of the pirates saw the young boy behind them slowly back away from the window, neither noticed as he rose from the floor, trying to hide as best he could from the sudden realization, he would be meeting the Queen of his people,

“There Tinkerbelle too, hey, maybe she might know more since she was the enemy of your dad” Gil added, turning around to look at Harry only to realize … the First Mate wasn’t there but was in fact now curled up on top of the wardrobe, “Harry?” he asked, getting up off the window seat to move closer, “Isn’t this what you want, you can finally find out what is happening, you can learn more” he said, trying to coax the boy down but to no avail, the pirate continued to cower in the shadows. Uma sighed and followed Gil to the wardrobe, looking up at the wing hanging over the edge,

“Harry, please, I know your scared but you need to see them, you need to talk to the Queen” Uma continued with reassuring the boy, hoping soft words might help, “I need you to listen to me Harry, I need my first mate, I need my friend, I need you but the only way I can have that is when you truly understand yourself, when you can walk free and happy, that’s when I have my best friend back … please” the Captain begged, hoping it would give some hope to the boy.

Unfortunately for the both, it didn’t do much, other them give them a quick glimpse of Harry’s hand as he pulled his wing into the shadows, making him completely gone from everyone’s sights.

The two teens were about to try again when a knock broke the silence, Uma knew it would need to happen eventually and Ben had done so much for them to let this all go up in flames; she slowly opened the door and watched as the two guards moved to the side, allowing Max to enter with Queen Clarion, Tinkerbell and … Fairy Mary?

Quickly Uma waved Gil over, pulling him into a bow as the Queen entered before closing the door behind them quickly. Before any words could be spoken, Uma simple pointed to the top of the wardrobe, indicating exactly where the new pixie was, causing all their heads to move upwards just as a pair of soft brown eyes peeking out from the wooden piece of furniture,

“You must be Harry” Queen Clarion stated softly, a small smile on her face as she gracefully approached the wardrobe, raising up to the level of the frightened boy, “I understand, you’re frightened, this is new and you can’t comprehend it all, it’s okay, we only want to help you” she reassured gently, her words almost one of a mothers, “Now, do you want to come down or would you like to talk up here … I could teach you the first thing you as a pixie will need to know if you chose to stay on top of the wardrobe?” the Queen asked, wings fluttering softly behind her as she continued to wait patiently for the pirate to speak, unfortunately, his voice wasn’t prepared to actually start any sort of conversation but the little movement of his head was enough for Clarion to raise her arms beside her as the twinkling of pixie dust surrounded her form, hiding her for a moment until she was only three inches tall.

Carefully, Queen Clarion shuffled her way onto the wardrobe, hovering close to the young boy with a gentle smile as Harry carefully sat up, making it a little easier for the both to communicate with each other,

“My dear Harry, you must understand how worried your friends are for you, King Ben made quite a few sacrifices in contacting and bring us here to see you so you must see how important it is to let us help you” the tiny pixie said, gesturing towards the edge of the wardrobe where the others were stood, “Let us help you” she whispered, floating a little closer to the boy; all the while, Harry thought, he thought and thought until his head couldn’t take it, he knew he had been waiting for this, this was what they had all talked about, this is what he had asked for but now it’s here, he didn’t want it, he wanted to just hide and stay locked away for ever, unfortunately for him, there was no other option,

“Okay…” the boy whispered, his voice only loud enough for the small Queen to hear which was obviously enough for her to smile with that could only be rays of sunlight,

“I am glad that you have seen it our way” Clarion spoke softly, floating away from him to give some distance between the two, “now, first things first, we are going to get you down from here but I can only imagine how much of discomfort and pain it would cause if you tried in the size you are, so I am going to teach you someone all pixies find quite useful and very important to know especially in such an integrated place for all species like Auradon” she started explaining, holding her arms out in front of her, hands outstretched, “I want you to change your height” she finally finished but by the look on the pirates face, she hadn’t done too good of a job. The pixie sighed and continued with a little more explaining, “All you need is some faith, trust and pixie dust, it’s not just used for flying you know” she chuckled softly before going on, “I’ll give you some of my own pixie dust and all you have to do is think really hard about the thing you want and imagine it true, in your case, think about shrinking down to my size and imagine it true, can you do that?”

Harry fumbled with his fingers for a while, thinking over the instructions, he knew it could be that hard but he was so nervous, what if he made the room explode or everyone the size of pirate ships; a deep breath from the boy quickly calmed him as he focused himself, how hard could it be.

With a nod of his head, Queen Clarion softly blew some pixie dust over the boy, almost causing the poor pirate to sneeze but with all his might, he thought, he imagined, he … couldn’t feel anything happen, nothing was happening, everything was still the sa-

A sudden pain in the top of Harrys head gave him the quick realizations he had thought too hard, as well as the soft giggle of the Queen, he opened his eyes to reveal he had grown a few inches, resulting in banging his poor head onto the ceiling above him,

“I can’t do this” he groaned, lowering his head away from his attacker to rub his head, even with the pain and the failure of an attempt, the pirate wasn’t going to back down … well … maybe after one more try at least,

“Try not to focus on the dread or the anxiety you are feeling, focus on what makes you happy, stay calm” the Queen reassured, composing herself from the little incident to encourage him further.

Harry sighed nervously as he allowed his eyes to close one more time, another deep breath and another thought, this time, a thought surrounded by nothing but positive feelings, well, the few he had; moments passed, silence surrounding him as he continued to try but slowly, he was giving up,

“This is pointless, I can’t do it” he whispered defeated, he was ready to climb from the wardrobe and cover himself in his blankets forever, until, a hand, a normal sized hand ran through his hair softly, making his eyes open faster than anyone could have even thought possible and there she was, Queen Clarion, identical height to him.

Carefully looking around his little hiding place, the beautifully carved wooden top of the wardrobe seemed to go on for miles, the ceiling looked like it was about the same distance away as the sky, everything was huge, which only meant one thing,

“I DID IT!” Harry screamed, jumping up from his spot to examine himself, luckily, he had also shrunk his clothing and hadn’t left them draped across him and the piece of furniture. Shuffling closer to the edge, he peered over, he could see that everyone had sat down to wait but … Holy shit, that’s high, “h-how am I meant to get down from here? I can’t fly yet…” he asked, his voice laced with nerves, carefully, he shuffled away closer to the centre as he looked up at the now floating Queen beside him,

“I am proud of you, my dear Harry, with a little bit of teaching, you will be able to do so much more but I would like to discuss this on the ground” she spoke with a smile, holding out her hand for him to take, “Now, if you will allow me, I will help you down and we can return you to normal height as another lesson” with a cautious hand, the pirate nodded, taking her offering as he slowly stood straight, his legs strangely wobbly from all the new powers he could feel building up inside of him.

Walking to the edge, his grip became tighter as he looked down, knowing he could die if he fell from here, all he wished he could do was turn back and climb down himself but the soft tug on his arm pulled his gaze to Clarion who was now hovering over the sudden drop, making him panic even more than before,

“It’s okay Harry, flutter your wings and step off, I will not let go of you, you will not fall, I promise you that” the Queen whispered, stroking her thumb gently over the back of his hand, giving him any reassurance she can, “trust me” her voice almost an echo as Harry looked over to the drop again, his breathing staggering nervously as he took a little step, half of his feet now over and into the open, toes visibly curling.

Closing his eyes once again, he let his body control the movement of his wings, trying to let his body take over naturally as if they were just another form of limb. Ever so gently, he felt it, the soft breeze in the back of his hair, the almost silent and barely audible vibrations they caused and before he could even think himself out of it, he stepped off.

A black mind, a weightless feeling in his gut, a panic of knowing he was about to see his life flash before his eyes … never came.

The pirate opened his eyes with confusion, everything around him felt still, no plummet, no screams, no splat, only the Queen smiling like a proud mother who had just seen their child walk for the first time and the four motionless walls surrounding them all, he was flying … well … floating as best but still supporting himself in the air none the less,

“Breath Harry, you’re doing fine, focus and slowly slow down your wings” the Queen instructed, he grips carefully loosening without him noticing as he followed her word. With a bit of stumbling and little missteps, they both finally made it to the ground, feet gently laying flat on the carpet which looked like it was about to swallow them whole, happily, Harry smiled wide as he looked around at the comically big room,

“This cannae be real” he exclaimed as he strolled through the almost grass like flooring, staring in wonder at every lit-big thing around him, he couldn’t believe it, he felt like he was in the most wonderful dream he never wanted to wake up from, “everything looks so … fake but it feels so real” he stated excitedly, turning back to the Queen who was waiting happily for him,

“I’m glad this has changed your mind, you seem quite in awe by everything around you but now, we must return you to your normal size so we can discuss how to proceed in your teaching and I want you to do this without my help” she revealed, stepping back as a bright light surrounded her body, stretching until she once again the same height as everyone else in the room whom the pirate had only just notice had been watching them.

With his fists tightly clenched beside him and a deep breath circulating in his lungs, Harry put every single little bit of energy he had into what he wanted, clearing his mind of any doubts and waited. Slowly, he watched as a shimmer of gold and silver rose up from his feet, surrounding him completely; the boy could feel the sudden growth as the fabric of the carpet around his feet became smaller and soon, he was back to normal height, the shimmering dust gone and the world back to normal,

“Welcome back up here” Uma chuckled from the seat she was currently leaned back on, her smirk definitely gave Harry the feeling of accomplishment all way the other watched on in amazement while the Queen spoke again, obviously very eager for Harry to continue his training.

—

Taglist

@descendantofthesparrow

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scarefox · 5 years ago

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Uhg, worst work monday of all work mondays....

Tram didn’t drive this morning because a bus broke right infront of my tram station. Basically hopped in the tram and had to leave few minutes later. This time I took a photo and send it to my boss as prove that it’s not my fault I am late!

Had to walk half of the way to work, luckily I still got a bus a few stations further away. But this bus ends also a few stations before my work place, so had to walk again... I am baffled I just came 10 min too late

Then this damn file I had to work on since months on and off isn’t good enough for my boss. Even though I told her multible times, that the PC isn’t strong enough for this ammount of data and I can’t properly edit it, like I usually would, she’s still all like “You should have told me from the very beginning you can’t do this! I trusted in you... we already lost so much time! Also this PC is perfect to work with, you just make the files too big somehow...”

First of all, I couldn’t know that the final file we get to work with is 10 meters long! The preview version I had to use before worked fine, now I know it was smaller (bought the design after we used the preview to show the customer how it’s planed). Second, how should I know that a computer, that isn’t mine, can’t handle big files? But yeah, it’s definitely not the computer who crashes the software every few minutes and runs out of RAM... ALSO she wanted to discuss andplan the whole project with me already two weeks ago but she didn’t had the time... she rather lets a total newbie in this field, in this whole workflow, handle the project on their own and only checks in right before the deadline ends.

Only ray of light at work is my coworker, who ensures me it’s not me but the boss lady is just a horribly bad boss and everyone gets this and even worse treatement. SHE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERNECE BETWEEN A VECTOR AND A PIXLE IS... How am I supposed to explain to her what the problems are, that I have with this project, Software and PC?? But she still offers advertisment services in her company!!

#monday #work #lots of stress #didn't eat #my head is bursting #bad boss

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parkneroses · 6 years ago

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hi!! can you do 17 for parkner? just found your acc and i love it! i needed more parkner accs to follow

17 - “Guess who broke their nose? I broke my nose!”word count: 1656 | if you enjoy this, buy me a coffee?

Harley ran into the intern’s lab grinning like an idiot.

“PETER!”

Peter didn’t look up from his laptop. The bags under his eyes seemed to reach the floor, and his table was littered with loose papers and empty coffee mugs stacked sky-high. He clearly was not in the mood to deal with Harley’s enthusiasm right now.

“Guess who broke their nose?” Harley was bouncing on his heels, energy rolling off him in waves. Peter’s neck snapped up, but before he could say anything, Harley cut in. “-It was me! I broke my nose!” He was still smiling so wide Peter was surprised his jaw wasn’t aching. Harley turned to the side to show off the state of the art bloody purple bruise on his very, very broken nose.

Peter turned back to his screen and sighed. He was just so, so tired. He felt himself faceplant into his keyboard but he didn’t register it until Harley said, “Peter? You’re messing up your code.”

Peter lifted his head up and groaned at the page full of keyboard smash he’d managed to type with his forehead.

“Harley… you are so stupid I am in physical pain from just being in your presence.”

Harley was still smiling, as though he couldn’t even feel the fleshy bloody alien monster that was crawling out of a hole in his face. Peter rolled his shoulders to wake himself up and pushed himself out of his chair.

“Med bay, c’mon,” He grunted as he pulled Harley by his shoulder into the elevator.

This elevator was smaller than Peter remembered.

At least that’s how it felt as Harley stood entirely too close to him for comfort.

Or perhaps comfort wasn’t the right word. There was something to be said about how Peter’s heartbeat slowed whenever Harley was around. He could feel his tension melt away, and the constant ringing in the back of his head- his spidey senses, or anxiety, or whatever it was that made him feel like he was a puppet whose strings were far too tight- would let up and he could finally feel truly calm.

But he couldn’t appreciate that right now. Not when Harley’s chest was almost pressed up against his own, breath tickling Peter’s cheeks. And especially not when he noticed Harley’s nose-bruise (his nuise?) was turning green around the edges. Peter sighed dramatically and figured they could get this over with quicker if he stopped staring longingly into Harley’s face hole and actually sorted out the cause of this. The elevator opened up on the 87th floor- Medical Services (because of course the Avengers needed an entire floor dedicated to stitching up the one or two wounds that hadn’t healed by the time they made it out of the alien robot infested warzone that was downtown Manhattan. No, Mr Stark, that’s not overkill at all. It’s not like people are out there starving or anything). Peter dragged Harley out of the elevator to the beds by his wrist. Harley didn’t seem to want to complain about the close contact, even if he was dripping blood on Peter’s sleeve. Peter gestured vaguely to a bed and he sat down on it.

“Gonna fix me up all nice and good, Madam Pomfrey?” Harley grinned up at Peter, who was fixing a bowl of water and a washcloth.

“Wish I was Madam Pomfrey. Maybe I could make a potion that would finally shut you up,” Peter muttered with no real edge to his voice, as he began gently washing away the blood. ‘How long ago did you take painkillers? This is really wide and really deep. I’m gonna have to stitch this up.”

“Okay, first of all, that’s what she said. Second, I didn’t take painkillers. I came straight here after I finished beating up Flash,” Harley said, still smiling up at Peter like the little ray of idiotic, aggressive, impulse control-less sunshine he was.

“What? You’ve been smiling at me this whole time, and you didn’t even take- hold on a second, did you say Flash?” Peter asked, dropping the washcloth on his lap, creating a large wet patch that Harley would surely tease him for later. He couldn’t bring himself to care though, not when Harley just said he’d been beating up Flash of all people. How had they even met? And what could Flash have possibly done-

“Tony told me he’d been bothering you, so I found him after your decathlon practise and he was bein’ all dick-ish n’ shit- said somethin’ like, ‘Oh, are you Parker’s boyfriend? Come to threaten me for not sucking up to him? You best friends with Tony Stark too?’”

Harley’s Flash impression was all off. He pitched his voice way too low, and his attempt at a New York accent was abysmal. Nevertheless, Peter couldn’t help but blush when Harley said the b word. He felt his chest warm as he imagined what that might be like. Probably pretty similar to how they were now, spending most of their time attached at the hip, bickering constantly yet always being there for one another when they needed it. Except, being Harley’s boyfriend might involve more… kissing. And other stuff. Peter thought he might like that.

Harley continued. “And I was like, ‘No I’m not,’ not like there’d be anything wrong with that, I just didn’t like his tone. Anyway, He went on about how you ‘must be good on your knees to actually get a boyfriend, what with your face and personality an’ all,’ his words, not mine. So I punched him, and then he punched me, and then I split his lip and he broke my nose and then I gave him a black eye and I guess he realised I wasn’t gonna let up? ‘Cause he ran away to his fancy car then, so I came straight here. ‘Cause I knew you would help”

Peter had to take a minute to process all of that information.

“You beat up Flash,” Peter said slowly.

“Mhmm,” Harley replied, shit-eating grin still spread across his face.

“Because he called you my boyfriend?”

Peter knew that wasn’t what Harley had said, but he needed confirmation.

“No, I beat him up ‘cause he was being a dick about you. I didn’t really mind that he called me your boyfriend.”

“You… didn’t mind,”

“Nope,” Harley clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in thought. “I don’t think it’d be that bad. I mean, we’re basically already boyfriends, just instead of kissing you in real life, I only do it in my head,”

W-

Oh fuck.

Harley hadn’t meant to say that.

But Peter didn’t seem to mind.

Seeing as they both seemed to be on the same page about ignoring the garish wound that was still leaking Human Juice down Harley’s face, he said,

“You know you can kiss me in real life too? If you want. I wouldn’t mind.”

Wouldn’t mind was an understatement, but that didn’t matter. Harley looked at him thoughtfully, head cocked to the right like a golden retriever.

“Are you sure?” He asked. Peter nodded earnestly, so Harley took that as his cue to scuttle closer to the edge of the bed, and took Peter’s face into his hands, rubbing his thumb gently over the skin.

“Harley,” Peter breathed out, a pretty pink blush spreading across his cheeks for the tenth time that day. Harley only chuckled and leaned in closer.

“Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?” He whispered as he cupped Peter’s cheek with one hand and brought the other into the curly mop of hair that was tickling his forehead. He gently pulled Peter closer to him, pressing their lips together briefly, before pulling back to gauge the reaction.

Peter, definitely did not squeak. And when he spoke, his voice definitely very much did not break. “T-that was so gross,” He mumbled, scrunching his eyebrows in a way Harley would have considered adorable, had it not been for the heart-wrenching words that had just come out of Peter’s mouth. Peter seemed to notice Harley’s smile drop and was quick to explain himself.

“No! That’s not what I meant, I mean, I have blood on my face. And it’s not my blood. That’s not supposed to happen! The only blood that’s supposed to be on your face is your own blood! I mean, no, there’s never supposed to be blood on your face, that’s ob-”

He was cut off by Harley’s lips pressing against his once again. It was a nice feeling if he could just ignore-

“Harley, can I get you some painkillers and stitch up your nose before we continue this?”

Harley’s shoulders dropped in exasperation, but he didn’t argue.

“One condition.” Harley lifted up a finger.

“Harley, you’re bleeding out through your nuise. No conditions.” Peter busied himself threading a needle. Harley reached out a hand to stop him. He was met with the same dry look Peter gave his computer screen when it refused to do his work for him.

“When we’re done playing doctors, we’re gonna go upstairs and play Mommies and Daddies instead,” Harley said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Peter groaned, and resumed threading his needle, now with far more passive-aggressive energy.

“You’re gonna regret saying that when I’ve got a weapon in your face.”

And they laughed together merrily, until Peter stuck his needle in Harley’s face. He winced at the contact and shot his arm out to push Peter away. Peter snickered, relishing in Harley’s pain.

“All’s fair in love and war, Harley.”

“This isn’t war, Peter.”

Neither of them touched on the other part of the phrase. That was a topic for another time. For now, they were content to just be happy together, with their whole lives ahead of them (and plenty of opportunities for Harley to stick needles into Peter’s face, they were sure).

#parkneroses #fic #marvel #marvel requests #peterharley #parkner #parley #keenker #potatowebs #spiderlad #im not great at endings sorry #i hope you like this anyway #if ur reading this drink water

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alyseofwonderland · 5 years ago

Text

Alyse Reads The Goldfinch, Part 2

What follows is my best attempt at liveblogging. I had the books as an audiobook in hopes that I could keep it from taking even more of my life from me. This was perhaps a mistake. I think I broke Siri trying to make notes. The notes that are rambly are the ones I dictated.

I entirely blame @rollono for my suffering. But I am also aware that it seems to give her joy.

Every time I reference Tara, I am talking about @wellntruly who’s own live blog of the book was the only roadmap I had to follow in this waterlogged wasteland of a novel.

Part 1

I thought Tara was making up the Camel-hair coat bit but APPARENTLY NOT.

Architecture has that much to do with the city and or northern Europe, really? I mean, “whitewash” doesn't everybody do that?

Nina ( @proud-librarian ) is going to have a lot to say about their descriptions of the Netherlands and Amsterdam in this book. like oh my God!

Theo Deckard doesn't understand how thermostats work.

This isn't satire? I don't understand we're like three minutes in and it has to be satire. right. right?

Who the hell says my mother and I didn't like my father much? like what.... what is this? what am I reading? what is happening? what.... I don't understand.... okay maybe fine whatever

This feels like it should be... I don't know.... satire is the word I'm looking for again. I don't want to just repeat what Tara, said but Jesus. the start of the story is he is rich enough to have a Doorman but not rich enough to afford the fancy private school, and him and his friends break into vacation homes in the Hamptons. what is this? what is this? I just... just.... just write a Jane Austen or Lord Byron novel if that's what you want to do just do that. do that.

My audiobook app just turned itself off in the middle of a passage because it decided I didn't need to listen to Theo talk about whatever he was talking about.

Curse you, Donna Tartt, for also being in the "all things coconut smell like suntan lotion" club. I did not want to have this in common with you.

I am laughing so hard it turns silent into my steering wheel because the audiobook reader makes Tom Cable sound like a surfer dude from the 70s, and I. cannot. handle. that.

"I like to think of myself as a perceptive person" is basically the way that I know that Theo has about Harry Potter level skills of observation when it comes to the people around him.

Y'all this book would be so much better if Theo actually thought like a 13-year-old that he is supposed to be in the intro part. That would just be peak comedy, which is really what I'm looking for.

Audrey Decker and the Laura Moon from American gods are now the two people that I have ever known to call men "puppy" which I still find alarming, in both cases. Surprisingly they also both die, so I guess more things they have in common.

The longer this book goes on the more clear it is that I am not bougie enough for its contents. ( timestamp 30 minutes)

(GIF BY @rollono BY MY REQUEST FOR EVERY TIME THIS BOOK MAKES ME FEEL POOR)

I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to think that a 13-year-old would know this much about their parent's job and be able to ask questions. I'm trying to think of what my dad was doing when I was 13, and I mean I know where he worked, and I know who his boss was, but if you tried to ask me daily issues or me giving advice... oh my gosh. I just can't. nobody talks like this.

I’m making a face akin to Kermit the frog.

I threw up in my mouth a little at the description of Pippa walking past in the museum.

Did we just describe a 12-year-old girl's arms as marble? is that what just happened? did I just have to listen to that?

Theo has given me a lot of like “Golden State killer” vibes right now with his desire to poke around through all these people's homes and stuff. like this is clearly the Visalia ransacker's motivation in the 70s. I know too much about true crime, that's what's happening right now.

The true-crime serial killer alarms keep going off in my brain.

I know Tara already mentioned how ridiculous the Murphys bed story is but it really is incredibly ridiculous and breaks the tension of the entire scene that is occurring at the time (laughed uncontrollably to the point that Siri typed nonsense)

I get it, Donna, you know things. You do not have list every fire truck to prove it.

Let's take a child to a dinner at 3 am. Really Donna?

Why does Donna insist on giving me the text of signs around whats going on? Why did I just listen to the smoothie specials while an emotional scene is occurring?

Donna, did you just call Mrs. Barough a weasel? [afronted gasp]

OI! (me shouting when Donna says that Andy was weird for being lactose intolerant.)

Pukes in my mouth a little at the term 'high verbal'. I get it, Donna, you think you are smarter than all of us stop being a dick.

Donna Tartt would make it to r/iamverysmart in like a minute if she understood how the internet worked.

WHO TAUGHT HER ABOUT FMA?

Okay, so either Donna Tartt knows someone who lost a parent and basing this off them or like went through it herself because I am white-knuckling through the grief bits trying not to have my own trauma response to the situation. Or she wrote Theo with like the exact grief I had. Her incessant need to list things in a room is the only thing between me and a spiral of remembering my dad's death.

ANDY IS A RAY OF LIGHT AND DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE IN THIS FAMILY OR IN THIS BOOK!

Five whole hours before the first sight of Hobie. Like Jesus.

I miss Terry Pratchett.

Hobie thank you for making this book interesting again.

Hobie is now my main squeeze and I won't hear a word against him.

POE DIDN'T INVENT SCIENCE FICTION FUCKING MARY SHELLY DID. DONNA WHAT THE FUCK.

The Hobie part of the story just makes me more sure that a version of the movie should have been without the Baroughers (sp?) and only included Hobie and Pippa.

Any is a murderino. I love this baby boy.

Aw, I love Hobie so so much.

Donna if you call Andy annoying one more time you are gonna catch my hands. (She just referred to his voice as annoying twice in a conversation and I swear to god I will rip this character out of her snobbish clutches she doesn't deserve him.)

Theo on this we agree, I too enjoy Hobie.

Hobie is the only person who belongs in this novel and he's a god damn delight.

SEVEN HOURS AND THE PAINTING HAS COME UP AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LITERAL HOURS.

Theo straight up using Spanish to fuck over his father is just *chef's kiss.

I can see how much contempt Donna has for Xandra is longer and deeper than this book will ever be.

I am going to suplex Larry Decker I swear to god. (i have a very particular trigger to spouses bad-mouthing the dead one due to personal experience.)

Necco wafers are no one's favorite candy Donna. You can't just say shit like that and expect anyone to believe you.

I have just realized that Donna Tartt has never been to a public library. How do I know? Witchcraft books are never on the shelves. Ask any librarian. They are stolen pretty much the moment we buy them.

I am standing dead in the tea aisle at the store because Theo just thought it would be “gay” to tell the doormen he has known almost his whole life he is gonna miss them. (hours later I realize this is her backtracking in edits going "shit shit shit I have to add the repression in somewhere for those dumb readers that don't understand art" and I hate it more.)

Mrs. B is ready to physically fight Larry and I would pay real money to see it.

WHY DOES DONNA KNOW ABOUT DRAGON BALL Z?!? Step away from the things I love Donna I don't trust you near my media. (Also why she does reference it she clearly has NO concept of what DBZ hair would even look like to expect me to believe any child could achieve it.)

oh my god, Boris. I'm so happy to see you.

I am happy to report the audiobook narrator does not do an Australian accent for Boris. Thank the lord.

I knew I was going to love Boris but like a few minutes in I adore him.

It's interesting to me that Theo and Boris seem to have received similar amounts of attention/affection from non-parent adults, but while Theo finds it uncomfortable Boris soaks it in.

The Australian part of Boris's accent seems impossible.

*sobbing audibly into my keyboard* Popchyck

Boris you sweet like socialist.

Comrade Boris we need you in this election.

I'm sad he (Boris) doesn't get to go to college and like piss off every yuppie and hippie, and just make Philosophy 100 and Government 250 absolute hell for everyone.

Drunk Boris at Thanksgiving is a gift.

Me listening to this book before Boris: half paying attention, fucking around on my computer, doing chores. Me after Boris shows up: staring at the middle distance determined to listen to every fucking word because this prison sentence of a novel is finally interesting.

James: you said the author is a snob and you aren't enjoying the main character. Me: yeah James: then stop reading it. Me: No, then Donna and her Anna Wintour knock off hair cut will win. James, frowning and backing out of the room: k sweetie.

6:30 am is too early to hear Theo Decker describe his bed as "our bed"

I WAS RIGHT. Boris belongs in college making every American white kid absolutely furious in every Poli-sci.

Larry Decker calling Theo and Boris his "kids" made my heart skip a beat.

So the nurse notices they don't have vitamins and smell but doesn't call child services. I mean I know that I learned that school nurses are less likely to call CFS on white kids than they are on black kids but like god damn.

The sheer salt of Theo refusing to learn the name of Boris’s girlfriend is so hilarious.

Now *this* is gay.

The truth is Theo is ready to cut a bitch.

Fellas is it gay to do shots while your boyfriend talks about his girlfriend?

Theo trying to set up Boris with like a nice polite girl who won't fuck him is fucking hilarious. This poor baby gay.

Theo (and Donna cuz she writes him) have never heard of learning disabilities and I will legit throw down.

LARRY IS A SCORPIO IN CANON?! I thought that was something from the fan fics. omg Ally hates this.

No one wears white sport coats Donna stop trying to make it happen.

Boris totally knows what's going on with Larry and he's just trying to look out for Theo because he loves Theo but oh my gosh Boris why do you make me feel so many feelings!

Please, Donna, I am begging you to stop telling me what the light from the sun looks like at different times of the day. I just can't take it anymore. Every scene of Theo in Xandra's house does not need the qualifier of what type of sunlight he is seeing. Some times fine. But every time?

My entire stomach just dropped when I realized what Boris has done, and I'm just I'm so sad. this is not how I wanna start my commute to work today.

I have just had my first moments of being very proud of Donna's writing, because long long time ago, in the same chapter, she had the bit about how Xandra will say "apparently" when she's being bitchy with Theo and now in a conversation where Theo isn't paying attention to her she says "apparently" to Larry and I just had to stop and say this, this is the writing I'm looking for Donna. This is clever and interesting and I LIKED IT. Stop making lists and do more of this.

Friendship ended with Book Boris, Movie Boris is my best friend now.

I don't understand how the director and the screenwriter of the film could move who said those lines and then not make it gay. Like, commit to your choice.

My mom: You finish that book yet? Me, angrily: No. My mom slightly worried: do you like it? Me: unclear.

NEW CHAPTER!

Theo, I need you calm all the way down when you are looking at Pippa.

Love this lawyer. I want to be his friend.

God poor Pippa. All the shit she goes through and she still has to put up with Theo's weird obsession.

Theo, you slid right back into the serial killer habits in a second and I want you to stop it.

Oh god, I feel that in my soul. Like "no sir you have it wrong I look more like the parent I like best." (also I do look more like my dad. like way more like him)

I am begging someone to get Theo some kind of hobby or help or something so he stops acting like a victorian ghost.

I am gonna have to get the actual book so I can see what weird spelling is going on with the text messages. I just know its weird. The narrator does it in such a weird voice.

We spent so much time dealing with emotional issues and other whatnot that going back to the bit about the painting feels like a huge tonal shift in the book. I'm like staggering around confused.

Literally no one uses strawberry shampoo.

Love that Theo ‘s final plan is the one Andy purposed an eon ago.

Salty that Theo is getting the cool college experience that Boris would have crushed. I would have paid good money to watch him make the philosophy department cry.

[kermit in the car gif]

Yo! Theo struggling to deal with school is like exactly my semester after my dad died.

The adults attempting to force him into different living arrangements is so what we dealt with post my dad’s death.

Grisha! (Russians the only people I trust atm)

Tara was right, Andy's death comes off like a joke!

I gotta say, Crime Theo is my favorite Theo so far.

I don't know which serial killer Donna was channeling to write the parts about Theo being obsessed with Pippa, but it is just so intensely a serial killer vibe I cannot even begin to describe the look on my face; the feelings I'm having. I'm just like this man is going to kill someone. he's going to kill a lot of people. not only that it's going to be a lot of women because he doesn't view them as people. that's what I'm getting from this it's. Theo doesn't think women are people.

If Theo was on reddit he would be part of r/niceguys and r/iamverysmart.

If I have to listen to him drone on about his fantasies of Pippa for one more minute I will kill myself in the baking aisle of Aldis.

HES HOARDING HER HAIR?! HER UNWASHED CLOTHES?!? Please someone put him in jail.

[the sound of me throwing up in the frozen food section as Theo describes Kitsey]

Donna don’t try to act like you didn’t add that foreshadowing yourself about Andy. You crack me up you relentlessly snob.

How is Theo just The Worst all the time?

Theo freaking out because two gay guys know what’s up with him is just *chef’s kiss

Me having seen only the movie: Theo and Boris should get redemption and a romance run away. Me now: [ gif of “Ive had enough of this guy” from IASIP]

I mean I understand that John Crawley was a coward in so many of his directorial choices, but the fact that he didn't put the second meeting of Theo and this Lucius guy into a crowded weird restaurant where they're both getting hit by the waiters as they go past is just the weakest move you could've made. because this makes it so much funnier.

I'm with Hobie.

honestly this book should've just been 20 hours of art crime and like to shave off a good 10 hours of LISTS because that's what 10 hours is. give me 20 hours of art crime. I would love to watch each sale happen that would've been riveting to read but instead.... this.

Bish, you like those earrings or I will cut you.

Theo salty, while Kitsey picks out new china, is so fucking hilarious.

him just like "why are we buying new plates when my job is literally to find plates that were made by craftsmen?!?!” but being too fucking repressed in his bullshit to say anything, so he just making some poor sales lady suffer.

my friend Ally: “Theo’s repression makes everyone suffer is a good summary of the book.”

Alternative version of this book that would have been 8 million times better: Theo gets into art crimes but is also a serial killer. We don't know the second bit but it begins to start dawning on us as women seem to disappear from his social circles and weird hints of thoughts about blood and rivers. Bonus points if it ends with him on the run from the law with his only vaguely criminal (by comparison to serial killer Theo) boyfriend. We are left to wonder if they will be gunned down in the chase or if perhaps there will be one more body to great the river.

Theo's textbook serial killer nonsense is only comparable to the sheer petty gay energy he gives off.

The power trip he gets from being like "hahaha yes I have bagged the ice princess who wanted nothing to do with me when we were kids" is just so gross and hilarious.

Theo realizing he is not the only sociopath in the room is just *chef's kiss.

Boris, did you really send some guy to just watch your ex?

Boris, I am begging you. You have made Grisha so upset.

Donna shying away from describing Boris comes off, if you don't know who we are talking about, as weird and slightly racist.

You have the internet Theo, you can look up when movies are going to start. You are not living on the moors.

HOW IS THIS BOOK NOT A SATIRE OF AMERICAN PYSCHO FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE BONERS FOR ANTIQUES?!?

Boris returns. I have almost forgiven him for what he put me through.

Maybe "fuck you" can be our always.

*tries not to cry when I realize that Boris' friends have heard about Theo

bless Aneurin for everything he did for this reunion in the movie.

Why is Boris such a slut? Why will I forgive him for anything?

Is it gay to think about the guy you used to jack off as handsome when you meet each other again?

Genetics means those kids can't be Boris' unless his mother was blonde. (Theo kind of agrees.)

My soul has left my body at the concept of Boris having a wife and kids.

I'm not saying I endorse crime, I'm just saying a mobster front with a pun in the name is really on-brand for me.

Knowing what I Know. That Boris thinks Theo is gonna try to kill him when they go for the "surprise" just makes the whole thing so tragic and sad.

Boris and his dog REUNITED AT LAST. I'm not crying. I'm fine.

Interesting that the next story we hear is about Gyuri's dead "brother" right after Boris says that Theo is "blood of his heart, his brother". Like. I might not be the biggest history buff in the world but I know gay code when I see it.

I mean I knew this was gonna happen, but I can't help but feel personally betrayed by Boris once again.

Donna, stay away from stuff about computers. Your attempts to use them make me, a technology expert, cringe.

Boris like "you don't deserve this dog. I deserve this dog."

"Babe I get that you are a WASP at heart but I need you to fight with me like a Russian now." - Boris to his disaster husband

"Did I lie?" "YES" (me laughing so hard I'm practically crying)

why does no one in this book appear to exchange numbers or like airdrop contact info.

Does Donna think that people only have iPhones?

Ally who is CTRL F reading this book "'Every few hundred pages she's like 'oh yeah, it's modern times...they're texting and there's emojis!' Seriously, there was the mention of emoji's and my soul escaped my body for a minute because it had no tether to time or space" @aces-low

Off the top of my head, the name that Donna is not saying for this Horace to guy is Volkswagen.

Instead of being in the mob Boris should run an animal shelter.

Boris being Bitchy and jelly when Theo is talking to the German guy is just so cute. You two deserve each other with your weird shit.

If Donna wasn't a coward this book would have had Theo just getting eyeballs deep in art crime with Boris and his associates.

Adding a sin for making me listen to whatever that just was.

Things Donna forgot to list in "girl food": chicken wings, bread, rolls, other types of bread, garlic bread, a bit more bread, maybe cookies, eight more cookies, 20 more cookies, every type of chocolate humanly imaginable, jam, and barbecue ribs.

What do ankles have to do with being attractive?!?!?! this isn't the Victorian age!

(from Ally re this comment: “I'm now convinced that every day Donna sat down to write this book she spun a wheel with different years on it, and that's the year the book was set that day”)

I didn't mind Kitsey cheating on Theo, because he doesn't even really like her. Until just now, when I realized that Mrs. B knows about it and she's keeping it from Theo, and my heart broke into 1 trillion pieces. she is the closest thing he has to a mother and he realized that she kept it from him, and I should not be crying in my car before my special Valentine night dinner.

James just walked in during a part describing Pippa and goes "Men writing women, huh?" and I had to pause the book, turn to him and say "a woman wrote this" and he just looks at me like 0_0

Mrs. B clutching Theo's hand so he won't leave her alone with Smalltalk-old-man is honestly the cutest thing in this entire book.

Hobie being able to be spotted from a distance at all times! I have a friend who is 6'5" and we can find him in crowds so easily!

Perhaps the funniest moment of this book is Theo saying "if girls loved assholes then Pippa would love me". buddy I'm going to post this entire book to r/niceguys

I WANT MORE ART CRIME! Why did you make me listen to 15 hours of boring nonsense when we could have had ART CRIME!

I deeply enjoy Boris's commitment to being a dramatic goofball, falling to his knees just be annoying.

Movie Boris appears in a dramatic way. Book Boris is just like there and also shoving food in his face and walking out of the party still eating all the food he just put in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

Hobie just like "if you want to run off with your gay love i'll cover."

Theodor Decker you get back in there and make sure that thief stays away from Nicole Kidman she has been through enough already!

Theo, I know that you don't actually have brains for anything besides drugs, crimes, being weird about women, and your own ass, but you could at least listen when people speak.

Theo is such a mess. He doesn't belong in modern times. He deserves to be Jack the Ripper.

I know the narrator is saying croissant the "correct" way. But every single time it happens I'm so fucking confused because who just leans into a french accent that hard for a single word?

Theo offers an actual good idea that Boris is going to use later and they all look at him like he's crazy.

I know "my brand" is "man holding gun" but listening to Boris assemble a gun I'm like "oh goodness I need to lay down". *fans self

Theo suddenly "I have made a huge mistake"

It's interesting to me how reluctant Boris is to make Theo a larger part of the heist. Theo reads it as frustrating but I read it like a kind of care and affection. He doesn't want his friend mixed up in something he can't handle, despite the fact that he wants Theo close so he can get him the painting back.

I see now why the heist in the movie was so fucking confusing. You need the Horst stuff and like a bunch of other nonsense that does not translate well to screen unless you re-write all the connections, which John Crowley was not willing to do.

Really love the "women drop their mark the first time" bit.

me: Theo I swear to god stop being high and sick in your room and go get some actual clothes and medication or at least don't make me listen to so much of it

this book is not 30 hours long. its 15 hours of a book and 15 hours of Donna going "gotta get that word count up or people with think I'm weak". Please, Donna. I don't need to hear this one thing happen for so long. It adds nothing to the tone, the themes, the plot, or the ambiance. You are just writing words for words sake.

The first suicide note was so well crafted that I honestly want Theo to kill himself now. If he can manage to write the others pretty okay I will be happy with this ending.

Don’t think I didn’t notice that the ghost of a dead loved one appeared on Christmas Eve.

I'm sorry who doesn't respond to "didn't you get my text?" with "my phone was dead" instantly?

me listening to Theo throw a tantrum at Boris because neither of them is capable of explaining themselves and like speaking as normal humans do: "It would have been better if Theo died"

Why must I be forced to listen to Donna make these scenes longer because these people don't talk like people?

Thud by Terry Pratchett does a much much better job of asking the question "can we trust our hearts and be the person we want to be?" And it honestly gives a better answer. And has you know, clever writing.

I thought it was like Over. I did. I was like "oh this is it wrapping up" ONLY THERE IS 30 MORE MINUTES AND I WANT TO SCREAM!

Me certain the book is over: i mean maybe this is a good ending

Me seeing i still have 30 more minutes: this is the worst book ever

This book held me fucking captive for over a week and all it left me with was like a few good lines, burning hatred for the main character, and the desire to go into Donna's home and rearrange all her stuff.

also, I now hate antiques. out of spite.

don't read The Goldfinch. it's not worth it y’all.

#jabberwockytalkies #words #donna tartt i just wanna talk #the goldfinch #alyse watches stupid movies #theodore decker #boris pavlikovsky #larry decker #xandra #donna tartt #this book beat me up and took my money and my will to put up with men

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