#does arachnoid work

[tonguesurgery]

#weretober Spider Kung Fu Spider

[literaila]

fighting

gojo satoru x fem!reader

summary: megumi gets in trouble at school

warnings: they are a family (and hate each other)

last part | next part

*

year three.

your mouth is a straight line, and you know both of them are staring at you. 

you're all sitting in the car, three hours before megumi's supposed to get out of school, and it's been quiet for the last ten minutes. 

you don't have anything to say, you think. nothing that will make sense of the mess in your head. 

and satoru's eyes are glaring into your head, burning your skin. you want to shove him and tell him to leave you alone--even though he's not doing anything--but that seems hypocritical. 

especially considering that megumi is suspended for the rest of the week. 

“okay,” satoru says, after his eyes have basically glazed over from focusing on you for too long. “megumi, can you say something? i think her head's about to explode.” 

“i'm fine,” you hiss. and then you glance at megumi in the rearview mirror and feel a little bad. 

he looks smaller than usual. his eyes are shifting from you to satoru, and his mouth is open like he wants to say something but isn't sure what. and, of course, he's scrunched himself up, almost a ball right behind you. 

you don't want to be frustrated with him, but it seems inevitable. he's just a kid, you try to think, but it doesn't work. when you were a kid you didn't-- 

so yeah, you feel bad for him. not that bad though. you know he knows what you’re going to say. 

megumi sighs (but it sounds more reminiscent of one of satoru’s many whines). “i’m… sorry.” 

he might as well be telling you that he cut out your heart, and blew up a church with how dreary his voice is. 

satoru grins. “there. we’re cool now.” he reaches back and ruffles megumi’s hair. his arms are too long for anything in the world. he's basically an arachnoid. “y/n…” he hums. “you can stop frowning now. he apologized.” 

you glance over at him, unimpressed. satoru will brush this away like everything else. 

even though you know he cares--and doesn't want you to be mad, or megumi to feel guilty. 

his stupid smile almost makes you break, but you look away. 

“sorry for what megumi?” you ask, softly, trying to ignore your stupid roommate. he’s been downgraded. 

“…hitting those kids.” 

“are you actually sorry?” you clarify, even though you know the answer. 

he’s silent. 

you can see out of your peripheral when satoru gives him a nasty look. mouthing something to him. 

at least you know where megumi gets this from. his protectiveness is not unique to you, but at least satoru does it jokingly. at least he only destroys the already destroyed. 

maybe you're thinking too hard about this. 

you sigh, this time, rubbing your eyes with one hand. “look, megumi, we can talk about it later.” 

you could use a break from both of them. a couple of minutes to yourself to... probably cry in your bed and wonder why the world is so terrible. 

“um, no we can’t.” satoru says. “i’m going to be gone later. i told you about my—“ 

you pinch his thigh over the gearshift. “we’ll talk without you.” 

he gasps. “excuse you,” he says, “but i am a part of this conversation.” 

“yes, i think you’ve done plenty to contribute to this, gojo.” 

“what’s that supposed to mean?” 

you try to smile at him, but it feels more like a grimace. “just that you’re the one sparing with megumi on the weekends.” 

satoru frowns. “we’re practicing. you want him to be as weak as every other shikigami user in the world?” he asks, rhetorically. 

“i like sparring,” megumi interjects, like it matters. 

“maybe a little too much,” you say, under your breath. 

satoru grabs your hand from his leg, intertwining his fingers with yours. it would be sweet--a nice connection--if you weren't actively trying to hurt him. 

maybe megumi gets it from both of you. 

“okay, megumi,” satoru sings. “you can’t hit your classmates, okay? look i fixed it.” 

you glare at him. then turn into your driveway. 

satoru groans. “why are you both so difficult? megumi, just apologize, and y/n, he made a mistake. he’s not gonna do it again.” 

“i’m not talking about this right now,” you tell him, shaking your hand from his, wanting not to be mad at either of them.

but you’re mad at both. they both suck and you love them too much to even yell. 

“i’m difficult?” megumi retorts. 

satoru groans again and you all get out of the car. 

“go get started on your homework,” you tell megumi, after you unlock the door. “we can talk in a bit.” 

your voice is naturally softer with him. megumi’s too cute to stay angry at. 

satoru doesn’t have that issue. 

megumi looks back at you, his eyes inquisitive, his mouth pinched. “you’re mad at me?” 

you sigh, hanging the keys on the hook. “no, megs. it’s fine. we just need to talk about it. later. 

“you’re mad,” he repeats, all-knowing. seriously, who allowed satoru to raise him? 

“i… maybe a little. not really at you. just the situation.” 

“i’m sorry.” 

you shake your head, hand on your back as you gently nudge him down the hall. “just go hang out for a bit. relax.”

you try not to notice how he rubs his fists, tiny bruises forming on his tiny knuckles.

satoru walks in behind you, bumping into you purposefully. “start writing your opening statement,” he adds, grinning at you both. 

you push him away and megumi rolls his eyes. 

you walk into the kitchen, thinking about moving megumi to a new school—a new family. they’ll probably do better than you’re doing. at least there he won't have one parent who actively eggs him into violence every day. 

you know satoru is following you (because when isn’t he?) but you don’t expect a hand tapping on your arm, and wary blue eyes meeting yours. 

dark blue eyes. 

“can we talk now?” megumi asks, his voice softer than usual. you can tell he feels bad, but you know that it’s only because you’re upset. 

and it’s not even him. you just wish that he had a better response to these things. that he didn’t feel like fixing everything was his responsibility.

you’re not sure where you went wrong, but you know that it was somewhere. 

“megumi… i just need to think for a bit. i’m really not mad.” this time you actually smile at him, because even if he’s beating kids up in school, he’s so sweet to all of you. so cautious.

(except for satoru, but he deserves it). 

“i’m really sorry. i didn’t mean to get in trouble.” 

satoru snorts from behind you. he’s leaning against the wall, watching. 

lord knows he wouldn’t be any help—even if he actually was contributing to the conversation. 

you swallow, because you really don't want to tell megumi anything. not without running it through satoru first, at least. without considering the consequences. 

but he looks very worried, and you don't want to leave him to obsess over this by himself. 

“i just don’t understand why…” you shake your head. you’re not going to make any sense of a nine-year-old mind. “you can’t hit people because you’re upset. you know that.” 

“they were messing with a girl in class,” he says, frowning. then he looks to satoru, his head tilted. “i thought that’s what you told me? i’m stronger, i can help.”

“uh….” satoru scratches the back of his neck, wincing. he's lucky that he's several feet away from you. 

you turn. “what?” 

“i—“ he holds his hands up in defense immediately. “i may or may not have mentioned that we, as in all of us, we’re meant to be upstanders, you know. not—“ he clears his throat. clasps his hands together. “bystanders.” 

“satoru.” you groan, leaning against the counter. at least it's all coming together. 

you need to bug him or something, just to monitor everything he says 

satoru continues. “but i meant in public! with curses. not—not children,” he glares at megumi. 

probably for ratting him out. 

“but you said that if someone was in trouble—“ 

“can you stop talking?” satoru says to him, shaking his head, lips pouting pathetically. “i didn’t raise a snitch.” 

you furrow your brows and megumi crosses his arms. 

“satoru, you told him to fight people?” 

he winces again, adjusting his glasses. “i meant… bad people.” 

“they were bad,” megumi reassures you both because it obviously matters. “they tried to steal her backpack. that’s bad.” 

you sigh, shaking your head. 

you can't believe that you're still standing here, still contemplating what to say to him. 

where did it all go wrong? 

“was the backpack cool?” satoru wonders, going to stand right next to you, hand slinging around your shoulder. he ignores it when you try to push him off. 

he's probably just trying to be annoying. 

megumi frowns. “i don’t know, i didn’t ask her to—“ 

“stop talking, both of you.” 

you ponder running away from all of them and starting a new life. rome is supposed to be nice this time of year, and you’ve been saving up… 

but you’d feel bad for leaving tsumiki with the two of them. plus, satoru doesn’t know how to fill out his tax return. 

“we’re talking,” satoru says, raising a brow at you. “you like that.” he grins at you like he’s solved world hunger or something. 

with his stupid face and stupid mouth. you would move to rome just so you never had to look at him again and feel briefly distracted. 

“i need a minute to think.” 

the two boys share a look. how you’ve survived three years with them is questionable. 

finally, you sigh again, rubbing your temple. “megumi, you know you can’t hit people. why didn’t you get a teacher? violence is never an option.” 

satoru frowns. “what about—“ 

“in the real world,” you correct, glaring at him. “violence is not an option. don’t put your hands on other people. talk to someone.”

megumi kicks his foot against the hardwood. “i didn’t think they’d listen.” 

you nudge his chin, getting him to look at you. “then you tell one of us. preferably not satoru. i know—i understand that you want to help, but hurting someone just to protect someone else isn’t any better than bullying, okay?” 

“yeah, don’t bully your bullies," satoru waves a finger at him. 

you roll your eyes, and megumi looks disheartened—annoyed maybe—but nods eventually. 

not that you expect him to agree immediately anyway. megumi has never been fond of talking. even with all of you, he'd rather hug you than ask how your day is. 

and it's fine, usually. you don't want to push him. 

you also don't want to have to bail him out of jail. 

“okay. good. if this ever happens again i'm homeschooling you.” 

megumi doesn’t seem to mind this, shrugging at the threat.

you pause, then say, “actually, satoru is homeschooling you.” 

the boy frowns. 

satoru nudges your side, giving you a skeptical look. “no punishment? he’s just free to go? last time i tried to—“ 

“you were trying to put megumi in a headlock.” 

“he was eating the last mochi! he knew i was saving it.” 

you scowl at him. “it’s not even his fault,” you say, looking pointedly at him. then you brighten. “and he has to deal with you every day, that’s punishment enough.” 

satoru opens his mouth, holding a hand in the air. then he closes it. 

you turn around to see megumi smirking at him. 

you roll your eyes. “what do you want to tell tsumiki?”

you'll have to pick her up in an hour or two, and she's going to ask questions. plus, megumi's scratched-up hands are not very discreet. 

megumi’s face falls. “um—“ 

satoru starts laughing beside you, body shaking against yours, and you feel like there’s about to be another fight. 

but at least you’re not upset anymore. 

megumi says something to satoru--like shut up--but you're not really listening anymore. just looking between the two like they aren't the most important, special things in the world to you. 

whatever happens, you think, is satoru's fault. 

*

next part | series masterlist

[otakubimbo]

Mansplain

Miguel isn't good at flirting, but that should be obvious shouldn't it?

 Miguel’s first attempt at flirting with you was actually the first time the two of you met. He had arrived in your dimension because there was an anomaly there, but by the time he had appeared, you had just finished capturing the sandman anomaly. He was impressed, to say the least by your skills. The way you webbed through the air, you were graceful yet powerful. It was as if nothing could stop you, the calculation of your attacks the sandman didn’t stand a chance. He barely even registered your speed as you came down in front of him.

“And you are?” You ask viewing him with reasonable wariness, you could tell that he was at least somewhat like you.

“I am the head of the arachno humanoid poly multiverse” He states matter of factly as if you should have already known that. The sentence almost makes you giggle.

“So, you mean the spider people multiverse” You take your mask off, shaking your coils out now realizing that he’s probably not a foe and really is just like you. “That’s cute”

At that Miguel almost becomes a stuttering fool if he could even speak, you were beyond beautiful. Your smile gave a brightness that could rival the sun.

“Well, that could be said in layman's terms but I’m more technical.” He finally gets out after feeling like he wasn’t able to breathe, de-digitizing his mask so you can see his face. You giggle at that; he was very handsome but he seemed a bit awkward. Miguel knows that he may never want to hear anything else besides that for the rest of his life.

“Yeah, I see that so what are you doing here, in my universe?” you question, putting a hand on your hip. You had already assumed it was for whatever you just took down, he kept calling for people that you had no clue about.

“Well, if you must know,” He begins “This is a sandman anomaly which seems to not be a cannon event in your universe. And it is our job as the arachnoid humanoid poly-multiverse group that take care of these types of situations. This is why I am here to take this one back, so the multiverse does not collide. It is essential to keep the universe safe” he goes on and on about the society he created.

His appearance didn’t give the type of man to ramble on like this, but. The idea was actually something that you wanted to get behind and when you questioned if you could join, Miguel thought his heart would stop. He assumed he was wooing you with his words but truthfully, you just had a big heart, and it broke yours to think about the loss of other universes.

And that is how you ended up in the spider society, working extremely close to Miguel because once he found out that not only were you a skilled spider fighting wise, but you were also absolutely brilliant. You had such a mind for science that rivaled his own and your enthusiasm had him captivated when you talked about the research you were doing on society’s behalf.

Everything about working for the spider society brought you joy. Expect, for one thing, Miguel. At first, you thought working with him was going to be amazing. He was smart and driven, you could tell his passion from the moment you met him. But now every encounter with him is insufferable. Any given moment that the two of you are working on something he always makes a note to mansplain everything, as if he didn’t himself ask for your assistance. Initially, you thought it was just adjusting to working alongside someone else; everyone in the society was surprised that he even asked for your assistance. As time went on though, it was as if he doubted your intelligence which pissed you off and confused you since he would constantly ask for your opinion or assign you tasks that he would usually take on himself. Every task he assigned you was completed expertly, and every repair he asked you to manage, was done efficiently. And yet, when it came down to you working on things he would make his way over without fail to over-explain everything to you. You didn’t know how much longer you were going to be able to take it.

Now here you were eating lunch with Jess, rubbing your temples from the headache that Miguel gave you earlier from explaining how the multiverse works AGAIN.

“I truly don’t know what his deal is, Jess” you groan putting your head down on the table hoping the cold metal will relieve some of the tension from your head. “Why ask for my help if he is going to micromanage me the whole time?! And according to everyone, he doesn’t even ask people for help so why ask me?!? Next time I am just going to tell him to do it himself.”

Jess just giggles at your frustrations, causing you to groan. She was finding humor in your suffering. The two of you had grown close to each other since you first entered the society, Jess seemed to be one of the few people Miguel put his trust and faith in which wasn’t surprising at first until you saw how he interacted with everyone else. He held her to such a high regard, and you felt lucky to work with her. Now the two of you were friends since she was always the first one you went to complain about Miguel and your friendship blossomed from there.

The two of you enjoy the rest of your lunch together, leaving the frustrating topic of Miguel behind. It helped you calm down a bit, he really had been working your last nerves with all his commentary on your assignments. But you were going to stick to your word, the next time he had something to say you would just tell him to do it himself. And now you are working diligently on fixing some of the watches that other spiders have damaged. They were easy fixes that most spiders could have done on their own, but Miguel has designated you to be the one who fixes them. He claims it is to ensure that it was done right, but who knows? Everything was going well, up until your last one when your Spidey senses told you that someone was standing in the doorway of your lab and all your other senses screamed that it was Miguel. As you resist the urge to audibly groan at his presence, you continue with your work as if he wasn’t even there. You wish you had worn your headphones instead of just playing music from your speaker so you could really ignore him but you weren’t that fortunate. Your spine tingles as you feel him approach you, attempting to think positively that maybe he won’t over-explain how to fix what you’re working on as if he again wasn’t the one who made you the go-to for all gizmo repairs.

“Hey, you know…..” He starts and it’s as if you see red, he begins to explain how to fix the damn gizmo that you were literally already fixing. In frustration, you slam your tools on the desk standing up quickly, surprisingly this takes Miguel back almost making him stumble.

“What the hell is the point of assigning me shit to do if you’re always going to come in and explain to me how to do it like I already don’t fucking know how to do it.” You almost yell, gritting your teeth, and your face scrunches up in frustration.

“What” he asked, a stupid stunned expression on his face as if he hadn’t done anything wrong and couldn’t even imagine why you were upset.

“Literally every single time you assign me anything or I do anything here you are to explain to me how to do it. What is the point of assigning me shit Miguel if you’re just going to come and tell me how to do shit every single fucking time? Just do it yourself then, stop asking me! It’s like you don’t even trust me!”  At this point you were yelling, talking with your hands, and most likely making a scene that any spider with sense would stay away from. You were absolutely heated, and Miguel just looked at you wide-eyed and confused. “Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?!?!”

“Because I don’t know what you’re talking about. I trust you more than anyone, that’s why I ask you to do all of this.” Miguel speaks softer than you think you’ve ever heard him which quells your anger a bit and now you’re confused.

“Then why do you always come and try to explain everything to me then?!?” Your voice is lower than before but you’re still slightly yelling.

“Well because”

“Because what Miguel”

He looks almost…. Nervous? You don’t think you’ve ever seen him nervous before. Yeah, when you first met him he was a rambling mess but you just assumed that was just the adrenaline speaking, ever since then he’s been this calm, collected, calculated man who despite his instinct to explain things to you, you may have grown fond of him.

“I do trust you to do your job. I wouldn’t give you the task if I didn’t think you would be able to accomplish it without my assistance.” He deflects from your question, which starts to bring back up your irritation.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Miguel. I’m so close to just going back to my universe and being done with this honestly.” Your frustrated threat makes Miguel even more confused about what is going on. He thought you liked being here, he thought he was impressing you with his knowledge.

“I was trying to impress you” He states matter of fact as if it was obvious.

“Impress me?? What???” Your temper is still up, and it comes out harsher than you mean it to because now you’re the one confused.

“I was attempting to show you my knowledge and understanding of things. You know to impress you and show you how intelligent I am” he gives a huff in a really cute pouty way for a man his size, and this confession brings a smile to your face as you start being thrown into a fit of laughter.

“I don’t see what’s so funny about any of this.” His voice is stern, he is obviously upset at your laughter, arms crossed over his chest in frustration. He was cute, he was too cute and now all of it was clicking for you. Miguel O Hara had been trying to flirt with you, in the worst way imaginable. “Has it not been obvious how fond I am of you?”

You catch your breath, as your laughing fit subsides, “No, Miguel you were actually really pissing me off.”  He frowns at the realization that his attempts at flirting have actually been doing the opposite of its intended effect.  “I know you’re smart, you literally developed most of this technology by yourself. There wasn’t anything you had to prove to me.”

“Well I-“Miguel stutters, the great Miguel O Hara stuttered. “Well, then how was I supposed to show you?”

“Show me what”

“That I am fond of you.”

“Fond of me, you mean like you like me?” Your head tilts in the most adorable way that has Miguel flustered, the brown hue of his face getting deeper as a blush crept up his neck.

“Obviously”

“Not obviously actually.” You smile gently at him, thinking about all the times you have been so frustrated with him, and he was just trying to flirt with you.

“Well then how would I show you?” He asks genuinely, more awkward than you have ever seen the confident man.

“You could ask me out on a date, you know like a regular person.”

“Okay, so would you like to go on a date with me?”

You smile at him, and Miguel thinks his heart just stopped, “Yes Miguel I would, just tell me where and when” He does a curt nod, not knowing exactly what to say as his brain racks for ideas on where to take you turning around to leave your lab.

“Oh, and Miguel, by the way,” you stop him before he can “You don’t have to try and impress me, you already do.”

And the way you smiled at him after saying that he had to do everything to hold his composure as the stoic man he has tried to portray himself as but he can’t help the small smile that graces his face at your comment.

……

“You’re really gonna go out with him?” Jess asks the next time the two of you hang out, as you tell her about your last interaction with Miguel.

“Yes, yes, I am. You don’t understand, he was so cute when he was telling me that he was trying to impress me. He even BLUSHED.”

“Such a 180 from wanting his head on a spike” she chuckles.

“I know I know I know I know. But really you don’t understand how cute he was after I basically did put his head on a spike.”

“I could have told you that he liked you”

“And why didn’t you?” You huff, crinkling your nose at the fact she let you sit here frustrated with that man’s behavior for MONTHS.

“Eh, not as fun” she laughs at you, while you roll your eyes at her.

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday, WIP Wednesday & Last Line

Tagged by @cassietrn and @voidika

Tagging @imogenkol @inafieldofdaisies @adelaidedrubman @shellibisshe @aceghosts @socially-awkward-skeleton @noodlecupcakes @josephseedismyfather @icecutioner @derelictheretic @shallow-gravy @direwombat @strangefable @rhettsabbott @josephslittledeputy @cloudofbutterflies92 @skoll-sun-eater @carlosoliveiraa @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @raresvtm @softtidesworld @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @florbelles @minilev @yokobai @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @justasmolbard @alypink @thesingularityseries @nightwingshero and @lulu2992 + anyone else who'd like to join.

Got songs for The UnTitledverse, Wings And Horns and A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore, with a snippet for a new FC5 The Silver Chronicles WIP as well as a last line for You Make My Heart Go Doki Doki Literature Club!. You can listen to the songs and read the WIPs snippets below:

Legend is important. It's part of history and culture. It should always be preserved in the present to better understand our past to make way to the future. Now many of my series divulge into legends and myths and old stories. Some of them outright make reverence to events long passed (the Extermination Purge Wars, the Big Bangs, the fall of the Houses of the Old Gods and the foundation the Time Bureau Authority, etc). Sometimes all that was in the past emerges into the present (with the likes of the Arachnoids, Exterminators, the Old Kin and more). However, one historical text in my series is the abolishment of the (while benevolent, very flawed) Soulmate System, which my Original Work Wings And Horns is set in. The plot is that more and more mortals are being discovered without soulmarks (which come in the form of marks, initials, countdowns, etc, depending on the person and timeline), so the New Gods send Archangel Metatron and an Angel of Death cadet, Azriel, to investigate the phenomenon to see whether it is natural or manufactured. Metatron wants to preserve and fix the system because he believes mortals require it, meanwhile Azriel just wants the credit so her soul can be reincarnated at an earlier date. The duo behind the soulmark removals is a Sloth Demon by the name of Xiang Ba'al and his adopted daughter, a Sinner's soul by the name of Jezebel. This cat and mouse chase is what ultimately dictates the decision the New Gods are debating; should mortals require on the guidance on something as small as love? Or should mortals find the love of their life on their own, a small step to gifting them a responsibility that had drastically the status quo beforehand thousands of years ago; that being, Free Will?

"Legends never die When the world is calling you Can you hear them screaming out your name? Legends never die."

"They never lose hope when everything's cold And the fighting's near." "It's deep in their bones They'll ride into smoke when the fire is fierce." "Oh, pick yourself up 'cause

Legends never die Legends never die Legends never die Legends never die!"

"Legend never dies They're written down in eternity But you'll never see the price it costs The scars collecting all of their lives."

"When everything's lost They pick up their hearts and avenge defeat Before it all starts They suffer through harms to touch and dream." "Whoa, pick yourself up 'cause

Legends never die Legends never die Legends never die Legends never die!"

"Legends never die." "When the world is calling out your name." "Begging you to fight." "Oh, oh, oh, pick yourself up Once more, pick yourself up 'cause

Legends never die Legends never die Legends never die Legends never die!"

"Legends never die."

Walking Fate is a fic series in The UnTitledverse based in Telltale's The Walking Dead video game. The fic classically follows (most) of the game/s, but does diverge a bit off with pivotal focus on Clementine and an OC of mine whose the runaway son of Darling Enterprises, a multi-business juggernaut, Malcrum Darling, and their relationship. They're definitely not "tragic star-crossed lovers". I'd never do such a thing in The Walking Dead universe. Here's a song about Malcrum's feelings towards Clementine that's definitely in no shape or form supposed to be interpreted as inno- I mean twisted. Enjoy!

"Hey, he-ey-ey, he-he-hey

Your lipstick stains On the front lobe of my left side brains I knew I wouldn't forget you And so I went and let you blow my mind

Your sweet moonbeam The smell of you in every single dream I dream I knew when we collided You're the one I have decided who's one of my kind

Hey, soul sister Ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo The way you move ain't fair you know Hey, soul sister I don't wanna miss a single thing you do, tonight

Hey, he-ey-ey, he-he-hey

Just in time I'm so glad you have a one track mind like me You gave my life direction A game show love connection we can't deny

I'm so obsessed My heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest I believe in you Like a virgin, you're Madonna And I'm always gonna wanna blow your mind.

Hey, soul sister Ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo The way you move ain't fair you know Hey, soul sister I don't wanna miss a single thing you do, tonight."

Throughout A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore, one universal rule is applied; it doesn't matter you are. From a vault dweller who drew the short straw to a psychotic resident of Vault 76 whose a bit too obsessed with wanting to kill her neighbors. A talking Deathclaw to a Ghoul addicted to chems. A brother who wants to uphold the morals his mother taught him in the Wasteland to his amoral sister who kicks old people people and harasses the less fortunate because she's from a wealthy crime family. Because in the end... they have to stand up to Arcane Urias. (Those poor fuckers are gonna die LOL!!!). Because I guess it's the right to do (in the context of self-preservation against the threat of annihilation).

"Up in the morning, up in the evening Pickin' down clocks when the birds get back to eat Oh, to eat

Up on the mountain, down in the king's lair Pushing these boxes in the heat of the afternoon Oh, afternoon

We were never welcome here We were never welcome here at all No

It's who we are, doesn't matter if we've gone too far Doesn't matter if it's all okay Doesn't matter if it's not our day

Oh, won't you save us, what we are Don't look clear, it's all uphill from here Oh-oh

Up in the attic, down in the cellar Lost in a static, coming back for more Oh, for more

Out with the reason, in with the season Taking down names in my book of jealousy Jealousy

We were never welcome here We were never welcome here at all No!"

An long FC5 WIP for The Silver Chronicles, a new one at that, one I'm naming after the lyrics of David Kushner's "Daylight"; because David Kushner and his songs fit The Silver Chronicles on a scary level. Anyway, the WIP is called Oh, I Love It And I Hate It At The Same Time. You And I Drink The Poison From The Same Vine. Hiding All Our Sins From The Daylight... also known as "the fic where Silva and Paul survive the Tumultite Massacre together and their father/daughter relationship worsens into co-dependence in Montana". Where's Elsa and Persephone at? Well, they'll arrive in the later half of the fic... along with Kamski. Despite the fact their relationship not being "gonna kill you for hurting me even though you were good once", this is far from a good and healthy outcome for both Silva and Paul. In spite of this, they make a dangerous duo (as expected of the two), something the Seeds kind of suspect when they meet them. Enjoy being as lost as the Seeds are in this scene snippet below when Paul interrupts them meeting the Muse herself at a social gathering Pre-Reaping. [Would like to add that the WIP is fairly new, and I'm still working on this scene, and may make a few changes in the near future when I have the time. Expect some mistakes]:

When the question left Joseph's mouth, he felt a pain clutch his shoulder.

With a surprised hitch of his breath, he glanced down to gloved fingers that dug into his shoulder blade with an astonishing unnatural amount of strength.

"Her padre, of course," the soft gleeful voice of the hand's owner answered from beside him, the tone sickeningly sweet.

The stranger's head faced Joseph, his eyes closed to Joseph's seeking blue. His lips curved up in a polite and cheerful smile, one that should be dripping with honey.

The man's eyes briefly opened to reveal burning yellow eyes, bordering on an intense gold. Joseph could not shake the feeling that he's seen those eyes before. A vision perhaps?

Joseph felt himself tense as he recognized the way this man looked at him; the way John sometimes gazed upon the Sinners. A predator that has targeted its prey. And it was Joseph who was already in his clutches.

The man blinked, and the inhuman hue was gone. Instead, a pale hazel resided in its stead. He drifted his eyes away from Joseph, locking with the oblivious grey of the deputy that heralded the coming of the Collapse.

An inexplicable dread coiled in his gut when the man's features genuinely lightened at the sight of his family's judge.

"Ah, il mio piccolo Boa!" he greeted with a beaming grin, letting go of Joseph's aching shoulder to push past him, swiftly making his way to Silva to the Seed's collective daze. The man wrapped his arms over Silva's body, embracing the slightly shorter woman. She seemed delighted by his unexpected appearance.

They both pulled away, though gloved hands remained on the other's arms. The man, though a stranger to the crowd around her, seemed to be a familiar face to Silva. Joseph watched the stranger's hand glide caressing fingers across her dark hair affectionately, following the slivers of the dyed silver trails that reached to her braid, "And how are you fairing this fine hour?"

Silva graced the question with a smile; not the formal and polite smile that served to keep a front up to strangers, but one with an undeniable sincerity shining through.

"Hola to you too, Paul," Silva returned with bemusement, "I was just making some new friends. What brings you over?"

From behind Paul, Joseph could see the man's head tilt. Through the abrupt gesture, Silva's features suggested she understood the meaning, "Um, amigos, Paul."

"Ah," Paul seemed to understood, sneaking an obvious glance towards Joseph and his siblings. There was no trace of gold in those hazel eyes, and the intensity lesser than when he locked eyes with Joseph, but the suspicion directed towards them held a sharp edge to it. Paul let another word roll down his tongue, but the tone matched his gaze, "Amici."

In spite of the growing uneasiness, Joseph willed himself to keep a calm front. He was unsure why Paul off-put him. Joseph regarded the man; his stature was slight taller than Silva's, but similar to Joseph's own height. He was older than all of them, including Jacob; perhaps a decade older. His hair was blonde- or rather, dyed blonde, as Joseph noted the light brown at the sides of his head. His complexion wasn't too dissimilar from Silva's own, maybe deeper.

Joseph took note of the few faded scarring scarcely scattered around his face, and like Silva's, time had laid its healing hands on Paul's own wounds.

Joseph paused his observation, about to make introductions with the askant man when John stepped forward first.

"Yes, we were giving our compliments to Silva for the couscous salad you've brought. She was just telling us it was a co-opted effort," John stated with a grin, one Joseph's had become accustomed to over the years. John's move peaked Paul's interest, his suspicion replaced with curiosity. With his audience captured, Joseph watched approvingly as John continued, a hand outstretched, "I don't believe we've met mister...?"

Recognition shined in Paul's eyes, though it was swept away with a grin bigger than John's as his gloved hand grasped John's in a steady shake, "Yellowjack. But please, just call me Paul. I've always felt the term "mister" gives off the impression I'm married, or worse, boring."

Jacob raised a brow, though refrained from commenting as John replied when letting go of Paul's hand, "Noted. So, are you a friend of Silva's or family?"

Paul shared a glance with Silva and replied, "Family. I'm her padre. I've taken care of her for a long time."

Joseph focused on both Silva and Paul; he couldn't find anything indistinguishably shared between both, though he considered that Silva might just take after her mother than Paul. However, he didn't discard the possibility that Paul was Silva's adoptive father rather than her blood relative.

He kept his thoughts to himself though; reasoning that bringing up the question wouldn't be appropriate so early now. Especially if there's a layer of deception underneath Paul's relation with Silva; he didn't want to unintentionally compromise her safety if Paul held more sin than Joseph already suspected he did.

Silva spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention as she pointed out, "You know Paul, you never answered my question."

Paul seemed to stiffen; clearly a dramatic display rather than serious, as Paul finally answered Silva, "Well, you see, I had caught up with good ol' Virgil before he had to run off for his own business and I saw you speaking to these truffatori impopolari, quindi volevo solo controllarti. You know?"

Joseph and Jacob shared a glance; none of them could interpret the words Paul had sputtered out, though Joseph relaxed when Silva gave Paul a soft smile, "I'm grateful for your concern. But I've got this handled. Gracias, though."

Paul relaxed his stiffness, and Silva brought his attention back towards them, "Now how about some introductions?"

"Great idea," Paul agreed, hazel scanning across the four siblings, "How about we go oldest to youngest?"

Jacob's mouth thinned, blue eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Paul with harsh judgement. Joseph watched as his brother scanned the older man's black and yellow attire. It was flaunting a level of wealth, typical of someone who indulged in vanity. However, that didn't sit right with Joseph. He decided to dwell on it later as he watched Paul and Jacob.

Paul glanced to Jacob, and after a pause, he leaned closer, "Let's start with you ragazzone."

Jacob stared down Paul, who was an inch or two shorter than the red-head. He exhaled out an annoyed huff, and gruffly stated, "Name's Jacob."

Paul hummed and straightened up his posture, hazel eyes trailing Jacob's forest green jacket and body. His eyes seemed to linger on the American flag, Jacob's burns and, oddly enough, his biceps more often. Paul clicked his tongued and nodded his head approvingly, "That checks out. But man, sei una delizia per i miei occhi."

Silva had a bemused expression at Paul's words. Jacob, though, raised a brow, "Mind sharing on what's on your mind?"

Paul had snapped out of his trance, and he swiftly blurted out, "Oh, I just said you looked good, is all."

Paul's attention hastily turned to John and Joseph. He looked between the two, but when the older man focused on him, Joseph witnessed his cheer drop abundantly when their eyes met.

The cold dread surfaced once more. The dead-eyed scrutiny the older man reserved for Joseph alone alarmed him. Joseph could not understand Paul's behavior. Neither could he recall any cases where he could have slighted the man, despite this being their first meeting. He'd never seen Paul in any of his visions, only Silva.

Regardless, Joseph chose to retaliate with a gentle greeting, "My name's Joseph. My family and I run the chapel over on the island by the Henbane."

"Oh yeah, I know," Paul calmly told him, all the playfulness gone, "You're the head of the Project at Eden's Gate, correct?"

Joseph curtly nodded in confirmation, and Paul continued, "Yes, I've heard quite a lot about you. Folks around here always have something to say about your little project."

Joseph's lips thinned, disappointment resonating in his chest. So the sinners lies are spreading swiftly. He was displeased by this knowledge, but he resolved to help Paul see the light. If not for his own soul, then the sake of his daughter's.

John stepped in, interrupting the exchange, "All good things, one would hope."

Paul turned attentively to John with an upbeat rejuvenation, disregarding Joseph, "Well, they can't certainly be all bad now, can they?"

Paul's change in demeanor reminded Joseph of John; both hid their emotions behind a carefully crafted mask and would only reveal their true feelings to those they liked or trusted. However, Paul had more self-control over his emotions and mannerisms.

"And I don't believe you shared your name," Paul pointed out to John.

"John. And if I may, we'd encourage you and your daughter to come for at least one sermon," John invited. Joseph smiled at John's attempt to salvage Paul's soul.

The man in question gave a brief glance to Silva, who shrugged, before returning to John and saying, "Preferirei di no."

John waited for Paul to specify but the latter's attention shifted to their final sibling. Joseph caught a flash of an offended scowl on John's face, so Joseph reached a calming hand on his younger brother's shoulder. It worked, the scowl lost in a practiced exhale.

"Oh, look at this, they have a sorella Silva," Paul said with a grin as he stepped closer to the shorter Faith. Silva narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her father.

Admittedly, so had Joseph.

"What's your name?" Paul asked. Faith shifted, hands behind her back as a delighted smile stretched across her lips with an answer, "It's Faith."

"Faith," Paul repeated her name, seeming to break it down before giving a small bow, adding with sincerity, "A powerful name for a powerful woman. It suits you."

Paul's compliment had three separate effects from what Joseph could see; it had flattered Faith, who thanked Paul for his kind words. It had annoyed John, who rolled his eyes at the exchange.

And it had concerned Joseph, at least as the Father; while he had entrusted Faith in a role that required her to attract converts to their flock, he was weary of those with perverse sins that would embolden them to act on certain depravities.

There had been minor incidents that had occurred, at least in earlier years, though Faith had shown a strength and belief that always reaffirmed him in his decision to bring her in. Especially when she purified the souls of those who indulged in such vices, allowing them to serve the Project free of their sinful shackles; as angels.

He monitored Paul, watching as the man gazed into Faith's eyes, and saw once again how he lightened up. Paul noted aloud, "I must say, you have such lovely green eyes. Is that a recessive trait?"

As Faith gave an explanation to Paul, Joseph was more confused. The way he stated the detail was too specific. And he had stated loud enough for only their small group to hear.

He glanced to Silva, and was met with a menagerie of changing expressions; first was confusion, then came analysis, followed by baffled realization, until she finally settled on looking unimpressed.

With her reactions, Joseph was at a loss on how to view this interaction between Paul and Faith. Until Paul pulled out of his conversation with Faith and attentively singled Silva out, "You know Silva, se volevi solo parlare con la ragazza, non dovevi fare di tutto per incontrare prima tutta la sua famiglia, right?"

Silva blinked at Paul, staring agape as she processed the stream of words he told her aloud. A blush darkened her skin, grey eyes wide in astounded and embarrassment.

Ah, I see now, Joseph deduced, glancing from Silva to Paul, He's teasing her.

Evidenced by the cheeky grin that grew across Paul's face as he continued, "Lei è certamente una partita. Se vuoi, posso impartirti un po' di saggezza sul primo appuntamento. Purché non riceva un invito a nozze entro la fine dell'anno, eh Silva?"

Silva furrowed her brows at Paul, the blush expanded. She traversed over to grab Paul, telling him, "¡Ey! ¡Ya es suficiente de tu parte!"

Despite an irate Silva telling off a snickering Paul who fruitlessly tried to calm down his daughter, Joseph couldn't help but be endeared by the display in front of him. There was something else too... but he elected to push it away for the time being.

Joseph turned to address his family, and paused as John commented to Faith and Jacob, "Who here suspects this isn't an uncommon occurrence between these two?"

"I don't doubt it," Jacob affirmed, eyeing the duo, specifically Paul, "He's definitely the embarrassing parent."

And here's a few short paragraphed snippets for my DDLC WIP called You Make My Heart Go Doki Doki Literature Club! for the Last Lines tag. Sayori (plus Yuri and Natsuki) enters the club and interrupts... something:

The door class door clicked open, and both students snapped their heads to Sayori entering the class, who freezes once her blue eyes took in the sight of a frazzled and flushed Monika whose uniform was unkempt and fists were gripping the opened blazer flaps of the equally more disheveled and flushed new student Haoyu, both of their faces in close proximity of each other.

"This isn't what it looks like!" a horrified Monika quickly utters out, letting go of Haoyu's blazer and letting the green-dyed brunette troll drop to the floor with an ignored 'oomph!' as she went to address her club's co-president.

Only to stutter when, much to her horrifying embarrassment two more familiar faces entered the room beside Sayori; that of Yuri who didn't immediately comment on the situation and Natsuki who rushed in with a burning question to Monika's poorly timed outburst, "What doesn't look like what? Wait..."

Monika watched as Natsuki regarded her appearance, and then her pink eyes shifted to Haoyu leaning up nearby the coral brunette; who was repeatedly trying to blow hair away from their face, to a miserable degree of failure.

Once pink met emerald green, Monika could feel sweat start to break when she unfortunately witnessed a mischievous and teasing glint shine in her clubmate's eyes. With a teasing grin, Natsuki asked, "So what's going on in here?"

[expertacademicassignmenthelp]

 How Does The Brain Work?

The brain stands as a marvel of biological engineering, Composing of a multitude of bodily functions ranging from cognition and memory to emotions and sensory perception. Together with the spinal cord, it constitutes the central nervous system (CNS), the command center of the human body.

Composition of the Brain

Weighing approximately 3 pounds in adults, the brain’s main structure comprises about 60% fat, interspersed with water, protein, carbohydrates, and salts. Unlike muscles, it houses a complex network of blood vessels and nerves, including neurons and glial cells.

a) Gray and White Matter

Within the central nervous system, gray matter and white matter occupies distinct regions. In the brain, gray matter forms the outer layer, rich in neuron somas, while white matter constitutes the inner section, primarily composed of axons unsheathed in myelin. Conversely, in the spinal cord, this arrangement is reversed.

b) Brain Functionality

 The brain operates by transmitting and receiving chemical and electrical signals throughout the body. These signals regulate a myriad of processes, with the brain disseminating each input. Some signals remain confined within the brain, while others traverse the spinal cord and nerves, disseminating information across the body’s expanse. This composes neural network relies on billions of interconnected neurons.

Major Brain Regions and Their Functions

1.Cerebrum

Dominating the brain’s landscape, the cerebrum encompasses the cerebral cortex and underlying white matter. It governs a spectrum of functions, including motor coordination, temperature regulation, language processing, emotional regulation, and sensory perception.

2. Brainstem

 Serving as the bridge between the cerebrum and spinal cord, the brainstem comprises the midbrain, pons, and medulla. It regulates vital autonomic functions such as heart rate, breathing, and reflexive responses.

3. Cerebellum

Nestled at the posterior aspect of the brain, the cerebellum coordinates voluntary muscle movements, posture, balance, and motor learning.

 Brain Coverings

a) Meninges

 Three layers of protective membranes, collectively known as meninges, enshroud the brain and spinal cord. These layers — dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater — shield the delicate neural tissue from physical trauma and infection.

b) Lobes of the Brain

 Each hemisphere of the brain comprises four lobes, each harboring distinct functional domains:

Frontal Lobe: Governing executive functions, motor control, and higher cognitive processes.

Parietal Lobe: Integrating sensory information, spatial awareness, and perception of pain and touch.

Occipital Lobe: Specialized for visual processing and perception.

Temporal Lobe: Involved in auditory processing, language comprehension, and memory consolidation.

Deeper Brain Structures

 These encompass important structures such as the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and pineal gland, orchestrating hormone secretion, emotional regulation, memory consolidation, and circadian rhythms.

Blood Supply

The brain receives its oxygenated blood supply through the vertebral and carotid arteries, ensuring adequate perfusion of neural tissue. The main network of blood vessels, including the Circle of Willis, safeguards against ischemic insults and facilitates intraarterial communication.

Cranial Nerves 

The twelve pairs of cranial nerves, originating from the brainstem, mediate a diverse array of sensory and motor functions, encompassing olfaction, vision, facial expression, and auditory perception.

Comprehending the anatomy and functionality of the brain fosters a deeper appreciation of its complexity and facilitates advances in neuroscientific research and therapeutic interventions aimed at diminishing neurological disorders.

Understanding the detailed anatomy and functionality of the brain is crucial for medical students embarking on their journey of study. Expert Academic Assignment Help offers invaluable assistance in navigating the complexities of neuroscience and related subjects. By leveraging expert guidance and support, students can excel in their medical education and contribute to advancements in the field of Medicine. Email us at expertassignment46@gmail.com to embark on your path to scholarly excellence and professional competency.

[entomolog-t]

GtWAC Day 15: Lore Drop!

Slowly catching up with GtWAC💕 Time to drop some/lore tidbits on my main stories!

Bite Me: Vampires are excellent mimics and have a much more diverse vocal range than humans. This will come into play in upcoming chapters 👀

The Shadow We Cast: Sadly, I can't drop too much lore here without massive spoilers, so I'll settle for some minor Mark lore/history (though this is a minor spoiler). Mark's move to his new home was spurred by a significant mental health issue at his previous work position. At the current point in the story he is working from home.

INSTAЯ: Similarly to TSWC, I can't drop anything super fun without spoiling, though I do have some fun tidbits!

Bram is able to climb walls due to his limbs acting similarly to spiders and taking advantage of Van der Waals forces

Bram has some particularly strange emoting reactions we haven't yet seen in lieu of blushing/attraction, shock/fear/fight or flight. I'm going to keep them a lil vague as I'm still hoping they come off as somewhat of a surprise but heres a treat for you nerds - one has something to do with luciferase, the other while directly mentioned as being butterfly-like is actually very much modeled after a particular trait of male moths.

Bram is able to see a wider colour spectrum (UV spectrum

Bram's mouth is repeatedly described as horrific - and for good reason. While it is described as spider-like it is an amalgamation of both insectoid, arachnoid and mammalian anatomy. He does very much still have teeth and a tongue.

A lot of Bram's vocalizations are modeled after cicadas and Katydids!

Finding Strength: Tamius' tattoos are culturally significant in his area with the borrower communities. Tattoos are added for numerous reasons-family history, tragedy, significant life events, etc... a lot of these tattoos rely heavily on symbols (Family members may be represented by particular objects, animals etc...). Placement is also significant- for example the left arm has "logic/lessons" - important things to remember, things deemed useful etc.

In general the closer to the body the more important, though context can change that. Many borrowers have adopted a similar take to humans with ring fingers being significant, some even adopting promises to be placed on the pinky (though this is not common place).

Due to this, older borrowers and those with high achievements (or eventful lives) tend to be much more tattoo'd. Those without tattoos are seen as having something to hide/untrustworthy.

Bonus: This may be a bit hard to follow but if this makes sense you may be able to catch onto some twists in the futures. The logic of each of my stories are interchangeable. While it doesn't mean they are all necessarily occurring in the same universe, they all would theoretically operate by the same rules.

[currentlyfckingurmom]

Arachnoid (part 3)

Series masterlist

“Nuh-uh. Come inside. Come. We need to have a talk, little spider.”

“Yes ma’am,” Rory deflates.

Rory is extremely uncomfortable inside the apartment. Both women appear friendly but guarded, and Rory feels like she’s in trouble with her mom.

“Why are you following Natasha and lurking outside my apartment? That is very creepy, little spider.”

“Oh, I’m not—I’m not a perv or anything, I just—well, I was just making sure I was safe. After the Black Widow showed up at my workplace and everything, I just—I’m sorry ma’am. I really mean no harm.”

“First of all, stop calling me ma’am. Second of all, Почему ты пошел к ней на работу?” She turns to Natasha. (Why did you go to her work?)

“Мне было любопытно. Фьюри заставляет меня расследовать ее.” (I was curious. Fury has me investigating her.)

Rory watches with wide eyes as the two women speak rapidly in Russian.

“Она опасна?” (Is she dangerous?)

“Не для нас.” (Not to us.)

Yelena finally turns to Rory with a sigh. She almost laughs at Rory’s terrified expression. “Stop following us. You will find yourself in a pepper.”

“A pepper? What? You mean in a pickle?”

“Yes, whatever. It means the same thing. Get out of my apartment. And I expect a new plant.”

“Yes ma’am—Yelena—is it okay if I call you Yelena? I’m gonna leave. Just one last thing. What does SHIELD want with me?”

Natasha studies Rory for a moment. “You’re a mystery to us, Rory. You could potentially be a threat. Or a very useful ally. It’s my job to find out which.”

“And if I don’t want that?” Rory asks defensively.

“I don’t recall giving you a choice. Do not get in the way of my investigation.”

Rory looks pissed, Yelena notices.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Pick me up tomorrow at 10 and bring me someone secure. And then stay the hell out of my life.” She pauses. “It’s for your own good.”

With that, Rory exits the apartment and dives off the balcony, swinging further into the night.

Natasha’s eyebrows are furrowed, wondering what set the woman off.

“What the hell was that about?” Yelena asks.

“I don’t know yet. But it appears there’s more to your little spider than we thought.”

At exactly 10:00 the next morning, there is a knock at Rory’s apartment door. Rory stands from the couch and walks to the entrance, opening it for the redhead on the other side.

“Ready to go?” Natasha asks. Rory only nods.

They make their way silently to the car. Natasha is conflicted by the tenseness of Rory’s presence.

“You aren’t wearing your suit.”

“It’s better to be seen with Rory than to be seen with Arachnoid.”

“Why is that?”

Rory doesn’t reply. Natasha is pretty sure she already knows the answer.

At SHIELD headquarters, Natasha leads them to a small conference room.

“This is as secure as it gets. No cameras. Soundproof walls. Transmission-blocking technology.”

Rory nods. “I’m gonna tell you what you need to know. You can assess if I’m a threat and report back to your boss. The details stay here.” Rory isn’t confident that Natasha will keep her secrets, but she hopes.

“Deal,” the redhead agrees.

“I was born normal. I had a happy childhood. Really happy, actually. My parents loved each other and provided everything I needed. I had a little sister named Hailey. The year between high school and college, I interned at Oscorp. When working in a lab, I was bitten by a radioactive spider. Those same spiders later gave Spiderman his powers. It took me a while to figure it out, but eventually I became Arachnoid. My girlfriend, Abby Smith, was killed by a man I was fighting named the Green Goblin. I couldn’t save her. Two months later, I was badly injured in an ambush. My parents and sister were killed in a car accident on the way to the hospital. The cops said there was no foul play, but I’ve never believed that. I finished college with my head down. I kept up being Arachnoid whenever I could. Flash forward and here we are. You know where I live and work. You know my routine. You know everything there is to know. Will you leave me alone now?”

Natasha is silent, a sorrowful wrinkle between her brows. A one-eyed man enters the room with a wide smile, clearing having heard everything said before.

“See now that wasn’t so hard. We thank you for your cooperation. As director of this organization, I am offering you an official position as an agent of SHIELD, Rory. What do you say?”

Rory looks to Natasha with betrayal. “You lied to me. I knew you probably would but I wanted to give you a chance.” She then looks to Director Fury. “I will never work for someone like you. This place has no honor. I held up my end of the deal, so stay out of my life.”

Rory leaves without waiting for a reply, making her way home on her own. When she gets there, there’s a blonde woman sitting on her couch, sipping on a beer.

“What are you doing here, Yelena?” Rory asks with a sigh.

“Wow, not even a ‘hi, how are you?’ So rude. Let me guess, they tried to recruit you?” Rory nods. “You said no?” Another nod. Rory grabs a beer and sits on the opposite end of the couch. “I knew you would. I even told Natasha you’d say no. They try to wrangle me in all the time.”

“But you say no? Even though Natasha works for them?”

“It is not my thing. I’ve been ordered around for too long. My sister trusts Nick Fury. I do not.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“Yes. Keep up, little spider. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I think you made the decision.”

“Thank you, Yelena.” There’s a pause in the conversation. “She betrayed my trust. Natasha, I mean.”

Yelena almost pouts at this revelation. “I would not do that to you.”

Rory clinks her bottle to Yelena’s and puts on a trashy TV show, trying not to let the past few days overwhelm her.

“She seems to think that you like me,” Yelena adds after a few minutes of silence.

Rory looks at her, almost studying the small assassin. “I do.”

“Hm. I think I like you too, little spider.”

They both turn back to the TV.

[cfrog]

OC-tober Day 5: Relationships

[full prompt list]

How about the start of a relationship, does that fit the prompt? Here's a "prologue" I've been working on about how Xiph and Naut met :]

Xiphoid was working on a bot. An Arachnoid, not an uncommon sight in maintenance. It was an older model, with an ambitious number of moving parts for when it was designed. Intended for textile production, the model was usually issued to work in factory settings, along production lines. A good idea on paper, but not in practice. Sure enough, one of its four arms had gotten caught in the bigger machinery. Could've been a deliberate action spurred on by a human supervisor, or a mechanical failure brought on by repeated stress to the joints. The file didn't describe the full circumstances. It didn't matter. All the bot really needed was a few parts replaced and a bit of cleaning. That'd been easy enough.

This wasn't the sort of repair that would normally require xer skills, but it'd been sent to Xiph anyway. Maybe because none of the other Xiphoids had time for it, maybe because none of them felt bothered to do it themselves, maybe just as busy work. But it was work all the same, and Xiph savored it.

That's why Xiph was so immediately annoyed when they were interrupted by a ring at their office door.

Admittedly, the doctor was running a bit later than anticipated on their current project. The repair was only scheduled to take an hour, but Xiph had found a few parts on the Arachnoid's other arms that needed replacing, likely from smaller accidents that hadn't impeded its function enough to warrant sending the whole bot out. Those weren't listed on the initial damage report, which meant the Xiphoid didn't have to fix it, but Xiph did it anyway. They didn't have anything else to do today- or so they'd thought. No, Xiphoid was certain they hadn't had anything else scheduled for the day after this. Who was at their door, then? Pulling them away from their work, without even the decency to schedule an appointment, or give them a heads-up? And when they were so close to being done. Surely it wasn't the other Xiphoids back with more work to drop on them. But who else? Was it a human? No, no. In the maintenance wing? That couldn't possibly be it.

A second ring pulled Xiph back out of xer thoughts. Right, no point in questions. They can just open the door.

The door slid open and the doorway was empty. Then Xiph tilted their head a little further down than usual.

It was a small bot, very small compared to Xiph, maybe around 5 feet tall. A model they didn't immediately recognize, this was rare. Big eyes, thin protrusions in place of ears, sleeves? A quick search of the database gave them a match: Nautiloid. A skim of the basic model file gave them more information: 'Intended for deep sea research.' That explains why they hadn't seen one before.

The Nautiloid simply stared back up at them, unblinking. No clear expression. Still no greeting. Xiph would have to make the first move.

"Hello." No verbal response, but at this, the bot's eyes finally blinked. A deliberate gesture of acknowledgement. Xiphoid continued. "I'm sorry, I was sort of in the middle of a repair. Did you need something?" This time, Xiph got a nod in response.

… And nothing else. Xiph pulled back up the file they'd found, and skimmed it a second time, searching for something in particular. 'No speech program.' Of course, that's a logical design choice. What would it use that for, talking to fish? Still, very inconvenient at the present moment. This would require more time than they wanted to spend standing in their doorway.

Xiph sighed, an expression of resignation lost on the Nautiloid, then moved to beckon it inside. "You can come in."

Xiphoid instructed the little bot to sit by the desk until xe was finished. The bot complied and hopped into the guest chair. There it sat, perfectly still, watching the doctor work. Staring into their back. Xiph did their best to avoid acknowledging the new audience, but couldn't quite get back into the groove. Working under watching eyes was never pleasant.

They finished their work quickly. Xiph saw the repaired bot out, and watched the door close again behind it. Then turned back to their unexpected guest.

"Nautiloid model, intended for deep sea exploration, no speech program," Xiph recounted the information they had so far, ready to solve this new conundrum. It was almost exciting. "You can't speak, but you understand my speech just fine, yes?"

The bot nodded.

"Good. So I just need to stick to yes or no questions. Easy enough." Xiph recalled a human game with a similar premise. They’d always liked that one. “I assume you’re here for repairs. Is that correct?”

Another nod, just the same as the last.

“And do you know if you have a file started already? Have you seen anyone before me?” Wait, that was two questions. There they go, getting overexcited.

A short pause, processing. Two nods.

“Ah.” The doctor fought xer disappointment. Xe always loved getting to make new files. Not that it was important. “Alright, let me pull that up. It’ll be faster than just listing out every possible damage and defect.”

The doctor moved around the desk to their own chair, well-loved and only a little too short for them. The Nautiloid carefully turned its chair around to face them. A proper meeting position with a desk between them, much better. Xiphoid didn’t have the bot's exact ID, but a search on their laptop found only one Nautiloid registered as currently in the center.

Naut0324. File created by Xi04- of course she’d gotten a hold of it first. The full edit history, however, was more surprising. This bot had already been checked by half their department. The file had been created a month ago, but its contents were light. Lists of diagnostics run, hardware and software checked, multiple times over. Each with the same result: 'No issues found. No maintenance done.'

That’s why it’d been sent to xer. A puzzle. Xer favorite.

An easy place to start an investigation would be the subject of the mystery itself. Xiph turned to address the Nautiloid. “Do you know why you’ve been sent to us?”

This time the nod it returned was slower, unsure.

Xiph tilted their head at this new response. “You do know?” They glanced back at the file to check again that they hadn’t missed anything. “Your file doesn’t list anything being wrong. Which is odd, because there should at least be a note from the human sending you as to why you were pulled from…” Xiph's sentence drifted to a halt as they looked back at their patient.

The Nautiloid wasn’t looking back at them this time. Its expression had finally changed, shifting into an expression Xiph could only guess was frustration. The bot had no eyebrows, or at least none that Xiph could see under its bangs, but its eyelids were low, and its mouth twisted into a most disgruntled frown. It looked unnatural, likely not something the face had been designed for, but here it seemed to be all the bot had to communicate. This wasn’t something they could 20-Questions their way through. A different approach would be needed.

Xiphoid opened a new text file and turned the laptop to the other bot. The Nautiloid stared back at the blank screen, expression reset once more. Then at the doctor, awaiting explanation.

Xiph gestured to the keyboard. “You know how to type, right? Just write out what you know. Why are you here?”

Nautiloid studied the laptop for a moment. Slowly, they pulled up a claw-like 3-fingered hand, and began to poke at the keys. It didn’t have the dexterity for proper touch typing like Xiphoid had been taught, but it managed. Slowly, its motions gained confidence, getting more familiar with the layout. Xiphoid waited until the bot came to a full stop and looked up before they turned the laptop around to read.

'I collected samples. I sent reports. I stayed under the water for many days. Human team receive my reports. They tell me what to do next. Team stopped responding. I sent reports, no response. Alone. 217 days. Boat came and collected me, no warning. Sent me here. Many robots. I do tests, no response. 9 days. Nothing to report. I do not know what is wrong with me.'

Xiphoid had always known they were sentimental for a robot, another oddity in their programming. They kept junk files on their laptop, physical pieces of paper tucked in their desk, things that gave them this same sort of feeling. Xiphoid often recalled the phrases found in human text to describe these sorts of feelings, tightness in the chest, ache in the heart, stinging in the eyes. All things linked to their biology, to systems the Xiphoid didn’t have. But they could assume it as a similar sensation to the one running through them at that moment. Something about these bits of text were so familiar, not as if they’d read them before, but their meaning. They'd thought it a million times, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

For once, Xiphoid had no idea what to do. What could they do? What was the repair to be done? Where was the problem to be fixed? They read the text through a second time. Then a third. It didn’t make sense.

Nautiloid’s fin twitched in their peripheral, and Xiphoid snapped back to attention. Xe was making it uncomfortable. Xe shut the laptop.

“I’m so sorry,” Xiphoid apologized, not entirely sure what for. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong, either.”

The Nautiloid’s fins drooped. Its face twisted again, eyelids low. Disappointed.

Without thinking, Xiphoid reached across the desk and held its hand in theirs. An attempt to comfort. Another gesture lost on the little bot, Xiph thought, but it was all they could think to do. What the Nautiloid model had could hardly be called a hand, less fingers with less joints, a simple grabbing implement. Intended to collect samples. Not that Xiph's hand was much better, long and slender, removable joints, some fingers still swapped for small tools. Intended to complete repairs. No, this wasn't something they'd been trained for. This wasn't something it had been designed for. But here they were, two bots.

“Hey, look at me.”

Camera to camera, metal on metal.

"I want to help you. I will. Promise."

Xiph gave it a smile. Naut twisted its mouth to match.

[the-storyteller-and-her-soldiers]

Spidersona THE SEQUEL!

As mentioned previously I was able to see the new Spider-Verse movie AND IT WAS AWESOME!! I also have a ton of points that I need to scream about! If you need the basics that'll be here and if you want her origin that's here

Thoughts on the characters

Firstly, I saw the movie and really am in love with Miguel's character. Though no shame here, but X-readers who say he's sadistic did we watch the same movie? Talking about the same man?? Yes, he is rough and quick to temper with Miles BUT sadistic?? No, I can't see it but you do you!

I LOVE HOW THEY FLESHED OUT GWEN AND MILES! My baby siblings. My heart aches for them so bad

IF ANYTHING BAD HAPPENS TO PAVITR I SWEAR TO GOD!

I'm surprised but not displeased by the pronunciation of Hobie's name. All in all very cool guy!

PETER B AS A DAAAAAAAAAD WITH HIS WIFE MJ!!! AND MAYDAY ESP WITH MIGUEL MY BELOVEDS! (Platonically)

Spidersona Development (Spoiler Territory!)

Miles is the original anomaly, yes! BUT my s/i deals with Miguel first since all that he saw in their universe was too much to ignore.

That being said, where Miles was ignored, I was brought into Spider Society almost like an experiment since my 'canon' is so different.

For example, a Spider-person can't save the police commander they're close to. Rebecca doesn't have that. Her 'equivalent' was her dad being Military Captain who walked out on her a year into being Spider-Man. Yet Rebecca doesn't feel remorseful for not keeping him around. If anything, she resents him.

She also has a unique power as well. She can teleport. It's only when she feels threatened and when the threat isn't looking (IE Blinking, peripheral vision, stuff like that). She used to think it was only small distances but now is not sure. It does drain her though.

Yes, she is a little shit about it to Miguel.

She also has never glitched within other dimensions, even without Miguel's Multiverse Wristband.

She believes that this is because she got her powers from the Web-Weaver who may or may not have a hand in the Web of Life that connects all spider-people together. As she puts it to Miguel, "I got my powers from him and his purpose is to hunt me down! Wouldn't be fun for him if I got glitchy on the run... Not to mention things like the time-loop had to be a pocket-dimension."

Miguel has no reason not to believe it, given the evidence he's seen, but HATES it nonetheless since it can contradict all he believes in if the two discuss for too long.

Miguel makes her wear a wristband anyway. "Just so he can keep track of her" But Rebecca is sure while Jessica Drew, Lyla, and Peter B. know that there's another reason..!

She and Lyla are besties who try to get their leader to lighten up out of care for him.

Rebecca does joke about stealing Lyla away if the grumpiness ever gets too much for her.

Rebecca is always quick to try and defend Miles and the other teen spiders who get in Miguel's way.

In times during Across The Spider-Verse, Miguel has her working with him a lot. Even going as far as to trust her with certain things such as helping her hunt down Miles.

But she can understand where the kids are coming from and approaches Gwen, Hobie, and Pavitr to work with them since the Web of Life, Canon Events, and everything don't make sense to her. She believes she can't be the only exception to this. She also wants to keep families together and well since she knows the pain of a broken one.

This has led to a moment where Miguel lashes out as a confession and yells "YOU'RE THE EXCEPTION! To... to the Web of Life, to the Arachnoid Humanoid Poly-Multiverse, to ME!"

Rebecca is both flattered and softened since she knew he had feelings and she felt the same BUT SHE HATES being 'the exception'

Misc Stuff

When she first saw The Spot she low-key fangirled! He reminds her of the art style of one of her fave vocaloid songs music videos "Dramaturgy"

She pauses the fight so that she can show him if he's willing!

She wants to be his friend but also DON'T DESTROY THINGS PLEASE!!

She will try to hear out villains before just beating them up.

She can and has killed a villain since they were really into doing some beyond messed up shit. No qualms about it either...

She always has music on or is playing a game, sometimes both, in her downtime.

Miguel scolded her about it one time and she served him 3 doctor's notes. He can't say she isn't prepared.

She likes to use her webbing like a whip as her main form of combat style!

Her main goal is to make those around her days a little brighter. If she does so, then she's happy!

Gwen has her music, Miles has art, Rebecca has her writing!

She's always listening to something different and said music often contrasts her outfit (IE She has a pretty pink dress on with ribbons and frills? It's emo and punk-rock. She's wearing black, ripped pants, and her combat boots? It's cutesy-vocaloid and chill lofi on her phone)

Rarely ever wears her spider suit in Spider Society since she usually just pops in whenever.

She's into theater and musicals too! (So goodness help everyone)

She gets more injuries in her civilian life than she does as Spider-Girl

Taglist: @disneymarina @maskedanarchy-ships @floweringforgetfulness @singingdeepinme @violetsandmilk @nyandereneko @canongf @goldenworldsabound @wanderers-wife

[chicagopaincontrol]

The Revolutionary Role of Spinal Cord Stimulator Treatment

Spinal Cord Stimulator Treatment represents a pivotal advancement in the management of chronic pain conditions, allowing countless patients to reclaim their lives from the clutches of relentless pain. It is particularly valuable for those who haven’t had success with conventional treatment modalities. This blog post delves into the essence, mechanics, benefits, and candidacy of spinal cord stimulator treatment, shedding light on how it can be a beacon of hope for chronic pain sufferers.

Understanding Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) Treatment:

A Spinal Cord Stimulator is an implantable device that sends mild electric currents to the spinal cord to block pain signals from reaching the brain. It is typically considered when other treatments, like medications and physiotherapy, fail to relieve chronic pain. SCS treatment can be beneficial for conditions such as chronic back pain, nerve damage pain, and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

How Does it Work?

SCS operates on the principle of electrical neuromodulation. The device, once implanted near the spine, emits low-level electrical impulses. These impulses intercept and modify pain signals before they reach the brain, replacing the perception of pain with a more pleasant tingling sensation, known as paresthesia.

Benefits of SCS Treatment:

Pain Relief:

Offers substantial and sustained relief from chronic pain, particularly in the back, legs, and arms.

Improved Quality of Life:

Allows patients to participate more fully in daily activities and improves overall well-being and mood.

Reduced Medication Dependency:

Many patients experience a significant reduction in the need for pain medications, particularly opioids.

Reversible:

The procedure is reversible, and the device can be removed if the patient desires.

The Procedure:

Spinal Cord Stimulator implantation involves two key stages: the trial phase and the permanent implantation.

Trial Phase:

Before permanent implantation, patients undergo a trial phase to determine the effectiveness of the SCS. During this phase, temporary leads are placed near the spinal cord, connected to an external trial stimulator. This allows patients and physicians to assess the degree of pain relief obtained from the stimulator before proceeding to permanent implantation.

Permanent Implantation:

If the trial phase is successful, patients proceed to permanent implantation. The leads are implanted near the spinal cord, and a small generator is placed under the skin, typically in the buttock or abdomen.

Ideal Candidates for Spinal Cord Stimulator(SCS) Treatment:

SCS treatment is often recommended for individuals who have chronic pain conditions that have not responded to conservative treatments. Ideal candidates typically have:

> Chronic pain, particularly in the back, legs, or arms, lasting for more than three months.

> Limited relief from other treatments like medications, physical therapy, or surgery.

No existing conditions or contraindications that may interfere with the implantation or functioning of the device.

Here’s a detailed look at the ideal candidates for Spinal Cord Stimulator Treatment:

 Patients with Chronic Pain:

Ideal candidates are those experiencing persistent pain, especially in the back, legs, or arms, that has lasted for more than three months. Chronic pain conditions that may benefit from SCS include:

> Chronic back pain

> Sciatica

> Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

> Peripheral Neuropathy

> Arachnoiditis

> Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS)

Unresponsive to Conservative Treatments:

Candidates should have explored and found little to no relief from conservative treatments like:

> Medications

> Physical therapy

> Surgery

> Nerve blocks or injections

No Pending Surgical Options:

Those who do not have any forthcoming surgical interventions or for whom surgery is not a viable option are suitable candidates.

Absence of Contradictions:

Candidates should not have existing conditions or contraindications that may interfere with the implantation or functioning of the device, such as:

> Active infections

> Severe bleeding disorders

> Untreated depression or other psychiatric conditions affecting pain perception or compliance with treatment

Successful Trial Stimulation:

Before permanent implantation, candidates undergo trial stimulation. Those who experience significant pain relief (usually a 50% or greater reduction in pain) during this trial period are considered ideal for permanent SCS implantation.

Psychological Stability:

A psychological evaluation is often required to ensure that the patient has realistic expectations of the pain relief and outcomes from SCS Treatment and can comply with the post-implantation treatment plan.

Absence of Drug Dependency:

While SCS can help reduce dependence on pain medications, candidates with unresolved drug addiction issues may not be ideal as it could interfere with treatment compliance and outcomes.

Desire for Increased Functionality:

Candidates who desire to improve their quality of life, increase activity levels, and participate more fully in daily activities may find SCS treatment beneficial.

No Pacemaker or other Contradicting Devices:

Patients with certain medical devices, like pacemakers, need careful evaluation to avoid interference between devices.

Informed Consent and Willingness:

Ideal candidates should fully understand the risks and benefits of SCS Treatment, have realistic expectations, and be willing to follow through with post-operative care and adjustments.

Considerations and Risks:

While SCS treatment is a promising option for many, it is crucial to be aware of potential risks and complications, such as infection, bleeding, headache, and issues with the device, like lead migration or battery failure. Thorough discussions with healthcare providers are essential to weigh the benefits against the potential risks.

Conclusion:

Spinal Cord Stimulator Treatment stands as a revolutionary intervention in pain management, offering a new lease on life for those beleaguered by chronic pain. By altering pain perception through electrical impulses, it allows patients to experience significant relief and enjoy a heightened quality of life, reduced medication dependence, and participate more actively in daily activities. While it is a highly beneficial treatment, the decision to proceed with SCS should be made judiciously, considering individual health conditions, expected outcomes, and potential risks.

When exploring Spinal Cord Stimulator Treatment, it is pivotal to consult with experienced healthcare professionals or pain management specialists to gain comprehensive insights and make well-informed decisions regarding this transformative pain relief option.

[abdominalpaintreatment]

When Do You Need a Spinal Cord Stimulator?

Chronic pain can significantly impact a person's quality of life, challenging even simple daily activities. When traditional pain management methods fail to provide adequate relief, alternative treatments may be considered. One such option is a spinal cord stimulator (SCS). 

Dr. Dipty Mangla of Mainland Pain Management, who provides the best spinal cord stimulator in New Jersey, explains about how spinal cord stimulators work and the concept of a spinal cord stimulator. In this blog, let us discuss the conditions that may require Spinal Cord Stimulator use, and examine its potential benefits.

Understanding Spinal Cord Stimulator

A spinal cord stimulator is a device that delivers low-level electrical impulses to the spinal cord, specifically targeting the nerves responsible for transmitting pain signals to the brain. The device consists of a small generator implanted under the skin, usually in the abdomen or buttock area, along with thin wires carrying electrical impulses to the spinal cord.

Conditions that May Need a Spinal Cord Stimulator

Failed Back Surgery Syndrome: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS) refers to the persistence or recurrence of chronic pain following spine surgery. In cases where traditional treatments and additional surgeries have not provided relief, a spinal cord stimulator is a viable option.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): CRPS is a chronic pain condition typically affecting an arm, leg, hand, or foot, usually after an injury or trauma. Spinal cord stimulation can help alleviate the pain associated with CRPS and improve overall function and quality of life.

Neuropathic Pain: Neuropathic pain is caused by damage or dysfunction of the nerves, resulting in a chronic pain condition. Spinal cord stimulation has shown effectiveness in managing neuropathic pain caused by peripheral neuropathy, diabetic neuropathy, and nerve injuries.

Peripheral Vascular Disease: Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) refers to the narrowing or blockage of blood vessels in the extremities, resulting in pain and reduced circulation. Spinal cord stimulation can help alleviate the pain associated with PVD and improve mobility.

Arachnoiditis: Arachnoiditis is a rare condition characterized by inflammation of the arachnoid membrane, one of the protective layers surrounding the spinal cord. Spinal cord stimulation is a treatment option for managing chronic pain associated with arachnoiditis.

Potential Benefits of Spinal Cord Stimulator:

Pain Relief: The primary benefit of a spinal cord stimulator is pain relief. By delivering electrical impulses to the spinal cord, the device can help interrupt or block the pain signals from reaching the brain, reducing pain perception.

Reduced Medication Dependency: Spinal cord stimulation can reduce the need for pain medications, including opioids, which can have significant side effects and the risk of dependency.

Improved Function and Quality of Life: A spinal cord stimulator can help improve overall function and quality of life by managing chronic pain. With reduced pain, individuals may engage in activities they previously could not perform, enhancing their physical and emotional well-being.

Reversible and Adjustable: One advantage of a spinal cord stimulator is its reversible and adjustable nature. If the device does not provide the desired level of pain relief, it can be turned off or removed. Additionally, the stimulation parameters can be adjusted to better target the specific areas of pain.

Improved Sleep and Mental Health: Chronic pain can significantly impact sleep patterns and contribute to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. By effectively managing pain, a spinal cord stimulator can help improve sleep quality and alleviate the emotional burden associated with chronic pain, leading to enhanced mental well-being.

Enhanced Physical Function: Chronic pain often limits physical function and mobility, making engaging in daily activities and exercise difficult. By reducing pain, a spinal cord stimulator can improve physical function, allowing individuals to participate in activities they enjoy and maintain a more active lifestyle.

Personalized Pain Management: Spinal cord stimulation offers the advantage of customization. The device can be programmed and adjusted to meet an individual's specific pain management needs. This personalized approach allows optimal pain control, as stimulation settings can be modified based on changes in pain patterns or individual preferences.

Non-Destructive Alternative: Unlike certain surgical interventions involving permanent alterations to the body or high-dose pain medications, spinal cord stimulation offers a non-destructive alternative. It provides pain relief without permanently altering the anatomy or relying solely on medications, making it appealing for individuals seeking conservative treatment options.

Conclusion:

A spinal cord stimulator is a potential treatment option for individuals suffering from chronic pain conditions that have not responded to other conventional methods. The device can help manage pain, reduce medication dependency, and improve overall function and quality of life by providing electrical impulses to the spinal cord.

However, consulting with a pain management physician in New Jersey is essential to determine if a spinal cord stimulator is the appropriate choice for your specific condition. They can evaluate your individual needs, discuss the potential benefits and risks, and guide you through the process to make an informed decision about this intervention for chronic pain management.

If you are looking for the best spinal cord stimulator, Dr. Dipty Mangla, a leading pain management physician in New Jersey of Mainland Pain Management can be consulted.

[jadethest0ne]

In need of Refueling, Chapter 24 - The Leaf Falls

Summary:  “You?! Why would I trust you? You have brought me nothing but failure. Time and time again; nothing but disappointment!”

His father’s words might have been a result of his possession by the  White Bone Spirit, but whether or not they were his true thoughts, Red  Son vows to prove them wrong. To do so he seeks to attain a power strong enough to destroy his father’s immortal enemy. After all, he’d much rather throw fire at his problems.

Word Count: 1940

Ratings/Warnings:  Teen and up; injury, burns, angst and hurt/comfort, toxic thoughts caused by toxic parents, panic attacks, abuse.

Notes: Sandy POV, and my love for “To Catch a Leaf” is very apparent in this one XD

Credits: Big thanks to @painted-arachnid and @simplyfornardo  for helping me bounce ideas off of them. And also thanks to @lemonsqueazie for providing me with “Journey to the West” lore. I don’t know much about the original novel or other iterations, but I still tried to keep  some things compliant with the lore. You should check all of them out, since they’re really great content creators with neat ideas!  

Read on AO3

———-

When Sandy got back to his houseboat and saw, not only that both Red Son and MK weren't there, but also that there was a gaping hole in his roof, and a giant mechanical spider looming over the city, it didn't take long for him to piece together that the Spider Queen was plotting something evil and that MK and Red Son got caught up in it somehow. So he calls his friends at the noodle shop to inform them of the situation and quickly makes his way over to the giant spider.

The spider base is walking along a main stretch of road in the city. Many folks are scrambling away from it, and from the rubble left in its wake. Sandy looks the mechanism up and down. It moves slowly, but purposefully; its long and sharp legs smashing down in the concrete as it goes. He needs to get in there.

So he makes the obvious move when confronting a giant, destructive vehicle.

He plants himself in front of it, holds up his hands, and asks it politely to stop.

For a moment, it seems like it's going to continue its rampage.

Sandy doesn't budge.

Then there's a hint of recognition in the many eyes covering its face, as it angles its head down towards him. It comes to a slow stop, steam and some magical green glow billowing out of its crevices. The section that looks like its mouth opens up and the Spider Queen herself steps out.

She has a confident and calm aura about her, as she assesses the large man in front of her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asks, not sounding at all pleased.

Sandy perks up cheerily. "Ah, hello! Sorry to interrupt your villainous rampage throughout the city. But I was wondering if you perchance had a fire demon and the Monkie Kid with you?"

As if to answer his question, Red Son himself steps out from behind Spider Queen looking sheepish, and almost sickly.

"Red Son!" Sandy exclaims happily. He's about to go over to him when the Spider Queen moves one of her spindly legs in between them and interrupts.

"Ah yes, he was in your care for a while wasn't he? There’s a lot of gossip among the city spiders." She grins wickedly. "But did you know that it is largely thanks to him that I was able to power this spider base before you and begin my takeover of the city?"

Sandy looks between her and Red Son, disbelievingly. Guilt is evident on Red Son's face, but he stammers out desperately, "It's not like that! I– that was before... I- I didn't know she'd..."

Spider Queen again brushes him aside, "Whether intentional or not, I am grateful for his services. I doubt you'd want him around anymore. He works much better with me - I could use an engineer to work on my Arachnoid Base and other mechanisms..." She eyes Red Son, almost hungrily.

Red Son lets out an audible gulp, but lowers his gaze as if he can't bring himself to look at Sandy.

Sandy himself does feel a tinge of hurt. That Red Son could've helped orchestrate this is a possibility. But he feels like Spider Queen is bending the truth. And with the shame on Red Son's face and the way he holds himself, Sandy can tell the implication is eating him up.

He softens his gaze, speaking to the Spider Queen, but looking at Red Son when he says, "I would like my friend back, please."

Red Son's face shoots up and locks eyes with Sandy's. Sandy holds the gaze long enough to make sure Red Son got the message. Once Red Son’s eyes widen in quiet understanding, Sandy turns to Spider Queen and says, "And I would like you to tell me where MK is. I want him safe, too."

Spider Queen grimaces slightly, as if the display displeases her. She waves an airy hand and says "I have no idea where the Monkie Kid is. Maybe climbing up a tree?"

Suddenly Red Son blurts out, "He's here! She's captured him and is using him as an energy source for--"

Quick as lightning, Spider Queen shoots a web across his mouth, preventing him from finishing his sentence, then shoots another around his arms and torso so he can't take the web away.

"Annoying little welp," Spider Queen mutters.

"Hey now!" Sandy steps forward. Red Son wasn't able to finish what he was saying but it was enough for Sandy to understand. MK was here. And he wasn't going to leave without both of his friends. "I don't think you want to keep my friends here. Let them go," Sandy says sternly.

"Oh, I think I very much do," Spider Queen retorts. Then she looks behind Sandy and smirks, "Anyway it looks like more of your companions want to join us..."

Sandy turns around to see Pigsy, Tang, and Mei charging towards the scene; swords, frying pans, and other implements of destruction held at the ready.

"Sandy!" Pigsy yells. "We got your message! We're here to back you up!"

"She has MK and Red Son!" Sandy responds.

"Not for long, she doesn't!" Mei says confidently, and she leaps in the air, sword swinging in front of her. Pigsy and Tang follow her jump.

As they arc towards Spider Queen, she makes a motion and the Arachnoid Base’s head lifts upward. A glow surrounds its mandibles, some sort of energy building up. Sandy's eyes widen in alarm, recognizing an incoming attack. He turns to his friends and begins to shout for them to look out, but his warning cry is drowned out by the blast of green energy that the spider mech shoots at them.

Mei and her sword makes a momentary defense against the surge of energy, but the attack is too powerful and all three of them are quickly overtaken by its light.

For a heart stopping moment, Sandy can't see them.

Then three figures fall from the air, smoke billowing out behind them as they fall.

"Guys!" Sandy cries out, attempting to quash down the fear bubbling up in his gut and the old memories of past battles flashing across his vision.

His friends stir and groan from their position on the ground and slowly begin to pick themselves up. Unfortunately, before they can take back a fighting position, Spider Queen has shot her webs at them, pinning all three of them together and sticking them to the ground.

Sandy spins back to Spider Queen in a harsh motion. Too quick. Too angry. Sandy takes a breath. "Let them go," he says, in a low rumble and without his usual mirth. "Please," he softens his tone and his expression, raising his eyebrows in compliance.

Spider Queen lets out a thoughtful hum, looking Sandy up and down. “I hear you used to be a pretty scary guy. But in person you are so boring. I wonder what would change that…” Sandy clenches and unclenches his fists, trying to control his stress levels. But she continues. "You know, it's funny you call both them, and this little twerp ‘friends.’" She motions at Red Son. Then she shoots another wad of webbing at the fire demon. The force is enough to fling him to the ground out of reach on the other side of Sandy. "Who do you care for more?" she asks, darkly.

At her command, the giant spider lifts its two front legs upwards. One is brought towards Pigsy, Tang, and Mei, and the other goes to Red Son; both with their heavy and sharp ends hovering dangerously close to his friends.

"Choose," she says simply.

"What?" Sandy is momentarily speechless, air leaving his lungs.

"Who will live and who will my spider crush under its leg?" Spider Queen grins.

"N-no! Both--! --Neither! Don't hurt any of them!" Sandy stammers. He's trying to stay centered, trying to stay grounded, but he can't seem to get a good breath in.

"That's not how this works," Spider Queen drolls. Both of the mech's legs inch closer.

"Look, I don't think you really want to do this. I mean, what will this accomplish?" Sandy tries to reason with her.

"Oh, just a bit of fun for me and pain for my enemies. Now choose or they all die." The legs inch closer.

"Why don't you point those at me instead?"

"Three," she begins to count.

"Listen, don't do this."

"Two." The legs come even closer.

"Please," he begs.

"One."

"STOP!"

The legs swing downwards.

For just a moment Sandy is no longer there. He is in a different fight, with his companions injured, laying around him, unmoving. He doesn't know if they are alive. Long forgotten rage finally bubbles to the surface.

Before he knows what he's doing, his fist strikes the mech, a hair away from Spider Queen's face, and suddenly there is a gaping hole in its hull with half its head missing. The shock of the blow causes the whole mech to lurch backwards and the attacking legs manage to land just in front of his friends, ripping through the webs that had entangled them, but not harming them at all.

Through the hole that he created he sees MK. Any elation that he may have felt upon seeing his friend is squashed when he sees the state that the boy is in. He's tangled up in webs which are attached to some machine. He looks sickly and outright exhausted; deep bags are under his eyes, and sweat fresh on his face. But he seems aware enough that his gaze flashes up at Sandy's entrance, and looks at him with a strange expression.

"..Sandy..?!" His voice is small, but filled with a certain amount of shock and disbelief.

Through the fear and anger, a wave of shame washes over Sandy. What must he look like to MK right now? Furthermore, his thoughtless strike could have hit MK as it blasted through the mech! And didn't Red Son say something about him being an energy source for it...?

As if to answer his question, the engines inside spark to life and jolts of energy start coursing through the webs holding MK, and he screams out in pain. The surrounding metal starts bending back into shape and the hole that Sandy created starts closing up.

Sandy can't even find his voice to call out to the boy. He caused that. If he hadn't attacked the spider directly then it wouldn't have hurt MK by using him as a battery. The hole closes, cutting him off from potentially getting to MK.

Sandy looks around to see his other friends looking at him with similar levels of shock as MK’s. And it hurts. He didn't ever want his anger to show in front of others, especially in front of his friends, and especially when it caused them to be hurt. Again.

Even Spider Queen takes a moment to recover from the sudden blow to her base. Pigsy is the first to react, and he rallies Mei and Tang together to attack Spider Queen. Due to the damage to her mech and it still repairing itself, Spider Queen can only fight hand to hand, giving the others more of a fighting chance.

But Sandy doesn’t enter the fray. He can’t. His body doesn’t want to move. As the others exchange blows, Sandy can only stand there on unsteady feet, letting the noises wash over him. He vacantly looks over to where Red Son was last stuck, and finds that the fire demon is no longer there.

start || <– previous // next –>

[turborose]

Off the Rails: Welcome to the Crazy Train

:A/N: This is my first fic that I’ve published for others to read in a while and I’ve never posted them on Tumblr so forgive me lol. I do write for Billy in this fic, having him be more OOC. I do love Dacre and his performance as Billy, but do not condone or support any of his shitty behavior. In this fic, I chose to write him as more so just aggressive/borderline abusive as a result of struggling with his trauma and will not be making him racist. I do not support the decision to be abusive to deal with your own trauma either. If you choose to continue reading, I hope you enjoy and please leave a comment telling me what you think.

WARNINGS: trauma, mentions of unhealthy coping mechanisms (slight eating disorder), mentions of abuse, PTSD, guilt, (I think that’s it, but please let me know if I’ve missed anything.)

The thing about death is that it never ends with you. All it does is shift your pain to someone new. The sudden absence of your presence in someone’s life can be jarring as it is, but in Hawkins it’s proven to be twisted in manipulation and lies. If one more person tried to prove just how sorry they were for the loss of her boyfriend Billy Hargrove, Aurora Ross was going to lose what little grip she had left on her mind. The apologetic greetings and sorrowful sideways glances had died down over the past few months, but not quite enough to feel like she hadn’t been stamped with the title of the town’s newest poster child for grief. It was ridiculous how strangers made themselves known to her and his family as if they somehow cared for any of them outside of what the condolences would offer their own consciences. Billy, however, would’ve revelled in the attention.

After witnessing the hellish battle at the Starcourt Mall, it was a miracle she hadn’t allowed the darkness that was left imprinted in her bones by the mound of molten flesh nicknamed The Mind Flayer rot her from the inside out. She had vaguely heard whispers about the creature being a shadowed arachnoid apparition in passing from Jonathan and Nancy as they fought to free Will the year before, but back then she just assumed they had been discussing a new horror movie of some sort. Like The Thing that had just come out around that time. That is, until Billy started acting weird. The poor boy often struggled with controlling his anger, especially after learning that the Principal had personally asked her to help a fellow student succeed just enough to graduate in hopes that the class clown Eddie Munson would no longer be a problem he had to resolve for what felt like every hour on the hour. To make up for the disappointing news, Aurora would go on even more outings with Billy to counteract her time with Munson as if Billy could smell him on her and like a dog he had to replace it to make sure Eddie knew who she belonged to. He had been making great improvement for her sake in his anger management and working through his trauma with her, but even he had warned her that she was his and the second Munson or anyone else tried to take her from him he’d kill them. She understood his possessiveness after losing his mother and became his safe place by dropping everything for him in a moment’s notice. It was a wonder her parents didn’t notice she was barely available, always sneaking out or sneaking him in. The summer he passed, she had even offered to help fix Billy’s car after the accident he had at the old steel mill while on his way to her, but under the watchful eye of his father he deemed a woman unfit to do it correctly. Instead, she made herself useful by helping his step mother and sister prepare dinner the next night. Even going as far as to bring the boys out beers periodically, earning a soft kiss on the cheek after each one. She told herself it was his way of keeping her out of his father’s reach after realizing just how terrible Neil Hargrove was to those trapped around him.

Trying her best to hide under the radar of false support, she isolates herself within the confines of the cafeteria with her chemistry book and notes sprawled out in front of her as her Walkman boomed in her ears in an effort to drown out the voices around her. Losing herself in her work, she almost misses it when someone takes the seat next to her. At first, she tried to ignore them hoping they’d understand she didn’t intend to be very social this year, as if she had been after dropping out of cheerleading soon after Billy’s passing, but they didn’t seem satisfied with the notion as they grabbed her notebook out from under her.

“Have you talked to anyone today? Or even this week? I hear self seclusion isn’t good for your mental health.” Hawkins’ leader of the outcasts, Eddie Munson, smiles as he lounges across the table straddling the chair backwards tapping the bands of his rings against the back of it as he relaxes. For a moment, he tilts his head like a curious puppy and those big brown eyes of his were only furthering the comparison.

“Did Dustin tell you that? I’m fine.” She lies just as she had practiced with every other passerby that commented on her well-being, taking her notebook back before he could draw on her notes just to watch her have an aneurysm like he had the year prior in their English class. The mood around them shifted quickly as he leaned forward toward her, sliding his hand up and down her forearm slowly in an effort to both comfort her overworked mind and signal silently that he would gladly assume a position within her support team.

“He didn’t have to. You forget, we’ve spent a lot of time together over the last year and a half and I’ve seen you stressed. You’re about one minor inconvenience away from starving yourself in favor of building a fort in your bedroom.” He hums, the concern in his eyes darkening the bitter dark chocolate brown of his irises to an almost onyx black. He tilts his head again to further examine her features as if all her secrets were written on her freckled-porcelain skin, his long brunette curls falling over her notes. She squirms slightly under the pressure of his assessment as if he’d be able to see just how alone she’d been the past few months, her fingers nervously dancing with the curls that tickled her forearms as it curtained across her arms. He was right, more so than she wanted to admit as her stomach growled in response to the mere mention of food. She shifts, taking a drink from her water bottle to further stifle the pangs of hunger as she had many times before, and tries her best to nudge him playfully as if it’d disguise her truth to him despite what he could already see. Just like Billy, he could read her like a book. Part of her knew it was of no use trying to hide, but she had to try.

“Eddie, it's a full time job trying to help you. If we can get you through Ms. O’ Donal’s class, you can graduate with me this year.” She teases, smiling to force a happier demeanor for him in hopes of it shifting his concern to something more pressing and not so personal to her. Suddenly, as if her brain accepted the switch in her train of thought all too eagerly, she leans into him to show him a page in her notebook. Scribbled across the faint blue lines were songs, artists, albums and the subjects or subsections of specific classes she thought each lyrical masterpiece he adored would fit best. He shifts the chair, causing it to squeal, and runs his fingers over the inked page as if the lines creating each letter were braille he desperately needed to graze. His eyes softened at the realization of her dedication to him and his future, almost shining a hazelnut caramel gold in the sunlight streaming in from the window.

“You-you did all this for me?” He whispers in disbelief, his eyes stuttering between her candy apple green eyes and her lush lips. The notion made her chew on her bottom lip slightly as she nodded, running a hand through her long black coffee tresses nervously.

“Of course. Principal Higgins asked me to do whatever I needed to to help you graduate. If we can prove this method helps you with test taking, I’m sure we can get him to talk to the teachers so they can ignore your humming if you need to hum a specific song or album for that subject. It’s worth a shot right?” She almost laughs as if it was offensive to think she would’ve put in such effort for a man she deemed a close friend. Just like with Billy, it concerned her that he didn’t see his self worth. She wondered if he even truly noticed how thinly she was stretched between helping him graduate and building their friendship and putting Billy’s mind at ease by continuing to be his safe place in this hick town he hated so much. They had already figured out a way for him to work through his anxiety and the painful stillness of sitting through a lecture by packing black ball point pens so he could draw on her while she herself took notes. She did have to admit he was her favorite part of those stupid classes and the best partner. He may not contribute much, but he did try his best to help her when she was stumped on where to go next in a project by shifting her train of thought for short intervals of time by teaching her how to make her own cassette tapes or even strum a portion of the rift he had been working on while she came up with a game plan. After a moment, she realized she had been staring and squeezed his hand as a blush warms her cheeks.

“We’ll figure this out. We always do.” She commented softly, shifting away from him as the bell rings to clear the cafeteria but before she could merge within the hoard he grabbed her hand. Something about the way he fidgeted with the lowest button on his denim vest over his leather jacket and Hellfire Club baseball tee made her heart flutter. She watched him bite his bottom lip as he swayed his weight back and forth between his feet nervously, the black bandana in his back pocket dancing in tune with his hips before looking up at her from under his shaggy bangs.

“Why don’t we skip the rest of the day? It’s only three classes. I’m sure they won’t miss us.” He suggested, those dark eyes gleaming mischievously as he steps up to her. She shifts her weight to one side and sighs, earning a whine and what could only be described as a slight temper tantrum as he stomped his foot and tugged on the sleeve of her flannel. “Don’t give me the patented ‘gentle let down’ sigh.” He chuckles, giving the nickname for her reaction the same voice over he gave some of his DnD characters, poking his bottom lip out to better plead with her. “Come on, someone has to save that last bit of sanity in that beautiful brain of yours.” He smiles, tucking hair behind her ear. “Besides Lite Brite, what’s it gonna hurt?” He taunts her, nudging her hip while jingling his keys in front of her as if trying to amuse a fussy infant with the distinct sound and shiny metal. She groans at the nickname , suddenly regretting mentioning how she liked Holly Wheeler’s decorative toy when dropping the notebook he had left at her house off during a campaign discussion last week but ultimately laughs, nodding in agreement.

“Alright, alright fine but you have to help me finish the breakdown for which songs go best with each subject you’re struggling with. Deal?” She smiles, shifting her books to the side so she could hold out her hand for him to shake. He feigns the proper agreement of a gentleman, bending at the hips as he takes her hand gently and bringing it toward his lips.

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He smiles widely, his warm breath wafting over her skin just enough to cause goosebumps to erupt up her arm, but before he could kiss her knuckles as he usually would he shifts forward and licks the top of her hand. She shivers, blushing more so than she would’ve liked as he pulls out of her reach laughing. “I licked it so it’s mine. Now you’re stuck with me.” He laughs even louder, as if he wanted the heartfelt sound to fill the room as he runs from her just in case she felt like swinging.

“You’re gross, you know that?” She can’t help but laugh as she follows after him, wiping the back of her hand down the side of her thigh.

“But you love me, now move. We’ve got a shred of sanity to save.” He calls, jogging for the door down the long hall to hold it open for her.

Later that night, after spending what felt like hours finishing the list of songs she’d soon be associating to the subjects he needed help with most and sorting them into separate subcategories to later put on cassettes for him, Eddie makes the executive decision to put in a VHS tape of Alien before wandering off into the kitchen. He had wrapped her up in the blanket she had confiscated from his room and dubbed her favorite and ordered her to stay put, shrugging out of his jacket and vest on his way toward the kitchen. As she watched the slow progression of the xenomorph attacking the idling spaceship, she couldn’t help but notice Eddie making a fuss down the hall. She stayed seated as he had instructed until the sound of boiling water concerned her in his absence.

“Eddie?” She calls, rushing to the kitchen to lower the heat for the water in the saucepan he was using.

“Hey! No! I told you to stay put!” He playfully scorns her, damn near tripping over himself to get back into the kitchen before her. She sighs regretfully, holding up the box of Mac n cheese that sat next to the stove.

“Make sure you save some for Wayne.” She hums deflectively, shifting out of the way for him. He blocks her exit, trapping her against the counter with an arm on either side of her.

“We’ve made progress today. Please eat. For me?” He playfully pouts pleadingly. “I’ve got blankets piled up in my room, too. We can build a fort when the movie is over. What do ya say?” He adds, tucking hair behind her ear. His fingertips trace her jaw, tilting her chin up slightly so he could better gauge the reaction in her eyes. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t want to go home just yet. She knew going home would mean another lecture about the long face she struggled to hide around her father for a boy he deemed a bad influence and a trouble maker. No matter how understanding her mother was for her grief, she knew neither of them really knew just how close they were and it terrified her to tell them that Billy Hargrove was in her blood. He was far more than just a bad boy that took her on the few dates she made known to them. He was hers and now that he was gone, let alone how he was taken from her, it was hard to hide her pain in the confines of a home she was made to feel like a fool for being sad in. But obviously they didn’t know the truth about their relationship and being around Eddie was easy. He made her laugh and for the time being, she forgot about her trauma and it was nice. Something she needed more than the air she breathed. Since Billy’s passing, Aurora had been hounded by seemingly every person possible in one way or another, but with Eddie it wasn’t as selfish. He had genuinely missed her and cared about her well-being but ultimately understood when she needed time away and even called to check on her everyday while she lived with her Aunt in Georgia. It was innocent and sweet how excited he became at the sound of her voice and even now that she had been back for a few months, she never had to hide from him. He saw her for who she was and wanted nothing more than to help lessen the load on her shoulders. She couldn’t help but smile as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder as her body finally gave in from the tension that settled within her muscles under the watchful eyes of Hawkins.

“Thank you.” She whispered, the breath that followed seemingly alleviating the rest of the weight from her. He nods, wrapping his arms around her, stroking her back soothingly before pulling away.

“Go call your mom, tell her you’re at Delaney’s or something. I’ll finish dinner.” He hums, proving yet again just how attentive he was to her. She didn’t really want to call her mother, but even Eddie knew if she didn’t she wouldn’t be able to truly relax as her anxiety ran through every horror scenario possible about her panicking over her whereabouts. The name he threw out there, however, stung a bit. Delaney Richard’s had been her best friend in cheerleading, but once she quit she and the other girls seemed to hate her as if she had betrayed them. It was ridiculous, but she didn’t question it either. She didn’t have the energy anymore. Between discovering The Upside Down and having it ruin everything she knew about reality, her entire friend group shifted and she found herself slowly becoming closer with her cousin Robin Buckley and her friends. They had all been trauma bonding in one way or another, she assumed.

After dinner and building the fort he so lovingly suggested, just as she started to relax into the makeshift bed she had made next to him, it started to thunderstorm. Tensing, she tried her best to push the flash backs away as the thunder booms outside the thin trailer walls but it was no use. Eddie knew her too well. In a clumsy rush, he fumbled with his stereo placed just under the window at their heads as if it were a shield for her in hopes of drowning out the storm and pulled her close.

“Talk to me.” He breathes, tracing circles over her scalp as her head rests on his chest. She didn’t like talking about her problems recuperating or even Billy’s death since the town was lied to about it but the longer the storm went on the harder it pounded against the window above them, the more she clung to Eddie as those fireworks boomed in her ears over and over again. It was almost like her brain thought if she focused hard enough he’d be able to take the echoed explosions and the fiery brightly colored flares from her memory.

“I-I don’t know what to say. There’s so much going on, I-“ She struggled to explain when he stopped her, kissing her forehead.

“What is your favorite memory of him?” He asked softly as if he was afraid the words would cut deeper than the memory itself. For a long moment she stayed silent while she thought about what to say, careful not to say anything vulgar, intimate or incriminating after the cover story aired but eventually she smiled through the tears and pulled back to look at him.

“The night he gave me his leather jacket.” She started simply, toying with the saintly charm dangling from her wrist. “It had started raining the night he took me out on a date. He finally met my parents and wanted to take me to dinner.” She smiled at the thought. “Afterwards we went for a walk in the park. He was impressed I didn’t ask for anything fancy, saying how most of the girls he had dated wanted to be shown off extravagantly. I just wanted to spend time with him so he took me on a walk. We sat on the swings for a while just talking about our plans for the future. He pulled me into his lap, whispering for me to hold on when he started to swing with us both on the same one.” She laughed, wiping her tears. “I was so scared I’d fall and embarrass myself but he held onto me saying how he’d never let anything happen to me.” She looked up at him, trying to see if his eyes would give away any sign of boredom before continuing. “It started raining soon after that so he gave me his jacket to keep me warm while we walked back to his car. I love the rain and have never minded getting wet but he didn’t want me to get sick.” She nods, more so to herself as if confirming that she was finished with the retelling of her favorite memory. “I still have the jacket. I couldn’t let Neil take it.” She sighs, feeling terrible about the fact that she kept that hidden from his father no matter how terrible he was to him. Slowly, as if unsure of his actions, Eddie leans forward and kisses her forehead repeatedly. It was as if each kiss was meant to push away any fear or pain she still harbored while his fingers gently tangled in her hair to hold her to him. She closes her eyes, her hands resting on his chest as she tries to allow his kindness to sooth her, and rubs circles over the left portion of his chest where the widow tattoo rested under his club shirt.

“Sometimes I sleep with it. It still smells a little bit like him and I feel less alone with it next to me.” She confesses, tensing once the gravity of her confession settles in. She opens her eyes and pulls back slowly, her eyes burning with tears of embarrassment as her cheeks redden. “I-I’m sorry, I’ve never told anyone that.” She whispers, suddenly breathless and aching as if someone had punched her in the center of her chest. Quickly, in much more alarm than before, Eddie sits up and hugs her close.

“You’re never alone. I’ll always be here for you, Rory.” He huffs, his chest tightening as well as he rocks her comfortingly. She wraps her arms around his neck and hides her face in his hair.

“Thank you.” She whispers, just barely audible despite how close she was to him. It was hard to say much else to sum up just how grateful she was for this man and his beautiful heart. She could only hope he felt a semblance of just how much he meant to her.

The next morning, she made breakfast and wrapped up what she had left over for Wayne before putting it in the fridge with a small note about hoping he had a decent night at work. She hoped that even if he hadn’t in fact had all that great of a night that her trying her best to leave him something to come home to would help cheer him up. Afterwards, she sets their plates on the small island and shifted back toward Eddie’s room when she bumps into him.

“Hey, sorry, I hope I wasn’t too loud.” She apologizes softly, suddenly shy at the image of his sleepy form stretching in the doorway. The club shirt he had worn last night had come off in the muggy heat of sharing a confined space with someone under mounds of blankets with no real ventilation and now his grey sweatpants were rolled down just below his hips which only furthered the arrow-led happy trail of soft brown hair between the sculpted v formation against his muscles. She then made a mental note to always put a fan in their forts so they wouldn’t get so hot again.

“No no you’re fine. Did-did you make breakfast? It smells amazing.” He grumbles in his sleepy rumble as he rubs his eyes. She laughs and shifts to take his hand, leading him toward his plate.

“Yes. I’m glad you approve.” She teases, sitting him down before pulling his hair up for him using the scrunchie she held around her wrist. In his sleepy stupor, he didn’t fight the notion much as he dived into the meal. She hums to herself as she quickly eats what little she set aside for herself before turning toward his room again.

“Do you care if I borrow some of your clothes to take a shower? We can always run past my house on the way to school so I can change but…” She asks, rambling as her nervousness consumes her at the idea of wearing his clothes. She had worn Billy’s red button down shirt before and stole his leather jacket so why this was making her nervous she didn’t quite understand. He chuckles and nods, taking a drink of the orange juice she poured him.

“You can wear whatever you want as long as you keep cooking for me.” He teases with a wink. “My shirts are in the closet, boxers and jeans are in the top drawer.” He adds, waving her on her way. She smiles and kisses his cheek as a thank you before running off toward his room.

While she was in the shower, Eddie did his best to contain himself as his mind raced with all the possibilities of what would step through that door next. It wasn’t every day a girl asked to wear his clothes and a part of him hoped it wouldn’t be the last. After getting dressed, he grabs her books off his dresser.

“Hey sweetheart, did you put your notebook on the table? I can’t…” He calls, stopping in the doorway when he sees her shaking loose her long wet waves. She wore his black and bleach tie dyed Iron Maiden T-shirt over a pair of acid washed ripped pale blue jeans with her white Velcro strapped Reebok high tops that were basically a smaller version of his favorite, more well loved and dirty shoes. She looked gorgeous despite the shirt being slightly larger than her and something about her smile once she noticed he was staring made his stomach do flips. She smiles wider as a blush creeps across her cheeks as she ties her flannel around her hips and points toward the table where her notebook lay next to him.

“Thank you so much, you’re such a lifesaver.” She beams, gently taking the stack of books from him so he could put his jacket and vest back on over his Metallica shirt.

“Come on beautiful, let’s get you to class before Principal Higgins thinks I’m corrupting his best effort at getting rid of me.” He laughs tauntingly, ushering her out of the trailer.

[sunshinesukuna]

creepy crawlies

pairing: dad!tendou x reader x daughter

tw: rats 

wc: 0,.8k

summary: when your father is the guess monster, it takes little to surpass him, especially if you have puppy eyes and his wife’s smiles.

inspiration: so moi dad set out a rat tral right, the one with the glue. and we caught like... 5 of them? and they were so big too?? also the locals here who keep calling my poor bby a rat???? like??? why would you do that??? if you call him a rat, make sure you put “hey bitch, i’m a” in front of it. also i watched ratatouille with my lil bro and my mom and he cried when the old lady shot the rats, so, yeah.

If there was anything eight-year old Tendou Satsuki loved more than her parents, it was vermin. 

Every manner of rat, leech, worm, spider, you name it. The fridge was covered in pictures of her arachnoid friends, books in their likeness crowding up the shelves. And being the wonderfully curious eight year old she was, she would bring home her friends every now and then. Some were dug up from the large backyard behind the house, and others she had the guts to catch on her way home from school. 

Not that bugs freaked you out that much, but it was still a little unsettling to see her shock of red hair sometimes covered in dirt and a creature that came straight out of Stephen King's books in her hands. That's where your husband came in. 

It was a normal day in the Tendou household. It was one of Tendou’s rare day offs, which he spent flipping through Animal Planet on your lap. Satsuki was off in the backyard doing who-knows-what, probably off tending to her little garden in the back, built with the help of her doting father some time back. You were about to doze off, when a loud clang! From the back woke you back up.

You almost snapped Tendou’s head off his neck in your haste to get to your daughter. “Satsuki! Are you— oh my! Satori!” you cried. Your husband was hot on your heels as you opened the screen door.

“What’s wrong?” Tendou asked. “Oh goodness.” Satsuki was bent over the small brick wall she had built, legs in almost perpendicular to the ground as she tried to reach for something beyond the wall. It seemed that she had fallen in, a small wooden stool laying incriminated before the scene. 

Tendou slipped on his shoes and made his way over to rescue his precious daughter. Once Satsuki was pulled up and over his shoulder, you made sure to take care of any injuries she had sustained. Nothing too far from the usual risks that came with catching wild animals. 

“Are you okay, darling?” Tendou asked. Satsuki nodded. She reached over to wipe something on her forehead with her wrist. It was then you only noticed the squirming brown rodent in her hands. 

“Where did you get this one now, Satsuki?” you asked. Despite your daughter having an immense love for them, the childhood phobia you had always lingered in the back of your head. You pulled your hands away from your daughter reflexively. Tendou rubbed the nape of your neck and took on the duty of checking on your daughter.

“From the garden. It was chewing off the strawberries, so I decided to catch it,” Satsuki said. She smiled — her mother’s smile — innocently back up at Tendou.  “Are you mad at me, mommy?” 

You find the strength to answer your daughter when you finally calm down from the shock of seeing the rat. “No, sweetie, no. But… could you please put the rat down?” Satsuki hesitates.

“Can we keep it?” she asks.

“Sweetie, are you sure you can take care of—” Tendou starts, but he is quickly interrupted by his daughter.

“I can! I’ll feed it everyday! And I’ll give it a shower too. I’ll clean its poo and pee. Besides,” Tendou moves to sit Satsuki on his lap. “he kinda reminds me of daddy.”

She had a point there. The beady eyes and the way it squirmed in your daughter’s hands reminded you of his actions when he was on the court back in his teenage days. Heck, the rat even eyed his daughter the same way your husband would to his opponents on the other side of the net. 

“What do you mean?” Tendou asked. 

“Well, you know how you have to go to work everyday, daddy?” Satsuki asked. You took a seat next to your husband and daughter.

“Yeah, and?”

“I miss daddy a lot when he’s gone. And… this guy here,” she raised the rat up to Tendou’s face, “can keep me company when mommy or daddy can’t. Then you don’t have to look after me as often, mom!” She gives Tendou the look that her Guess Monster genes know makes her father quake in his seat. 

“You’ll let me keep it, right?” she asks. She looks at you, her bottom lip trembling and pupils dilating in her perfected version of puppy eyes. 

“I guess…” you say.

“Yeah! Thanks a lot mom! I love you so much!” She hops off her father’s lap to press her small head against your stomach. You almost jump back in anticipation of the rat in her hands, but make an effort to reciprocate her hug. “Love you too, dad!” She does the same to her father.

“Come on, Satoshi. I’m going to build you a nest~” Satsuki walks off the porch back in the house, leaving your husband dumbstruck in her wake.

“Did she just call me a rat?” 

“Well you are a very cute rat, I’ll say.”

[of-fire-and-light]

Scourge - 😌 - Someone gently brushing their hair (or robot equivalent of your choice, cough)

[I did consider going with human-AU for this, but the idea that EM fields can be "combed" to correct issues with the underlying circuitry is one I really like, so I went that route, with a bit of H/C thrown in. Hope you like! Cut for sfw nonsexual touching/comfort, minor injury, and general shippy fluff.]

Scourge hates scrambler weapons. He really, really does. Getting dented, blasted, melted, corroded, burned, any of those are unpleasant, but at least they hurt in ways that make sense and you can relate the pain to the visible damage. But getting zap-fried leaves invisible knots in your neural nets and throws out your diagnostics and makes you woozy and sore and unable to concentrate on anything except that you feel like scrap-

"Come here, Scourge."

He doesn't have the coordination to resist as he's half-lifted, half-dragged into Cyclonus's lap, not that he'd ever resist anyway. "Nrf," he manages, before his vocaliser crackles out again.

"Don't try to talk." Cyclonus adjusts him, settling Scourge's forehelm against his shoulder. His hand reaches around to the top of Scourge's back and strokes fingertip-light over the metal there, barely touching him.

-well. Barely physically touching. Cyclonus has activated the microgenerators in his fingertips, and the delicate, controlled electrical fields they project comb like invisible claws through the arachnoid-web mess of Scourge's ripped-up fields. Scourge makes a piteous noise and goes even more limp against his wingmate, and Cyclonus's engines thrum reassurance as he carefully continues.

Fields are created by the operation and interactions of the systems under your armour, but to a degree it can be a two-way process. Manipulating fields can help to modulate whatever is going on in surface-level circuitry, especially sensory and neural nets, and Cyclonus is good at it. Of course he is - he's got interrogation in his skill library, and aura disruption is ideal for torture because it makes you feel, well, like Scourge feels now. But that also means Cyclonus can reverse-engineer those skills to fix field damage, and that's-

Definitely what he's doing here. Scourge nuzzles into his shoulder and makes a small, grateful sound as the slow, silken drag of his wingmate's fingertips gradually begins to untangle him from himself. The whole-body ache he's feeling slowly begins to recede from the back of his neck outwards, like the tide retreating from a sandbar, as the heavy neural linkages that attach his mind to his motor circuitry are coaxed back into functioning order.

He's still dizzy, but it's going from the bad kind of dizzy to the good kind. His claws curl around Cyclonus's hip, clinging a little, and Cyclonus responds with a soothing, wordless rumble and keeps right on brushing out his fields. The corrective process propagates through the neural nets by itself if it's done right, and Scourge can feel his lower back and his head and chest starting to return to functionality already. The shimmer of comfort begins to work its way out across his wings, and he whines with shuttered optics and burrows closer against his wingmate. Please don't stop.

Not, of course, that Cyclonus would ever abandon a task half-finished, and Scourge has never been more grateful for that.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (121/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

[22 May, 233 Before Age. Interstellar Space.]

"Personal log, Dr. Topsas recording. Now then, where to begin...? I am still aboard the Emerald Eye in Federation territory. Luffa is long overdue to return for medical attention. What began as a supposedly 'quick' excursion to the Fedender System mutated into a tour across multiple planets that put my patient on the other end of Federation space. Luffa being Luffa, she has taken it upon herself to fight every battle on every planet along her way back to us. I have received some reports from hospitals in the field, and I am bracing myself for the worst.

"During Luffa's absence, I have stocked her star-yacht with medical-stasis fluid, and a healthy supply of regenerative medications. In the worst-case scenario, I will only have to keep her in stasis for two weeks, but I am constantly reminded of the old saying: "If you wish to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." No doubt, His Nine Eyes watch with great amusement as I prepare for Luffa's arrival, as I boldly tell myself that I have everything I need. Though, at the moment, I suspect there are a great many generals and warriors with haughty plans of their own, each producing their own fair share of divine laughter.

"Now that is a dark thought, that a benevolent God should find war to be humorous. I should really find something happier to dwell on in times likes these. Then again, it is my personal log, and I suppose I shouldn't run from a chance to express these kinds of feelings. Very well then. Let us talk about the war.

"I am hardly a military strategist, but it is my opinion that it goes poorly for the Federation. I would not consider any war to go well, but moral objections aside, this conflict seems specially designed to erode the morale of both sides.

"I know little of the so-called 'Jindan cult.' I have been told that Luffa's arch-nemesis, the Saiyan King Rehval III, founded the cult as a way to strengthen his hold over the Saiyan people. Using his arcane skills as an alchemist, along with the pseudonym "Trismegistus", he created a secret method to make Saiyans even stronger than they already are. This worked wonders for his cause, as Saiyans who would never serve a king were all too eager to trade their freedom for power. Now, he sends his followers into Federation space, launching senseless attacks on otherwise peaceful planets. His motives are unclear, though it certainly seems to be a continuation of his grudge against Luffa. As a Super Saiyan, she poses the greatest threat to his dominion over their species.

"What I have heard of these cultists is truly horrifying. Many are cynical warriors who only serve the cult for their own ends. Even so, they fear their master as though he holds their lives in his hands. I suppose that he truly does hold their lives in his hands, for Rehval has the power to withdraw the added strength he gives to his followers. At the slightest sign of defiance, he can drain their power, leaving then weaker than they were to begin with. In some cases, this process can be fatal, as Luffa discovered when Jolok was 'excommunicated' on Planet Quadzityz. Jolok perished, and a sizable piece of the planet very nearly shared his fate.

"The cultists who remain in Rehval's favor do so in a state of constant terror. Some have learned to mask their despair with religious zeal, while others rely on denial. All of them are experienced enough in the ways of war to know their true role in this conflict. They are not holy crusaders serving a higher purpose, as many of them claim. They are merely cannon fodder, a light brigade being sent to die as a mere diversion. Theirs is a simple choice: Die in service to their master, or die in defiance of him.

"I call them a light brigade because every battle fought in this war has resulted in a complete annihilation of Jindan forces. A one hundred percent casualty rate is unthinkable. Even the maddest of tyrants would blanche at such a statistic. It clearly is not sustainable, and yet Rehval continues to send his warriors, confident that he is safe from counterattack in his secret base.

"On the Federation side, a string of impressive victories carries little hope, for each battle leaves considerable death and destruction in its wake. Luffa and the Federation's other defenders have managed to halt the invaders at every turn, but they still manage to kill thousands, destroy important cities and military outposts, and cause ecological damage with their attacks. I think what frustrates the Federation in this hour is that they have no way to take the initiative in this war. They must simply wait for Rehval's forces to reveal themselves, and then absorb whatever losses they must until they can deploy their forces to fight off the invaders. Luffa's health is simply one facet of the bigger picture.

"Perhaps things will change if Luffa can find Rehval himself, but I have little confidence in this. She has already been searching in vain since-- eh?"

"Doctor! Come quickly!"

"What is it? I-- Ninth Eye!"

"Everything happened so fast that we didn't have a chance to fill you in."

"I should imagine. The rendezvous with the transport wasn't supposed to be for another twenty minutes."

"They got a distress call. Luffa convinced them to put her in an escape pod and drop her off so they could answer it. When I got the message, I pushed the engines as hard as they could go."

"Hey, I'm fine... really."

"Shut up, Luffa, and get on the bed."

"Okay, okay. Pushy lady. I guess that's why I married you. Hey, Doc. Sorry I keep... keep missing appointments."

"Please lie still. Would you hold that for me, Ms. Zatte? Please do calm down."

"I just... there's so much blood..."

"Yes, reopening old wounds, no doubt. I thought you were going to stay out of trouble, little mammal."

"So did I, Doc, but there was... was... an attack on Zerkus III and my transport was the only ship in the area."

"Zerkus III? Luffa, I'm so sorry, I, well, I had no idea--!"

"Relax, Dotz. They weren't Jindan cultists, so you probably... ow!... probably couldn't have predicted this. You were looking for Saiyan invasions, and this was a band of Zoons, trying to take advantage of the chaos. Thought they could pick on a planet further away from the fighting, but I made them regret it. Hah! You should have seen the looks on their stupid faces. Doc won't be putting them back together, that's for sure."

"I... I should have been able to predict that... even if they were Zoons, I should have..."

"Doctor, please, is she going to be all right?"

"That is precisely what I want to find out. I will get her stabilized and begin a complete examination. I think it would be prudent to take the ship somewhere safe, before any other enemies happen along."

"I can't just leave her like this--"

"Ms. Zatte, if there were someone else aboard who could handle it, I would not be asking you. With respect to Ms. Dotz's proficiency with the ship's helm controls, I do not believe she has the tactical knowledge to keep the ship out of danger in case of an attack."

"We don't need to run. I don't care how banged up I am. I'm still the Super Saiyan. No one would dare come after... ah... huh... and even if they did, I'd.... I'd...."

"Come on. You can't help her right now. The best thing we can do for her is to get back to the bridge."

"Dotz...? Okay. I know. You're right."

"Hey.... hey, where are they going...?"

"Not far, I assure you. Now, please. Lie still."

"Hey, Doc?"

"Yes?"

"I've gotta... gotta get back out there.... soon..."

"Yes well... I will see what I can do."

*******

[23 May, 233 Before Age. Interstellar Space.]

There was a small desk in the back of the star-yacht's sickbay, and Topsas positioned himself behind it while he spoke to them. As he lacked the necessary anatomy for it, he gave Zatte the chair, and she sat next to the nearest bed, with Luffa in it. Despite Luffa's objections, Zatte held her hand while he gave them an update on Luffa's condition.

He had repaired the most serious injuries, and she was in no immediate danger. One of her lungs had been punctured, and there had been a hairline fracture on her skull, and a few other life-threatening issues. That still left a lot of smaller ones that could worsen if they weren't treated properly. The young women looked at him eagerly, hoping for some quick answer that would allow them to get on with their lives. Being an arachnoid life form, he wasn't completely familiar with humanoid body language, but he had seen their faces on thousands of patients over the years, all silently pleading for him to tell them how long it would take to return their lives to normal. At times, he felt like a judge sentencing a convicted criminal.

"Two months of stasis," he began. "That is my first and most robust recommendation. You will be sedated and kept in a bio-regenerative chamber to promote proper healing. I would take you out of the chamber for an examination, and if all goes as expected, we could begin localized therapies on the damaged tendons."

"Two months?" Luffa gasped.

"In stasis?" Zatte said.

"Let me be clear,that would be a total of sixty days of unconsciousness," Topsas said. "That time need not be consecutive. Many patients do this for a few days at a time, coming out of the chamber to attend to personal affairs, be with their families, and so forth. But since your personal affairs always seem to involve extreme violence, I believe it would be best to keep you under until the treatment is complete. Better sixty days in a row than a hundred or more in and out of the chamber."

"Doc, the whole war could change in sixty days," Luffa said. "If you take me out of circulation that long, it could--"

"Ah-ah! Let me finish that sentence for you. If I were to take you out of 'circulation' for that long, it could prevent your enemies from taking you out of the war permanently. Where would your Federation be then?"

"He's right, Luffa," Zatte said. "If you keep throwing yourself into these battles, you're just going to get worse. You'd be playing right into their hands. You knew it from the beginning."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know," Luffa said. "Look, I'm sorry. To both of you. I said I'd try to pace myself, and I really did try. But these attacks keep on coming, and every time I try to let someone else handle it, people get killed. I can't just stand back and watch... I mean, I know I have to, but..."

She screwed her eyes tightly, as though fighting back tears. When she opened them again, it was clear that she had failed. "I can still do more," she said. "I feel like crap, but I still have so much power that I can tap into. More than enough to make a difference out there. How can I stand by while people out there need that kind of help?"

"Luffa, some would say you have done more than enough already," Topsas said. "No one is asking you to resign from the war altogether. You mustn't feel obligated to risk your own health and safety like this. Not for persons you don't even know."

"Why not? It's what you would do," Luffa said.

"I?" Topsas thought she was joking. "You must have me mistaken with some eight-legged war hero. Perhaps a fantasy creature from one of the tales of your ancestors."

"Your modesty is sickening sometimes, you know that?" she said with a frown. "You remember the Tikosi planet, don't you? Because I sure as hell can't forget it."

"I don't see what that unpleasantness has to do with--"

"You rescued me... you barely knew anything about me, but Keda went to you for help and..."

"Merely keeping tabs on a patient," Topsas said. "I had used a considerable amount of webbing to stitch you back together, and I could hardly let that go to waste--"

As he said this, the gentle tone that represented Luffa's pulse began to speed up. Other readouts of her vital signs began to fluctuate. She began to breathe harder. Zatte tried to calm her down, and Luffa pulled her hand away from hers. And just when Topsas was about to move to check on her, she spoke again.

"I know... we don't talk about that day very much around here," Luffa finally said. "And that's mostly because of me. I was weak, and I have to live with the consequences of that weakness. But when it was all over, I turned into that thing for the first time, and I didn't know if I could turn it off, and you reached out to me, offering to help. I think that might be the bravest thing I've ever seen, and I refuse to listen to you brush it off like it doesn't matter. It matters to me. It matters a lot."

He didn't know how to answer that, and it was clear that she had nothing else to say. At last, it was Zatte who spoke. "Luffa, you've got to listen to Dr. Topsas. You can't go on like this. And if he had a better way, don't you think he would tell us?"

She looked at Zatte, then back at Topsas, and then turned her head away. "How soon can we start?" she grumbled.

"Today, if you wish," Topsas said. "I had the necessary equipment loaded on the ship while you were away."

"Hold on," Zatte said. "If we're doing this, we need to figure out where to take the ship while Luffa's under. We'll be vulnerable in the meantime, and if we set down on an inhabited world, we'll risk getting caught in an invasion."

This was not unexpected from her. Zatte came from a survivalist culture, and her she saw nearly everything as an arrangement of threats and safeguards. She was somewhat extreme in her thinking, but in this case her beliefs all converged on the most sensible course of action. She was certain that Luffa was destine to do good for the universe, which meant that Luffa had to be protected until she was healthy enough to resume that work. "Very well. I suggest you and Ms. Dotz devise up with an itinerary," he said. "I can sedate Luffa as soon as you feel it's safe."

"There's an asteroid field in the Pillimede System," Zatte said to Luffa. "We'll start there, and if Dotz doesn't foresee anyone following us, we can do a silent running for a few weeks." She stood up to leave. "I'll come see you before you go under, okay?"

"All right," Luffa said. "Just... all right. Let's get this over with." As soon as Zatte left sickbay, Luffa leaned back in her bed and let out a despondent sigh.

"I know this is difficult for you," Topsas said.

"It doesn't matter," Luffa said. "It's the only way, right? Sorry I blew up at you. If you don't want to brag about what you've done for me, that's none of my business. I just wish you saw yourself the way I see you."

"Ah, and that is my burden, little mammal," he said. Ambling over the desk, he crossed over to her bedside and began tucking her in. "With eight eyes, I have more than enough to see my flaws, as well as my strengths."

"Huh. Maybe you can see better than me, but the rest of my senses are pretty sharp. Maybe it's a matter of smell."

Eventually she drifted off to sleep, leaving Topsas to consider everything they had discussed. Later, he checked an experiment he was running on some tissue samples, and spent the rest of the afternoon monitoring Luffa's vital signs, while he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

********

[26 May, 233 Before Age. Pillimede Asteroid Belt.]

Zatte was true to her word, and when she was satisfied that the ship would be safely removed from combat, she returned to Luffa's side as Dr. Topsas placed her in the eight-foot-long chamber which would be used for the procedure. The equipment was somewhat bulky, but since there were only four of them on board, Topsas wasn't concerned about the space it took up in sickbay. He simply moved the beds away from one wall and placed the chamber on the deck. Once Luffa was inside, he filled with with a blue liquid commonly referred to as "stasis fluid". This was designed to not only surround the patient with the regenerative drugs he planned to use, but it would also sustain Luffa's metabolism while she lay in the chamber. Once she was sedated, the fluid was allowed to fill her lungs, as it contained oxygen-saturated perfluorocarbons. Topsas then went to the desk, where he began reviewing biofeedback data relayed from the chamber's sensors. Zatte knelt down beside the chamber for the next hour or so, before she finally stood up to leave.

"Sixty days of this," she said aloud.

"I do not wish to give you false hope," Topsas said, "but it is possible that she may fully recover sooner than expected. I will keep you informed, of course."

Zatte looked down at the chamber. "It shouldn't be like this," she said. "She should be out there, fulfilling her destiny. And I should be helping her, not just sitting around waiting for her to come out of this box."

"You are helping her," Topsas said. "It may not be glamorous, or even satisfying, but it is absolutely necessary."

"I'm sorry," Zatte said. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, it's just that... it's not enough. It's not fair."

"I thought your species was averse to risk," he said. "Keda always spoke so highly of being careful."

"I'm not like other Dorluns, Doctor," Zatte said. "And Keda wasn't being careful when she died. She saved my life."

"Of course."

"She never really saw Luffa the way I do, as a xan-nil'Dor, but I like to think that maybe Keda realized it at the very end. Either way, I think Luffa inspired her more than she wanted to admit. Well, Luffa can't do much inspiring from here, I guess."

She excused herself to check on the ship's systems, and Topsas thought he would welcome the silence. He did not. The gentle chirps of the biofeedback readouts only reminded him of the responsibility he now shouldered. And sooner or later, she would return, and the dilemma would follow. He had no consolation he could offer. Part of him wanted to tell her about the test results, but what good would that do? There were far too many unknowns to consider. He thought that Zatte of all people would appreciate that, but no. It seemed Luffa's wife would welcome a bit of risk if it meant getting her back on her feet.

Later, he checked his messages, and found that one of his children had attempted to contact him a few days ago. The terminal on his desk allowed him access to the subspace radio, and Zatte's encryption codes allowed him to send a message with little chance of it being intercepted or traced. Within minutes, he was looking at one of his own kind, though younger, and with a browner coloration.

"Dad," he said.

"Turner. This is something of a surprise," Topsas said. How are you, son?"

"I'll feel a lot better once you're out of Federation Space," Turner said. "There's a war on, or hadn't you noticed?"

"Now that you mention it, I had begun to suspect as much."

"I'm sending a ship to Woshad. I had to pull some strings to get it across the border, but I know some people, and the captain owes me a favor. They'll arrive next week. That should give you time to get to Woshad and get on board."

"Whatever for, son?"

Turner regarded him through the viewscreen and tensed his pedipalps in exasperation. "I'm trying to get you out of there, dad. Please, just get on the ship. Or if you've got some other travel arrangements, we can set up a rendezvous somewhere else. Just tell me when and where and we'll work it out."

"I'm afraid I can't leave at this time," he said. "I have a patient who needs me."

"Luffa," he groaned.

"You know I'm not at liberty to discuss--"

"Oh, come on, dad," Turner said. "It's the Federation, the one she founded, and you haven't stopped talking about that mammal since you gave up your practice on Plutark VII. And you know, for a while I was grateful to her for pulling you away from the Deathmatches, but now you've followed her into something a thousand times worse."

"It is hardly like that at all--"

"Then tell me what it is," Turner insisted. "Tell me why the almighty Federation needs Dr. Topsas to play medic in their warzone."

"She is badly hurt," Topsas explained. "The fighting has been very fierce, and if I do not mend her injuries from time to time, it could jeopardize countless lives."

"And they need you for that? You're telling me that you're the only qualified doctor in the entire Federation who can work on her?"

"I am the best qualified," Topsas countered. "Honestly, very few doctors are familiar at all with Saiyan medicine. And Luffa is a unique specimen among a unique species."

"And that justifies you running around in the middle of a war? Where are you right now?"

"I'd prefer not to answer that at this time," Topsas said. "It's not that I don't trust you, son, but if the enemy were to intercept and decode this message, they might find out--"

"Wonderful. Wonderful," Turner groaned. "So it's a matter of national security, is it? Should I contact the Federation Embassy, then?"

"I doubt they even know of my involvement," Topsas replied. "My presence here is somewhat unofficial. I've been told that my modesty is rather 'sickening'. Perhaps I should have requested a field promotion..."

"Enough! Dad, I've had all I can stand! Listen to me, you're not even a Federation citizen. This isn't your war!"

"She is my patient," Topsas argued.

"So what, then? You'll follow her until she dies?! Until you die?! Do you even care what that means?"

"Turner, please calm down," Topsas pleaded. "I appreciate that you are upset, but--"

"I'm upset because you care more about that Saiyan than your own family! Chelik and Lister called me, you know. They never call, but they heard about this war and no one had heard from you in weeks, and sure enough the last letter you sent was from Federation coordinates, just like before!"

"I assure you, son, I am quite safe here. If you like, I can contact Chelik, Lister, and the others to make certain they understand."

"Oh, they understand just fine, dad," Turner said. "That's why they called me. Because that's how this family works. Someone does something reckless or stupid, and then it's time to call in Turner to fix it. And why not? I've got Turner Polymer Industries, and all the resources that go with it. I can just hire a ship to go into a war zone and fetch you, no trouble at all. It's not like I have any problems of my own to worry about!"

"Son, if you need my help..."

"What I need is my father to stop running off on these ridiculous adventures!" Turner thundered. "I need you to listen to me, just once. Just once, and do the sensible thing." He held up one finger on one of his forelimbs as he said this. Topsas could see the desperation in his eyes very clearly.

"I promise you that I won't take any undue risks, Turner," he said. "I have friends here who are very careful about this sort of thing. But I must ask you to understand. I cannot leave just yet. There is simply too much at stake."

"This is about Nwitt, isn't it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Turner drew a short breath before continuing. "I know it was hard for you. It was hard for all of us. Ninth Eye, she was my sister! I miss her every day. We all do. But ever since she died, you've been getting mixed up with these lost causes, trying to save people that just aren't worth it! And maybe I should admire that. I've tried to, believe me. But I can't. If it's selfish of me, then I'm selfish, but I just want my father to come home and stay alive."

The words bothered him more than he liked to admit. "Son, I cannot just abandon others in their time of need. I swore an oath, and besides, we have a higher duty to people like Luffa. We have too many eyes to look away, and too many hands not to--"

"I know all that!" Turner said, very nearly shouting. "I read the Scriptures too, you know! I know Nwitt's in the heavenly web, and that one day we'll all be there to join her, and that we have to help where we can, but not this, dammit! If she were here, do you really think she'd want you to throw your life away like this?"

"I'll be all right, son," Topsas said. This was the most he had spoken with him in some time. Turner was normally so reserved, so quiet, ever the picture of the successful entrepreneur. And Turner had been angry with him before, but never quite like this. He regretted that he had caused his son such anguish, though he didn't fully understand how. He wished he knew some way to convince him.

"Yeah. Yeah, you'll be fine, probably," Turner muttered. "But what about next time, and the next? One of these days you'll go somewhere that even I can't get you out of. All for some 'Super Saiyan' I've never even met. And when the law of averages finally catches up to you? Well, I guess I'm just supposed to suck it up and pretend it doesn't bother me."

"I'm sorry," was all Topsas knew to say. It didn't seem to be enough. Turner had been an adult for a very long time. All of his children had grown up ages ago. Suddenly, Turner looked very much to him the way he did as a child, inconsolable over something that most would call trivial, but Topsas always knew meant the world to him.

"I don't want you to be sorry," Turner said, his voice now low and weary. "I just want you to get on that transport next week. Just come home, dad. Please. I don't want Luffa to suffer, or anyone else but... please. Just get on the transport."

"Turner, I--"

Turner looked somewhat embarrassed now, either by his outburst, or his pleas, or the emotions that had motivated them. "I have to go," he said. "I... Well, I've already said what I have to say. Just... I have to go."

And with that, he closed the transmission, leaving Dr. Topsas looking at his own reflection in the viewscreen.

*******

[28 May, 233 Before Age. Pillimede Asteroid Belt.]

"Am I doing the right thing?" Dr. Topsas asked. It was a loaded question, kept purposely vague, but he asked it over breakfast, as casually as one might ask for another glass of juice.

Dotz looked at him, and her eyes widened with anxiety. "Er, um... yes? I don't... well..."

She was a humanoid, middle-aged, with brown hair that was well on its way to grey. She claimed to have an ancestor of the Kanassan species, though Topsas had found no physiological evidence to support this, aside from her clairvoyant abilities, which could have been entirely coincidental. Taller and heavier than Luffa and Zatte, Dotz was far meeker, and it seemed that she was always pulling her arms close to herself and stooping her head, as though she was worried about taking up too much space. Her loose muave garments seemed designed to conceal herself further, and she was always adjusting her shawl like it was showing too much of the sides of her face.

"I'm speaking of the treatment I prescribed for Luffa," he explained. "I can't help but wonder if this is the right course of action."

"Well, I'm no doctor," Dotz said. "I'm sure whatever you've decided is the best. I know you've taken very good care of me since I got here."

"No, that's not..." Topsas paused and collected himself before continuing. "You've made some very accurate predictions, from what I understand. About the war."

"Oh, well... I didn't catch those Zoons attacking Zerkus III," Dotz said regretfully. "Luffa said it was okay, but I can't help but feel responsible for what she's going through right now."

"Yes, but the battles you have forseen have all come to pass," Topsas reminded her. "Luffa has spoken very highly of your talents, though I am at a loss to explain them. What I'm wondering is whether you've seen any major combat in the next two months. Something that only Luffa would be able to handle."

"Well, uh, you should really talk to Zatte about that," Dotz said. "There are battles going on all over the Federation border. She's been keeping track of them all, so we'll know where Luffa will be needed when she's ready."

"Yes but--!" Topsas steadied himself. It wasn't Dotz' fault that she wasn't understanding what he needed. She was only trying to be helpful in her own, unassuming way. "I don't wish to trouble Ms. Zatte," he explained. "I have just been having... second thoughts. I was hoping that you might be able to predict whether my decisions will turn out for good or ill."

"Oh, you want a reading," Dotz said. "I'll need to look at your palm for that."

"Fortunately, I am well-supplied in that regard," Topsas said as he extended one of his forward limbs across the table for Dotz to examine. It was supposed to be a joke to lighten the mood. He thought humanoids were easily amused by the notion that he had so many hands and eyes, but Dotz didn't seem to notice what he had said. She simply took his hand and cradled it in her own, staring at it like a jeweler inspecting a diamond. While he waited, Topsas resumed eating with his other hands.

"You'll be going on a journey soon," Dotz said.

"That is rather self-evident," Topsas replied. "As I am on board a starship, and travel is inevitable."

"Mm-hmm. Family trouble. They're upset, but they aren't angry with you, just worried. And you'll be fine. One day they'll see that."

"Yes, well, that was hardly what I needed to--"

"In the end... oh, it looks like your wishes will come true. I wonder what that could mean. It sounds like a very happy way to die."

"Yes, but I have more immediate concerns," Topsas said. "The war. How long will it take for Luffa to recover? How many will die during that time? How many deaths could be prevented. You can see this, can't you?"

Dotz looked up at his face and shook her head. "I can't forsee Luffa's fate at all. I think that's why I missed the Zoon attack, because I was, uh, looking for visions of Saiyans in general. I should have been checking for Federation planets, but there's so many of them that it's hard to follow all of them."

"Are you saying that you can predict certain battles, but not whether Luffa will participate in them personally?"

"Uh, well, yes, that's right. And I can't always get the details right. Luffa's told me that sometimes there's more enemies on a planet than I predicted. Sometimes less. I can usually get the date right, but not always the exact hour. But she likes it that way. It makes things 'interesting', is the way she put it."

"Then you have no idea how long it will take her to recover," Topsas groaned. "Or whether I end up using some other treatment."

"Of course I know that, Doctor," Dotz said innocently. "You said it would take about sixty days, didn't you? And what other treatment could there be?"

"What indeed?" Topsas said. He began scraping sauce from the bottom of his bowl, determined not to look her in the eye.

"Something about meeting Luffa increased my psychic abilities," Dotz said, "but they still have, um, limitations. I learned a long time ago that there's a lot you can predict just by paying attention to the present. And I know you're a good doctor, and that you put your patients' welfare first. I don't need to look into the future to know that you'll do the right thing."

She stood up and started gathering their dishes. "Here, let me get those for you. You probably want to go back to sickbay to check on Luffa. Tell her I said hi. Not that... I mean, she probably wouldn't hear you, right? Unless she can hear people while she's asleep? I don't know all her powers."

Topsas handed off his bowl and steepled some of his fingers. He had just run out of people to talk to.

NEXT: Second Opinion