#and at MT he stayed standing in his corner

[mrsfitzgerald]

budapest2.

[thepixelelf]

Oh Baby, You Part 42 - Recovery Mission?

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Wonwoo turns the small bundle of forget-me-nots in his hands. He knows flowers alone aren’t enough, but he grazes his fingers over the bit of white ribbon holding the posy together. You’d always loved the little bits and bobs you could collect over time. There was once a red ribbon wrapped around a gift he bought you back before he left for Mongolia — courtesy of the store’s gift wrapping station — which you saved and tied in a cute little bow on one of the drawer handles in your old apartment. While he was gone, he would look forward to seeing it in the background of video calls. Like it was a part of him that he left behind to stay with you.

Shit. He feels like an idiot.

In the elevator mirror, he meets Chan’s eyes. “Are you sure about this?” 

He shrugs. “Are you?”

Looking back down at the flowers, Wonwoo lets out a long breath. “What if they don’t want to hear it?”

“Well…” Chan gives his head a pensive tilt. “Don’t you think you owe it to them to try? Even if they turn you away?”

“You’re…” Wonwoo doesn’t get to finish. The elevator door opens, and even though his apartment — and yours, by association — is around a corner and hidden from sight, he hears your voice. And someone else’s.

Stepping out of the elevator, Wonwoo stops just before rounding the corner and peeks for a half second around it. A vaguely familiar man is standing right in front of you, holding a bouquet of white flowers, while you linger in your doorway. Though Wonwoo quickly ducks back behind the corner, he knows you well enough to tell that you’re tired, and you don’t really want to be talking to that person.

Chan follows a little too quickly. “What’s—”

Arm shooting out, Wonwoo stops Chan from revealing himself in the hallway. “Who is that guy?” he whispers. 

Chan peeks around the corner. “Oh, that’s Choi Seungcheol.”

“Mingyu’s rival?” The corners of Wonwoo’s lips quirk downward. “Why would he be…?”

“Remember when I made you take me to the hospital? They went on a date that day.”

“A date?” Something bitter settles at the bottom of Wonwoo’s stomach. He risks another look around the wall. Damn. The guy does look good in a suit. 

Chan shrugs. “MT didn’t really seem into it. My money is on him trying to dig into the whole baby scandal. He’s totally got that ambitious business villain from the dramas vibe.”

“You’ve lost me.”

“I think he’s trying to get information on them so he can dethrone Kim Mingyu.”

Wonwoo frowns. “By dating them?”

Shrugging again, Chan leans against the wall with his arms crossed. “It’s just a guess. I’m trying to not snoop anymore.” 

Wonwoo gestures a finger between them. “What do you call this, then?”

“Recovery mission?”

“You—”

“Look,” your voice comes from down the hall, slightly louder. “Seungcheol. I already told you. I know what you’re after.”

“I won’t try anything from now on.”

“Sure, sure. And I’m just supposed to think you want me because— what? My dashing just-made-a-microwave-meal-for-dinner-after-not-sleeping-for-twenty-two-hours looks? My abandoned bachelor’s degree? My complete disinterest in diffidence?”

“Dividends.”

“Exactly, Seungcheol. You’d never convince anyone you could want anything from me except for information on my child. Which will get you nowhere, by the way.”

“I’d like a chance to try again. To show my better side.”

“And I should give you that chance because…?”

Wonwoo peeks just in time to see Choi Seungcheol throw you a disarming smile and hold his bouquet out.

“Tulips?”

His feet start moving before he realizes it, and Wonwoo steps between you and Choi without a second thought. “They were saying no,” he asserts.

“What the...” you whisper your surprise.

Choi just furrows his brow. “Who are you?”

“No one,” you answer for him, slightly brushing him aside even as he glares down Choi. “Listen, I think you should—”

“The name’s Wonwoo.” And because he’s stupid, he goes on to say, “I’m Orion’s father.”

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oby tagging 1, 50/50: @shiningstar-byulxx @shuabby-woowoo @90s-belladonna @xavi-in-kpopland @kachren @xmessaroundx @chwevernonlover @kwanisms @dalamjisung @1ntaktak @crazywittysassy @butterfliesinthenightsky @ddaengpotate @dorrysstuff @ckline35 @vanishingboots @potatofrieswithketchup @minhwa @oncecaratorbit @sugacookees @royal9 @doodlelibrary @myjaeyunn @yksthings @jundundun @amosmortese @jaeskz @seungmintree @woozarts @my-chaos-in-stars @yoonychoik @ksywoo @kellesvt @candidupped @sharkipoonis @wooahaeproductions @capsiclesworld @hellodefthings @sunshineshouchan @calumsfringe @caratinluv @pinkysinnerbaby @winterwallacehenderson @jvhoons @woo8hao @sxftiell @wondering-out-loud

[starfellforyou]

lover's oath

‧ ₊˚ tags: zhongli x guizhong!reader, xiao x lumine!reader, star-crossed lovers

‧ ₊˚ premise: scenes of two beautiful but doomed love affairs, inspired by lover's oath/guizhong's lullaby - (1) you and zhongli enjoying your days of innocence together, unaware of the tragedy that the impending archon war will bring (2) a fateful encounter with xiao on the top floor of wangshu inn

‧ ₊˚ genre: fluff/angst

♪ lover's oath

“Hey, wait up!”

The orange sun begins to dip beneath the horizon of Guili Plains, its majestic mountains and cliffs blocking out a portion of the light and flooding the Assembly’s grounds with a mystical yet peaceful air. The others have begun to pack up, and you don’t want to be left behind on the training field.

“We’re waiting…” Morax turns to look over his shoulder, wondering why it's taking you that long to shove your polearm into your belt.

You roll your eyes, visibly frustrated. It just won’t fit! Sighing, he yanks the polearm from your hands and, with one hard jab, forces it into an empty slot on your belt. You can tell he’s satisfied with that smug look on his face.

“I’m perfectly capable of handling my own weapons, thank you,” you glare daggers at him, but the corners of your mouth begin to lift.

You can’t help it. Morax makes you smile. Your friends make you smile. Ruling the Guili Assembly has been one of the most rewarding and enlightening endeavors you’ve ever had the privilege to embark on. You love your friends, you love your people - you’d do anything for them. Morax knows this.

He lifts a questioning eyebrow, but lets out a playful chuckle at your reddening cheeks. Together, the both of you head to Mt. Tianheng for a moment of calm and relaxation.

You quickly reach the peak of the mountain, just in time to watch the sun set. You stand next to him, a comfortable silence filling the air between you and the God of Geo. Morax, a god so powerful that he shakes the ground beneath his feet with every step. You’ve always admired him; not just for his strength, but for his heart. He is loyal, brave, and kind - a true warrior from deep within. He’s also a bit of a joker.

“I think I could get used to this. What if I stay here forever?”

“On the peak of this mountain? Don’t come crying when it gets cold.”

“I don’t have to. I’m sure you’ll find some way to pull me back down with you,” he scowls, “Even I can’t resist your ceaseless grumbling.”

You want to punch him in the ribs, but instead you laugh. You both laugh, a pure, innocent sound that echoes throughout the valley.

He’s always been stronger than you, and you often find yourself on the sidelines aiding him with your words of wisdom and endless encouragement. Nevertheless, you know that that’s the way it’s supposed to be. You knew things would be like this ever since you first met him in that field of Glaze Lilies, and you’re perfectly fine with being the brains to his brawn - anything for him and your people, really. He is your strength, as you are his.

The oath you took that day wasn’t just to the people of the Assembly - it was to him; to the man you love but only ever dared love in secret. It was an oath that promises you’ll stay by his side, forever.

As the winds of Liyue stir your delicate hair and robes, you hum a tune of love so tender, so bittersweet that he can’t help but stare into the sunset and think about the future and what might come. You don’t know what you’ll face in the days ahead, but you know that no matter what, you’ll be there to fight alongside him; that as long as you’re together, there is nothing the two of you can’t overcome.

…

Sometimes, when the nights get cold, Zhongli finds himself back on that peak, listening to the winds as he takes in the view of what once was the Guili Assembly. He remembers everything - how he sparred with his dear friends, how they ruled with benevolence and love, how the breeze swept past as she smiled. He misses that smile dearly - one that he hasn't since been able to recreate. Since her tragic demise at the hands of the Archon War, Zhongli has been far from healed. He suffers each day with a deep void of emptiness within his heart; a heart that still only beats for one person. But the Geo Archon must go on. He must carry those burdens for the sake of his people, regardless of his pain; the endless longing for what will never return.

As he stands overlooking the wistful hills and valleys of Guili Plains, a gentle voice drifts in the wind - an achingly sorrowful melody as pure as joy, as fine as dust.

You stand leaning over a railing at the topmost floor of Wangshu Inn, the roof of its elegant structure directly above your head. It's been drizzling for the past hour - most of which you’ve spent wondering about him, where he is, what he’s doing. You look out into the distant night sky, dreaming about the sound of his voice and the blush of his cheeks. I wonder how Xiao is doing tonight.

You lean further across the railing, eyes closed and breath steady - as if in a trance of some kind - but before you can stop yourself, it’s too late. You lose your balance and tip over the railing, seemingly about to meet an untimely death.

Heartbeat quickening, you scream out to the only person you really trust.

“Xiao!!!”

A blur of green mist is summoned before you, and the familiar figure of a boy takes shape. He reaches out with both arms and swiftly carries you back to safety, a small sigh escaping his lips as he helps you onto your feet.

You didn’t know who else to turn to but him. In times of danger, in times of crisis, Xiao was always there. Your watchful protector. Your silent shadow in the dark. He sits on the roof above you and doesn’t say a word, and all at once, it’s like everything’s okay again. The amount of comfort that floods your heart just by looking at him is immeasurable.

“Xiao… You came.”

“I made a promise, remember? I keep to my word,” he says as he looks out into the horizon, voice low and distant.

Your heart breaks. You and Xiao can never be together; at least not in this life. Destiny brought you a fateful encounter, but constantly pulls you away. Responsibilities and legacies and doubt stand in the way of you and the one you love, but it’s become a truth that you’ve grown to accept - achingly so.

The both of you stay in silence for a long while, each watching the beautiful view of Liyue below. You notice that the drizzle has stopped, and that the sky is finally clear again. The rain has vanished and your thoughts have cleared. I wonder why. You see the couples on landings beneath you share kisses, tender gestures of love that you have never known. Suddenly, a wave of loneliness crashes over you - you can’t help yourself.

“Xiao?” you ask quietly, without turning your head, “Have you ever kissed anyone? Like the couples are doing down there?”

“No.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind…” you try to come off as amused and teasing, but your voice cracks and your eyes begin to warm with tears.

“I’d like it to be you, too.”

It surprises you. You laugh, the heart you spent so long trying to heal overflowing with pure emotion. The first tear streams down your face; a diamond in a lifeless river.

You can’t bring yourself to look, but you know he’s already gone.

a/n: some say lover's oath is about zhongli/guizhong and some say it's about xiao/traveler. i say both >_< wanted to write a sad fic this time - hope you like it! <3

✧ starfellforyou

[shadowonwater]

Viral Pokerus au: Melli and Ingo

The stuff about what happens with these two was mostly covered in the main post. But I figured I could probably add a bit more too it, also I'm sure there are people who really want to read about Ingo in particular. A lot of this is just copy and pasted from the main post.

Ingo leaves his usual station at Mt. Coronet to visit the Pearl Clan for a few days. Meanwhile, Melli's Golbat has been hanging out with the Gligars, catching Pokerus. Melli catches Pokerus from Golbat, becoming the first infected human and will be the first one to transform.

Ingo gets to the Pearl Clan settlement. The Galaxy Team has sent letters to both of the clans inviting them to a festival being held in a couple of days. Irida was about to send a bird to deliver a message to Ingo about the party but since he’s here already she invites him to join the rest of the clan that’s going to the party, in walking down there together. Ingo takes her up on the offer, he was already going to stay for a few days anyway. He hopes that Lady Sneasler isn’t worried about his absence.

Meanwhile, Melli get a letter from Adamen inviting him, he has a bit of a cold, but he intends to go. He tells Lord Electrode where he’s going, and Lord Electrode in turn, tells Lady Sneasler about where their humans are going.

The festival starts, many people from all groups are there. It’s only the first day, however, but Melli feels like garbage from his “cold” so he leaves early to go back home. He may not that been there for long, but he has already infected a few people and some Pokemon.

When he’s travelling through Wayward Cave, he’s really starting to get a nasty fever it gets really hard to even stand up. He collapses and sees the Alpha Crobat fly over to him. The Crobat pretty drags him off to it's corner in the cave and won't let Melli leave. Lord Electrode is none the wiser at the fact his warden isn’t here, he’s at the party after all, isn’t he?

Ingo has a good time at the festival. He spends a good deal of it with Lucas, Laventon, and Akari. He also spends a fair amount of time with his friend Zisu. He's concerned when he notices a cold going around. So when the festival is ended early, he thinks it's the right call, safety first after all! He walks together with the Pearl Clan as they leave and splits off from their group after they pass through the field lands to go to Mt. Coronet.

Ingo has gotten home. He visits Lady Sneasler and her kits first, he doesn’t know but he just caught Pokerus from one of her kids. He tells Lady Sneasler that he’s going to go visit Melli real quick to see how he’s doing, after all he left only on the 1st day of the festival due to illness. Sneasler is very concerned, she assumed that Melli would have just gotten back from the party since he hasn’t come back. Sneasler goes with Ingo to Electrode, Ingo is confused, where’s Melli? He’s able to parse from Sneasler and Electrode that Melli hasn’t come back. Ingo is super worried.

Ingo worriers about how sick Melli may have, what if he collapsed somewhere? Ingo, Ingo’s Pokemon, Snesaler, Sneasler’s kits, and Electrode’s kids, all go searching throughout the mountain for him. If Ingo can’t find him soon he plan to go to the Diamond settlement either hoping Melli went there instead, or to get extra help looking for Melli. As he travels through the cave a Zubat starts clinging to him. It insists on following him outside even though it’s daytime. Of course, this bat is actually Melli. Melli writes his name in the dirt, brief moment of confusion where Ingo’s like “oh do you know where Melli is?” Melli: “I am him you idiot!” Ingo eventually gets the message. The search is called off. Everyone is extremely confused about how Melli turned into a bat. Ingo decides to take him to the Galaxy Team to see if they have any idea for what to do.

Ingo gets to the Galaxy Team camp with Zubat!Melli only to find the whole place in chaos. By now, many people are starting to turn into Pokemon. Ingo talks to Laventon (who has started to get a “cold” himself) about Melli situation. Laventon realizes that this sickness is fully turning people into Pokemon and he dubs it “Pokerus”. He’s happy to know that Melli is still himself, just in the form of a Zubat. This calms the chaos down a bit but only a bit. Jubilife starts to get very serious about quarantining. Lucas asks for Ingo's help to go check on the clans. They split up with Lucas going to Pearl Clan and Ingo going to Diamond Clan.

Ingo gets to Diamond Clan with Melli only to find it’s in a worse state than Jubilife. They tell the people there about the situation. Melli decides to try to fly back home and Ingo heads back to Jubilife running into Lucas along the way. Lucas visited Pearl Clan, who were doing pretty well considering the situation. Ingo tells him about Diamond Clan. Ingo heads back home, Lucas continues to Jubilife.

Ingo gets back home, he already knows he’s sick. He’s been feeling worse for wear the last couple of days. Lady Sneasler and her kits prepare for making Ingo as comfortable as possible. Pretty soon he’s hit with the nasty fever that signals the transformation. He will turn into a Sneasel.

It took awhile but Melli manages to fly back to his camp near Lord Electrode. Traveling was hard. Flying was hard to get used too, and also tiring. He's blind and has to use echolocation. He keeps needing to take breaks in the shade or travel at night because his skin burns easily. He's been eating berries, but he feels like he needs something else and he's not sure what.

Melli's Golbat is like: "Have you tried blood yet?" Melli: "What?!" The thing is Zubat's drink blood, not nearly as much as Golbat does, but that's the thing Melli's missing. Melli knew they drink blood but had never thought to appley that to himself. He really doesn't want to drink blood though.

It takes a lot of badgering by Golbat and Stuntank but Melli finally agrees to drink some from Stuntank. It was... good but Melli would never admit that. He's determined not to drink blood unless he needs too.

After Ingo transforms, as well as Lucas, Ingo helps Lucas with working on the Pokedex. As well as just being their for emotional support.

[princessdreamie]

DBH part 42

New character: Lisa (Na's new friend)

At their hotel rooms

E contacted the desk and complained about it to the manager, who was very apologetic about this situation.

They checked their surveillance cameras around the vicinity, and all they got was a dude hiding away from the cameras. Even when talking to Se his face was turned away frrom them. As if he knew where the cameras were.

E called up Mt to look into it, Mt understood the assignment and promised to tell him if he found anything about it.

S & e talked in their bed room while Se & Ll played at the gamestation the hotel provided for them. C took the tigress aside and asked her to see if she could find something about that guy.

She did it once the creep left them alone. All of it was already sent to his dad and Mt. It is not much and the facial recognition didn't help much either.

C thanked her nonetheless ald brought her back to his younger brother. Still something bugged him about their meeting. He didnt hear a lot what they were talking about but he knew that is was bad news.

Se had not alot of experience with harmful strangers and definitely has been cooped up way too long inside their home to notice any kind of dranger around him.

He would need to have a talk with his parents about it when they got back home.

Back to the others

Na was playing around the theme park while K was talking on the phone with his manager. This was supposed to be a way to say Sorry for not believing her about Bu and Ma. But also for K to impress his new contractor. Ofc the others wouldnt know any if it. Otherwise they wouldnt let him go to the theme park with her itfp.

Na didnt really care what her dad's ulterior motives were, the point of being there was having fun. She invited her friends to come but they declined, she was the one who uncovered her baby cousins scheme, while they got duped.

Xa was not allowed bc of his allergies. Ranch was not the only thing he had to be careful about. Poor guy had to stay away from apples, peanuts and strawberries.

If his mom hadnt known about Se's party menu she would have let him go. But the risks were to high for her boy. Na understood her fear, she was just lucky that she had only to take her drops and not be limited by what she could or could not eat. Xa had it rough with his condition but he was a trooper about all of it.

While K was still explaining something on his phone, he lost track on his daughter.

He went into a panick, looking around the place hoping to see her pop up.

Luckily, Na write him in that moment a text, „I am at the bathstall. Just hold tight.“

Sighing in relieve he put back his phone and waited for her till she came back.

At the bath stall

Na was washing her hands, contemplating on what ride to take on next.

Until she heard a girl crying outside. As she looked ouside the door there was noone wailing their eyes out. It sounded like it came from the back of the building.

Turning around the corners, a young girl with crutches was sitting on the geound, crying into her arms. Na approached her, scaring her in the process. „Hey, what is wrong? Are you lost?“, she inquired. The girl looked away holding on to her tears and trying to muffle her whimpers.Na felt bad for her, she took out some of the sweets she bought today and offered her some.

The other girl was hesistant but grabbed a caramel bonbon as she put it in her mouth.

After sometime while Na was talking to her, K texted her on when she was done. Na invited her to go with them and that everything had no limits for today.Some encouragement later, the kid accepted her invitation and came along. On the way she introduced herself as Lisa (Li), she came with her half-siblings on behalf of spending time with eachother. But they dont really like her and just left her standing in the middle of the park.

Na was feeling sad for her as she told her story. Na promised to make ber feel better b4 they leave the park.

K turned around, seeing his little girl bringing back a stranger. He was apprehensive at first but after some pleading of his little kid he caved.

Li & Na had a good time together as they rode some of the attractions. Li was wondering what she had to do for having a whole day to ride everything. Na didnt go too much into detail, only that he cousin was trying to trick her family and that that was their way to apologize for not believing her.

Li listened attentively to her story. Li understood all to well how it was to have a family members acting like jerks.

K finally met his new contractor and they discussed everything at the coffee stand.

|Not much here to write about. Just movie stuff and all that|

Once it got late, K, Na & Li waited for her half sins to pick her up. And they waited, and waited. Until the sun was nearly going down.

K saw Li's face, as she looked around in a panick. Thinking that they could have left her behind, he asked his daughter's if she knew her house phone number or her adress.

She shook her head: „My parents dont live together. And today i was Supposed to stay at my mom's place. She left me and her kids at home to take a trip with her new boyfriend.“

Na didnt feel good to let her go back to her home to her siblings. But they decided to go to the security, asking to see if her siblings have already left or were still at the park.

The officer did as asked. They took a look at the time they arrived. There she was with 3 older looking kids with Li hopping behind them.

As already explained by her, they left her standing in the middle of the grounds. Jumping ahead a few hours, at the park entrance, they were clearly leaving. With one of them holding a girl in his arms, cozing up to the boy while the others talked with eachother.

1 hour b4 Na found her behind the bathroom. K got mad at those children. Leaving a girl with an injury alone and not even looking remorseful. But once the actor looked back at Li, he felt very bad for her. As the injured girl was about to cry, Li asked to just call her a cab and she would see how to get back home.

Not letting her even finish her request, K offered her to let her sleep over at their place. Na was thinking the same thing, even asking her friends to come around. Her new friend needed a little pick-me-up after today, so what better way than a sleepover party.

Hesitating on taking on their offer, she thanked them both as she finally smiled genuinely as she accepted their help.

[lindsaystravelblogs3]

Days 26-28 – Tuesday-Thursday, 20-22 June

Tuesday

This was an amazing food day.  How could anyone possibly eat that much?  Not sure how, but we did!  We had really enjoyed our few days in the Aeolian Islands, but it was now back to mainstream Italy.

We started the day with a taxi ride to Marina Lunga where we boarded the hydrofoil for the trip back to mainland Sicily at Milazzo.  We were then back on our coach for the drive down Sicily’s eastern coast to Ortigia.  Our destination for lunch was the setting for some of The Godfather movies – a wonderful restaurant perched high on the mountain in the village of Forza d’Agro – an interesting name reminiscent of some parts of the films.

A feature of the drive from Milazzo was the iconic ever-active Mt Etna, smoking away to our starboard side for maybe fifty kilometres.  We were probably at least fifteen or twenty kilometres away at all times, but the volcano stands our starkly from the surrounding flat land, and even at that distance, looked impressive.  It was pretty smoggy, so we never had great view of it, but it gave me a buzz anyway.

The ascent to the restaurant was pretty spectacular too.  It was very steep and we zigged and zagged around a dozen or more hairpin bends to make our way to the top.  One corner is so sharp that, in all the times Gilberto has been up there, only one driver had previously managed to get around it without backing and filling to negotiate the bend - but our driver (Aurizio) managed it first go in both directions - it was tight but he made it. The views were incredible along the coast, both north and south. 

Looking north and looking south, on the way to The Godfather's restaurant.

There was a huge fortification on the seaward side as we went up.  It was perched over the sea on a very narrow isthmus that was almost impossible to photograph from the bus, but that was awe-inspiring as we wound our way around it, with a massive precipice dropping straight into the ocean immediately below my elbow.  It gave me quite some quivers.

Once we reached the parking area, it was a short walk to the restaurant, but Gilberto took us on a longer detour to visit a couple of churches even higher than the restaurant.  (I have been saying ‘our leader’ for days because I had trouble remembering his name – but it is Gilberto and he is a great and caring leader – so much better than Gian-Franco in Sardinia and Corsica!)  They were great architectural and ecclesiastical edifices and they provided even more vantage points for great photos, but it was very hot and we were glad to sit down in the restaurant.

Lunch was described as a 'typical Italian Style lunch'.  It definitely wasn’t, because nobody could eat that much food more than a few times in a lifetime.  Lavish doesn’t even start to describe it.  I think there were seven different Starters – served serially with two large platters of each per table of eight.  By now, we were all stuffed and hardly ready for the next six or eight Entrees, let alone the five Main courses and numerous Desserts.  The food was exceptional, but in such mammoth quantities.  Most of us thought the starters were the meal and ate accordingly, leaving little capacity for the other three-quarters or more still to come.  I have never seen anything like it, but it was there (and mountains more just kept coming) and it would have been rude not to at least taste it – or gorge oneself stupid on it.  Then out came the coffees and liquours – a choice, or choices, from about eight exotic bottles – on top of the bottomless wine glasses we had already enjoyed.  We never met the Godfather, but if he was supplying the vittles for our group, he certainly excelled himself in his extravagance.  None of us felt like eating again for about three days.  It was a meal that I will never forget!

Rolling back down the hill, we reboarded the bus for the rest of the trip down to sea level and on to Syracuse and Ortigia Island where we stayed for the next two nights.  By now, my cough was really bad and sleep was almost impossible.  Heather also had the same virus, but hers was not as bad as mine.  Her other symptoms may have been worse, but not the cough which I was unable to control at all. I had a fever and the shivers and ached all over all night.

Wednesday

We were driven to the UNESCO Heritage-listed site of some 2500-year-old Greek and Roman ruins.  I don’t recall a lot about this, probably because I was trying unsuccessfully to stop my cough spoiling it for everyone else.  One particularly monumental site was a quarry where thousands of huge standardised limestone blocks (I think our guide said they were each about three tonnes) had been hewn by hand to use in building the original city.  The quarry was mammoth and because the best sandstone was below the surface, excavation had created a huge underground cavity held up by dozens of columns of residual rock.  It must have been awesome, but the whole structure collapsed when a massive earthquake hit early one morning – fortunately before anyone was on site, so there were no casualties, but the devastation must have been mind-boggling.  We visited a huge Greek amphitheatre and a slightly smaller Roman one on the site.  We couldn’t enter the Greek one because it was being prepared for a performance of one of the traditional Greek tragedies that evening – but some of our group attended the performance and said it was quite an engrossing experience.

We had an extended walking tour of the town and its markets, but I simply can’t recall anything that my photos don’t show – not sure why my mind is so blank about it, but maybe just the cough and feelig so rotten in the heat.  We had quite a bit of free time that day but I think we just went back to the room where I could cough without disturbing anyone other than Heather.  I think we ate in a local trattoria that evening where we settled down for a drink and some tapas and ended up with a more substantial meal than we needed – especially given that we were still recovering from yesterday’s extraordinary traditional Italian Style lunch.

Thursday

Our coach took us to Noto this morning – a city that was almost totally destroyed on a massive earthquake in 1693.  It seems that most places in this area have been devastated at one time or another (sometimes multiple times) following the huge earthquakes that occur periodically.  I hope we are not due for another one now!

The city was rebuilt in a Baroque style, and it is certainly a wonder to behold.  I will try to put some thoughts together about the differences between Australian and European cities, but this one appears to be notably more ornamented than most of those we have visited.  I was feeling pretty awful and Heather wasn’t much better so we let most of our group continue the tour while we settled into a shady area near the war memorial and tried to cool off and consume ever more cough lozenges.  We then strolled back to the bus pick-up point where I tried to photograph some small birds.  I got a few pics but they were all effectively silhouettes so useless for identification purposes (or anything else). 

I was really out of it by now.  I had had an awful night with fever, the shivers, headaches, aching all over – even earache and toothache in almost all of my teeth.  Weird! I hadn’t slept due to my almost continuous coughing and I really felt rotten.  The bus took us to a farmhouse where we were to have lunch, but I was not up to it.  I didn’t tell anyone other than Heather, but it must have been pretty obvious and as we were sitting down to eat, Gilberto said I should lay down inanother room.  He had asked me a couple of time before if I wanted to lay down but I said no, because there was really nowhere to do so.  But once everyone else went to lunch, a couch in the room where they had all been having a drink became available so I lay down there.

I must have been of concern to Gilberto (and the staff at the farmhouse) because they kept fussing and eventually called an ambulance for me.  I though this was a bit of overkill, but I really did feel dreadful and was gasping for breath between coughs.  Interestingly, I wasn’t quite as bad if I stood up, or even sat up straight, but as soon as I lay down, the cough became irrepressible.  (A week ad a half later, it is still very hard to control the cough when I want to lay down to sleep, and I am in and out of bed many times before I can finally drop off, even after sleeping pills.)

The ambulance arrived and I was examined at length by two paramedics who eventually decided that I was fit to travel back to the hotel in the bus, but that I needed to see a doctor.  Our next hotel was in Modica and I was very glad to be there.  The hotel staff organised us as the first people to be allocated a room so we didn’t have to stand around waiting - certainly a blessing to me.

Once in the room, I collapsed onto the bed and lay there until Gilberto managed to call a doctor who came to examine me.  I couldn’t understand much of the conversation in Italian between the doctor and Gilberto but I did understand that I had a bad case of bronchitis and needed an antibiotic.  When the doctor left, he said he would call again on Saturday, before we moved on, to make sure I was OK to continue – total cost of his services for both home visits was seventy euros – amazingly cheap compared with the cost of so many other things here.  And the cost of the ambulance visit was zero because Australia has a medical reciprocity agreement with Italy.

As soon as the doctor left, Heather and Gilberto walked the kilometre or so to the pharmacy (arriving just in time before it closed) and got my antibiotic and some vitamins and cough drops to aid my recovery.  I really appreciated that because it was very hot and walking that distance uphill in the sun would have been awful.

I was not up to eating, but Heather kept me supplied with small offerings from the kitchen over the next couple of days.

[lyaenidae]

Before I leave this town

It's the last few days Kenta has in Mt Komorebi. His trip to Granite Falls is quickly approaching. It's the festival of lights tonight in town and Miki has stooped by on her way there. He wasn't sure he was going to go but apparently, their whole group of friends is going, so Kenta puts a jacket on and follows her out.

"How are you doing ?" asks Miki while they take the scenic walk to town. "I'm fine, thanks to you, I feel closer to my dad again. We've managed to climb to the top of that mountain, nothing can stop us !" he laughs. "Oh definitely, you were always the most adventurous person I knew after all !" "And it feels so good to be able to leave this place without this holding me back ! All the glory, no unfinished business !"

He doesn't see it, but she's looking at him with admiration in her eyes. And maybe even something more... "Plus, my mom would be super proud of us, I know it." he said with a side glance to his mother's tombstone. Miki stooped in front of it, lost in thought. "What do you think she'd say of you leaving town ?" she asks softly. "My dad says she'd check my bag ten times before giving me tons of recommendations about plants and how to use them. I think she'd be sad to not see me as much anymore but still would want me to go after my dreams and encourage me to find myself..." She nods, then follows him when he starts walking again.

They reach the town and went straight to the bar, both happy to find their friends there. After ordering a drink, Kenta, Gabe and Taku go play a few games. Somehow, the conversation ends up being about Miki though, and how she is still not seeing anyone. She's the only one of the group that hasn't had a teenage romance or some kind of fling. Her ears must be ringing, because she's also glancing at the trio regularly...

As the night progresses, Kenta's thoughts seem to be coming back to Miki more and more often. After all, he did think he was in love with her, before even knowing what love was. And then the whole Masami thing had happened and since then, he had sort of closed himself to the idea of being in a relationship. Focused more on himself than on others...

As he starts writing his traditional wish on the little piece of paper, he decides that what's most important to him in that moment isn't, as usual, to become the best version of himself possible, but to have someone he can share this version of himself with. The tide is changing, and although he's leaving to spend time in the middle of the forest, who knows what awaits... Next to him, Miki writes a wish of her own and he feels strangely connected to her in that moment. As he starts to walk away, she calls his name. They're standing near the river, away from the noise and excitement of the festival slowly nearing it's end.

"No unfinished business, didn't you say ?" she asks with a shy smile. "Yeah..." he's a bit confused as to what she's getting at, she's close enough for him to feel the warmth from her body. "See, there's something I've got to get off my chest too..." she starts, still seeming a bit hesitant. She pauses for a minute and he stays quiet, trying not to rush her. "Can I ask you a personal question ?" she finally lets out. "Hum... Yeah, of course, I mean, I'd say we're pretty close Miki, you can ask me anything really."

"My brother is convinced that you use to like me, when we were teens... Like... That you... hum, loved me ? He says the main reason you and Sami didn't work out was because you were into someone else. And he seems 100% sure that someone was me." She's speaking quite fast now, almost like she can't stop herself. "I'm not trying to corner you or anything, if you don't want to answer me it's totally fine ! I just needed to ask because... Well, I cherish so many of our memories together so dearly and..." She slows down and almost comes to a stop. Kenta takes the opportunity to try and answer her, hesitantly. "I would have never ruined any of the times we spent talking, just the two of us, but- " "No, Ken, I'm not saying it would have ruined it, I... I'm asking because I, had a crush on you." She takes the deepest breath, as if she had been holding on to this for the longest time. "Had ?" Kenta hears himself say, his voice carrying some unexpected hope. "Have..." She admits, lowering her eyes. His hand is already on the small of her back, pulling her closer, the lights from the festival reflecting in both their eyes as their lips get closer.

The kiss lasts so long, when they finally pull away, Kenta doesn't know where he is anymore for a few seconds. They don't let go of each other, too aware that this is a fleeting moment, a precious window of closeness before they have to separate again. "I'm going to miss you a lot, when we're both in strange new places, far across the world..." she murmurs. "I'll miss you too. I hope you find what you're looking for, wherever you go." he says, his voice a bit hoarse from the emotion. They finally can share those feelings with each other and yet they have to part ways.

"Thank you." she pulls him close again, this time putting her head on his shoulder. "Are you kidding me ?" he chuckles quietly. "I'm the one who should thank you, turns out I did have unfinished business still." "I know it sounds childish, but ever since we met, I was just always convinced you were the one I should have my very first kiss with..." she says, sounding a bit more confident now that she can hide her face away. "You know what's funny ? It was my first kiss too..." he whispers. She lets him go, just enough to see his face, as if to make sure he's not lying to her. Their eyes stay locked for a long time, her smile slowly growing as his stays confident and true. By the time they part ways again, both looking back while walking away, the lights from the festival are dimming and everyone seems to have gone home already...

[catolinewsdailyreadings]

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Reading 1

2 KGS 2:1, 6-14

When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here; the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you,” Elisha replied. And so the two went on together. Fifty of the guild prophets followed and when the two stopped at the Jordan, they stood facing them at a distance. Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up and struck the water, which divided, and both crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask for whatever I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.” “You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied. “Still, if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not.” As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. When Elisha saw it happen he cried out, “My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and drivers!” But when he could no longer see him, Elisha gripped his own garment and tore it in two. Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him, and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan. Wielding the mantle that had fallen from Elijah, Elisha struck the water in his turn and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” When Elisha struck the water it divided and he crossed over.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 31:20, 21, 24

R./ Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.

How great is the goodness, O LORD, which you have in store for those who fear you, And which, toward those who take refuge in you, you show in the sight of the children of men. R./ Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence from the plottings of men; You screen them within your abode from the strife of tongues. R./ Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.

Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones! The LORD keeps those who are constant, but more than requites those who act proudly. R./ Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.

Gospel

MT 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."

[stiltonbasket]

For the Qin Su!WWX AU, what happened to Wen Ning? Did it somewhat follow canon at Mt. Dafan? Did WWX pull a heist from the depths of the mirror room?

When Wei Wuxian freed Wen Ning from his husband's secret chamber, he hadn't expected to let go of him so soon.

But he couldn't let Wen Ning stay bound here a moment longer, not when he spent the last sixteen years chained up in an iron cage with nails in his head, and there was no way to keep his friend close by. He waited for Jin Guangyao to leave on one of his monthly trips to Gusu, making every excuse under the sun to avoid going with him; and then he shut himself up in his room and walked through the filigree mirror by the bed, after which he proceeded to free Wen Ning from his bonds and smuggle him out of Lanling.

“But gongzi, he’ll know it’s you,” Wen Ning begged him, after Wei Wuxian brought him up to speed on his resurrection and the state of the cultivation world in the decade and a half since his death. “Who else has admission to these chambers? He took Su She with him, so wouldn’t he suspect you?”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head and shows Wen Ning the talisman golem in his sleeve.

“I took a little of your blood, to make it look like you,” he whispers. “Jin Guangyao won’t notice the difference long as he doesn’t try to use you for anything in the next few months, so I’ll be fine. Now take these supplies, and get as far from Lanling as you can go. Go up north to Meishan, if you can--the terrain is too harsh for anyone to go looking for you there, and my grandmother’s family has almost nothing to do with the rest of the jianghu.”

Wen Ning grasps his hands, distraught, and refuses to look at the trapdoor under his feet. From what he managed to find out over the years, the trapdoor leads to a passageway that ends somewhere near the servants’ laundry, which means that Wen Ning can leave the Jinlintai unseen if he goes after dark: that is, if Wei Wuxian can persuade him to go at all.

“I won’t go that far. Not when you might need me to protect you here.” Wen Ning insists. “I’ll find somewhere to hide in the city.”

“Jin-zongzhu’s men will catch you. A-Ning, please, you can’t--”

“Give me a transportation talisman I can activate, and I’ll go.”

Wei Wuxian throws up his hands, more frustrated than ever. “You’re dead! You can’t activate talismans!”

Wen Ning only lifts an eyebrow at him. “Then invent one. Otherwise, gongzi, I’m not leaving your side.”

Growling, Wei Wuxian has no choice but to stomp over to the corner desk near the mirror (which had, according to the nine-fingered gloves in the drawers, once belonged to Xue Yang) and invent a transportation talisman that works more or less as Wen Ning specified. He paints it in blood, his and Wen Ning’s mixed in roughly equal measure, and finishes the ink seals with one of Qin Su’s sandalwood inksticks.

“If I’m injured, it’ll bring you straight to me,” he says, wrapping up a package of supplies and a few sets of clean clothes. “I’ve given you three, just in case it doesn’t work the first time. Is that all right?”

Wen Ning hugs Wei Wuxian so tightly that his ribs creak, and then he cups his rouge-dusted cheeks before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I feel as if I am leaving a beloved sister behind with a cruel husband,” he murmurs, “but as long as these talismans work, I will go, and not make any trouble for you. Will you come to find me after you’re free?”

“The moment Jin Guangyao is brought to justice. Or sooner, if it’s safe,” Wei Wuxian vows. “A-Ning, go. We’ll meet again, I swear it.”

So Wen Ning goes, clearly loathing every step he takes away from Wei Wuxian; and after the trapdoor closes, Wei Wuxian puts the clay golem in its cage and enlarges it to Wen Ning’s size, standing back to observe the effect before going back to his bedroom.

Jin Guangyao is still not here, and Yongpei and Shao Tai are still in town, choosing new jewelry for their mistress to wear at the upcoming discussion conference.

Wei Wuxian has the place to himself, for now; so he throws himself onto the bed, exhausted, and sleeps until Shao Yongpei shakes him by the shoulder and asks what he wants for dinner.

Wen Ning is away by now, he thinks, as he writes a list of orders for his ladies-in-waiting before collapsing back onto the bed.

Even after Qiongqi Dao, even though the Jin clan vowed to kill him, I have saved Wen Ning.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Crisis Redo Pt 3

Lena agrees to help them against Lex. It's a relief in itself, but it's short lived as cooperation proceeds in a tense quiet. Lena communicates only what she needs to, and keeps to herself the rest of the time.

It takes both longer and shorter than Kara anticipates. Lex doesn't know that they've found Lena, let alone recruited her, and the benefit of this new reality is that in addition to her recovered memories, her brain in this reality has new neural pathways, allowing her to think in ways that Lex simply doesn't anticipate.

Even so, the days pass torturously slow, marked by tapping keyboards and brief conversations. Lena is most civil with Nia, but even then she remains cool, collected. As if any move she makes might be used against her. Which proves to be a concern not entirely unfounded when Kara overhears Alex cornering Lena in the lab one day.

"If you do anything out of turn..." Alex warns, only to be interrupted by Lena a moment later.

"Then what?"

Kara can hear the haughty smirk in Lena's voice. She hates that it's there, that this is the Lena she's forced to be.

"Let's be perfectly clear," Lena continues, her voice low and smooth. "You're the ones who need me, not the other way around. Not this time."

Kara hears Alex's subaudible harumph, but her sister doesn't say anything further. Lena takes the opening to continue.

"You can assume what you want about me. Your opinion means nothing. Just stay out of my way, and once this is all finished you won't have to see me again."

Alex leaves shortly afterwards, a glower on her face. She stops when she sees Kara waiting, arms folded unhappily across her chest. But she marches past a moment later, pre-emptively waving off whatever Kara has to say.

"Don't start with me, Kara," Alex mutters.

"She doesn't have to be helping us," Kara reminds her. "Do you really want to alienate her? If we want her to stay--"

Alex turns, facing Kara squarely. "Do we? The longer she's here, the greater the risk that she slides back into old habits."

"Alex--"

"My only priority is your safety, Kara, and you may have forgotten that she nearly killed you at Mt. Norquay, but I haven't. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner she gets back to wherever she came from, the better."

Before Kara can say anything further, Alex pushes past, heading for the elevator. Kara stares after her, mouth agape, until the doors close and she's alone on the floor with Lena on the other side of the wall.

Gathering her courage, Kara steps into the lab area. Lena doesn't bother to look up at her entrance, instead keeping her focus on the computer screen in front of her. Kara shifts anxiously on her feet.

"I'm sorry," she says softly. "Alex... doesn't trust easily."

"Must run in the family," Lena retorts, lifting a single eyebrow. "At least I know she isn't faking it."

Kara's gaze falls to the floor. "It wasn't fake, Lena."

Green eyes gaze dully at her. "Well, you could have fooled me."

With that, she turns back to the computer, dismissing Kara as clearly as if she'd waved her away like a nuisance fly.

Lena proves to be the ace in the hole that they need. They back Lex into a corner, but what they don't anticipate is that he'd portal to the Tower. Where Lena was. Alone.

Kara speeds to the Tower as quickly as she can, only to find Lex fixed to the floor, ensnared in a roiling nest of roots and vines sprouting from the concrete.

Lena stands across from him, her gaze burning with focused intent. Her fingers slowly curl into a fist; the vines and roots tighten around Lex in response.

"Lena..." Kara warns, swallowing her confusion to focus on Lex's imminent death. "You don't have to do this..."

"He'll never stop," Lena mutters. "This world doesn't see what he is, they love him..."

"They will see," Kara promises. "Tomorrow, CatCo is running the story, exposing his secrets, all of his lies. They will know the truth."

Lena shakes her head. "That won't change anything. It didn't last time."

There's nothing Kara can say. What Lena says is true, and there's no guarantee anything they do will neutralize Lex for good.

After a long moment, Lena slowly blinks, and relaxes her hand. The vines around Lex's throat loosen slightly, allowing him to breathe-- but nothing more.

Kara breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

J'onn appears a moment later, ferrying Alex with him. Brainy appears next, Nia in his arms. None of them say anything, as they move to restrain and detain Lex.

Later, Kara finds Lena alone in the lab. The lights are low, and Lena's crosslegged in her chair, hands on her knees. She's... meditating.

"So... the magic is new," Kara offers quietly.

Lena opens her eyes, shoulders slumping slightly. "Not to me," she responds. Kara blinks, and Lena elaborates. "My mother has the gift, and she passed it on to me."

Kara nods, leaning against the worktable. "I see... well, thank you. For not... you know."

With a sigh, Lena faces her, uncrossing her legs to let her legs dangle. "I didn't do it for you."

"Oh," Kara blurts. "Right. I know--"

"In magic, there's always a balance. A cost. I already killed Lex once-- and the cost was too great. I like who I am, I like the life I've made for myself... I couldn't risk losing it to him a second time."

Kara's heart climbs up her throat and digs in its claws, lodging itself there. She hadn't known the truth, last time. She hadn't seen the cost fighting Lex had taken from Lena. Lena had suffered, alone. For months.

"I truly am sorry, Lena," Kara breathes. "For everything."

Lena's lips press into a thin smile, one that doesn't reach her eyes.

"I don't care," she says simply. "Not anymore."

[whumpwriterforlife]

Febuwhump 2022, Failed Rescue Attempt - Summary

Drautos was standing at the table, a pleased look on his face as he conversed with Besithia. He was alive and well, showing absolutely no signs of distress. Nyx’s body felt leaden, heavy with a terrible weight that stole his breath away. He whirled back into the hallway and clamped a hand over his mouth. Titus Drautos was a traitor.

And so the most evil series of my Febuwhump 2022 begins....

Fic under the cut

Nyx crept along the hallway, a kukri held tight in his hand in case there were any surprises lurking around. Rubeus was right behind him. The silence was unnerving. They had yet to encounter anyone after entering the base. It didn’t sit right with Nyx, not after coming across numerous patrols on the perimeter. The lack of life could partly be explained by the late hour, but something about the quiet was off. The faster they found the Captain and got out, the better.

“I don’t like this,” Rubeus murmured.

Nyx glanced at him over his shoulder. He would have preferred to have been paired with another glaive, someone with more experience and who he knew better. Rubeus had transferred to the ‘glaive from the ‘guard less than a year ago. He had taken to magic well from what Nyx knew, but he had never seen the man in action. Hopefully Rubeus would be able to keep it together in case they ran into trouble.

“That makes two of us,” Nyx replied. “Just keep your eyes open.”

“Right.”

Just then two MTs rounded the corner and came into view. There was a crackle of magic as Rubeus warped, and Nyx followed right behind, sinking his kukri deep into the neck of his MT. It sparked and fritzed, but Nyx stabbed it a second time just to be sure it wasn’t getting up. A glance in Rubeus' direction told Nyx he had the situation under control as well. Good.

They stuffed the MTs into a storage room before continuing their search. There was newfound urgency in their steps now. If the missing MTs were discovered, they would have very little time to carry out their mission, and Nyx especially wasn’t willing to leave Drautos behind when this was most likely their only chance at rescuing him.

They made their way through the base, taking down the occasional MTs they came across. Eventually they began hearing sounds of conversation. Nyx motioned for Rubeus to stop and put a finger on his lips to signal for him to stay quiet. He sheathed one of his kukris but kept the other on hand as he crept closer to an open doorway.

“Phase two of field tests have proved to be more successful than I had even dared to anticipate!” a highly pleased voice exclaimed. “Of course, there are some minor adjustments to make. We wouldn’t want them to mistakenly target our own troops after all.

“My estimate still stands. We will be able to start the mass production by the beginning of next month. The Lucians won’t know what hit them!” the person laughed.

Nyx frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. If they had any extra time, he would suggest they find out just what the Nifs were planning, but as it was, they were on a tight schedule. Nyx glanced at Rubeus just as another voice joined the first.

“Excellent work as always, Besithia. I’ll look forward to seeing the new model in action.”

Nyx froze. That voice— he recognized it. It made no sense. Nyx’s heart skipped a beat as his head whipped around and he risked a peek into the room.

Two men stood around a large table in the middle of the room. One was an older man with long graying hair and a beard. Verstael Besithia. Niflheim’s own mad scientist. He wasn’t the one that had drawn Nyx’s attention though. It was the other, much larger figure. A familiar figure.

Titus Drautos.

He was standing at the table, a pleased look on his face as he conversed with Besithia. He was alive and well, showing absolutely no signs of distress.

Nyx’s body felt leaden, heavy with a terrible weight that stole his breath away. He whirled back into the hallway and clamped a hand over his mouth.

Titus Drautos was a traitor.

Nyx inhaled sharply and bit back the pained noise that formed in his throat.

The Captain of the Kingsglaive. His mentor. A traitor.

“Nyx, what’s happening?” Rubeus asked worriedly.

Nyx shook his head. Nausea swirled in his stomach as an icy claw of dread crept up his spine. “We need to get out of here.”

“What?”

“He’s— He’s a traitor. We need to go. Now,” Nyx told him as he stood up. His head was spinning, not processing the information, but he knew they had to move. They couldn’t stay. Not if they wanted to get out alive.

“Nyx, what?” Rubeus asked again as he came closer. “What did you see? Are you okay?”

“Rubeus—” Nyx hissed, but shut up when he saw a soldier walking their way at a brisk pace. Their eyes met. Nyx swore and threw his kukri. So much for being stealthy. “Rubeus, run! Get out!”

Nyx collided with the soldier and sent them stumbling backwards. He thrust his kukri through an opening in the armor, clamping a hand over the soldier’s mouth before he could scream. “Sorry about this.”

“Captain?”

Nyx shot back upright and spun on his heels towards Rubeus at the terrified voice. The other glaive was standing there, rooted to the spot with his eyes wide as he stared into the room.

“Rubeus, move!” Nyx shouted. He warped and tackled him just in time as a massive sword soared through the air and embedded itself into the wall where Rubeus had been standing just a second ago. “Ifrit’s balls!”

“Nyx, it’s—” Rubeus’ voice was nearly hysterical.

“I know, he’s a traitor. We need to run!” Nyx told him as he dragged him to his feet. He pushed Rubeus down the hall where they had come from.

“N-No, you don’t get it, he’s—” Rubeus trailed off as a new, distorted voice cut him off.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

Nyx’s head snapped up, breath catching in his throat. He staggered back, arm protectively spread in front of Rubeus as he watched liquid metal finish encasing Drautos until he looked like General Glauca.

Was General Glauca.

“You’re—” Nyx made a wounded noise. His whole world came crumbling. The surge of emotion he felt was strong and visceral, grief mixed with anger and betrayal — nothing he had experienced since the day he had lost his family.

Why did he have to be Glauca?

Nyx couldn’t breathe. Drautos was— had been his mentor. The man had trained him, made sure he got settled in Insomnia. He had comforted him when he had had nightmares of his family and Galahd. He had done all that while knowing he himself had been behind it.

Rubeus grabbed his arm and tugged him back with him. “Nyx! Snap out of it!”

“All the exits have been blocked. You won’t get out,” Glauca stated. He pulled his sword from the wall. “Surrender, and you may live to see another day.”

“You’re lying!” Rubeus shouted.

Nyx would’ve echoed the sentiment but then Rubeus threw his dagger and the world distorted nauseatingly as they warped. They stumbled upon landing, and bowled over a few MTs. That shook Nyx out of his stupor. He grabbed his own weapons and started taking out the MTs as fast as he could. “Clear a path and run!”

“You too!” Rubeus shot back.

“I’ll be right behind you!”

Something hard struck him a moment later, bringing him down to his knees. One of his kukris slid out of his reach and he swore. He turned, dropping down on his back just in time to avoid being stabbed. His attacker, a human soldier, swore as Nyx slashed at him with his remaining kukri and forced him to take a step back.

Rubeus yelped.

Nyx rolled onto his stomach, already pushing himself up before he could even see what was wrong. “Rubeus!”

A kick to the side made Nyx collapse back down. He gasped, moving his unarmed hand down to his ribs as he twisted his upper body around and released a burst of lightning. The soldier cried out and fell, but another was on him instantly. Nyx stabbed towards the newcomer, but the soldier stomped his lower leg before he could make contact.

Everything went white. There was a loud crack from the bones and Nyx’s lungs seized, capturing his scream. The pain was unbearable. He couldn’t breathe. His ears rang, and the surrounding commotion felt almost muffled. A hand grabbed his shoulder but Nyx’s instincts still had him striking the person with his kukri. It was followed by a pained cry as the hand disappeared from his shoulder.

The smell of ozone filled the air and the corridor flashed bright white as lightning was used. Nyx had to blink dark spots from his eyes, but then a figure dropped down by his side. Rubeus. Nyx shook his head. “Rubeus, you need to run!”

“Screw that, I’m not leaving without you!”

“Then you won’t be leaving at all,” Glauca said.

Nyx opened his mouth but it was too late. Glauca grabbed Rubeus by the shoulder and drove the sword through his chest.

“No!”

Nyx struggled to his feet, the adrenaline overriding the pain in his leg as he blasted Glauca with fire. It didn’t seem to bother the armored man as he withdrew his blade and dropped Rubeus to the floor. Nyx’s heart skipped a beat as another wave of nausea and fear washed over him.

Glauca reached for him but Nyx jerked away from him. Down the hall someone shouted something, and that was all the warning that was given before the shooting began. Nyx yelped as bullets tore through his clothes. He ducked instinctively, but suddenly there was a much heavier weight tackling him to the ground and covering him.

“Stand down!” Glauca roared. “Cease fire!”

“Captain?” Nyx flinched. He shifted, trying to adjust his grip on his kukri but his leg banged against Glauca’s armor and sent sharp, white-hot pain through the limb. He let out a strangled cry as the world around him grew dim. His chest heaved but the air wasn’t reaching his lungs.

He was going to die here.

He looked at Glauca. “Why?”

Glauca moved. His arms slid under Nyx with ease and the world tilted sickeningly as he was lifted up. Nyx groaned, his kukri clattering to the floor as his consciousness faded. The last thing he heard was Drautos’ voice. Not Glauca’s.

“Hang in there, Nyx.”

[pricetagofficial]

Sweet Tarts -TD

Warnings: Pure tooth-rotting fluff

Paring: Tim Drake x Wally sis! Reader

Word Count: 2.8K

Tag List: @kishony-the-geek​ @idkmanicantenglish​ @unknowntoanyone​ @subtleappreciation​ @catxsnow​ @river-bottom-nightmare​ @screennamealreadyused​ @woahjaybird​

A/N: I did not specify if Wally and Y/N are biological or adopted siblings, so that part is entirely left up to you and how you want to interpret it. 

“Come on Y/N, just come with me. It’ll be fun!” Wally protested, pulling on your arm.

You rolled your eyes and looked up at your older brother, for the last hour he had been trying to convince you to go to a team party with him but all you wanted to do was sit and read the newest book in your favorite series. It had just recently come out and you were more than excited, but of course, Wally had other plans.

“Why can’t you just ask Dick to go with you?” you brushed him off, turning to look at your book once more.

“He already is, but I want to introduce my little sister to the rest of the team. They know literally everything about you but what you look like. You come this one time and I will never ask you again for as long as I live.” He pleaded, dashing over to look at you.

Wally did have a point, the only people you had actually met on the team were Dick, Conner, M’gann, and Artemis considering they were all close friends with Wally. You knew Dick had younger brothers, but you had never met them let alone knew what they looked like. Dick and Wally were the worst when they were together, normally where you found one, nine times out of ten the other was with them causing trouble and giving Bruce and Barry gray hairs.

There was even a space for you on the team, considering the fact that you had similar powers to that of Wally and Barry but the hero life was never for you. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to help others but Barry was stressed enough with just Wally and Bart; adding you to the mix was an accident waiting to happen. Besides, you were the slowest of them all and didn’t want to hold anyone back. Both Wally and Barry respected your decision, but Bart never stopped bugging you to join.

“Wally, you and I both know that if I go to one, it will turn into every single one, and before I know it one of you has managed to rope me into joining the team.” You closed your book and crossed your arms, “I know the schemes you and Dick come up with, you really think you could pull this one past me?”

Wally gave you a shrug. “Maybe, but please? I want you to meet everyone else.”

After a few more moments of contemplating, you finally let out a sigh and dropped your head. “Fine, I will go to this one! But I swear if you try anything funny, I will punch you into the next century.” You threatened.

“Oh, come on, you and I both know you can’t do that.” Wally teased, poking your forehead only for you to flick his nose. “You aren’t fast enough for it.”

“No, but Barry is.”

Wally seemed to take that threat semi-serious, he got up with a huge smile on his face. “I swear, you will not regret coming to this!” he laughed and sped off to his room to call Dick and let him know that their plan was a go.

It was a couple of hours until the party but Wally spent most of it making sure that you were good to go. He was oddly concerned with what you were wearing, and how your hair looked. It should have raised red flags all over the place, but you brushed it off as Wally just being his over-analytical self.

Before you knew it, the two of you were standing outside the zeta tube in Central City ready to go to Mt. Justice for the party that was being hosted as a celebration for one of the team’s biggest cases completed.

Recognized -Kid Flash B03, -Velocity B032

The two of you didn’t even make it in the cave before Wally was dragged into a hug by his best friend. “You guys made it! Velocity, good to see you.” He grinned and hugged you tightly as well.

“Dick, I don’t go by Velocity you know that.” You chuckled hugging him back.

“If you don’t go by Velocity, then why is it there?” a voice asked from behind him. Conner and M’gann walked up to you with a smile on their face.

You crossed your arms and gave them both a look. “You all know very well why it’s there and not my name.”

Wally and Dick rubbed the back of their necks with a suspicious look on their faces. “We have no idea what you are talking about Y/N, but either way I’m glad you decided to come. There are so many people who want to meet Wally’s famous sister.”

The four of them ushered you further into the cave where there were dozens of people there standing around, talking, and eating the many snacks M’gann had made. Most people were in their civies as well, the few who weren’t wore either glasses or their masks to hide their identity.

Taking a look around, you remembered the last time you were in the cave. It was the day that you got the nickname Velocity, but tried to push it to the back of your mind as Dick and Wally specifically maneuvered you towards the snack table.

“Make yourself at home, we’ll be right back,” Dick said and walked off with Wally right behind him.

“Don’t you move.” Wally threatened and followed his friend before disappearing into the crowd, leaving you alone at the snack table.

It was at this point you regretted coming to the party, your brother and the only people you knew ditched you at the snack table so you did the only thing you could. Gorge yourself on the delectable treats in front of you. Grabbing a plate, you put a little bit of everything that could fit on your plate. Your appetite was quite large, but it was your metabolism trying to keep up with the speeds your body could handle. The only person you had seen eat more than you was Wally; he was like a human garbage disposal.

You were snacking on a cherry tart when you heard someone stand beside you. Looking to your left, you saw a boy with messy black hair and the brightest blue eyes you had ever seen. He was only a bit taller than you and had his arms crossed over his chest with a disheveled look on his face as if he was forced to walk over.

Before he could catch you looking, you quickly turned your head and finished the tart in your hand.

“You should try the apple ones, they’re the best.” He said softly.

Turning to look at him, a small smile spread on your face. “I don’t know, I’m pretty attached to the cherry.”

The boy chuckled and held out his hand. “I’m Tim, Dick is my older brother.”

You took his in your own and shook it. “Y/N, Wally is mine.” you smiled.

“I figured, you’re all he seems to talk about.” Tim smiled, leaning against the table to look at you.

“Oh really? How many embarrassing stories should I be worried that everyone knows about?” you asked, finishing your cherry tart.

Tim laughed at your question. “None so far, all he says is how cool you are and that he is proud of you.”

Hearing those words made you smile more, maybe Wally wasn’t such a terrible big brother. “I’m proud of him too, putting himself out there to help those who can’t protect themselves every day. It’s not easy, and Wally loves it more than anything.” You explained, reaching for an apple tart and taking a bite of it.

“You’re right, these are good.” You smiled.

“I told you.” He grinned. “But you have the same powers, so why don’t you fight with him and the team?” Tim asked, tilting his head as he took a cherry tart off of your plate.

You tried to swat his hand away with a laugh only for him to stay out of reach and take a bite.

“I prefer to stay out of the action, I’m not as fast as Barry, Wally, or Bart. I’d only slow them down, and worry them more, so I’ve taken up an internship with Iris and journalism and help keep people’s noses out of their identities.” You explained, looking around. “But that does not stop them, especially Bart. Every time I see him, he brings out the suit Barry had made for me and makes a big deal about asking every chance he gets.”

Your eye caught sight of Wally and he was talking to Artemis, with Dick at his side. They seemed to be talking in hushed whispers about something and gesturing towards your location but things weren’t adding up. Before you could even voice your concern, or mention it to Tim you saw a blur out of the corner of your eye.

“Speaking of which.” You quickly set your plate down and grabbed Tim’s hand and took off down the hall to get away from Bart. You loved him to death, but this kid had an exuberant amount of energy that rivaled Wally’s and this was the last thing you wanted.

“Y/N!” you heard Bart call from behind you, only making you pick up the pace a little.

You could have run faster to get away from him, but for some reason, you grabbed hold of Tim and drug him along with you. It limited your speed and you felt him tug on your hand.

“Here, this way.” He said and opened a door and quickly shoved the two of you in, quietly shutting it behind you.

The two of you hid in the dark closet, Tim’s ear pressed against the door as he listened for Bart’s steps to fade away. Somehow the two of you had outrun him and hid before he could actually find you. A couple minutes passed before you let out the breath you had been holding.

“Thanks for that.” You smiled, blinking as your eyes adjusted to the darkness. It had only just dawned on you exactly where you were, and how small the room was. “Tim, did you just shove us in a broom closet?”

Tim rubbed the back of his head. “It was the closest place we could hide, I figured from the way you took off that you didn’t want to deal with him asking you questions.” He looked around, before reaching for the door. “I think it’s safe to come out.” He said and pulled on the handle, only for it to not budge.

“Tim, why is the door not opening?” you asked.

“Uh, it’s locked.”

“It’s what?”

“It’s locked.” He repeated.

You ran a hand through your hair and let out a sigh. “How are we locked in here? Does it unlock from the outside only?”

“It seems so, and I don’t have my utility belt or I could totally get us out of here.” He responded and pulled out his phone, using the light to look around. You had left yours with Wally because the outfit you were wearing did not have any pockets.

“I have no service in here either, so it looks like we just have to wait it out.” He sighed and sat on a box, you sitting on one leaned against the opposite wall. The closet was big enough that you were comfortable, but your knees were touching and you were crowded by various items.

“It’s never a dull time with you bats.” You chuckled, leaning your arms on your thighs.

“I could say the same thing about you speedsters.” Tim teased. “Between you, Wally, and Bart, someone is always laughing and having a good time.”

You tilted your head at his comment. “We’ve never met before tonight; how do you know I always make people laugh?”

Tim was thankful for the darkness of the room; you didn’t get to see the slight blush creeping up on his face. “Wally and Bart talk about you all the time, every story they tell has at least one person in tears laughing.”

Your face began to heat up as well, with you tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Well, life is too short with this occupation. What better way to live it than to make others laugh right?”

Tim laughed softly and looked at you with his blue eyes illuminated by the soft glow coming from his phone. “Yeah, you never know what day will be your last so might as well live it the way you want to, right?”

The tone in his voice seemed to change with those last few words. Tim had known about you for a while and even harbored a slight crush from the pictures Dick would show him of you and Wally. But seeing you in reality, was something different entirely; the way your eyes shone when you talked about your family and running made him fall even harder. Sure, you weren’t a public hero like your brother or uncle, but you were still a speedster and running was in your blood.

Slowly his hand reached over and took yours, keeping his touch light and soft. The last thing he wanted to do was scare you off, or make you think he was some kind of weirdo. But the second you tightened your grip on his hand, his heart fluttered.

“I have to be honest; I did not want to come to this stupid party, and getting locked in a closet was not on my list. But I am glad that it's with you.” You smiled, looking at your entwined hands.

His fingers were long but calloused. It showed the hard work he put into his title of Robin, but no matter how rough they were his touch was soft. He gripped your hand in his and looked at you. You had only met him that night, but there was something that pulled you towards him. Maybe it was the fact that he understood what it was like to have a big brother’s legacy to live up to or the simple fact that he understood that you didn’t want to join the hero scene. Whatever it was, it seemed to pull him towards you as well.

Before you knew it, his face was right in front of yours and you could feel his warm breath fan over your face. One inch closer and your lips would be on his, and your eyes locked with his. Tim’s hand left yours as he cupped your cheek with both hands, threading his fingers through your hair slightly.

The magnetic pull only got stronger as you leaned in closer, your eyes fluttering shut as his lips brushed against yours. His lashes tickled the skin on your cheeks as Tim kissed you fully, leaning into it to feel it closer.

The kiss itself only lasted a few seconds before he pulled back and looked at you, his eyes shining with something you couldn’t decipher.

“You taste like cherry tart.” Tim gave a lopsided grin, savoring the taste of your lips on his own.

“I am definitely glad I am stuck in a closet with you now.” You grinned, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, and kissed Tim once more. His hands held your waist as he pulled you onto his lap to bring you closer to his body.

This kiss lasted longer than the first one, but not by much. Before either of you could react, the door to the closet swung open as light flooded into the room. You let out a squeak and jumped off Tim’s lap and landed on the floor with a thud.

Looking up, you saw Dick standing there with his arms crossed and an amused expression on his face. “Having fun, you two?” he teased.

Tim’s face flushed darker as you glared at Dick from your spot on the floor.

“Hey, Wally! I found her!” he called. Within seconds, Wally was next to Dick and peeking into the closet and saw your current position.

“You know, when we planned on setting you two up, we did not mean for you to make out in a dark closet.” He grinned.

“Wally!” you snapped and got up and dove at him quickly, Wally speeding out of the way. It all clicked why they wanted you to come to the party so bad and Wally’s sudden interest in what you wore out of the house. He was trying to set you up with Dick’s little brother.

Knowing that he was in trouble, Wally took off down the hall with you right behind him zooming through the cave as you tried to catch him. The night ended with Wally nursing a large bruise on his shoulder and you and Tim exchanging numbers and planning your first official date of many yet to come.

[cognacdelights]

pleasure doing business with you

the chronicles of cognacdelights

add yourself to my taglist

summary: this is for a secret santa fic exchange. @sortagaysortahigh​ here you go bby, i hope you enjoy. sorry that it took so long.

warnings: swearing. sexual content. alcohol. 

You were sat, perched comfortably in the bespoke, leather chair, as you watched him pour the expensive, honey-coloured liquid into the decorated, crystal tumblers. His dark, obsidian eyes fluctuated between you and the decadent bottle of whiskey, before he nonchalantly guided the nearest glass in your direction — his ring-cladded middle finger pushing against the cold glass as he did so. 

“No, thank you, Mr Stilinski,” you responded in your naturally low and sultry voice, “I like to keep a clear head when discussing business.” Your lips subconsciously pursed as the words left your mouth, your rigid gaze meeting his as he grasped the wide-rimmed tumbler between his thumb and middle finger. He held it so casually, as he tipped the brim towards him and took a generous gulp of the premium whiskey. 

“Suit yourself, Miss,” his gravelly tone reverberated throughout the small — but luxuriously decorated — office, dismissing your declination of his offer with a lackadaisical turning of his palms. His tall, broad and muscular stature towered above you as he leaned against the edge of the grand, mahogany desk, perching ever so slightly atop the overhang. “So, we’ll try this your way. Let’s discuss business.”

“The Lenora Company would like to purchase the land south of the docklands. They’re willing to offer you market price, plus ten percent,” you proposed, confident in your sales pitch. An assured smile threatened to pull the corners of your lipstick-coated lips upwards — however, your features fought to stay in their professional, rigid state. Your eyes remained fixated on the well-dressed man before you — slightly in awe of his impressively authoritative aura. 

“Market price plus ten percent, huh?” Mr Stilinski appeared to mull over, swirling the remaining amber-coloured liquor around the bottom of his fancy, crystal glass. He took a sharp inhale — his cold, impassive eyes flitting to you and boring deep into the depths of your soul — before downing the rest of the expensive whiskey. The sound of the delicate glass hitting against the varnished wood of his desk pulled you from your slight daze and prompted you to think of a swift response — not wanting to look or sound any less competent than you were. 

“Yes, Mr Stilinski, that’s an exceptional offer considering today’s property prices,” you confirmed. Your voice started off strong — composed and collected — but you found yourself wavering towards the end. There was something about this impeccably emotionless, callous man that had overwhelmed your unsuspecting senses; you had found yourself faltering under his icy, apathetic gaze. However, it was not because you were unsettled by his presence, but because you found yourself rather at ease under his wandering eyes. You couldn’t help but furtively relish in the fact that his dark eyes were lingering across your chest — liberally indulging himself in the view behind your provocatively unbuttoned shirt. 

He stood, straightening his posture, “you can do better than that, Miss.” His fair features remained unphased — stringency etched into their perfectly chiselled contours — as he took a step towards you. The slightly cool air which circulated the room became thick and oppressive — your mouth drying ever so slightly — as he took yet another step towards you. You could feel the pit of your stomach whirling in anticipation of his next move, his court=shoe-clad feet leisurely closing the gap between you.

“I must insist that the original offer is exceptionally generous,” you somehow managed to choke out an argument — his brawny silhouette now standing over you in a domineering manner. Peering down at you, he cocked his head to the side — admiring you for a brief, fleeting second — before crouching before you. His warm palms instantly found their way to the plains of your inner thighs, prying them apart with a gentle force. Your tight, figure-hugging pencil skirt offered little decency, as he was met with an exceptional view of your lacy, champagne panties. 

“And I must insist that you can do better than that,” he countered — an arrogant, audacious smirk contorting his fair features. However, it was short-lived — his lips taking it upon themselves to explore every inch of your inner thighs. At first, he placed gentle kisses against the sensitive skin, but quickly progressed to sucking and nibbling on favoured spots. 

“Mr Stilinski,” you breathed out — your flurry of hot air accompanied by a subtle, pleasure-filled whine as his teasing tongue caressed the upper most plains of your inner thighs. Your chest began to heave gently up and down as you felt yourself relaxing under his salacious touch. You knew it was wrong — you knew it was abhorrently unprofessional — but the way his tongue circled against the sensitive skin, and his teeth grazed against the favoured patch, sent euphoric tingles along your spine. 

“Yes, Miss?” he questioned, an innocent flair to his tone, as he continued venturing ever further towards the now dampened heat of your core. 

“I—“ the words hitched in your throat as you felt the soft, smooth pads of his fingers slide up the length of your thighs and slip beneath the lacy waistband of your panties. Within a flash of a second, your panties had been guided down the voluptuous lengths of your thighs and had been carelessly dropped against the carpet. 

Once again, his dominant, bear-like palms placed themselves against both of your inner thighs — spreading your legs even further apart in a bid to make your soaking heat as accessible as possible. He leaned forwards, his taunting tongue tracing one long, slow stripe along your folds. A soft, lascivious moan surpassed your crimson lips and prompted him to repeat his actions once more. He continued to caress your wet folds with his tormenting tongue, increasing the pace with each sensual lick. Your hands gripped onto the arms of the leather chair as your back arched ever so slightly, pushing your hips forward in anticipation of his next move. 

“I’m sure that we can come to some kind of arrangement, Miss,” his low and gruff voice sent sensational vibrations rattling through your core — pulling carnal whines and a concoction of pleasure-filled expletives from the depths of your throat. 

“Will market value pl—” a high-pitched, emphatic moan slipped for between your parted, scarlet lips as he delicately sucked on your sensitive bud — his stubby, ring-cladded fingers now toying with your folds and teasing your heavenly hole, “plus fifteen percent interest you?”

“It interests me, but it doesn’t satisfy me,” he admitted, the vibrations of his low and lustful voice compelling your voluptuous hips to buck against his smirk-adorning face — eager for more contact. He continues in his salacious assault of your clit, his tongue swirling in masterful motions as he slips a finger inside of you. He’s rough, thrusting his digit deep inside of your aching core so that the cold silver of his ring sends electrifying sensations through your drenched folds. 

“Th— that’s as high as I can offer,” you stutter through jagged, heavy breaths as you roll your hips in synchrony with his thrusts — a second finger slipping effortlessly into your dripping, yearning pussy. Another elated whine fills the thick, steamy air of the office as he increases his pace, continuing to suck sensually on your clit. 

“Market value, plus twenty five percent,” Mt Stilinksi demanded in his unforgiving, authoritative tone. He fingers pounded deep inside of you, curling against your most sensitive nerves and forcing you towards the metaphorical ledge with each rhythmic thrust. 

“My boss wouldn’t be impressed with that offer,” you let slip — your voice consumed by a breathy, high-pitched whine as he continued to increase his pace.

“Your boss isn’t the one that you need to impress, Miss,” he countered almost instantly — his spare hand gripping onto your bare thigh in a tight, vice-like grip. He continued to swirl his tongue in sloppy, lackadaisical motions, becoming negligent in his precision as he felt your walls contracting around his large fingers. The smirk which had previously occupied his fair features returned, tugging the corners of his thin lips upwards, as he thrust his fingers inside you vigorously and nibbled against the sensitive nerves of your clit ever so gently. “So, how about that additional twenty five percent?”

“Deal,” you exclaimed — your voice echoing against the wooden panels of the walls. The tight, twisted knot that sat in the pit of your stomach began to unravel as your walls pulsated around his stubby, ring-cladded fingers and your hips rolled recklessly to meet with his rigorous thrusts. A haze of euphoria consumed you — like that feeling of slipping into a warm bubble bath — as he took his time in slowing his pace. His eager tongue lapped up your heavenly juices, cleaning your glorious pussy and thighs masterfully. 

Eventually, he retreated from your warmth and peered upwards at you with those dark, callous eyes of his. An imperious smirk, once again, occupied his pale complexion, “it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” 

[princessdreamie]

DBH part 39

New chatacter: Maggie Larson (Ma: Bu's partner in crime)

Once they came into the waiting area at the end of the hall, Bu and his companion met up with the others. Br & Bu hugged eachother, catching up on what was going on, while the parents spoke to the tall woman he came with. She told them that she came to record his progress while he was back home. N had some suspicions about the whole ordeal, so she kept all that information in the back of her head.

The brother and sister duo, were standing further back in the background and the teenager talked about her endeavors after his time overseas. And that's what he was counting on. He knew that his big sid had some valuable information, even if most of it was just some boy crazy drama. Most of the time he kept his facade in tact, that was until she started talking about their girl cousin and her clique. He was already pissed at her, since it was her fault that he was shipped away. Once he heared Lo's name and that he started being friendly with the other kids, the mood shifted inside of him. He was aware that the boy was weak. But he never would have thought that Lo might turn his back on him one day. His frozen face concerned Br so he had to make up a lie to cover his feelings.

The family of 4 sat in the car and they keep asking what it was like with the doctors and how long he would be staying. In his words: „As long as my company guide it going to let me.”

N & Br were happy to hear that. Not knowing how this was not exactly how it will go.

Flashback to Bu's room at the psychological institute

The boy was laying on his small and narrow bed, contemplating on how to get out of here. His door opened, sitting up ready for a new day to break another dorks mental state.

But this lady didnt look like she was working for them. And that's caugh him off guard. She didnt act all friendly and professional. She was not even scared of him as she walked up to his bed.

Standing over him next to his bed, the woman introduced herself as an ally of his. Saying that she has a grudge against some of his own enemies. She wouldnt say who but the person made sure to get him on her site.

It didnt take too long for him to jump on board and they layed down a plan to follow up on.

End of flashback

The rest of the stantons, excluding K & Na (K had work to do and N had a sleepover with her girl friends) wait in anticipation of the young boy's return. J didnt tell K or her daughter about Bu's return bc she didnt want her kid to freak out and separate herself from her family any further as she already was. Even if his arrival was short notice they had a feeling that he might have changed. Lv was not sure if they could trust him just bc he was allowed for a visit. All this was just to abnormal. They didn't even hear from St yet if his was a legit visit.

Mav tried calling his friend but to no avail. He would have asked his assistant, but he didnt have her private number saved.

Lv made a mental note to ask Fa or C for her number, both know her personally so that might not be that hard.

What would be is finding her. Mt and Co had different workplaces and they dont get home until late evening of they work overtime.

Long after they had stopped arguing over the matter, the front door finally opened. Everyone, including Fl, looked around the corner. The first thing that caught their eye was a very tall woman with white jacket and grey pants. But no N or even Ct insight. Not even the kids had arrived.

Long after they had stopped arguing over the matter, the front door finally opened. Everyone, including Fl, looked around the corner. The first thing that caught their eye was a very tall woman with white jacket and grey pants. But no N or even Ct insight. Not even the kids had arrived.

One of the butlers asked the stranger who let her in. To which she responded in a tired tone: „Relax, my good man. That is not a way to speak to a doctor. I got the location of the spare key from your young master, so this not going to be a problem, now is it?”

The ppl still in the other room were baffled at her rude behavior. Once the woman walked up to their location they acted like they didnt witness her rude behavior just then.

The woman introduced herself as Maggie Larson, Bu's supervisor on this trip. Her duty was to figure out if the boy was ready for 'the next step'.

Lv and Gr didnt like the sound of that. It was just to strange to find out about it from Bu instead of one of the emploees of the institute.

The other thing they got was an email from an assitant a few days after Bu and Br texted eachother. Some things still didnt add up on other things as well. So Gr & his son took some caution forwards her.

But since they couldnt get a hold on St they kept to themselves.

Not long after another car arrived. This time it was N and the rest of her brats.

Tt, who was sitting on the sofa all this time, glanced outside the window and growled at the boy ouside. He sent a quick notice to Ll, warning her for an upcoming disaster.

Cut to E's firm

Ll was swaying on her dad's shoulder when he got Tts warning. E asked her what made her so anxious all of a sudden.

As usual she passed on the information and sure enough, the CEO was not happy about the news.

Another message came again, this time Tt asking if he could ask Mt to send Co's phone number to Lv so he could talk to her about her boss.

E ordered Ll to message his assistant about it b4 he went back to work.

[thecozywhaleshark]

Coins Only

A/n: Hi everyone! Long time no see. I’m sorry I haven’t written much during quarantine, I was just feeling uninspired with no good thoughts and didn’t want to project that onto my page. To try to get myself back into the swing of things, I’ve decided to try my hand at an NCT fic... which also may or may not have been fueled by Johnny Suh fueled rage...for those of you who see this, I hope you enjoy! (here you go @illneverrecover​ have a good stay ;) )

** Note: For those of you who don’t live in the USA, every 25c piece here is decorated on the back (or the ‘tails’ side) with one of the 50 states. Some people try to collect them all, others just like to look at the backs for fun! 

Word Count: 1,206

Summary: It’s time for your weekly hot date to the laundromat with your boyfriend. A little slice of life fic.

“Hey Johnny! You want to get something to eat?” Mark called, jogging to catch up with Johnny as he headed to the door after practice. 

“Sorry can’t, I’ve got a hot date!” Johnny grinned, grabbing the door and holding it open for his friend.  “Ooh where are you going? Dinner? A movie?”  “The laundromat!” Johnny grins, waving goodbye as he jogs over to where you’re waiting for him in your car. 

You grin as you watch him come out of the building, rolling down the window to look at him over your sunglasses. “Damn,” you drawl, nodding in appreciation as a sweaty Johnny Suh comes your way. 

“What?” Johnny braces his forearms on the window, looking in.

“Can I offer you a ride baby? I can pay cash cash.” You jiggle your eyebrows, holding up your bag of quarters.  

He whistles low. “Damn, an entire bag of quarters? You really know how to reel a man in.” He laughs, opening the door and sliding into the seat.

“I do try.” You start up the engine and begin to pull away from the curb. 

“How much do I get? $1? $2.50?” He grabs the bag and begins rifling through the silver. “I’d settle for one from the state of Illinois if you have it.” 

“Hmm,  I don’t know about Illinois, play it right and I might give you one from Kentucky.” 

“Kentucky? Why Kentucky?”

“Well, for starters, you smell. That doesn’t merit an Illinois.” You crinkle your nose, giving him a once over. “We have a date and you chose track pants? The distaste.” 

“Damn. Well I could say the same to you. If we’re rating by looks, you get an Idaho.” He gives your outfit an appraisal, raising his brows. 

You gasp in mock offence. “Are you saying you don’t like my class of 2015 high school sweatpants?? That I may or may not have spilled numerous things on in the past?? The audacity.” 

“Truth hurts sweetheart.” 

You grin as you turn down the street, heading for the strip mall and it’s neon glowing signs, partially falling off. 

Johnny whistled. “There she is! Good ol’ Lundy Mt.” He starts to applaud. “Hasn’t aged a day.” 

The building had seen it’s better days. At one point in time it had spelled “Laundry Mart”, but the years had not been kind and since you moved to town it had only ever been affectionately called Lundy Mountain. Not by anybody else you knew, but Johnny had deemed it such and it was more fun to say than just “laundromat.”

Pulling into one of the open spots you park, opening the back for easier access to your basket of clothes as Johnny grabs the bag of quarters and sticks it in his pocket. 

Johnny grabs one basket and you grab the other, propping it on your hip as you head into the building. 

“Ooh look, they added decoration.” Johnny points, where a lone sock sits on the table in the corner. 

“Love what they’ve done with the place.” 

You head over to one of the empty machines, loading up your load while Johnny does the same a couple down. 

You shut the door and stand up, cupping your hands as you face your boyfriend. “Please sir, do you have any coin?” 

He digs out the bag from his pocket and unzips it. “I supposed I can spare one, let me find you a special one.” 

He places exactly one quarter in your palms, grinning as he uses the others to start his load. 

You flip it over in your palm and gasp. “Washington? I feel special.” 

“Only the best for my girl,” he says, sending you a flying kiss. 

You put the quarter into your machine, listening to the faint clink as it falls in and the flashing number drops from $1.50 to $1.25. 

You turn to your boyfriend again, tugging on his sleeve. “Please sir, do you have five more?” 

He scoffs, shaking the bag of quarters. “Greedy wench! Do I look like I have 5 more?” 

“It looks like you have about 15.” 

“Since when do you know how to count?” 

“Rude.” You snatch the bag from his hand, grinning as you slot them in and start up your machine. 

“THEIF!” he shouts, grabbing you by your waist and spinning your around. “How dare you steal from me!” 

You squeal, clutching his arms. “Ew! You’re sweaty! You stink!” 

“It’s what you get for stealing! An Illinois could have been in there! Now we’ll never know.” 

With a kiss to the cheek gets him to let you go, following you over to the table and sitting across from you. 

“How many coins do we have left?” You ask, slouching over the table. 

“Enough to shove everything into the dryer, crank it on high, and hope it doesn’t take longer.” Johnny replies, shaking the bag. 

“Fantastic.” 

You sigh, eyes wandering as you take in Lundy Mt. The same old white machines, the same old atm exchange in the corner. It was almost peaceful in an ‘empty aisle of walmart’ kind of way. 

Your eyes land on the lone sock on the other table in the room and an idea comes to mind. Grinning mischievelosly, you stand up and edge around your boyfriend. 

“What are you doing?” Johnny asks, looking up from his phone. 

“Nothing,” you smile, heading straight for the table. 

“’Nothing’ sure looks suspicious,” he replies skeptically. 

Reaching down, you pick of the sock, hiding it behind your back. “You think everything I do is suspicious.” 

“Yeah, and for good reason. Remember the mashed potato incident? I’m scarred for life.” 

“It wasn’t even that bad.” 

“You didn’t have to eat it!” 

You grin, whipping the sock out from behind your back and hitting Johnny on the shoulder with it. 

“23-19!”

“EW WHY” Johnny screams, whipping it off his shoulder and on to the floor. 

“23-19!” You tackle him, latching your arms around his neck and wrapping your legs around his waist.” 

“Oh you’re in for it now!” Johnny spins around making you squeal and hang on tighter. 

He backs you up towards one of the washers and sets you on it, turning around in your grasp so he’s facing you.

“That was gross. I had a right to be skeptical.” He scrunches his nose, digging his fingers into your sides. 

“Aw don’t be mad. Besides, don’t you remember 23-19 protocol?” You smirk, kicking your legs slightly. 

“Protocol?” he cocks his head, confused. 

“23-19 victims must be disinfected.” You bite your lip, sliding your hand slightly up the inside of his shirt. “Clothes must be burned.” 

“Burned? But I just got this shirt.” 

“Or at least washed.” 

“I was gonna say,” Johnny smiles, leaning in to press a kiss to your neck. “So dramatic.” 

You sigh, letting your head fall back and giving him better access, but instead he pulls away. 

“For threatening to burn my clothes, now you really owe me an Illinois.” 

“Really? Now?” you huff, giving him your best glare. 

“Yeah, so pay up.” He steps back, holding out his palm, a devilish grin on his face. 

“I can pay,” you say, smiling wickedly back, “but you’re going to have to wait until we get home.” 

[chubbyreaderwriter]

PJs

Bucky Barnes/The Winter Solider x Chubby/Plus Size Reader

Prompt:  Could you write an Bucky imagine where the reader always wears padjamas but they try to dress up to impress him but ends up giving up , and it just being really fluffy 🥺?

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: swearing

Masterlist

You loved wearing pajamas, everyone knew that. If you didn’t need to leave the building then you weren’t going to get dressed, that’s just how you were. Even when you did go outside, your clothes weren’t anything fancy, just loose tops and leggings or joggers. You had never been the type of girl to show off your body in tight clothes and people accepted that. It was just your style but when Bucky was introduced to you, you realised that you might have to change your style just a bit. 

You remembered when you first met Bucky, you had been wandering around the Tower after meeting with Natasha when you bumped into Steve. That’s when you noticed someone else by his side, “Sorry Cap, I guess I didn’t see you there, who’s this?” Steve put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, “(Y/N), this is Bucky, my oldest friend in many ways than one. Bucky, this is (Y/N), our resident secretary and self proclaimed couch potato.” You nudged Steve, cursing him in your head for embarrassing you in front of such a handsome guy. 

As Steve went to lead Bucky away to meet the others, said man looked you up and down and smiled, “Nice clothes, doll.” You waited until they turned the corner before you looked down at your plain grey shirt and pajama bottoms before letting out a dejected sigh. You were pretty sure that Bucky was mocking you for your clothes so you knew that if you wanted to get anywhere close to him, you were going to have to switch things up. 

You didn’t go all out at first, not wanting to raise suspicions too much. The next day, you put on a long sleeved black shirt with a low neckline and a pair of leggings. Tony gave you a weird look when you walked into the kitchen, “Am I dreaming or is (Y/N) wearing clothes on her day off?” This got the attention of Clint and Bucky, who were sitting in the living room. Bucky looked at you for only a couple seconds before going back to watching his tv show. Before Clint could say anything, you walked out of the room, mumbling an excuse of having somewhere to be. 

You headed back to your room and groaned in frustration, clearly that wasn’t enough then. You needed to amp it up a bit. You pulled out your phone and started browsing through many different clothing websites, looking for clothes to wear. It took a while to find anything that you would even consider to wear, everything looked too tight, too revealing or too cheap. You dreaded the search for heels, because although they looked nice you knew you’d have a hard time walking in them. 

You did your best to avoid everyone until your new clothes got here and then there was the case of what if they didn’t fit? Although it scared you, you had to admit that it was exciting to be able to try them on as if you were giving yourself a little fashion show. Most of them, you thought were okay, nothing special, they didn’t look as good on you as they had on the model, but it was okay. But when you pulled out a dress you bought, you knew it was the one. 

The dress was knee length, off the shoulder and came with a built-in push up bra to accentuate your breasts. It was a burgundy colour made out of a soft velvet material that was very nice to touch. You liked it a lot more than you thought you would, it seemed to pull in your waist and make you look curvier rather than chubby. You smiled, damn you looked good. After you were finished checking yourself out in the mirror, you moved onto the shoes. 

After a lengthy check, you made sure that they all fit right, but the real challenge was; could you walk in them? You put on a plain white pair and slowly stood up, it was a five inch heel which may be easy for others but you had never walked in heels in your life. You took a deep breath before stepping forward, only to yelp as you wobbled. You stumbled over to the desk in your room, preparing to use that as some kind of railing, walking back and forth until you felt you could walk without help. You lost track of time and before you knew it, you had been walking around in your room for just under four hours. 

You quickly hid all of your new clothes before heading to the kitchen to grab something to eat before going back to bed, you had to wake up early if you were going to make an effort. Bucky had been on a mission over the past couple of days but was supposed to be coming back tomorrow, which was when you planned to impress him. You had trouble sleeping at first, going over all the possible scenarios that could happen when you see him. But eventually, your brain calmed down and you were able to drift off to sleep. 

You groaned as you smacked your hand against your bedside table, trying to reach your phone to turn off your alarm. Six in the morning? It should be illegal to wake up so early. You sighed as you sat up and for a few minutes, you stayed sitting there, contemplating giving up on the whole idea and going back to sleep. You shook your head and got up, heading to your en suite bathroom to take a shower. 

As the water hit your skin, you started to wake up some more and get both excited and nervous to meet Bucky again. While the two of you hadn’t talked much in the few weeks that he had been part of the Avengers, you felt a connection to him. Perhaps it was just a crush, but you still liked him all the same. You stepped out of the shower and dried yourself off before getting dressed for the day. You brushed your hair and styled it how you liked before you slowly put on the dress and heels. 

Now that you had to leave your room, you felt more nervous and insecure than ever. No one had seen you like this before, what if they didn’t like it? What if they laughed at you? You wouldn’t know what to do if that happened. Taking a deep breath, you muttered to yourself, “Good god, get a grip girl, it’s not that big of a deal. Come on, you can do this, just walk out of there and pretend you don’t care about their opinion.” 

You put a fake smile on your face as you stepped out of your room and started slowly walking down the hallway to get to the kitchen to get something for breakfast. The heels were already uncomfortable on your feet, how do women do this everyday for hours on end? You heard voices coming from the kitchen and you forced yourself to keep walking, not letting your nerves get to you. You turned the corner and saw Steve, Natasha, Sam and Bucky standing there. Your heels clicking on the floor caught their attention and they all turned to look at you. 

Sam whistled, “Goddamn girl, where have you been hiding that?” Natasha smirked as she looked you up and down, “Very nice, I love the dress. It looks good on you.” You blushed from them both and you looked towards Steve and Bucky. Steve was red in the face and you saw him glancing at your very prominent breasts before looking away, “You look swell.” He was stuttering over his words and Natasha scoffed out a laugh. You turned your attention to Bucky but he just looked at you, forced a smile and then left the room. You had to bite your lip to stop yourself from crying as all your confidence was drained from you in a matter of seconds. 

Natasha looked between you and Bucky’s retreating form, putting the pieces together and gave you a pitying look. You let out a shuddering breath, “Uh, you know what? I just forgot something in my room, i think-” You had slowly backed out of the kitchen and once you turned the corner to be out of sight, you took off your stupid heels and hightailed it back to your bedroom. You threw your heels into your closet and practically ripped off your dress, throwing it back in there as well. 

You couldn’t stop a couple of tears escaping, what was the point of that? You had just wasted all that time and money for nothing. You learned how to walk in heels for that guy and he couldn’t even manage to give you a compliment? You sniffled as you slowly took out an old band shirt that had faded over the many times it had been washes and a pair of grey joggers. You couldn’t face going back out there, you had just embarrassed yourself over a guy you barely knew. 

You decided to stay inside your room for the rest of the day, communicating with the team through JARVIS and emails, faking being sick. The next day, you had a text from Natasha saying that Bucky was gone so you could come out now, you should’ve known that she wouldn’t let you hide away for much longer. You walked out and headed into the living room only to see Bucky sitting there on the couch. That bitch. You tried to sneak your way into the kitchen unnoticed but of course he heard you and turned to see you standing in the doorway. 

“Morning, you look nice today.” You didn’t really know if he was being sarcastic or not but you scoffed anyway before making your way into the kitchen. You heard footsteps behind you so you could only assume that he was following you into the kitchen. You sighed and turned around to face him, “Can I help you?” Bucky stared back, “You can tell me why you’ve been avoiding everyone.” You looked at the ground, “That’s none of your business.” 

Bucky chuckled, “Really? According to Natasha, it’s all mt fault.” You grit your teeth, you were going to kill her. Well you could think you could, but a chubby secretary against a highly skilled assassin meant that your chances of winning any fight with her were almost none existent. You clenched your jaw as you decided to stay silent, looking at the ground. You felt your heart race as you saw Bucky’s feet move closer to yours, what was he doing? 

You panicked and blurted out, “I just wanted to impress you, okay?...I thought maybe you’d like me more if I dressed like those glamorous girls in the magazines.” You could feel yourself about to cry when you heard Bucky laughing, thinking he was laughing at you. He was, but not for the reason you think. “Doll, you didn’t need to change the clothes you wear, you look just fine like this, in fact, I think it looks better. I don’t want you to change just for me.” You let out a sigh of relief, “Thank god, those shoes were awful. My feet are still hurting.” 

Bucky laughed softly and smiled down at you, “So, no more changes unless you want to do it for yourself, okay?” You shyly smiled back, “Okay.” Bucky nodded, “Good, besides, loose clothes are either to pull off anyway.” You blushed hard and nudged his shoulder, “Bucky!”