#and there are additional costs on top of that

[neofelis----nebulosa]

the american healthcare system is so bad! lol!

[kabutone]

im really glad that palestine has not only raised awareness of the ongoing genocide but has brought attention to other ongoing human rights issues and occupations like congo and hawaii (and brought some attention back to ukraine but ive also seen people being weird about it). so now that we're having the conversation about why its bad to attempt to kill entire groups of people, i am begging that you start bringing masking and covid safety back into your politics.

a LOT of people who claim to be "leftist" or "progressive" or "inclusive" or whatever label you wanna use, have fallen into the mindset that disabled, immunocompromised, and otherwise high risk individuals deserve to get left to die. a lot of people are reacting with such shock and horror that the US would funnel so much money and support into a blatant genocide, but that wake up call came so much earlier for the people that were left to "fall by the wayside" by covid. the US has left the most vulnerable to die and is trying to convince you to leave them behind too. not to mention that even the healthiest and fittest person can become disabled by covid. the government is willing to let you and your family die if it means they can squeeze more money out of you. and if you believe that the pandemic is "over" or is no longer a big deal, you have bought into their eugenics, and i am begging you to fight back against it.

a lot of people refuse to mask, or test, or take others into consideration anymore because "i did my part." and they fail to recognize that their "part" is not over, they did the bare minimum and then failed their community. i hope that in a few months you won't be disregarding palestine because you "did your part" by using the tiktok watermelon filters and posting about it for a few months.

if you are pushing super hard for palestine, and any other nation suffering colonialism and genocide, i urge you to wear a mask and fight against the murder happening at home too.

[akkivee]

been feeling a little insane recently i might try to get into the 10th live idk

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[foldingfittedsheets]

When deciding who to work for there is a sliding scale of employers that goes from lil mom and pop shops up to corporate monoliths. I have worked at both ends of the spectrum and I can pretty definitively say that tiny businesses are hands down the most insane employers.

The sweet spot is a place that has like 10-20 stores; that’s the best possible work environment. They’ll be polished enough to have protocols that make work structured, but not so bogged down with bureaucracy that nothing can ever get done.

This story is not from that sweet spot. This story is from my time working at Oil and Vinegar. Now, like many little franchise stores, the idea was solid. There was on tap imported olive oil and vinegar and it was really delicious. Top shelf. Unfortunately, each location was like the Wild West because owners varied wildly.

My owner was the human embodiment of Mr. Krabbs. His eyes were just constant dollar signs. Throughout my training he informed me of the price of every single piece of equipment I touched and how much it cost to replace it.

He had cameras set up to watch us, and an app on his phone to access the live feed. He’d call us to ask what we were doing when he’d just checked a camera to make sure we were being honest.

Now, the trouble was he had two locations. His location further south did amazing. It was way more centrally located and got three times the foot traffic. The one I worked in was in the snottiest mall possible in Arizona and consequently the rent was through the roof.

It was not going well for my store. We didn’t get as much traffic, so there was only so much I could do in a day. I could dust, sweep, and wait for customers. I read a lot and was frank when he called to interrogate me. I always asked for additional tasks but he never had any. What could I do to prop up a failing business?

But this man was convinced there was some Secret Reason that the store I was in was doing worse. He crunched numbers, looked at staff, and eventually hit upon the most insane possible solution.

We used too much toilet paper.

We were probably stealing toilet paper! Bleeding him dry one single ply square at a time! How dare we need to use the bathroom?! His south location used half as much toilet paper as we did, we must be thieving little monsters!!!!

Friends. The south location was populated entirely by men. My location had three people on staff who had to sit to pee. It was so blindly transparently the source of the discrepancy but this man was convinced we were making off with toilet paper to bankrupt him.

So he implemented what he believed to be an entirely reasonable response to this base treachery. We were allowed to have one roll of toilet paper. At any given time, one roll was permitted to us. This was so transparently unhinged that we protested but he insisted. If we were low on toilet paper we needed to call him to drop off a roll that he brought from his home. Smiling jovially, he assured us he lived so close by that it would be no problem!

When we needed to call him often for more he started tearing his hair out. What were we using toilet paper for?! Why wasn’t his genius plan to stop our scandalous waste working??!

Finally, the manager, the only man on staff had to pull the owner aside and be like, “Look, man, their bladders are smaller. They need to wipe every time they pee. They need to pee even more on their period. Is this really the hill you want to die on?”

Yes. It was. The manager was fired unrelated reasons and denounced as a traitor. The toilet paper ration lasted until I quit and probably until the store closed six months later.

[loonylupinblack3]

Shy

Pairing: Logan Howlett x Reader

Warnings: swearing, suggestive content

Summary: you have a crush on a certain co-worker but are too shy to tell him. so someone does it for you.

Word count: 2.6k

A/N: THIS WAS A REQUEST BUT WHEN I TRIED TO REPLY TO IT IT DIDNT LET ME AND DELETED IT INSTEAD (also jean is a meddling little shit in this and u just gotta accept that)

You watched him from across the hall greedily, eyes drinking in his panting form, the sweat coating his chest and back, the strained muscles underneath his wife beater tank top. Logan was a sight for sore eyes on a normal day, but when he was working out? He had you practically rabid for him.

You were sitting on one of the benches, a forgotten book in your hand you hadn’t glanced at in ages, preferring to treat yourself to the image of Logan Howlett hot and sweaty while working out. There were a few other X-men exercising alongside him, and others on the bench with you hanging out so you weren’t too out of place, but everyone could see the way you looked at Logan.

Everyone but Logan himself.

You’d joined the team a few months ago- 5 to be exact- after whispers had gotten to you of a safe space for mutants. Having hidden your true genetic code from everyone else in your life, you jumped at the chance of not having to hide anymore. With your unique skill set too- the ability to formulate and present illusions- you were an exceptional addition to both the X-men and the teaching staff.

You thrived at the X mansion. The kids loved you, you got along well with your fellow teammates, and you had suggested and helped act on several improvements to both the school and the team. You were a good addition, and the other mutants were grateful to have you there.

You’d just had one problem when acclimating to the school. Your teeny, tiny, incredibly small crush on your fellow professor, Logan Howlett. At first you really had thought it would be no big deal. Just a co-worker you had noticed was slightly attractive. That’s all. Other mutants had told you he was hard to talk to, and had a gruff, moody personality, so you’d thought the attraction would soon fade.

Unfortunately it had only grown. The first time you’d realised, shit, this might actually be a problem, was when you’d gone to get a glass of water in the middle of the night and found Logan leaning against the kitchen counter, shirtless, with a beer in hand.

You’d been so flustered, eyes continuously betraying you and straying to his chest that you’d blurted out the first thing that came to your head, “how’d you get beer in here?”

Logan had chuckled, observing you as he brought the beer bottle to his mouth for a sip. “Why? Want some Sweetheart?”

You’d felt heat rise to your face at the nickname, shaking your head. “No, I was just curious.”

Logan stared at you a second longer, eyes trailing your figure appreciatively before shrugging. “Your loss. And unfortunately I can't tell you how I got it. Gotta keep it a secret lest Xavier finds out.”

You were too flustered to argue so you’d just nodded, mumbled a quick goodbye, and quickly walked back to your bedroom. You hadn’t even gotten your glass of water. 

There had been other similar instances over the past few months. Logan just had a way to get under your skin, to cause your heart to go into cardiac arrest every time he looked at you, which made it hard to conceal your ever growing crush on him from literally everyone. Even your students knew about it, or at least had their suspicions, and you prayed they were too intimidated by Logan to ask him any questions about it. The last thing you needed was to get humiliated and have to pack up all your things and leave the home you had just created for yourself because you could no longer look any of your co-workers or students in the eyes again.

Especially Logan.

Things had escalated until you could barely look Logan in the eye anymore, and actively avoided him at all costs. The last thing you wanted to do was embarrass yourself in front of him, and though it was unpleasant you’d decided the best course of action was just to steer clear of him altogether.

Still, you allowed yourself some enjoyment, like watching Logan workout from afar while in a room full of people. The onlookers weren’t the best, but it was better than being alone with him when who knows what would happen.

“Like what you see?”

Storm’s voice dragged you out of your ogling, and you turned to her with a sheepish expression. “Maybe.”

She gave you a knowing look, raising her eyebrows. You ignored it, because you’d heard her suggestions many times before and found they didn’t align with your own interests.

“Go and tell him how you feel.”

And embarrass yourself when he inevitably rejects you? No thanks. You were more comfortable with keeping your feelings suppressed, continuously shoving them down, building a brick wall between them and you, to permanently keep them out. Yet for every single brick you added somewhere below you could feel three more being punched out, slowly destroying your barricades bit by bit. 

Your eyes strayed back to Logan, like they always did, yet surprise striked you when you couldn’t find him. Your eyes scanned the room like a man on a mission, only to realise too late Logan was heading towards you, a towel in his sweaty grip.

He greeted Storm with a nod before his gaze zeroed in on you, and you mentally added another brick to your shield, determined to keep him out this time. 

“Y/n,” he greeted, eyes never straying from your face.

You looked down, fidgeting with your hands. “Logan,” and, because you were incredibly weak willed- “did you have a good workout?”

You swear as you looked back up at him you saw the remnants of a smile on his face, but it was gone in the blink of an eye so you couldn’t be completely sure. You don’t think Logan had ever smiled at you, and you felt the bricks within you start to wobble.

“It was alright,” he said curtly, ever the man of few words. He lingered though, as if debating to say something, when it came out anyway. “I’d like it if you joined us next time.”

You felt your heartbeat increase. You felt the jump and the rapid incline as you processed what he said, your mind swimming.

“Me? But I just do illusions… I don’t have a fight worthy mutation.”

“Which is exactly why you should workout. Build your strength so you don’t need to rely on others and can trust your own body to do the job, regardless of mutations.”

It was the most you think Logan had ever spoken to you all at once, and you were suddenly feeling very dizzy. Logan wanted you to workout with him, to spend time with him. Could you imagine? Standing alongside him while he panted. Sparring and ending up underneath him, his entire body weight crushing you between him. It was almost too much to think about.

You cleared your throat, trying to clear your mind of unhelpful distractions, and found your eyes glued to Logan as he brought the towel to wipe the sweat from his throat, his muscles straining right in front you as he reached behind the back of his neck, wiping the sheen of sweat from his body.

You were staring, you knew that, but you just couldn’t find it in you to look away. It was a godly sight, Logan in front of you, sweaty and staring right at you. How were you supposed to look away?

“Uhm,” you mumbled when Storm stepped on your foot. If she’d noticed your ogling Logan certainly must have, and you felt heat rise to your face at the thought. “Yeah, maybe. I’ll think about it.”

Logan looked at you again, really looked at you, before nodding, slinging the towel over a shoulder. “I hope to see you there.”

And with that he walked away, and you felt the bricks tumbling, clattering away inside you, and you could do nothing to stop it until you felt bare and vulnerable, watching the man walk away with the realisation this might be more than just a silly crush.

You couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let yourself go too far, even though you could already feel yourself falling. You needed stronger defences, more barricades and walls. And if that meant more space between you and Logan, more avoiding and distance, well, you’d do it. You couldn’ let yourself go past the point of no return with him. You couldn’t.

Your avoidance of Logan had continued ten-fold. Whenever he entered a room you would exit. You would no longer spend time watching him workout or teach or do anything, really. You stayed as isolated from him as possible, and when you couldn’t you stayed silent, eyes fixed ahead of you rather than on him.

Others had noticed. You heard the rumours, whispers of a fight, a break up that occurred between the two of you. It was laughable, the idea that you and Logan had ever been together in the first place.

It was working though, or so you thought. You could feel your shields and barricades strengthening each day, and you continued to build them higher and higher, in the hopes you would eventually not need to avoid Logan, for he would no longer have any effect on you.

Until then you were determined to avoid Logan and spend as little time with him as possible. Unfortunately Logan did not share that sentiment.

You’d just finished up a class, instructing your students to have their homework prepared for next lesson and watched them all file out the door when Logan entered. It was so unexpected you hadn’t a chance to leave before he was upon you, his figure towering over your frame. His arms were crossed and he watched you with a frown on his face, yet you weren’t afraid of it anymore. Sure, you had been originally, but soon you’d discovered behind the frown was usually no ill intent, so you weren’t nervous.

Well you were, extremely so, but not about that.

“Oh, Logan,” you managed, swallowing thickly. “What are you doing here?”

Logan crossed his arms. “We need to talk.”

You winced. “We do?”

He let out an aggravated huff. “LIsten, I don’t know what I did to make you so pissed at me but it can’t be this bad-”

You interrupted him, confused. “Wait, what?”

He sent you a look. “You. Being mad at me. I don’t know why.”

“I’m not mad at you.”

Logan paused, looking at you with a scrutinising gaze. “Yes you are.”

You scoffed at him wrongly telling you how you felt. “No, I’m not.”

“So why are you ignoring me? And don’t say you haven't-” Logan said, noticing you’d opened your mouth to defend yourself. “I know you are. You have been avoiding me for weeks, and if you’re not angry at me I can see no other fathomable reason for why you’re acting like I have the plague.”

I frowned. “You noticed that?”

Logan scoffed. “Of course I noticed it. You don’t even come to training anymore, not even to watch like you used to. Why?”

You shifted uncomfortably on your feet. You obviously couldn’t tell him the real reason, otherwise all the hard work you’d done would be for nothing because you’d end up humiliated and rejected anyway, but you knew Logan could tell when someone was lying from their pulse spiking, and yours certainly would if you lied about this.

You grappled for something to say, anything, to shake him off your trail. “I have to prepare for another class-”

“You’re not preparing for shit until you tell me what’s wrong,” Logan practically growled. “I can stay here all day Bub.”

Well shit. You didn’t really have another choice. You were going to have to tell him about your feelings for him. Literally anything else would have been better. Anything else.

At that exact moment Jean walked into your classroom and relief bloomed in your chest. You were saved, you were safe. You could use Jean as an excuse and-

“She was avoiding you because she has the hots for you, Logan. Something every single person in this school knows except you.”

Well, not anything else apparently.

Logan let out a noise of surprise and looked at you, but your eyes were glued to Jean, horror and betrayal painted on your face. She mouthed ‘your welcome’ and left. What the fuck? Was that the only reason she entered, to butt into your private conversation?

“Y/n. Was what Jean said true?”

You opened your mouth and then closed it, looking like something akin to a gaping fish. “Define truth.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at you, not at all amused, and his silence forced you to continue.

You sighed, preparing yourself for the inevitable heartbreak to come. “Yes, it’s true, alright, but I never intended to act on it and I won’t act on it so you’re fine-”

“Who said I didn’t want you to act on it?”

You started. “W-what?”

Logan took another step until your chest was suddenly pressed against his. “Did I stutter?”

You felt like you were going to stutter if you said anything, so you sort of just… stood there. Waiting. For what exactly, you weren’t sure. Some clarity maybe?

Certainly not Logan grabbing you by the waist and kissing you, so firm and confident you couldn’t help but melt into his embrace. His hands were grabbing your waist, finding the dips in your curves and squeezing there, grabbing them and tugging you towards him.

His lips dragged across yours, adding an air of desperation to the kiss. You couldn’t help but bring your hand up to cup his cheek, thumb stroking his bearded jaw as he kissed you deeper, seeming for all the world like he was never going to stop. You were powerless to stop it, and you found you didn’t even want to. Your walls were crumbling and you gladly let them if it meant you could continue kissing this man.

Logan hefted you up onto your desk and you let out a gasp, muffled by Logan’s lips. He smiled into the kiss anyway, amused by your surprise, and placed his hands on your knees to part them so he could get between your legs. 

You immediately wrapped your legs around his waist, something he liked if the pleased grunt from his throat was anything to go by. His kissing became more fevoured, like he wanted to devour you, and you gladly let yourself drown in him.

That was until the school bell rang, startling you both out of the kiss. Or rather, just you, because Logan seemed content to move to your neck when your lips stopped responding.

“Logan,” you murmured. “I have a class to teach.”

Logan made an angry grunt and continued placing open mouthed kisses to your collarbone. You laughed and gently pushed him away, causing the man to growl and look at you with such irritation you’d think you interrupted his wedding or something.

“I’m busy here,” Logan said.

You had to physically swallow the breathless sigh threatening to escape your lips, instead saying, “we can continue this later.”

“We will continue this later.”

You smiled, almost shyly, which was ironic considering he was still between your legs. “Yeah?”

Logan moved forward so he could whisper into your ear. “Now that I have you Bub, I ain’t ever letting go.”

He pulled back and your smile widened, making a mental note to thank Jean when you next saw her. “I can live with that.”

[reasonsforhope]

Article | Paywall-Free

"The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Tuesday [October 8, 2024] requiring water utilities to replace all lead pipes within a decade, a move aimed at eliminating a toxic threat that continues to affect tens of thousands of American children each year.

The move, which also tightens the amount of lead allowed in the nation’s drinking water, comes nearly 40 years after Congress determined that lead pipes posed a serious risk to public health and banned them in new construction.

Research has shown that lead, a toxic contaminant that seeps from pipes into the drinking water supply, can cause irreversible developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral problems among children. In adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead exposure can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and cancer.

But replacing the lead pipes that deliver water to millions of U.S. homes will cost tens of billions of dollars, and the push to eradicate them only gathered momentum after a water crisis in Flint, Mich., a decade ago exposed the extent to which children remain vulnerable to lead poisoning through tap water...

The groundbreaking regulation, called the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, will establish a national inventory of lead service lines and require that utilities take more aggressive action to remove lead pipes on homeowners’ private property. It also lowers the level of lead contamination that will trigger government enforcement from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb.

The rule also establishes the first-ever national requirement to test for lead in schools that rely on water from public utilities. It mandates thatwater systems screen all elementary and child-care facilities, where those who are the most vulnerable to lead’s effects — young children — are enrolled, and that they offer testing to middle and high schools.

The White House estimates that more than 9 million homes across the country are still supplied by lead pipelines, which are the leading source of lead contamination through drinking water. The EPA has projected that replacing all of them could cost at least $45 billion.

Lead pipes were initially installed in cities decades ago because they were cheaper and more malleable, but the heavy metal can wear down and corrode over time. President Joe Biden has made replacing them one of his top environmental priorities, securing $15 billion to give states over five years through the bipartisan infrastructure law and vowing to rid the country of lead pipes by 2031. The administration has spent $9 billion so far — enough to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes, the administration said.

On Tuesday, the administration said it was providing an additional $2.6 billion in funding for pipe replacement. Over 367,000 lead pipes have been replaced nationwide since Biden took office, according to White House officials, affecting nearly 1 million people...

Environmental advocates said that former president Donald Trump, who issued much more modest revisions to the lead and copper rule just days before Biden took office, would have a hard time reversing the new standards.

Erik Olson, the senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the Safe Drinking Water Act has provisions prohibiting weakening the health protections of existing standards...

Olson added that the rule “represents a major victory for public health” and will protect millions of people “whose health is threatened every time they fill a glass from the kitchen sink contaminated by lead.”

“While the rule is imperfect and we still have more to do, this is by far the biggest step towards eliminating lead in tap water in over three decades,” he said."

-via The Washington Post, October 8, 2024

[marblehazel]

Teething

dbf!Joel Miller x f!Reader

Joel was crowned as The Trusted Adult to accompany you to your wisdom teeth extraction appointment. Chaos ensued.

Tags: no outbreak, age gap, most likely exaggerated effects of sedation, sexual themes

Word count: 3.1k

The skies were painted with shades of copper and lilac when you arrived home. A familiar pickup truck was parked in the driveway next to your dad’s mud-caked F-150, and you slipped your way between the space between the two to get to the backyard through the narrow passage on the right side of your house, sticking twigs of overgrown shrub brushing against your arm. Your dad hated garden work, and it was not like you hated to prune and trim the green galore by yourself—you just hadn't found the time.

Laughter bounced against the pillars supporting rusting canopy adorned with vines and wildflowers, echoing around the tiny outdoor dining area. Around the table were three men you could discern blindfolded: your dad, and his friends, Joel and Tommy. The three looked pretty scruffy, which was not unusual. On the table were cans of beer that you just knew would leave more water stain on the undone finishing of the wood.

Tommy said something about a boat, and your dad and Joel burst out laughing again like they just heard the funniest joke in the world, and you could swear you could feel the ground vibrated underneath your shoes. Your dad said something then, about sinking and anchor, maybe, and Tommy smacked his can on the table as the three of them erupted into another laughing fit. They didn't register the new addition of their little late-afternoon get-together until you put both hands on your dad’s shoulders, kissing the top of his head. He smelled like sawdust and smoke.

“What’s so funny?” you grin.

“Sweetheart!” your dad jolted, slightly twisting his torso to see you. “We were just chatting about fishing. How was today?”

“Hi Joel, hi Tommy," you smiled at the brothers, greeted with a polite nod from Joel and a cheerful 'hey' from Tommy. “today was okay-ish.” you patted your dad's shoulders once more before letting go and starting to make your way towards the backdoor, leaving the men to their football talk and fishing jokes alone. “I'm gonna take a shower. Have fun, guys.”

"Aw, shoot—almost forgot!" your dad said, clapping his hands once. "Sweetheart, I’m real sorry, but I don’t think I can take you to the dentist Thursday. They need me over in Georgetown to look over somethin’—"

“Aw, Daaad,” you groaned, although your face showed nothing akin to annoyance, just sorry for him. You knew how much your dad overlooked his back pain, especially for work, and these frequent trips requiring a lot of driving didn't help. “I’ll see if my friend can take me, okay?”

These friends of yours... you’d have a bigger chance of losing your teeth in a car crash before you could even step into the dentist's office. You shook the thought off. Let's think about that later.

“What’s goin’ on?” Tommy asked, brow scrunched. “You alright?”

“I’m getting my wisdom teeth removed,” you pointed at your cheek, the approximate area where your upper right molar was growing sideways. “One popped out and it’s growing weirdly, so I got an x-ray. Turned out all four of them are developing in such shitty angles, so, they’re taking 'em all.”

“All at once?!” Tommy gasped, to which you nodded as you purse your lips.

“More cost-effective, or whatever.”

“Ouch. That sucks.”

“I’ll take her,” all eyes went to the source of the voice: Joel. He was staring directly at your dad. “I’m free Thursday.”

Your dad blinked, a little surprised. “Shoot, Joel, that’s real kind of you, but you don’t gotta do that. I mean it—I appreciate it, more than you know, but I don’t wanna put you out.”

Joel shrugged slightly, tone steady. “Ain’t no trouble. Got the day open, figured I could help.”

You practically bounced in place, cutting in before your dad could say anything else. “Yes! Please, Dad, can he? Joel’s like… perfect for this. Besides, you know my friends, we'd crash into something and you'd have to pay for the damage."

Your dad chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, I won't stand in the way. Joel, you sure about this?"

Joel was only halfway to a nod when you shouted, “Really?”, prancing your way towards his seat and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Joel!”

The man raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat while Tommy laughed. Your dad shook his head slowly at your endearing antics, his eyes meeting Joel’s as they silently said ‘Thank you, and sorry’.

The next time Joel’s gray Ranger pulled up in front of your house, you had been waiting on the porch with a smile worthy enough to be a toothpaste ad.

.

The fog in your head started to clear just enough to let you notice the figure sitting by your side. Joel’s broad shoulders took up half the room—or at least it felt that way in your dazed state. His arms were crossed, and his brows furrowed as he watched you with what looked like mild concern. You blinked a few times, your vision wobbling like you were looking through a fishbowl. You couldn’t really register where you were or how you ended up here yet.

“Hey,” he straightened his posture up the second he realized you were awake.

“Whoa,” you slurred, pointing a wobbly finger at him. “You look good.”

Because he did. That was the first thing you noticed about him. You couldn’t remember if it was exactly true, but a voice in your head told you that Joel always looked good. You believed it. And he did right now, with clothes all ironed, beard trimmed, hair combed. Joel wouldn’t admit it, but he’d even put some styling powder on his hair today.

His lips twitched, and he scratched at his beard, unsure of the appropriate response to give. “Uh, thanks. How are you feeling?”  

You ignored the question. “Does my dad know you’re here?”  

“Yeah,” he said slowly, leaning closer. “He was there when I said I’d take you here, remember?”  

“No.” You deadpanned, voice thick and blunt. Your tongue scraped against your gum, and it touched some soft, fibery, wet cotton balls. You almost gagged.

Joel sighed. “Alright. Uh, pain anywhere? Are you comfortable?”  

You tilted your head, as if trying to access some hidden inner truth. Then, with startling conviction, you announced, “Sweaty.”

He quickly raised from his seat, reaching for a handkerchief in his pocket to wipe your forehead with when you suddenly choked into tears. You could barely get the words out through the swollen jaw, numb tongue, and spiky throat. “I miss my daddy…”

You felt like the saddest child in the world. You didn’t know where your dad was, but most importantly, your brain wasn’t able to assess where he might be. But he wasn’t here. And that alone was enough to send you spiraling into agony.

Joel looked around awkwardly, clearly out of his depth. “Sweetie,” he said, reaching out to pat your cheek gently. “I’m here.”

You blinked up at him with wide, glassy eyes, your bottom lip trembling. “Where is he? Did he sell me to you?”  

“What?” if only you were sober enough to see the expression on his face. 

Tears continued to pool in your eyes, spilling down your cheeks. “What am I supposed to do, being sold to a person like you?”  

“Person like me—What’s that supposed to mean,” Joel withdrew, seemingly offended momentarily before he realized he was talking to a group of at most six brain cells, half of them blackout drunk.

“Hot,” you sniffled. “Hot like you.”

Joel freezed. His jaw worked soundlessly for a moment before he muttered, “O…kay. Uh, let’s call for a nurse, okay?” He stood up and looked toward the hallway.

“I don’t even know how to be a housewife!” you lamented, gesturing wildly toward a painting of sand dunes on the wall. “You’re going to dump me in the middle of a desert!”  

“Honey,” Joel said, his voice strained but calm. “Nobody is dumping or selling anybody, okay? Just—wait here. I’m gonna go get a nurse. I’ll only be gone for, like, five seconds.”  

You watched him disappear behind the wall, your lips quivering as you began counting on your fingers. “One… two… three… four… five…” You looked up at the hallway, waiting for Joel to come back as you realized how alone you were in the room. You didn’t want to be alone. The fluorescent light was hurting your eyes and the air smelled like a dentist’s office. You were in one, but you didn’t really register that. Panic set in like a tidal wave. “Joel?” 

“Joel! JOEL!” You thrashed in the chair, trying to swing your legs over to touch the ground, ready to bolt after him like some kind of lovesick lunatic. It was hard, like you were learning controls for a video game for the first time, and your limbs didn’t move the way you wanted them to. Joel returned with a nurse moments after. She was holding a clipboard and if not for the mask hiding her expression, Joel would have seen that she was wearing a smile that looked dangerously close to a laugh.

“You’re back! I thought you were leaving me…” your voice cracked as you reached out toward Joel with snot running freely down your upper lip. “I’ll be a good wife from now on, Joel, I promise.”  

“Oh,” the nurse said sweetly. “Sounds like someone’s still a little loopy.”  

Joel ran a hand over his face, mortified. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright,” she smiled at him before checking on you. “Definitely not the worst I’ve witnessed. You’ll be okay, won’t you, sweetheart?”

You nodded.

She asked you to open your mouth, and you attempted to talk to Joel the entirety of it, moving your heavy tongue around, making barely coherent noises. At one point you reached for his hand and he took it.

“Hoew, wa ho hayhee hee hahee?” which would translate to ‘Joel, was our wedding in Bali?’, like Joel would’ve been able to decipher it. He just played along in hopes to shut you up.

“Yes, yes, of course.” he cupped your hand in his.

“Okay, now bite down with pressure, okay?” the nurse said softly after pulling the blood-soaked cotton balls out and replacing them with new ones. You did as she said. “That’s good. Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” you smiled at her. “You’re so nice.”

“And you’re so nice, too.” she said as she gathered her clipboard and metal tray. “We’re all clear here, you are free to go home. If you prefer to wait out until she’s not so disoriented anymore, please use our waiting room since we have to clean this one before the next patient.”

“Thank you.” Joel nodded politely at her.

“Any more questions you’d like to ask the doctor?”

“I think we’re all covered. Thank you for everything. Let’s go, sweetie.” he helped you stand up, and the second he let go your body leaned, craving to touch the floor. Both him and the nurse reached out to you, crashing their heads in the process.

“Ow!” she yelped.

“Sorry, sorry. I got her. I’m really sorry.” he slightly bowed down as he held you steady, one palm planted on your ribs just below your breasts.

“Sorry,” you parroted, utterly oblivious to what just happened.

“It’s alright,” she laughed lightheartedly as she reached down to fix your shoelaces. “There you go.”

“Thank you again. We’ll stay out of your hair now.”

.

After what felt like eighty years, Joel finally got you on the passenger seat. He could feel his lifespan shortened significantly, and his back hurt so much trying to crouch to your level as he guided you across the parking lot. He should’ve just carried you—would’ve been much quicker and better for everyone involved.

You touched the dashboard, feeling the texture underneath your fingers like it was the first time you got in a car. Joel closed the door next to you and scurried his way around the car hood to the driver’s side, sighing when he got in.

“Joel, what’s your favorite pie?” you asked as he leaned over to put your seatbelt on, hand fiddling with the belt when it got stuck and you instinctively ran your fingers through his hair. 

“Pecan,” he muttered, body getting tense under your casual yet intimate touch.

“Oh, I had pecan pie at my house recently.” you withdrew your fingers as Joel straightened up and put his own seatbelt on. “We’re like, soulmates, or something.”

Joel started the car. “Yes, that was me. I brought the pie to your house.”

“Wow, you’re so kind.” you smiled, eyes tearing up, as if bringing you pie was the equivalent of saving all kittens in the world. Joel rolled his eyes and shifted the gear from neutral, and the two of you slowly moved out of the office parking lot to the road.

You cupped your own swelled cheeks, feeling the spherical cotton balls nested between your jaws. “I don’t like these, Joel.”

“Yeah? Wanna take them out? Do you think the bleeding has stopped?” his eyes ran between you and the road in front of him back and forth, getting ready to merge onto the highway.

“My mouth is so full,” you whined, and you fished one cotton ball out, all wet and slightly red, before rolling the window down and throwing it out. It bounced on the dry concrete behind you briefly before it got run over by another car.

“Hey, no littering! And keep your arm inside, my fucking god, d’ya wanna lose it?” Joel yelled, one arm leaving the steering wheel to pull your hand into the car and close the window back up, almost taking up the lane next to you. A semi-truck passed through and the driver honked their horn, deafening. You snarled at it while Joel mouthed a quiet ‘fuck’.

“I still got more inside,” you pointed at your open mouth, like Joel couldn’t tell from your slightly muffled voice still.

“I know, but either keep it in your mouth until we get home, or find some—I don’t know, plastic bag to keep it in, alright? Try the glove box.” he points at the compartment in front of you. You fiddled with the handle, and when it opened it revealed a little toolbox, a pocket knife, a folded map, and two dusty condoms from God knows when.

“Joel, what is this?” you pinched one out for Joel to see, voice thick with betrayal. “You’re cheating on me.”

Good fucking god. Joel snatched the thing out of your hand, shoving it back into the glove box before slamming it closed. He shouldn’t have been panicking like you were actually his bride and he’d been two-timing you after work, because you weren’t, and the only thing that had been in touch with his dick in the past six months was his fist. “I don’t know how it got there. It’s from a while ago.”

But the damage had been done. You covered your face with your hands, eventually took the remaining cotton balls out and let them go onto the floor mats. Joel winced.

“What should I do? Is my blowjob not good enough?”

Joel was the most uncomfortable he had ever been his whole life right now, and he once witnessed his friends’ parents hitting it crazy style with the same banana pudding that was served at dinner smeared everywhere when he was there for a sleepover, so that was saying a lot.

“You have never—what are you fuckin’ doing?!”

You had leaned over as much as your seatbelt allowed you to, fingers reaching to unbuckle his belt. “I’m gonna show you how good I c—”

Joel lost control of the steering wheel as he tried to shoo you away, but you latched your palm around his bulge like leech. He accidentally turned the truck too much to the left, switching lanes without warning, and abruptly hit the brakes for a split second when he thought he was going to crash into a Camaro, almost slamming you forward if not for the seatbelt. Three cars honked at the two of you as they passed, one was generous enough to give you the finger.

He pushed you back to your seat, both of you huffing and puffing. There was silence for about thirty seconds until Joel composed himself.

“What the fuck did they put you under, because I need some,” he muttered under his breath before speaking clearer. “Put your hands on the dashboard. Now,” he commanded, eyes flicking between you and the road.

“Why?” you mumbled, your fingers twitching like they might reach for Joel’s belt again.

“Because I said so,” Joel grunted, shifting in his seat to try to hide his hardening length, jaw tense as he kept one hand firmly on the wheel. “You wanna be a good wife, don’t you?”

You blinked slowly. Joel was right, you wanted to be a good wife.

“Yeah,” Joel continued, eyes narrowing slightly, still focused on the road. “Only good wives put their hands on the dashboard.”

“Really?” you laughed, the sound drifting lazily out of you. But you planted both palms on the dashboard anyway, sunlight pouring on the back of your hands, warming them up. 

“Yeah—yeah,” he muttered. “Look it up.”

“I can’t, my hands are on the dashboard,” you frowned, chin pointing towards your splayed fingers.

Joel rolled his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. “You just have to believe me, then.”

You thought of it for a second before nodding. “Okay. I believe you.” 

He glanced at you, eyebrows lifting. “You should. You’re my wife.”

Your head tilted, a lazy grin spreading across your face as you processed the words. You’re my wife. Somehow that was the most beautiful string of words you had ever heard. “Am I a good wife?”

“Sure. You got your hands on the dashboard. Guess that makes you a good wife,” Joel said. Your loopy grin was infectious despite his best efforts to stay stoic.

“I’m a good wife,” you repeated to yourself, beaming.

There was a beat of silence before you leaned slightly toward him, eyes bright, head swaying with the motion of the truck. “Are you a good husband?”

Joel’s grip on the steering wheel tightened for a split second, his gaze flicking to the side, then back to the road. “...I don’t know. Do you think I’m a good husband?”

“Yeah,” you said immediately, so sure of yourself as you gathered the evidence in your hazy brain. “You took me to the dentist. You got me pecan pie.”

Joel scoffed, his hands tightening on the wheel. “Driving and pies, guess that’s the key to a successful marriage.”

.

By dinner time you were already out of your groggy state, although the pain started to creep back in despite the painkillers that you just sat in the living room with a frozen pouch of CapriSun pressed against your cheek. Joel hadn’t said much but he did stay until your dad got home.

He had hoped you blacked out and didn’t remember anything from earlier. He wasn’t sure if he could live knowing you were able to remember that you were so eager to put your mouth on him, on top of you calling yourself his wife, on top of you casually admitting you found him hot.

And because he got hard in the car. He didn’t know if you saw it but for his own peace he would like to believe that you didn’t.

Joel was a little bit grateful that Tommy wasn’t there because he would never let this die.

He would never let this die himself.

When your dad set some burritos for Joel and applesauce for you on the counter, Joel was ready to go home and get drunk while pondering in the shower.

“You’re leaving already?” you licked the applesauce, tasting it innocently, and Joel had to remind himself that licking applesauce was not a sexually enticing act.

“Yeah, working early tomorrow. Get well soon.” he stood awkwardly as he pocketed his keys.

“Thanks a lot, man,” your dad got up to give Joel a hug with his back facing away from you, and you stared Joel dead in the eyes as you mouthed playfully: ‘Husband.’

His lips twitched. Seemed like he would never know peace ever again.

[hazem1948]

Dear Friends,

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Seeing their gaunt faces and the brutal scenes they witness daily is heart-wrenching. I wonder: Will the children of Gaza ever escape these horrors?

Thanks to your generous support, we've raised €6,513 of our €50,000 goal, covering the initial coordination for my younger brother. I’m deeply grateful for your contributions and help in spreading the campaign. However, we still need to secure the rest of the family.

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[artbyblastweave]

Playing through Fallout:New Vegas for the first time in years. And I'm developing a newfound appreciation for the damage done to the intended pacing of the narrative with the addition of the Courier's Stash. I wake up in Goodsprings, and as part of the extended tutorial you have Ghosttown Gunfight, the fairly self-contained faction war between Goodsprings and the Powder Gangers. And the design intent, I think, is that this is probably supposed to be a pain in the ass, with only one or two avenues of support available to you given the low level at which you'll pick this one up. Six Powder Gangers, some in body-armor, would be a serious threat, and committing to fighting against that with your dinky 9mm and a varmint rifle seems like a rough time! An actual uphill battle, doing the right thing instead of the easy thing. Fortunately, Benny inexplicably left my handy 40mm grenade launcher in the grave with me, so I cleaned up.

I'm working my way south, and, you know, in a version of the game where Benny didn't inexplicably leave my handy 40mm grenade launcher in the grave with me, this would have been the knock-on effect of my "good" Karmic choice in defending Goodsprings; the road south is littered with powder gangers who'd have been neutral had I not kicked the hornet's nest. As it stands? Free experience. I hit Primm, and fighting through the cramped hallways of the Bison Steve I encounter an enemy armed with what was clearly supposed to be the first heavy weapon I'd encounter in the world. Tight Corridors. Inexplicable Grenade Launcher. I clean up. South I go to the Mojave outpost, Nipton, that whole thing. And clearly, clearly you aren't meant to take a swing at Vulpes here, right? You're supposed to take it in, get a sense for the legion. In the version of the game that shipped you're supposed to get bodied if you try to kick the beef gate here. There are allowances in the game for if you pull it off, sure, but I did try with just the service rifle, without the glorious first-strike capabilities afforded to me by the 40mm grenade launcher that Benny inexplicably left in the grave with me. It didn't go very well!

So now I'm dogged by Legion hit squads on my way to Novac, which I get the distinct impression was not the point in the game at which this was supposed to start happening to me, because I am gathering up some pretty expensive equipment, all sold for space. I punch through to Vegas, and at this stage, the clear developer intent is that you need to spend some time milling around Freeside or Camp McCarran in order to gain access to the Strip- do odd jobs to scrape up the money, buy the forgery from Mick and Ralphs, gain monorail access, get your science skill high enough to hack the robot. Get the lay of the land, get a feel for the people, send some time stewing in the human cost of House's walled garden before you head in and hear the pitch from the big man himself.

Except I've got 5000 caps from selling off all the legion killteam equipment. In I go!

And the fun thing is, right, the Courier's stash can't be diegetic, but it is having a very direct impact on the world here. A top legion guy just went down to my inexplicable 40mm grenade launcher. Whatever else I'm roleplaying as, I am roleplaying as a guy who woke up in the possession of an inexplicable 40mm grenade launcher, and neither I nor my character can plausibly ignore that fact given its terrible bloodstained utility. I play a man, a man who would be a good man, a man nonetheless bewitched by the terrible resolutory power of the grenade launcher. My best friend, the inexplicable 40mm grenade launcher! My worst enemy, the inexplicable 40mm grenade launcher!

[lovelyahoy]

Dr. Stone: One-shot.

Word Count:7,858.

Warnings: Not much I can think of, except it's all over the place, and a bit suggestive towards the middle. I needed a quick break from a book I'm writing and these two freaks have been plaguing my mind, so this is basically just word dumping.

Summary: Nothing is really set, some parts are over-explained and others are barely developed, I typed until I got bored. (If you're seeing this again it's because I accidentally posted earlier without finishing aha..)

Pairing: Stanley x Fem!Reader x Xeno

Edit: part 2.

︽❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀︾

Endless hours of science had never been an issue for Xeno, he was accustomed to working on the same project for multiple days—even months straight. Science (and Stanley) was his sole love, it wasn't filled with unsolvable scenarios, it always had a solution. His nights at the NASA laboratory were lonely, just how he liked it. No noise, no meaningless chatter, only him and his thoughts.

Stanley wasn't much different in this regard, obviously not science, but his priority in the military (and Xeno). Guiding those bambi-like soldiers brought a thrill like no other, they shot perfectly? It was because of him. They landed a really good calculated punch? Also his doing. He was always expected to be at the top, and no way in hell would he ever let anyone distract him from it.

It wasn't until they met [Y/N], the newest addition to the NASA board, that they discovered another love and priority. She wasn't what they had expected at all, [Y/N] wasn't a scientist or an exceptional engineer, nothing even close to any position they offered at NASA. It only took a few days to find out she was only there as a temporary chair filler, for her father who was out of commission due to a "family issue".

Xeno grimaced as the bubbly [H/C] haired girl, read over his file alongside the other board members. He could barely hold in his anger as they skimmed over his perfectly chosen words, equations and unique idea. One by one, the thick file was placed down and he was met by taunting expressions.

"It's interesting I'll give you that Dr. Xeno, however we can't endorse it. The cost of the inevitable failure will be far too much."

The older generation spewed more words onto the already rejected scientist, yet he could only focus on the girl still holding his file open.

"I don't know much about this position, my father asked me out of the blue to show my presence." [Y/N] hummed and softly closed the file cover, a small—yet mischievous smile graced her glossy lips. "But, he did say I could have fun, and this?" She lifted up his idea and waved it around, "This sounds fun! Let's do it."

"You have no authority to do so!" The voice was loud and rough, it bounced off the soundproof walls and [Y/N] tried hard not to show her annoyance.

"Woah~ I wonder what my father would say hearing you talk to his daughter like that, Dr. Von." She playfully waved him off, keeping eye contact with the blank scientist in front of her.

"If he fails the first, second or even third time, I'll cover the cost. When he gets it right, none of you will have the privilege of profiting a single dollar. How about that?"

Oh how she loved playing around with these greedy corrupt monsters.

As for Stanley, his encounter with [Y/N] wasn't as nerve-wracking as it was for Xeno. No, it was absolutely entertaining to say the least.

The blonde puffed out another trail of smoke, his eyes glanced to the side to see the sprawled mess of [H/C] locks on the bar counter. He hadn't even considered sitting down for this long, but something quietly begged him to sit next to the seemingly tipsy woman.

Her head lifted up to meet his amused gaze, he twitched noticing tears flooding her pretty [E/C] colored eyes. A finger was pointed at his face, close to jabbing his nose. Stanley couldn't help but smile at how silly she looked right now.

"G-get away from me before I do you a favor b-because you're cute!" Her voice came out stumbling and mumbled, he managed to catch onto every single word due to his good hearing.

"Like what?" He teased, playfully twirling a strand of her hair while she failed to push his hand away.

"Like agreeing to pay for your experiments!" Her finger finally managed to boop his nose, "My dad is gonna kill me when I write the $600,000 check, not once but maybe even thrice! All because he was so cute, that stupid cute looking Dr. X."

Oh. Stanley's eyes widened with recognition, his childhood friend had been happily rambling on about his fully funded project, he tuned out the nerdy details and only paid attention when Xeno brought up that it was all thanks to a temporary board member. [Y/N], her name was [Y/N]. There was no way he could forget it, that mad scientist had practically engraved the name into his mind with how many times he mumbled it.

"It's not even about the money actually, but how could I ever say no to him? And you—!" She sighed dramatically, moving her hand away from his gorgeous face. "Don't you dare propose anything!"

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle at her cute rambling, he had to agree wholeheartedly. "Don't worry, I can't say no to him either."

"IS HE YOUR BOYFRIEND? I'M SORRY BUT HE'S SO CUTE I WON'T TAKE IT BACK!" [Y/N] lunged forward grabbing ahold of his shoulders and shook him back and forth, the tears that had disappeared moments ago were spilling again.

Stanley grabbed her elbows gently, stopping her movement. A meek apology left her pouting lips as she settled into her seat, [Y/N] tried to flag down the bartender, desperately needing a shot to down her embarrassment. The man next to her shook his head at the girl behind the counter, she nodded taking away the dirty cups.

"Let's get you home."

After getting her address he made sure her seatbelt was on before driving off, his window rolled down letting the smoke drift out the car. The cigarette dangled from his lips, a hand on the steering wheel while the other guided the cancer stick.

[Y/N] softly snored into the seat, holding onto a pillow she had stolen taken from one of the sofas at the bar. Stanley tried to take it away, god knows what or who touched it prior. He failed miserably, a little ticked off but low-key proud of her deadly grip.

Dropping her off was awkward, nothing Stanley couldn't handle. Still, he was not used to dropping off people he met at bars anywhere other than his own apartment. Her dad managed to wake her up, guiding her back into the grand mansion.

"Thank you for helping her, she gets carried away sometimes." He laughed it off, but couldn't hide the worry in his voice.

"No problem."

"noooo~ dad! Don't let the pretty man leave!" [Y/N] turned around in her dad's arms and made grabby hands towards a humored blonde, her [E/C] eyes were wide filled entirely with sparkles, a small bambi is what she looked like.

She had definitely become his favorite bambi.

︽❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀︾

[Y/N] entered the NASA laboratory looking for a certain white haired male, while she had practically forced the board to accept his crazy idea, they needed to skim over a few details before proceeding. Except she hadn't expected both of the different worlds she met yesterday to be standing closely together watching small sparks emit from a glass container.

"Ah, how elegant of you to join us, [Y/N]." She brushed off her heart skipping a beat, the way his voice uttered her name was heavenly.

After remembering last night, she was absolutely mortified. Not only did she ramble to a total stranger, she rambled about their boyfriend! The blonde man hadn't denied or confirmed their relationship, but when her eyes trailed over how tightly he was hugging the scientist with a gentle expression on his face, there was no denying it.

"Yeah, Hi." She squeaked out, walking towards them almost robotically. [Y/N] placed down her notebook and sat on the grey stool, face warming up when Stanley rubbed his cheek against Xeno's affectionately before pulling away.

"I need to know which parts you need, these old assholes decided to leave everything to me as punishment." She huffed, eyes softening before looking at a stone-faced Xeno. "Don't look at me like that! I never said i regretted it or anything."

"I was only joking, dear." He sent her a smile, starting to disassemble the small experiment he had shown Stanley. [Y/N] couldn't help but admire how the sleeves of his white lab coat were rolled up showing off his arms, sure he wasn't super built but it stirred something in her. Her hand slowly raised up to hide her mouth, annoyed at how attractive these two men were.

"Hangover?"

"Huh? Oh, no. You stopped me before I could teeter into that hell."

"I've been wondering, what exactly is it that you do, [Y/N]?" Xeno finished up wiping down the counter and threw away the towels before sitting directly in front of her. His head rested against his hand, elbow propped on the counter.

She noticed the way he crossed his legs too, how could a man look so hot just sitting there? [Y/N] cleared her throat, fidgeting in her seat as she felt both pairs of eyes staring at her intently.

"I'm a medical student, well I was..." A sigh left her lips, "I'm taking a gap year." They didn't press her for further answers, seeing how she made no move to add more details.

"So you're going to be your old man's stand-in for a year?"

"Basically." She chuckled remembering the words her father had given her, "He specifically asked me to annoy the hell out of the board members by doing whatever it is I wanted. Apparently he was fed up with good projects being denied while he wasn't present."

Xeno did remember Dr. [L/N] giving him proper feedback on why they couldn't and could do certain projects of his, he was a man he respected.

"I really have no clue what I'm doing Xeno, so please don't hand me a file filled with a world-ending plan."

"Why, you wouldn't deny it?"

Oh.

Oh.

"NO YOU DID NOT!" [Y/N] stood up quickly, the stool fell to the ground with a loud 'clank'. Her face was beet red trying her best to glare down at the duo smiling at her with nothing but amusement dancing in their eyes.

"Did what? Tell Xeno how you found him cute and that's why you couldn't say no to him? No, I didn't—oh wait." Stanley turned his face away from them and slid open the window to bring out a cigarette.

"If it makes you feel any better, that's news to me."

He was definitely playing with her, the smile on his face hadn't faltered in the slightest. This bastard was having fun.

"Why would that make me fe—just fill that out!" [Y/N] pushed her notebook towards the scientist and stomped out the room extremely flustered.

"So, what do you think?" Stanley exhaled while turning to see Xeno curiously looking at the door she had left through.

"An elegant possibility."

A few months had passed and before they knew it, hanging around the laboratory had become the new normal. Stanley by the window, Xeno playing around with chemicals (and settling very, very far away from the cancer smoke, he didn't need anything blowing up.) and [Y/N] getting distracted by the cool colors the mixtures made.

"Stop staring and get back to studying, bambi."

Bambi. Stanley's oh so 'perfect' nickname for her, she tried to get him to drop the name for weeks but he refused to budge. It bothered her only because of what it represented, a defenseless and cute thing. Only she was allowed to call them cute.

[Y/N] mocked his words under her breath with a high pitch voice, focusing on her medical notes scribbled and highlighted. Even if she was taking a year off to help her dad, there wasn't any time to slack off. Board meetings were so goddamn boring, she couldn't even hide the sparkles that bounced around in her [E/C] eyes whenever Xeno came into a meeting with a progress report or new idea.

"By the way, you guys never answered me. Are you dating?"

They barely reacted to the question, still focusing on their own activities. She didn't know why exactly she craved and feared for their answer, [Y/N] was undoubtedly attracted to them both equally.

Xeno's happy little face while info dumping on them, onyx eyes that lit up whenever she'd ask a question genuinely intrigued by the topic. Stanley, who always teased her but never crossed the line. He knew when to back away and change his words depending on how she was feeling that day, his awareness towards both her and Xeno was...to say the least...hot.

[Y/N] stopped writing, a blush taking over her face when she noticed Xeno peeking over the counter to read her notes. Her heart dropped into her stomach hearing his laugh, she was not going to live this down, was she?

"Inflammation of the myocardium, a great percentage of high risk patients are usually men in their 20 to 40's. Men, men, stanxeno."

"STOP READING IT!"

The medical student was too focused on trying to block Xeno's field of view to notice Stanley walking up to them, he leaned over her shoulder to stare down at the notebook. His face slightly bumped into hers and gave zero indication that he planned on moving.

She knew he could feel her warm cheek pressed against his, Xeno smirked leaning even more forward over the metal table. His face was only inches away from hers, they were messing with her, again.

[Y/N] swallowed the knot building up in her throat, she was deeply embarrassed. Her thoughts on them were running wild from the close proximity of both men, she slammed her book closed—still not moving away from them.

"Why so curious, bambi?"

"Is there a deeper reasoning to your question, dear?"

God the nicknames, how could she ever function like a proper human after hearing the way they called her? She always felt giddy whenever they'd do this, invading her privacy with lingering touches and words falling like sweet honey—but she couldn't ignore the small, teeny tiny part of her that felt as if they were just playing around. To relish in her obvious attraction towards them, something she miserably failed at hiding.

"Am I imposing on your quality time together by always being here?"

[Y/N] was as surprised as Xeno and Stanley, that isn't what she was even thinking at the moment! Why'd she go and say it? Sure she thought of it sometimes but never had the courage to ask, what if they said yes? She'd never be able to meet their eyes again.

A few seconds of silence were starting to scare her, she felt Stanley shift, thinking he was pulling away until warm lips pressed again her cheek softly. Her [E/C] eyes widened keeping eye contact with Xeno, who raised a hand to brush a strand of [H/C] hair behind her ear. They both pulled away at the same time, leaving a stuttering [Y/N] to collect her thoughts that were in shambles.

Her fingers lightly pressed against her cheeks, one where the kiss was placed and the other where Xeno's fingers brushed by. She took a hand away, blush intensifying seeing the purple lipstick staining her fingers. [Y/N] took a deep breath in before looking up at them standing next to each other now, brain melting when Stanley wrapped an arm around the scientist, Xeno caressing the blonde's face as they both continued to stare at her.

"We've never labeled it, it's like an open relationship."

The girl in front of them deflated comically like a balloon, face almost slamming onto the table. Nope, all her dreams and fantasies had been drained at that sentence. She liked-liked them, both. An open relationship meant their loyalty lied emotionally between them but not physically, she couldn't work with that. The faces they were giving her stirred nothing but worry within, almost like an invitation to join them on this little adventure.

[Y/N] badly wanted to scream yes! and take the opportunity they were offering on a silver platter, sure it'd be okay at first...however in the long run she knew jealousy would win her over. They wouldn't be hers they'd still see other people while being with her, and the [H/C] haired girl wouldn't be able to emotionally endure it.

"I see."

"You sound disappointed, dear." Their little show melted away, awkwardly glancing at each other when they noticed her flustered state disappear into a neutral expression.

She sighed lightly, might as well try and get over her feelings now rather than letting them grow further. Her fingers twirled the mechanical pencil as a way to fidget, building up the courage to spill her words.

"I like you both." Their faces didn't change in the slightest, they knew already. "As much as my heart is telling me to leap at the offer, my brain is encouraging me to step away before I hurt myself."

[Y/N] started to pack her things, avoiding their eyes. Oh my god, she was going to jump off the fucking NASA rooftop after this. She didn't want to keep talking but it felt like word vomit.

"I'm interested in a relationship with just us three, having other people linger in-between would make me feel like I'm not good enough for you guys." She zipped the backpack and hugged it close to her chest, hiding the bottom half of her face. "Thank you for today." [Y/N] rushed a polite bow and made her way to the door.

Before she could even grab the handle, a hand landed on her head, it turned her to come face to face with Stanley. She couldn't muster up the courage to ask what he was doing, but she didn't even have time to. His lips landed on hers, an arm wrapped around her waist colliding her into his chest and in turn causing the backpack to slip from her arms.

A few tears built up as she indulged the blonde, his lips were soft, avoiding rushing her. It only took a few milliseconds for [Y/N] to return the kiss, lips parting and allowing him to slip in his tongue. She'd never kissed anyone like this, it left her feeling vulnerable, like her heart was on her sleeve.

Her hands cupped his face with a gentle grip, she wondered if his body hurt bending down slightly to kiss her. [Y/N]'s lips slipped from his, only to get pulled back in quickly. Xeno took this opportunity to stand behind her and nuzzle his face into her neck, unbuttoning her white collared shirt and slipping it down from one of her shoulders.

His own lips made a trail from her jawline down to her neck and across her bare shoulder. One of the hands on Stanley's face was moved back to come in contact with Xeno's. He cupped over her hand with his own and continued to pepper kisses on her [S/C] skin, a whimper was muffled.

The tears finally escaped her eyes, trailing down her face. The droplets landed on both men, they pulled away from her still holding [Y/N] close.

"D-don't do that!" She unenergetically hit Stanley's chest, "Don't give me false hope.." her sniffles echoed lightly in the laboratory, she was flooded by nothing but embarrassment.

"Let's do it." The blonde ignored her weak fists against him and wiped away her tears, Xeno gently turned her head to place a chaste kiss against her swollen lips.

"Just us three, right my dear?"

[Y/N] woke up the next morning feeling like she was on top of the world and still drowning in shyness. Her face was stuffed into a pillow, concealing her squeals. She kicked her feet roughly, leaving her personal maid to hide her smile behind a hand.

"Ruby, I'm so happy I could dieeeee."

"Please don't, Miss [Y/N]."

Ruby had never seen [Y/N] this giddy, she was absolutely over the moon. Her trip down memory lane was cut short when the loud sound of the girl in her care falling reached her ears, she hurriedly walked around the bed to see the mistress still letting out happy noises.

"I'm going on a date with them! Help me pick out the best outfit Ruby!" It was barely noon on a sunday, NASA had issued a full day off to every employee, why? She didn't care to listen for the reason, her ears were preoccupied hearing Xeno and Stan plan a date.

"Them? Are they gender neutral?" Ruby caught all the clothing being thrown out the closet, doing her best in the thick maid outfit she always had inside the manor.

"Huh? Oh, no, them. As in, two." The poor maid couldn't even dodge the shoe thrown her way, hitting her square in the forehead and falling back.

"Shit! Ruby I'm so sorry!" [Y/N] frantically bounced around the dizzy woman, Ruby blinked her hazel eyes twice before settling them onto the worried rich girl.

"How will your father react?"

haha...oh,

"I didn't think of that."

Her father sent her to NASA to fuck around with the board members, not fuck with employees! Well technically Stanley was only there during his free time, but still! She couldn't go up to him and say, 'Hey dad! I managed to piss the old dudes off, and I got myself not one, but two boyfriends!'

World end her now.

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"Oh my gosh!" [Y/N]'s body was over Xeno's shoulder, face a few inches away from his screen. Unfortunately Stanley was too busy to come by for the week, so it left the mad scientist and the medical student to hang out together.

Xeno held a firm hand on her midsection, holding [Y/N] up to the best of his ability. He was in the middle of responding to his mentee, completely immersed in the lengthy email consisting of rocket science, when [E/C] eyes landed on the picture of the white and green haired boy holding a test rocket.

"He's so cute!" She poked the screen, ignoring the English gibberish of science littered around the zoomed-in picture. "He's like a mini you."

"[Y/N] dear, you're crushing me." She apologized and got off of him, scooting her chair closer and settling next to him. He smiled feeling her shoulder bump into his and stay there, [Y/N] had been a little reserved with her physical contact towards them but after two solid month of dating she'd gotten comfortable and extremely cocky.

Xeno didn't mind it, he felt pride knowing she felt lucky to have him, even if he felt like him and Stanley hit the jackpot instead. The blonde usually tuned him out during his rambles, that didn't bother him in the slightest, Stan listened when it was important and that was good enough for him. [Y/N] on the other hand, indulged him quiet often, even if she didn't understand most words and comparisons, her questions and interest made his heart fill with a warm feeling.

"I still can't believe an elementary kid built a rocket, that actually went up in the air..." Her childhood was filled with music up until she picked up a book about hearts in her big library, at the mere age of eight she completely spent her time studying. To acquire the ability to help as many people as she could, sparked something she couldn't understand. Xeno tried to explain the feeling in his usual science-y way and she got lost along the words.

"He's from Japan, reading and writing these emails using an English dictionary. Senku's efforts are quite elegant."

"Devoted little thing isn't he? I wanna meet him and pinch his chubby cheeks." She cooed once again at the picture, whining when Xeno clicked off of it and continued scrolling through the information.

"Fawning over a different scientist is—" He didn't even get to finish his sentence before his face was being quickly peppered with light kisses, from his forehead to his cheeks, to his nose and finally his lips. [Y/N] pulled away and snuggled back into his side, leaving him with enough space to type away at the keyboard.

Xeno didn't continue speaking, trying to fight the light red on his face before she could glimpse at it. She effortlessly achieved flustering him on multiple occasions, something Stan regularly tried—and failed at. If he knew, he'd never let Xeno forget it.

"That part, isn't it like $10k? How is a kid going to get that?" Xeno smirked adding a picture of said part, a machinery she had to purchase multiple times because he kept exploding it. [Y/N] grabbed her phone and used a currency exchanger to see the total in yen, ¥1.5 million.

"A true scientist finds a way."

"Seriously? Tell him to send you his address!" Xeno's eye twitched as his girlfriend pulled out a checkbook, scribbling a big number obscured to him. "I'll set up a card for him, hmm but can he buy stuff in dollars while he's in Japan?" She tapped the pen against her chin.

"Oh! I'll just make it an online account so he can order the parts instead." The scientist didn't even try to interfere, knowing full well rich people just thought differently from the rest. He finished up writing his email and added a small note at the bottom.

'P.S, you'll be receiving an email from [L/N]_@NASA.×∆×.com.'

Senku had read an article about [Dad Name] [L/N], a genius who built one of the strongest rockets recorded in history. He was excited to receive some sort of mentorship from the older man, sure Dr. X was plenty of help, but more couldn't hurt.

The boy had just come back from school, eagerly rushing towards his computer ignoring Byakuya's yelling for him to go eat. He skimmed through his emails, first reading an update from his mentor then his eyes sparkled seeing the anticipated email appear at the top of his inbox.

'Hi! Here's an account with around 10 million yen, it's in American currency so you'll have to order online. Have fun, oh! And make sure to send more pictures.'

Bank of America details:

User: [Y/N]Senkufund

Pw: adorablesenkufund223

Love, [Y/N].

...

...

What the hell? The entire email was littered with heart symbols. Adorable? Who was this [Y/N] weirdo? Despite his suspicion, the email address checked out with what Dr. X mentioned. He opened a new window tab and went to the bank website, typing in the details. His scarlet eyes lit up with ¥ signs, he could get past the creepy message if it meant he could buy the parts he needed. It was temporary until his dad managed to be an astronaut an get his very own NASA card.

Senku typed out a hasty thank you, his mouse hovered hesitantly on the add image option. He had taken a new one just recently with Taiju included, it was them covered in ash from a mild explosion, should he send it? He glanced at the money this person sent, well it wouldn't hurt to do it once right?

He was startled at how fast the reply had come. He didn't bother reading much of it, noticing the paragraph beginning with capitalized letters and once again, being plastered with hearts all over. The title itself was five red hearts.

Despite thinking it'd be one time exchange, this [Y/N] person toned it down after a few more exchanges. Senku had even looked forward to their little medical lessons, it was a type of science after all.

'So you weren't a complete oaf. Good to know, I was starting to doubt Dr. X.'

+Image attached

-Senku.

That offended [Y/N], how dare this little bok-choy looking kid doubt her boyfriend? The image sent made her forget his initial words, squealing at how cute the boy looked grumpily looking into the camera holding his latest science project he presented at his school fair.

'I know I promised no more hearts but you're too cute! ❤︎❤︎❤︎ Once I get married I'll adopt you.❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

Love, [Y/N]❤︎'

-

'Already adopted, and who would even marry you?'

-Senku.

The little gremlin chuckled, slurping his ramen. The sound of a new inbox and Senku choking on his food filled the room. He blinked frantically at the response.

'First of all, I'd win the court case if i wanted.

As for marriage, it's going to be your dear Dr. X and someone else, obviously~

Love, [Y/N].'

Senku could only focus on his mentor being in cahoots with this mental case, he was definitely going take the logical route and avoid taking this path.

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[Y/N] groaned into Stanley's chest, body feeling extremely sore. She had jokingly encouraged her blonde boyfriend to teach her how to shoot a gun, that turned into a full blown training regiment he made. It included physical training and he even body slammed her! (very carefully, but not the point.)

The mixed smell from his earlier cigarette and cologne filled her nostrils, at first it did tickle her nose, now she was used to it and even longed for it throughout her days. She could cope at work when Xeno was around, still, having the blonde away from them felt like an eternity.

"Did you learn anything?" He was amused by the sounds she was making, he held her in his arms, his fingers lightly tracing patterns on her back.

It wasn't until his girlfriend slept over for the first time that he and Xeno found out she slept with a long T-shirt and her underwear, obviously now she constantly stole their shirts, sometimes finding them back in the closet with a cute gloss lipstick stain. Stanley was guilty of doing this himself, with purple of course.

After starting an established relationship between this little doctor in the making and his childhood friend, both men agreed to get their own apartment together. [Y/N] mentioned wanting to stay with her dad while he was usually at home now, planning to move in with them after the year passes.

"Yes, three things."

"Hm?"

"That you look really fucking hot when you're drenched in sweat." She snuggled closer into him, blushing when his hand gripper her hip in response. "You look even hotter holding a gun, and...when you uh..." her words were low and muffled.

Stanley heard them loud and clear, mumbling like that only worked with Xeno. He smirked flipping their bodies over, her legs were wrapped around his hips due to the startle he gave her. [Y/N]'s blush intensified when the blonde caged both her hands above her head, his free hand performing a 'tactile exploration' near her inner thighs. The pads of his fingers left lingering tingles on her skin, a gasp flying past her lips when they made contact with her clothed clit.

"When I had you at my mercy, huh?" Repeating her words with a teasing tone, Stanley leaned forward while pulling her shirt up above her bra. His purple lipstick left marks on her cleavage before slowly descending down her stomach, hips and lastly a quick kiss on her underwear.

"Stan.."

"[Y/N].." He mimicked her breathless tone, annoying her and barely avoiding the knee she raised to his face. They stayed in that position gazing into each other's eyes, her [E/C] irises relaxed significantly. [Y/N] lowered her knee and settled it around him again, the heels of her feet slightly digging into his back pushing him lower onto her.

Stanley release his grip on her hands and welcomed the embrace, allowing his head to rest between where her neck and shoulder met. [Y/N]'s fingers tangled into his slightly long blonde hair, massaging his scalp.

The sound of keys jingling and the front door opening made them both glance a their bedroom door, silently waiting for the person to walk in. Xeno came in loosening his tie and dragged it down, showing off a bit of his collarbone. He sent them a tired smile and walked towards the closet, unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and slipping it off.

"Did you see that, Stan? Him and ties.."

"He never lets us take it off for him."

"Because it always ends up in sex."

Xeno finally slipped on more comfortable clothing, folding his lab coat and setting it in the laundry basket. He walked towards the bed, immediately getting pulled into a hug. His stress melted away as his partners cooed him gently, the new position consisted of Stanley slightly propped up by two pillows, followed by [Y/N] resting her back against him and finally Xeno's face squished into her chest. Arms wrapped around each other in any way possible.

"They held you up for so long, is everything okay?"

"The board was trying to convince me to swap sponsors, my project is estimated to bring a huge revenue." The laugh leaving his girlfriend causes his body to move up and down alongside her chest, he huffed a chuckle in response.

Stanley reached over to massage Xeno's tense shoulders, watching the scientist groan happily in response. No further words were exchanged, all three relished in comfort.

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A happy [Y/N] bounced down the halls of the NASA building, eventually making it down to the break room where a lot of employees gathered to eat or talk together.

She no longer wore a work outfit, her year was up and now was fully focused on her career (for the most part). Most of them didn't know who she was, except one present man who always greeted her every morning she came in.

"Good morning [Y/N]!" Byakuya greeted her with a bright smile, [Y/N] turned to gaze at the newest addition to NASA. Despite only being there for a month or so, he'd become a friendly face. He opened the shared fridge, chuckling when she put a black plastic container with a cute heart-shaped note on it inside.

"Your boyfriend sure is a lucky guy." The older man raised an eyebrow when he caught glimpse of another lunch inside her backpack, she didn't react to him noticing nor did she try to hide it.

[Y/N] wasn't aware of his concerned gaze, thinking solely on how late Xeno would be getting home today. She had made an earlier stop at the laboratory for a quick kiss and was sadly sent on her way right after. A sigh left her lips, she turned to look at Byakuya who now held a tight lipped smile—an eyebrow raised at his changed expression.

"Yeah he is, well I'll see you later Byakuya, I have to go drop off lunch for my boyfriend." [Y/N] waved making her way to the door.

"Bye [Y/N]—" the door closed, "wait, what?"

He turned to look at his coworkers who shrugged in response, why did he have to witness or hear this? He didn't want drama, but letting someone string along a fellow coworker felt harsh and guilt overwhelmed him. Byakuya opened the fridge to glance at the note.

'YOU BETTER EAT IT XENO.

Love you, [Y/N]❤︎''

Xeno, Xeno, that Xeno? He had seen him very few times, the scientist spent 90% of his time cooped up in the laboratory. Woah, never would he had expected the serious white haired male to be dating such a cheery person. That thought brought down his mood, how should he bring it up?

Byakuya didn't get much time to think it over, seeing the man clouding his mind walk into the break room and head straight over to the coffee pot. His thermal cup was black and littered with colorful stickers, he noticed they resembled the shape of hearts [Y/N] always drew.

"[Y/N]?"

Xeno noticed the finger pointing at his cup, a huff of amusement left his lips before nodding. "She insisted on it, mumbling something about marking territory."

"I hope I don't offend you, uh—" His voice froze when the scientist turned to give him his full attention, head slightly tilting and encouraging him to continue. "Ithink[Y/N]isseeingsomeoneelseotherthanyou!"

"Is that right?" Xeno quickly took a sip of coffee, a perfect way to hide his smirk and compose himself. "How un-elegant, say, Byakuya right? Would it be too much to ask if you could find out for me? Lately I've been stuck at work, leaving almost no room to speak to my partner."

...

...

"WHAT!? BYAKUYA WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!?"

After a solid week of being ticked off by the older man's squinting gazes, and always asking her about her earlier or later whereabouts, [Y/N] finally had enough and cornered him once everyone left the room, he was sweating bullets when she asked what was wrong. The glint in her [E/C] eyes scared him like nothing else.

To which in a state of panic, he replied with a rushed "ARE YOU CHEATING ON THAT SCIENTIST?"

"Ah! I'm sorry but i couldn't ignore the signs! And when I asked Xeno, he asked me to figure it out for him."

"Oh that motherfucker," [Y/N] made a strangling motion with her hands, scaring the poor man in front of her. "Xeno and I have another partner okay! I'm not a cheater."

The amount of apologies that spilled from Byakuya were starting to overwhelm her, tears threatening to spill out as his body flung back and forth in a fast bowing motion. She awkwardly pat his shoulder, accepting his apology. From an outside perspective she guess it did look suspicious, Xeno was going to pay for this.

"Don't listen to that disney villain, he may look serious but he's a mischievous little thing."

"H-have I met them?" His attempt to change the conversation topic was easily received, her aura took a complete turn into a gushy looking fangirl.

"You've probably seen him around Xeno, he's a soldier. Tall, blonde, pretty face, caramel eyes, wears purple lipstick, hot, always smoking, did I say hot already?" She rambled a few more compliments before clearing her throat.

"His name is Stanley, Xeno and him were technically together before they met me."

"How does it work? I'm curious, a relationship with one person is sometimes very complicated, I can't wrap my head around three people in one."

That is how Byakuya had become her gossip buddy, how she frequently chatted up a storm while balancing her focus onto her studying, always astonished him.

The following night had the polyamorous couple sitting at their small dinning table, the girl sat in the middle while both men sat at the ends of the table—still close enough to each other though.

"You let him think I was a common whore!" [Y/N] angrily shoved a spoonful of rice into her mouth, cheeks puffed out and [E/C] eyes glaring into Xeno's soul. He couldn't take her seriously, to him she looked like a squirrel right now.

"Stan, tell him something." Her eyes were wide, sending a pleading face to her soldier boyfriend, he playfully ruffled her hair before turning towards the amused man.

"Bad Xeno."

"I'm going to choke you fuckers."

"Oh? sounds like a threat."

"That's right!"

"Would it perhaps be happening in the bedroom?"

[Y/N] stopped. Stanley stopped. Hell even Xeno's eyebrow raised at his own words, he wasn't one for sexual desires, usually leaving it up to his partners to decide and act it out. He smiled down at a [Y/N] who scooted closer to him with no traces of her earlier fake anger, she looked like a curious kid.

"Did you mean that?" she whispered, truly wondering if she heard him wrong.

"Shall we find out?" [Y/N] glanced back at Stanley who only shrugged in response, he didn't know what was happening either.

"Ok, you're forgiven." She snatched up the plates and the cup in the blonde's hand, practically throwing them into the sink. "Bedroom now."

"I think you awakened something within her." Stanley stood up and pushed his chair in, making eye contact with a sweat dropping Xeno.

"How...elegant.."

(He was scared.)

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The soft light of the candles decorating the dining table made her [S/C] skin glow, she blinked curiously as her boyfriends of nearly three years now stood in front of her. They quickly shared a glance then nodded, they both dug into their suit pockets and each took out a small velvet colored box.

Her [E/C] eyes filled with tears when they opened them, in Stanley's box laid a beautiful ring with a honey colored gem shaped like a diamond. Xeno's was the same size and shape, but his had a black diamond.

"[Y/N], when we first met—"

"YES! YES I WILL!" She extended her hand out, eyes closed and sporting a huge smile on her face. Hearty laughs reached her ears as she felt the rings slip onto her finger, a hand brushed away the tears on her face.

She opened her eyes to see them holding out two more rings, this one had a gem with the same color as her eyes. Xeno and Stanley held out their own hands, already wearing each other's colors. [Y/N] softly slid her ring right above the other, quickly taking out her phone to take a picture of their hands.

"I love you both." The [H/C] haired girl sniffled as they brought her into a sandwiched hug, their own confessions tickling her ears. To say she was happy was an understatement, she felt a bit bad not letting them pop the question in their own way—however her eagerness had won over her rational thinking.

It was a bit unfortunate they couldn't legally get married, despite this minor thing, she happily gushed about her husbands to anyone who asked about her rings. Some were understandably confused or amazed, [Y/N] defended her relationship with every fiber of her being no matter what comment was thrown at them. Both guys often told her to ignore it like they do, but it made her mad how people had the balls to question them so rudely at times.

"My baby is all grown up!" [D/N] wiped his tears away with a handkerchief, Ruby providing a new one every few moments.

"We celebrated on our own already, but I remember you made me promise to let you plan my future wedding." [Y/N] gave her dad a bright smile, "So go for it."

"Of course darling, it's time to show everyone how my daughter is the only one who could bag two successful men at once."

"Okay, where in the world did you hear that term?"

"From this app called tweeter, people are very funny there. [Cousin's name] got it on my phone."

"Delete it and go back to reading your nerdy articles."

The wedding ceremony was held in her old home's gigantic backyard and it was absolutely beautiful, the gleeful bride was chatting away with her bridesmaids, leaving both grooms to stand by the wine station. Stanley's fingers itched to hold a cigarette, although because he promised to avoid it for today, he was coping with wine—glass after glass.

From the red carpet leading up to the wedding arch, to the flowers on every table and grass, it all screamed money. Xeno's eyes lingered on the snack table, filled to the brim with expensive looking dishes ranging from caviar to weird looking oysters, and…were those golden flakes?

"Stop drinking like a madman, Stan."

The blonde could only smirk, leaning down to place a kiss on Xeno's cheek before pouring himself another glass. The scientist could only smile in return, his heart bloomed with pure warmth.

"Our wife looks quite elegant." She wore a white dress with a sweetheart neckline, fabric hugging her waist and hips tightly before flaring out near her mid thighs. Her veil was removed earlier by them, showing off her [H/C] hair styled perfectly into a bun with curly strands framing her face.

"Best part of today." Stanley's eyes softened up seeing [Y/N] making her way towards them, surprised when her cheek puffed out close to his face.

"You gave Xee one..."

Oh.

[Y/N] refused to clean up the dark purple lipstick, showing it off with every ounce of pride she could muster. After what felt like a billion pictures, she made a quick trip to her room and changed into a much lighter and shorter dress. It didn't take long for the girl to start stumbling in her heels thanks to downing five glasses of alcohol in a short span of time.

"I'm so happy, we're getting married!"

"Last time I saw her drunk was when we first met."

"Think she agreed to our proposal because we're cute?"

Stanley chuckled, "I wouldn't put it past her." they both watched her stuff her face with anything she came across with adoration in their eyes.

"Not going to dance my dear?" She gazed at the guests moving in sync with the slow song.

"We can dance in private later."

"You've gotten quite bold, bambi."

[Y/N] wiped away the sauce that stained her lips with a napkin, turning to look at them. "No offense hubbies, neither of you can dance. I'm saving you."

That didn't stop her from swaying around them, playfully twirling them as she bit into a cookie. They indulged her cute antics throughout the night, even having a few minutes of Stanley forcing Xeno into a very intimate dance of waltz. By the end of the celebration, both [Y/N] and Xeno were plastered with purple stains over their faces and neck.

Very few guests lingered, most had given their blessings and bid them a goodnight. They stayed in their own little bubble, the very annoying topic of a secret gathering they needed to attend in about a week came up. Strange appearances of stone swallows were being posted online, surprisingly Senku had been the one to post a full article on it, giving the scientists at NASA a bit more information.

[Y/N] was only attending because she was nosey, and no way she was going to spend a week of her honeymoon vacation alone. Even if it was work only, she'd sure as hell be next to them.

"Right after that stupid meeting, we're settling in our room and staying there forever!" Stanley gently took away the half empty glass from her hands, downing it himself to avoid her getting even more wasted.

"You'll get to meet that Dr. Chelsea girl you found adorable." Xeno knew exactly what to say to lighten up her mood.

[Y/N] brought their hands into her lap, squeezing both with a smile on her face. It had been a few days and still, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she was married to her soulmates.

"Tonight was amazing, we should do it again and again....we can, right?"

"We can."

︽❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀︾

Xtra thing

"—god I miss my husband's blonde hair." [Y/N] had her body sprawled dramatically on the boat's floor, an amused Xeno sat nearby with his hands tied together.

"Wait, I thought you were married to this weird man." A blonde girl with blue eyes blinked at the whining woman, she was 100% sure [Y/N] mentioned "My husband's really smart huh?" while hugging Xeno.

"No way, she was talking about the other dude." Chrome nodded his head along with his words.

"Who hugs someone like that, while saying—well that!"

"A woman who has two husbands." Senku walked into the room, narrowly avoiding the hug sent his way. "This idiot managed to trick them into marriage."

"I did no such thing!" [Y/N] shoved her hand into the leek's face, showing off her glittering rings. Right before the beam reached them, she saw one of Luna's boy toys stuff a ring into his mouth—not having any time to rationally think, she did the same. Waking up and seeing her hubbies with nothing on their finger had her depressed for the first few months, until Xeno replicated them once again.

Before the teenager-not really a teenager anymore could untie the older scientist, his wrist was grabbed by the [H/C] haired doctor. His scarlet eyes filled with confusion.

"Leave his ass tied, not only did he issue a kill order on my child, he looks hot like this."

"I'm not your damned child."

︽❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀═══⌘═══⌘═══❀═══❀︾

help idk.

[ahmedsd]

🚨 !! DONT SKIP !! donations urgently needed 🚨

✅ Verified campaign – please check the end of the story 🔍📌

Hello, I am Ahmed from Gaza, a high school graduate with a GPA of 80%. I dreamed of becoming a nurse.

Despite my family’s poor financial situation, I enrolled in the bachelor’s program in nursing at Al-Aqsa University. I had begun to achieve my dream, as had my sister who enrolled after me in nursing.

But on one day, October 7, our dream began to be lost and shattered. Like many people in Gaza, our dreams became a thing of the past and could not be achieved. My university became home to many displaced people. After a while, the occupation destroyed it and destroyed my sister’s university, the University College of Applied Sciences

. Our life in displacement:

The war forced my family to flee our home. In the first month of the war, we became homeless. We went to refugee schools, but we were also displaced from them.

We almost slept in the street because we had no shelter, but we found a small room where we stayed for several months. After that, we were displaced to a small apartment where there were four families. We sometimes slept on top of each other because there was no space. Of course, one time we were displaced, we miraculously escaped death, as we went out to the bombing and shooting. Over our heads

in the first two months of the war, there was a famine in northern Gaza. We were being killed and dying just to get a little bread. To this day, the famine is still ongoing in northern Gaza. Of course, in addition to the famine, there is bombing, killing, the spread of diseases, and the lack of medicine. Our home was destroyed, and our lives and dreams were lost at the beginning.

The reason I started this campaign

Therefore, my family and I are seeking to obtain an amount of 50,000 euros to help us leave Gaza and continue our lives and dreams in education. Most importantly, it will allow us to support my family, who have been severely affected by the harsh conditions and high costs of living due to the ongoing war on Gaza.

👉 Donation link:

🔗https://gofund.me/5eb5fe42

With deepest gratitude,

Ahmed totah

✅ Our Fundraiser✅

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #275 )✅️

✅️Vetted by this post

@90-ghost @heritageposts @gazavetters @neechees @butchniqabi @fluoresensitive @khanger @autisticmudkip @beserkerjewel @furiousfinnstan @xinakwans @batekush @appsa @nerdyqueerr @butchsunsetshimmer @biconicfinn @stopmotionguy @willgrahamscock @strangeauthor @bryoria @shesnake @legallybrunettedotcom @lautakwah @sovietunion @evillesbianvillain @antibioware @akajustmerry @dizzymoods @ree-duh @neptunerings @explosionshark @dlxxv-vetted-donations @vague-humanoid @buttercuparry @sayruq @malcriada @sar-soor @northgazaupdates2 @feluka @dirhwangdaseul @jdon @ibtisams @sawasawako @memingursa @schoolhater @toesuckingoctober @waskuyecaozu @a-shade-of-blue @c-u-c-koo-4-40k

[aro-absol]

Thinking of that post about nonpartnering aromantic people and the cost of living... for me, as a full-time wheelchair user who needs care, there's a whole other layer to it.

As a wheelchair user, I can not just live in any flat. I need enough space to maneuver my chair, as well as a accessible bathroom, including a grab bar on each side of the toilet and a stepless shower that fits a shower chair. Not to mention the kitchen - if I want any independence in making food for myself, I need to be able to reach not only the fridge but also the cabinets (meaning cabinets at a pedestrian's eye level are a no-go, which consequently means I need a bigger room for the same amount of storage space). If I want to participate in any of the actual cooking, I also need a roll-under stove and sink. That all means I need a bigger flat than a non disabled person, as well as the extra requirements I just mentioned, plus a step-free entrance.

That already excludes most of the more affordable flats - those are often old, small, and at the second or higher floor without a lift. So, just because I'm physically disabled, I need to pay more just to life somewhere. And because I'm nonpartnering(?), I won't have a second person to share these costs with.

However, a lot of living arrangements specifically made for disabled people count on disabled people being not partnered.

An example: I'm trying to move into my first real, own flat in the near future. I recently found an apartment complex that was specifically made for physically disabled people and has always carers present that you can call on whenever you need help with something (on top of the scheduled care you can book separately). This sounds great for me because I don't really need all day one-on-one care, but too much care to just have someone come over two or three times a day. Now, it's still not clear if I'll rent a flat there for a number of different reasons, but if I'll live there, I'll have to be living alone. And not just for a short while - I would need to make some alterations to live there, so it would only be worth it if I live there long-term. Besides, moving out of that flat again into a normal flat without such an on-call carer system in place would mean I'd need more planned care again, and I'd need these additional costs to be covered first.

Similarly, people who are institutionalised or live in group homes are also expected to be single.

I think that captures the kind dichotomy of disabled people's struggles with amatonormativity pretty well. On one hand, we're under even more pressure to partner up than non disabled people. We're expected to find someone to help us cover the extra cost and provide the care we need (all while seen as undesirable in society). This creates a dependency of the disabled partner in regard to the non disabled partner, which can trap the disabled partner in the relationship.

On the other hand, if we need to rely on outside help because we aren't partnered or we need more support than our partner can provide, we are forced into a structure that doesn't have space at all. Suddenly, we're not only exempt from amatonormativity but are actively excluded from taking part in adult dating. (Not to mention that sex with a disability is still a taboo topic, but that would be too much to discuss here.) This does not only make many disabled people unhappy, it also plays a role in our infantilisation and dehumanisation.

We can't win.

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

[dark-moonlust]

Too Hot, Too Grumpy, Too Yours

Pairing: werewolf oc x fem reader

Summary: Kellen, your werewolf boyfriend, grumbles about the heat and sand, during your vacation at a luxury resort. After a night of drinking, dancing, and many lingering looks from other guys, his possessive instincts take over.

Warnings: explicit smut, possessiveness, protective werewolf, sexual tension, pinning, snarling, light restraining, dirty talk, jealousy, oral (fem), p in v, overstimulation, knotting.

Commission for Anon on Patreon.

The resort was stunning. A summer wonderland with infinity pools, swaying palm trees, and sprawling sand beaches that reached into the crystal-clear horizon. The breeze was warm and carried the scent of salt and tropical flowers, blending with faint traces of coconut and freshly made cocktails from the poolside bar. It was everything a luxurious vacation should be, but your werewolf boyfriend didn’t seem to share the same sentiments. He seemed uncomfortable with every moment of it.

"Love…. I think this was a mistake," Kellen said, arms crossed over his wide chest. He walked beside you as you moved toward the check-in desk. “It's like a war zone."

You chuckled. “And I think you’re overreacting.”

His scowl grew as he shifted in his Hawaiian shirt and black shorts (you’d insisted he wear these to match your flowery dress, and like the big softie he was, he obeyed).

"It is too hot. Too sunny. And there's sand all over my fur."

You paused in mid-step and turned to look at him. Kellen was half-grimacing, inhaling the air as if he could detect grains of sand plotting against him. Standing on your toes, you kissed his snout, tasted a bit of sand on his brown-furred face, and suppressed a giggle before grasping his hand and tugging him along before he could start a full-fledged lecture on his irritation of sand.

He was grumpy, and you partly understood the cause of it, but you were certain things would look better soon.

The check-in desk was a pristine, marble-topped counter staffed by a flawless receptionist who greeted you with a bright smile.

"Welcome to the Summer Crown Resort!" she greeted pleasantly and after you’d given her the information about your room, she said. "We are glad to notify you that you have been upgraded to one of our oceanfront rooms at no additional cost. Your room features a private hot tub, an extended patio, and—"

"Upgraded?" Kellen leaned in, his piercing golden eyes narrowing. "For free?"

The receptionist nodded and smiled. "Yes, sir."

Kellen let out a skeptical noise, but you grabbed the room card, then his wrist, dragging him toward the elevators before he could begin questioning the poor woman. Kellen's pouting face vanished as soon as you went into the suite. You let go of his hand and leapt inside.

"Oh my god. It’s so beautiful!”

Floor-to-ceiling windows framed a stunning ocean view, with the afternoon sun throwing golden light across the polished floors. The bedroom was huge, with a lux king-sized bed in pristine white linens, the air smelling of sea wind and fresh flowers. You darted through the room, excitement on your face.

"There's a soaking tub!" you said, opening the door to one of the sleek, modern bathrooms. "And two glass showers?!"

Kellen hummed in recognition behind you with his typical uninterested demeanor. He was grumpy again, but you were already on the move, your feet taking you to the patio doors. The moment you slid them open, warm air poured in, with the aroma of sea and sun. Then you saw it.

"Babe! Look! We have a hot tub!" You turned, smirking, expecting another complaint from Kellen, but he remained silent. He stood just inside the doorway, arms crossed, golden eyes focused on you rather than the view.

"Hmm, the view makes up for it," he said, his tone soft, his eyes fully on you.

“You’re not looking at the view.”

“I’m looking at you.” He approached, a smirk on his wolfish face. “You’re my view.”

You rested your hands against his chest, fingers playing with the open collar of his silly flowered shirt. "We’re going to enjoy this place." You smiled. "It’s like paradise. You and me—”

Before you could say anything else, he hauled you over his shoulder as if you weighed nothing. You laughed and wiggled on him as he carried you back inside, his paw rubbing your ass affectionately.

"Kellen, what are you doing?"

"Testing the bed, love. I am going to enjoy this, after all."

Your back met the mattress, and suddenly you realized that the suite's best feature wasn't the ocean view or the private hot tub—it was your six-foot-seven werewolf who was now trapping you beneath him, his weight crushing against you —hard, warm, and sweetly decadent. His rough hands moved slowly, mapping your body as if taking it for himself while his keen golden eyes locked on yours, dark and seductive.

"Bed's nice now that you’re on it." He scented your neck, letting out a low groan at the way your breath caught and your skin shivered.

“Babe,” you warned him, “we have dinner plans soon—hn— we can’t—”

"I know," he cut you off, “but I might grumble less about this place if you open those pretty thighs and give me a taste of paradise.”

He gave you no option to protest and by the time he finally pulled back—after kissing, teasing, and wrecking your pussy with his tongue —you were a breathless mess beneath him, grabbing his shoulders as if he was the only thing holding you together.

***********

This one’s a bit longer than usual, so if you’re up for the full read, it’s available for free over on P. It’s open to everyone—come by and enjoy!

[ambernotember]

the only way out is through

on ao3

thanks to @setmeatopthepyre @leashybebes @chimneyz @trombonechurchill for cheerleading for this, and @apollabarnes for cheerleading and beta-ing

Buck closed the door of the apartment behind him. He'd been amazed to discover the place was still standing; sometimes it felt like everything was being converted to condos and lofts. He’d driven past completely by accident a few days before Eddie announced he and Chris were coming back to LA. It had seemed like a logical place to check for an apartment, and they’d had an opening. His credit still sucked, but apparently gainful employment at the LAFD was a bigger help than he thought. He’d had to pay an additional month on top of first and last, which had seemed… fair enough, over all. It was the smallest place he’d lived since the house with Connor when he’d moved to LA, and he’d taken a day to inventory his furniture and decide what he really couldn’t live without. In the end, he’d only taken his bed, couch, stools, and wall shelves. Using the stools at the kitchen counter left him enough room to fit his bike in the apartment. He sold the rest of his furniture before he moved — he’d thought about getting a storage unit, but between the high costs and the fact that he really wasn’t that attached to any of the remaining furniture, it made more sense to get the money for it now than to spent money storing it. Bobby’s old apartment building. He knew how it would look to the others so he just… hadn’t mentioned it. He met them at their houses or took Jee to neutral places, like the park or the aquarium. No one questioned it. He doubted they’d even noticed. It wasn’t Bobby’s old apartment, but the floor plan was the same. Something about it made Buck feel better as he cooked in the tiny apartment kitchen; Bobby had made this work. He could too.

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