#I hope this makes sense i typed this out in a fever seriously

[ruckis--rookie]

Since this has become a hot topic as of recent, in regards to the statement "support other monster collecting games that aren't pokemon"...

pLEASE!!please!!! PLAY YO-KAI WATCH!!! I am BEGGING YOU PLAY YOKAI WATCH!! ITS SO GOOD.

It's like if you took a monster collector, but instead of little monsters you have foreign ghosts with their own afterlives, unique backstories, and personalities! I loathe when people accuse it of being just a poke-clone because it's so much more than that!

Pros include many hours of laughs, playtime, variety in characters and content. Like seriously if ya'll thought things like Pokemon BW and their sequels had a lot of content worth going back to, the 3rd game in the installment should you choose to go the completionist route is 300+ hours. I'm *still* trying to complete it. Also if fever dream, random, cheesy type humor is your taste you'll like this series. It's one of my favorite comfort games that makes my autism go 😊 while I do enjoy the English dub I recommend the sub, not only is it easier to find but a lot of the humor is swept under the rug and a looot of episodes weren't dubbed because of difficulty translating more mature jokes. The anime's humor can be very bipolar. Which leads me to my next point!

Cons include: very bipolar sense of humor. This is mostly in reference to the anime. It gets more riske the more the show progresses, but its also victim to some hella childish humor. Especially early on. Its not a stranger to potty humor. If it gets to crude or tiring I just skip the episode lmao. a lot of it is lost media and it is SO hard to find the anime episodes as well as physical games, especially the English translations. Because this series flopped so hard initially in the Americas a lot of the English stuff has been lost, and those that are found are... spensive... I was lucky enough to have gotten a physical cart of Yokai Watch 3 before it shot up in price. It's easily my most expensive game of... the last I checked... 600 dollars..... oh also if you don't like pikaclones too bad there's duplicate Yokai out the rear. And the fandom rn is incredibly miniscule. If you're a completionest this series might be a nightmare for you because of how obscenely hard some of the things are to collect. I hope you're blessed by RNGesus

So don't wait! See if you like Yokai Watch today! I need more people to talk to about this silly little series that brings me so much joy! DONT LEAVE ME IN HERE MICHAEL-

[wavypotatochips]

i have something in my mind

could you write kylian having an important meeting but readers at home and she’s sick and she calls kylian but he doesn’t answer and when he comes home he sees her like she fainted or she’s very sick?i need some comfort kylian , 😊 thank you

𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 | 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: Kylian Mbappe x Female Reader

Word Count : 1k

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: Ugh I love 'comfort someone who is sick' scenarios, they are always so cute to me (': Thank you so much for requesting and I hope you like how I conveyed your idea ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚!!

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Request are temporarily unavailable, ILY mwah mwah ♥

You're lying in bed, feeling absolutely terrible. Your head is pounding, your nose is stuffy, and your body feels like it's on fire. You know you need more medicine to help with your fever, so you grab your phone to text your boyfriend, Kylian.

You type out a message asking him to bring you more medicine. You wait anxiously for a response, but none comes.

You start to feel frustrated and helpless. You're in so much pain, and you need his help, but you don't want to seem too needy as well. You try to distract yourself by watching TV or reading a book, but you can't focus on anything.

As time passes, you start to feel worse. You're so uncomfortable, and the pain seems to be getting worse. You decide to try texting Kylian again, hoping that he's finished with whatever he is doing and can come to your rescue.

But once again, there's no response. You feel like you're in agony, and you don't know what to do. You start to worry that something might be seriously wrong with you. You try to call Kylian, but his phone goes straight to voicemail.

You're feeling so alone and helpless, and it's making you even more anxious. You wish that you had someone to take care of you, but you know that Kylian is a very busy man and you don't want to bother him.

Meanwhile, Kylian is in a very important meeting with Nike, discussing a collaboration that could potentially skyrocket his career to new heights. The room is filled with executives, all intently focused on the discussion, their eyes trained on Kylian as he presents his ideas and strategies that he has been meticulously working on for months. He is confident and articulate, impressing everyone in the room with his creativity and expertise.

As the meeting reaches its final stages, Kylian's phone vibrates loudly on the table, interrupting the otherwise silent atmosphere. His phone is upside down, so he cannot see who is blowing up his notifications. He lets out a small laugh in front of the executives and reaches for his phone, apologizing for the interruption, and quickly silencing it.

As the meeting comes to an end, Kylian turns on his phone while walking back to the car. The notifications are coming in slowly since the phone has restarted, but he sees there are multiple missed calls and messages from you. He tries to call you back, but there is no answer. He feels a growing sense of concern, wondering what could be wrong. Kylian calls again, but there is still no answer. He starts to worry that something might be seriously wrong now and quickly gets into the car, practically speeding to the house you two share.

As Kylian drives, his mind races with all the possibilities of what could be wrong. He remembers that you mentioned feeling a bit under the weather starting last night,, but he didn't think it was anything serious. Now, he starts to wonder if he should have taken your symptoms more seriously. Before turning into the neighborhood, he is stopped by a red light, causing him to groan in frustration. He picks up his phone and goes to the messages, finally seeing all the messages you sent hours ago. He feels terrible for not being there for you.

Once the light turns green, Kylian quickly stops at a local CVS to pick up medication. Luckily, it is nighttime, and there are not many people out, so he is able to use the self-checkout without any delay. As he rushes home, Kylian's mind is filled with worry and guilt. He hopes that he can make it up to you and provide the care and attention that you deserve.

Kylian's heart pounds in his chest as he frantically searches for you, his mind racing with worry. When he finally spots you in the living room, his heart sinks at the sight of your weakened state. You look so pale and fragile, as if a gentle breeze could knock you over. He rushes to your side, setting down the medication and taking a seat beside you. He gently places his hand on your forehead, feeling the heat radiating from your body, realizing that you have a fever. Kylian's heart aches at the sight of you in this condition.

You let out a soft groan as Kylian's hand brushes your forehead, sending sharp waves of pain through your head. You slowly open your eyes, feeling Kylian's concerned gaze on you. You try to speak, but he quickly silences you with a gentle shake of his head, "I'm so sorry, my love. Stay still and let me take care of you now." He leans down to kiss your forehead lightly, being sure not to cause any unnecessary movement.

Kylian's sole focus for the next few hours is taking care of you. He knows that you haven't eaten all day, and so he prepares some porridge for you. He carefully places a small amount in a cup and brings it over to you, helping you sit up so that you can eat. He even adds your medication to the porridge, knowing that it will be easier for you to take. You are extremely nauseous, but Kylian remains calm, reassuring you and helping you take the medicine.

Once you've finished eating and taking your medication, Kylian scoops you up gently in his arms and carries you to the bedroom. He places you softly on the bed, making sure that you are comfortable and have everything you need. Throughout the night, Kylian remains by your side, checking your temperature, bringing you water, and comforting you with soothing words. He feels guilty that he wasn't there for you earlier, but he is determined to make up for it by being the best partner possible.

Eventually, the medication starts to take effect, and your fever begins to subside. You drift off to sleep, with Kylian sitting beside you, holding your hand, feeling grateful that he can be there for you when you need him the most. As the night wears on, Kylian's focus remains solely on you, forgetting about his work responsibilities and everything else. His only concern is your well-being, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you recover quickly.

[mashithamel]

Full spoilery thoughts on S2E2 below the cut

- I feel confident the guard checking Rand’s pass is the same guy who sees him every single day, and still asks to see it every single time

- I love how the couple passing Rand make sure to step quite to the side to avoid brushing into a poor. And how they don’t need to spell out the sharp divide between the Foregate people and the wealthy inside the walls, they just show it.

- I was definitely hoping we’d get the opening credits for the second episode. Please let them come back eventually?

- I do like how both Lan and Moiraine look like death warmed over. Last season skipped the fatigue of Healing, but they use it well. Neither of them is feeling good enough to even pretend to hide how pissed they are at each other.

- Do we think we’ll get more on Adeleas not wearing her Ajah’s colors? Like, is she just an eccentric, or is it just because she’s semi-retired, or because she’s at home and she’s damn well going to wear what she wants at her own house (or Verin’s house)? I wonder how that will be reflected in how Egwene and the Wondergirls ultimately dress. Elayne will have to be in red eventually.

- “You’re in luck. My sister and I have decided to accompany you.” Love Moiraine’s face there.

- “Have Tomas ready my horse. You’re still weak from the Healing. I don’t want my saddle to slip.” Yes, Moiraine. Make sure any sign of sympathy or kindness gets followed up by a serious jab at his honor. That will help you get rid of him faster.

- Yeah, Perrin with a sword just feels weird.

- For Nil on Twitter, I am happy Ingtar has an owl on his breastplate.

- I seriously love that they include this scene from the books (complete with flies on the table afterward!!) and use it to help show how Perrin’s senses will work. Again, such a good translation for a visual media. I was wondering how they would do it, and this works so well.

- I feel like Elyas is going to be a lot more helpful for Perrin’s development than he was in the books. For someone who should have been a mentor and teacher, he really didn’t do a whole lot for him.

- Honestly, Perrin, how on earth could Fain have done that to a Fade? For that matter, how did he do it? It’s not really clear how he could overpower and torture an awake Fade in the books. Perhaps we’ll get a chance to see some power or enhanced strength from him later in the season?

- Love how they use a unique character so efficiently with Errol. Aiel War. Yep, Rand still looks like Aiel even with his head shaved. More of Rand’s compassion and kindness (like Mat in season 1 we need to make rhat clear so later characterization will hit harder). Sword forms! PTSD.

- I have to admit, I really did not catch on to the fact that Errol was actually teaching Rand sword forms. Dunno, in my line of work crazy old people are not in great shape to be showing real physicial stuff. But I’m glad to see it. It’s more Rand seeing beyond the surface to the value and dignity of a human being others will easily overlook. And I really like how Rand is using his time here well. It feels very much like TSR Rand, who is trying to use every single moment available to him to learn something, so much better than the Rand of TGH who is really just trying to run away, or TDR Rand who is not really avoiding the crazy…

- Is the type of cloth for Errol’s bathrobe anachronistic?

- Sword forms!!!

- Oh, showing Nynaeve Healing is so smart. And we’ve already established that breakbone fever is usually lethal. Do we think Nynaeve actually healed Egwene, without realizing?

- Someone pointed out that crimsonthorne is what killed Adeleas. It’s like they read the books!

- In my head this unnamed Accepted is Theodrin. She’s so kind to Nynaeve in the books. This Accepted is just giving me her same energy.

- “Men who can channel are not a disease.” I so look forward to Nynaeve being able to intentionally heal. I am really so envious of the ability to Heal, I want it as much as Nynaeve does.

- I like this look at Liandrin’s reason. She wants to change the course of history itself.

- Aes Sedai live for centuries! I seriously thought they were going to leave that out! But this episode really plays into the tragedy of outliving your loved ones.

- Donal really understands Mat.

- I love his mimicking her actions locking the door

- I have never loved Elayne. She never did anything for me, and by the end of the books was my third least favorite. But I adore Ceras’ Elayne and I am ready to be her new best friend too. Spoiled (by which I mean the kind a child who is loved well by their parents but grew up in priviledge), sheltered princess, but kind and lovely, and not ignorant. She had me with “You’re my…subject?”

- Cadsuane!!!

- Sheriam’s reaction to Ivohn speaking in an Aes Sedai meeting is so good. Nynaeve in the books sometimes gets looked at askance for “letting” Lan speak up—this is a nice soft change from the book, which also makes us like Alanna more. Is she going to betray us? Rafe, you are going to break my heart.

- Love the Warders being worried about Nynaeve. I so love that she has friends in this turning.

- Sheriam’s internal monologue while Alanna talks about the Last Battle coming must be so great. “Blood and ashes. This was supposed to be about gaining power and advancing, not the bloody actual last Last Battle in my life time. Goat kissing—“

- I do really like how Alanna and her Warders act as a team. It’s a nice juxtaposition against Lan and Moiraine, especially this season.

- Does Nynaeve’s tracking ability work in a big city? Is that how she follows Liandrin?

- Lionfish!

- Why would the first plate be on the house? That seems like a bad business practice for a small village

- Someone pointed out Moiraine’s dagger may be the same one she killed a Darkfriend with in NS.

- Why does Verin think it would only be one of the boys? Oh. Because those were the ones who didn’t come back. She knows the girls are in the Tower. She is really knowledgeable for someone who lives in retreat.

- “Either of those things may one day be necessary.” I love how this series (both book and show) get into the gray areas.

- “Oaths have loopholes.” And later, when reminded Aes Sedai cannot lie, Moiraine says “we were never equals.” Loopholes indeed!

- Tomen Head! Battles in the sky! A sword of flame! A branded hand!

- Trolloc puppet! And it really doesn’t look like a Trolloc!

- I like how it seems Rand is just getting justice for Errol. But we learn later he has additional motives, that gets him closer to his goal. Very true to Rand.

- I’m glad they show the guy is still breathing.

- Selene in the books was playing such an over the top, seduction role, it was so painful to read. “Help me undress, Lord Rand.” “Don’t you want glory and power, Lord Rand?” “I am so into men who want glory and power.” For the love of the Light, Rand, don’t let her touch the Horn! As much as the show is doing a clearly toxic relationship, it’s leagues better than Selene in the books.

- Elayne continues to be adorable and I want to be her friend. And she understands her duty to her subjects—she will take responsibility for their actions. Oh, she’s going to be such a good queen. When did I becomes an Elayne fan??

- I am so releived that corporal punishment is delivered on the shoulders. Thank you, Rafe, for fixing that.

- Liandrin has a son??? I am on board for fleshing out Liandrin’s character.

- Love Nynaeve stepping out, against Liandrin’s threats (and she knows Liandrin can definitely hurt her), to be a Wisdom. Because Nynaeve will always be a Healer, no matter what.

- “I didn’t know it would hurt you. I didn’t mean to leave you here in pain. I’m so sorry, my boy. My beautiful boy.” 😢

- I am fully in support of Mat and Min being buddies. This will be fun.

- Why was choosing Verin the end of Tomas’ sex life? I mean, aside from waaay TMI, Adeleas. That’s….interesting.

- Oh goody/s. We aren’t skipping the carneira thing. I will just have to keep reminding myself about wearing a shift through the Arches and no spanking. Rafe can’t fix everything, I suppose.

- I mean, Edyn trying to kill him, and then deciding to bed him and marry him to her daughter, was an interesting plot point. But everything else…ugh.

- “Meditation’s never come easily to me.” Um, I have decided to trust Rafe that he knows what he’s doing, because it has been demonstrated over and over that he knows how to make good use of changes. But in the books Lan can enter the ko’di without any effort, he’s so good at it. I will withhold judgement on this until I see more.

- We get the pond scene! And leave out the ants part!

- Adeleas: The right Warder can protect you from yourself. Moiraine: Ah, yes, this means I must immediately push him as far away as possible. And be brutal about it.

- Mat not wanting to know the future is so correct for this character.

- Possum is a great nickname and I’m glad she gave it to him.

- Selene: “You can’t hurt me.” Of course not. He’s basically a toddler. She is totally safe.

- Also, Selene is very toxic and deeply messed up. It’s been 3000 years. Get over him already.

- “I like to tinker with things.” ❤️ They manage to tell us so much about her in just a few scenes. I am an Elayne fangirl now.

- Oh, poor Nynaeve. Overhearing something like that is always so hard.

- “Jealousy, it’s not the best look on you.” I love how they brought this conflict, and adapted the slap, from TDR!

- Oh, that slap left a mark on her face.

- It’s dialogue right from the book :)

- Yep, take that right out of her saddlebag, Lan. I feel like this is something he’s never done before, and never thought he’d have to stoop to.

- “I couldn’t imagine the courage it took to face the Shadow with nothing but a sword.” Aww, that’s a nice thing to say, Moiraine. “I knew when the time came you’d be able to survive on your own.” Oh. That’s a deeply cynical way to look at it.

- At least she’s sharing some information?

- It takes 8 Aes Sedai to cut someone off? Interesting. So, 13 just gets translated to 8 in show language.

- Also: not stilled. There, I’m placing my bet.

- “You and I walk this path together. Every step of it. Every choice, every sacrifice” Oh Lan. You are breaking my heart.

- “We’ve never walked this path together.” Moiraine. How did this get past the Oaths? “I’ve never shown it to you.” Has to be a lie, somehow.

- “You failed me.” Ouch.

- “I’ll have her take your bond by force if I have to.” Foreshadowing? For Lan or for Rand, or both?

- I wanted her to say his full titles here.

- My first thought (forgetting the Seanchan exist): please don’t let this be Hinderstrap. It’s too early, right? Me a minute later: oh. Maybe Hinderstrap would have been better.

- Oh. Hotsema is, indeed, hot.

- Ishy taking an interest in Perrin is a delightful turn of events.

- Of course they have better care for the rich in Cairhein.

- I love Josha’s little smile here. “I have a feeling you and I have a lot more in common.” 😊

[wetsnifflesneeze]

Carolina & Alison (cold) (f/f) (sneezefic) (part 1?)

Carolina was awoken by a notification on her phone just after she had drifted off to sleep, she rolled over to check it and frowned when she saw it was from her girlfriend Alison. It's not that she wasn't happy to hear from her or didn't want to talk to her but it was just highly unusual for Alison to text after midnight. The girl just wasn't a night owl. The message simply read "hey" so Carolina typed out her reply:

"hey baby, it's late for you.. you okay?"

"can't sleep :( "

"Oh, I'm sorry honey. Do you want to talk a little? I can call you and stay 'til you fall asleep.

"Okay yes please"

Carolina calls and Alison picks up:

"Hi Car"

"Hi sweetie, so what's keeping you awake?"

"Uhm I don't know... *Snff* my throat kind of hurts... and my head"

"Oh angel... I'm sorry you don't feel good. So since when? You didn't tell me."

"Just since this afternoon really.."

"Okay, had I have known I'd be there with you right now. Making you tea and giving you painkillers, you'd already be sleeping and I'd be cuddling you."

"Just didn't want to bother you.. I'm sorry"

Car heard some sniffles and shaky breath, it sounded like Alison was crying. It broke her heart that she made her feel bad about not telling her. "Shhh Ali, baby, hey it's okay, I'm sorry. Listen I'm coming over right now, okay. I love you."

"*Snff* *SNNFfF* okay, love you." Ali replied her voice now a bit congested.

30 minutes later Carolina was there in her girlfriend's room, she had grabbed some medicine before leaving and also some tissues as she could hear from the phonecall her poor girlfriend was all congested.

"Hey boo" she says gently as she gets into Ali's bed and immediately begins to spoon her and kisses her cheek, which feels warm to her lips but then again she had just been outside in the cold nighttime air so it made sense.

"Hey baby" Ali says while giving her girlfriend a loving smile which shows she was truly happy to see her. "Thank you for coming"

"You don't need to thank me, precious. Seriously I'm here because I want to be"

Ali rolled over so she could rest her head on Carolina's chest and wrap her arms around her waist. "I was so cold without you *TIIISSSHEW*" a sneeze somehow soft but very suden escapes" Ali manges to catch most of the wetness in one of her hands.

"Bless you, angel. You were cold hmm? You feel warm to me I must say, I think you might have a little fever" Carolina says as she reached one of her hands to Ali's forehead.

Ali is still sniffling after the sneeze when her breath starts hitching again "uh ah hah haEETIIISSSSHEW" Carolina's arm was in front of her, she didn't want to sneeze all over her girlfriend so she ducked her head into her pyjama top and sneezed on her own chest instead.

"Bless you, poor love. You have a fever so I'm going to need you to take these ibuprofen okay? so your head will stop hurting" She kissed her forehead and then kissed her nose and then her throat. Giving attention to each part of Ali's body she knew was hurting.

"Wow, you evend brought bedicine. You're the best girlfriend"

"I did sweetie, and I also brought some tissues. I think you might need to blow your nose now"

"Mhmm, yeah I do" Ali nodded shyly.

"Go ahead honey don't be shy okay we've all been there" Caroline chuckled and made Ali feel totally at ease.

Ali blew her nose twice to relieve some congestion. "Good girl" Carolina approved. She leaned towards Ali's lips and they exchanged a few gentle kisses. She then got some Vaporub and applied it to Ali's chest. "Oh, I love this stuff it smells so good"

"I know right, it's the best" Carolina smiled, pleased that her gf was happily receiving this intimate care. "Now I'm going to get you some hot lemon and honey tea for your throat. Then we'll sleep.

....Well I hope some of you enjoy! It was quite fun to write. I kind of like where it's going so I might add more parts (with more sneezing)... 😘

[bluepenguinstories]

Remoras Full Chapter LXXVIII: Island in the Sun

When I thought I had alone time with Ray, I tried confiding with him.

He was in the back, seated at his desk. His usual hangout spot. He enjoyed the occasional peace and quiet, and was able to gather his thoughts. We often sat together and chatted about this and that. Just whatever happened to be going on. We’d rub each other’s backs, get high, and take naps, sometimes on the other’s lap.

Before I spoke up, I looked around every corner. Paranoia just wasn’t my style, but I couldn’t help the sense of dread Aion and Ananke’s presence brought.

After seeing no sign of them, I said:

“Hey. About what those two said –”

“About them being members of The Flashbulb?” He looked up and asked. Even though he wore a dull expression, his eyes shone just the same as when he was in a more delightful mood. I knew I wasn’t dealing with the frazzled, cabin fever Ray.

“Yeah. Do you think they’re dangerous?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head and groaned. “Aion is...I’d like to say I know him well enough, but that’s simply not true. I think he took not being known as a point of pride. Guess now that he’s here, that pride is biting me in the ass.”

“Heh,” I chuckled and sat on top of the desk. “Just when you think you know a guy…”

“I don’t know much about The Flashbulb itself,” he continued, “besides what Tony told me. He sold them as being small fry, but you saw Remora’s reaction: dead serious.”

“Yeah, but she’s the type to take most things seriously, even if she doesn’t think things through all the time,” I pointed out.

“Same could be said about you.”

“No way! I’m still carefree!”

We both laughed, but that laugh was short lived. That feeling of dread wouldn’t leave.

“I can’t help worrying about the presence,” I admitted, “I fear they’re up to something. Didn’t I tell you about how I met Dr. Faust before?”

“You did. I didn’t take the time to visit, but I appreciate the information you sent me. I trust your judgment, hun. I’ve felt like they were up to trouble the moment they walked in. I just wish I had more of a gauge on Ananke. I know even less about her than I do Lucky.”

“Well, if Aion makes being unknown a point of pride, Ananke seems to do it effortlessly. Although she was the one to admit to her former affiliation when Aion was reluctant to do so.”

“Now why would she do something like that?”

“Maybe she doesn’t see it as something necessary to hide,” I suggested.

Ray opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a familiar figure emerged from around the corner. Sharp-dressed in a striped suit and white gloves, with his combed-over brown hair (and the black undercut).

“Oh look, it’s the lovebirds!” Aion smiled wide, as if he had just got done laughing hysterically at one of his own jokes, “hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Ray and I gave each other a knowing glance. When I looked back at Aion, I smiled back.

“Not at all! Hope you’re enjoying your stay!”

His expression turned sour.

“Yeah, let’s cut the crap: I know you two were talking about me. Don’t you know that’s rude?”

Ray slipped something in the back of my jeans pocket as I leaped off of the desk.

“Sorry, force of habit. Ray and I have a tendency to talk about anyone who stays with us.”

He scoffed, though it seemed like he was trying to attempt a chuckle, maybe to save face.

“Well, you know, there’s no need for secrets. I’m an open book, after all! Just as me anything!”

His smile returned, but I wasn’t convinced.

“I may have to take you up on that offer later,” I said before walking away.

The night the triple A team arrived, Ray and I discussed them once already. We were laying in bed that night and under thick, orange tartan covers.

“Looks like your old friend finally showed up,” I opened up the conversation.

He turned over away from me. Taking the opportunity, I stroked his small back. On the dresser across from the bed was his fake arm. Most of the day, he wore it around, but in private, he’s long confided how burdensome it actually was. He would say things like, “it’s clunky and I can’t really hold things well with it. It’s easier to just use the one arm than try to bother with it.”

Even if most were unlikely to care, he still wore it around in front of others out of some sense of pleasing others. He would never admit to being concerned about what other people thought of him, but he still liked to conduct himself in a palatable way.

“It’s so weird,” he groaned, followed by a soft sigh as I stroked his neck.

“I can only imagine.”

“I’ve known him as a con artist, a drug dealer, a thief, and a pleasure seeker. He always did like making up fake symbols and implying there was more to him, even when he’d admit there wasn’t truly anything there. That fake amusement park didn’t surprise me in the least. But hearing how he had a secret lair in the mountain full of esoteric information, I just don’t know what to make of that.”

“Neither do I. I’m just hoping the information on angels can help solve our Cronus problem.”

“Was it really enough?”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t, because I just didn’t know. Rather than being optimistic about our problems being solved, it just seemed like Aion and his entourage brought with him more problems.

“That’s not the only weird thing. So many years...why now?”

“You asked that before. I’d say there’s probably a reason, but I just don’t know what.”

“It’s hard. You never really knew him. Then again, I can’t really say I knew much more.”

Such a conundrum.

I sat in the dining area at a stool next to the bar area. I had poured myself a glass of whiskey. It would soon have one of two effects: either calm my nerves or fire them up. I couldn’t really say which I needed more right now, but hopefully the whiskey would know what I needed. I took a sip: strong, bitter, almost like swallowing hot coals. My face twisted and my lips puckered.

“Aw, fuck it,” I rasped with a smile, and downed the shot glass in one swift gulp. That’s how it was meant to be drank anyway, right?

I gut up and poured myself another shot. While doing so, I looked around to see love in the air: Calen and Cael at one booth, Remora and Demetria at another. Several rows down sat Cybele next to the ever-sorrowful Achlys. I couldn’t tell what they had discussed the other day, but already it seemed like they were well acquainted. They held each other tight while Cybele took a moment to wipe away Achlys’s tears. Behind them were Prosperina with the head of a sleepy Hecate resting on her shoulder. Prosperina’s eyes were darting around and her face was red.

Our eyes met.

I downed my second shot, then shrugged, as if to say, it’s your relationship, own up to it.

Honestly, I didn’t know if they were in a relationship or not. Same went for Cybele and Achlys (doubtful when they just met, but apparently Cybele slept with Nemesis when they just met too. Maybe Cybele had more game than I thought). Calen and Cael probably were.

“Love is in the air, all except for mine and Ray’s. All because Aion keeps interrupting us. Then again, maybe I should stop focusing on him so much,” I said to myself.

“Indeed. You should focus more on me,” uttered a low, passionless voice.

I was startled so bad that I leaped where I stood and dropped the shot glass, watching it shatter across the floor.

“Fuck!” I panicked. I knew I’d need to sweep that up. That could wait, though. I looked up to see Ananke stood in front of me with a black tank top on and golden straps.

“Did you get the liquid courage you needed?” She asked, glancing down at the floor.

“C-Can...can you not?!” I huffed in a near-shout, the nerves dancing around me. Oh, the heat sure was rising now. I wasn’t drunk (it would have to take at least two more shots for that) but I sure was something.

“I can not.”

“I would like some privacy! Can you PLEASE respect that?”

“Very well,” her eyes flitted and she turned away, “but be aware, I’ll be awaiting you soon.”

Ugh. Of course. If it wasn’t Aion, it was her. Just what was her deal?

Once she was out of sight, I grabbed the nearby broom and dustpan from the closet and scooped up the broken glass. Each shard carried with it a distorted version of my reflection. Almost like I was walking through a house of mirrors.

I ducked behind the bar and checked the note Ray slipped into my pocket. I unfolded it and read:

“They may listening in on our conversations. Try talking with others, and hopefully they can relay things back to me.”

Looks like I wasn’t the only person paranoid. What a relief.

I put the note back in my back pocket.

Well, may as well put that advice to use.

It wasn’t an ideal situation, but even if we had to work through a middleman, the need for discretion was vital.

When I stood back up, I watched Cybele get up and shake Achlys’s hand.

“I should probably head back before it gets dark. Do you want to follow?” She offered.

“I would love to, but I don’t want to be a burden,” Achlys said with her weepy voice.

“You wouldn’t be a burden at all, besides, I’m sure Nemesis would love to meet you, too!”

Achlys looked down.

“I don’t know. You’re the only person I’ve felt this good around despite my sad state. Anyone else...feels like too much. Ah! But sorry! I don’t mean to harbor such troublesome feelings!”

“It’s okay. I don’t think she’s such a bad person, either, though.”

“I’ll think about it,” Achlys said and began to sob once more. She blew her nose into her thick, gray woolen sweater.

“Well, talk to you later!”

Cybele waved away, then left.

I should have seen her off, said something. We were pretty close, right? Or at least, I thought so. Ah, but I suppose at the time I figured it was fine: after all, she was making more friends, and might even be starting to have a love life. That’s cause for celebration, right? I didn’t need to interfere with that all the time.

But I would like to grill her about it later, I made a mental note to do just that.

Witnessing their farewell gave me another thing to note: who other than Ray had knowledge on Aion and Ananke? Why, Achlys, of course! She’d at least be able to tell me something.

I approached her and her foggy eyes turned to me. That too filled me with dread, but I should have known better: hearing what happened to her made me more sympathetic than anything else. Being afraid of her sight was just disrespectful, wasn’t it?

“Hey. I don’t think I’ve taken the time to chat with you yet. How are you doing?” I asked her.

She looked down and closed her eyes.

“I scare you, don’t I?” She asked, while tears still fell through her closed eyelids.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m used to such a reaction. I’m glad it’s just that, and not that you start crying because of me.”

The urge was there, I wouldn’t lie, but I think the whiskey was working to hold back any tears that could have escaped me.

“Don’t worry, I don’t cry so easily.”

“Neither did I,” she replied. “Most people look at me in fear, pity, or sorrow. Cybele is the ‘pity’ category. But for some reason, I don’t mind that from her. I feel...lighter, because of her.”

“Hey, I’m happy for you. I’m glad she’s having such a positive influence.”

She opened her cloudy eyes and tried to work up a smile. Her lips shook, but before they could curl up, they fell back to a frown, and she sobbed harder.

“I’m sorry,” she moaned after wiping away her tears with her sleeve, “I’m glad to have her around. But it’s still not easy.”

“I can only imagine. Having to witness such an angel and all.”

“I know it was my fault...I just wanted to help.”

“Hey. We make mistakes. Sometimes ones that affect us our whole lives. That doesn’t mean your life is ruined, does it?”

Ugh, I say that, but do I really believe that for her?

I leaned down and hugged her. She reached out and sobbed into my chest.

It was only a few seconds, and I didn’t know if she wanted to be touched, but after letting go, she looked up.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re not a bad guy, are you?” I asked.

“Ah!” She jumped, startled, “I...I...I didn’t want to be bad. Truly.”

“No, I don’t have any reason to believe you are. Even though you came from that company, I don’t sense any malice from you.”

“Still, I don’t want to be seen as a victim...I was warned, after all.”

“May I ask you something?” I sat down across from her.

“I don’t know. What?”

“What do you know of Aion and Ananke?”

“Ah...I’m sorry if you were expecting something. I only knew that they were studying angels right before I was transformed by one. They always seemed to keep to themselves and didn’t consider me important enough to reveal anything to me.”

I slumped down. Not the information I was hoping for, but I didn’t want to seem to disppointed.

There’s gotta be something...how come even the ones who spent time with them don’t know much?

“So you don’t know why they came over here?”

“Dr. Faust, he said he really wanted to see Ray. An...Dr. Paracelsus, she forced me here. If it were up to me, I’d have crawled into a cave and died there. I don’t know why they insisted on me coming along when they don’t care about me.”

“God...that man really is obsessed with my husband. Does he have no better reason to come here?”

“He probably does. I just don’t know what.”

“Damn it. I don’t usually care so much about new people. I like to think I’m friendly with anyone. But I swear, if those two wish harm on anyone here…”

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have minded helping if I knew more.”

“I bet it has something to do with angels,” I crossed my arms and growled.

“Ah!” Achlys perked up. Well, ‘perked’ was probably the wrong word, but it seemed like she had one of those “eureka” moments.

“What is it?”

“That would make sense. Knowing their research, that must be it.”

I got up. There was only one other person I could think to brainstorm with. It probably wouldn’t yield much more results, but it was worth a try.

“Thank you for spending time with me, Sunny. Truly,” she looked up.

“Anytime,” I told her, and had to wipe up a few tears of my own. Either she really did have an effect on me, or it was just hearing those words of gratitude that moved me. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever know.

Before I made my way over to Remora, I felt a clammy hand grab my arm. This time, I wasn’t startled in the slightest. I looked down and saw Hecate with her hood up and her bright eyes looking up.

“Sunny?” Hecate asked through yawns.

“Yeah?” I yawned as well. What could I say? Yawns were contagious.

“What’s Ananke’s deal?”

“I’d like to figure that out, myself.”

“She seemed interesting, but she told me I don’t practice real magic.”

That struck a nerve. What right did she have to diss someone as cute as Hecate?

“Your magic is the realest! Screw her!” Prosperina declared in Hecate’s defense.

“She told me that you’re the most interesting one of all, Sunny,” Hecate continued. “I asked why that was and she said that, ‘she’s not magical in the slightest, but she understands magic,’ what does that man?”

“Beats me,” I huffed. “She’s been eyeing me for a while. It’s concerning.”

“You know all about magic, too!” Proserpina came to Hecate’s defense as well.

“Thanks. I don’t doubt my abilities. I was just confused why she would say your name, Sunny.”

“She must find me pretty important!” I remarked and tried to grin about it. I wasn’t used to having so much focus put on me, and if Ananke didn’t irk me, I might have been more pleased about the attention.

“She said you were the most important one here.”

My face tightened and turned red.

I brushed my hand in front of my face.

“That’s simply not true. Remora’s the most important, I would say. Even besides Remora, there’s Demetria, who’s racked up more victories than I have. Although maybe I had similar stories to tell in my prime. I can’t remember. Then there’s Ray, who gives everyone a home and formulates plans. He’s really good at mediating conflict.”

“Do you have self-doubt?” Hecate asked.

I was taken aback.

“Not at all!” I gave a haughty laugh. “I’m fine with my position! I’m carefree! I go on adventures! Do I really need anything more?”

I said that, but my chest tightened. I couldn’t blame the whiskey, as I only had two shots.

I couldn’t even help Remora when she was dealing with Nemesis. In the end, she settled it herself.

Whatever. There was no need for such insecurities. It didn’t fit my image.

“Don’t worry,” I told Hecate, “whatever’s going on with that Ananke woman, I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

Again, I said that, but I wasn’t even sure what I was supposed to figure out.

My only other lead right now: Remora.

I approached their table.

Yet another couple I was going to have to interrupt.

I’m happy for you two, really…

They were seated together, both eyes closed, hands on the table and connected. Their heads were resting on each other. Despite the gap in height, they made it work somehow. It really was an adorable sight, except…

God, if all you couples are going to do is nap, couldn’t you have done so in bed? Why go out here to rest?

I clapped my hands together real fast and the two jolted up awake.

“What the hell, Sunny? Do you know what time it is?” Demetria rubbed her forehead with her palm.

“Yep! It’s mid-afternoon! Still plenty of daylight!”

Remora stared down at the table. There was a plate with a half-eaten sandwich. She looked rather disoriented.

“Do you think the sandwich is still safe to eat?” She muttered.

“Yeah, you’re probably fine. You can even take it with you.”

“Huh? Take it with her?” Demetria blinked and looked around, “what do you mean? Where is she going?”

“Not sure yet. Remora, do you know anywhere we can talk in private where we won’t be listened in on?”

“Is this about what I think it is?”

“What? What do you think it is?” Demetria asked.

“Sorry, Dem. Can I borrow your girlfriend for a bit?”

“Borrow...her?”

“Yes. I’d like to talk to her elsewhere. If that’s okay with you two.”

Demetria puffed her cheeks and blew out hot air.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“I won’t be long,” Remora smiled and ruffled Demetria’s hair. Her arms flailed about but she didn’t really seem to mind.

Remora got up and took her sandwich with her. What a relief.

We each grabbed jackets (well, Remora was already wearing one, so she just doubled up). My jacket was a thick yellow and blue polka dot one made from goat hide, while hers was a thin, dark purple rubber jacket, underneath of which was a bright orange felt jacket. We headed outside where we were met with bright, blue skies. Even with the blankets of soft, white snow mixed with the hard stone and small patches where grass grew, it was fairly warm given the climate.

“So, you have a place in mind?” I asked while walking behind her. She took bites of her sandwich and didn’t answer until the sandwich was almost gone.

“I do. I can’t promise we won’t be followed, but I’m confident we won’t be listened in on.”

“That’s half-reassuring.”

We continued on. In the distance I saw the cliffs where Khaldaia was hidden inside. There was also the hospital in full view. I wasn’t sure how much longer we were going to go. I couldn’t see any particular place in the distance.

“Can you turn around?” Remora asked.

“Oh, sure.”

I spun around until my back was turned to her. I looked around, checking around the hospital, the cliffs, and big hills. No sign of anyone. Not a silhouette, nor outline.

There’s also not any sign of Aurora’s train. I miss her and her crew even though they showed up to Hera’s party.

“See anyone?” Remora asked.

“Not as far as I can tell.”

“Good. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anyone out there, but I’m less concerned if you can’t see them. And if anyone tries a sneak attack, you should be able to see them coming a mile away.”

“What if they have a gun?”

“Huh. Never considered that possibility.”

Fwoosh! I heard the sound of sliding metal.

“You can look now,” Remora informed me, and facing her again, I noticed that there was a small hole.

“What is that, a half-made igloo?”

She squinted.

“No. It’s more like a burrow. Come down, there’s a ladder.”

She went down first, and I followed after. It was pitch dark, and I imagined all the creepy crawlies that could have been lurking, whether in the dirt or the stony ground. I knocked on the wall next to the ladder and heard a metallic clank.

Once down, she flicked a switch on one of the walls. It lit up to reveal a soft orange glow which shone above a queen-sized bed with two soft, white pillows, and a lion-print blanket over the mattress. Beside it, was a nightstand, and against one of the walls was a dresser.

“A bedroom?”

“Yeah.”

Unlike the silver, metallic wall that rested behind the ladder and along the ceiling of the burrow, the floor itself was wood tile, as was the wall of the bedroom.

“You know, we could have gone in one of the rooms of the basement back at the diner. Had I known this was what you had in mind, I’d have just gone downstairs.”

“Too risky. The walls here are soundproof. No outsiders should be able to hear us.”

“What’s this place for, anyway?” I asked. It was clearly a bedroom, and nothing else. That much I knew.

She walked over to the bed and sat at the edge of it. She leaned herself against one of the boards that made up the bed frame. I noticed that the headboard, behind the pillow, was carved with a heart shape in the middle.

“Good. Just how I left it,” she smiled to herself before looking up. “Ah. About this room...while I like you guys and see myself still staying there for the time being, I’ve grown to miss living on my own. I don’t yet have the materials to rebuild a house for myself, but I had just enough for this little room. Whether I build something above ground or add to this, I’m not yet sure. I was also thinking, when the time comes, I’d like to see if Demetria would live here with me.”

She’s planning on leaving sometime in the future? I mean, I know it’s right for her, and she’s always been pretty independent. Not exactly the best cook, but she did fine enough on her own for a while as far as I can tell. Gee, I’m going to miss seeing her every day.

“I’ll still visit every day,” she said, as if she heard my thoughts, “I also don’t know when I’ll be ready to move in here. I’ll probably make an announcement when I’m ready.”

“Wow. I’m impressed. And that’s super sweet about wanting Demetria to stay with you. Look at how far you’ve come,” I held my arm out and gave her a thumbs up.

She nodded.

“It would only be fair to ask her.”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

“Yes. Just as you love Ray.”

“Well...this isn’t about him…” I looked away and gave an awkward grin.

“Isn’t it? I figured you were concerned about that Aion guy. I imagined you must be jealous of the attention he’s been giving your husband.”

“I admit, there’s some jealousy. But you’re only half-correct: I’m worried that Aion and Ananke might be up to something dangerous, and that something could very well put us in harm.”

“You figured that out?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t trust those two, either. Knowing what I know about The Flashbulb, a former member is nothing but bad news. Two former members are even worse news. They may put up a harmless facade but I doubt either one are to be taken lightly.”

I was glad that Remora saw the same signs that I did, but that didn’t ease my worries as much as it should have. There was still that sinking feeling of dread.

“What do you think they could be up to?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I doubt it’s on such a small scale, but if it something huge, I can imagine us being collateral.”

“What kind of people are Flashbulb members? I only heard about them once or twice before. It’s a world I’ve never even stepped foot in.”

“They’re mad scientists who see the world as a program to tweak and test around, with no concern for any consequences. After all, what consequences are there when you can just reset time?”

“That’s hard to visualize.”

“Don’t worry about the image. Although the organization is no more, even former members are something to be wary of. Some may be innocent, even victims of circumstance. But many are sure to uphold the same goals that they had while in the company. That man, Aion, claims to fit into the latter category.”

“What about Ananke?”

“I can’t get a read on her. I feel it’s safer to lean on the ‘dangerous’ side until proven innocent.”

That didn’t give me any more confidence than I had before.

“I keep telling myself that I need to figure out what they’re up to so I can put a stop to it. But so far all of my leads have been crumbs at best, and the answer’s not coming to me on my own. I feel like I’ll fail, that I’ll be too late, and lose again. If that happens, I’d still be as useless as I’ve always been.”

“What’s this about being useless?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?” My fists shook. It wasn’t cold down there, but I shivered just the same. “When we went adventuring to get away from Nemesis, she still found us and you two still fought. It was too early, and almost ended in disaster. I couldn’t make things right with my daughter even after trying to. It was too little, several years too late.”

“Are you kidding? If you hadn’t punched her out, I may have died earlier. True, I still ended up fighting her a third time and almost losing my life on my own, but I’m grateful that you stepped in. As for your daughter...I don’t know. Those kinds of things are complicated. It’s still important that you tried. Isn’t that what you told me? Not to mention, I saw you talking things out with Achlys. She may have been a former member, but she seems less on the dangerous side, and I think she appreciated what you did.”

“Still, anyone could have done those things.”

“Who cares about that?!��� She shouted and I took a step back. I wasn’t used to her raising her voice.

I blinked.

“Remora? Are you mad?”

“I just hate to see you being like this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s just as I said, though: who cares if someone else could have done what you did? It’s the fact that it was you who helped, isn’t it? Besides, that’s not even wholly true: Demetria couldn’t hit that hard. Tigershark, maybe, but I doubt Nemesis would have wanted to fight at all if Tigershark was there. Ray definitely couldn’t hit that hard, and at best he’d try to talk her down. True, I still fought her with you there, but she’d have wanted a fight sooner or later, I just opted for sooner.”

She continued:

“Ray could have helped Achlys with his words, but he’s been just as stressed as you have. That you talked to her is what matters.”

“I just feel like I’ve done the least out of everyone. Then there’s Demetria who’s racked up many accomplishments. I am proud of her, but also...I just wish that I was doing more.”

“Look, Demetria is great. But she’s not the only person that matters. During our fight with Cronus under the diner, she couldn’t take him on her own, even though she wanted to. It was only through our combined efforts that we were able to do so. If anything, I’d say Ray did the least back there, save for some quips.”

“Thank you for saying so. I wonder if all these insecurities are because I’m getting older. I don’t think I have many more adventures left in me.”

“I don’t know what it could be, but I wish you’d stop. It doesn’t suit you. Do you think it suits you?” She looked up and smiled.

I chuckled.

“No, I guess not.”

We headed back up. Once we reached the surface, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned on the camera. Upon zooming in, I confirmed my suspicion: a hidden passage opened up along the cliff side where I entered Khaldaia. There was a golden glow emanating from the entrance.

Aion must be in there. At least if I can’t see him, I doubt he’ll see me.

“Sorry, Remora. I’ll catch you later. Opportunity is knocking.”

“Who?”

“I’ll tell you when I get back. Let me know if you find out any more information.”

“You as well.”

I ran off in the direction of the cliff sides and turned back to wave frantically in Remora’s direction. She gave a short wave in turn, then walked back in the direction of the diner/hotel.

I ran around the corner. I couldn’t tell how much noise I had made, but I could only imagine a lot: my heart pounding against my chest, my burning nerves, and the heavy footsteps as I sprinted my way there. All I could do was hope that I wasn’t heard, but that wasn’t even a certainty.

My back hugged against the wall. I slowed down my breathing until my heart returned to a more steady pace.

I closed my eyes. I could have checked my phone, but the sudden movement could have given me away. As such, I had no idea how much time had passed before I heard the soft, steady footsteps of someone leaving the entrance.

“Hey Ananke. What’s going on?” Aion’s slick voice echoed.

Is he on the phone right now?

I could only imagine.

“Wow. The device is on the island already? Damn, guess it’s really underway now. I will say, I feel rather cruel about it. Soon everyone will be going away. Say, where’s that island at, anyway? Oh, south from here, just off the shore? Cool. I could probably swim my way there, but eh...I don’t wanna. I think for now I’ll just go back to the hotel and pretend like everything’s still fine. Ray will be less worried that way, right?”

I flared up, and I swore I must have blown smoke out my nose.

Rather careless of you, Aion, I thought as he had just given away the game. If I could stop this device...whatever it was, then boom! Crisis averted.

I still waited at the corner until the crunch of his footsteps went from faint to inaudible. As soon as I could no longer hear movement, I peeked out and saw a faint silhouette of him all the way at the door of the diner.

Whew. Looks like I wasn’t spotted.

While sprinting toward the island, I started fizzling out. I leaned over and stopped to catch my breath.

I used to be able to sprint for days, I wanted to whine. But there was no time.

Or at least, I thought there would be no time. But despite still having much more ground to cover, I spotted a familiar brown and red striped train with its multiple cars skating about.

I jumped up and waved my hands around. The train turned in my direction and tooted its horn. A wide smile spread across my face as the train screeched to a halt just a few paces away from where I stood. It was close enough to catch a strong whiff of the smoky exhausts exuding from the steel trappings of the train’s head.

I ran around to the side and one of the carts slid open: there stood Aurora, legs spread, arms crossed. Her big puffy strawberry red hair, and her big chest, along with her raised chin gave her a commanding presence. Goofy as she may be, she really was a respectable bandit leader.

“Sunny! The hell you doing out here?” She demanded.

“I sure am glad to see you, Aurora.”

“Why, ready to join my crew?”

“No. When did I ever say I’d do that?”

Aurora puffed her cheeks and scowled.

“Fine, then, what do you want?”

“I need you to give me a ride somewhere.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Nothing. You’d just be helping out a friend.”

“That’s sweet, but I got mouths to feed and places to rob. This isn’t the kind of train you board to hitch a ride on.”

“Please?” I leaned up close to her. Her cheeks flushed a sickly pink.

“Let’s leg wrestle for it. If you win, I’ll take you where you want to go. If I win, you gotta ditch that husband of yours and join my crew!”

“Really? Leg wrestling?”

“We couldn’t before because you had that knee injury, but we gotta prove whose legs are stronger!”

“I don’t have time for this…”

I reached my hands up to her cheeks and pulled her down and gave her a big, fat kiss on the lips.

“There. Now take me to the coast,” I commanded.

Aurora huffed and her cheeks turned a deeper read. After a few seconds of being breathless, she grinned and turned around.

“We’re heading to the beach!” She announced.

Her whole crew cheered from inside and I stepped into the boxcar.

The whole ride there, I’d poke my head out the window to see how much closer we were. Allison, the navigator of their train, handed me a pair of binoculars and I had been using them to check. Not to mention, the rush of air brushing against my frizzy air was pure bliss.

“So what do you need to go to the coast for, anyway?” Aurora asked as she stood over me while I sat at one of the booths in the train.

“There’s an island. Something’s on the island.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find out once I get there.”

“I swear...you and your Remoras...is that a good name for your crew? Remoras?”

“I don’t mind.”

“You Remoras always going off of hints and hunches without ever looking into details. Well, I’d say the Remora Remora herself does, to an extent, but no, she doesn’t even do that all the time, does she?”

“Our group’s usually the type to go with the flow.”

“That’s a little dangerous, don’t you think?”

“What can I say? We’re dangerous people.”

“Tch. No shit,” she muttered, then yelled out:

“HEY. ANYONE GOT ANY POWDER DONUTS?”

“I do, boss!” Boomed the voice of a burly, bald man with an attire that I could only describe as a burlap sack.”

“Thanks, Frankie!”

When we reached the coast, the train skidded to a halt right before the icy beach. Just across from the beach, I saw a small, rocky landmass.

I jumped out from the car and raced out to shore.

“YOU OWE ME!” Aurora shouted from behind.

“Put it on my tab!” I yelled back before leaping into the water.

It only took a few strokes against the current before I landed on shore. All my clothes were soaked and I shivered with such a fury that I wondered for a moment if Remora ever shivered as hard.

I searched around for any such device. Behind the stone which protruded from this small thing that I wasn’t even sure qualified as an island, there were smaller palm trees with coconuts, and tall grass behind the palm trees.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

A tropical island in a frigid place like this?

Part of me was excited at the prospect and my mind went wild, like what if there was a hidden lair somewhere on the island, or there was a buried treasure besides whatever the mysterious device was.

Before I could search within the tall grass, however, a voice called out behind me:

“You just can’t help but interfere, can you?” It was a low voice, with some of the words blending together, yet I still heard it all clear as day.

I turned and saw in the bright blue sky a dark figure with mechanical limbs enveloping her. Said limbs were large, and just as dark.

“Nemesis?” I thought for a second, even though I should have known better. It didn’t cover the user’s entire body, and I blinked a few times before realizing I was staring at Ananke herself.

“Not far off. Her suit was a modification of her father’s. Mine was a prototype that would form the foundation of that very same suit.”

What? How does she know all that? And does that mean…?

Before I could finish that thought, she dived in with her fist toward me. I leaped out of the way just in time for her fist to land in the sand and the impact caused a flurry of sand to fly in every direction. I shielded my face and she charged at me, propelling herself forward with the blue flame which ignited the boots of her mechanical limbs.

I turned to the right side toward the jungle just in time to pull out my trust whip: Stella.

I flicked it at her, but to my surprise, she just swatted it away.

“Did you expect to poke me with such a thing?” She chuckled out a deep, low laugh.

“How? It’s an angel weapon! It should have damaged your suit even somewhat!”

“Ah, but you see, this suit is purely mechanical. I should know, I built it myself.”

She kicked her leg up and I tried blocking it with my own, but the weight of the machine attached to her struck me much harder and I almost fell to the ground.

I flicked Stella and watched it transform into a baton. I tried to hit her with it, only for her to catch my wrist before the baton could even touch her, and she pushed me into one of the palm trees. My spine and the tree met each other in a heavy, unholy glory.

I forced myself back up, propping myself up with the baton, wincing all the while.

“So we’re fighting so I can’t get rid of the device, huh? Is that it?”

She tilted her head.

“I said already that you’re the most important. It only stands to reason that you should be the first one dealt with.”

“So what? I know too much, and now you gotta kill me?”

I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t say I’ve never been in such situations, I just didn’t expect to be one today of all days.

“Kill you? No. Just deal with you.”

As if I wasn’t confused before, she just had to make it worse.

She readied her fist, and this time, Stella transformed itself into a pair of knuckle braces. Our fists met at the same time, but even with my added protection, she was forcing me back down. I dropped to one knee, but refused to yield as I leaned in and pushed my way through, using my other arm to support my fist.

“It...doesn’t matter...no matter how much of a disadvantage I’m at,” I tensed up and tried to get as many words out as I could, “I will find that device!”

She smiled and let show a few of her thick, gray teeth.

“The device is right behind you,” she said before activating the booster on the soles of her boots and knocked me back to the ground.

Rather than simply fall onto the ground, however, I felt a rush of air, and my heart started making leaps and bounds. It reminded me of those dreams where I’d fall off a cliff or go skydiving without a parachute. Except here, I didn’t even feel like my body was moving at all.

I closed my eyes, but it did me no good, as I ached so desperately to scream. But while my mouth forced itself open, I could do little more than gasp for air.

That was the last thing I remember before coming to.

When I awoke, I was still lying on the ground. I opened my eyes to see a dark, purple sky.

Not only that, I shivered on the icy sheet of the arctic tundra.

“Huh? I’m back here?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

I picked myself up and noticed Stella was still attached to my knuckles. As I stood, I saw Ananke in front of me, this time in a dark gray parka with her hood up. In her hands was a black briefcase.

“What’s going on? How did I get from that island to back here?”

She stood silent for a moment before answering.

“You are in a separate timeline. I was able to alter the coordinates as well.”

I felt like crickets were hopping across my skin, especially my face.

“You’re...you’re joking, right?”

She shook her head.

“The plan was for you to get sucked into the time travel device alongside me. That you listened in on my conversation with Aion only made things easier for me.”

“So that conversation was bait, is what you’re telling me?”

I looked around. I didn’t see the tall hotel that was once a diner, or even a hospital or that small mountain range. It could have just been that I was in a different place, but there should have been some kind of landmark, right?

“Why would you do this?” I asked.

“Aion considered you the greatest threat to what is to come. I wished to enter an alternate timeline since the beginning. It just so happens that I could afford one little favor and bring you along.”

“Take me back. Now.”

She shook her head again.

“That won’t be happening. I hold the device and I intend to keep it in my possession as it’s necessary for my own plan.”

“But I can’t stay here! What about Ray? Remora? Demetria? Tigershark? What about them?”

“Consider this an act of mercy: soon, they will all die. By being here, your life is effectively spared. I didn’t have to bring you along, but I thought you of all people would understand the meaning behind the act. I may have been wrong.”

“But you said Aion considered me a threat! So if I can return, I can stop it, right?”

She turned away.

“Time to make some new memories. As for me, I’ve got somewhere else to be.”

I tried chasing after her, whether it be a futile attempt to pin her down and wrestle the device out from her hand or what, but before I could take a single step forward, her briefcase unfolded and the mechanical limbs covered her once again. She soared off into the air before I could so much as touch her.

She disappeared into the night sky without any way of knowing where she could have gone off to.

I dropped to my knees.

It still didn’t feel real to me. I expected that I would soon get up and find the diner/hotel once again, and everyone would be there. But even with the icy night chill and my still-damp clothes, I couldn’t bring myself to move. Not even a single tear moved from my eyelids.

[writer59january13]

The bane of a cold sore inside my mouth

Sent my smooching life south, whereby I felt like poor Georgie Porgie,

pudding and pie,

who kissed the girls and made them cry.

The medical term for cold sores, Herpes Labialis, refers to the Herpes virus Type 1 (HSV-1) that most often causes these sores, though Herpes virus Type 2 (HSV-2) less often can also be a cause. Courtesy chafing lower denture the inside lower lip of mine

(analogous when braces donned by pearly whites - long since ravaged and removed by Periodontitis; A serious gum infection that damaged gums and can destroy the jawbone)

rubbed raw firing, kickstarting, and triggering throbbing ache before going to sleep, whether for a siesta or bidding adieu to the webbed wide world until the morrow, and upon soon after I wake attempting, daring, and farcing to crack a smile

experience needling pain for doggone sake.

Yours truly most seriously,

affected with oral blight when rumblies in tummy signal appeasement of appetite

teasing viands with pronounced delight

impossible mission to masticate, thus I reconcile myself experiencing pain when chomping on solid foods, whereby the bilabial fricative actuated courtesy chewing motion, (especially movement of lower jaw)

doth indelibly etch and sketch copyright

infringement onto soft tissue aggravating, grooving, and torturing satisfactorily done by the mandible

constituting lower jaw or jawbone regarding the bottom skeleton

that makes up the lower

(and typically also the more mobile)

half of the mouth in jawed vertebrates.

While at C(ustomer) V(alued) S(ervice) store at 1206 Gravel Pike, Zieglerville, Pennsylvania 19492 - on a whim,

I purchased Peroxide Sore Mouth Cleaner an over the counter product and painless solution to alleviate and heal ulcerated, and lacerated fever blister inside lower lip of this mister re: man, whose spouse considers me weird and peculiarly wired

as most likely would deux daughters I sired, though both free and clear

despite their former impressionable years being severely mired with unnecessary financial hardship whose lack of healthy gainful employment track record (essentially... I got fired) linkedin to mental health issues, thus no surprise when the writer of these words desired

exiting realm of living social (think passive suicidal ideation), particularly manifest destiny to join the underground movement of the dead souls, when fraudsters exerted remote mind control managed to apply psychological ploy leaving an immense black hole sun leaving sense and sensibility extinct, whereat I found myself in good company with the Baltimore Oriole along the Eastern United States.

The posted gofundme page... oh that came to naught, thus I live hand to mouth still holding out hope some anonymous benefactor would vicariously writhe nsync with mein kampf.

[zilbea]

Everyone knows Ryan is a hitman. Everyone knows he killed. But finding out that Gavin, their meek hacker, had once been a hitman. That was hard. It was a blow to their trust. Worse finding out Ryan knew. That they were dating. Realising that when Ryan joined, Gav wasn’t scared of him, he was scared to be outed. They didn’t know about the Golden Boy who got into your bed then put a bullet between your eyes and robbed you blind for info or jewellery. He didn’t want them to. But they knew now...

I am so very sorry I have taken so long to answer this. I have been looking at this ask for a while trying to decide what direction to in with it. This might be off the chart from your initial ask, but consider this:

No one knew - no one except for Michael. They graduated UCPC (The Underground Conservatory for Professional Contractees) together, learned tricks of the trade together. For their first few years out of training, they took jobs together; split the pay. Team Nice Dynamite, they called themselves. Michael and Gavin shared everything while working as hitmen: food, housing, cash, even an old pitbull Michael had rescued from the Los Santos Backyard. Years pass, their confidence grows, and they begin taking on simple, more independent contracts. Reporting back to each other nightly, critiquing one another’s technique and bandaging each other’s wounds… But it’s hard work being a hitman. Time and time again, clients pay far less than promised, and keeping business under the LSPD’s omniscience is no small task. 

So when Michael and Gavin meet notorious criminals Geoff Ramsey and Jack Patillo at a bar, it’s so very hard to decline their proposition for a startup crew. Despite the appeal of the offer, Michael and Gavin proceed with caution. Several years ago, they had been contracted to kill the very two criminals standing before them with their hands extended. It became an unspoken promise, as Michael and Gavin accepted the older pair’s offer, that there could be no mention of their past life. Their old contract was, in fact, still active, and Team Nice Dynamite understood the monumental risk they were taking by forming a criminal crew with contracts. Two handshakes later, Michael and Gavin’s lives were reborn.

Michael and Gavin assume their new identities as public criminals with the small 4 person crew known as The Fakes, and they nearly forget about their past lives as hitmen. A year later, Ryan, a terrifying man with a not-so-terrifying name accepts Geoff’s offer into the crew, followed closely by a smaller man named Jeremy. For years the 6-person crew worked smoothly together, and Gavin grew very close to Ryan. The Vagabond was openly a retired hitman, had officially denounced his past to make room for a new life of glory. Gavin finds himself drawn to the man, and their relationship grows.

Despite his comfort with the crew, Gavin sometimes spends nights lying awake, guilt washing over him. The Fakes had become his family - Ryan had become his boyfriend - and yet, his past life remains the biggest burden of secrecy. It weighs on Gavin’s shoulders, threatening to topple him.

No one can know, Michael had said. An old life, Gavin had agreed.

One day, after a particularly dismal heist, Michael pulls Gavin aside. His brow is knitted, and he holds crumpled paper in his hand. Gavin takes the paper, smooths it, and nearly throws up. In trembling hands, Gavin reads the neat handwriting scrawled across Team Nice Dynamite’s old contract:

Ramsey. Patillo. Keep it clean.

Gavin tells Michael to burn it. Michael refuses.

The duo’s greatest fear comes true several weeks later. 

Gavin enters his penthouse bedroom jovially, steps staggering from a celebratory bar crawl with Michael and Jeremy. He ambles drunkenly around the room as he sheds clothing, completely missing the dark shape on his bed. The Vagabond rises from Gavin’s mattress, and Gavin fights back a yell of surprise.

Ryan stalks toward Gavin, strides aggressive and deliberate. In his hands is a torn piece of yellowing paper; his face is a mask of stone. In one motion, Ryan slams the brit against the wall, shoving the old contract into his chest. 

The room spins, and Gavin struggles to breathe as Ryan’s hand closes around his throat. Gavin isn’t too intoxicated to misunderstand the gravity of the situation, and he mumbles a string of defensive nonsensicals at The Vagabond. 

Ryan’s expression is cold. He says nothing, for his eyes burn hotter than any words. Furiously, he shoves Gavin to the ground, traitorous contract following, and stalks away - leaving Gavin to pick up the pieces of his newly shattered world.

[tender-rosiey]

GENSHIN VOICELINES ABOUT YOU

— includes keaya, diluc, albedo, venti, childe, zhongli, xiao, kazuha, thoma, and itto x f!reader

ᴀ/ɴ: GOD I WAS SO EXCITED TO WRITE THIS AND I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT AS MUCH I DO MWUAH 💕

KAEYA:

y/n? she is quite the captivating mystery, I never know what to expect from her. So far, she is the only one able to catch me off guard especially when she smiles. She accompanies me to the tavern every time, it’s honestly comforting; but enough about that, if I keep talking I may reveal some…private stuff. Would you like to meet her some time?

DILUC:

You met her? That’s lovely; i hope it was a good time. For me, whenever she is around somehow the world seems brighter and everything goes smoother. Perhaps that’s the effect love has on people, you seem to loose track of time; for that I really don’t know how to repay her…

ALBEDO:

She is quite the character, I could spend years trying to study her and I would still not have her fully figured out; however, of course like any good lover I do notice when her mood changes or if she wants or is disturbed by something. I do not like when she is down, it puts me in a foul mood.

VENTI:

Oh my happy heart! Her name alone is a beautiful melody to my ear! Y/N, a gorgeous face that blooms under the moonlight; I can not put into words how much I love— I mean I can because I am a bard, but they are never enough to express how I really love her! We should go drink wine together, it will be a blast! Hehe!

CHILDE:

Do you see that lovely lady over there? That’s my stunning lover, y/n! She is an absolute sight for sore eyes, don’t you think? But seriously she is so lovable, it’s never a dull day with her and she is pretty good at sparing too! Just my kind of woman.

ZHONGLI:

Ah, I take it that you’ve finally met her. It was but a matter of time, how was your encounter? I would like to assume it was a rather sweet one. Why? Well, y/n is a wonderful lady, the type to make your worries go away in a glance when she smiles ever so brightly. She makes me loose sense of time and not worry about the…matters that concern me most of the time. But enough about that, would you like to come over? I am sure y/n would love to see you again.

XIAO:

Huh? Y/n? She…she is my lover. No, I am not embrassed, I merely still don’t believe it, somehow. I can see her by my side smiling crystal clear, but I can’t help but think that it’s just a fever dream. After all, my karma is still ongoing for the rest of my life; though it has become lighter when she appeared.

KAZUHA:

You would like to know who was that person I was speaking to? That was y/n, she is my lover and one of my biggest inspirations to my poems. Till this day, I am convinced that she is a blessing from the Archons; I am content with my life yes, but with her around, I can’t help but feel like the happiest person alive.

THOMA:

Ah Y/N! You wouldn’t believe how we met, she was carrying some boxes and clumsily slipped; thankfully though I was there to help her and since then we got closer! Oh you want to know who she is to me now? She is my one and only lover! And my primary taste-tester!

ITTO:

THAT’S MY GIRL! Oh hey traveler! You mean the absolutely badass woman fighting in the arena? That’s my girlfriend and she is pretty strong let me tell you! When I first started dating her, there was a Rifthound that was gonna attack her but I was too far away and feared that she might get hurt, but guess what? SHE DEMOLISHED THAT THING AND SENT IT BACK RUNNING WITH ITS TAIL BETWEEN ITS LEGS!

taglist: @magenta-cat-drawingss @pompompurin1028 @scul-pted @dazaisdeathwish @requiem626k @nameless-shrimp @shinys-bsd-world-1 @sonder-paradise @ravenina14 @jessbeinme15 @todorokichills @ginneko @missrown

copyright © 2020 tender-rosiey

do not copy or plagiarize or you will be reported

[mrpenguinpants]

Genshin: University AU [V1]

I love modern au. Or any “everything is fine, no one died, it’s just a fever dream” au. Half of me is thinking, damn maybe I should answer this serious- LOL HAHA no. That’s not happening. Time to crack my knuckles and let my brainworms take over again.

Once again, this is 90% crack 10% content. I want to switch up my characters from the last brainworm post but I included Kaeya and Diluc.

---

Today’s appreciation post goes to twistedwishes. Hey! I’ve been seeing you pop up a lot lately and thanks for the support 💕💕 I hope things are going better for you and you’re doing alright^^ I feel kinda bad for making appreciation posts on crack fics but hopefully this is somewhat funny haha. 

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Genshin: Holding Hands [V1]

Genshin: When you’re cold [V1]

Genshin: Roommate [V1]

Genshin: Royalty AU [V1]

[Masterlist]

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[taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

  @mikeysbike @hanniejji@unionwitch @musekala @twistedsunnshiii @stanzastic @akaasea @xoneaboveallx @adoring-ghost @asheseiler @childelover @dilucsz @dai-tsukki-desu @thicmitten @youaskedfurret @diaxfeliz @wintergreen-aix @dandelily @thegayrubberducky @lovelykittycatmeow @yuunoagivesmelife  @dokidokisama @simpygrimoire @minakohasmanyhusbandos @strwbrry-lia @tigerpriestess @yuu-yuukurotsuki​

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Diluc

Absolute pretty boy who has braincells, but only if Kaeya is not there. In his mind, Kaeya’s presence makes his room loose 40% of their common sense. He can’t prove it just yet but he’s working on it. He majors in accounting but also has a minor in marketing, logistics’ management, fia- he majors everything business related. He’s going to become the next Elon Musk through smarts or by getting the competition drunk. There can be no contest if he’s the only candidate. He’s actually a hard working guy that overworks and stresses way too much. You have daily “Diluc recharge” evenings where he just hangs onto you while you go through your day.

“Don’t fucking talk to me until I’ve had my coffee,” except there is no coffee - he drinks grape juice out of juice boxes and his only energy boost is when he meets up with you - and that’s his constant mood. So he usually only hangs around you and Jean, since she has childhood friend status and is actually an angel. By default, Lisa is added and Diluc doesn’t mind her but if he see’s Kaeya, it’s full on war paint mode. If he's not busy with work or studies, he's usually with you either in your dorm or his apartment.

He has a fanclub and he seriously hates it and tries to do everything in his power to get Ningguang to take it down. Shouldn’t this be against his rights? But she refuses for whatever reason and makes a whole speech about free will. No matter what he does, someone manages to take a picture and it get’s printed in the university’s newspaper. The only bonding time he has with Kaeya is every Monday, where they collect and burn all the universities newspapers before anyone can get their hands on it. You always bring marshmallows to make smores during their arson activities.

“When I graduate I’m going to burn this school down to the ground. That’s not a threat it’s a promise.”

Ningguang

Is secretly the leader of the Diluc fanclub - not that she likes Diluc, she’s in a questionable platonic poly marriage with you and Beidou - but it was the easiest way to gain funds for the student council. Which she is the president of, so rip Diluc the fanclub stays. Ruthless business woman I tell you. But she can run in heels so her danger factor rises by at least 20%.

Majors in social sciences and law but more specifically the political science & government. She saw the Imperial State Crown that the Queen of England wears and says yes, that’s mine now. If she’s not with Beidou and you planning on “how to infiltrate the state government just for lols”, then she’s with Keqing, Ganyu, and Zhongli discussing student council things. Should they or should they not tell the student body that they can see everyone’s search results? Sit back and relax as the school goes into chaos. 

She’s probably the scariest person on campus No, she is the scariest person on campus. She’s the scariest person on campus. But secretly she’s popping 20 aspirins just to make it through a night. She has the digestive system of steel. She still holds the title of "seriously do not try and beat her in a drinking game it's never going to happen" and that's her proudest achievement in life but sadly she can’t put it on her resume. Kaeya is still trying to beat her out of spite but so far it hasn't been working. You’re seriously concerned for her when she get’s challenged but Beidou gives you a way-to-hard slap on the back and cheers her on. If Ninngguang somehow get’s alcohol poisonings she’ll somehow find away to make a profit out of it.

"I'll let him die, I'll get the insurance money."

Kaeya

One day he chugged too much mouth wash, passed out, and somehow woke up in university majoring in law. His idea is that if he is apart of the law, he can therefore stand above it. To be fair, his only goal in life is to say “I am the manager” and he can go live the rest of his life in bliss or as a hermit. He’s secret best friends with you but wouldn't be caught dead beside you. He will stab a bitch if you ever get hurt but will still trip you on the way home. Seriously, you have no idea why people find him attractive. Your guess is it’s the eye patch or the clap of his ass cheeks that keeps alerting everyone.  

He’s apart of the newspaper club and if anyone asks: No, he has no idea who keeps taking all the newspapers and burns them in the back of the campus. Originally, he joined because he was nosy and needed to join some type of club for his resume. He sometimes feels bad for his junior assistant Amber because he keeps tricking her and says that Diluc is secretly a demon that is trying to steal all the jobs and is apart of the lizard government hell bent on eradicating the human race. He even brought out a whiteboard for this joke, he’s dedicated to his job ok? 

The type of guy to try and be humble and say his work is “okay” but will choke a bitch if anyone agrees. He tends to leave everything last minute and says that it’s his drug since actual drugs could land you one year in prison and a maximum penalty of $2,000. You have to awkwardly hold in your concerned mother head shake when you see him speed running his assignment literally right when the professor is walking around to check if students finished. 

“I was taught how to lead not to read.”

Mona

Broke wallet #2. Zhongli is broke wallet #1 but Childe simps for him so is he really a broke wallet at this point? In this essay, I Mona Megistus, will explain why I have the rights to the title “Broke Wallet #1″...

Believes that astrology should be an actual career path but refuses to take astronomy as her major. I can read the stars not a textbook that tells me how to calculate the mass of the sun divided by the fucks I give. Instead she went into Philosophy and cries to Albedo, who is an actual prodigy genius- sir lend some braincells to everyone else please?, that her professor keep turning her paper down because “star reading” is not an academic source.

Fischl wants her to join the occult club because, surprisingly, Mona is very good at telling people’s fates through her crayon sketch ouija board. She thinks first year Fischl is cute but is put off by the cosplay roleplay that she has going on. She would join except that stupid hat wearing gremlin in her lit class would make fun of her if he found out.

You gave her half your lunch one day and bought her a doughnut "because she seemed upset" and "out of the goodness of your heart" whatever the hell that means. She thinks you pensioned it but once that thought comes she takes a bite. Poison from a doughnut is not the worst way to go out, classes are hard enough. She’s waiting for the lord to strike her down anyways. 

“Its not about passing, its about doing better than everyone else.”

Venti

Slept through most of highschool and people question how he got into university. He’s a music major (wow how fucking original is that), and if anyone asks him to serenade someone or just do anything, he’ll do it for the right price. Or if you buy him alcohol because he still keeps getting ID checked. He’s banking on Kaeya actually becoming a lawyer or being on good terms with Diluc so he can finally stop being arrested for looking like a toddler.

Takes one step into classes and quickly nopes out and goes back to bed. Professors have no idea how he hasn't dropped out or failed. He just has some god given talent. He does whine at you to pretty pretty please with a cherry on top tutor him because you're such an angel and would never leave your poor but awesome best friend hanging right? He needs to get this essay down but how he is suppose to explain how the number 10 is symbolic and connects to the universe or the meaning of life. Do you think he can just say it’s apart of his culture and make up some random myth to pretend it looks like he knows what he’s doing? 

He’s honestly going with the flow and put his brain on the back burner all of highschool and only now realizes wait, I actually have to use my brain?

He’s been banned from most club chats since Venti has the no chill card. Someone says “lol I look ugly today.” and he’ll respond "yup, you look like a cow." and he get’s banned. Zhongli keeps a speed run timer on his phone just to document these occasions.

"Sad spelled backwards is das and das how it be sometimes."

Childe

An actual dumbass that somehow does well. He eats sandwiches with the crust off, this heathen. Surprisingly he’s studying to become a physical therapist but most of his experience has come from breaking his own bones. You’re scared how he's going to be if he actually becomes a therapist. If he'll make bets with his patients or try to one up whatever crazy injury they get into. Everything is a challenge to him that sometimes the best way to deal with Childe is to knock him out. 

This man really knows the way to a Zhongli’s woman's heart. Through micro transactions. Mona saw him accidently drop $20 and just shrugged and walked off. She has never been both spiritually and physically offended in her life. She did take the $20 though. As much as you hate leeching on Chile when he’s basically a walking wallet that probably uses bills as tissue paper, you can’t help but give him puppy eyes while planning on how to get into his will. If he even plans on having one, he might honestly write “whoever wins in a gladiator style duel in my funeral’s tournament, they will get my fortune.”. 

Any sport the university offers Childe is probably in it. Which is how he met Zhongli, challenged him to a fight, proceeded to have his ass handed to him, got a backhanded compliment, and screamed to you he was in love and how he found his soulmate. He's secretly very sappy and has cried and watched every Disney and Pixar movie at least 28 times.

"IM NOT TOO SPICY! I’M A TINY BIT ABOVE MILD IF ANYTHING!”

---

God if it isn’t Scaramouche, it’s Childe that ruins the aesthetic. This is why I hate you. Why do you people enable me like this, it isn’t even good. This is pretty much a @ yourself moment and I vibe hard with Venti. This entire post was just to make a joke about the clap of Kaeya’s ass cheeks alerting the guards.

This week might slow down since I have classes and assignments. My reply’s are gonna be late too, sorry;; (oh and thank you to everyone that was so supportive and nice when I mentioned it. All of you. Beautiful 💕💕 )

[shoutaaizawas]

↳ pro!hero bakugou katsuki x reader → heal

summary: you’re bakugou’s best friend and work partner and you’ve been in love with him for years. after his girlfriend cheats on him you’re left to pick up the pieces.  tags/warnings:  hurt/comfort, fluff, angst with a happy ending, very minor injury (blood), cheating (not by bakugou or reader), unrequited love (spoiler but not really) word count: 3,804  a/n:  this was my first time writing any x reader. hope you guys enjoy it!

You loved Bakugou Katsuki. That was a fact that you had accepted a long time ago and you were now at peace with that. You had gone to school with him and once you both graduated you worked at the same agency. Your quirks were a good match so you had been working together ever since. When he started his own agency he took you with him.  

The thing is, you never told Bakugou that you loved him. He was always so focused you assumed that he wouldn’t want a relationship and frankly despite all the things you had accomplished you were self-conscious and it was hard to think Bakugou would ever settle for someone like you.

A few years ago Bakugou started dating. You could still remember the hurt that burned in your chest as you tried to play it off and tease him like everything was normal. You spent most nights crying yourself to sleep a few weeks after that day.

She was a civilian, who in your opinion was very unlikable. You knew it was petty and you should be more mature but there was something about her that felt off. You figured it was your jealousy. You recalled the time she had ended up in some trouble, you had been able to pull her to safety only. Not only did she not thank you but she gave you an attitude. You figured she didn’t like you because you spent so much time with Bakugou in and out of work. You could understand that to some degree but it didn’t hurt to pretend to be nice.

It was so much easier loving Bakugou from a distance when he was single, you could tell yourself that he would never date anyone or marry them and that being his best friend was the most anyone would ever have. If you could talk to him, joke with him, look after him from his side as a friend you were content.

With him dating the dull ache of unrequited love turned into a dagger in her chest, burning pain only intensified by any movement. You wondered if you should try dating around. Maybe you could find someone who liked you that you could fall in love with and forget about Bakugou. You never got around to it, every time you seriously considered it you thought it’d be unfair to whoever you dated. They deserved someone who truly loved them, not someone trying to put a bandage on a broken heart.

Last week you had caught Bakugou red-handed, a small velvet box in his pocket. Your heart dropped, you thought you had hit rock bottom but it turns out you could always go deeper.

“Is that what I think it is?” You asked, trying to play it off as teasing. You prayed he couldn’t hear the crack in your voice.

“Shut up, it’s none of your business.” He growled back but you knew it was just because he was embarrassed.

“I’m surprised I never saw you as the marriage type.” You tried to say in a nonchalant tone.

“We’re getting old. We have to settle down eventually.” He said. The words stung, you knew he meant them aimed towards himself but you couldn’t help the bile that rose in your throat. I would have settled down with you but now I can’t look at another man without comparing everything about them to you. Who could ever come close to the Bakugou Katsuki.

“Bakugou we’re twenty-six, we just barely became adults if we’re being honest.” You joked.

“Well, I don’t want to be an old parent.” He said, eyes scanning the streets for any trouble. Your heart dropped a little more.

You wondered if you were strong enough to stand by and watch the love of your life get married and have children with another woman. You wondered how long it would be until you had to find an excuse to move away.

“I’m gonna head home since patrol is over.” You said trying to keep your voice steady.

“You aren’t going back to the agency?” He asked giving you an odd look, sensing something off. You knew each other too well.

“No, I have plans later I need to get home fast. I’ll get my paperwork done tomorrow, boss.” You lied about the plans, you needed to get away fast.

It doesn’t get rid of the suspicious look on his face but he doesn’t question you further and you quickly make your exit, barely able to keep it together until you get out of sight. You duck into an alley as tears stream down your face.

You haven’t seen Bakugou today. That concerns you, he never misses work for anything. You can’t count how many times you’ve had to drag him home and force him into bed after he comes into work with a high fever. You make sure things are covered at the agency before heading over to his apartment. Your heart beats quick, he hasn’t replied to your texts. It’s hard to keep the worst-case scenario out of your head.

Knocking on the door to his apartment you get no reply. Pressing your ear to the door you can hear a commotion, fear grips you, and you almost kick the door down before your rational sense tells you to use the key he gave you.

Bakugou’s apartment is a war zone. Furniture is turned over, glass smashed across the ground. You can smell the familiar lingering scent of his quirk. You would have thought he had been robbed if it weren’t from the sound coming from the bedroom.

Opening the door to his bedroom it’s even worse in here somehow. Bakugou is currently smashing picture frames against the wall. It’s distressing to see him so upset and not have a clue what’s going on.

“Bakugou!” You shout hoping to get his attention but he’s blinded by his anger. You let out a huff of frustration before moving closer to him, grabbing his arm as he goes to slam the already mangled frame again.

You’re startled but not shocked as he turns around in the blink of an eye and grabs onto your bicep, fingers digging in you can feel your skin under his hand start to burn.

“Bakugou! Snap out of it!” You shout again. Recognition crosses his face and he looks a little more coherent. You’re waiting for him to say something but he drops to the ground like dead weight, his hands pressing into his palms. You kneel, careful of the glass on the ground.

“Bakugou? What happened?” You ask in a softer voice. He takes so long to reply that you wonder if he will answer.

“She cheated.” You can barely make out the words through his covered face.

“What?” You ask.

“She was cheating on me!” He yelled pulling his hands away, the anger returning. “She was cheating on me for months like it was some game. When I confronted her about it she didn’t even try to defend herself. She wasn’t even upset.”

“Bakugou, I’m so sorry.” Your heart is breaking but not for yourself, this time it’s for the man in front of you that looks broken. You realize that he has cuts all over his body from the damage done to the apartment. “C’mon.” You say holding your hand out to him.

He looks at you confused but takes it. You lead him to his bathroom, sitting him down on the edge of the tub. The first aid kit is under the bathroom sink, you had patched him up here before.

Returning to him you kneel on the ground in front of him. You begin cleaning the cuts that litter his arms, wiping up the blood covering his arms. You look up at him and his eyes look so empty as he stares at the ground past you. Your overwhelmed by the urge to take him in your arms but decide against it. No, you should patch him up first.

You put band-aids on the ones that need them and leave the smaller ones uncovered. You lean up so your eye level with him, he has a cut across his cheek. You’re careful as you dab at it with a cloth, he doesn’t react if it does hurt. You put a band-aid on it before looking him in the eyes, his gaze still on the floor.

It hurts you so much to see him like this, it breaks you. What you would give to have him insulting you about something dumb you did or yelling about how you left your coffee mug on his desk again. Anything other than the painful silence. You lift your hand and softly cup his unharmed cheek, his gaze slowly raises to meet yours. Your thumb gently strokes the skin there hoping that it will soothe him in any way he can be at the moment.

You finally lean forward and embrace him, pressing your face into his shoulder avoiding any of the cuts on him. Your arms circle around his torso and you squeeze him tightly. You wish you could hug him tight enough to put him back together. It takes a moment but he eventually rests his head against your shoulder and he returns the hug. His grip is tight on the back of your shirt and you know he’s trying to pull the broken pieces back together himself. I would do anything for you to make this pain stop, you think.

You don’t know how long you stay there, holding each other tight but eventually you decide you should leave. The last thing he needs is to be stuck in the apartment that he shared with his girlfriend, the one that was currently trashed.

“Let’s go to my place.” You offer. “You can stay as long as you want, you shouldn’t stay here.”

He nods and your stomach drops, normally he would protest even if he agreed with what you wanted to do. It made you feel sick that he gave in so easily. You nod back before standing up and going into his room. You grab a duffel bag and grab his clothes and other things he’ll need while away from his home. By the time you’re done, he’s standing there watching you wordlessly.

“Let’s go.” You say you take his hand in yours. You had known Bakugou for years and worked by his side for most of them, this wasn’t the first time you had held his hand but the conditions were usually different. Normally you were dangling off the edge of a building as he pulled you up or you were dragging him out of harm’s way.

Holding his hand now was different, you could actually take note of what it felt like. His hand was much larger than yours, the callouses on his hand rougher than your own. It was easy to pretend that the circumstances were different, that you were dragging him out of his apartment to your favorite place to grab dinner together instead of taking him home with you to help console him from what had happened.

The car ride is silent, he’s still processing everything that’s happened and you have no words to say. You know that he needs time to think about everything, you refuse to push him to talk. Growing up you had to if you ever wanted him to process his emotions but Bakugou had matured a lot as he grew up and you knew that when he was ready he would talk.

“Here, you can take a shower if you want or you can change into something less torn up.” You say as you press the bag of clothes into his arms. “I’m going to make us lunch.”

“I’m not hungry.” He says. His retort gives you hope that he’s beginning to return to himself and not the empty shell of person who sat on the edge of his tub.

“I doubt you ate breakfast, I know you probably don’t want to eat but I’m making food and you’re going to eat at least a little bit.” You say. He doesn’t argue again, he heads towards your bathroom needing no directions.

You’re glad that you went grocery shopping yesterday. Even more glad that you always make sure to keep the ingredients to make Bakugou’s favorite dish in your fridge in case of emergencies. Or him demanding that you make it for him, as he does at times.

He’s in the shower for a long time. You’re finishing up lunch and you’re about to go check on him when you hear the water stop. You’re plating up the food when he walks into the kitchen wearing a fresh pair of sweat pants and a black shirt. His eyes are red but you don’t comment on it. You shove the bowl of food in his hands.

“Extra spicy, just how you like it.” You tell him as you grab your food. “Let’s sit down.”

You sit down on the couch in your living room eating in silence. Despite his denial of being hungry his food is gone in minutes. You grab his empty bowl from him to take it to the kitchen but before you can get up his hand is grasping your wrist. You look at him and his gaze is on the mark he left on your bicep when you pulled him out of his rage.

“I’m sorry.” His voice is raw and the guilt is clearer than day on his face. He slowly reaches towards your arm, his thumb softly glides at the edge of the minor burn.

“It was an accident.” You tell him in the most genuine tone you can manage, he’s been through enough the last thing he needs is to feel guilty for this. “Besides, I can handle you.” You tease trying to lighten the mood. Your hand covers his own on your arm and you squeeze it to emphasize your point. His hand drops back to his lap after a moment and you leave for the kitchen.

When you return to the living room you see him sitting there, he looks less empty but more annoyed. You figure he’s had enough time to process most of his feelings.

“How did you find out?” You ask, testing the water. If he didn’t reply you’d know he wasn’t ready.

“She left her phone when she left for work, I grabbed it to give it to her before she got out of the building but I saw her notifications.” He said. Pain stings in your chest for him, you can’t imagine how upsetting that would be. “She came back for her phone and I confronted her.”

“What did she have to say?” You ask.

“She acted like she got caught sneaking a cookie before dinner, she barely even cared.” He said, anger returning to his tone. “She’s been with him for six months, she said that she was only ever with me for my money and status. She wanted someone she could brag about.”

“Bakugou,” You said putting a hand on his arm.

“I guess it’s only fair.” He scoffed. “I never loved her either. But I’m still pissed off she made a fool of me.”

“You didn’t love her?” You tried to keep your tone even but it comes out like an exclamation. “Bakugou, you were going to marry her!” You nearly shout. Had you really spend the last year suffering while Bakugou dated someone he didn’t even care about?

“No, it was just convenient.” He answered. “The person I loved, they would never want me. I figured I should just get over it and move on.” His gaze is on the floor.

Your sick again, he didn’t love his girlfriend but he loved someone else. You really couldn’t win, could you?

“Bakugou, why wouldn’t someone want you?” You ask. How could he believe that.

“I’m loud, angry, and rude.” He says. “I’m not good at relationships, I just screw everything up. She deserves someone who will make her happy not burden them with their crappy personality.”

“Don’t say that about yourself!” You scold him. “You’re an amazing man, you’re strong and determined. Even if you don’t show it like other people you care more than most people do about your friends. You would go to the ends of the earth to help them even if you don’t admit it. You’re the best hero I’ve ever seen. You’ve matured so much since we were in high school, you worked on yourself and became a better person. I’ve been by your side for years, don’t you dare say that you aren’t good enough. If anything, anyone you date will never be good enough for you. You’re the best man I’ve ever met, you deserve everything you want in the world.” You take a deep breath after your rant, it takes a moment to realize how much you spilled out.

His eyes are off the floor and he’s staring at you in shock. There’s something in his eyes you don’t recognize but he doesn’t say anything.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” You ask, trying to steel yourself for his answer. Whoever it was you would help him as much as you could to get their affections. It would kill you to watch him fall in love with someone else but more than anything you wanted to see him happy even if it cost you your own happiness.

“It’s you.” He says and the silence is deafening after his words. At first you think you misheard him. You feel dizzy at his admission. This had to be a dream, there was no way. “It’s always been you.”

“I-” You try to speak but there are no words. Your head is spinning, the world falling apart around you in the best of ways.

Bakugou moves slowly, one hand holding your face like it’s delicate glass, the other reaches behind you and pulls you softly to close the distance. He leans in, a breath in between you, you know he’s waiting for you to close the distance. To answer his confession without a word. Once your brain processes it all you lean in a little too excitedly almost knocking your forehead against his.

You move your arms around his shoulders as your lips meet.

With one action the dagger in your chest is suddenly gone and the pain there melts away. You feel like you’re submerged in warmth, laying in a grassy field in gentle sunlight. You kiss him until your lungs can’t take it anymore. As you part you stare into his eyes, they’re filled with so much warmth and love it makes you tear up. You lean back in for another kiss.

“Bakugou-” You say as you pull back.

“Katsuki.” He says. You had used his given name on occasion but it always felt too personal, your heart couldn’t take it.

“Katsuki-” You repeat, it feels right now. A small smile lights up his face, it’s like staring into the sun. “I love you, I’ve loved you since we were kids.”

“Me too.” He replies. You let out a laugh.

“We really wasted a lot of years.” You said, nose brushing against his, arms still around him. It was almost sad the time you could have spent happily together but you’re too excited by the years you’ll get to spend with him going forward.

“We did, I’m not going to waste any more time.” He said before moving in for another kiss.

Bakugou stays at your apartment for two weeks before he mentions moving into a new apartment. With your heart in your throat you offer for him to move in with you, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes.

You help him go through his stuff, tossing anything that was hers but she hadn’t taken or things that remind him of her. You stand at his side as he tosses the ring he bought for her off a bridge even though you told him he should just sell it. He refused, not caring about the money and definitely wanting to avoid the shame of selling an engagement ring.

He didn’t love her, he never did but he still bares the scars of her infidelity. His self-esteem in a relationship was already low but some days it feels even lower when he things about what happened. He knows you would never do the same but regardless you still hold him tighter on those days and you don’t hold back any of your love or admiration for him.

Sometimes he feels embarrassed that it went on so long without him knowing but you reassure him that the only person who should be embarrassed is her. You don’t call him a victim, no he would hate that, but you tell him that he deserves better. You can’t hold back your smile when he says he already has better now that you’re together.

You spend your workdays out on patrol together, your usual banter filling the day as you fight off any villains who dare make a mess in you territory. On your days off you spend time in each other’s arms, basking in the happiness you finally found together or out on dates. Sometimes he drags you hiking even though you hate the bugs and other times you make him go to theme parks and force a pair of mouse ears on him.

It doesn’t take long for Bakugou to propose. Your relationship had been so close for so many years that it becoming romantic didn’t change much. You already knew everything about each other, you knew how to work with each other at your best and your worst. Making it official was a natural step.

Watching him tear up as you walk down the aisle is something burned into your heart and mind and you refuse to let it go as long as you live. Spending the night dancing, eating, and drinking with your closest friends who all were relived you finally got together was an unforgettable time.

You lay beside Bakugou, arms wrapped around each other, legs tangled together. Your head rests on his chest, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat. You hold onto each other as if you would lose each other if you let go. You can’t get rid of the big smile on your face as his hands move lazily through your hair nearly lulling yourself back to sleep.

You love Bakugou Katsuki. That was a fact and you were more than happy to spend the rest of your life at his side not just as a friend or partner but as the love of his life and that made you happier than anything ever could.

[1plus1kiyoomi]

Chapter 9: Plans

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[masterlist]

“Hey, love. I saw this Tiktok...” You sigh heavily as you hear the words come out of Kuroo’s mouth. Every time he shows you a video from that app, he follows it up with a, “let’s do it.”

“What is it this time?” Your eyebrows are furrowed, expressing your disagreement already. You’ve been peacefully relaxing on the bed and your husband really wants to destroy that peace of yours.

“So you rate my exes, and I rate yours. Out of 10,” Kuroo says and you squint your eyes at him in suspicion. There has to be something behind the sudden interest in remaking it.

“Why?” is all you can say at his request.

Kuroo shrugs, a smug look on his face. “Why not?”

He takes out his laptop and opens a social media platform. Placing his laptop on his lap, he pats the space beside him, a sign that he wants you beside him. You sit beside him and he immediately types out a name.

“This was my first girlfriend back in middle school.” He describes and clicks on one of the girl’s posts.

“She’s so pretty. Is that her kid?” You point at the child his ex is holding in picture. Kuroo nods. “So was she nice? I have to rate her through her personality.”

“She was nice. But she left me for a college student,” Kuroo explains.

“Oh, so she’s a victim?” You snicker, and Kuroo chuckles at your statement. “A 6/10. She's pretty and she looks nice. But minus points for dating a college student while she was in middle school.”

He proceeds to search for his next ex. “I know her,” you say as soon as you see the picture. “I was the one who planned her wedding a year ago. I believe she gave birth just a month ago.”

“She did. She was my upperclassman in Nekoma when we dated. I think I was in my last year of middle school and she was graduating high school,” Kuroo elaborates and you laugh. “What?”

“You’re also a victim.” With that, Kuroo starts laughing with you. It takes some time before the two of you stop giggling like kids.

“Since I know her, a 7/10. She was really polite when I was planning her wedding,” you explain while panting, recovering from your fit of laughter.

“This is the last one,” Kuroo says as he searches and you look at him in shock, not believing him.

“You only dated thrice?” You ask him and he nods proudly. “But you did have a lot of flings so still a bad boy,” you tease and Kuroo rolls his eyes. He shows you his screen and you look at the girl in the picture intently.

You glance at him and then his ex, and then him again, then back to the screen. “You’re lying.”

“About what?”

“Are you sure you dated her?” You point at woman at the screen.

“Yes. Ask all of my friends. They’re witnesses.”

“You dated a famous idol...”

“Was an idol,” he corrects you. “She’s quitting the industry because she’s pregnant.”

“I love her group’s songs. I give her a 10/10. But I still can’t believe you managed to pull someone like her. Kenma said that you weren’t famous amongst girls in high school...” you state, remembering his best friend’s words when you had dinner together just a few nights ago.

Kuroo simply shrugs, “I guess she really liked me then.” He lays his gadget on your lap, waiting for you to type in. You become nervous. How are you supposed to tell him that you’ve only dated seriously once in your life? And it’s someone he sees quite often in your workplace.

“I only dated once,” you tell him calmly, trying to conceal your shaky fingers as you type. Pressing enter, your eyes immediately look away. “You know him, right? He’s our cake maker at work.”

“How was he as a boyfriend?” Kuroo simply asks and you nod nonchalantly. “He seems like a nice guy whenever I see him at your office.”

“Really sweet. Baked me goods everyday and even brought me lunch boxes,” you reply rather confidently. “We dated back in high school.”

“9/10.” Kuroo rates with a pout. He knew he was going to get jealous, but he still dug his own grave for his. His plan being:

‘To subtly hint that he wants a baby.’

All of his exes now have children, and he is not competing with them at any means, but maybe you’ll get an idea about his baby fever if he shows you that most people at your age have children.

Now that his Plan A has failed, he’ll have to proceed to his Plan B.

Kuroo patiently waits for you at his car, ready for your first date after a long time. As he sings along with the song on the radio, he scrolls through his Instagram and sees Sakusa’s post about her daughter.

“Must be nice to have a kid,” Kuroo sighs. Seconds later, he realizes what he said and puts his phone down. “No. No. No. I can’t feel this way yet. It’s too early. But we’re already in our mid-20s so a kid won’t be weird. No... Does she even want kids? My kids?”

A knock on the car window disrupts his soliloquy. He turns his head to the glass and sees you waving outside. He quickly unlocks the door, allowing you to enter. “Hi, love. Who were you talking to?”

“I was talking to Kenma,” he reasons before he leans in to capture your lips into a greeting kiss. “How was work?”

“It was tiring. The Kitas sent an invitation by the way,” you answer as you pull away from him. “It’s for the triplets’ first birthday.”

“Should we buy their gifts today?” Kuroo asks you, starting the engine of the car. “I think we’ll find something while roaming around. What about you? You said you had to buy something.”

“Bikinis,” you say nonchalantly and don’t see Kuroo’s eyebrow raise from your response.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“I forgot to tell you. I’m going to Okinawa with my high school friends next week. You know them, right? Makki, Mattsun, Iwa, and Oikawa,” you respond and Kuroo becomes silent, not knowing how to react. He doesn’t care that you’re going with guys, but how did you forget to tell him something important?

The ride is serene. Kuroo’s hand not leaving your thigh the whole time. Your hand is on top of his, your fingers tracing the protruded veins in his arms. Landing on his ring finger, your eyes scanned the body part. You don’t have a wedding band yet. The two of you have never thought of getting a pair.

The two of you arrive at your destination so get out of the car. Kuroo takes your hand immediately, sliding both of your hands into his jacket’s pocket. You smile at the romantic gesture, something you’re yet to get used to.

“Should we buy your stuff first?” Kuroo questions, looking down at you. Nodding, you lead him to a bikini boutique.

As soon as you enter, Kuroo closes his eyes. The store you entered doesn’t only sell bikinis, but lingerie as well. He has to keep his lids shut or his imagination will go everywhere. Noticing how wary he is about the surrounding, you smirk.

You hook a finger on his collar and pull him down. “Choose anything you’d like to see me in.”

After the not so quick shopping trip at the garment store, you have noticed how fidgety Kuroo is. He wouldn’t stop squeezing your hand and giving you cheeks kisses. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just excited to see you in this,” he reasons, lifting the paper bag with sets of lingerie he has chosen. You hum, your attention going back to the racks of baby clothing in front of you.

While you’re focused on the baby items in front of you, Kuroo is panicking. In his mind, he’s about to explode. You in lingerie + his baby fever= a kink he thought he’ll never have. He’s trying so hard not to think about your mini me’s, but seeing the tiny pieces of garments is making it hard for him.

“My love, the triplets are boys. But knowing the Kitas, they wouldn’t mind dressing up their sons in that dress you’re holding,” you point and Kuroo snaps back to his senses. He looks down and sees that he is holding onto a yellow dress with ribbons and ruffles. He didn’t even know how he got the dress on his hands.

“Oh,” he chuckles awkwardly, putting the dress back on the rack. “I just thought it was cute.” You raise an eyebrow at him in confusion and he forces out a laugh. “It would look cute on Sakusa’s daughter. The two of us are kind of close.”

“Really? I always see him post about her. She would look very cute in that. Should we buy it?” Your confusion about his actions are thrown away by his reason. He sighs in relief as you look away, the dress now in his cart.

‘Our daughter would look cuter,’ Kuroo thinks and he smacks his cheek, causing you to look at him in shock. It was a rather loud and heavy smack. “Mosquito.”

His Plan B is a fail.

You’re eating lunch together the next day at your office as usual. It’s quiet before he flashes his phone screen in front of you, showing you a picture of three familiar small boys. “Look at the triplets.” You continue to eat after taking a look at the picture, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. Kuroo hums happily. “Aren’t they cute?” You only nod to his question.

“Look at Sakusa’s daughter. I met her last time and she’s such a charmer,” Kuroo narrates, letting out a giggle. The interaction replaying in his head. The interaction that caused his sudden baby fever.

It was a busy day at work since the Olympic team had to take their profile and poster pictures. Kuroo was talking to Bokuto when a child suddenly latched onto the spiker’s leg.

“My favorite teammate, you’re here!” Bokuto beamed and picked the child up. As she rested in his forearm, she looked at Kuroo in curiosity. Normally, children would get scared of him, but she wasn’t, which made Kuroo happy.

“Hi. My name’s Kuroo. What’s your name?” Kuroo asked the girl. She smiled at him before answering.

“Kia! Do you have a girlfriend?” Kia asked, taking Kuroo aback. It’s not everyday that a 4 year old would ask you about your relationship status.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, but I do have a wife,” Kuroo replied, which made the little pout.

“Since you only have a wife, I can be your girlfriend,” Kia proclaimed. Kuroo smiled at her statement. The girl suddenly made him think what his daughter would be like if he ever gets to have one.

“I’m sorry but my wife would be upset if I have a girlfriend, so I can’t be your boyfriend,” Kuroo explained to her, hoping she’ll learn something from it. You could subtly teach them about what’s right and wrong at a young age.

“Then, I’ll date your child, father-in-law,” Kia claimed which Kuroo patted her head for.

“I’ll remember your words, future daughter-in-law.”

“What are you smiling for?” You ask Kuroo and he looks up to you, his attention now on you.

‘It’s now or never. This is the perfect chance.’ Kuroo thinks, placing his chin on the palm of his hand. “I was just thinking about how cute our children would be.” You ignore his words and proceed to clean up your lunch box. As result, Kuroo frowns. He mirrors your actions, keeping quiet. Maybe it was wrong to mention it.

Your secretary knocks on your door before announcing that your client is already waiting outside. Kuroo put back the chair back to its proper place before walking over behind the table to give you a quick hug. You can feel his sadness radiating off him and you’re sure it’s from your silence.

His baby fever wasn’t unnoticed. In fact, you knew about it the moment you saw him scrolling through baby videos. He wasn’t very subtle about it, too. From showing his exes, to bringing you to the baby store, to sending you pictures of babies, to mentioning children all the time, you definitely knew about his baby fever.

But you don’t want a baby yet. You had just gotten steady recently, and having a child will wreck that steadiness for sure. You want to keep him to yourself as much as you can, and a child will take your time with each other away. Yet, you don’t know how to tell him that, because he’s determined to have one as soon as possible.

“I’m leaving now. I’ll pick you up later,” Kuroo speaks. He plants a kiss on your forehead before turning away. The way he turned his back at you, the way he frowned a little, it broke your heart. So you grab his hand and pull him back towards you. “Yes, my love?”

“Should we start trying for a child?” You look up to him with shaky eyes, and he saddens at your expression. He wraps his arms around you, your head falling onto his abdomen, while his hand pets the back of your head.

“Love, I’m not asking for a child immediately, so don’t get pressured. Just take my baby fever as a promise that I want to start a family with you and only you,” he reassures you, but you know he’s partly lying about it. Kuroo is a man who doesn’t give up until gets what he wants.

Kuroo’s Plan C has failed. He has no choice but to do his Plan D. (Will be posted soon 😉 if you know, you know.)

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Facts:

Fevers turn on the body's immune system. They help the body fight infection. Normal fevers between 100° and 104° F (37.8° - 40° C) are good for sick children.

Fevers only need to be treated if they cause discomfort. Most fevers don't cause discomfort until they go above 102° or 103° F (39° or 39.5° C).

Most fevers from infection don't go above 103° or 104° F (39.5°- 40° C). They rarely go to 105° or 106° F (40.6° or 41.1° C). While these are "high" fevers, they also are harmless ones.

Fevers that don't come down to normal can be caused by viruses or bacteria. The response to fever medicines tells us nothing about the cause of the infection.

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Taglist: Still can’t tag smh T^T the app keeps crashing every time i tag more than 5 people 😭

[pufflocks]

Hello again Zen! First I just wanna say that you don’t need to apologize about what happened to the other fic. If you ever feel like you wanna reattempt it, just tell me and I’ll send it again. This request is also smut like the last one and I hope that’s ok!

So Bakugou, known by the public as the pro hero Dynamight, has been having it tough at work the past 2 weeks. He knew that technically it was partly his fault. You see, Bakugou is in a secret relationship with one of Japan’s most mischievous villains. Y/n L/n. (Male Reader) Y/n was in reality not necessarily a villain. He was seen as one, but he had never actually killed anybody. He was more the type to steal, start some fights/trouble and occasionally blow up some place. He was more mischievous than evil. Though Bakugou knew that Y/n wasn’t as bad as everyone thought, and he knew that Y/n did love him. He just had a bit of history.. With that being said: Bakugou had been having it rough lately because his secret boyfriend had been at it like crazy. He also knew that Y/n was intentionally making things difficult for him. So when he was on his patrol and got an emergency signal about trouble just a few blocks away, boy was he ready to hunt Y/n down! Once he saw him he immediately chased him into an alleyway. Y/n had escaped and ran into an abandoned apartment. He thought he was safe. But when he turned around, he wasn’t so lucky. Shit.. Bakugou was ready to completely ravage and take out all of his frustrations on Y/n, as he had him trapped with nowhere to run.

This one could be considered Revenge/Angry S*x. It’s not non-con since Y/n clearly knew what he was in for, and Bakugou wouldn’t do anything incase Y/n seriously stopped him. The request was kinda long, sorry about that lol. If you don’t feel like writing it then it’s fine, and if you’d like to switch some things up then feel free to do so! Also, don’t feel rushed and take your time. Have a nice day/night! :>

Summary: I'm not a dark blogger, but this req is honestly too amazing. I will change some things as to not make it exactly dark though— And thank you for being patient with me and the recent incident. 💛

Warnings: NFSW • proof read • Aged up • mild angst{?}

Cast: Villian!M!Reader x Pro hero!Bakugou

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Y/N L/N. A name that was a hassle to spit out. Your name was spoke like a horrid sickness spreading west to east. All you were was some mildly lowlife starting cat fights on the streets of Japan. It usually happens at night, and that's also when you strike 24 hour open corner stores. Quite fun to be honest. Your skill being up to par of a spy since your original outing clothing you were seen with was mostly black. Your hair was dyed a certain way after a long past incident though, kinda making you stick out overall you camflouged into the night.

Your pro hero, hot headed, stress filled, boyfriend however, was gold spoon in it's prime. A pro hero who was rich with fame. Oh god he had it all in your eyes. You sometimes cried with tears of joyfulness just at the mere slick thought you were dating him. Not no female who just as good looking, like Creati. No, none of that. It's not like he would change that spite his efforts of frustration with your recent activities these part two years.

The streets are terrific to you for these two years though. Everything is nearly breakable and easily fixed with community money. You would think it was community money atleast. All is good since you made sure to leave your mark with explosives.

Hence your love and passion for your lover, you would smuggle cheap fireworks and set them off at random areas of the late hours. The most recent one being pulled off near a school and and anyone could imagine how the headlines went. The news was erratic with wow and terror of where the explosion even came from, who set it off. Little did they obviously not know —

It was pro hero, Katsuki Bakugous boyfriend.

--

On to other things. Bakugou was in a meeting. Apparently he was being caught up with some warning of a manic villain roaming the streets and city alone.

"So what ?" The room was silent as all eyes transferred front to the back where he sat. Eye bags slightly visible of how stressed he really was after the news confirmed he was.

A co-worker of his, Kirishima raised his hand in apparent anxiousness. "Um", he coughed into his fist before speaking again. "Well, Bakubro he has been going at it for nearly 2 years. No one even know what he looks like, hell man." Starting to get his voice back he finally said, "We probably don't even know if he is a he !" The rooms tension was held up to a few more minutes before Bakugou just got up and walked out.

Another co-worker of his, Mina sparked up and said, "Where are you going !" Her words fell on deaf ears as he was already gone.

Heavy weighted footsteps of his boots were heard along the agency's hallways as people made sure to step out of his way. Grabbing his stuff most important for his next move being his car keys. His brain hurt of how fucking frustrating it is to be held back from work because of his delinquent boyfriend wants to treat the world as a damn playground. He couldn't take it! The stress and anxiety he kept for 2 years was just high enough for him to fuck one out. And he might just.

Just because those assholes didn't know where to find you, doesn't mean he can't. You were always close to a rundown apartment in an alleyway doctoring up a new firework of your own or anything remotely for distruction.

And there you were. In a damn corner completely unaware of the 6 foot presence behind you. Horny and exhausted was a nasty mix for anyone and Bakugou is a worse case as he grabbed you by your arm turning you around.

Alert entered your mind as you nearly, by a measly hair burnt him with a match you had. Why was here was all you could ask yourself, feeling his dramatic hot pants near your neck.

"Why-" No time for speaking when he was highly eager to ravage your ass. You knew how he was from time time since you've met him and because of this you have gotten the worst and the best of him. Sex and life alone was hot and dangerous between the both of you.

His lips marked yours up with a grunt of his own making it seem as if he was feasting on your chapped ones. The dryness making it sting sweetly only adding to the arousal you now felt for yourself. Kissing him. Him not taking his time as he will easily swallow his food without chewing.

"I'm fucking pissed." He snapped. This version of him was the only version you couldn't take. No type of convincing could make an outsider believe your actions to one another was not non consensual. His slightly bigger form compared to your own was trifling as it was pressed up to your chest.

After minutes of searching eachothers mouths with fever and rush he finally stripped himself from his pants. You caught a rare glimpse of how hard he really was. Now this was irritating you at this point. You were no sore loser, but if someone ever took something from you like candy it would easily be endgame.

"Stop fucking pouting. I just got out of a meeting early", he adjusted his position a bit. "To fuck your meddling ass." He closed the space between you two as his cologne and natural scenticked your senses. A shiver went down your spine like a fresh cold drop of sweat as you backed away into the corner. He followed that and smirked. You couldn't be serious.

"Turn around. I wanna see it." He huffed, impatiently. You obviously did what you were told. No time in making him even more pissed. He admired your obedience when it came to your relationship. Only if you could follow that up in turning yourself in. Sadly you were too prideful, probably why you both have an odd ball bond with eachother.

Like lightning your pants were down just like his as he slapped your ass with a strikingly heavy hand. Watching your arse slightly move was guilty enjoyment of his own.

"Ah !" You covered your mouth quickly in fear of his scolding. Number 1 rule of him when frustrated was that on all accounts. Don't. Fucking. Make. A. Peep. That reminder did not fail to make you turn back with pleading eyes with him looking back at you with pliant disbelief.

"Yer' really trying to fuckin' test me, yeah ?" He asked. Not loud how he usually is, but a lower octave with a nonchalant expression. He was tired. Tired of your prideful denial of going to jail. Tired of these late damn meetings at the agency. Tired of his parents calling him because he was doing this to himself. He was fucking exhausted of it all. His top tier was you especially.

☆

That's completely fine though. He can sex all of this out on his handsome villain boyfriend.

Y/N fucking L/N.

I hope this is fine, again I'm not a dark blog so if I wrote this along with the req it would get a bit dark. { I love dark blogs so it would be a whole series 💀. }

[koganegawasimp]

Poly Seijoh Third Years - Part 2

(Part one here)

So after I posted my first poly Seijoh third years headcanons, a few people suggested that I should do a part 2, so that’s what I’m doing here! This set of headcanons will include things like weddings, marriage, and also children/taking care of said children (although I don’t actually go into detail about how the children are...acquired?? to keep it gender neutral!) Also! I’m having a December holiday headcanon event, so if you’d like to request a character the overview is right here! I hope you enjoy these headcanons!

So Oikawa gets down on one knee

In front of a crowd of people

At the Olympics

Side note: he talked to you guys about a public proposal beforehand to make sure you’d be ok with it! Proposing in front of a crowd without making sure your partner(s) would be ok with it is yikes!!!!!

The whole crowd is hushed as he starts to talk

And he has a WHOLE lot to say

He pours out the last decades worth of his feelings and his hopes for the future

He gives this whole long speech about how you’ve always been a part of his life, and how he wants you all to stay in his life (and his heart) “forever and ever”

At this point you’re all in tears

And you obviously accept his proposal! He practically tackles you all while sobbing about how happy he is

Let’s be honest, you’re all kind of sobbing about how happy you are

The whole way home is a blur of congratulations and cheering and photographs

There are SO many photos

But the whole way through the crowds, Iwaizumi always has a steady hand on your shoulder to ground you

By the time you get home, you’re all exhausted and get ready for bed even though it’s pretty early

But not before Makki snags a selfie of the five of you proudly holding up your rings while cuddling

You didn’t even need to announce you’re engagement or anything, EVERYONE’S already heard about it

Your social medias are blowing up with all the congratulatory comments and posts

The whole rest of the week you just kind of laze around at home with them, starting to plan the wedding

Planning literally anything with the four of them is chaotic to say the least, but planning a whole wedding?

It somehow ends up being an incredible balance between romantic and goofy, and it honestly fits you guys incredibly well

You invite all of your friends and family

Especially the entire old Seijoh volleyball team! They’re so excited to see you all get married!

The wedding is being held on a hillside overlooking a lake and it’s so beautiful!

As they all walk down the aisle one by one, they start to tear up

It really just feels like such a surreal day

You’re the last one to walk down the aisle and that’s the moment when Oikawa and Mattsun both break, happy tears running down their cheeks

There’s a little bit of confusion once you get to the “you may now kiss the bride” part (I am genuinely curious how that would work??? Would everyone just take turns kissing or something????)

The “first dance”! Oh my god it’s so sweet and goofy, since there’s an odd number of you it couldn’t really be a traditional partner waltz, so it ends up being like a variation of a waltz, where you’re all switching partners and stuff (I’m so sorry I can’t explain it agdsgxs)

The whole rest of the wedding carries that same energy, it’s all very fun but still romantic

At some point Makki gets the musicians to play the cha cha slide and you are struck with the sudden realization that one of your husbands is actually playing the cha cha slide at your wedding

The cake is also so pretty!

It’s got those little wedding cake toppers of you all

Mattsun ALMOST shoved cake all over Iwa’s face, but you stopped him because Iwaizumi would have murdered him

The rest of the wedding is kind of just like a big fun party

Afterwards you’re SO exhausted, so as soon as you bid everyone goodnight, you’re barely conscious

Iwaizumi carries you upstairs and helps you change out of your wedding clothes and into your pajamas

And Oikawa helps you with any skincare routine you have to do before bed

You drift off to sleep in the arms of all four of your husbands 🥺🥺

After all of that excitement, your honeymoon is pretty chill

You all rent a little cabin/cabana type thing on an island and spend pretty much the whole time relaxing and enjoying each other’s company

Honestly? Married life isn’t that different from how life was before, only now you’ve got the rings

You’ve still got the same domestic moments as before, the same goofy moments, the same soft cuddles and kisses and teasing

But it just feels like so much more if that makes sense??

Like even when you’re going through the motions you still can’t help but look at your boys and think ‘wow...those are my husbands’

And their affection has cranked up to like ten

Like, even when you’re just walking around in old clothes doing chores they look at you with stars in their eyes

They also are casually affectionate a lot more??

Like they’ll drape an arm over your shoulder or rest their chin on your head, little touches like that while you’re just puttering around the house or doing work

It’s all just so soft I abdnsnfnsf

You do end up adopting a dog and a cat tho (as long as you aren’t allergic!)

The next really big step in your relationship is when you decide to have children

Surprisingly, Mattsun is the one who ends up with baby fever

While you were both at the grocery store, there was a baby in a stroller in front of you

He watched as you and the child made face at each other and couldn’t help but think about what it would be like if you all had children

It’s only a few weeks before he brings it up, he’s not embarrassed about it or anything

He sits you down for a “kind of serious conversation”

“I know that we’ve never really talked about this before, but I was wondering if we could have a kid?”

There’s a lot of talking and figuring stuff out, since Oikawa still plays volleyball and Iwaizumi is still a trainer, they have pretty long intensive hours and aren’t sure if they’re ready to have a kid yet

But a few months later they’ve come to the conclusion that yes, they do want to start a family with you

So you all....go through the process of procuring a baby (pregnancy, surrogacy, adoption, whatever you prefer)

And those four are the BEST dads in the world you can’t convince me otherwise

Iwaizumi is the practical one, the ‘strict but fair’ one, the one who makes sure that your kids are staying safe and following rules

He also carries around the kids whenever they ask him to 🥺🥺

Oikawa is kind of like Regina George’s mom in Mean Girls, he’s a lot more lenient with the kids but still makes sure that they’re safe and happy

He’s also so proud of his kids! He’s always talking to all of his teammates about the cute stuff they’re getting up to, and he always has the kids’ artwork and good grades up on the fridge

Hanamaki is like the goofy one, he’s always up for playing with the kids

I think that in this relationship, instead of getting a new job he would be a house husband to take care of the kids during the day

He plays pretend with the kids all the time and takes it VERY seriously

Matsukawa is like the chill one?? He’s the one who the kids will always go to for advice and once they’re going on field trips he’ll probably be the parent they volunteer to be chaperone

He’ll also allow the kids to bend the rules a little bit as long as they’re staying safe, like he doesn’t see anything wrong with letting them have a little bit of candy before dinner

They’re also all home a lot, and whenever Oikawa is traveling with his team he’ll FaceTime every night and wish them goodnight

ALSO LITERALLY ANY OF THEM READING TO YOUR KID WOULD BE SO 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Since your family isn’t the typical “nuclear family”, you all understand that the kid might be a little confused in the future

But for now, you’re all just a really happy, supportive, wonderful family

Hey @chibi-silverware-hoe and @kenmas-xbox, thank you so much for asking for a part 2!! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

[castleshadows]

Sick Day

A short fic that contains a sick Poppy and a mother hen Casteel.

Requested by Anonymous.

Written June 16, 2021

Poppy groaned, immediately regretting it as the vibrations made the dull ache in her head throb harder. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to subside before slowly opening them again and blinking as the room spun a bit. Sniffing loudly, she reached her arm across the bed, flopping it around until she grabbed hold of a clean tissue. The loud and hard nose blowing that commenced did nothing to help her stuffy nose and only made her headache worse.

“Goddesses don’t get sick they said,” she grumbled to the empty room, “Goddesses aren’t susceptible to colds they said. Well look how wrong you were.”

She blew her nose again, her arm falling away rather dramatically from her face and hitting the bed with a whomp . As she stared at the ceiling, she contemplated the pros and cons of hauling several pillows from Cas’s side of the bed to hers so she could prop herself up. One the one hand it would probably help her nose clear up a bit, but on the other hand… Well there really was no other hand. Just the fact that she really didn't want to move.

After several seconds of self-debate, Poppy shoved a wad of tissues away from her side of the bed and dragged herself into a sitting position. She looked to where most of the pillows are stacked up. It was only a few feet away, but to her aching body, the task seemed impossible.

A door creaked open, and Poppy looked blearily at the tall figure that emerged from the hallway. The door closed behind him and she sniffed pathetically as Casteel came into view, his eyes filled with worry.

Slowly, pulling himself onto the bed, he reached a large hand up and cupped her cheek. At first the contact made her skin ache, but the feeling went away after a moment, and Poppy was able to rest her head in her husband’s warm palm. Casteel’s other hand came up to feel her forehead. He turned the hand over to the other side and then back again. Brushing a sweaty string of hair away from her temple, he pressed a slight kiss to her forehead and leaned back.

“How are you feeling, Princess?” he whispered, as if afraid of hurting her if he talked too loud. She almost snorted, but thought better of it, when she remembered the headache and the gallons of snot that seemed to be shoved into every crevice of her nose.

“Terrible,” she groaned, wincing as the dull throb returned full force. She closed her mouth, not wanting to make it worse than it already was.

“I’m so sorry, Poppy,” he sounded genuinely guilty, despite her being sick having nothing to do with him. She wished she had the energy to tell him it wasn’t his fault, “But don’t worry, I brought the best healer in the capital, she’s waiting right outside—”

“Casteel you do realize that this is probably just a cold right? And that colds aren’t curable?” Poppy opened her eyes, blinking away the blurriness, “I’m just going to have to wait it out.”

“I know it’s most likely a cold,” he started to rub his thumb along her cheekbone, and she leaned into the soothing motion, her eyes closing once again, “But there are certain things Atlantians are susceptible to that look like colds at first and that can become much worse if left untreated.”

Poppy found herself wanting to ask all about the different types of sickness Atlantians could get, purely out of curiosity. She also found herself wanting to protest that she was not an Atlantian, but she had no energy for anything more than a slight nod. A sluggish feeling was settling deep into her bones, and it didn’t help that she hadn’t been able to get a wink of sleep the night before due to the fact that she couldn’t breathe through her nose while laying down and breathing through her mouth only hurt her already sore throat.

Casteel caressed her cheek one last time before leaving the room and returning with a tall, motherly looking woman garbed in healer’s robes. Her brown skin was lined with wrinkles and her hair was turning grey at the roots, but her eyes held a look of youth in them, and her smile was one of the kindest Poppy had ever seen. She came in, took one look at the state Poppy was in and immediately set her things down to start cleaning up the multitude of tissues that surrounded her patient.

“Oh you poor thing,” she said, dumping the snotty tissues into a trashcan and setting it beside the bed, “Don’t worry honey, my name is Nola and I’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

Nola rushed back over to her basket of supplies as Casteel came to sit by Poppy. He took hold of her hand and gripped it reassuringly, watching the healer carefully. The woman came back holding her basket in one hand and a thin stick of wood in the other. She held it up to Poppy’s mouth, only smiling kindly when the Queen jerked away.

“Oh, don’t be alarmed dear. I’m not going to stick it down your throat,” Nola beckoned Poppy to come closer to the edge of the bed which Casteel helped with, “It’s just to hold your tongue down when I look inside your mouth.”

Poppy nodded, slowly opening her mouth and trying to ignore the fear that the woman was tricking her into getting something shoved down her throat. Casteel held her hand the entire time however, rubbing his fingers across her skin, and soothing whatever anxiety she had.

The healer used the stick only to press down Poppy’s tongue as she’d said, and peered down her throat. She nodded a bit, and mhmed once or twice as if confirming something she’d thought previously.

“It looks quite red,” Nola commented, “Has it been hurting at all, honey?”

Poppy was unable to answer with her mouth still wide open, but Casteel nodded for her.

“She said that her throat’s been sore for a while. It’s been around longer than the other symptoms along with the runny nose.”

Nola nodded again, and pulled the stick back, letting Poppy close her mouth.

“I see, and have you taken any medicine at all to relieve any of your symptoms?”

She directed the question towards Poppy, but it seemed that Casteel sensed his wife wasn’t in the mood to talk right now, and once again answered for her.

“She’d been sucking on some honey drops to help with the soreness, but we haven’t taken anything for the runny nose or fever.”

Nola started to dig through her basket, tossing things onto the bed. She spent a good five minutes or so pulling out bottle after bottle of tonics and reading each label aloud under her breath. Poppy really hoped that she wasn’t going to have to take all of that medicine.

Eventually, the healear found what she was looking for, and turned triumphantly to Casteel and Poppy, holding up a glass bottle.

“This is a tonic of my own making, designed to effectively treat the symptoms of a common cold,” she paused, turning to Poppy, “Which is most likely what you have dear.”

“Told you,” Poppy murmured to her husband, who let out a chuckle, nodding for Nola to continue.

“It doesn’t taste all that great and it can make you quite drowsy, but with as little sleep as you most likely got last night based on the way you're drooping, that might be a good thing.”

Casteel held out an arm and took the bottle from the healer, glancing at the label.

“Each dose is two tablespoons, and you’ll need to take one within the next few minutes and then again eight hours later. I wouldn’t recommend taking it consistently for more than two or three days, but I doubt your cold will persist that long.”

Casteel nodded, his expression quite serious as he committed all the information to memory. It was one of the things Poppy loved about her husband. The way he would take her and her needs completely seriously, no matter what. She snuggled in closer to him, pressing her face into his shoulder. He wrapped one warm arm around her shoulders and held her there as he asked Nola several questions about the best way to make the medicine taste better, and if it was safe to take it with chocolate or a bit of sugar. Godsdamn her husband was so thoughtful.

Poppy heard the sound of a wrapper crinkle and she lifted her head to see Nola handing Casteel a bar of chocolate.

“The best way to take bad tasting medicine,” she informed, “is to drink lots of water and swallow as much of it as you can at once, preferably all of it. Drink some more water to wash it down and then eat a bit of chocolate to get rid of the taste. At least that’s what I’ve found in my years of healing.”

Poppy grimaced at the thought of having to force down the tonic, and pressed her face into Casteel’s chest. Her husband brought a hand up and weaved his fingers through her hair, giving her some reassuring rubs on the back of her head.

“Thank you, from both my wife and I,” he said, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. Poppy pressed in closer if only to feel those soothing vibrations again. She didn’t even care that she probably looked ridiculous acting like a child in front of the healer. Nola didn’t comment on it though, only gathered her things, thanked Casteel and left.

“All right let’s try this tonic out,” he said as Poppy continued to practically shove herself into his chest, “Two tablespoons she said…”

There was a sound of pouring and Poppy lifted her head, but only to make sure that he wasn’t pouring the tonic all over the bed. He wasn’t. The healer had left them a very tiny metal cup with lines etched into the sides, indicating the measurements. Casteel poured the brown colored liquid to the two tablespoons line and screwed the cap back on the bottle, setting it to the side.

Poppy wrinkled her nose at the strong smell that was emanating from the metal cup, and instinctively shied away when Casteel tried to lift it to her lips.

“Come on Poppy, just drink it,” Cas coaxed as she grimaced, “it won’t kill you.”

“You don’t know that,” she rasped, trying not to show that even just speaking was hurting her.

It didn’t work very well because Casteel immediately furrowed his brow, “Poppy I can tell you’re in pain, just take it.”

“The healer said we needed water first,” she reminded him in a pathetic attempt to delay the inevitable. Thankfully, Casteel was the kind of person to be concerned about following exact directions when it came to things he had no idea what he was talking about, and several minutes later he was back with a cup of cold water.

Poppy reluctantly took the water from him and took a sip that was probably longer than necessary. She swallowed the cool liquid, wincing a bit as it hit her sore throat. Casteel watched on, taking the cup from her when she was done. The smaller metal one was then pressed into her hand.

Steeling herself, Poppy brought the metal cup to her lips and after taking a deep breath, drained the cup in one go. No sooner had she swallowed the disgusting tonic, she started choking, coming dangerously close to throwing it back up. Casteel took the cup and rubbed her back until there was no longer a danger of her vomiting.

“You okay?” he asked, handing her the water.

She took a long sip, the cool liquid helping to cleanse the taste of medicine from her mouth.

“I’m fine,” she croaked, unwrapping the chocolate and taking a ridiculously large bite. She felt better almost instantly. The sweetness chased away whatever lingering flavor was still there, and it was smooth enough that it didn’t bother her throat too much on the way down. She sat there for a while, savoring the taste, then went in for another large bite, glaring when Casteel stopped her.

“Let’s save the rest for the other doses,” he wrestled the chocolate out of Poppy’s hands and set it on the bedside table.

She thought about running and grabbing it, but it honestly wasn’t worth it, and she was still quite tired despite the fact that the tonic already seemed to be working. Her nose was less stuffed and she could finally breathe. Only through one nostril, but she counted that as a win. Her head felt better as well, and she didn’t feel as heavy anymore. Poppy looked around the room, cringing at the mess she’d made during the day.

Casteel seemed to note the mess as well, because barely seconds after she’d thought about it, he was up and cleaning, straightening the bedsheets, picking up tissues that had found their way underneath the bed.

“I talked to Kieran earlier,” his voice was muffled, “And had him move all of our meetings to different dates as well as fill out some of the paperwork you had.”

“Wait, what?” Poppy crawled to the edge of the bed, looking down at Casteel. Well really just his legs that were poking out from under the bed.

“I said,” he grunted, pulling himself back into the open, “That I talked to Kieran earlier and had him—”

“No, I know what you said,” Poppy interrupted, “My question is why. You’re not sick, so it’d be possible for you to attend the meetings, especially the one with the treasurer. We’ve pushed that back long enough. And I’m feeling a lot better, so paperwork is still manageable. I don’t want to pile all of that on Kieran, he works hard enough already.”

Casteel stood up, looking her in the eye. His brow furrowed.

“Okay, first of all, Kieran is perfectly fine. Second, I’m aware that I am not sick, however, I don’t feel good about leaving you here all day by yourself. And lastly, no way in hell am I letting you do any work while you're sick. Not only is it possible you could get someone else sick, but you also are currently running on a grand total of zero hours of sleep. So if we are going to focus on anything, I think it should be that.”

Poppy narrowed her eyes, unwilling to give in. Unfortunately, Casteel looked just as determined. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to lay around in bed all day. In fact, doing just that sounded like absolute heaven right now, but she didn’t want to feel useless. And not only that, but she didn’t want to make somebody else do all the work she was supposed to be doing when she was perfectly capable of doing it.

“Kieran will be fine,” Casteel said, practically reading her mind, “In fact he told me to tell you that if you try and do any of the work yourself he’ll come here and tie you down to the bed and tape your eyes closed.”

Her chest shook with restrained laughter as she tried to keep her mouth from curving upwards. She failed, the laughter bubbling up and releasing into the world.

The stubborn expression slipped away from Casteel’s face, and his mouth opened a bit. He looked like he always did when she laughed or smiled. Awed.

She giggled again at the expression, which quickly turned into a loud yawn that she covered with a hand.

Casteel pulled her into his lap, maneuvering them so that they lay against the headboard. Poppy turned to the side, her cheek pressed to his warm chest.

“Are we sure Kieran will be okay?” she said as a heaviness seeped into her bones once again. She sniffed and was handed a tissue by her husband.

“He’ll be fine. I promise.”

_________________________________________________

“I am not fine, I am not fine at all,” Kieran muttered to himself, staring at the huge pile of paperwork that had been dumped on his desk by Casteel several hours ago.

He’d been working on it since then, and had gotten barely a fifth of it done. Not to mention all the other work he had to do. Why the hell did Poppy have to get sick?

Kieran buried his head in his hands and let himself groan loudly for a couple seconds before pulling off the next large piece of parchment and getting to work.

[suilinbride]

Making a Confession, Stepping Away from Kemetic Orthodoxy, and Kicking My Own Ass in the Process

I know I've been a little quiet again here recently, save for building upon the foundation of this blog and occasionally setting up some of the framework for how this blog is going to look, feel, and act in the future. That's very much by design actually, as I've been dealing with family shenanigans again, taking care of my own personal and physical health, helping to finish taking care of a long term problem that's been festering in my personal Blind Pagan community for over ten months now, and finally, though not the last nor the least of what's currently going on with me on my end, I just finished up participating at the national convention for the National Federation of the Blind this weekend. Yes, I'm fully aware I'm busy like headless chick in staked to the back of a fucking Roadrunner.

Anyway, I have a confession to make here and I'm fully aware that actively choosing to become a Remejt and ignoring the issue at hand puts me squarely in the wrong for sure.

During this weekend while I was resting and waiting between two events being held by the convention that were hours apart from one another, I decided to do a lot personal soul searching and decided in the end to take no further steps with Kemetic Orthodoxy and instead allow my membership to falter, fall, and fade away like dust in the wind in the end. I actually regret agreeing to stay on as a Remetj at the end of the beginner course. I regret doing so because agreeing to stay on as Remetj was in a number of ways me lying to myself and not being completely honest all around. Some of my beliefs are incompatible with Kemetic Orthodoxy's beliefs and practice, and I should have said something right there and then. I plan on emailing someone on the site and asking them to go ahead and remove my membership or whatever it's called on the forum.

I came into the beginner course with two goals in mind, one of which would only work if I ended up becoming a Remetj. First, I wanted to learn some decent structure to help jump start my Kemetic practice, as I am currently unable to get ahold of any accessible copies of materials that are recommended as must have reading resources for getting into practicing Kemeticism. Second, I confess that I was extremely tempted by the idea of the Rite of Parent Divination or at least the idea of it as an easy way to figure out who one's gods are without doing the proper work and all the blood, sweat, and tears that usually go into that kind of work in the long run to be successful at forming healthy and strong relationships with beings, deities, etc.

I'm ashamed at the fact that I tried taking the easy way out in a way, instead of taking the first real step on the road to figuring things out on my own. I've never done that before. Yes, I've sought aid from other Diviners to obtain clues that I was missing out on to help me narrow things down and find the right trail to get where I want to go, or to confirm or debunk a conclusion or possibility when I think I'm at the end of the road, end of my rope, and there's not really anything else I can do except get a yay or nay on the subject at hand. But I've never shyed away from the work before, the real hard personal work that goes into building proper healthy relationships with beings, deities, etc, and I'm kicking my own ass hardcore for trying to take the easy way out this one time.

It's not an excuse I'm trying to offer here but merely offering the facts or at least what I think happened or at least the processes that were going on in my head when all of these things happened, but I think the struggle that I've been going through the past year regarding straightening out my practice between Greek or Roman (I'll talk more about that in a later post), that my exhaustion of sorts got in the way of my proper mindset of things and I ended up throwing my own rules and personal protocols of doing the work tofigure things out straight out the window for something that would make things easier. Just typing the words leaves ashes in my mouth.

Either way, in the end Brighid made the whole thing moot in a very interesting way. See, Brighid and I have a personal deal or pact you can say, that among other things, she gets to call the shots on which deities I can and can not worship. This is something I entered in with her with my eyes completely wide open and understanding completely what it meant to give her that kind of power. I made this deal with her several years ago as a last ditch attempt as a desperate and last resort sort of action to save my sanity and most likely my life. I mean that in all seriously. I was being attacked by a deity that refused to take no for an answer, refused to respect my sense of consent, and was gunning for me in a way that would either see me as her's and her's alone, or dead in the process. I'm not kidding when I write that, not one bit. I can tell you some crazy horror stories regarding what happened during that terrible year, as it was the kind of year where everything crashed and burned as if it was ignited by Napalm of all things.

But I digress, as I tend to do way too damn much. I got my second vaccination shot for Covid on the eighteenth of June, which was a Friday, and ended up obtaining a Fever of One Hundred Five that Saturday morning. Brighid decided to take that as an opportunity to rekindle our relationship in the exact same way she did when she first healed and claimed me Fifteen years ago this past February. We've been struggling with just about every aspect of our relationship for the past seven years or so, and while this didn't fix everything completely (as there is still a lot of work for both of us to get things where we both want things to be in our relationship), this whole crazy spiritual ordeal cleared the way for us in so many ways that I can't even begin to describe properly.

One of the things that got brought up was the status and nature of every relationship I have or hoped to have with every deity I've been building a relationship with for years now. A lot of uncertainties, confusion, illusions, and chaos all fell away. There are some major changes in my practice I need to write about at some point, but I'm still wrapping my head around it all first. I haven't had the time to do so yet, and it's something I'm working on as I type this all out. 

With all of the things that were cleared away, she showed me which of the Egyptian gods I had a fledgling relationship with, many of which I should have known (all things considered with my brief history with Kemeticism), but didn't have a clue until this crazy shit happened. That doesn't mean that everything is fine and dandy. It's far from it actually. I may know which of the Netjeru I have fledgling relationships with, but I need to do the work to actually build said relationships with those Netjeru on my own. I need to and I'm going to put in the blood, love, respect, sweat, and tears I put in with every relationship I have with deity and non deity alike.

And with all of that now written, here's my confession for whatever it's worth. If nothing else, I now have a clear mind and a far more cleaner heart. I'm a firm believer in stepping up and speaking out about making mistakes, fucking up, and not being or doing my best and then work on fixing those mistakes and doing my damndest to be and do even better next time. This is the first step in doing so, in my heart and mind anyway. 

[stillebesat]

Catch Me (If You Can) -part 3

December Drabbles Day 23 Sanders Shorts: Remy Sanders Sides: Logan, Roman, Janus Blurb: Remy would not allow himself to be seen as needy and helpless in front of the general masses. He had an image to uphold. One of perfect health, snarky comebacks, and general sassiness. He didn’t get sick. Fic Type: Sick!Fic, Guardian!AU Overall Fic Warnings: Sickness, Fainting, Mentions of Religion Taglist in reblog.

To Catch Up: Part 1  Part 2  

The scraping of a chair somewhere nearby was what drew Remy out the warm embrace of unconsciousness. He stirred, eyelids fluttering as an unfamiliar voice spoke.

“I didn’t think Lo was allowed to bring his science experiments home.” 

There was a soft exhale, the sound of paper rustling as a book was closed. “He was a customer, Janus. I didn’t create him, he fainted down below and I brought him up here.” 

That voice. 

Remy frowned, turning his head, a damp cloth slipping down to rest by his nose as he strained to hear. To remember.

How did he know that wonderful cadentic voice? 

“Ha!” 

Remy flinched at the unexpected laugh, eyes flashing open as he pushed himself upright, his arm trembling from the movement, the blanket covering him falling to his waist. Where? He looked around, pausing as he found a bowl of soup with steam still rising from it on the coffee table near him with a tall clear glass of what could only be water right next to it. 

He grimaced, throat feeling like burning sandpaper as he swung his feet to the carpet so he could reach the glass. Still cold. How had---He shook his head, raising the glass to his dry lips. The relief to his throat was instantaneous. 

Wherever he’d ended up it definitely hadn’t been to a party. That sort of hangover felt much different than this.

“Oh, he fainted alright!” The louder voice--Red...why did it make him think of Red? continued as Remy lowered the glass back to the table. “Right into your arms like a damsel in distress. It was a wonderful sight to behold, Specs.” 

Specs. An ugly nickname. It wasn’t right for--for? Remy twisted, searching the empty living room as he staggered to his feet, hissing softly as his vision tunneled. Wherever he was he needed to leave. Now! Before his image was ruined--before he--

He already had. 

Remy froze, memory rushing back as a long suffering sigh, like an angelic chorus sounded from what could only be the kitchen. “It didn’t happen like that, Roman.”

His Angel. 

“Soo...you kidnapped him from the Cafe.” Janus stated. 

His Angel...also now known as this ‘Lo’ groaned as a thunk sounded on a wooden surface. “I. Did. Not.” came the muffled retort. “He’s not a prisoner.” 

“Reeeeally~?” Red--Roman? Clicked his tongue. “Didn’t the guy try to leave before you stopped him?”

Oh yes. He distinctly remembered that. Remy glanced to his wrists, before frowning down at his socked feet and the shoes neatly lined up nearby. But...if he was a prisoner--his captor--his Angel was doing a bad job of it. Leaving him untied and unsupervised and free to leave whenever.

Like now.

Scooping up his shoes, Remy tiptoed for the door, ignoring how the floor seemed to sway under his feet. 

“If he tried to leave, Then pray tell me, Lo. Why is he still here?” The one called Janus demanded. “If it had been any other human you’d have called an ambulance and washed your lily white wings of them.” 

Remy paused, hand on the door knob to freedom. Wings? Wait. Hadn’t---hadn’t this Lo mentioned something about--about---being his--

Guardian. 

He licked his chapped lips, turning to look at the other doorway where the other three were hidden from view, blood pounding in his ears. 

Angels weren’t real.

And if they were--they certainly couldn’t be working in a quaint grandma cafe! Shouldn’t they be off like---bringing messages of peace and saving the world from global warming or something? 

There was a rumble, barely audible to Remy’s ears.

“Take two, Lomageddon. We didn’t hear that.” Roman said. 

There was another soft thunk. “I said. He called me.”

Come again?

There was a scoff from the kitchen. “I thought you were...what is that lovely phrase? “Taking a Break? Having a little Self Care time from your Guardian responsibilities?”

“Oh you’re one to talk.” Lo hissed. “Neither of you would exactly be here either if you had followed guidelines!” 

Remy let out a slow breath as he slowly placed his shoes back on the ground, cursing under his breath as curiosity got the better of him. Were--were these guys--actually claiming to be angels? 

He had to see it to believe it.

On silent feet, he crept forward to the entryway of what he guessed was the kitchen.

“He’s--well he’s gotta point Deecepticon.” Roman remarked, his tone slightly more subdued.

Janus scoffed and Remy could practically feel this unknown third guy rolling his eyes. “Please. Neither one of us are exactly Class A examples like Lo here is for following the rules. And you, Roman,” He crooned the name. “Have been worth every single broken rule in the book.” 

Remy peered around the corner in time to see Red blush full scarlet as the mysterious third guy, Janus, reached out his gloved hands holding tight to Roman’s as a slight glowing haze like a mirage in the desert shimmered around them. 

He squinted, struggling to focus on what he was seeing. It almost--it almost looked like there were...wings. Remy rolled his shoulders in response, glancing to the third party member who had his head buried in his arms.

His Angel. 

His Angel who also had that odd...shimmer….Remy’s heart skipped a beat as Lo shifted like he was gonna raise his head and abruptly pulled back out of sight, hissing under his breath as his vision blurred.

Nope nope nope.

He scrubbed at his eyes as he stumbled--darted--over to his shoes, scooping them up as he rushed to the front door. He could figure out exactly what he’d just seen and heard later when his head didn’t feel like it was stuffed full of cotton. Where he wasn’t feeling like he’d been run over by a truck. Where he--

“Remy?”

He shivered at the cadentic tone of his Angel rang in his ears, hand freezing on the door knob leading to his freedom. “Don’t.” He said, refusing to turn around, glad that for once his voice cooperated. He didn’t want a repeat of earli--yesterday--what time was it?! Regardless. He needed to get out of here. 

“Oh. He is stubborn.” Janus remarked from somewhere behind. “Didn’t you say--”

“He did say.” Red--Roman chuckled. “Out for the next twelve hours, Lo, and what? It’s been maybe four?” 

The hairs on the back of Remy’s neck rose. Lo had tried to keep him asleep for twelve hours?! HOW--No. No. Leave. Leave this audience that regrettably already knew he was...sick. But if he could just--He jerked at the door, growling under his breath when it refused to open. Could his Angel actually stop doors from working?! It was--

A soft sigh sounded as a hand reached around him to unlock the deadbolt.

Oh. Right. Locks exist. 

“You should be resting more you know. Your fever’s hardly gone down.” 

Remy flinched, grip tightening on his shoes. He knew that. He could feel how bad he felt. He just--

“But if you stay away from 32nd street, you should make it home without issue.” 

Wait. “What?” How did he know that?! Remy frowned, finding himself turning to look into the shining sapphires of his Angel’s eyes before he could stop himself. “You’re actually letting me leave this time? Not gonna stop me?” 

Could it really be so easy? Wasn’t he going to use his fellow cohorts hovering by the kitchen to subdue him again? Make him fall asleep? 

Lo raised an eyebrow, holding out Remy’s sunglasses in his other hand. “Do you want me to, Remy?” 

“No.” He snatched his sunglasses back, relaxing a little as he slipped them over his eyes. “Didn’t the first time either, Sugarbee, and that turned out with me laid out like one of your French girls on your couch.” 

Roman snorted, crossing his arms. “Hardly, he did keep your clothes on.” 

Not. The. Point. 

“Ignore him.” His Angel said, shooting the other two a look. 

Gladly. He pulled open the door, quickly slipping out into the hallway. “Avoid 32nd street you say--” He cut off, and whirled back to Lo, ignoring how his vision swam a bit too much after that little maneuver, favoring jabbing a finger in the general direction of his Angel instead. “How do you know where I live!” He demanded. “Or even my name?!” He didn’t remember telling his angel who he was, but that was the second time he’d used it since he’d woken up.

Another scoff sounded from inside the apartment.

Lo blinked, raising an eyebrow as he held out a steaming to-go cup of soup out to Remy. 

When had he grabbed that? His Angel had only been holding his sunglasses--of course. It was probably some sort of divine angely magic. 

Or it was like the deadbolt and he just hadn’t noticed--GAH. This was too confusing on a feverish mind.

Not that he was feverish--or sick. No, he was fine. 

Until he found out what the Socials were saying about him freaking fainting in public when he got home that is. But he could pretend for now.

“I know from your driver’s license.” Lo said, with a shrug. “I checked it when you...fainted.” 

Oh that made sense--wait. Remy scoffed, ignoring the burning in his throat and the grumbling of his stomach as he took another step back away from his Angel and the soup in his hand. “Does that excuse actually work?”  

The smile was faint, barely a twitch of his lips. “Most of the time.”

“Seriously? In a college town? Where practically everyone is from out of state?” 

Lo chuckled, a low sound that sent Remy’s heart racing as his Angel leaned against the door frame in an obvious attempt to appear casual even though Remy could see the tension in his shoulders, the worry in his eyes. “Most people don’t ask how I know, actually.” 

Oh. Well all things considered, the license excuse was believable. Just not for him.

“And you’re letting me leave now. Just like that?” He said, taking a couple more steps backwards down the hallway to prove his point.

A muscle in his Angel’s jaw twitched. 

Remy smirked, hoping Lo couldn’t hear how hard his heart was pounding. “You don’t want me to leave.”

“You are visibly unwell, Remy.” He said softly, crossing his arms. “I would prefer you stay here until you are better.” His bright eyes seemed to stare straight through his sunglasses and right down into the depths of Remy’s soul like he actually cared about his well being.

Ha. 

Nope. No more Jedi mind tricks here. Remy shook his head, forcing himself to turn fully away, ignoring the prickling sensation of his Angel’s eyes on his back. “Thanks. But No.” He called over his shoulder as he made a beeline for the nearest exit before his Angel could say one word more to convince him otherwise. 

He’d be fine.

To Be Continued.