#( in character. )

[tr1cked]

had she asked him to do it again, he would have gladly put on another show for her. the fireworks took minimal energy, something that he was able to do without using much magic. it was nothing more than a party trick - though, it required more control than he was letting on. most sorcerers would have been in awe at his skills; considering that he was far more talented than the majority of them on asgard. they couldn't keep up with his abilities.

watching as she picked up the napkin & inspected it, he cracked a smile of his own. there was no human trick to it, purely magic of his own creation. she would find nothing on the napkin that had turned it a different color - it was a spell that he knew well, having changed the colors of huge items at parties before. mostly, to make his father irritated with him.

❝  many years of practice. ❞ he said, as if it was the most common thing to admit to - he had been trained by the best in his home realm, ending up becoming better than them. ❝  it's frowned upon in asgard to be a sorcerer of my talents, but i never let them take away my spark. ❞ reaching for his drink, he takes a small sip of it; before he asks, ❝  do you really have nothing like it here? ❞

The fireworks faded, morphing into a small sphere of green light before winking out completely. Anne felt a brief disappointment, it was thrilling to have her own personal tiny fireworks show. She could have easily asked Loki to do it again, but she didn't want to overburden her friend.

Before she could think to ask for another trick, he picked up the napkin from the table. It changed colors before her eyes and she gasped at how complete the illusion was. When the napkin returned to its original color, she took it from him. Turning the square of cloth in her hands, she examined it as if trying to figure out how he had managed such a trick.

"That was amazing, Loki," she gushed with laughter. "I know I already said that, but it's true. It changed color so completely." She looked up at him, eyes fairly aglow as she smiled at him. "How did you learn how to do this?"

[mx-anthropy]

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

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

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

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

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

[yoku-yukihime]

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

[coldfrcnt]

❝  hey, chat. ❞

[b0kksu]

     he gives you this look, wyd?

[thstrongesta]

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

[shiranken]

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

[tr1cked]

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

@frombehindpaleeyes

[mourningstcr-a]

starter call ( @hcllishqueen )

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

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

[impinged]

@esprit--curieux.

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

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

You don't do any of those things.

You don't disturb her at all, actually.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[coldfrcnt]

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

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

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

[islandiis]

[SMS - 3:32AM] have you ever seen in movies where the guy sprays something in his mouth before going on a date? Like an air freshener?

[SMS - 3:32AM] if you sprayed perfume in your mouth, would it taste bad even though it smells good? surely it would taste bad, right?

[thstrongesta]

❛  you're  weak.  ❜

[soursoil]

stares up at the scottish man. can he have an apple? 🍎

-`𖤓´- 𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖍 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖆 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖞 𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖉, a smile, and an offering. the fruit is nearly twice the size of your average apple, a brilliant red, shining almost enough to glow. one of terrapin's finest, no doubt. ❝ visiting from the mainland, are you, little clover? ❞ birdsong in redsun's voice; an odd sort of melody, in its own right. ❝ it's nice to see a fresh face. ❞

[thethirdlotusprince]

How's life as a runnaway?

-SWK 🍑

I don't know, you're the original.

How was it for you?