#did you know that farmwork can make even your FINGERS tired?

[soundsfaebutokay]

The Horror and the Wild album anniversary is upon us! Well, it's on Feb. 29 which only happens on leap years because Joey and Madeleine are just that Extra, but you know what I mean. What are we doing, o favorite fandom of mine? I haven't had the time to do my usual thing (i.e. fight with Tumblr search a month in advance to find THATW posts to schedule for a week-long reblogging spree) so this blog will be relatively quiet. Did anyone post or announce any plans or suggestions?

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #22: Fluster

Fluster – make someone agitated or confused.

Aetherytes were constantly busy. You learned pretty quick to move away from one as soon as you manifested next to one, lest someone suddenly appear next to you and knock you both down.

Old Man Franks, tired as he was, almost forgot this, and only barely missed being clipped by an arriving Roegadyn armed with an enormous spear on his back.

He quickly moved out of the plaza and cast a quick glance about, and then raised his hand to his ear, activating his linkpearl

Rheika’s voice answered him. “Heya Franks. You get to the Toll already?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I take it you’re not?”

“Not yet. Fearless isn’t answering her ‘pearl, so Dahk and I went to her place. Ranaa said she and Makoto went to the Sekiseigumi HQ, so we’re headed there. Turns out she left it at home. Again. Anyway, go on in and figure out what’s going on, we’ll be there as soon as we find her. “

“Copy that. Hopefully whatever this is can be resolved fast. I need to catch up on some sleep.”

“Did you stay up all night working on cross-world portals again?”

“I admit nothing, see you soon.” He disconnected the link before she could chastise him further and headed into the Seventh Heaven bar. A few of the regular patrons tossed greetings his way, which he returned as best he could in his sleep-deprived state,

The bouncer who guarded the door to the Rising Stones nodded at him and stepped aside. Franks strode in, turning to shut the door behind him quietly. Darn thing tended to slam, he’d been meaning to install something to slow it down. Maybe after some rest today.

“All right, Tataru, what is this emergency…about…” Midway through his sentence, he’d turned to face the room. Sitting at one of the table were Tataru, Y’shtola, and someone who shouldn’t be there. Someone who couldn’t possibly be there. Because she was dead.

Standing up at the table, hand over her mouth and tears streaming from beautiful sea-green eyes that he hadn’t witnessed in years, was a viera woman that happened to be the spitting living image of the woman he’d married so long ago.

She dropped her hand, looking for all the world as happy as the day they’d wed. “Hello, my love.”

Twelve forfend, it sounded like her too. “What the hells is this? No…you’re dead, this is some kind of trick!” He pointed a shaking finger. “You’re a godsdamned Ascian, you HAVE to be! How the hells did you make someone look like her??”

She ran to him. “Darling, no, it’s me, I swear it!” She moved in close, trying to embrace him, but he backed away, shock and anger on his face.

“Fandaniel, that you? Because you just crossed a fucking line, you piece of filth, and I’m going to make you regret it!”

The woman looks over to Y’shtola, panicking. “He…what’s happening, who does he think I am?”

Y’shtola has already moved next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and holding the other with her hand. “Aleister, I swear to you on my life, this is not a trick. Do you remember how Rheika unmasked Elidibus, by tricking him about the Amaro? It proved that an Ascian can’t access memories of their hosts, do you recall that?”

He had stopped backing away, but his eyes didn’t waver from the woman who looked like his wife. He nodded.

Y’shtola looked to her. “Tell him something that only you would know. Something you’d never reveal under even the gravest duress.”

Her eyes danced back and forth, considering, thinking. Finally, they widened and she smiled again. Closer and closer, she approached him, but now he didn’t move. Could….could it be?

She whispered in his ear and he cried out in joy. His world faded, and there was nothing more than the woman in front of him. He pulled her in, crushing against her. Her arms wrapped around his back and pulled in just as strong. So many sensations, so many memories flooded him, and he took all of them in. The scent of her, the feel of her living body preseed to him, the sound of her voice as she whispers her love between sobs. He could not reply, too overwhelmed to cry and breathe.

Tataru moved next to Y’shtola, unable to take her eyes off of the embracing pair. “It…it really is her.”

Y’shtola nods.

“But…how?”

“I think that story is best told to us from them. Once everyone has joined us. I think our resident Old Man may finally be ready to open up, since the loss that caused him so much pain is no longer lost at all.”

Finally, Franks was able to catch his breath and he pulled back to look at her. He kept her close, arms wrapped around her waist, as though he feared she might vanish into mist if he let go. For her part, she likewise kept her arms solidly behind his neck. “Gwen….I…I don’t understand. They…multiple people told me they saw you get taken by Sylvanas’ death squads. We…” He hiccuped. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he kept going. “We scattered when we heard you got taken…that’s, that’s how I ended up here.”

She smiled. “They were right. I was put in with dozens of others, taken to a camp somewhere in Hillsbrad, couldn’t tell you where exactly. We were lined up. Living prisoners had their names taken, checked off a list, then executed right then and there. Some were….were fed to the soldiers. Others to plaguehounds. But for whatever reason, they didn’t kill the Forsaken. Maybe she had sentimentality about us, or maybe she planned to do it later, but we were just shoved into a makeshift prison and left there. We got food occasionally, but no interaction otherwise. Just neverending boredom. Zenjulin and Beskar finally found the place and killed off the few remaining loyalists that still manned it, freeing us.”

She shuddered. “By that point, the Banshee had fucked off to…wherever it was she went. I don’t know. Zenjulin explained it, but I wasn’t listening very well. Or he was missing details, I don’t know. Anyway, he said that our allies were being brought back together to stop her and whatever else she’d brought with her, but that you were still missing. I told them I refused to do anything until I found you. They understood, and I started tracking your movement. Which was hard, because you’d concealed them well, but eventually I made it to Stranglethorn and discovered the cave, the one Y’shtola tells me you came to that same one and it brought you here.”

Franks looked over to Y’shtola, who smiled. “I went there to take some readings, and found her emerging out of the cave. Once I realized who she was, I brought her straight here and had Tataru contact you.”

“Thank you.”

She shook her head. “There is nothing to thank.”

Franks looked back to Gwen. “I… gods, Gwen, you look like the day I asked you to marry me. Even despite all the years, both living and dead, I recognized you right away. I…I actually hallucinated last night…I saw you. Worked for too long without sleeping again. You looked…almost exactly as you do now.” He chuckles. “You uh…you didn’t have these, though”.

He reached up to stroke the fur of her ears. She made a very happy noise at the touch. “Okay, those are definitely a little sensitive, good to know.” She cuddled up against his shoulder, enjoying the sensation.

Eventually he stopped and pulled back again, looking her over. Everything was the same, her long graying hair, two green eyes, one slightly darker than the other, on a heart-shaped face. Everything save the ears. He vaguely recalled the shape of her human ears, but they were no longer there.

She giggled. “I…I don’t know what changed me or why it gave me my youthful body with these ears, honestly. You, though, you look a little bit older than the day you asked me to marry you. Maybe…around our 10th anniversary, I’d guess? Bit more white though, not that I mind. That haircut’s definitely a lot better, someone’s been taking care of you on that front, I see.

She placed her hands on his arms, rubbing them appreciatively. She moves them to his chest and down to his abs, sculpted like they’d been in his younger days from long hard hours of farmwork. “And I see you’ve definitely been taking care of the rest of you. Been way too long since I’ve seen these muscles.” she purred.

Franks laughed nervously. “Well, um….you get a second chance like this, you tend to appreciate and take care of things you took for granted…before.” His hands slipped down to her hips.

Their eyes met, growing lidded. Slowly, he ran his hands up her sides, appreciating every ilm of her curves, ghosting the sides of her breasts. He pulled her close, and their lips met in a kiss they’d not been able to share in decades.

Memories of all of their favorite intimate moments with the other flooded their minds, and both had a realization that those moments could now not only be remembered, but now relived. The rest of the world had long been forgotten and their kisses and touches became more heated when the world suddenly reminded them that it was still there.

“Ahem”

The pair broke, looking in the direction of the voice. The other Warriors of Light and the senior members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had all entered and were staring at the pair in varying levels of confusio

Rheika spoke up. It had been her voice that broke into their moment, Franks realized. “I hate to interrupt your moment, I swear I do, but uh…didn’t we have some kind of emergency? Also, um, who is this? Not that you don’t deserve to kiss someone that gorgeous, but I feel like I’m missing part of the story here.”

Franks laughs. Both he and Gwenefyr have turned beet red having realized just how much of a crowd their reunion had attracted. “Ah, yes. Um, well, everyone…allow me to introduce you all to Gwenefyr Franks. My…not quite late wife, as it turns out”

She giggled at that. “Hi, everyone. Y’shtola’s told me a little about you all. I…think I recognize at least some of you from her stories.”

Franks looked over everyone. Thancred, Estinien, and Alisaie weren’t even masking their suspicion. Dahkar, Alphinaud, and Rheika wore expressions of shock. Fearless looked like she was going to explode with joy. Urianger just looed perplexed.

It was Thancred who stepped forward. “Franks….are you sure? I mean, we’ve seen the Asicans puppet dead bodies before..

He immediately shook his head. “No, no, I thought the same thing. But remember, Elidibus didn’t have access to Ardbert’s memories so Y’shtola asked her to tell me something only she would know. It…it’s definitely her.”

Gwen took his hand and looked to the gunbreaker. “Thancred, right?”

Thancred nodded.

“Y’shtola told me you’d probably be the hardest to convince. I don’t know what to say or do to prove to you that I’m not a…..Asican, was it? But I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you. To all of you. Because I’m not going anywhere.” She looked up to her husband. “Right?”

He looked right back to her, his eyes sad. “I…don’t think I can go back there again. Not if it means…going back to the way our forms were.Are you…okay with that? With leaving it all behind? I promise, this place is…it’s worth it.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I can either. Azeroth has taken enough from us. And the others…they told me they won’t be surprised if we don’t return to the fight. They’re prepared to keep working towards the dream, but they’ll have to do it without us. I’m not going anywhere without you, love. We have a second chance at actual life and I’m not going back to a world without it or without you.”

Alphinaud speaks up. “Apologies, but did you say Azeroth? I’ve not heard of such a place.”

Franks nods. “Yeah. That’s….that’s the other reason I’m pretty confident she’s not an Ascian. And it’s a story most of y’all long overdue for hearing. And now that I have…gods I can’t believe I have you back…ahem. Well, there’s just no point in hiding it anymore. Gather round…time I told the full story of where I….where we are actually from.”

[chain-unchained]

September 6

Another Friday, another long trip into Zuzu City. It really wasn’t that bad if Shane was having a good day, or even a decent one, but the trip was hell if he was struggling. This was especially true for today; the whole night, his back had been repeatedly and painfully spasming, meaning sleep was pretty much out of the picture. When he mentioned it to his therapist, they suggested that it was possibly due to his depression, and said that if it continued or got any worse to call and they’d work on either upping the dosage on his medication or trying a different one to see if that helped.

But that didn’t really do anything for him now, and he was really dragging his feet along as he finally got back into town. ‘Ugh, I just want to go to bed.’He thought, rubbing his face with a yawn. Stepping onto the path that lead both to Ashe’s farm and towards town, he paused. ‘… I know I should at least drop by and say hey to him, but I don’t know if I’ve got it in me…’

After some intense contemplation, he moved his hands to the small of his back and pressed against it as he arched backwards, trying to pop his spine in the hopes that it would ease the pain a little. As much as he didn’t feel up to it, and as much as he could hear his bed calling to him all the way from home, Ashe deserved at least a little bit of his time that day. It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise, and there was a good chance that just being around that happy go lucky doofus would put Shane in a slightly better mood.

It was frustrating that such simple things as visiting his cute as fuck boyfriend still took so much effort. Some days it felt like he was really getting his life together, and then he’d have a shitty day like this one and it felt like he was back to square one. At the very least, he hadn’t had another relapse; that had to account for something, surely.

 “Brush, brush, brush the knots out~” Ashe sang cheerily, running a coarse-haired brush through the mane of his newest family member—a beautiful bay gelding he’d named Silva. “Who has the prettiest mane in the valley? You do~”

Silva snorted and stamped her front right hoof into the dirt with a flick of her tail. She was still a young mare, full of energy and plenty of attitude, and she hadn’t quite decided if she liked Ashe or not yet.

“C’mon, don’t you snort at me like that.” Ashe moved to brush her tail, and as if to test his reaction, Silva kicked one of her hind legs as he got near them. “Whoa—hey now, was that really necessary?” He looked to her face, and she innocently turned away with a flick of her head and a whinny. “I know getting your hair brushed isn’t fun, but you don’t want to get mats, do you? So just settle down and—”

He went to brush her again, very narrowly avoiding another kick from the fiesty mare. “Jeez! That one almost got me!” He fumed, puffing his cheeks out as planted his hands on his hips. “What’s gotten into you? Are you just in a bad mood today?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say I am.” Shane joked, making Ashe jump a little from the unexpected sound of his voice. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“You scared me…” Ashe let out a breath as he turned to face the taller man, smiling happily despite his racing heart. “I’m happy you came to see me though~” After a moment, the smile began to fade. “Are you having a rough day?”

Shane sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah… it’s just one of those days. My back was killing me last night so I didn’t get any sleep, and it hasn’t stopped hurting all day. In fact, it’s probably gotten worse…”

Slowly he reached out to Ashe, gently taking hold of his upper arms as he rested his forehead against the shorter teen’s shoulder. “Are things always gonna be this hard…?” He murmured, asking no one in particular, squeezing Ashe’s arms slightly in frustration. “…. Sorry… I’m just… so tired of having to try so hard just to function like a normal person. It’s exhausting.”

Seeing Shane like that, it was all Ashe could do to bring his hands up and slowly run his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. “I’m sorry that today’s been so hard.” He said softly, wanting to offer at least some small comfort to him. “… Would a massage help at all?”

“Nah… I’ll be alright. I just needed to vent a little—” As Shane spoke, he attempted to straighten up, and a pain sharp enough to steal his breath away shot up his back; agonized, his hands unconsciously gripped Ashe’s arms tight enough to hurt, though just for a moment. “… Actually, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Smiling sympathetically, Ashe slid his hands down Shane’s arms and took hold of his, gently pulling him towards the porch; he sat his boyfriend down on the steps and moved to sit behind him, ever so slightly nervous since he’d never really given a massage to anyone before, much less the person he was dating. Unsure of how much pressure he should use, but having seen just how much Shane’s back was bothering him, he went in rather forcefully, pushing his fingers into the muscles in Shane’s back. Instantly, Shane went rigid, letting out a sharp hiss of pain, and Ashe immediately pulled his hands back, eyes wide. “Ah—s-sorry! That… that hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

“I-It’s fine…” Shane hunched over and planted his hands on his knees for support, trying to get his breath back; after a few seconds, he looked over his shoulder to Ashe with a pained half-grin. “Maybe just a little gentler this time, chikadee.”

‘Ch… chikadee…?’ Ashe felt his cheeks heat up at the nickname. “O-Okay.” He shifted closer and put his hands on Shane’s back again, this time using much less pressure as he worked his fingers in a circular sort of motion. The muscles in his back were so tense and rigid that the pressure still drew a hiss from Shane, and he paused again, his brows furrowing together; glancing back at him, Shane shook his head and gave him a feeble thumbs up to continue this time, turning back around and letting out a sigh as Ashe began to move his hands again.  “D-Does it still hurt?”

“Only a bit.” Shane closed his eyes and let his head droop forward. “… Hey, chikadee? Can you go a little lower?” He asked, and of course Ashe was happy to do so. “…. Little lower…. Liiiittle lower…”  He visibly jolted as Ashe’s fingers started kneading that ‘magic’ spot. It was the spot on his back that was easily the most tense, and Ashe could feel the knot in the muscles. “Fffff… stay right there.”

For several minutes, Ashe steadily worked away at that one spot, slowly feeling it loosen beneath his fingertips; he kind of wondered if this actually felt good or not, but Shane had stopped making those little winces and hisses of pain, so at least it seemed like it didn’t hurt—at least not as much, anyway. “Is this helping at all?” He asked hesitantly. “….. Shane?”

“ZzzzZZzzz….” It had helped more than he’d realized; Shane was out like a light, finally at ease enough for his exhaustion to win him over.

“….” Ashe smiled and shifted closer, gently pulling the snoozing man back to rest against him and folding his arms around him. “You dork…” He murmured, pressing a shy kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead. “Sleep as long as you want….”

 It was only ten or fifteen minutes before Shane came to with a quiet snort, forcing his eyes open with no small amount of difficulty to find himself gazing up at Ashe’s smiling face. “Ah, shit… sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off like that.” He apologized, embarrassed. “I… wasn’t out for too long, was I?”

“Mm, not really.” Ashe loosely wrapped his arms around Shane’s neck, his hands resting against the man’s chest. “Probably fifteen minutes or so. I guess the massage helped~”

“Yeah, it did.” Shane moved his hands to gently hold onto Ashe’s arms. He was always surprised by how stick-thin they were, even with all the strenuous farmwork that Ashe did day in and day out. But it still felt nice to be held by them like this, to feel the warmth of his boyfriend against him. “… Hey. C’mere for a sec.”

“Hm?” Curious, Ashe leaned down a bit; Shane reached his hand up to gently cup his face, shifting to sit up enough to press their lips together. It was only the second time they’d kissed like this, and Ashe could feel his heart skipping several beats in his chest as he closed his eyes and pressed into it. With the same ease as the first time, Shane’s tongue slipped into his mouth, gently rubbing against his and eliciting a faint shudder from the farmer. Back in Shane’s hey-day as a gridball player, he’d gotten around quite a few times, and even though it had been years and years since he’d last been with someone, he still remembered a few tricks he’d learned in those days.

He remembered also not to overdo it for the sake of romance, pulling back after just a few short seconds to gaze up at Ashe’s flushed face. “Thank you, Ashe.” He murmured, brushing his thumb against those pink-tinted cheeks. “Not just for the massage, but just… for everything.” In that moment, he was glad that he decided to suck it up and come say hello. “…. I really need to get going. Jas and Marnie are probably wondering where my ass is.”

“Oh!” As Shane reluctantly got to his feet, Ashe clapped his hands together excitedly. “I can give you a ride there if you want. Just let me get the cart hooked up to Silva and—”

Shane glanced over to the fiesty mare, who had wandered over to some of the bushes surrounding the farm and was contentedly munching away on one. “Chikadee, I dunno how I feel about you riding her just yet.” He admitted, a knot of anxiety forming in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Ashe getting bucked off. He’d had his reservations about Marnie selling her to him in the first place, since even Marnie—who in her youth had won more than a few horseback riding competitions—had trouble dealing with her. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I can handle walking. You don’t mind me cutting through your farm though, right?”

“Ah, no that’s fine, but…” Ashe’s brows knitted together. “Are you sure?”

“Ashe,” Shane turned to face him with a serious expression on his face, “when I got here, that horse nearly kicked you. I’m not hurting that bad that I’d want to risk your safety like that.” He could tell that even despite what he was saying, Ashe simply didn’t get that Silva’s behavior was dangerous. “…. Promise me that you won’t try to ride her until she mellows out. Okay?”

That wasn’t something that Ashe was excited to hear; he’d gotten Silva so that he could ride her, after all. “…. Okay.” He conceded reluctantly, even though he really felt in his heart that Silva wouldn’t ever actually hurt him. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” Shane leaned close and pressed a kiss to the top of Ashe’s head. “I’ll see you tomorrow... Oh, before I forget. Make sure you don’t make any plans for the 21st next month.”

It was such an odd request out of nowhere. “Oh-kay…. Why though?”

“You’ll figure it out.” For some reason, Shane wasn’t even surprised that Ashe didn’t remember what the 21st was. “Okay, I’m going. For real this time.” He made his tired legs carry him towards home, before he could think of another reason to linger at Ashe’s side; as much as he enjoyed being there, he was so tired…

  It was a sign of the passing seasons that by the time he’d gotten back to the ranch, the sun was already halfway hidden below the horizon. During the summer when he’d come home from therapy, it had barely even started its descent, and there were still several hours of daylight left. But now it was already becoming dark out, which meant that soon his walks to and from the ranch, both to work and to therapy, were going to start to suck. Especially if it was raining… He groaned just thinking about it.

“I’m home…” He called as he let himself in. The plan was to spend a good… five minutes or so with Jas, or however long he could manage, then go and sit in the shower for however long the hot water lasted, and then go to bed and fucking pray that he could actually get some sleep that night.

He heard the rapid pitter-patter of Jas’ shoes against the floor as the girl raced from her bedroom. “Shaaaaane!” She cried out happily, jumping up and tightly hugging him with no knowledge of his sore back. “I missed you!”

“Oof—” Using every ounce of willpower he had to repress the yelp of pain that rose up in his throat, Shane caught his goddaughter so she didn’t fall. “Hey there, squirt. I missed you too.” Honestly, he should have expected that kind of greeting, since it was how she’d reacted to him coming home for the last week or so. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t going to complain.

“Guess what, guess what!” Jas bounced up and down in his arms, barely able to contain her excitement. She didn’t even give him a chance to answer before she proudly told him ‘what’. “My report card came today, and I got straight A’s again!”

“Wha—no way.” Shane pretended to be staggered by the announcement. “Again? I guess that means I owe you 50g, huh?” He set the girl on her feet and made a big show of pulling out his wallet to pull out her ‘good grade allowance’, his fatigue and discomfort eased a little by the pride he felt at her repeated accomplishments, and the fact that he actually could save up now to give it to her. “That was the real reason you were excited that I’m home, isn’t it?”

“Nooooo!” Jas giggled and held out her hand expectantly as Shane plonked five shiny gold coins onto it. “I was excited because I love you~”

Shane paused as she gave him that heart-melting smile of hers; after several seconds, he pulled out two more and added them to the others. “I love you too, squirt.” He answered with a smile as she hugged him again. He kind of both loved and hated that she knew how to play him like that. His back throbbed painfully a moment later, reminding him that as much as he wanted to spend the evening with her, it just wasn’t something he was up to doing that night. “Hey, Jas? I know we always have our special time together when I come home, but… do you remember what I told you, about me sometimes needing to be alone for a little while?”

Hearing that, Jas was immediately distracted from the shiny coins in her hand. “Are you having a bad day?” She asked, looking up to her godfather with worry written on her face.  

“Kind of.” Shane put his hand on top of her head. “I think tonight, I just need to be by myself. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, though. Okay?”

He expected to see her little face fall with disappointment at those words, but to his surprise, Jas just nodded her head in understanding. “Okay~” She agreed with a smile. “I hope you feel better.” She gave him another hug and headed back to her room to play with her dolls. “Night night~”

“Uh…. Night, kiddo.” Shane watched her go off, slowly rubbing the back of his neck. Jas had taken that way better than he’d expected her to. ‘Yoba, she’s growing up so fast.’ He thought, letting out a slow breath as he stiffly made his way to his room. ‘I’m just glad that I’m not missing any of it now…’